Main quest drys up in about 30 min of gameplay. Then, you can only do 8 quests in 48 hours.
So, about three hours into the game. Then I realized there is no content.
So judged an entire games content based on 3 hours in a beta? Sums it up pretty well.
Most people I know that gave up didn't play more than 1-3 hours and it was just too much shellshock. There are plenty from beta that have played for a very long time though and have realized it just isn't the game for them. I am sure most around here are under the 5 hour mark though.
Based on his situation it sounds like 3 hours was enough to determine the game was not for him.
Main quest drys up in about 30 min of gameplay. Then, you can only do 8 quests in 48 hours.
So, about three hours into the game. Then I realized there is no content.
So judged an entire games content based on 3 hours in a beta? Sums it up pretty well.
Most people I know that gave up didn't play more than 1-3 hours and it was just too much shellshock. There are plenty from beta that have played for a very long time though and have realized it just isn't the game for them. I am sure most around here are under the 5 hour mark though.
Based on his situation it sounds like 3 hours was enough to determine the game was not for him.
Thats fine, but that isn't what he has been going around saying. He determined that the game had 0 content based on 3 hours. Right here he said 'there is no content.' If he just said the game wasn't him that would make total sense and be reasonable.
Main quest drys up in about 30 min of gameplay. Then, you can only do 8 quests in 48 hours.
So, about three hours into the game. Then I realized there is no content.
So judged an entire games content based on 3 hours in a beta? Sums it up pretty well.
Most people I know that gave up didn't play more than 1-3 hours and it was just too much shellshock. There are plenty from beta that have played for a very long time though and have realized it just isn't the game for them. I am sure most around here are under the 5 hour mark though.
Based on his situation it sounds like 3 hours was enough to determine the game was not for him.
Played for more than three hours. 3 days worth as a matter of fact.
There is no content.
---------- "Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
Played for more than three hours. 3 days worth as a matter of fact.
There is no content.
Haha ok there is no content. You win the hate on FFXIV award. You sure showed all those fans.
Really, the odds are sorely against you. It's so funny to read people say "[GAME] is going to ROCK! YEA 1 MIL SUBSCRIBERS! Awesome so fun huge community YEA!" and watch every single game for the past few years flop like a pancake. I'm not saying you claim this, but we sure will show all those fans come 6 months down the road.
Played for more than three hours. 3 days worth as a matter of fact.
There is no content.
Haha ok there is no content. You win the hate on FFXIV award. You sure showed all those fans.
What content was in closed beta that is not in open beta?
---------- "Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
Played for more than three hours. 3 days worth as a matter of fact.
There is no content.
Haha ok there is no content. You win the hate on FFXIV award. You sure showed all those fans.
What content was in closed beta that is not in open beta?
Nothing.
Let's flame me: I played to over lvl 20 in multiple classes, and I completely lost my faith in this crapgame when they anounced that the surplus system was not a bug, but intended. Actually there is no content questlike, and there is no content for groups. So what the hell did they think would be the fun part of the game? Grinding solo for several weeks to see a 30 minute video sequence? wtf?
Played for more than three hours. 3 days worth as a matter of fact.
There is no content.
Haha ok there is no content. You win the hate on FFXIV award. You sure showed all those fans.
What content was in closed beta that is not in open beta?
Why do you keep asking that? In closed beta there was only Limsa Lominsa, the battle system was much slower, there were entire classes missing. In one phase they patched in multiple classes and large fixes in a matter of a couple days. From the end of CB to OB they added the other 2 cities and massive amounts of overworld. They have always had an internal version, and it was obviously tested because there were no bugs with that brand new content. We have no idea what else they have vs. what we have.
There are dungeons in the game. You know when you open the map and see all those landmarks. If you visit them you can find a number of things. There are a number of dungeons, NM's, and treasure in the dungeons. There will be plenty of content in the game before long, but yes at launch it will be a solid basic MMO.
So, more guildleave system stuff (shocker) and dungions you wont see untill you grind 1000 mobs.
---------- "Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
So, more guildleave system stuff (shocker) and dungions you wont see untill you grind 1000 mobs.
