FINAL FANTASY XIV Welcome Back Campaign Kicks Off!

[Siatdiat]

I jumped on yesterday before work, and then after work and messed around for a bit. The UI is a tad bit better but still sucks imo. I ran around a bit and tried to remember where to go to do certain things so I could try to get back into the flow of the game. Problem is there is 0 immersion, and never anyone in the 2 ls I have. It seems like it still pretty much takes fucking around with other players or the internet just to figure out where to go or how to go about getting certain things done. Overall, game still feels like a chore and I can't be sure I'll feel like taking any of my little free time to log in and mess with any of it before the free period is up.

[Spira]

i logged on for a whole of 10 minutes before i realized i had nothing to do, didn't know where to start and was too lazy to level (because I'd be rerolling in 2.0 anyway)

Ul'dah is a lag train and i felt my laptop graphic card slowly melting away no matter where I was so I took the safe route and logged out.

i can't say it hasn't improved, because I do see some subtle changes, especially in the battle interface.. but suffice to say because the battle system has been revamped like 3 times now, its a mess to get into and isn't intuitive enough to help you at it.

this is not so much a problem with the game as it is a problem with bringing returning players up to speed. I'd imagine when new players join or returning players come back in 2.0 all this is made clearer or given some kind of new tutorial or catch up lesson or even an online guide. sadly, as a gamer these days I don't have the patience to figure it out by myself anymore.

that said, the last time I played was like in Dec casually before they started charging, so it hasn't been that long for me

[Kurp]

The game really lacks prompts on what you can do or where you could get some fun action while leveling up. It really kills the experience for new players or returning ones like me. Most modern MMOs just do that through quests in some way, but this game's quests are so few and disjointed and rarely give a hint on what you can do or where you can go. I learned way after the fact that there was a lower level dungeon area around Limsa that would be cool to run (not like I would have found a party for it anyways).

The systems in the game now are back in the stone age.

[Gokulo]

I think there are some better tutorials when you create a new character now, but aside of that... I dunno, I could complain about a lot of stuff, but not enough hand-holding is not one of them. I think I like it more than the usual theme-park style, might be remnant of XI nostalgia's

[Katlan]

You can have the action bar on at all the times now.

Wow, I am thoroughly impressed. Them making that happen had to of made the combat soooooo much easier and fluid. But I still never expected it due to them being stubborn about the clean UI.

[Kurp]

I think there are some better tutorials when you create a new character now, but aside of that... I dunno, I could complain about a lot of stuff, but not enough hand-holding is not one of them. I think I like it more than the usual theme-park style, might be remnant of XI nostalgia's

The tutorials are still terrible. They tell you how to pan the camera, how to target shit, and that you have to hit a button to actually fight.

[kisada]

this is not so much a problem with the game as it is a problem with bringing returning players up to speed. I'd imagine when new players join or returning players come back in 2.0 all this is made clearer or given some kind of new tutorial or catch up lesson or even an online guide. sadly, as a gamer these days I don't have the patience to figure it out by myself anymore.

that said, the last time I played was like in Dec casually before they started charging, so it hasn't been that long for me

this is 100% exactly how i feel.

part of the reason i'm reluctant to jump back in, or even try it for an hour, is that i have no clue what the hell to do, what i'm doing, or what i'm even supposed to want. i'm also the same in that i don't have the patience to figure things out, not that i had much to begin with. my prayer is that in 2.0 things become simplified enough for any new player to jump in.

btw if anyone could point me to a solid ff14 guide please do. maybe i'll go after that goob mount.

[Arximiro]

From what I seen since I came back a couple weeks ago is the current thing to do to keep you playing is grind for darklight gear with its terrible drop rate, or craft. I've had a hard time staying interested since I have zero interest in the crafting system and grinding for gear that will probably be useless in 2.0 and/or when they raise the level cap isn't too appealing.

The UI is a lot better though for sure and the market wards are much more usable. Also for those that it mattered to like me they fixed accuracy so it actually matters. When they redid stats in 2011 they derped hard on accuracy and it was near impossible to miss, but now it's quite noticeable if you have shitty acc.

Edit: A couple screens, AF looks amazing btw. One thing I do love about the game is the quality of design in armor.

Spoiler: show

http://i47.tinypic.com/oa3pyv.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/v8fpzl.jpg

Edit2: Oh yeah and they overhauled food and potions/medicines and it's a ton better now. They even went further than FFXI did and put descriptions in the help text. The example potion heals 600hp instantly even though the help-text says regen. It does regen 600 though I guess, just instantly not how I expected it to work. The STR and other similar potions can be used in addition to food and provide a pretty extreme boost for a short duration. Oh, and they stack to 99 finally.

