I should add that the game world being one that immerses and keeps me fascinated in it is big. I said in my previous post that I play for good people/friends in the long term, and that's true, but I've found that a certain sort of game can keep me playing for hours even when no one else is online. I'm talking about the kind of game world where I'm excited to explore and see what's over the next hill.
Honestly, I get that feeling with a lot of games when I am just starting them (the notorious 'honeymoon' phase) and all the content is new. Once I've explored most of everything, the feeling of novelty and discovery is lost, and it's at that point that I rely more than before on friends or guildies to keep me playing. I suppose it's only a 'long-term' thing insofar as the devs keep introducing new expansions and other novel content that I can dive into in the same way. I'm thinking of WoW as an example, which in each new expansion gave me some large continent, sometimes a whole world, to explore and discover new things in; yes, believe it or not, I found WoW immersive (at least at times).
I would say an amazing community and a nice guild where people treat each other nicely.
To be honest, this sort of thing doesn't matter too me that much. Yeah, a good community can be a very amazing thing in an MMO, and having a nice, friendly guild can make things a lot more fun and entertaining all around, however, they don't apply in terms of the games long-term appeal. To me at least.
I would say monthly updates, a lot of dynamic events...Monthly updates are also nice.
It also depends on the content of said updates. Guild Wars 2 had a great idea with constantly releasing more content, but they failed in the aspect of its importance. I have never bothered with the Living Story, and any of that crap. The reward are useless, other than a Weapon Skin or some stupid pet. That game is a whole new story that I don't want to get started on, as I could rant for ever about my disappointments.
new an interesting dungeons
This alone could be the saving grace for a lot of mmos. After a while, things get boring, repetitive, and lose their fun factor. Keeping a game fresh by adding in more dungeons is a surefire way to keep the game moving along and feeling new and exciting at all times. Rather than just releasing additional dungeons once every year or two with the release of an Expansion.. (I'm looking at you, World of Warcraft...)
Square Enix caring about the game and with planned expansions. Fun and engaging endgame.
When I hear "Planned expansions" I hear "Spoonfeed content" which is not a good thing. Having planned expansions, when you haven't even released a game yet, just screams corporate greed. *cough* EA *cough* and is overall just a shameful thing to do. I am all for expansions and additional content, but there is a point to where "Expansions/DLC" just becomes "We cut the game in half, so you have to pay more to get the full version" in which case I would instantly quit said game and never but from them again.
Do you remember Dynamis? Do you remember the expansions like Wings of the Goddess? That's what FFXIV needs to keep me interested long term.
I'm going to be honest with you and tell you I have no idea what that stuff is.
That said, what I would like to see would be
Hard PvE content
I want to wipe a dozen times on the first boss of the first raid. I don't want to just, dodge the Flame Breath, or kite the Invulnerable Add... I want to have to fight for my gear and fight for my quests. Having easy content is boring. I have never had so much fun in any mmo then when I am
Usefull and meaningful crafting
I don't want to spend ages and ages, leveling up crafting and gathering professions, only for them to be essentially useless. I want to be able to craft gear for my current level, and have it actually be good, and not just a filler item. Once you hit max level and start doing Raids and Endgame, I want to have crafting gear be better than most of the drops, or at least equivilant too. I can't recall a single MMO where the crafting has actually mattered.
Gripping intense combat
There is nothing excited about 1-2-3 combat. It needs to be involving, and more than just a rotation. It needs to keep me feeling like I am actually doing something, and not just on autopilot. It needs to have a fast pace and require me to do more than just avoid the Cleave or burn adds. Something more than just... the basic, and current combat system that they currently have in place. If there is anything keeping me from Purchasing and getting into this game, it is hands down the abhorring terrible combat.
Additional Raids/Dungeons
Once I complete all the dungeons and raids 20 times in the first month, then what? I am fairly certain that, given how fast I leveled up to 35 (2-3 nights of gameplay) that I will hit the level cap in a week. And then after that, I would easily be geared for raids by the next week, if not sooner, and then the following 2-3 weeks I would have completed most of the raids. I hope that isn't how this game is going to work, but seeing as how faceroll easy it has been it wouldn't be a surprise.
