Patch 2.2, Accessibility, Difficulty Levels, and Throwing Away Content

[Thunderz]

Vote with your wallet

unsub!

:P (srsly tho check out 2.2 if you like it then stick around if not then off to the next best thing!)

[NefGP]

My only concern is obsoletion of content... like WoW..most the content is empty because it's pointless. You have to buy expansion packs just to stay current, but the other packs you bought become worthless.

It's like the Magic the Gathering card game treadmill. I don't expect content to last forever... but with such a linear progression path, it means there isn't a whole lot of content relevant for max level at any given time - unless they start releasing a LOT more.

That's actually not really an accurate reference; For standard sure, but EDH and Modern allow for a much wider card pool.


Otherwise I agree with your point.

[M4Fade]

You people can't see the forest for the trees. Do you even have a concept of power creep or a vibrant endgame?

What we're getting with this current design philosophy is effectively just the flavor of the month. The only content that effectively matters is the current patch's, and that is an incredibly narrow and shortsighted approach to design. As the OP stated, power creep will eventually come back to bite them hard as we're all just hamsters on a wheel. The difficulty isn't ever truly increasing, only the bar of entry - to the point that our gear will be so absurdly strong that it'll throw all semblance of balance out the Window. WoW has been struggling with this for a while now, and so is XI with the introduction of the Delve weapons (not to mention how badly the pissed off al the REM weapon owners).

We don't gripe because we're spoiled little children. We're complaining now to get the Dev's attention in the hopes of steering the ship away from the rocks that we're drifting ever closer to before it's too late because we genuinely like this game and want to enjoy it/see it do well.

Great post. I think this explains 'our' side well. It's really not all about what Synaesthetic keeps touting.

Anyways, it looks like Yoshida has set his course. I have a feeling there's no going back at this point. It really sucks.

[NefGP]

^ well, that's where the optimist in me says otherwise, or at least wants to believe differently.


YP proved with 1.23 that he and his team are capable of delivering a real successor on par or better than FFXI. It baffles me why they continue to simply emulate what others have done, rather than look at their own successes and improve on it and for the last time that doesn't mean carbon copying FFXI.

It only means looking at the game and what made it so successful - THE most successful FF in the series history and a groundbreaking MMO. I'm beginning to wonder if forcing Tanaka into early retirement was a mistake, and little more than scapegoating to please the investors. I railed against the man for years, because XI's problems were legion, but it was still built on a solid foundation and the good more often than not offset the bad. I could go into a massive rant about what I hated about XI, but I won't - I've made my peace with the game and was happy when I quit it. I've had my fun with it, left it in the past as a cherished memory. But I'd hate to see XIV go down before it even has a chance to be that next great JRPGMMO. Again, not a clone of XI, but a spiritual successor - big difference.

[BoltNixter]

70% of up coming mmo's are getting away from the gear grind thread mill. Ppl are bored to death with rep and "tomes" grind.
We are gonna see less and less mmo's with rep grind and dailies. Why? Because we ran that for the last 8-10 years.
What XIV is looking at doing, is exactly this.

For some people it's ok but after 2-3 years of the same grind, everyone will want another progression system.
Except from Wildstar and ESO, there are basically no mmo's going the "theme park" style coming 2014-15 in NA. (Arche Age, Star Citizen, Black Desert, EQN/L, Bless, Pantheon, Pathfinder, etc)
Why did MoP fail so hard, the epic dailies and rep grind. Most ppl can't fn do that anymore.

Final Fantasy is my bread and butter in video games... but 1.0 sucked and 2.0 is not looking better in my book.

[Tandy]

This game is meant to be what it is, a GAME. Its something fun to do for a while, to get away and relax and play something. Having a FFXI system where you literally have months of stuff to get through to get to new content is not what this "game" is, thats more of a "job" to me...and I played XI for a while so I do understand. If you want that, fine. But it is NOT this game. It wasnt promised to be this game either. It was all very clear from the start. Content will be nerfed as new content comes out.

Not everyone will be happy with the same things, and thats a good thing. Hardcore gamers need hardcore games. This game however, is not for someone who wants to play 50 to 75+ hours a week and always have things to challenge them.

[Seif]

The op does make a good point but I don't think they're cutting it down so much to validate a full nee mode. Ifrit and titan hard mode adjustments are pretty damn substantial to be called recycled content.

[Despite]

The problem is that almost every new AAA MMO is designed to specifically cater to the ultra casual, I want my epics without any effort crowd that apparently makes up the majority of MMO players these day.. ugh.
Anyway, now that every new AAA MMO is designed like that, anyone who wants a real epic, AAA MMO with difficulty and time requirements is just shit out of luck.

[BrandoH]

The problem is that almost every new AAA MMO is designed to specifically cater to the ultra casual, I want my epics without any effort crowd that apparently makes up the majority of MMO players these day.. ugh.
Anyway, now that every new AAA MMO is designed like that, anyone who wants a real epic, AAA MMO with difficulty and time requirements is just shit out of luck.

Hardcore just doesn't make the money anymore.

[Despite]

Hardcore just doesn't make the money anymore.

I'm sure if it's done well and with polish it would do ok.. the catch is that it likely won't be huge and thus no AAA Dev/Pub is interested in just making some $.