No. No one has ever said or will ever say that about this game.
Some of the old XI players on the XIV beta do.
I am ex-ff11 player and i say combat is extremely fast and spammy if that is even a word. Combat is a tiny bit improved but i am not too happy about you being able to spam skill so much and everything on screen having to be fireworks or something directed/made by michael bay.
combat feels like this------auto attack---->booom booom booom booom splash ( insert explotions).....etc ( as said before a mash of buttons, i even did not mind 1.0 combat as much after auto attacks were added.)
FF11 combat albeit slower paced it was more strategic and you had to time stuff out instead of just spamming them and facerolling keyboard/control at anything. Id much rather prefer also FF11 combat to this new spamfest.
P.S- shame for people flaming OP with honest personal self review this game was not for everyone but the fanboys get butthurt anytime someone even says otherwise. Seriously the amount of junk said on forums lately is astounding, I can understand excitement from people but other keep making FF14 sound like the Messiah is coming soon and will literally follow anything blindly.
I am with OP on this game, I enjoyed FF11 since I started on PS2 all the way until they crapped on it and destroyed the game with abyssea release. I for one have changed my opinion on game specially after trying out beta for a while, I even enjoyed 1.0 for a bit a lot more than 2.0 ( with exception of improved little things like frame rates and UI ) they destroyed 1.0 when they also changed stats/powerleveling fiasco/etc patch.
You people need to learn to read, besides one maybe two one liners, OP did not get flamed, people just disagreed with them, that's the problem with alot of you, yes there are fans, and they are passionate, but don't misinterpret them disagreeing with the OP as flame, it's all it is, a disagreement, and alot of them were well thought out disagreements as much as you think the OP's statement was well thought out.
Well you guys have proven you are a nice community to be in for the most part, I expected the usual rant's etc but most of the feedback has been gr8 to read, community makes or breaks a game and there you guys excel. Props all around
Originally posted by Mardukk So OP comes to this forum with legit complaints and he gets flamed for it. Good to see blind love for an IP outweighs desire for something mildly different. Havent you all been playing this game for 9 years? A few good posters come to this ff area the rest lash out at people for saying anything slightly critical. How can a game that does nothing different inspire such rabid love?
Because sometimes being different for the sake of being different isn't always good. Look at the massive amount of disappointment that many people had for GW2. Granted they tried to make something completely different, but I think it might have been better to just make your game and not focus on making sure that you don't match the competitor in anyway. Look what Blizzard accomplished by taking all of the accepted conventions of the time and refining them to a point of perfection.
James T. Kirk: All she's got isn't good enough! What else ya got?
I just tried this game today. I feel the same as the OP though. Too much zoning in the starter city turned me off. This was the same mistake EQ2 made, and it seems devs never learn from this. If you're going to have zoning, then don't require questing that makes us travel between them. It's very bad design. One recent MMO that did get this right was Rift. You can quest and explore just about everywhere in the first 15+ levels without zoning once. Swtor got this wrong too. Zoning into spaceship, then back and forth, for questing is just very bad.
I also agree with the OP on combat. It was too slow, especially as a Thaumaturge. This is what i hated about Rift's combat also. The casting speed is too long and the global cooldowns are too long.
As a non-final fantasy person, i thought the races, scenery, and character creation was really good, but the rest didn't leave me impressed.
I just tried this game today. I feel the same as the OP though. Too much zoning in the starter city turned me off. This was the same mistake EQ2 made, and it seems devs never learn from this. If you're going to have zoning, then don't require questing that makes us travel between them. It's very bad design. One recent MMO that did get this right was Rift. You can quest and explore just about everywhere in the first 15+ levels without zoning once. Swtor got this wrong too. Zoning into spaceship, then back and forth, for questing is just very bad.
I also agree with the OP on combat. It was too slow, especially as a Thaumaturge. This is what i hated about Rift's combat also. The casting speed is too long and the global cooldowns are too long.
As a non-final fantasy person, i thought the races, scenery, and character creation was really good, but the rest didn't leave me impressed.
Again, without the zoning then it wouldn't run on very very low end machines, which it can now.
Its a trade off, one that I think is a wise one to make.
Well of course this will not be everyones cup of tea. I hated 1.0 was discouraged after beta testing it back when it came out and just flat out did not buy. Didnt burn the game on the forums either. I considered it shizzle but hey gave it a second chance and I love 2.0. Yep I love this game now. It touched me in places I cannot show you and Im happy. I guess I found my happy place.
I just tried this game today. I feel the same as the OP though. Too much zoning in the starter city turned me off. This was the same mistake EQ2 made, and it seems devs never learn from this. If you're going to have zoning, then don't require questing that makes us travel between them. It's very bad design. One recent MMO that did get this right was Rift. You can quest and explore just about everywhere in the first 15+ levels without zoning once. Swtor got this wrong too. Zoning into spaceship, then back and forth, for questing is just very bad.
I also agree with the OP on combat. It was too slow, especially as a Thaumaturge. This is what i hated about Rift's combat also. The casting speed is too long and the global cooldowns are too long.
As a non-final fantasy person, i thought the races, scenery, and character creation was really good, but the rest didn't leave me impressed.
Again, without the zoning then it wouldn't run on very very low end machines, which it can now.
Its a trade off, one that I think is a wise one to make.
Regardless the reason, it's perfectly fine to dislike it, so no need to keep on playing the same tune over and over again.
I just tried this game today. I feel the same as the OP though. Too much zoning in the starter city turned me off. This was the same mistake EQ2 made, and it seems devs never learn from this. If you're going to have zoning, then don't require questing that makes us travel between them. It's very bad design. One recent MMO that did get this right was Rift. You can quest and explore just about everywhere in the first 15+ levels without zoning once. Swtor got this wrong too. Zoning into spaceship, then back and forth, for questing is just very bad.
I also agree with the OP on combat. It was too slow, especially as a Thaumaturge. This is what i hated about Rift's combat also. The casting speed is too long and the global cooldowns are too long.
As a non-final fantasy person, i thought the races, scenery, and character creation was really good, but the rest didn't leave me impressed.
I kind of agree with you here, mostly about combat anyway. They need to cut down the GCDs to HALF at least. Combat is not fluid nor fun in XIV. I noticed the zoning but that didn't bother me as much as the combat did. Still, I pre-ordered the game and will play it at launch. Fixing the combat would easily garner a 9+ score from me, though. It just reminded me a lot of PW's combat. Ugh.
I just need to comment on a few things. Invisible walls,EVERY game has invisible walls.They created some closer in the foreground to eliminate problems,last thing a develop wants to hear is people getting stuck.Those vistas in the background are just meant to add some scenery to the game,there is nothing there to visit anyhow,so there is no need to go there.Like i said ALL games have walls,that is how a game is made,games are not like real life with a round world,the worlds are square boxes,rectangles,Octagons ect ect.
