Moment of Truth: How do you really feel

[viion]

1. How do you feel about the patch frequency?
Compared to modern MMO's insanely slow, most likely due to lack of skill or lack of staff in the development team

2. How do you feel about the changes themselves?
Mixed, some like, some dont.

3. How do you feel this game will fair against current upcoming titles?
Everyone whos decided to leave has, everyone who is waiting has most likely already left or stopped playing (myself). It will not compete with the up coming big names ever, it has absolute nothing to compete for, FFXIV is a niche game and always will be.

4. Do you think this game will ever exceed niche popularity?
No, very not. Because they cant make their mind up with what audience they want.

5. Do you think the changes are in the right or wrong direction?
Completely wrong so far but they have to make do.

6. Do you think the they have focused on the most important things historically with patches or should the focus have been elsewhere?
No they haven't focused on the correct things.

[Xatsh]

1. How do you feel about the patch frequency?
2. How do you feel about the changes themselves?
3. How do you feel this game will fair against current upcoming titles?
4. Do you think this game will ever exceed niche popularity?
5. Do you think the changes are in the right or wrong direction?
6. Do you think the they have focused on the most important things historically with patches or should the focus have been elsewhere?

1) Large update every 2 months is good if the can keep it up, previously before 1.18 well that was just hellishly slow.

2) Some changes are really good, some changes are extremly questionable to me. Over all the game is getting better then it was

3) ToR will attract massive people then its population will dive to where just the fans stay, GW2 will have a massive population B2P and massive fan base already, Tera...well it has almost failed everywhere so I see it doing that here as well. Honestly I see very little people leaving the game who are currently playing it, XIV will attract the Fans of the series. Main stream MMO players who want a mainstream experience will go else where.

4) No, This game will only attract those who like Final Fantasy games. Stands no chance at mainstream now. Game will probably cap at ~400-500k subs if they make it as good as XI in the future.

5) For the most part Right Direction.

6) They spent the last patches restructuring the game which has to be done before content is designed. So although the wait for actual content is wearing on people, I feel that they done the right thing. Wasting time adding content, then having to redo/change all of it makes no sense.

[Enma]

1) They promised 2 patches for month, but they slowed down. Anyway I hope that all this time it's needed for the big improves that they will take to the game.

2) Since last Semptember the game has totally changed, in a better way, and I'm quite satisfied for what has been promised in the future. I'm ready to other drastic changes!

3) I don't care about it. I'm not interested if FFXIV will be the most played game in the world (like WoW ) I only want to see a real Final Fantasy, so that all people that loved this title in the past could join us and enter in Eorzea!

4) If SE will manage to transform this game, and repeat the great job done with FFXI, yes!

5) For the biggest part they are in the correct direction. Before they have to improve and prepare they basics of the game, and then they will can focus their strength on contents.

6) Hmm, I'm not really sure about it...

[obaley]

1. pretty good. I understand it takes time to create content.
2. I like the changes.
3. I think this will be one of the big mmo's that people play from the end of the year on. Sort of A FFXI success but bigger. I can see FFXI population finally migrating.
4. i dont know; time will tell.
5. Right direction.
6. I think what was implemented and changed in the patches was necessary for whats coming.

[Fated]

1. Slow up until 1.18 considering the majority of the changes were for the most part not significant.

2. Weren't considerable enough until 1.18 and now the upcoming 1.19. Very happy with the steps they are taking now, though. They have finally started to break open and fix the game, which is long overdue.

3. Poorly until at least Fall 2012. FFXIV still has competitive graphics, but it is still horrendously behind in the gameplay aspect.

4. Depends on how strongly the PS3 brings in new players. If the PS3 launch is anything less than completely stellar, this game will never be more than a "what could have been."

5. Definitely in the right direction since 1.18. Before that, debatable.

6. Up until 1.18 I think their focus was off, now I think they are on the right track.

[Coldfire]

1. definately still too slow but better than at the beginning
2. too many changes, not enough fixes
3. in the western region it looks really bad, in japan western mmos don't matter as much so ffxiv has a better chance there
4. it had the chance but failed with the horrible release
5. they are to attract the masses, even if I don't like them they are still the right choice
6. they should have focused on fixing the broken engine. SE is building their house on sand.

