MMORPG's FFXIV Offical Review 7/18/2011

[Lucavi]

SE simply works too slow. Rift has had constant content patches. That is unusual for an MMO, however one every 2-3 months is becoming a norm in the western world.

Hey, fuck you buddy; you and your "Western" talk. Not everyone enjoys the modern Western feel; some of us like doing things the old way!

In all seriousness, reviewers can't win. The reviewer specifically said that he's not counting promises and future plans into the score, because A) they're subject to change and B) They're not in the game yet, yet the company has already taken your money, so he's reviewing the product based on what you've already paid for. By those two criteria, the review was spot-on, if not a little lenient, and this is 9 months later.

Does the review sound like a guy that played it up to week two, reviewed it then, then simply saved it to a text file for 9 months and churned it out now as a "new" article? Sure it does,but that's the fault of SE and not his own, because every single solitary point in that review still stands. Try and deny it, 9 months later.

Behind the scenes and blah blah blah; none of that matters. The product matters, and the product is still as "whatever" as it was 9 months ago. Most reviewers said that the product was bad back then, and the fact that it hasn't changed since then is a testament to something, that's for sure.

Yes, there's some new info coming around the corner, and yes, some of it sounds very nice, but shit, judge the game just like every other MMO is judged. AOC was slammed time and again while undergoing their complete and total restructuring - from the top all the way down - and it was the right thing to do. The game itself hadn't changed. Go figure; when Rise of the Godslayer - the game's first expansion - came out, it received some pretty good reviews because the game itself had changed by then. Nobody's going to give SE some free pass just because "hey, they've acknowledged that they have problems and are working to fix them!" Every goddamn MMO on the planet is constantly doing the same thing, again and again (seriously, goto MMOChamp.com and check it daily; you'll hear the devs doing the same thing they've done since the game launched; admitting to problems and explaining plans for the immediate and distant future) - its called trying to keep those subs rolling in. Stop being such an apologist for the company - when the core of the game turns around and the game is re-reviewed or reviews are updated, you'll see your precious points (possibly) rise.

[Charismatic]

There is a difference between simply releasing a review 9 months into the lifespan of an MMORPG... and releasing a review 9 months later, but 1 week before the first core mechanics-changing and content-adding patch while simultaneously disregarding all of the recent development news and relevant information instead of an irresponsibly quoted misquote of Tanaka's resignation from the XIV team by a Game Stop employee.

Stop being a douche just to be a douche.

Not being a douche to be a douche, not even being a douche. It's not as if you fuckers wouldn't do exactly what I just said regardless of circumstance.
Yeah, he put out the review a week before a patch that is going to add auto-attack... which you keep saying he didn't even mention but I do see it in the review. Nothing else about the game's core gameplay mechanics is set to change by this next patch so, tell me; How much of this review do you think would have been different if he waited? Hmm?
Either way, you'd be spouting the same bs and everyone here knows it.

[Zetanio]

This thread is evolving into the same old fanboy reality vs market reality issue that the release reviews caused.
Go ahead FFXIV stalwarts. Plug your ears up good and tights and scream "LALALALALLLALLA" until 3 years from now when the game is release ready.

[miokomioko]

I mostly agree with the score and possibly the review as a whole. It's mind blowing that I have to state that when I never said anything to the contrary.

Is there a reason you people can't not pull the other extreme out of your ass about how anyone here thinks SE deserves some special pardon because they acknowledged problems? It's more about the entire review's absence of any hint whatsoever that the game was ever going to improve. In fact, she ends the review with some remark that the game will never be good. That's some great objectivity for someone supposedly well versed in the world of MMOs. (Not to mention she has only listed DDO, WoW, DAoC, and Warhammer when it comes to her experience with MMORPGs)

Too many of these western RPG nerds have this anti-finalfantasy/squareenix agenda going on and it's painfully obvious, even among these boards. The fact that the reviewer is a WoW player and has made public remarks about how happy she is that DDO is currently trying to restructure itself to actually not suck speaks volumes about her bias.

[Grey Jorildyn]

All authors have a bias. That's not really something new. It's nearly impossible to write without a bias, especially in a review.

I personally see myself neither here nor there as a fan of FF. I am never going to buy another FF title I can say that much, but I still play XIV daily. There's a curiosity there for me, and I see the same in the words of a few posters here. There's nothing else out we haven't tried yet (this factor is imo part of the reason hasn't been under as much pressure as it should) so we've stuck with this. I see also that many of those same posters are we aware that this is like battered housewife crap, but SE loves us and we'd not be parted from him until something better comes along. Do we still have great disdain for the game? Yep, but we play it all the same, and many of us have found that misery loves company. I'd not trade my linkshell mates for the world, even the ones I don't like.

