FFXIV's Future

There's an interesting article over on MassivelyOP today that talks about how this game may end. Not story-wise, but in general. It used FFXI as a comparison, a game that is still around but is in a quiet maintenance mode.

And it got me thinking.

According to the forums, of course, this game is terrible and in real danger of dying despite the fact that the real world outside of these forums objectively goes against that grim assessment. (The game keeps wracking up awards and more importantly, is still growing in population, as the article points out. Which is the only metric that really matters.)

Now, these forums are not unique in its negativity. Pretty much all games, specifically MMOs, have pretty awful forum communities. The only other MMO I've played that had a decent forum community was LOTRO, but that was a long time ago. I have no idea how their forums might be today. (That truly was a great community, though. From top to bottom.)

And here's the point. I read a lot on here about how the game is too easy, how SE isn't really trying anymore, etc. Yet on the forums and subreddits of other MMOs, such as WoW and ESO, they consistently praise FFXIV's accessibility. They do complain about features being locked behind the story, but they give the game high marks for not being raid-focused and for having dungeons that are relatively easy to complete.

But that relative ease of the game is exactly what people here complain about. The very things that have made FFXIV the current market leader are the things people here would like to see changed. Which honestly makes me very grateful none of you are running SE :D

I am curious, though. Based on everything I've read here, what do you really want to see in FFXIV's future? Keeping in mind that everything they've done up to this point has REVERSED the trend that FFXI followed in terms of hitting a downward slope after the fourth expansion. Shadowbringers brought more people to the game.

But what would you change that would honestly help the game overall? Not just for a subset of hardcore players?

You have remember the people that complain on forums are in reality a very very very small part of the community. Majority of the people are just playing the game and finding enjoyment in these things. The only thing I say they should fix some of the future is the criterion dungeon rewards there's limited replayability vs WoW mythic + which scales infinite and can reward pieces that are raid quality. Do I think they need reward gear no, but maybe make it a scaling thing as well and reward a transmog set and weapon for getting so high.

I always do find that interesting that alot of people like to say "FFXIV needs to be like WoW or (Insert game here)". But then the people on those games Praise FFXIV for what it does.
(But of course point out things that can be improved)

Personally for me, I dont want the game to become more hardcore, but at the same time I think, and would like there to be more Tank and Healer Responsibility.
Id love more mechanics tailored to them to diversify the fights abit. Also I cant believe Im saying this,...but different arena shapes, and mechanics to go with that.
I cant say if this would hurt or improve the game, but thats something Id like in the future, even with just EX / Savage Content

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Originally Posted by Lium

But that relative ease of the game is exactly what people here complain about. The very things that have made FFXIV the current market leader are the things people here would like to see changed. Which honestly makes me very grateful none of you are running SE :D

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Gotta be careful how you phrase things, people will assume you haven't given the Threads a chance, and see that everyone here has their own opinions.

and the majority if the subjective topics, everyone isnt on the same grounds.
Be fully for/against/middle/no horse in the race.

Topic is too broad to actively say what one can improve..,
Most of it is just debating how it should be done/could.

Honestly for me I don’t mind much of the same. From what I understand the game is still doing extremely well so I don’t imagine they would make any significant changes.

The only thing I’d really like for classes to more ways to actively support the party like we used to have lol, like Bard’s Foe Requiem or Scholar’s Fey Wind.

Personally I also don’t think there’s any issue with ‘accessibility’ or ‘simplicity’, or otherwise ‘easy’ things. I’m more interested in whether it’s fun or not lol. Though I can’t say whether I’m alone or not in that. I do think it’d be fun if they released some ‘high difficulty’ normal fights, like for the last fight in a normal raid for example, but I don’t think there’s a major issue with difficulty in general/normal content (i.e expert roulettes, alliance raids, Pandemonium etc)

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Originally Posted by Zanarkand-Ronso

I always do find that interesting that alot of people like to say "FFXIV needs to be like WoW or (Insert game here)". But then the people on those games Praise FFXIV for what it does.
(But of course point out things that can be improved)

Personally for me, I dont want the game to become more hardcore, but at the same time I think, and would like there to be more Tank and Healer Responsibility.
Id love more mechanics tailored to them to diversify the fights abit. Also I cant believe Im saying this,...but different arena shapes, and mechanics to go with that.
I cant say if this would hurt or improve the game, but thats something Id like in the future, even with just EX / Savage Content

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I do think healer needs something to do when everyone is topped off, a 2 button dps rotation with a proc chance and dot might be nice or idk something.