Spoiler: show

http://i48.tinypic.com/1ajj8.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/2ir9bhx.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/wvzi39.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/35bwj0g.jpg

[Cichy]

this is 100% exactly how i feel.

part of the reason i'm reluctant to jump back in, or even try it for an hour, is that i have no clue what the hell to do, what i'm doing, or what i'm even supposed to want. i'm also the same in that i don't have the patience to figure things out, not that i had much to begin with. my prayer is that in 2.0 things become simplified enough for any new player to jump in.

btw if anyone could point me to a solid ff14 guide please do. maybe i'll go after that goob mount.

To get Gobbue just go to Camp Bloodshore in Limsa and go bit south to the hut over there and talk to the npc

Other than that you only need to know few things to get around:
- adventurer guild will give you levequests for crafts and combat jobs
- class guilds will give you quests for classes and jobs (conj guild has conj and whm quests, etc)
- market wards you can buy stuff or access grand company halls which contain the most important quests that get you through dungeons and primal fights, you can also buy company items and do delivery quests
- like in other MMOs you can now go into the journal and view where your quest objective is so you dont need to browse internet like in XI

Other stuff you will pick up once you start playing, if you want a party you probably need to shout in the city. Also, if you log out at the inn you can get rested EXP bonus.

[Tomino]

If you dont want to play it now, dont do it. If you want to wait for trial of 2.0 than wait. At this point bunch of you are just trolling and talking about shit you have no idea about.

I have no clue who were you referring to. My initial post explained I reactivated even before the free trial.

Also, it's dissapointing to see every decent FFXIV discussion being pushed to become a troll war or a "game VS game" for the best game ever.
I understand this happens so often, some of you may be pissed enough already. But that doesn't change the fact sometimes we just want to discuss opinions.

[Cichy]

I have no clue who were you referring to. My initial post explained I reactivated even before the free trial.

Also, it's dissapointing to see every decent FFXIV discussion being pushed to become a troll war or a "game VS game" for the best game ever.
I understand this happens so often, some of you may be pissed enough already. But that doesn't change the fact sometimes we just want to discuss opinions.

That was pointed towards the people who keep saying the same shit over and over and coming in here trying to enlighten us how every next MMO is gonna be the best. Sorry I should've made that clearer.

[Lordender]

Never really understood game vs game, what is the best game depends on what appeals to the player. I think the biggest problem with SE and their MMO's is that they mess up really simple things, for example:

A modern MMO: is easy to play, everyone and their grandma's can pick it up, play it, the game teaches you where to go, what to do. The basics are easy, leveling is easy, everything is streamlined so the player can understand but despite all of that the endgame is still quite difficult to master.

FFXIV: Cryptic tutorials, contradicts itself with some parts being easy to understand, some parts leaving you to say "WTF?" The basics seem a little outdated and I'll explain why:

Modern MMO: You get your little intro cutscene, you appear near your first quest hub, you get to work, finish the hub and the game sends you to the next area where it marks it on your map.

FFXIV: You get your intro cutscene, you get pointed to various npc's like the adventurer guild then you're pointed to the aetheryte, after that its grind grind grind then you have to keep looking for mobs around your level to continue to grind.

Modern MMO: Once you finish each hub the game does a great job at keeping you in a quest hub flow, rense and repeat.
FFXIV: Well, We need to find mobs of x level range and pray there isn't a party there to slow our progress. Then you want the right family of mobs because some mobs have dumb ass tp moves compared to others, which is why we fought crabs/crawlers all day in XI.


For us(the FFXI vets) most of us were used to it, for the new player that 2.0 is going to target, not so much. I kind of hope in 2.0 there is a much more streamlined process that will grab new players. IMO thats all FFXIV really needs to do is keep it simple but hard to master, the basics need to just be simple so new players with no MMO experience can jump right in.

[Lucavi]

IMO thats all FFXIV really needs to do is keep it simple but hard to master, the basics need to just be simple so new players with no MMO experience can jump right in.

Perhaps for the content side, but that has nothing to do with their biggest problem, the hardware side. Memory leaks, poor optimization, terrible latency, pathing issues, AI issues, ect. All of these can cripple the amount of things the player can do in a game (PVP is a huge example, for one, or large-scale boss fights that require pin-point accuracy and expert timing, for another), which heavily takes away from not only the staying power of a MMO, but the initial and overall appeal/interest in a game.

