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This game has a certain intrigue
Krijo101
Member UncommonPosts: 10
I've been a member of mmorpg.com for almost 4 yrs now, and have made only 2 prior posts EVER to this one if I remember correctly. This is not to say that i haven't been active, but just doing a lot of reading of everyone elses opinions/reviews/hype of games and keeping my opinion to myself. I've been playing MMORPG's since the launch of EQ1, and have tested so many games over the last years without the ability to find anything that really holds my interest for an extended period of time anymore.
I originally tested FFXIV in it's beta stages before it's original release, giving feedback about how badly designed just about everything was at that time. I was still holding onto hope that the game would be tweaked enough to make it really enjoyable, so I continued playing for awhile. In the end when beta came to a close the game was not up to my standards as something I could see myself playing . I decided I did not want to purchase the game, feeling as though there was nothing that could be done shy of a complete overhaul that would warrant me putting money into it.
I ended up playing a few other games after that, but still not able to find one I felt comfortable putting down roots in. While searching from game to game, pushing chars to lvl cap and experiencing as much of each game as I could, there was always this constant idea of how good I thought FFXIV could have been sitting in the back of my mind. I read all the announcements on how FFXIV was going to be brought down and revamped, for a complete re-release, and I admittedly was very sceptical. Though my mind has quickly changed over time, seeing what I've seen from dev blogs, and gameplay clips. So much has been implemented to what I hope is making it into a much improved game. I saw that players who had played previously would be the first to recieve beta keys, and had hoped that would include those who beta tested it, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.
In the end all I'm saying, is for the first time I'm actually pretty hyped for a game and the potential for something amazing it has. Here's to hoping it doesn't disappoint a second time around, and make sure to keep this one on your radar. Oh, and if you have a spare beta key, don't be afraid to throw one my way 
Comments
You can't really judge a game based on third hand experience.
I'm glad you like the game so much to be hyped about release, but go for the open beta, and see if the reality matches your expectation. The worst thing you can do is create an image of teh game in your mind only to realize it has no relation to reality.
I have played Beta, but I also played 1.0 for over a year. I love the game and the direction, but you may not.
Long story short, don't overhype yourself on a game that you havn't played because reality never matches your expectations.
Go into with an open mind and let the actual experience dictate whether you like or dislike a game. Open beta should be in July.. so only 2 months away.
The timing of new release is perfect for me,i will give the game anotehr chance but i am never hyped out of control.
There was a lot that quirked me the wrong way not so much the same as other people who tried it.
Coming from years of FFXI and liking that game more than any otehr,i was looking for something at least equal to but looking better and perhaps some added housing.FFXIV did not deliver and imo it still wil lnot, but i am willing to give it a shot and for sure enter open Beta.
Seeing that no other dev eloper EVER in the history of MMORPG's has designed a game similar to Tanaka's FFXI,i am going to have to give up hoping and just find something else to play.I still like FFXI enough to play but all that Abyssea stuff turned me off so badly i find it tough to keep playing.However Square Enix gave me many years of fun and challenging game play,so i can't complain since other developers are lucky to keep my interest past the first hour.
Sadly FFXIV is well at least so they say not Tanaka at all anymore,too bad,he is the guy i would want designing my game.BTW he did not design FFXIV he was merely the director who let too many incompetent people have a hand in FFXIV decisions,basically a lot of the same people are now involved with the game,which is why i don't hold high hopes.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I believe FFXIV:ARR will go down as a classic case of misinterptretation of data.
FFXI delivered a quality product and was very different from WoW which alowed it to thrive as one of the handful of successful p2p tittles.
FFXIV 1.0 was not a quality product, but when people complained about its lack of quality they frequently referenced WoW because it is the industry leader. Somehow from all this information they recieved, someone came to the conclusion that people wanted a game similar to WoW. So what you're getting is a game with fantastic graphics that is the closest thing to WoW since SWTOR.
The only problem is, if there is one thing the market has shown over the last 10 years it is that there is little demand for a p2p title that is very similar to Wow, but not Wow.
i love these posts they are some of the most prevelant on these forums.
Suddenly any themepark direction AAA MMO = WoW.
The 1 character armoury multiple classes/abilities, player housing, pvp, FATE system and limit break battle/party dynamics have yet to even see open beta and already people deem "a p2p title that is very similar to Wow, but not Wow."
Not to mention your notion that people wouldn't play a well done WoW-style game with amazing graphics is also debatable given WoW's success.
But that's a different point entirely because anyone will quickly recognize the differences between Blizzard and Square Enix game design and personal touch once this game launches.
A) Yes the armory system is awesome on so many levels and saves me from having to make alts, which I love.
C) You sighted pvp as something that would differentiate AAR from WoW, which is hilarious on so many levels.
