to Yoshi P. (Please read)

[ZachCero]

I am glad Yoshida has the sense to go in the opposite direction of FFXI in terms of absurd time sinks. You should either go back to it or let it go.

Note: Content in Final Fantasy XI lasted so long not because it was difficult or challenging, but because of the absurd drop rates, the time wasting game mechanics, etc. That only served to mount tension and enmity between players and Linkshells because of the absurd time it took to get anything worthwhile.

Games should not rely on time sinks to retain players. Each day it passes I am more convinced the worst enemy FFXIV has, second only to Square-enix himself, is FFXI players that are still stuck in an era of gaming that is no longer realistic or feasible.

lol AMEN, YOU ARE AWESOME!

I was a ff11 player for 11 years and it took retarded amounts of time to do anything. I like the way the direction is going in this game. Many people are complaining they had shit handed to them on a silver platter, but the thing is you have a choice to accept being handed stuff or wait for you to earn it. (referring to broken leves which caused everyone and their mommas to have all r50's)

[Radiator]

oh i agree. i just wanted to actually state what my point was because we know how people on these forums love to take one post and just attack it without having a clue of what they are attacking. i didn't take you as an attack.

yes, for me with a few r50's and having already completed both of the dungeons it will not be difficult for me to get a chocobo, but it should not be difficult for a r50. if it should have any difficulty to obtain it should be for a r20-25 class. if they did nothing more than say to get the chocobo they had to complete the r25 dungeon is would be a nice enough quest for a new player with only one rank 25 class to get.

if it is completable by a r25 then there is no r50 that will have problems completing the quest, but really a chocobo shouldn't be only for the r50 players. if i had expected to have a challenge out of everything released now i would have just stopped playing with the mass exodus, but i wanted the head start so i continued playing.

the drawback to that is the people that took time off will find the new systems more enjoyable because they took months away and now they see the massive changes and will have missed the changes that we have been getting in each patch. they compare the game to what it was in beta or in september and, quite frankly, even before the patch the game was different.

i just have to step back and realize that because i stayed in game not everything being released will be for me, but that the foundation for the people coming back and just getting the game will take priority over my wants.

Exactly! this game is about having a good game for a new player and then building on that. Everything we have been able to do ahead of PS3 launch is bonus IMO.

[Zoltan]

People should really stop trying to get attention by writing a grammatically challenged wall of text with very few specific points.

This is nothing new.

They are trying to make a lot of changes. Changes do not happen quickly and I like the direction that they are going. One has to realize and take into account that they are modifying and enhancing an existing program.

Most players will agree that they should have taken more mechanics from FFXI that worked like /SEA and /SEACOM.

I am sure that they will fix linkshell management and the AH/Market wards issues in the future. It just takes time.

If you address the lead developer, you should at least be familiar with his posts and he has always said that he appreciates players' patience.

The OP did not even state a valid reason why 6 man party is better than 8 man party. Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood.

The OP failed to even mention the problem that there was a lack of healing and tank jobs in FFXI. I, for one, hope they address that in the future.

I cannot believe that anyone would recommend they add HNMs like they had in FFXI. Obviously the OP is not familiar with the upcoming changes regarding mnster claiming. While they may have claimed one or a couple of HNMs, they were a dominated by botting linkshells and there is no way that anyone should rightfully want that in FFXIV.

I really distrust people who only have 3 posts and do not have a signature indicating how much they have played FFXIV.

[elreed]

that's what i was referring to. the removal of depth was ok when it didn't affect them and they personally attacked people that had issues with them, but now just because it's not some intense quest to get a way of transportation when it has already been stated some of the game will need those they make a big deal out of it.

would i have liked a quest to get a chocobo? yes, but i also understand that even if they added a quest it would be for something around a mid 20's character to complete anyways so with my r50 it would still be considered nothing to get it.

we have to realize that when we skipped ahead and continued to rank up that not everything that goes into the game is going to be for us. they have to make the game more stable for the incoming players before they can look into a ps3 release or they will have the same mass exodus we had with the pc users. they have to get it ready for ps3 release as their first priority because they need the income to start rolling in.

all i was saying is that people should have seen this coming with all of the other changes, but they were too busy fighting with each other to see it.

I understand that and i know that we're far from low ranks, but right now im only asking for hard content to come, especially for us who have been here playing all the time since last september, i enjoy the game a lot but i really want to see things that take people time to do, not in like waiting an NM for 3 days for a single pop or something like that, i want content that needs skillful play that even being good in your role you have a high percent of failure, we need high rank content to be focus while they make more content for new players.

