If I could interview Yoshida.

[RushDivine]

Mr. Yoshida, I would like to get some straight answers from you regarding the motivations and reasoning behind the direction XIV appears to be going in.

1. Why was XIV so closely modeled after XI in virtually every aspect except play style? What was the reasoning behind the shift from a game model that was clearly very successful in XI. Why isn't the CoP era of XI the new XIV bible? It appears to me that there is still a struggle going on to try and compromise between what XI was and what XIV should be.

2. When you introduce new content into the game such as the very controversial Goobbue mounts, what considerations are given to the games overall tone, theme and direction -- more to the point, is it intentional, are you using specific kinds of content to appeal to a certain demographic? As many people have commented: if you don't like a game item, you don't have to use it. Which is very true but it's not the heart of the issue for many of us. We want there to be consistency within our fantasy world, when you start introducing items that push the fantasy beyond a certain point it starts to verge on absurd and phony which diminishes the overall immersion for some players.

3. Many of the original players of XI hold the firm belief that at it's prime it was nothing short of a masterpiece; one worthy of a continuing legacy. What is your opinion of XI at it's prime in the CoP era, what lessons did it have to teach you personally about MMO design; are those lessons in any way influencing you as you develop XIV? More specifically, what did you learn from the mechanisms which fostered the rare community inside XI?

4. I would prefer a straight answer to this question Mr. Yoshida. Even a yes or no response would be acceptable. Will XIV ever be what XI was during the CoP era? I see myself playing on a Mithra, I see that there is Sandy, Bastok, and Windy; even Linkshells... It's all so familiar until I begin to move. Can I eventually expect to find the home I left in XI or not?

Thank you for your time Mr. Yoshida.

[neorei]

remember mr yoshida didn't start the game.

[RemVye]

Maybe you should go play FFXI?


2nd post ever /welcome to the forums, prepare your will

[Douten]

For question 1 I've read that they wanted XI player to feel familiar when playing XIV. They've stated that their primary audience was XI players then other players.

I'm guessing they didn't follow more aspect like XI because they're making XIV, not XI-2 or something, plus doing so would mean that XI will most likely be shut down. It was their goal to have both game running concurrently because there was even a 'deal' when you're paying for both game simultaneously.

Edit:
Also for number 4, expect a high and likely no. Erozea is not Vana'diel nor should it be.

I left XI for XIV because I wanted something new and fresh, for better or for worst, not more of the same.

[Cichy]

Seriously, XI was the XI and there never will be another XI because XI era is done an over. Can we move on?
This seems like another one of those "I want HNMs I can camp all day" threads underneath.

[RushDivine]

neorei:
I understand that. In the aftermath of the rejection to XIV's new style I feel that these kinds of questions are all the more relevant. What is the ultimate direction going to be.

RemVye:
Truthfully I would be playing XI today if there were still parties.
FFXI is not the same game it was during CoP -- in fact it doesn't even resemble it anymore.

Edit*
Why is XI-2 a bad thing? Taking a concept that works and giving it new graphics and upgrades is not a bad thing. This happens in the FPS realm all the time and it's a wonderful thing. In light of the huge rejection XIV has received, I'm not sure how you can so easily dismiss the notion that XIV should have been from day one XI-2. I don't believe anyone can honestly say that had it launched as XI-2 we would be facing the same scale of revisions we are today.

[RemVye]

RemVye:
Truthfully I would be playing XI today if there were still parties.
FFXI is not the same game it was during CoP -- in fact it doesn't even resemble it anymore.

I know this, you know this, everyone knows this. XIV != XI. XI != XIV. Let it go. XIV is going to be like WoW, and you're going to like it or you're going to hate it. Mounts, Instances, Daily Quests (leves), Casual and 'hardcore' content.

I like it, I play games for fun... I'm having fun. If you're not having fun don't expect them to change everything for what you want or how you think it should be... it's not going to be FFXI.

