FFXI: It's not for newbies anymore.

I was skimming some other blogs when I came across this post. It immediately made me think about how this game is progressing and the direction it's headed. Sure, the latest content is all endgame specific and a lot of people are loving it. However, what about the new people?

Do new people even exist anymore? I don't mean new as in another mule that someone made. I'm talking about a Vana'dielian virgin. Many people think this game is dying and that we shouldn't even worry about new players coming in. Personally, I'm six years late into becoming a resident of Vana'diel. Well, I actually started in 2001, but I played for maybe 10 minutes before dying to something and I didn't come back until 2009. Should I have never signed up since I was immediately behind everyone else from the start?

I don't blame the lack of new people solely on the developers. I think that a good bit of it has to do with the attitudes of existing people too. As a whole, we aren't very welcoming to someone who just arrived. Yes, there are numerous volumes of information on forums on wikipedia for anyone wanting to know just about anything in this game. Yet, I don't think a person can come to love this game and stick around simply by reading a How-To guide on the internet.

FFIV will soon be upon us, but I don't see a mass exodus of players who are going to drop everything and leave FFXI behind. As long as this game is able to run and we keep the servers open, I think that the players should still do their best to not only help the new people that come in, but continue spreading the word about FFXI so that even more people come in. Everyone deserves a chance to love Vana'diel just as we are doing now.