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the game director should be fired
ARGH69
Member Posts: 11
i will try to make this short. i am a former FFXI player. it was my first MMO and i will never forget it. it was fantastic. the aspects that made FFXI fun are completely removed from this game. i could be wrong in all of this because i only played the game through level 13 and rank 11 marauder. the game may change when you hit higher levels and hit more areas but from what i have seen i doubt it, unfortunately.
1] there is no auction house. in it's place is a small narrow market hub that is instanced which you have to teleport into from within the city. the rooms are jam packed with npc player mules. teleporting destroys the immersion factor as well. the absence of an auction house creates ecenomic chaos; items in bazaars are insanely priced high, you may have to click through hundreds of bazaars and spend literally hours upon hours running around towns talking to every npc to find what you looking for, npc markets are not labeled so an npc behind the counter of beans and green peppers may also be selling an axe or a weapon or a crafting tool.
2] regarding combat, the entire game is soloable from what i have seen with no emphasis on group play. you simply advance faster playing solo. this detracts from socializing. there is no need to talk or actively seek out other players to form parties with like in FFXI, thus there is no social aspect in the game. the dificulty of mobs that forced a 6-man party system was one of the greatest strengths of FFXI. this aspect is now gone and it feels like a single player game and not an mmo.
3] there is no death penalty and no risk vs. reward system in combat. there is no fear in the world and no sense of accomplishment because of this. if you venture far away from the camp / home point bind you can simply find a mob to kill you and warp back to home point with no penalty whatsoever instead of spending time running back. the only penalty is gear degregation and although that is a step forward it's still not better than losing some xp upon death to create challanges in the game and make the world come alive.
4] you can teleport to almost any location from any point in the game instantly and this alone destroys the immersion factor and the world building in the MMMO. the only trip required is the initial one to discover the new aetheryte crystal located within the city or camp and from there you can teleport to and from it. the feeling of accomplishment when you travel out to a party / leveling zone and make the journey back home after the fights in FFXI is gone.
5] the game forces you to play almost all classes and do almost all the crafting if you want to advance because there is better xp rewarded for crafting a piece of cloth than killing a random mob after your 8 quests are completed. players that do not care about or have time to carft and play more than one class will be getting the shaft. a "warrior" that enjoys using a great axe and dealing damage and tanking is forced to level up other classes like pugilist to gain taunt ability. this ability is naturally reserved for a warrior / tank. you cannot stick with one class and sub class to be viable like in FFXI. this simply promotes more grinding and constantly re-visiting low level areas doing the same quests you did before.
6] they changed the game for the sake of change instead of building upon FFXI's direction. gone are WAR, RDM, WHM, BLK, monk and bard support classes. an axe wielding warrior is now called a maurader. a monk is now called a pugilist. there is no dedicated white mage healer or black mage damage dealer. the world is new and has worse names than it's predecessor. bastok is now called ul'dah and sports a new layout. windurst is now called gridania and sports a new layout. gone is sandoria and replaced with a stupid pirate-themed island-based city called limsa lominsa. they obviously kept the "every final fantasy is a new final fnatasy" mentality from their single player console games and incorporated into FFXIV when they should have kept the world of vanadiel and build upon it with this new graphics engine.
7] the world design is poor. every thing is a very narrow passage, everything. all the small caves i been to are the exact same layout. the small ponds scattered throughout are the exact same layout. i have not seen one area that is larger than FFXI. obviously they did this to help the console version sustain a high enough frame rate because narrow passages hide geometry behind them so the gpu does not have to render additional things. the inability to once again not be allowed to jump further amplifies the "narrow passage" problem. if you could simply perform a small jump you get over that small hump and not feel so enclosed in the world. i don't care for jumping in this game and it is not needed but i do not see any way around the narrow passage problem without re-building the world OR if the higher end zones do in fact open up.
the design of this game was simply to change it all up and make it better. they chaged it all up alright but they did not make anything better besides the graphics. i have no idea how this game is going to survive once the reviews start comming in. hardcore FFXI players will feel left out and alienated. the new mmo crowd which this game is designed for, the ones that want quick rewards and to solo, are going to get frusterated with the UI and the extremely limited freedom of character movement. as it stands now if they re-skinned FFXI with this new graphics engine and re-released it for the PC market it would be a far superior game than what FFXIV is turning out to be.
i do have the thirst to continue playing because i have a hope that all this negativity will be alievated once i get passed the starter zones and see the game in more detail. i just have the feeling that the 7 negatives i outlined are going to destroy the game.
