Square-Enix Presses Reset with Final Fantasy XIV

[ExtraDebit]

Some people just don't get it. We don't need story on MMOs, people just want to do shit together while getting xp and gold in order to do more shit together. Who's really gonna read text when you're hurrying to out level and out gear the other clans?

FF should remain single player only, they should've fixed their core FF franchise before doing anything else. All their FF games been shit for the past few years.

 

[MattAn24]

Did they fix the names along with everything else? Altana as my witness I'm not calling the damned catgirls anything other than 'Mithra'.

So what are the cathouse, mithro? To be fair, while the races are pretty much the same appearance wise, it's a new setting and the two different paths have some appearance differences.... So I'm not that concerned about the names and how well the game does post launch

Last I checked, Final Fantasy XI still exists. In fact, it gets an expansion next month, Seekers of Adoulin! Want your Mithra? Play FFXI, no one is stopping you. Final Fantasy XIV =/= Final Fantasy XI. It is NOT a sequel. They don't have to keep any of the same names at all. Hell, "Altana" is not an FFXIV thing, it's an FFXI thing.

 

[Aeonknight]

Some people just don't get it. We don't need story on MMOs, people just want to do shit together while getting xp and gold in order to do more shit together. Who's really gonna read text when you're hurrying to out level and out gear the other clans?

FF should remain single player only, they should've fixed their core FF franchise before doing anything else. All their FF games been shit for the past few years.

Completely disagree.

One of the aspects FFXI does best is it's story. It's not bad, even better than some of their "core titles" like 13. And it's actually integrated into gameplay, it's not just background lore you're expected to wiki. You can play the game like a number cruncher if you like, but being immersed with good characters and events does not have to be cut from the equation.

Different strokes for different folks and all that.

 

[MattAn24]

Squeenix MMO. *cringes*

FF11 was "Flowchart-the-job" masquerading as a game.
Unless they've taken emphasis away from the soul-crushing grind (extremely unlikely), nothing else matters.
There is literally no way you could make it appealing to me.

And what I saw of the initial FF14 suggests Squeenix just wants another subscription money-stream that requires little to no investment in matters of actual gameplay.

Sounds like you need to do your research. Hiromichi Tanaka was the reason why FFXIV 1.0 failed. He didn't learn anything from his asinine additions to FFXI (the old FFXI team moved on to make FFXIV). Somewhat interesting concept, ruined by poor execution.
They thankfully showed him the door, Naoki Yoshida is SO much better at the job, so much so that he's doing both Producer AND Director when it used to be two people. The FFXI team is also almost entirely new and have drastically altered the game to make it much less of a chore. Tanaka was the problem.

 

[DragonLordSerge]

I played ffxi for 5 years quit about a year ago played FFxiv on launch and hated it so im gonna give it a try for a month and see whats up if its half way decent like FFxi is now it might be worth it

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

Squeenix MMO. *cringes*

FF11 was "Flowchart-the-job" masquerading as a game.
Unless they've taken emphasis away from the soul-crushing grind (extremely unlikely), nothing else matters.
There is literally no way you could make it appealing to me.

And what I saw of the initial FF14 suggests Squeenix just wants another subscription money-stream that requires little to no investment in matters of actual gameplay.

Sounds like you need to do your research. Hiromichi Tanaka was the reason why FFXIV 1.0 failed. He didn't learn anything from his asinine additions to FFXI (the old FFXI team moved on to make FFXIV). Somewhat interesting concept, ruined by poor execution.
They thankfully showed him the door, Naoki Yoshida is SO much better at the job, so much so that he's doing both Producer AND Director when it used to be two people. The FFXI team is also almost entirely new and have drastically altered the game to make it much less of a chore. Tanaka was the problem.

The fans love to say this, but there really is no evidence for it.

First of all, Tanaka was the producer. Producers have very little creative input on their games; that job belongs to the director. Another job of the producer is to take the fall when things go poorly, so that's what Tanaka did: became the scapegoat. And the fans lapped it up. This is one of the biggest reasons I left the FFXIV community, despite wanting to stick around and give input on how the game could be made better. People saying they hoped Tanaka died in the tsunami were too much for me. It was disgusting. (Also, he was a part of FFXI from the very beginning. There is no way to say which of the ideas were his and which belonged to other people. And FFXI was a grindy chore because it was more or less an EverQuest clone, and that's how all MMOs were then. WoW is what changed it.)

