What would you like to see (differently) in the next Final Fantasy MMO?

[Lauront]

MHW has its moments especially right now with the new mechanics on the MHW expansion making it easier to cheese fights, but it's one of the more well-polished action combat games out there. The enemies or rather monsters/wyverns are totally not target dummies, especially the endgame monsters. You will be dealt with ruthlessly, especially when they're enraged. Another thing about Monster Hunter is that enemies are pretty complex and challenging. The gameplay involves a lot of enemy movement reading/predicting unlike FFXIV where everything is so scripted, which takes away fights having unexpected surprises. Behemoth in that game is an absolute pain in the butt to fight, even with better gear.

Spellcasting in Dragon's Dogma and BDO are kind of similar, but Dragon's Dogma is slower, while BDO is faster and feels less outdated. Though, I've never seen any other game with so much impact on the magic presentation other than Dragon's Dogma. It also has an MMO that shut down (unfortunately), the casting gimmick is pretty bad but other than that it's the same as the single player game.

Also Dragon's Dogma Online has a class named High Scepter and it's a good take on a spell fencer, and has all of those things you mentioned that a spellcaster would need.

That's what struck me from what gameplay I've seen of MHW, from a friend - it looks like a highly tactical game. I've seen the Behemoth fight play out and it looked brutal.

I'll give Dragon's Dogma a look. I'm not sure if SE would go with BDO's speed, but it definitely has the right direction for a caster. Generally, I think it makes a sense to turn a lot of spells into instants and reserve effects like brief staggers or slower movement speed for more potent spells (and thus do away with much of a need to turret outside of things like Ley Lines), whilst incorporating a dodge mechanic, teleports etc. for defences. FF14 abstracts a lot of this for its combat design, which is fine in a tab-target MMO, but for an action one it really does need to come out more strongly.

[Silverquick]

[LIST][*]No 1.0 garbage spaghetti code.

Fair point and I agree.

[*]No half baked Class > Job system that gets abandoned after the first expansion.

Disagree,
That's one of the things I liked about the original ARR was the starting Class then moving on to a Job. I particularly liked the original SCH and how it worked and the way it combined with Arcanist even though I know the Devs obviously did not...

SMN well that's a mixed bag on both sides of the argument. I do like how it progressed from Arcanist with DoTs and Carbunkle and into the original Trances like Dreadwyrm and Aetherflow stacks the way was into Heavensward.

Not really that entirely enthused with the changes in Stormblood, that is kind of a mixed bag some good, some bad. The Demis obstructed view and caused just as many problems with evading mechanics as they gave in coolness factor which was pointless as you could have just done this with an Ethereal Trance Overlay instead, but the mechanics of how they work was pretty cool.. the Egi rework... well that wasn't half bad.

I also liked Cross Class skills and Subjobs from leveling multiple jobs from ARR. While they varied in effectiveness depending on the cross class skills you picked, they were a very unique addition that I had always loved in FFXI as well.

[*]Don't tie Duties to MSQ and then have to force Duties to be the ONLY content because you need to fill up the queues so newbies can complete the MSQ. (If you must, do what Astellia Online does and have the MSQ required event be a solo version of the duty)

That I also don't agree with.

I loved my newbie (as in new to the game entirely) days back when I started and did those dungeons in the MSQ in ARR. It wasn't until the later expansions that they became a nuisance as you were leveled so high that level syncing back to that levels was like putting on handcuffs.

Wait times are solvable with addition of either a Trust or beginning Squadron so they won't be as much of a nuisance to higher level players as the game ages.

BUT... having them attached to the MSQ was a ton of fun and mystery and really sucked me in like I was a part of the story.

[*]Duties should be more than just Hallway simulators or "One dude in an arena"

Totally agree with that, a lot of the original ARR dungeons are very like that which is what made them so fun as a newbie. Though... I admit they do need some changes in terms of what the goal of the dungeon is at the beginning. Like... one time the goal is to unlock several doors in a row using mechanics, another time its to get to a chest on the other side of a chasm, basically using ALL of the dungeon in various types of objectives from the beginning. Sometimes mob spam... sometimes multiple boss mobs, etc.

Then it will literally be different each time you go through.

[Kalise]

Disagree,
That's one of the things I liked about the original ARR was the starting Class then moving on to a Job. I particularly liked the original SCH and how it worked and the way it combined with Arcanist even though I know the Devs obviously did not...

Note, that I'm not against Class > Job as a concept.