Advanced and Unique class mechanics
Right now, all the classes feel like they work the same. I know it is only beta, and not everything has been released, but holy shit, boring. The difference between playing an ARC or MRA is seemingly only the range at which you attack from. The difference in playing a PUG or a GLD is just, different names and different animations for your abilities. There is nothing that separates them more than the name of their moves, and their animations. Everything else is pretty much the same. Use one ability that takes TP/MP, and then use another ability that takes TP/MP. There isn't anything that is unique or advanced about how the classes in this game are working, so far. I know, still beta, but the fact stands that the classes are very lame adn you cannot deny it.
- A pleasant community. I don't need or want it to be a fraternity type of environment, just people who can be civil to each other. My experience with my server's community in GW2 has been on the whole very positive and I'd like to see that atmosphere in FFXIV.
- Attachment to my character. The ability to get a name and appearance that I feel a connection to. I think FFXIV already offers that. As an extension, I really liked the shadowpriest class in WoW and raided with one for two years. I need to feel that connection with a certain style of play.
- A reason to keep getting better. Progression is the long-term motivating factor for me. I want to continue getting better to take on increasingly challenging (and interesting) content. Playing an MMO is a bit like playing golf for me. As a leisure time activity I can enjoy a round at almost any time, but a lot of the fun really comes from trying to improve my score, move on to more challenging courses, etc.. In an MMO part of that is going through the process of acquiring optimal gear for my class(es) and role, but also just getting better at handling my character. This means that the game has to keep offering something after the "end" that encourages me to keep improving and testing myself individually and as a "teammate" (this is where GW2 failed in a huge way for me). The caveat here is that if you dumb things down to the point that I don't feel like it matters whether I pick up that new item or get better at managing my MP or whatever, you've lost me.
Community and friends is something I have across games, so that isn't an incentive for me to stick with any one particular game.
Progression for the sake of progression has completely ceased to provide any motivation for me, which is quite a problem in this genre.
New content, well yes and no. It's not enough to just have more of the same content. That has proven to have very strong diminishing returns in terms of keeping me engaged. New in the sense of something different, that is interesting for much longer, but also much harder to do, as there is only so much mechanics you can play out within the framework of an MMO.
Persistance of your actions and decisions is something that seems to be geting more focus in current MMO development, that can help tremendously with long term engagement. More broadly speaking, anything that takes focus away from the progression tropes and puts it on the game world and your characters place in it is a promising route to follow.
If I get the same things I managed in Everquest, FFXI, vanilla WoW, EQ 2 that is a good guild with grouping with people and getting to play a role like a healer and people recognizing my name and asking me to group based on my skill as a healer. I do not want to be a generic character I want people to know me as I was known in FFXI as 'that' red mage who was good and got even invited regularly by Japanese players who notoriously at one time only grouped with people from their region. I would get a tell from them when I logged on within like 5 mins. I want that notoriety which so many games these days just lack. WoW early WoW had people you knew on server based on reputation. I miss that oh so much. Games these days do not distinguish you because you can play any role and have no identity or just solo.
Vet Rewards based on subscription time, not account life.
You think people play EVE for the intense PvP or the 30 page moon goo spreadsheets? We all know 100 mill SP just means getting podded costs more but people do it anyway.
3. Always having something to progress toward, even if it takes months or even a year to reach.
4. Having a veriaty of things to do, so if I get burned out on leveling, i'll do something else for a while, like fish or craft.
5. Have a lot of group stuff to do.
6. The Journey never ends.
And come to think of it, thats the reason I only ever played offline rpg games for around 1-2 months. It's because I finished the game and ran outa side stuff to do. MMO's aren't supposed to beable to finish, there supposed to be a never ending gaming world.
Alternate Advancement... If i hit 60 and there is no point in me running dungeons... or raiding gets boring... or i get all the BIS gear with no further advancement avail... i'm done. So yea AA grinds are amazing if they are rewarding.