Bud I don't have to read any answers to this part of your post but you're gonna get flamed.
I challenge you to find one single wall in Vanguard... I'll add EQ2 to that but I could be wrong.
Hey man, I couldn't agree more. I have been doing a lot of discussion related to FFXIV and how it compare to other mmo's out there on the marker and how I feel about it. I so far, really don't like it. There are certain aspects I really love, and enjoy.
The Crafting/Gathering system is awesome. It's new, unique, and fresh. The way you harvest, and the way the profession works as a class is really cool and invigorating too see.
The Job/Class system is fantastic! Cross classing is very cool. I haven't gotten too high of a level with multiple classes to really unlock the full potential behind the system, but so far from what I've been able to do it's really cool!
That said, there isn't really anything else that the game brings in terms of new or innovative aspects. From the start of the game, I had no idea what to expect, or what I was getting into. I never played FFXI, nor have I played the 1.0 version of this game. My mind and perspective was a clean slate. As I made my character and logged in, I was greeted by a pretty cinematic, and then a wagon ride to town where I would start my adventure.
First thing I noticed that put me off
The Map is utterly horrific. Every single aspect about the map makes me sick. It is impossible too navigate, it's not user friendly at all, it's confusing and it makes my head spin. Trying to get from Point A to Point E without already having been to Points BCD is almost impossible. The map is blank until you discover it, and the quest tracking system is non existent.
Ok, no big deal I thought, it's still in beta no sweat they will fix it. So I continued on my adventure in Ul'Dah or w/e it's called. As I continued picked up coins for rich people, delivering letters and notes and cookies to little Suzy Q, load screen after load screen, I was quickly getting bored. I was already LEVEL THREE before I even left the city to kill a monster. Upon engaging in battle I thought to myself. Wow. That was gay. Am I lagging? Why am I just standing there?
The auto attack speed seems inconsistent and unreliable. I think it's like 2.35 seconds currently at my level now. I spend most of my time in combat yawning, waiting for my eternal 2.5 second Global Cooldown to end its tyrannical reign over the battlefield.
The combat in this game is really, really holding the potential of the game down. It's sluggish, bland, and very lack luster. This game is a serious lobotomy in terms of combat. In Tera I would mindlessly grind just because of how fun and badass the combat was. Guild Wars 2, even only having 5 abilities, was still fun and beautiful too look at, the animations were smooth, blended well and looked gorgeous and i felt as if I were actively engaged in combat. But you just don't see that sort of stuff in this game. It's too tasteless. It's boring as fuck quite frankly. The Global Cooldown defies the space/time continuum and exists in multiple eternities it's so long. You spend more time waiting for the GCD than you do anything else. It is beyond frustrating, it kills the game.
As I continued playing Messenger Boy Delivery System 2013, I noticed a continuing trend. Go here, talk to him, come back to me. Repeat until exhausted. The quests are repetitive and monotonous. There is very little variety in what you do.
As I grit my teeth and carried on they introduced Hunting Logs, which is basically just hunting quest that can be completed once for each class. Each Log has 10 tasks, and there are 5 logs total. Each task usually requires you to kill anywhere from 4-6 of 1-3 species of enemy. What it boils down too is just a grindy mob killing quest. It's only there to help keep you leveled with the current area and your Main Story quest. Without it you would fall behind in level, as there are very very few actual quests in the game.
They also have what are called "FATEs" which are pretty much just Events in GW2 or Rifts in... well, rift lol. They are static events that respawn every so often, and you get more exp/coin the more you participate in said FATE. They, along with Hunting Logs are the only way to level an alternate class, as once you complete your story quest, or any other regular quest, you cannot do it again, be it with the same class or an alternate class. So in order to level another class, you must grind FATE's and grind out your Hunting Log, which still yields marginal Exp.
So on top of this, they added "LeveQuests." Yes, it's spelled LeveQuest. They are repeatable quests that you can do ONE per THREE hours via Allowances that accumulate over time. You can have up too... I think it was 30 allowances at a time, and up too 15 active LeveQuests. When activating a LeveQuests, you have the option of setting the difficulty up to 4 levels higher than it's attainable level, which increases net Exp and Coin gain from it. If you fail the LeveQuest, get Disonnected or otherwise don't complete it, you lose 1 Allowance, and have to start over.
When you finish an LQ you have the option to teleport back to the LQ Giver immediately, which is nice I guess. You can complete LQ's an infinite number of times, pending on the amount of Allowances you have accumulated. I have had a few times now where I have had an empty quest log, and wasn't high enough level to progress the story. I have done every quest, hunting log, and a few FATEs along the way.
Anyway, back to my adventure. Whilst exploring the lands of Whateverthenameoftheworldis, I was constantly plagued by loading screens. Why they decided to chop the game apart into little pieces and throw in loading screens is beyond me. Games have been Fully Loaded/No Load screen for over a decade, it's not new technology, and it's not GPU intensive. It really ruins any aspect of Awe or entrancement that would be in the game, there is no magic too it. It's just loading screen after loading screen after levequest after loading screen. It seems you can't go more than 100 yards without running into one. That isn't too terrible though honestly, it doesn't kill the games environment. What does, is the fact that there are invisible walls E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. You have ZERO option for exploration and adventure. The entire time I was playing I felt boxed in and claustrophobic, as if the world was shrinking in upon me. If you want to swim over the river to the other bank to fight that mob, no, you cannot. You must walk half a mile around the small body of water to the other side. You want to climb that hill and get up on that cool rocky outcropping and look around? Nope. Invisible walls bro, go fuck yourself! You can't even jump off the dock down to the platform below you in order to save yourself 15 seconds. It's really just ridiculous the amount of restrictions they put in the game!
The zones seem hollow and empty. Sure they have nice graphics and a good theme to them, but there is no life. The quests are few and far between and they never seem to have a neat/fun or non "UGhhh..." quest. I do not want to play Delivery Boy/Messenger Boy sim. I want to play an MMO RPG with great active and thrilling combat with decent enough quests to get me by and keep me occupied. Aside from that LeveQuest system being flawed, the zones, despite being well designed at a graphical stand point, leave something too be desired.
Regardless of how well put together the Class/Job system is, that is the only thing this game has going for it. Everything else pales in comparison to other MMO's. Despite some of the rather poorly designed aspects of this game, the one thing that would otherwise be able to hold things together and keep it fun and entertaining and have you wanting more, the Combat System, sucks more than anything else. It is THE WORST aspect of the game (Aside from the map system), and the most boring combat system of any MMO I've ever played.
The combat system in an MMO is the pinnacle of the games core and design. Who want's to play a game that isn't fun too play? Definitely not this guy. And for that reason, I have given up hope on this game. It is going to fail just like the previous rendition failed. It has many of the same problems, and many new problems that the dev's refuse too recognize and address. They are running horses with blindfolds on, not paying attention to what is going on around them, only wanting to get to the finish line ahead of the rest. Well, let me tell you something, run as fast as you want, but ignoring the fact that you have lost your jockey won't get you anywhere.