Comments
so people should be fired every time a game is released that you don't approve of? If they don't cater to each and every one of your specific demands in a game, they have obviously failed?
Get over yourself. You're not 6 years old any more, it's time to stop acting like it. If you don't likea game, go find one that you do like. Is it really that hard?
Actually, I think they should have been fired. Who knows, if it were someoene else leading the ffxiv project we might have something that actually passes for an MMO in 2010. Honestly, this game couldent be much worse.
To me the game seems poor if you just do random missions or quests it seems like A/O to me anarchy online but it makes sense to go to low level areas to lvl other classes to gain their skills because emagine if your maxed out in lvls the you wont be able to lvl other classes. One thing I liked about ffxi was the grouping ive never had more fun in any other mmo as far as grouping gows so i think they really need to balance the game as far as that goes.
Short!? I'd hate to see a average or long thesis from you then.
This is not FFXI, and this is quite possibly your fathers MMO. UO, MUD's, EQ.
It's not conventional, it's not meek either.
I have decided that what Square has done is something different than other staples of the genre. It doesn't make it bad. They have a lot of "mini-game" challenges. A lot of complex crafting and combat choices. Give it time to develop your character.
You mention frustration at being forced to multi-class. I think most folks are excited to have this feature. Who said you could not be a 50 MRD and nothing else? You seem to oppose your points one saying you can solo through FF14 and one saying you can't be one class to succeed. What's your definition of game success? Stay full MRD and group, what's wrong with that?
Instant travel is a nice feature - unless you receive a teleport from friend you still must first visit the location by foot. Same as most other games, so what's your gripe? Not sure what you mean about no death penalty either - gear damage isn't a penalty? Wait till the repair requirements get scary, I bet they will. Still, I'd take gear repair over XP hit.
Grouping isn't done at early levels in most games these days, but I have see lots of folks sharing leves. The lack of global chat is a bummer, I think their point is to encourage LS. If I can't find a good one I may just join a general community LS that folks use as a general chat.
I recommend against comparing this to other games in this genre anymore - it shouldn't be considered an apple in an apple barrel. The game has flaws, it has beauty and complexity too. It is a MMORPG at it's core.
There are things I do not like, market wards is a big hit to gameplay. The new player experience is too rough. With a game like this they really needed to think more about how they introduce it to players.
Most folks have no idea what to do next - it's not just the quest scanners affected but anyone. So yes, UX issues, UI issues and new player usability are big hits. So much it will likely affect NA numbers post 30 days.
I don't want to go point vs. point with your post. There is little chance soloing will be fully viable past the solo leve content and travel paths. Step into a dungeon yet?
Don't know there are things about this game, I just can't tell yet. For now accepting it as something different. Here is a thought, you ever go out with a current girlfriend and say "you know, my last girlfriend did this..." How did the rest of the evening go? (moral is accept the current girl for herself or stop dating, go back to old one or find another)
Well now mine is nearing yours in text.
Anyhow, ultimately the director does not have to be fired. Perhaps you need to wait for something else to release, as unfortunate as that is.
Everything you said (talking to OP) has been well described during the Beta. All these things were well known and yet you bought the game. Where were you during the beta ? Did'nt you read the forums ? I mean we all knew the game was going to be an utter pile of crap. Or did you believe in the magic patch at launch ? Sorry you waste 70$ on this but i have no sympathy for you, you did'nt do your homework before buying... like many other in fact. Personnally all i had to do to make myself an opinion of this game was to read the forum and watch a few gameplay videos on youtube, save me 70$.
