I absolutely love and appreciate FFXI now.
I am also grateful of how well FFXI has come together to such a massive masterpiece that it is today.
I also played FFXIV, and FFXI for many years.
(FFXI: 2012 -> Now + ongoing.)
(FFXIV: 2012 -> 2020.)
Because of how much I played XI, and XIV, and how much passion I have for these games, I can't help but constantly think of ways to improve each game.
This might seem like a random post, and it kind of is, but I can't seem to get this/these idea/s out of my head. I feel maybe perhaps actually posting it and sharing it, I can get it out of my head and stop thinking about it.
What causes me to even think more on it, and really want to say it, is when I hear:
Naoki Yoshida say things like:
Like... I personally can't even believe he said this.Quote:
"So in regards to making a new MMO after XIV it's extremely difficult to make a follow-up after a successful MMO... if we were to do it it would have to be something that would want to make all XIV players switch over. I can't fathom how difficult that would be."
(This was in regards to FFXI and FFXIV's success and on-going support from fans, and keeping FFXI online even if they choose to stop updating it.)
I do not feel like getting XIV players to leave XIV for a better FFMMO would be difficult at all. The biggest hurdle would be getting XI players to play it.
While FFXI and XIV are both profitable games, and many people have fond memories of these games, the Final Fantasy MMO I have in my head, feels like it would not only absolutely crush FFXI's success, as well as XIV's profits, but also over time begin to even creep onto WoW's level of numbers in terms of subscriptions.... when WoW was at its peak. I'm not talking FFXIV's Endwalkers numbers, I'm talking 25 million active subscribers or even more.
I personally do not really consider FFXI or FFXIV to be all that successful.
(On a side note, I personally feel like its possible for XI and XIV to easily have 5 times as many players in each of their respective game than they currently have, if a little more care and effort went into them. Also if somehow I had any actual say in creating such a FF-MMO, I would use a portion of its profits to preserve both XI and XIV, as well as perfectly re-creating them to run perfectly with their same graphics/gameplay/features/etc features.)
These probably seems like bold statements, but the reason I feel this way, is because the Final Fantasy MMO I have imaged after playing FFXI (2012), FFXI (2024), FFXIV 1.23b (2012) and FFXIV: ARR (2013) FFXIV 5.0 (2020) to such extensive amounts, seeing so many complaints and compliments over the years, as well as personal first hand experience, it is a no brainer what game could be created to create such a scenario.
Overall outlook:
-Gameplay is more important than Graphics.
First off, Square-Enix needs to understand gameplay is more important than graphics.
This is, even still one of Square-Enix's major flaws.
FFXIV's newest expansion "Dawntrail" 7.0, is a focus on graphics.
In my head, I don't even know why SE is even putting time into a graphical overhaul after receiving so many complaints about character creation, Viera and Hrothgar. Logically I would have done a character creation overhaul before doing a graphical overhaul.
FFXIV:ARR Was a less graphically pleasing game than FFXIV 1.0, and 2.0 was more successful regardless of this.
Games like minecraft exist and are wildly popular.
Not to mention, many people leave FFXIV for FFXI, because the gameplay is better to many of those people.
People simply really do not prioritize graphics over gameplay. Period.
-Main Story Players will always be main story players.
The people who will login to play the story, and nothing else, will remain these types of players.
In my personal opinion, FFXI did not grow to its highest potential for this reason. Sure, creating a game, where players need to work together creates a very special and exciting environment, but doing this for the games main story systems, creates an issue for many many players. This system of FFXI's original story design is important, and absolutely should be included in a MMORPG, but the core experience, through the main story, is not the place for this type of system. (More on this later.)
The main story, should be easy to follow, but interesting enough to be engaging, and leave the player craving more. The story should be solely focused on creating the best story experience possible. It should not be the main source of unlocking content, it should not be the main source of experience points, it only purpose should serve as a conduit of presenting an engaging, entertaining, and thrilling story.
This is where FFXIV fails. The story is lifting too much of the weight of the game, so it has far too much "filler" content, and really drags itself out way too far. Imagine if FFXIV never had to "revamp" FFXIV 2.0's story, or if the Endwalker arch was incorporated into 3.0 Heavensward story, and all the filler was simply not there. Imagine how much more wildly popular 3.0 and 5.0 would have been if the meat of the story was the heart of the main game, or first 2 expansions, instead of drawn out over 3-4 expansions.
