New UI from 2013?

Ok.. what happened here?

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/t...User-Interface

Did you drop the ball guys? 10 years later.. time for an update.

This was when they had a roadmap and were planning ahead, they had a test sever the users could log on.

Unfortunatly the funding was cut, things like monstrosity were never finished, they had intended for RoV to be pretty much the end of regular content, however they have relented (When we saw an increase of people coming back for RoV) and we leep going.

This won't ever happen without more investment, which isn't going to happen.

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Originally Posted by Stuzey

This was when they had a roadmap and were planning ahead, they had a test sever the users could log on.

Unfortunatly the funding was cut, things like monstrosity were never finished, they had intended for RoV to be pretty much the end of regular content, however they have relented (When we saw an increase of people coming back for RoV) and we leep going.

This won't ever happen without more investment, which isn't going to happen.

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Not with THAT attitude it won't!

Need more people here to support this measure, lets go people.

Hah, I applaud you, but you have to remember that a lot of us have been asking since 2013 and have been ground down over time :)

Monstrosity was huge for some people, for it to suddenly fall off a cliff, before it was even finished...

The had clear plans back in the day, roadmaps on where they saw the game going, they would share these with the users, it would be great to see that again, ok I'll fall in line and support you

The UI update they were making honestly wasn't very good.

I would much prefer they just increase the texture res of the UI components, which is pretty easy to do for them.

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Originally Posted by Auriga

Ok.. what happened here?

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/t...User-Interface

Did you drop the ball guys? 10 years later.. time for an update.

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Its been known for awhile now that it was scrapped.

If it isn't broken, don't invite them to break it.
Unfortunately, I wouldn't trust the current team with open-ended projects. I wish they would focus on and better communicate where they plan to address a very specific X by doing Y. This way, we could more easily double-check their work, since the player base itself is clearly their Q&A department. Lucky us. Especially when they don't listen or respond to any of us.

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Originally Posted by Auriga

Ok.. what happened here?

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/t...User-Interface

Did you drop the ball guys? 10 years later.. time for an update.

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The person who was in charge of it left Square Enix, and that was the end of that. Same with Monstrosity, funny enough.

Ive seen a lot of people dog on it from the test server and I'm like, "you realize that was a super early really incomplete version right?"

It still had a lot of potential with moveable windows, the new UI was the whole reason new icons were created for all the spells and abilities.

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If it isn't broken, don't invite them to break it.

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FFXI's interface is about the clunkiest of any online game ever outside of a MUD. I understand your sentiment, but the game could really, really do with something better.

it looks a bit fresh air back then. Sadly as of the current, they looked too outdated. Rather asks for major structure updates, which if possibly happens, should also affect majority of stuff including much improved UIs.

I'm amazing nobody on the test server saved the files for the UI.

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The person who was in charge of it left Square Enix, and that was the end of that. Same with Monstrosity, funny enough.

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How do you know this?

I seem to recall, the monstrosity lead was seen on XIV projects, after monstrosity was cancelled

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Originally Posted by Stuzey

I seem to recall, the monstrosity lead was seen on XIV projects, after monstrosity was cancelled

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No, I remember reading they left Square Enix entirely. I don't have the link off hand but I'm beyond certain that when asked why Monstrosity stopped getting updates this was the reason given.

I will try to dig it up.

It was a long time ago and people talking on the forum, I have no idea how accurate it was, but this was the thread

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/t...strosity-still

If you saw something offical, then that must be true

A quick google search suggests they are still at SE, but I can't verify the accuracy of any of this

Ryota Iwagami

Design
Final Fantasy VII: Remake (2020) (Battle System Designers)
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (2017) (System Planners)
Final Fantasy XIV Online: Heavensward (2015) (Crafting, Gathering, and Item Planners)
Final Fantasy XI Online: Ultimate Collection - See... (2013) (Battle Planners)
Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn (2013) (Crafting, Gathering, and Item Planners)

This was the original post about the introduction of Monstrosity

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/t...he-Test-Server

Monstrosity was never that popular because there was no gear rewards from it.

Even new missions, barely anyone does them until there is a reward. That's just how players are.

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Originally Posted by Pixela

Monstrosity was never that popular because there was no gear rewards from it.

Even new missions, barely anyone does them until there is a reward. That's just how players are.

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Actually, that's false, there were gear rewards from it, just nothing remotely remarkable. This was designed to be a "fun" content, and it succeeded at that. If they had followed through on it and finished it, it could have kept a lot of people busy for a long time. A grinder's paradise.

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Originally Posted by Pixela

Monstrosity was never that popular because there was no gear rewards from it.

Even new missions, barely anyone does them until there is a reward. That's just how players are.

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Was rather popular for a bit. It should be updated more. Doesn't need rewards, but the PvM system to be finished.

That pic about "my 12.95" is quite funny.

I still stand by the UI needing an upgrade. SE this request stands with me.

Not sure if this quote from 2016 is the latest official reasoning to why it was abandoned:

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Originally Posted by Gildrein

In order to reduce the time between version updates for Rhapsodies of Vana’diel we stopped the development of this user interface. Mainly this was because updating certain portions of the new client program would not make it in time.

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I don't imagine they've received any more funding/people to work on it after that...

It was definitely quite a bit of fun to play with, even if it was far from finished...

https://i.imgur.com/A1s96rw.png

If it were ever implemented on the live, production client, I think I'd still hope for the old one to stick around as well. I am rather fond of it in ways, but I guess I'd eventually use the new one more... maybe.

(By the by, not sure the website feedback and suggestions forum is the best choice for this topic... though I'm not entirely sure it makes a difference these days. ^^;)

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Originally Posted by Pixela

I'm amazing nobody on the test server saved the files for the UI.

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I'm sure there are people (like me) who still have them around...

Thing is, I don't think RoV was actually in devleopment yet when we were testing this.

Honestly, it looks awful. If that was the only UI for the game I would quit.

I feel the reason they dropped it, was becasue they would of had to drop the original UI (or keep updating both forever after).

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Originally Posted by Pixela

Honestly, it looks awful. If that was the only UI for the game I would quit.

I feel the reason they dropped it, was becasue they would of had to drop the original UI (or keep updating both forever after).

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It's called "Work In Progress."

We tested a VERY EARLY PROTOTYPE that had NO ART made for it yet. Obviously, if it had been developed further, it would have been given graphics and it would have looked nice.

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I feel the reason they dropped it, was becasue they would of had to drop the original UI (or keep updating both forever after).

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No. The original intention of this UI was to create a usable mouse+keyboard experience and add in official UI functionality that is commonly available today in external tools, to discourage tool use and give players more options and more customizability. There was never any plan to remove the old UI. In fact assets intended for the new UI ended up getting used in the original, specifically the icons for all the spells and abilities which used to be entirely generic. They aren't very discernable though, because those icons were made at a much higher resolution than can be applied in the tiny space next to the ability names.

Again: that was an EARLY DEVELOPMENT version. what we saw was not representative of what the final product would look like. The purpose of the test on the test server was to evaluate the functionality and offer feedback to guide development. Not to say "This is the final version, it's coming out next week, have fun."

There was tons of new functionality. Being able to move UI elements anywhere on the screen you like. A third row of macro hotkeys for every book. Being able to make things bigger or smaller so they're easier to see or don't get in the way. It would have been a huge leap forward if it had actually been completed, but here you are looking at a prototype screenshot and saying "it looks ugly I'm glad they didn't do it."