Hey man, I couldn't agree more. I have been doing a lot of discussion related to FFXIV and how it compare to other mmo's out there on the marker and how I feel about it. I so far, really don't like it. There are certain aspects I really love, and enjoy.
The Crafting/Gathering system is awesome. It's new, unique, and fresh. The way you harvest, and the way the profession works as a class is really cool and invigorating too see.
The Job/Class system is fantastic! Cross classing is very cool. I haven't gotten too high of a level with multiple classes to really unlock the full potential behind the system, but so far from what I've been able to do it's really cool!
That said, there isn't really anything else that the game brings in terms of new or innovative aspects. From the start of the game, I had no idea what to expect, or what I was getting into. I never played FFXI, nor have I played the 1.0 version of this game. My mind and perspective was a clean slate. As I made my character and logged in, I was greeted by a pretty cinematic, and then a wagon ride to town where I would start my adventure.
First thing I noticed that put me off
The Map is utterly horrific. Every single aspect about the map makes me sick. It is impossible too navigate, it's not user friendly at all, it's confusing and it makes my head spin. Trying to get from Point A to Point E without already having been to Points BCD is almost impossible. The map is blank until you discover it, and the quest tracking system is non existent.
Ok, no big deal I thought, it's still in beta no sweat they will fix it. So I continued on my adventure in Ul'Dah or w/e it's called. As I continued picked up coins for rich people, delivering letters and notes and cookies to little Suzy Q, load screen after load screen, I was quickly getting bored. I was already LEVEL THREE before I even left the city to kill a monster. Upon engaging in battle I thought to myself. Wow. That was gay. Am I lagging? Why am I just standing there?
The auto attack speed seems inconsistent and unreliable. I think it's like 2.35 seconds currently at my level now. I spend most of my time in combat yawning, waiting for my eternal 2.5 second Global Cooldown to end its tyrannical reign over the battlefield.
The combat in this game is really, really holding the potential of the game down. It's sluggish, bland, and very lack luster. This game is a serious lobotomy in terms of combat. In Tera I would mindlessly grind just because of how fun and badass the combat was. Guild Wars 2, even only having 5 abilities, was still fun and beautiful too look at, the animations were smooth, blended well and looked gorgeous and i felt as if I were actively engaged in combat. But you just don't see that sort of stuff in this game. It's too tasteless. It's boring as fuck quite frankly. The Global Cooldown defies the space/time continuum and exists in multiple eternities it's so long. You spend more time waiting for the GCD than you do anything else. It is beyond frustrating, it kills the game.
As I continued playing Messenger Boy Delivery System 2013, I noticed a continuing trend. Go here, talk to him, come back to me. Repeat until exhausted. The quests are repetitive and monotonous. There is very little variety in what you do.
As I grit my teeth and carried on they introduced Hunting Logs, which is basically just hunting quest that can be completed once for each class. Each Log has 10 tasks, and there are 5 logs total. Each task usually requires you to kill anywhere from 4-6 of 1-3 species of enemy. What it boils down too is just a grindy mob killing quest. It's only there to help keep you leveled with the current area and your Main Story quest. Without it you would fall behind in level, as there are very very few actual quests in the game.
They also have what are called "FATEs" which are pretty much just Events in GW2 or Rifts in... well, rift lol. They are static events that respawn every so often, and you get more exp/coin the more you participate in said FATE. They, along with Hunting Logs are the only way to level an alternate class, as once you complete your story quest, or any other regular quest, you cannot do it again, be it with the same class or an alternate class. So in order to level another class, you must grind FATE's and grind out your Hunting Log, which still yields marginal Exp.
So on top of this, they added "LeveQuests." Yes, it's spelled LeveQuest. They are repeatable quests that you can do ONE per THREE hours via Allowances that accumulate over time. You can have up too... I think it was 30 allowances at a time, and up too 15 active LeveQuests. When activating a LeveQuests, you have the option of setting the difficulty up to 4 levels higher than it's attainable level, which increases net Exp and Coin gain from it. If you fail the LeveQuest, get Disonnected or otherwise don't complete it, you lose 1 Allowance, and have to start over.
When you finish an LQ you have the option to teleport back to the LQ Giver immediately, which is nice I guess. You can complete LQ's an infinite number of times, pending on the amount of Allowances you have accumulated. I have had a few times now where I have had an empty quest log, and wasn't high enough level to progress the story. I have done every quest, hunting log, and a few FATEs along the way.
Anyway, back to my adventure. Whilst exploring the lands of Whateverthenameoftheworldis, I was constantly plagued by loading screens. Why they decided to chop the game apart into little pieces and throw in loading screens is beyond me. Games have been Fully Loaded/No Load screen for over a decade, it's not new technology, and it's not GPU intensive. It really ruins any aspect of Awe or entrancement that would be in the game, there is no magic too it. It's just loading screen after loading screen after levequest after loading screen. It seems you can't go more than 100 yards without running into one. That isn't too terrible though honestly, it doesn't kill the games environment. What does, is the fact that there are invisible walls E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. You have ZERO option for exploration and adventure. The entire time I was playing I felt boxed in and claustrophobic, as if the world was shrinking in upon me. If you want to swim over the river to the other bank to fight that mob, no, you cannot. You must walk half a mile around the small body of water to the other side. You want to climb that hill and get up on that cool rocky outcropping and look around? Nope. Invisible walls bro, go fuck yourself! You can't even jump off the dock down to the platform below you in order to save yourself 15 seconds. It's really just ridiculous the amount of restrictions they put in the game!
The zones seem hollow and empty. Sure they have nice graphics and a good theme to them, but there is no life. The quests are few and far between and they never seem to have a neat/fun or non "UGhhh..." quest. I do not want to play Delivery Boy/Messenger Boy sim. I want to play an MMO RPG with great active and thrilling combat with decent enough quests to get me by and keep me occupied. Aside from that LeveQuest system being flawed, the zones, despite being well designed at a graphical stand point, leave something too be desired.
Regardless of how well put together the Class/Job system is, that is the only thing this game has going for it. Everything else pales in comparison to other MMO's. Despite some of the rather poorly designed aspects of this game, the one thing that would otherwise be able to hold things together and keep it fun and entertaining and have you wanting more, the Combat System, sucks more than anything else. It is THE WORST aspect of the game (Aside from the map system), and the most boring combat system of any MMO I've ever played.
The combat system in an MMO is the pinnacle of the games core and design. Who want's to play a game that isn't fun too play? Definitely not this guy. And for that reason, I have given up hope on this game. It is going to fail just like the previous rendition failed. It has many of the same problems, and many new problems that the dev's refuse too recognize and address. They are running horses with blindfolds on, not paying attention to what is going on around them, only wanting to get to the finish line ahead of the rest. Well, let me tell you something, run as fast as you want, but ignoring the fact that you have lost your jockey won't get you anywhere.
