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Final Fantasy XIV: New Roadmap Details Significant Changes Incoming
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Square Enix President and CEO, Yoichi Wada has written an overview for a comprehensive series of articles detailing the future of Final Fantasy XIV. The downloadable articles feature a peek ahead at art, system and content changes coming down the road in the next year as well as solidifies the team's determination to see the PS3 version of the game go live, with combined service being the hallmark of 2.0 in late 2012.
Wada discusses several topics of interest to FFXIV fans and players:
The PS3 version is still on the table and will be realized before the end of 2012 while the team is simultaneously "rebuilding while continuing current operations. The team will be implementing regular patches and updates.
Repetitive maps will be overhauled, a new graphics engine will be put in place, the UI will be reworked and a new server system will be installed.
The team will be actively working to rebuild the FFXIV community.
Significantly, the first document details the changes and achievements that the team has made over the past year. It's an impressive look back.
Wada also reveals Square Enix's plan to end the "unbilled period" in November and that the paid subscription revenue model will return. Following the results of the development and operations teams’ efforts, together with the release of the overall plans for the game’s future, we will bring the unbilled period to a close between late November and early December of 2011, and thereafter introduce our subscription-based billing system. Further details will be sent to the email address players submitted at the time of their FINAL FANTASY XIV account registration, and will also be posted on the Lodestone at a future date.
There is an INCREDIBLE amount of information provided by the FFXIV team. Fans of the title will definitely want to check out all of the material presented by Wada as well as the October Producer's Letter to find out what exactly the team has in mind and how significantly the game has changed and will continue to change over the next year.
Read Wada's letter (and grab the document download/view links) and the Producer's Letter on the Final Fantasy XIV site.
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Comments
They wont get it "ready" for December
They said that we won't have to pay untill the game is ready. Recently they said it's only 50% complete (it will be finished december next year, with new engine etc.). I guess they simply run out of money. They only need a small number of players to beta test changes.
I think the idea is to say, "Here's what we have already planned and it's HUGE. Our game is laid out for you to see and to KNOW that it's worth the subscription price." There's no question that, by putting all of this in writing, they will be determined to stick to the roadmap to please their customers. It's bold and aggressive and might just bring folks back over time as that determination pays off by meeting the stated goals.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sub fee in November? ROFL, say goodbye to FFXIV then. They really should have considered a FTP hybrid payment option. They should pay ME to play the game.
I gave it another go in the last patch but its not worth paying a sub for yet. Maybe they cant afford to run the servers any longer for free or something.
At first glance, I thought it was over for them. After reading through the pdfs and the dev letter, I REALLY hope that SE's loyal fanbase will continue to support the game. They've really listened and are working harder than many companies to improve their game. 2.0 seems amazing :]
I don't think with subs going into effect many will bother staying, plus the extremely slow updates are perhaps the nail in the coffin.
if you look at the forums there is alot of people that have played, but will no longer support it once they start charging next month. a mmo needs core features to be ready to charge for subscriptions. there's no party search feature, completed battle system, correctly working servers, nor fully functioning ui as of yet. this game is constantly classed as beta ad stated it's only 50% complete so there will be a massive server population drop right as people had started coming back to check out the game again.
i just hated to see the game finally moving forward and bringing some new players into the game and old players giving it a second try just to start the billing process to force them away again. if people are on the fence about a game while it's free what reason would people have to believe they would be willing to pay?
Is that screenshot a Crimson Wolf from the Lindblum server?
Will i pay for it while they execute these plans....maybe. Undecided.
Frank 'Spankybus' Mignone
www.spankybus.com
-3d Artist & Compositor
-Writer
-Professional Amature
Was trying to hang in there until they made some changes like the ones coming up. However I wont pay a sub fee to beta test their game and I wont come back.
My theme song.
Wait... I thought that they weren't going to bill until the game was ready? Saying it'll be ready in December 2012 but planning to start it a year earlier seems like a bad move.
He who keeps his cool best wins.
Then I hope they listen to this.
BRING BACK FFXI NAMES!
As a longtime player of FFXI I just can't wrap my head around the reason to change all the races names. it is greatly disturbing.
THE SKILLCHAIN SYSTEM WAS AWESOME!
When a party has it's s**t together the skillchain system was amazing. I had some great memories in parties like 2 rdm/3 Thf with evasion + blinded enemies
THE FFXI GEAR SYSTEM IS FINE!
working your ass off to get awesome gear makes it worthwile. When people see you in excellent gear they know you take the game and your friends time seriously, and that you work your ass off. being the best you can be in a game where you have to go to extraordinary lengths to have excellent gear allows hardcore players to really form their own community where people are known for their skills and willingness to work together to be that one step above the rest.
If the game is too easy this core group never forms.
THE FFXI CLASS SYSTEM WAS FINE!
If it aint broken don't fix it.
TOUGH GROUP BASED CONTENT IS CRITICAL!
When you first started playing FFXI you get to Valkurm and then to lvl 18, then you move on to Quifm....OMFG the sheer terror of running your squishy toon past the Dancing Weapons and praying to god that the tank holds agro...
FFXIV needs this feeling of impending disaster that tough group based content gives. It influences players to rely on their Linkshell. To have excellent gear. To take up crafting for their guild, To actually help a fellow LS member with tasks.
All this helps to create a strong community of people that care for the game because they have more effort invested in it, more friends, and more respect.
Then I hope they listen to this.
BRING BACK FFXI NAMES!
As a longtime player of FFXI I just can't wrap my head around the reason to change all the races names. it is greatly disturbing.
THE SKILLCHAIN SYSTEM WAS AWESOME!
