Final Fantasy touch to the game.

[Onidemon]

No.

Nonononono. This won't make xiv look better, this will make eorzea look like a virtual Disneyland.

Epcot Fantasy XIV.

Each Final Fantasy games' shine comes from the fact that they have their own worlds they live in, lore that won't swamp the new player in tons of previous games.

Throwing in such blatant references as the city names, races, and the iconic weaponry from other games would cheapen both game and franchise.

Yet the Dark Knight/Lancer armor they showcased was straight up from FF IV and so was the Black Mage armor from other FF games. I believe that Letter from Yoshi-p got a lot of people excited, i was wondering how it would be if they made it to a larger scale.

I personally don't care about Eorzea. It is a bland, lifeless and boring world. And i believe that a FF MMO would be all about bringing the FF world, themes, items and even stories together. World of Warcraft is basically a sequel like to the warcraft games... using the town, characters and story from those games so why not FF too?

[Malakhim]

Yet the Dark Knight/Lancer armor they showcased was straight up from FF IV and so was the Black Mage armor from other FF games. I believe that Letter from Yoshi-p got a lot of people excited, i was wondering how it would be if they made it to a larger scale.

I personally don't care about Eorzea. It is a bland, lifeless and boring world. And i believe that a FF MMO would be all about bringing the FF world, themes, items and even stories together. World of Warcraft is basically a sequel like to the warcraft games... using the town, characters and story from those games so why not FF too?

Because this isn't Kingdom Hearts. This isn't crossover fanfiction. The difference between the realms in WoW and Final Fantasy XIV is that the entire Warcraft series is just that: a series of continuous stories, whereas each entry in Final Fantasy is a "series" in itself.

I'm sorry you don't find Eorzea interesting, but that's on you for apparently not actively seeking it out. There's lore, there's an active story, there's background on most everything.

[Onidemon]

Because this isn't Kingdom Hearts. This isn't crossover fanfiction. The difference between the realms in WoW and Final Fantasy XIV is that the entire Warcraft series is just that: a series of continuous stories, whereas each entry in Final Fantasy is a "series" in itself.

I'm sorry you don't find Eorzea interesting, but that's on you for apparently not actively seeking it out. There's lore, there's an active story, there's background on most everything.

You really do enjoy Eorzea? Do you think it is even close to the worlds in previous FF games?

Square has used the Ivalice world in Final Fantasy tactics in other FF games. I personally, and that is my opinion only, would have enjoyed much more a Ivalice based mmo then this...

[Malakhim]

You really do enjoy Eorzea? Do you think it is even close to the worlds in previous FF games?

Square has used the Ivalice world in Final Fantasy tactics in other FF games. I personally, and that is my opinion only, would have enjoyed much more a Ivalice based mmo then this...

If you want my honest opinion, I find the lore and world in Final Fantasy XIV to be more interesting than FFXI's in a heartbeat. The only reason a lot might not seem to be happening is because Final Fantasy XI has had a gestation period of more than 8 years. Hell, the main storyline wasn't even finished 'til Zilart launched. There's more danger looming in FFXIV than there ever was from the start in FFXI. Eorzea is on the cusp of being screwed over by multitudes of adversaries right off the bat. The beastmen and their primals preparing for conflict with the Eorzean city states, the huge Garlean Empire that already has a few bases in Eorzea and its technological strength(which may or may not include magitek armor), and then there's an unseen force that I'm just now getting glimpses of that has all beasts freaking out(no spoilers here I'm afraid). I haven't even begun to mention the different histories behind the beastmen tribes, like the kobolds being the best smiths around and the Ixion kidnapping Gridanians.

A traditional Final Fantasy plot, which is usually very character focused, can't work as easily in an MMO space, which is centered around you creating your own character and playing with people who've done the same thing, but I think for what it is, FFXIV is doing a great job of keeping me interested.

Also, keep in mind that the only mainline Final Fantasy to use Ivalice was FFXII and its sequel, and the reason why it shared the same realm as the FFT series and Vagrant Story is because they're all Matsuno-developed game.

[Ablongman]

I'm sorry you don't find Eorzea interesting, but that's on you for apparently not actively seeking it out. There's lore, there's an active story, there's background on most everything.

There's lore tidbits acquired indirectly, but saying there's background on "most everything" is going a little far (and by a little, I mean very). There are massive gaps in knowledge, and no viable means of obtaining it. There are no books in the game, no real storytellers, no nothing. I understand your points about this game not having a gestation period, but it also lacks a solid lore foundation outside of relatively traditional fantasy tropes.

If you want an example of this, compare it the known world history from a game like RIFT (which is actually much newer than FFXIV). Sure, lore can (and should) expand as the game ages, but there needs to be a firm foundation to create the illusion of a living world in an MMO. The collective lore of this game is about as vast as a single zone worth of quests in other MMO's.