Even if the plot is subpar, if the engine itself of the game runs well, you'll still get a decent enough amount of people playing it without too much complaint. There are a few games on the market that fall into this category.

These issues are the only reason I want to see what this 2.0 is all about with some actual field tests at E3, as its no secret that SE can scrape together a decent plot for a game if they need to. FFXI handled some pretty awesome plots from time to time, so that's no worry.

[Cichy]

Never really understood game vs game, what is the best game depends on what appeals to the player. I think the biggest problem with SE and their MMO's is that they mess up really simple things, for example:

A modern MMO: is easy to play, everyone and their grandma's can pick it up, play it, the game teaches you where to go, what to do. The basics are easy, leveling is easy, everything is streamlined so the player can understand but despite all of that the endgame is still quite difficult to master.

FFXIV: Cryptic tutorials, contradicts itself with some parts being easy to understand, some parts leaving you to say "WTF?" The basics seem a little outdated and I'll explain why:

Modern MMO: You get your little intro cutscene, you appear near your first quest hub, you get to work, finish the hub and the game sends you to the next area where it marks it on your map.

FFXIV: You get your intro cutscene, you get pointed to various npc's like the adventurer guild then you're pointed to the aetheryte, after that its grind grind grind then you have to keep looking for mobs around your level to continue to grind.

Modern MMO: Once you finish each hub the game does a great job at keeping you in a quest hub flow, rense and repeat.
FFXIV: Well, We need to find mobs of x level range and pray there isn't a party there to slow our progress. Then you want the right family of mobs because some mobs have dumb ass tp moves compared to others, which is why we fought crabs/crawlers all day in XI.


For us(the FFXI vets) most of us were used to it, for the new player that 2.0 is going to target, not so much. I kind of hope in 2.0 there is a much more streamlined process that will grab new players. IMO thats all FFXIV really needs to do is keep it simple but hard to master, the basics need to just be simple so new players with no MMO experience can jump right in.

Level grind is actually something that Final Fantasy players want. People enjoyed exping and meeting people in XI and they want that in XIV also. Hell, I want that.
I dont need another game where I end up soloing shit to cap. It's something you have to accept about XIV. It's nowhere as painful as other MMOs either.
Also, leves are kind of a guide of where to exp at certain levels and if you join a party you will figure it out. They redistributed mobs to make it easier. You can go into an area and find camp after a camp close to each other. Like in Nophica wells you can go 33ish mites > 36ish Amalaja > 39ish mites again.

Yoshida also mentioned that they are redoing tutorials and I believe he said he wants to give players enough quests so that you would be level 10 before you even leave the city. Those would be introductory and tutorial. And yet again, this horse have been beaten for 2 years so no point to further assault him.

So again, get your facts straight.

[Lordender]

Level grind is actually something that Final Fantasy players want. People enjoyed exping and meeting people in XI and they want that in XIV also. Hell, I want that.
I dont need another game where I end up soloing shit to cap. It's something you have to accept about XIV. It's nowhere as painful as other MMOs either.
Also, leves are kind of a guide of where to exp at certain levels and if you join a party you will figure it out. They redistributed mobs to make it easier. You can go into an area and find camp after a camp close to each other. Like in Nophica wells you can go 33ish mites > 36ish Amalaja > 39ish mites again.

Yoshida also mentioned that they are redoing tutorials and I believe he said he wants to give players enough quests so that you would be level 10 before you even leave the city. Those would be introductory and tutorial. And yet again, this horse have been beaten for 2 years so no point to further assault him.

So again, get your facts straight.

You're missing the point, this isn't about "Final Fantasy Players" this is about whether or not the game can bring in completely new players. If the goal is to cater to large amounts(any and all as yoshida told BG in their interview) they better get their shit straight, the game better go far beyond some basic tutorials. This has NOTHING to do with game x or game y, this is all to do with having a game where your average joe or jane is going to jump into without having to go look at 3rd party sites to figure out whats going on.

SE needs to do a lot more "hand holding" if they want to bring in new blood(non XI or the typical fringe MMO gamer who jumps from MMO to MMO after the free month ends).

[Lucavi]

Level grind is actually something that Final Fantasy players want. People enjoyed exping and meeting people in XI and they want that in XIV also. Hell, I want that.
I dont need another game where I end up soloing shit to cap. It's something you have to accept about XIV. It's nowhere as painful as other MMOs either.
Also, leves are kind of a guide of where to exp at certain levels and if you join a party you will figure it out. They redistributed mobs to make it easier. You can go into an area and find camp after a camp close to each other. Like in Nophica wells you can go 33ish mites > 36ish Amalaja > 39ish mites again.

