Suggestion: Break the game, SE

[Runespider]

If 14 was to sink it would have done so in 2010 and not exist today, not during nor after a major overhaul 2 years later.

It's already sunk, almost every potential customer was scared off it and turned their attention to new games..or do you think everyone is waiting for a v2 of an old failed game? GW2 and Tera are the new exciting games to look forward to, the only reason 14 is still around is because it's a FF title, it embarassed them with it failing and they are now forcing it to carry on living by throwing money at it. It bombed hard and is still pretty much dead as an MMO. There is no guarantee V2 will turn this game around (they are dumbing down the game engine for a start, and the prettyness of it was one of it's only redeeming factors for many), no matter how hard they try there is no guarantee players will want to go back to try 2 at a failed, dead game.

SE will do just fine if they play their cards right.

Yeah because the way they put 14 out, ran it to be still a failure 2 years later and indeed the way they are running this game give you the idea they are ever gonna "play their cards right"? White knight much?

Like it or not. Its money that keeps this business going and these casuals are the ones with it. Much more than the 1-5% of hardcore players.

This so much, pity they don't get it.

[Elexia]

You can't dumb down a engine from a cinematics engine to an actual engine meant for building games on it. CT was more of a cinematic toolset than full on game engine.

Where did you even hear this info? Then again, based on a lot of your posts about certain subjects..don't answer that.

[Runespider]

You can't dumb down a engine from a cinematics engine to an actual engine meant for building games on it. CT was more of a cinematic toolset than full on game engine.

Where did you even hear this info? Then again, based on a lot of your posts about certain subjects..don't answer that.

They are dumbing the engine down for v2 to play on weaker PCs, I don't even play the game and I know more about V2 than a XIV white knight?

[Aquilla]

This is the most subjective thing ever.

Whether or not you like the story is very subjective. Who cares? People play MMOs for story like they read playboy for the articles. We want a story -- without it, the game feels empty -- but we play it for the gameplay/community. A game with an awesome story but terrible gameplay won't get anywhere. A game with great gameplay but shitty story can win awards. That's not my opinion -- it's happened.


However,

Like it or not. Its money that keeps this business going and these casuals are the ones with it. Much more than the 1-5% of hardcore players.

This so much, pity they don't get it.

Yeah. The problem is that challenge =/= low drop rate. It never has, and it never will be. Problem is that the red spiky shirt with the awesome str+8 and haste+4% and other assorted piddly stats is not anybody's idea of a super-awesome-drop from the new hardcore endgame event.

SE needs to radically revise their outlook on MMOs.

[Elexia]

They are dumbing the engine down for v2 to play on weaker PCs, I don't even play the game and I know more about V2 than a XIV white knight?

"White Knight" you really are an idiot.

You don't "dumb down an engine" to make it run better on a broad range of PCs, you optimize an engine to do so. You don't need to go to one extreme or the other, this is why developers use the UE mainly because of it's compatibility and optimization to run on many environments.

[Anapingofness]

Which is still better than shitty hammy voiceacting found in games like Skyrim or Dragon Age, or is that your idea of "engaging story telling?" Because I read books that beat it out pretty much every video game storyline to exist. This is the most subjective thing ever.

Hmm... See what we have here kids is someone comparing two different things. Books to games. We can break this down further because the games being compared are not the same. We are comparing MMO's, Console/Single Player Games, and Books.

In a perfect world the two would balance each other out with the quality of storyline. However, this isn't that magical place and sadly many video game companies are notorious for not hiring real writers.

Books are special. They've been around longer and people have had a much longer time to get it right with them. Even so, there are things published that should never have even been considered for publication- but I digress.
Books, for all of their history, have to have a compelling and solid structure. They have to be able to convey to us through words alone a story or a message.

Video games are even more special because unlike books they are interactive. People are no longer relying on words to convey a message they can now see what they would normally read. More importantly, people can now take the main character and control him as he begins his journey. A well made video game storyline will make you laugh and cry, much like a well written book.

