Eternal Optimists of FFXIV may be its key to success

Honestly I have played a lot of MMO's and I don't think any MMO has ever had the number of eternal optimists that FFXIV has.

1. When the beta first came out a bunch of people criticized it. Surplus is stupid, the world is too plain, the races are ugly, the story missions suck, the ui fails, theres no ah, etc.
But all the eternal optimists jumped to defend the game, stating that its just a beta and only 30% of the actual world. The UI was only laggy because they were testing it + would be perfect on official release. The market wards would work great with lots of people playing. etc.

2. Game is released EXACTLY like the open beta.
And then the eternal optimists come in. "Oh there will be a patch by next week". "People just don't understand the random SP system", "in a month 5 new zones will open up and we will have companies and everything"

3. Few months go by, game hasn't improved, people demanding an AH, Party Seek, Chocobos and Airships, and more content for gatherers + crafters. Tanaka releases the new plan for companies and hamlet battles, etc.
Optimists immediately state that the game will be fixed by early january.

dev teams change.

Optimists: "New dev team! they will fix the game in a month, we will get party seek, an ah, jump, hamlet battles, better transportation, etc.

Months go by, each patch optimists are saying how its just the beginning and everything will be fixed in the next patch. They defend the coblyn grinding system as a "great system for sp'ing" and when that changes to leve-linking and failing they describe that as "an intended feature since its a trade off, and a perfect way to level". No matter what, the game is always great and going to get better.

So far we don't have:
An AH
Chocobos or Airships
A sustainable economy with a real gil sink
new zones other than instances
hamlet battles
a redesign of the black shroud
the ability to change our hair (which we were promised at release)
a properly functioning way to get sp
crafting and gathering have now been delegated to support jobs and no longer seem to matter.
quests are still fail
etc....

Now i'm not complaining, I'm just pointing out there are tons of people who are now saying "This is just the beginning, now patches will be released faster and the game will be win shortly"

I'm not saying this is bad. But honestly, the people on these forums are insanely optimistic. The game can fail over and over and over and over and over and many will still defend it and say it will be amazing within 2 months. Now sometimes this leads to some really annoying white knighting. But for the most part i think this is a HUGE BENEFIT to this game.

Optimistic people are what this game needs, because it will ensure that the game will never fail on its face. So Optimists, please stay optimistic and thank you for your amazing abilities at optimisim :]

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Originally Posted by Azurymber

I'm not saying this is bad. But honestly, the people on these forums are insanely optimistic. The game can fail over and over and over and over and over and many will still defend it and say it will be amazing within 2 months. Now sometimes this leads to some really annoying white knighting. But for the most part i think this is a HUGE BENEFIT to this game.

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Personally, there's no doubt in my mind FFXIV will be a good game some day. It's only a matter of when, which at this rate, it may be another year.

I remain optimistic about this game but I don't think its great. I can see the potential the game has and am willing to stick around until its dead and burried whether that be 15 years from now or 5 months. I do however feel that 1.18 and all its rights and wrongs is just the begining of the changes for the better.

Yoshi just needs to start picking and choosing which crowd he listens too and how he puts that info to work in Eorzea because most of the bad this game has seen recently was due to the complaints from people who complain just to complain and not those who put valid reasoning behind their complaints and the rushed implementation to remedy these complaints.

I tell my friends all the time that this game will be good one day and that if they are willing to join me in the proccess of sideline cheerleading then i will welcome them but if not I will keep them posted on when they should grab a copy of the game.

What you say is true though, aslong as alot of people remain optimistic this game will never completely die off, it will fight and fight until it can stand tall along with other games of this gen.

I'm not who you're talking about, but overall I'm an optimist including about this game. I'm also for changing things, changing people's minds, changing the dev team's minds for the better. The people you are talking about accept things as they are no matter what. Eternal..acceptors?

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Originally Posted by Neptune

I'm not who you're talking about, but overall I'm an optimist including about this game. I'm also for changing things, changing people's minds, changing the dev team's minds for the better. The people you are talking about accept things as they are no matter what. Eternal..acceptors?

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Considering all you do is complain you are not an optimist whatsoever, and your half-baked "fix" ideas are about as bad as it gets. Just because people don't piss and moan about every aspect of the game doesn't make them "acceptors".

its funny that the old republic beta in a much better state than a game thats been out for 10 months

I am an optimist based on all that is reported to be coming by the end of the year, and the new development team's ability to listen to their players. However, I am a little (See: lot) annoyed that they stopped doing polls about future changes. Was that just a gimmick to gain our trust? I sure hope not.

I still complain and criticize each patch. If someone likes a game, they aren't afraid to criticize it so it can get better, and this needs a LOT of criticism. They had better bring those polls back.

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Originally Posted by sirbuzzkillington

its funny that the old republic beta in a much better state than a game thats been out for 10 months

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Don't compare an eastern MMO with a western MMO... come on that's just mean :P

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Originally Posted by Raim

I still complain and criticism each patch. If someone likes a game, they aren't afraid to criticize it so it can get better, and this needs a LOT of criticism. They had better bring those polls back.

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This. If the devs listened to the people who like everything the game would never progress. Of course there needs to be balance, and I admit I've been more unhappy than happy with this patch (collision detection changes were nice), but it is cause I want so badly for this game to be good, not cause I am out to upset people.

