Due to my excitement over FFXIV, I decided to resub to FFXI. I started over again as I couldn't find the account info for my old high level Beast Master (BST). What a pleasant surprise, I rolled a Taru Taru Red Mage (RDM) and I have been able to easily and casually solo, thus far, to 18. Soloing, while certainly risky, is much easier and the leveling speed much quicker. I think perhaps if SE would just polish up what they have put into FFXI for soloing and put that into FFXIV that would be sufficient. Specifically, I think the break down should be something like this: 1. NO job should be able to solo so well that a party would be undesirable. But some jobs should be able to effectively solo. I guess I can go for this but it cant be too effective or those jobs will never group and your group pt will suffer because they cant fill that role. True, but at least one job, like BST in FFXI, must be able to. In FF, as I'm sure you all know it is very easy to solo at low levels. That's probably how its designed. Partying should have a significant advantage to players because this is a MMO after all. 2. ALL jobs should be balanced for group rather than solo play. This means some jobs, such as RDM and BST in FFXI, will solo better than others. BST shouldnt be balanced for group play because its a solo based class, cant give a class the best of both worlds or all you will see is that class. True, but if such a job existed it could be used to help get some soloists to try grouping. Your concern is certainly valid though. There's only so much you can do for a group. You have to give jobs solo advantages over group. Use 11 for example, there are so many jobs but to form a party you only need 3xdd 1xtank 1xhealer 1xsupport. And there are jobs that just plain are so terrible they don't belong in groups (Dancer, debate me if you want this is the worst job in history) 3. ALL primary storyline quests should be group only. No start solo and later have to get a group to finish, group all the way. Ill agree with this Why? Why would you want to experience something that is supposed to be "your story" with someone else. It's good how it is now. You need help to do the tough fights because main storyline arc fights are supposed to be hard. The rest should be solo-able because it helps immerse the player. 4. Side quest lines can be a mix of group and solo, but should be one or the other for the whole of the questline. Sometimes a mix is good. There has to be solo quests, you can't simply eliminate them all together. 5. Job specific quests should be solo instance only. I strongly agree with this, and i will add to it by sugesting making expanding on them to where its not a 15 min event. What job specific quests are you talking about? There are no quests outside artifact armor that are Job specific. 6. Crafting should be soloable but a little dangerous. Ill agree Do you even know what you're talking about? How could crafting not be solo-able? You sit and You craft? If you're talking about getting materials from other crafters ...well really I don't know what you want. 7. NO death penalty if you die in a group. If you die solo, same penalty as FFXI. There has to be a death penalty for death period. It should be something to be feared. You dont want to die do you? It is selfish of me as a soloist to want to keep the excitement for myself, but I was trying to come up with a tangible advantage for grouping. I suppose faster leveling, or whatever advancement system is used would do. Why would you not want a death penalty? You're chopping FF up and making it a rated E game. This game was built for people who wanted a challenge, wanted a detailed story, wanted to feel immersed. These are my suggestions, I am sure others can think of better ones.
I would not want more accessible solo play at the expense of group play. If they have to spend so much time trying to figure out how to let the "30 minute gamer" play before he has to go to class that it cuts content or dynamic out of the group, I'd rather not have any solo play.
FFXI was a game where if you were a skilled player knowing your class (any class) you could solo easily. You could take a PLD to undead areas and solo very well. You could take a BST to a pet rich environment and solo all day. You could take your BLM to SKY and solo all you wanted. There simply were lots of places a GOOD player could make tons of progress. Sometimes you needed inviso pots, sneak oils or something to get there but once you got there you could stay for hours.
Games like Wow you really didn't need to know your class to solo around and I think that's what makes FFXI more challenging overall. It was not a game geared so that you could level to 75 in two months, unless you were playing day and night. The appeal of FFXI was also that it wasn't geared towards the casual, solo gamer and I really see no need for them to do that now.
People calling for more "solo play" aren't realizing that when that is done in games, the levels are maxed extremely easy because all the mobs are scaled to SOLO players and people progress to the endgame lickety split, then get bored and quit after playing for only six months. Most people in FFXI hadn't gotten one character to 75 in six months; they simply took their time playing without a rush to the end.
