Why is the FFXIV fanbase so stubborn and resistant to change?

[Winterclaw]

But how do you appeal to the masses? That's the big question for SE now.

You can't just make a wow clone. I mean why play a wow clone when all your friend are in wow and blizzard knows exactly what to give it's core audience? Build off of its successes? Yeah, but a clone won't work.

If we knew exactly what kind of online games the current producer (Wanada?) likes and how he feels about them, we might have at least a little sense where they are going with this.

[BelgianRofl]

How, you ask? It's simple... Drastically alter the rules already set in Eorzea.

[indira]

it already in writing the polls said most of us are ok with a major overhaul with the game. but when is the question.

[gifthorse]

There currently aren't enough people playing FFXIV to keep this game going. It simply doesn't make financial sense to keep this game alive if the playerbase doesn't grow significantly. As it stands right now, even if they started charging they'd never turn a profit.

Why then will so many of you not allow this new dev team to make some changes? So much of what makes FFXI and FFXIV special has nothing to do with UI, combat mechanics or auction house/trading systems. These games are special because of their art style and direction, the amazing music, the unique lore, the memorable story events, etc.

This game needs to change in some ways, but more than that, it needs additions.

Additions > change.

You have to be logical about the things you change. If you just went ahead and changed everything to Wow/FFXI but kept the story, lore, music of FFXIV intact... then that would be a change for the worse. FFXIV currently has many novel and innovative ideas which are its selling points and they shouldn't be compromised just for change for the sake of change.

I understand how resistant attitudes can be annoying though. After all, I never wanted aggro indicators and similar things, autoattack etc., but it was people who couldn't deal with the transition from MMOs with those features (read: afraid of change) that forced their implementation.

See the irony?

There are systems that exist in other MMOs that are tried and true systems that millions and millions of people have vetted and refined over the last 10 years. Many of these systems would benefit FFXIV, but you stand against them for no other reason than you fear FFXIV turning "into wow 2.0" or other such nonsense.

Meanwhile Guild Wars 2, ArcheAge, and TERA continue advancing the genre. If FFXIV falls back on its laurels it will fail... more.

WoW can't touch this game's art and music assets, or the unique characters and environments. Even with a more functional and fun combat system (which this game certainly does not have now) it would NOT become a WoW clone!

Who cares about WoW? FFXIV should be worried about Guild Wars 2, TERA, and ArcheAge.

Right now the stubborn FFXIV fanbase is this game's worst enemy and you're not willing recognize it. The fact that so many of you are already lambasting the new dev team is an example of this. The old dev team had years to make this game and the result was a FAILED game. It has a nonexistant playerbase and terrible reviews. Let the new team do what SE hired them to do and make this game fun.

People aren't being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn. They are being stubborn because they see merit and virtue in existing systems and consider them better or superior to the replacement systems.

TL;DR: Autoattack (as an example) will not change what is so special about this game. I really doubt you sit around and spin tales of how much fun you had mashing light strike with your linkshell. Let these people do their job and try to continue to support them. By all means, if they implement a change you don't like, let them know! But you have to be willing to accept a little change. They're not going to keep this game around forever just to please a handful of you.

Auto-attack is for slow battle systems where you go AFK every minute while you wait to use a real ability. What is the point of gravitating back toward a slow battle system? I don't mean to derail this thread into a discussion about auto-attack, but that's the only way I can envision a use for its implementation.

Just because the active battle system didn't live up to expectations, doesn't mean it was a bad idea. They should have worked on implementing the idea better, rather than caving to the petty demands of people who wanted to, and I quote, "socialise while fighting".

You want to see this game fail: then by all means, don't listen to any of us who try to defend the remaining few aspects of FFXIV that are worth playing the game for.

[Xatsh]

I am not resistant from SE taking the good elements from existing mainstream mmos and making it their own the things I will fight to the death over are the following:

1) Solo based leveling focus (Solo Quest based leveling) <= this has all but destroyed the mmo world now
2) Easy Mode everything, Difficulty mode set on 1 on a 50 point scale. <= seriously if pokemon is more challenging something is wrong.
3) A mmo that you can literally beat in 2-4 months. <= This is known as a consol mmo with online capabilities, not a mmo.
4) All reward and no work <= woo I got the epic gear... 11.98million/12million players have... woot?
5) Forced Alts (Aka job/class locking characters) <= I have no idea why mmos continue to do this crap, huge hit on the community since you have no online persona... guess it helps out the theft, morons, and douchebags since they can just reroll.
6) Small Scale battles only... nothing is epic about saving the world with 1-4 ppl. MMOs need large scale battles as well as smaller ones.

