Return to Ivalice and A Missed Opportunity

[Vahlnir]

Considering it started as an April Fools joke that was a parody of the very real Lords of Vermilion (distributed by SE), I'm not really sure why anyone thought it wasn't going to be RTS/Moba style once they announced they were actually going to add it. There was zero chance it was going to be anything else.

That being said, a FFT style mini-game added to this game would be, in a word, amazing. I'm all for it.

I'll be honest, I wasn't aware of this...but, people I know were at the very least hoping it wouldn't be what it turned out to be. They (the devs) only had to look at WoW to see that a minion battle mini game like theirs was successful. What we got just turned out to be both unpopular and arguably a bigger mess than Diadem. It just...doesn't work or fit too well as it stands now.

[Berethos]

They (the devs) only had to look at WoW

Tell me...

At what point in the "We had this joke idea based on putting this other game into our game but with minions, but we actually like the idea so we're going to do it anyway" would they have looked at what other games have done with minion battles that aren't at all like the game that served as the original inspiration?

From start to finish, their idea was to put a Lords of Vermilion "clone" into XIV (even when the idea of putting it in was a joke). Why would they have then looked to copy a clone of Pokemon style battles?

[Vahlnir]

Tell me...

At what point in the "We had this joke idea based on putting this other game into our game but with minions, but we actually like the idea so we're going to do it anyway" would they have looked at what other games have done with minion battles that aren't at all like the game that served as the original inspiration?

From start to finish, their idea was to put a Lords of Vermilion "clone" into XIV (even when the idea of putting it in was a joke). Why would they have then looked to copy a clone of Pokemon style battles?

I was just saying, since they did at least have a little inspiration from WoW and games like it...they could have taken another look. MMOs borrow from each other all the time...and yes, I think everyone knows where the pet battles in WoW came from. It clearly didn't end up as a joke...though that's kind of ironic considering how hard it crashed and burned. What works in one place may not always work in another. This is one of those things. I feel they jumped the gun a bit is all.

[Ceasaria]

Tactics Alexander maybe one day... : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZJx...ature=youtu.be

[Valenth]

I think it's less a missed opportunity mainly because if the dev-team had the time and manpower, they probably would have done something with it. Would have been awesome to have though, but I can understand they can only do so much with the time they have. ^^

[Lilseph]

Tactics Alexander maybe one day... : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZJx...ature=youtu.be

I still need that full version of Rise in my life.

[Exodyce]

I think it's less a missed opportunity mainly because if the dev-team had the time and manpower, they probably would have done something with it. Would have been awesome to have though, but I can understand they can only do so much with the time they have. ^^

Yeah, I'm actually curious how much time and effort would have to go into a project like that. They could definitely just use the models that are already in game (but with an awesome walk-in-place animation, of course). Designing what each class can do / if they can "crossclass," and balance things could take some time, but I don't think there is anything terribly new or complex they'd have to add, especially considering they could borrow a lot from FFT itself.

[Exodyce]

Or they could have just made it FF Tactics based instead of an RTS like no one asked for to begin with. Think a lot of people were expecting it to be Pokémon-ish like WoW's pet battles or something along those lines, though. But admittedly, a FF Tactics version is a better idea.

If they used minions for an FFT-style minigame or a pokemon type game, that's be pretty awesome, haha. Lesser Panda gonna whoop some butt!

[Berethos]

I was just saying, since they did at least have a little inspiration from WoW and games like it...they could have taken another look.

And I'm just saying that there was no reason for them to look at a Pokemon style mini game when they wanted to add a Lords of Vermilion style mini game. The two have very, very little in common (if anything), so it would never have made sense for them to look at what WoW did.

And really the issue isn't really with the style of mini game added...it could be refined (some alternate modes and map variety would be nice, along with control improvements) but it's not bad by any means.

Its main issue is that you have to go up to the GS to access it and can't use other features of the game...so you have to be intentional about when you play. For a more niche addition this means even less players will regularly access it than you'd see if it was easier and more convenient to access.

[Exodyce]

Its main issue is that you have to go up to the GS to access it and can't use other features of the game...so you have to be intentional about when you play. For a more niche addition this means even less players will regularly access it than you'd see if it was easier and more convenient to access.

I really wish there was an item that would let you access certain golden saucer features (sold for MGP). Things like Verminion, Cactpot, Chocobo racing... I would race a lot more chocobos if I could queue up for it from a distance while waiting a couple minutes for something.