Do You Want Revisions or a New Game?

[Talraen]

There has been a lot of angst on the forums for some time about how FFXIV's content update formula is stale, the jobs are too similar, etc., along with a number of interesting ideas on how to address these issues. Many of these suggestions would require large-scale changes to the game, often of the kind that will make a lot of old content obsolete. (Removing classes, for example.)

It seems to me that most of these ideas, even the really good ones, are unlikely to make it into the current game. They're just too risky, as changing the fundamentals of the game might drive off a good portion of the user base.

This is Final Fantasy, a series that has always been known for reinventing itself with each new entry. I'm beginning to think that having an evergreen MMO isn't the best use of Square Enix's talents. I know the idea of winding down an MMO that isn't dying seems ridiculous, but is it perhaps worth considering? What if Square Enix were to embrace what makes Final Fantasy Final Fantasy and give us something new?

To be honest, I don't think this will happen for the same business reasons that prevent fundamental changes - don't rock the boat. But I wonder if, despite the impracticality, this is an idea that appeals to more than just myself. What do you think - do you want them to change and improve FFXIV indefinitely, or steer towards an "ending" of sorts and start on something new?

[Stormfur]

SE is no stranger to MMOs, they had many parts of FFXI that worked well, so much that the series is still going. They should have taken the parts that worked and ported them over to FFXIV. Sure, it might be safer to go with a known formula that works, but "safe" at what cost? I read in an interview that when Yoshi P was doing 2.0, he had to make a lot of quick decisions. I kind of wish he would bring back a bit of that risk-taking personality to the game to inject some fresh air into it.

[Corue]

The game's been in trouble since the start. The whole 1.0 disaster is still affecting the game today. Since they had to use the original servers to keep the game running they're struggling with even basic MMO features like character creation. Even ignoring that the higher-ups lost so much money on the original that they're scared to invest again and the devs have to run on a budget of peanuts.

We'd have to wait until A Realm Reborn: Reborn until some serious core changes come along.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I still enjoy this game.

[Fhaerron]

New game.

Take the good parts of XI & take the good parts of XIV, look at what other MMO do good and take some inspiration there. And create a new game with this.

They can't untangle the spaghetti code that 1.0 was. They tried their best to untangle but at some point you can't untangle anymore without the spaghetti breaking. And give us better hardware (servers) why we're at it and please fix (change) the god awful routing you're using.

Please look forward to it?

[Vaer]

For what it's trying to be, basically an accessible MMO, it is decent at it. I wouldn't consider large scale changes (think what happened to XI when Abyssea and especially when Adoulin dropped, people that liked the older horizontal gear version left. or even SWG NGE) to core mechanics unless the game is doing really badly.

The other thing they could do is make self contained content with unique mechanics that only affect that content. (Sort of like how PvP is with it's own set of skills, etc) They kinda tried with Eureka, but in the end it's basically the same thing with damage dealt/taken multipliers. They could have modified the skills in there, or have gear stats that only work in Eureka, battle system modifications that only affect Eureka, etc)

I'd rather they just make a new game if they really want to shake up core gameplay mechanics. That's just me though.

[Talraen]

I still enjoy this game.

To be clear, I also still enjoy this game. I still play obsessively, and I don't share most of the complaints about it getting stale. But at the same time, I'd rather be playing something new in five years than still playing this exact same game, because Final Fantasy is all about change. I think change is inevitable, the question is what form it takes.

[MOZZYSTAR]

I love this game and I find it to be very fun, but I would definitely love a new FF MMO that was more like 8, 9, 10, 12, and CC, I think. Something that looks a little more fantasy. I'm replaying 8, 9, and 12 and I'm totally blown away by how beautiful the towns and races are and it kind of makes me dissatisfied with FFXIV as a Final Fantasy title but I still love the game and the story. I think if they were to make a new FF MMO (not based on/inspired by XI or XIV) and started from a clean slate (if possible), they could possibly address the issues they're having now, like character creation, housing, races, et cetera. If they were ever to make a new MMO, I hope it would be after they finish the main(?) story on this one, like... after conquering ascians or something.

[Aylis]

I'm torn on the subject. Most of me want's a totally brand new game. However that same part of me feels that even with a brand new game things wouldn't be any better. I only say that because SE want's the best of both worlds and wants to keep things multiplatform. I guess I can't blame them in a way since their home demographic is mostly made up of console players as I understand it while most in the west are PC gamers. FFXIV because of that was designed around consoles at the forefront and PC more or less an after thought. I fear their next MMO would just follow the same suit either way. It's no different then FFXI from the time I played it. It felt very much like a console game in terms of controls and play mechanics with its menus and such. That part of me that wants a new game would probably be more happy if SE would settle on either or instead of trying to do both. I could forgive most of FFXIV's issues and problems if it was strictly a console only game. However as a PC gamer, I wont lie but I do expect a little more of what an MMO on PC offers in its total then what FFXIV delivers.

[Cerbolt]

I mean, ideally, I'd love them to continue FFXIV indefinitely and update the graphics, ui, gameplay etc. But I doubt that'll ever happen. So the best I can hope for is a brand new ff mmo sometime in the future. Hopefully they've learnt a thing or two by then.