SORRY for the wall of text. My god.
+100 to this guy.
"The problem is that the hardcore folks always want the same thing: 'We want exactly what you gave us before, but it has to be completely different.' -Jesse Schell
"Online gamers are the most ludicrously entitled beings since Caligula made his horse a senator, and at least the horse never said anything stupid." -Luke McKinney
lol thanks you guys. I was worried people would see the huge amount of words and get scared and not read it.
I really do want to like this game, I really do. But there are certain 'features' I cannot come to accept. I could list hundreds of options in order to help fix them but there is no point. Beta is up soon, and the game is going to launch on the 27th of August.
I'm sure I came off a bit jerk-ish in there at one point but it's just something I am really passionate about and and very honest and truthful about my opinions.
Well everyone has different taste. I would argue this point by point but I'm sure people would just call me a white knight. So I'll just say that I disagree and hope you find a game that you like.
That is entirely true and I respect your opinion. I agree with OP, this is not the game for me. I didn't know anything about the game, and got the beta so I decided to give it a shot. I was not impressed too say the least. I wanted to like the game, I love Final Fantasy, I love the graphic and design of the game, and I love the unique Class+Job system and I think that this game has an incredible amount of potential, but I feel it is all going to waste and is being held down by various factors.
Maybe in a year or two it will go F2P and I'll give it another shot, but them asking for a sub fee as well as the purchase for the game is a bit much if you ask me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and have a good time playing it, I always wish people the best in their endeavors.
Hey man, I couldn't agree more. I have been doing a lot of discussion related to FFXIV and how it compare to other mmo's out there on the marker and how I feel about it. I so far, really don't like it. There are certain aspects I really love, and enjoy.
The Crafting/Gathering system is awesome. It's new, unique, and fresh. The way you harvest, and the way the profession works as a class is really cool and invigorating too see.
The Job/Class system is fantastic! Cross classing is very cool. I haven't gotten too high of a level with multiple classes to really unlock the full potential behind the system, but so far from what I've been able to do it's really cool!
That said, there isn't really anything else that the game brings in terms of new or innovative aspects. From the start of the game, I had no idea what to expect, or what I was getting into. I never played FFXI, nor have I played the 1.0 version of this game. My mind and perspective was a clean slate. As I made my character and logged in, I was greeted by a pretty cinematic, and then a wagon ride to town where I would start my adventure.
First thing I noticed that put me off
The Map is utterly horrific. Every single aspect about the map makes me sick. It is impossible too navigate, it's not user friendly at all, it's confusing and it makes my head spin. Trying to get from Point A to Point E without already having been to Points BCD is almost impossible. The map is blank until you discover it, and the quest tracking system is non existent.
Ok, no big deal I thought, it's still in beta no sweat they will fix it. So I continued on my adventure in Ul'Dah or w/e it's called. As I continued picked up coins for rich people, delivering letters and notes and cookies to little Suzy Q, load screen after load screen, I was quickly getting bored. I was already LEVEL THREE before I even left the city to kill a monster. Upon engaging in battle I thought to myself. Wow. That was gay. Am I lagging? Why am I just standing there?
The auto attack speed seems inconsistent and unreliable. I think it's like 2.35 seconds currently at my level now. I spend most of my time in combat yawning, waiting for my eternal 2.5 second Global Cooldown to end its tyrannical reign over the battlefield.
The combat in this game is really, really holding the potential of the game down. It's sluggish, bland, and very lack luster. This game is a serious lobotomy in terms of combat. In Tera I would mindlessly grind just because of how fun and badass the combat was. Guild Wars 2, even only having 5 abilities, was still fun and beautiful too look at, the animations were smooth, blended well and looked gorgeous and i felt as if I were actively engaged in combat. But you just don't see that sort of stuff in this game. It's too tasteless. It's boring as fuck quite frankly. The Global Cooldown defies the space/time continuum and exists in multiple eternities it's so long. You spend more time waiting for the GCD than you do anything else. It is beyond frustrating, it kills the game.
As I continued playing Messenger Boy Delivery System 2013, I noticed a continuing trend. Go here, talk to him, come back to me. Repeat until exhausted. The quests are repetitive and monotonous. There is very little variety in what you do.
As I grit my teeth and carried on they introduced Hunting Logs, which is basically just hunting quest that can be completed once for each class. Each Log has 10 tasks, and there are 5 logs total. Each task usually requires you to kill anywhere from 4-6 of 1-3 species of enemy. What it boils down too is just a grindy mob killing quest. It's only there to help keep you leveled with the current area and your Main Story quest. Without it you would fall behind in level, as there are very very few actual quests in the game.
They also have what are called "FATEs" which are pretty much just Events in GW2 or Rifts in... well, rift lol. They are static events that respawn every so often, and you get more exp/coin the more you participate in said FATE. They, along with Hunting Logs are the only way to level an alternate class, as once you complete your story quest, or any other regular quest, you cannot do it again, be it with the same class or an alternate class. So in order to level another class, you must grind FATE's and grind out your Hunting Log, which still yields marginal Exp.
So on top of this, they added "LeveQuests." Yes, it's spelled LeveQuest. They are repeatable quests that you can do ONE per THREE hours via Allowances that accumulate over time. You can have up too... I think it was 30 allowances at a time, and up too 15 active LeveQuests. When activating a LeveQuests, you have the option of setting the difficulty up to 4 levels higher than it's attainable level, which increases net Exp and Coin gain from it. If you fail the LeveQuest, get Disonnected or otherwise don't complete it, you lose 1 Allowance, and have to start over.
When you finish an LQ you have the option to teleport back to the LQ Giver immediately, which is nice I guess. You can complete LQ's an infinite number of times, pending on the amount of Allowances you have accumulated. I have had a few times now where I have had an empty quest log, and wasn't high enough level to progress the story. I have done every quest, hunting log, and a few FATEs along the way.
Anyway, back to my adventure. Whilst exploring the lands of Whateverthenameoftheworldis, I was constantly plagued by loading screens. Why they decided to chop the game apart into little pieces and throw in loading screens is beyond me. Games have been Fully Loaded/No Load screen for over a decade, it's not new technology, and it's not GPU intensive. It really ruins any aspect of Awe or entrancement that would be in the game, there is no magic too it. It's just loading screen after loading screen after levequest after loading screen. It seems you can't go more than 100 yards without running into one. That isn't too terrible though honestly, it doesn't kill the games environment. What does, is the fact that there are invisible walls E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. You have ZERO option for exploration and adventure. The entire time I was playing I felt boxed in and claustrophobic, as if the world was shrinking in upon me. If you want to swim over the river to the other bank to fight that mob, no, you cannot. You must walk half a mile around the small body of water to the other side. You want to climb that hill and get up on that cool rocky outcropping and look around? Nope. Invisible walls bro, go fuck yourself! You can't even jump off the dock down to the platform below you in order to save yourself 15 seconds. It's really just ridiculous the amount of restrictions they put in the game!