Not saying that he was entirely blameless, but there are other, much more obvious reasons why it failed. Namely, FFXI launching half-finished and doing fine for its first year and everyone at SE assuming XIV would fare the same, director Komoto being inexperienced with directing full games despite being good at directing expansions, piles of evidence that they wanted to capitalize on things that were the craze in Japan at the time (Monster Hunter) and weren't particularly interested in actually learning what their western fans wanted (they seemed to think that western players didn't like getting physical objects with their collectors' editions, apparently oblivious to things like the Halo helmet), CEO Wada continuing to have his head up his ass at all times and wanting to please the stockholders by releasing the game as soon as possible, and so on.

 

[Trishbot]

I'm curious to see if this is too little, too late.

That being said, even as a highly jaded former-Final Fantasy fan, I love JRPGs but I just don't have any interest in MMOs, especially the subscription model variety.

 

[klaynexas3]

Is it just me, or is the idea of a dragon as the main bad guy getting a little too cliche? Hell, even seeing grotesque monstrous beings feels a little old. I know there's a lot you can do to make a monster a monster, but why not try another approach? Why not make a monster that is beautiful to look upon. And I'm not talking about making it some sexy chick that has a few horns/hooves here or there, or has red skin, or some crap like that, I mean a genuinely beautiful monster that is pleasing to look upon for more than just sexual value. Something that truly inspires awe, and doesn't just make you want to kill it by its looks alone. I'd love to see a monster like that, not just another generic dragon. Anyway, the game looks...eh? I don't know, I love MMOs, but I can't help but feel I won't find anything truly ground breaking here, and unless its more immersive than falling into a whirlpool leading to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, I can't seem myself really getting into it. Only WoW has ever truly pulled me in, even when other games offer better gameplay mechanics and other features, they all seem to pale in comparison when it came to immersion. While WoW hasn't been able to pull me in like that for a while, no other MMO seems capable of scratching that ever growing itch. But I digress. Hopefully it will be something cool, who knows.

 

[zaheela]

Did they fix the names along with everything else? Altana as my witness I'm not calling the damned catgirls anything other than 'Mithra'.

So what are the cathouse, mithro? To be fair, while the races are pretty much the same appearance wise, it's a new setting and the two different paths have some appearance differences.... So I'm not that concerned about the names and how well the game does post launch

Last I checked, Final Fantasy XI still exists. In fact, it gets an expansion next month, Seekers of Adoulin! Want your Mithra? Play FFXI, no one is stopping you. Final Fantasy XIV =/= Final Fantasy XI. It is NOT a sequel. They don't have to keep any of the same names at all. Hell, "Altana" is not an FFXIV thing, it's an FFXI thing.

..... You do realize that was kinda my point. I was stating that while they may appear the same, it's an different setting/game.... I think your attempt to provoke a mob ended up with you forcing a zone dash before it uses it's gobbie bomb special attack.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

Ehhh, I just don't want to pay a subscription fee when there are so many great free to play games out there. I'm sure this game will find it's audience, but I doubt they'll be able to get everyone back. Too many people still feel burned about 1.0 and everyone I still talk to from my FFXI days have gone back to Vana'diel and haven't been won over by any of the news about ARR so far.

If it ever goes F2P, I might check it out.

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

Is it just me, or is the idea of a dragon as the main bad guy getting a little too cliche? Hell, even seeing grotesque monstrous beings feels a little old. I know there's a lot you can do to make a monster a monster, but why not try another approach? Why not make a monster that is beautiful to look upon. And I'm not talking about making it some sexy chick that has a few horns/hooves here or there, or has red skin, or some crap like that, I mean a genuinely beautiful monster that is pleasing to look upon for more than just sexual value. Something that truly inspires awe, and doesn't just make you want to kill it by its looks alone. I'd love to see a monster like that, not just another generic dragon. Anyway, the game looks...eh? I don't know, I love MMOs, but I can't help but feel I won't find anything truly ground breaking here, and unless its more immersive than falling into a whirlpool leading to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, I can't seem myself really getting into it. Only WoW has ever truly pulled me in, even when other games offer better gameplay mechanics and other features, they all seem to pale in comparison when it came to immersion. While WoW hasn't been able to pull me in like that for a while, no other MMO seems capable of scratching that ever growing itch. But I digress. Hopefully it will be something cool, who knows.

I doubt a dragon will be the main bad guy here, knowing SE and FF MMOs like I do. They're probably going to continue with the evil magitek empire theme. Dragons are just scary but semi-generic things to be tackled by endgame groups in FF MMOs, while the Big Bad is usually something with more of a religious and/or technological theme.

