One month later: the pros and cons of FFXIV.

[Kurb]

so true so true.Hell! FFXI had some nice quest lines going for it as do most MMO's weird I know :?

That being said if it was SE first attempt at an MMO I'd tought it out like I did on XI and that turned out great.Though I can't remember XI being like this in the beginging.Probably my fault for setting the barr too high (or all the weird backwards crafting recipies long runs lack of quests and constant grinding)

I hope yee won't class me as a blow in but I'm not willing to spend 50 quid and hope it all works out in a few months when barely 3 weeks in my head is this wreked.

 

* Yea I know 50 euro over 3 or 4 months is sweet FA but still I'd rather spend it on FFXI.Airsoft BB's or put it towards a new gun to get some joy out of it I RP to escape for an hour or 2 atm the game feels too much like a chore and a needless one at that. Hope there's no hard feelings :cry:

[Vareal]

you guys are apparently forgetting about the two major updates we're getting before the end of the year. What we have now is the basic, run-of-the-mill shell of the game, that has nothing going for it save for awesome graphics, cool looking gear and great people. (well, some not so great, I suppose) They're adding more levequests, which probably means an increase of how many you can have per-48 hour period. I'm sure they'll be adding lore quests and side quests as well, if they don't well then shame on them.

 

I dunno... I've been taking a little break from the game and the RPC (hence my lack of writing with Twin Dragons) but I enjoy the game so far for what it is and eagerly await the updates. The first one is about a month or so off, mid-to-late november is the first one! Gotta build up the levels and gets awesome gear for the notorious monsters!

[DAISHI]

A good question is, why pay for a bad MMO when there are plenty of great ones?

[Sha]

• The Good (positives)[*] OMG It's beautiful.

[*] The character stat and ability customization is awesome period.

[*] Yay I can level crafts at a pretty decent pace without farming for decades or being a full time businessman.

[*] Story. Cutscenes. Final Fantasy goodness.

[*] So much potential in general I can't wait for the future of this game.[/list:u]

 

• The Bad (negatives)[*] Lag lag lag laaaagggg everywhere everytime for everything gngngngngn I don't give a crap about the servers being overloaded it's their job to anticipate that I want to shoot myself everytime my character freezes because there are more than 3 players around me gngngngngngngngn

[*] Did they really expect that we would like spending 6 hours browsing a gazillion bazars hunting for one item?

[*] No inventory sorting? It takes 10 minutes to code! Targetting shortcuts so intense battles can actually be fun please? Should have been there at release!

[*] I can craft things from dodo leather at rank 10 but I need to be 10 ranks higher to make dodo leather? Is that a joke?

[*]Durability = good idea to boost crafting. Needing to get my weapon repaired every 2 hours = BAD BAD BAD BAD idea![/list:u]

 

• The Not-So-Ugly (thoughts, hopes, neutrality, etc.)

[*] I can live without much content for now... I guess

[*] Chocobos, please.

[*] This game is so good and so unfinished at the same time it's depressing. SE fix it please :cry:

Square Enix repairs FINAL FANTASY XIV.

Square Enix's MMORPG skill rank is now 2.

[/list:u]

[FreelanceWizard]

you guys are apparently forgetting about the two major updates we're getting before the end of the year. What we have now is the basic' date=' run-of-the-mill shell of the game, that has nothing going for it save for awesome graphics, cool looking gear and great people. (well, some not so great, I suppose) They're adding more levequests, which probably means an increase of how many you can have per-48 hour period. I'm sure they'll be adding lore quests and side quests as well, if they don't well then shame on them.[/quote']

 

Sadly, while I'm more than capable of paying for a subscription, I don't see any reason to further subsidize the development of a game that's missing enormous amounts of content, even if I think it has great potential. I ain't runnin' a charity here, yeh?