Haha man you are wigging me out. What are you talking about and how did you derive this from my post? The dungeons start around level 6-10 depending on group size...
I would have interpreted the SE game release strategy as fixing bug and adding in new content myself. If you play at PC launch there will be a lot, if you wait till PS3 launch there will be even more.
It is very foolish to assume that I should have to play a boring game for a couple weeks to "get to the fun stuff." It would be very logical, one would think, to make a game fun right from the start. In fact it would make even more sense to make the start of the game one of the more exciting aspects since that is what draw people in.
It's fair for people to judge the game after playing it only for an hour. It's SE fault if the first hour sucks. I think it says a lot more than saying "it gets better" which it probably does. But no one should be *forced* to play a game they don't like just to get to something "good."
It is very foolish to assume that I should have to play a boring game for a couple weeks to "get to the fun stuff." It would be very logical, one would think, to make a game fun right from the start. In fact it would make even more sense to make the start of the game one of the more exciting aspects since that is what draw people in.
It's fair for people to judge the game after playing it only for an hour. It's SE fault if the first hour sucks. I think it says a lot more than saying "it gets better" which it probably does. But no one should be *forced* to play a game they don't like just to get to something "good."
That's silly and it is not good game design.
There was this one game once, built thier starting zone so awesome it sucked tons, and I mean TONS of players into buying it out the gate. And then people left Tortage.....
There is more to a game than the starting zone, first hour, hook. And if thats all everyone these days wants, well then maybe gaming companies shouldnt' bother making MMORPGs with year long subsrciptions in mind, but rather 2 week burn up content that 'catches' the player and is fun "from the start". Seriously though, most people on these very forums never plan on playing any game for more than 6 months anyway nowadays. So why are the gaming companies even bothering to try to make it worth more, and last longer. You all dont want that anyway right? You want instant fun, instant catch, instant evrything, and screw the long term commnunity and fun.
Maybe I'm a dying breed, but I want a game that has the potential to beomce a strong, developed community that I can play in for YEARS and YEARS. I dont give a ratts ass about wether or not I ever hit an end-game let alone what content it contains. And I sure dont care about having my first 5 minutes in a game having to be 'exciting'. If I want exciting in 5 minutes I'll go hop in my kayak and catch some whitewater.
(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.)
Originally posted by Silacoid What physical and class level(s) did you play through, and at what point did you cease to have fun?
A lot of MMOs are released unfinished usually and then devs just add more content as time goes by. BUT, they at least polish the game play for 20-30 first levels so that players at least have some kind of a hook to keep their interest.
FFXIV however it seems like devs said " We are sorry but we simply didn't have time to finish teh game - ITS NOT READY FOR RELEASE ". The the company said - "We've paid you money and gave you enough time to work on the game - you wasted money and time, so do whatever you want but game has to hit the shelves on 22nd of September or you are all fired".
Thats what I think is happening right now. SE FFXIV franchise had to rush the game into Open Beta stage being forced to do it. Game is badly unfinished, has crippled gameplay but it needs to be released on 22nd or else... Thats why game is in such pathetic state. It is being rushed and nobody seems to care that rushed game will receive very bad reviews and will end up having very few subscribers - mostly those who got Special Editions pre-ordered. I feel sorry to be honest for people who has their pre-orders.
I've got burnt once on pre-ordering based on a hyp and CGIs (Aion) and paid for a year of gameplay, then I've tried the game and very regreted about it. I am not going to repeat that mistake with FFXIV. Even though I am one of the biggest supporters and fans of Square Enix.
Originally posted by natuxatu It is very foolish to assume that I should have to play a boring game for a couple weeks to "get to the fun stuff." It would be very logical, one would think, to make a game fun right from the start. In fact it would make even more sense to make the start of the game one of the more exciting aspects since that is what draw people in. It's fair for people to judge the game after playing it only for an hour. It's SE fault if the first hour sucks. I think it says a lot more than saying "it gets better" which it probably does. But no one should be *forced* to play a game they don't like just to get to something "good." That's silly and it is not good game design.
