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Comparison of FFXI's problems/concerns with FFXIV
AIMonster
Member UncommonPosts: 2,059
I noticed a lot of threads cropping up lately saying how much they hated X feature or problem in FFXI and a few were wondering if they'd like FFXIV, so I decided that may we should have a thread that lists out a lot of the things people complained about in FFXI and see if it's going to be a similar problem in FFXI or not. Keep in mind that a lot of these are features that FFXI fans enjoy, and this isn't a debate on whether or not these are good features for a MMO or not, but rather just used as a comparison for players who didn't enjoy those features. I don't have a beta account so I'm just going off what I've been told and the information we've been getting. Please contribute to this thread with your own problems/concerns about FFXIV that were an issue in FFXI or corrections so people can make informed decision about purchasing the game:
Problem: The controls aren't optimized for the PC and I'm better off using a gamepad; however I don't like gamepads and would like keyboard/mouse support.
The controls are apparently still poor in Final Fantasy XIV and you may need to use a gamepad. I personally recommend if you have an Xbox 360 controller use that (you only have to plug it into a USB port) and keep your keyboard for chatting. Square Enix seems to be aware of the problem and next beta patch they are smoothing mouse controls, so there may still be hope that you can comfortably play with a keyboard/mouse without adjustments.
Problem: Solo play is difficult and requires specific classes.
Final Fantasy XIV is designed with solo play in mind. Guildleves have a solo difficulty level and all classes should be able to solo effectively. Group player still appears to be more rewarding than solo play and has a lot of incentives. If you perfer solo play over group play you may still want to pass on FFXIV.
Problem: It took forever to do anything in FFXI and was hard for casuals to get into who only had a couple minutes of time.
This is being addressed in Final Fantasy XIV. From initial reports some guildleves take about 10 minutes to complete so a casual player can easily take on a guildleve solo if their time is limited.
Problem: It could take a while to form a group in FFXI.
Final Fantasy XIV's LFG system appears a bit more robust and it should be easier to form a balanced group.
Problem: Combat was slow (and thus uninteresting for some).
Combat is still fairly slow in Final Fantasy XIV, but it's significantly faster than XI's.
Problem: I didn't like the race choices in FFXI.
You won't like them in FFXIV either since they are pretty much the same.
Problem: I didn't like FFXI's story and theme.
While the story and theme is usually different in Final Fantasy games, if you didn't like FFXI's you probably will not like FFXIV's.
Problem: It's difficult to figure out where to go and what to do. NPCs don't have quest markers and the UI doesn't give me any indication of where I'm suppose to go.
From what I understand this is mostly the same. There are improvements here for those who like a little direction such as guildleves pointing at where your objective is located, but I believe quests and other locations are still going to have to be sought out.
Problem: The tutorial is useless. It's difficult to just pick up and play.
The opening scenes in the game give you a chance to learn the combat in the game without any penalties so there is a small improvement there. I'm unsure exactly how much the tutorial tells beyond that and how good the tutorial truely is, but I do think FFXIV may be significantly easier to pick up and play than FFXI.
Problem: Bots and gold sellers were a big issue.
No idea what Square Enix plans to do to address this. Guildleves may reduce the need for bots camping spawns since you can get decent rewards from them. Bots will be harder to create for crafting also since crafting is "active" now requiring the player to be present at the keyboard to pay attention.
Problem: Too many people on my server don't speak English and it can be difficult communicating with them.
There is no regional seperation of the servers in FFXIV either, but most people consider this to be one of the better features of FF MMOs. Try making use of emotes of the auto-translator or find someone who can translate.
Problem: Spawn camping is way too prevelant for rare MOBs and even bosses.
There is no telling how much of a problem this will be in FFXIV, but guildleves automatically assign MOBs specific to the objective to you, so you'll be able to get rewards from these leves without having to worry about someone getting them first.
Problem: It's grindy, more so than most MMOs.
