I mentioned it in the description but I wanted to pin it here as well: I apologize for the Voice Over quality wobbling a bit in this video. I recently got a new microphone and this was my first recording with it. I have the EQ and levels figured out now, but I wanted to get this video out and didn't want to record the script for a fourth time. Also check out the Discord server and let me know if you'd tune in for streams in the future! (links in description)
The previous expansions, including the fan-beloved CoP and the at-this-point-incomplete WotG, retailed for $30 USD. Those expansions included new zones to explore and level in, new jobs (except CoP, let that sink in, the expansion without new jobs is still praised for story alone), a story that could take weeks or months to complete depending on your job levels and your luck finding a group in Jeuno shout chat, new Notorious Monsters to hunt each with their own rare loot, challenging battle content like BCNMs or Mission fights, and endgame activities for max-level players to grind on a weekly basis. Probably more things that I'm forgetting. Roughly comparable to the value you'd be getting from FFXIV expansions, just from an era at-or-before Vanilla WoW. Meanwhile, these "novelettes" retailed for $10 USD a pop, explicitly pitched that there would be three in total and the price point would be that of a full expansion for all three. (Remember, WotG's story was not complete even by the release of Shantotto Ascension). No new zones, no new jobs, no new Notorious Monsters, no endgame activities. What you did get, was a very short story (I recall completing Crystalline Prophecy in a few days), only one particularly noteworthy fight at the end, and one piece of gear at the end of each story. BUT, that piece of gear would have extremely rare-at-the-time attributes like Quick Draw delay or Pet stats or Double Attack. With the way that FFXI's horizontal progression worked, this was going to be the absolute best piece of gear in a very particular niche... meaning you kinda HAD to buy the story to get that gear, right? It reeked of a cashgrab. Square Enix were exploring how much money they could pull from much fewer resources than a full expansion, and they teased the idea of never doing a full-size expansion again. I died off during this content drought, and a bunch of my friends later fell off when Abyssea raised the level cap for the first time in 8 years.
FFFXIV 1.0 would've been in full development by this time as well, meaning SE was almost definitely snaking cash to fund the "new FF MMO" that they had EVERY intention to let completely replace XI
Thank you so much for making these vids, glad a number of XI vids have cropped up lately, yours included, that can let people have some grasp as to what went on in XI proper.
Thank you very much for making these videos! I'd wanted to learn more about FFXI, but didn't have the time to watch through a large playlist of game cutscenes or such. These videos are a great way for informing people about FFXI without the videos being too long or intimidating, and I appreciate that you are willing to explain the plot events even if they may otherwise be spoilers, as other videos talking about the various expansions and add-on scenarios tend to avoid some of those details, leaving the story seeming incomplete. I look forward to your continuing this series, and I look forward to seeing you eventually cover Seekers of Adoulin and Rhapsodies of Vana'diel, whenever that may be!
I appreciate the kind words! This whole series sprung from my experience with what you exactly described. I just couldn't seem to find short, succinct, complete recaps. So I made my own!
Excellent video again! I do hope that you find the time to summarize the Abyssea expansions as well. As limited as the story was, what was there was really cool.
My plan going forward is basically to do Abyssea > Seekers > Rhapsodies, and then I'll probably wrap up my coverage of the XI stories. I may do Voracious Resurgance if I can find anything covering it, but I'm not sure I will.
@@sharlayanforum you're a life saver, i was having severe trouble following XI's lore before you. Im a busy person, and pretty much all my hobbies are hella time consuming ( MMOs, Tabletop RPGs, One Piece, Art ), i wss left with very little time to follow it, on top of that, my ADHD makes reading extremelly hard, so it was a struggle to read through the story. Playing XI was hard enough on my schedule, but with no one to play with me, i quickly had to give up... Having those videos in hand are SUPER useful! Thank you a lot for putting on this good work for us Chris!
Based on your summaries of these "mini expansions", I can see why they were received poorly. Crystalline prophecy seemed like a standard FF story with enough mystery to keep players interested, but stumbled towards the end as there wasn't a satisfying way to wrap up the story, likely due to time constraints the devs were working under. The moogle and Shantotto stories are just goofy. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly makes them FEEL like filler content in contrast to the other serious stories that FFXI had been telling up to that point.
Definitely! I think a lot of the poor reception also comes from unfortunate timing. This was a super tumultuous time in FFXI's lifespan, and many players were extremely unhappy with the way the game was moving forward. The perception of "You're releasing anime filler arcs instead of fixing my game" was extremely potent.
I mentioned it in the description but I wanted to pin it here as well:
I apologize for the Voice Over quality wobbling a bit in this video. I recently got a new microphone and this was my first recording with it. I have the EQ and levels figured out now, but I wanted to get this video out and didn't want to record the script for a fourth time.
Also check out the Discord server and let me know if you'd tune in for streams in the future! (links in description)
The previous expansions, including the fan-beloved CoP and the at-this-point-incomplete WotG, retailed for $30 USD. Those expansions included new zones to explore and level in, new jobs (except CoP, let that sink in, the expansion without new jobs is still praised for story alone), a story that could take weeks or months to complete depending on your job levels and your luck finding a group in Jeuno shout chat, new Notorious Monsters to hunt each with their own rare loot, challenging battle content like BCNMs or Mission fights, and endgame activities for max-level players to grind on a weekly basis. Probably more things that I'm forgetting. Roughly comparable to the value you'd be getting from FFXIV expansions, just from an era at-or-before Vanilla WoW.