OP is wrong on 6 out of 7 negatives though.
The only thing i partially agree with is lack of AH and buying and selling can be time consuming. But atleast you get free retainers so selling is easier compared to buying.
Instant teleportation relies on anima which is very slow to generate. 1 anima in 4 hours. So if you run out of it pretty fast because you are using to teleport it everywhere than yes you have to walk around a lot. In my opinion its a good thing as it makes you think and save your anima for emergency teleportation only. So i diagree that anyone can teleport anywhere as much as they like.
This game is solo friendly but real rewards come from group/team play. Once you finish your 8 leves for a day you have option to help others with their daily leves. There are three cities and you can help your friends and linkshell members across three cities. That is lot of team play IF you have any intention to do it. SE does not force you into grouping. Choice is yours. Either help friends with hard leves or solo grind mobs.
Crafting is designed in away that you don't have to level up all 8 crafting skills on one player. So this statement is false that SE forces you to level up all 8 crafting classes. What SE does is infact give you a choice once again. Either invest lots of time in becoming jack of all trades or rely on others for crafting materials. This once again encourages team play.
The lack of death penalty, lack of generic / typical MMO classes and poor world design is all matter of taste. But i had to correct you on above points since you certainly had your information wrong.
FFXIV encourages team play but does not force it onto you.
90% of haters are begging for love. 10% just want a little attention -- Paulo Coelho
*LeveQuest accepted*
- Objective: Try to make this post short.
- Duration: 30 minutes
*Status*
- Failed. Try again in 48 hours.
*Conclusion*
- Game sucks. Come back in half a year.
I love how people think that since they dont like a game its going to fail...im on one of the lowest populated servers and there are plenty of people having lots of fun with the game..there are problems..but this is one of the best launches i have played for an mmo..im sure it will get better and many more people will come with the regular release still not here.
hahaha, i think you said enough when you say you failed a levequest. I have never failed one..its pretty hard to do so.
Short version, the expectations of the original poster that were not met:
Requires an auction house.
Requires group-dependency even at lower levels.
Requires a stiffer death penalty.
Requires mandatory travel time.
Requires less rewards for diversifying class play.
Requires a similar naming structure to FFXI.
Requires more open spaces.
So, in short, the original poster expected Final Fantasy XIV to be Final Fantasy XI 2.
The trouble with that is, from Square-Enix's perspective, they're not done developing Final Fantasy XI, and if you want more FInal Fantasy XI you can just keep playing it. It's a bit of misnoemer, true, but you can see the same thing going on in EverQuest versus EverQuest 2 where the sequal played prety much in a completely direction than the original.
In the case of MMORPG development, when a sequal is created, it's usually intended to capture a different audience in hopes of not depleting the audience for the original game. Final Fantasy XIV is being developed to be considerably more casual-friendly - with the exception of the "auction house," each of these things you've pointed out do just that. (Even the narrow passages are there to prevent people from getting lost as easily.)
Now you know: the game director has done what was asked of him, and nothing less.
Personally, I still think Final Fantasy XIV is pretty hardcore at least in respects to the crafting system, on the grounds that assembling the necessary components can be difficult and failure for resolving crafting can come unexpectedly with brutal consequences. Also, I think they've got their eye on many of the things you're complaining about and are looking to improve them, so perhaps there's hope for you yet.
I also think that trying to cater to casual gamers is a stupid move, that the idea World of Warcraft's success had to do with casual-friendliness is a wholly wrong impression - it was casual accessible, not casual dumbed down, there's a difference, and WoW becomes almost as hardcore as any other MMORPG in the end game, leading to the conclusion that MMORPGs which go casual dumbed-down route are just sabotaging themselves - but that's a giant can of worms that would involve armchair developer spiel and one I'm not entirely sure applies to FFXIV when I see stuff like crafting.
I agree with everything the op stated.As to expecting FFXIV to be FFXI 2 ,i guess i fall in the same boat,i expected Square to keep the great ideas and make FFXIV better,because there was still a hell of a lot of room for improvement.