[Arlekiel]

1. How do you feel about the patch frequency?
Its amazingly slow.... other MMOS have better patch schedules.... Chocobo's stables were there since closed beta, and one year later we are getting them.... I dont wanna even think how much time we will have to wait for musketeer and archanist.

My concern is precisely that "almost" everyone is like "yey we are getting chocobos" but in reality this is FFXIV we are expected to have chocobos. Its not an "extra" content is something we shoulded have in the begining of the game. All we got were some stables..... with no chocobos and ONE year later we get a chocobo. My point is...that 1.19 was something we shoulded get at release not one year later..


2. How do you feel about the changes themselves?
I like them.. they are slow changes and I can undertand they have issues doing all this work. But yet the changes havent been "strong" enough to make up for the brand Final Fantasy. The changes have been small and mostly they are like half asses changes , some of them make the game look more "unpolished" .

3. How do you feel this game will fair against current upcoming titles?
This game has no chance.... I mean Tera and Blade and Soul are going to be titles that are mostly going to give this title a hard time...

4. Do you think this game will ever exceed niche popularity?
No, tbh I see this game being only played by ppl who was extremly fan of FFXI and SQ white knights....

I mean... this game has two options in terms of recruiting new ppl.
1) ppl who never played this MMOS in their life: They are going to find this game ridicsly hard to learn and play.
2) ppl who is already playing other mmos: They are mostly waiting for tera or blade and soul, or they are happy with their current mmo. Also the lack of content in ffxiv is no competition for other mmos.

Ergo... this game is going to have the same ppl from FFXI (less population actually) and some SQ white knights...


5. Do you think the changes are in the right or wrong direction?
They are in the right direction, but they are BABY STEPS this game needs speed.... They need to:
a) Hire more ppl
b) Let this game die

But so far it seems they are doing a "half" job. I mean they are correcting stuff but they always leave the job half complete.
Example:
1) Switching from passive to attack mode. It dosent have an animation. Idea is good but in the game looks like a undone job.
2) Grand companies: We dont have all the content yet. Its like "hey here is the idea--- its nto done yet".
3) Auto Attack: I like the idea of auto attack but the targeting system, the whole combat system looks like undone yet.
4) Game in general : We have areas that scream out loud "HEY Im supposed to be released already" like archanist and muskeeter. I mean the musketer was even in the trailer of the game...
5) Air ship traveling : We are getting again a half of a content. And undone job. We get to use them but in reality theres no real difference between getting into the air ship or using anima.

6. Do you think the they have focused on the most important things historically with patches or should the focus have been elsewhere?
I think the direction was fine in terms of correcting core stuff to the game. My concern is that they should focus also in other stuff like game content and the fact that this game is so REPETITIVE as hell...

Crafting is the most repetitive task ever, grinding is also repetitive. They should add ways in which we can get experience and add some other means of gameplay to the content.

For example:
Mabinogi: you can get experience from exploring and doing other stuff like joustling, fashion contest, even from assisting a dinner party. You dont get just dungeons, you get shadow missions, quests, theater missions and other type of ways to get experience.

Dont get me wrong also I know that mabinogi and other games have their downsides... and this game has its upsided.
I hate comparing games but in reality I think that was a good example of what this game needs.

Usually other MMOS have "other ways or means" for u to explore and do.
Here its "if you dont craft nor grind, you have NOTHING else to do".
Its either craft or kill..... if I dont want to do or feel like doing one of those.. then I have no bussines playing this game.

They should focus on giving us "something else". I would love to play this game withouth being concerned about my level or crafting. They should give us more content and like I said "something else to do".

