Final Fantasy XIV's Poor Launch Leads to Trial Extension

[Crimsane]

For once, I agree completely with review scores. Hell, I think giving the game a 4/10 is giving it too much credit. Another free 30 days will not make me return. Paying me to play would not make me return. I already have a job I dislike that I get paid to do, I don't want another.

I used to be borderline FF fanboy, buying up all their titles as they came out. I loved FFIV, FFVI, VIII and IX. Tactics was amazing. XII was fun. XIII wasn't bad, but it wasn't my cup of tea. They'd managed to make spamming autoattack like I'd do in most other RPGs tedious. Somewhat snazzy-looking, but tedious. Now it seems as though they kept that train of thought for XIV, making the entire game incredibly beautiful, but also incredibly boring. If they keep this up, XV is going to be the prettiest game ever made.... and also the worst game of all time.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I still don't understand why they feel the need to release Final Fantasy MMOs.

I instantly am not going to play one because of subscription fees, I have an expensive enough lifestyle as it is without having to pay per month to play a game.

Just stop trying to make multiplayer ones and spend more time remaking FF7. You know we all want it anyway.

Gonna have to agree (for the most part)

Spoiler: in an earlier article...

[link]http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102109-Square-Enix-Isnt-Sure-Where-to-Take-Final-Fantasy[/link]

...Square has admitted not knowing what to do with Final Fantasy. A part of me feels like Square isn't really dedicated to the franchise anymore which is a shame but perfectly understandable, especially if they are feeling the same way as Inafune-san. This could also be a subtle (or not so subtle) way of expressing their contempt for the bloated behemoth that is Final Fantasy.

Really, other than remakes, there is a point to be made that you can't just continue making games about groups of 8 - 12 people with various abilities fighting evil governments and, mad-men who desire to become (and eventually do become) Gods/goddesses with the help of malevolent time-traveling witches and wizards. I mean they could but EA sports and Nintendo have already made that a habit of theirs (or so it seems. Mario Sunshine may have been different but EA sports is guilty).

I disagree with remaking Final Fantasy VII...right now anyway. If Square remakes anything, it should start with the beginning. It seems like it is doing just that too. Isn't the upcoming DS game, Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light a reboot of the original game? The DS has also been given remakes/updates of Final Fantasy III and IV but it's really hard to find either of them at all. The Nintendo 3DS is supposed to be getting remakes of V and VI (if rumors are to be believe) and, the PSP has updates of Final Fantasy I and II.

I can see the appeal in a Final Fantasy MMO. Every Final Fantasy centers around a group of adventurers saving the planet but, the thing that made the single player games special is how there was only one group and one major threat (which was hidden around smaller threats). An MMO has an entire world of heroes doing the same thing as you: saving the world...or in the case of FFXIV...wandering aimlessly killing X amount of monster Y for Z amount of maguffin A.

On a final note...do we really want to see a Final Fantasy XXVI? I remember a Game Informer joke about that and it seems like that could be a possible thing in the not-too-distant future.

 

[Da_Schwartz]

I didn't even know that this game was released.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

I can already imagine the difference between this games launch and the upcoming Guild Wars 2 launch. While FFXIV didn't exactly have the biggest boom of support to begin with GW2 seems to have really pumped up its audiences with the promises made. If the game is anything like advertised, come release that game will be set for life. My estimate, by then FFXIV may not even have servers running anymore... (All Points Bulletin, anyone?)

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Snippity

I find Final Fantasy games to just reliably have an interesting story with cool moves and actions and stuff. They're not really revolutionary but they're fun, and when done right (see: FF7, FF8, FF10) then it shows what makes Final Fantasy so appealing.

From a general business stand point I don't see why they don't remake FF7. Everyone realises the difficult/expensive/time consuming part is the graphics. Well it's not like you're making them from scratch, you have the graphics all there, from FF7, from Advent Children, from Crisis Core and from Dirge of Cerberus, they've shown they've got the concept for updated visuals and they can come out with updated visuals reliably.

Yeah FF7 is a big game, but it still seems like they're bandying around it for some unknown reason. FF7 is loudly regarded as (one of) the best Final Fantasy games, so releasing it is almost guaranteed to generate a lot of turnover, maybe even a big pile of profit.

Hell I know I'd buy a copy... and I'm sure a bunch of other people would.

But still Square are fairly grown up now, they can make their own choices... so why do they consistently make bad ones.

Rehire the script writer for 10, go back to 7s open-world-with-plenty-of-dicking-around gameplay and slap some pretty visuals on top.

It might not be revolutionary but you can hardly call it a bad game, I personally think it would be pretty damn good.

Or we could all just buy Fallout New Vegas and forget about everything for the next year or so.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Wait, so a 60 day free trial, after you buy the game?

