To save SE, they most play to their strength...

[Amsai]

I have known this game was crap from alpha, but I was one of the people that kept saying: wait til such n such time etc etc. I did however quit the game almost entirely in December, unlike some people that have leveled multiple 50s and are so let down by the lack of content and/or change. I knew when to get out and take a wait and see approach. Which is what I have been doing all this time, while playing offline games, because there are no MMOs out that I want to play (or go back too).

I have logged on here and there to check out certain features like the (imo) good changes to the gamepad targeting. And I am hoping that patch 1.18 will be the start of some really good changes and taking the game in general in a better direction with more "serious" content (I live for endgame and such). To prepare for this I have deleted my old character (which I held no attachment too, which is a really bad sign if you ask me), and created a new character on a much more active and populated server. Hopefully in this way, I can purge (short of purifying them with fire) myself of the memories of my first experience in what looks to be all but a NGE coming. Also with a larger server population I am hoping to be able to find a large social LS that wont be empty within 1 month like happened to me on my old server not once but 4 times.

I am hopeful that Yoshi-P can pull it together and get the game in a better state, but he can only go so far. I sort of feel like they are polishing a poop, and should have been polishing gold. The quality of the material that you start with will effect the outcome of your crafted item afterall. So there are a lot of problems with this game that I don't see going away. Things like the MW and the repair/durability systems, as well as other in games systems and mechanics might always be there unfortunately. There is also I think limitations with their crystal tools engine, and just bad coding in general which is hampering progress and stability (MW crashing etc). But honestly I think their biggest problems weere happening during the designing phase. The lack of vision on this project just has me at a loss for words on what they were thinking. These are just examples, and I am not saying I 100% agree with them all, but at least they seem like good fresh ideas: GW2s dynamic quest system( no talking to this NPC or that NPC things just happen), Tera's action oriented combat (I like the idea in general, but think it effects the holy trinity and strategy in a negative way. Still its very interesting), and SWTOR's Story driven content (which really pisses me off because I could like a game like that if it wasnt Sci-Fi).

I have a few major problems with those games so I dont plan on playing them, but some of the ideas are just really impressive, and I can't help but think why wasn't SE thinking about ideas like this. There is nothing new or innovative in their concepts for this game, and everything that they have done differently seems so stale and is like a step backwards or only really pleases the STF or RPers. SE is known for thier story telling in particular, so I am particularly upset that Bioware (a company I despise for the most part) has shown them up with a f#$%ing story driven MMO. I love single player RPGs for this concept, but they end too soon, and I love playing with people online. So the marriage of highly developed story driven elements with a awesome battle system, and the group play/community aspects would be a perfect set up for a FF MMO (of course the Jury is still out on whether or not Bioware succeded or not). I have mixed feelings on SWTOR. Part of me wants it to fail because its Bioware, and part of me wants it to do really well so that other companies will take up the concept of a highly story driven MMO (In a fantasy setting!!!!) Who knows, maybe SE's new MMO project will do just this.

Yes I know both FFXI and FFXIV have a good amount of story in them especially compared too most other MMOs. But the only really good example I have seen was CoP missions. Imagine an entire game filled with that kind of storytelling. Of course I would still want there to be other options on things to do and some really good progression and endgame, but I see nothing wrong with a highly driven story concept. And to the people that love a sandbox...... gtfo. A sandbox does a few things wrong. It really only caters too RPers and PvP players (a vast minority of players) and its only really a good excuse for developers to be lazy and create no content or static content.

In closing I would just like to say that I had a lot of high hopes for the game, and was let down pretty bad. I will stick around for some of the upcoming changes through the summer, but at some point if SE cant get it right I will leave and just check up on their next MMO........... and play offline RPGs for the next few years unless Everquest Next or Project Copernicus are actually any good.

[Rydin]

I have known this game was crap from alpha

I sort of feel like they are polishing a poop, and should have been polishing gold.

So there are a lot of problems with this game that I don't see going away.

There is also I think limitations with their crystal tools engine, and just bad coding in general which is hampering progress and stability (MW crashing etc).

But honestly I think their biggest problems weere happening during the designing phase. The lack of vision on this project just has me at a loss for words on what they were thinking.

In closing I would just like to say that I had a lot of high hopes for the game, and was let down pretty bad.

And all that leads to...

I will stick around for some of the upcoming changes through the summer

No offense but you're like the woman who says her boyfriend is a liar, a cheater and beats her constantly and yet she wont leave...
I really just can't take you seriously...
The second I hate a game, I stop playing and move on....

[Rentahamster]

No offense but you're like the woman who says her boyfriend is a liar, a cheater and beats her constantly and yet she wont leave...
I really just can't take you seriously...
The second I hate a game, I stop playing and move on....

