Make FFXIV a 'Sandbox' game. No way it can compete against upcoming 'Themeparks'.

[Mishakai]

Yeah, there's some big ones on the horizon. Can't deny the upcoming competition. Personally I've been looking forward to TOR for quite sometime, but I can also afford to play more than one game at a time. None of those other games are Final Fantasy, and I just like FF.. Now that doesn't mean that I don't think this game needs need a lot of work because I think it does. They still got time though.. at least for me.. Rift just doesn't really rub me the right direction.. TERA screams too much of Aion as far as dev lifecycle, GW2 who knows.. TOR.. same there.. them's the ones everybody has to watch out for. If ArenaNet and BioWare deliver the goods, it will be a whole new ball game, if they fall flat on their faces 20 yards out of the gate, well..

[Reika]

Yeah, there's some big ones on the horizon. Can't deny the upcoming competition. Personally I've been looking forward to TOR for quite sometime, but I can also afford to play more than one game at a time. None of those other games are Final Fantasy, and I just like FF.. Now that doesn't mean that I don't think this game needs need a lot of work because I think it does. They still got time though.. at least for me.. Rift just doesn't really rub me the right direction.. TERA screams too much of Aion as far as dev lifecycle, GW2 who knows.. TOR.. same there.. them's the ones everybody has to watch out for. If ArenaNet and BioWare deliver the goods, it will be a whole new ball game, if they fall flat on their faces 20 yards out of the gate, well..

There is also a good chance of the Clone MMO. I have seen a video of Rift. That MMO wreaks of WoW. Nothing different besides the characters and graphics. I will stick with FFXIV

[Valor]

There is also a good chance of the Clone MMO. I have seen a video of Rift. That MMO wreaks of WoW. Nothing different besides the characters and graphics. I will stick with FFXIV

All the people I know who played FFXIV and tried Rift, came back.

WoW peeps enjoyed it a bit more, but why go play a game that's just like WoW when you can just play...WoW?

[Chezen]

All the people I know who played FFXIV and tried Rift, came back.

WoW peeps enjoyed it a bit more, but why go play a game that's just like WoW when you can just play...WoW?

I hadn't planned on commenting, but.... ah well.

I wouldn't call Rift a WoW clone, more like a sibling. It gets a lot of things right that WoW got wrong with Cata, IMO. Currently, I think Rift is better, and has potential to veer off in a drastically different direction than WoW. In any case, WoW lost me as a customer before I even heard of Rift, and I don't intend to go back.

As for FFXIV, it just needs to do what FF has always done best, and stop messing up at it. I don't see that FF has to fall neatly in either catagory. The groundwork is already laid out for it to be a very different and fun game. Given time, I think it could blow other games out of the water. It doesn't need to be WoW, or Aion, or anything. It just needs to be a Final Fantasy.

[Jennestia]

It just needs to be a Final Fantasy.

Which sadly people who never played FF games feel it shouldn't be a "FF", and more like a "standard MMO". If FFXI was a standard MMO, every year after NA release where they kept saying it will die this this year etc woulda been correct.

[Chezen]

I do find it funny, though, that some, OP included, clamor for the removal of the unique features the game *already has* and then say that it needs to be unique to compete.
Quite telling.

Which sadly people who never played FF games feel it shouldn't be a "FF", and more like a "standard MMO". If FFXI was a standard MMO, every year after NA release where they kept saying it will die this this year etc woulda been correct.

Which might be the trouble for some. They say they want something different, but they are stuck on what they think an MMO should be.

It is true that there are console gamers that aren't attracted to MMOs (I was one), and there are MMO players that aren't attracted to console. But I don't think I'm going out on too much of a limb to say that both types have likely played an FF game. I think SE is capable of attracting both crowds. I think there were a lot of people excited for this release because they were both MMO players and FF fans.

[Abriael]

Which might be the trouble for some. They say they want something different, but they are stuck on what they think an MMO should be.

Bingo! *applause*

It is true that there are console gamers that aren't attracted to MMOs (I was one), and there are MMO players that aren't attracted to console. But I don't think I'm going out on too much of a limb to say that both types have likely played an FF game. I think SE is capable of attracting both crowds. I think there were a lot of people excited for this release because they were both MMO players and FF fans.

Bingo. The true untapped market (as much as some aren't willing to admit it because of their "PC PRIDE!") are console gamers. FFXIV has plenty room to compete with other games simply because it'll be launched in a fat, big market that none of those will ever touch.

[gifthorse]

Which sadly people who never played FF games feel it shouldn't be a "FF", and more like a "standard MMO". If FFXI was a standard MMO, every year after NA release where they kept saying it will die this this year etc woulda been correct.

Go to a thread where people are actually asking for this to be a standard MMO and then say that. Your idea of what a FF MMO should be is one perspective and based off the only rendition of a FF MMO. There is no reason FF MMOs can't change when the need arises.

[Jennestia]

Your idea of what a FF MMO should be is one perspective and based off the only rendition of a FF MMO. There is no reason FF MMOs can't change when the need arises.

XI was based around FFIII, which means the idea for a FF MMO is taking aspects of Final Fantasy games -- So it's not my idea of what a FF MMO, it's literally Square's idea and if they didn't want to make XIV so different from XI you can guarantee it would have been exactly like XI only with more freedom to do better graphics, systems and content type because the PS2 held XI back and it has taken almost 10 years for it to feel the effects of being a PS2 title, so with XIV they could have done everything they couldn't do with XI, but chose to go a new direction that realistically didn't work out too well barring the rushed release.

For reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_F...XI#Development

Hiromichi Tanaka, the producer of the game, has stated Final Fantasy XI is heavily influenced by Final Fantasy III, especially in its battle and magic systems. According to Tanaka, Square put in Final Fantasy XI what they could not put in the first Final Fantasy titles due to technical limitations, thus making Final Fantasy XI the "most representative Final Fantasy of all the installments"

So realistically, a FF MMO is and should be based around the series it's actually a part of, just like World of Warcraft was based around the Warcraft lore. You said it yourself, there's only 1 FF MMO, which means there's no reason to "change" now, when it already doesn't feel like a FF game to begin with -- While true it somewhat resembles Final Fantasy II, it still doesn't have that "feel" to it that XI does which is why polls have shown people really do want it to live up to it's Final Fantasy name -- Best bet is if you expect it to "change" they have to drop the name and rename it back to Project Rapture, it's why they're now pretty much trying to transform it into a FF game because it's what a lot of people want.

[Mishakai]

There is also a good chance of the Clone MMO. I have seen a video of Rift. That MMO wreaks of WoW. Nothing different besides the characters and graphics. I will stick with FFXIV

Yeah, I agree there. I'm not against a clone though. I'm generally against changing things that are proven (mechanics wise) unless you have a better alternative. XIV has, IMO, succeeded in some areas and failed in others, and aside from the recent events, have been working their butt's off to fix the shortcomings. Keep in mind I am a FF fan.

As far as Rift, I think it's maybe too much of a clone. From what I have read, it doesn't really bring anything new genre, rather they just touched up things that were good in other games and rolled it into one. I haven't played it, and don't really have plans to. They succeeded where SE failed when XIV released, keeping track of what other games were bringing to the market that worked and implementing them either as good or a little bit better than the competition.

None of the others have been released yet, but lets say BioWare drops TOR on the market and yeah, it's a clone w/ light sabres, yet, it is fun as hell and the story/content sucks you in so bad it's like strawberry crack. Guess what I'll play?

Again, all speculation... Recent history has been the bigger they hype the harder they flop. It'd be nice to see the trend change.