-Endgame content should be endgame content
Now touching on FFXI's design. FFXI's design is not a failure. In fact it breeds what Naoki Yoshida himself said "FFXI's players are extremely loyal."
It breeds loyal, diehard fans.
Side quests, optional content, should not be what XIV's optional content is. In FFXIV side quests are extremely trivial, very shallow, and almost pointless. Most FFXIV players never even touch 50% of the available side quests. Most don't even touch any of the side quests at all if they don't have to. I played FFXIV for 25,000 hours, and I only probably did 50 (total, not a percent) of the available side quests that weren't tied to anything else. Just out of an attempt to try to clear out some of the clutter. In my attempt of doing this, I realized the experience was so poor, and the rewards were so minimal, that it was not something I was going to pursue anymore.
Side quests, and optional content, should be the most engaging content. Content, not story. The main story should have a focus on the story. The side content, should be a focus on gameplay engagement. This is where FFXI (2002) story content design would have a place. Quests should not be "hand-holding" and to complete the content should require players forming parties and tackling some of the hardest content available. The rewards should be equally as great.
Which brings us to the next topic point.
-RPG rewards should be rewarding.
This is something FFXI does really well, but could be improved.
One of FFXI's major flaws, is rare equipment eventually becomes less rare, and upgrading some of the hardest to obtain equipment tends to be a bit excessive.
To an extent all of the above can be good or bad, the key is knowing when to and how to implement rewards.
For example, if something takes a player 10's or even hundreds of hours to obtain, similar to the items back before the level cap was raised in FFXI from 75 to 99, many players felt their hard earned equipment became useless. This should never happen.
The way you "prevent" this, is when creating a new expansion, or increasing the players progression, you reward the players with these rare items with something new. You can do this in the way of a simple upgrade system, or create a new progression system with that item in mind. It is an item by item scenario, which requires proper planning and consideration.
This brings me to my next topic.
-"Damage cap" versus "Stat squish"
Simply put. A video game that is well planned ahead of time, should never need a stat squish.
A damage cap is a much more interesting, and exciting experience for the player, and drastically cuts down on wasted development time.
I have no clue why on earth MMORPG players and developers feel "stat squishes" are "good" for anyone.
Without continuing to just make random points for eternity, I would like to explain how I imagine Square-Enix would create such a game.
The Game:
-Main Story:
The main story would of course be exciting, thrilling, interesting, new-and-nostalgic. This is very easy to accomplish in my eyes.
Final Fantasy has a rich history, and pulling from this past, while creating something new and fresh, would be the easiest of tasks.
The most important aspect of the main story, is it should guide the player within the story itself, without "needing" visual assistance. A good, well written story, will explain the world to the player in a creative and intuitive way. Players who actually take the time to pay attention to the main story, should also be rewarded with crucial information not available anywhere else in the game. This can be done through actual dialog, or through a painting seen on the wall of a cutscene or other interesting and creative ways.
The UI, should never be "needed" and the player should never become lost or confused.
One aspect I think would make the story not only extremely exciting, but also "new-and-nostalgic" would be at around level 30 (The cap) the player encounters Bahamut, and just like in FFI, unlocks additional jobs.
-Character creation:
Character creation should be vast, but restricted. This is crucial to the MMO genre.
A character creation system, that is too unrestricted causes issues with wasting players time in the character creator, as well as "unnatural" looking creations.
A well balanced character creator gives the player plenty of options to create a unique and interesting character, without the issue of running into situations where the design is unnatural, or out of place in the world.
A good example of this, is the FFXIV character creation system, but allowing the player to create or add more "flavor" options. Such as more "tattoos" or scars, and other features. FFXIV and FFXI have a good base, but limits itself in crucial areas. An example is XI's character creation does not utilize in-game graphics, and wasted all that data on its entire creation system. XIV did not focus on additional features and crippled itself trying to remain too true to 1.0's options list, instead of focusing on recreating the designs properly, and allowing players to edit their options. What I mean here, is for example, there are 3 Miqo'te hair styles that are exactly the same, except the hair band in one hair style design. They could have instead had that as just 1 hairstyle and added other features to Miqo'te, and other races.
