EDIT: Thayos wrote this from ZAM. I really enjoyed what he wrote and wanted to share it with the community on this Forum.
A Game Emerging
4 hours 9 minutes ago by Thayos
After several patches, we're on the verge of seeing SE's vision for Final Fantasy XIV.
If Naoki Yoshida were a sculptor, then Final Fantasy XIV would be a giant block of marble. For the past several months, Yoshi-P and his team have been chipping away at the large piece of earth, hoping to bring forth the MMO equivalent of Michelangelo's David from within.
Clearly, Yoshi-P has a vision for this game. However, despite all the work by the development team, many players still look at Final Fantasy XIV and see a giant block of stone. Some say the improvements aren't coming fast enough, while others say the improvements don't go deep enough. Perhaps we feel a sense of entitlement after sticking things out for the past eight months, even if we are playing on Square Enix's dime.
Make no mistake though -- soon Yoshi-P's vision will become much easier to see.
Discuss this in the ZAM forums.
In his ninth Letter from the Producer, the man in charge informed us that the first of the large changes will be implemented into the game as early as mid-June. Unfortunately, he said, we may not see any content additions until then, although there's still the possibility of a small patch in the meantime. That's a small price to pay though for what Patch 1.18 is expected to bring. The first battle system changes, new instanced dungeons and encampments where players can find more quests are all slated for this larger-than-average update.
We've known all along that big changes were coming. We also knew those changes would be preceded by numerous ticky-tack tweaks to lay the groundwork for more sweeping adjustments. As promised, those smaller tweaks have come in droves; among the more notable changes have been newly added side quests, the addition of guild tasks, the optimization of party sizes and the rescheduling of behests. The targeting system was also perfected. Once a lightning rod of frustration among players, the targeting system of FFXIV is now virtually identical to that of FFXI, as long as you use targeting mode A.
As I write this, I'm watching my daughter play on her character, Rue. She hasn't played in awhile. After 10 minutes of running around Ul'dah, she's already picked up a couple of quests and found more on the task board in the Adventurer's Guild. Now she's in the market wards, using the search feature to optimize her gear. She's literally playing a game that didn't exist at the start of this year.
In addition to the user interface and content adjustments, other changes have crept into Eorzea as well -- and these changes seem to set the stage for the imminent threat to Eorzea that Yoshi-P has been hinting at for so long.
I'm talking about the heavy rains over the Black Shroud, the eerie silence over Thanalan and the new reports of aggression by the Garlean Empire. At Camp Black Brush, the NPCs now tell adventurers of an Ul'dahn ferry that was sunk by a Garlean airship. Equally odd is the mysterious appearance of an NPC GM by the name of Urianger Augerelt, who appears at camps throughout Eorzea and delivers a cryptic message to adventurers. Translated on the official forums, the arcanist GM says:
"Hear my words if you are in search of truth...
The noose is tightening around the disaster Hydaelyn...
The time of awakening has come for those who are preparing to tackle the chaos in motion...
The future is not immutable... You can still change...
When the sixth sun will have set and the seventh moon shine in the sky, the ocean of clouds poured a rain of faiery flames and shadows fatal burst forth from the depths of the earth...
The 'Seventh purification' predicted by Mezaya approach...
You who are in search of truth... Wake Up and Make yourself against an imminent threat..."
If you look hard enough, you'll find plenty of well-constructed speculation threads with theories about what's about to happen. Even without seeing the big picture, you can almost feel a dark, sinister force at work just beneath the surface of Eorzea.
Still think Final Fantasy XIV is the same block of stone it was when Yoshi-P took over?
The improvements to this game have never stopped coming. The world now is populated by numerous quests and notorious monsters. We have a targeting system that works, and several parts of the user interface have been streamlined. The lore of the game is building, and the storyline suddenly seems meaningful. Just like the dark force at work beneath the surface of Eorzea, Yoshi-P and his development team have been steadily working on bigger, more important aspects of this game. All we've seen so far were the quick, easy fixes. The large-scale revisions could be here in six weeks.
It could be several months before we see the full extent of Yoshi-P's vision, but I believe we'll have a much clearer understanding of what Final Fantasy XIV will become once these first large changes are implemented. When the dust settles, will this game be the MMO equivalent of Michelangelo's David, or will it be just another statue carved from stone?
Only time will tell, and June can't come fast enough.
Tags: Editorial , Feature , FinalFantasyXIV
EDIT: I just want to say i did not write this and sorry if it looked that way. I liked it, pasted it from the ZAM site. I also agree about the targeting system, its still broken. It targets friendly's when i'm in Enemy mode.
A Game Emerging
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05-04-2011, 05:48 PMFrebautA Game Emerging
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05-04-2011, 05:56 PMNeptune
Nice read. Definitely a good anecdote about your daughter.
