[Feedback] A New Player's Perspective (Will update if there's interest)

[Renalt]

I really wish they would dump the help text boxes and do a more interactive tutorial method and do things like when there would be an active help popup, instead grey out the screen, show you where the thing is they are talking about and have you click through what they use text to explain so you can actively see how to do different things instead of having a series of text boxes to read with no interaction.

I agree that the job quests would be a great place to more actively teach new players how to play the game.

Kinda like a Devil May Cry combo room. Hey here is your ability. This is what it looks like. This is what it does. Got it? Cool. Here is an immortal punching bag enemy. Do things. We will let you know if you did the thing right.

[Kaurhz]

Uh, I wouldn't really use it as indicative as anything.

Learning to be competent in this game, to a certain extent is on the player, e.g., it gives text descriptions on buffs/debuffs, you get descriptions on abilities as well, etc., - It does not care whether or not you are competent because it is story mode content, and it is developed in a way that it can be completely by anyone, that is the point.

Getting to level 50 quickly or not, and without interacting a great deal with side-quests etc., I wouldn't really see it as having any bearing on retention, given how many expansions people need to get across, really. If the base game only included base ARR then I'd be inclined to agree - But they need to account for the fact it just isn't ARR. Sure, it would have greater longevity, but at what cost? How many people would quit? What does a profusely long leveling process offer? The repeatability and retention come from the content types, not just how long it takes to level.

On the note of the rain - It's actually interesting you bring this up because on the other hand forcing a weather change for a cutscene would be considered equally as clunky, even if it doesn't raise the same questions, which it might. "Why has the rain just suddenly stopped as soon as I went for pancakes" - Children have an absurd inquisitive nature about the world and its workings, even in general... Until education puts people through the treadmill assembly line.

[kaynide]

So, some things:

1. I mean this respectfully: I'm obviously not doing a scientific or very controlled test here. Of course she's 9 and of course she isn't the target audience. It's summer, we're killing time on some hot days. My honest goal was to get her to practice reading and/or patience.
2. That said, if the game is so easy a 9 year old can beat this game spamming 1 ability, that does tell us adults at the very least -something-. Whatever that -something- is.
3. Her perspective gives me a more innocent take on the game and gaming in general. Like we all might assume "red barrel = explosive" because of our gaming history. She doesn't have that intuitive knowledge which leads to interesting takes. The game (obviously, I hope) does NOT need to change to cater to her or others like her, but I think some of her takes might be equally valid for a new adult non-gamer.
4. Ultimately, I'm doing this for fun and to get a different point of view. Kinda like when your kid wants to draw a cat and it comes out looking like a potato.

I'm curious how long she can play on this style before being brick-walled, and when she is brick-walled, does she give up or actually try to learn?

On the note of the rain - It's actually interesting you bring this up because on the other hand forcing a weather change for a cutscene would be considered equally as clunky, even if it doesn't raise the same questions, which it might. "Why has the rain just suddenly stopped as soon as I went for pancakes".

This is true. I don't know how she'd react- but she didn't bat an eye during the Rising cutscene, where it was suddenly night w/ fireworks then suddenly day. Maybe time of day is less intrusive than rain and thunder.




Tl;DR, exactly what Kaurhz said:

Uh, I wouldn't really use (these observations) as indicative as anything.

[Amenara]

Kinda like a Devil May Cry combo room. Hey here is your ability. This is what it looks like. This is what it does. Got it? Cool. Here is an immortal punching bag enemy. Do things. We will let you know if you did the thing right.

I am reminded of one of the CNJ quests where you have a bunch of NPCs fighting off the antelope and you have to heal the NPCs. It's janky and annoying but it teaches you how to heal and iirc it even tells you to DPS when you don't need to heal. It is a one off quest and you never have another that teaches you how to remove cure 1 from your bar after you unlock cure 2, so it's obviously not perfect, but it's an example of something they can do to teach you how to play your job inside of job quests.

