Time for the Linux port!

[Brianmj]

1:36:08
Q: I mainly use a Mac. Do you have any plans of making a Mac version of the game?
A: Kasuga: Leaving aside the question of concrete plans, I was able to check out actual gameplay on a Mac version client yesterday, so the rest is really up to Yoshida.

Yoshida: There are still quite a few graphic bugs, but performance-wise the game runs on a Mac with fairly modest specs. What Kasuga is saying, is that he received a request to create a Mac version, and it ran successfully on the middleware, but he is waiting on my judgment as to whether or not I think the business aspect of it will be successful.

With the Mac client on the edge of release, we can't give Kasuga any breaks. Yoshida, I am requesting that you request that Kasuga get started on the Linux port. Steam boxes are coming, and with the work Valve is undergoing to make Linux as viable as a gaming platform as possible, it's time to take a look at the penguin OS. Steam has 75 million users http://www.joystiq.com/2014/01/15/st...s-at-dev-days/, and many are just scratching to leave Windows - just imagine getting a percentage of that. With so few MMO options on the platform, FFXIV is bound to find its niche. Apple proved that you can be niche and still successful. It's time to take a chance on Linux.

[Saccharin]

Personally I thing they're over stretching themselves by supporting another platform in MacOS.

Now you say Linux but Linux in itself isn't an operating system like Windows and MacOS is. There's some standardisation with Linux distributions but not all Linux distributions are the same. So how do SE support Linux, do they choose to support one distribution or do they support others. There's also the user friendliness of Linux. Linux is not a normal persons OS; it's an intermediate or advanced users OS. I've played with Linux using distributions like Ubuntu and Gentoo and it's just now that user-friendly. There's a fairly steep learning curve and when things go wrong - they go wrong badly. Can you imagine the support questions if something - not the game - doesn't work. It would take an age just to establish what config their system is.

Every year people always go on about this is the year that Linux will go mainstream and it never does. Why, because it never really changes. It's an enthusiasts OS not a average user and these are the people who play MMOs mainly. For FF14 it's not full of hardcore MMO players but for a lot of people it's their first MMO because they like the final fantasy franchise. Are they interested in package managers or a new kernel release. No, they just want something that works and is easy to use and it's not Linux or ever will be. Value have let the success of Steam go to their head and want to be the Microsoft of Linux. Do you remember that little tirade about DX games only being in the Windows store. Co-incidentally happened at the same time they announced their Linux project. Valve would never do anything as sneaky as that. Would they.

[Gilraen]

What they could do is make a more stable running version for Wine. I haven't checked it's Wine status recently but the last time I did it didn't run right, if at all. Linux distributions may change with the tide, but Wine strives to say current to Windows. Square would gain a huge following in the Linux community if they just tried Wine.

[Canadane]

Last time i tried to get it running through Wine was back in 1.0 days. Could barely get to the character select screen.
Would love to see it happen though.

[Kewitt]

There is no good reason to support linux With it % of player base.

Desktop operating system browsing statistics on Net Applications
Windows 7 -53.05%
Windows XP - 17.18%
Windows 8/8.1- 16.80%
OS X -7.05%
Windows Vista 2.82%
Other 1.69%
GNU/Linux 1.41%


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_s...rating_systems
Linux is below other. Sorry I do not support time being sent on Linux port.
\

[Evangela]

even PS Vita might have larger potential FFXIV playerbase.

[Nimras]

I just wanted to give a comment about supporting distributions. Its really not that hard, linux distros for desktop computers running intel x86 cpus are all very similar. All they have to do is choose one official distro to support like ubuntu or debian and the community will get it running on others.

With that said i dont see them officially supporting linux and considering the low spec graphics in most macbooks the osx userbase will be really small if they cant get the game running decently on those intel graphics. Still, dont get me wrong, i would like to see that happen. I have friends on osx and who knows, perhaps that version might be easier to get running on linux distros aswell.

[Brianmj]

Personally I thing they're over stretching themselves by supporting another platform in MacOS.

We have no idea the resources Square has, let alone how much personnel they devote to any particular project. Square could initially focus on the most popular distribution, Ubuntu and its derivatives, while keeping an eye on Steam Box sales. Steam Box sales "should" be a thing. Valve is a key player in the industry and has a reputation to uphold. SteamOS could make Linux (Debian) a viable gaming platform. You say varying Linux distributions are unfriendly to new users, I agree. There is a steep learning curve compared to OS X, Windows. However, Steam OS paired with a Steambox should obfuscate the difficulties of gaming.

Every year people always go on about this is the year that Linux will go mainstream and it never does. Why, because it never really changes.

Because Windows is entrenched in everyones mind. Most people can't even name another OS other than Windows. It's going to be a very slow change. But the people that have already transitioned out of a "Windows world" shouldn't be neglected. Blizzard took out the time to "support" WoW on Linux. Square should at the very least consider Linux.

[Brianmj]

even PS Vita might have larger potential FFXIV playerbase.

Evangela, I remember you from my Mac thread. You were a naysayer then, and you're a naysayer now. You have no appreciation for FFXIV being on any platform other than Windows, do you?

[coldreactive]

SteamOS / Steam Box won't support FFXIV if it doesn't get a linux port, just so people know. Considering PS3/4 and Vita use BSD, and MacOS uses UNIX... and Android = Linux... you'd think that they'd have some interest. OpenGL isn't hard to code for, quite the opposite, DirectX is the one that's hard to code for.