Why are you looking forward to FF14?

[Hyan]

I disagree. The game does not start at the end, surely, but the game does not need to bottleneck your progression with countless slow-paced world-traveling fetch-quests through empty, un-used zones before declaring you "fit" to hit some sort of end-game. When you are new to FFXI and hear the lion's share of your more experienced friends groaning and moaning about the prospect of grinding through CoP, something isn't wrong with the them - something is wrong with the game design.

There is a difference between meaningful progression and simple bottlenecking.

I don't understand why WoW forces me to level my character to 80 before I can start raiding. I want to do it immediately, so that kind of bottlenecking is silly. That's a real problem with game design. Countless slow-paced fetching quests through empty, un-used zones before declaring me "fit" for some sort of endgame. It needs to go.

And if you call that "meaningful progression", I can only lol. At least CoP had a proper story and decent fights that required some amount of skill to clear, among the fetching quests.

[Lucavi]

I dunno. My favorite story-segment from FFXI was the CS after defeating the Shadow Lord. There was never a moment where I wanted to take revenge in a game without feeling that it was a game than seeing the Ark Angels gang up on a broken man who had just finished taking a beating from the adventurers, and seeing his incredible will endure through the struggle, even saving our miserable little butts in the process.

Divine might was a great fight, but I felt like the end of it all was empty. I wished they would have made a long CS after beating the AAs, but they just kind of sent some text your way and gave you a present.

The fight with Deathbringer Saurfang was a fight that I felt went in reverse. The intro was a little bland and shallow, although I understood the reasoning for why I had to fight him. The end, though, was excellent. Seeing arguably the second strongest Orc in modern history shedding tears over the death and loss of his son, while thanking the Alliance leader (depending on your faction) for allowing him to collect the body, was incredibly emotional.

It depends on the person, though. Some people will tab spam through Divine Might to get their shinys faster, just like someone will rush right to the chest after Saurfang to collect loot, but I've seen just about every CS in FFXI, and while I agree that some are masterfully done, I've been able to find a ton of lore and satisfaction in WoW as well.

Really, its WoW's engine that limited their ability to truly show dramatic CSes. I hope they design a far more streamlined engine for their next MMO. I want to see a lot more of what WoTLK has done for the game's narrative presentation.

[Meresgi]

The problem with WoW's story I always felt was this.

In FFXI when you killed the AA's or other mission bosses that was it. That was the end of that story, you didn't farm missions for loot each week or anything. Granted you could go back and help your friends, but that's besides the point.

In WoW you have these giant enemies of the world like C'Thun, Yogg, Nef, Rag, even Arthas. Once you've killed them you might get a special treat like an in game scene like Illidan or Deathbringer, but more times then naught it's just a "loot the body and keep moving" type deal. And you'll be farming these guys over and over again for w/e loot you deem you need.

WoW has some decent story and lore to the dungeons you enter, but some of the bosses are never made reference to before you face them. I get Marrowgar is the guard of the citadel...but how did he come about? Does he have a story behind him? What about Lady Deathwhisper? What about the Blood Princes? I know a little about them but WoTLK never really tells us too much about their whole deal.


I am loving going through Northrend though as alliance now. The quests and stories behind them are really interesting. I feel like I missed a lot leveling as horde through WoTLK first.

[Kaylia]

I thought mission cutscenes and Dynamis made the world of FFXI a lot more immersive then the few phased areas of Icecrown. It would have been cool if after taking over an area more was done to it in Icecrown, but the only place that gets a little foothold base is the hill you take for Tirion, the rest of the areas just stop at their final phased state and never really make you feel like you conquered that spot and are helping to make the push.

Mission cutscene were great, and one of the few strength. However, it would still be nice to interact with the npc you see in the mission, and change the world a little more. I was basically saying to add phasing to a game like FFXI to enhance the effect even more, and make the world feel more dynamics outside cutscene. Althought, it's a lot of trouble to add in a game, the addition would be great if done correctly for story telling.

You can't really even compare WoW and FFXI. WoW is a money making machine, Blizzard makes decisions around what can profit them the most (There's nothing wrong with that), while FFXI was more of a story driven machine. The Devs seemed to do whatever they wanted to get the story across and that was that, if you didn't like how it was presented to you, or what you had to do to experience, you ended up shit outta luck.

Hmmm? Story telling was terrible until CoP, except for 1 zilart cutscene.

Blizzard did huge improvement as well with the story telling. The interactive dungeon/raid, the long dialogue between npc, the instanced story event like undead..they are on the right track.

I think both company understood the importance of having a good story to tell in a game, and they both did progress. FFXI probably win in that aspect, but it's not like WoW hasnt made any effort lately to tell a story.

The problem with WoW's story I always felt was this.

In FFXI when you killed the AA's or other mission bosses that was it. That was the end of that story, you didn't farm missions for loot each week or anything. Granted you could go back and help your friends, but that's besides the point.

In WoW you have these giant enemies of the world like C'Thun, Yogg, Nef, Rag, even Arthas. Once you've killed them you might get a special treat like an in game scene like Illidan or Deathbringer, but more times then naught it's just a "loot the body and keep moving" type deal. And you'll be farming these guys over and over again for w/e loot you deem you need.

