Moment of Truth: How do you really feel

[AmyRae]

1. Incredibly slow when compared to many other games. Although I am not a fan of Rift, I did play it when it launched and they were patching things in record time. It was a good example of how fast changes, bug fixes, and so on can happen with the correct team of people in place.

2. Some of the changes have been obvious wins, some of them questionable. Overall at this point, looking back of the history of implemented changes, it feels to me like there is no clear cut direction anymore. Feels more like they are making it up as they go without a real clear picture of what the finish line looks like. I understand they have posted an extensive list of planned changes, but they do not feel cohesive to me, i.e. I don't feel like the planned changes result in a well thought out game.

3. Given the bad PR, the current population with it free to play, and the patch rate, that by the time this game is even close to being competitive with a current generation title as far as interface, content, and so on, that it will be 2 to 3 generations behind the curve. It already feels behind the current generation in almost every way except for character models.

4. I don't expect this game to ever be as successful as FFXI, and it is for the most part a niche game. I do not think this game will enjoy a very long life span, I just don't think it is sustainable. I imagine if SE ever does move it to a subscription model, that it will close within one year of that time.

5. The changes overall feel like the wrong direction for me personally, but I think many people like what the developers are doing with the game. I am still looking for the fun factor myself, as none of the current content, or original systems are particularly engaging for me.

6. I think their focus has been very misplaced throughout the entire life of the game when it comes to what they have changed. It definitely feels like the game was in ICU when it was released, and everything they have done up to this point has been emergency surgery just to keep it going. None of the changes that have been made feel fleshed out and none of the core issues have really been resolved. The client/server interface, user interface, and general lack of basic mmorpg features should have been addressed first. This is my view. It may differ from yours.

I won't answer all 6 questions, but I will comment on your self-response.

FFXIV couldn't make enough money in its launched state. Option A would have been to cut the losses and let FFXIV die a dishonorable death. Option B would be to give it one last chance with a revamp that was good enough to haul in a substantial PS3 crowd.

They chose Option B.

But Option B is going to take time. It took them 5 years to make FFXIV in the first place. A "rebooted" FFXIV was certainly going to require more time than a couple of weeks or even months to get right.

Comparing the rate of patches to what they produce in a game like Rift is not a fair comparison. Rift doesn't have to remake itself from the ground up. Their initial formula was successful enough that all they have to do is build upon it or make minor tweaks.

FFXIV is still working on the fundamentals of player combat, progression, balance, as well as further expanding on the world with new content. The workload is substantially greater; the development concerns go deep into the roots of the game. They have to repair the foundations of the game while still building on top of it (and with no margin for error... they screw this up, it's over).

You don't pay a subscription for this game for a reason. It's not worth subscribing to and they know it. If you can't accept that the game is deeply under construction, you're perfectly within your rights to pick up something else you'd enjoy better. That said, I don't know what it is the development team could do better to improve upon a money-losing game any better than they've been trying to. There's no guarantee of success, but it's a bold attempt, and hopefully one worth watching to its conclusion.

[Fleur]

This is an interesting thread to read!

1. How do you feel about the patch frequency?
Very slow. I think if the game had been released more "finished" it would be fine, but that is not the case. I sympathize with the situation, but that doesn't change the fact that it feels too slow to me.

2. How do you feel about the changes themselves?
I like the little things that increase convenience (like setting home point), but I am ambivalent or unhappy about a lot of the bigger changes.

3. How do you feel this game will fair against current upcoming titles?
Not well, at least not in terms of attracting new players. And IMHO some people overestimate what others are willing to put up with "because it is Final Fantasy, and you can't get that feel in other MMO's!". Sure, that will keep some players, but I'm sure there are others that love FF but will still trade in their wands and chocobos for lightsabers and speeder bikes if TOR is just that much better (or GW2, etc).

4. Do you think this game will ever exceed niche popularity?
Unlikely. It is coming along too slowly and has too much competition and a poor reputation.

5. Do you think the changes are in the right or wrong direction?
I'm getting too many mixed signals to be able to figure that out. xD It is a matter of personal preference though.

6. Do you think the they have focused on the most important things historically with patches or should the focus have been elsewhere?
As important as it was/is to give players fun things to do like dungeons and events, I think they really needed to work on more basics. Linkshell management, mailbox, etc.

[Chezen]

1. How do you feel about the patch frequency?
2. How do you feel about the changes themselves?
3. How do you feel this game will fair against current upcoming titles?
4. Do you think this game will ever exceed niche popularity?
5. Do you think the changes are in the right or wrong direction?
6. Do you think the they have focused on the most important things historically with patches or should the focus have been elsewhere?

First off OP, it's obvious what your answers are, or you wouldn't ask these questions.

For myself:

1. It depends on what you mean by patch frequency. Obviously in this game, the patches need to come out as quickly as they can, because the game is pretty much being re-written. However, I wouldn't want anything released before it was ready, plus I think it would go much worse for them if they did so. The last thing this game needs is fodder for the trolls that gives them a leg to stand on.