These above 6 things I truly feel are destroying the mmo world in general and turning it into a single player mmo with a chatroom attached.

None of these should be a focus in a mmo at all, they need to have some element of reward and solo content but it should never be a focus in a mmo, it is not what the genre is all abotu.

Outside those 6 SE can strait out borrow ideas from another mmo for all I care.

A mmo is about community (group interaction), a long journey. I play a mmo because I know I will have things to do for years and when I get close to finishing it they will just add alot more. I would rather this game have 100k subs and be original and involve the community and have a deep gaming experience then have 12million subs and be a shallow joke, I could beat in a month if I played 50hrs a week.

[Zenaku]

If ffxiv become more like wow then for me it be a wow clone. I hate that they call it raids and dungeons just becuase it would be a lazy way out of telling wow players it a battle you enter no one see you and you fight -.- Yoshi-p is changing this into more like wow by the look of it.

I bet tanaka would have just called them something new like ffxi bcnm,ksnm,ISNM,ENM and so on at the end yes there called Dungeons and dynamis was our raids. But it just had a good name something diffident that 90+% of mmo are not calling it that what made FFXI for me.

So please yoshi-p ask tanaka for some help and stop trying to get wow players to play at the end they just going to go back to wow even if you get 2% of wow players it wont matter. Soon blizzard come out with there new mmo in about 1-2years it be the same bulls??? as wow vs ffxi now it be FFXIV vs w/e new name they come up with,.

[Frebaut]

It comes down to the game was sold in it's ALPHA state. They need to remarket the game as a Beta. Buy the client and help creat the world you play in. Also throw in you keep your Character.

[Akumu]

At this point it doesn't matter if someone feels the game shouldn't change. It has already been decided when Yoshi-P made the poll with majority of the voters around the world supporting a complete overhaul and reworking of the core mechanics. The only thing anyone can do is make solid suggestions, concerns, or just complain until they rage quit.

[YUGON]

Edit:

QUOTE: "There currently aren't enough people playing FFXIV to keep this game going. It simply doesn't make financial sense to keep this game alive if the playerbase doesn't grow significantly. As it stands right now, even if they started charging they'd never turn a profit.

Why then will so many of you not allow this new dev team to make some changes? So much of what makes FFXI and FFXIV special has nothing to do with UI, combat mechanics or auction house/trading systems. These games are special because of their art style and direction, the amazing music, the unique lore, the memorable story events, etc.

There are systems that exist in other MMOs that are tried and true systems that millions and millions of people have vetted and refined over the last 10 years. Many of these systems would benefit FFXIV, but you stand against them for no other reason than you fear FFXIV turning "into wow 2.0" or other such nonsense.

WoW can't touch this game's art and music assets, or the unique characters and environments. Even with a more functional and fun combat system (which this game certainly does not have now) it would NOT become a WoW clone!

Right now the stubborn FFXIV fanbase is this game's worst enemy and you're not willing recognize it. The fact that so many of you are already lambasting the new dev team is an example of this. The old dev team had years to make this game and the result was a FAILED game. It has a nonexistant playerbase and terrible reviews. Let the new team do what SE hired them to do and make this game fun.

And for the love of God, please stop telling people to GO PLAY WOW/RIFT/TOR/TERA every time they mention a change they'd like to see implemented. You do not want to lose even more people at this point.

TL;DR: Autoattack (as an example) will not change what is so special about this game. I really doubt you sit around and spin tales of how much fun you had mashing light strike with your linkshell. Let these people do their job and try to continue to support them. By all means, if they implement a change you don't like, let them know! But you have to be willing to accept a little change. They're not going to keep this game around forever just to please a handful of you"



Are you BelgianRofl brother?

[Abriael]

There's useful innovations in this game?

Plenty. Just to bring in a few examples:
1: The armoury system and the ability to mix and match ability between classes
2: crafting/gathering brought to the same level of importance of adventuring and a crafting system that isn't just based on pressing a single button and praying it works.
3: class-generic equipment that allows for a reduction of the "army of clones" effect that plagues other newly-released MMORPG (everyone of the same class/level dressed exactly the same way).
4: Market system that joins the search-friendly features of an AH with the ability to windows-shop and encouraging impulse purchases.

I must be missing something.

Yep.You must be.