FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Opening Movie Now Live! (01/07/2013)

[Kaiyoko]

I'd go as far as saying it's not the game itself (or released footage) causing the positive responses, but how Yoshi-P is handling himself, the re-release, and press. Definitely good news that a lot of outlets aren't dooming it from the get-go after 1.0.

I could be wrong, but I think this is really the 1st time any main stream game has failed and the company went back into development to redo the game completely with an even bigger staff. It proves SE to some degree is trying their best to win back their fans. From the looks of it the outlets are either being paid off by SE or they genuinely want to give the game another chance. Yoshi-P attitude and motivation is also a great representation of the project for the press and potential players.

Also, Kytele's original statement was pretty straightforward and would take some serious nit-picking to misconstrue.

I'd have to agree, the original statement was straightforward. The replies seemed very viscous and now he is on damage control.

[Dakin]

Stumbled across this reading a Diablo 3 fansite. Post on Blizzard forums that a community manager responded to:

FFXIV:ARR For example the DIRECTOR even said to take WoW as a base test and improve on that and make it into their own style, and to study market trends to see what worked and get player feedback and ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION WITH PLAYERS in a LARGE scale not just a few random select individuals, through FORUMS, SOCIAL MEDIA, BLOGS & FREQUENT POSTS.

Pertaining to engaging in conversations with the players: we aim to do just that, and we’re dedicated to improving on this further. I for one am extremely active on our official social media channels (especially Twitter and Facebook), and have recently started branching out to other communities to try and connect a bit more there as well (including Reddit and DeviantArt). One of the things I think that it’s key to realize, however, is that while part of our job is indeed to be a presence on the forums and communicate with all of you, part of that job also entails stepping away from the forums so that we can gather feedback, communicate with the developers, attend meetings, moderate, draft up social media, write blogs: the whole shebang. The behind-the-scenes portion of our job isn’t easy to see, but hopefully the numerous improvements that have been made over the passing months shows that we’ve been listening and passing along feedback, and we plan to continue doing just that.

[Spider-Dan]

I don't think the WoW love on here is as bad as Fievel makes out. As long as you can put up a good argument for why you don't like it people are happy.

This is the same forum that was home to the argument that if you actually played the newer XIV content, you are necessarily disqualified from offering a useful opinion on what it did well and what it did poorly.

I think Fievel has it just about right.

[Stanislaw]

This is the same forum that was home to the argument that if you actually played the newer XIV content, you are necessarily disqualified from offering a useful opinion on what it did well and what it did poorly.

Kinda drifting off-topic, but I don't think we've reached a conclusion with that, did we?

[Rocl]

and god willing we never will

[Lucavi]

Kinda drifting off-topic, but I don't think we've reached a conclusion with that, did we?

I don't think a conclusion can be reached until we see what stays and what goes in 2.0, whether what remains makes for a superior product and then look back on (and ridicule) who was on the losing side.

Its not important at all so long as 2.0 is better than any part of 1.0, which it probably already is.

[xopher]

What does Sankaku Complex have to say about ARR? They were all over SEs shit during alpha/beta.

Edit:

NM, found their ARR post.

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2012/1...aled/#comments

Surprisingly they have nothing good or bad to say about it.

SanCom doesn't say anything unless they have something negative to say about Square Enix products.

They're a pedo/porn blog anyway.

[Spider-Dan]

I don't think a conclusion can be reached until we see what stays and what goes in 2.0, whether what remains makes for a superior product and then look back on (and ridicule) who was on the losing side.

So in other words, we can't tell whether it was worth even listening to first-hand evaluations of this team's work in 1.0 until we are holding reviews (and revenue numbers) for 2.0 in our hands... at which point, such evaluations (of 1.0) would be too late anyway.

Got it.

[Charismatic]

Ugh, not this retarded argument again...

Just stop, its obvious that neither of you is going to budge and that...

Spoiler: show

Lucavi is wrong

[Artifact]

I'm not a very dark person. But going from the "end of an era" to green grass, green trees, smiles, flowers.... I was hoping there was an in between.
It's like going from hell to a vacation in the bahamas. I am questioning myself with how unhappy I was with how quickly that turned around.