The zones seem hollow and empty. Sure they have nice graphics and a good theme to them, but there is no life. The quests are few and far between and they never seem to have a neat/fun or non "UGhhh..." quest. I do not want to play Delivery Boy/Messenger Boy sim. I want to play an MMO RPG with great active and thrilling combat with decent enough quests to get me by and keep me occupied. Aside from that LeveQuest system being flawed, the zones, despite being well designed at a graphical stand point, leave something too be desired.
Regardless of how well put together the Class/Job system is, that is the only thing this game has going for it. Everything else pales in comparison to other MMO's. Despite some of the rather poorly designed aspects of this game, the one thing that would otherwise be able to hold things together and keep it fun and entertaining and have you wanting more, the Combat System, sucks more than anything else. It is THE WORST aspect of the game (Aside from the map system), and the most boring combat system of any MMO I've ever played.
The combat system in an MMO is the pinnacle of the games core and design. Who want's to play a game that isn't fun too play? Definitely not this guy. And for that reason, I have given up hope on this game. It is going to fail just like the previous rendition failed. It has many of the same problems, and many new problems that the dev's refuse too recognize and address. They are running horses with blindfolds on, not paying attention to what is going on around them, only wanting to get to the finish line ahead of the rest. Well, let me tell you something, run as fast as you want, but ignoring the fact that you have lost your jockey won't get you anywhere.
SORRY for the wall of text. My god.
I'll be frank.. I had the EXACT same problems as you. I simply couldn't get into the game, I mean I'm the kind of player that is driven by exploration and pvp. I simply couldn't click with the game.
I always thought FF wasnt my thing...until i played beta... I thought combat was very slow...i was wrong..it really is improved. Great graphics to...best ive seen in a long time!
I think its a very refressing game.. To be short...pre order placed...
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
Always entertaining to read these "first impression" threads
I spent MY first few hours in FF:ARR yesterday, and was incredibly impressed. It is without a doubt the most beautiful game world I've ever seen in an MMO. The hyper-realistic gfx are jaw-dropping at max settings. It's a game world I could live in.
The pace of the combat was a bit of a shock, after having spent some time in Neverwinter. FF is definitely "classic" MMO combat. No "action combat" or "dynamic dodging" or "point-to-aim" here.
But the quality and depth of the game design shines through everywhere. This is clearly not a "shake-'n-bake" designed for F2P game. I'm loving it so far !
I'm sorely tempted to pre-order, the only thing holding me back is waiting for the "big reveal" of EQNext. I would not play FF on a casual basis, it would be my main (and only) MMO, otherwise I wouldn't get what I want out of it.
That said, there isn't really anything else that the game brings in terms of new or innovative aspects.
I see this a lot. "The game isn't new or innovative".
I think that argument is over-used a lot as a kind of "fool-proof, ace-card talking point", that people somehow feel is untouchable. As if to say "If you can't prove that it has something innovative, then I win". It's just not that simple.
Before it can be a strong argument, you have to define why it's so important that it be "innovative" in the first place. There are many things on the market that are not innovative, yet still manage to be very successful.
WoW wasn't particularly innovative at its launch either. All Blizzard did was took familiar concepts, wrangled them into a more streamlined and "accessible" format, and built a game based around an already beloved franchise. Their success is well known by now. The game, however, did nothing 'innovative' with the genre.
And you can say "well, Blizzard's different because WoW was a game released at the right time, to the right people" or whatever, and that's fine. But then it still shows that 'innovation' wasn't necessary.
Something doesn't have to be "innovative" to be good. It simply has to be well enough made and presented, to enough people. At the end of the day, execution and delivery carry far more weight than 'innovation'.
First thing I noticed that put me off
The Map is utterly horrific. Every single aspect about the map makes me sick. It is impossible too navigate, it's not user friendly at all, it's confusing and it makes my head spin. Trying to get from Point A to Point E without already having been to Points BCD is almost impossible. The map is blank until you discover it, and the quest tracking system is non existent.
Here you demonstrate a clear penchant for hyperbole, which continues throughout your post. Another tendency I see with some people, they feel that adding a bunch of strong adjectives and exaggerated statements to their points somehow makes them stronger. They don't. They just make them look dubiously exaggerated.
"Utterly horrific", "makes me sick", "it's impossible to navigate", "makes my head spin", "almost impossible", "quest tracking system is non-existent".
In 3.5 lines of text (unquoted), you used 6 exaggerated/hyperbolic descriptions. That's a ridiculously slanted ratio.
Getting to any point on the map is not 'almost impossible'. It's not even difficult. The maps are not that confusing, major camps are clearly marked and labeled, anyone with a quest is marked with a symbol, and simply making your way in the general direction of what you're trying to get to is all that's necessary to get where you're going. For the most part, you can just follow the damn roads lol.
It is not impossible to navigate. Not by a long shot. I've been using the same map system as you constantly in my travels and have made my way where I needed to be every single time, without issue. Many others in my LS/FC are doing so as well, and doing just fine. Sounds like you're just poor at using maps, just weren't trying, or are just making things up.
Saying the quest tracking system is non-existant is a bold-faced lie. The quest tracking system is very present in this game. It's overkill, in my opinion.
There are markers on the map anywhere a quest is available
There are circles indicating the location of quest objectives
There are quest markers over creatures' heads and on the mini-map.
There are "smoke" effects coming off objects, or smokey rings indicating the location of a quest objective's location
There are small gold arrows/glows indicating the direction of a quest/objective on your mini-map.
A quest tracker is up on your screen, listing each one you have active.
The quest journal has a 'map' button that shows you where you have to go for the quest.
Each quest in the journal even has a small picture of the NPC you need to talk to, for crying out loud.
And you're trying to call that 'non-existant'? Seriously?
The auto attack speed seems inconsistent and unreliable. I think it's like 2.35 seconds currently at my level now. I spend most of my time in combat yawning, waiting for my eternal 2.5 second Global Cooldown to end its tyrannical reign over the battlefield.
More hyperbole-filled ranting. You're confusing auto-attack speed with GCD. "Tyrannical reign over the battlefield'? Seriously? Are you so insecure in your own opinions that you have to inflate them with absurd exaggerations to make them seem "more powerful"?
I don't get it.
The GCD has already been explained, time and again. That you can reduce the delay between attacks as you progress in the game has been explained time and again. It's an old, tired complaint that is perpetuated only by the intellectually lazy, the willfully ignorant, or the blatantly dishonest.
