I really need to vent about some of the posts I have read in these forums about changes people want made. Please bear with me as I might rant a little.

I think some people don't understand that FFXIV is not a cookie-cutter mmo. It is a different kind of game, plain and simple. Many of us like that it is different from the norm. If they completely change the game to the run-of-the-mill mmo, I don't think it can compete nearly as well as it can if advertised for what it is.

I've also read replies with people coming to the defense of FFXIV, and I like to see that. And of course constructive suggestions on improvements and innovations to the current system are welcome. I'm just talking about people who log on expecting to play a LoTRO, WOW, AoC, etc, not realizing what they are playing, and then logging onto the forums and making random assertions based on the fact that they are unaware of exactly the type of game FFXIV is.

I'm sure I just pissed off a lot of people, but FFXIV has a lot of charm, and although I am completely anticipating subsequent patches, I also don't want them to change what makes the game unique. FFXIV has a lot of growing to do, but I'd like to see it evolve and grow while retaining it's uniqueness: the things that make it's current fanbase loyal.

FFXIV has an opportunity to be something completely unlike anything else out there. It looks like it can eventually become a game that has a lot of elements of a sandbox mmo, but just enough of the theme park as well.