IMO entertaining as this game is from a story/lore standpoint I cannot really call this an RPG due to nearly every staple RPG mechanic being stripped from it combined with job role homogenization and excessive simplification of duty designs to supposedly make the game more "accessible". As it stands now 4 player duties feel like I've already played them before when doing them the first time after a content update adds them. Follow the 1 path. Kill 2 trash packs then boss then 2 more trash packs then boss then the last 2 trash packs then last boss. 8 Player raids have just turned into a 2nd set of 8 player trials. The mechanical creativity we saw back in ARR has all but disappeared.

FFXI is still around despite being just over 20 years old. Despite being intentionally made "difficult" in order to promote more player interaction within the game. It retained nearly every staple RPG mechanic seen in the FF series (missing things being stuff like casting raise on undead to instantly kill them) while adding it's own quirks to some enemies like causing bomb type enemies to immediately attempt to self destruct if you cast magic on them twice that matches the element of the game's day or the infamous tonberry rancor used for Everyone's Grudge/Everyone's Rancor. It also featured horizontal progression with expansions and content updates that expanded the player's options for builds while keeping gear relevant for end game content exponentially longer than what we have in FFXIV. Jobs weren't as homogenized in FFXI because the enemies in the game had variable resistances, weaknesses, and immunities that could create different opportunities for each job to shine.

IMO when they finally do retire FFXI completely it needs to be done after another MMO entry to the FF series is made that puts the RPG back into MMORPG. Keeping the mechanics and options of FFXI but providing a new story/world, updated graphics (FFXI was originally a PS2 game afterall), and an updated interface. The other thing that's been weighing on my mind in regards to SE's MMO online ventures as they've had multiple going at the same time for awhile with paid subs is the thought that they should drop the individual title subs and just do something like an SE Online subscription that covers access for all their online titles. From their current catalog that would essentially be FFXI, FFXIV, and DQX. Possibly include other random things for other titles like a free random legendary item in Outriders each month. Doing something like that could possibly finally get the green light for DQX to become officially available outside of Japan and maybe get us a new Front Mission Online game.

TBH I don't feel like WoW should be seen as the "standard" for MMORPGs. The game wasn't bad. (though design choices done during expansions causing large drops in player base seem to hint periods where it was actually bad). However I feel like it's rise to popularity was more of a win for the Blizzard marketing department who bought up nearly every magazine and website ad space they could get their hands on, flooded TV with celebrity commercials, and flooded stores with WoW merch. It was literally like it was being forced down people's throats.

I think that eventually, every MMO suffers from expansions gouging the main game, ultimately leading to it being unable to compete with newer games. At that point, you theoretically have to decide to say, "Okay, let's stop here and produce Final Fantasy 17 Online. We'll take everything we learned from 14 and put it into this up 2 date game." However, if you tried to explain that to higher ups, they would laugh in your face for even suggesting putting the company at risk when the game is still popular. I'm not trying to suggest that Final Fantasy 14 is going to die because I definitely don't think that's true. However, resources will just be spent somewhere else.

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Originally Posted by drtasteyummy

I think that eventually, every MMO suffers from expansions gouging the main game, ultimately leading to it being unable to compete with newer games. At that point, you theoretically have to decide to say, "Okay, let's stop here and produce Final Fantasy 17 Online. We'll take everything we learned from 14 and put it into this up 2 date game." However, if you tried to explain that to higher ups, they would laugh in your face for even suggesting putting the company at risk when the game is still popular. I'm not trying to suggest that Final Fantasy 14 is going to die because I definitely don't think that's true. However, resources will just be spent somewhere else.

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Pretty much..,
So much is in question right now..,
How much Focus did XVI take from XIV development.
How would the Change of CEO affect the next Years..,
How does the Graphics Update affect future systems/feedback? is it more that just visual?
Will XIV get more workers/funds injected to increase/support for the next 10 years..,

So much going on that affects many of topics..,

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Originally Posted by Lium

The very things that have made FFXIV the current market leader are the things people here would like to see changed.

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FFXIV is not the current market leader. I think regardless of this, just because x game does something worse than FFXIV does not mean FFXIV does it perfectly. Gearing has been a wide discussion for a long time and the counterargument is always "Well WoW does it way worse". So? FFXIV's system is still also bad.