The combat in this game is really, really holding the potential of the game down. It's sluggish, bland, and very lack luster. This game is a serious lobotomy in terms of combat. In Tera I would mindlessly grind just because of how fun and badass the combat was. Guild Wars 2, even only having 5 abilities, was still fun and beautiful too look at, the animations were smooth, blended well and looked gorgeous and i felt as if I were actively engaged in combat. But you just don't see that sort of stuff in this game. It's too tasteless. It's boring as fuck quite frankly. The Global Cooldown defies the space/time continuum and exists in multiple eternities it's so long. You spend more time writing for the GCD than you do anything else. It is beyond frustrating, it kills the game.
More hyperbole mixed with comparisons to two MMOs with completely different combat systems. Which type of combat system you prefer is personal preference, not divine dogma. If you prefer a more action-based combat system, then my advice would be to play MMOs with an action-based combat system.
I played and - for the most part - enjoyed TERA up to around level 57 which is when I finally got sick of the predictable repetition of it, along with the annoying glitches surfacing as I went. I really enjoyed the combat system in that game, however. I enjoy it for what it is.
Here's the thing, though. That's TERA. This is FFXIV, and I also enjoy its combat for what it is.
I enjoy it largely because as you progress and get into different content, you find that the specifics of the combat system (GCDs and such) take a back-seat to the more immediate aspect of it: The mechanics of specific encounters and situations. When you're dealing with a tough encounter, avoiding AOEs, positioning yourself for better damage, or to avoid directional attacks from an enemy, dealing with adds before they have a chance to do any damage, etc... you're not really paying much specific attention to what the GCD is, or what rotations you're using.
When I was doing a Guildhest the other night that involved dealing with a main enemy that would randomly place a time-delayed AOE on a group member, while having a number of adds coming out to aid him, while also having blue flames popping up that had to be extinguished (without interruption) in order to weaken him to attacks... I wasn't focusing on "what's the cool-down of my attacks, and what rotation should I be using". I was focusing on dealing with the situations at hand.
People keep putting all this focus on "how basic the combat system is", with special focus on the lower levels; as though they expect to jump into the game at level 1 having all their level 50 abilities and content available to them. No MMO does this. Name me a MMO that starts you off at level 1 with all the options of combat, and the pacing, variety and challenge of end-game combat you'd expect to have by level cap. There isn't one. Funny how, in their rants, people seem to always ignore this detail, even when it's pointed out to them, and I have pointed it out to many.
The early levels of a game (some would argue every level up to cap, which I disagree with) are meant to ease new players (to the MMO in particular, or genre in general) into the game. They are designed simply and basically on purpose. This should be rather obvious to anyone who's played MMOs before as, again, no MMO starts off by throwing you in the deep end. That this very basic and quite logical detail eludes so many people, so often, is really quite saddening.
What's funny, and telling, about that, is every time I've brought it up, or challenged someone to refute it.. they've completely avoided it. If they were quoting me, they omitted that bit from their quote. Yet, they kept arguing the point as though I'd said nothing at all. Rather than acknowledging that I had a point, they chose to ignore it and proceed as though they hadn't been challenged. That, my friends, is called intellectual dishonesty.. and it seems to overrun gaming forums.
As I continued playing Messenger Boy Delivery System 2013, I noticed a continuing trend. Go here, talk to him, come back to me. Repeat until exhausted. The quests are repetitive and monotonous. There is very little variety in what you do.
More hyperbole. Surprise, surprise. The simpler 'kill and collect' quests only happen in the first set of quests you'll receive, either on the main storyline or in your class quests, etc. They phase out around level 5 or so and become more varied. Either you didn't get that far, or you did and are just being dishonest here.
As I grit my teeth and carried on they introduced Hunting Logs, which is basically just hunting quest that can be completed once for each class. Each Log has 10 tasks, and there are 5 logs total. Each task usually requires you to kill anywhere from 4-6 of 1-3 species of enemy. What it boils down too is just a grindy mob killing quest. It's only there to help keep you leveled with the current area and your Main Story quest. Without it you would fall behind in level, as there are very very few actual quests in the game.
More hyperbole and dishonest misrepresentation. I'm noticing a pattern here.
There are lots of quests in the game. All over the place. More open up as you level - even back in locations you've already been through. I've leveled up on multiple classes, using quests as a primary vehicle, only doing other things on the side for some variety. I still have more to do, and will have even more to do in full release and as the game develops down the road.
Yes, the hunting log requires you to go locate and kill a small number of certain mob types. That's why it's called a 'Hunting Log'. 'cause you're "hunting stuff". Go figure, huh? It also has the benefit of helping you learn your way around an area and get to know the location of certain mob types, etc.
It's also optional. I've done only the first set of one class's Hunting Log. Again, I've leveled up just fine through FATEs, Quests and Dungeons.
They also have what are called "FATEs" which are pretty much just Events in GW2 or Rifts in... well, rift lol. They are static events that respawn every so often, and you get more exp/coin the more you participate in said FATE. They, along with Hunting Logs are the only way to level an alternate class, as once you complete your story quest, or any other regular quest, you cannot do it again, be it with the same class or an alternate class. So in order to level another class, you must grind FATE's and grind out your Hunting Log, which still yields marginal Exp.
I'm just going to comment on the rest of your post here, as it's really more of the same. Hyper-exaggerated opinion, incomplete details, contradictions, and misinformation asserted as fact.
There's something funny that happens throughout your post, and you clearly didn't recognize it while you were typing it. You're basically undermining one of your greater arguments: the whole "not many ways to level" thing.
You list: Quests, Hunting Log, FATEs, and Levequests as ways to level. There's a great variety of each of those things, spread out across the various zones. That alone would provide a variety of things to do. Only that's not all there is.
There are also Guildhests and Dungeons. Each class has its own chain of storyline quests via its guild, which all help to level you up on each class, and reward you new skills as you go as well. There are also Grand Companies, which provide additional tasks and quests to help you level. There are also Job-specific quests and storylines, which help you level further, reward new skills and new armor (AF armor, specifically).
So really, if someone playing this game has difficulty leveling, then they simply aren't trying. Because, by my count, there are at least 9 individual types of activities players can participate in, in whatever variety, to play and progress in the game.
No one will ever have to "do the same activity over and over again", unless they choose to. And if they choose to, that's their own fault, not the game's.
SORRY for the wall of text. My god.
A wall of text is fine. Not everyone is 'offended' by having to read. Not everyone 'requires' a 'TL;DR' to offset a stunted attention span. I love having a good read and prefer a lengthier post filled with details, examples, explanations and supporting (and supportable) facts, than an unsupported and unqualified 'snippet' with no further explanation.
Problem with your post, though, is that it's so bloated by empty and ultimately useless filler, in the form of hyperbole and misinformation. You could have cut your post down to about 1/4th its size, simply stated what you didn't like and why, summarized it with 'It just isn't my game, I guess", and left it at that. But somehow, I get the impression you had other intentions with your post.