There was this one game once, built thier starting zone so awesome it sucked tons, and I mean TONS of players into buying it out the gate. And then people left Tortage..... There is more to a game than the starting zone, first hour, hook. And if thats all everyone these days wants, well then maybe gaming companies shouldnt' bother making MMORPGs with year long subsrciptions in mind, but rather 2 week burn up content that 'catches' the player and is fun "from the start". Seriously though, most people on these very forums never plan on playing any game for more than 6 months anyway nowadays. So why are the gaming companies even bothering to try to make it worth more, and last longer. You all dont want that anyway right? You want instant fun, instant catch, instant evrything, and screw the long term commnunity and fun. Maybe I'm a dying breed, but I want a game that has the potential to beomce a strong, developed community that I can play in for YEARS and YEARS. I dont give a ratts ass about wether or not I ever hit an end-game let alone what content it contains. And I sure dont care about having my first 5 minutes in a game having to be 'exciting'. If I want exciting in 5 minutes I'll go hop in my kayak and catch some whitewater.
Usually first 15-20 levels of the game ISa hook. If first impression about the game is not good - most of the people move on. Thats just an obvious fact, thats why most of the devs try to at least polish thoseose first 15-20 levels for players so they can get hooked to the game and not HATE it after playing it just first 5-10 hours/.
What physical and class level(s) did you play through, and at what point did you cease to have fun?
A lot of MMOs are released unfinished usually and then devs just add more content as time goes by. BUT, they at least polish the game play for 20-30 first levels so that players at least have some kind of a hook to keep their interest.
FFXIV however it seems like devs said " We are sorry but we simply didn't have time to finish teh game - ITS NOT READY FOR RELEASE ". The the company said - "We've paid you money and gave you enough time to work on the game - you wasted money and time, so do whatever you want but game has to hit the shelves on 22nd of September or you are all fired".
Thats what I think is happening right now. SE FFXIV franchise had to rush the game into Open Beta stage being forced to do it. Game is badly unfinished, has crippled gameplay but it needs to be released on 22nd or else... Thats why game is in such pathetic state. It is being rushed and nobody seems to care that rushed game will receive very bad reviews and will end up having very few subscribers - mostly those who got Special Editions pre-ordered. I feel sorry to be honest for people who has their pre-orders.
I've got burnt once on pre-ordering based on a hyp and CGIs (Aion) and paid for a year of gameplay, then I've tried the game and very regreted about it. I am not going to repeat that mistake with FFXIV. Even though I am one of the biggest supporters and fans of Square Enix.
Now see everything you said up there is based on your own belief that the words I highlight in pink are all true. To you they may appear to be, and I will grant you that, but those statement are not true to everyone. A fact is only a fact if it holds true to everyone under all circumstances. And by definition, these pink statements are not facts, but mere conjecture based on your own opinion of what you believe this game to be.
Now that being said, I do hope you did not pre-order this game, not because I dont want you to play it, but because those pink statements exhibit some serious negativety between you and this game. And that can lead to nothing but more stress and angst on your end, which logically should be avoided. I am in full agreement than anyone who exhibits this much distress in advance of a particular games launch, should not be attempting to force themselves into playing it.
Oh and to clarify, I personally do not find this gamebadly unfinished or having crippled gameplay. I certainly do not believe it is in a pathetic state right now, or that SE has had to rush the game into either open beta or for thier planned release date. And although there are many people giving this game very bad reviews, I still believe this game will have plenty of subscribers directly after launch and for a while to come.
As you can tell, there is a difference in our opinions on this game. And I'm sure there are many more that differ from us both on this very topic. The key to remember about the opening post on this thread is what I highlighted in red. The intent wasn't to see how long you played this game, but at what point you ceased to have fun. The assumption was placed upfront that everyone wasn't having fun in this game. The statement alone tainted the thread with a slant towards those who dont like this game already. Truth is, not everyone has ceased to have fun already, some of us are still enjoying every minute of it, we are of course not the target of this thread as it was intended.
(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.)
I played up to about level 10, but I stopped having fun around level 8. The game just wasnt overly exciting to me for whatever reason. The levequests were nice, but not really varried, just go kill x of this, collect y of that, when you are done telleport back and go do the next one. If you run out you have to run all the ways back to town it seems to try to find more, or head to another zone, which I found fairly...boring.
