Video gaming, whether you like it or not, are like a business. I don't know if you've ever worked retail before but when you try to get a customer you have literally, at least at the places I've worked at, around 1 minute and 30 seconds to captivate them. If you miss the window of oppurtunity or fail to reapproach after rejection, you've lost your sale.
A video game is pretty damn similar, for those of us who don't read reviews (such as myself) we do it the old school style: play it at a friend's house.
If my friend has the game, chances are he's gonna be biased as living hell and start screaming "BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT" (I know I've done that for multiple games before and convinced people to do it). However, there have been times where I have failed to convince, and failed to enjoy a game within the first 15 minutes. For each individual, the window of oppurtunity is different but it is DEFINITELY not greater than one hour.
I don't like how most nerds and gamers believe video games need to "warm you up" for you to enjoy them. FFXIV, on first impression, is garbage. The downloader is broken, the mouse is unresponsive, there is no direction or tutorial at all, the controls are completely different from the standard MMO scheme. I adapted quite easily because I grew up with FFXI, but what about the average player? I bet you every cent in your savings that if I were to get a WoW player (the BIGGEST customer MMO base to make $ off from, or even a console player, despite the controls) to play the open beta via whatever control scheme they lke that they would not buy the game.
You have a niche group of players (ie. fan base) that will buy the game, then there is even a SMALLER group of players that somehow enjoyed the unaccessibility (or difficulty as people like to call it) of the game so um....lol
The point is, a good game will captivate you within the first 30 minutes and make you want more (WoW, Modern Warfare 2, StarCraft 2, Killzone 2, League of Legends, and many others), and bad games...such as FFXI, FFXIV and Aion (even though I enjoy Aion) will immediately turn off the majority of the playerbase. Yes, I understand FFXI has a 500k sub base, but that does not mean it is good in anyway shape or form. Try to toss a new player into XI and don't hold his hand, see how long they last before they quit.
GG
That sure is a lot of spam for when you could have just said, "first impressions matter." Yeah, I know that, thanks for trying to save face by changing the subject from "what a quality review is about" to "if this game doesn't please me in 5 minutes, there's something wrong with it."
That's true, but you're screwing up the use of the rule. What you don't seem to realize here is your opinion of the first impression of Final Fantasy XIV is subjective. If I were to play a lot of the games you put on that list, my first impressions of many those games you listed will be that they're boring and derivative, and I would not want to play them, because I've seen those tried-and-true interfaces a million times before, and bored of those games.
Consequently, I find Final Fantasy XIV's first impressions to be good, and it may surprise you to learn that the obtuseness is part of the appeal. In the end, Final Fantasy XIV's first impressions suit the niche is it built for.
Now, theoretically, lets say they did do want you're asking for. It wouldn't work, and this is why: even if they made an interface that would suit the first impression expections of your niche,it would be a lie, because the rest of the game isn't like that. If they were to accomidate you, you'd start complaining about the other parts of the game that weren't built for your niche. You'd keep doing that about every little part of the game until, suddenly, it's the game you already know and no longer the the game I want to play.
I cannot support that scenario. You might not have noticed this, but we've already got tons of those kinds of games. I don't want Final Fantasy XIV to be another one, so kindly stop asking they make Final Fantasy XIV into one. Either learn to exhibit the necessary effort to savor something new, or go back to playing the clones you deserve.
Sound arrogant and elitist to you? I bet it does, but that's a misguided resentment, as a more fair judgement upon your lack of interest in trying something different could not be more rightfully delivered. We live in a world in which the creativity of the mainstream video game industry has been nearly completely destroyed to accomodate people who have no tolerance for creativity. I'll be damned before I support yet another game falling to this mindset just because you can point out they can more filthy lucre if they did. (Besides, judging by how many have tried emulating of World of Warcraft only to have it blow up in their face, that easy formula of success via emulating what works you're so proud of is becoming more and more evidentally a dud.)
Some of your numbers don't make sense. To put a 0/10 on controls/interface is to say that there weren't any there. Also, your overal enjoyability should be the mean average of all your other ratings.
I also think you had this all planned out to give FFXIV a bad rating from the start. If you're going to give a review, you need to be completely on the fence about it and not lean to either side.
As a reviewer, you would try out a product from the stance of someone objective and by the time you've formed an opinion on the game, you are subjective. That's basically the definition of reviewing something; on objective review is an oxymoron.
Actually, as a reviewer, you'd want to play the finished game for a considerable amount of time before you even think of scoring it.
Considering that:
You haven't played the finished game, we just detremined this beta client is only 63% the size of the retail client, at minimum.
You probalby didn't play the game very long because you turned your nose up at the interface and bolted before you could adapt to it.
You are no authority on what a good review is.
