A collection of all my posts concerning the game

[Vensaval]

I've said all that I've needed to say in the past. Now, I'm bringing it all to one place. Everything is separated based on original threads.

As a person loves this game and has defended it on numerous occasions, I have to agree with everything you've stated in your OP.

There's tons of potential in this game that feels as though it's being muffled. Like everything's been too simplified. Which makes certain aspects that would be amazing greatly undervalued. The world itself is a prime example.

Eorzea is very beautiful and vast. Yet, we constantly see people say that it feels too small. However, the only reason it feels this way is due to the Aethernet system. If you can quick travel to practically any place on the world map, why bother traversing it the traditional way? Choco porters and airships serve very little purpose. Appealing only to those who really want to save as much gil as possible when travelling.

The potential of the armoury system is heavily stunted by jobs and the perks they provide. It's too inefficient to think outside the box and create something unique by mixing and matching skills from several classes. When I played in beta, I went in this wanting to create a type of pseudo White Monk. Only to become disappointed as time passed when I realized that there was virtually no point.

Also, this is a bit off topic, but it's something that's been bugging me from the very beginning. I would absolutely love for there to be different animations for classes and jobs between races. I really don't feel as though a Lalafellin Paladin should feel as heavy as a Roegadyn. Likewise, Roegadyn Monks shouldn't feel as light as a Mi'qote. Just bothers me.

It's quite depressing. I remember being so hyped when the PS3 beta was coming around because it was (and still is) the only way I could play this game. I've been wanting to play since the original, but I never had the means of doing so.

Beta begins, I begin playing this game, and I'm having a blast. I have so much difficulty putting the controller down because I didn't want to do anything else other than play this game. When the official release came around and I finally got my hands on the disk (took a couple weeks; definitely felt left out), I would play at least every other day. Happily.

I played at a moderate pace as well. Hell, even now I still have tons of things to do. I can keep working on the relic quest, farm CT, do plenty of gathering and crafting since I have none of those classes at 50, level some other classes, help people from my FC (of which there are plenty active members), participate in PVP for a change, etc. However . . .

I've gradually been becoming more and more bored with this game. I wish I weren't. I wish I could keep enjoying it the same way I did during beta and beyond, but that's just not happening.

The repetitive nature (and you could say this of all MMORPGs, I suppose; which is disappointing in and of itself) got to me. When I noticed that my daily routine consisted purely of completing Duty Roulette for tomes, completing Beastman Daily Quests, and a run of CT or two if I hadn't already gotten my item for the week, I soon found myself not wanting to do anything.

Even after taking a break for a few days to do something else. I literally just logged in. As I was typing in my password, I felt dread. After walking around with my character and looking at the Duty Finder for the Roulette, I put down the controller and just didn't feel like playing anymore.

The goals of armor, weapons, and a house just aren't enough for me anymore. I'm no longer engaged. I hate that I feel this way. When I say that I've played this game at a moderate pace, I mean it. The only Hard Mode Primal I've gone against is Ifrit. I don't even have the new dungeons unlocked. I played this way on purpose so that I could look forward to doing something new when I logged in. To try and prevent the way I feel now, but I suppose it was all in vain.

It doesn't matter what content I participate in (other than PVP, which isn't really my thing). Every dungeon, trial, quest, whatever. They all just feel the same to me. Target enemies, do my rotation, try not to get hit by anything, follow the path if there is one.

I think that's the bulk of the problem. It's all too monotonous and barely offers variety. Even gathering and crafting are far too monotonous on their own to break the monotony of everything else.

I wish I could keep on enjoying this game because I honestly do love it, but . . . I just don't feel like doing anything anymore.

Sadly, I've played as a tank for a bit and while it was a bit more fun, it's not enough to get me engaged again. I have doubts that the new content will do so as well. I can only (sadly) see it as more of the same.

Treasure hunts would probably be a good change of pace, but since I need to grind for the maps, I don't feel very motivated to go out of my way to do them.

I want to clarify that I said more than once that my pace for this game was moderate. I still have a lot of stuff left to do. I only have one class/job at 50, I've yet to max any of the gathering or crafting classes, Ifrit is the only Hard Mode Primal I've defeated, I've yet to unlock the dungeons that were released with 2.1.