The graphics and sound are top notch but after a while I just had no motivation to keep playing. I did not feel like I was really getting anywhere fun within the world, and to me it just felt like I was leveling just to level. Perhaps I am just growing tired of the same old game mechanics. For me as well there were no moments of "wow thats cool" or "man thats awesome". It was just more of nice graphics as I continued on doing the same thing on each character.
Originally posted by Xerith For me as well there were no moments of "wow thats cool" or "man thats awesome". It was just more of nice graphics as I continued on doing the same thing on each character.
I had one moment so far that fell into the "wow thats cool" and "man thats awesome". Four of us riding the ferry from Lim to Ul, we were all running around on the boat talking, joking, emoting, and then the thunderstorm started. Two minutes later all four of us were standing perfectly still at the front of the boat staring off in all directions practically mesmerized by the thunder crashes and lightning flashes. I must say, that storm on the open water was just incredible, although I'm sure my next door neighbor didnt appreciate the Bose at 2am on a weekday, but hey...thats just too damn bad right!
(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.)
Played until lvl 10 in my class which is about 5 or 6 levels past the point where I was figuring how much money I am going to save by not buying it. Overall graphics and environment scenery are nice but don't really stand out to me. Sound and music are also decent but nothing really any better than other MMO's out there. The character art pretty much turns me off on the whole, the human and hulk races are ok but the rest are so goofy looking they make me long for the flat, dull and emotionless character art of WoW. Combat feels dull, slow paced and way to obviouslu turn based-ish. Tried out the crafting and gathering mechanics, did not care for those either. I am definitely not fond the mechanics in place like Fatigue that in essence force certain playstlyes on the players. Real lack of content in the game so far it seems like and the limited amount of quests in the game--sorry levequests (why can't they just call them quests? lol)-- are the same old same old quest mechanics. Kill so many of this, gather so many of that. Can't say that the starting story quests in any of the three citiies were that impressive...waaay overkill on the cutscenes in proportion to the gameplay. I have a hard time believing that the other story arc quests really add that much more content to the game. Last, but not least...WAY TOO MENU-ATED, more of a turn off than I thought it would be.
So I know the game is definitely not for me and never will be.
A couple amusing items:
1) The lips moving on NPC's with no audio and text only is corny looking and just adds to the overall silly candy-corn tone I get from the game. I can't take the game seriously because of this and some of the corny character art.
2) If it wasn't for the Final Fantasy in the name I would be suprised that an Asian MMO is coming out that is not f2p :P If it were f2p I would almost consider playing it...or briefly playing it.
3) I didn't save 15% on my car insurance by pasing on FFXIV, but I id save $50.
Now I can go spend some money on the item shop in HoTK hehe.
I love this. Every crappy new release brings out the same cheerleaders. Any game needs to have a "hook" to get the players engaged right out of the gate. If it's not there, it's unfair and downright stupid to expect someone to want to keep playing in hopes that it will get better. That's optimistic, but not very reasonable. Square Enix's design decisions have turned people off and all the fannish apologists in the world won't change that.
The game is a console port which is dependant on PC players to continue to beta test it until it can finally be released on its target platform, that is providing it ever does. Now, where have I seen this before?
Amen, brother.
I mean, I can see why people get cranky and go into denial when a game they've been following for some time finally sees the light of day...and just plain sucks. I would be upset too, but people need to take a step back and realize that all they are doing is trying to convince themselves that the game they had such high hopes for fell flat...yet again.
I find this game confusing, because it needs at least a year more of development, and at the same time, plays like it should have released 7 years ago.
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
I love this. Every crappy new release brings out the same cheerleaders. Any game needs to have a "hook" to get the players engaged right out of the gate. If it's not there, it's unfair and downright stupid to expect someone to want to keep playing in hopes that it will get better. That's optimistic, but not very reasonable. Square Enix's design decisions have turned people off and all the fannish apologists in the world won't change that.
The game is a console port which is dependant on PC players to continue to beta test it until it can finally be released on its target platform, that is providing it ever does. Now, where have I seen this before?
I find this game confusing, because it needs at least a year more of development, and at the same time, plays like it should have released 7 years ago.