I didnt like that much the new dungeon r45+ that you need to skip all to get a special chest, we need open world content like alliance raids where you meet different playstyles and have a great fun at the same time. Places that you need to complete hard stuff to get there, gear that doesnt become obsolete after 3-6 months, its not like make a FFXI-2 its more like take the hardest and juicy stuff from there and make it in the FFXIV way, i really enjoy more XIV than XI the battle dynamics are far better in my op. but if we're gonna have easy to clear content, wheres the fun?

[LemmingKingXXX]

isn't it funny, you can't please all the people all the time, you have the we want FF11 camp, and the we had that and don't want it anymore camp. i feel sorry for SE, whatever they do some1 is going to be upset.

in those situations, given equal populations of each group, it is usually best to have two separate products in order to satisfy everyone, now if only SE had two games that could satisfy each group individually...

[Sypherblade]

I understand that and i know that we're far from low ranks, but right now im only asking for hard content to come, especially for us who have been here playing all the time since last september, i enjoy the game a lot but i really want to see things that take people time to do, not in like waiting an NM for 3 days for a single pop or something like that, i want content that needs skillful play that even being good in your role you have a high percent of failure, we need high rank content to be focus while they make more content for new players.

I didnt like that much the new dungeon r45+ that you need to skip all to get a special chest, we need open world content like alliance raids where you meet different playstyles and have a great fun at the same time. Places that you need to complete hard stuff to get there, gear that doesnt become obsolete after 3-6 months, its not like make a FFXI-2 its more like take the hardest and juicy stuff from there and make it in the FFXIV way, i really enjoy more XIV than XI the battle dynamics are far better in my op. but if we're gonna have easy to clear content, wheres the fun?

I understand what your saying, and you are not alone at all. Its just from their point of view... they need to pump out the "skeleton" of the game first...if they spend time trying to find content for the people currently playing...then they are building content based on a system that is going to go through rapid changes in the months to come...

we just got to play the waiting game.... theres a reason the game is free at the moment

[Jennestia]

FFXI had to change drastically so it wouldn't die, the game was dwindling daily and losing players to newer MMOs.

I believe you're confusing FFXIV for FFXI, as between the past few census's the playerbase didn't dip dramatically since 2007. FFXI was far from dying. Every MMO loses players to new MMOs, then people go back to their previous ones, that's a generalized cycle in the world of MMOs

Hell people kept saying every generic offline game that released will kill off XI, if it were to die it would gave died years ago, much like Everquest -- If Everquest were to die off it would have by now, because that game loses players to new MMOs as well.

[Zoltan]

Prove that someone has automated crafting before shouting that they need to create a bot-proof crafting system.

[Gennosuke]

I definitely concur overall.

I would say though, the mistake you have done is labeled this hardcore. This will naturally trigger negative responses, the non-hardcore players will instantly get on the defensive side without giving it much thought. The ironic thing though is that i don't see the general idea of having challenging creative content as a bad thing for anyone. I am a casual myself and i would hate to be spending whatever time i have playing a dull piss easy game. Beats the purpose really, and i believe the concept applies to all players. There may be some minor differences of opinion on specifics, but everyone wants some challenge or else people will get bored and quit in no time. This is no job or chore, you're playing to stimulate your brain and it is an rpg so people (except for the absurd minority) want to put in some good effort to achieve their goals in the game, just like every other rpg out there.

This thread is important for one simple apparent point.. The way things are going with this easy mode trend, The game will continue to be boring and will really die out quick.
Just look at the trend of patches introduced so far, the new quests, the dungeons, and now chocobos and airship, all handed with ease, no serious effort needed, within a week or two (if not less), people have beaten the patch to death, they're bored, complaining on the forum and waiting for the next patch and there we have a vicious cycle, patch after patch. Content needs to be more creative and challenging, something that would outlive patches to come. Things that would take months to achieve, not a matter of days.

Think CoP or even simple examples of quests like having to hunt down for AF back in the day, quests which took challenge and co-operation with other players up to alliances. Recall how great sense of an achievement it was acquiring your items. Wasn't just beat this mob to get your item, that's just plain easy, dull and boring. Had to go indepth into caves, dungeons and all sorts of places, friends looking around and searching with you, figuring out puzzles together, some having to switch levers or a button from the other side for you, some having to sneak or invis to get past a hoard of crazy NM's to get to a certain point, Some making a tiny mistake costing their life and as result whole mission being somewhat compromised/delayed, some (even strangers in my experience) playing hero sacrificing themselves to get the others through to their objective, and that was with exp loss. That's the kinda thrill we're seriously missing and is direly needed in this game.
The other point is, even in death, the places were constantly populated that you're bound to have some mage walking past to give you a raise and i'd like to stress here..that was because people had a reason to be in those places, people also wanted to explore the world, the content was thrilling enough to keep players lurking around in all sorts of places. Whether they were there for quests, for NM's, for exp'ing or just for the sake of exploring.

