Quote Originally Posted by Tupsi View Post
XIV/ARR should have been that, that would be moving forward.
It actually is. It's taken modern concepts and given them its own spin, and will likely build on those and go its own direction given time. It's not a 1:1 copy of WoW or any modern game by any stretch of the imagination, but has taken certain systems and used them well enough. That said, there's obviously room for improvement, but that'll come with time. I hope, anyways.
Look at the itemization of this game, XIV 1.2x mimicked FFXI and some other MMOs where items had value, but now, ARR mimics MMOs where items have zero value to it, I mean, I understand gear has 'set slots" in terms of programming, but some MMOs with Gear just..makes you want it. Nothing in ARR makes you "want" it because it'll just be replaced in the next update or right after you finish a quest.
Itemization had to be simplified for balance purposes. I'm also glad they steered away from crap like throwing job adjustments on gear, which highly reduces the chances of us seeing crap along the lines of on/off switches like Aegis/Ochain for PLDs and Almace for melee RDMs.

Seeing that transmog in WoW made me want and care for gear I didn't care about before, I'm sure I'll care about gear and want gear once vanity slots are implemented.
Not the same at all
It is actually exactly the same. You rejecting modern MMO design is no different than claiming that Skyrim should not exist, because <insert whargarble excuse about how RPGs should not have changed>.
Also not the same, especially considering most people actually like and still loved the older styled fighting games
It is also exactly the same because thsoe who like the older games *wait for it* will simply play the older games. I'm personally not into Guilty Gear because I don't like all the stuff that was added (dusters, roman cancels, fake roman cancels, etc). You don't see me demanding that Guilty Gear follow the convensions set by the older fighting games; I simply don't play GG and gravitate to something I enjoy more (like Melty Blood >.>).

If SE and Yoshida Naoki made the decision to make ARR using conventions and ideas taken from modern MMOs, we can sit back and enjoy the game, give them suggestions/feedback on how to improve the game within the philosophies and approaches they have chosen to implement, and if we don't like it, unsub and move on. Not whine about 1.23.
Speaking of Stagnation, ever notice how almost every new MMORPG whether it's mass produced Korean or Chinese MMORPGs or "brand new innnovative!" MMOs they tend to all flow the same and basically be the same game no matter what? MMO genre stagnated because if developers try to move forward, people will despise it because "It's not WoW" or 'why can't I talk to NPCs and auto level by not going into the overworld?' "where's my endless dungeon grinds and main story content you only do once but never again?"
It's not so simple. The majority of MMORPGs that have come out within the last 5 years all suffered from the same problems: poorly implemented ideas, lack of content, horrible imbalances, poor marketing and doing nothing to help retention rate (hell, SWTOR going the way it did was more because of those reasons over the idiotic "becuz it c0p33d w0w").

That said, like it or not there are features that have become standard in the industry, much like the super meter in fighting games. Among them stuff like group finders. The genre has moved away from rewarding no-life gameplay in favor of steady progression and gating content to further give a feeling of progression. A genre that once was very insular has opened up to the general public and that is something developers have to keep in mind moving forward. That's what I would call the evolution of the MMORPG genre. Others may call it a decline, but as someone who has benefited from the changes to the genre over the last decade, I've had no issues and enjoy ARR for what it is.