Based on what? The 1/10 of the game that you are actually given the chance to try out in OB? THIS IS A FINAL FANTASY GMAE FFS. JUST LIKE FFXI, MOST OF THE CONTENT AT LAUNCH WILL BE STORY DRIVEN!!
Welcome to beta This Open-Beta does not let you have access to the entire game
welcome to alpha. this game shouldn't have been released for another 6 months. its a shame to see SE fall flat on its face. they obviously made this for ps3.
an MMO should be engaging immediately and not when your at some level.
an MMO should offer multiple paths of progress and allow the character to change locations with ease.
an MMO should have a UI that is easy to use, self explanatory, and can be hidden when one wants to with a click (why do you think the ipod did so well?)
an MMO shouldnt put restrictions on anybody's form of gameplay.
an MMO should play smoothly in beta, since beta testing is usually fine tuning the overall gameplay experience and MINOR bugs.
an MMO shouldnt be supported on a promise, a promise that it will get better if 'they' do X Y and Z.
an MMO should be playable on most people's pc's.
an MMO should be released when most if not all the points above are in effect.
Welcome to beta This Open-Beta does not let you have access to the entire game
welcome to alpha. this game shouldn't have been released for another 6 months. its a shame to see SE fall flat on its face. they obviously made this for ps3.
an MMO should be engaging immediately and not when your at some level.
an MMO should offer multiple paths of progress and allow the character to change locations with ease.
an MMO should have a UI that is easy to use, self explanatory, and can be hidden when one wants to with a click (why do you think the ipod did so well?)
an MMO shouldnt put restrictions on anybody's form of gameplay.
an MMO should play smoothly in beta, since beta testing is usually fine tuning the overall gameplay experience and MINOR bugs.
an MMO shouldnt be supported on a promise, a promise that it will get better if 'they' do X Y and Z.
an MMO should be released when most if not all the points above are in effect.
an MMO should be playable on most people's pc's.
Thus ff14 is in the alpha stage.
The story line is engaging. The crafting is engaging. The problem is, what we are given, drys up quickly. Why? Because its Mother Fiking OB!
OH, btw, the system requirements for FFXIV are the new standard. Every game being relased in the next year is going to start to require you to have a 9k series GeForce graphic card because most games are going to be Dx10/Dx11. Welcome to the future, time to catch up. Hell, even WoW is uping their system requirements.
Welcome to beta This Open-Beta does not let you have access to the entire game
welcome to alpha. this game shouldn't have been released for another 6 months. its a shame to see SE fall flat on its face. they obviously made this for ps3.
an MMO should be engaging immediately and not when your at some level.
an MMO should offer multiple paths of progress and allow the character to change locations with ease.
an MMO should have a UI that is easy to use, self explanatory, and can be hidden when one wants to with a click (why do you think the ipod did so well?)
an MMO shouldnt put restrictions on anybody's form of gameplay.
an MMO should play smoothly in beta, since beta testing is usually fine tuning the overall gameplay experience and MINOR bugs.
an MMO shouldnt be supported on a promise, a promise that it will get better if 'they' do X Y and Z.
an MMO should be released when most if not all the points above are in effect.
an MMO should be playable on most people's pc's.
Thus ff14 is in the alpha stage.
The story line is engaging. The crafting is engaging. The problem is, what we are given, drys up quickly. Why? Because its Mother Fiking OB!
OH, btw, the system requirements for FFXIV are the new standard. Every game being relased in the next year is going to start to require you to have a 9k series GeForce graphic card because most games are going to be Dx10/Dx11. Welcome to the future, time to catch up. Hell, even WoW is uping their system requirements.
LOL, ask the VG people how well that worked out for them.
Perhaps SE should have made a better open beta then since you keep shouting about the lack of content.
I played LotRO's OB to level 15 and it gave me a real good idea what the game was like.
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
Comments
Based on his situation it sounds like 3 hours was enough to determine the game was not for him.
Thats fine, but that isn't what he has been going around saying. He determined that the game had 0 content based on 3 hours. Right here he said 'there is no content.' If he just said the game wasn't him that would make total sense and be reasonable.
Played for more than three hours. 3 days worth as a matter of fact.