It's not that I don't have anything to do. It's that I no longer feel any excitement when I play. All the battle content feels to similar to engage me anymore. I find it very disheartening.

Again, I think the battle system might have something to do with it. I don't even mean that I'd like this game to be more fast-paced. I played Wakfu, a tactical, turn-based MMORPG for a long time before Ankama's decisions made me disinterested. Unless you were grinding the same group of mobs over and over again solo, nearly each and every battle managed to play out differently. There was a ton of thinking involved and the dungeons were no joke. Even battles in dungeons would play out differently each time depending on a large number of factors. That's what kept me playing that game for as long as I did.

That's why the monotony (for lack of a better word) in this game eventually broke me down.

I think that kind of mentality is what holds the potential of this game back. The way it is now, there's hardly any sense of accomplishment once you've completed something. Very little moments of overcoming obstacles to reach your goal. Everything's far too simple in a sense. Casual or Hardcore, as long as you keep playing, you'll eventually complete everything the game has to offer. Not enough content requires any significant amount of effort. There're only patterns the players need to memorize, and few of them will feel the satisfaction of discovering those patterns since all of the information is already out there and is pretty much expected to be studied beforehand.

Monotony is a word I keep bringing up because it describes a large amount of the content currently available. It's not enough to keep us engaged. That's why there's been a lot of these threads lately. That's why we keep voicing our opinions, hoping that they'll be heard and be taken into consideration. We're trying to help a game that we do love and want to keep loving. There's a lot that can be done to improve this game and keep people like ourselves wanting to play.

Someone mentioned variety earlier. That's one of my favorite words. It's something I adore. Especially in video games, because it makes the whole experience that much more enjoyable. If this game could reach a state where monotony is a word that I can no longer associate with it, I would happily renew my subscription at a moment's notice.[/SIZE]

It's easy to just judge something and give your opinion, but it's another to try and actually provide feedback and suggestions that help improve something.

-Crafted equipment should have a point so that running dungeons aren't the only way to receive high-end gear efficiently.

-Combat should be made more engaging somehow. Implement tactics other than memorizing patters and repeating the same rotation(s) time and again.

-Have FATEs be more rare and difficult. Allowing them to provide experience, tomes, and rare items upon completion so that they're no longer just a grinding tool.

-Remove a lot of the quick travel so that players can actually see and feel how beautiful and vast the world is.

-Give classes a reason to exist. Boost their stats and give them access to even more cross class abilities so that players can experiment and create something unorthodox and fun.

-Introduce the element wheel so that battles can have more depth.

-Going along the above point. Give gear extra stats such as: elemental strikes, elemental resistances (when the have a point), % healing buffs, passive healing, % chances to apply status debuffs like poison and paralyze, provide buffs to individual skills in a class/job, etc.

-Provide alternative content other than dungeons and trials (PVP and Treasure Hunts were a good first step).

-Give players more incentive to perform leves. Perhaps have the bounties appear less often and drop greater rewards.

-Implement more animations. Give each race their own animations for each of the jobs/classes. Just give more life to the characters and NPCs (this is a big deal for me).


All I could think of so far.

Yes, the game did do well in the financial department, and it's sure to keep stable as time goes on. However, that in no way negates any of our opinions, complaints, concerns, or suggestions. For a (seemingly) large amount of people to cancel their subs only a few months after the release of an MMORPG, which should be designed to keep said players playing for at least a year or two as a reasonable minimum, the game likely will not keep doing so well.

FFXIV: ARR's success was largely due to the failure of the original. That, plus the hype behind it and general hope that SE fans have had for years now made the sales as high as they were.

I'm grateful for that. I love SE and I do love this game. However, I cannot deny that this game is lacking a terrible amount of immersion it needs to keep people playing. Especially when it comes to combat.

It's safe to assume that a rather large amount of the playerbase have cancelled their subs (a sixteenth of 2 million is still a lot of people; also, don't take these numbers too seriously, it's just a random example). There have been countless threads from people saying that they've quit and why they're no longer playing. Some more articulate than others, of course. Now, since not every single person playing the game will be vocal on the forums, you can expect each of those threads to be representing many other people who share the same opinion. The same goes for literally all the threads that have ever been posted on any forum ever. So, that is what I'm basing my assumption on.

