Friend just started FF14, and he's in the cart scene telling me about how

This games intro is boring and annoying.

I agree too. I'm actually amazed that the intros weren't changed to be something much more involving for the players, like in the original FF14.

If that game did anything right imo, it was it's intros.

FF XIV in general had superior cutscene presentation imo. Take that statement for what its worth as my opinion.

I dunno about the rest of 1.0, but the intros definitely trump 2.0's by a long shot.

I enjoyed both intro's. 1.0 and 2.0. However, opinions will always vary. If your friend (and you for that matter) are bored with the game ... why keep playing? Go find something else to play that you enjoy.

Not sure I'm remembering it right, but I'm sure in 1.0 I had to fight off some big goobue just after the intro started, was a real take your breath away moment that I loved.
Don't get me wrong I love the 2.0 ones but they do seem less dramatic and more a peaceful door into the game

So he created a character & was watching the first few minutes, reading the "what has gone before" & the "why are you here" stories... & he's bored. lulz.

The Ul'Dah parade with a goobbue breaking free of its captivity and causing chaos then battling the player was a really memorable intro to the game for me. That was version 1, and it's one of the things I miss about the old game.

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Originally Posted by DragonFlyy

I enjoyed both intro's. 1.0 and 2.0. However, opinions will always vary. If your friend (and you for that matter) are bored with the game ... why keep playing? Go find something else to play that you enjoy.

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he didnt say his was bored with the game, he said the intro is...so i'm assuming he's just at the start...but yes when i 1st began the game
the intro made me snooze! it's just not engaging at all. but in gridania i got to see moogles be cute and silly...but it's not
engaging in the lease. carriage rides and boat ride with random nods and head shakes, meh. wouldnt let that bring him down
the game gets exciting after the horribly made intro XDDD

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Originally Posted by Rufalus

The Ul'Dah parade with a goobbue breaking free of its captivity and causing chaos then battling the player was a really memorable intro to the game for me. That was version 1, and it's one of the things I miss about the old game.

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Aha that's the one I was trying to think of, I knew it involved a goobue lol , thanks!

At least it wasn't three MagiTech armors walking through snow for like 5 minutes.

The intro scene is seriously awful.

I wouldn't say its awful just not dramatic, it could use a few tweaks to bump up the drama in them, to be less peaceful but regardless they are still beautiful looks wise

I'd have to agree that all 3 starting intro's in 1.0 were much better, I duno why they went with something so droll.

That was one of my friend's complaints as well, when he first started ARR. Told me he thought the opening cutscene was boring. And yeah, I suppose that cart (or ship) ride is kinda boring it just serves as a time waster while the npcs talk and fill the player in a tiny bit.

That is the only thing from 1.0 I will say was better, and that is the beginning introduction to the game. Nothing quite like riding aboard the ship to have Leviathan himself (at least I think it was suppose to be Leviathan, if not some other sea monster) jump over your ship in a wickedly cool slomo cs featuring your character and then Y'stola subsequently saving your behind.

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Originally Posted by Ecks007

That was one of my friend's complaints as well, when he first started ARR. Told me he thought the opening cutscene was boring. And yeah, I suppose that cart (or ship) ride is kinda boring it just serves as a time waster while the npcs talk and fill the player in a tiny bit.

That is the only thing from 1.0 I will say was better, and that is the beginning introduction to the game. Nothing quite like riding aboard the ship to have Leviathan himself (at least I think it was suppose to be Leviathan, if not some other sea monster) jump over your ship in a wickedly cool slomo cs featuring your character and then Y'stola subsequently saving your behind.

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Limsa intro? Yeah definate leviathan that was epic

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Originally Posted by Judge_Xero

At least it wasn't three MagiTech armors walking through snow for like 5 minutes.

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Did you just diss the greatest FF ever?!

+1 for 1.0 here!

In fact most of the 2.0 questline / cut scene is time sync trash. Only about 10% of it gets you back into the game. I mean... I'm the warrior of light and I just defeated Ifrit, now you need me to deliver some tea?

The Hildebrand line on the other hand was very welcome! Every quest was an important part of the story, the cut scenes were good although comedic and silly, it still matched the story. They need more stuff like this yet on a more serious real game event level.

People who think the intros are bad clearly do not remember how bland WoWs "intros" are or most other MMOs for that matter. I found 2.0s to be better than the majority of MMOs aside from say SWTOR. I played 1.0 only at the start but yeah I agree intros were better but they are not something that spring to my mind when I think of most amazing intros ever. To me in terms of MMO intros it goes SWTOR > 1.0 > 2.0

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Originally Posted by Gerolan

Limsa intro? Yeah definate leviathan that was epic

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The cutscene was epic. The fighting tutorial part of it was lame. Huge awesome Leviathan coming to wreck you! :O ... With his three puny jellyfish minions. :/ At least in Ul'Dah you got to fight the goobbue itself.