While there are a lot of bad suggestions on the forums, there are also a lot of good ones :).

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Originally Posted by Lium

And here's the point. I read a lot on here about how the game is too easy, how SE isn't really trying anymore, etc. Yet on the forums and subreddits of other MMOs, such as WoW and ESO, they consistently praise FFXIV's accessibility.

But that relative ease of the game is exactly what people here complain about. The very things that have made FFXIV the third-place (corrected) market leader are the things people here would like to see changed. Which honestly makes me very grateful none of you are running SE :D

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Absolutely true. In the AAA video game industry, quality is not as important as quantity. Many people find subjective value in products that have middling quality. In fact, consumers will buy just about anything and be generally content with it. Unless a product cannot be played at all, it’s generally going to be good. In that regard, FFXIV is a bit like Call of Duty or FIFA: give people more of what they want and they’ll be happy. Complexity isn’t as important as simple joy. Or like Folgers coffee and Hershey bars: there are hundreds of millions of people who deeply enjoy those things, despite snobs not agreeing. FFXIV is the exact same way. Just give people a game and they’ll like it and ask for more. Any game, really, as long as it’s not Superman 64. Because as far as I can tell, playing something is better than not playing anything, and if all you’ve got to do is watch paint dry, wouldn’t you play FFXIV?

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Originally Posted by TomsYoungerBro

FFXIV is not the current market leader. I think regardless of this, just because x game does something worse than FFXIV does not mean FFXIV does it perfectly. Gearing has been a wide discussion for a long time and the counterargument is always "Well WoW does it way worse". So? FFXIV's system is still also bad.

While there are a lot of bad suggestions on the forums, there are also a lot of good ones :).

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Just because FFXIV does not do X does not mean it will fail miserably if it doesn't incorporate X into the game.

Games are different for a reason. Playing the same game with the same features over and over and over again gets boring. It's why almost every MMORPG out there is either brand new, highly popular for Reasons, or surviving because players have developed a fondness for playing it. None of these is a bad thing.

To insist WoW become a clone of FFXIV (and vice versa) is the height of foolishness. They are each unique games, complete with outstanding features and, well, not-so-outstanding features. If one adopts everything from the other, why bother to play it at all? It is literally the same game at that point.

The poster here appears to desire a change in the way gearing is done. Will they stop playing if their desires are not written into the game? At a guess, the answer is "no", because SE hasn't made that change and they're still posting on the forums, which requires an active subscription.

While there are a few good suggestions on the forums, it does not mean the company producing the game has to implement them in order to continue operations.

Since what makes a suggestion good or bad is just a tiny bit subjective, I'm sure there are players who are entirely satisfied with gearing options, for example.

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Originally Posted by Lium

FFXIV the current market leader

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:confused:

Delusions of grandeur - This is why we can't evolve. Because we're content with decade old mediocrity and actually believe we're the best.

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Originally Posted by GTK0HLK

Pretty much..,
So much is in question right now..,
How much Focus did XVI take from XIV development.
How would the Change of CEO affect the next Years..,
How does the Graphics Update affect future systems/feedback? is it more that just visual?
Will XIV get more workers/funds injected to increase/support for the next 10 years..,

So much going on that affects many of topics..,

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CBU3 doe more than just 14, 11, and now 16. They have their own internal divisions, think of it as a subcompany under SE.

FWIW, CBU3 also does the dragon quest builder games, its like complaining that when one of those games get made 14 suffers for it.

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Originally Posted by 4clubbedace

CBU3 doe more than just 14, 11, and now 16. They have their own internal divisions, think of it as a subcompany under SE.

FWIW, CBU3 also does the dragon quest builder games, its like complaining that when one of those games get made 14 suffers for it.

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While normally true, FFXVI has been noted to have taken several of the higher profile devs from FFXIV specifically and Yoshi P did admit that he borrowed quite a few devs from the FF14 team himself. So in this case, yes FFXVI has directly impacted FFXIV because there are only so many hours in a day and there is a limit to how much work one person can do regardless of how many projects they are on.

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Originally Posted by DPZ2

Just because FFXIV does not do X does not mean it will fail miserably if it doesn't incorporate X into the game.

Games are different for a reason. Playing the same game with the same features over and over and over again gets boring. It's why almost every MMORPG out there is either brand new, highly popular for Reasons, or surviving because players have developed a fondness for playing it. None of these is a bad thing.