People calling for more "solo play" aren't realizing that when that is done in games, the levels are maxed extremely easy because all the mobs are scaled to SOLO players and people progress to the endgame lickety split, then get bored and quit after playing for only six months. Most people in FFXI hadn't gotten one character to 75 in six months; they simply took their time playing without a rush to the end.
I just hope SE realizes this. Solo'ers dont stick with any mmo for anything. Solo to max play a couple months after that then they hop on the next new games bandwagon wanting another solo fest game.
FFXI may never had massive subs, but its still going strong after what 7 years? Its made SE a great profit. Anyone think WAR or AoC will be around 7 years?
Waiting for:EQ-Next, ArcheAge (not so much anymore) Now Playing: N/A Worst MMO: FFXIV Favorite MMO: FFXI
People calling for more "solo play" aren't realizing that when that is done in games, the levels are maxed extremely easy because all the mobs are scaled to SOLO players and people progress to the endgame lickety split, then get bored and quit after playing for only six months. Most people in FFXI hadn't gotten one character to 75 in six months; they simply took their time playing without a rush to the end.
I just hope SE realizes this. Solo'ers dont stick with any mmo for anything. Solo to max play a couple months after that then they hop on the next new games bandwagon wanting another solo fest game.
FFXI may never had massive subs, but its still going strong after what 7 years? Its made SE a great profit. Anyone think WAR or AoC will be around 7 years?
The answer is to this question...is YES. They will be around 7 years later. But probably f2p. The thing about FFXI is that after 7 years it has by far THE BEST COMMUNITY IN ANY MMO period hands down. I would go as far as saying this is a fact not an opinion. I mean , heavens sake they put so much of an emphasis on community and social they made the chat box take up 1/8th of the screen. Instead of those combat logged tiny square chat box's you see on other games. FFXI is fun even when you're not out pt'ing and what not because atleast you can still talk to people.
The answer is to this question...is YES. They will be around 7 years later. But probably f2p.
The thing about FFXI is that after 7 years it has by far THE BEST COMMUNITY IN ANY MMO period hands down. I would go as far as saying this is a fact not an opinion. I mean , heavens sake they put so much of an emphasis on community and social they made the chat box take up 1/8th of the screen. Instead of those combat logged tiny square chat box's you see on other games. FFXI is fun even when you're not out pt'ing and what not because atleast you can still talk to people.
Disagree with the top part, but not the bottom.
EA will not keep running Warhammer at a loss. They can get more depreciation on a tax write off for 2010 of millions to offset any losses the company as a whole takes. If they release SWTOR and it does well, then they list WAR as a failed asset to balance its success for taxes. They've already shifted key employees from Warhammer over to SWTOR to work on that as they've said in an interview after firing Mythic's Jacobs.
They aren't going to turn Warhammer into a F2P game, lol. There are NO big budget MMOs like Warhammer that are ever turned into F2Ps, they are shut down first for the writeoff if they can't outright sell them.
The same for Funcom, they have another MMO in development right now and if they continue to bleed money, its cheaper to take the writeoff to offset that. It also shuts down ongoing server and employee costs/benefits associated with the failed MMO. So I look to both of those to get shutdown before they ever see a F2P where the parent companies hope someone doesn't just spend $5 a month.
But I definitely agree with you about the FFXI community. It's EXTREMELY difficulty level is what tended to weed out the people with short attention spans just after loot. If they soloplay this game and make it easy, you will see a rash of players coming into this game from so many other failed MMOs with a grudge, that it won't even be funny. I say best to keep the difficulty, death penalty and MOST things as is.
The answer is to this question...is YES. They will be around 7 years later. But probably f2p.
The thing about FFXI is that after 7 years it has by far THE BEST COMMUNITY IN ANY MMO period hands down. I would go as far as saying this is a fact not an opinion. I mean , heavens sake they put so much of an emphasis on community and social they made the chat box take up 1/8th of the screen. Instead of those combat logged tiny square chat box's you see on other games. FFXI is fun even when you're not out pt'ing and what not because atleast you can still talk to people.
Disagree with the top part, but not the bottom.
