Make FFXIV more like FFXI and less like WoW

[Kittra]

I have so many things I want to say but I cannot possibly put them into words without making myself seem like a complete idiot. I started writing about 2 hours ago... and I've completely erased everything I wrote because I don't believe it would get my point across or it would just lose people along the way which would result in a "to long, didn't read" situation. So, I'll just write down what I have found enjoyable about MMOs that I've actually stuck with, while realizing my idea of "fun" does not in any way represent what someone else may find enjoyable and they may just downright hate what I like.

Questing & Story, without all the Hand Holding


There's just something about well written quest dialog that holds my attention and puts a smile on my face. Maybe it's because I enjoy reading fantasy, or maybe it's because I can actually see the situation happening in some fantasy land. Whatever the case, that is all pointless if the "Journey" does not exist.

When a well written quest or quest line is introduced it becomes completely and utterly unbelievable for me when the game gives me information or the location to complete the quest when it was not mentioned in the quest dialog whatsoever. It takes away the Journey element and ruins what credibility the quest may have had because "Hey, anyone could do this. That NPC didn't really need me." sinks into my brain and won't let go. It becomes less of a "Quest" and more of a "Chore" to do, simply because something within the game is telling me "Go, do this here and here and then you're done. Simple right?" *sigh*

Final Fantasy XI (I'm sorry, this is about all I really have to pull from. I did play the game for 8 years straight.) approached quests with the well written story, but instead of the A to B and back to A (or even worse, A to B and done at B...) it was more in the form of A to C... wait, where's B? "B" in this case is an element that is "inferred" to by the quest giving NPC but he does not "tell you" to do it nor does he or the game point it out. You can do A to C and completely skip B if you so choose, but if you do, just know that you are missing out on WAAAAAAAAAY more story than you would if you simply went looking for B... oh also, if you skip B, doing C is harder. In this way, you are encouraged to seek out B and in the end, you (or at least I) will feel a heck of a lot better about it and that feeling of "accomplishment" will wash over you. The thing about this is, Final Fantasy XI took it a step further in some quests, with an example being A -> D -> G, or slightly changing your quest rewards based upon how many elements of a quest line you actually "found" without the game telling you exactly where to find them. Now that's an adventure.

... and I did it again... way to long, I've probably lost people, but to hell with it. I'm posting this one... although, I had a lot more to say.

*EDIT*

Also, this horse mask takes away any credibility I may have...