A Word of Appreciation to the Developers
To the FFXIV Development Team:
I want to thank all of you for your commitment to FFXIV. While I was not as disappointed in the game at launch as some of my peers, this game has gone through a lot over the past year. I may not have had the time I would like to commit to the game, there is a clear difference from how it was a year ago and how it is today.
To be honest, about 2 weeks ago, right before Patch 1.9 I was prepared to never look at FFXIV again and cancel my subscription to FFXI and pickup Rift or heaven forbid renew World of Warcraft. The reason being is that FFXIV had lost its appeal and become very stale, and with FFXI many of the players I once played with are now long gone.
After logging back into FFXIV the weeks following 1.9, I have come to appreciate FFXIV and it has even gained some traits that I appreciated in early FFXI. The world feels more like an on-going adventure now and I now feel rewarded for my hardwork in-game through the new Guilde Leve system. Though it's still a little repetitive, I am now able to progress faster and feel motivated to keep playing again. I even feel like the community is slowly returning, and while not as talkative or team-oriented as I'd prefer -- the community is at least there.
One element that I do miss is the dual-leveling system. It was a fun and unique element to the game that made FFXIV standout from the competition for me. I look forward to the implementation of new jobs, armory and auction house. While it is in every other MMO, the Auction House is what I look forward to the most because the current system hinders players' ability to purchase necessary armor, making us rely on crafting.
The fact that you're all going above and beyond to redevelop the game on a brand new system simply shows how committed the team is, and I cannot wait until you launch the new client and game engine. The new UI looks absolutely amazing, and while some may call it the "WoW-ification" of FFXIV... I see it as a step in the right direction. It simply looks more accessible to PC players (but I will still favor using an Xbox 360 controller).
Furthermore, the planned raids and instances add even more content to the vast world. While I may come to miss some of the areas in the game, I believe you all have a good vision. It is this vision that keeps me in FFXIV, and for that I will be proud to pay to play this game until the revamp is complete. I can see these next 12 months will be full of adventure and I will follow this road with you.
As we approach the holiday season this year, I wish everyone on the development team the best of luck.
ありがとうございます
Khadawaru