[Lucavi]

The only anti-agenda I have is an anti-listening agenda. FFXI got a free pass because it came out long before many of the now-modern MMOs. XIV gets no pass because they went through all of the trouble of holding an "official" Alpha/Beta, went through all the trouble of having official forums, yet decided to implement perhaps 2% of the hundreds of legitimate changes that willing players suggested. People had hopes throughout the alpha and through most of the beta; people wanted to believe that SE had really learned not only from their first foray into the MMO sphere, but also from the competition, which set a gold-fucking-standard (whether you like it or not) for listening to its player-base and continuously attempting to placate them. People wanted to believe that SE would nod, take back their suggestions, implement some of them, push out a new beta patch, and continue until the game was in great shape for a modern-day launch (you know... like Rift did, which came out only what, 6 months later?). Positivity was in the air for so long...

Until about 3 weeks before vanilla launch and everyone could smell the shit in the air. Things weren't getting changed, it seemed like Tanaka was only nodding and delivering lip-service to players, and people suddenly got the feeling that if a lot of things didn't change and quickly before retail, the game was going to crash and burn. Many players; purists and non-purists alike continued to plow ahead, however, hoping for the best. Then launch hit, and was roughly 5% different from the final beta patch. Everyone was underwhelmed and many felt slapped in the face.

Cue 9 months later.

The game is moving incredibly slowly, and all but the most ardent of Purists have long-since headed for the hills, and you simply think that there is some anti-FF/SE agenda? Are you a Tea Party member? You're looking at perhaps the shittiest major, large-scale MMO launch in recent history (seriously, the Matrix Online was cleaner when it launched) and you think there's an agenda?! Are you going to scream "Liberal Bias~!!!" next?

How about this: If the game was great, people wouldn't knock either it nor the company that, until recently, completely refused to take advice/direction from anyone that wasn't on its Board of Directors/Regents. SE isn't deserving of some anti-agenda; the company would have to be putting out a relatively-quality product for that comment to have weight to it (think more along the lines of CoD-haters griping about how its watered-down and washed out the FPS genre). This game is trash. Seriously. Any MMO reviewer has a right to call it trash. If the game becomes not trash, then they can come back and claim it as such. If the game can eventually -be- not trash, then someone will come back and claim it as such. People that want to hate the game aren't posting real MMO reviews and aren't posting in this forum. They're doing other, Non-FF-related with their lives. Every person that's still here is hoping that eventually this game will be something worth playing. Many people here (myself included) are simply the type that has no problem rolling from game to game, trying them all out at a whim because they cost nothing to play.

As for the DDO comment? DDO went F2P quite awhile ago and has been making more and more of a profit ever since. The game is not only turning around content-wise, but profit-wise. Can SE say the same for its profits? Perhaps when SE brings in a little coin or actually puts out a large-scale update (1.18 isn't big enough; auto-attack, companies and more quests isn't nearly as large-scale as many games churn out on a tri-monthly basis), someone will be writing a hopeful plug about the game in their own MMO review column.

Edit: I wish I could be lighter on SE for this fiasco, but they honestly should know better by now. They're one of the biggest, most respected companies in the game. They've long-since hit legendary status and are responsible for some of the best games I've ever played and probably could hope to play as long as I live. For them to churn... "this" out is a slap in the face not only to their fans, but to themselves. They really wanted to put their name on this? They probably deserve worse for all of that high-priced collector's edition cash they raked in on essentially an ultra-priced beta test.

[Blasta]

The review guy paid only 14,99$ and hes whining like a baby, I spent nearly 90€

Honestly the guy could've waited for 1 week, but its none of his problem. And wow, we've been waiting for almost 1 year haha... 1.18 will make things better, but I doubt its worth logging in.

[Celeras]

Not to defend a smouldering pile of shit, but they added about 100 quests, 25 NMs and completely revamped (come friday) the battle system/algorithms/animations in a little over 7 months with a decent amount of cosmetic changes along the way.

It's the pace after this week that decides if theres any future, but even I don't think the time they took to un-fuck Tanaka's cockdream is unreasonable.

[Lordender]

I would have waited to release a proper review, I would have at least waited until patch 1.21-1.22 came out in another 6-8 months.

I TOTALLY disagree about 14 having a great soundtrack, sounds like Nobuo Uematsu packed it in and half assed the entire soundtrack.