The other thing is that FFXIV DOES try to mimmick FFXi completely,but if people follow what the op has written,they failed at doing so.Tanka himself said this game was suppose to be another FFXI,he wanted the transition of FFXI players to be a smooth one that they would recognize the new game ffxiv.I mean it really should be super obvious when looking at the original classes that they were making FFXI 2,not really FFXIV.Anyone that has played FFXII can easily see how FFXIV layout of cities is pretty much the exact same looks/vendors.The graphics look identical,FFXIV is not high end graphics they are still DX9c just like Vanguard ,they are not DX 10+.Many of the textures especially the ground and floor tiels are still low resolution textures,so they did not go far enough when comes to quality.I had hi resolution textures for the floors playing Unreal Tournament 99.
All Square did was look at the highest pop game>>Wow and copy that high reward quest system,calling them Leves is comical because the yare nothing more than just simple quests.The biggest difference i see in the quest system is how much MORE effort went into FFXI's quest sytem with the rank/fame system put in place,this game is just a lazy layout.The problem with copying Wow's quest system,they have to limit the Leve's or esle they also need to copy WOW's end game,because everyone will be at end game too fast,and i doubt end game has even been finished yet for FFXIV.
I do not buy into the FFXI is still being developed,Sqaure has run out of ideas and is making horrible mini xpacs,that are not worthy of paying for.
IMO Square Enix has taken a totally different development approach since TOAU,and none of it is worthy of AAA effort.
As to all of what the op said being personal,NO it is not,they are ideas that are just bad , no way i would believe Square took any feedback on it what so ever that encouraged any of it.I said it long before that Tanaka is listening to a VERY small core of people,i don't know it if it is internal,his wife,kids i obviously don't know,but production by Tanaka has changed ten fold from the old days.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
hmm not really i was killing mobs today with 5 other ppl. lvl-25-Area. there is just no other way to describe this game as awesome.
So you were killing lvl 25 mobs 4 days into the CE launch when there is 0 end game. Lets see how you feel about this game when u have nothing to do waiting for SE to finish this game.
All we can hope for is that SE comes out with the patch to complete this game faster then NCSoft did with Aion. I mean don't get me wrong the core of this game is pretty damn good but for a 2010 MMO there are just some basic concepts that i feel are just missing. Its like SE wanted to be so Original they took all the GOOD ideas from other mmo's and replaced them with a shitty or no system of their own. I mean what mmo launches without a MAILING SYSTEM.
I mean you can say it was for RTM but if they were so worried about RTM why didnt they add any type of bot protection to the game or anything to hinder the making of bots for FFXIV.
Yes i know this game will never be a Blockbuster hit and people probably like that cause it will make a better community but that does not mean there should be just basic features that are just not there.
Also yes i know they will probably patch in a mailing system and other fixes, but with as much hard work they put into the graphics it seems they did not put much work into much else to be honest. and I for one would rather worse graphics and have a game that feels complete and does not just seem lacking in every aspect. I mean its not that hard to make a mailing system.
If the Dev's don't strongly enourage (aka force) you to seek out groups, then its not really a grouping game which is a shame since it was one of the last great hopes for the genre in this area.
But perhaps the upper level content will require more grouping.
"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
What I dont undertand is why are people buying this game with nonthing but negative comments about it everywhere? This game is more fail than War, Aion and Aoc ever was.
So you have actually gotten to endgame to know this? Wow you must be more of a FF fanboy than most people to play it enough to be at endgame already.
"Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game."-Guybrush Threepwood
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."-Hunter S. Thompson
I will admit i bought this game cause I have played every FF and I did not honestly expect SE to release such a unfinished game.
Some people are having fun, but that does not mean the game is unfinished.
Which is why i will prob just causally play and then turn off my account till the PS3 release and hope its @least a completed game.
ehm basically you can get quests (not guild quests) that involve killing certain mob in an "instance"type battle. yep Behest it was called. drops some nice stuff. besides that getting my levels up starting story quests. doing random stuff and exping. hopfully will get 30 next week so we can start battlefields against higher-level-mobs. yep pretty much to do.
inb4: lurk moar ffxiv!