The default system would differ from FFXIV in the sense, that races would not be separated by skin type, but instead by "style" in a similar way as Highlander and Midlander is in FFXIV.
Mithra/Miqo'te: would have two size/shape types. With all available skin tones within each option.
Highlander/Midlander: would have two size/shape types much like in XIV now.
Galka/Roegadyn: would have the tall bulky type like in XI and XIV, but the alternative would be either Orc type people or Dwarf type people.
Tarutaru/Lalafell: would have two versions of this type of race. One could be a dwarf type race, while the other could be more like a lalafell or Tarutaru in design. Another option could be Knome or other ideas explored.
Viera: Viera is a staple in Final Fantasy, and the two options would be the Feol as a smaller version of the Viera.
Elvaan/Elezen: This category needs to be better designed as a whole. Elvaan are a much better representation of this race, but a proper more common Elf race would be created. Something more simlar to FFXIV 1.0's Elezen, but fused with FFXI's Elvaan, and the secondary option could be a smaller version. Both versions having more fantasy style elf's included in the options for faces/body types.
Animalistic: Depending on how many races could be implemented at launch, these could include options like Lizard types such as Bangaa, Orc type people or races similar to WoW and other MMO's.
More races added over time, but a focus on creating and sticking to a sensible list of available races.
-Level Cap:
In my mind, this ultimate Final Fantasy MMO, would have a level cap of 30, and this is when players would unlock the additional jobs.
Instead of like FFXIV where jobs are already leveled, all new jobs would unlock at level 1. So essentially the "level cap" would be 60, as the player would first reach level 30 on a starting class/job, and then unlock additional jobs, gaining access to the jobs needed to tackle the harder optional content.
Subsequent expansions would increase the level cap from 30 to 50, then 75, then 99.
XI's system jumped too far too fast, and XIV's system became far too predictable, and "manufactory" in such a way it is not as interesting.
This style of 30 > 50 > 75 > 99 would create a system with plenty of content. Not only in terms of story content for the "Main story" players, but also side and optional content for the players who enjoy endgame content. The content would range from more casual easy going content, to more mid-style of content, but also hardcore, and extremely grindy content. Something for everyone. The systems in place would also reward players accordingly, without ostracizing the more casual player. (More on this in the "content" section.)
-User Interface:
The user interface, should be 100% customizable.
The user interface should be so well designed, that a new gamer (someone who has never played a video game in their life) should be able to pick up the game, and know exactly what to do. **Most importantly** a veteran gamer, should be able to turn off as much as the UI (literally everything should be capable of being turned off completely) as the player would like. There should be nothing that "must" be kept on. The game should also still be playable with everything turned off.
This is very easy to accomplish in my mind.
All this requires is creating a well designed tutorial, that is fun and exciting for even veteran players. As well as, of course a properly created UI as listed above.
-Leveling
Leveling should include multiple options.
To accomplish this, the world is divided into multiple "options" in its design.
Option 1.) Random enemies. Defeating random enemies in the open world should yield respectable EXP. This is for players who enjoy leveling solo, with 1 character. These types of enemies have very low drop rates, even some having nothing of reward except EXP.
Option 2.) Aggressive Enemies. Aggressive enemies should be on the outskirts of map locations, and should be more powerful, and offer greater rewards, and greater experience, and should require a proper party and or multiboxer to defeat them. On top of greater rewards, they also could have the potential of spawning an even more powerful enemy, with even greater rewards. A well designed system such as this, would have some camps that never spawn a Notorious Monster, and others would. With varying conditions to spawn these rare enemies.
Option 3.) Open world dungeons. Open world dungeons should exist, and should focus on party play. These cannot be accessed via any "duty finder" and require forming a party before entering. As interest in a dungeon begins to wane, this restriction can be removed for solo play. The focus on open world dungeons should have rare rewards, but less so than aggressive enemies, but the EXP and gil could be greater than Aggressive enemies.