 

While I hope FFXIV does well, I doubt it'll have the content I expect by the time they'll want some money from me. *shrug* EQ1 consumed all of my patience for games without content, you see, and I'd need some serious RP to keep me pinned to a game that's so... well... hollow, even if I rather like many parts of it. As I've been sufficiently unlucky to not run into any RPers in the time I've had available to play, that leaves me with what I currently do: log in, run a few levequests, then log out.

 

Perhaps in 6-12 months FFXIV will be the game I want it to be and I'll come back to it. Until then, while I wait for the updates I hope will come, SE isn't getting more of my cash.

[Kurb]

I'm in the same boat.IMO SE have pushed out 14 to try and get into the market b4 cata DC, ect.Nov is now free?Seriously would it killed them to wait till XMass or the new year.What annoys me is due to no AH I've started npc selling items that i see in some bazars going for 1k and over because I don't want to leave my comp on overnight.All this is apparently to stop RMT and create a more realistic community?? RUBISH.

SE tossed out a game that wasn't ready and like a sheep I bought it cause of the brand name shame on me for forgetting SE's history

[Koti Nexus]

• The Good (positives)

[*] Character Creation is fun to play with.

[*] Soloing can be done and it is fun!

[*] Crafting is highly enjoyable.

[*] The World is Beautiful and can spend hours in one area, come back and find something new.

[*] Conjurer is fun to blow monsters up with (and the easiest to solo on)

[*] The fact you can Teleport around without the need of white mage.

[*] The Story by what I have seen, is awesome.

[*] Able to play the game how you want too and not get yelled that your doing it wrong.

[*] Great Customization on Armor, skills, and stats.

[*] Easy to play on the Keyboard <3

[*] Different Payment options.

[*] RP!

[*] The Lodestone is also great fun to write in and read other posts.[/list:u]

 

• The Bad (negatives)

[*] Slowly killing my graphics card and forcing me to buy a cooling pad.

[*] Lack of character limit in chat box.

[*] Have to pay $3 for each new character.

[*] Not enough emotes (I am an emote hog).

[*] F11 isn't so intelligent on targeting mobs/NPCs.

[*] Rain going through tents.

[*] No Housing!

[*] Getting To Your Account can be a hassle.

[*] 10,000 Crysta Limit is annoying.

[*] People asking for way to much in the wards.[/list:u]

 

• The Not-So-Ugly (thoughts, hopes, neutrality, etc.)

[*] Maybe they will increase Character Limit for writing.

[*] Maybe They will add housing.

[*] Future Updates that will help improve the game.

[*] Maybe they will Raise the Crysta Limit.

[*] Maybe a Male Miqo'te? >.>[/list:u]

[Loonymonkey]

Honestly every game that comes out these days seems to be held up to some imagined status of "wow-killer".

And when wow doesnt just drop dead out of exposure to the sheer awsomeness of the newest mmo ppl get their nickers in a twist.

 

I personally came into this mmo without any nostagalia (cept for maybe uo...) and have played it like it was the first game in its series, which by design seems to be how the ff series runs. Im not hopeing its some kind of new and improved rehash of its predicessor nore am I going to sugar coat this as some ffx fanboys would.

 

• The Good (positives)[*]

[*] It makes me think, And that is more than most mmos can clam.

[*] It eliminates the need to alt, which can be very nice when dealing with space issues.

[*] It forces people to do things that in other mmos have lost their relevance, such as walking, Nowadays its boom hit one button and your somewhere else. God forbid someone makes your pixilated character actually walk to where hes going. and what did it cost you? the energy to hold down a key, my the trials are heavy..

[*] Crafting plays a major role in day to day activities, which is how is should be imo, enough with pulling the giant sword of pwnage out of the ass of that tiny little rat.

[*] Its some of the most fun ive had in a Mmorpg in a very long time.[/list:u]

 

• The Bad (negatives)[*]

[*] The repair system, dear god..., I get the need for a touch of realism but comeon, my hatchet irl doesnt wear down or break after 3 trees, why should my ig hatchet? etc.

[*] The lag, I know some of it is my comp, but dear jeasus not even crysis lagged this bad, LL is totally off limits for me.

