The Mog Log Article~ FFXIV: ARR

I found this article interesting so I thought I share with you guys ( nothing new on information, but it gives a perspective on his view on FFXIV in general.

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09...ctor-in-ffxiv/

It's a well written and cuts right to the heart of the whole issue surrounding 2.0.

This man speaks true sensible words

Good article, I couldn't have written it any better. So I am a fan-boy of FF but I also have to be critical. Too little, too late were promises being for-filled, yet I'll still play on until the servers shut down.


I enjoy sharing the Final Fantasy world with others who also love the Final Fantasy Universe. It's sometimes disappointing that the company who delivered this "experience" isn't delivering the whole experience the way it's meant to be: Up-to-date and complete.

Honestly, no matter what SE does I don't think they'll become a super power MMO like WoW. Not that I as a player truly want that anyways. I've always liked the "niche" category that FFXI fell under. My main concern is that by "bringing FFXIV up to the global standard" is that they're just going to copy every garbage MMO out there, and it will be fairly boring because it will try to appeal to every type of player.

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Originally Posted by Starlord

I found this article interesting so I thought I share with you guys ( nothing new on information, but it gives a perspective on his view on FFXIV in general.

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09...ctor-in-ffxiv/

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In all honesty Eliot always writes up a decent article for FFXIV (and XI) even when I don't always agree with what he writes, he is one of the few people writing games articles out there that still make an interesting read!

I can agree with the fact that XIV is not going to easily pull people back without being a notch or three above the other MMOs on the market. I have friends that have left for TOR and WoW and seem to be content with what they have there. Some stated their terms quite clearly: quest-based leveling and more content. My own being "proper encounter and class design/balance".

As has been made very clear, you can't bank on the Final Fantasy name for much these days. The game has a burden of proof to those who moved on, and rightly so.

I really hope Yoshi produces a great game....

I am excited for ARR, but this article definitely hits home a few points. I mean some of the biggest selling features I have seen so far are "Quests! You can quest all the way to the cap" or "Look at this, you can jump now!". "Check out this new, responsive UI!". All that makes us happy because of the huge pile of crap that 1.0 was, but really all that is pretty standard MMO fare nowadays.

Is FFXIV happy just being a big improvement over FFXIV 1.0? Cause that's not really difficult. Or is it going to provide anything new that will make it more appealing than the tons of other MMO's out there? The FF name and loyalty will only go so far(which is less than its ever been). I'm excited to see the new maps and changes from 1.0, but I am also quite anxious to see what exactly will keep me logging in here instead of LotrO or SWTOR where I already have established characters.

I think expectations might be a little high in general for the release of 2.0. The main problem is I think people are expecting drastic change where I believe it's going to be a bit more subtle at first than most expect. Reason being is Yoshida was given the task to correct a game already out rather than make a whole new game. I think the initial transition from 1.0 to 2.0 is going to be limited since it's a conversion and there won't be a whole lot of new content at first. Rather everything is just going to be a familiar redesign and a lot less of a 'new game.'

With that said, I hope the launch of 2.0 lays the groundwork for Yoshida to quickly implement some real new content as well as further refine the game. It sounds like the team is very focused not only on getting the current content converted but also creating a set of tools that will allow them to continue to add new content quickly. I really think the first major expansion is where 2.0 is really going to shine rather than the 2.0 launch itself. Hopefully we'll see some improvements in gameplay as well that they just aren't going to have the time for before the launch of 2.0.

XIV has a few audiences to pool users from:

1. Current XIV players
2. Previous XIV players
3. Current XI players
4. Previous XI players
5. Final Fantasy fans

Those are where the bulk of players will come from. Trying to steal users from WoW is a silly idea. Of course there will be other people who jump in, but the majority will come from those 5 pools.

They really need to reach out to non MMO playing gamers (not FF fans). A lot of those were eaten up by the GW2 release though.

XIV will never reach wow levels in terms of subs, it will be like XI with a small to medium player base of very dedicated fans. I'm fine with that.

