Producer Matsui, you have significantly improved the new player experience.

[OKOA]

Salutations,

I am currently a part-time blogger, full-time EVE Online player, and a former FFXI player…or at least I was until 7pm CST last night. This weekend I happened to catch a post on reddit about all of the changes that have happened in the game since I last played. For the record, I purchased the Adoulin expansion last March, but was completely put off by how poorly done it was.

Let me start by saying why I feel qualified to post on this matter. One year ago I had been paying four FFXI subscriptions for over a year. I would have called myself one of the biggest fans this game ever had, but I recognize how serious the contention is for that title. And yes, that means I bought four copies of Adoulin at full price. And yes, it also means Square-Enix lost four subscribers on the day I quit.

For that past year I had been heavily involved in the business of creating and testing some of the more creative “extensions” available for your fine product. Unfortunately, I had grown tired of a game that I felt all but forced me to engage in that kind of behavior to win. Let me be clear. Some people by some stroke of good luck which I can’t possibly understand are gifted both with voluminous play time as well as a great group of friends to play with. I was not one of them.

The Lulls

Two years ago I had those friends, and we stayed up late every night chatting on Xbox Live and playing this great game together. It was like a little slice of gaming heaven. But then they all quit, and there I was. So I turned to utilizing what tools I had available to continue playing the game the way I wanted to, albeit in absence of the camaraderie I had grown accustomed to.

This meant dual-boxing, and eventually quad-boxing.

I want to say that I am not proud of any of the things I just mentioned. Like many of your players, I have come to expect some very specific things from the games your company produces. First and foremost, those games should be a platform upon which we are given the opportunity to be exemplary, and if we demonstrate great heroism along with carefully plotted strategy, we can seize that opportunity to become great. I left your game because I gradually sensed that I was no longer heroic.

What I had to do to be great was not great. I was not a hero.

I started EVE Online because I sensed that such a platform existed there. My morality would be tested, my bravery challenged, and ultimately there existed real opportunity to be a hero. I challenged myself by playing the game with one-and-only-one account along with one-and-only-one character. I hope no one at your company really thinks having players pay for multiple accounts is a good business strategy. Take it from my experiences: it makes for a bad gaming experience, and that is the worst business strategy of all.

Good Games = Good Money

The current direction with the Trust system convinces me however that you do understand these two facts. I see new and exciting ways to be heroic emerging. I see that you have taken the player experience seriously by offering new avenues by which to be productive. Most of all, I see that you are encouraging progress rather than stanching it for some unknown fear.

Part of what has stalled FFXI all these years is the seemingly unrelenting assault on the possibility of the player to “break the game.” In one regard the past development team succeeded, by making sure no one crossed that invisible line. This however should be considered an utter failure, and the Trust system is the perfect evidence of that. Because it is brutally overpowered in some people’s eyes. Because it no longer reinforces a ridiculous standard of “throw people at it” to solve a problem. Because it is the way I have wanted to play for so long and haven’t been able to.

By the former dev team’s standards it is broken. By Final Fantasy standards historically, it has the capacity to bring FFXI into the fold as one of its own.

The Strength of the Franchise

FFXI is and always will be a franchise game. If you are willing to learn from past failures, you will see that in almost every case throughout the franchise’s history that ignored the power of the brand failed. The systems that deviated from this time-tested formula fell flat and the ones that played to the franchise’s strengths succeeded overwhelmingly. Now is not the time to ignore this important lesson. Now is the time to seize this momentum; do not turn away from success in favor of failure.

Dissidia is a game that successfully “borrowed from the brand” by making Shantotto a playable character. Yes, another Square-Enix game beat FFXI to making her “playable.” But commanding her in all of her malevolent glory falling rank and file with my npc hit-squad assures me that someone somewhere near the top may have finally learned this lesson about the power of the brand.

The Trust system seems to have already borrowed the things players liked best about classic systems such as the NPC AI in Kingdom Hearts and the Gambits system of FFXII. I implore you to heed this swell of player excitement, and I say to you “Please, whatever you do, don’t stop there.”

For my part, I downloaded the trial and tried both the Trust system along with the new Records of Eminence and I have to say that I am blown away by not only the creativity, but also the smoothness of the implementation of each. The forces that first drove me down the path of multi-boxing were ultimately also just the seeds that grew into a vile indifference for this game.

This concept of Trust, however unrefined presently, is a beacon of hope that suggests to me you understand the importance of being a force of influence in this universe.

Take that momentum behind Trust and Records of Eminence and power FULL STEAM AHEAD. Flesh those systems out into what they truly can and should be. Add the ability to customize the logic and behavior of summoned Trust companions by rearranging “runes” (MMM) or some other bauble. Make ROE the central hub of questing…it is a powerful behavioral motivator made even more salient by the fact that it synergizes so well with existing happens. That is what needs to happen to take this game to the next level: cross functionality.

