The direction XIV is heading

[Payadopa]

What I really don't understand is:

Why is SE doing everything they can to alter the game to something that people don't seem to want? Especially the XI fraction. I'm all for a new approach if it's fun and dandy but XIV can't be called that in my oppinion, sadly.

I don't think this game must copy everything that is XI, but then again the things XIV did so far aren't exactly what I hoped for.

While we even had a poll stating that must people who currently play this game come from XI, and even the devs said they want to develop for fans of XI firstly, then fans of MMOs and lastly for players in general, why can't I see this?

Some things that come to mind (while probably each of them is a minor annoyance, in total they make me feel as if I'd rather not want to see what XIV is going to become) are
stuff like the removed caracter collision (now I do feel even more like a ghost), the aggro indicator (where is the adventure in knowing everything beforehand?), quests (XIV's missions) that are not only easy but soloable (maybe this changes after r26?) and so on. There are more things like that but I think you get the idea by now.

Maybe I'm wrong with what I stated above so I hope I can find some enlightment with an upcoming discussion. What are your thoughts about it? Thank you!

[Rhianu]

I have no opinion on the character collision issue one way or another, but I personally like the aggro icon and the Sidequests, even if I do think they both could use a significant amount of improvement.

Ever since Tanaka got booted off the team, the game has taken a turn for the better! Even FFXI is getting better now, too, with a new director in charge.

Hiromichi Tanaka just never really understood how to listen to players.

[Sephr]

FFXI was a niche-game that failed to continue to attract customers due to the fact it was challenging to get into and required a huge amount of actual work before you could call it fun.
The things you stated were just minor inconveniences that have been alleviated, you'll get used to them in time and they really aren't that big a deal considering how much fuss is being kicked up.

[Kirith]

FFXI was a niche-game that failed to continue to attract customers due to the fact it was challenging to get into and required a huge amount of actual work before you could call it fun.
The things you stated were just minor inconveniences that have been alleviated, you'll get used to them in time and they really aren't that big a deal considering how much fuss is being kicked up.

Perhaps you failed to notice that FFXI was a highly successful game. It had its ups and lows and it never approached WoW player numbers, but it was still one of the most successful mmorpgs around. Heck, it still is...maybe.

[Chardrizard]

Perhaps you failed to notice that FFXI was a highly successful game. It had its ups and lows and it never approached WoW player numbers, but it was still one of the most successful mmorpgs around. Heck, it still is...maybe.

it never reached WoW player numbers for reasons.
FFXI was a successful game, but its not for alot of people.

Yes, many thousands enjoyed FFXI, so did i.

but, how many people/potential customer out there that gave FFXI a try and gave up right away? it was enough people to make FFXI 2-3x profit they are making right now, FFXI was in no way casual friendly and a horrid timesink and i think the shareholders cares about money more than they cares about FFXI-players.

also FFXI would have had failed miserably if it didnt have 'Final Fantasy' label, they had big and loyal fanbase to start it up with.

[Litzor]

I think the challenge was one of the most appealing things of XI. At least it was for me. It kept the casual players away and gave you something to work toward that felt fulfilling at the end. Hitting those milestones is what kept me coming back for more.

On the other hand, MMOs like World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and now Rift, are mind-numbingly easy and it doesn't feel like something special when you hit level cap or defeat an endgame boss. Heck, I went back to Warhammer for a 2-week welcome back trial and we killed the enemy leader twice in the same day and I got two of the best items in the game for basically just being there.

A challenging but rewarding game is what I'm ultimately looking for in XIV, and I hope they manage to create or enhance that same sense of accomplishment that XI captured. I don't necessarily want another XI, just another challenging MMO.

[Rhianu]

I think the challenge was one of the most appealing things of XI. At least it was for me. It kept the casual players away and gave you something to work toward that felt fulfilling at the end.

News flash! Keeping casual players away is a very bad idea. An MMO these days needs to appeal to casual gamers if it's going to succeed.

On the other hand, MMOs like World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and now Rift, are mind-numbingly easy and it doesn't feel like something special when you hit level cap or defeat an endgame boss.

I hate to break it to ya, but FFXIV is far easier than all of those games put together. Seriously, there isn't really anything challenging at all in FFXIV right now.

And there's plenty of challenging content in all three of those other games. Rift especially felt challenging, as even just fighting regular enemies can get you killed if you don't play your cards right and pay attention to what you're doing.

You're probably just mistaking them of being easy simply because it doesn't take three hours to accomplish a single task.

Heck, I went back to Warhammer for a 2-week welcome back trial and we killed the enemy leader twice in the same day and I got two of the best items in the game for basically just being there.

Which enemy leader was it, and what were the items?

[Whax]

Not everyone share the same opinion. Collision it's good for realism purposes, but start to get annoying on the long run. Aggro indicator it's just mehhh, but doesn't affect the game very much and the sidequests are just all right, but need some adjusts. But overall I think they are going to the right way.

[Kirith]

It's a complex topic. After all, they decided to make a whole new game when the best choice was clearly to remake FFXI, which has a fantastic atmosphere but runs on an obsolete engine and overall lacks modernity.
It would have been easy to make it almost the same, then tweak single features bit by bit....

Instead, without having an extensive experience with mmorpgs, they decided to make a new game as they saw fit, following some evidently wrong and arbitrary ideas. They cannot transform it into FFXI-2 now, so they gotta deal with making it new while still nailing the atmosphere old FFXI players are asking for.

It's pretty hopeless, imo.

[Neptune]

Bring character collision back or make it on by default, I say. It should appeal to:

Players > MMO fans > Final Fantasy fans > people that have diarrhea > FFXI players

in that order.. for a great game!