EA will not keep running Warhammer at a loss. They can get more depreciation on a tax write off for 2010 of millions to offset any losses the company as a whole takes. If they release SWTOR and it does well, then they list WAR as a failed asset to balance its success for taxes. They've already shifted key employees from Warhammer over to SWTOR to work on that as they've said in an interview after firing Mythic's Jacobs.
They aren't going to turn Warhammer into a F2P game, lol. There are NO big budget MMOs like Warhammer that are ever turned into F2Ps, they are shut down first for the writeoff if they can't outright sell them.
The same for Funcom, they have another MMO in development right now and if they continue to bleed money, its cheaper to take the writeoff to offset that. It also shuts down ongoing server and employee costs/benefits associated with the failed MMO. So I look to both of those to get shutdown before they ever see a F2P where the parent companies hope someone doesn't just spend $5 a month.
But I definitely agree with you about the FFXI community. It's EXTREMELY difficulty level is what tended to weed out the people with short attention spans just after loot. If they soloplay this game and make it easy, you will see a rash of players coming into this game from so many other failed MMOs with a grudge, that it won't even be funny. I say best to keep the difficulty, death penalty and MOST things as is.
I agree with you whole post, and the underlined section. What you just mentioned is what made FFXI as good as it is. I'd rather FFXIV have the same amount of players as FFXI does right now due to its difficult, death penalty, and MOST things as is. Vs the massive l337 d00d bro hax0r community that games like WoW has. I think for the most part FFxi is a rather mature (as in maturity not ESRB rating to those who are confused) audience game.
The answer is to this question...is YES. They will be around 7 years later. But probably f2p.
The thing about FFXI is that after 7 years it has by far THE BEST COMMUNITY IN ANY MMO period hands down. I would go as far as saying this is a fact not an opinion. I mean , heavens sake they put so much of an emphasis on community and social they made the chat box take up 1/8th of the screen. Instead of those combat logged tiny square chat box's you see on other games. FFXI is fun even when you're not out pt'ing and what not because atleast you can still talk to people.
Disagree with the top part, but not the bottom.
EA will not keep running Warhammer at a loss. They can get more depreciation on a tax write off for 2010 of millions to offset any losses the company as a whole takes. If they release SWTOR and it does well, then they list WAR as a failed asset to balance its success for taxes. They've already shifted key employees from Warhammer over to SWTOR to work on that as they've said in an interview after firing Mythic's Jacobs.
They aren't going to turn Warhammer into a F2P game, lol. There are NO big budget MMOs like Warhammer that are ever turned into F2Ps, they are shut down first for the writeoff if they can't outright sell them.
The same for Funcom, they have another MMO in development right now and if they continue to bleed money, its cheaper to take the writeoff to offset that. It also shuts down ongoing server and employee costs/benefits associated with the failed MMO. So I look to both of those to get shutdown before they ever see a F2P where the parent companies hope someone doesn't just spend $5 a month.
But I definitely agree with you about the FFXI community. It's EXTREMELY difficulty level is what tended to weed out the people with short attention spans just after loot. If they soloplay this game and make it easy, you will see a rash of players coming into this game from so many other failed MMOs with a grudge, that it won't even be funny. I say best to keep the difficulty, death penalty and MOST things as is.
I agree with you whole post, and the underlined section. What you just mentioned is what made FFXI as good as it is. I'd rather FFXIV have the same amount of players as FFXI does right now due to its difficult, death penalty, and MOST things as is. Vs the massive l337 d00d bro hax0r community that games like WoW has. I think for the most part FFxi is a rather mature (as in maturity not ESRB rating to those who are confused) audience game.
That what made me love FFXI and the reason I can't stay focus on new MMO's that are released. In AoC you practically solo from lvl 1 to max besides the big group quest which you can skip if you want. Once you get to max and try to raid you have several people who don't know how to use thier job in a party atmosphere cause they played solo til max. In ffxi you learned the structare of job from the dunes on up be cause you were basically forced to party and LEARN your roll to fight in a group. Only beef I will have is if I'm 75 and the mob cons EP I should be able to kill it easily while EM should be what is a equal match.