Of course there's still a lot of people online. That's why it can still be touted as having been successful. However, can you say that all those people you see are people that have been there since launch? How many more people do you think there would be if people hadn't cancelled their subs? I was in an FC for a while when I played on Diabolos. Out of 100 or so people, only 6 of us were ever active. This game is not as engaging as it could be.

When someone like me, who was extremely excited for this game foe years, loved everything about it when I finally got my hands on it, rarely ever put down the controller for weeks, gets bored of it not even 6 months after playing, it's absolutely fair to be concerned about the future of the game. I still have tons of stuff to complete, even. I just don't feel compelled to do so.

You can keep on defending this game and denying it's flaws through your blinded fanaticism as I once did. Or, you can take a step back and begin looking at things from different perspectives.

Really, if combat were less like following a set pattern, had more random elements, and—at it's core—had more tactical elements outside of repeating the same rotation time and time again, I would probably renew my sub. Happily.

It's just my preference. The battles in this game are too scripted to enjoy. There isn't enough tactical variety to keep combat engaging. Which makes this feel less like a Final Fantasy game and more like your run-of-the-mill MMORPG you can find anywhere else on the market.

It's not fun for me, even as a Monk, to just run around and repeat my rotation time and time again.

I too find the combat too simplistic. It became such a drag that I no longer felt like playing and eventually cancelled my sub. There's still a lot of stuff left for me to do, but I can't enjoy it with the way the game is in its current state.

All combat just feels too similar. Dodge the red and cycle through your rotation. No amount of positioning, interacting with objects, or even difficulty can make it more exciting when the core is nothing but a bore. There's just not enough tactical elements, in my opinion.

The quests. The trials. The dungeons. To me, they're all just a constant repetition of the same thing. Which demolishes any sense of immersion this game should have. I stick around, though. In hopes that SE improves it well enough to the point where I'd be dying to play it again.

I haven't even completed all the dungeons and trials available. I've never capped my myth for the week. Yet, I still no longer feel compelled to log on anymore.

I feel that the combat is playing a big role in how tiresome and mundane this game feels to many players.

The main reason I feel this way is because—save for the awkward mechanic here and there—nearly each and every battle plays out the same. Move out of the way of the things that'll hurt you, and repeat your rotation(s). It's not compelling nor immersive. It's repetitive. The game doesn't feel like a Final Fantasy game because of this. Just a generic MMORPG with a Final Fantasy skin. I know that's been said time and again before, but it bears repeating.

I main Monk. A job that is regarded as one of the most active and fun to play out of the bunch. But I'm still bored. Sure, it was fun for a while moving around the enemy to make sure I could output as much damage as possible. However, the core of the combat system wore on me. Gradually. Until I no longer felt like logging in anymore. Primals, Crystal Tower, Dungeons (I've yet to step foot into the Binding Coil) . . . endlessly following patterns is not how a Final Fantasy game should play out.

Where are the tactics? Where is the Elemental Wheel? Where is the importance of items? Where's the challenge? The diversity? How is it that, in a Final Fantasy game with a Job System, anyone who plays a particular role feels nearly exactly the same? The only one that is essentially different from any other are Bards, because they're the physical ranged DPS. That unique aspect will disappear as soon as Musketeers are introduced. Why are classes balled up and tossed away once someone reaches level 30? Shouldn't players have the viable option to mix and match skills between classes to create something that matches perfectly with their own play-style?

I know I'm being highly repetitive at this point since I've made the same arguments in other threads multiple times already, but I really feel that all of this needs to be hammered into the skulls of the folks at SE. I'm sorry.

And the thread I created that I felt died too soon.

Negativity has gradually been on the rise during the time Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has been released. Many players who were once active have canceled their subscriptions and deserted the game. A fraction of those who have stopped playing stick around the website and forums. Hoping to be there should the game improve to the point they'd be happy to return.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is an objectively good and solid game that is accessible to a multitude of gamers. However, the game has several flaws that have been pointed out time and again by the player base. Said flaws threaten the longevity of this game and may lead to its shut-down far sooner than it perhaps deserves.