[miokomioko]

Also, the storyline is one of the strongest aspects of the game right now (assuming you can stand grinding enough to experience it).

[Foxer]

Not to defend a smouldering pile of shit, but they added about 100 quests, 25 NMs and completely revamped (come friday) the battle system/algorithms/animations in a little over 7 months with a decent amount of cosmetic changes along the way.

Game's been out 10 months now, hasn't it?

Also, the storyline is one of the strongest aspects of the game right now (assuming you can stand grinding enough to experience it).

I agree. I couldn't stand the grind myself, but the story/CSs were absolute class in comparison to pretty much any MMO I can think of.

OT: I got on last night for the first time in around 9 months and I actually ended up liking the game even less because I was able to compare newer/better developed games out there. I would have to agree with the review.

[Nevex]

I am never going to buy another FF title I can say that much, but I still play XIV daily.

I think you belong to the "I'm a hardcore FF fan but I'm too cool to admit it" category because there is no way you're not going to buy the next FFs if you play the one and only failure in the series daily.

[Elona]

I thought we were done with the "official" PC FFXIV reviews last fall lol... The next relevant official reviews should come when/if PS3 version is released.

[Grey Jorildyn]

I think you belong to the "I'm a hardcore FF fan but I'm too cool to admit it" category because there is no way you're not going to buy the next FFs if you play the one and only failure in the series daily.

I thought I did admit I once was. There's no way in hell, or elsewhere, that I am gonna spend $60 on XIII-2 after the steaming pile of shit XIII was. The fact they even spent time on a sequel to that garbage blows my mind. So done with SE.

[Izzy]

ITT: People who want to hate on FFXIV, hate on FFXIV. People who want to white knight FFXIV, white knight FFXIV.

Lucavi's post hit it head on.

[Kaylia]

but 1 week before the first core mechanics-changing and content-adding patch while simultaneously disregarding all of the recent development news and relevant information instead of an irresponsibly quoted misquote of Tanaka's resignation from the XIV team by a Game Stop employee..

This update is no better than your average 2-3 months update in any mmo. Stop defending it like it's going to change anything.

[Agito]

Square Soft created FFXI but Square Enix slowly killed it off with with crappy expansions. Square Enix created FFXIV and killed it off before it even had a chance.

[Hyan]

Square Soft created FFXI but Square Enix slowly killed it off with with crappy expansions.

Lol.

Accurate score, but what an odd time to make a review.

1.18 isn't doing anything to catch up for the lackluster January-May period either, which sounds like Yoshida's plans have failed thus far.

Not to mention the primary overhaul we're getting (AA) is no upgrade at all, only a sidestep at best, a downgrade at worst. The leadership change has resulted in no improved results thus far, and makes Yoshida inferior to keeping Tanaka at this point.

He can still give it a shot, but this 3 months of preparations for 1.18 has been pretty fail. And makes his defenders look silly as well. We are worse off with him if he can't manage to get the patches out faster. Five months down the drain.

[Lucavi]

XI is far from dead; you couldn't ask for many more subs from such a relic of the good ol' days. Again, XI only dropped the ball in a few areas, but nothing was costly enough to truly hurt them, as they were already established:

A) Failing to acknowledge its new competition (at all), thus letting the new blood gain massive ground.
B) Failing to properly maintain good communication with its player-base (which wasn't the style back then, or ever, in Japan, but it goes back to A).

Neither of those problems are/were enough to kill it because the brand had already been established and, for what it is/was, its a solid brand. The game can be a lot of fun; it's always been that way, it simply comes with its own frustrations, just like with any other MMO.

XIV, though, was made during the cusp of the "new age". There's simply no excuse good enough for what the game turned out initially. Yoshi-P is working his ass off to correct this, and nobody can claim otherwise (especially with what we're seeing), but he's still a hero in a world of villains, trying to do right when so many above and below him are probably comfortable doing the same old wrong that they've always done. There's only so much he can do at a time, and with so much done horribly already and the impact set for at least half a year, things will always look relatively grim.

[Dizzy]

I like MMORPG.com's articles, interviews, forums, and clean layout. I think they have a generally strong community compared to most online game websites I've seen over the years. However when it comes to their reviews the majority of them are either late as fuck and stating the obvious (like this one), or buttkissing. I really don't care for numbered reviews from any website about MMOs because of how much they can change over time. Some things you just can't put a review score on, like how shitty the community becomes a year after launch or how poor customer support is.

I'm still holding out hope that they turn this game around because I dropped XI to play it and I've regretted it ever since.