To insist WoW become a clone of FFXIV (and vice versa) is the height of foolishness. They are each unique games, complete with outstanding features and, well, not-so-outstanding features. If one adopts everything from the other, why bother to play it at all? It is literally the same game at that point.

The poster here appears to desire a change in the way gearing is done. Will they stop playing if their desires are not written into the game? At a guess, the answer is "no", because SE hasn't made that change and they're still posting on the forums, which requires an active subscription.

While there are a few good suggestions on the forums, it does not mean the company producing the game has to implement them in order to continue operations.

Since what makes a suggestion good or bad is just a tiny bit subjective, I'm sure there are players who are entirely satisfied with gearing options, for example.

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But aren't suggestions geared towards improving the game, not simply whether its to "save" it or not? My post did not insist taking anything from WoW. Rather, it was to say just because WoW system of something is bad and FFXIV's is "better" doesn't mean they aren't both bad. FFXIV's gearing (for example) has been heavily criticized needing an improvement based on how the game functions. The suggestion isn't to take WoW's concept of gearing. Not sure where you got that from :).

Being critical and offering improvements =/= hating the game. Don't you remember Yoshi P's own presentation? Seeing that in the community is a good thing because they still care. The nonsense of "if you don't like it, then unsubscribe" is the height of foolishness (in your own words).

I mean it really depends. There are plenty of things FFXIV does better and others that it does worse in and some where people just don't mind.

For example, FFXIV has a much better narrative story, but unlike ESO and WoW and most other MMOs it requires you to do the story to even get to do dungeons and raids.

Conversely, I would say that WoW and ESO have better side story quests thought their overall narrative is... weak to say the least. And that's not including that ESO has a modicum of choice that gives some replayability.

WoW has a much better class system. Each spec within a class feels different to the other ones, and no class/spec within a role (dps/tank/healer) feels very same-y. ESO and FFXIV on the other hand I feel there is very little difference between their specs and/or class. With the caveat that some things are more balanced.

ESO and WoW (and GW2 who I haven't mentioned yet) have better customization options, particularly in gear than FFXIV.

GW2 has better open world gameplay, all 4 suck in terms of PvP imo but FFXIV (and kinda ESO) has an easier bar to entry (dunno about GW2 haven't tried pvp there) and so on.

It boils down to what the person is looking for in an MMO. For me personally - FFXIV sucks at its combat and classes. SB era would have ben the era that I'd have loved FFXIV and I'm sorry that I missed out on it. GW2 and ESO also don't provide what I'm looking for and I don't know how WoW is these days to make a judgement call.

All of them can do better in certain respects, while also keeping themselves unique from one another, but at the end of the day, each one is going to be lacking depending on what you want.

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Originally Posted by ASkellington

I mean it really depends. There are plenty of things FFXIV does better and others that it does worse in and some where people just don't mind.

For example, FFXIV has a much better narrative story, but unlike ESO and WoW and most other MMOs it requires you to do the story to even get to do dungeons and raids.

Conversely, I would say that WoW and ESO have better side story quests thought their overall narrative is... weak to say the least. And that's not including that ESO has a modicum of choice that gives some replayability.

WoW has a much better class system. Each spec within a class feels different to the other ones, and no class/spec within a role (dps/tank/healer) feels very same-y. ESO and FFXIV on the other hand I feel there is very little difference between their specs and/or class. With the caveat that some things are more balanced.

ESO and WoW (and GW2 who I haven't mentioned yet) have better customization options, particularly in gear than FFXIV.

GW2 has better open world gameplay, all 4 suck in terms of PvP imo but FFXIV (and kinda ESO) has an easier bar to entry (dunno about GW2 haven't tried pvp there) and so on.

It boils down to what the person is looking for in an MMO. For me personally - FFXIV sucks at its combat and classes. SB era would have ben the era that I'd have loved FFXIV and I'm sorry that I missed out on it. GW2 and ESO also don't provide what I'm looking for and I don't know how WoW is these days to make a judgement call.

All of them can do better in certain respects, while also keeping themselves unique from one another, but at the end of the day, each one is going to be lacking depending on what you want.

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If this was Reddit, I'd give this post an award. Take a like instead. Thanks for the well-reasoned and balanced post.