We should be optimist with everything, not only on FFXIV.
If you look things in the pessimistic way, other than bringing down the morale of everybody you also tell things that might not be true. Its counterpart, the optimistic, is also affected by this, but brings up the morale.
My tip is: Be optimistic, don't speculate much, because the more you speculate, the more your chance to suffer increases.

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Originally Posted by Raze

Considering all you do is complain you are not an optimist whatsoever, and your half-baked "fix" ideas are about as bad as it gets. Just because people don't piss and moan about every aspect of the game doesn't make them "acceptors".

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This is going to be fun. I hope you stay in here to have a discussion without running away. Pick one of my fix ideas and then explain to me step by step why it is bad for the game. Also I'm confused by your definition of acceptance.. Take for instance, this patch. It changed a lot of things. What are your feelings about it? Do you accept the changes? Do you reject them? Or are you saying you dislike aspects of the game but you would like to not complain about it?

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Originally Posted by Neptune

This is going to be fun. I hope you stay in here to have a discussion without running away. Pick one of my fix ideas and then explain to me step by step why it is bad for the game. Also I'm confused by your definition of acceptance.. Take for instance, this patch. It changed a lot of things. What are your feelings about it? Do you accept the changes? Do you reject them? Or are you saying you dislike aspects of the game but you would like to not complain about it?

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Sorry man I don't have all night on a Saturday to argue with the local emoqueen, but when your post says "MAGE STRIKE" and you post a text wall of QQ it's not helping anyone, no matter how much you delude yourself. You've been on forums ever since post came out with the "waaaaaah" and expecting to make everyone all "outraged" over points you haven't even thought out. Do yourself a favor this Saturday night and try to make some RL friends instead of complaining about a video game because it's really really sad.

I don't stick around to argue because you're not worth it, but telling you how weak you are every once in a while makes me feel great ^^

I'm going drinking, have fun with the pathetitrolling because it's working out really well for you.

So I decided to reroll on another server since the one I'm currently on is still pretty dead.

Let's just say that leveling after this patch has been the singular most depressing experience I have ever had in a videogame, period.

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Originally Posted by Verecund

So I decided to reroll on another server since the one I'm currently on is still pretty dead.

Let's just say that leveling after this patch has been the singular most depressing experience I have ever had in a videogame, period.

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yeah... I feel you.

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Originally Posted by Neptune

I'm not who you're talking about, but overall I'm an optimist including about this game. I'm also for changing things, changing people's minds, changing the dev team's minds for the better. The people you are talking about accept things as they are no matter what. Eternal..acceptors?

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Bingo!

I've long been of the mind that is the critics who have made the game better. If it wasn't for people pushing for change, the game would be in roughly the same state it was back in September because the "eternal acceptors" are entirely happy making excuses to allow the game to remain as it is. Many of the major changes, including jumping, collision detection, auto MP-regen, elimination of fatigue, Ward search functions and easier equipment repair were roundly scoffed at by the "optimists" (because you're just a "hater" and you don't understand and appreciate the game as it is and you're impatient).

The critics kept pushing, and the changes kept coming, even while people said, "Oh, it's fine, it's manageable, you're just casual, you just want easymode WoW clones."

I'm not content with the game in it's current state or the pace of the dev team. But I AM pleased with the changes being made, changes that are direct responses to criticisms many of us have had since the beginning. People like you, Sharptalon or trinta have done far more to benefit this game than the "eternal acceptors".

Hmm, I don't think so. The fanboys will love this game, even though deep down they know it sucks. The devs need to hear what is wrong with this game without people blindly defending it. It's not going to get better that way.

I will check out FFXIV if/when I'm bored with SWTOR or TERA. Hopefully it will be a good game by then. I'd love to just start all over in a few years and pretend the game is new and that the past year never happened.

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Originally Posted by Raze

I don't stick around to argue because because I can't win, but showing off how weak I am every once in a while makes me feel great ^^

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There, fixed that for you.

Do you know why the forum is moving nowadays? Because 70% of people happy with the game never posted. Like me. Only that 30% used to post and complain. Look at how many posts many loving th patch have. And look the quantity of those hating it. I personally just thought that the game needed more content for all lvls and playstyles. It's ff for godsake. We want story and graphics and voice over. They messed the core of the game which Wasn't complaining, to please the 30% complaining. Now the damn forum became 100% complain from all sides. Good job SE

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Originally Posted by Neptune

I'm not who you're talking about, but overall I'm an optimist including about this game. I'm also for changing things, changing people's minds, changing the dev team's minds for the better. The people you are talking about accept things as they are no matter what. Eternal..acceptors?

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Thiiiiiiiis. The game has so much potential. And in my opinion, every patch has pushed it a little closer to meeting that potential. So I'm convinced that this will be a great game given enough time. But how much time is that?

I think their priorities for what to patch first are a little out of whack - limiting our guild marks before increasing the number of leves offering those marks being the most recent example. The game needs more content before it needs tweaks to its current content. Nerfing guildleves in favour of raids is fine for DoW/DoM.. but guess what, that's less than half the classes in the game.

Sorry, this is getting tangential. I really just meant to say I'm all about keeping the positivity, but don't throw out the constructive criticism. It's easy to dismiss complaints as whining, but more often than not, there's a point to be taken from it.

I actually know a good amount of people waiting for a few more of Yoshida-P's patches before buying the game :P