I think I just had a nerdgasm. O_O

[Jennestia]

I've been trying to tell FFXI players for years that a good UI shouldn't require an instruction manual in order to be understood,

The reason people say research is because it's not a copy-paste interface which is used throughout all MMOs -- Games used to come with instruction booklets for a reason (they used to all be different at one point) :P

So now it seems like they're using the generic interface found in all MMOs.

As for the monthly fee, I personally believe that SE shouldn't start charging until after the version 2.0 update hits

A lot of people feel this way, but I personally felt the reason they're starting is to hopefully try to speed up said version 2.0, since I'm sure people aren't that happy with the 2013 time frame of it being completely finished.

[Rhianu]

The reason people say research is because it's not a copy-paste interface which is used throughout all MMOs -- Games used to come with instruction booklets for a reason (they used to all be different at one point) :P

Even a unique interface should still be intuitive and user-friendly. Granted, there's a lot of power in conforming to established standards, as the skills a player learns in one game can carry over to another, but it's still entirely possible for any game, no matter how unique, to teach players how to play all within the context of the game itself, without ever making players turn to outside research.

And the manuals in most games usually seem to be unnecessary anyway, especially in older NES and SNES games, which were often so simple and straight-foreword that no prior instruction was necessary. You would just start up the game and go. That's an ideal that I firmly believe all game developers should strive towards.

This high level of user-friendliness is especially noticeable in First-Person-Shooters, which often teach you so subtly and so effectively, that you don't even realize you're learning.* It's taken MMOs a bit longer to reach this point, and FFXIV in its original launch state especially seemed to be a giant step-backwards for the genre, but this new info has given me hope for the future, and I'm confident that SE is on the right track, and that in due time they'll be able to bring FFXIV to where it needs to be.

*Valve's Portal games are an excellent example of this, because they have developer commentary nodes in-game that explain how they teach players the rules of the game.