Melbourne International games week Interview about content

[Jeeqbit]

Reads to me like he is finally getting the message people have been saying for years on end.

Maybe, but he could just be referring to the Field Operation and its relic grind. Maybe Cosmic Exploration too. We'll have to see.

Though at the same time, his wording worries me. "content that will take time to complete" in FF14 speak usually meant awful grind (like kill 1000 S-Ranks / Play 5000 PVP Matches grind) up until now.

1,000 S ranks isn't as bad as people think. I had finished it 2 months after Dawntrail release. So very possible to do casually within the 2.5 years of the expansion.

But I agree generally that most achievements aren't fun. That's why I go for mounts instead. I find those goals more reasonable than the achievements which go all the way to 10,000, 500,000, 1 million and so on. I just don't think hunts are that hard to get anymore due to world visit and DC travel.

I'm down to repeat content because each time can go differently (especially with random parties), but only to a point. For example, I get a little burned out from extremes after 25-50 runs, which is why I've liked them awarding 2 totems.

From a development standpoint they have to repeat content, otherwise they put all this hard work into content only for you to see it/look at it one time. Now they can do this like Crystalline Conflict, Frontline and Rival Wings for example where each time can be very different, but if all the work that went into those maps is used only 1 time it's rather inefficient.

[ovIm]

1,000 S ranks isn't as bad as people think. I had finished it 2 months after Dawntrail release. So very possible to do casually within the 2.5 years of the expansion.

[Sotaris]

"Pwease give us your sub money! Pwetty pwease! We pwomise that there will be something for you guyise to do!111!!1!!"

Ain't buying it. It's time for them to show us new content, not tell us about it nonstop while doing nothing to alleviate the painful long content lulls this game has.

"Please look forward to it".

[Hanayumi]

Uhh is this "content takes time to complete" in the playing of sense or making of sense?

[elioaiko]

I mean this is pretty tone deaf after all the years of taking away content, disgustingly simplifying jobs, and overall less reason to actually log in everyday.

They really expect us to rotate 3 dungeons on expac launch for months and then we only get 1 new dungeon?? I understand that dungeons are just corridors that different set dressings. But at least allow me give me some variety for expert roulette.

Rn it's either you get the story based one, the obnoxious mascot one that randos die to constantly (no, they're not first timers) and the semi okay one. That's it.

The game has been doing quite well since ShB and even moreso in EW. We should have gotten an increase of the content we receive per patch.

EW relic grind was a joke and they took away exploratory content (they're bringing it back) so you really had nothing to do than to rotate the same small set of dungeons ad-nauseum.

The combat itself could have tide over the lack of content if the jobs were less cookie cutter and actually felt unique. The combat has way less depth than they think it does.

[Carin-Eri]

I don't know if any of the teams playing some of the F2P games on the market currently. I'm playing Wuthering Wave right now and after allocating a monthly budget similarly to FF14 (15$/month), the value honestly do not even compare. One of the thing it makes me realize is just how ... dated FF14 is. Writing, graphic, cutsceen, voice is either on par or a step above FF14. And the world exploration really make FF14 open world play feel like a game from 20 years ago.

One of most significance difference is just overall how ... smooth everything is. Transition from zone to zone, dialogue to cutsceen ... comparing to FF14's where you constantly going into a 2-3 seconds black screen when you need to switch from one thing to another. I didn't care much until the beginning of DT where the constant cut to black-screen became apparent due to how many unnecessary cutsceens there was. But now that I'm getting used to the smoothness of modern game it really hits home how bad the engine FF14 is. In a way FF14's cut to black now feels like the Starfield's loading screen meme.

And this is not something I think they can fix even if they want to. There is no deniable how limited the game engine of FF14 is. They really should have not rushed to conclude the Hyadelin story line. Between Omega, Garlemard, Zodiac they probably had enough for 2 expansions after end walker. They should have used that time to sunset FF14 while working toward a new MMO's engine for the next story. I don't think FF14 is so old now that it won't have what it takes to carry for another 10 years.

Also. you get new content every 1.5 months

F2P is the very definition of a double-edged sword though.

To repeat something I said in another post - I came to FFXIV from another MMO I'd played for 12 years. An MMO which started off okay but took at look at gambleboxes as a method of income and eventually based it's entire (now gatcha-style) business model on selling them (and stupidly expensive bundles).
Imagine you really want a particular weapon and the only way of getting it is opening loot boxes - you open a loot box.... and receive an item of garden furniture for a house you don't own. Oh well, bad luck - better buy another five-box bundle (that'll be another £30 please) and keep trying.

And in the background the game eventually started to suffer, as the Devs focus switched from making new playable content to making the gambleboxes more attractive to maintain profitability. And the worst part? They never revealed the odds of winning the 'main prize' (though they were independently worked out to be preposterously low) - I gather that, to this day, there is little in the way of any legal obligation for them to do so.

To be honest, I'd almost definitely quit if gambleboxes found their way into this game. I've seen firsthand how they can ruin an MMO.

[ovIm]

F2P is the very definition of a double-edged sword though.

I think that is kinda missing the point Raven2014 is trying to do here.

For the monetization part - each (live service) game needs a constant revenue stream to operate, and there are different ways to go about it. FF14 does it kinda well with asking everyone for the same fair price, other games try to subsidize freeloaders by getting more money from people wanting to drop more cash in their game (if I buy a mount that costs 60€, I am kinda paying the monthly cost of me and 3 other people, assuming a cost of 15€ per Month per Person).

With a constant, calculatable revenue stream, a company like Square Enix should be able to match content pacing and quality with that of a F2P gamblebox game. They just don't.

[ExESGO]

yeah, watched it on Twitch when it was live.

I was shocked that after this long they figured out that *le gasp* making content takes time. imagine that... it doesnt just spin out of aether in an instant. shocker.

Shhhhh. The gamers can't comprehend that.

[Daralii]

Shhhhh. The gamers can't comprehend that.

Those disgusting, ungrateful g*mers can't comprehend that years of feedback collection is necessary before years of development for any kind of content.

[Xeronia]

It isn't even just F2P games at this point as Raven2014 pointed out. I started playing WoW very casually due to a friend being curious about it. Just to compare timelines here:

Dawntrail released ( Early Access June 28th) July 2nd and the first major content update in Early November.

WoW: The War Within released ( Early Access August 22nd) August 26th and the first major content patch is the anniversary event starting on October 22nd.

Now you can make a lot of complaints about WoW but the point here is they have nailed a far better content cadence and this only is addresseing retail. For your WoW sub you also have access to all the Classic servers as well along with any event mode they put up like Plunderstorm or Timerunning past expansions. I know Blizzard may be an unfair comparison as they do have a large team and now Microsoft's backing but they absolutely have nailed release schedule.