I will say FFXIV probably has about 2 years left if that before it gets to quiet levels. Unless they can find a way for people to be entertained for long periods it isn't happening. I mean all you see these days is Venues that host DJ's no one has ever heard of before where people just take their digital character and go dancing. I been to quite a few of these venues and they are dreadfully boring.

Its hard to say what the future of the game. After all just look at the past

• HW Bow Mage & Gun Mage (You're ranged physical, but you have cast timers)
• Scholar's old cards weren't simply just a damage increase
• Selene was the to go to for scholars for removing status afflictions and also giving increased haste
• Cross-Job Skills for both combat and also hand
• Monk's old Greased Lightning wouldn't be a passive trait and would require uptime
• Summoner would have like 5 dots to manage along with a pet with an actual health bar and how titan/topaz could actually taunt things
• Dark Knight and its old abilities like having increased parry
• Job abilities that were exclusively there just to reduce enmity
• Melding Vitality or Agility or Intelligence materia into your gear
• Elemental resistance potions and elemental resistance materia and how your guardian like Nald'thal for example would give you 50 fire resistance
• A player's race choice would matter far more for content. (Example: Duskwight and Midlander and Veena would be the preferred dps caster races and anything else would be just less optimal because they have the highest intelligence of 23 among the races)
• A wipe didn't reset the players cooldowns when they respawned, so there was that part of waiting for everyone to have everything come off cd for another pull attempt

And I am very certain I am forgetting things.

Addition: Oh and one other thing I forgot is you had to meld for Accuracy so you could actually hit things.

A slightly "meta" take on what you're seeing in the forum: Pay attention to WHO is saying the game is dying/dead/onsupport/notfun/etc...

You will generally see the same names over and over , spanning several years in some cases.

Some people constantly complain they hate this or that and are very loud about it and frame their problems as game destroying issues.. when it's just something they actually seem to work around and continue playing the game... BUT THIS TIME THEY'LL UNSUB IF IT DOESNT GET FIXED!.. right.


I'm not saying the game has no problems. Like anything there are good sides and bad sides and sure things need to get fixed. But heavy positive/negative posts need to be contextualized by the speaker as well.

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Originally Posted by Krotoan

A slightly "meta" take on what you're seeing in the forum: Pay attention to WHO is saying the game is dying/dead/onsupport/notfun/etc...

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When you unsub you can't talk on the forums. Sooo.. Pay attention to who isn't saying anything anymore. That's more realistic.

Unless you're a sadist like me and are sub shackled by a house.

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Originally Posted by R041

When you unsub you can't talk on the forums. Sooo.. Pay attention to who isn't saying anything anymore. That's more realistic.

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Well thats not a realistic stance, as someone could still be subbed and still playing but chooses not to use the forums anymore and prefers other websites or programs to chat on.

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Originally Posted by Chasingstars

Well thats not a realistic stance, as someone could still be subbed and still playing but chooses not to use the forums anymore and prefers other websites or programs to chat on.

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Guess we'll just never know then huh. Have to look at the actual numbers and community engagement, and not forums. :)

Do night clubs flourish when subs go down? Hmmmm

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Originally Posted by Krotoan

A slightly "meta" take on what you're seeing in the forum: Pay attention to WHO is saying the game is dying/dead/onsupport/notfun/etc...

You will generally see the same names over and over , spanning several years in some cases.

Some people constantly complain they hate this or that and are very loud about it and frame their problems as game destroying issues.. when it's just something they actually seem to work around and continue playing the game... BUT THIS TIME THEY'LL UNSUB IF IT DOESNT GET FIXED!.. right.


I'm not saying the game has no problems. Like anything there are good sides and bad sides and sure things need to get fixed. But heavy positive/negative posts need to be contextualized by the speaker as well.

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The number of posters in the forums is a tiny percentage of all active players. Seeing the same names over and over should be expected as a result.

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Originally Posted by R041

When you unsub you can't talk on the forums. Sooo.. Pay attention to who isn't saying anything anymore. That's more realistic.

Unless you're a sadist like me and are sub shackled by a house.

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Give up the shackles then. If you've lost interest in playing the rest of the game, there's no reason to hold onto a house. If you later change your mind, come back and find that you are enjoying the game again you can get another house at that time. If Spriggan and Twintania are any indicator from when they were added just before Shadowbringers, houses will be available on Dynamis through the end of next year. Twenty months would be more than enough time to figure out whether you want to give the game another chance.

