Quick Comparison: Info on POL vs Lodestone

[Rinsui]

i would have to disagree on that one, but then again iv only been keeping up to date on the JP forum for 2 months now and from what i have noticed in that time is a lot better communication then here.

Is there another hidden Japanese forum I am not aware of?

[Shai]

I just told my wife I posted my first "original" topic and when she looked at my comparison said...

"Don't you think Yoshida's letter has a lot of good information, although its mostly vague?"
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/11012

Then I compared that to this...
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/4937

Notice anything different? Such as real deadlines? Accurate forecasting? Pictures? Detailed information? (Edit: ) Yoshida has a lot more on his chart, but he has a whole game to makeover. So of course he has more things but do they all have to be so few useable details?

Lol isn't that Tanaka again now? that would be ironic if they went to him for advice on communication.

I don't think so, but by "front man" I meant the guy in charge of POL/NA. The person who is posting once (sometimes twice) a week with real tidbits of information for fans to turn over in their heads about upcoming content and adjustments.

On the other hand we get "the developers are thinking of ways to improve this" and "Ongoing revision and balacing of Guildleves" as if those statements say anything other than "I don't know, but I will someday."

[Bled]

Nope the same one; where Yoshida responded to the following threads that we have un answered.

1. Un-exciting zones
2. test servers
3. a little more info on jobs
4. dungeons

I could pull some more but those 4 right there are enough to convey that we see little responses out side of these bare bones QandAs

Edit: Even with those responses in the JP forums its still not as well done as XI's.

[Bled]

Do we know if the community reps have a job outside of being said community rep or what exactly a community rep does? Because as i see it we receive about 3 posts from the community reps a day. what the hell are they doing the other 98% of the time their in the office? pizza parties?

If some one has any clue what a community rep does outside of talking with the community and organizing information please enlighten me.

[Shai]

Do we know if the community reps have a job outside of being said community rep or what exactly a community rep does? Because as i see it we receive about 3 posts from the community reps a day. what the hell are they doing the other 98% of the time their in the office? pizza parties?

If some one has any clue what a community rep does outside of talking with the community and organizing information please enlighten me.

Moderating? I don't know. I have wondered what their duties include also but it seemed rude to ask - but since I started a fairly accusing thread, now's as good as any time to know - why no real ebb and flow of information? The Q&A looked to be a good undertaking, but the results of both were ridiculous (to me). I want real info on the upcoming battle system so I can know what to expect.

I have several friends who have stopped leveling on all DoW/M jobs because they are unsure if they will be able to utilize the skills they desire until after the battle updates. I sometimes laugh when the POL page says something like "THF ability changed from 1 min until 2 min duration" and I think "Haha, that's really worth an update?" but honestly it's better than we get.

I know there aren't many playing at the moment, but stifling those who are by not giving them information they need to make informed decisions about their character's futures is truly, truly frustrating. Someone should really address this.

[Rentahamster]

i would have to disagree on that one, but then again iv only been keeping up to date on the JP forum for 2 months now and from what i have noticed in that time is a lot better communication then here.

Eh, I wouldn't say the disparity is that large. For the most part, the reps translate all relevant info and post it on this side too. There's only a few things that I've noticed go untranslated, but it's not really groundbreaking stuff.

"Don't you think Yoshida's letter has a lot of good information, although its mostly vague?"
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/11012

Then I compared that to this...
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/4937

Notice anything different? Such as real deadlines? Accurate forecasting? Pictures? Detailed information? (Edit: ) Yoshida has a lot more on his chart, but he has a whole game to makeover. So of course he has more things but do they all have to be so few useable details?

Wow, yeah, I think you have a point in this regard. The POL updates really blow away Lodestone as far as community communication and update info are concerned. Too busy or not, the FF14 team does not look good by comparison. Would it really be that much harder to hire more people to have access to the devs' overall plan, and post details about it on Lodestone periodically?

Do we know if the community reps have a job outside of being said community rep or what exactly a community rep does? Because as i see it we receive about 3 posts from the community reps a day. what the hell are they doing the other 98% of the time their in the office? pizza parties?

If some one has any clue what a community rep does outside of talking with the community and organizing information please enlighten me.

Well, they have other duties as well other than just dealing with the forums. Other tasks include quality assurance, marketing, etc. I'd imagine they also gotta do a lot of translation work and communicating (email, phone, teleconference, etc) with the JPN folks to keep the information exchange consistent. It's not easy.

[Mack]

I just told my wife I posted my first "original" topic and when she looked at my comparison said...

"Don't you think Yoshida's letter has a lot of good information, although its mostly vague?"
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/11012

Then I compared that to this...
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/4937

Notice anything different? Such as real deadlines? Accurate forecasting? Pictures? Detailed information? (Edit: ) Yoshida has a lot more on his chart, but he has a whole game to makeover. So of course he has more things but do they all have to be so few useable details?



I don't think so, but by "front man" I meant the guy in charge of POL/NA. The person who is posting once (sometimes twice) a week with real tidbits of information for fans to turn over in their heads about upcoming content and adjustments.

On the other hand we get "the developers are thinking of ways to improve this" and "Ongoing revision and balacing of Guildleves" as if those statements say anything other than "I don't know, but I will someday."

Yea well wow I would love something like the FFXI roadmap you showed there.

[Shai]

The first time XI posted a road map was within weeks after I quit.

I was very "WTF, SE" over it. Their roadmaps are vague and often say "subject to change" but at least they give you a good forecast and something to really sink your teeth into for the next 3-4 quarters.

Now, XIV on the other hand, indicates they want to update more frequently than 4x a year (and good, I applaud that) so maybe it doesn't need to be so stretched out, but if Yoshida's letter (forecasting June to September, we presume) was formatted remotely similarly, I'd have fallen out of my chair in joy.

[Shai]

Actually it looks like XI is updating more than 4x a year now, too. There's more than 4 planned in that road map as well as one on the front page scheduled for July that isn't on the road map (as far as I can tell) plus the scheduled release of test servers... Honestly, someone on the XI team needs to brief someone on the XIV team how to communicate better and what it means to give information and gather feedback.

SO WTF SE !? AGAIN
Man, I ranted for years how depressing 4 updates a year can be, and how slow and dragged out their mission release schedule was for Wings of the Goddess. I'm not overly impressed with all the drastic changes to XI in the last year and a half (but many of them are good, I think) but their ability to give the community much needed information and more frequent patching has improved by leaps and bounds.

Then need to spread that butter over here on the XIV side of the bread.

[Shai]

(editted for great justice) thats like saying look at how awsome Guild Wars 2 is.. well actually it is awsome check it out. thats how a MMO should be. Love you xoxo

I'm sorry. What are you trying to say?

Maybe your attempt to use an expletive threw me off.

I'd love to reply to you, but I don't even know what you're saying.

We could draw comparisons to Guild Wars 2 (I guess) but XI & XIV are the same company, many of the same developers worked on both games, and they both launched forums at the same time - but the game that succeeded is using its forum correctly and the game that fell on its face is hiding behind curtains, teasing us with sly comments like "development of Ifrit battle quest" but that's nothing compared to the road map I posted.

This is a repost of the FFXI version of Yoshida's confusing chart of updates.
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/4937

Alternatively called "the road map" or the "not confusing chart of real information with pictures" as you please.