It's hard to tell just how grindy FFXIV will be now. It's still likely going to take longer to reach the level cap on your physical level than WoW from reports I've heard and there will still be frequent times you'll be grinding MOBs in a camp (which some people also like). Guildleves and the ability to change jobs freely (including to crafting classes which have different gameplay entirely) should focus your attention away from the grind aspect a bit. You may still want to avoid FFXIV if this is a concern of yours.
Comments
Very good honest thread. Thank you.
My comments are in orange.
Otherwise, good write-up.
Second on this part, heavens forbid someone might actually have to talk to NPCs to get a clue where to go. That is part of the fun of final fantasy games. You have to think and actually find where to go. It's not that hard, and honestly it's fun if you give it a chance. You don't need shiny sparkles and a neon arrow to do a quest, just some dedication.
END OF LINE_
~V
It would be nice to get a thread like this that wasn't stuck in 2005 limbo.
I mean, I could make a thread on the WoW forums how the servers are laggy and the game is glitchy and how the game is not casual enough in 2005, but that sounds ridiculous now doesn't it?
There are some valid points there, but its 2010 for god's sake, the game has changed in that time believe it or not.
And as far as XIV is concerned, only present matters. If they have fixed something in XI, it is not unreasonable at all to expect them to keep doing the same in XIV instead of going back to 2005 era.
These aren't my concerns everyone. These are just concerns I hear being brought up constantly. I wrote this thread for those people who were unsure about purchasing the game or not.
My own personal concern is the controls and I have an Xbox 360 controller so if I have to use that I will. I just don't like that Square Enix does a terrible job on ports. It's not unbearable, but I know they could pick up a lot more subs if they put some effort into streamlining the controls and UI a bit for the PC. The others are all either minor, not a concern at all, or actually benefits to me (like a lack of UI telling you what to do, I have a bit of OCD and like talking to every NPC and reading the dialogue and exploring every nook and cranny of the world).
There's a difference between having an idea of who to talk to and where to go, being completely led there or being left completely in the dark. I'm hoping FFXIV will be the first of those options. It's unbearable to be told "oh, there's this guy you need to see, he's great and can help you do XXXXXX" and then not to be told even a general idea of where he is or even who to start talking to in this game world miles big. Yeah, I'm going to wiki that. In general a final fantasy never requires you to think of where to go, they tell you where to go for a sidequest almost religously and the main story is strictly linear, though I don't want that exactly either.
Really good post. Clear concise easy to read.
I'll just say that if you want to solo, it's possible, but it's BORING.
The gameplay is still centered on group based encounters, and that's where the game shines. Just like poker would be boring alone, but fun in a group.
I say, they should make it so that you get bonus experience for being in a group. Cuz I hate it when in certain games, it's more beneficial to solo rather then to group up.
Like in WoW, you get all these "collect 20 items" quests and, it's annoying cuz the more people in your gorup the longer it takes for you to get all the items, so you just end up soloing. An d you know the hunters always get the pull. There's no way to out-pull a hunter.
A lot of games simply add quest drops for all pt members (if they have the quest open of course) this way it doesnt matter who get the pull since the mob will have the quest item for all pt members who need it.
Yeah, if they can make a drop for every pt member that would solve one problem. But I'd still like to see a bonus experience rating for more party members.
I liked the PT system from FF11 more tho.
It shouldn't matter how much exp u get per kill its the exp per hr that really matters so sure i got lese exp per kill if i was in a 6 man pt but getting a high exp chain on Very Tough/Incredible tough mobs would be a way higher exp per hr than i ever could pull in solo.
I would like to see something similar again i would not like to get better exp per kill only course i am in a pt what sense is partying up if i keep bullying mobs i could kill solo
FFXI was different, cuz you absolutely couldn't kill anything if you were'nt in a full party.
