A Recent Yoshi-P Post that probably needs to be read (Translation)

[Jennestia]

Funny thing about Camaros and Mustangs: They both have similar designs and similar specs, which in essence you could consider a clone, so while they may "feel and look different", you can't necessarily look past the obvious.

This is the problem with WoW clones - People are tired of them. WoW in itself is a mismash of MMOs before it, but games after it are clearly copying it, e.g Rift was a very blatant WoW clone. People want something new and different, which is why they're ready to murder children if you merely mention SQUARE ENIX's last successful MMORPG, FFXI.

[Alerith]

Using successful MMO mechanics does not a WoW clone make.

That's like saying WoW is a clone of it's predecessors because it uses an EXP system, or damage indicators, or special skills.

[smokymcweed]

thx man this was totaly helpfull but i made my mind up already you gota pay to play in real life and on ff lol im gona be playing after 1.20 i like yoshi's changes so far cant wait to see what else we get in the coming years (yes i believe this game will survive)

[Blarp]

Funny thing about Camaros and Mustangs: They both have similar designs and similar specs, which in essence you could consider a clone, so while they may "feel and look different", you can't necessarily look past the obvious.

This is the problem with WoW clones - People are tired of them. WoW in itself is a mismash of MMOs before it, but games after it are clearly copying it, e.g Rift was a very blatant WoW clone. People want something new and different, which is why they're ready to murder children if you merely mention SQUARE ENIX's last successful MMORPG, FFXI.

Yeah, it wasn't the best analogy (I know nothing about cars), but I think it made the point well enough. If you asked a Mustang enthusiast if his car was a "clone" of a Camaro I think he'd laugh at you because it just isn't true.

I get that, but I don't think the inclusion of PVP, a dungeon finder, and raid content are what defines a game as a WoW clone. In the end, XIV will be a much different experience from WoW. People just "hate" WoW so much that they can't see beyond that.

[Seon]

Yes, this game will be a WoW clone. They tried to be 'unique' -- anyone remember the hype here? They were taking down the 'holy trinity'! Seamless world! no levels! Fully customizable classes!

Now they're going to copy the market leader. It makes good business sense. It's going to be a WoW clone, albeit a shinier, cleaner WoW clone. Split hairs any which way you want to, but it is what it is.

Oh yeah gee. I forgot that WoW invented the holy trinity. It is the only game to ever have a tank, DPS, and a healer. Good call, very good call.

[Anapingofness]

Funny thing about Camaros and Mustangs: They both have similar designs and similar specs, which in essence you could consider a clone, so while they may "feel and look different", you can't necessarily look past the obvious.

This is the problem with WoW clones - People are tired of them. WoW in itself is a mismash of MMOs before it, but games after it are clearly copying it, e.g Rift was a very blatant WoW clone. People want something new and different, which is why they're ready to murder children if you merely mention SQUARE ENIX's last successful MMORPG, FFXI.

You are right m'lady. People *are* tired of WoW clones- which is why players don't want FFXIV to turn into another WoW Clone. Why play a clone when you can play the real thing?

Besides, fact of the matter is that regardless of your personal feelings toward WoW it is the MMO leader. However, what most people don't realize is that FFXI brought MMO's into mainstream in much the same way that FF7 revolutionized JRPG games.

However, where Blizzard succeeds is that it looked at other games before it, including FFXI I'm willing to bet, and took things from them. Then they made them better. They retained the Warcraft feel by using the lore of their previous games so that fans of the previous games could feel connected to the world. SE on the other hand decides to first be a special snowflake in the worst ways possible then when that failed decide to copy WoW because that has worked so well for the other clones, right?

FFXI should have been their template. They should have first taken things that made that game stand out and made them better, such as the party system. Yeah, you made friends in FFXI because you actually met people. Sure, Content Finder is a step up to the LFG system so why not make it across a single server and make parties that way? That was the community isn't destroyed.

Why not expound on the idea of mog houses?