Caring about a terrible game is totally not comparable to caring about an abusive partner.

Some people recognize the flaws in this game yet still care enough to want to try to fix it somehow. Due to whatever goodwill and brand loyalty Square has built up during their golden years, many people at least want to give this game a chance that they normally wouldn't give other games.

[Rydin]

Caring about a terrible game is totally not comparable to caring about an abusive partner.

Some people recognize the flaws in this game yet still care enough to want to try to fix it somehow. Due to whatever goodwill and brand loyalty Square has built up during their golden years, many people at least want to give this game a chance that they normally wouldn't give other games.

Yes but there is a point....
When you say the game is crap, they are polishing poop and I don't see the problems going away....
When you say there was no vision in the design of the game....
Those sound like things you say right before you uninstall the game and never play again

[Rentahamster]

Those sound like things you say right before you uninstall the game and never play again

Yeah, so? I mean, his opinions are pretty clear about the state of the game, but why should that invalidate his opinions at all? Just because he plays a game he thinks is terrible, he can't be taken seriously? I don't think so.

Obviously brand loyalty, nostalgia, online friends, etc still keep him motivated enough to keep the game on his PC and care enough about the game's fate to still check up on it.

SE should be so lucky to have such die-hard fans.

[Rydin]

Yeah, so? I mean, his opinions are pretty clear about the state of the game, but why should that invalidate his opinions at all? Just because he plays a game he thinks is terrible, he can't be taken seriously? I don't think so.

Obviously brand loyalty, nostalgia, online friends, etc still keep him motivated enough to keep the game on his PC and care enough about the game's fate to still check up on it.

SE should be so lucky to have such die-hard fans.

I guess... I can see your point... I guess I could just never see myself playing a game I hate, brand loyalty or otherwise

[Amsai]

Thanks for the assist Rentahampster. But pretty much Renta is correct, its only out of nostalgia and all the great SE games I remember from my youth and the hope that they can change things around that I stay. Its not like I don't have any hope, its just not looking good in my opinion. But hell SE could throw me for a loop and break out some just awesome changes and great gameplay and make me eat my own words. I have seen them do it in the past, so its not out of the realm of possibility. And for the record I am currently not playing and havent been since late December.

I will be playing after patch 1.18, and will make a second go at trying to get into this game. I believe that to be a good time to get in on the ground floor when all the "NGE" starts coming. Will it be enough? We shall see. And if its not enough change or not living up to my expectations by September, then that will be the last straw, and I will likely never come back. However, this doesnt mean that I won't check out SE's new MMO or that I wouldnt possibly go back to FFXI one day.

If I seem a bit wishy-washy its that I am desperate for my next MMO addiction and FFXIV was supposed to be it. If its not FFXIV then I don't really have anywhere to go. Plus I am traditionally a console player and their are not too many Console or even gamepad friendly MMOs out there, so PS3 version is a uge selling point to me, and Super Hero MMOs are a joke. So any non-console MMOs mean having to make myself play keyboard and mouse (which I can do, but really hate. I am getting old and like my comfy couch. I also rather oddly see a PC as a work/school device and find it ridiculous to have to play games on it when they make systems specifically designed to play games).

Here are some of my main problems with most other MMO titles: not optimized for gamepad play, not on a hassle free system like a console, too much focus on PvP (which basically is almost the case for me if they have any), super fast battle systems (slow it down make more strategy), no or poorly implemented story, not enough focus on group play, F2P = B2W.

[_C-a-e-r-i-t-h_]

And rather spend 1 1/2 - 2.5 years redoing the game in an entirely new engine?

I don't think it would take that long. Frostbite is a complete engine, Crystal Tools is an incomplete engine. All the artwork and models and stuff was already made, so it's just a question of plugging it into Frostbite instead, and that would take maybe two weeks tops.

SWTOR's Story driven content (which really pisses me off because I could like a game like that if it wasnt Sci-Fi).

Good news: Star Wars isn't sci-fi. It's fantasy... in space.

Knights and wizards and magic swords and a princess. Sounds like fantasy to me.

[_C-a-e-r-i-t-h_]

Oh, and another thing S-E needs to do to save itself:

Publish their mini-games on Steam, XBLA, PSN, WiiWare, DSi, iOS, etc, with cross-platform play:

• Triple Triad
• Tetra Master
• Fort Condor Defense

Frankly it seems obvious to me.

[quantumsaint]

I don't understand why they don't develop PS1 style FFs for digital distribution. They'd be cheaper to make, easier to develop, and would sell like gangbusters.

Also, lost the quote, but I also want Ivalice Online. I wanted it to be this game (back when it was still called Rapture and we knew nothing about it), but hopefully they still make it in the future.