I agree with you that I'd love to see more beautiful monsters. It happens sometimes, but not often enough. The unicorns [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101216004234/ffxi/images/e/e7/Indrik.jpg] in FFXI were very disappointing. (I did find some of the endgame monsters [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20071116141242/ffxi/images/d/df/Sea-nm-system-hires.jpg] to be truly awe-inspiring, though.) But then I hate myself for killing them.

FFXI was the peak of immersion for me. I know it has a lot to do with it being my first MMO, but it also has something to do with the slow build of scenery as you progress, from realistic at the beginning, to increasingly full of fantastic elements, to completely bizarre and otherworldly at the end. Also, as I've been discovering, being able to relax and turn your brain off as you settle into a routine skill cycle is an important component of immersion. As fun as fast-paced, action-filled combat is, it's not relaxing.

Though I have been becoming increasingly suspicious of "immersion" and beginning to view it as something like a drug, but that's another topic.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Sounds like you need to do your research. Hiromichi Tanaka was the reason why FFXIV 1.0 failed. He didn't learn anything from his asinine additions to FFXI (the old FFXI team moved on to make FFXIV). Somewhat interesting concept, ruined by poor execution.
They thankfully showed him the door, Naoki Yoshida is SO much better at the job, so much so that he's doing both Producer AND Director when it used to be two people. The FFXI team is also almost entirely new and have drastically altered the game to make it much less of a chore. Tanaka was the problem.

That's all well and good, only I'm more convinced by results, than people.
When Squeenix produces an MMO that isn't an embarrassing grind-driven mess, I'll give them credit.

 

[Pebkio]

Unless that reset button also had a magic F2P feature built in, I still won't be interested. I will gladly pay for the base game. I will also be willing to pay a monthly subscription for a free game. And I really do like the Final Fantasy setting when it comes to magic and monsters. I'll run a blue mage... or a black mage if there isn't any blue.

But no, judging from the gameplay videos, this ranks right up there with Eden Eternal. I won't be paying monthly to play that.

 

[Ashley Esqueda]

From what I've heard from people who've played ARR (who are not fanboys), it's a solid WoW clone with a FF feel and a few next-gen features (like the FATE system, aka dynamic events, and supposedly the ability to attack things that other players are fighting and still get credit--both of which are things that I just can't do without anymore after playing GW2). I don't care, and I imagine most FF MMO fans don't either, whether or not it's super innovative. All I want is ~immersion~ and, ideally, the sense of community and accomplishment that FFXI had, though I've recently become more or less convinced that you can't have either of those things in a game that's actually fun.

I think that's sort of how I feel about MMOs in general -- I'm not about innovation necessarily, I just want to play a solid game in an immersive world. I ended up leaving SWTOR because of that -- the story line was fine, but I never felt *immersed* in the SW universe. It was so strange, walking around in all these gorgeous places and never feeling like I was in the Star Wars universe. I think this game's success will ultimately lay in how they can pluck the strings of nostalgia for their huge fanbase through the game's quest and social systems. They were quite adamant about GM events and supporting the community's social efforts, which I took as a very good sign.

Also, I just want to see those male Miqo'te and female Roegadyn and Highlanders that I spent so long on the forums campaigning for, dammit.

They exist! I saw em! I made them in character creation!

_a

 

[gamegod25]

You tear down and rebuild a house made of shit but its still going to smell.

 

[digital warrior]

Rare misstep? RARE? All the bravest, ff13 just all of it (yes i am aware some people liked it but when half your fanbase starts rejecting yes I qualify it as a misstep) the lazy ports, no its not rare anymore just par the course unfortunately.

Half the fanbase? I'd like to know where you happened to pull that "fact" from. It was probably your arse. Considering reviews for FFXIII were *actually rather positive* and there just happened to be a *very* vocal minority who shat bricks for some reason. Majority of people completely ignored the horridness of the internet and give a hearty (but silent) "Fuck off."

Its not a minority, and that number comes from sales figures ff13-2, sold only half the copy's of the original and the fan-base is very divided on this. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.335521-Final-Fantasy-XIII-2-Debuts-to-Lackluster-Sales

Look your free to like it I'm not saying anything against you for liking it but you got to admit the game had problems and their are allot of people concerned for the future of this series.

