SoA release trailer...

[Kincard]

I personally liked the slow pace of the trailer since it let you take in the environments and feel the draw of exploration, which is something new areas should always have. An action-packed trailer does have its place, but I don't think a trailer like this one is really a bad thing.

[Alerith]

Read the thread. And I have one acronym for the OP.

"lol"

[Vivik]

The fact is the trailer does not need to be spectacular. They are not targeting a new audience. They are showing a bunch of hopeless FFXI addicts where they will be playing in March. Take it as an insult if you like but I am in the same boat as everyone else...

[Yrusama]

Wow, the first couple of pages of this thread are full of negativity....and yet I agree. The trailer was pathetic! After WotG I'm expecting a lot from the animation team, so more clips of cutscenes and characters would have been nice. I didn't even notice the jobs, if they were in it, and the clips of areas reminded me just now non-cinema-friendly XI is outside of cutscenes.

I did notice that it looks like there will be some dynamic features to the areas. Gates, a falling tree, etc. These clips looked like they were taken from outside of cutscenes, so I'm curious as to how they'll work out.

I'd also like to know why the areas all looked so dreary! The concept art for the city and palace were radiant and beautiful! I actually had a dream very similar to one of them, and it was the most beautiful dream I'd ever had! Why did it look like Adoulin was full of pollution? I'd better bring a gas mask if I ever go there, and that's coming from someone who enjoys Bastok's environment.

As for making a trailer to compete with newer MMOs, including XIV's spectacular trailers, I think it's safe to say they don't want to confuse everyone into thinking that XI looks better than it does in-game. The problem is that they chose clips of it at its worst. I could have put together a better trailer, and with only moderate experience with Windows Media Player at that.

[Yrusama]

The only thing this trailer is really lacking is any connection to the rest of the franchise.

Just looked at the website. There's mention of a "Big Bridge", a nod to FFV, but Gilgamesh is already in the game. I wonder if he'll go to Adoulin and "have a moment", if that makes sense.

SE isn't really running out of things it can pull from previous games to XI. Technically Rune Fencer is a nod to Rune Knight (Celes Chere from VI, Dycedarg from Tactics) and GEO is... well... old school . Besides those, only the Matamata reminds me of some of the older versions of Adamantoise.

As a player of both XI and XIV I can tell you this: Yoshida is certainly making a much bigger effort to draw from previous games. On one hand it gets my fanboy heart pounding, while on the other hand I'm worried that the things that make XIV unique will be buried under the fan service.

It's a bit better than what XI has done for a long time, though. Either they recycled old content/characters (ACP/MKD/ASA), or slap a Moogle/Chocobo/Goblin on a filler mini-game (Maze Mongers, Magian trials) and pretend we're satisfied. I hope this new expansion will bring back that sense of wonder I'd lost with Abyssea and Voidwatch. And I definitely hope we see something to connect it to the mainlands story. It's a bit geocentric to believe that ALL of the main stuff happens in the middlelands.