I agree with many of those hoping for a group focus for ffxiv, but solo availability. Since i left ffxi a few years ago, ive been constantly searching for a mmo that had that same feeling of being in a real community and playing the game together, not just being in a solo game and occasionally coming across someone who happens to be on the same quest. This is what ffxi did best, and still does to this day, a couple of games have tried, but dont compare.
I also agree with the people saying they want some solo, so it isnt boring waiting for groups, etc.... i think this would go a long way to making ffxiv perfect. I've thought of a way they could achieve this. For instance, you have a map/area. in it you have "pockets" of group only content, say a ruins or underground cave, etc... not just 1 or 2 per map, but several, all over the map. these areas have associated quests and of course the high spawn rates that allow for many groups to party up and fight in these areas all at the same time. however, outside these areas, directly surrounding these "pockets" will be lesser versions of these mobs, same level, but non-elite, soloable mobs, that also have associated quests and are just as fun to solo as any other more soloable games, such as WoW or LotRO.
However to "force" a focus on grouping rather than just have everyone want to take the solo areas all the time, there needs to be a serious difference on the speed at which levelling can occur through soloing compared to group, say it takes 5x longer to get to max level, as compared to grouping all the way through like you would in ffxi.But not such a large difference that knowone can be bothered soloing, because there is no noticable achievement in experience.
Obviously this could all be fleshed out, but i think its a good solution, some games have "attempted" similar ideas, but have done so only half heartedly, for instance, having only 1 or 2 "pockets/areas" per map of elites, and slow spawn rates. or not having any, and elites only being available inside instances
I agree with many of those hoping for a group focus for ffxiv, but solo availability. Since i left ffxi a few years ago, ive been constantly searching for a mmo that had that same feeling of being in a real community and playing the game together, not just being in a solo game and occasionally coming across someone who happens to be on the same quest. This is what ffxi did best, and still does to this day, a couple of games have tried, but dont compare.
I also agree with the people saying they want some solo, so it isnt boring waiting for groups, etc.... i think this would go a long way to making ffxiv perfect. I've thought of a way they could achieve this. For instance, you have a map/area. in it you have "pockets" of group only content, say a ruins or underground cave, etc... not just 1 or 2 per map, but several, all over the map. these areas have associated quests and of course the high spawn rates that allow for many groups to party up and fight in these areas all at the same time. however, outside these areas, directly surrounding these "pockets" will be lesser versions of these mobs, same level, but non-elite, soloable mobs, that also have associated quests and are just as fun to solo as any other more soloable games, such as WoW or LotRO. However to "force" a focus on grouping rather than just have everyone want to take the solo areas all the time, there needs to be a serious difference on the speed at which levelling can occur through soloing compared to group, say it takes 5x longer to get to max level, as compared to grouping all the way through like you would in ffxi.But not such a large difference that knowone can be bothered soloing, because there is no noticable achievement in experience.
Obviously this could all be fleshed out, but i think its a good solution, some games have "attempted" similar ideas, but have done so only half heartedly, for instance, having only 1 or 2 "pockets/areas" per map of elites, and slow spawn rates. or not having any, and elites only being available inside instances
I'm all for them implementing solo content as long as it's strictly for the guy waiting for a party invite rather than as an alternative to grouping. Even at 1/5 the experience, I think people are going to opt for soloing rather than grouping. Perhaps they could have 10 daily quests that you can solo for exp and once you're done that's the end of your soloing for the day. That would give the solo/casual person all they need but make grouping required beyond those 10 dailies, which would throttle how fast you can advance solo.
I think SE also needs to concentrate more on making it easier to find/form groups and getting to the hunting grounds. People generally seem to have loved grouping in FFXI, but hated having to wait for a party and the parties that took an hour to get going only to fall apart minutes later. There's plenty of room for improvement in the LFP and grouping implementation that FFXI has.
I really doubt SE is after some sort of group loving niche market. I heard it's easier now but when I played FFXI at release soloing was like having someone repeatedly kick you in the crotch. It doesn't matter all that much to me whether they do it or not, there are other MMOs coming out that I'm far more interested in but I would probably give this one a good try if they have a sane solo experience.
