The door is wide open

[NefarioCall]

So i was thinking to myself today that i'd like to play some other non FF or WoW MMO a bit, not permanently, as this will be my main game, but just SOMETHING to wrap my head around and expand my MMO experience. I suppose by that reasoning, anything out there that is stable will do, but i also got it in my head i'd like to play something GOOD.

My immediate reaction was to look at recent releases as i have a powerful PC and wouldn't mind using it, and then to work backwards and see what i can find.

...and what did i really find?
That although Star Wars has amassed over 1 million players very quickly, the game is generally seen as a big failure. Watching a youtube video of some guy running along the most amateurish desert landscape that made my eyes bleed didn't help me to refute this opinion. The problems seem from what i read to run much deeper than graphics. Given of course, we don't know where it'll be in several years, but that was one UGLY desert.

The general opinion on Rift seems to be not any better. Lukewarm reception across the board and the more concerning multitude of unrest on the games future direction.

neither game seems to be bad exactly, but then neither even nearly met expectations, let alone exceeded them.

Go back further and both Aion and Tabula have failed.

Go back Further and you get to Age of Conan and Lord of the Rings.
In fairness, Age is not a threat to any other MMO, and Lord of the Rings is not either, plus Lord looks pretty darn dated at this point.

Any farther back and really, we're looking at FFXI, WoW, and EQII ... oh yeah, and Phantasy Star Online. LOL.

Now coming back to what started me on all this. FFXIV has come a long way, but i think it is fair to say that the vast majority of progress on this game is progress we have not yet seen outside of a few screen shots and certainly not played. This is simply because of the non-compatibility issues between the 1.0 and 2.0 systems.

Of course what we have been able to experience thus far is IMO very promising.
But i do recall a year long drama in 2011 about how Star Wars and Rift would DOOM FFXIV. The drama is past and neither game really doomed anything.

In fact, nothing has really become the new MMO standard in the last 10 years.
I don't expect FFXIV to be that new standard, no matter how good it becomes,
but the general lack of gold standard competition right now does help, as disappointing as it also is.

[Ilean]

But i do recall a year long drama in 2011 about how Star Wars and Rift would DOOM FFXIV. The drama is past and neither game really doomed anything.

FFXIV doomed FFXIV.

[Urthdigger]

Hey, Phantasy Star Online was awesome!

[NadienKirisame]

Hey, Phantasy Star Online was awesome!

Have you looked at PSO 2? It looks really fun ^^ I can't wait to play it!! erm then again I have played pretty much every single MMO that has come out so far... Hmmmm maybe I should stop doing that...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lVZi...eature=related

Oh well I may play them all but I will pretty much always stick with FFXIV :P

The cat is amused =^.^=

[KamikazeMan]

=That although Star Wars has amassed over 1 million players very quickly, the game is generally seen as a big failure

Lol no it's not.

[Gramul]

Tera and GW2 are looking pretty nice.
Might try Tera if it goes F2P, maybe dance around GW2 if it ever comes out.

All that being said, FFXIV will be fine.

I mean, multiple First Person shooters exist and seem to do alright. Just because a game has more players doesn't mean the other games have none.

[Katt]

NefarioCall... What ever kind of Ice tea you're drinking, please share it with the rest of us and make sure you hand a few glasses to Square Enix!

Now if you think Stare Wars failed, that is your right. But for what everyone else thinks, the game is doing great.

WoW has had the seat for sometime now, and for the most part it is the standered for what the mark is for Online games... Stare Wars might change it.

And as Ilean said. FFXIV doomed FFXIV.

As for the new Phantasy Star Online 2. The fighting, jumping, great combo attacks that look GREAT! I think I need to swap games soon.

[NefarioCall]

What ever kind of Ice tea you're drinking, please share it with the rest of us and make sure you hand a few glasses to Square Enix!

I mix Orange juice crystals with Fo-Ti root and Gotu Kola. It tastes a bit like Ice Tea.

and nah, that's just a 'word' slip up on my part writing a long first post. I don't think Star Wars 'failed'. i'm sure it provides enjoyment to many of its players who will play the game during its 10+ year lifespan, during which time updates and refinements will be made etc. It's Star Wars. What i was attempting to communicate is that it seems destined to only ever be another surviving MMO with good qualities and bad qualities and a good, but never overwhelming player base.

...as seems to have been the case with every non WoW MMO. I`m okay with that. I don`t like Justin bieber anyways.
Maybe that just IS the future of MMOs generally, which would make sense. one big bieber and a whole bunch of other quality surviving titles. I certainly hope that this time around, Phantasy Star is one of them. I have a copy of the first title on my shelf still.

it is looking more and more to me as though FFXIV will be able to join this modest group of `surviving`titles, which gives me a lot of happiness.

But... and i know this has been beaten around before,
i really wish SE would throw more media at us.
Videos, screenshots, all kinds of stuff, leak things!
Let it go viral in this coming year everything they can throw at us and let that be the advertising.
This resource is ... as always, going sadly untapped.

Edit: Well, better tapped than in other cases of SE games throughout history, but much moar tapping could be done.

[Deli]

hmm... the following is just for me...

For me, it's not that fair to compare ff14 with other games... I devote my time mostly on ff14. when I looked at other games, I feel they are junks. that's only because I already used to ff style. graphic, chill-ness...everything. my expectation already sync more to SE's mindset... So, I went to PAX or some of these game convention, I kept thinking "inferior," and grab their freebies! XD

But it's more like I'm more a Windows user not Mac... no matter what ppl said how good is Mac it's just not for me.
My mindset is closed for other options. But, I'm perfectly aware of that. that's why "for me" (why I kept saying that) I still give room for Mac users to say how cool their stuffs are and joke with them how sux windows crash my system and give me blue screen... cus in the end it's all personal preference.

I'm glad OP is somehow sync with my preference too tho ^^

PS. I will not give SEGA & phantasy star another change... Phantasy Star Universe or something is one of the worst ever online game I paid... but for their defense, I was playing ff11 back then, so can't really blame them. I got SE's poison too deep.

[yukikaze_yanagi]

PSO was good ;_; the bad thing of that game was the worst online service ever.
Anyhow, SW it's the most revolutionary game ever: a single player game which you pay every month to see it's end. Who would never play it ! People playing it know it's true.