Square Attempts to Explain Final Fantasy XIV's Foibles

[Tom Goldman]

Square Attempts to Explain Final Fantasy XIV's Foibles

Final Fantasy XIV's producer has explained his perspective on why the game is having a rough go.

With Square Enix recently extending yet again [http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-XIV-Pc/dp/B002I0JJ2U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290092973&sr=8-1], for a total of 90 days over the average MMO's 30 days, the company obviously realizes that the game has issues. Final Fantasy XIV producer Hiromichi Tanaka took to Famitsu magazine to explain what went wrong with its development.

Tanaka said that Final Fantasy XIV's launch was actually "very quiet" when compared to frustrating gameplay mechanics [http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-XI-Ultimate-Collection-Pc/dp/B002SQNGX2/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1290093267&sr=1-1] that many players are complaining about.

These mechanics arose from what Tanaka says is the challenge of developing a PC MMO that is planned for release on a console. "We placed too much emphasis on making the game compatible with console controllers, so it's just not suited well for mouse control -- that was a huge issue with PC gamers," Tanaka said. "There really needed to be two different control schemes for console and PC, since both user interfaces work so differently from each other, but our development team didn't get around to that."

He calls fixing the interface a "top priority" for the Final Fantasy XIV team, but adds that there's also a "mountain" of other issues the team has to tackle. While Square will be fixing mechanics regularly through updates in November, Tanaka admitted: "New problems are being brought up more quickly than we can deal with them." Still, he has a can-do attitude, and is confident that all of Final Fantasy XIV's issues will get fixed while Square also finishes the game's PlayStation 3 version with these fixes included.

You really have to hand it to Square Enix here. While I'm not exactly praising the company for releasing a game that wasn't ready for retail, at least it can fully own up to its mistake. The unique thing about an MMO is that Square can just keep extending the trial period until it makes things right, and the people actually enjoying the game are probably thankful for that.

Source: 1up [http://www.1up.com/news/final-fantasy-xiv-producer-wrong]

Permalink

 

[McNinja]

They still released a game that wasn't even close to ready for retail. There's no excuse for that. Just because "they didn't get around to it" doesn't get them off of the hook for releasing garbage.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

That RDM better have Refresh...

 

[Evilsanta]

Atleast they are saying that it's thier fault and not blaming it on something.

 

[Irie Gwynbleidd]

I get the feeling that they never took a look at their own Dev-Forums. The official Dev-Forums were full of complains during the beta about problems they're trying to fix now. But, yeah sure, the launch was very quite.

 

[Jesus Phish]

I'm suprised at how they released this. It was/is unfinished and it was released very quietly. In fact the only reason I knew it was coming out the day it did, was because someone on Facebook in my friends list said so.

Same said friend also got into the closed beta for the game and told them (and I'm sure others did too) that the control system needed immediate attention.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

this game is screwed

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

this would be a non-issue if they didn't stick by their ridiculous ban of 3rd party tools. almost any other modern MMO would have allowed their users to create their own UI mods. but god forbid Squeenix do anything like that!

 

[Aurora219]

I'm proud of them. I'm still not buying it, but at least they're doing something about it, rather than digging a shallow grave and walking away.

 

[Kamunt]

That RDM better have Refresh...

Don't bring up those memories...

 

[BlueHighwind]

Did they even test this game before it was released? Why is this game such a bad case of shovelware? I know that SE usually spends four years to release a title, but if you're going to choose between endless development and making a bad game, which is the better option?

 

[Dobrev]

don't get why you blame it on the controls. Take the buy-sell mechanics.
Having 50 useless items in your inventory is plain bad design decision. Even WoW is slowly transitioning into giving you points instead of random items. On the same note crafting doesn?t have to be about gathering scraps and bolts. There have been a ton of other ideas from Eve's schematic heavy to mini-games based. You can always make it fun for all controls.
And then there are the Asian market places. I know that they are hugely popular, but I tend to think that the only reason is, because people don't know any better.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

That RDM better have Refresh...

Don't bring up those memories...

Too late. "Can you main heal?"
"Shouldn't you get a WHM?"
"Why?"

 

[sunburst]

So the explanation is that...they released a horrible game? We all already knew that. Eventually Squenix will have to cut their losses and deal. FFXIV is broken down to the core so I can't imagine some updates are going to magically fix everything in time to save this sinking airship.

 

[Veldt Falsetto]

Did they even test this game before it was released? Why is this game such a bad case of shovelware? I know that SE usually spends four years to release a title, but if you're going to choose between endless development and making a bad game, which is the better option?

Making a bad game, guarantee the project was running out of money and they wanted to get it out and make some asap, they probably made enough money from the release to give away the free trials while still working on it but I bet they take major losses from this, still, the losses would be much more if they hadn't even released the game

 

[ishist]

I was one of those closed beta testers trying to tell them that the UI and controls weren't gonna fly. I was constantly shot-down by fanboys. Coincidently, I actually played using a controller as I played FFXI for awhile and knew the PC controls were gonna be thrown out the window in favor of extra time spent fine tuning catgirl breasts. Not that I'm against the fine tuning of catgirl breasts. That said, even the controller controls were messed up and the interface itself was obviously designed for the sole use of flagellants.

 

[Outlaw Torn]

I'm suprised that they don't just take the game down to start redeveloping it given how buggy it sounds. FF14 won't be as embarassing as APB, but that is because Squeenix aren't going to go bankrupt very quickly so I imagine they will just take any initial money losses on the nose and hope that an expansion pack in the future will reignite interest.