[RemVye]

Edit*
Why is XI-2 a bad thing? Taking a concept that works and giving it new graphics and upgrades is not a bad thing. This happens in the FPS realm all the time and it's a wonderful thing. In light of the huge rejection XIV has received, I'm not sure how you can so easily dismiss the notion that XIV should have been from day one XI-2. I don't believe anyone can honestly say that had it launched as XI-2 we would be facing the same scale of revisions we are today.

I know this, you know this, everyone knows this. HAD xiv been xi-2 at DAY 1 it would be much more successful than it is now. Unfortunately we got a turd with some glitter on it. Now Yoshi and crew is working hard to shape this turd into the Mona Lisa.

You're clearly new but the question you're asking have been answered 1000x over and over again.

[Sephrick]

Mr. Yoshida, I would like to get some straight answers from you regarding the motivations and reasoning behind the direction XIV appears to be going in.

1. Why was XIV so closely modeled after XI in virtually every aspect except play style? What was the reasoning behind the shift from a game model that was clearly very successful in XI. Why isn't the CoP era of XI the new XIV bible? It appears to me that there is still a struggle going on to try and compromise between what XI was and what XIV should be.

2. When you introduce new content into the game such as the very controversial Goobbue mounts, what considerations are given to the games overall tone, theme and direction -- more to the point, is it intentional, are you using specific kinds of content to appeal to a certain demographic? As many people have commented: if you don't like a game item, you don't have to use it. Which is very true but it's not the heart of the issue for many of us. We want there to be consistency within our fantasy world, when you start introducing items that push the fantasy beyond a certain point it starts to verge on absurd and phony which diminishes the overall immersion for some players.

3. Many of the original players of XI hold the firm belief that at it's prime it was nothing short of a masterpiece; one worthy of a continuing legacy. What is your opinion of XI at it's prime in the CoP era, what lessons did it have to teach you personally about MMO design; are those lessons in any way influencing you as you develop XIV? More specifically, what did you learn from the mechanisms which fostered the rare community inside XI?

4. I would prefer a straight answer to this question Mr. Yoshida. Even a yes or no response would be acceptable. Will XIV ever be what XI was during the CoP era? I see myself playing on a Mithra, I see that there is Sandy, Bastok, and Windy; even Linkshells... It's all so familiar until I begin to move. Can I eventually expect to find the home I left in XI or not?

Thank you for your time Mr. Yoshida.

1) Tanaka commented on this. It was to allow players of XI who were attached to their characters a chance to create an avatar similar to the one on which they spent so many years.

2) Get over it. The whole thing is blown out of proportion. It's just a fun little gift.

3) It was as much a masterpiece as are the crayon-covered sheets of paper on the refrigerators of parents the world over. XI was a decent game in which I personally invested a lot of time but it was far from the shining example of what a game should be that people make it out to be.

4) What parts of CoP do you want, exactly? If you mean the phenomenal story line, I'm there with you.

But if you're talking about things like a frustratingly long grind for non-flavor-of-the-month jobs, arbitrary fetch missions that require exorbant amounts of time to essentially just clear a hurdle, RMT-dominated economy, the absolute need for at least five other players willing to sacrifice their time to do anything of value and the absurd amount of time spent watching a Moogle spin because a healer and/or tank just wouldn't give your group the time of day because there was no refresher/SATA/Sam army, etc. etc. etc. then no thank you.

[Cichy]

XI players really have selective memory when it comes to crap.

Lets look at COP,

Positive - great story, few cool looking mobs, some interesting BC's that required teamwork

Negatives - extremely long cool downs (even if you failed a BC usually had to wait for 2h to reset), ENM reset and very long trigger quest, Tiamat repop extremely long, Vrtra and Jorm drops usless, tons more NMs with stupid pop times (like astral earring NM), Jailers extremely low drop rates (remember when triggers were not 100%? fun yeah)

Players now do not have patience for doing stuff for hours upon hours for a chance at a simple thing. Game needs to be more accessible to players who have 2-3 h to log on and play and not high school kids who can play for 12 hours a day. XI in COP era was a full time job.