Yoshi P's Ominous Statement About the Future of XIV

[Kranel_San]

Given all his comments recently about wanting to cater to mobile gamers, it sure doesn't sound good to me. I fear we may be cooked, fried even.

The once-saviour of XIV has now became its doom.

[Astronis]

A lot of what they do is just honestly this and we take it too seriously. We need to evalute them more often on their actions not their words.

Sure, it's all PR speak. I'm just almost never a member of the "evolving market", so tend to get worried when the Head PR Dude for a game I'm enjoying starts invoking phrases like that. We'll see when the PR speak becomes more concrete.

[Jeeqbit]

I'll quit if he's referring to more investment into the mobile game.

No, it's more that there has obviously been thought about making this game even more casual because he thinks we are too busy and essentially mobile gamers. That should be left to the mobile version.

He's also talking about things he's already been doing, like the change to how deep dungeons work, the variant dungeon being changed to work differently, the story style of the variant dungeon being different (exploring a story in a book), the glamour job restriction change, the talk about adding non-gear rewards for weekly tomestones, etc. That is the sort of thing he is talking about - in summary it's good, but nothing significant.

By the way, the poem said this:

Our past astern, we scan the sea
In search of that which yet may be
Frail playthings of the restless tide
Yet wind and wave shall be own guide

[SkankyRoe]

Yet wind and wave shall be own guide

"wind and wave" lol I guess we getting a crossover with Pokemon

Jest aside, that poem has me wondering if we might be going to Aerslant next?

[Ath192]

The once-saviour of XIV has now became its doom.

You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain.

[WillIrishclover]

I think you're all panicking over nothing, its typical corporate pr fluff.

[Aidorouge]

No, it's more that there has obviously been thought about making this game even more casual because he thinks we are too busy and essentially mobile gamers. That should be left to the mobile version.

If the mobile version were indeed more casual and solo-friendly I would certainly jump to it, because the current PC version genuinely sucks as an MMO with one of the worst social elements I've experienced in the genre. Then they can turn the current PC version into the mega-hardcore Souls-like hellscape where even the MSQ is Savage+ with 100 buttons to press like people keep begging for because I wouldn't be playing it anymore anyway. Everyone wins.

But that kinda requires the mobile version to actually come out in NA, or how it needs to have a PC-playable variant/be emulator compatible because playing on an actual phone when it comes to games with 3D movement is awful.

If the only way to give everyone a version of FF14 that's enjoyable is to literally create casual and hardcore versions of the game that play radically different from each other, while keeping the playerbase split so they never bother each other with their preferred style, then so be it. Dawntrail proved that the two sides will never be compatible with each other, and they can't make changes for one without impacting the other, so just make the move to segregate us already.

[MicahZerrshia]

I'm just hoping it's like those "Become the Warrior of Darkness!" and "Scions have a major conflict that pits them against one another" sort of lines that he likes to throw around when announcing the next expansion. Where it's just Yoshi talking about something that he thinks is the expansions big thing but is actually a complete nothing burger that was just used for hype, since he also mentioned things like auto-pathing and using other mobile features.

[SyferU]

and this year will mark an especially significant second step.

A significant second step this year? 8.0 this year maybe?

[Jeeqbit]

But that kinda requires the mobile version to actually come out in NA, or how it needs to have a PC-playable variant/be emulator compatible because playing on an actual phone when it comes to games with 3D movement is awful.

It will come out in NA and all of that is already possible.

Dawntrail proved that the two sides will never be compatible with each other, and they can't make changes for one without impacting the other, so just make the move to segregate us already.

That isn't actually true, because Shadowbringers proved it is possible. We had Bozja, which brought together casual and more hardcore players.

The CEs were a lot of fun to all types of players, and it got them to party together. While the more casual players entered and left as they pleased, the more hardcore players stayed for days doing all the grinds (field note mount, cluster farms, +10 point buffs, Lost Action farms).

We then had the raids. Castrum Lacus Latore showed us they can have fights that are a middleground. The bosses telegraph once so you know what the attack does, then never again, so if you don't learn, it's on you. You could die to the bosses as much as you liked, and someone would rez you every time.

However, 8 people needed to not die and be confident. So while 40 players there could be "casual players" that aren't very confident, 8 of them needed to know they could do mechanics and not die. Those 8 players would fight a different boss, and if they failed, the entire party would wipe.

Then we had Delubrum Reginae, which felt very much like a devastating and challenging raid that left bodies everywhere, yet somehow, nobody actually failed to clear it, because it was purely individual responsibility - your mistakes killed only you and nobody else. It showed that they can make the raid difficult and, as long as players' mistakes don't affect anyone else and there is no enrage cast, you won't struggle to get clears.

For that reason, it is so very easy to cite Shadowbringers as the one time they actually managed to bring together every type of player. You knew there were hardcore raiders there, you knew there were hardcore collectors there, you knew there were extremely casual players there that could hardly press buttons, and they all had fun and got through the content successfully - you can't necessarily say this about all the content they release.