letter to SE from new player

[irongripz]

hello SE

i like to start off by saying Thank you for making so many great ff game i have played them all and have enjoyed most of them.

This is my first time posting on your forums, but i would like to give you my opinion of the game. and where it stands. i have been wanting to do this for a while but i have been afraid to make post when i know my opinion will just get trolled by people like, Alerith, Wynn, whoopeeraging, kallera, preypacer, and a few others that will Defend your product and will for sure troll, and attack anyone that does not share their opinion. with the end result of any debate being, "if you don't like the game just quit" People like this really do make me not want to post and make me want to quit. i don't see why you allow them to keep trolling your forums. you should seriously look @ how many post they got and how many of them are them just arguing with someone else opinion and not actually contributing to a topic.

Now i know i just threw out allot of bait and I'm sorry if this offends any of you but i only call it as i see it. i have no wish to argue or debate witch is reason i have not done so yet, and main reason i rarely post on forums for any game.

Now i would like to tell you a little about my self. i first started playing ffxi as my first mmo. me and a RL friend both played D2 before that.the same day i went and got ffxi he got wow. we both came to work the next day geeked up bragging about the new game we found. and neither of us wanted to quit to play the other.

ill try to make this long story as short as i possibly can. a few years went by i kept playing ffxi and loved it.But still every day my rl friend and I would debate on witch game was better. Now you see, i have a passion for pvp, and i liked ffxi pvp, but it was just to hard to actually do and you gave no incentive to actually do it. so eventually i had to go to wow just for that reason, it actually put effort into that aspect of the game. It showed me they cared about that kind of player base, and wanted us to actually play their game.

So i went to wow have been playing for five years now. i have downed most content. and have achieved glad titles for multiple seasons. I bought this game because a few of my RL buddies wanted me to try it. convinced me $30 bucks and free sub till what they figured would be ps3 relaunch, was worth it. it has been for most part, but only because I'm playing with my RL friends not really because the game is much fun. I must agree with most that it feels like a beta.

now I'm not trying to turn this into a wow ver ffxi thread or anything like that. just want you to know what persuaded me to switch. Wow offered me something that FFxi would never give me. On the forums back then anything to do with pvp got trolled and the threads locked, because of people allot like mentioned above. you know I'm sure there was allot of subs lost because of this reason, and I'm sure this opinion will get trolled on these forums also.

now i haven't seen many threads get locked. and i see you guys are actually trying to get advise from NA player base this time. the communication has been great to say the least. i thank you for this, it was also another concern i had with ffxi, i felt like since i was NA player my opinion did not matter. I just fear that you don't understand that most people posting on forums do not speak for those like me who do not wish to argue, or just think that you wouldn't listen anyhow, because of the same people overshadowing any ideas put out. the vast majority of people just don't complain or even care to.

it is your job to make all aspect for all player bases fun, not just the people crying on forums asking for this or nay saying that. you need to look at other successful mmos, and make comparisons to what your game is missing, and add it. this goes for future features that will be added to other games. this way everyone gets what they want out of your mmo, and don't have to look for other games to fulfill their gaming desires. To be honest i got tired of hearing there is plenty of game based on pvp go play one of them. that attitude was only backed by fact you never put effort into ffxi pvp. so i did just that.


now to end my why i had to quit ffix and why wow was better for me rant. i would like to finally get into what i like and my issues with ffxiv.

Slow pace fighting style- this is quite appalling as to how a mmo made in this day and age would be so slow. you seriously need to address this. i should be able to use my abilities the instant i press the button to use them.

UI- How can this UI be so out dated seriously? this is a downgrade to even ffxi. i cannot fathom how you do not have any kind of drag and drop system. no party search feature. making macros is completely to much work. trying to switch gear and navigate threw the interface is way to slow. I'm sure I'm missing allot here but I'm sure it was covered in other threads.

Server lag- I did a test because i saw a post about how someone said they was running circles around a friend an it would take a while for it to show it on his pc. i tested this and was just appalled at how bad this is.