On Being Strong

In what feels practically like another life, I hit 75 before Abyssea was a twinkle in anyone’s eye. I stayed with the game all the way to 99, and I hit that many many times over with any job I deigned to play. Slowly though, I found things I couldn’t do by myself, and so I started adding more and more accounts. At first it was just one, but unfortunately that still wasn’t enough to feel powerful.

If you asked me a week ago, I’d probably have said that FFXI is a game where no matter what you do, you have only one means of overpowering your enemies, and that is to throw more bodies at them. Now I realize this is somewhat factitious, as the likes of a player like Sylow prove that many obstacles can be overcome with patience, planning, player skill, and plurality (i.e. friends). There’s that plurality again though, and so how does a player address that, assuming he/she can’t make friends?

They quit. The answer is that they quit. They might try some things in the interim—like I did—but ultimately they will come to accept that they are weak in a universe they escape to in order to feel strong. I will take the Trust system as a sign of good faith that you understand this and are working on it.

Additionally, the login campaigns solve some of the frustration of not being able to accomplish certain tasks. The question is what is ultimately heroic about just logging in? This is a bandaid at best, but the core issue still needs to be addressed. What do people really want to get out of playing this game?

I hope there are longer term solutions in the hopper.

On Growing Up

I have owned a copy of this game since the day it came out. Like many people here I have fallen in and out of love with it dozens of times. The max consecutive months I have ever subscribed is for a two year period. The truth is that I spent a whole lot more money on this game maintaining a single account than the few times I multi-boxed heavily and burnt out rather quickly.

I’ve played a lot of characters. I’ve experienced a lot of things. Still though, I sense somehow that there is more yet. This game has the potential to see a new dawn. I hope this new dev team will take this short term success and turn it into a big win for the franchise.

With that said, I just wanted to say thank you to the hard-working people who made these improvements possible. I hope it is not a discredit to their achievements to expect even more from them in the next three months. There is still hard work to be done, but at least the long term fans of this game are seeing green shoots for the first time in a long while.

Please keep up the good work.

[Anjou]

One word to reply to this:


Indeed.

[Feary]

great mother of god.

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

[OKOA]

One word to reply to this:


Indeed.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and respond.

[Vasch]

I agree. Things in Vana'Diel are definitely looking brighter every day.

[Direct]

Been a blogger is not something one brags off.

[OKOA]

Been a blogger is not something one brags off.

Thank you, I will keep your feelings on the matter in mind for next time I post.

[SilentSteel]

Definitely enjoyed the post, it sums up how I feel with the changes they've made with including Trust and RoE. I know some people feel very turned off by it, but I think they've added a lot.

[OKOA]

Definitely enjoyed the post, it sums up how I feel with the changes they've made with including Trust and RoE. I know some people feel very turned off by it, but I think they've added a lot.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

It is an exciting time for new players, with so much accessible to them through these new systems. As I have not had enough opportunity to level, I can't say much for how well Trust will work in the later stages of the game. I fully expect though that the systems can and will be expanded to further play areas, and that should help quite a bit in terms of getting things done.

It is refreshing though to see an attempt at "bridging the gap" between old and new players with the eminence weapons and armor. That was always the part where I ended up falling through the cracks when I tried to rejoin the game.

So far I was able to use my same level progression I had 4-boxed on:

Gustaberg pages: 15.

Dangruf Wadi Leech/Hare page: 23.

Korroloka Tunnel Bat/Worm page: 33.

Korroloka Tunnel Thread Leech page: 43. (you keep exp bonus if you don't zone) *I'm here so far.

Upper Delkfutt's Tower Gigas page: 50.

Crawler's Nest Crawler/Bee page: 58.


By my observations having 3 Trust npcs along for the ride below level 50 (assuming you are fighting DC or below) is about the equivalent speed to having a good 3-box setup. I'm looking forward to throwing a fellow into the mix as well.

The reduction in overhead is priceless though. Not having to flip around and manage 3 things at once is a god-send. There is also the factor of getting to collect and use some of your favorite NPCs. At this stage of the game it is a really fun system.

Ignoring some obvious deficiencies in AI, it is a lot more fun and you will learn a lot more about the mechanics of party play than the repugnant system of GoV alliances it replaces.

[Vivivivi]

The game is incredibly huge, a few other smart things that have even done recently (whether intentional or not):

Placement of AA, RoE, monstrosity, and trust npcs I the starting cities increases the random chances of seeing a new player with a ? Over their head, which I seem to be seeing more of lately.