To prevent such a thing from happening, I believe it'd be best to construct a sort-of 'database' listing the concerns past and present players have about the game in its current state. Having them organized in a single place will give Square-Enix easy access to what their consumers are looking for and will allow them to take suggestions into consideration for the purpose of bettering their product.

By doing so, it stands to reason that many may renew their subscriptions, new players will be more interested in trying the game for the first time, and newfound excitement can be discovered by current players.

So, without further ado, and for the sake of helping to create a better game for us all, I shall list my own concerns:

• Combat is too repetitive. The core of this game is the combat. Sadly, nearly every battle—from world mobs to dungeon bosses—share the same basic mechanics. Dodge the AoE the enemy is performing and continue to repeat your rotation nonstop until the target is downed. When it comes to bosses and trials, the only way this is extended upon is due to the implementation of simple to memorize patterns, intrusive gimmicks, and One-hit KO prevention. The simplicity of combat not only sucks away the enjoyment from the game, but the immersion as well. It's clear to the player that they're not fighting against living opponent, but a program. Something needs to be changed in this regard.
  
  
• Classes have no viable purpose. Once a player's character reaches Level 30, their class becomes nigh nonexistent. The sheer amount of benefits a Job receives from their respective Soul Crystals completely overshadows any benefit Classes could have. Player's have no reason to experiment with the Cross Class abilities to create something unique and fitting to how they play. This prevents the players from having any identity outside of their Job.
  
  
• Gear is far too linear. Once a player receives the highest Item Level gear, there's no legitimate reason for them to seek any other sets of gear other than out of their completionist tendencies. Crafted gear has no purpose as stronger gear is easily obtainable from other content. This makes it so materia also serves very little purpose since said obtainable gear don't possess slots for them to be allotted into. Gear also lacks in variety. They don't offer unique random stat/skill/spell bonuses. Any time a player earns a piece of gear their after, there's no reason to hunt it down again. As it will be the exact same thing. For further clarification, say a treasure coffer is opened after defeating a boss and there are a pair of White Mage boots inside. Said boots will be the same pair of boots each time rather than having bonuses like Increased % healing or restoring MP each time a spell does a critical hit.

These are the main concerns I have at the moment. I would have gone over about Crafting and Gathering, but I feel that those who have more experience will be more well spoken in those areas than I could be. The same goes in regards to PvP.

Possible solutions I have for the above:

• Combat: As much as it's been debated against throughout the forums, I feel that straying away from patterns and constructing battles around more random elements would add some much needed flavor to the combat. Of course, balancing would have to be done so individual moves from bosses wouldn't be as devastating, but the AI would be given 'life' in return. Were battles more chaotic and less predictable, players would feel as though they were up against real threats. Real beasts. No longer a timed puzzle. Also, speaking of flavor, reintroduce the element wheel. Nearly as debated as chaotic bouts, but far more fitting. The element wheel has been an age old staple of the Final Fantasy franchise and lack of one just seems to go against the very nature of the franchise itself. Adding an elemental wheel could mean elemental bonuses on gear. Which would add a fun bit of diversity that gear needs. Battles would be more tense, exciting, and dynamic because—along with more randomness and less memorization—players are battling not only a beast, but a theme.
  
  
• Classes: The inclusion of more cross class abilities (and abilities in general) could aid in providing the amount of customization players are looking for. Give more options for the players to choose from. Perhaps allow a Conjurer to Mantra in order to boost their own healing capabilities without having to rely on a Monk. Further, provide stat boosts to the classes overall. Not significant enough to undermine Jobs, but enough so that they're a more viable choice for end-game content. Customization provides a ton of staying power in and of itself. Currently, it's something that the game lacks, so allowing some wherever possible will help encourage players to stick around.
  
