XIV and the MMORPG Genre

[Kyriea]

The problem is that a lot of developers see gratification as linear gear progression and that's not the case most of the time. Some of the most rewarding times when playing games like XI are when you figure out the best combination of gear from all different sources and try damn hard to get them.

Currently in this game you don't have to look around for gear, it's waved under your nose the whole time. There's also no substitutes because there is only one gear set at ilvl70 for example. I guess this will change with time but given that there are only 2 sets of ilvl90 at the moment and being "hard" to get isn't really an issue at all seeing as the only hard part about it is waiting 3 months to be able to get the full set, it's gonna be a very long time before we see anything of any variation.

[Larxene]

If the OP's post provided more credible information to back up his standpoint other than, "oMg it'Z A W0W CLONE!!!1" with actual examples, I probably would have given them more credit for their opinion. But you're just yelling on a soapbox with no means for a solution or actual data to back up your claims. MMO's generally contain the same certain elements for the same reason that other games have similar concepts like RPGs and shooters, etc. We're only on patch 2.1, and you're going to compare this game to WoW, which has undergone how many patches over the years?

[Zafrei]

Yoshida made it very clear from the get go that his remake of FF: XIV was not going to shift the paradigm. He made it very clear that he intended to go with the safe route and try to make this game as polished as a tab targeting MMORPG could be. There are other MMO that have either already been released or are currently in development that set out to accomplish what you described in the OP. Neverwinter and Guild Wars 2 are not your generic tab target MMOs and both these games have been fairly successful. Elder Scrolls Online and Everquest Next are two more games that will not be featuring standard tab targeting combat and Everquest has promised user generated content. Tab targeting fantasy MMOs is actually a very niche genre and there are already countless other MMOs that differ vastly from this genre.

XIV is already laughed at by developers and critics that claim that it is too generic. Have you seen how much hype there is for the other MMOs that are currently in development?

I wouldn't agree with critics laughing at it - all the reviews I've read have been incredibly positive. Yes it doesn't push the boundaries but it does traditional mmo very, very well and is far superior to most.

[Lulu_the_Yordle]

A good GAME doesn't always have to have an auction house, or dungeons, or raids, or LFG, or even a class system, it could do well with things as simple as player created content. However, we've brainwashed ourselves into believing what an MMO should and shouldn't have, and because of that, the entire genre has really just merged into nothing more than WoW and all of it's millions of clones.

Actually Wow in reality is a clone of Everquest, the first real successful MMORPG that started from scratch while WoW had its loyal followers from previous Blizzard games.
Anywho I'm content with what the game has to offer, like limit breakers and such. If things get to different people will be hesitant to play. Everquest Next for example with its strange class combination possibilities and totally destructible world makes some players hesitant to play.

[Zafrei]

Actually Wow in reality is a clone of Everquest, the first real successful MMORPG that started from scratch while WoW had its loyal followers from previous Blizzard games.
Anywho I'm content with what the game has to offer, like limit breakers and such. If things get to different people will be hesitant to play. Everquest Next for example with its strange class combination possibilities and totally destructible world makes some players hesitant to play.

That and the fact it looks like a pixar movie

[Lulu_the_Yordle]

That and the fact it looks like a pixar movie

Eh that doesn't bother me really.. I don't believe graphics have to do a lot with general selection of an MMO, its more of what it has to offer, lineage and credibility

[Anjian]

As it has been said, ARR is the exception rather than the rule. Much of the new MMOs are action based (Blade and Soul, Vindictus, Blessed Online, Black Desert Online, etc,.) The successful Phantasy Star Online 2 in Japan is purely action based, and so is the next big MMO in that region and in China, Monster Hunter Online.

[Gwaiyn]

Sorry but is this serious? There are at least three games currently in development which smash the traditional model to bits - EQN, TESO and Star Citizen.

i can't comment on star citizen, but how do EQN and TESO break away from the traditional model apart from having "action combat"?

I'm sorry but I need to ask whether you have even touched World of Warcraft in your lifetime to think that making a statement such as that was a plausible idea.

yup, level 90 paladin, i haven't played since siege of ogrimmar was released though

[Worm]

Man I really should go to sleep.

I don't feel like this game is a WoW clone it has some concepts from other games sure, but all these games do. Tiered gear and instanced raiding are not exclusive or invented(or maybe they were?) by WoW, and those are about the only similarities, as a longtime WoW player this MMO feels pretty different to me. Dungeons ramp up in difficulty earlier, crafting is a lot more satisfying, it's got trash free boss fight dungeons, it has a strong main story narrative, and that's with only 3 weeks with the game.

I'd like to take a second to address the term "clone", I don't know where or when this became a pejorative but just take a look at this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_clone
Galaga might have been a Space Invader clone, but Galaga is a great game. It's so funny how MMO players throw around "this is exactly like WoW", if you didn't look very hard you might think Galaga is 'exactly' like Space Invaders, but you just haven't looked hard enough.

eff this limit

[Worm]

i can't comment on star citizen, but how do EQN and TESO break away from the traditional model apart from having "action combat"?

TESO is going to be very PVP focused like Warhammer Age of Reckoning and won't really feature much raiding, with the exception of some weird adventure zones we don't know much about. EQN is really too early to directly say I feel but it's going to be more focused on world events which will have limited time durations, so a quest town may be founded only once and then newer players instead of finding the "found this town" quest will find the actual town already founded with totally different quests.

EDIT: I really haven't read up on them extensively this is just second hand info I got from my brother when he tells me about the games.