Why not make gardening even better? Crafts are now actual classes. Why doesn't the guys who level Botany have their own garden/greenhouse/etc? Why do NPC's sell produce like apples and rice- why don't the players grow those? Culinary peeps then can buy from players and suddenly you have a purpose to Botany that directly effects the player base. It also makes it more interesting than simply going out and /harvesting things all the time.

Why not retain the little cut scenes FFXI had when activating quests but actually tell you where to go, unlike in FFXI?

Better yet, why not finally allow us to see food stats? People have been asking for that for years in FFXI.

Oh- also, they did add chocobo breeding in FFXI but it was pretty lame. Why not make that a craft or a subcraft. Why not have players breed chocobos and sell them from player to player. Suddenly you have an economy, a purpose other than growing your own chicken.

I mean, Uldah should have a casino and chocobo racing where the breeders actually matter.

That's just the tip of the iceberg! I haven't even said anything about the races yet!

What does SE do instead? They decide to copy WoW in the worst way possible. This game barely had any of the FF flavor and reading what Yoshida-san had to say just stripped any FF taste/feel it had or was going to get.

So I dunno Jenn, maybe SE will see the error of their ways with this? I highly doubt it. Regardless of how people feel about FFXI at least the players weren't embarrassed to say they played the game. In my opinion FFXI was a far better game with all of its faults and I say this having played WoW for several years.

But I'm glad you said that people are tired of WoW clones.

[Tonkra]

so who in this thread is for non global servers? no one, heh?

yoshida think of it ;D

[Fixy]

basically on 1.20,when the bill goes live ,we will get better player(party?) search and search item in wards?

nope because 10 people will be playing.

[Hachiko]

This is a great post by Yoshi. I must admit, he is probably one of the best producers when it comes to explaining what he is doing, where the game is going, and everything else. In fact, even the western devs currently making the hyped mmos could learn a lot from how Yoshi is handling the additions / evolution of this game and more importantly relaying that information to customers.

With that said this gives me confirmation on a lot of issues I hoped would be dealt with. I think it's interesting that he stated almost the exact things I had stated in other threads : A way to efficiently use the economy, and a way to efficiently connect you with other players wanting to do the same thing is critical to an MMO in this day and age. And the fact that he has committed to these revisions before 1.20 comes out, is enough to secure at least a 1 month sub from me.

I just hope they can have a marketing blitz big enough to get peoples attention to play the game again, once it is worth playing.

Using successful MMO mechanics does not a WoW clone make.

That's like saying WoW is a clone of it's predecessors because it uses an EXP system, or damage indicators, or special skills.

Also this. People complaining about this becoming a "wow clone" are just silly. If making the ui more moddable, and making connecting with other players easier makes the game a "wow clone" then I guess every MMO to come out in the future will be a "wow clone."

Take a good hard look at the game. There is almost no parallels to WoW as it is right now. Implementing things like player finders or auction houses doesn't make it a WoW or FFXI clone. If it did, then the reliance on shouting in ul'dah to find groups would make this an EQ clone, and we all know people were tired of that game a decade ago.

This game is its own. Just as a reference, go play the free trial of wow, then come back to FFXIV. If you honestly think that XIV couldn't use some of the things existing in WoW, such as the responsive combat, useful and clean ui, and fluid economy, then I don't know what to say. At the end of the day, even if XIV was as smooth as wow gameplay wise, it would never be a WoW clone. It is simply too different from the ground up.

[Misteyes]

"Re: WoW Clone?!?!!?"

When RIFT was in beta, I went to telarapedia's article on "stats" and could map them 1-to-1 to WoW stats. I then went to Telarapedia's articles on combat mechanics and side-by-side compared them to wowwiki's articles on the same mechanics. I then went to Telarapedia's ability lists and looked for abilities that didn't show up in WoW.

...Aside from the fact that I haven't been able to find a complete wiki for XIV to do this test, I don't think that I could make the case for it being a WoW-clone, mechanically, even if the UI ends up looking exactly the same.

If 2.0 is going to make it a WoW-clone, that would imply that right now, it's a WoW-clone with bad UI. I don't see anyone making that case.