An honest suggestion to improve FFXIV music

I really enjoy FFXIV's soundtrack -- it's great and this is undeniable.

I remember when I first heard "Thunderer" (Lahabrea/Twintania track,) I was so into the music. Now, I can't stand the song. In fact, I have the exact opposite sentiment to the song now. When the song starts up the feeling is akin to chewing on rusty nails.

There's a philosophy in radio that you can actually shorten the lifespan of a great song if you play it too often. And, it is inevitable that eventually people will bore of a song after they've listened to it too much.

Unfortunately, FFXIV kills all of its great tracks incredibly quickly but forcing players to loop the same song over and over during the many hours they spend in the game.

FFXIV's music would be a lot more powerful and engaging if people weren't forced to burn out of the same song literally within the first few hours of attempting a new encounter (the same can be said for that main battle theme that plays over and over in every zone, city themes that loop etc etc...)

Here's my suggestion: a jukebox function. Allow players, through the UI, a function where they can unlock and choose with background music they want to listen to. Maybe even create a playlist? A reward, for example, of defeating Ramuh could be the option to now play his song through the jukebox wherever in Eorzea you'd like.

I hesitate to say this too, knowing people's knee jerk reactions to fan service and micro transactions, but you could even include the ability to purchase and add songs from previous FF titles into your jukebox.

I honestly think that with the proper development and implementation this could turn into a feature that would give FFXIV a very unique feel to any other MMORPG out there while breathing life into the many tracks that FFXIV and other Final Fantasies have to offer.

The 'cycle' of music was one reason GW2 had no hope of winning me over with its soundtrack.
To me, an area, encounter, etc. needs a specific theme. The music needs to be as much a part of defining that portion of the game as anything else. Once the music ceases to be fixed, the game starts to all run together and lose a large part of what makes it memorable, in my eyes.

We do need a way to mute the bloody battle and fate music though. That already has the unfortunate affect of causing everything to become muddled and starts to kill off the uniqueness of each area...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dark-Saviour

The 'cycle' of music was one reason GW2 had no hope of winning me over with its soundtrack.
To me, an area, encounter, etc. needs a specific theme. The music needs to be as much a part of defining that portion of the game as anything else. Once the music ceases to be fixed, the game starts to all run together and lose a large part of what makes it memorable, in my eyes.

We do need a way to mute the bloody battle and fate music though. That already has the unfortunate affect of causing everything to become muddled and starts to kill off the uniqueness of each area...

---

Well, this could be an "unlockable" feature. After you've played through the area with the default music, you would have the option of playing what you want to listen to. I don't agree that forcing players to listen to the same theme over and over again adds any sort of uniqueness. Players generally just mute the BGM at that point and put music on in the background.

I turned off the music after the first 2 weeks of playing. The combat music got really annoying, and the fate song got aggravating, specially once your start your atma farm.

I just throw on my own music now in the background, Metallica during Titan = epicness. :D

One of the biggest issues is the reuse of coil music in second coil. I know coil is supposed to be a "theme" however music has to have quite a bit of variations in it and give it a different feel per area. Now I believe Soken and his team are very talented; they bring some incredible tracks and give life to fights like primals. However, I do think they need to take a page from his dragon-dragoon days and add variations in the tracks to make them feel different but have the same theme intact.


Composing music is a tough job, but I will agree that there does need to be new tracks, variations, or the ability for us to choose the music we hear in game. Alternatively they could remix a bunch of music from other FF(s) and use them as alternative tracks for us to listen to in game if they gave us the option to change the music per fight.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DenariusJay

I just throw on my own music now in the background, Metallica during Titan = epicness. :D

---

Heresy !
Weight of the land can't be replaced by cheap metal !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmBU8eUWREU

I'd like to turn combat music off too.. Its not that its bad but I'd ---much--- rather listen to one song consistently and moreover I like the zone's songs more. Walk into an area with enchanted music you love, get random aggro, -sigh-..