Great post Ayulin. I agree with everything you wrote. Sephrinx writes with so much hyperbole and exaggeration that I wonder what his intention is. I remember now that he posted a lot on the beta forums for the last several weeks under the same username, and his posts there were the same exact flavor. Walls of text filled with rants about how everything is so "horrible" compared to TERA. He actually wrote that he doesn't care about the story or quests and that his only intention is to kill fast and get loot. Clearly FFXIV is not his game, but I really gotta the sanity of someone spends weeks writing novels on multiple forums about how they don't like a video game. Great, it's not your game. It's not everyone's game. Move on and find a game you like. Why obsess about it? Many people really like FFXIV, including the combat system, which gets way more complex and fun at higher levels once you get more skills and mix skills from other classes.
Originally posted by simulacra Great post Ayulin. I agree with everything you wrote. Sephrinx writes with so much hyperbole and exaggeration that I wonder what his intention is. I remember now that he posted a lot on the beta forums for the last several weeks under the same username, and his posts there were the same exact flavor. Walls of text filled with rants about how everything is so "horrible" compared to TERA. He actually wrote that he doesn't care about the story or quests and that his only intention is to kill fast and get loot. Clearly FFXIV is not his game, but I really gotta the sanity of someone spends weeks writing novels on multiple forums about how they don't like a video game. Great, it's not your game. It's not everyone's game. Move on and find a game you like. Why obsess about it? Many people really like FFXIV, including the combat system, which gets way more complex and fun at higher levels once you get more skills and mix skills from other classes.
Won't pretend to know what it is in Sephrinx's case, but I do know that there's a number of people who hate the idea that people might enjoy and play a game they don't enjoy or play. So, they do what they can to try and sway people away from it, and ideally, toward theirs. In this case, it would be TERA... though again, I'm not sure what Seph's intent is, beyond demonstrating a love of exaggeration. Though, I have my suspicion.
What an amazing post ayulin. I was inclined to say more or less what you did but not so well phrased and coherently and I too felt the hyberbole and exaggeration was very apparent .That one has an agenda and the sad thing is the way others come and support that agenda without really reading the post to filter that over the top exaggeration. It is okay if you are writing a novel but when you write a review at least be honest. Pitiful tactics.
I also agree that the "It doesn't have enough innovation" is a vague, generic and very weak argument.
You said in your previous post that a game doesn't need innovation to be good. I agree 100% but that's not all of it. To carry that out even farther. Not all innovation is good, complete or moves the genre forward. Arena Net was supposed to be a pioneer with innovation in GW2. But they were too ambitions and tried to bite off more then they could chew. Many innovations GW2 brought either had issues, had limited delivery on what was promised, or just wasn't better than what it replaced.
That's not to say there is no room for any innovation in MMOs. But the presence or absence of it from a new MMO will not automatically translate into it's success or demise.
I also agree that the "It doesn't have enough innovation" is a vague, generic and very weak argument.
As an argument, it's perfectly sufficient. If you've played MMOs for a long time, and are simply fed up with how every new MMO that comes out feels almost exactly like the last game you played, "doesn't have enough innovation" is a perfectly valid, and strong argument against a new game.
It's not valid for everyone, because not everyone is tired of that type of MMO, but it is valid for everyone with the same history and experience as you. who came to the same conclusion as you.
Innovation is of course not a guarantee for a better game, but it indicates a different game, which might be all that person is looking for.
Comments
You people need to learn to read, besides one maybe two one liners, OP did not get flamed, people just disagreed with them, that's the problem with alot of you, yes there are fans, and they are passionate, but don't misinterpret them disagreeing with the OP as flame, it's all it is, a disagreement, and alot of them were well thought out disagreements as much as you think the OP's statement was well thought out.
Because sometimes being different for the sake of being different isn't always good. Look at the massive amount of disappointment that many people had for GW2. Granted they tried to make something completely different, but I think it might have been better to just make your game and not focus on making sure that you don't match the competitor in anyway. Look what Blizzard accomplished by taking all of the accepted conventions of the time and refining them to a point of perfection.
James T. Kirk: All she's got isn't good enough! What else ya got?
I just tried this game today. I feel the same as the OP though. Too much zoning in the starter city turned me off. This was the same mistake EQ2 made, and it seems devs never learn from this. If you're going to have zoning, then don't require questing that makes us travel between them. It's very bad design. One recent MMO that did get this right was Rift. You can quest and explore just about everywhere in the first 15+ levels without zoning once. Swtor got this wrong too. Zoning into spaceship, then back and forth, for questing is just very bad.
I also agree with the OP on combat. It was too slow, especially as a Thaumaturge. This is what i hated about Rift's combat also. The casting speed is too long and the global cooldowns are too long.
As a non-final fantasy person, i thought the races, scenery, and character creation was really good, but the rest didn't leave me impressed.
Again, without the zoning then it wouldn't run on very very low end machines, which it can now.
Its a trade off, one that I think is a wise one to make.
Regardless the reason, it's perfectly fine to dislike it, so no need to keep on playing the same tune over and over again.
I kind of agree with you here, mostly about combat anyway. They need to cut down the GCDs to HALF at least. Combat is not fluid nor fun in XIV. I noticed the zoning but that didn't bother me as much as the combat did. Still, I pre-ordered the game and will play it at launch. Fixing the combat would easily garner a 9+ score from me, though. It just reminded me a lot of PW's combat. Ugh.
Bud I don't have to read any answers to this part of your post but you're gonna get flamed.
I challenge you to find one single wall in Vanguard... I'll add EQ2 to that but I could be wrong.
"EVERY" game does NOT have invisible walls.
Hey man, I couldn't agree more. I have been doing a lot of discussion related to FFXIV and how it compare to other mmo's out there on the marker and how I feel about it. I so far, really don't like it. There are certain aspects I really love, and enjoy.
They also have what are called "FATEs" which are pretty much just Events in GW2 or Rifts in... well, rift lol. They are static events that respawn every so often, and you get more exp/coin the more you participate in said FATE. They, along with Hunting Logs are the only way to level an alternate class, as once you complete your story quest, or any other regular quest, you cannot do it again, be it with the same class or an alternate class. So in order to level another class, you must grind FATE's and grind out your Hunting Log, which still yields marginal Exp.
Anyway, back to my adventure. Whilst exploring the lands of Whateverthenameoftheworldis, I was constantly plagued by loading screens. Why they decided to chop the game apart into little pieces and throw in loading screens is beyond me. Games have been Fully Loaded/No Load screen for over a decade, it's not new technology, and it's not GPU intensive. It really ruins any aspect of Awe or entrancement that would be in the game, there is no magic too it. It's just loading screen after loading screen after levequest after loading screen. It seems you can't go more than 100 yards without running into one. That isn't too terrible though honestly, it doesn't kill the games environment. What does, is the fact that there are invisible walls E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. You have ZERO option for exploration and adventure. The entire time I was playing I felt boxed in and claustrophobic, as if the world was shrinking in upon me. If you want to swim over the river to the other bank to fight that mob, no, you cannot. You must walk half a mile around the small body of water to the other side. You want to climb that hill and get up on that cool rocky outcropping and look around? Nope. Invisible walls bro, go fuck yourself! You can't even jump off the dock down to the platform below you in order to save yourself 15 seconds. It's really just ridiculous the amount of restrictions they put in the game!