WoW has some decent story and lore to the dungeons you enter, but some of the bosses are never made reference to before you face them. I get Marrowgar is the guard of the citadel...but how did he come about? Does he have a story behind him? What about Lady Deathwhisper? What about the Blood Princes? I know a little about them but WoTLK never really tells us too much about their whole deal.


I am loving going through Northrend though as alliance now. The quests and stories behind them are really interesting. I feel like I missed a lot leveling as horde through WoTLK first.

How many time did you kill dynamis lord? How many time have you stopped bahamut from wiping the face of the Earth?


You complain about the lack of lore for certain bosses, but AV, PW, kirin, most wyrm...I know next to nothing about them. Why Sanraku can even open a portal to hell? Many bosses in WoW were referenced somewhere in the lore (sometime in the game,sometime in the books). It's not entirely fair to compare both game, because WoW have a lot of "outside the game lore", while FFXI only had vanadiel tribune for 1 years, but still...


Killing story bosses multiple time or once is a direction choice..personally, I don't mind either way. However, they did a much better job with Arthas than they did with Illidan. You have a huge questline involving him in Icecrown, you get his flashback in stratholme, you encounter him in HoR and again in ICC. He isnt just a mere stone on my way.

[dejet]

I have to ask...? Why do people say wow cloan whe ffxi was out befor wow?

That is makeing me just wonder is all lol,.
Next ffxi was great I had fun, it was great and wqas nice talki g to people from all over the worl. Even tho the system waS not as good as it could I don't see a better one.

I played wow and aion. Both were fun, however the story line how complex some things are was a tad of a turn off.

11 held m/e for 7 years, aion and wowjist under a year. That's why I have high hopes for 14.

[Lucavi]

The problem with WoW's story I always felt was this.

In FFXI when you killed the AA's or other mission bosses that was it. That was the end of that story, you didn't farm missions for loot each week or anything. Granted you could go back and help your friends, but that's besides the point.

In WoW you have these giant enemies of the world like C'Thun, Yogg, Nef, Rag, even Arthas. Once you've killed them you might get a special treat like an in game scene like Illidan or Deathbringer, but more times then naught it's just a "loot the body and keep moving" type deal. And you'll be farming these guys over and over again for w/e loot you deem you need.

WoW has some decent story and lore to the dungeons you enter, but some of the bosses are never made reference to before you face them. I get Marrowgar is the guard of the citadel...but how did he come about? Does he have a story behind him? What about Lady Deathwhisper? What about the Blood Princes? I know a little about them but WoTLK never really tells us too much about their whole deal.


I am loving going through Northrend though as alliance now. The quests and stories behind them are really interesting. I feel like I missed a lot leveling as horde through WoTLK first.

Didn't we do that every week we went into Dynamis? What about Nyuzul? Surely you wanted Odin's big bad drops?
I think the big difference between the two is simply that WoW has more bosses than FFXI. FFXI has one end-boss at the end of each area, where WoW has a bunch of voiced bosses.

Does anyone remember the individual bosses in Dynamis outside of awesome names like the Mithraslaver? Now, did anyone remember non-end bosses, but bosses in end dungeons like the Twins and Sapphron?

The games are the same in the sense where if you want what the end-boss has, you kill him. If that has to be over and over and over again, then so be it. Most people didn't reliably -get- to the end-bosses in FFXI, much less consistently kill them. How many dynamis shells tried and failed repeatedly to get to and down the Dynamis Lord for his ring and mantle?

There are minor differences, but not major between the two.

I have to ask...? 11 held m/e for 7 years, aion and wowjist under a year. That's why I have high hopes for 14.

We all do. That's why we keep posting and hoping that SE improves on their first successful formula.

[willriker]

I am looking forward to certain things, but i am expecting certain things to remain static. I do not want cartoony graphics. I do not want a combat system based on a rotation of buttons (more interactive please). And i am looking foward to a system without some of the fundimental flaws found in FFXI.

For example:

DEF/VIT: Yes it should matter
Ustsemi: be very weary of implementing anything that completely negates damage taken. If it can be abused, it will be.
Something for melee to do other than focus on a TP meter. Some jobs, in ffxi had this, but for most it was just make sure berserk is up or w/e.
Drop Rates: Honestly? i dont care about drop rates anymore. I been there, got everything i wanted, and i can say it wasnt worth the effort. The friends i made were definately worth it though.

I dunno, im just expecting a spruced up version of FFXI. But i am also expecting some issues to not reoccur. Its a low standard really. But i am feel that FFXIV doesnt need to be anywhere close to perfect for it to outdue almost every other mmo out there.

[Lucavi]

Cartoony graphics are out.
No rotations, though no more autobattle + one macro WS either.
Def/Vit doesn't matter in FFXI, so they need to improve it.
Hopefully no quickly-recastable super-blink all at all.
Can't say about rage/energy/mp bars at all yet.

As for FF out-doing the competition, it really boils down to what SE wants. Surely they've seen the potential cash cow that a super successful MMO can be. Everyone in the industry wants to make the money Blizzard rakes in each month.