Actually ... SE is after some sort of group loving niche market. Remember this is a japanese game. A cutlure that is more about the group/family/nucleus over the individual. They never hit that fact; they threw it out there at level 10 when you needed to group up to kill mobs. You got the shit beat out of you when you tried to solo because you tried to solo. The idea would be that you learn your lesson and join a party.
Honestly I don't get the people who come into FFXI and then bitch that they can't solo it. First why are you paying month per month to play and online game solo ... but really: This is a group based game. It is like walking into a library and not understanding why people tell you to stop screaming. You could walk into a library and start beating a drum if you wanted, you just are not using the library for what it is used for. But then to turn around and bitch to the librarian and the people trying to study that the library should let you beat your drum is at best disrespectful. Equate it to bitching about getting a fine for smoking while you are under a "No Smoking" sign.
My guess is FFXIV is going to have very limited soloability and the "casual" aspect of the game is going to allow you to jump in and out of exp party very quickly as apposed to FFXI where people can wait for hour so they can set up the perfect party.
FFXI is the kind of game I could see a Borg Drone enjoying....shudder. Not sure why SE would want to create a second MMO that directly competes with their first one. Business logic would dictate they would want to diversify their portfolio and widen their market share by appealing to a different set of gamers.
With PvE raiding, it has never been a question of being "good enough". I play games to have fun, not to be a simpering toady sitting through hour after hour of mind numbing boredom and fawning over a guild master in the hopes that he will condescend to reward me with shiny bits of loot. But in games where those people get the highest progression, anyone who doesn't do that will just be a moving target for them and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay money for the privilege. - Neanderthal
I really doubt SE is after some sort of group loving niche market. I heard it's easier now but when I played FFXI at release soloing was like having someone repeatedly kick you in the crotch. It doesn't matter all that much to me whether they do it or not, there are other MMOs coming out that I'm far more interested in but I would probably give this one a good try if they have a sane solo experience.
Actually ... SE is after some sort of group loving niche market. Remember this is a japanese game. A cutlure that is more about the group/family/nucleus over the individual. They never hit that fact; they threw it out there at level 10 when you needed to group up to kill mobs. You got the shit beat out of you when you tried to solo because you tried to solo. The idea would be that you learn your lesson and join a party.
Honestly I don't get the people who come into FFXI and then bitch that they can't solo it. First why are you paying month per month to play and online game solo ... but really: This is a group based game. It is like walking into a library and not understanding why people tell you to stop screaming. You could walk into a library and start beating a drum if you wanted, you just are not using the library for what it is used for. But then to turn around and bitch to the librarian and the people trying to study that the library should let you beat your drum is at best disrespectful. Equate it to bitching about getting a fine for smoking while you are under a "No Smoking" sign.
My guess is FFXIV is going to have very limited soloability and the "casual" aspect of the game is going to allow you to jump in and out of exp party very quickly as apposed to FFXI where people can wait for hour so they can set up the perfect party.
FFXI is the kind of game I could see a Borg Drone enjoying....shudder. Not sure why SE would want to create a second MMO that directly competes with their first one. Business logic would dictate they would want to diversify their portfolio and widen their market share by appealing to a different set of gamers.
I think Mythic is a prime example of how that's not necessarily "business logic". People came to Warhammer expecting an improved version of DAoC and instead they got a WoW clone with RvR thrown in as an afterthought. The game is bleeding players left and right and eventually EA fired Mythic CEO Mark Jacobs as a result. Fail.
FFXI is the kind of game I could see a Borg Drone enjoying....shudder. Not sure why SE would want to create a second MMO that directly competes with their first one. Business logic would dictate they would want to diversify their portfolio and widen their market share by appealing to a different set of gamers.
I think Mythic is a prime example of how that's not necessarily "business logic". People came to Warhammer expecting an improved version of DAoC and instead they got a WoW clone with RvR thrown in as an afterthought. The game is bleeding players left and right and eventually EA fired Mythic CEO Mark Jacobs as a result. Fail.
Comments
I would not want more accessible solo play at the expense of group play. If they have to spend so much time trying to figure out how to let the "30 minute gamer" play before he has to go to class that it cuts content or dynamic out of the group, I'd rather not have any solo play.
