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Final Fantasy XIV: Answering the Basics
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Final Fantasy XIV is a keenly anticipated game but with information hard to find at times, players and fans are left with many questions. MMORPG.com's Thomas Allegood lifts the lid of the latest MMO entry from Square Enix and does his level best to answer some of those questions.
All of the old favorite races are back with a well-deserved facelift thanks to the new Crystal Tools engine. There are a few differences though, such as different “tribes” having different general appearances, Highlander Hyur are more muscular than Midlanders, Seekers of the Sun Miqo'te are lighter skinned than their Keepers of the Moon relatives, and so on.
Read the rest of the Final Fantasy XIV article.
Comments
The cities are actually more compact this time, and not really bigger. I'd say about 1/2 the size of an XI city.
While they could be larger too, I think XI's towns were too big already. There was too much running around.
From the looks of it there are a lot of smaller towns scattered around the world however.
Also nice to see an XIV article.
About Square being stingy on releasing info. I think I actually prefer it, to a degree, instead of the way other companies release info. Take Blizzard for example. You can now read about Cataclysm and everything it contains via Beta patch notes and various other news sources including their own website. I find that sad in a way. It takes away any surprise element to the expansion and gives me less to look forward to.
Where as with FFXI, there is still to this day, hidden mechanics and such. When they release patch notes, they say something like "We added new weapons. Now go find them." That's it. No detailed list of which weapons exactly.
On the other hand, Square could be a little more forthcoming on basic mechanics but still keep story/items/content info under the hood. Hopefully, Bioware and the Copernicus guys and upcoming game companies coming into the genre come to a nice middle ground on this.
I Loved figuring out different events and how they work, and what the rewards are (although the stats of said equipment can be data mined, sadly).
It really brought the community together when all kind of theories were being made and so on.
It wasn't simply "kill trash mobs. Kill boss. go home." type ordeal. The whole event itself is the mystery.
Right now the community is trying to figure out the new Abyssea add-on, and people are finding out amazing info every day. So many possibilities, and the community once again working together to solve the secrets within.
That's a reason to love that game and the company making it, even with their flaws. I can't get excited about stuff I already know about. It's all so predictable. Raid after raid, instance after instance. A game made by the players, for the players. Works for some, but bores the hell out of me.
FFXIV *just* left alpha testing. I would say releasing info on basic mechanics that may very well be completely different by launch would be dim witted.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. - Douglas Adams
As any alpha tester who doesn't value their account will tell you ****** **** ******** ***** ** ******** **** ******** ** * *****!
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. - Douglas Adams
I agree with Hyanmen. I like that Christmas feeling that Square brings to their game/expansion/content releases. I love that build up of anxiousness and then boom you go play and its like playing all day on Christmas with that brand new toy(s).
Then again the community always complains that SE doesn't communicate with them enough and tell them what's gonna happen next. And I'm sure the same will happen with XIV.
But in the end if the developers know their shit there's no need to know. That's part of the appeal with them- you never know what's gonna happen. Sometimes it's not as cool as it could be, sometimes it's pure win. But with the way SE creates new ideas, it's no wonder there's hits and misses.
They always like to top themselves. Not get stuck with the old ways, but if not creating something entirely new at least make it better and bigger.
I can't say for others, but as long as the content is good and the devs know what they're doing, that's the way I want it to be.
Great article!
Definitely agree with the comments about how SE keeps things close to their chest... both in-game and out.
One of the main things about FFXI that hooked me from the start and kept me there is how everything was so damn *mysterious* in that game. You'd ask a question in local, and people would say "We don't know, we're trying to figure it out too".
The theory-crafting that would go on... about the elements and how they affect just about anything... about gardening... about crafting (does facing the direction of a specific element affect a craft or not, etc)... So much in FFXI was mysterious to so many players and, to this day, I think the mysteries persist in various aspects of the game.
I think "intriguing" is a great way to describe so much of FFXI's content.
Another great thing about SE is that they never do "the obvious thing". They always put some strange twist on a new system, many times leaving it for the players to figure out.
For long-time FFXI players, how many times did you see people talking in LS, on forums, or in local chat, who thought for sure they knew exactly how SE was going to implement something new, only to learn it was *nothing* like what they expected? I remember that happening quite a lot in my time playing. I always got a chuckle, because many of the same people would do it time and again, always insisting they "had it figured it out", only to learn they had no idea.
I know some players hated how vague or non-obvious a lot of FFXI was.. They wanted more predictability, more details, more "how", "what" and "why". They didn't want to figure it out, they wanted SE to tell them. Those people seldom hung around.