The zones seem hollow and empty. Sure they have nice graphics and a good theme to them, but there is no life. The quests are few and far between and they never seem to have a neat/fun or non "UGhhh..." quest. I do not want to play Delivery Boy/Messenger Boy sim. I want to play an MMO RPG with great active and thrilling combat with decent enough quests to get me by and keep me occupied. Aside from that LeveQuest system being flawed, the zones, despite being well designed at a graphical stand point, leave something too be desired.
Regardless of how well put together the Class/Job system is, that is the only thing this game has going for it. Everything else pales in comparison to other MMO's. Despite some of the rather poorly designed aspects of this game, the one thing that would otherwise be able to hold things together and keep it fun and entertaining and have you wanting more, the Combat System, sucks more than anything else. It is THE WORST aspect of the game (Aside from the map system), and the most boring combat system of any MMO I've ever played.
The combat system in an MMO is the pinnacle of the games core and design. Who want's to play a game that isn't fun too play? Definitely not this guy. And for that reason, I have given up hope on this game. It is going to fail just like the previous rendition failed. It has many of the same problems, and many new problems that the dev's refuse too recognize and address. They are running horses with blindfolds on, not paying attention to what is going on around them, only wanting to get to the finish line ahead of the rest. Well, let me tell you something, run as fast as you want, but ignoring the fact that you have lost your jockey won't get you anywhere.
@Sephrinx
I read your post and just had to say... This is spot-on, every word.
Played the game for the first time yesterday, for a few hours, and "exhausting" is by far the best way to describe the experience.
Nice post.
+100 to this guy.
"The problem is that the hardcore folks always want the same thing: 'We want exactly what you gave us before, but it has to be completely different.'
-Jesse Schell
"Online gamers are the most ludicrously entitled beings since Caligula made his horse a senator, and at least the horse never said anything stupid."
-Luke McKinney
lol thanks you guys. I was worried people would see the huge amount of words and get scared and not read it.
I really do want to like this game, I really do. But there are certain 'features' I cannot come to accept. I could list hundreds of options in order to help fix them but there is no point. Beta is up soon, and the game is going to launch on the 27th of August.
I'm sure I came off a bit jerk-ish in there at one point but it's just something I am really passionate about and and very honest and truthful about my opinions.
That is entirely true and I respect your opinion. I agree with OP, this is not the game for me. I didn't know anything about the game, and got the beta so I decided to give it a shot. I was not impressed too say the least. I wanted to like the game, I love Final Fantasy, I love the graphic and design of the game, and I love the unique Class+Job system and I think that this game has an incredible amount of potential, but I feel it is all going to waste and is being held down by various factors.
Maybe in a year or two it will go F2P and I'll give it another shot, but them asking for a sub fee as well as the purchase for the game is a bit much if you ask me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and have a good time playing it, I always wish people the best in their endeavors.
I'll be frank.. I had the EXACT same problems as you. I simply couldn't get into the game, I mean I'm the kind of player that is driven by exploration and pvp. I simply couldn't click with the game.
I thought combat was very slow...i was wrong..it really is improved.
Great graphics to...best ive seen in a long time!
I think its a very refressing game..
To be short...pre order placed...
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
Edgar Allan Poe
Always entertaining to read these "first impression" threads
I spent MY first few hours in FF:ARR yesterday, and was incredibly impressed. It is without a doubt the most beautiful game world I've ever seen in an MMO. The hyper-realistic gfx are jaw-dropping at max settings. It's a game world I could live in.
The pace of the combat was a bit of a shock, after having spent some time in Neverwinter. FF is definitely "classic" MMO combat. No "action combat" or "dynamic dodging" or "point-to-aim" here.
But the quality and depth of the game design shines through everywhere. This is clearly not a "shake-'n-bake" designed for F2P game. I'm loving it so far !
I'm sorely tempted to pre-order, the only thing holding me back is waiting for the "big reveal" of EQNext. I would not play FF on a casual basis, it would be my main (and only) MMO, otherwise I wouldn't get what I want out of it.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
Edgar Allan Poe
I see this a lot. "The game isn't new or innovative".
I think that argument is over-used a lot as a kind of "fool-proof, ace-card talking point", that people somehow feel is untouchable. As if to say "If you can't prove that it has something innovative, then I win". It's just not that simple.
Before it can be a strong argument, you have to define why it's so important that it be "innovative" in the first place. There are many things on the market that are not innovative, yet still manage to be very successful.
WoW wasn't particularly innovative at its launch either. All Blizzard did was took familiar concepts, wrangled them into a more streamlined and "accessible" format, and built a game based around an already beloved franchise. Their success is well known by now. The game, however, did nothing 'innovative' with the genre.
And you can say "well, Blizzard's different because WoW was a game released at the right time, to the right people" or whatever, and that's fine. But then it still shows that 'innovation' wasn't necessary.
Something doesn't have to be "innovative" to be good. It simply has to be well enough made and presented, to enough people. At the end of the day, execution and delivery carry far more weight than 'innovation'.
The GCD has already been explained, time and again. That you can reduce the delay between attacks as you progress in the game has been explained time and again. It's an old, tired complaint that is perpetuated only by the intellectually lazy, the willfully ignorant, or the blatantly dishonest.
Won't pretend to know what it is in Sephrinx's case, but I do know that there's a number of people who hate the idea that people might enjoy and play a game they don't enjoy or play. So, they do what they can to try and sway people away from it, and ideally, toward theirs. In this case, it would be TERA... though again, I'm not sure what Seph's intent is, beyond demonstrating a love of exaggeration. Though, I have my suspicion.
I also agree that the "It doesn't have enough innovation" is a vague, generic and very weak argument.
You said in your previous post that a game doesn't need innovation to be good. I agree 100% but that's not all of it. To carry that out even farther. Not all innovation is good, complete or moves the genre forward. Arena Net was supposed to be a pioneer with innovation in GW2. But they were too ambitions and tried to bite off more then they could chew. Many innovations GW2 brought either had issues, had limited delivery on what was promised, or just wasn't better than what it replaced.
That's not to say there is no room for any innovation in MMOs. But the presence or absence of it from a new MMO will not automatically translate into it's success or demise.
As an argument, it's perfectly sufficient. If you've played MMOs for a long time, and are simply fed up with how every new MMO that comes out feels almost exactly like the last game you played, "doesn't have enough innovation" is a perfectly valid, and strong argument against a new game.
It's not valid for everyone, because not everyone is tired of that type of MMO, but it is valid for everyone with the same history and experience as you. who came to the same conclusion as you.
Innovation is of course not a guarantee for a better game, but it indicates a different game, which might be all that person is looking for.