FFXIV has lost it's magic

[jcw005]

I only played vanilla WoW, but as much as people say that ARR is made "easier" for having copied WoW, I think there are a few small things I remember that I wish they had copied; I think they made open-world content much more fun.
1) None of this single pull crap. If mobs were sitting next to one another, if you pulled one, you pulled them all. Not only did that make CC vital, but it fostered a small sense of camaraderie with players in the same area. A lot of the time, you had to work together to take down quests because they were honestly too difficult to solo. I just about never see players simply helping other players kill their mobs in ARR outside of a FATE.
2) Elite mobs. Those things were scary!
3) Tethering in ARR means if I ever find myself in danger, I just pop sprint, run a little ways away, and -tada- I'm safe.
4) The fact that mobs actually dropped loot =P

To be honest, a lot of the complaints about XIV stem from the fact that endgame currently consists of running the same FATEs and instanced content over and over and over. Some improvements to open-world content would go a long way to alleviating that.

[DubstepNinja]

I really enjoyed the OPs suggestions.

For me I would really like to see some type of Campaign / Beseiged content.

Its trying to convey to the player that their continued existence is vital or has some meaningful effect in game. Whether they are helping to defend their nation from a Garlean attack. Or going on the offensive to rout the beastman from a camp they have seized.

As it stands all content is completed for the progression of the individual (outside of FC ranking). Give us some reason to go into the overworld, and let us feel consequences for not doing so. How much community goodwill could be fostered if all of a sudden Camp Reveants Toll was captured by the Garleans and nobody could trade in tomes until it was wrestled back from them via a full server effort?

[Roris]

I miss when Beastmen strongholds were actually dangerous and you had a hard time going in alone just to get your AF piece, so you had to party with someone. Sure, it might have been an inconvenience for some people who you know, have jobs and families and love telling everyone how they don't have time to party in an MMO and want glorified single player games with a chatbox, but it was fun teaming up with other people inside or even sneak in behind another party. Now it's just another walk in the themepark, walk in get your relic starter, walk out then walk in again a bit later to kill a couple of really easy mobs and walk out, they're also much smaller and don't have their leaders yet even though their rooms are there but they're locked.

I also miss going to dungeon and primal entrances a bit, even the path to Ifrit Extreme was "extreme" with a bunch of level 60+ mobs on the way compared to normal Ifrit, now the only endgame-combat related reason to leave a city is to go to Wineport once or twice a week and you're done. But you know, Final Fantasy, just released, entitlement and stuff.

[Welsper59]

snip

In other words, you miss what ideologies MMORPGs were originally founded on. A video game rendition of tabletop games (like D&D). You (the player) ARE your character. You are living the life of this character, and you endure the struggles they face in your quest to destroy the evils of the world. There was a reason why MMORPGs were once considered a "second life" or "second job"... because they are intended to be that way, literally.

[Roris]

Kinda but not really, I don't really like roleplaying and thinking I'm my character, I just miss those particular things mostly. I hated taking almost an hour of real time walking from Bastok to Jeuno when I played XI for just a month and walking slowly everywhere in general, so there you go.

So really just the sense of danger some places had and exploring big open (and in 1.0 admittedly empty and copypasted) areas you really shouldn't be in alone, now everything is so small and cramped full of NPCs and civilization everywhere you go, you'd think the Calamity spawned more people and buildings than it wiped.

[Welsper59]

Kinda but not really, I don't really like roleplaying and thinking I'm my character, I just miss those particular things mostly. I hated taking almost an hour of real time walking from Bastok to Jeuno when I played XI for just a month and walking slowly everywhere in general, so there you go.

So really just the sense of danger some places had and exploring big open (and in 1.0 admittedly empty and copypasted) areas you really shouldn't be in alone, now everything is so small and cramped full of NPCs and civilization everywhere you go, you'd think the Calamity spawned more people and buildings than it wiped.

LOL agreed. As much as I enjoy FFXIV, it's very lack-luster when it comes to believing the game's world is vast and full of adventure to be found. I'd say the numerous zoning areas worked against it on that regard.

[PSxpert2011]

Kinda but not really, I don't really like roleplaying and thinking I'm my character, I just miss those particular things mostly. I hated taking almost an hour of real time walking from Bastok to Jeuno when I played XI for just a month and walking slowly everywhere in general, so there you go.

So really just the sense of danger some places had and exploring big open (and in 1.0 admittedly empty and copypasted) areas you really shouldn't be in alone, now everything is so small and cramped full of NPCs and civilization everywhere you go, you'd think the Calamity spawned more people and buildings than it wiped.

Table-tops were free once you buy it, with MMOs the subscription helps pay for Customer Support & Maintenance but IDK, it's like milking a cash-cow. Maybe a lot more ppl would feel less pressure playing a "Buy to Play" version other than "subscription" base. There just needs to be content to sink some quality time on and willingness to come back to for better enjoyment and emersion. GW is known for Buy to Play and some FFXIV concepts are from there.

[Gramul]

Alright. So to expand on my idea:
/!\ WARNING: /!\ I will be referencing XI. This does not mean I think this game should have the long grinds, cumbersome mechanics, or frustrating gaps in things to do.

Everything in XIV goes by so quickly. Every event and quest just flashes by leaving no time for anything to sink in. The reason I bring this up is because in XIV, there's also a distinct lack of secrecy to the land. No mysterious grottos, or deep ruins. Everything is right there on the overworld waiting for you to reach the point in the story where you enter its designated cutscene and battle. XI masked those mechanics in a way that felt natural, not from a checklist of events.

One sidequest in XI had you sneak into an abandoned mine (only the name was given, you had to check your map to read where it was, making the experience of the world itself little more engaging), finding specific sets of beastman gear from various ranked monsters, some of which where hidden deeper in the maze, beyond much stronger monsters you could either sneak around or team up with friends. You could go at your own pace and approach the problem as you liked, braving the actual dangers of getting caught by a much stronger beast. Hell, if you wanted you could chicken out and just BUY the the stuff from the AH and give it to the quest dude.

In XIV, you're told to go to the mark on your mini map and kill whatever pops up, maybe after touching a shiny spot or two along the way. It just comes off as segmented and mechanical, almost bureaucratic in how it's presented. I'm looking for a more natural and open ended experience and I hope that's something they can offer down the line.

This game has a very formal approach to content. To me, that's not very engaging. It feels like the gameplay is divorced from the world and lore.

[Arkista]

One thing FFXIV should have had that FFXI did was JP midnight waits.

[Blarp]

One thing FFXIV should have had that FFXI did was JP midnight waits.

I'd like that. Also, it'd be cool if when I played bad Tanaka's fist could come shooting out of the monitor and bitch slap me off my chair. Please SE, make it happen.