For me, and I know for others, that mystery is just one thing that set FFXI apart from any other MMO. Where many other MMOs are all about "here's something new, here's how it works, here's what you can do with it, here's how you get it, here's where to go...", SE's more about "here's a new system... here's a general idea of what it is... here's some clues about it... now go figure out the rest yourself". And figure it out we, as a community, did... however long it took. Even 8 years on, FFXI still holds its share of mysteries, keeping its players guessing.
Now.. in some cases, they definitely do it to a fault, where things are so vague that I can't imagine how anyone figures them out. Yet, people do. So, it's just a matter of persistence, patience, cooperation, trial and error, and using that thing resting on our shoulders a bit.
SE also does nothing half-way. Remember people simply asking for the ability to summon their own chocobo without having to go to a city or Crag to get one? What did SE do? Created and implemented an entire, quite involved system of raising and training your own, from an egg, up through an adult. They get sick, they get spoiled, they get bored... You can breed them, you can race them, do Chocobo Hot-n-Cold... Rather than simply "giving player a mount", SE created an entire system around chocobos.
If you aren't familiar with FFXI and don't know what I mean by "doing nothing half-way", go to ffxiclopedia.org, go through the Battles & Storyline section, and the Other Activities section, and look at each of those sub-sections. Each of those is a fully realized activity that stands on its own as a complete system, almost a game unto itself in some cases.
So... From what I've seen, SE is taking a similar approach to FFXIV. I, for one, am psyched about that. I hope they have the same amount of mystery in the game, creating and implementing systems and then leaving it to the community, once again, to work together and figure it out.
Edit: Woot... 4000th post O.o;
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
I gotta agree with the previous posters on this one. I like being able to go into games not knowing every single thing. It helps keep that old shock and awe factor that games used to have, and I am sure FFXIV will have this in some way as well. I just hope the benchmark gets lowers otherwise I will have to wait until march and everything will already be revealed!
I will be playing on release and so will a few other friends of mine.
We are all in our mid to late 30's and the ability to be able to play on PC and PS3 are huge draws to us. Plus we all grew up playing FF games many many years ago. I personally have a nice gaming PC but other friends of mine dont, they prefer PS3 on an HDTV over PC, so finally we can all play in an MMO together without being PC exclusive.
Overall the game looks good and everything I have read about it just makes me ready to try it out. Thanks for the informative post
I just hope FFXIII was an anomaly though. As that game is TOO basic and didn't really have much mystery or depth to it. The only think I can be a little relaxed about, is the developers on FFXIV aren't the developers on FFXIII. At least I don't think they are the same. Different teams under Square, and all that.
That's when it will start...!
What you said about the chocobo quests is so true. SE really does put a lot of effort into each and every change they make. They constantly add new quests, elements, or even mini games. I haven't seen a company put as much effort into a game as SE does. I mean they support(ed) FFXI for so long and added lots of new content. I only hope they keep this up with FFXIV
Will I be able to play exclusively with my keyboard like in xi? I moved the character with WASD and used arrows to move camera. It was quite relaxing to be able to play with the keyboard in my lap tbh.
If they could just figure out a method to keep magic classes on par with melee at higher levels I'd be happy. Stagger meter worked well for that purpose IMO.
Of course. I hear it works quite well.
Yes, Tanaka said that the classic FFXI controls will be an option for us vets to use in FFXIV!
Yes, Tanaka said that the classic FFXI controls will be an option for us vets to use in FFXIV!
I am assuming I will be able to use WASD and point and click with the mouse? I hope so...no more auto attacking? but... i wont be able to sleep through dynamis and get loot anymore! ;_;
Like others have said Im another who enjoys being suprised by a game. I dont want so much info I get tired of it before I even play it. Take swotr I got sick of reading info about that game about 2 months ago. And yet this site releases new articles like 3-4 times a week.
SE is hte best developer of an mmo ive had the privelage to play a game from, and I am highly looking forward to playing ffxiv for years to come.
I agree with your post completely, except for the fact that FFXIV is entirely something new while as WoW you have years of already known storyline and a plot.
WoW patch notes have never spoiled anything. Beta patch notes are there for a reason. A Beta is essentially a way to rid bugs to make a more enjoyable launch.
I do enjoy the shock and awe factor. I dont want every detail shown, but I would like a bit more info on the new uses of TP and the little "dieties" that you choose during character creation.
Feel free to message me with your questions and I'll try to answer them when I work on part 2.
Ex-SWG Correspondent
Currently playing: FFXI, SWTOR
Awaiting: FFXIV 2.0
And we have the mystery from Square concerning the new uses of Chocobos in XIV. I just think the game will be a very rich PvE experience with many layers to the game to be discovered, quite a different experience from some established mmorpg where upon release you can use an add-on or even the game itself to guide you through the story without thinking.Nice solid read, I can't wait to get slaughtered by my first tonberry.
Screw that.
With the Onion helm to decrease the effect of death with my CE, first thing I'll do is run out and get destroyed by a crab.