This topic will cover several areas that people need to think about. Long post, stop now if you do not like long drops. :D
Having came back after a year i see some changes, and alot that has not chnaged. The current Producer gets kudos from what i have read so far and has been a nice bit of hope for a title i have always been interested in and upon launch that interest, because of developer choices, was totally destroyed. (Read, interest), Tens of thousands of others felt similarly.
Present day and i patiently await 2.0 having read everything there is on it. 2.0 looks like it will turn the game into the computer friendly, UI friendly, common sense infused game the great majority hopes it will, subscriptions spoke, so there were problems, obviously, but am i reading into 2.0?
For the die-hard FF purists, bear with me, i am going to make some very big hits on this title but remember, i also have high hopes for FF XIV, and this is coming from a paerson that is awaiting GW2 also.
The following is a list at beta and launch i did not like and still do not like, i can only assume from what i read in 2.0 that all this will change, it is so vague.
As of last night i finished going over my "New old toon", a weeks worth of digging into everything i dislike(d), onto the list.
The good as of April 8th 2012.
The total beauty of this game at max setting is fantastic, character detail, equipment, etc, nothing matches it, i have the equipment to run it so no problems there.
Ambiance. Was always incredible, the world always seems alive.
Visual assasination of my eyes (A good thing). I always like to roam around in a world and see this level of detail and just simple visual suprises, never had a complaint with any of the FF series.
Armory system, i like the ability to "change" into a differing class when needed, any time i want, however this topic will also be listed in the extensive, do not like section also.
Always loved the equipment wear, a big plus in making a semi working economy.
Being able to repair finally, though hugely non intuitive.
The exp improvements and the slight UI improvements, though not nearly enough.
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The bad.
I still see some classes far more powerful than others, thats up for devs to address as i have the choice to use the classes also. I would rather use what i like with my style of play though and not because of the challenge, the current mechanic makes this choice irrelevant. (laugh)
At max settings those with lower end comps will notice degraded performance or crashes as the video cards are strangled to death if they are not newer cards. (Grin)
UI. Really bad, still. Having to make macros, really? This is a totally absurd system, along with the layer upon layer of unintuitive interfaces needed to navigate, no wonder there is lag and delays with this system, i mean cmon devs, did you use powerpoint to make you interfaces? The delay seems about right for powerpoint demos with this much information. (Sarcasm, dont freak out folks, i know they didnt use Powerpoint). Where is the right click common sense or drop down menus upon click etc that seemingly go hand in hand with something being intuitive? End evaluation, the UI is still a mess.
Armory, or what i refer to as the wep or gear swap systems. Still ate up after a year. If the devs were looking for 70's dev technology examples to incorporate in a modern game, they executed perfectly. What a wild ride to learn to repair, or to setup equipment, or setup weapons for the average person with little macro knowledge and even less patience when it comes to simply discovering how to do the simplest thing as a repair a piece of equipment, what dev ok'd this mechanic, or many of the other choices for that matter?
Keybinding and mouse binding. Non intuitive, hunt down the key to delete and then program what you want if the key you like isnt hardcoded, which many are. Forget using your favorite mouse for button assignments, i guess the devs figured mice only have 2 functioning buttons. This particular mechanic is inexcusable, how can a developer NOT allow all keys and mouse buttons to be bound how the paying subscriber wants? It boggles the mind to think what the original Producer was thinking (yes, we know, gamepad). What happened to right click, choose your key, and hit enter or yes from the drop down menu......oh thats right, this mechainc does not exist either. I know i was still tired of seeing "This key is bound to another funtion"....duh. (?)
Hunting, quest areas for low level folks. I love to explore, i especially love suprises in a well made game........like the the level 46 mobs in a dungeon a short distance away from a level 1-10 starter area, Still havent found a single low level dungeon for low level toons. mistake? An oversight? A dev with an attitude of "just fill the areas up quickly with whatever to make launch", this seems more likely as the monster layout is poorly though out in the entire world. i do not mind knowing i may be sucked into a giant toads mouth if i travel to far into unkown areas bu i do not expect this to happen after leaving the confines of a starter camp and traveling less than a minute away on foot. Very absurd mob layout in my eyes per level all things considered, this is the same as it was a year ago.
Switching classes costs HP. This is a very bad mechanic. I understand the intended concept, it however fails and mass appeal of this concept cost them subs, lets review.
(the following is an annecdotal example)
I sit a table, in front of me i have three items, a spork, a sword, and a twig i use to cast spells. I pick up the spork, open a can of spam, cook the spam, throw in some peppers, onions, eggs, sausage, potatoes, happily seeing the spam is totally hidden i eat the concoction. No loss of my life force or hit points. I place the spork back on the table and pickup the sword.......suddenly my world reels, tilts sideways, and reality warps... i lose half my hp, i feel sick to my stomach and i notice i am weaker....., was it the damn spam? No, i set the sword down and pick the spork back up, WOW!, I feel like a milion bucks! Lets review, level 14 warrior, changes to a garden weeding tool and is suddenly transformed into a level one gardener.
I will not go into the hows or why of this developer choosing this mechanic, again it cost them subs, thos diehard fans pushed through the mechanic, many tens of thousands of folks chose not to, we missing anything?
This single mechanic needs to change big time. Level the weapon, not the character. I do not understand the tough concept of placing stats on gear per equipped mainhand item verse the absurd system they have now. Knowing the limitations of a game engine is one thing, to program around it knowing it will limit gameplay to an extreme type of gameplay is looking for failure. That said, the people scrambling for the keyboard and about to cover the gear/item angles....well what i said still applies. There is a far, far better system, i can think of, have thought of that gives the classless system actual validity instead of shoving ever single stat and mechanic into the switching of the MH item, if you think about what i just typed, and go back to the 2009/2010 posts by the devs and those by thousands of forum posters, alot of people assumed much, and got sideswiped when they saw how the system really worked.
There is no defensible reason for leaving it as it is, other than the devs want to leave it that way.
Getting experience. The leave system. Unique, a different idea for a totally diffent culture, does not work with all cultures, end result? It failed and cost huge numbers of subs, it needs to change or a choice needs to be made available to those that want to quest verse those that want to restrict themselves on purpose. Quest were placed in the world? Where? I searched and found precious few after my leaves were used up in minutes. Am i supposed to grind to reach my earmark levels to continue my storyline? I will not.
I consider the Hobbiests that play MMO's, Gamers. This descriptor is far better than the labels the busybodies use such as hardcore, casual, raider, solo, etc.
To long have busybodies ran their mouths or used the internet to stand on soapboxes to decry what the person next to them is doing or compalin how someone else got something easier than they did, its really pathetic when you think about it and is the responsibility and fault of the developers over the years to engender this type of behaviour by the newer generation of Gamers.
I will not get into the argument of solo verse group play but will type this. When a Gamer is not given a choice in a game the Gamer will leave that game, the popualtion will fall, and the game will slowly die, and those that stay to the bitter end have questions to answer.......
Did i do everything i could to keep the population as high as possible, or did i worry about the person next to me, and why they were not playing the way i was.
Here is to sincerely hoping 2.0 fixes everyting listed above, and to folks not being busybodies (a descriptor). Worry about yourself, not what the person next to you is doing or how they get something, and to the folks that cannot enjoy content or get items they want for whatever reason in the game, do not pay the developers of this title, other MMO's come out all the time, one day a dev is bound to come close to getting it right. Do not be a busybody, make your voice heard by using the loudest thing possible, your wallet.
Overall rating at beta and release -1, my new rating, a solid 5.