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A game for fans only
crazynanny
Member Posts: 173
In short - after playing OB yesterday I can only say one thing - I'm not FF fan enough to deal with this game. If You are looking for game with beautiful graphics, story and player friendly gameplay LOTRO is having free to try launch very soon, wait and try, save Yourself frustration.
And the longer version
The bad:
1. Software mouse has the feel of moving in mud, making the whole experience laggy.
2. Controls - while wsad and left button works(laggy as wrote above) interaction with everything(items, mobs, NPCs) isn't via right click, but through menus. This with software mouse makes PC controls just a nuisance, rather then comfortable. Plugging pad helps, but hey this is a PC!
3. Menu here, menu there. Devs must have been obsessed by windows 98 start menu. But, but shortcuts for inventory, quest log, character screen and right clicking items/NPC to use them aren't unique enough(sarcasm!)...Not to mention it's all laggy making each NPC menu coming after 1-2 seconds.
4. No tutorial for movement, camera handling, basic combat. No tooltips for stats, indication for level up. Nothing. Go read fan made websites. There is hand holding and there is basic player friendliness. This game is unfriendly and says buzz off and stop playing. A nice example is learning through fansite that crafters have no combat skills. Sweet to know after 40 minutes of gameplay.
5. Shops, important NPC are yet another guy with green complicated name. Again no need for easy mode with quest tracker and !/? above NPCs. A different name color, a signboard over NPC booth would be enough. Till now I do not know where to buy anything useful, like say better equipment?
6. Death via some sweet looking creature, while shocking isn't really bad. But frustration with dead body and wondering what to do now is. No message, no pop up. Go look on fan website how to respawn. JUST DON'T DO ALT+TAB.
7. Alt+tab or win key in fullscreen mode. I get idea that they don't want those to work. So what to do? Normal devs would just disable those. But hell no here. Game will crash to punish stupid players. Another "uniqueness".
8. Random crashes and bugs. Enough of these to be noticeable. Black screen after SE logo, crash when servers are down, when alt tab and some random game crashes(i.e. when teleporting after completing guild leve). All sort of errors 10300. A simple message - servers are busy try again later or servers are offline or could not connect to server would solve stuff. Also some minor stuff like non-translated Japanese words.
9. Downloading patches and installing those. Making people to read fan websites to use torrent clients to download patches in somewhat comfortable way is not customer friendly. Also I never seen longer 4 GB patch applying, ever.
The good.
1. Graphic of course. Though with hardware requirements it should be awesome. And it is. Cut-scenes are really nice looking. So are avatars and NPCs. Though more main NPC voicing would be nice.
2. Music. Very nice and definitely adding a level of additional immersion.
3. Story. Polished and nice. This is where true potential of this game lies.
4. Many unique features - crafting, repairing, class changing and many more. Definetely some refreshment here.
Final words
I'd gladly pay and play this game if it's gameplay was at least a bit user friendly. But it is not. It's just opposite way. And fanboism in comments below won't change it. "Fairness in controls for PC/PS3", "no hand holding", "unique design", "it's SE game", "it's beta", "go play WoW". I've seen those comments enough times already but those are just poor excuses. And one final note, this is just my opinion mixed with some facts about UI/controls, not the ultimate truth about game. I'll give it a shot after half a year as I hope this is enough time to finish the half baked game.
Comments
Agree completely.
My prediction is that after 6 months, the only people left playing this will be those who played and loved FF11.
Poor excuses for you but the fact is some of us like the game as it is. some people don't if you don't like it find another game if you do like it play it. Only way to know is if you try it yourself and not go by what someone like this OP says or what i say. Just try it you may or may not like it.
I agree this is not a game to appeal to the masses. But i find it very fun and fresh. UI dosen't bother me like it seems to be bothing a lot of people. I actually enjoy not having to use my mouse at all in the game. My hands sit on the keyboard just like they would while i type this.