[*] That little hiccup you get when someone runs into you... ppl do it on purpose and they need to Die a very painful and horrifing death O,..,O[/list:u]

 

• The Not-So-Ugly (thoughts, hopes, neutrality, etc.)[*]

[*] Player houseing i can decorate and hopefully customize the actuall structure ( you UO players know exactally what I mean).

[*] Maybe somemore variation in weapon and armor skins? I figure they will ad more as content comes out tho..

[*] More character customizeations please... im tired of seeing the group of 20 ppl and only 3 look different...[/list:u]

[Koti Nexus]

Honestly every game that comes out these days seems to be held up to some imagined status of "wow-killer".

And when wow doesnt just drop dead out of exposure to the sheer awsomeness of the newest mmo ppl get their nickers in a twist.

 

I personally came into this mmo without any nostagalia (cept for maybe uo...) and have played it like it was the first game in its series, which by design seems to be how the ff series runs. Im not hopeing its some kind of new and improved rehash of its predicessor nore am I going to sugar coat this as some ffx fanboys would.

 

Yeah, I am not sure why people want killers of anything honestly. I admit, I don't like WoW, but I also don't like allot of MMORPGs and never understood the hype on WoW along with it.

A game is a game, that is the way I see it. Each game has their own flavor, like a piece of fruit, some sorta taste the same, but they are not.

 

So, I find it silly when people want to kill another MMORPG, since you know, there is different strokes for different folks, and each of us have our own likes and dislikes.

I actually about got into an argument on Vent with a gal who was bad mouthing FF14 and I said it wasn't that bad if you don't mind the change in style of playing (since I find FF14 very radical from the normal MMO, which is great to me!), and she about chopped my head off cause I actually liked FF14.

 

Its like, heaven forbid you tell a wow player you found the game boring and mind-numbing. :roll:

[DAISHI]

The Good

 

- The process of Crafting is awesome. I like the mini games and I enjoy sitting and crafting for a few hours.

- Likewise, I enjoy Harvesting, especially Fishing.

- The game world is beautiful

- You can solo for a bit though I understand party xp is emphasized later.

- There's a good main story

 

The Bad

 

- The gathering of materials for Crafting can be horrendous. Why you need items that far outrank your skill level in a craft you've barely trained or haven't trained at all, I don't know. Regardless, you shouldn't need level 21 items for a level 10 craft.

 

- Menus suck. These game designers should take a lesson in modern psychology of learning or interaction. The more steps between the actions you wish to accomplish and the actual accomplishing of the act, the greater the lack of understanding and frustration. There's a difference between being intellectually complex and just plain obtuse. I don't need to read that I'm selling the feather of a dodo and wait 10 seconds until I can sell the next item. Just give me a visual of all my materials that I can sell quickly. This is an example of where the fun portion of the game is obscured by very unfun portions.

 

- The walking is super tedious. The world is so big, and for players with only a little time to play, just the act of logging in and getting somewhere can take up half your game time. Why so much effort to make you do things you don't enjoy instead of letting you do things you do enjoy? I don't need to instantly teleport anywhere, but a transportation system would be nice.

 

- The wards still suck. I hate going there, hate searching, and find it useless.

 

- The combat is awful is so many respects.

*Targeting system is still unintuitive.

*Battle animations hiccup or stutter, making it difficult to know when your next action is up.

*Battle lag can kill.

*Still not enough mobs.

*I don't need more leves per say. I don't even need more bonus to SP, just give me a narrative

framework for why I'm killing. Speaking of which...

 

- Leves suck. In terms of providing SP and cash they're the highlight of the game. But there's no narrative

framework. In WoW, yeah you technically know you're just going on a kill-fetch quest. But sometimes

the quest chains that rewarded you XP were super intriguing, took you all sorts of interesting places,

and revealed interesting lore that fleshed out the background of the game. You just get a blank

"Proprietor of x needs this made". While on that note...