Originally posted by slikeytre Alternate Advancement... If i hit 60 and there is no point in me running dungeons... or raiding gets boring... or i get all the BIS gear with no further advancement avail... i'm done. So yea AA grinds are amazing if they are rewarding.
I would be the happiest boy alive if they were too include some AA's!! That was so amazing and probably one of the main reasons why people played EQ for so long and vigorously as they did. I have friends who still play on a daily/weekly basis.
Not only does it actually make you feel like you are doing something worthwhile, when you are level capped and have near BiS (or BiS) gear, but it's fun! It adds the aspect that, you will never be as strong as you can be, especially if they were too add more AA's and class/job skills over time. I think it's an amazing idea.
I know WoW was going to do something similar with the Cataclysm Expansion, I believe it was called Path of the Titans, but they scrapped it without really telling anybody. After I had been playing the Cata Expac for a few weeks, I got curious as to what the hell happened and how do I start my PoT quests. To my sadness, I was informed it was scrapped. I lost all my respect for Blizztard that day, and haven't given a single shit about anything related to Blizzard since. Fk you Blizzard. I hate you.
I can handle dungeon runs, exploring, crafting for such amount of time but when I'm maxed out and there's nothing to do that's when I quit. At-least with PVP I can just jump into a fighting experience when I'm bored.
BRING BACK THE GRAPHICS FROM THE ORIGINAL RELEASE OF FFXIV.. That will help me play long term. They re-tuned the graphics for the PS3.... Still do not understand why you would want to buy a PS3 or XBOX... Again, my 2 graphics cards are bigger then the PS3 and XBOX.. I got this buddy that keeps telling me the PS4 will kill any PC game on release... yea, with a AMD cpu LOL
dynamic events that dont repeat, instead they change the world and story permanently and keep evolving from there and never recycle. I can apply this to any mmo and ill play it long term without questions.
Also remove invisible walls and let me jump from Limsa Lominsa (and other maps) to the ocean and swim around and see underwater life.... This specific limitation in a pay to play game is a huge disappointment and unacceptable if you ask me.
EDIT: i noticed the better a game looks graphicaly, the more limited is with other features. Technology doesnt seem to be high enough to handle both in mmorpgs.....
The sooner they add the Samurai /Ninja classes the better.
But as for long term health, just ad as many expension as FFXI has, keep the game final fantasy and not WoW in eorzea and ill bestaying for a while, at least until blade and soul comes around next year.
Quotations Those Who make peaceful resolutions impossible, make violent resolutions inevitable. John F. Kennedy
Life... is the shit that happens while you wait for moments that never come - Lester Freeman
Lie to no one. If there 's somebody close to you, you'll ruin it with a lie. If they're a stranger, who the fuck are they you gotta lie to them? - Willy Nelson
Originally posted by vectrexevo BRING BACK THE GRAPHICS FROM THE ORIGINAL RELEASE OF FFXIV.. That will help me play long term. They re-tuned the graphics for the PS3.... Still do not understand why you would want to buy a PS3 or XBOX... Again, my 2 graphics cards are bigger then the PS3 and XBOX.. I got this buddy that keeps telling me the PS4 will kill any PC game on release... yea, with a AMD cpu LOL
The graphics have improved, the animations have changed, you know there is a difference right?
Quotations Those Who make peaceful resolutions impossible, make violent resolutions inevitable. John F. Kennedy
Life... is the shit that happens while you wait for moments that never come - Lester Freeman
Lie to no one. If there 's somebody close to you, you'll ruin it with a lie. If they're a stranger, who the fuck are they you gotta lie to them? - Willy Nelson
Originally posted by vectrexevo BRING BACK THE GRAPHICS FROM THE ORIGINAL RELEASE OF FFXIV.. That will help me play long term. They re-tuned the graphics for the PS3.... Still do not understand why you would want to buy a PS3 or XBOX... Again, my 2 graphics cards are bigger then the PS3 and XBOX.. I got this buddy that keeps telling me the PS4 will kill any PC game on release... yea, with a AMD cpu LOL
The graphics have improved, the animations have changed, you know there is a difference right?