There is no content.
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
Haha ok there is no content. You win the hate on FFXIV award. You sure showed all those fans.
Really, the odds are sorely against you. It's so funny to read people say "[GAME] is going to ROCK! YEA 1 MIL SUBSCRIBERS! Awesome so fun huge community YEA!" and watch every single game for the past few years flop like a pancake. I'm not saying you claim this, but we sure will show all those fans come 6 months down the road.
He who keeps his cool best wins.
What content was in closed beta that is not in open beta?
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
Nothing.
Let's flame me: I played to over lvl 20 in multiple classes, and I completely lost my faith in this crapgame when they anounced that the surplus system was not a bug, but intended. Actually there is no content questlike, and there is no content for groups. So what the hell did they think would be the fun part of the game? Grinding solo for several weeks to see a 30 minute video sequence? wtf?
Currently playing: EverQuest
Waiting for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen
Why do you keep asking that? In closed beta there was only Limsa Lominsa, the battle system was much slower, there were entire classes missing. In one phase they patched in multiple classes and large fixes in a matter of a couple days. From the end of CB to OB they added the other 2 cities and massive amounts of overworld. They have always had an internal version, and it was obviously tested because there were no bugs with that brand new content. We have no idea what else they have vs. what we have.
There are dungeons in the game. You know when you open the map and see all those landmarks. If you visit them you can find a number of things. There are a number of dungeons, NM's, and treasure in the dungeons. There will be plenty of content in the game before long, but yes at launch it will be a solid basic MMO.
So, more guildleave system stuff (shocker) and dungions you wont see untill you grind 1000 mobs.
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
Haha man you are wigging me out. What are you talking about and how did you derive this from my post? The dungeons start around level 6-10 depending on group size...
I would have interpreted the SE game release strategy as fixing bug and adding in new content myself. If you play at PC launch there will be a lot, if you wait till PS3 launch there will be even more.
It is very foolish to assume that I should have to play a boring game for a couple weeks to "get to the fun stuff." It would be very logical, one would think, to make a game fun right from the start. In fact it would make even more sense to make the start of the game one of the more exciting aspects since that is what draw people in.
It's fair for people to judge the game after playing it only for an hour. It's SE fault if the first hour sucks. I think it says a lot more than saying "it gets better" which it probably does. But no one should be *forced* to play a game they don't like just to get to something "good."
That's silly and it is not good game design.
There was this one game once, built thier starting zone so awesome it sucked tons, and I mean TONS of players into buying it out the gate. And then people left Tortage.....
There is more to a game than the starting zone, first hour, hook. And if thats all everyone these days wants, well then maybe gaming companies shouldnt' bother making MMORPGs with year long subsrciptions in mind, but rather 2 week burn up content that 'catches' the player and is fun "from the start". Seriously though, most people on these very forums never plan on playing any game for more than 6 months anyway nowadays. So why are the gaming companies even bothering to try to make it worth more, and last longer. You all dont want that anyway right? You want instant fun, instant catch, instant evrything, and screw the long term commnunity and fun.
Maybe I'm a dying breed, but I want a game that has the potential to beomce a strong, developed community that I can play in for YEARS and YEARS. I dont give a ratts ass about wether or not I ever hit an end-game let alone what content it contains. And I sure dont care about having my first 5 minutes in a game having to be 'exciting'. If I want exciting in 5 minutes I'll go hop in my kayak and catch some whitewater.
(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.)
A lot of MMOs are released unfinished usually and then devs just add more content as time goes by. BUT, they at least polish the game play for 20-30 first levels so that players at least have some kind of a hook to keep their interest.
FFXIV however it seems like devs said " We are sorry but we simply didn't have time to finish teh game - ITS NOT READY FOR RELEASE ". The the company said - "We've paid you money and gave you enough time to work on the game - you wasted money and time, so do whatever you want but game has to hit the shelves on 22nd of September or you are all fired".
Thats what I think is happening right now. SE FFXIV franchise had to rush the game into Open Beta stage being forced to do it. Game is badly unfinished, has crippled gameplay but it needs to be released on 22nd or else... Thats why game is in such pathetic state. It is being rushed and nobody seems to care that rushed game will receive very bad reviews and will end up having very few subscribers - mostly those who got Special Editions pre-ordered. I feel sorry to be honest for people who has their pre-orders.