[Ratatapa]

Don't forget there is a 5 year time between the end, and 2.0

But anyway

[Artifact]

If your response is directed toward me... I understand that... I am just saying the video upset me when it became perfect so quickly. I guess they skipped the story we're all (at least me) curious about... for a reason..

But anyway

[Sephiroth]

I guess they skipped the story we're all (at least me) curious about... for a reason..

I don't know, maybe so we can play the game? I can't say I've ever been unhappy that a game didn't reveal all the story in the intro movie.

[Artifact]

Haha alright, valid point .... A 30 second teaser would not ruin the game for me. Usually, it is a selling point. But too each their own.

[miokomioko]

You're taking the role of a character that was sent 5 years into the future to survive a catastrophic event (and thus, did not experience those 5 years). The game's new storyline is going to revolve around what happened during those 5 years and primarily what happened with the struggle against Bahamut which will explain how Eorzea's population was not annihilated. They aren't going to spoil the plot in the game's opening cinematic. They want you to be thinking "I want to know what the fuck happened!" so you'll want to play and find out.

Opening cinematics these days rarely explain anything other than a little backstory. They establish a setting, a few characters, and introduce a few eventually important things that you will eventually explore/unravel throughout the playable story.

- A girl looking at some sparks in an alley... in a large city? A train is pulling into a station? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

- A beach... ocean... now a field. Vague quotes from an unknown narrator... A girl? Flower petals... I mean a feather which is now a gunblade. A fight between two guys and shots of some woman in a headdress. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

- Two girls in a boat in a storm... was a dream... of a princess in a castle. An airship is approaching said castle and there's a little black mage wandering the streets... WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

- Some guy in some sort of water-filled sports arena. Gravity gets wonky while some crippled guy walks the streets... The athletes continue to play underwater soccer as a huge form of water starts destroying the city. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

This is just the game's opening cinematic which will normally be followed by actually playing the game and most likely immediately working towards having some of the looming questions answered. It's not a trailer and it's not a teaser.

[Grey Jorildyn]

Let's not forget the dreams of incubating giant eggs we've all been having.

[Artifact]

Opening cinematics these days rarely explain anything other than a little backstory. They establish a setting, a few characters, and introduce a few eventually important things that you will eventually explore/unravel throughout the playable story.

I didn't really want any explanation. So the way I worded it was awful. I didn't want the story of what we were playing out, I just wanted to see a sneak peak what the creators/producers visualized... and see more of the sweet graphics. Really is all I meant.
I prefer their visuals and cut scenes over my own imagination. But none the less I'm excited to play the story out.

[miokomioko]

I didn't really want any explanation. So the way I worded it was awful. I didn't want the story of what we were playing out, I just wanted to see a sneak peak what the creators/producers visualized... and see more of the sweet graphics. Really is all I meant.
I prefer their visuals and cut scenes over my own imagination. But none the less I'm excited to play the story out.

This is why I hope for an actual trailer/teaser in the near future. Something that's specifically designed to psych (all) people up about what is to come; a mix of cutscenes/gameplay/scenery/battle/monsters/explosions/boobs/etc. Thing is, everyone is expecting this of every little scrap of information they release instead of acknowledging that it's still a little premature for that type of marking when we haven't even approached the beta test yet.

[Jaraude]

miokomioko, I think you nailed it. As the game’s opening cinematic, the purpose of the sequence isn’t to explain what happened in the interim, but perhaps if SE had simply put “5 years later…” (like the “20 years later…” in FFXI’s opening) people might not take such issue with the awkward transition from past to present.

[Alkar]

I honestly don't want story trailers and I think that's the last thing this game needs right now. What they need to show is gameplay and content because that's what people will be most interested in. Story trailers are better for future expansions but right now they need to show that the actual game isn't crap like 1.0 was at launch.
The opening shows the events from your perspective (the adventurer) so the skip is necessary. As you progress you'll unlock new pieces of the puzzle and eventually it'll reach a conclusion.
On top of that the main story is tied to the Labyrinth of Bahamut which is meant to be expanded as time goes on. It's likely that certain cutscenes have not been made yet and are simply a concept right now.