Wonder if anyone here feels this way?

[Gramul]

Same here. I prefer some kind of structure to my video games, not just "here's a world, go do stuff!" Without the game giving me goals to accomplish I get bored quickly.

Why can't we have both?

[Mogi]

Totally agree with him. Everquest had it's flaws, don't get me wrong, but games like it and FFXI where the leveling was slower and group based were much better IMO than those that are coming out today with everything being solo leveling via quests. Everyone is in such a big rush these days and it makes me a little sad.

A big rush these days yep that be the so called hardcore players they wan't everything out fast fast fast they wan't gear fast but then once they got everything they want. The games boring and they quit in this day in age ppl want everything too big so big and endless that they never run out of things to do but how many games can offer that? wow messed everything up with the bigger than life mmo as now if a games not as big as wow it's junk or it's to small but try to be a lil like wow then it's a wow clone gaming is sad :P sorry i know my ENG is ugly if you can't read my post just don't bother with it thank you

[darkstarpoet1]

A big rush these days yep that be the so called hardcore players they wan't everything out fast fast fast they wan't gear fast but then once they got everything they want. The games boring and they quit in this day in age ppl want everything too big so big and endless that they never run out of things to do but how many games can offer that? wow messed everything up with the bigger than life mmo as now if a games not as big as wow it's junk or it's to small but try to be a lil like wow then it's a wow clone gaming is sad :P sorry i know my ENG is ugly if you can't read my post just don't bother with it thank you

in your mind this may be true, but the truth is you couldn't be farther from the truth. that hardcore players want long term goals and stuff you have to work towards. the casuals are the me me generation and want everything handed to them with zero effort put into getting it.

[Calyanare]

the casuals are the me me generation and want everything handed to them with zero effort put into getting it.

It's not that casuals don't want to have to work at something, they just don't want to have to spend several hours a day playing in order to accomplish a goal within a reasonable time frame. Like it or not, casual players are a larger proportion of the gaming population than hardcore players, so any game that wants to be financially successful will cater to this "I want to be able to do all the content, but I can only play for 1-2 hours every couple of days" type of person. Whether they should cater to these people is another topic. The truth is that they do.

Disclaimer: I am a proud no-life elitist etc. etc. but I understand where casuals are coming from.

I added this to my earlier post as well, but just in case:

Why can't we have both?

Because the sandbox-lovers immediately start the wailing and gnashing of teeth as soon as they see a quest indicator over an NPC's head? I personally love quests, and I also love being able to tell which NPCs will give me one without having to talk to them and hear their life story first, but apparently some people think that a quest indicator is the most horrible thing in the world and that players should be forced to talk to each and every NPC to find them. That's just one example of why we can't have both. The list goes on: minimaps, regular maps, tutorials, etc. There's plenty of stuff a person like me considers to be essential that someone who likes immersive sandbox games considers to be anathema.

[Recaldy]

This was a few days back.

[darkstarpoet1]

It's not that casuals don't want to have to work at something, they just don't want to have to spend several hours a day playing in order to accomplish a goal within a reasonable time frame. Like it or not, casual players are a larger proportion of the gaming population than hardcore players, so any game that wants to be financially successful will cater to this "I want to be able to do all the content, but I can only play for 1-2 hours every couple of days" type of person. Whether they should cater to these people is another topic. The truth is that they do.

oh i know. i just wanted to use the complete extreme to point out the fallacy of the person i had quoted.

my point is i am pretty much a hardcore player myself, but i do have a job. what i want is enough stuff and it to not be locked to where if i have 2 days off in a row i can sit and actually play the game i am paying to play. i don't want to be locked out of content completely because i've already done it once for the week. what this game needs is a combination of content where there is some content the hardcores can run over and over, some open world content that everyone can challenge, and some casual type content that is challenging and they get rewards for that type as well.

[skaterger]

The most sandbox game that I could tolerate was fallout 3. That's why I could never get into and understand the hype about games like minecraft. I found it numbskullingly boring with graphics from the ps1 era. But I feel what we have in ff14 is an incredibly beautiful world that promotes no exploration whatsoever. All the time and effort taken to produce it has gone to waste. Take for example there is an area called hermit grovel in ff14. If you went there you would expect maybe an old man with an interesting backstory that might start a quest about how he became a hermit. It can be made to not even show up on the world map as a quest to encourage people to explore every nook and cranny of this amazing world. But no, all we have is an empty house with no npc whatsoever. A structured gameplay is good but having some open world to immerse yourself into can't be a bad thing.

[tymora]

Back in FFXI, there were already issues in getting people to do things that don't give "phat lootz".
Try getting people to kill Jormungand for the "heck of it" in its heyday...or even Vrtra. Everyone was pretty much just fixated on Tiamat.

[Kiyouma]

I blame the gear and mobs.

No one wants to wear rags until they can finally get some good stuff (end game).
No one wants to kill little birds and pumpkins for the entirety of leveling.

That may not apply so much to ff14 but it does to many other games I have played that have an endgame.

[darkstarpoet1]

Back in FFXI, there were already issues in getting people to do things that don't give "phat lootz".
Try getting people to kill Jormungand for the "heck of it" in its heyday...or even Vrtra. Everyone was pretty much just fixated on Tiamat.

how's that any different than now where people don't want to take the time to help with things like hydra or chimera?

all i'm saying is there needs to be a variety of content. the more variety and ways to upgrade your character the more people you have happy with the game.