I've got burnt once on pre-ordering based on a hyp and CGIs (Aion) and paid for a year of gameplay, then I've tried the game and very regreted about it. I am not going to repeat that mistake with FFXIV. Even though I am one of the biggest supporters and fans of Square Enix.
Usually first 15-20 levels of the game ISa hook. If first impression about the game is not good - most of the people move on. Thats just an obvious fact, thats why most of the devs try to at least polish thoseose first 15-20 levels for players so they can get hooked to the game and not HATE it after playing it just first 5-10 hours/.
THE STORYLINE MISSIONS ARE THE MEAT AND POTATOES OF THE GAME WHICH OPEN BETA DOESN'T REALLY OFFER.
Games:
Currently playing:Nothing
Will play: Darkfall: Unholy Wars
Past games:
Guild Wars 2 - Xpiher Duminous
Xpiher's GW2
GW 1 - Xpiher Duminous
Darkfall - Xpiher Duminous (NA) retired
AoC - Xpiher (Tyranny) retired
Warhammer - Xpiher
Now see everything you said up there is based on your own belief that the words I highlight in pink are all true. To you they may appear to be, and I will grant you that, but those statement are not true to everyone. A fact is only a fact if it holds true to everyone under all circumstances. And by definition, these pink statements are not facts, but mere conjecture based on your own opinion of what you believe this game to be.
Now that being said, I do hope you did not pre-order this game, not because I dont want you to play it, but because those pink statements exhibit some serious negativety between you and this game. And that can lead to nothing but more stress and angst on your end, which logically should be avoided. I am in full agreement than anyone who exhibits this much distress in advance of a particular games launch, should not be attempting to force themselves into playing it.
Oh and to clarify, I personally do not find this game badly unfinished or having crippled gameplay. I certainly do not believe it is in a pathetic state right now, or that SE has had to rush the game into either open beta or for thier planned release date. And although there are many people giving this game very bad reviews, I still believe this game will have plenty of subscribers directly after launch and for a while to come.
As you can tell, there is a difference in our opinions on this game. And I'm sure there are many more that differ from us both on this very topic. The key to remember about the opening post on this thread is what I highlighted in red. The intent wasn't to see how long you played this game, but at what point you ceased to have fun. The assumption was placed upfront that everyone wasn't having fun in this game. The statement alone tainted the thread with a slant towards those who dont like this game already. Truth is, not everyone has ceased to have fun already, some of us are still enjoying every minute of it, we are of course not the target of this thread as it was intended.
(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.)
I played up to about level 10, but I stopped having fun around level 8. The game just wasnt overly exciting to me for whatever reason. The levequests were nice, but not really varried, just go kill x of this, collect y of that, when you are done telleport back and go do the next one. If you run out you have to run all the ways back to town it seems to try to find more, or head to another zone, which I found fairly...boring.
The graphics and sound are top notch but after a while I just had no motivation to keep playing. I did not feel like I was really getting anywhere fun within the world, and to me it just felt like I was leveling just to level. Perhaps I am just growing tired of the same old game mechanics. For me as well there were no moments of "wow thats cool" or "man thats awesome". It was just more of nice graphics as I continued on doing the same thing on each character.
My Guild Wars 2 Vids
I had one moment so far that fell into the "wow thats cool" and "man thats awesome". Four of us riding the ferry from Lim to Ul, we were all running around on the boat talking, joking, emoting, and then the thunderstorm started. Two minutes later all four of us were standing perfectly still at the front of the boat staring off in all directions practically mesmerized by the thunder crashes and lightning flashes. I must say, that storm on the open water was just incredible, although I'm sure my next door neighbor didnt appreciate the Bose at 2am on a weekday, but hey...thats just too damn bad right!
(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.)
