Questions and Feedback on the Future of FINAL FANTASY XIV

[Misteyes]

Question: Is it really impossible to have both seamless maps and diversity of areas in them (technology limitation or it simply does not exists yet)?

I'm just a student in computer science/game design, but yes, there's a technical limitation. Textures, models, and sounds, especially at FF-quality, are incredibly memory-heavy. If each area uses only a small subset of the total textures, geometry, and sounds in the game, it's possible to unload the others and use significantly less memory.

This is especially important on the PS3, which has only 512MB of RAM as opposed to the 4GB even a mediocre laptop these days carries.

It is also possible that different areas can be split across multiple servers, dynamically - if the Black Shroud in Gyshal is super crowded, but Coerthas isn't (for example), Gyshal-Coerthas could be migrated to another server to distribute the load - or Gyshal-Black Shroud could be given its own server temporarily.

Games like World of Warcraft and Dungeon Siege (sorry for the old example, no others came to mind) sneak by by having the current tileset as well as the tilesets of adjacent areas loaded at the same time, so it's technically possible, but the dynamic server distribution wouldn't be, and the texture quality would have to be degraded significantly to fit on a PS3.

[stoned]

how do u in ur right mind think some is gona pay for 50% of the product? ill see u guys in 2013 when u finish the game. if tera or some other game dont steal my interest first.

[Nabiri]

REALLY REALLY need to know if characters will ever be cheaper than $3 each, and will we still have to pay for retainers as originally planned?

I have 8 characters that I would like to keep but I'm afraid I'll have to deactivate a lot of them often and choose which to play each month. I really don't want a $50 bill every month. Is there any possible way it will cost closer to what most MMOs do?

[Dragonlord]

I am on the fence with this. I dont think i can see myself paying full price for a half finished product. 12dollars isnt much, but its the principle that stands out to me... I dont care how much money they had to put into the re-devolpment that was there choice. I dont see how they can justify us paying full price for something that is 1year away from being complete. I hope they re-consider p2p until the game has at least end-game content. As of right now, we have 2raids,3strongholds, and a primal fight. All got old the 1st week it was out. That isnt worth paying a sub every month. I think i will take a 6month break and come back and see where the game is at. I will miss the friends i made, but honestly i cant stand behind SE for making this decsion.

[Nabiri]

Boyfriend wanted me to ask for him:

"I wanna know; what the recommended graphics card/CPU will be needed when the new graphics engine comes into play"?

[leomike35]

Great move SE, let's hope the hype of impending change will make people want to give you a years worth of subscription fees to play an incomplete game while they wait.

Seriously, who thought of THAT stupid idea? Every single person I've talked to said they won't be paying until 2.0 is released, so have fun with three people online come December.

It will be more than 3. Seems like it will be around 3 that keep recycling this whole incomplete game crap. Its a game its just not what you wanted. They said the content is 50% complete which could mean any number of things but one person misunderstanding and then posting doesnt make it the truth.

[stoned]

jumping....swiming... i know this topic has been ignored cuzz the masses who care gave up on ur game a year ago. but do u plan on making this a tru mmo and giving us the options that every game should have?

[stoned]

It will be more than 3. Seems like it will be around 3 that keep recycling this whole incomplete game crap. Its a game its just not what you wanted. They said the content is 50% complete which could mean any number of things but one person misunderstanding and then posting doesnt make it the truth.

typical fanboy responce u better believe the game will lose alot of its low pop it has atm once they try to charge for crap.

[Urthdigger]

jumping....swiming... i know this topic has been ignored cuzz the masses who care gave up on ur game a year ago. but do u plan on making this a tru mmo and giving us the options that every game should have?

Just because it's what WoW and every WoWclone does, doesn't mean it's required in order to be a true MMO. I've always been for features being added where other people have said "Aww man, this'll just make FFXIV into a WoW clone", but in all those cases the additions were good on their own merit. I don't think jumping or swimming should be added to FFXIV unless it can add anything to the game, and I haven't seen a good argument yet for what it could add.

[Seritle_Zeales]

I've really only wanted to ask two questions since I started playing the game (probably loads more) but they are as follows... (keeping in mind that even after going through all of the information for the future of FFXIV 2.0, I still ask these genuinely)

1.) Will the Empire ever be an accessible or viewable area? (Can we visit or at least see it from a cliff top?) If so, and I don't ask this for hopes of massive PvP, will we ever be able to join the Empire?

2.) While I've seen one in the artwork for the Immortal Flames recruitment poster, will we ever see the illustrious great sword and/or scythe?

I personally have been hoping for an announcement where being allowed to join the Empire was being planned to be made into reality, but I understand that it's probably not going to happen.. but after everything I've seen so far since launch and especially today in the future plans post? I put absolutely nothing beyond Yoshi-P.