Agree. I haven't played many MMO's released in, well, the past 5 or 7 years, but it was refreshing to see that in Aion. We need some claw of a random monster for my group of 3, no problem! If it has a 20% chance to drop, we all get our own 20% chance of it dropping. As for all the old MMO's I've played, group bonuses were a necessity in some of them. They just weren't created with raids, instances, end game and all of that mentality. Your character could solo mostly everything you needed, so why group with someone to kill the same amount of monsters for half the xp each and having a much harder time finding actual spawns. Having 2 people would only decrease the xp from a monster to like 70 or even 80%, having 4-5+ might give you MORE than it was worth originally. That probably won't work in something like FFXIV, but the idea of getting atleast slightly more experience per monster(before it splits) when you have more group members is usually a good one.
Well u could...just dont expect awesome exp lol
But that kinda changed the past few years anyway tho getting 50exp or more for an easy prey now....and doing pages from the Books gives extra exp and having auto regen and autorefresh did help a lot too they made the whole game a lot easier in general that's why i stopped playing.
But even before it was possible to lvl solo to 75 it took time but it was possible using a Bst as subjob did help a lot tho and u cant deny the fact that by making it so hard to lvl solo partying actually really made a lot of sense
TY for this :-) I have been looking for something like this.
FFXI really wasn't more grindy than most MMO's are.
The problem was that you had to sometimes wait way too long to get to grind. When the exp started rolling, its just as grindy as any other MMO. 1-2h a level.
I played Final Fantasy back in the day when it first came out think it was in 03, or 04.
The game was great all around except for the following problems I had.
The game Had no solo play at all period, unless it was Easy Mobs, or Very Easy, or Too weak, and such, it was almost impossible to solo things without Beast Master, or Ninja, and I hated it.
The Constant Wait for groups, LFP, OR Looking For Party to slay some Giant Snails, PLEASE invite me, and wait in a city for 3 hours or more just for an invite, with no ability to ALT+TAB out of the game because the developers restricted that, and using windower could get you banned, That was insane...
The Gold Sellers were a big problem and destroyed the fun in Final Fantasy, without being able to afford hardly anything constant farming to be able to buy anything off the auction house.
Waiting for mana was annoying, unlike games like World OF Warcraft, and Most MMO today, it was like Lineage 2 sitting for 60 Seconds or so before you can fight again, even solo, you hardly got any XP, and no mana regeneration or anything. I hated it.
Final Fantasy XI Action Macros having to custom make every one of them, and all that sucked big times... I hope the new one is way better.
All I can say is that other than these things, I liked Final Fantasy XI, and maybe if the developers actually allow solo play like in any other game, except for BOSS Mobs, then I will actually but it and give it a try, because the graphics is good, what concerns me is the game play.
OFF Topic, I recently Bought Mortal Online, IT was a complete failure of a MMO, currently playing APB, & Star Trek Online, STO is not the best, but at least unlike Mortal Online, that game can actually be played, best space game I have currently played that is a MMO besides EVE, which totally sucks, and waiting for new MMO that are better, maybe Final Fantasy, OR TERA, or Something else, AION just got so boring to me at level 37. lack of content, and game play got old.
It's great to have choices.
SW TOR, FFXIV, GW2 and TERA are all quite different in concept while Rift comes in the middle of all 4, and I think that is brilliant.
We can all play the games that cater to Us that way, and the only inconvenience is the MMO Wars on the forums afterwards.
From a PvE group player perspective the choices arent that many tbh. ; ;
Terra so far looks like a solo game more than group based, or so i hear from the last interview ( i think it was there ) GW2 PvP if it follows the same pvp path 1 did wont be of my liking eighter.SWTOR looks promising , but still to early to say anythin, the game play videos i saw were very poor, on top of not being a big fan of SW franchise.That only leaves me with FFXIV for my hopes for a PvE group based MMO that i can enjoy.So far SE have not disapointed me.
This of course is my personal opinion on the matter. =D.My game taste in particular.
OP; theres some mayor changes going on next stage of the beta , so problably we all should wait until then to have more information on most of the current problems and complains that people have atm.
The important thing is that there are choices for everyone
Hopefully the age of carbon copy MMO's is done.
Amen.
CAN YOU SHUT UP?!
You are not in beta. and all your answers are from crap you are GUESSING on.
so your 2 cents is worthless...
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Rage?