 

- The story sucks. At least, everything outside of the main city lore does, because there's pretty much

nothing else. No side quest chains, nothing to make you feel the city's citizens are important. You learn

nothing about the city's defenders, its religious, nothing. Because there are no quest lines to flesh these

out. There is no story beside the main story.

 

- No content. No dungeons. No bosses. It's all field killing. Take WoW. By the time you reach lvl 20 as a

Night Elf, you've got access to an underwater cave I can't remember. It's long, takes a party to

get through, takes you through ancient ruins, and ends in a crazy awesome boss fight with an extra

boss that's optional. You get great gear and cash for it, and a ton of lore gets fleshed out. This wasn't

something added later, it was there at the beginning.

 

- The world is pretty bland once you've been through it a few times. It's pretty to look at at first, but then

you realize there's just tons of area with nothing to do but grind. The Golden Bazaar sits there, off the

beaten path, with nothing to do. There are no towns, just these camps, which are grind or crafting havens.

 

- There's just nothing original to do. If the FFXIV name weren't sprawled on the title, this game wouldn't

even be receiving attention.

[Sha]

There's just nothing original to do. If the FFXIV name weren't sprawled on the title' date=' this game wouldn't even be receiving attention.[/quote']

 

True. If I were not 100% confident of what SE can do and will do, I wouldn't even went past the open beta. This game is surviving because of its name, which is a shame really.

[DAISHI]

I've said before that if not for the social network I wouldn't be playing. The truth is, I've got a really full life, so I don't have a -ton- of free time, so I'm ok waiting out FFXIV. But for players who play a lot more? I can see why they'd get frustrated.

[Satisiun]

I've said before that if not for the social network I wouldn't be playing. The truth is' date=' I've got a really full life, so I don't have a -ton- of free time, so I'm ok waiting out FFXIV. But for players who play a lot more? I can see why they'd get frustrated.[/quote']

 

Speaking of the social network issue, someone over at ZAM brought up an interesting point about how the FFXIV system, specifically the chat system, is even causing some major issues with that. I'll toss it up before I head off to work.

 

The first reason people stick around an MMO long past the point that it remains fun is in the relationships that you forge with other players. It has been pointed out long, long ago that at its core, MMOs are glorified chatrooms. The funny thing here is, this aspect of keeping your player base is so very hard to screw up, yet Square-Enix came very close to doing it. You can't chat well while fighting. You can't chat well while crafting. Even basic commands like replying to a tell were botched at release. Party and Shell functions are half-baked and non-intuitive. Interpersonal relationships in an MMO are so important to an MMO's enjoyment, and in fact, could arguably be the most addictive factor to MMOs in general. How it could be handled so incompetently by a veteran team of game designers, I can't even fathom.

[Jaytyr]

• The Good (positives)

[*] Its really pretty

[*] Class switching is easy

[*] Crafting is awesome

[*] Uh... I am sure there is something else....[/list:u]

 

• The Bad (negatives)

[*] Lag/Spaztasticness .. this game needs A LOT of work

[*] Hard to find people to play with, and due to lag issues hard to gather for RP.

[*] Omg I can has content plzkthx! I love crafting.. but really I need more to do than Craft and do the

same 5 level quests over and over until I hit the next level set. Also more Lore would be great.

[*] Everyone is quitting cause the game has failed to meet expectations... This I think is the one that makes me the saddest. I know I don't hop on the forums much cause well school eats my brains, but the hordes of people dropping the game "til they fix it" really is no fun.[/list:u]

 

• The Not-So-Ugly (thoughts, hopes, neutrality, etc.)

[*] So far SE has been listening to what needs to be fixed.. they are being a little stubborn about the AH and Mailboxes but I think in the end the will listen and fix the game.

[*] I really would like to see more to explore. I have explored all the available areas and now feel a lil jipped. What ever happened to the thrill of making it to The Hall of the Gods at lvl 10?

