Thread: This is how FFXIV should have launched.

Long story short: I tried open beta, thought it was terrible, didn't buy it. Back in June-ish, I was bored of all other MMOs and decided, "Eh, FFXIV is $15, why not?" To my surprise, it was actually semi-decent, but it lacked...uh, absolutely everything, and the combat was still a pretty broken mess. I lasted about two months before work really picked up and I decided to put it down until it was in a better state. Come January, I hear that a lot of stuff has been added! Neat. I didn't have a chance to check it out before subs reupped, so again, I figured, "Eh, why not?"

Again, to my surprise, it's actually improved! Combat feels much more intuitive than it did previously, latency aside; classes feel much more defined (before, I was a THM that casted almost completely CON spells); there are airships, chocobos, factions, and actual NPCs out in the world. All in all, as the title says, this is where FFXIV should have been at launch, or somewhere close (I know map revamps and 'advanced' jobs are coming, and are both desperately needed). It still feels kinda like late beta, but then, looking at actual production timetables, this would be late beta stage for any other MMO, considering they tend not to get rushed out the door after a year. (MMOs aren't Madden games; it doesn't work that way, man. T_T)

I don't envy the team for having to rebuild a completely broken game, and I don't envy the players who had enough brand loyalty/time/stubbornness to stay while the game slowly rebuilt itself over the time. I know that many of those Day 1 players feel rightfully bitter towards everything the game is, but from the perspective of an outsider looking in after months of not paying attention to it, FFXIV circa January 2012 is miles ahead of FFXIV June 2011, and is an entirely different game from FFXIV September 2010.

Just wanted to offer up a slightly different perspective on things, rather than the usual fare.

It's definitely getting there, but I think until 2.0 comes out people will be wanting. I played at launch, quit, and started back about 4 weeks ago. In 4 weeks I have managed to get 50 thaum, 42 weaver, and a few other misc jobs for abilities. It was fun, but now it seems my Thaum has nothing to do (so I am leveling Con now).

I think the system is getting pretty close (sans the horrible UI lag), but the content is still a far cry off.

Originally Posted by Zeref

Before FFXIV 1-year grace period, I was a nice person that everyone liked lol.

Hence the "rightfully bitter" part. If I'd played this game and this game alone for a year, I'd want to punt babies off a bridge into a freezing river full of maneating crocodiles, sharks, AND tigers. Yes, all three.

Like I said, not envying your position at all.

Originally Posted by Brigandier

It's definitely getting there, but I think until 2.0 comes out people will be wanting. I played at launch, quit, and started back about 4 weeks ago. In 4 weeks I have managed to get 50 thaum, 42 weaver, and a few other misc jobs for abilities. It was fun, but now it seems my Thaum has nothing to do (so I am leveling Con now).

I think the system is getting pretty close (sans the horrible UI lag), but the content is still a far cry off.

The horrible UI latency + position update latency (i.e. the-dodge-Ifrit fire o no you didn't problem) is what's keeping me from fully enjoying the game. Once that gets fixed (sooner, if not later) then I'm all in, but it's just downright frustrating because things are a CHORE to do because of the UI latency. Skyrim actually has similar issues when your inventory/save game gets packed lategame, too much stuff to scroll through leads to funky load times.