FFXIV-- the fear of a WoW Clone is real...

[Ryuko]

The WoW UI actually sucks. You have to mod it for it to look any good. WoW allows (and encourages) addons, so this is why you might think the new UI looks similar to WoW, but it's actually not.

Also, the WoW most of us know is the old WoW. WoW has changed a lot. Some people like the changes while others hate them. Either way, WoW and FFXIV are very different as far as the MMO world is concerned.

FFXIV and WoW are similar in that they are both MMO's. All MMO's will have a few things in common. The similarity you might see is that FFXIV is more inviting to casual players, which is a decision SE must make in order to ... make money. As much as I love FFXI, it was NOT geared toward casual players 'back in the day'. This isolated a lot of people from doing endgame content, but FFXI was unique in that it had a lot of content for each level, which kept it interesting. I was a hardcore player then, so I was able to do everything, but a lot of people just didn't have the time/dedication for it.

A lot of people still wish FFXIV was more like FFXI 2.0. It's not. The game has evolved as the industry has, and just because WoW is (or was) successful doesn't mean any change to FFXIV is going to make it a "WoW clone."

[indira]

I did not care for games like SWTOR, Rift and GW2 becaise they resuse and abuse the old and tired WoW formula. FF14, despite all its horrible problems, was an original and different game targeted to the FF fans

thats what im saying why would you play the same game from lv1 with just different themes. it called lazy developers trying to relive what blizzard did but that train has come and gone. now people want to see something different. when we get that different game it will gain alot of money.

[Chronic]

I hope not. But is a legit worry I think.

[Sorata]

I think the word "clone" is used too many times in such discussion. What is a clone exactly? Here's a definition:

a person or thing that duplicates, imitates, or closely resembles another in appearance, function, performance, or style: All the fashion models seemed to be clones of one another.

It will be naive for any of us to think that any post-WoW MMO will not borrow a few features here and there from the widely successful franchise; however, it doesn't mean that the essence and core of the new games won't be there. A lot of people think the success of WoW due to its gameplay; it's part of it and it's not all of it. If there is one thing that Japanese is great at is that they can take the essence of others and then enhance, repackage and deliver a better product than before (as oppose to the Chinese, whom usually just replicate with no quality control what-so-ever... I'm Chinese here, I know the culture well). I don't think I have ever been this confidence in post-merge Square-Enix that they will give us a game that is both unique and marketable.

For selfish reasons, I rather the game be just as successful as FFXI but not crazily successful like WoW; It's always nice to be the gem that does well on its own than the benchmark that constantly being compared to and judged on by others.

[Lemmiwinks]

Well I sincerely hope not, and have faith that they will hold the line, but after seeing 2 hours of about 50 people on the alpha do nothing but jump around like crack addicted 10-year-old attention whores I am a little dubious now lol

[SirEdeonX]

We will still have the armory system, the engaging and deep story, chocobo raising and all the FF staples.

So no, they're not making it more "WoW". They're making it more of an actual MMO, with standards of a 2012/13 game. I wish people understood that,

Day-long timers, objectives that take years to achieve and such are impractical nowadays. I love FFXI as much as everyone else, but it's a 10 yo game. A FFXI clone wouldnt stick nowadays. What we're gonna have is a FFXI with nowadays standards. I still remember when ppl bitched because XIV had a minimap <.<

And thank god they're playing other MMOs. They really need to have an idea of their competition, don't you think? Doesn't mean they're gonna clone them. But if they bring the best of each other over, then it's fantastic.

[nokinator]

wow what are we talking about here? I am assuming he meant visuals and graphics and lighting stuff like that not the game itself. he wants it better then the rest don't you?

[Darkhaund]

We will still have the armory system, the engaging and deep story, chocobo raising and all the FF staples.

So no, they're not making it more "WoW". They're making it more of an actual MMO, with standards of a 2012/13 game. I wish people understood that,

Day-long timers, objectives that take years to achieve and such are impractical nowadays. I love FFXI as much as everyone else, but it's a 10 yo game. A FFXI clone wouldnt stick nowadays. What we're gonna have is a FFXI with nowadays standards. I still remember when ppl bitched because XIV had a minimap <.<

And thank god they're playing other MMOs. They really need to have an idea of their competition, don't you think? Doesn't mean they're gonna clone them. But if they bring the best of each other over, then it's fantastic.

Very good points sir!

But for example... I played rift for 1 - 2 months and it was WoW just with a newer engin. It was a sad copy. I dont want XIV to be a WoW with a FF "skin" persay

[Undrentide]

The one thing that will always lift any FF MMO game above the likes of WOW is its storyline... A strong storyline helps no end. Wow has a very rich lore unfortunately its all but buried deep into the game. Most people in wow seem to follow the basic get quests, read kill 20 mobs, collect 10 of these and thats it...or fly through dungon after dungeon till the level cap.
In FF you have no choice but to follow the story line... Leves were our go kill ten of these, collect 10 of those but you were always given strong prompts when to head back into the main overarcing storylines... I think thats why the end cutscene has resonated with so many people too. we invested emotionally into the game, got to know its basic lore.

[Elexia]

Considering 11 was largely based on EQ I doubt it will make 14 less special, even if they borrow from other MMOs.

XI was inspired by EQ but if you put the games side by side you can immediately tell marked differences, the problem is, if you put x MMO side by side with WoW, you can tell almost no differences but a few things that loses it's novelty very quickly then all you have is the typical systems. Some people say this is how it's supposed to be because "it's the MMO standard."

Not to mention, once people realize they're playing the same game even though it's deemed a new MMO, they leave it.

SE will make money making it a standard MMO, but they will also lose their playerbase once they settle for doing just that rather than trying to stand out like XI did. It got it start by taking EQs base systems, but SE made it their own, rather than what they're doing with XIV which so far from what we seen official or leak wise, they're taking the systems...and that's just it. The systems are being imported and nothing really new.