I don't like how most nerds and gamers believe video games need to "warm you up" for you to enjoy them. FFXIV, on first impression, is garbage. The downloader is broken, the mouse is unresponsive, there is no direction or tutorial at all, the controls are completely different from the standard MMO scheme. I adapted quite easily because I grew up with FFXI, but what about the average player? I bet you every cent in your savings that if I were to get a WoW player (the BIGGEST customer MMO base to make $ off from, or even a console player, despite the controls) to play the open beta via whatever control scheme they lke that they would not buy the game.
To expand:
An unintuitive control scheme that the game itself doesn't bother to guide its users through does NOT mean only intelligent players can figure it out. It has nothing to do with intelligence, and everything to do with patience. It is NOT something that's rewarding to finally learn and THEN be able to enjoy the game. It's an artificial, unnecessary barrier standing in between the gamer and the game until the player can finally master it. If you have to spend even any extensive time looking at your keyboard instead of your monitor, or if you have to stop and think "which key would open the main menu? this one?" or if you notice your mouse over and over again due to lag, then the game is failing right at that moment. It temporarily separates the player from the game world and brings him back to the real world sitting at his computer. Many computer games nowadays implement the same control schemes (Ie. Esc key = main menu), not because they are trying to clone each other and be unoriginal (that applies to content and gameplay), but because the primary goal of a control scheme should be to make the player notice the controls as little as possible. The faster the player can start playing the game without puzzling out what buttons do what, the better.
Concerning the business aspect of it. Fans of the game may love moments when they can say, "Well if you can't handle the controls of this game, good, don't play. We've just weeded out another noob." But companys definitely do not want to needlessly push away more customers for such silly reasons as controls. It's an absolute atrocity that, with modern technology, SE has managed to effectively alienate what looks like thousands of potential subscribers with something as simple as poor UI and control schemes.
FFXIV isn't designed for NA/EU mainstream players.
FFXIV is designed for FFXI players and the Japanese Console market. Unlike every mmo released since WoW, FFXIV decided to focus on its core demographic. The producer of FFXIV has, on numerous occasions, said that they want FF players who've never tried an mmo, to try FFXIV. So, their prospective playerbase is the world wide FF players.
For these people, the controller is the ui device of choice. It is also how japanese players play mmos. For NA/EU players completely lost at how noob unfriendly the game is, well, it wasn't designed for you.
YEs, FFXIV would love to go mainstream, but they know that mainstream is just icing on the cake. IT WAS NEVER DESIGNED for the mainstream. SE decided to go for a niche game, specifically, they decided to be a FFXI sequel.
Just like a Disney movie is primarily marketed at kids, should people go protesting in the streets because the move didn't contain mature/adult content?
Why are people complaining about the "horrible" UI and how SE never learns from the last 10 years of MMO innovation, when it's obvious that people like you were never their target.
FFXIV is exactly what it is, SE will not be changing their mind. Their biggest and MOST LOYALfanbase has no issues with the current ui and controller scheme. FFXIV was made possible by the 500k+ players who played FFXI. FFXIV is designed for them, not the people that didn't give FFXI the time of day.
FFXIV isn't designed for NA/EU mainstream players.
FFXIV is designed for FFXI players and the Japanese Console market. Unlike every mmo released since WoW, FFXIV decided to focus on its core demographic. The producer of FFXIV has, on numerous occasions, said that they want FF players who've never tried an mmo, to try FFXIV. So, their prospective playerbase is the world wide FF players.
For these people, the controller is the ui device of choice. It is also how japanese players play mmos. For NA/EU players completely lost at how noob unfriendly the game is, well, it wasn't designed for you.
YEs, FFXIV would love to go mainstream, but they know that mainstream is just icing on the cake. IT WAS NEVER DESIGNED for the mainstream. SE decided to go for a niche game, specifically, they decided to be a FFXI sequel.
Just like a Disney movie is primarily marketed at kids, should people go protesting in the streets because the move didn't contain mature/adult content?
Why are people complaining about the "horrible" UI and how SE never learns from the last 10 years of MMO innovation, when it's obvious that people like you were never their target.
FFXIV is exactly what it is, SE will not be changing their mind. Their biggest and MOST LOYALfanbase has no issues with the current ui and controller scheme. FFXIV was made possible by the 500k+ players who played FFXI. FFXIV is designed for them, not the people that didn't give FFXI the time of day.
I'd agree with what you said here if it weren't for the thousands of people who played FFXI with keyboard and mouse, the thousands that play FFXIV with keyboard and mouse, and SE's stated dedication to implementing a fully functional hardware mouse to cater to that playstyle.
Also the game "caters" to millions of Final Fantasy fans around the world, and a good deal of people who enjoy more classic MMO design styles. I know I had little trouble convincing many old EQ fans of this games potential.
Comments
That sure is a lot of spam for when you could have just said, "first impressions matter." Yeah, I know that, thanks for trying to save face by changing the subject from "what a quality review is about" to "if this game doesn't please me in 5 minutes, there's something wrong with it."