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05-04-2011, 09:37 PMAkira_Tenshi
That was good, well written. I don't agree that the targetting system is perfect though, not when using a keyboard anyway.
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05-04-2011, 09:45 PMJinko
Will be interesting to see how things turn out in the next 2 months.
Yoshi-p better get his flame-suit ready either way, we know half the community will gripe and whine whatever he does. -
05-04-2011, 09:48 PMArcell
Very well done, if only more people could look at the game the same way. The game we have now is not the same game that launched last September and even still it's not the same game we'll be playing at PS3 launch. Hopefully reviewers at that time will be able to look at it for what it is at that point and not what it was Sept 2010.
True Akira the controls aren't perfect for keyboard but their priority was perfecting gamepad. As a gamepad user I feel they succeeded, once you get used to the new controls there are few problems. They have time to perfect the keyboard controls too now. -
05-04-2011, 09:49 PMEekikiQuoted for truth, unfortunately. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Jinko
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05-04-2011, 10:33 PMnorthernskyI liked this part, so true.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frebaut
Most recent changes improved the gameplay mechanics and added a bit of content, but now what I feel is the most lacking for my style of play is a progression in the game beyond ranks and gils that you could build step by step.
I logged in after a while yesterday and played for a few hours, and I had fun doing a few leves and running around town to complete some sidequests but in the end, I only earned some useless gils and one rank on my archer.
For example, if I played a similar amount of time in XI, I would have earned fame, conquest points, tabs, gils that would actually matter etc.
I feel that small scale achievements that take you to incoming endgame content is what could actually make me come back full time, in addition to battle system adjustments -
05-04-2011, 10:40 PMdarkstarpoet1
yes, we do see yoshi's vision coming to the front. the problem is it is the vision of a blind man.
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05-04-2011, 10:42 PMImpulse
It's a nice read but if you aren't Thayos on Zam, you should at least credit him.
http://ffxiv.zam.com/story.html?story=26266 -
05-04-2011, 10:56 PMBelgianRofl
Every patch is supposed to be the patch where people would get the chance to say, "See, Belgian? I told you so!" Yoshi-P has let us down every time with every lackluster patch. Until I see results - a patch that actually has significant changes (which everyone always says the upcoming patch will include), I will remain skeptical.
-BR -
05-04-2011, 11:11 PMBetelgeuzahI don't know what people are thinking then, since there has been no indication of every patch so far being labeled as the "large patch". Only the Spring one, that seems to have been delayed by a few weeks to June.Quote:
Originally Posted by BelgianRofl
When Yoshi-P says "small patches come first, big patches later" and he gives us small patches first and big patches later, how this is twisted into
is beyond me.Quote:
Yoshi-P has let us down every time with every lackluster patch
That is no reason to not remain skeptical however. -
05-04-2011, 11:26 PMBlaiseLallaiseYou mean like this?Quote:
Originally Posted by Impulse
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Originally Posted by Frebaut
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05-04-2011, 11:42 PMChezen
I loved it. Nice composition Thayos.
I never thought about it in those terms, but I do look at it that way. -
05-04-2011, 11:48 PMKilta_Firelotus
i just started to play recently, and i have no issues with targeting. And i've done it with kb and my 360 controler. I love this game so far, all we need is a community. Even besaid is to quiet. And i mean ppl talking outside their linkshells.
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05-04-2011, 11:50 PMImpulseLet's see...Quote:
Originally Posted by BlaiseLallaise
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Originally Posted by Chezen
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Originally Posted by Akira_Tenshi
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Originally Posted by Neptune
People still seem to think it's his regardless. A simple copy/paste of the whole page isn't exactly giving credit.
If the OP is indeed Thayos, then disregard this. Otherwise, a blatant copy/paste isn't enough to give credit whether or not a small line containing the author's name got swept up in the process. -
05-05-2011, 12:05 AMdarkstarpoet1he could have put the original authors name on every line in front and behind the text and people would still think its his. why? because people don't take the time to read posts they scroll over and see what they want to see.Quote:
Originally Posted by Impulse
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05-05-2011, 12:08 AMChezenI gave Thayos the credit. I do tend to read all of a post. Including your link.Quote:
Originally Posted by Impulse
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05-05-2011, 12:20 AMBlaiseLallaiseSo some people either lack attention to detail or make false assumptions. Not my problem. I'm just pointing out that credit was given, however miniscule it may have been.Quote:
Originally Posted by Impulse
You are right to point out the blatant copy/paste from zam. It's pretty obvious to most people. Maybe the OP thought the same. -
05-05-2011, 12:28 AMFrebautI did go back and edit that i did not write it. I didn't mean to imply that i did. Next time i will be more clear. Also at the top it say Thayos wrote it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Impulse
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05-05-2011, 12:44 AMHoly_Dragoon
Thanks for throwing this up here, the Dev team needs to see things like this. Those who like the game are often quieter than those who do not.