Item Levels

[Mirage]

lol @ people thinking XIV is better than XI. XIV people will need something to return to once XIV fails again. They will get a hefty influx of players from XI I'm sure, but who else? Nobody other than XI players has any clue what's going on with the game, nor do they care. A ruined launch of an MMO = a dead MMO. If they were smart, they would have changed the name of the game completely so the average person isn't immediately averse to even trying it. FFXIV is ruined forever, which is unfortunate because it does look like a decent attempt at a MMO. I may even check it out myself, but I certainly don't expect it to live very long.

If there is anyone who has no idea what's going on about FF14, it is FF11 players.

[Randnum]

That's a bit of a blanket, Mirage.

As a game designer and tester also, I (and my team) have great HOPE for FFXIV, and great respect for Yoshi-P, but we're mostly concerned for that game's longevity. It looks really pretty and fixes many of the issues with this game, but it also somewhat lacks SOME of the charms of this game, therefore on a personal level, I don't want to play it yet (I just wanna look at it... so pretty ~mesmerized~).

I'd hope though that they just talk to each other, learn what to do for both games, because this one doesn't need that much, it just keeps getting more things it doesn't need (e.g. the main topic of this thread), as everyone says.

There's listening to your players too much, too. Now if only we could just take the average of the two games and their design philosophies and rock out.

[kylani]

That's a bit of a blanket, Mirage.

As a game designer and tester also, I (and my team) have great HOPE for FFXIV, and great respect for Yoshi-P, but we're mostly concerned for that game's longevity. It looks really pretty and fixes many of the issues with this game, but it also somewhat lacks SOME of the charms of this game, therefore on a personal level, I don't want to play it yet (I just wanna look at it... so pretty ~mesmerized~).

I'd hope though that they just talk to each other, learn what to do for both games, because this one doesn't need that much, it just keeps getting more things it doesn't need (e.g. the main topic of this thread), as everyone says.

There's listening to your players too much, too. Now if only we could just take the average of the two games and their design philosophies and rock out.

I agree philosophically, but I feel like 14 is trying to hit the Wow type of market. I cannot blame any developer for trying to get that market, and I've been hoping SE would succeed, but bring the added depth in that I've always loved about 11. I've taken a break from FFXI before and enjoyed the wow-like games plenty of times (Wow, vanguard, lotro, rift, gw2, etc), but they were always games I enjoyed, even loved (I'm a lifer in lotro) for a time, but I always came back to FFXI because there is a depth/feeling/immersion about it that I haven't found anywhere else.

There is an incredible wealth of content in FFXI. So much, that it can be overwhelming. So I've often taken the break, then come back refreshed, excited to tackle tasks I want to accomplish. I've never minded not being the top tier in the game, so long as I could play the game at my own pace and enjoy it with others.

The delve update was so different than most. I feel like the devs just made this huge jump because they don't care about longevity anymore. Don't put thought into it, just add an expansion to keep FFXI going and get what they can out of FFXI until FFXIV goes live, and if they turn off players so they jump ship to FFXIV, so much the better.

Of course, this makes me really want to invest in FFXIV now... NOT! I have friends who left FFXI ages ago chomping at the bit to play FFXIV, and now I'm having a hard time mustering any enthusiasm for it. It may be different devs right now, but SE has been switching dev teams back and forth enough, that I don't consider anything solid with SE anymore.

Before I was planning to play both and see what happens. Hoping FFXIV would evolve like 11 into something that I'd enjoy for a long time. Now I just feel burnt out on MMOs period, particularly SE.

[Mirage]

Yes I know. I was trying to be as blanket as Helel was, as a joke.

[Deifact]

The delve update was so different than most. I feel like the devs just made this huge jump because they don't care about longevity anymore. Don't put thought into it, just add an expansion to keep FFXI going and get what they can out of FFXI until FFXIV goes live, and if they turn off players so they jump ship to FFXIV, so much the better.

Slightly off topic, but I see a lot of people saying similar to the above. I doubt the devs are purposefully pushing people away from the game, considering if FFXI went under a lot of people would lose their jobs. Plus I'm sure square enix wants nothing more than for people to play ffxi AND ffxiv for double profits. Plus ffxi is still the safety net if ffxiv:arr flops again.

On topic, I agree with most here when they say this is a huge waste of dev time. Out of all the improvements and features the community has suggested, or SE has promised in the past, why implement item levels? While they're at it why don't they remake beastcoin icons, shorten behemoth tail lengths and give goobbue less teeth.

Talk about procrastination. It's like spending all night making a scale model of the Eiffel tower out of toothpicks and sugar cubes the night before college exams.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

Plus I'm sure square enix wants nothing more than for people to play ffxi AND ffxiv for double profits.

They have a funny way of showing it. There is absolutely zero integration between XI and XIV, not even between the /friendlists. Playing two MMO's concurrently is already an unrealistic proposition (and a hard sell because of it), but if a player is, there is zero incentive for both of their games to be Final Fantasy.

[Catmato]

if FFXI went under a lot of people would lose their jobs.

I'm sure the company could find positions for the three people still working on FFXI.

[FrankReynolds]

I'm sure the company could find positions for the three people still working on FFXI.

If they even work on FFXI full time. I'm pretty sure they all have other primary jobs at SE and then work on FFXI as time allows (read as: when they get too drunk to drive home at happy hour and have to hang out at the office until they sober up).

[Kincard]

They removed the double subscription discount too, so there's very little reason to have an active account on both other than nostalgia for XI.

I don't think they're trying to push people away from XI deliberately though- incompetence is always a much better explanation.

[Sarick]

To whoever said get over it?

That is a horrid way to promote FFXI to people who are already on the fence. Remember the only reason SE keeps this game going is because it's still profitable. You think the groups of people who are unmotivated, can't participate, are the fence about quitting or have quit because of the design choices would be HELPING this game if they just ignored it?

IMHO it'd hurt any game if the players don't speak up or wasn't heard. For every single player that speaks up there are many who don't. Each of those players represent money per month. Some own multiple accounts and mules. This money is used to pay the staff, upgrade the game and keep the severs running. I'm sure you know this already.

Here's a key element. You say these people who need to get over themselves because they don't like how the game is playing out. Think about it they don't have to stay if they don't like the game. By telling the fans get over it you'll only entice these players to leave more. Who's fault is this if the game isn't fun?

In heart, don't you think the game would benefit much more if it was fun and addictive for everyone instead of a boring job like environment with nothing but a long pointless grids? I'm sure if it was superior material there wouldn't be people complaining and um, quitting. I mentioned this a few times from my personal experiences.

Let's look at it from a logical perspective. These forums don't give a good poll, it's the ones who didn't speak we should be worrying about because they didn't feel motivated enough to actively speak up.

Look at these item levels they don't seem to enhance the game much. Fixes where needed elsewhere but for some reason this became a priority fix. Several people have spoken up that they don't think this change is necessary or even worth the resources invested into it. Some even pointed out that it can cause serious unforeseen issues.