  
• Gear: In order to increase the amount of viable gear at least a small amount, include rare materials that can be found during end-game content to be used in the crafting of high-level gear. Gear that can surpass the highest level gear you can obtain from just running dungeons. That would give the Disciples of Hand classes more relevance. For Disciples of Land, allow players to switch into those classes during dungeon runs. Implement gathering nodes in dungeons like Amdapor Keep and Pharos Sirius that give them a chance to obtain the rare materials they need. The same treatment can be done for low-level content as well so players have more of a reason to participate in that content.

Randomness in patterns makes a battle or an encounter a game of luck, if boss's moves are weakened, it makes the encounter easier, pattern recognition is crucial to avoid 1 hits but if 1 hits no longer poses a threat, I might as well just stand there and tank every thing making all encounters like T2 Enrage. The only way combat can be made "alive" is if the game has a highly advanced AI that responds to player's skills and movements and evolve to develop strategies to deceive and defeat the player.

Elemental wheel doesn't add "fun" it simply adds the same repetitive combat you're talking about and there will be difficulties balancing damage output, if BLM are the only ones capable of delivering elemental attacks to exploit elemental weaknesses, we might as well just have 4X BLM instead!

Its not as easy as you think it is and for the record, I have yet to come across a MMO with highly advanced combat AI that evolves and makes enemies feel "alive"

I respectfully disagree with much of what you've stated.

I believe you are taking my statement of making combat feel more alive a tad too seriously. All I mean is it might be favorable to implement challenging AI to replace the predictable sequence of events. I don't at all feel that patterns are in any way “crucial”. They are merely a means of making the game more accessible to a larger variety of players. Randomness can and does work in this game. One of the most well designed bosses in the entire game—in my opinion—is Coincounter. The second boss of Aurum Vale.

All of its moves are sporadic and can be difficult to avoid due to the lack of range indicators on its skills. Players have to keep focused on its body language. The only memorization that takes place is with learning the name of their skills, what each attack looks like, and what each attack does. This goes far beyond 'just avoiding the red', so to speak. Especially since Coincounter does a continuous wipe of its enmity table. From a tactical standpoint, it even fares better than most other bosses in the game. Tanks cannot afford to stay still, else they will easily be downed. However, they also cannot afford to get their allies caught in the path of danger. The Healer and Ranged DPS have to stay on their toes and practice their timing since Coincounter will often target them from afar. Melee DPS not only have to have to avoid its attacks, but keep as synchronized with their Tank as possible so both of them can avoid substantial damage. All of this combined with Coincounters sporadic movements equates to match that is more about skill and awareness than prediction and avoidance. Just because an encounter isn't a memory game, doesn't mean it becomes a game of slots.

Sure, implementing an element wheel would add repetition of certain magic spells, but that's only for specific enemies. Besides, it's a Final Fantasy game. Since when did exploiting a monster's weakness become a boring thing? I know it's unprofessional for me to say that, but I stand by it. Also, having four Black Mages in a party may be a thing people look for. However, that would only be the case if combat stays the way it is in its current state. If it reached a point where most encounters were similar that of Coincouter (lack of range indicators would be a bit much), then it would four Black Mages just a viable alternative rather than a go-to composition.

[Everything below is based on the hypothetical inclusion of an elemental wheel.]

• Black Mage – Powerful single-target and AoE attacks typically cast from a distance. Can exploit elemental weaknesses on various enemies. Spells usually take time to cast and can be interrupted. They are very fragile in terms of health and are stuck in place when casting spells. Meaning a lack of mobility.
  
  
• Summoner - Excels in crowd control via Damage Over Time effects and Egis. Has a library of Egis that are able to exploit weaknesses of various enemies. Can move around more often than Black Mages while keeping the same range. Also fragile. Lack of powerful, instantly damaging abilities.
  
  
• Dragoon – Can wear heavier armor relative to their other DPS counterparts. Thus, making them much more sturdy. Very versatile in their moveset with powerful combo skills, skills that can be cast from range, close gaps, create gaps, and even do AoE damage. High damage melee. Has to constantly avoid AoE attacks being a front lines fighter. Skills have high TP cost. Meaning powerful burst damage, and decent sustained.
  
  
• Bard – Very mobile ranged DPS with moderate damage. Has powerful single-target abilities with AoE options. Also possesses supportive abilities to help allies during battle. More fragile and physically weaker than Dragoon or Monk.
  