D) Ok, ok, the "FATE" system was taken from the cornerstone of gw2's design not WoW. But to be fair gw2 made enough of a splash that even korean games like Tera are trying to add dynamic events... not successfully, but still trying.
E) And to your last point all I can really say is we'll see how well they implement it.
But to be fair to my point...
If those are really your strongest arguements from why AAR is not a WoW-style game...
I believe you could make a far more compelling case for why SWTOR is not a WoW-style game...
But we all know SWTOR is heavily patterened after WoW...
And we all know how successful it was...
Even using arguably the best IP America has produced...
I'd say if someone goes in with mild to moderate hype they'll probably enjoy the game for what it is. I'm not going to say what it is, as I think we should judge games based on their own merits and not make comparisons.
If I were to give ten reasons as to why I enjoyed FFXIV 1.0... It would have to be the community first, and then...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxVNiK19wyQ
HILDIBRAND taking up the other nine. xP
Though here are a few things that have been publically announced for ARR in past Letters, interviews, etc. Note that some of them may not make it in as a good portion were talked about early or in an interview where he was just talking about what he (Yoshi-P) would like to see.
I know I'm missing quite a bit, but that's just what comes to mind.
I'm not going to be obnoxious and quote all of that but you're almost reinforcing my point for me. Other than the dynamic events, a somewhat more in depth housing system, and replacing the FF setting with a star wars setting (moogles Vs. Wookies) your content list is almost identical to swtors.
Story... check... if anything swtor likely has significantly more story than ARR.
Companions that fight with you... check (granted you rarely rode your companions in swtor.)
PvE content... check
PvP content... check
The only thing ARR has going for it that past WoW clones... I mean... AAA Themepark mmos... is significantly better graphics and a likely broad japanese playerbase that will pay subs and help fund additional content.
Anyway, I almost feel like I should appologize for being so critical after you took the time to write shuch a well writen post. FF fans do tend to be good people, I'm just profoundly unimpressed with the direction they chose for ARR and really do wish you the best of luck if it's the game you're waiting for.
If it's what you see, it's what you see. No need to appologize for your honest opinion. Though you won't likely get what you're looking for as the game's still under NDA and people are naturally barred from expressing their opinions and experiences. So it's kind've like playing dodgeball with people who aren't allow to pick up the balls. xD
As for my post above, there are some features that aren't anything like SWTOR and WoW. The path companions were around since 1.0 and were battle companions of the original story, which predates SWTOR in general. Though the thought of a chocobo in white mage or dragoon armor is pretty interesting if not down right entertaining/fun. Prior to that the Original Guild Wars had a great Hero system whereby you leveled characters and equipped with with skills, weapons, aesthetics and runes/enchantments. In fact SWTOR's system is exactly like Guild War's system in that light.
In terms of the way the story is implemented, Final Fantasy XIV has proven to be much better than what I played in SWTOR (Got a Imperial Agent, Inquisitor and Jedi Counselor to level 50) in how it is shown via cutscenes and poetic dialog. In fact some of my favorite MMO moments take place in the Grand Company story that took place during the last year of 1.0' being online in terms of accomplishments and story intake. What I remember of SWTOR is just voice acting and people standing around talking, with a major dialog or more people standing around talking every five levels when you've finally reached the next storyline level requirement. The Dread Masters or whatever were also somewhat memorable, as they all walked towards you in a grim way when you rescued them from the prison planet.
As far as A Realm Reborn goes, the main storyline is said to have so much that you'll be able to level all the way to max from level one just by doing it. Yosh-P said he did not like how some games only have main story every five levels or so, and then besides that needless quests in the area to rely on leveling just to get to the next story. The battle cutscene of Rank 46 Missions displayed above is just the tip of the iceberg of some of the great scenes that were in Final Fantasy XIV. Granted though, The Imperial Agent of SWTOR was pretty awesome and I felt as such when playing that class.
The one thing that SWTOR really missed was a Day/Night cycle and all kinds of weather systems. Seeing the clouds gather for such, watching as people go about their daily lives. It was just a field with 95% of the mobs standing still whereas it is said that such will not be the case with A Realm Reborn. What I'm really interested in seein is how they plan to implement new classes with patches and continue the storylines with each patch. If it's done at all like they did it in 1.0 it will be simply amazing and the Story will be massive what with separate stories with three nations, 10 jobs, skills, Grand Company, Three main storylines, Artifact Armor, Side Quests, etc.
The unfortunate thing about SWTOR is that it's first real storyline update is for everyone and it doesn't continue a class's path. If every class had the same story it would be just status quo, but when you commit to that it's hard to just nod your head and smile. I would have enjoyed playing my Imperial Agent all over again and see what happened next.