[*] I really hope that by PS3 release they have fixed enough to bring people back. Really if by PS3 release they haven't fixed the glaring issues I may have a hard time pretending it will get better.

[*] I am gonna stick around cause I really hope that it gets better. Right now my compy is down so my play time is limited to when I can steal my fiance's computer, but I am definitely around. [/list:u]

[Almil]

I haven't play FFXIV much yet, few weeks and max level 14.

I haven't play other MMO's except WoW, so I don't have much to compare.

 

Since I don't have playstation and such anymore, computer is my only platform, and I've been waiting long time to play Final Fantasy series again. I'm willing to give this game a chance but like others I'll probably quit paying for it if improvements aren't made soon. (preferably before 2011)

 

• The Good (positives)[*]

[*]So pretty ^^ Not only the cutscenes but other craphic too.

[*]I like the amount of detailing in character and enviroment and monster designs.

[*]I love how I can learn everything with same character if I want to. (in WoW I had like 20 chars because I wanted to try everything :<

[*]I can wear all clothes! Means more RP clothes! Even if I'm too low rank for the cloths it still lets me equip them so I have pretty RP clothes! (if I someday have money to buy them)

[*] I love crafting and gathering, I love the challenge it has! (I always hated that in WoW it was just click of button and I could go to another room while my char makes all items...tooooo easy)

[*] Weather effects are nice! (more about this in "Bad")

[*] I can be catgirl!!!

[*][/list:u]

 

• The Bad (negatives)[*]

[*]Weather effects, yes, they are nice, BUT, I want areas to have more than 1-2. Why only Gridania area has thunder? Why can't it also have windy effect from Limsa, and why Limsa can't have thunder? I understand that Ul'dah mostly just has sandstorms. I would also like wind to affect my character more, game already has many wonderful emote animations, so why can't my character now and then hold her hat when its very windy?

[*] About those emotes. I love love the animations, BUT the translations to the emotes are mostly stupid, and my text emote shows up something very different than I wanted. Would also like option to disable the chat emote and only show the animation.

[*]Some things in the game are way too random. Like success rate in crafting. Sometimes I botch the synthesis before I even get 50%, and next try I might get 200-300 quality???

[*] TOO MANY PEOPLE gathering to crafting guilds and at crafting leve NPC's. Why can't guilds have like ROOM where you need to pay to get in to use facilities, and room is like "instance" making you invisible and normal people and RPers in guild area don't need to see all those OOC crafters and their chat spam.

Same goes for repair NPC, the area is always sooooo FULL of people, makes me maaaad!

[*] I want mailbooooooox! I need a way to transfer items from one of my own chars to other one of my own chars! Now I need to bother my friend to play courier! >_<

[*] I want to make more characters without PAYING extra for it, I want to RP many races! :<

Even if I only level one of them properly.

[*] I hate the fact that I need to make so many macros to speed things up. Atm I have macros to change gear/class, and to change chatmodes. Seriously I need faster way to see friendlist and leves that I am holding. (and alot more!!!!!!!)

[*] Lag....doesn't bother much unless I am trying to RP (or find RP) , not nice to walk into room and wait ages for people to load, then you might find out you are standing on another RPer and its rude

[*]Menu lag!!!!! takes toooooooooo long to open all menus and inventory and such, takes tooo long to buy and sell items!

[*] I need item sorting for my inventory, thank you!

[*] Locating people is too hard, I can't see them in minimap (only dots) and even if I hear them in chat (/say) I have hard time finding them. And all places don't have easy meeting place such as "I'm @ Chocobo". Also I want ability to invite to party without having to target them.

[*][/list:u]

 

• The Not-So-Ugly (thoughts, hopes, neutrality, etc.)[*]

[*]I've seen the games Bonus DVD interviews and some coming patch notes, so I still have hope the game will become more playable, but atm I'm REALLY happy it's free so far because it's way too expensive to pay if I can't enjoy it fully.

[*]

[*]....zzz...too tired now to add..... z_z

[*][/list:u]