Make FFXIV more like FFXI and less like WoW

[Vladislav]

FFXI was great , in this game was need was hours/days/weeks to obtain&achieve something , also FFXI haved fantastic mechanics and many many more things , but..... . Yes i with friends was enjoyed it many year , but i happy FFXIV moved to somethin' new , new battle mechanics , dungeons , raids , ----------> ALSO <----------- yes i real happy that FFXIV way easier than FFXI was , i happy to get relic in few days instead half year . Why so ? because when i started FFXI i was just 18 years old lol , hungry to hardcore grind , HNM waitin' , dynamis runs , long time partyes . I think FFXIV designed exacly for FF series fans like me and many other friends who already grow up , have work family & childrens and good few hours after work

[Velhart]

Not if you made your own instead of being slack, I used to put together partys for myself took me a total of 10mins tops back as far as your describing. Think about all the people as lazy as you waiting for party's, that is alot of seeking people to form a group with. Also never heard of shouting for members I take it, you could form groups in no time.

Where was this magical world where it took 10 minutes to get parties together? Was even harder to find people in mid-levels because most people played end game. Maybe you can get people in 10 minutes for merit parties or dumb luck. As someone who always made the parties, it took at least 1-2 hours if it was a good day to get people together just for them to disband in 10 minutes for a camp spot already taken.

Yet you still had the ability to raise and breed chocobos in FFXIV you don't have that option at all, not even a less painfull version of raiseing it's just none exsistant. Also you never needed to own a chocobo in XI there were plenty of other traveling methods and there were heaps of chocobo rentals to get around with. Yet another thing that made FFXI more interesting you actually needed to travel via airship, boat and make your way threw harsh enviroments on foot, you couldn't even get through some of the areas unless you had others with you. Your lame if you think that isn't epic as fk.

I think he meant the longevity of just doing one quest as in the ability to "rent" chocobos. Which was feeding it greens every two hours.

Really? Yes it was harsh for many but your exaggerating on a massive scale, the majority of the community who actually enjoyed the game stuck it threw and finished the story. I don't agree with FFXIV having the same painful story content that XI had but not everything should be soloible, thats way too numbingly easy and unsocial in what is supposed to be a social game. In the story you have no sense of achievement in FF14.

Not everything is soloable in FFXIV. You don't take into account the dungeons and primal fights at all. FFXI's storyline fights that required a party was usually instanced content. So nothing too different in that department.

Yeah if you were a thief or ninja thats about it really and if you never replaced your scorpion harness then you were a mega noob man.

Which goes into one of FFXI's biggest flaws, was that mid-50 gear was better than lv.75 gear itself. Very rarely would the game ever come out with a piece that you could consider better, situational at most. Pretty sad the best armor for my samurai for years was my Haubergeon+1 for DPS and Kirin's Osode for WS's. Still debatable if my Askar body was an upgrade from the Haubergeon. Also when the Hagun came out, there was no GK that could surpass it except relic for years.

My first time making my way to Valkurm Dunes was an experience I'll never forget.

Yep, training a bunch of goblins to the gate of Selbina, where everyone who was low leveled died from goblins upon entering was quite a hilarious experience.

I guess you never left Valkurm Dunes then, sounds like you loved that place.

Pretty much leveling all the way to 75 was small creatures like goblins, crabs, and worms. Sure there were some other alternate camps, but they were the easiest to kill and everyone camped them.

Never heard of Windower, or the update they did to play online that allowed windowed ALT-TAB? Exactly how into XI were you?
It doesn't sound a whole lot like you cared for the game, probably why you don't know much about it.

I shouldn't have to rely on 3rd party tools for the simplest of features. I played FFXI from 2003-2010 and I can safely say it is one of the greatest MMO's I had ever played. Had a good time with friends and for it's time, I loved doing end game. To say however that a lot of it's features are old and outdated at this point is very much an understatement. Just because certain features worked in a 12 year old game doesn't mean it will work in a game that only came out this year. Is it to say all things from FFXI are bad and shouldn't be brought over? No. I can throw a few ideas of my own in there. To say the whole game needs to go back to FFXI style is really a joke, especially since you seek unrealistic expectations. Let FFXI be it's own game and same to FFXIV. I know you keep hearing the "Go back to FFXI" line, but the only FFXI experience you are getting is in FFXI. So if you don't like ARR's direction, I would probably seek a game that does cater your needs.