Agreed, and they don't even have the high rez textures in yet, because its only in DX9..
They're releasing a DX11 version a little down the road, and dollars to doughnuts it'll have higher rez textures.
Comments
I should add that the game world being one that immerses and keeps me fascinated in it is big. I said in my previous post that I play for good people/friends in the long term, and that's true, but I've found that a certain sort of game can keep me playing for hours even when no one else is online. I'm talking about the kind of game world where I'm excited to explore and see what's over the next hill.
Honestly, I get that feeling with a lot of games when I am just starting them (the notorious 'honeymoon' phase) and all the content is new. Once I've explored most of everything, the feeling of novelty and discovery is lost, and it's at that point that I rely more than before on friends or guildies to keep me playing. I suppose it's only a 'long-term' thing insofar as the devs keep introducing new expansions and other novel content that I can dive into in the same way. I'm thinking of WoW as an example, which in each new expansion gave me some large continent, sometimes a whole world, to explore and discover new things in; yes, believe it or not, I found WoW immersive (at least at times).
To be honest, this sort of thing doesn't matter too me that much. Yeah, a good community can be a very amazing thing in an MMO, and having a nice, friendly guild can make things a lot more fun and entertaining all around, however, they don't apply in terms of the games long-term appeal. To me at least.It also depends on the content of said updates. Guild Wars 2 had a great idea with constantly releasing more content, but they failed in the aspect of its importance. I have never bothered with the Living Story, and any of that crap. The reward are useless, other than a Weapon Skin or some stupid pet. That game is a whole new story that I don't want to get started on, as I could rant for ever about my disappointments.This alone could be the saving grace for a lot of mmos. After a while, things get boring, repetitive, and lose their fun factor. Keeping a game fresh by adding in more dungeons is a surefire way to keep the game moving along and feeling new and exciting at all times. Rather than just releasing additional dungeons once every year or two with the release of an Expansion.. (I'm looking at you, World of Warcraft...)When I hear "Planned expansions" I hear "Spoonfeed content" which is not a good thing. Having planned expansions, when you haven't even released a game yet, just screams corporate greed. *cough* EA *cough* and is overall just a shameful thing to do. I am all for expansions and additional content, but there is a point to where "Expansions/DLC" just becomes "We cut the game in half, so you have to pay more to get the full version" in which case I would instantly quit said game and never but from them again.I'm going to be honest with you and tell you I have no idea what that stuff is.
That said, what I would like to see would be
There are a few of things I need:
- A pleasant community. I don't need or want it to be a fraternity type of environment, just people who can be civil to each other. My experience with my server's community in GW2 has been on the whole very positive and I'd like to see that atmosphere in FFXIV.
- Attachment to my character. The ability to get a name and appearance that I feel a connection to. I think FFXIV already offers that. As an extension, I really liked the shadowpriest class in WoW and raided with one for two years. I need to feel that connection with a certain style of play.
- A reason to keep getting better. Progression is the long-term motivating factor for me. I want to continue getting better to take on increasingly challenging (and interesting) content. Playing an MMO is a bit like playing golf for me. As a leisure time activity I can enjoy a round at almost any time, but a lot of the fun really comes from trying to improve my score, move on to more challenging courses, etc.. In an MMO part of that is going through the process of acquiring optimal gear for my class(es) and role, but also just getting better at handling my character. This means that the game has to keep offering something after the "end" that encourages me to keep improving and testing myself individually and as a "teammate" (this is where GW2 failed in a huge way for me). The caveat here is that if you dumb things down to the point that I don't feel like it matters whether I pick up that new item or get better at managing my MP or whatever, you've lost me.
Community and friends is something I have across games, so that isn't an incentive for me to stick with any one particular game.
Progression for the sake of progression has completely ceased to provide any motivation for me, which is quite a problem in this genre.
New content, well yes and no. It's not enough to just have more of the same content. That has proven to have very strong diminishing returns in terms of keeping me engaged. New in the sense of something different, that is interesting for much longer, but also much harder to do, as there is only so much mechanics you can play out within the framework of an MMO.