These things said, it wouldn't be bad for a game to have a solid core that was founded by past games and the built upon with their own ideas, iterations and well known characters. Most WoW clones (if a game is one) have been chastised not for being WoW clones, but for being poor ones. The only thing I'd worry about is how the PS3 hardware may affect the game. It's likely that you wouldn't be able to input commands as fast as a keyboard, so that may mean slow combat by the time the game is actually released.
When rereading your post, the only thing I simply chuckle at (which you mentioned yourself) was how cynical you seem to be of it. If I just entered this thread and only read that post, I would wonder how: "PvE... Check, PvP... Check and story" would equate to an absolute SWTOR or WoW clone. If we go by those sets and ideas, then every game is a copy of every other game. xD
People shouldn't get their hopes up too high, as there are too many factors. The fact that it's on PS3 will set obvious limitations on what they're able to do since it's already a graphically demanding game. You are indeed very warranted and wise to be skeptical, especially since they "failed" once and logic would dictate that spending so much money a second time on something that wasn't tried and true would be folly in itself.
What I'm probably most interested in is the fact that it has an actual history and not just a made up on. The events they speak of as being "the past" will have actually took place in 1.0 for players to experience (or watch on archived videos) as a point of reference. I'm still not over the fact that they made a nine minute cinematic just to say farewell to 1.0 and as a treat for their players (and to get more interest from those who enjoy story and awesome movie sequences).
May be a spoiler if you intend to watch the six hours of cutscenes posted in these forums. It's basically like the ending movie that's traditional in Final Fantasy games (the story of the game leads up to that point).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h542YbZuwkQ
The old version was about six minutes long, but that the one that was released a few months after the game closed.
It's really hard to portray the depth they have gone through in 1.0 and presumably will in A Realm Reborn. Pretty much after every patch, most NPCs had something different to say as to what has happened since the last time you spoke with them. People became more fearful of Meteor as it was closing in on the world. Everything that happened seemed to be reacted towards by the most common NPCs that most probably never even spoke to. Even things that weren't part of the main stories even had cutscenes and funny things such as Hildebrand among other things.
Even if you went to bed (you actually saw your character lay down in your bedroom and go to sleep before logging out) you sometimes woke up to dreams you had (cutscenes or in game text telling you what you dreamed of). One part was even a premonition whereby you see what was to happen in the future when your character was leveled up. When you got to that point, you were like "what?". xD
Then the whole issue and mysteries surrounding everything and the Echo power you had. The ability to witness past events and talk to people in the past, but not change what happened. They just go all out with detail in general, and have some simply awesome ideas, most of which I really can't go into.
Suffice it to say that I've been playing MMOs since Ultima Online and about five years of muds before that. Even still I had so much fun in 1.0 in the last year that were more entertaining and challenging than anything I've faced in all western games that were released since UO itself. Perhaps it wasn't the "cutting egde" of things due to a poor engine, but the things they did with the engine and the way they really brought you in despite it won me over as it was like nothing I've experienced before in an MMO (I especially liked how it took months and months just to master one crafting profession, which made me think of my time in Ultima Online whereby I spent nine months getting to Grandmaster Blacksmith. It may be a "wtf" moment for someone to read that nowadays, but the crafting was incredibly useful and made me tens of millions of gil weekly when I was serious about not being lazy and actually making the gil).
I still like WoW, since it has been brought up, and even though I tend to buy or try/beta just about every MMO release including all the big ones, I still end up going back to WoW over and over again.
If FFXIV has that same feel and vibe, a kind of "old school" classic feel... which I know is hillarious since I've been playing MMOs since 1999 - but WoW and its style is almost 9 years old now... that is pretty old school.
The FF name adds a lot of intrigue.
The world, the characters, the abilities and names and style... has a lot of draw for me.
The music, sounds...
As long as the game is A) polished and
offers a huge breadth of content (and some depth) I can see myself enjoying ARR quite a bit.
I think the polish thing will pretty much be a given considering they wouldn't want to take the same chance twice. The content is something that remains to be seen, even if they do have ambitious plans for patches.
I love it when people do not do any kind of checks into past FF titles . First part "D" In 2007 a Exp. Pack for XI came out called Wings of the Goddess , In WotG you travel back in time , one new feature was campaign . In campaign strong holds would come under attack and you had to defend them ( like the FATEs) if no one came to defend them the beast tribes would take them over ( Like FATEs ) People are so damn quick to say this game ripped this off another game . When that is not the case at all . RIFT had real time active events , Well RIFT came out 4 years after WotG Exp. PAck for FFXI . Just putting that out there , The only thing that is WoW like is questing . Because that is now the MMO standard . I wish i could tell you all more info but i cant . A lot of people who claim WoW clone will be shocked when you get to play and you will feel mighty stupid for saying such things . Yoshi-P said he tok things from WoW and even played WoW to see what it was that people enjoyed . He never said the game will be just like WoW . And it is not
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