Yoshida also mentioned that they are redoing tutorials and I believe he said he wants to give players enough quests so that you would be level 10 before you even leave the city. Those would be introductory and tutorial. And yet again, this horse have been beaten for 2 years so no point to further assault him.

So again, get your facts straight.

Look, we get it; you'll always be happy with the game no matter what. That's good and wonderful, but that's not going to bring in new subs and keep the game around. At some point, SE is going to have to chalk the game up to being a complete failure as an MMO if they cannot bring in new subs. Your massive level grind? Not bringing in new subs. Your focus on making the players do everything through trial and error? Not bringing in new subs. Your focus on open-ended content? Not bringing in new subs.

Hell, this welcome back campaign? Its not for you, Chichy. Its for people like ; people that played the game before, were underwhelmed for whatever reason or another. None of this is about you, so please stop getting your panties in a twist over anyone that doesn't share your sentiment for the game.

[Achitophel]

^^Irony.

[Cichy]

Look, we get it; you'll always be happy with the game no matter what. That's good and wonderful, but that's not going to bring in new subs and keep the game around. At some point, SE is going to have to chalk the game up to being a complete failure as an MMO if they cannot bring in new subs. Your massive level grind? Not bringing in new subs. Your focus on making the players do everything through trial and error? Not bringing in new subs. Your focus on open-ended content? Not bringing in new subs.

Hell, this welcome back campaign? Its not for you, Chichy. Its for people like ; people that played the game before, were underwhelmed for whatever reason or another. None of this is about you, so please stop getting your panties in a twist over anyone that doesn't share your sentiment for the game.

I get it it's not about me. I understand they need to attract more people. I get all that and I have plenty of beef with this game.
The difference is I actually play it and I know what I'm talking about unlike you. Instead of experiencing it yourself you're on a crusade because SE sold you a shitty game. I get it you're dissatisfied with the product, it's been 2 years, you should just move on to GW2.
This game is what it is and if it's gonna succeed on 2.0 it's because of players that are willing to give it a chance and because it's something different than other shit. At this point I think they realize that they will not cater to the millions. Their only hope is to find a selective market like Dark Souls did and hope it's enough population to carry them like they did in XI.

I understand different points of view, but regurgitating same arguments over and over in this forum is just pointless. Either look to the future and hope for the best or stfu. We've heard it all before on here and if the game fails you can have your 5min of happiness.

[Lucavi]

I get it it's not about me. I understand they need to attract more people. I get all that and I have plenty of beef with this game.
The difference is I actually play it and I know what I'm talking about unlike you. Instead of experiencing it yourself you're on a crusade because SE sold you a shitty game. I get it you're dissatisfied with the product, it's been 2 years, you should just move on to GW2.
This game is what it is and if it's gonna succeed on 2.0 it's because of players that are willing to give it a chance and because it's something different than other shit. At this point I think they realize that they will not cater to the millions. Their only hope is to find a selective market like Dark Souls did and hope it's enough population to carry them like they did in XI.

I understand different points of view, but regurgitating same arguments over and over in this forum is just pointless. Either look to the future and hope for the best or stfu. We've heard it all before on here and if the game fails you can have your 5min of happiness.

Just what have I "regurgitated" in this thread? You haven't even pointed out any issues; simply a "yeah I have beef with the game" empty statement. Aren't you the one "regurgitating" things, stating the same "if you don't like it, blah blah" comment again and again? This welcome back campaign is a precursor to 2.0; a barometer to gauge interest among those who previously purchased and played the game; every single person who has an issue with the game and still holds any flame of interest in it has a right to be here, regardless of who or what you think is "regurgitating".

There are no trolls and no white knights here. If you're upset that someone is on the fence in a thread dedicated to those very people that are on the fence, then I don't know what to tell you, other than this: You are not a mind-reader. You have no earthly idea what my plans are regarding XIV in either its current state or its future 2.0 stance. You have no earthly idea what my plans are regarding this free trial, so don't assume otherwise. Take your anger and your wangst against people of whom SE are targeting right now, and channel it elsewhere. I have every right to be in this thread, especially given that your money is guaranteed to SE's coffers, while mine is not.

I'm sick of hearing you complain about people who don't share your view. Enough is enough, especially in this thread.

[miokomioko]

I'm sick of hearing you complain about people who don't share your view.

Holy shit.