Will FFXIV be so great that it pulls in millions of subscribers and makes tons of money?

I hope not.... :( From what I heard of WoW that's a reason people play THIS game.

As much as Yoshi and other FF fans want people to like what they like, I would much rather have a game for FF fans than for the general public who doesn't know what a chocobo is and think "moogle" is a stupid word.

Maybe if Yoshi didn't say "it's s secret" or "please wait for more info about the juicy contents" everytime an interviewer asked him a question, then people might be a little less anxious about the self-proclaimed "standard" (read: generic) MMO he's developing.

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Originally Posted by Ingolf

XIV has a few audiences to pool users from:

1. Current XIV players
2. Previous XIV players
3. Current XI players
4. Previous XI players
5. Final Fantasy fans

Those are where the bulk of players will come from. Trying to steal users from WoW is a silly idea. Of course there will be other people who jump in, but the majority will come from those 5 pools.

They really need to reach out to non MMO playing gamers (not FF fans). A lot of those were eaten up by the GW2 release though.

XIV will never reach wow levels in terms of subs, it will be like XI with a small to medium player base of very dedicated fans. I'm fine with that.

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2 and 5 will be the harder to get and more needed target, ofc current players will continue to play. It's bringing the FF fans who havn't experienced the online side of it, and those who have already played this in early stages and felt like they were shat on. Tough crowd to appease, I am a hardcore fan of the FF series but I never touched XI and was skeptical about XIV 1.0, which turned out to be total garbage that I still somehow stuck with for 5 months. That will remain on past players minds pretty heavily.

The biggest thing that makes me hesitant is the whole "this is only Alpha footage just wait until you see the finished product!" We've heard these EXACT same words before and look at how 1.0 turned out.

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Originally Posted by Fated

The biggest thing that makes me hesitant is the whole "this is only Alpha footage just wait until you see the finished product!" We've heard these EXACT same words before and look at how 1.0 turned out.

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As much as I'm 100% for constructive criticism and being cautious, I keep seeing this argument and it's ridiculous. The mere notion that 2.0 will turn out as poorly as 1.0 just because they haven't told us everything yet is absurd. The biggest downfall of 1.0 was that it was an awful game. The second biggest downfall was expectations and people thinking that there was going to be way more than there really was. The reason 1.0 was as bad as it was wasn't secrecy, it was the game being rushed out the door.

Now people are cautiously optimistic at best so that shouldn't be as much of a problem. Don't tell yourself "Oh it's going to be 10000x better at launch" if you don't like the beta. There are some refinements and fixes certainly but most of it's set in stone at that point. Speak up if there's something you see that you don't like but please be constructive, don't just mindlessly complain.

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Originally Posted by Fated

The biggest thing that makes me hesitant is the whole "this is only Alpha footage just wait until you see the finished product!" We've heard these EXACT same words before and look at how 1.0 turned out.

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Yes look how 1.0 turn out...a game even Tanaka said was unfinished and he needed more time but wasn't given it. The issue with ARR remains with the fact from what we see, it's not looking like anything new in terms of MMOs...that's fine more power to SE but they need to start pumping out the heavy hitting details let alone if they truly are behind schedule or not because September > November date change for even the first Alpha test isn't that good.

I'm all for "Take as much time as you need"...but that kind of is the point of Alpha testing...to start getting a larger pool of feedback and testing going asap.

I just think SE is isn't pushing hard enough advertisement wise I think the first comment below the article nailed it

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The lack of an information flow and marketing is worrysome, this is their next big chance and if it isn't done right I just don't know what will happen. They promised a deluge of information after the trailers where out... I've yet to feel inundated. Perhaps after the initial beta rounds have been concluded and it gets closer to open beta or the relaunch itself.

All I can say is that so far the changes have been drastic and judging from what I've seen done to the current game and some of the previews of ARR it's going to be a great FF game. I just don't know if as Eliot is saying, it's going to be enough.

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