If you refer to patches to a game that already has a good foundation, of course I like to have more content, but I hate it when patches are too much, too often. Rift changes every week it seems like, and I'm tired of trying to keep up with it. I've come to realize, I like this game because it it's not changing so often. I am glad I can log on and not find everything, especially to do with my character and abilities, changed every week. On top of that, content that has been worked on more, by definition, should be better content. I look for quality from Final Fantasy, not quantity. The patch rate is fine, maybe could be a tad faster once the fundamentals are done.

2. I haven't been personally happy with all of the changes, and I'm especially not happy with PvP on the horizon. But I do hope they will be able to do what I haven't seen any other mmo do, and keep PvP from killing the PvE. It's worth sticking around to find out, as there have been quite a few changes I have liked. Overall, I think the changes are good ones in the grand scheme of things, even if I personally don't care for some of them myself.

3. If they play their cards right, I think this game has just as good a chance as any, if not more.

4. I think some might underestimate, or maybe have forgotten, just how big that "niche" market may be. FFXIV was highly anticipated at launch. I have seen posts scattered over many forums, blogs, etc. , of people that might be willing to pick up the game they bought and give it another shot, once the word is given that it's fixed. There are a ton of people who like and/or have played FF. If even a fraction of those people will come play it, FFXIV will be very successful. They wouldn't even need to step out of their "niche", although previously non-FF players are certainly welcome.

5. I think Yoshi-P has a direction in mind, but I haven't seen enough of it to know if it's right or wrong for me. So far, however, I see no reason to think it's gone in any wrong direction that will continue to make it unpopular.

6. They have first focused on exactly what was voted on by the players, and filled in the inbetween time with whatever they could get done. No matter what they worked on first, I guarantee this exact same question (interrogation) would have been brought up.

[User201109011315]

1. How do you feel about the patch frequency?
The frequency is not as important as the substance of the patches. Which leads me to the next point.

2. How do you feel about the changes themselves?
Most of the changes are a waste of time or just end up breaking something else. But give credit where credit is due. I think the garlean attacks are good, and the enmity changes were an improvement. But by and large, a lot of the changes are pointless. I do like the grand companies and the instances were fun, but when I think what was sacrificed for these features, they are a poisoned joy. I look forward to beastmen strongholds, chocobos and airships, but aren't those sort of expected features anyway? I mean whoop-de-do, finally.

3. How do you feel this game will fair against current upcoming titles?
I don't think it will do too well. I mean, what does FFXIV have to offer? Compared to upcoming titles, FFXIV still has better graphics. But, despite that, it lacks a lot of innovative and revolutionary features which new MMOs are releasing with.

For example, combat in Blade and soul is really fun, especially the PvP! And I know many people who left FFXIV for Korean TERA due to the combat system. However, while I can't speak for TERA, I must say that Blade and Soul is intolerably linear in the early environments.

B&S does however have very high quality quests and cutscenes, all voiced. Similarly, SW:ToR, TERA, and GW2 all have higher quality quests than FFXIV. So FFXIV falls short in that department too. Basically FFXIV lacks quality combat and quality quests. The lore behind the game is the strongest of all MMOs, but the delivery is poor.

I think FFXIV's strongest selling point was the idea of freedom, but ArcheAge looks to overshadow FFXIV in that respect, not to mention the fact that SE are downplaying the freedom side of the game anyway. So in conlusion, I think FFXIV will not fair too greatly against future titles given the fact that it lacks almost anything to set it apart, and is not acknowledging its own strengths.

4. Do you think this game will ever exceed niche popularity?
Not unless it becomes more ambitious.

5. Do you think the changes are in the right or wrong direction?
Wrong direction.

6. Do you think the they have focused on the most important things historically with patches or should the focus have been elsewhere?
They have wasted so much time destroying rather than creating. Change is not always synonymous with improvement.

[Altera]

1: Taking into consideration on just the huge task on hand for Yoshi-P and his team, I would say im pretty satisfied with the rate patches is coming out. People constantly mention other MMOs so it would be nice if they could mention the names of said MMOs. Theres also a big difference in putting new stuff in, compared to what SE does and totally revamps current mechanics. ANd if you all look at WOW, and how much money they hoard in every month, they are pretty slow releasing content or fixing class balance / bugs. The entire Cataclysm has been a major letdown, and they might get back on trackwith patch 4.3, but that is 12-14months maybe more since Cataclysm was released last december. And thats going to be the last content patch until the new expansion comes out.

2: Personally I have been satisfied with the changes so far.

3: Shouldnt matter how 1 game fairs against another one tbh. People will play what interests them the most. Simple as that. And from what I have experienced in the past about overhyped games, is that they have been a major letdown. Aion, Warhammer, Rift, Age of Conan has all been said to be WOW killers cause they would be so much better.

4: Hard to say. Most people in EU/US may have become too accustomed to how WoW/Rift etc plays, and may be too scared trying something thats pretty different from what they are used to.

5: I would say it moving in the correct direction. Who knows what the future will bring once they are done with the overhaul`?