Option 4.) Instanced dungeons. This would be similar to FFXIV's dungeons, but *NOT* included in the main story. As the main story should focus on story telling. Instanced dungeons should be focused on creating a "duty roulette" system, and people who enjoy this kind of experience. The dungeons would not be designed like XIV's dungeons, in the sense of "trash" mobs in a hallway, before a boss. Instead they would be creatively designed based on the level, intention, and other factors of design concept. One scenario could be that the dungeon has only 5 bosses. Another scenario could be the entire dungeon is just smaller enemies with no bosses, for farming exp. It would all be depedent on player interaction, the "roulette" planned for the future, and other aspects.
-Equipment
Starting equipment should be incorporated into the character creation system, so that when the game launches no two players would look exactly the same. Dye/color options would be available within the creation system, as well as a handful of options for each piece of starting equipment. Instead of starting equipment being based on class or job, since you're only level 1, it would focus on Race, or simple aesthetics.
Equipment for rewards, would range from unique to that level, and "style" or "glamour" for higher level use. An example, is a player who discovers a very rare and unique piece of equipment such as a fire sword found in a rare coffer in a open world or instanced dungeon, or "Aggressive" enemy type, would have access to rare states for that level range. An example would be a level 12 fire sword found from a rare spawn enemy would have a "burn" effect that lasts 10 seconds after each strike. The effect could do a damage over time burn. This sword would have a unique design that would never be replicated ever again. Players who find this item would be easily noticable to other players while using or "style/glamour" the item once they reach a higher level. The item also could be stored in a unique place for safe keeping. In later levels and expansions this item could and would receive special treatment. Perhaps in one scenario the item could be utilized in a rare quest for a different rare piece of equipment. Or the item coudl be upgraded through a simple gil payment system. Each piece of equipment would retain its value in different ways based on the items rarity, use, stats, and other factoring traits.
-Open World
The open world in any RPG is vital to the overall experience.
The world should be big enough to feel vast, and interesting, without being so large, that it cripples endgame content, or the eventual "retracing" of steps that players eventually will encounter.
Most importantly the open world should never become "dead" under any circumstances.
When the open world is deigned, it should be done so with future content already planned and designed accordingly.
An example of this, is the "base" of a zone's environment should have multiple features depending on its purpose. One example is a zone could serve as the "Main story" zone, as well as a leveling zone, with or without a open world or instanced dungeon, with or without "Aggressive enemies" with or without "flying access areas" with or without "swimming access" with or without "underground access, the list goes on and on. Not all zones would serve a purpose for every aspect. One zone might not ever be used in the main scenario, but would be designed for aggressive enemies and flying access.
Flying access features included in a zone, would obviously be used for areas that have access to flying. Flying should never be implemented into a game, when its sole purpose only "reduces player travel time." Flying should be incorporated into the core of the game. This also applies to jumping. When a player unlocks flying, they should be unlocking more content, and access to rare, exciting and interesting areas. Flying only access areas should have rare monsters, rare gathering items, rare quests, rare NPC"s secrets, and many other features.
Underground areas should be restricted, and only allow a certain number of players, and should incorporate a level sync feature that maintains the areas integrity.
Swimming areas. Much like flying, swimming areas should not be just an aesthetic feature to the game. XIV"s underwater fishing is a good example of this. Rare quests, items, enemies and other features should be included in swimming.
A very important feature of open world is never adding a visible barrier and visible zone lines to the game, that cannot be turned off. The player should never feel like they are literally blocked by something unnatural. If it looks like the player can jump down a cliff, they should be able to. Boundaries should be natural, and make sense. The highest a mount could fly should be indicated by a system feature that can be turned off, such as a chat message. Water could be blocked off by deadly sea creatures that instantly deal cap HP damage to the player. This obviously would need to be planned ahead of time. For example, if the HP cap is 99,999 or 999,999 the enemy would deal that number, excluding defense regardless of the players level. Walls that restrict flying should include mountains, trees, and other natural aspects.
A well designed zone would be mindful of the maximum flying height, naturally lock the player in sensible boundaries with mountains and trees, man made walls, and other sensible barriers. The zone would include secret tunnels, multiple layers such as sky, land, sea, underground, secret pathways from other zones, open world dungeons, every aspect of the game as a whole.