It's evident this hardly exists in Eorzea, and i really feel this whole insta-fest happening, teleporting anytime anywhere and a lack of a focus on real deep and long immersive quests and open content in general is just killing the whole experience and concept of an MMORPG, people enjoying the world, meeting one another in random places, helping each other out.
A Sad realistic example of a typical day in this game:

1) Teleport to camp
2) Do leves
3) Teleport back

No one can be stuffed exploring due to the mechanisms put in place. Sometimes it's a good thing to force people to run around Eorzea, let them have to mingle with each other, create a sense of adventure where the community has to co-operate with each other, even if strangers. Not just when you have to do a raid. Teleport while an essential feature in most MMO's and it should be there, it can also be a major hindrance in the success of the game when abused. With other alternate fast forms of transport available, It should be limited severely and a luxury to use, so the option is there but doesn't ruin the adventure aspect.
The content should really be quest/mission focused and less focus on leves and dungeons, more Open world content, Bring HNM's, encourage group leveling as a fun dynamic and interactive exercise where each brings something unique to the table, not a dull boring spam-fest chore, and again encouraging party'ing will give people more reason to socialize and meet one another and form friends. All who played XI know how true this is and while you get the occasional jerk, you do meet great people through party'ing and needless to say, that as a result will enhance your whole gaming experience and will be long-lasting. Heck, some of us here have jumped onto FFXIV with our FFXI friends.

Perhaps if there was enough Open World content and enough deep serious missions and quests, Battle leves can be abolished, as they're primarily serving solo/casual players now since XIV's focus is shifting away from being leve-centric which is good; Give these people reason to go out and wander around Eorzea for their exp and make it worthwhile so they're not missing out on what leves offered while still not being limited to group grinding either and again this'll further contribute to bringing back to life the sense of adventure needed in this game, having people actively out there all over the Eorzea and not just focused around camps.

These are all serious issues that need to be addressed for the longevity and success of the game. People need a reason to play the game for a long time and stick around, and i truly believe until these issues are seriously addressed, this game will never see the light of hope.

[Resty]

There were MANY things they got right in XI before they switched to easy sauce mode, that wouldn't have made XIV an XI-2 game. Just because people say some of the crap that's still crap in this game should have been the same or an upgraded form of the same as it was in XI, doesn't mean they (me included in that crowd) want an XI-2.
I want to be able to search for party members with something other than the totally unchanged-never-really-worked pos party search we have been saddled with since launch.
I want to know my hard earned gear isn't going to be worthless in 3 months. Case in point- Yoshi stated the dungeons would be dumbed down every three months to allow people that couldn't complete it, a chance to get it anyway. When asked what the motivation would be for anyone to do it while it was hard, if they could just do something else for 3 months, then go get the gear- he stated that the new dungeons introduced at the same time, would have better versions of the gear and weapons than the last. So we're looking at a proprosed game mechanic of beat this to get this sword, so you can turn around and beat this to get this sword, so you can turn around and beat this to get this sword.
There is a happy medium that needs to be found. Sure I agree that XI's take 3 years to get your turn at a drop if it drops, if you get the claim, and if you've managed to set your whole life's timers around the game, was and is a broken idea, but at least that item was freaking awesome, and not to be trumped in some update making it meh.
Say what you will about XI being an outdated game with outdated MMO concepts, but you know what it has that makes XIV look outdated? Worthwhile ability/ws(br)/spell animations. The absolute harldy noticible, unremarkable, lackluster, might-as-well not be there animations in this game are downright shameful and lazy design. You know why skillchains were far more fun in XI than BR's in XIV? You could see a visual representation, and a nice one at that, of your effort, and a far more satisfying result from said chain.
In general, the people I talk to that talk about XI things that should be in XIV, are not looking for XI-2. They are just understandably confused about the things that ARE in both games, but are designed pro-style in the 10 year old game, but are a stripped down hardly working prototype/concept hybrid of fail in the new game. Things like: chat/search/LSfunctions/UI/gearconfigsave/etc ad nauseum are all things that exsist in XI, but (even in their earliest versions) are FAR more well designed, functional, and more intuitive than in XIV.

Some people can't figure out why, and some people can't figure out a way to fix it, so understandably they revert to "Make it just like XI" when posting about it. Can you really blame them for giving up and reverting to that solution? Especially considering at launch it straight up felt like the devs gave up trying to figure it out sometime pre-alpha?