[DSX]

FFXI was great , in this game was need was hours/days/weeks to obtain&achieve something , also FFXI haved fantastic mechanics and many many more things , but..... . Yes i with friends was enjoyed it many year , but i happy FFXIV moved to somethin' new , new battle mechanics , dungeons , raids , ----------> ALSO <----------- yes i real happy that FFXIV way easier than FFXI was , i happy to get relic in few days instead half year . Why so ? because when i started FFXI i was just 18 years old lol , hungry to hardcore grind , HNM waitin' , dynamis runs , long time partyes . I think FFXIV designed exacly for FF series fans like me and many other friends who already grow up , have work family & childrens and good few hours after work

The same old tired excuse "We don't have time to play this genre anymore"
I don't think the solution is to change the genre to the complete opposite. There are plenty of other genres of games that will serve you will, YES including games with co-op (yes co-op is not exclusive to shooters) and even lobbies to make teams so you can have that too.
A genre that is pseudo single player games with glorified chat capabilities and slapping some instant group only battles does not make that genre MMORPG, it makes it a single player game where you can chat and interact with the other fans of said game while waiting in a hub for an instance battle queue.

[Vandark]

I know you keep hearing the "Go back to FFXI" line, but the only FFXI experience you are getting is in FFXI. So if you don't like ARR's direction, I would probably seek a game that does cater your needs.

This was our game there is no other game out there to cater our needs, FFXI is a lost cause now with no real future and the true FFXI experience has long faded out, it no longer exists even in FFXI.

FFXIV was our future game and it had the potential to keep alot of similarity as the orrigonal FFXIV partly intended on doing yet others came into the picture during ARR's making and they have tore apart what was ours and it's become something completely different to what we hoped for.

Many of us were the ones who were also loyal to the orrigonal FFXIV, we stuck around when things looked bad and even payed to play in hopes the game would improve so it could be our new MMO.

So simply giving up on a game we have played since the beginning FFXI 10years+ for some and FFXIV 2years+ it's only understandable we wouldn't want to play another game, we want more for this game and some damn content that suits us too and not just the casual gamer.

I doubt WOW would abandon there fans and simply change everything about there game then say if you don't like it go play something else, no they would surely maintain a level of previous game play and simply add more.

Just because the game now has dungeons and raiding as there style of end game doesn't mean that the game must exclude all other content for end game, that is ridicules. Even WoW had NM's and more to do than simply raiding and dungeons thats where alot of these new MMO's fall short, there verity in content is terrible.

How would you like it if you bought all the assassins creed games then all of a sudden the last game the main character is a Barby dole instead of Desmon and she searches for candy all day instead of being a hardcore assassin with obstacles to surpass? Would you simply be like oh thats ok I'll just go play something else, or if you cared enough about the franchise would you push for more?

Not everything is soloable in FFXIV. You don't take into account the dungeons and primal fights at all. FFXI's storyline fights that required a party was usually instanced content. So nothing too different in that department.

Apart from those dungeons and primal fights the entire story was soloable and you pretty much just backed up the problem of the game seriously lacking verity of content.
In end game all you do is the same stuff, dungeons and primals, raids and pvp it's all the same crap.
If the only team available content is dungeons and pvp like every other new gen MMO that sucks. I'm sorry but that is flawed on a massive scale.

I shouldn't have to rely on 3rd party tools for the simplest of features.

And no one would defend that as it was clearly a flaw, but the game back then was extreamly old, Windower did the trick just fine. No one is suggesting FFXIV take on the bad things about XI, I don't get why people put XI down so much the game was a huge success for it's time.

Which goes into one of FFXI's biggest flaws, was that mid-50 gear was better than lv.75 gear itself. Very rarely would the game ever come out with a piece that you could consider better, situational at most. Pretty sad the best armor for my samurai for years was my Haubergeon+1 for DPS and Kirin's Osode for WS's. Still debatable if my Askar body was an upgrade from the Haubergeon. Also when the Hagun came out, there was no GK that could surpass it except relic for years.

On FFXI you wouldn't leave any single peace of armor equipped, it was all situational it ment that gear you earned had a purpose and didn't simply get replaced in a weeks time.