[Anonymoose]

1. How do you feel about the patch frequency?

It feels slow compared to other games I've played (though, not FFXI at this stage). However, that's not to say I think XIV's team should be cranking them out faster. Most games are building on top of an established foundation; recoloring skins, resizing enemies, recycling map objects, etc. (Taking things they have, arranging them and building areas in ways that haven't been done yet.) XIV isn't doing this things - they're building NEW map objects, building NEW gear skins, building NEW areas, NEW stories, NEW back-end game mechanics. It takes time. I'll forgive this initial slowness if, in the future, they step it up when it comes to non-expansion patches.

2. How do you feel about the changes themselves?

I love most of the changes that have been made; though some are tough to adjust to, none have changed my experience of the game towards the negative. I always get nervous when they announce the theory, but in practice I enjoy them quite a bit.

3. How do you feel this game will fair against current upcoming titles?

I haven't seen an upcoming title that poses a threat, really. Even Star Wars doesn't look like it's going to be that good. What I'm saying is that they don't look like they'll draw XIV's crowd away per se; other titles don't speak to sandboxers the way SE does - more on that in the next question, though.

XIV is surely against the clock to fix itself up nicely before a next-gen-mmo steps up the standards, but it looks like SE's got some time left to work with. SE's titles have an addictive quality to them anyway - all the XI players and XIV players end up quitting from time to time, sure, but they have more farewells and comebacks than Cher, in the end.

4. Do you think this game will ever exceed niche popularity?

I think it'll reach XI's audience, draw in fans of the more recent FF's (though, XIII surely isn't bringing in the same fandom VII and X did. Perhaps XV will be a serious hit, in which case I imagine XIV will get a little boost). Final Fantasy Online doesn't really reach people who aren't Final Fantasy minded, the same way Rift and WoW's Dungeons and Dragons Online format doesn't really reach out to most of us.

5. Do you think the changes are in the right or wrong direction?

Right as rain, I think. I still don't like repairing my gear, and the Dark Matter, though greatly more efficient and useful, is a lot more costly than I was expecting. I understand the need for gil sinks, but I didn't exactly make out like a bandit when Gil was easy to get. That's the only change I haven't loved.

6. Do you think the they have focused on the most important things historically with patches or should the focus have been elsewhere?

Importance is subjective. They're focused on areas that don't matter all that much to me, maybe, but I agree that the order they're making the changes in is the right order - you need basics to build on. If they had gone in a different order, there'd have been a much bigger clean-up necessary later on. Lots of tying of loose ends are we avoiding with this order or priorities.

[AsterBarnivere]

1. How do you feel about the patch frequency?
(Not too bad, but they sure are getting rather hasty with these events than the actual content itself)
2. How do you feel about the changes themselves?
(To be honest they weren't needed, and some of them could have been expanded upon instead of deleted entirely *Armoury, battle system etc.)
3. How do you feel this game will fair against current upcoming titles?
(It'll hold up, but just enough from those dedicated to the game, I feel some sacrifices will have to be made to keep in afloat)
4. Do you think this game will ever exceed niche popularity?
(Nope, It's the fanbase that keeps this alive just barely to get through)
5. Do you think the changes are in the right or wrong direction?
(Wrong direction in terms of wiping them entirely instead of stopping to think that they could be improved upon)
6. Do you think the they have focused on the most important things historically with patches or should the focus have been elsewhere?
(I think all focus was lost the moment Yoshida took place and his plans were set in motion, there is no "focus" imo, the game's vision is lost)

[Len]

1. How do you feel about the patch frequency?
Too infrequent - extended time between updates effectively kills any momentum.

2. How do you feel about the changes themselves?
For the most part, I feel like we're steadily, albeit rather slowly, moving in the right direction.

3. How do you feel this game will fair against current upcoming titles?
Irrelevant to me.

4. Do you think this game will ever exceed niche popularity?
Certainly possible, but not probable.

5. Do you think the changes are in the right or wrong direction?
I think they have been mostly positive - I just hope they keep streamlining to a minimum.

6. Do you think the they have focused on the most important things historically with patches or should the focus have been elsewhere?
I think they've managed to keep the changes balanced considering how many things need overhauling or adjusting.