I think the question we all have to think about is whether SE wants a pure money-maker (filled with a reasonable amount of fun, but with addictive qualities), a pure artistic masterpiece (complete with possibly alienating features, but a graphically and narratively-breathtaking experience), or something in the middle: a great improvement over the first, while adding enough new features and removed frustrations to hit a nice, fat 2-5 mil subscription base.

Its up to them. They certainly have the brains and the funding to make a heavyweight knockout, but we'll see if they want to take the necessary steps to do that. To make that kind of a profit, you have to attract -everyone- to the fold, and not every fan of a company wants a super-populated game, as there's a host of problems that goes along with that.

[Aro]

I think I'm just looking forward to seeing some familiar faces in a new world. Best people I ever "met" were in FF, not to say there aren't nice people in other MMOs but since FFXI was such a group focused game it sort of forced you to meet people. I really hope there is at least some group focus in 14 and not just "an option to group" but a good one that has some sort of benefits.

[Lordender]

I always thought the community in FFXI was unique and a hell of a lot better than WoW's and there were a few things that SE missed out on that could have taken FFXI to the next level.

You have to hope SE took notice about everything and addressed them this time around which I think they will.

[DarkestHawk]

The people that are going to be playing it.

[Kawfee]

The people that are going to be playing it.

I have to agree, this is my #1 reason. I'm assuming many BG forum users are like me, where, for better or for worse, FFXI was a significant chunk of your life. I've played FFXI for I dunno, 6-7 years now, which is practically 25% of my life. Granted, there are some large segments in there where I wish I went outside a bit more, but hey, live and learn.

To echo some above posters, FFXI was a unique situation in video games for me where meaningful connections with friends whom I've never seen irl were formed. As FFXI has been winding down, I've started to lose touch with many of them as there's not really a easy way to keep it up without logging into FFXI.

Now that FFXIV is starting up, it gives me a new medium to maintain those friendships and hopefully forge new ones.

It also helps that the graphics and game world look amazing, and that SE seems to be taking a more open and feedback oriented design approach this time around. And, as shitty as some of the stuff was in AV, you still did it, and however much you may say you hated it, you wouldn't have done it if there wasn't some enjoyment factor somewhere in there. For a game and community to hold my interest that long, I'm excited to see what FFXIV can do.

[Piper]

Just to relive the glory days, shit talking on forums, fierce competition, bullshitting on LS.

Agree. Going to play with some friends I used to bum around with in FF11. Looking foreward to the hardcore end of the game and getting a quick start to getting there.

[Kaisha]

Fresh start, better graphics, doesn't look to be yet-another-WoW-clone.

Only thing that'll still be missing are my virgin MMO days. Rather than going in expecting a great world to explore with a story and having fun, the only thing likely to be on my mind starting XIV is "Ok, time to spreadsheet how I'm going to spec myself, and list the quests/mobs to grind for most efficiently levelling up, etc etc etc....

[Lucavi]

Fresh start, better graphics, doesn't look to be yet-another-WoW-clone.

Only thing that'll still be missing are my virgin MMO days. Rather than going in expecting a great world to explore with a story and having fun, the only thing likely to be on my mind starting XIV is "Ok, time to spreadsheet how I'm going to spec myself, and list the quests/mobs to grind for most efficiently levelling up, etc etc etc....

I'm wondering if it's possible to recapture those days. Sure, everytime we hit a new MMO we're interested in, we feel a little bit of that wonder Is it the same, though as it was in our -first- MMO?

I know I'll love the first month, and probably year of FFXIV, and I know that with the graphics and presentation that it'll be a surreal experience, but I do wonder if I'll ever be able to "fall in love all over again" like is so tossed around in today's society.

[Cureslime]

Being entertained by one game for a full year is pretty amazing in the grand scheme of things.

[Lucavi]

And FFXI entertained me for about 4 years, so yeah, incredible. I'm a gamer, though, so I'm as likely to get 5 years of entertainment out of old school games whenever I frequently play them again.

I started Diablo II back up recently and have been having a blast with it.

[neue]

FFXI is/was my first MMO. I started in November 2003, and although I took a few 1-8 month breaks, I pretty much stuck with it over the last 6~ years. I've also finished two bachelor's degrees and nearly completed my master's in the same time, so it hasn't been a total timesink. I see XIV as the next step, so to speak; just an update to a game I already enjoy and hate at the same time.

tl;dr - There's no Harvest Moon online yet.

[Rokku]

tl;dr - There's no Harvest Moon online yet.

With the popularity of garbage like Farmville, a Harvest Moon Online might cause the entire internet to collapse.

[Kyata]

One thing I would like to see changed is the chat log. I don't want to lose the ability to type and/or receive messages when I zone.

I realise it's going to be a seamless world in FFXIV, but things like region zoning or teleports, etc will still make us lose the log if they keep the same system in place.

I also hope 2boxing will be as easy as it was in FFXI (lack of needed mouse control helps). I'm buying 2 accounts from the start, can't imagine not 2boxing after all those years of doing so in FFXI.