A New-Players Perspective and some thoughts

Hey everyone,

While I'm sure most of you have seen some kind of response like this in the past month I'd still like to jot down some initial impressions as a log of sorts to keep how I've been feeling about this game up-front.
First of all; I like the game, a lot. - I've only been playing less than a week now and I'm instantly more entertained by it then so many other games at the current time. I like MMORPGs, but I don't get into them easily. My only experiences with them are Oldschool Runescape, Ragnarok-Online, and a little bit of World-of-Warcraft.

To say the least, I'm impressed. FFXIV has managed to make me want to play more which is more than say what WOW could. I really like that while it's high-fantasy, it still manages to step out of the crowd from the generic Isekai MMO world. - I'm aware this game came out roughly 2010, but I've read a few articles hearing about its transformation. - And to be honest, I had almost no idea this game existed.


I won't lie, I came here after a certain online personality featured it on his YouTube channel and gave them game its fair compliments. That shouldn't devalue the people that have flocked here because of it, as even a small margin of them stay it can easily bolster the game's numbers.



Character Creation
Initially, when I made my character as a mid-lander I was surprised by the lack of facial hair options there were available, only being able to toggle the top and bottom half on/off. It was only then after leveling my character some parts that your beard style was connected to your face shape? I was a bit annoyed and didn't want to have to restart to make a new character, so I decided to purchase a bottle of Fantasia.
While I have no quarrel with store purchases, making every product priced on USD left me feel cheated as I'm from another North-American country, considering the conversion rate, the prices didn't bode well for me.
Is this part strictly me complaining?
No. Below, is what I'm suggesting to remedy it. I want to make character creation a better experience for everyone so that they won't make the same mistakes I do.

Character Creation needs a makeover.
While, I am happy that there are so many options for characters, there are no sliders. Majority of games that have been released post-2015 have some more advanced forms of character creation (i.e. Dark Souls, Mordhau, etc.) - and I understand that it takes more data to parse this information (making the load times slower) I'm sure we're going to eventually become fully SSD integrated within the future (Faster storage - And yes, I'm just assuming this is what it has to do with.)
The point I'm making is, this should no longer be a problem for a modern-day low-end gaming computer rig. PCs are only going to get faster, and then concern of over-bearing a load should be null.

Potential solutions for data-heavy faces/details

• Use a draw distance like a lot of games do, i.e. Planetside 2. - Make it so that certain details are adjustable (This is probably using a sledgehammer to kill a fly, but it's just one of few.)
• Make it so that the player-character is prioritized over other characters or potentially NPCs.
• Increase detail based on data around the character. i.e. in crowded areas makes everyone slightly more simple. This could be toggable.

I am aware there's an engine-rework in progress.
The point of this thread was to ensure that some details aren't skipped over, or if that some of these points could be communicated in case.

Opinion wishlist;
Please, please, make the player's character face higher resolution. A lot of us like taking in the work we put into our character.
Armor would understandably take a much longer time to re-work, or upscale in texture but skin, face and hair should be a priority of detail.
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Marketing
I did not hear about Final-Fantasy until the personality I mentioned, covered it.
SQEX is competent in games, but I feel is lackluster in spreading it to other people.

As someone who's in marketing, I can offer some advice.
Clearly, this game is run by word of mouth. - That means genuine joy coming from the players and personalities covering this game.
I'd advise that SQEX approach a more direct approach towards personalities and welcome them to give them a try, i.e. 30-60 days game time.
And before someone mentions this would be a paid promotion - I'd like to remind you that I'm willing to bet even (You) would try a game if the developers/publishers approached you with a very basic offering. (This means no special mounts or equipment, etc.)
The game is getting very popular in North America thanks to live-streaming. Getting in on more of this would be beneficial to the longevity and player count of the game.

The point to take away from this is;
Strike while the iron is hot.
Don't let the momentum die out.

I'd imagine at least part of the problem with marketing is that the West isn't the primary market for FFXVI and never really was. It's also an older game, and old games tend to not get advertised much. Especially old MMOs. Think about how much advertising WoW had back around 2006 vs now. Now if WoW is getting advertised, it's not actually advertisements. It's because Blizzard has gotten in the news, often in a bad way.

And a small note for out-of-game purchases

Some really opinionated stuff on Mog-Station pricing;
Add a CAD or other pricing options.

I'd recommend lowering the price of some items to become more accessible to people who'd be hesitant to change their race/appearance.
Fantasia is an amazing item, but realistically should the demand of the item really drive something like appearance changing to 10.00 USD?
Realistically, having it priced at 6.97, would easily drive more sales from the item.
/personalgripe.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rhuled

And a small note for out-of-game purchases

Some really opinionated stuff on Mog-Station pricing;
Add a CAD or other pricing options.

I'd recommend lowering the price of some items to become more accessible to people who'd be hesitant to change their race/appearance.
Fantasia is an amazing item, but realistically should the demand of the item really drive something like appearance changing to 10.00 USD?
Realistically, having it priced at 6.97, would easily drive more sales from the item.
/personalgripe.

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Is competitive or cheaper than similar items from the competition.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rhuled

Character Creation
Initially, when I made my character as a mid-lander I was surprised by the lack of facial hair options there were available, only being able to toggle the top and bottom half on/off. It was only then after leveling my character some parts that your beard style was connected to your face shape? I was a bit annoyed and didn't want to have to restart to make a new character, so I decided to purchase a bottle of Fantasia.
While I have no quarrel with store purchases, making every product priced on USD left me feel cheated as I'm from another North-American country, considering the conversion rate, the prices didn't bode well for me.
Is this part strictly me complaining?
No. Below, is what I'm suggesting to remedy it. I want to make character creation a better experience for everyone so that they won't make the same mistakes I do.

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There is an Aesthetician you can unlock ingame in Limsa Lominsa. For 2000 gil, you can change your character's facial features and hairstyle (unless you're a Hrothgar). That way you don't have to buy a fantasia if you want to change your appearance slightly; only for major things like skin colour, race, and gender.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Espon

There is an Aesthetician you can unlock ingame in Limsa Lominsa. For 2000 gil, you can change your character's facial features and hairstyle (unless you're a Hrothgar). That way you don't have to buy a fantasia if you want to change your appearance slightly; only for major things like skin colour, race, and gender.

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Also note that you can find the Aesthetician from the crystal bell in the inn room once he's unlocked.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Titania40

I'd imagine at least part of the problem with marketing is that the West isn't the primary market for FFXVI and never really was. It's also an older game, and old games tend to not get advertised much. Especially old MMOs. Think about how much advertising WoW had back around 2006 vs now. Now if WoW is getting advertised, it's not actually advertisements. It's because Blizzard has gotten in the news, often in a bad way.

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They've ramped the marketing up quite a bit in recent times in all fairness. Whenever searching for an MMO, the game is amongst the top ones that come up. I think for a MMO it is fairly well advertised. Before SHB, the criticism was probably truer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gabadabs

Also note that you can find the Aesthetician from the crystal bell in the inn room once he's unlocked.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Espon

There is an Aesthetician you can unlock ingame in Limsa Lominsa. For 2000 gil, you can change your character's facial features and hairstyle (unless you're a Hrothgar). That way you don't have to buy a fantasia if you want to change your appearance slightly; only for major things like skin colour, race, and gender.

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While I'm aware there's an Aethetician; I feel like it doesn't do justice to beard-types.
What I was particularly getting at was that jaw options were connected to beard styles.

Thanks for the replies.
<3

Unfortunately as far as beards and facial hair go, i don’t expect many changes. They’ve shown time and time again they really only favor the female characters and things of that nature. Masculine additions are rare few and far between.