Let us turn off the battle music or something lol. Overworld battle music turned off on monsters approximately easy / even match, for big fights overworld sure add it back but 90% of the fights are not. More battle musics would help, remix the old FF battles for FATEs? But a lot of times it is just the fact that I hear the music chopped up because 2 second monster fight, switched mini zones so music changes, 2 second monster fight, new zone, mini zone, monster -- I don't get time to enjoy a song XD.

Juke box would be cool too though, I thought they said they were adding it? Or was that just for housing.

The way I see it, the only way for in-game music to remain entertaining is to have like ten major variations of each song chosen at random when entering a zone or battle. If the devs could do that it would be great but that's a very tall order.

There are internet radio stations with 1,000+ song playlists with a constant stream of new material plus special programming on weekends. I've been listening to one through a year of FFXIV and it never gets old.

I would love this feature for the big areas we spend a lot of time in (the big cities, Mor Dhona etc).

Battle/Fate/Coil/Primal music need their theme to start working on that nostalgia.

I am one of those people who is deeply disappointed with city and area music. FFXI's music was just too good I guess (Ru'lude Gardens, Hall of Gods, Mhaura etc).

I can totally see how they suprise us with such a feature. Would be awesome.

The combat music in Coerthas and Mor Dhona are very good examples of music I absolutely can't stand anymore (and I don't visit either of those areas very often at all). Oh, and that horrible (non battle) music in the Sylphlands (thanks to my BF for going afk there all the time with the dumb music going).

As things stand, I have music off in the game now by default. That's kind of sad, when you think about it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dark-Saviour

We do need a way to mute the bloody battle and fate music though.

---

Music such as "Hard to Miss" (the normal Notorious Monster FATE music) and "Torn from the Heavens" (the final tier music for many of the multi-tier FATES and for really hard ones like "The Eyes Have it" and "Go, Go, Gorgimera") is some of the best music in the game. They're two of my favorite tracks.

For me, they need to write unique music for all the dungeons, including unique trash mob combat music. That's where it gets exceptionally repetitive, imho.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lololink

Heresy !
Weight of the land can't be replaced by cheap metal !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmBU8eUWREU

---

Indeed. The Primals that have dynamic music based on what phase you're on are awesome.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DenariusJay

I just throw on my own music now in the background, Metallica during Titan = epicness. :D

---

I don't think I could turn off Titan's music, I use it too much for timing.

I remember when they made a change to XI that forced everyone who was in the party to listen to the battle music when you engaged a monster. Oh, the uproar! Prior to that, mages who never had to actually engage the monster had a quiet, relaxing fight listening to the beautiful soundtrack in Caedarva Mire or wherever.

I would like to turn off battle music as well (and FATE). If the soundtrack were better (and I'm not saying its bad, just if it were better) it wouldn't be an issue, but in its current state, it is. Some dungeons are downright obnoxious (read: all lower level ones) because of that horrible battle music that never ends. Epic songs have lost their "epicness" because I'm starting to hear them shoehorned into lesser events. It's better than it was when the game released but it lacks something that other games have\have had and that's surprising considering the legacy of Final Fantasy music.

I also understand where the op is coming from with the thought that some of the music literally makes you sick. I clocked more hours into XI during the last five years I played than I will probably do in XIV over the next 10, and to this day I'd probably only skip the San'doria theme. There's already a boatload here I turn the speakers off for.