But the fact that they half-assed it and then completely disregarded it after ARR is where I draw issue.

That I also don't agree with.

I loved my newbie (as in new to the game entirely) days back when I started and did those dungeons in the MSQ in ARR. It wasn't until the later expansions that they became a nuisance as you were leveled so high that level syncing back to that levels was like putting on handcuffs.

Wait times are solvable with addition of either a Trust or beginning Squadron so they won't be as much of a nuisance to higher level players as the game ages.

BUT... having them attached to the MSQ was a ton of fun and mystery and really sucked me in like I was a part of the story.

I honestly see too many issues with Duties as MSQ requirements.

Not only because the entire game has as a result, revolved around "Spam DF Roulettes" because they need to ensure that newbies can actually progress in the MSQ in a MSQ driven game.

But also, how absolutely terrible they are for immersion. Where 90% of the "Duty" content the MSQ implies you did it alone. With only a small handful of times where there's a comment or cutscene that suggests or shows you getting a random party of 4-8 people to help you. Due to reasons such as "You're literally the only one in the world who can do this" which also would preclude Trusts as a way to bypass this.

I find that Astellia Online's version of MSQ required duties far better, since when they hype you up as the sole "Chosen One" (An Astellian in their case, Hydaelyn's chosen here) and then you go and do the solo duty, alone, and kick butt it feels way more immersive than having to stop being a badass so you can group up with random people who pop up out of nowhere and then vanish completely once you're done with the duty and enter the cutscene at the end.

With the group version of these duties being unlocked later so you can farm them for your loot if you wish, but not being required for progressing the MSQ.

[SamRF]

I honestly see too many issues with Duties as MSQ requirements.

Not only because the entire game has as a result, revolved around "Spam DF Roulettes" because they need to ensure that newbies can actually progress in the MSQ in a MSQ driven game.

But also, how absolutely terrible they are for immersion. Where 90% of the "Duty" content the MSQ implies you did it alone. With only a small handful of times where there's a comment or cutscene that suggests or shows you getting a random party of 4-8 people to help you. Due to reasons such as "You're literally the only one in the world who can do this" which also would preclude Trusts as a way to bypass this.

I find that Astellia Online's version of MSQ required duties far better, since when they hype you up as the sole "Chosen One" (An Astellian in their case, Hydaelyn's chosen here) and then you go and do the solo duty, alone, and kick butt it feels way more immersive than having to stop being a badass so you can group up with random people who pop up out of nowhere and then vanish completely once you're done with the duty and enter the cutscene at the end.

With the group version of these duties being unlocked later so you can farm them for your loot if you wish, but not being required for progressing the MSQ.

I completely agree. Actually I believe they should do this in FFXIV right now, adding a solo option for all older MSQ instances. I feel like it could quite easily be done by just messing with the numbers. It won't have instance gameplay as originally intended, but it will be better than waiting ages for a queue and it would also satisfy all if it's just a voluntary option. They'll perhaps get obliged to do something like this because it will get harder and harder to keep older content relevant with each expansion.

Besides that, I'd honestly love it if literally all instances would have an optional solo equivalent that didn't give any loot/xp/rewards, not just MSQ ones. Immersion being a big factor, but also just the ability to do some content (e.g. that is difficult to get queue for) whenever you want and enjoy the art. They don't have to dedicate resources to introduce new mechanics for solo play for me. If it's an alliance raid for example, just literally take out all mechanics that require the alliances or just make the bosses basically like a mob that still does all the nice (transformation) animations during the fight, but without any mechanics. Just want to be able to enjoy the art first time I play an instance for immersion and at other times when nobody queues for it anymore, even if the combat will be equivalent of fighting a dummy.

You could argue that I might as well just watch a movie at that point, but being engaged in combat makes a big difference imo. I enjoy doing older content right now solo, although wish things wouldn't die as fast

[Lauront]

I find that Astellia Online's version of MSQ required duties far better, since when they hype you up as the sole "Chosen One" (An Astellian in their case, Hydaelyn's chosen here) and then you go and do the solo duty, alone, and kick butt it feels way more immersive than having to stop being a badass so you can group up with random people who pop up out of nowhere and then vanish completely once you're done with the duty and enter the cutscene at the end.

With the group version of these duties being unlocked later so you can farm them for your loot if you wish, but not being required for progressing the MSQ.

