Comments from the Devs

[plue]

I just played last night for an hour, for the first time since October. I have to say that Saronia was an empty wasteland, and that was probably the biggest turn off for me. With each server only containing a handful of people, I'm not sure why they don't just merge them all.

[Toth]

I am struggling to find any reason to play as well . An MMORPG without people and parties is a pretty boring thing....

[Gulkeeva]

I just played last night for an hour, for the first time since October. I have to say that Saronia was an empty wasteland, and that was probably the biggest turn off for me. With each server only containing a handful of people, I'm not sure why they don't just merge them all.

Of course, the NA population I'd presume on any server is near nonexistent, JP hours however is fine as its still very active.

[Alderaan]

lol

Cause when you buy any other game and don't like it, the company should totally refund you.

Normally i would say people didn't get what they payed for, but they should have known better after playing beta what they were getting. It was what it was and there was no miracle patch as there never is.

[Corrderio]

Normally i would say people didn't get what they payed for, but they should have known better after playing beta what they were getting. It was what it was and there was no miracle patch as there never is.

Exactly. You think in this day and age where forums/reviews are a dime a dozen you'd think people would know better. It was pretty obvious from the state open beta was in when it closed and the CE being up 8 days later the game wasn't going to be in a good state.

[Cichy]

I think people thought/hoped for that there was a pot of gold at the end of the shit road. I mean FFXI was very uneventful until endgame. I personally thought there would atleast limbus type event or something once you hit 50. I dont think anyone fully anticipated this turd they sold us.

[Lucavi]

Why must SE shut down the servers to stop you from playing?

That's entirely your decision. You can check back on the progress of the game by reading the patch notes, the letters and the overall community reaction. You can just forget about the game and check back once S-E starts their final push to PS3 release. You can just go play another game instead. You have absolutely no obligations, and S-E has no obligations to "make it up" to you. You aren't helping them aside from maybe having a slightly more "informed" opinion about the game. Everything that needs to be said has been already said, and checking out the patch changes is all that can be done.

In the end, one of those three is better than getting more and more cynical with a game no one else is playing.

Hey, its their money. If they want to keep each server up and running 24/7 for all of 300 people per server, go for it.

[Cichy]

Hey, its their money. If they want to keep each server up and running 24/7 for all of 300 people per server, go for it.

Seriously, they better of using the power they use to run servers to bake some cookies for the disaster affected people.

[TehKerm]

I just started the game like a week or so ago, atm its fun to me because its a break from ffxi but i do sense that bit of emptiness in the game. I hope they fix the problems with the game, it seems to have potential to be a great game.. but i guess thats up to the devs and SE how they do it =/

[LD]

XI has pretty much the fewest imputs during combat of any major MMO on the market. Auto attack would allow the devs to include more abilities for people to play with, because players wouldn't simply have to mash 1 over and over again to do what essentially boils down to "white damage". I don't expect people that have only played XI and XIV to understand that, though, as when compared to the snooze fest that is XI combat (again, compared to the rest of the major MMO market), XIV must be as engaging and "thrilling" as hell.

Sorry for being late to all this, but I just suddenly became curious about FFXIV's progress.

Assuming this sentiment hasn't changed, I agree with it to a certain extent. Basic attacks were just use doing what auto-attack should have done, that's one of the things that made FFXIV's battle system interesting, but still very flat compared to other MMOs. I'd agree with you completely, but they did make an effort to differentiate attack types with the light/heavy strike system. As a PUG it made me feel as though I was actually deciding on how to approach a fight. More options in the beginning might have solved this 'problem', but I guess SE sees it as an acceptable sacrifice.

Whether AA improves the game or not, I feel as though this is another sign on FFXIV's long road to becoming WoW:FF. The only thing that MIGHT retain SE's intention and still keep it different is some sort of stance toggle, which is probably what people wanted in this first place.


Again, apologies if this point of view has been run over multiple times already.

[Corrderio]

I just started the game like a week or so ago, atm its fun to me because its a break from ffxi but i do sense that bit of emptiness in the game. I hope they fix the problems with the game, it seems to have potential to be a great game.. but i guess thats up to the devs and SE how they do it =/

It isn't bad at the start but kind of drags on later.

They're reworking the battle system then going to try to do events later on from how it sounds. I'm hoping the first step in the battle system revamp is in the upcoming update.

[Kenshiin]

I'm not 50 yet I know, but I'm enjoying every minute of getting there. It's a grind, just like ffxi was and it's something that doesn't bother me that much. I joined a new linkshell of people that I didn't know and I'm enjoying meeting a bunch of new people while grinding leves, doing behests, and a few parties in between. I don't like the battle system all the much but it does still allow me to kill things and I know how much exp I'm going to get at the end of it. I can deal with it for now until there's a change. I don't like fatigue but there are other classes to level in between while I hope they do away with it. I don't like my gear wearing down but it happens much slower and it only sucks when you're done with a piece and want to sell it.