"looping music" you must be new to video games... ;)

honestly, i would love this option. ive never heard the primal battle songs, because after a couple weeks, i got so tired of the music that i dont even know what my character sounded like as a lala after my first phantasia, and i dont know what she sounds like after becoming a femroe. the onlt time i turn the volum up, is when im creating the character and im deciding the voice, after that, my tv is mute again. id rather listen to j-pop, k-pop, or some metal than the BGM presented in this game, although i do turn the volume up and go afk in limsa for the theme thats going now, not sure if it came with moonfire or the rising, but i love it, i would gladly pay to be able to listen to it whenever i wanted to, as it will most likely be gone forever once the event is over.

the issue is just that the music we ahve to listen to usually isnt all that great. ive put months of time into ffX and i never turned the volume down, and i could listen to that battle theme in the omega ruins forever, or going to any of the temples. hell, i left the screen up at final screen saying "the end" for 3 hours just to listen to that song.

i never got bored of the music in ffxi so maybe that means the music in this game isnt so great afterall. and i spent hours upon hours in jeuno/whitegate waiting while lfg and those themes never got old to me. though to be honest the music in ffxi was probally designed to be listned to for longer periods of time. the only good music in this game to me is coerthas wilds,praetorium,ramuh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Rzo_Rju_I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-CEfMytkUg

I can understand your frustrations/ annoyance with some of the music themes used throughout the game. I don't know if it's so much because they're:

1) short loop and fairly unmemorable
2) hearing it too much and too frequently
3) because you associate them with a bad experience(s) in the content they belong to.

In the case of #1, I'm afraid there's not much that can be done on the older content that's reasonable for the dev team. Aside from let them know that the playerbase isn't satisfied with the quality of some themes. Personally, I feel like Ifrit's theme is a bland, generic, "OMG a big boss" that is made even worse by the themes of every other single primal. While short, non-looped themes like Pharos Sirius and The Floating City of Nym area actually sound beautiful yet we hear it for less than a minute. #2 can go hand-in-hand with #1; I loved the creepy vibe of Tam-Tara's HM, Hullbreaker was refreshing, but then you get Stone Vigil HM.... Like, the lower level dungeons theme all over again. Nobody in my 1st party there missed it. #3 is really a mileage may vary sort of issue, but I know I loath Titan's theme simply because of the mechanical pattern-driven nightmare I have to associate it with.

Am I the only one who thinks the music in this game is amazing?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DenariusJay

I just throw on my own music now in the background, Metallica during Titan = epicness. :D

---

Nope. Soken > greedy middle aged has beens

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Memento

Am I the only one who thinks the music in this game is amazing?

---

No, you aren't.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Memento

Am I the only one who thinks the music in this game is amazing?

---

how can something so vastly inferior to FFXI's music be considered amazing?

its like someone saying the phantom mence is amazing when what came before it was superior

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cidel

Personally, I feel like Ifrit's theme is a bland, generic, "OMG a big boss" that is made even worse by the themes of every other single primal.

---

You don't like music from Nobue Uematsu (Ifrit theme)? Blasphemy ^^

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zoeila

how can something so vastly inferior to FFXI's music be considered amazing?

its like someone saying the phantom mence is amazing when what came before it was superior

---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72Mqf2KBBEc (still in ARR)

I'd support a jukebox function.

Or at the very least, something that would allow us to disable the music easily without having to go to the change setting window. For example, in another game I play, you can disable the background music simply by entering "control+M" on your keyboard, press it again and the music turns back on. Go into an area with music you don't like? A simple keyboard press and it turns off, leave the area to someplace else with music you do like, turn it back on, without having to go to an seperate window, leaving the action on screen.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Felis

You don't like music from Nobue Uematsu (Ifrit theme)? Blasphemy

---

Well, he isn't wrong, primal judgement is really generic, but I think it was suppose to be the theme of all the primal battles, not only ifrit's.

if it's not by Uematsu...it isn't final fantasy xc

So you're saying all final fantasy made after FFIX are not final fantasy?

I would love if we could..

1. Disable battle music with the option of either "always" or "only during aggro, music plays once you attack"
2. Disable FATE music
3. Disable repetitive music clips like the clips that play when you accept/turn in a leve

If we could have these options, I'd be so happy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Phyllo

So you're saying all final fantasy made after FFIX are not final fantasy?