I don't notice the mouse lag because again I don't use it. I agree they should have more UI customization but if they did you can bet i would have the ui set to the way it is now.
funny thought maybe that is the target audience.
After having tried Open Beta I have to say the above poster nailed it on the head ... I 100% agree with him.
This game will appeal mostly to the Fans and those that played the earlier FF game.
I will help test the game out and stress the servers since I got an Open Beta code, but I dont see myself playing it when it goes live. Thats a damn shame since I have nothing to play atm, but I just dont feel it would be worth my money, but to each his own I guess.
Just my 2 cents.
I agree it is for the peopel who loved FFXI which im one of them so I have a pre-ordered CE
It's a real shame. I have a feeling that there might be a true gem of a game hidden under this atrocious pile of junk UI. It's just so sad when I find the EVE Online UI intuitive and simple to use compared to the one in FFXIV. Sad because it's no secret that the EVE Online UI is just plain bad and is often stated as a reason as to why so-and-so left the game. Frankly, there's a huge chance that I won't bother with FFXIV simply because of the UI. Such a shame.
I'm a big ol' fluffy carewolf. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Well it is a beta, so I would expect the performance issues somewhat, the mouse control issues is a bit disconcerting, because I agree, PC games are played with a mouse, period. I'd wait for the console version if I was going to use a controller.
But it sounds like its "NOT" yet another WOW clone and this is a great thing. More developers need to stick to creating games that cater to a smaller target market and not just copy the basic formula that WOW, LoTRO and so many other recent games have been following.
If the game had a decent PVP model I'd give it a shot, but that's OK, not every game needs to cater to my playstyle. (which is a bit off the wall anyways)
To the fans who enjoy it, looks like they've found their next game.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Man I have to tell you... I've been one of the people complaining the most about the UI... But I will also be the first to admit that it hasn't stopped me from playing... YET.
My "inner jury" is still out on this one. It's a good game. Hell, maybe even a GREAT game... Don't let my kibitzing disuade you from at least giving it a try.
But it's definitely made with consoles in mind, to the point where the PC users will feel excluded. It's really a shame, because a "best of both worlds" solution really wouldn't have been that hard to implement.
Errrr...yes Mr.Sherlock because thats the main subscriber base SE is targeting---> FF fans and there are loads of them.
90% of haters are begging for love. 10% just want a little attention -- Paulo Coelho
You guys are both just agreeing with the OP. It's even the title of the thread...
Anyhoo... I'm curious as to why they even made a new game if they didn't hope to draw in any new players. Please someone tell me because I can't figure it out. Why spend all this money and energy when all the players who loved FFXI could just be playing that instead.
Since everyone seems to agree that if you arn't a current subscriber this game isn't meant for you, right?
yes there target audience was ffxi players i believe but they have made the game more solo friendly and I love my ffxi but a new game that has a lot of the same mechanics is very much welcomed.
They have changed some things to try and bring in new players but i don't think they changed enough things to even come close to trying to bring in the masses. Maybe SE is happy with the subs they had in ffxi and thought it was a huge success and are shooting for a quality game that brings in a little bit more subs than the first did.
and to answer your final question It may be meant for you if you are not playing ffxi but they know that is there target audience so they are going to cater it to them above everyone else. They changed some stuff to try to appeal to more people as in the non forced grouping.
funny thought maybe that is the target audience.
I think XIV will do better than that as at the moment their isn't much new competition in the fantasy mmo genre, just old games pushing out expansions. We are talking a big hit here...game is a blast too IMO.Never really got into FFXI, but I do like this one. Besides the controls for the PC that is.
Nicely written. (op) Not knocking the game as I have never played it. Might be great for some people. I have read enough and know what I like and don't like enough to have determined that I won't be playing this game. Bums me out too, as everyone at work has been stoked and talking about this game. I had my hopes up high on this one. <Sigh> oh well, at least some people will get enjoyment out of it. Game till you bleed!