In the end, with such a solo system, they can use the presence of Trusts or similar NPCs as well if they want to reinforce that the boss is particularly powerful, in addition to any other story devices. One thing I do hope they do, from a narrative perspective for a future MMO, is build on their approach with Eden, where it's differences in memory that explain the "savage" mode, so like it boils down to you being bogged down in the heat of battle and forgetting some important details, and you see those play out in the group content with the help of some recording device or similar contraption. Maybe really double down on the mechanical difficulty of some bosses which, for lore reasons, should be particularly powerful, and are thus no longer hampered mechanically by being tied to the MSQ but rather an optional addendum to it, in addition to offering some difficulty options for the solo content. I'd like such an approach.

[RitsukoSonoda]

My thoughts on the next FF MMO.

Return of a number of series staple base mechanics that were literally thrown out as they essentially dumbed the game down to make it more like WoW for the purpose of poaching that game's playerbase that were present in FFXI. Things like elemental and physical damage type resistances/weaknesses/immunities/absorb. This would also bring back caster dps jobs having a wider range of elements to choose from which is one of the things I liked better in FFXI because back then we couldn't just kill a fire elemental by spamming fire spells. It also added some depth to gearing in general as mages could use gear to bolster a specific element and physical jobs had gear options that could change the type of damage they dealt between slashing, blunt, piercing.

Going on to gear itself. I wouldn't mind actual set items that gain extra bonuses if you equip multiple or all pieces of the set. On top of that I miss the more interesting bonus effects gear items could have in FFXI as you could get bonuses to job skills on artifact gear, resistance boosts against types of damage or attacks, some even provided passives like double attack and triple attack at a low proc rate. Weapons could also have chances to proc additional on hit effects with auto attacks. Because of this it felt like there was far more variation in the gear sets used by players outside a few specific pieces like the scorpion harness or haubergeon.

If they keep with instanced duties make them require more thought and skill by players and don't cave into the people crying about something being too hard. Too many in the industry in general have gone that route and the overall quality of players in general has suffered for it and this doesn't apply to just MMOs.

Housing. Housing in this game IMO isn't bad tbh. There just isn't enough of it and one aspect of it wasn't accounted for during the game's lifespan. If there were more areas with housing wards such as in ishgard (opportunity there to try something new where people buy a land plot then actually have to use crafting skills to build their home) or possibly use the sea of clouds to do the instanced housing people have been crying for so they can be on their own little island in the sky it would do much for the complaints of "I cant get a house" However one of the things that they failed to account for during the life of this game is gil inflation. When housing launched as FC only getting the gil for it was a sort of accomplishment. Now its trivial for anyone putting in atleast minimal effort and not constantly buying frivolous overpriced things. If less people could afford to buy a house there would be a lot less complaints about the amount of housing available as well.

I also wouldn't mind the return of exp loss on death considering how much people cried about it in Eureka. More incentives for players not to play with their brain disabled the better.

[LinXiaoMei]

Maybe I'm delusional but I clearly remember filling out a survey from SE with one of the questions asking about this very thing. Or something along the lines like "would you play it" and if we're going based off of the pattern. XVI would be a Single Player RPG and XVII would be the MMO since XI was the MMO, XII & XIII were RPGS. I personally don't think Hack n' Slash type playstyle similar to BDO, BnS, and what not would work very well for a Final Fantasy MMO. Then again FFXV is pretty fun but the combat after a while seems very dry and repetitive. Maybe who knows.

[hynaku]

I would like next one where Devs would quit missing with classes abilities and have it where was like ffxi where could pick a sub class to be.

[Lauront]

Maybe I'm delusional but I clearly remember filling out a survey from SE with one of the questions asking about this very thing. Or something along the lines like "would you play it" and if we're going based off of the pattern. XVI would be a Single Player RPG and XVII would be the MMO since XI was the MMO, XII & XIII were RPGS. I personally don't think Hack n' Slash type playstyle similar to BDO, BnS, and what not would work very well for a Final Fantasy MMO. Then again FFXV is pretty fun but the combat after a while seems very dry and repetitive. Maybe who knows.

You're definitely not delusional. They ran a survey, I think mid-way through SB if memory serves me correctly (could be towards the end of HW), on that very topic. I'm waiting to see how 7R turns out to see how a more recent indication of how they intend to handle action combat and whether they need more work on it.

[Theodric]

I wouldn't be opposed to a more action focused game so long as it didn't lose sight of the fact that most people play RPG's for the sake of experiencing a decent story.