 

[klaynexas3]

Is it just me, or is the idea of a dragon as the main bad guy getting a little too cliche? Hell, even seeing grotesque monstrous beings feels a little old. I know there's a lot you can do to make a monster a monster, but why not try another approach? Why not make a monster that is beautiful to look upon. And I'm not talking about making it some sexy chick that has a few horns/hooves here or there, or has red skin, or some crap like that, I mean a genuinely beautiful monster that is pleasing to look upon for more than just sexual value. Something that truly inspires awe, and doesn't just make you want to kill it by its looks alone. I'd love to see a monster like that, not just another generic dragon. Anyway, the game looks...eh? I don't know, I love MMOs, but I can't help but feel I won't find anything truly ground breaking here, and unless its more immersive than falling into a whirlpool leading to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, I can't seem myself really getting into it. Only WoW has ever truly pulled me in, even when other games offer better gameplay mechanics and other features, they all seem to pale in comparison when it came to immersion. While WoW hasn't been able to pull me in like that for a while, no other MMO seems capable of scratching that ever growing itch. But I digress. Hopefully it will be something cool, who knows.

I doubt a dragon will be the main bad guy here, knowing SE and FF MMOs like I do. They're probably going to continue with the evil magitek empire theme. Dragons are just scary but semi-generic things to be tackled by endgame groups in FF MMOs, while the Big Bad is usually something with more of a religious and/or technological theme.

I agree with you that I'd love to see more beautiful monsters. It happens sometimes, but not often enough. The unicorns [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101216004234/ffxi/images/e/e7/Indrik.jpg] in FFXI were very disappointing. (I did find some of the endgame monsters [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20071116141242/ffxi/images/d/df/Sea-nm-system-hires.jpg] to be truly awe-inspiring, though.) But then I hate myself for killing them.

FFXI was the peak of immersion for me. I know it has a lot to do with it being my first MMO, but it also has something to do with the slow build of scenery as you progress, from realistic at the beginning, to increasingly full of fantastic elements, to completely bizarre and otherworldly at the end. Also, as I've been discovering, being able to relax and turn your brain off as you settle into a routine skill cycle is an important component of immersion. As fun as fast-paced, action-filled combat is, it's not relaxing.

Though I have been becoming increasingly suspicious of "immersion" and beginning to view it as something like a drug, but that's another topic.

Okay, those looked pretty cool.

Just out of curiosity, is exploration something actually big in Final Fantasy XI? That's one thing which can help pull me in; exploring is something which I love to do, as much in game as in real life. I'm always looking for a good game to play, and if XI was pretty good, I might just give it a shot. Or I might wait and see if XIV will be any good once redone, and try it on the PS3. I want to find a good console MMO, as I don't see many of those, or at least good ones, so it'd be pretty cool to find a good one that I can both relax to and get pumped and fight some destroyer of worlds.

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

Okay, those looked pretty cool.

Just out of curiosity, is exploration something actually big in Final Fantasy XI? That's one thing which can help pull me in; exploring is something which I love to do, as much in game as in real life. I'm always looking for a good game to play, and if XI was pretty good, I might just give it a shot. Or I might wait and see if XIV will be any good once redone, and try it on the PS3. I want to find a good console MMO, as I don't see many of those, or at least good ones, so it'd be pretty cool to find a good one that I can both relax to and get pumped and fight some destroyer of worlds.

Well, I'd say exploration is a big part of the game, provided you can survive. It's something I enjoyed doing in that game, especially when I was underleveled and in danger of being one-shotted at every turn. I'm kind of insane like that. Also running off to some waterfall in a hidden corner of the map and just hanging out.

However, I don't know if I can recommend FFXI, as much as I loved it. It's still very much an EQ-era MMO, despite the fact that they've made it possible to level up pretty quickly now. The game was designed around grindy, party-based leveling, and it's really showing its age that way. The controls and GUI are different than in most MMOs (number pad + arrow keys for movement, menus and macros rather than hotbars, no remapping or changing the UI in any way, and that's just the beginning), and it's more or less impossible to do anything solo. It would be really hard for someone who's already played post-WoW MMOs to be able to get into it, I think.

There is a 14 day free trial if you're interested, though.

 

[Aesir23]

This looks fairly interesting even if some of the gameplay seems pretty cliche. I would gladly pick it up and give it a try but that subscription fee is definitely a big turnoff. Sure, the microtransaction model can be annoying and feel unbalanced but at least microtransactions are optional. The cost of a subscription fee just accumulates too quickly especially if you aren't making enough money to justify the cost. If they lower the subscription fee and offer a trial like WoW (none of this "buy the game and play free for a month" bullshit) then I will definitely be enticed. Until then, I'm going to pass and play some of the better Free-to-Play MMOs out there.