In FFXIV you'll constantly be replacing your one and only gear set while everything else you worked hard for will become 100% obsolete and useless. Hopefully they bring out some way to at least use the appearance of old gear or you'll really have no use for it at all. If they added a feature like that I wouldn't mind so much I don't really want a macro system implemented for FFXIV it wouldn't suit the game like it did in XI but for XI it was perfectly fine.

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What it boils down to is this, we want some content we can relate to, it doesn't have to be done in the same tedious manor like previously in XI we just want similar content added for ARR.

[Devilray]

FFXI had you waiting in Jeuno for 6 hours to get a party. FFXI had you feeding a chocobo for 6 hours in order to ride it. FFXI had story content that 85% of it's playerbase couldn't see. FFXI had everyone wearing a scorpion harness. FFXI had Valkurm Dunes. FFXI had you killing worms and crabs for it's entirety of leveling. I could go on for hours. (You couldn't alt tab in FFXI). Oh, and Playonline.

You are clearly too lazy/casual to get into the content. It took 6 hours because once you finish that quest, you get a chocobo license that lasts forever and you never have to do it again. And you are wrong about the scorpion harness and everything else. 85%, the 85% that suck and cry to mommy for help. It was rewarding to finish everything, and a lot of what you are saying is not true. Fact of the matter is is that FF14's journey to endgame is a failure in comparison to FF11's, and 14 also lacks anything worth aiming for in endgame currently that will not get outdated in a few months.

[Vandark]

I agree with everything except 2hr abilities, those sucked, I'm sorry lol.

But man would it be awesome if they learned from 11.

11 wasn't perfect, but it's design allowed it to flourish a great community, a true sense of challenge and achievements. I was so disappointed when I gathered my AF in this game, I was like, "Seriously?" I just go and pick up the pieces? Wow...

I remember the epic experience I had in 11 when gathering my AF, and by the time it was complete, with the help of my fellow LS mates, I felt like I was on top of the world. That feeling is gone, this game is too forgiving and it gives everything away. The only thing I kind of worked hard to get was the relic, and it wasn't much of a challenge, just a stomp on Titan, nothing more.

I simply had to reply to this because it seems like you missed out on a great experience, you see in FFXIV 1.23 you weren't simply handed your AF ( WHAT ARE YOU SERIOUS? )
Yes I am, in FF14 1.23 you had to earn it threw epic fights same as it was for FFXI, and not just your body peace, the entire set was earned threw group content that wasn't soloed.

-> Currently uploading on youtube a Video of me in the 1.23 Dragoon fight <-
EDIT: Finished
-> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPhdIwzUl_s

Sorry but everyone new had a way worse experience, if you simply gave FF14 the original more of a chance the game would have become way more epic by now than what we are left with.

People wouldn't reach end game at such a fast pace and would actually be capable of playing at a pro level if they got that far which is kind of the point. The game is supposed to prepare you for end game not be a walk in the park then all of a sudden you don't know wtf to do.

All they had to do was improve battle speed and animations, give us more spells and ability's and the battle system would have been golden.

[Moontide]

In my experience FFXIV is one of the most linear MMOs I've ever played already, even moreso than the early iterations of WoW in some parts.

It's also an effort for me to think of any other P2P MMO which is so devoid of character customization gameplay-wise. You get options to change your class even after character creation, sure, but every alternative is basically the same within its class once you level (or item level) them up enough.

[Wobi]

Oh how rose-tinted the view of FFXI gets as you get on in years. I made my own parties every day and it still would take forever sometimes during NA primetime and then you had to fight out for camps with jerks who would should up and try and out-pull you preventing 12 people from having a good time.

Chocobo raising was added many, many years into the game. FFXI has been out a very long time and many of us played it for 10 years or so, it's time has come and gone.

[NefGP]

1. Incorporate some kind of 4 and/or 8-person party grind option similar to those found in FFXI as an alternative to FATE and dungeon-grinding

2. Rather than Warcraft-esque "raids" like Binding Coil, why not bring back things like Dynamis, Limbus, Salvage, and Nyzul Isle?

3. Bring back BCNM, KSNM, ENM, ZNM, ISNM, etc

4. Make gear with lasting power. Adding useful set bonuses like increased radius on Flash or increased duration on Regen when you're wearing full artifact gear would be awesome

5. FFXIV needs a sense of community. It was a huge letdown to obtain all five pieces of artifact gear by myself over the course of 2 five-minute quests

6. Other honorable mentions include Sky/Sea-type areas that are only reachable after the completion of difficult missions; HNM camping for those of us with too much time on our hands; 2hr abilities or something similar; Race-specific equipment; Skillchains

Yeah I honestly don't understand why they didn't keep what actually worked in XI (like the job system...)


