Final Fantasy XIV Hot Takes

[ReynTime]

1.0 combat was more interesting and had more potential than the current combat once the stamina system was removed. Removing the monster part/debilitation system was a huge mistake.

Cutting off the action and trait system from that time was a mistake. When you discourage players from leveling multiple jobs through your extremely restrictive weekly caps, leveling methods, and homogenization of job play, you defeat the main purpose of having 15+ jobs you can have in 1 character. Every Bravely and FF game that had a job system after FF3 had cross-job advantages for a reason. Furthremore even with homogenization job balance still is flawed. It will always be flawed. Balance and META is a poor excuse for this. Every game with options has a META. Doesn't render the non meta choices useless.

The writing in the MSQ for ShB and EW is only good if you think Naruto is the pinnacle of writing.

1.23 had the best potential of XIV and every good it had was scrapped for no good reason.

Making every optional dungeon tied to DF is a massive mistake.

Soken's work is overrated. Yeah I get it he had cancer, doesn't mean I can't criticize his work. He relies way too much on leitmotifs. And while on topic of music, and not his fault, this game is creative bankrupt when it comes to night time music. Every night time music in the overworld is just a slow piano version of the normal theme...

Dungeon design is horrendously tedious. If they're stubbornly sticking with it they have the obligation to make more interesting overworld PvE content.

Au'ra are the most redundant race in the game.

And nothing from Shadowbringers?

Or did you skip through the whole expansion?

Probably because at that point he didn't even try to be subtle about the leitmotif abuse to the point most of the tracks stop standing out from each other enough.

[OhNooo]

The writing in the MSQ for ShB and EW is only good if you think Naruto is the pinnacle of writing.

Whoa slow down bro. I don’t think they’re ready for the truth.

[Malthir]

1.0 combat was more interesting and had more potential than the current combat once the stamina system was removed. Removing the monster part/debilitation system was a huge mistake.

Cutting off the action and trait system from that time was a mistake. When you discourage players from leveling multiple jobs through your extremely restrictive weekly caps, leveling methods, and homogenization of job play, you defeat the main purpose of having 15+ jobs you can have in 1 character. Every Bravely and FF game that had a job system after FF3 had cross-job advantages for a reason. Furthremore even with homogenization job balance still is flawed. It will always be flawed. Balance and META is a poor excuse for this. Every game with options has a META. Doesn't render the non meta choices useless.

Currently making a similar arguement on the Tank forums

Tanks don't exist in FF14 because they removed aggro, all tanks are are DPS with more health. The game is moving towards a death spiral due to the homogenisation of roles. They took away tanks role so they had to give them something else, self sustain moves, which started to take healer role. Eventually we will all be DPS playing a bullet hell game. RIP FF14 was fun while it lasted

[Shurrikhan]

1.23 had the best potential of XIV and every good it had was scrapped for no good reason.

What good things would that have been, though? Incaps were removed before 1.23 on account of its making certain jobs obligatory. Customization was shallow and illusory at best, what with Yoshida having already imploded the Armory and "build your own job" systems. Combos then worked just as poorly as now, except in that they took several auto-attacks to unlock (via TP costs) and their costs roughly tripled the cost of hitting any "combo" button out of order. The netcode was worse. The engine (a clipped version of Crystal Tools) couldn't support a Z-axis. (Though, its frame-bogging, upon fixing the issues inherent to the game's Full Screen rendering, were badly overstated.) Job depth and identity were both far shallower. The storylines were brief and, with few exceptions, incredibly basic. End-game content was limited to dungeons (of which there were only four) and trials (only 2; 5 if you include the chief NMs and Skirmish). Behests were just escort FATEs; Hamlet defense was a disjointed mess. Leve-grinds, the predominant way to level up (until people used up their allowances as just mob-farmed), frequently took more time traveling than in combat.

Modern XIV has its problems, but it's difficult to find any threads worth developing from 1.23. The earlier, pre-alpha "Guild FC Wars" design concept, complete with primal summoning, garrisons, ship- (and cake-) building, highly involved guild activities, and large-scale and naval combat? Maybe. The original Armory concept? Maybe. The already watered-down unambitious principles of 1.23, though? Nah.

[zcrash970]

1.23 had the best potential of XIV and every good it had was scrapped for no good reason.

I completely agree. There was a lot that can be done with the systems in place and the game was in a great place. Creatively and mechanically.
The biggest issue at that moment was the engine

Honestly, I think either Yoshi peaked around then and lost a lot of creative spirit or SE saw how profitable the game was becoming and drove him to do more of the same and not to take any creative risks.

Not really a hot take but the only thing FFXIV is good at is the MSQ and everything else is subpar and lacking