They were all still much better than the 2.0 intros, though.

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Originally Posted by Vallug

People who think the intros are bad clearly do not remember how bland WoWs "intros" are or most other MMOs for that matter.

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Thing A being worse than thing B does not mean thing B is good.

Did you know 1.0 made it so that soon as you enter, as in gain control of your character, there was a wild goobbue running amok inside Uldah? And you have figure out by yourself how to use buttons and movement in that exact minute?


That was awesome.


2.0 is lame and boring. You just chat with this guy in the wagon, who might be a pedophile with his smile.

Hehehe, well, as a Legacy Player, my cutscene involved me "teleporting" back into Eorzea much like in the CG video on the title screen. ;o I didn't have this cart cutscene you speak of.


hehehe

It went exactly like this, except I started in Gridania. ;o

Short and sweet.

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Originally Posted by Bixby

Thing A being worse than thing B does not mean thing B is good.

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Acting like 2.0 intros are the worst intros ever is a little bit of an overstatement.

The leveling experience 1-34 is horrendous. Story sucks until Garuda even.

Well... if any of you felt a little nostalgic, you can download the old 1.0 benchmark. It has the complete opening intro for Limsa Lominsa. Too bad we don't have any for Gridania. Uldah however, was showcased as demo display on Sony television brands for some time on local electronic stores.

This is the real opening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBfIFgxf2sw

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Originally Posted by Gerolan

I wouldn't say its awful just not dramatic, it could use a few tweaks to bump up the drama in them, to be less peaceful but regardless they are still beautiful looks wise

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It is kinda odd to say it isn't dramatic, it starts off mellow and peaceful but then in all three something happens, LL the ship is attacked, Grida an arrow is fired at the old man the the Ixal attack and with Ulda you get pulled over for possible smuggling I believe but then the beastmen attack and they are forced to take action.

I think the opening portrays a rather nice mix between peacefulness that the people of Eorzea yearn for and then the cruel reality of the land which they live in which is filled with quite a bit of hostility.

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Originally Posted by Airget

It is kinda odd to say it isn't dramatic, it starts off mellow and peaceful but then in all three something happens, LL the ship is attacked, Grida an arrow is fired at the old man the the Ixal attack and with Ulda you get pulled over for possible smuggling I believe but then the beastmen attack and they are forced to take action.

I think the opening portrays a rather nice mix between peacefulness that the people of Eorzea yearn for and then the cruel reality of the land which they live in which is filled with quite a bit of hostility.

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Ok I will reword it, it's not as interactive drama wise, in 1.0 you were literally chucked in at the deep end, with the goobue for ul'dah and leviathan intro for limsa with the mobs to kill, it's a lot more interactive than 2.0s but as I also said I still love the new ones just aren't as dramatic z:)

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Originally Posted by Gerolan

Ok I will reword it, it's not as interactive drama wise, in 1.0 you were literally chucked in at the deep end, with the goobue for ul'dah and leviathan intro for limsa with the mobs to kill, it's a lot more interactive than 2.0s but as I also said I still love the new ones just aren't as dramatic z:)

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You must have some tolerance. I cant wait to button mash thru that ridiculous unskippable CS.

The only reason I wish I could skip through the 2.0 cut scenes is because I've watched them so much (especially the Gridanian one) since Phase 2 of beta. But, both are good. I do admit that I preferred 1.0 a little bit more, but that was the only thing I will say that I like 1.0 over 2.0

That Leviathan leaping over the ship... Just... wow.

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Originally Posted by MorbidAngel

This is the real opening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBfIFgxf2sw

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Funny how that opening has such a focus on Odin and Behemoth when those Fates ended up being so minimal....

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Originally Posted by Gaddes

Funny how that opening has such a focus on Odin and Behemoth when those Fates ended up being so minimal....

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Well you get Behemoth in CT as well, I'm sure at some point we will see Odin in a dungeon of some design.

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Originally Posted by Vallug

People who think the intros are bad clearly do not remember how bland WoWs "intros" are or most other MMOs for that matter.

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At least you can skip the opening cinematics in WoW with a single hit of ESC. Not so for XIV. @.@

well I mean.. when you think about it: The start of the game is very peaceful. You are an adventurer going to (enter home city here) and putting your roots down for the first time. then, OH MY GOSH BAD THINGS START TO HAPPEN.