Honestly the biggest problems plaguing XI were it's all-to-heavy reliance on the RNG, Haste, Utsusemi, needlessly complex formulas for what was essentially a very basic battle system (stack buffs and whack away with the occasional weaponskill), skilling up, and a few other things that all thankfully got fixed in this game. But in the process they threw out the good things too.

XI's greatest strengths (up until Abyssea) that should have been kept for XIV:


- Lasting, relevant gear & content; new items and events never obsoleted older ones but rather gave players new alternatives.

- A diverse Job system that allowed for a great deal of experimentation. Not everything worked well, but at least you had true variety in options. The Armory System basically means we'll never see BLU, and even if we do eventually get SAM it'll be locked in to just a Katana or Lance, rather than both + a bow. I miss using multiple weapon types and having weaponskills as a mage too. RDM won't be anything like it was in XI as it'll likely be based on GLA, and SCH, while it works, was far better designed and more fun to play in XI with the stratagems and light/dark stances.

- Merit Points that allowed for true customization at end game - the bonus stats in XIV while noticeable don't have the defining impact I'd like, such as a Paladin who focuses on VIT for HP, STR for Enmity, or MND for healing/divine magic power.
- Amazing storytelling. XIV's plot so far while not terrible, has been nothing close to the memorable experiences that CoP, ToAU and WotG were. There haven't been any big characters that truly stand out like Tenzen, Prishe, Gessho, Luzaf or Lilisette.

- Summoner, while underpowered for many years, was still at least fun and cool - I'll take the old blood pact system & avatars over the garbage we got in this game anyday. The primals are awesome and very well done, but SMN feels very cobbled together with no real sense of direction. This is an on-going personal peeve of mine and while I have issues with all the jobs in this game, SMN is the one that irks me the most by far. You basically took RDM, neutered it's debuffing ability while also taking away the melee aspect and gave it 3 crappy pets. That's what SMN is in this game, as opposed to its traditional AoE utility role while also taking away most of the "WOW" factor (the cool summons).

- Being able to play every job as much as you like & how you like. Currently the mythic cap essentially punishes you at endgame for wanting to multi-class (as does the 1-drop a week for CT). XI had it's own kind of limits on it, but there was never anything expressly put in that forced you to pick a single class and stick with it or else take an eternity to make any real progress on each additional class you played. For example I could be in Dynamis as a THF (to help with drops) and still get my Relic armor for any other jobs I wanted (barring whatever limits the group has set, but again that's at least optional/player driven rather than forced upon us by the game itself).

Furthermore. whereas the original armory system as designed by Tanaka & Komoto was meant to give us base. rudimentary classes from which we could then mix and match not only abilities but even equipment to essentially create our own classes, we're now stuck with a bizarre pseuo-job system that's incredibly restrictive with basically no room for creativity.

There won't be any cool RDM/NIN soloing seemingly impossible NMs, or SAM/RNG spamming high damage ranged attacks or any of that cool stuff you could do in XI in this game. WHM doesn't have to weigh the pros and cons of going /SCH vs /RDM in this. Heck we don't even have skillchains and magic bursts anymore. Don't get me wrong the Limit Breaks are nifty, but they too are very generic and shared across multiple roles rather than being individualized for each job (less work for the devs).


I made my peace with XI, and am not asking for rehash of the game - nor do I want to go back to it. But in a lot of ways, FFXI felt far more like a true FF experience. Sure he's biased as the creator, but I find myself still agreeing with Tanaka when he said that XI is the most emblematic of the series; that is, of all the FF games to date XI truly embodies what an FF game should be.

And he's right. For all it's flaws (and there are many) it still stand the test of time as being a memorable and engaging experience.

[Senfei]

I remember FFXI fondly, but at the same time I don't remember much about it. Grinding xp parties (seriously... what?), waiting... more waiting... uhh, yeah. The story? Don't remember it at all. Not sure I ever even did it because it wasn't accessible and it really didn't seem necessary.

I understand there are parts of the game you wish were different, but keep in mind back in the day there were parts of FF11 we (myself and my linkshell) wished were different too. A lot of those things have been realized in this game, at least for me.