---

we all know everything before and including 9 was golden. 12 was quite honestly refreshing after the x/x-ii trash. And then came xiii....why did they do this? T_T

....yh I know, just another guy giving his superfluous opinion on ff series xD

But really tho. Music in 6,7,8,9 was pure magic, truly inspired stuff

Edit: Loled, just noticed I forgot to even mention XI. Which I never played....I heard it has uematsu music though, any1 recommend a particularly nice piece?

Edit 2: I never even posted on topic....

Well 1.0 had uematsu , arr has very little....and tbh music in arr feels rushed , uninspired and generally poor. Feels like bad film music; made by a guy paid to just do a job, theres no heart at all in most of it and disagree if you want but it's plain obvious to me. They naturally can't simply replace all the fluff music now, as it would offend the composer who I cba to even investigate the name of , but I heavily suggest uematsu ONLY from now on. I think it wouldn't be final fantasy ( ....well even less final fantasy xc ) if the battle music did not change in OW, however, adding a list of scores to at least THIS element would go a long way to band aiding the terrible mess that is there, especially if it included some uematsu.

And hey, what's wrong with golden oldies? Add some classics to arr xD

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zoeila

how can something so vastly inferior to FFXI's music be considered amazing?

its like someone saying the phantom mence is amazing when what came before it was superior

---

Funny, because for all its failings, Phantom Menace actually did have good music on-par or exceeding the original trilogy. Duel of the Fates, for example.

Well ARR has some pretty neat pieces too but the problem is;

-Only one battle theme that has very little variations depending on the area, get obnoxious after one year, usually in games, you don't play for so long that's why the music doesn't get that obnoxious and you still have good memories when you listen to them.

-Dungeons have nice themes.... That only plays for one minute and then nothing but another theme that is so repetitive that it easily gets obnoxious.

-Open field has 6 music per area that are tiny loops that only lasts a minute and a few seconds except for Mor Dhona and coerthas who only has one music for each, but when you get one minute of music and 40 minutes of nothingness, well it almost feels like you have no music at all.

-Town has over the top music that makes you feel epic for nothing, sure it's nice the first time you visit the town but do we really need it all the time? (Don't count in night theme, night themes are pretty good)
When compared to their v1 counterpart that were soothing and relaxing, dang their grand company HQ have themes that are not as flamboyant as the city theme, what the hell? Should be the opposite, city: upbeat but somewhat calm and HQ: flamboyant, not the other way around.

-Trials have nice theme tho, okay ifrit's theme is a bit generic but it's still a nice theme

-Coil, nice but too repetitive, only two music for 9 dungeons.... Yaaay (not to mention one of them is a techno remix of answers, and techno can easily get on the nerves for some)

-Bastions, awesome music but... They come from v1 and thus made by nobuo and his gang, not soken

-Tribe towns, nice music but again, nobuo & co or remixes of nobuo & co

So yeah, in the end, soken made good musics and "bad" musics, the problem is that you hear the "bad" one very frequently while the good ones are rarely heard.

And no, ARR has many nobuo, the boss themes for examples and some special battle theme, but they come from v1 so they're not new themes.

And X is one of my favorites actually, I liked the sphere grid system and the music made by hamauzu and nakano, the ost fits well with X's universe (some game have awesome ost that doesn't fit the game at all xD)

IMO, a good ost is not one that has theme that are so awesome that you remember them even after ages but one that fits the game and the situations so well it creates memories so awesome you can't forget the tune that goes with it, for example, Parasite Eve's, it's battle theme is just a simple piano with some industrial-ish percussions that gives it a mysterious side and some weird guitar line that is a bit disturbing, the result doesn't really sound like a battle theme and yet fits the battles in game so well just because it fits the ambiance of the game/place you fight in.
hard to have found memories of ARR's Hollywood like battle theme when the random fights are so bland :/
On the other hand, the calm and sad music that plays in the lost city of amdapor fits so well the place and had such a nice time the first time I ran it that I have fond memories of it.