6: Mixed feelings, but I am just gonna take a big chill pill and wait until the game has undergone its revamp before judging too much. I also think instead of just slandering SE and Yoshis team constantly with negativity, I think everything would run smoother if people could try cheer em on so they feel more motivated to satisfy us. Just try to have patience folks

[Fensfield]

Curious thread.. hm.

1. How do you feel about the patch frequency?
A little slower than I'd hoped, but alright. It's hard to come to proper conclusions without better information.

2. How do you feel about the changes themselves?
This is not the game I paid coming up on £50 to gain access to. I'm waiting to see whether the new direction can be as good or better than the intent laid out by Tanaka's team originally, but at this point, I'm at least a little skeptical.

3. How do you feel this game will fair against current upcoming titles?
I'm a little worried. It's slipping into a format that, in my opinion, is about to fall out of fashion beside much more dynamic and/or player-driven models beginning to emerge in the face of less restrictive technologies.

4. Do you think this game will ever exceed niche popularity?
Perhaps. It depends heavily on how it is handled along the road. Proper marketing, optimisations, and so forth, and I believe it will have success comparable to its predecessor (which is, in the modern MMORPG climate, very respectable, but no longer the record breaker it once was).

5. Do you think the changes are in the right or wrong direction?
In my opinion, the wrong direction. Bang me over the head with 'the sandbox is gone' all you like, but pre-scripted quests and raids and so forth are an answer to a technological limitation that no longer exists. The future is either in dynamically generated content or player-generated content, all that remains now is for the 'successful MMORPG' template to catch up. When it does - Guildwars 2 might do it, perhaps - static-content games will start to have a very difficult time.

6. Do you think that they have focused on the most important things historically with patches or should the focus have been elsewhere?
I believe their focus has, generally, been in the right areas (except for that ruddy monster resize). Unfortunately I believe the way the developers have chosen to respond to these areas is short-sighted, if perhaps significantly less resource-intensive in the short-to-middle-term.


We'll see.

[VeranRamaden]

only one person liked my post...I thought it was clever
*sad panda*

[Gramul]

1. How do you feel about the patch frequency?
Wish it could be faster. But I can deal with it as long as the end result is good.
2. How do you feel about the changes themselves?
Looking good so far. I know some people are upset by the auto attack, but I feel it makes the gameplay much smoother.
3. How do you feel this game will fair against current upcoming titles?
Don't know, don't really care.
4. Do you think this game will ever exceed niche popularity?
It will probably get a good boost at the PS3 release, but it won't ever reach WoW levels.
5. Do you think the changes are in the right or wrong direction?
The right direction. Every time I discuss the changes with someone who hasn't played it in a long time, phrases like "oh thank God" and "About time" often come up.
6. Do you think the they have focused on the most important things historically with patches or should the focus have been elsewhere?
I feel like they could have focused more on preventing lag and making it easier for people who use keyboard controls but the changes that have been made are a good base on which to add more entertaining content.

[Azurymber]

I won't answer all 6 questions, but I will comment on your self-response.

FFXIV couldn't make enough money in its launched state. Option A would have been to cut the losses and let FFXIV die a dishonorable death. Option B would be to give it one last chance with a revamp that was good enough to haul in a substantial PS3 crowd.

They chose Option B.

But Option B is going to take time. It took them 5 years to make FFXIV in the first place. A "rebooted" FFXIV was certainly going to require more time than a couple of weeks or even months to get right.

Comparing the rate of patches to what they produce in a game like Rift is not a fair comparison. Rift doesn't have to remake itself from the ground up. Their initial formula was successful enough that all they have to do is build upon it or make minor tweaks.

FFXIV is still working on the fundamentals of player combat, progression, balance, as well as further expanding on the world with new content. The workload is substantially greater; the development concerns go deep into the roots of the game. They have to repair the foundations of the game while still building on top of it (and with no margin for error... they screw this up, it's over).

You don't pay a subscription for this game for a reason. It's not worth subscribing to and they know it. If you can't accept that the game is deeply under construction, you're perfectly within your rights to pick up something else you'd enjoy better. That said, I don't know what it is the development team could do better to improve upon a money-losing game any better than they've been trying to. There's no guarantee of success, but it's a bold attempt, and hopefully one worth watching to its conclusion.

I'm betting if this was Bioware fixing up the game, it would be a shining star right now.
No offence to the dev team or anything but theres no way it takes 6 months to rebalance a battle system as simple as the one in FFXIV. As a programmer I can honestly write out an entire mathematical balanced system within about 5 hours that could be applied to this game tomorrow. And I have done a simple version of one in multiple other threads.
This dev team dropped the ball. My only hope is that they invested their resources heavily in things we have not seen yet (ex. hamlet battles) which will revolutionize the game.

[User201109011315]

Yeah, balancing combat in a game like TERA or Call of Duty or something takes a lot of time because those games involve many more parameters than cooldowns/dmg which is basically all FFXIV combat boils down to. It's weird it took them so long to tweak certain parameters and add in autoattack.