This is similar to how I started off in ffxi. Getting to know the system, getting to know new people, leveling different jobs to find out what I like and how they work. I remember getting to 55 on my first job before I even knew what people did when they got to 75. The good stuff is gonna come but sitting around waiting for it while there is plenty to do to get ready for it will only make you upset that you can't do it right away when it does arrive. Look at all we enjoyed in ffxi. These people had a hand in it too. There's no way that a company will keep throwing money into a project that doesn't have an idea of what they want to do. It's obvious Yoshi has convinced the heads of SE that he has a good plan.

[Grey Jorildyn]

Not sure if they know what a good plan is. It's probably just a better sounding plan than the last one and that ain't saying much. I do hope it is more than that and the game does well for a SE mmo. Still eagerly awaiting something to do as I climb for a 4th 50, if you count shield. Getting old faster by the minute.

[Celeras]

Not much point playing the middle of a transition to be perfectly honest. Back on release, there were a ton of problems. SP system was retarded, there were a million bugs/headaches, and the mission system was complete ass outside of the cutscenes. But regardless of all that, the game had an identity. It knew what it wanted to be, regardless of how it actually ended up. And believe it or not, I actually found enjoyment grinding in XI style groups despite all the retardation with the system. You fought huge targets in a nonstop slaughter. There was 'some' reason to play(free), and hope for fixes/changes.

Fast forward to today, regime change. SP is all but fixed, and bugs are all but gone... but the games 'identity' is changing. You don't do grind groups from XI anymore, now you do leves. The same leves, over and over, for better or for worse. It was always my opinion that leves were meant to be supplemental content and not the main source of XPing they've become, but thats neither here nor there. More changes are coming, changes that will overhaul the combat system to something tuned for their new/existing content. Right now, you're playing on the old system amidst the new vision.

Can't really be surprised that most servers are thinning, but at the same time I can see them booming back up once the new combat system hits. And if thats enjoyable enough and fits the new vision, I can also see people sticking around for content.

[Hyan]

Whether AA improves the game or not, I feel as though this is another sign on FFXIV's long road to becoming WoW:FF. The only thing that MIGHT retain SE's intention and still keep it different is some sort of stance toggle, which is probably what people wanted in this first place.

Yoshida doesn't really look like a guy with new ideas... but, Matsui on the other hand..

Actually, I don't even know at this point. Matsui didn't develop XI's combat system although he became the battle director later on iirc. It's really hard to say where exactly he will take this system, and what will be left intact.

But that's what makes following this game so entertaining. All I know for sure is that their team is full of battle graphic directors. I'd be surprised if the combat didn't look visually spectacular (although not in a over-the-top way) at the end of it. Kinda what you'd expect from an FF game.

You don't do grind groups from XI anymore, now you do leves. The same leves, over and over, for better or for worse. It was always my opinion that leves were meant to be supplemental content and not the main source of XPing they've become, but thats neither here nor there.

I respectfully disagree with that notion. IMO, in this case SE ought to scrap one system and retain the other (as a way of primary progression). I always saw guildleves as the perfect primary progression method with the way it is set up... although, it should be noted that they need to do something to make the content more long-lasting and varied. Adding more leves with different objectives would be a first step, but IMO that may be too time consuming. The system could benefit from a Nyzul style ladder system/random factor I think. Further promoting efficiency would also make things more interesting (complete the leve fast, be rewarded for it).

Not sure if they know what a good plan is. It's probably just a better sounding plan than the last one and that ain't saying much.

I can't say I had a problem with Tanaka's plan either..

[kisada]

insanity

[Dooom]

I always saw guildleves as the perfect primary progression method with the way it is set up

Including with the 36 hour cool-down? As I don't want my main method of levelling up to be so limited in terms of opportunity.

[Hyan]

Well, that's certainly an issue if you want to solo. I never saw soloing as the primary way of progressing either, though. Plus, I could see them introducing something campaign-esque for that sort of thing.

I've heard, though, that leve-linking is too powerful and overshadows leve-sharing. I think that encouraging the use the latter is rather crucial for the system to work. Also, obviously, they need to make sure that a) there are enough players on the server and b) the community is not divided between those wanting to leve-share and those wanting to grind sp on normal mobs (as both need groups to work well).

They should also try to make it so we use our full duration of the leve, instead of every leve taking 5-15 mins at most. Maybe something like Nyzul?

[Gulkeeva]

Well doing both the crafting + leve's per day, its about 5-7 hours total of 'stuff" and between that about 1 day break so its not "too bad" I guess, would kind of suck if it was 24 hours... or 48 (since it'll be in JP hours if so)

[Cichy]

What I dont like is how the guildleves completely replaced the exp parties. I went with few people post the sp patch to fight raptors in Coerthas, it was fairly good exp (about 15-20k) per hour but that dint sit well with others. 90% of people rather sit and wait for the leve reset to get easier exp and avoid penalty during the leve from fatigue than just go out and exp. I hate how limited this makes the game feel.