FFXIV, like most MMOs, came with a free month subscription. Square has doubled that so that you get two months free.. because they realized that no one in their right mind was going to subscribe to the game after only playing a month given the state the game is in.

Of course, they're also betting on the fact that after a couple of months of play, even in a crappy MMO, players will have developed enough attachment to their characters (and their dedicated play time) that they'll start paying for a subscription regardless of game quality.

 

[Crimsane]

^They're also hoping that people use the Crysta system and buy months' worth of gameplay in advance before they realize just how bad the game is and quit.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

I still don't understand why they feel the need to release Final Fantasy MMOs.

I instantly am not going to play one because of subscription fees, I have an expensive enough lifestyle as it is without having to pay per month to play a game.

Just stop trying to make multiplayer ones and spend more time remaking FF7. You know we all want it anyway.

Thought we'd all been over that the remake is never gonna happen.

Given the massive dead start of FF14, which I assume the idea of which was to make a money printing machine (one of the side or even main goal of making an mmo in the first place), they might as well just make FF7 again, because that WOULD be a money printing machine, as all they'd have to do was add voice acting and improve the graphics, they've got everything else planned, all of which would make a successful and very lucrative game, so they might as well.

Well, if you remember, it would take ages to make even with the best developers, and Square just don't have the time or money to just focus on one game for that long a time.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

If the Gootch were still around at Square this never would have happened...

 

[DaxStrife]

"Keep playing, it will get better later." Isn't that what they said about FF13?
You really can't use an excuse like that with your products anymore... if I go in to a restaurant, order breakfast and be told to wait for a long time, I want more than just orange juice and a promise that the pancakes and hash-browns will be done soon.
...not sure where I was going with that analogy. I guess I'm just hungry.

 

[mythgraven]

Gameplay was terrible, so were controls and interface. Not sure if the game will survive more than few months in EU/NA.

STO is still here... Who would have thought it?


Whiskey Echo!!
mythgraven

 

[Jfswift]

I haven't tried this one yet although I played the other online FF. It wasn't bad although I had two complaints, mainly that it was far too difficult (you more or less needed a party for everything compared to WoW where you can solo more often), and the controls were terrible. I was hoping they'd have cleared those up by now (or maybe they did and just no one's interested in this title?)

 

[lacktheknack]

Lesson to all: Complete your game before releasing it.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

We all know why this game is so sub-par though, right?
It's been designed around the PS3. The terrible interface (for PC users) is made for compatability with consoles, and the reason they opened so early was to iron out problems for THAT release, because they know how much better it's going to sell. For PC's its a very high demand but the console version will be able to play it on default hardware.
Not to mention the lack of actual content, which will no doubt be boosted by then.

Moral of the story; the game will sink on PC, but live on the consoles. Because that is who SE cares about. My advice to them, stop pandering and get your arses on making more games like The World Ends With You- that's all you're good for.

 

[Internet Kraken]

I see. So they're trying to encourage people to play it for longer, thus causing them to form an attachment with the game. They will have spent so much time on it and made so many friends that they won't want to leave. They will have so much investment into the game that they will delude themselves into thinking it is good. I'm not sure if this can overcome the terrible and tedious gameplay though. I sure hope not. I have nothing but contempt for Square Enix taking the Final Fantasy name and slapping it onto almost every game they make as a cheap marketing trick. It just leads to bitching and moaning from their bloated fanbase over every single Final Fantasy game.

At least Guild Wars 2 looks much better by comparison to this game.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

At least Guild Wars 2 looks much better by comparison to this game.

/High Fives

 

[RvLeshrac]

Now I'm confused. This sounds like exactly the caliber product that bears the Final Fantasy name. It certainly matches 13's level of quality, or lack thereof, anyway.

Damn, the only reason I was reading these comments was so I could post "Can barely figure out what's going on? Repeating the same bland task over and over? Wandering the landscape with no direction? ml FFXIII Online."

 

[Jandau]

Is it just my imagination or are new MMOs falling flat on their faces lately? I honestly can't think of a single one that came out in the last few years and managed more than carving out a tiny niche...

 

[Kulingile]

Is it just my imagination or are new MMOs falling flat on their faces lately? I honestly can't think of a single one that came out in the last few years and managed more than carving out a tiny niche...

Well, there are a few F2P MMOs that have been showing promise. Vindictus is looking pretty great, and the combat is awesome. There are a few other F2P MMOs I've seen that are looking good as well.

Then again, there are about 500 new F2P MMOs coming out per year. So it makes sense that at least 1 or 2 of them would be at least above average. Now lets just hope that Vindictus doesn't pull an Allods Online and have it ruined by a ridiculous cash shop.