  
• Monk – Very mobile melee DPS with high, sustained damage. Has increasingly powerful, single-target abilities and AoE options. Potential to do the most damage out of any class. Can infuse elements into their skills to take advantage of the weaknesses of various enemies. Low TP cost and high Skill Speed allow them to perform powerful combos with very few breaks. Has abilities to increase the survivability of self and allies. Reliant on positioning to do the most damage possible. Severe lack of ranged options. Has to constantly avoid AoE attacks being a front lines fighter. (It's easy for me to elaborate on Monk since they're my main Job. Sorry.)

What's the point I was making with all of this? Each Job has their own strengths and weaknesses. Even if an elemental wheel were implemented, it would not, in any way, make Black Mages the go-to DPS all occasions. The strengths and benefits of the other Jobs would not at all be negated. I sincerely feel that belief is nothing but a fallacy.

Everything I need to say and have needed to say is all here.

[FritoBandito]

I'm so glad you organized these for us so that we don't have to go searching for all your posts in different places.

...oh wait... we could just click your name for that.

[Tiggy]

Did we really need your opinions pulled together an listed in one place? If someone cared they could click your name. Honestly, most of these is fundamental changes to the game that I can guarantee you will never happen anyway.

[Vensaval]

I'm so glad you organized these for us so that we don't have to go searching for all your posts in different places.

...oh wait... we could just click your name for that.

Did we really need your opinions pulled together an listed in one place? If someone cared they could click your name.

Don't be foolish. No one's going to care enough about anyone to click on their name to sift through all they have posted. Why else would I go out of way to make this?

Anyway, I'm not here to argue or debate. I'll let the words I've already spoken do that for me. No need to cause undue stress for myself.

[WhiteGarden]

I don't even...

Thank you?

[Musashidon]

one of the things you say in you posts i find quite insulting

*You can keep on defending this game and denying it's flaws through your blinded fanaticism as I once did. Or, you can take a step back and begin looking at things from different perspectives.*

this when it comes to game designs its about likes and dislikes, not good or bad.
here you're telling us what we like are flaws and need to be changed.
when it comes down to it what you want in the game is all opinion saying its a flaw because you don't like it is saying the game is suppose to be this way and it can't be another.

[Nero]

I really did read all those Posts and i wonder.. are you somehow related to the Kardashians?

I dont know many people, who believe that their subjective and sometimes delusional opinion matter so much, that you have to bring it up.. over.. and over.. and over again.

Don't be foolish. No one's going to care enough about anyone to click on their name to sift through all they have posted. Why else would I go out of way to make this?

Attention whoring?

[TrystWildkey]

This is what it has come to, isn't it ><

You've finally reached that place where you're giving up, but that tiny shred of remaining optimism just refuses to die. And so you throw out your feedback one last, desperate time, hoping that it will be noticed instead of mysteriously vanishing.

I feel where you're coming from.

And may I point out to others that Yoshi has repeatedly stated that our feedback is important. That means my feedback, your feedback and the OP's feedback is all important. Yoshi has not only stated this, but it has been reinforced over and over again, that the developers WANT, VALUE and USE our feedback.

The OP is throwing his feedback up here one last time in the hopes that this game that he obviously likes, and wants to like even more, will live up to its potential.

I'm right there with him. There is a lot to like about ARR. Sadly, as time goes on, the parts that I like are far outweighed by the parts that I don't like. The game has so much potential. Potential that keeps me logging in every so often. Potential that is being wasted under top heavy linear gear progression, complete disregard for any type of class/job personalization, and the fact that the world is a gigantic, plastic lobby.

OP, I understand.

[Vensaval]

As long as the developers understand that the direction they're taking the game is not optimal for the continued success of it as time passes, I could care less the opinions people have of me or who manages to get them to listen.

I'm trying to help improve the game. You are allowed to view what I'm doing as negatively as you want to. There's tons of potential this game has to truly become amazing that won't surface if attention is not brought to it. So, sure. I'm attention whoring.

[Gesser]

It is optimal, for a particular player-base... which obviously you don't comprise.