King of the world
I am too lazy to try and learn to play this game with the keyboard. As such, yes i will pass on it. Goodluck and good fun to those that love it.
Currently playing browser games. Waiting for Albion Online, Citadel of Sorcery and Camelot Unchained.
Played: almost all MMO pre 2007
After reading this post I am glad I did not even try the beta. Will leave this to FF fanboys to enjoy
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I was thinking about trying this beta but i've seen enough consistent complaints to know I'm not going to like it. That's too bad really because all the hype this game had been generating here the last couple of weeks got my hopes up that there would be something to play in between waiting for the next aaa titles coming next year.
I may still try the beta, if I can get a key off the site that is, but I'm not going to get dissapointed if I don't get one.
Nice description OP. I found this post to be refreshingly informative.
Your review is a tad harsh, imo, and the open beta has resolved a few issues. All listed above do not apply to everyone (I can alt-tab w/o issue or crash in windowed, for example). I can agree the game is definitely best for lovers of FFXI, the overall story and graphics should be a grab for some new folks. One huge gripe I have with the OP: Still no ! or ?...wow, just wow...I'd have to lean toward the annoying 'immersion' folks - sometimes a name & a general area does it fine, you don't need everything handed to you.
Good thing is the difficulty over the norm will create a niche group again and a solid community, I cannot wait
Oops my bad then. I figured fans of the game would like to see it grow and stabilize a larger fan base than what FF11 is currently running with.
Square stated they wanted to gear the game toward more casual, non-FF fans; however, FF fans have never agreed they wanted a larger fan base, lol - we (I'll opp as one of them) enjoy a decent sized, quality fan base, where numbers are not the necessity.
@OP: Great 1st post.
I could have lived with 6.-9. from your bad list.Those are bugs which will probably soon be fixed. But the first 5 points are game breakers for me.
From the reviews so far it is obvious, that SE doesn't really care much about the pc market. The game is designed for console and console controllers. That's all fine. But why do they release it for pc then first and do that horrible job at UI (at least for pc). That way they get lot's of negative first reviews and simply loose money. And the first impressions are those that last the longest.
I would have accepted it 10 years ago when mmo's were new. But nowadays the competition is so great, I expect a more polished product. And a good UI/controls/usability are a must.
400K tpo 500K subs for FInal Fantasy 11 is not bad at all. Not every MMO needs million players in order to grow and stabilize. FF doesn't cater to masses and fans like it the way it is.
90% of haters are begging for love. 10% just want a little attention -- Paulo Coelho
I disagree with the title. I played XI for 6 years and enjoyed it but i'm not digging XIV at all.
I feel that not enough has been improved upon, mostly with game mechanics and UI.
If the game truly was built only for the fans then why is it there was so much dev-speak about opening the game up to a much wider audience & even going into details on what will be changed from XI to XIV in order to achieve that?
Surely all this dev-time pumped into a new game would have been far better spent if they had concentrated on making improvements & content to the existing FFXI game if they were only bothered about targetting existing FF Fans...
I think SE are going to be looking at a massive missed opportunity through their dogmatic approach & this new title is only doing minor evolutions & wrapping it up in a new engine to warrant a new title & that's kind of cynical of them I think.
This game has slipped off my radar for now, I think it will be at the back of the class for the 2011 releases, it will depend on future developments whether or not this game ever gains my attention.
I dont agree, I never was a fan of any FF game to date, but I like this one. Guess I'm the exception to the rule huh. Maybe its targeted to people who enjoy playing a game that isnt spoon fed to you at every step, or that enjoy playing a game where you have to actually read the story and immerse yourself in the world.
Sure, I dont like everything about it the way it sits right now, but I do like most of it.
(DISCLAIMER - The use of the word YOU in the above post is not directed at any one person in particular, but towards those who fall into the category itself - there is no personal attack here, neither intentional nor implied.)