That's true, but you're screwing up the use of the rule. What you don't seem to realize here is your opinion of the first impression of Final Fantasy XIV is subjective. If I were to play a lot of the games you put on that list, my first impressions of many those games you listed will be that they're boring and derivative, and I would not want to play them, because I've seen those tried-and-true interfaces a million times before, and bored of those games.
Consequently, I find Final Fantasy XIV's first impressions to be good, and it may surprise you to learn that the obtuseness is part of the appeal. In the end, Final Fantasy XIV's first impressions suit the niche is it built for.
Now, theoretically, lets say they did do want you're asking for. It wouldn't work, and this is why: even if they made an interface that would suit the first impression expections of your niche, it would be a lie, because the rest of the game isn't like that. If they were to accomidate you, you'd start complaining about the other parts of the game that weren't built for your niche. You'd keep doing that about every little part of the game until, suddenly, it's the game you already know and no longer the the game I want to play.
I cannot support that scenario. You might not have noticed this, but we've already got tons of those kinds of games. I don't want Final Fantasy XIV to be another one, so kindly stop asking they make Final Fantasy XIV into one. Either learn to exhibit the necessary effort to savor something new, or go back to playing the clones you deserve.
Sound arrogant and elitist to you? I bet it does, but that's a misguided resentment, as a more fair judgement upon your lack of interest in trying something different could not be more rightfully delivered. We live in a world in which the creativity of the mainstream video game industry has been nearly completely destroyed to accomodate people who have no tolerance for creativity. I'll be damned before I support yet another game falling to this mindset just because you can point out they can more filthy lucre if they did. (Besides, judging by how many have tried emulating of World of Warcraft only to have it blow up in their face, that easy formula of success via emulating what works you're so proud of is becoming more and more evidentally a dud.)
To expand:
An unintuitive control scheme that the game itself doesn't bother to guide its users through does NOT mean only intelligent players can figure it out. It has nothing to do with intelligence, and everything to do with patience. It is NOT something that's rewarding to finally learn and THEN be able to enjoy the game. It's an artificial, unnecessary barrier standing in between the gamer and the game until the player can finally master it. If you have to spend even any extensive time looking at your keyboard instead of your monitor, or if you have to stop and think "which key would open the main menu? this one?" or if you notice your mouse over and over again due to lag, then the game is failing right at that moment. It temporarily separates the player from the game world and brings him back to the real world sitting at his computer. Many computer games nowadays implement the same control schemes (Ie. Esc key = main menu), not because they are trying to clone each other and be unoriginal (that applies to content and gameplay), but because the primary goal of a control scheme should be to make the player notice the controls as little as possible. The faster the player can start playing the game without puzzling out what buttons do what, the better.
Concerning the business aspect of it. Fans of the game may love moments when they can say, "Well if you can't handle the controls of this game, good, don't play. We've just weeded out another noob." But companys definitely do not want to needlessly push away more customers for such silly reasons as controls. It's an absolute atrocity that, with modern technology, SE has managed to effectively alienate what looks like thousands of potential subscribers with something as simple as poor UI and control schemes.
FFXIV isn't designed for NA/EU mainstream players.
FFXIV is designed for FFXI players and the Japanese Console market. Unlike every mmo released since WoW, FFXIV decided to focus on its core demographic. The producer of FFXIV has, on numerous occasions, said that they want FF players who've never tried an mmo, to try FFXIV. So, their prospective playerbase is the world wide FF players.
For these people, the controller is the ui device of choice. It is also how japanese players play mmos. For NA/EU players completely lost at how noob unfriendly the game is, well, it wasn't designed for you.
YEs, FFXIV would love to go mainstream, but they know that mainstream is just icing on the cake. IT WAS NEVER DESIGNED for the mainstream. SE decided to go for a niche game, specifically, they decided to be a FFXI sequel.
Just like a Disney movie is primarily marketed at kids, should people go protesting in the streets because the move didn't contain mature/adult content?
Why are people complaining about the "horrible" UI and how SE never learns from the last 10 years of MMO innovation, when it's obvious that people like you were never their target.
FFXIV is exactly what it is, SE will not be changing their mind. Their biggest and MOST LOYALfanbase has no issues with the current ui and controller scheme. FFXIV was made possible by the 500k+ players who played FFXI. FFXIV is designed for them, not the people that didn't give FFXI the time of day.
I'd agree with what you said here if it weren't for the thousands of people who played FFXI with keyboard and mouse, the thousands that play FFXIV with keyboard and mouse, and SE's stated dedication to implementing a fully functional hardware mouse to cater to that playstyle.
Also the game "caters" to millions of Final Fantasy fans around the world, and a good deal of people who enjoy more classic MMO design styles. I know I had little trouble convincing many old EQ fans of this games potential.
http://xivpads.com/?1595680
http://guildwork.com/users/murugan