FFXI was a game where if you were a skilled player knowing your class (any class) you could solo easily. You could take a PLD to undead areas and solo very well. You could take a BST to a pet rich environment and solo all day. You could take your BLM to SKY and solo all you wanted. There simply were lots of places a GOOD player could make tons of progress. Sometimes you needed inviso pots, sneak oils or something to get there but once you got there you could stay for hours.
Games like Wow you really didn't need to know your class to solo around and I think that's what makes FFXI more challenging overall. It was not a game geared so that you could level to 75 in two months, unless you were playing day and night. The appeal of FFXI was also that it wasn't geared towards the casual, solo gamer and I really see no need for them to do that now.
People calling for more "solo play" aren't realizing that when that is done in games, the levels are maxed extremely easy because all the mobs are scaled to SOLO players and people progress to the endgame lickety split, then get bored and quit after playing for only six months. Most people in FFXI hadn't gotten one character to 75 in six months; they simply took their time playing without a rush to the end.
"TO MICHAEL!"
I just hope SE realizes this. Solo'ers dont stick with any mmo for anything. Solo to max play a couple months after that then they hop on the next new games bandwagon wanting another solo fest game.
FFXI may never had massive subs, but its still going strong after what 7 years? Its made SE a great profit. Anyone think WAR or AoC will be around 7 years?
Waiting for:EQ-Next, ArcheAge (not so much anymore)
Now Playing: N/A
Worst MMO: FFXIV
Favorite MMO: FFXI
I just hope SE realizes this. Solo'ers dont stick with any mmo for anything. Solo to max play a couple months after that then they hop on the next new games bandwagon wanting another solo fest game.
FFXI may never had massive subs, but its still going strong after what 7 years? Its made SE a great profit. Anyone think WAR or AoC will be around 7 years?
The answer is to this question...is YES. They will be around 7 years later. But probably f2p. The thing about FFXI is that after 7 years it has by far THE BEST COMMUNITY IN ANY MMO period hands down. I would go as far as saying this is a fact not an opinion. I mean , heavens sake they put so much of an emphasis on community and social they made the chat box take up 1/8th of the screen. Instead of those combat logged tiny square chat box's you see on other games. FFXI is fun even when you're not out pt'ing and what not because atleast you can still talk to people.
Disagree with the top part, but not the bottom.
EA will not keep running Warhammer at a loss. They can get more depreciation on a tax write off for 2010 of millions to offset any losses the company as a whole takes. If they release SWTOR and it does well, then they list WAR as a failed asset to balance its success for taxes. They've already shifted key employees from Warhammer over to SWTOR to work on that as they've said in an interview after firing Mythic's Jacobs.
They aren't going to turn Warhammer into a F2P game, lol. There are NO big budget MMOs like Warhammer that are ever turned into F2Ps, they are shut down first for the writeoff if they can't outright sell them.
The same for Funcom, they have another MMO in development right now and if they continue to bleed money, its cheaper to take the writeoff to offset that. It also shuts down ongoing server and employee costs/benefits associated with the failed MMO. So I look to both of those to get shutdown before they ever see a F2P where the parent companies hope someone doesn't just spend $5 a month.
But I definitely agree with you about the FFXI community. It's EXTREMELY difficulty level is what tended to weed out the people with short attention spans just after loot. If they soloplay this game and make it easy, you will see a rash of players coming into this game from so many other failed MMOs with a grudge, that it won't even be funny. I say best to keep the difficulty, death penalty and MOST things as is.
"TO MICHAEL!"
Disagree with the top part, but not the bottom.
EA will not keep running Warhammer at a loss. They can get more depreciation on a tax write off for 2010 of millions to offset any losses the company as a whole takes. If they release SWTOR and it does well, then they list WAR as a failed asset to balance its success for taxes. They've already shifted key employees from Warhammer over to SWTOR to work on that as they've said in an interview after firing Mythic's Jacobs.
They aren't going to turn Warhammer into a F2P game, lol. There are NO big budget MMOs like Warhammer that are ever turned into F2Ps, they are shut down first for the writeoff if they can't outright sell them.
The same for Funcom, they have another MMO in development right now and if they continue to bleed money, its cheaper to take the writeoff to offset that. It also shuts down ongoing server and employee costs/benefits associated with the failed MMO. So I look to both of those to get shutdown before they ever see a F2P where the parent companies hope someone doesn't just spend $5 a month.
