Rokien's opinions

[ErBear]

Hello! Rokien here on this nice Whatevday it is to yall~ I hope all are swell! Welcome to "Rokien Thread Edition #184: Your Opinion Matters".

Now, normally I don't really like to talk about multiple things in a thread... stuff gets diluted and others get saturated. That is why I normally talk about one concept in each thread; it is more effective. This thread will include both pros and cons of the game, in my opinion. So, where should I begin?

Graphics​

I would have to say that the graphics are the most impressive feature of this game. What they did with the lighting is probably the most impressive that I have seen in an mmo, heck, its even better than some stand alone games. Thought, even as impressive as it is, it does have its flaws. They went from a clean, crisp look, a little more realistic look in 1.0 and took that and made it into a more cartoon, pastel look. I do not know the reasons for this. Was it because of the ps3 or to gain an audience that would be able to play it on a lower end pc? Most of the issues that were from the 1.0 were in the coding itself, so, I restate, why did they do a downgrade? Even though it appears to be a downgrade, it is still one of the best looking mmos out there, all around.

UI​

Ui in most mmos is something that i have learned to just deal with. ARR is noexception to this. although customizable, the "style" of this standardized UI is very cluttered and messy. though, that is not the biggest issue that i have with UI. It takes what can arguably be considered the most important thing in an mmo, the community and they just toss into a corner. I believe that the chat box (the link between said player and everyone else) should be the the forefront of the UI. I think that good example of this is in ffxi (do not hate), even if the rest of the UI was not 'amazing' one could see what was taking place, without missing anything because one was able to see the chat box at all times. Now, yes, I do know that you can customize and rescale the chat box, but most are going to leave it as is; potentially in a blind spot.

Gameplay​

Now, for this, I could possibly go on for days but it will be made brief: in sub-sections. Leveling: I am very displeased on Yoshi's outlook on leveling. My opinion on it leaves a bad taste in my mouth in that he thought it to be okay to start the actual game at level 50 and prior to said level, it be played as a tutorial. Other than that, there are options and that is great! Though, most of those those options are solo-oriented. Now, one can quest along-side prople, that is, until around level 35, then it is made primarily into solo quests. With fates, one plays along-side other players but not with them. One makes no difference because one can hop both in and out and everything is fine; there is no teamwork needed between players. Dungeons, however, are the only mandatory need of the help of other players in order for one to level up. Although there are options, dungeons is the only thing that enforces teamwork. Thus, players should need the help of others more often in gameplay, meaning that one should not be able to level to 50 solo. Combat: Cambat is safe, that is, enjoyable but... safe. in other words the cobat system is very standard in correlation with other mmos.I think the version 1.23 is good cross between standerdization and ffxi. Now, I am not trying to turn it into the combat in ffxi, as some may percieve as me doing, but it did have a slower pace, both in ffxi and version 1.23 that I personally enjoyed. It allowed for more communication and yes, I will reiterate that the community is the most important prospect in an mmo. Most see the global cool down as a hiderance or just plain do not like it but i see it as potential for certain character builds. If Yoshi has more variety of gear that let's us customize that build. For eample, one can have gear that adds more damage to a weapon as well as adds more time to a cool down or vice versa; one will have no cool down and less powerful weapons but are able to attack more often. TP, like the global cool down counters, has potential for further customization, that is if Yoshi utilizes this opportunity. The only thing I would like TP to do is to add it back into the auto attack. This would allow for more TP management. Quests: Are quests long journey with adventure... or a three second short story? When I think of a quest, I personally view it as something along the lines of an adventure. Although the quests are well-written for mmo standards, that of which I agree upon, they should not have made a grocercy list of quests but rather, made each quest much longer, thus, reducing the amount. This would , in return, have more xp, to compensate for less quests. Yoshi should also look at adding group quests and sinking quests. Other than that, leave the grocery lists with leves.

World​

The world is very, very, very, very B-E-A-UTIFUL. Really, they really out did themselves in the environment area. though there is a catch! Exploring each zone will be something to look forward to. Though, I have to ask, once you explore each area, what is in that area for you to go back? the areas are very small and no reason to explore after you have done it the first time. Zones are fine in my book, I would prefer open world but I'm not complaining about that, nor am I complaining about the size of each zone. My concern is the size of everything, especially when most of the transportation is instant. I see the need for instant transportation but not with everything, you have to have some that shows the scope of the world, that's not walking. When going from point A to point Z, if it is instant, one skips everything inbetween making it non-exictent, in return, making the world feel much smaller. A world should be explored and viewed, if one chooses to sleep and skip it, that should be an option, not a single choice.

Mobs​

I love them, and I digged that new mob video that showcased most of them, if not all. They are very good looking, though not very bright. If a fly knows it should try and move away from an incomming hand, so should these beastly fellas. AI could set this game apart from the rest, even just on plain "trash" mobs. If it takes some stratagy to kill something, even if it's dodging for 30 seconds and one shotting it, it's 100xs more entertaining than standing still and one shotting it. Now, I don't think this game would work as an action game, as I stated before, I would probably prefer it to be slower paced. All, I'm getting at, is, I would like to use my brain when I'm toe to toe with a deadly foe.

Crafting​

Crafting, the heart and soul of FFXIV.... 1.x. I'm not a crafter, so I'm not going to say how the crafting mechanics should be, but, I should have to rely on them as a battle class. Not just for repairs, but for great gear not just good gear. In mmos, crafting always takes the back seat, a secondary thing to do. Though, I think crafting, should be the heart of the community, having to rely on other players to progress(I think I said that earlier). It also gives purpose to crafters other than making melds and repairs and furniture.

Ending thought:
Hopefully they get rid of the terrible vertical equipment progression, I think that this is holding the game back pretty terribly. It makes it, once you do your weekly things there is no reason to log in for the rest of the week unless you wanna level up another craft.