Persistance of your actions and decisions is something that seems to be geting more focus in current MMO development, that can help tremendously with long term engagement. More broadly speaking, anything that takes focus away from the progression tropes and puts it on the game world and your characters place in it is a promising route to follow.
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
No Cash Shop!
Ever!
Vet Rewards based on subscription time, not account life.
You think people play EVE for the intense PvP or the 30 page moon goo spreadsheets? We all know 100 mill SP just means getting podded costs more but people do it anyway.
Nothing can stop me, except maybe Mila Kunis.
Although I like to believe that she would join me.
What keeps me playing for the long term-
1. Really strong community
2. Being able to buy/sell at the AH everyday
3. Always having something to progress toward, even if it takes months or even a year to reach.
4. Having a veriaty of things to do, so if I get burned out on leveling, i'll do something else for a while, like fish or craft.
5. Have a lot of group stuff to do.
6. The Journey never ends.
And come to think of it, thats the reason I only ever played offline rpg games for around 1-2 months. It's because I finished the game and ran outa side stuff to do. MMO's aren't supposed to beable to finish, there supposed to be a never ending gaming world.
I would be the happiest boy alive if they were too include some AA's!! That was so amazing and probably one of the main reasons why people played EQ for so long and vigorously as they did. I have friends who still play on a daily/weekly basis.
Not only does it actually make you feel like you are doing something worthwhile, when you are level capped and have near BiS (or BiS) gear, but it's fun! It adds the aspect that, you will never be as strong as you can be, especially if they were too add more AA's and class/job skills over time. I think it's an amazing idea.
I know WoW was going to do something similar with the Cataclysm Expansion, I believe it was called Path of the Titans, but they scrapped it without really telling anybody. After I had been playing the Cata Expac for a few weeks, I got curious as to what the hell happened and how do I start my PoT quests. To my sadness, I was informed it was scrapped. I lost all my respect for Blizztard that day, and haven't given a single shit about anything related to Blizzard since. Fk you Blizzard. I hate you.
P.S. Diaf plx
Player vs Player.
I can handle dungeon runs, exploring, crafting for such amount of time but when I'm maxed out and there's nothing to do that's when I quit. At-least with PVP I can just jump into a fighting experience when I'm bored.
(\ /) ?
( . .)
c('')('')
dynamic events that dont repeat, instead they change the world and story permanently and keep evolving from there and never recycle. I can apply this to any mmo and ill play it long term without questions.
Also remove invisible walls and let me jump from Limsa Lominsa (and other maps) to the ocean and swim around and see underwater life.... This specific limitation in a pay to play game is a huge disappointment and unacceptable if you ask me.
EDIT: i noticed the better a game looks graphicaly, the more limited is with other features. Technology doesnt seem to be high enough to handle both in mmorpgs.....
The sooner they add the Samurai /Ninja classes the better.
But as for long term health, just ad as many expension as FFXI has, keep the game final fantasy and not WoW in eorzea and ill bestaying for a while, at least until blade and soul comes around next year.
Quotations Those Who make peaceful resolutions impossible, make violent resolutions inevitable. John F. Kennedy
Life... is the shit that happens while you wait for moments that never come - Lester Freeman
Lie to no one. If there 's somebody close to you, you'll ruin it with a lie. If they're a stranger, who the fuck are they you gotta lie to them? - Willy Nelson
The graphics have improved, the animations have changed, you know there is a difference right?
Quotations Those Who make peaceful resolutions impossible, make violent resolutions inevitable. John F. Kennedy
Life... is the shit that happens while you wait for moments that never come - Lester Freeman
Lie to no one. If there 's somebody close to you, you'll ruin it with a lie. If they're a stranger, who the fuck are they you gotta lie to them? - Willy Nelson
Agreed, and they don't even have the high rez textures in yet, because its only in DX9..
They're releasing a DX11 version a little down the road, and dollars to doughnuts it'll have higher rez textures.
So..no the sky aint falling.