[Renalt]

I am reminded of one of the CNJ quests where you have a bunch of NPCs fighting off the antelope and you have to heal the NPCs. It's janky and annoying but it teaches you how to heal and iirc it even tells you to DPS when you don't need to heal. It is a one off quest and you never have another that teaches you how to remove cure 1 from your bar after you unlock cure 2, so it's obviously not perfect, but it's an example of something they can do to teach you how to play your job inside of job quests.

That or Archer was one of my first jobs so it's been AGES since I've done that quest. I vaguely remember it and yeah it does tell you to do both.

[VelKallor]

She even hates Minfilla just like everyone else.

Oh? Ive never heard anyone say they hate her. "Everyone else"? is...who exactly?

Im sorry but I have to call on this, no one I know has ever said they hate her at all. i know theres this "hate scions" meme but the fact is that the most common meme I have heard about Minfilia was that she should be wearing a badge that says

[Iscah]

That said, if the game is so easy a 9 year old can beat this game spamming 1 ability, that does tell us adults at the very least -something-. Whatever that -something- is.

She's playing solo with trusts, as a DPS. Trusts will literally clear most dungeons with zero player input, besides you needing to be present and dodging AOEs that would kill you otherwise.

It's not the same as being able to clear a solo game by doing that.

[Anonemoose]

There's a reason that nine year olds are prohibited by the ToS from playing the game. I'm not going to comment on your parenting and I hope others don't, but given that she's playing in a foreign language (Japanese) and can barely read in her own language (English), maybe her difficulty in understanding things isn't to do with the game itself.

[Saidosha]

Thinking back to when I was 9 in the early 90s, the RPGs I played at the time weren't nearly as text-heavy as an MMO. There were occasionally words I didn't understand, let alone how to say them because voice acting wasn't a thing, but roughly had to derive context in those instances. And while I enjoyed myself, I wouldn't expect kids today to be in a better position even if gaming is arguably more accepted today. With how releases were done at the time, a lot were probably a year or two old in Japan by the time they hit the US or entered my sphere of awareness, too.

Mechanically, most were turn-based, so this obviously took some of the stress out of acting in the moment. AI party members you couldn't control were occasionally a thing, but most certainly not to the extent of Trusts. Ironically, I'd argue the slower pace and menu system yielded more tactical combat than XIV provides outside of "do the dance" ad nauseum, but that's basically shifting one difficulty for another. Do I think 9 year old me could play XIV well? Eh, probably, but not without some trial and error on harder encounters. I think it's somewhat undersold that Trusts can help players learn mechanics, too.

As others have said, though, definitely not the target audience. Nor should it be assumed pictures would convey more than text when it comes to UI gripes.

[kaynide]

Oh? Ive never heard anyone say they hate her. "Everyone else"? is...who exactly?

Im sorry but I have to call on this, no one I know has ever said they hate her at all. i know theres this "hate scions" meme but the fact is that the most common meme I have heard about Minfilia was that she should be wearing a badge that says

Well, to be fair, it is less her as a character and more the Pray Return BS.

I mean, somebody even went through the effort to make a music video on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvTQCCZd2VE

I think it's somewhat undersold that Trusts can help players learn mechanics, too.

I wish there was more to this. Like the Trust NPCs actually saying what's going on/advising the player on mechanics. At least for the 1-50 dungeons.

Something like a generic voice saying "Look out! We need to gather together!" or like "The beast is about to breath (as in a breath weapon)! Move away!"

Trusts will literally clear most dungeons with zero player input, besides you needing to be present and dodging AOEs that would kill you otherwise.

This seems to be unfortunately true (at least up to level 50); I'm not sure if it's a good selling point for the game though. Or if it's just the way games are trending now- I noticed a commercial for the new Mario game that had a line "And if you can't beat the level, that's fine! Just skip it and try a different one". Or the mobile "This game will grind for you while you're not playing it!" games.