Letter from the Producer LIVE Part X: Will the netcode issue be honestly addressed?

[beydan]

I hope this gets addressed but tbh it's gotten to the point already where it seems clear that their lack of response thus far has been intentional.

[Reinheart]

Signed.

I used pingzapper last night and it did improve my connection but I shouldn't have to pay a fee on top of already paying subscription fee to get XIV running as it should when I don't have this issue with other online games... ><

[SecondNature]

We are dreaming if we have any thoughts of them ever fixing this.. The games going to die just like 1.0 did because of this issue and the fact they are COMPLETELY ignoring the community's concerns and purely posting/focusing on their OWN concerns, which the community does not even care about.

[Alcyon_Densetsu]

Thanks OP for collecting all the various posts and linking them so that we can go in and like it.

Thanks op, liked all those comments

You're welcome! I just hope our collective efforts will come to fruition.

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I still have hope, though. This issue may be more paramount to Square Enix's future plans than we previously thought. They’re going full-online, and multi-platform really is on the table, more than ever.

I was just reading Phil Roger's interview for GamesIndustry.biz earlier today, and this statement got me thinking: "the company iterated that all games from Square Enix will prioritise online play and components".
Well… If that is the plan, then forgive me for speaking so bluntly, but you should really hire some of the best network programmers in the world sooner rather than later… ^^;

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On a side-related note, I was very pleased to read that "It has been great as a business to see how we have oriented ourselves around FFXIV - to see how work has flowed, almost seamlessly, seven days a week across Japan, America and Europe. It's probably the most power I have felt in the Square Enix business with the business really working as one." — Congratulations on that, SE. Really! I know where you come from, and it's by no means a small achievement, and success, to improve your corporate culture in this regard.

Also, this: "The direct relationship that [producer Naoki] Yoshida and the development team have forged with the players is superb, especially through the beta programs where we really worked with the players to shape the game they wanted." — It goes to show how much you guys have made a 180° on your way of approaching gamers, customers; and it's just great, as I said in the OP. Much obliged… Now's the time to really own that statement!

[Arcaloid]

They should really put this 1st priority after 2.1.
Every time when I just manage to get out of the red zone, I need to hope that I'm not going to get hit, and I don't like that feeling.

[DakkonBriefs]

bump to save Eorzea!

[Alcyon_Densetsu]

They should really put this 1st priority after 2.1.
Every time when I just manage to get out of the red zone, I need to hope that I'm not going to get hit, and I don't like that feeling.

Agreed. Two things in this post.

1. Business-wise
News recently confirmed the remarkable boost of SE's financial result for the first six months of 2013, as "profits far surpass what it was expecting for the period. Where Square Enix had originally estimated losses of up to 1.3 billion yen ($13.2 million) for the six months ended September 30, 2013, the company says that it has instead turned a profit, roughly in the region of 2.6 billion yen ($26.5 million)." Furthermore, "looking to the rest of the fiscal year, the company says that it will continue to focus on shifting to the production of online-based titles".

I have been very vocal over the whole FF XIV's netcode issue because it's evidently a dire problem. It would be sound management, bearing in mind this early success, and future online plans, that any revenue SE might have made from this release should first and foremost be used to improve the netcode of this game, in my humble opinion (and, apparently, that of a majority of people, judging by the fact that, again, there is no issue being more discussed; and posts or questions pertaining to it are the most "liked" on this forum). Building a strong network development team for Final Fantasy XIV is a good investment, not only for this IP, but beyond for all online plans. As Thomas Edison said: "There's a way to do it better — find it."

Let me emphasise that: dear SE, please don't give a single cent to your shareholders until this is resolved. Making content, as in any MMORPG, is of the utmost importance as well, but there's little to no point in making too much content when a key system of the game is flawed to a game-breaking degree —we're talking about nothing less than the network component of your flagship online game…

2. Game design
As far as the art of making games is concerned, when a huge chunk of your players say: "I don't like that feeling", "It's frustrating", "It's infuriating" —you know there's a problem.

No amount of great features or formidable designs can make up for flawed underlying systems. There's a bare minimum that gamers expect from a game, and general responsiveness of players' inputs and UI display in a 2013's game should not be subpar to titles a decade older. Especially not in a multiplayer setting. Especially not when pretty much all your competitors do better, or fixed their issues quite swiftly.

[Alcyon_Densetsu]

As I type this post, 6 days and 21 hours before the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part X.

The questions asking about the netcode issue are now way above any other in terms of "likes".

Will we get an answer?

Even just a polite acknowledgement of the problem, and a commitment to investigate it?

[Gravehill]

Unless everyone is having the issues it won't be seen as a "huge" problem...
I'm not a huge programmer but I know a game can't work for some and refuse to work properly for others without local variables, i.e something on user end rather than immediately blaming net code. If the net code is the issue, clearly it's having issues with some people's ISP routing otherwise you would have no one being able to play this game smoothly, it's just as simple as that.

I find it extremely hard to believe that there are players that aren't having this issue. It is built in to the game. I have yet to see anyone prove that they are not getting latency. I live closer to the server (steady 20 ping to the NA server) than probably 99.9% of players and I am having the issue. I'm pretty sure everyone that claims they aren't having the issue just have poor connections so they are used to having latency in every game.

[Alcyon_Densetsu]

I find it extremely hard to believe that there are players that aren't having this issue. It is built in to the game. I have yet to see anyone prove that they are not getting latency. I live closer to the server (steady 20 ping to the NA server) than probably 99.9% of players and I am having the issue. I'm pretty sure everyone that claims they aren't having the issue just have poor connections so they are used to having latency in every game.

Aye, I have yet to see a video of a player interrupting her casts instantly when moving, on a reliable basis (several times in a row, including but not limited to in high-level instances such as Titan or Coil).