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

[gifthorse]

The point is, all the upcoming games are all WoW clones to a very large degree. If FFXIV wants to capture a market, it should probably try and capture a different corner of the MMO market than that of said WoW clones. Not everyone wants the typical WoW-formula of an MMO, which is pretty much what FFXIV is trying to emulate at the moment. Sandbox MMOs are few and far between, and catering for Sandbox MMO players might be a good idea in terms of gaining subscriptions.

The reason I say this is because I think FFXI fans are a very small minority of the MMO community, so SE can't just rest on the assumption that a good themepark game will suddenly make FFXIV popular. This is because everyone else who isn't a FF fan might simply play any of the other themeparks available: Guild Wars 2, TERA, Blade&Soul, Star Word:TOR, etc. If FFXIV tried to become a maintstream MMO like those listed, it will probably be making things harder for itself, rather than better.

Focusing on Sandbox gamers for whom there is not so much selection might help SE succeed in capturing a bigger audience.

[Valor]

The point is, all the upcoming games are all WoW clones to a very large degree. If FFXIV wants to capture a market, it should probably try and capture a different corner of the MMO market than that of said WoW clones. Not everyone wants the typical WoW-formula of an MMO, which is pretty much what FFXIV is trying to emulate at the moment. Sandbox MMOs are few and far between, and catering for Sandbox MMO players might be a good idea in terms of gaining subscriptions.

The reason I say this is because I think FFXI fans are a very small minority of the MMO community, so SE can't just rest on the assumption that a good themepark game will suddenly make FFXIV popular. This is because everyone else who isn't a FF fan might simply play any of the other themeparks available: Guild Wars 2, TERA, Blade&Soul, Star Word:TOR, etc. If FFXIV tried to become a maintstream MMO like those listed, it will probably be making things harder for itself, rather than better.

Focusing on Sandbox gamers for whom there is not so much selection might help SE succeed in capturing a bigger audience.

Maybe, but a lot of the people who 'claim' to be 'sandbox gamers' run back to WoW and other games just like it whenever they come out regardless. Therefore leaving their sandboxes to rot.

These 'birdplayers' and by bird, I mean flighty and fickle, have stopped leading the gaming community and are conforming.

Instead of refusing to buy the repeated re-hashed Dodo Poop that big publishing companies keep tossing onto our Gamer Plates, they continually eat it up.

The gamer community isn't unified enough to show big Gaming Companies that they can indeed invest in something that isn't 'WoW' like.

And you know what, they may be right. Maybe we aren't sure what we really want yet.

[Nephera]

I dont think we know enough about blade and soul to call it a wow clone just yet, the only things i really know is that it has

A)grapples
B) heavy platforming elements with things like wall running
C) the ability to launch an enemy really really far.

all of which could change dramatically after seeing what happened to one of NCsofts other games : tabula rasa.

[Valor]

I dont think we know enough about blade and soul to call it a wow clone just yet, the only things i really know is that it has

A)grapples
B) heavy platforming elements with things like wall running
C) the ability to launch an enemy really really far.

all of which could change dramatically after seeing what happened to one of NCsofts other games : tabula rasa.

Vindictus?

[Nephera]

Vindictus?

could be the next vindictus yeah, there are a LOT of korean developers jumping on that bandwagon, trying to make the next vindictus but with an open world.

[Xatsh]

I dont think we know enough about blade and soul to call it a wow clone just yet, the only things i really know is that it has

A)grapples
B) heavy platforming elements with things like wall running
C) the ability to launch an enemy really really far.

all of which could change dramatically after seeing what happened to one of NCsofts other games : tabula rasa.

Blade and Soul has 1 massive problem.

It is a NCSoft Product. That means this

1) Great Start to the game: new experience, great game play, great graphics, great music, PvP heavy, and fairly polished at launch... sounds great until you read below.
2) Extremely Slow Updates... look at Aion it is like 1 every 2-3 months with the major updates being delayed upwards of a year from the Korean games.
3) If NCSoft follows the same formula it will be an Asian grind.. worse then SE's mmos. Look at Aion post 35 when there was not enough quest to level anymore
4) NC spits out mmo at a crazy fast pace, meaning after 1 year of updates the main team will be working a new mmo to replace B&S. So the life cycle for the game is sorta short compared to most mmos.
5) Region Locked Servers: Meaning like Aion if the WoW fanboys flee back to Rift and WoW after it releases it leaves void servers.

[Nephera]

Blade and Soul has 1 massive problem.

It is a NCSoft Product. That means this

1) Great Start to the game: new experience, great game play, great graphics, great music, PvP heavy, and fairly polished at launch... sounds great until you read below.
2) Extremely Slow Updates... look at Aion it is like 1 every 2-3 months with the major updates being delayed upwards of a year from the Korean games.
3) If NCSoft follows the same formula it will be an Asian grind.. worse then SE's mmos. Look at Aion post 35 when there was not enough quest to level anymore
4) NC spits out mmo at a crazy fast pace, meaning after 1 year of updates the main team will be working a new mmo to replace B&S. So the life cycle for the game is sorta short compared to most mmos.
5) Region Locked Servers: Meaning like Aion if the WoW fanboys flee back to Rift and WoW after it releases it leaves void servers.

Yeah i cant say I disagree. Hopefully the project lead wont decide to fly into space on top of that.

[MariyaShidou]

The point is, all the upcoming games are all WoW clones to a very large degree. If FFXIV wants to capture a market, it should probably try and capture a different corner of the MMO market than that of said WoW clones. Not everyone wants the typical WoW-formula of an MMO, which is pretty much what FFXIV is trying to emulate at the moment. Sandbox MMOs are few and far between, and catering for Sandbox MMO players might be a good idea in terms of gaining subscriptions.

The reason I say this is because I think FFXI fans are a very small minority of the MMO community, so SE can't just rest on the assumption that a good themepark game will suddenly make FFXIV popular. This is because everyone else who isn't a FF fan might simply play any of the other themeparks available: Guild Wars 2, TERA, Blade&Soul, Star Word:TOR, etc. If FFXIV tried to become a maintstream MMO like those listed, it will probably be making things harder for itself, rather than better.

Focusing on Sandbox gamers for whom there is not so much selection might help SE succeed in capturing a bigger audience.

Not really, Arche Age looks more Sandbox, eveh their devs stated they want a mix of sandbox and themepark with more focus on sandbox. I do find it more interesting if FFXIV goes the way of AA, we have quite a lot of stuff ready to be transformed into that way.

could be the next vindictus yeah, there are a LOT of korean developers jumping on that bandwagon, trying to make the next vindictus but with an open world.

Not really, RaiderZ seems to be a Monster Hunter copy in a persistent online world.

[Rau]

XIV already is differentiating itself from the rest -- however due to a bad rush release it needs a fair amount of work, but like XI it'll end up being one of the more different MMOs to be released at the time.

How... exactly?

[gifthorse]

Not really, Arche Age looks more Sandbox, eveh their devs stated they want a mix of sandbox and themepark with more focus on sandbox. I do find it more interesting if FFXIV goes the way of AA, we have quite a lot of stuff ready to be transformed into that way.

Yeah, well notice the absence of AA from my list. Anyway, ArcheAge won't be out until mid/late 2012, so FFXIV has a chance to establish a large player base before it comes out.