Meanwhile, these "novelettes" retailed for $10 USD a pop, explicitly pitched that there would be three in total and the price point would be that of a full expansion for all three. (Remember, WotG's story was not complete even by the release of Shantotto Ascension). No new zones, no new jobs, no new Notorious Monsters, no endgame activities. What you did get, was a very short story (I recall completing Crystalline Prophecy in a few days), only one particularly noteworthy fight at the end, and one piece of gear at the end of each story. BUT, that piece of gear would have extremely rare-at-the-time attributes like Quick Draw delay or Pet stats or Double Attack. With the way that FFXI's horizontal progression worked, this was going to be the absolute best piece of gear in a very particular niche... meaning you kinda HAD to buy the story to get that gear, right?
It reeked of a cashgrab. Square Enix were exploring how much money they could pull from much fewer resources than a full expansion, and they teased the idea of never doing a full-size expansion again. I died off during this content drought, and a bunch of my friends later fell off when Abyssea raised the level cap for the first time in 8 years.
FFFXIV 1.0 would've been in full development by this time as well, meaning SE was almost definitely snaking cash to fund the "new FF MMO" that they had EVERY intention to let completely replace XI
Thank you so much for making these vids, glad a number of XI vids have cropped up lately, yours included, that can let people have some grasp as to what went on in XI proper.
Glad you enjoy it! Thanks for checking them out!
Thank you for doing these. I've enjoyed this coverage of FFXI immensely.
Thank you very much for making these videos! I'd wanted to learn more about FFXI, but didn't have the time to watch through a large playlist of game cutscenes or such. These videos are a great way for informing people about FFXI without the videos being too long or intimidating, and I appreciate that you are willing to explain the plot events even if they may otherwise be spoilers, as other videos talking about the various expansions and add-on scenarios tend to avoid some of those details, leaving the story seeming incomplete.
I look forward to your continuing this series, and I look forward to seeing you eventually cover Seekers of Adoulin and Rhapsodies of Vana'diel, whenever that may be!
I appreciate the kind words! This whole series sprung from my experience with what you exactly described. I just couldn't seem to find short, succinct, complete recaps. So I made my own!
Man that opening music at 0:54 .... So many memories....Thank you.
May you ever walk in the light of the Crystal.
🫡
Thank you for your hard work ! Can't wait for the the Rhapsodies of Vana'diel part. :)
Thank you too!
14:40 So THAT’s where that came from.
And knowing is half the battle
Excellent video again! I do hope that you find the time to summarize the Abyssea expansions as well. As limited as the story was, what was there was really cool.
My plan going forward is basically to do Abyssea > Seekers > Rhapsodies, and then I'll probably wrap up my coverage of the XI stories. I may do Voracious Resurgance if I can find anything covering it, but I'm not sure I will.
@@sharlayanforum Great to hear! I'm looking forward to them, thank you for providing these summaries.
Found a playlist of cutscenes from The Voracious Resurgence, hope it helps: th-cam.com/play/PL5jPe9GRsxJUExQJXjk2uPCgSpwuOJ1v_.html@@sharlayanforum
Another awesome video! I'm glad you did these add-ons too, I wasn't able to make any content about them. Keep up the good work!
Appreciate the kind words 🙏
Good stuff man! And good luck with the new discord!
Thank you!
Finally here!
Thank you so much pal!
No problem 👍Anything for the homies
@@sharlayanforum you're a life saver, i was having severe trouble following XI's lore before you.
Im a busy person, and pretty much all my hobbies are hella time consuming ( MMOs, Tabletop RPGs, One Piece, Art ), i wss left with very little time to follow it, on top of that, my ADHD makes reading extremelly hard, so it was a struggle to read through the story.
Playing XI was hard enough on my schedule, but with no one to play with me, i quickly had to give up...
Having those videos in hand are SUPER useful! Thank you a lot for putting on this good work for us Chris!
Happy to be of service! Thank you for checking them all out!
Well, Shantotto was…not what I was expecting. I’m glad at least to see that you were just as confused by it as I was.
Literally NO ONE could've forseen the Tarutaru Kaiju fight lmfao
@@sharlayanforum Certainly explains why XIV had a giant Shantotto at one point.
Based on your summaries of these "mini expansions", I can see why they were received poorly.
Crystalline prophecy seemed like a standard FF story with enough mystery to keep players interested, but stumbled towards the end as there wasn't a satisfying way to wrap up the story, likely due to time constraints the devs were working under. The moogle and Shantotto stories are just goofy. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly makes them FEEL like filler content in contrast to the other serious stories that FFXI had been telling up to that point.
Definitely! I think a lot of the poor reception also comes from unfortunate timing. This was a super tumultuous time in FFXI's lifespan, and many players were extremely unhappy with the way the game was moving forward. The perception of "You're releasing anime filler arcs instead of fixing my game" was extremely potent.
No wonder they weren't received well. Wow, those stories are terrible. Good coverage
They're definitely... different. Sort of the "Hildibrand" style content of the XI era.
Thanks for the comment and checking it out!