Realm Reborn = downgrade?

[Nuru]

ok they will change they'll put these as monsters :

and add your great animations

>_> lol?

Seriously though, now that it has been confirmed, I must state that I now fully support Nemy in her efforts to bring back the lively character animation from 1.0

The thing is, Final Fantasy derives from a long line of great story-telling and graphics. PvP has hardly been done in the series besides FFXI, and even then, FFXI wasn't really designed for PvP either, yet, the gameplay never had to change, nor did graphics or animations.

I find it good that FFXIV does focus a bit more on PvP, even though I am not one to be interested in participating, but it bring out a new way to look at the series. However, I would still love to keep the great story-telling and graphics/animations we had in 1.0, and improve on it. Just as we had the "horrible stamina bar" and had it replaced with a standard battle system that has been in almost every free MMORPG to this day. Instead of scrapping everything and starting over.. all that stamina bar really needed was improvement, and I believe it could have worked way better in 2.0 than we give credit for.

This applies to the animations as well. 2.0 is being designed for PvP, but why completely scrap something that could be built on and improved on?

[Bittereye]

Oh cool, we can now all moonwalk when walking backwards diagonally a la Elders Scrolls. So excited about this!

[Lirion]

But, i see no mmo listed here, and you did listed not many of single player games.

FFXIV's character animaton is very special and no other mmo even comes close to it, because it is really good even for single player games. that was the argument, and it still stands.

You want me to list more SP games?

Yes compared to other MMO games the animations have been better, hardly something I would call special since compared to other MMO games FFXIV have done a pretty shitty job with clunky UI with barely any of the features one would expect in a MMO, combat that lags, a ward that is something from a joke at the office, empty boring environments and character movement that feels very restricted, pretty... but restricted. Having pretty animation is definitely not going to attract players other than hardcore FFXI players when so much other crap exist.

Just hearing a LS member say "Wow that's pretty cool and useful" to when I told them about ctrl+rightklicking on a item and it showing up in the chat for people to just put the mouse over it and see what the item does, shows how far behind the FF MMOs are. That's a standard thing in MMO games. But hey, at least we run and walk pretty...

[Arcell]

Though I take issue with how Nemy presents her arguments here and there, I find I have to agree with her more and more. The movements of our characters are real and it makes them feel alive. Get rid of the start/stop animations? Not ideal, but fine. But what possible reason is there for removing our current running animation? The motion capture already existed, and the new engine is more powerful than Crystal Tools. It should be able to support the old, no?

I think what this thread really boils down to is an argument between people who feel a real connection with their characters which is supported and augmented by the realistic motions they perform while moving, and those people who couldn't care less about any of that stuff and just want a game.

In the case of the latter, that's exactly how GW2 is. There's no soul to the game or to your character. It's just a game. You aren't having a grand adventure, you're just controlling a puppet on screen. In Final Fantasy, every little thing, from the subtle movements while standing, the way we lean a bit when running, the really sudden stop we make when changing direction suddenly, and even to how the camera is positioned, all add up to let the player transport themselves into the character on screen and to inhabit that character. This isn't about roleplay, mind you. I don't even know what it's called, but I'm sure empathy comes into it.

All of this is important.

Unfortunately, it seems it's only important to (a few) current players, and it has been noted that we're not exactly the target audience anymore. I'll still play the game, and I'll likely enjoy it a great deal, but if the animations stay as bad as what we've seen, it's going to be a big loss to a lot of people. At this point all I can hope for is that they've kept the eye movements with the head tracking.

Maybe I don't get this whole "immersion" thing but playing FFXIV feels the same as playing GW2 or most other games for that matter in terms of feeling like I'm in the world. I really personally don't feel like the lack of these stop/start transition animations really detracts from that. I feel just as "immersed" and not like I'm controlling a puppet in games without them.

With or without these subtle animations I still feel like I'm having a grand adventure and that there's a soul to the game. Maybe that's just me though.

[Nabiri]

While the animations were nice, the development team's number one focus in A Realm Reborn is on gameplay so even though they were nice animations, the team made the decision to remove them.

I'm going to miss the realistic character movement. It makes characters feel more alive.
Anything that makes the game feel more like a world than "just a game"... I hate to see it go.

I avoid games that don't feel alive. Games that make me think, "just a game I'm wasting my time on." I prefer to spend time in games that feel like another place for me to go visit.

I really hope they bring back the realistic character movements..

[Fensfield]

Whelp, just chucking in my voice against the now-confirmed removal of those animations, then. Especially since a reason for the animations impeding gameplay (no, animation lock and the like is not a valid reason, gameplay could still override/reset the animation cycle if need be instead of animation always taking precedent) was not given by the rep'.

I'll stick around and see still, of course, but what with this, the change in the way they've been telling stories lately, the general removal of so many things I liked about the original version even before this one, the increasingly silly-looking equipment..

My enthusiasm for v2.0 just took yet another knock.

And I'm with Nabiri - I play these games to feel like I'm interacting with a world. Gameplay's all well and good, but when the focus on gameplay starts beating me over the head with the artificiality of it all instead of distracting me from the constant, lurking, 'it's just a game'.. I tend to start looking elsewhere.

If nothing else, you'd think they would at least explain why removing detailed animations is somehow more beneficial to gameplay than simply making it so that actions override them where necessary.

I really envy you people this doesn't bother - seriously, I've had enough of caring about a game who's priorities have shifted wildly away from the things usually matter to me, and wish I could just shrug and not give a damn for once.

[Zezlar]

I'm going to miss the realistic character movement. It makes characters feel more alive.
Anything that makes the game feel more like a world than "just a game"... I hate to see it go.

I avoid games that don't feel alive. Games that make me think, "just a game I'm wasting my time on." I prefer to spend time in games that feel like another place for me to go visit.

I really hope they bring back the realistic character movements..

The characters animations may feel alive, but this game overall feels dead in terms of everything else.

[CoolhandLou]

While the animations were nice, the development team's number one focus in A Realm Reborn is on gameplay so even though they were nice animations, the team made the decision to remove them.

This actually makes me a bit sad.

It sounds like a little thing, but the realistic walking and running is one of the biggest immersion factors to me. I still remember how amazed I was when I started up the beta for the first time and saw the movement animations. I'll get over it, and surely would rather gameplay > graphics, but.. ;_;

[LlenCoram]

Maybe I don't get this whole "immersion" thing but playing FFXIV feels the same as playing GW2 or most other games for that matter in terms of feeling like I'm in the world. I really personally don't feel like the lack of these stop/start transition animations really detracts from that. I feel just as "immersed" and not like I'm controlling a puppet in games without them.

With or without these subtle animations I still feel like I'm having a grand adventure and that there's a soul to the game. Maybe that's just me though.

I've been told as much before as well, so I understand where you're coming from. I'll be the first to admit that a lot of the connection I feel to this character more than likely comes from how long I've played her. That being said, I stand by my statement. The small controls/movements they give us in this game, such as the realistic running/walking motion and the way our eyes track independently of our heads, really help to nail down the immersion. A friend of mine put it best, "When you interact with other players in FFXIV, you can feel their personality. Just from their motions, you can feel who the player is. When you stand beside or sit next to another player in FFXIV, it feels like you're actually next to them. In GW2, it just feels like you left your car idling next to them."

I've paraphrased her words, but the meaning is still there. There's something special about this game that GW2 lacks, and now I'm worried that 2.0 will throw out one of those little things that differentiate the two.

[HiirNoivl]

FFXIV's character animaton is very special

They're even making a cathedral so you can marry it.