Petition Against Ifrit Weapon Designs

[RathSkybreaker]

i wonder if anyone bothered to read the edit? xD

[Orophen]

I'll preface this by saying that I'm actually a graphic designer, and I make my living from web design. Having said that, I don't think there's anything wrong with the design of these weapons. I understand that the OP believes that everything should follow a similar "theme". I don't think that should be the case either. The ifrit weapons all follow a specific motif. They're not meant to be normal everyday, realistic weapons. They're meant to be weapons created from a fire elemental beast that could more or less be consider a god. Something that's otherworldly and has the power of a primal inside of it. Sure there are other ways to depict that. But that doesn't make the way they've chosen any less viable.

Physic brings up some good points that shouldn't be overlooked. There should be different 'styles' among the different regions and nations in the game. If you think about the real world, western knights looked wildly different from samurai at around that period in history. I'm more than sure that a knight would consider samurai armor to be gaudy, ridiculous, and impractical, but he'd be sadly mistaken. The way the ifrit weapons look don't make them any less viable. They're weapons that look like they're designed to hurt someone. They don't at all look out of place in an environment where I'm shooting lightning from my hands. Even the bow, that people complain about not being light or agile enough, is fine the way it is as a weapon. If the different regions in the game world can have styles that are so different from one another, a magical beast made of elemental fire should be able to whip up something that looks a bit strange to your average joe.

Physic also pointed out that Garlean aesthetics are completely different from Eorzean. I would say that the difference is just as abrupt as what you see with the Ifrit Weapons and other weapons. Also, I can easily post many weapon models here from past final fantasies that look just as gaudy and weird than anything you could consider normal. Tidus from FFX had several weapons that even had water as a major component. As a matter of fact, many weapons that you could consider to be a "final" weapon in most final fantasy games have always been large, crystal, transparent, glowing things.

As a designer, I'm not sure it's logical to have a problem with the overall design of these weapons. At least not to the point where you think they're out of place. You can go out into nature right now and find some really crazy things. Flowers that don't look like your every day normal flower. Animals that look strange compared to their environment. I don't think it's a good idea to dismiss a design choice because it's different from what you're comfortable with. These weapons were obviously designed well. They obviously were made to fit a particular theme. I think your main issue is just that they glow and display properties of something that would be aligned with a fire element.

By the way, have you ever seen Steiner's Flame Saber from FFIX?
http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy...FlameSaber.png

That design choice feels a bit familiar, doesn't it?

Lightning's Omega Weapon gunblade from FFXIII. It doesn't glow, but this shape is nowhere near rooted in realism.
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__...ega_Weapon.jpg

It wouldn't be hard for you to find many more examples of this.

[Darkshade]

I like how some of them look(Sword, Great Axe, Lance, Staff), dislike others (Wand, Bow, Fists.)

I'm fine with them existing in the game and glowing weapons in general and especially appreciate the "off when disengaged" bit, I would however like some of the other Avatar/Primals weapons/equipment, assuming they add battlefields for Leviathan/Ramuh/Shiva/Carbuncle/Fenrir/Garuda/Titan/Quazacotl/Siren/Pheonix/Bahamut/etc in the future to each be fitting to that Primal.

For example, most of Ifrit's weapons are "big and clunky"; I would expect Garuda's weapons to be more petite and toned down with a greenish yellow glow to them.

[Payadopa]

I don't understand this inconsistency talk. It's the first loot of the first primal fight. Of course there's nothing like it in game already, hence they stand out.

I really like the design.

Keep going, Yoshi and gang! Don't let the negativity get to you!

[Darkshade]

I think this upsets many of the same players who dislike a lot if the music in XIV as well and those who frequently compare it to XI.

XI had more orchestrated tracks and more appropriate armor designs than many other main title FINAL FANTASY titles. Many FINAL FANTASY titles had armor that didn't actually appear on your character or change the appearance and often characters were dressed in very unusual anime or other inspired outfits much of which wouldn't be considered armor for their settings. I'm not stating that this is a problem, this is just how it was.