How much do we even know about the playable races? Would you be able to answer basic questions about them? No, because all you have to go by are minor anecdotes and maybe a couple of introductory paragraphs.

[Malakhim]

I never said it was particularly elaborate. I just said it was there. If you're looking for stuff like what elezen eat for breakfast as babies or what the air speed velocity of an unladen vulture is, well yeah I agree with you that it ain't there.

[Onidemon]

I never said it was particularly elaborate. I just said it was there. If you're looking for stuff like what elezen eat for breakfast as babies or what the air speed velocity of an unladen vulture is, well yeah I agree with you that it ain't there.

I'm sorry but i think he made a lot of sense and you didn't need to be sarcastic about it. We don't know anything about the races in the world and there is no real feel that you are in a living fantasy world... bland is the best word i can find to describe Eorzea at this moment... and the fact they over used copy/pasting so much just makes it worst....

I'm not expecting any immediate changes... but the first expansion should address that.

[Malakhim]

I'm sorry but i think he made a lot of sense and you didn't need to be sarcastic about it. We don't know anything about the races in the world and there is no real feel that you are in a living fantasy world... bland is the best word i can find to describe Eorzea at this moment... and the fact they over used copy/pasting so much just makes it worst....

I'm not expecting any immediate changes... but the first expansion should address that.

No. YOU don't know anything about the world because YOU haven't ventured out to the different cities, hamlets and NPCs and just explored and talked to people.

I just outlined several things that are happening in the direct story as well as a few pieces of info that is on the sidelines. Have you ever wandered around Wineport in northeastern La Noscea? Have you visited the Sylph Groves near the northern side of Nine Ivies? What about the Ala Mihgan refugee camp east of Ul'Dah?

Now it could be that by "bland" world you mean that you're not doing much other than grinding and guildleves at the moment, but the world isn't lacking for interesting lore by a longshot, although I guess I'll admit that "interesting" is a subjective.

As for my other post, that was just me using hyperbole for comedic effect(and dammit a witty Monty Python reference insert? that shit ain't easy). I did say I agree that we don't have books upon books of lore, but as I pointed out before, the game is still young.

[Kallera]

I'm sorry but i think he made a lot of sense and you didn't need to be sarcastic about it. We don't know anything about the races in the world and there is no real feel that you are in a living fantasy world... bland is the best word i can find to describe Eorzea at this moment... and the fact they over used copy/pasting so much just makes it worst....

I'm not expecting any immediate changes... but the first expansion should address that.

Did you read the instruction manual? The leves? Did you talk to the various npcs dotting the city, there's at least 1 in each city able to give you information about the populous races in the area.

The info is there if you search for it. just like in XI, or DFO, or any other game. Hell, its a lot more than some of the snes games I played, and I still enjoyed them.

Which goes back to the original point, you want more lore, you'll get more lore, Eorzean lore. Throwing the buster sword in will not fix your problem.

[Ablongman]

Did you read the instruction manual? The leves? Did you talk to the various npcs dotting the city, there's at least 1 in each city able to give you information about the populous races in the area.

The info is there if you search for it. just like in XI, or DFO, or any other game. Hell, its a lot more than some of the snes games I played, and I still enjoyed them.

Which goes back to the original point, you want more lore, you'll get more lore, Eorzean lore. Throwing the buster sword in will not fix your problem.

So you have a collective... what, eight lines of lore in-game? Which essentially summarize the paragraph in the manual. That's your argument for the compelling lore in this game? And don't get me started on comparing a premier gaming title in 2011 to SNES games from the 90's.

Single-player RPG's are adventures on rails. The developer sets up a nice scenery, but you're on rails. Your field of vision is limited and guided, and thus, they determine how much information is needed to keep your eye busy, to keep suspension of disbelief and immersion.

MMO's aren't on-rails. You get dumped in this world and you're told to go see it, go explore it, get sucked in by its history, its people. Except here, the lore is a fraction of what even a single-player RPG delivers for a mere 40-60 hours of play. FFXIII's universe has much more story depth and lore than this game does in its current state, and that just shouldn't be.

Die-hard fans of this community sure love to tell people they're lazy, and need to get up and find their fun, and their lore, and their everything. At what point are you, the fan, willing to do the job of the developer that's trying to sell you these games and still pay them? If the core story of the world is so scattered that I have to go on an epic quest of knowledge to learn things that ought to be common knowledge for an Eorzean citizen, that's bad storytelling, no matter how much "self-service" spin you throw at me. There should be lore nuggets to encourage you to explore, but a game still needs a story, and that story needs to be communicated effectively to the player through content.

Get real. The reason this game's in trouble is because it needs work and feels half-baked. Even SE agrees, which is why we're not paying to play it and they're working frantically to fix it. It's no coincidence that one of the bigger requests in the player poll (which, by the way, is extremely biased towards the die-hard fan that's still playing and active in the community) was more quests and story content.

The info is not there. It's lacking, and you need to stop trying to cover the sun with a finger.