Thanks MysteryG for responding. I apologize about the ridiculous wall of text I made. But it was lovingly built so that SE might notice some of the problems.

I agree with your disdain for unsheathing/re-sheathing weapons. It does seem very clunky for a game that wants us to be constantly moving. From what I understand, the reason they got rid of resting for hp / mp was so that players wouldn't feel like they had to stop as much. But the system is just silly as it stands now. I realize that TP is easy to gain. But would it really hurt the game if TP had more weight behind it, and DoW classes had more abilities rather than weapon-skills? I think FFXI had a great system for dealing with resources. It made casters reflect on the scenario before they cast spells. I liked that system a lot more than just spamming the same two elemental spells over and over again. And honestly, I feel like the weight behind mp and what spells should be cast was a large part of what made playing a mage class different from playing a melee class.

But that kind of goes back to my point, that the reason why most of the problems exist now is because they wanted to be so different from FFXI. I agree that FFXIV should have its own unique feel. I really do. But at the same time, it boggles my mind that most of the problems in the game stem from copying parts of FFXI, but then not following through.

The solution, (just an opinion, obviously), is to simply use the base roots that FFXI had. If we add to the game, it will eventually become a different experience. There are so many people who want to defend a broken game because it's different. Different isn't always better.... If we just went back to our roots, and use the things that worked, get rid of the things that didn't work, we would have a secure base. From there, we can add new ideas to make the game grow into something unique. But as it stands now, the game is only half-way committed to being anything.

As for the AH "problem." It doesn't bother me so much. The only difference between what we have now, and any normal AH system is the fact that we have to actively search for the guy with a star over their head over a sea of bodies. It still bugs me, but it is one of the last things I'm worried about now. Though to be honest, if they made it so we could purchase the item from the item search menu, I would never step foot inside a market ward again. But if SE is so bent on having the "immersion" of a market place, (not that a bunch of people standing around aimlessly is really immersible... actually has the opposite effect for me), then they're going to be stubborn and stick with it.

The comical part of it all is what they intended to do, and how it was actually executed. For example, the craft-heavy system was supposed to be a way to bring the community together, so we had to rely on each other. Unfortunately, all it really does is frustrate and annoy players. We spend more time than we really want to in crafting, and durability is such a joke that we can just buy the same set of armor from the Market-House.

I think if SE looked at a problem objectively, and said "X is a problem. How do we fix it in the most efficient way?" Then we wouldn't have had such a clunky system. The fact that they are trying so desperately to make themselves different from FFXI, (which is crazy, as the game's earliest advertisements were made to appeal to the FFXI group. It was suggested that it would be just as refined as FFXI, but taking away the parts that didn't work, like 6 person parties to gain EXP), is what makes the game fail. Most of the people that quit were straight from FFXI, looking for newer content and a fresh start. Most of my friends went straight back to FFXI. Honestly, I would too if I had the time to sit down and play....

But I also understand that for the people who have stuck it out, (though almost every time I log on, I keep telling myself I shouldn't be playing. I just want it to work, so very much), they want to feel like the game is its own entity. I think the problem comes from being a Final Fantasy game. What was unique about FFXI was that it was an online version of a Final Fantasy game. We don't have that in this one. The UI is all out of whack, and we have so many "features" that it's killing the game.

Just an example, the Action Point system. What's wrong with having a main class be able to use every ability that it has learned? Isn't that the point of leveling it? Or was it just to get one ability? There is no customization in the game, because anyone can equip anything. Some people are in the impression that this is what customization is. We need each class to have a well defined role, (Conjurer much?), and to have abilities that complement the class's ability to fulfill that role.

I think that's enough ranting for now. But please, I would like to get a thread going where people put in the time to really clarify what about a certain feature they don't like. Most of the other threads are similar, but no one seems to quite pin-point the problem. Obviously certain "features" are flawed. But what about them (specifically in design vs. intent), is bad?

Anyone?