This is definitely big news. I do feel for Tanaka though since I don’t think any of this is totally his fault. Release dates and timelines tend to be set by the higher powers that be, not necessarily developers. So it’s not totally his fault that it was released way too soon.
The new blood will be nice though. They’ll probably feel the need to prove themselves and push themselves that much harder. PS3 pushback sucks, but it’s probably for the best. And I certainly won’t put up any arms to even more free play, so long as the game doesn’t switch FTP permanently. That’s when I’ll walk away, since there’s no way we’ll get any good future updates at the point.
The last big update was a huge success though in my opinion. I personally don’t think they need to work TOO much more on the UI interface or anything, save minor tweaks in some areas and maybe an overhaul of the linkshell member management system and the party system (and of course the ward system, though the upcoming search feature should make it operate similar/identical to an auction house anyway). The main issue is content. A lot of basic features have already been promised (mail system and /search system in March, etc).
Guild leves are fine as is, but there shouldn’t be such a huge dependence on them. Currently, all you can do is log in, do your daily leves within about 30 minutes or so, and that’s about it (aside from crafting). Thankfully, we have RP to keep us busy when needed but the rest of the community doesn’t utilize that luxury.
Notorious monsters will be a nice addition but not entirely enough. Here’s what I personally think they need to focus on after this month’s update (in no particular order):
--Player/company housing: Role-players are very limited in what we can do in terms of locations. We have no NPC houses to utilize and the only buildings we’re allowed to enter are stores and guild headquarters. Heck, we’re having tomorrow’s masquerade at a freaking temple and have to pretend that it’s a mansion because that's the only real option available. Player housing will allow us to forge lots of potential environments for RP, ranging from clinics to regular houses to offices. I recall turning my FFXI mog house into all manners of things to enhance some RP scenes.
--Quests: Leve quests aren’t really the same thing. They’re all mostly the exact same as one another. Follow your map to the targets, kill them, end of leve. Some of the faction leves are a bit more awesome (I’ve only done 3 thus far and enjoyed them all) but it’s still not enough variety. Some traditional styled quests would be an awesome addition and give more life to the so far lifeless world. I don’t even care if they’re just random fetch/delivery quests with crap rewards to start (like FFXI’s bat wing fetch quest in San d’Oria). But it’ll add a lot more to do and a lot more general life to the world.
--Grouping: There’s very little incentive to do anything in groups, hence nearly eradicating the MMO from the RPG. All storyline missions thus far can be completely soloed. You get a path companion but that’s it so far. Maybe I just haven’t got far enough yet. But so far there’s no FFXI equivalent of the 2-3 dragon, 5-1 lich, or 5-2 shadowlord fights. The storyline may be great (and it is), but there’s no feeling of accomplishment on anything so far. My greatest accomplishment so far is acquiring onion gear from faction leves, and that isn’t saying much. Soloing is a nice option to have but I’d rather have some things that force you to group. Hopefully, NM’s help with this a bit. I want some bcnm styled fights that feel epic and can be reused in the future for RP events.
The new blood will be nice though. They’ll probably feel the need to prove themselves and push themselves that much harder. PS3 pushback sucks, but it’s probably for the best. And I certainly won’t put up any arms to even more free play, so long as the game doesn’t switch FTP permanently. That’s when I’ll walk away, since there’s no way we’ll get any good future updates at the point.
The last big update was a huge success though in my opinion. I personally don’t think they need to work TOO much more on the UI interface or anything, save minor tweaks in some areas and maybe an overhaul of the linkshell member management system and the party system (and of course the ward system, though the upcoming search feature should make it operate similar/identical to an auction house anyway). The main issue is content. A lot of basic features have already been promised (mail system and /search system in March, etc).
Guild leves are fine as is, but there shouldn’t be such a huge dependence on them. Currently, all you can do is log in, do your daily leves within about 30 minutes or so, and that’s about it (aside from crafting). Thankfully, we have RP to keep us busy when needed but the rest of the community doesn’t utilize that luxury.
Notorious monsters will be a nice addition but not entirely enough. Here’s what I personally think they need to focus on after this month’s update (in no particular order):
--Player/company housing: Role-players are very limited in what we can do in terms of locations. We have no NPC houses to utilize and the only buildings we’re allowed to enter are stores and guild headquarters. Heck, we’re having tomorrow’s masquerade at a freaking temple and have to pretend that it’s a mansion because that's the only real option available. Player housing will allow us to forge lots of potential environments for RP, ranging from clinics to regular houses to offices. I recall turning my FFXI mog house into all manners of things to enhance some RP scenes.
--Quests: Leve quests aren’t really the same thing. They’re all mostly the exact same as one another. Follow your map to the targets, kill them, end of leve. Some of the faction leves are a bit more awesome (I’ve only done 3 thus far and enjoyed them all) but it’s still not enough variety. Some traditional styled quests would be an awesome addition and give more life to the so far lifeless world. I don’t even care if they’re just random fetch/delivery quests with crap rewards to start (like FFXI’s bat wing fetch quest in San d’Oria). But it’ll add a lot more to do and a lot more general life to the world.
--Grouping: There’s very little incentive to do anything in groups, hence nearly eradicating the MMO from the RPG. All storyline missions thus far can be completely soloed. You get a path companion but that’s it so far. Maybe I just haven’t got far enough yet. But so far there’s no FFXI equivalent of the 2-3 dragon, 5-1 lich, or 5-2 shadowlord fights. The storyline may be great (and it is), but there’s no feeling of accomplishment on anything so far. My greatest accomplishment so far is acquiring onion gear from faction leves, and that isn’t saying much. Soloing is a nice option to have but I’d rather have some things that force you to group. Hopefully, NM’s help with this a bit. I want some bcnm styled fights that feel epic and can be reused in the future for RP events.