Do you get what I mean?

However, they're fixing that, like I said earlier, they're doing a nice job on the new dungeons, tam Tara's creepy music fits the creepy place, hull's upbeat one fits the treasure hunting ambiance and stone... Well... Don't know what happened there... Doesn't fit at all but wuhevah xD

Tl;dr, themes are either played for only a sec and making it feel like inexistent and/or are not fitting well with where and when they play

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sessurea

/snip

---

This is purely your opinion. Not fact.

If you want my personal opinion... I really have a dislike for FF6 and 7. Waaaay too much hype from the gaming/FF community of these two games. Personally didn't find them as inspiring as everyone else did...

Now FFIV what a truly epic and amazing game, feel, music, storyline! Same with FFX!!! So beautiful! Love stories <3 and of course the ever wonderful great FFIX! (of course I'm a SMN junky and all Summoner related story lines are usually my favorite.) And I'll let you know right now FFX-2 is an amazing game to me! I loved it! The music, the job system, the story (I felt FFX greatly did deserve a sequel.) It was the Final Fantasy that got me into FF. Yes FFX-2 was my first FF game ever!!! (long story short, strict religious parents growing up that sheltered me from games like this...)

Say what you will, but I adore Uematsu's work, but he isn't god. Soken has brought some amazing work to the table, and so did Naoshi Mizuta from FFXI gosh that game had some truly epic music! One of my favorite pieces in XIV:ARR so far is Fallen Angel by Soken <3 probably my favorite song so far... well that and The Lost City of Amdapor's theme.

Sorry just un-nerves me somewhat to see people act like if it isn't Uematsu, it's trash! No... just no...

(HS) wait a sec... Your religious parents let you play a game that booes religion? That's.. Nuts xD

Edit (daily limit)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Yamimarik

Is that all you got out of my post >.>..... and no they wouldn't allow me to play games like Final Fantasy b/c of magic/monster/etc. related themes.

---

Nope nope I just don't have anything to add to what you said that had real connection to the thread that's why I did not said anything about it, I just completely agree :3

Oooh I see, so magic and monsters is not okay but boo-ing religion and killing god is okay? (Just messing with you xD)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Phyllo

(HS) wait a sec... Your religious parents let you play a game that booes religion? That's.. Nuts xD

---

Is that all you got out of my post >.>..... and no they wouldn't allow me to play games like Final Fantasy b/c of magic/monster/etc. related themes.
EDIT:

I think I might have left too much out of my story lol. No I didn't play even FFX-2 until I lived with my grandparents (started living with them the year it came out.) So I never got to play any Final Fantasy or FF-esqe type game while living with my parents XD. (Not until they finally stopped being religious.)

I didn't agree with this thread at first, but after reading through the pages I realize the soundtrack is indeed a little flawed...

I really do love this game's music - the shroud themes, Limsa and Ul'dah at night, some of the more dramatic fight themes, etc - every song and area theme is made to fit, but there is a problem with the repetition...and even worse, how short some tracks are. Before I can even allow myself to get wrapped up in the beauty of the piano melody that plays when entering the shroud, it's over! I think that's very silly.

After thinking about FFXI, I realize how different the OST really is. I used to think that the lack of area music was a problem, but now I'm sure that's something that made the soundtrack so memorable, because it wasn't overkill in a game people play hours and hours on end. I remember going back recently to the CoP soundtrack and literally crying over Currents of Time (DONT JUDGE ME!)...lol. There was something about the variety and uniqueness of each area and situation's music that made the tracks nostalgic and memorable.

I'm not sure I agree with a jukebox feature though? Not that I wouldn't use it if it was implemented, but I feel like that's a cheap fix as opposed to adding new tracks for variety...we should love what the composers have created, not try to cover up what tracks we don't like.