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

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No way, then some other nerd will get my house. I'm in way too deep for that! Especially the Large FC House.

House is end-game, are you crazy. I ain't deleting that. Ain't takin my bag Jojojoyayaya! I'm dying with it.

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

The number of posters in the forums is a tiny percentage of all active players. Seeing the same names over and over should be expected as a result.

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Seeing the same names with the same takes over and over again when they all wail that the game is ending or dead.. for years... should tell you something.

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Originally Posted by Lium

According to the forums, of course, this game is terrible and in real danger of dying despite the fact that the real world outside of these forums objectively goes against that grim assessment. (The game keeps wracking up awards and more importantly, is still growing in population, as the article points out. Which is the only metric that really matters.)

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I'd be curious to know how up to date these numbers are. I could see Endwalker being the peak and declining from here, as vets get tired of the cycle and new players have an ever increasing wall of MSQ to block them.

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Originally Posted by R041

When you unsub you can't talk on the forums. Sooo.. Pay attention to who isn't saying anything anymore. That's more realistic.

Unless you're a sadist like me and are sub shackled by a house.

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Now that you mention it I don't think I've seen an aveyond dreams post in a little while, hmm

Future for FFXIV to me would be making like overlord online game system.

I was super positive for the first 5 years. All I really ask is that they experiment more, not in side-content silos but in the core of the game. The core of main scenario quests, fates, tomestones, hunts, gear progression, etc. There's no way that the ARR game design they came up with in 2013-15 is still the best that they can do in 2023 and beyond, on infinite repeat.

I know they are very successful and they have waves of new players coming in who aren't going to be burned out for a while. Unfortunately there's no business reason for S-E to drastically overhaul anything and there's virtually no competition, no exodus of players for greener pastures. It's too expensive and risky to build a legit exciting contender with this much content.

I just find it a bit sad for a game in the FINAL FANTASY brand to be serving up such a predictable content cycle. Outside of MMOs, FF is known for innovation and new technology. We've been eating the same meal for so long, they just change the spices a little sometimes. I was in my mid-twenties when I tried version 1.X, now I'm 37. That's why I've grown so tired of a lack of mystery and adventure, a lack of new core systems to learn.

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Originally Posted by Lium

But that relative ease of the game is exactly what people here complain about. The very things that have made FFXIV the current market leader are the things people here would like to see changed. Which honestly makes me very grateful none of you are running SE :D

But what would you change that would honestly help the game overall? Not just for a subset of hardcore players?

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I think this is the crux of it. The people most likely to go to the forums of a video game, make an account, and post are the "serious" or "hardcore" players, and FFXIV frankly isn't designed much for that audience. You hear those select few complain, meanwhile the million other more relaxed/casual gamers that the game is designed for are just - well - having fun playing the game.

Overall, there are a few small things I wouldn't mind seeing changed, such as the glamour system, but nothing significant. I'm more than content with the game design the way it is now, having plenty of fun and plenty of things to do whenever I log in.

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I just find it a bit sad for a game in the FINAL FANTASY brand to be serving up such a predictable content cycle. Outside of MMOs, FF is known for innovation and new technology. We've been eating the same meal for so long, they just change the spices a little sometimes. I was in my mid-twenties when I tried version 1.X, now I'm 37. That's why I've grown so tired of a lack of mystery and adventure, a lack of new core systems to learn.

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I don't find it sad at all. In fact, I like the predictability. Speaking frankly, when I want a "new and innovative FF game", I...play a different FF game. I don't replay FF6 over and over expecting the core design to change every time. I replay FF6 when I want to try new character combos, new approaches, etc. in a system I'm already very familiar with, or when I just want to experience the story again. If I want a change from the Esper system and "everybody can learn anything," I go back and try a new party combo in FF1 (where, again, the system itself is known and predictable). I don't want FFXIV to reinvent itself or overhaul the classes or gameplay every expansion (in fact, that's one of the more frequent complaints other MMO's such as WoW get - drastically changing the way classes play and forcing people to relearn them too often). When I play FFXIV, I want to play the FFXIV I know, and just either have new story to experience or a new class to level up, etc..

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Originally Posted by Rolder50

Now that you mention it I don't think I've seen an aveyond dreams post in a little while, hmm

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Either they are hiding under another name, or more then likely we can expect to see them next patch when they create something else to complain about (With some luck they might finally make good points and not ruin it for once) OR, they might have finally found something better to do.