-Optional Content/Quests
Content is another crucial aspect to an MMO and any RPG.
Optional content should never become forced onto the player, and should always remain optional, and always relevant.
Content should make sense, reward accordingly, and maintain integrity. Content should never become "dead" and never should feel like a chore.
Content does include open world enemies, the main story, as well as optional content, quests, dungeons, PvP and other features and aspects.
As listed in the open world, and leveling sections, optional content has a wide range of implementation. Outside of the main story, leveling, enemies, dungeons, and zone design, content can and does include raids, optional quests, secrets, trials, as well as new and creative ideas.
Not listed in the other sections of this post, can include overall world secrets, PvP, raids, trials, and other "content" specific fights, battles, and features.
Content also includes crafting, gathering, mini-games, leisurely features and many other aspects.
I think XIV does a great job of the crafting system, but it needs improvements from XI's design. By default the crafting system should have limitations at first. The initial level cap would be 30, and for a crafter to "max" all crafts to 30 the player must perform tasks within their profession that are not easy, nor quick, but should remain fun and exciting all the same. As I have not personally addressed every single aspect since I'm not actually making a game, I haven't thought every tiny aspect fully through, so this would be something that would need more time and thought to perfectly create.
Gathering would be better than XI and XIV. Gathering nodes should be close enough together, so that players gathering from the same location at the same time, can properly socialize. The in-game music for each zone would be created with gathering in mind, so that the players have a constant stream of enjoyable music to listen to while gathering. Much like how FFXIV 1.0 designed its open world music. FFXIV:ARR's music is far too inconsistent, and its "change music as you travel through the zone" just doesn't work right at all, and creates a sort of fragmented and unpleasant experience for players constantly traveling through the zone for gathering. I think a better system would present the player with a random item on their next gathering attempt, and the player can use the certain skills and abilities based on that item. For example at level one the player would have "swing twice" which could double the EXP and item earned from their next gathering attempt. Then at level 3 or 5 obtain "Examine" which would skip the current item available and change it to a new item on the available list. Or more preciesly, at level 1, player goes to Zone "A"'s node 1-8 area. Zone A 1-8 would be fire shard, bone chip, muddy water and copper ore. The player interacts with the node, and it says "Bone chip." The player can choose "Swing twice" at level 1. Then once the player reaches level.. lets say level 5, and obtains the ability "Examine" or other more interesting name, and can pass on the bone chip for say fire shard, muddy water, or copper ore. At higher levels, the player can focus on skipping the current item to a more desired item, and use up their specialty abilities gained from leveling to really nail that specific item they want. It would be more efficient than clicking over and over, which is how XIV acts now, and can allow the player the opportunity to socialize with other gatherers, and spend more time doing things they enjoy instead of clicking for extended periods of time running from node to node. The player would spend more time at fewer nodes, that are closer together.
-Miscellaneous/Stat customization/Secrets/etc.
I'm just going to touch on this briefly as I feel its important, but I do not want to spend a long time talking about it.
Stat customization, subjobs, character stat progression, key items, purchasing spell scrolls, stat trees, stat traits, merit points, skillchains, magic bursts, limit breaks, secret items, secret enemies, rare loot, powerful items, relic grinds, notorious monsters, as well as many other smaller, larger, and varying aspects that make up an RPG such as limited time shops, conquest maps, temporary items, and all the extensive aspects of a RPG are crucial to the overall experience.
You cannot create a proper RPG, especially a proper MMORPG if you do not incorporate and expand on everything that has come before. Then once you do that, you also need to create new, exciting, and interesting aspects and features. The problem with XI and XIV now, is they are hindered by a lack of creativity be that in new content design or simply creative problem solving. Also of course a lack of funding, and/or use of available funding.
I understand the developers are doing their best with what is available, but I also know at the same time, there are many fans that are willing to work entirely for free to do as much if not more work than many SE employees, due to how passionate they are about each or both of these games.
I could really go into detail on these sections, but it would consume an unusual amount of time, and again, since I'm not here actually creating a game, using an excessive amount of time and effort beyond just getting all these thoughts out of my head, is mostly pointless. The only real purpose of this, is to get this out of my head, cause it's building up within me at this point.