do you think people will still be playing it? Have we already seen a decrease in the no.s playing it since the game was first released? also, have square got any other plans for more online FF games?

I'd say there will probably still be people playing in the long run - it's fairly popular, and if Square Enix keeps producing explansions, I think it could see a life as long as EverQuest.

Personally, I think i'll switch to World of WarCraft when it's released, because it looks so much better :(

Also, Square Enix have several online games in the works - both are Japan only at this point. One is Front Mission Online, an online version of Square Enix's mech game - the other is another Fantasy MMORPG - the name escapes me for the time being.

Also, for some reason Square Enix is distributing EverQuest II in Japan, which just seems self-defeatist to me :p

Hopefully squenix will be smart enough to make the next expansion for FFXI not suck as much.

Hopefully the next expansion pack won't be released in Britain 3 years after it was released.

The current FFXI expansion pack (Chains of Promathia) was actually released in Europe and the UK a few days before the US and Japan got it as part of the game's full Euro release anyway, so Europe doesn't always suffer later release dates.

As for if people will continue playing FFXI in 3 years time, I certainly hope so, as I intend to play the game for as long as it holds my interest and as long as I continue my interest in all things FF, even if I will be nearly 30 by that time. :o

I'm not sure if FFXI will still be around in 3 years.. the game just isn't fun... it takes way too long to do anything in the game and theres nothing to really do between doing events and seeking for parties. They do have crafting, but that takes gil and inv space and some people just plain don't like crafting at all.

I could see a lot of american players going to WoW, cause WoW is a lot how EQ was (and look how long that was around). WoW doesn't really have a lot of high end content. It has a linear story and it doesn't have any means to make any kind of custom stories. In EQ they had GM-type people, but they would be able to change the storyline because in EQ it wasn't a set thing. Thier storylines actually effected players too. Like "Guild X has defeated the Keeper Of The Mountain and released some insanely hard dragon in a newbie area!" or something to that nature. Don't get me wrong, FFXI does have a lot of things that were better than EQ, I just don't see it going anywhere. FFXI is just a multiplayer console RPG to me.

I consider FFXI a great game. I don't know if I will still be playing it in 3 years, but I think it got future.

About that of FFXI not having many things to do, it has. Exploring is awesome, you make many friends, there are missions, quests, things that add more Roleplayig flavor to it. And if you really like roleplaying, FFXI is a game in which you canroleplay very nicely. The world is so real and detailed to me that it caught me in that vast world.

It is true I am curious about WoW, but it doesn't mean I am planning on playing it. i can't leave FFXI for now. I have a group and friends I have come to love like real life friends, and I can't just leave them.

So as long as my friends are there, I will too. Only money problems or very serious real life problems could make me leave now. Someday I will quit. When I find there is nothing else to do. But when I hit level 75 with the jobs I am planning to go with, I will just retire leveling and just go around helping everyone and exploring as I always wanted to. :)