Personally, exciting intros can be misleading.
For example (don't kill me) but the ESO intro and tutorial was like: Oh my gosh! This is so intense
Then you get to the first area and you are like: Oh......Well...This is boring.

Well, the reason the 1.0 introduction cutscene seemed more intense and thrilling was because they were rendered with 1.0's original engine which was designed for that specific task (ala, FFXIII's engine Crystal Tools, and we all know how FFXIII was virtually one long cutscene with some fighting in it ;)), an engine that could render cutscenes beautifully, but utterly sucked at actually rendering a detailed gameworld, especially one necessary for a MMO.

Hence, the ARR introduction on the carriage/ferry was designed to guide a new player into the game slowly, as well as bring them up to speed with everything that had happened in 1.0, transferring the battle tutorial aspect to after the player arrives in their starting city - a new player starting in 1.0 had literally none of that - they were just dumped straight into the game with no guidance other than some slight tutoring during the initial battle. No explanation as to why they were there, where they were or who these weird characters with the fancy powers are (Thancred, or Y'shtola or Yda and Papalymo), or why the player could hear Susan Calloway singing and see a starshower that no-one else could.

In fact, the 1.0 openings were actually designed with a storyline element in mind that was never actually resolved or revealed (the big revelation that for the first part of the game the player wasn't even experiencing those events - they had actually happened ten years earlier and the player was simply experiencing them through the Echo. This fact was only revealed by main scenario writer and lead translator Fernewahles on the Lore forum and was never actually stated in 1.0 itself, although it seemed that's what the original team had planned on leading up to eventually). Hence, because this story idea has been removed, plus the Archons don't show up until much later (as well as the whole meteor shower/Echo scene), accordingly a more subdued introduction was used to guide the player in without overburdening them with info. .

The only thing that I feel could have been added and would have improved on the starting scene's experience, was the fact the intro seemed was going to have a quick tutorial battle against beastmen when the carriage/ferry was attacked (just like 1.0's opening had), but unfortunately it doesn't happen. Personally I think it would have added to the experience (and in actual fact, considering the player can only choose from a Disciple of War or Magic at the start, it seems like this was in fact even considered, but ultimately dropped). Ah well.

They need to add a skip button to that intro, at least for people who already have characters in the server.

My favourite part about the intro, besides how unskippable it is, is when you are asked if you are new to the city. If you answer that no, you are not new... the NPC ignores you and makes you go through the city lore dump anyway.

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Originally Posted by Judge_Xero

At least it wasn't three MagiTech armors walking through snow for like 5 minutes.

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That's the best openin sequence of any game ever in my opinion!

I loved the original XIV intros. The Limsa CS always gave me goosebumps :3

Agreed with the 2.0 intro. It's... rather lackluster, by any real standards for an FF game. 1.0 was definitely something to behold at the time. Especially if you're a tech nut, it was a great means to test your computers hardware (benchmark is obviously better though). The main thing about ARR storytelling is that they're kind of afraid to REALLY invest into it. Yeah, they clearly spend time on it and enjoy what they do (we wouldn't have things like Hildebrandt again if they didn't), but it's very rushed. It's the same sort of feel that stories have when they're only thought about episodically, rather than as a complete project. What if Orson Scott Card had only thought about the story for Ender's Game bit by bit and released it in that episodic format? I sincerely doubt it would have been the same highly acclaimed book it is today.

We get very cliche storylines and very few meaningful plights about the world because there's no drive to go beyond. "X monster killed my family and I want revenge", "some strange entity has inhabited the sacred ruins", etc. Why should we care about these things at all? Because it gives us a reward to use? NO! As far as successful storytelling is concerned, we should sympathize with the characters and have an idea about why it's important to them (or the games world) that help be gotten. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen easily for most of us when we're just sent on generic fetch quests in a fast-paced fashion for NPCs that we will never meet again and have absolutely no backstory to.

That's why certain storylines in this game, like with Edda, are memorable. Time is invested to give these generic characters a story (or history) for the reader to relate to or sympathize with.

i'm amazed, mostly because most of the complain are not funded. indeed the intro is peacefull... it's the peace after all, no empire that attack the city, some small scale battle with the beastman and only in some small area.
the 1.0 was more active but at the same time... less interesting for the story, it was giving nothing as information about the world. you was simply drop into your city after this small fight and tha all.

the 2.0 is peacefull because it's the peace. if the story evolve into a full scale war it will change but for now... exept the beastmen at the start, the empire are simply not active. it become active after we do finish the city quest line. they take time to explain the world to the newcomer. it's slow, yep, but at the start do we really need to see battle against big monster when our character have something like 3 skill?