But I definitely agree with you about the FFXI community. It's EXTREMELY difficulty level is what tended to weed out the people with short attention spans just after loot. If they soloplay this game and make it easy, you will see a rash of players coming into this game from so many other failed MMOs with a grudge, that it won't even be funny. I say best to keep the difficulty, death penalty and MOST things as is.
I agree with you whole post, and the underlined section. What you just mentioned is what made FFXI as good as it is. I'd rather FFXIV have the same amount of players as FFXI does right now due to its difficult, death penalty, and MOST things as is. Vs the massive l337 d00d bro hax0r community that games like WoW has. I think for the most part FFxi is a rather mature (as in maturity not ESRB rating to those who are confused) audience game.
Disagree with the top part, but not the bottom.
EA will not keep running Warhammer at a loss. They can get more depreciation on a tax write off for 2010 of millions to offset any losses the company as a whole takes. If they release SWTOR and it does well, then they list WAR as a failed asset to balance its success for taxes. They've already shifted key employees from Warhammer over to SWTOR to work on that as they've said in an interview after firing Mythic's Jacobs.
They aren't going to turn Warhammer into a F2P game, lol. There are NO big budget MMOs like Warhammer that are ever turned into F2Ps, they are shut down first for the writeoff if they can't outright sell them.
The same for Funcom, they have another MMO in development right now and if they continue to bleed money, its cheaper to take the writeoff to offset that. It also shuts down ongoing server and employee costs/benefits associated with the failed MMO. So I look to both of those to get shutdown before they ever see a F2P where the parent companies hope someone doesn't just spend $5 a month.
But I definitely agree with you about the FFXI community. It's EXTREMELY difficulty level is what tended to weed out the people with short attention spans just after loot. If they soloplay this game and make it easy, you will see a rash of players coming into this game from so many other failed MMOs with a grudge, that it won't even be funny. I say best to keep the difficulty, death penalty and MOST things as is.
I agree with you whole post, and the underlined section. What you just mentioned is what made FFXI as good as it is. I'd rather FFXIV have the same amount of players as FFXI does right now due to its difficult, death penalty, and MOST things as is. Vs the massive l337 d00d bro hax0r community that games like WoW has. I think for the most part FFxi is a rather mature (as in maturity not ESRB rating to those who are confused) audience game.
That what made me love FFXI and the reason I can't stay focus on new MMO's that are released. In AoC you practically solo from lvl 1 to max besides the big group quest which you can skip if you want. Once you get to max and try to raid you have several people who don't know how to use thier job in a party atmosphere cause they played solo til max. In ffxi you learned the structare of job from the dunes on up be cause you were basically forced to party and LEARN your roll to fight in a group. Only beef I will have is if I'm 75 and the mob cons EP I should be able to kill it easily while EM should be what is a equal match.
I agree with many of those hoping for a group focus for ffxiv, but solo availability. Since i left ffxi a few years ago, ive been constantly searching for a mmo that had that same feeling of being in a real community and playing the game together, not just being in a solo game and occasionally coming across someone who happens to be on the same quest. This is what ffxi did best, and still does to this day, a couple of games have tried, but dont compare.
I also agree with the people saying they want some solo, so it isnt boring waiting for groups, etc.... i think this would go a long way to making ffxiv perfect. I've thought of a way they could achieve this. For instance, you have a map/area. in it you have "pockets" of group only content, say a ruins or underground cave, etc... not just 1 or 2 per map, but several, all over the map. these areas have associated quests and of course the high spawn rates that allow for many groups to party up and fight in these areas all at the same time. however, outside these areas, directly surrounding these "pockets" will be lesser versions of these mobs, same level, but non-elite, soloable mobs, that also have associated quests and are just as fun to solo as any other more soloable games, such as WoW or LotRO.
However to "force" a focus on grouping rather than just have everyone want to take the solo areas all the time, there needs to be a serious difference on the speed at which levelling can occur through soloing compared to group, say it takes 5x longer to get to max level, as compared to grouping all the way through like you would in ffxi.But not such a large difference that knowone can be bothered soloing, because there is no noticable achievement in experience.