XI on the other hand had many more types of "armors." Leather, Scale, Metal, Plate, Cloth, etc. With what little realism you can garner from a FINAL FANTASY title, XI had more typical medieval and low fantasy inpired duds and designs to match it's version of fantasy and old world architectures, world and lore.

XIV brought back composer Nobou Uematsu, and while there are orchestrated pieces, there are many pieces which use Electric Guitar and Synthesizer reminiscent of many PlayStation era FINAL FANTASY titles. I feel some want a game that has low/medium fantasy settings or designs and are worried that XIV might deviate too much into looking something like Sphera with a bunch of glowing football players running around jumping about.

These are possibilities. As it is now, the direction though personally doesn't really upset me. As the patches are released and our reactions and thoughts materialize I just hope they continue to listen and make decisions fairly and carefully to ensure that XI veterans, casual MMO players, hardcore MMO players and those new to the genre aren't ignored and pushed away from the product.

[Sagagemini]

This is so dumb. Like seriously? OMG I DONT LIKE THIS MUST START PETITION THREAD (which does nothing in the first place). So dumb.

You took the words out of my mouth.

"OMG NOT REALISTIC ENOUGH"
"I DO WANT TO RIDE A CHICKEN AND KILL A GIANT DRAGON, BUT THE HELL WITH THOSE WEAPONS"

[Chain]

Be happy they are not more of the same. I welcome new designs in any form, no more boring plain-jane weapons/armor please.

[Ottovonawesome]

Rofl.. This thread man...

[RolandDebreton]

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...9QEwAw&dur=270

Fool!

He's a game designer! He knows what hes talking about, how dare you mortals question his resolve!? His legend goes back to the twelfth century. Naturally these weapons are hideous! Fool! We should reject this game by not paying for it anymore! They should pay us! Fool!

[Feln]

I think this upsets many of the same players who dislike a lot if the music in XIV as well and those who frequently compare it to XI.

XI had more orchestrated tracks and more appropriate armor designs than many other main title FINAL FANTASY titles. Many FINAL FANTASY titles had armor that didn't actually appear on your character or change the appearance and often characters were dressed in very unusual anime or other inspired outfits much of which wouldn't be considered armor for their settings. I'm not stating that this is a problem, this is just how it was.

XI on the other hand had many more types of "armors." Leather, Scale, Metal, Plate, Cloth, etc. With what little realism you can garner from a FINAL FANTASY title, XI had more typical medieval and low fantasy inpired duds and designs to match it's version of fantasy and old world architectures, world and lore.

XIV brought back composer Nobou Uematsu, and while there are orchestrated pieces, there are many pieces which use Electric Guitar and Synthesizer reminiscent of many PlayStation era FINAL FANTASY titles. I feel some want a game that has low/medium fantasy settings or designs and are worried that XIV might deviate too much into looking something like Sphera with a bunch of glowing football players running around jumping about.

These are possibilities. As it is now, the direction though personally doesn't really upset me. As the patches are released and are reactions and thoughts materialize I just hope they continue to listen and make decisions fairly and carefully to ensure that XI vererans, casual MMO players, hardcore MMO players and those new to the genre aren't ignored and pushed away from the product.

Let me say that I loved most aspects of XI, from the music to the armor and weapons designs, and most things between. It's my all-time favorite MMO, even though they wrecked it recently.

However, I'm also a fan of the current flow that XIV is picking up, and this is mostly because I'm a fan of the entire series.

The giant, unconventional but powerful looking weapons.
Impossibly intricate, dead-heavy/paper-thin armors.
Gigantic magical explosions and immortal deity figures that mortals can fight and overcome somehow.

All of these things make the FF series what it is, and even those of us(most at least) who would walk around with a badge proclaiming our love for XI will agree that this falls well into the fantasy realm. It's different in design, but the same in concept. It's how FF is and always will be, and the real fans of the series know this.

Those four or five people complaining aren't the entire XI to XIV community. True FF fans, no matter what the last FF game they played, could probably name several weapons from several different series that were impossibly cumbersome, but at the same time, ridiculously awesome. That's how I feel about the Ifrit weapons.