When a party has it's s**t together the skillchain system was amazing. I had some great memories in parties like 2 rdm/3 Thf with evasion + blinded enemies
THE FFXI GEAR SYSTEM IS FINE!
working your ass off to get awesome gear makes it worthwile. When people see you in excellent gear they know you take the game and your friends time seriously, and that you work your ass off. being the best you can be in a game where you have to go to extraordinary lengths to have excellent gear allows hardcore players to really form their own community where people are known for their skills and willingness to work together to be that one step above the rest.
If the game is too easy this core group never forms.
THE FFXI CLASS SYSTEM WAS FINE!
If it aint broken don't fix it.
TOUGH GROUP BASED CONTENT IS CRITICAL!
When you first started playing FFXI you get to Valkurm and then to lvl 18, then you move on to Quifm....OMFG the sheer terror of running your squishy toon past the Dancing Weapons and praying to god that the tank holds agro...
FFXIV needs this feeling of impending disaster that tough group based content gives. It influences players to rely on their Linkshell. To have excellent gear. To take up crafting for their guild, To actually help a fellow LS member with tasks.
All this helps to create a strong community of people that care for the game because they have more effort invested in it, more friends, and more respect.
It seems like you might just consider staying in FFXI. It seems like you enjoy its gameplay a lot more...and I hope that at some point in the future, it might get a graphical update. Played it for a few years, loved it, but simply cannot invest that kind of time into a game anymore.
Looking forward to 2.0 for FFXIV, as it will let me capture that FFXI feel and still let me keep my day job.
Frank 'Spankybus' Mignone
www.spankybus.com
-3d Artist & Compositor
-Writer
-Professional Amature
According to the informal polls on the forum, the people staying vs. the people going is 2:1. Quite a few of those going say they will check back for the 2.0 launch. While yes, some will leave, and that is to be expected, SE will not be losing anything since they have not been gaining anything since going F2P. Now they will get some return, and hopefully they will be able to use it to make the game even better. Current players can chose to watch that unfold, wait until the "new" game is released, or just look elsewhere if they don't like what they see on the Roadmap.
My my ..... I guess it's time to say....... "I TOLD YOU SO !"
I wonder if this could be counted as a contract? I'm tired of dev's failing to deliver on promises (DCUO I'm looing at you on monthly content updates).
What makes this "promise" worth any more than the implied contract of a launch of a complete unbroken game?
I might take a relook if they completely redo the UI, but I really doubt they will make the needed changes, they have to make it so it can be played on a console which generally kills any chance of a decent UI.
You know whats really INCREDIBLE?... That so many people are still clinging to the idea of Hope and Change (where have we seen that before?... ^^). Is it the 1.2 or the 1.21 or 1.22 patch thats supposed to fix everything now?
While I wish those who still manage to enjoy the game all the best, I can't help but wonder how different things would have been, if SE had managed to release a game that wasn't so badly flawed to start with. But life and business are filled with missed opportunities.
What amazes me is that people say they are impressed that SE puts so much effort in the game to fix it. Sorry but SE should have delivered a game that was finished to begin with. Not a game that wasn't even done for 50%. Beside they can say and promise allot but the fact is that SE promised and said allot aswell before the launch of FF14....and 13....and many fans of FF where disapointed with both games.
I understand that they have to charge money at some point. After all millions where invested in making the game already and hosting the game on servers isn't cheap either. But, we talk about a game that is far from finished. Its true that many MMORPG's need some big fixes over time, but they all felt complete compared to FF14. And sure the fans will shout on the forums they are willing to pay for it...but lets see how their opinion is in about 3 or 4 months. A year is a long time before the fixes are there that might improve the game. If you have to pay 13 - 15 euro for it every month im not sure if they are still willing to invest in it even though you still don't have the game once promised to you.
And wasn't the latest patch gonna be the big game fixer? That would come out one of these weeks? And now suddenly the big game fixer is next year. I don't know but if i keep being promised major fixes and with every patch i hardly get to see it then i give up on the devs. They already fooled you once, twice, three times, four times, eight times, and for some reason people keep believing in SE. If this was a TV you wouldn't stick to it either. If you buy a TV you exspect a finished product aswel. You not gonna buy a HD tv and then sony giving you a SD tv with 4:3 resolution, no remote control and no on and off button. Then after a few months they give you up update so you atleast have a remote control, but the rest will be implanted 2 years later. You paid for a product they promised it would be...and 2 years later you might get it?
lol they gotta make a new game. I remember i bought it and couldnt play for four days. the worst mmo I ever seen
I hate to call alot of people out who think FFXIV is going to die because of a simple subscription fee. The game right now is worthy of paying to play, I play and the content alone from patch 1.19 was worthy of P2P, they said 1.20 with jobs will be out in early December and they aren't charging for the game until that lands.(information from their website)
I really enjoy the game for what it is and what it is becoming and it is really fun. Some may not agree but they can go play whatever else crappy game they want to play. It is nice to know that they have been working their asses off in ways we did not know til now and all the fans just thought they was working on the patches, instead they was working on 2.0. For every 1 person who is not willing to P2P there is atleast 2-3 that will and luckily we don't have to hear them complaining anymore on the games forums. Viva la P2P! The game had its problems and some people blow them out of proportion big time atleast the game is still alive unlike some other MMOs that went F2P and died out. That speaks leagues about the community right there.
The Picture i posted was for you. The pictures clearly shows that version 2.0 will have the UI changes that you might be looking for.
Also, the picutre clearly shows that version 2.0's engine rocks.
I want this game to be worth my time and money so bad... FFXI was the best MMORPG experience ever, and I want FFXIV to beat that, but currently it is not. That screenshot will get me back if it ever turns into what the game IS and not just WILL BE
(seriously... no one can say that screenshot isn't frakking awesome. )