I hope SE will change the direction of the game

[Taei]

I've seen a few of these posts in the past few weeks about people getting frustrated with the game's content design, challenge, and direction. I am writing this now because I have just tried the ESO beta this weekend and it reminded me of why I wanted to play MMO's in the first place. I've pre-ordered and will be playing ESO when it comes out as a secondary MMO and giving 14 till 2.3+ at the most, but really, even my own patience is running out on this game.

I hope that SE sincerely looks into these posts and see it as a warning sign of possible mass unsubbing after 2.3. 2.0 might have been successful since September, but the game has and really since 2.0, really waned a lot in terms of challenge and fun. I think two things that are the biggest issue of this game are
1. Duty Finder
2. Weekly Lockouts

I will try to make this short. I have lead an LS now turned FC on Balmung since 1.18 and have seen the changes since 2 years ago and have seen people come and go throughout that time. I have always been able to recruit new people without much of an issue and continued to play the game throughout the whole of 1.0 and seeing the game improve with every patch. Many of us saw players return, and saw alot of the changes as positive and was hoping the game would just carry over into 2.0 with better graphics and more engaging world.

2.0, in short, was a disappointment compared to 1.20+. The game is completely different now. Without making a super long post, I will just make a list and keep it as short as possible

-People are isolated from one another. (The Housing and DF are partly to blame)
-There's nothing to farm. (There's a lot of content but 90% of it is not worth spending time doing at all.)
-The open world is dead. (ESO does a great job of seamlessly melding the quests and open world)
-Weekly Lockout (ever since 2.1 and having had T5 on farm, I witnessed members slowly drifting off into other games and playing 14 less and less and only coming online for coil. The problem is that, the people that are hopeful are going to try 2.2 and MAYBE 2.3 but if they turn out to be more of the same, I can assure you that a good 40-50% of my 70-80 person FC will be quitting for other games, including myself.)
-Odin and Behemoth were disappointing. ( pre 2.0 interviews and teasers made these ideas sound very cool, in practice, they suck.)
-Housing was boring and useless after 2 weeks.
-Combat is too memory based and stale with little to no variation. (Compared to 1.0, 2.0 combat and battles are primarily about knowing what's going to happen and what to do/where to go. 1.0 had this but it was much more random and because the combat was slower, you can actually react to the situation, think 1.0 Ifrit EX vs 2.0 Ifrit EX.)
-Statics are destroying the community and the whole point of having a larger FC. (My FC has 8 coil groups running and because of the weekly lockout, we have had to stick to these statics in order to make sure everyone is able to get a group. The problem is that, for the most part besides CT, TH, and primal extremes, and helping out on certain lower-tier content, there's nothing challenging for a large FC to grind/farm together, basically meaning that there's nothing to do.)
-The world is beautiful, but cramped and the zones are too small. (SE, the open world is important, the whole point of an MMO is to be immersed within a world, separating content into instances really destroys this whole experience and making it seem more like playing GW1. Again, please look into ESO.)
-BEASTMAN TRIBE QUESTS ARE HORRIBLE, STOP IT.
-This one is more personal: Tanks are too reliant on healers skill in 2.0. Back in 1.0, it actually mattered a lot more if you were a good tank and you can actually survive on your own for a bit longer than in 2.0. In 2.0 tanking, other than hallowed ground and Holmgang, the most a tank can carry on a fight is maybe 20-30 seconds. It's really sad to see all of this pressure fall on the healers.

I hope SE really starts to pay attention to some of the complaints posed by its players and see it as a warning sign for the next 6 months to a year as new MMOs appear on the market.

I just want to conclude that while 2.0 is not the same anymore, I still enjoy it. I enjoy the graphics, the great craftsmanship of everything, and even the new combat system. But the list that I came up with really starts to add up. I think if even half of these problems are fixed, 14 will become a much better game in the long run.

This is 2014 now, please stop following in Wow's footsteps and return to a more ambitious project of actually making a next-gen MMO with new ideas, gameplay, and concepts rather than just going with the tried-and true method.

[Nayal]

So you want this game to be like ESO ?

[panzertroll]

No, he want more contents for free Company that you can farm. At present, Free company are useless.
and when he said that the 2 problems of FFXIV are Duty Finder & Weekly Lockouts, he's right

[Khronikos]

I personally tend to think they will build on this foundation for all players but we have to see how 2.2 goes. I think it is fine as is until we start hearing about expansion details. Then we can start making a decision on what they might be up to. As you said I will be waiting until 2.3 not necessarily just for things you asked.

I expect this expansion to be quite large. And we deserve a lot for sticking with this game and paying out the ass for what has been up until now not a whole lot added from release for larger companies or even 8 mans. Hell we don't even have enough hard modes. They have a lot to prove still imo.

[Lithera]

Duty Finder...alternative is standing around shouting for a party for hours...No Thanks. Party Finder solves many issues people bring up about Duty Finder if they'd just use it.
Weekly Lockouts...alternative there is 1% drop rates...again No Thank You. The most I would ask for is in the future to use a lockout more along the lines of CT rather than Turns 1-5.

[Khronikos]

I have to agree mostly with what you said. I don't think people want to go back to 1% drop rates or even better than that. I don't really get those complaints. But I do get the content complaints and I hope those are getting solved.

[Issachar]

This is 2014 now, please stop following in Wow's footsteps and return to a more ambitious project of actually making a next-gen MMO with new ideas, gameplay, and concepts rather than just going with the tried-and true method.

They did. it was called Final Fantasy XIV. It released in 2010 and was a commercial failure.

[Seraphe]

Getting a CT drop -> Yay!

Getting a 1% drop -> Heart attack

I like the old system, sue me.

[Alwryn]

Ok so, that wasn't short. Anyway, there are some things I disagree with in your post and some that I'd call flat out wrong. Here's what I have to say though. You have your opinion, that's great; but so do I. Infact, everyone gets to have their own opinion.


I don't want SE to go down whatever vague direction you want them to, I want them to continue down their current path. That's my opinion, and I don't need a wall of text or my own thread to say it.

[Nayto]

Let me kill all the hopes you have for change.