Obviously this could all be fleshed out, but i think its a good solution, some games have "attempted" similar ideas, but have done so only half heartedly, for instance, having only 1 or 2 "pockets/areas" per map of elites, and slow spawn rates. or not having any, and elites only being available inside instances
I'm all for them implementing solo content as long as it's strictly for the guy waiting for a party invite rather than as an alternative to grouping. Even at 1/5 the experience, I think people are going to opt for soloing rather than grouping. Perhaps they could have 10 daily quests that you can solo for exp and once you're done that's the end of your soloing for the day. That would give the solo/casual person all they need but make grouping required beyond those 10 dailies, which would throttle how fast you can advance solo.
I think SE also needs to concentrate more on making it easier to find/form groups and getting to the hunting grounds. People generally seem to have loved grouping in FFXI, but hated having to wait for a party and the parties that took an hour to get going only to fall apart minutes later. There's plenty of room for improvement in the LFP and grouping implementation that FFXI has.
Actually ... SE is after some sort of group loving niche market. Remember this is a japanese game. A cutlure that is more about the group/family/nucleus over the individual. They never hit that fact; they threw it out there at level 10 when you needed to group up to kill mobs. You got the shit beat out of you when you tried to solo because you tried to solo. The idea would be that you learn your lesson and join a party.
Honestly I don't get the people who come into FFXI and then bitch that they can't solo it. First why are you paying month per month to play and online game solo ... but really: This is a group based game. It is like walking into a library and not understanding why people tell you to stop screaming. You could walk into a library and start beating a drum if you wanted, you just are not using the library for what it is used for. But then to turn around and bitch to the librarian and the people trying to study that the library should let you beat your drum is at best disrespectful. Equate it to bitching about getting a fine for smoking while you are under a "No Smoking" sign.
My guess is FFXIV is going to have very limited soloability and the "casual" aspect of the game is going to allow you to jump in and out of exp party very quickly as apposed to FFXI where people can wait for hour so they can set up the perfect party.
FFXI is the kind of game I could see a Borg Drone enjoying....shudder. Not sure why SE would want to create a second MMO that directly competes with their first one. Business logic would dictate they would want to diversify their portfolio and widen their market share by appealing to a different set of gamers.
With PvE raiding, it has never been a question of being "good enough". I play games to have fun, not to be a simpering toady sitting through hour after hour of mind numbing boredom and fawning over a guild master in the hopes that he will condescend to reward me with shiny bits of loot. But in games where those people get the highest progression, anyone who doesn't do that will just be a moving target for them and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay money for the privilege. - Neanderthal
Actually ... SE is after some sort of group loving niche market. Remember this is a japanese game. A cutlure that is more about the group/family/nucleus over the individual. They never hit that fact; they threw it out there at level 10 when you needed to group up to kill mobs. You got the shit beat out of you when you tried to solo because you tried to solo. The idea would be that you learn your lesson and join a party.
Honestly I don't get the people who come into FFXI and then bitch that they can't solo it. First why are you paying month per month to play and online game solo ... but really: This is a group based game. It is like walking into a library and not understanding why people tell you to stop screaming. You could walk into a library and start beating a drum if you wanted, you just are not using the library for what it is used for. But then to turn around and bitch to the librarian and the people trying to study that the library should let you beat your drum is at best disrespectful. Equate it to bitching about getting a fine for smoking while you are under a "No Smoking" sign.
My guess is FFXIV is going to have very limited soloability and the "casual" aspect of the game is going to allow you to jump in and out of exp party very quickly as apposed to FFXI where people can wait for hour so they can set up the perfect party.
FFXI is the kind of game I could see a Borg Drone enjoying....shudder. Not sure why SE would want to create a second MMO that directly competes with their first one. Business logic would dictate they would want to diversify their portfolio and widen their market share by appealing to a different set of gamers.
I think Mythic is a prime example of how that's not necessarily "business logic". People came to Warhammer expecting an improved version of DAoC and instead they got a WoW clone with RvR thrown in as an afterthought. The game is bleeding players left and right and eventually EA fired Mythic CEO Mark Jacobs as a result. Fail.
"TO MICHAEL!"