Copy pasted material. I'm not just talking about the map. the whole leve system feels copy/pasted. all the way up to 50 you do the same thing. it like a simple watered down, daily system wow uses. least wow make it almost feel like a story, or part of the world. crystals in middle of every camp that look the same and never change just makes me yawn, nothing creative here at all.

Jumping, swimming- How can you not have these? seriously how many action, fighting, rpg, mmos, just any game you control a char, don't have these? another thing i don't understand and makes me think you never learned from mistakes made in past. these are key in todays mmo. it takes away from free roam char feeling. It also hinders and waters down the possibilities of content that you will be adding. you should see how other games implement it into strategies for their content.

invisible walls- What is with this? i forgot what these was because wow don't have them. the game makes you feel like your in a maze, but you get a map that looks like a 10 year old went to town with crayons. do away with these. if people jump off LL bridge let em die and return. this just make the world feeling not feel like a world at all.

No pvp. ok well with all the issues listed above i can see why it is not in the game. it wouldn't be fun anyhow. but seriously would it have been so hard to least add duel system so for those who do like to pvp can least do some with a friend? even if its slow and laggy and all that lol. i like to test my char powers against something other than AI, its not not much of a challenge and can never substitute NI.

mailbox, AH- i don't think i seriously need to tell you why these are needed. not having them is just /facepalm

Now to what i do like about the game, sadly this list is not very long.

Graphics- i love the graphics in this game there has not been may game to actually work my pc or the video but this one does. the games looks really good all except the copy pasted landscape.

Cutscenes, story- i love the ingame cutscenes it always keep me into that actually pve, and storyline of the game. this is something you do way better than wow. i know the game is lacking content, but i know when you make it least this part of the game will be good.

yoshi p letters- i love fact the new GD keeps us informed on what he is planing, he makes me feel like hes not just a ffxi fanboy trying to make ffxi-hd he sound like he actually played other mmos and will get the game going in right direction. to bad you didn't have him make the game to begin with.


so basically where I'm getting at, is my RL friends told me to make a post, said people need to hear from new players like me. i have only been playing for bout 2 weeks. With help from my RL friends i have came a long way. i got my mount. I'm ready for ifrit 30. these guys bought the game @ release and bought the $80 box set. i can understand why they feel so irate when they heard about subs coming before they expected it to. i only paid 30 and if not for them i would feel it was a waste of my money. they don't plan on staying. they now want me to go back to wow. we feel as if you couldn't get it right in 5 year,'notice that how long i been playing wow' how can you get it right in one year? my friends was completely pumped for this game but i was sceptic.i had high hopes that the reviews i saw online was not true, but after actually trying the game myself i can see why it got so many bad reviews. you guys admitted you did not deliver the good expectedly the first time. Why should we open our wallets blindly, to hope it gets delivered the second time, or if it will be deliver on time.

Apparently wow is offering free D3 game for agreeing to sub for the next year. i have to say that is appealing to me. and ill probably do it just because i have subbed for 5 years already what is another one right? i wont get pvp out of this till then so i might as well go jump on the bandwagon. i fear that i might not come back. i just cant see paying for sub to this game if all the issues i listed above wont be taking care of for another year. now i know some of it will come before 2.0 but still its not enough the major issues are not going to be fixed till 2.0 or after.

Basically where I'm getting at is this. the game is not finished. it feels like your are polishing a beta. there will be allot of games coming out within the next year. tera, D3, swor, and a new wow xpac. you have allot of comp there to compete with. do you think charging for subs, before your game is ready to compete against these games is wise? As of the day you start charging you will lose three players, and fans of the series. And I'm sure there is allot of people who feel like i do, but will not post or let you know. I also feel as if you couldn't get it right in 5 year,'notice that how long i been playing wow' how can you get it right in one year? my friends was completely pumped for this game but i was skeptic. and now we all feel as if you did not deliver

So to end this rant and before the trolls get in here telling me to leave the games. i would like to say goodbye SE thanks for the effort but it just was not enough. I might come back,and check out 2.0 but i probably will miss the relaunch if I'm having fun in another game.


Best of luck with relaunch