A Recent Yoshi-P Post that probably needs to be read (Translation)

[Zumi]

Why does the so called "Content Finder" (aka Dungeon Finder) have to be cross server? Why can't we use it only for that server so that it doesn't destroy the community?

Obvious answer is lower queue times and much larger pool of players to pick from and this easier for the matchmaking tool to make a group with the correct levels and class roles. How does it destroy the server community when people on their own server don't really do anything outside their own click of friends?

Why do they have to for the WoW version of PvP and not use better version of Ballista?

Ballista was terrible and nobody played if after the initial couple weeks. Having an contested battlefield area where different factions or companies in FFXIV's case fight over is pretty standard in any MMO now.

[Dreadnought]

Obvious answer is lower queue times and much larger pool of players to pick from and this easier for the matchmaking tool to make a group with the correct levels and class roles. How does it destroy the server community when people on their own server don't really do anything outside their own click of friends?



Ballista was terrible and nobody played if after the initial couple weeks. Having an contested battlefield area where different factions or companies in FFXIV's case fight over is pretty standard in any MMO now.

QFT.
no one played ballista. i played for about four years and i literally never once saw a single player take part in those system messages about ballista starting lol i still remember riding my chocobo seeing those messages wondering wtf the battle even looked like.

as for cross server parties, how the hell does that destroy any community? i was in some really awesome parties in cross server groups in WoW, even took some screen shots of some cool ass people and we kept in touch for a few months. that sounds like community building to me.

[Blarp]

Holy crap...
er...well...

Thanks for the translation man!

However, as much as I don't want to jump on the "omfg it's a WoW Clone!" bandwagon... err... well it is...

Both games are in the same genre. They are going to be similar in form. Is a Camaro considered a Mustang clone? No, but they both have four wheels, a steering wheel, a body, and an engine. Stretching this bad analogy a bit further, they are both sports cars, but they feel and look different from one another. Will FFXIV have PVP, a dungeon finder, and raid content? Yes, but it may look and feel different than WoW's version of those systems. It's irrational to be so repulsed by FFXIV adding features that were considered successful in WoW and other games. Yoshi and team aren't developing this game in a bubble. They look outside of their personal experience to what other companies have done and what has worked and what hasn't.

[Stanislaw]

I had a feeling off-topic discussions would come up with the language-specific server brought up by Yoshi-P, but please do try to keep this thread civil and in-topic and not deal into touchy issues like racism.

Also, I would like to remind people it's not like FFXIV is going to be divided completely into their own language servers as Global servers will still exist. While I am a Japanese person who is fine with playing with other players in the Global server, I do have to say and agree that a significant number of fellow JP players will move to the Japanese language-specific servers, if only for the simple want of not having to deal with the language barrier. Personally, I think this issue is more potent than that of the issue of racism. I like playing in a Global server because I can speak/write in multiple languages.

And while some people are concerned that this may lower the population of Global servers, with the server transfers in place in FFXIV 2.0, I think there will also be server mergers. So we might not see that much of a decline in Global servers than one might think.

[Coldbrand]

Yeah, it's not wholly an issue of racism, but it certainly plays a significant role. The point is, ANYONE who played XI for a long time will tell you the JP are going bye bye. Which I think is sad since I enjoy being around people of culture's different from my own and learning from them. But without SE having mandatory international servers, we won't be seeing too many JP players anymore, and the international servers will more likely be a mix of euro/american and then maybe some hispanic and other asian groups if they really work hard on the number of translations.

[LilaAquillina]

Yes, this game will be a WoW clone. They tried to be 'unique' -- anyone remember the hype here? They were taking down the 'holy trinity'! Seamless world! no levels! Fully customizable classes!

Now they're going to copy the market leader. It makes good business sense. It's going to be a WoW clone, albeit a shinier, cleaner WoW clone. Split hairs any which way you want to, but it is what it is.

[Stanislaw]

Yes, this game will be a WoW clone. They tried to be 'unique' -- anyone remember the hype here? They were taking down the 'holy trinity'! Seamless world! no levels! Fully customizable classes!

Now they're going to copy the market leader. It makes good business sense. It's going to be a WoW clone, albeit a shinier, cleaner WoW clone. Split hairs any which way you want to, but it is what it is.

I see issues of "FFXIV is turning into WoW" comments all the time, but then again, sometimes I wonder:

Is that a bad thing?

I mean really. You said it yourself, it's going to be a WoW clone, albeit a shinier, cleaner WoW clone. Is that really a bad thing?

Jokes aside, it's too early to tell. We will only know once it's out and once we play. Only then can we pass the final judgement if it's a clone or not. Until then, it's all speculation.

[LilaAquillina]

Jokes aside, it's too early to tell. We will only know once it's out and once we play. Only then can we pass the final judgement if it's a clone or not. Until then, it's all speculation.

Can't argue with that. However, I can say that I never got into WoW too much for a reason. It was a fun game to play and it didn't have some issues that XI had -- but it also had issues that XI didn't have. Ultimately, I liked XI more.

However, it is all speculation at this point. We'll know in 2013 ^^