Now that that basic definition is there please understand that the quality of a storyline has no bearing on the "shitty hammy voice acting found in games like Skyrim and Dragon Age". There have been plenty of games where there was no voice acting. There were also games where the voice acting was in gibberish. Those games had very good, engaging, story lines.

For me though, and I cannot speak for Aquilla, "engaging story telling" means that I can connect and relate to the characters in the storyline. It means that when a character dies, I too will feel a sense of loss. Alternatively, if there is a humorous scene I will laugh. "Engaging story telling" not only uses everything that books have taught us to deliver an unforgettable experience but it also uses the best of what video games as a medium has to offer.

[Runespider]

"White Knight" you really are an idiot.

You don't "dumb down an engine" to make it run better on a broad range of PCs, you optimize an engine to do so. You don't need to go to one extreme or the other, this is why developers use the UE mainly because of it's compatibility and optimization to run on many environments.

Hey you're the one that thinks FFXIV is awesome and if they play their cards right can make it into a success, if that's not a XIV white knight given everything that's happened idk what is.

For a game sold on being pwetty I'd call it dumbing down, you can use nicer words if it makes you happier.

[Anapingofness]

Its much more harder for me nowadays to get a group going for VV Atma than it was to defeat Promathia back in 2005. I understand that with empyreans and 3 atmas you can basically do anything in Abyssea but first you need to get those. It was so much easier to find groups for Ouryu or any other part of COP even if you were not in a static and you could keep your progression. Now 7 years later its basically impossible to get some atmas and af3+2 items with random shouts.

How easier the game has become?


Honestly i came back to do the trivial and im not even bothering anymore about the bandwagon i lost. But you can't ask for a new player to be motivated as i am, due to my 2003 nostalgia, having to be satisfied with crap from AH or lose his social life to whorehimself in an endgame ls where he is going to complete leaders and officers gear 10 times before anything else.

This is just not the way the MMORPG market works anymore. Online gaming is becoming more and more casual. While i applaud that FFXI stays true (sort of it) to its old formula of randomness drops and devotion to get stuff (i took 3 years to get my duelist chapeau+1 back then) i also see it dying with it.

Im talking about SE future as an online gaming company. They almost destroyed their franchise with FF14 with their stubborn attitude of always being right . They have the tools to make an AAA online product BUT they must start accepting the fact that gamers now are more casual than ever and they won't devote themselves to any game that doesn't reward them fast.

Like it or not. Its money that keeps this business going and these casuals are the ones with it. Much more than the 1-5% of hardcore players.

There is a lot of truth in what you say Sagagemini. Most of us with established groups don't think about the players without those groups. I'll be the first to attest to that. Like it or not, the sad reality of FFXI is that it is not a very newbie friendly game. So I can totally see where you're coming from.

Although, I will say that the Abyssea has made the game easier in certain respects. Mainly the leveling aspect. Back in the day it was a good party if you could get 5k - 10k exp an hour. I'm glad that SE lessened the grind in that respect with Abyssea, FOV, and GOV.

[llello]

And some players wonder why these forums aren't taken very seriously. We go from discussing Aby everywhere play and 10xing gear stats to peoples personal opinions about why FFXIV was a failure, random video games in general, whose is and is not a "white knight", books,hammy voice acting, pulling the plug/killing FFXI and I'm sure others I've missed.

Anyway I'm still not convinced "OPing" or w/e you would call it would inject that much life into FFXI. Please keep going with this as there were a few good ideas before this thread turned to lulz.

[Aquilla]

I'm convinced that the only chance FFXI has is if it gets broken.

It's clear that the current twiddling is doing nothing but alienating more and more players. I'd love to be wrong -- but honestly, what have they given us lately? Neo-Nyzul was declared dead on arrival. People are dubious about Legion. The upgraded lv99 empys are a joke for the work needed to complete them.

All the good updates took away the grindy, nonsensical aspects and made the game more enjoyable to play.