Played until lvl 10 in my class which is about 5 or 6 levels past the point where I was figuring how much money I am going to save by not buying it. Overall graphics and environment scenery are nice but don't really stand out to me. Sound and music are also decent but nothing really any better than other MMO's out there. The character art pretty much turns me off on the whole, the human and hulk races are ok but the rest are so goofy looking they make me long for the flat, dull and emotionless character art of WoW. Combat feels dull, slow paced and way to obviouslu turn based-ish. Tried out the crafting and gathering mechanics, did not care for those either. I am definitely not fond the mechanics in place like Fatigue that in essence force certain playstlyes on the players. Real lack of content in the game so far it seems like and the limited amount of quests in the game--sorry levequests (why can't they just call them quests? lol)-- are the same old same old quest mechanics. Kill so many of this, gather so many of that. Can't say that the starting story quests in any of the three citiies were that impressive...waaay overkill on the cutscenes in proportion to the gameplay. I have a hard time believing that the other story arc quests really add that much more content to the game. Last, but not least...WAY TOO MENU-ATED, more of a turn off than I thought it would be.
So I know the game is definitely not for me and never will be.
A couple amusing items:
1) The lips moving on NPC's with no audio and text only is corny looking and just adds to the overall silly candy-corn tone I get from the game. I can't take the game seriously because of this and some of the corny character art.
2) If it wasn't for the Final Fantasy in the name I would be suprised that an Asian MMO is coming out that is not f2p :P If it were f2p I would almost consider playing it...or briefly playing it.
3) I didn't save 15% on my car insurance by pasing on FFXIV, but I id save $50.
Now I can go spend some money on the item shop in HoTK hehe.
Amen, brother.
I mean, I can see why people get cranky and go into denial when a game they've been following for some time finally sees the light of day...and just plain sucks. I would be upset too, but people need to take a step back and realize that all they are doing is trying to convince themselves that the game they had such high hopes for fell flat...yet again.
I find this game confusing, because it needs at least a year more of development, and at the same time, plays like it should have released 7 years ago.
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
Based on what? The 1/10 of the game that you are actually given the chance to try out in OB? THIS IS A FINAL FANTASY GMAE FFS. JUST LIKE FFXI, MOST OF THE CONTENT AT LAUNCH WILL BE STORY DRIVEN!!
Games:
Currently playing:Nothing
Will play: Darkfall: Unholy Wars
Past games:
Guild Wars 2 - Xpiher Duminous
Xpiher's GW2
GW 1 - Xpiher Duminous
Darkfall - Xpiher Duminous (NA) retired
AoC - Xpiher (Tyranny) retired
Warhammer - Xpiher
welcome to alpha. this game shouldn't have been released for another 6 months. its a shame to see SE fall flat on its face. they obviously made this for ps3.
an MMO should be engaging immediately and not when your at some level.
an MMO should offer multiple paths of progress and allow the character to change locations with ease.
an MMO should have a UI that is easy to use, self explanatory, and can be hidden when one wants to with a click (why do you think the ipod did so well?)
an MMO shouldnt put restrictions on anybody's form of gameplay.
an MMO should play smoothly in beta, since beta testing is usually fine tuning the overall gameplay experience and MINOR bugs.
an MMO shouldnt be supported on a promise, a promise that it will get better if 'they' do X Y and Z.
an MMO should be playable on most people's pc's.
an MMO should be released when most if not all the points above are in effect.
Thus ff14 is in the alpha stage.
/theinhibitor/
The story line is engaging. The crafting is engaging. The problem is, what we are given, drys up quickly. Why? Because its Mother Fiking OB!
OH, btw, the system requirements for FFXIV are the new standard. Every game being relased in the next year is going to start to require you to have a 9k series GeForce graphic card because most games are going to be Dx10/Dx11. Welcome to the future, time to catch up. Hell, even WoW is uping their system requirements.
Games:
Currently playing:Nothing
Will play: Darkfall: Unholy Wars
Past games:
Guild Wars 2 - Xpiher Duminous
Xpiher's GW2
GW 1 - Xpiher Duminous
Darkfall - Xpiher Duminous (NA) retired
AoC - Xpiher (Tyranny) retired
Warhammer - Xpiher
LOL, ask the VG people how well that worked out for them.
Perhaps SE should have made a better open beta then since you keep shouting about the lack of content.
I played LotRO's OB to level 15 and it gave me a real good idea what the game was like.
"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