Nah I just have reading comprehension skills.
Right because there are allot of people at endgame already; since the game has only been out for five days. What you probably read was all the people complaining about there not being an endgame in Beta, and that is because SE did not put the whole game in Beta.
"Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game."-Guybrush Threepwood
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."-Hunter S. Thompson
Out of curiosity, what did they add?
I'm guessing because there really hasn't been much else new released this year so they're willing to give it a shot.
"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
Mighty selective perception you have there.
The only negative comments I've seen are the typical ones I'd see behind any game's release, e.g:
This game didn't live up to everything the marketing department said it would be. I don't understand. Marketing departments would never exaggerate anything, would they?
My computer has compatibility problems. I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be impossible in any capably designed game.
This game plays differently than I imagined it would or experienced it have in the games I'm already bored of and complained needed to innovate. Must be a bad design.
I feel it is significant to indicate that you can, in fact, find flaws in this thing wrought by human hands. Knowing that MMORPGs tend to improve over time, I'm going to complain very loudy on this forum the developers don't read in hopes that they thing they are probably even more aware of than I am will be fixed faster.
I don't really hate this game and/or it's not doing that badly, but seeing how it's a new release and all, I bet I can get a lot of attention for saying otherwise.
Can't say I sympathise with any of those.
Do allow me to assist.
1. FFXI was launched with no auction house either. You wouldn't really know that unless you played the JP version. SE is doing this to keep the prices fluctuating until they create the type of auction house they want. In the mean time you could be proactive, and go to ffxivorigin's marketplace and use their facility.
2. The game is solo friendly, meaning you can group up and take on higher level stuff if you want. My ls mates and I are doing this regularly and skilling up is a breeze and fun, because you know. Socializing is good.
3. Your crap breaks when you die. Then, you have to pay to get it fixed or find someone to fix it for you. Kind of like WoW, the game so many of you guys seem to enjoy so much. Except for the "Find someone to fix it for you part."
4. You can tele yes. You will run out of anima, and right now I think it takes 4 hours for 1 anima to regen. You keep teleporting everywhere, you will be hoofing it in no time.
5. You must not have really played FFXI, because I'm sure that there were these things called subjobs that you had to level. Also, I've been a pug this entire time. I have yet to have to go into another class to get things. Plus, if you want another taunt, just level it up, get the taunt, then go back to your whatever other class. In any case, marauder, which you are talking about, is a dps class. Why would they have a taunt? Should a caster or a ranger have a taunt? Don't be silly. Get the taunt from levelling a pug or a Gladiator if you want that, then go back to marauder. Then bam, you have your 2h axe wielding, butt kicking tank wanna be.
6. If you really wanted FFXI-2, well, sorry. This is FFXIV kiddo, they can do what they want with their game. Also, it's 4 days into it, how about you,oh, I dunno, wait until stuff is released? There isn't really any endgame either for those people who are used to rushing to the end of something so they can open their mouth and complain about the fact that there's nothing there 2 weeks after release.
Here's the deal. I'm an ex FFXI player too. 6 years in it, as a matter of fact. I do believe it is going to be excellent. Call me a fangirl, give a crap, I do not. If you go into something looking for the worst of the worst, it will present itself to you. IF you were in beta and played the game, you KNOW what was coming.
Granted, everyone is entitled to their opinions, so I will leave you with yours. However, if you are too busy being angry that it's not hardcore this and hardcore that, and omg where's the penalty and omg where's the FFXI in FFXIV then you should probably just not play. Or, give it a little while and let them actually release things. FFXI was not awesome in a day.
MMO's make up 90% of the grey hair in my head.
lol those are the only negative comments you have seen? You must not read that often for having such reading comprehension. This game will likely be just fine in a few months, however right now it would be rediculous to say otherwise. Eventually these people will come off their high and see.