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Either they are hiding under another name, or more then likely we can expect to see them next patch when they create something else to complain about (With some luck they might finally make good points and not ruin it for once) OR, they might have finally found something better to do.

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He better not.

I have a bet with a mate on my server says he wont post one of his diatribes for 24 hrs. If he does it before then, Im out 100 gil. :mad::mad::mad:

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Originally Posted by Rufalus

I was super positive for the first 5 years. All I really ask is that they experiment more, not in side-content silos but in the core of the game. The core of main scenario quests, fates, tomestones, hunts, gear progression, etc. There's no way that the ARR game design they came up with in 2013-15 is still the best that they can do in 2023 and beyond, on infinite repeat.

I know they are very successful and they have waves of new players coming in who aren't going to be burned out for a while. Unfortunately there's no business reason for S-E to drastically overhaul anything and there's virtually no competition, no exodus of players for greener pastures. It's too expensive and risky to build a legit exciting contender with this much content.

I just find it a bit sad for a game in the FINAL FANTASY brand to be serving up such a predictable content cycle. Outside of MMOs, FF is known for innovation and new technology. We've been eating the same meal for so long, they just change the spices a little sometimes. I was in my mid-twenties when I tried version 1.X, now I'm 37. That's why I've grown so tired of a lack of mystery and adventure, a lack of new core systems to learn.

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Except XVI, which of course is being produced by the same producer as XIV. DMC with FF skin and QTE summon battles in 2023... Just chasing trends.

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Originally Posted by ReynTime

Except XVI, which of course is being produced by the same producer as XIV. DMC with FF skin and QTE summon battles in 2023... Just chasing trends.

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That kind of follows one of my trains of thought that lately they've been using the FF name to sell games directed towards gamers that rarely or have never played an RPG. Which might stem from Yoshi-P apparently viewing the term JRPG as a racially discriminatory term rather than a sub genre of games.

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Originally Posted by Rolder50

Now that you mention it I don't think I've seen an aveyond dreams post in a little while, hmm

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Oh, don't worry.

I can guarantee he'll be back with a scathing criticism of the Loporrit tribal quests, which I personally have little to no interest in aside from it just being something to do for completion's sake.

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Originally Posted by ReynTime

Except XVI, which of course is being produced by the same producer as XIV. DMC with FF skin and QTE summon battles in 2023... Just chasing trends.

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I was concerned about it through the first few trailers. It was hard to tell if it's just flashy stuff and no substance.

But they recently let the media play a whole chunk of a chapter and release the unedited footage. They finally won me over. It's not what I would have asked for but the quality is there.

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Originally Posted by Striker44

I don't want FFXIV to reinvent itself or overhaul the classes or gameplay every expansion

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I'm ok with the classes and flow of battle. To me the problem is the whole framework around it. The first expansion was exciting because it had some new concepts and we didn't know at the time that every expansion thereafter would be a copy.

Here's some examples of repetition to an absolute fault. Before you even play an expansion, you know for sure it has (1) six field zones and two big boss fates with tokens, (2) a dungeon every 2 levels with the same corridor design, (3) three trials with two extremes at launch, one gives accessories the other gives weapons, (4) hundreds of sidequests that mostly give nothing, some give HQ crafted leveling gear in-between the levels of dungeon gear.

A lot more examples could be made but you get the point of how they push new content through an old cookie-cutter template to an extreme degree. That decade of déjà vu was a big chunk of my life. I would hope that, some day, they try anything new. Offer up surprises to all players regardless of how long we've been around. Not just narrative surprises but actual game design choices.

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Originally Posted by Lium

And here's the point. I read a lot on here about how the game is too easy, how SE isn't really trying anymore, etc. Yet on the forums and subreddits of other MMOs, such as WoW and ESO, they consistently praise FFXIV's accessibility. They do complain about features being locked behind the story, but they give the game high marks for not being raid-focused and for having dungeons that are relatively easy to complete.

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This forum is usually the same 10 - 20 people complaining about how the game isn't exactly what they want. There's a few good arguments that pop up here and there, but for the most part, these forum should not be taken seriously, and the devs know that.

I don’t know about the future but SE will have to innovate and offer interesting content soon with all the new MMOs on the rise like AoC, Pax Dei, Riot’s MMO, Throne & Liberty, Blue Protocol for the weebs, Archeage 2, Palia and many others…