Should FF14 take a new route? Discussion

[RiyahArp]

Okay, thoughts.

1. the app isn't entirely good, but I think people are overreacting a lot. This is probably the mildest "pay for power" thing I have ever seen, with very limited reach save for market barons. I do think it is troublesome as a first step, but the cash shop here is still incredibly mild for what it is. Some MMOS would essentially charge us rl cash for the materials that let us meld gear, and the materia itself would be random out of a gacha box.

2. ..it's really dangerous to change direction. I'm worried they would just go in the other way and start making things a lot harder to do. Idk, I think the devs would need to do a lot of research and planning to even try, and it may be something to build into the next MMO, not this one.

3. The game does have issues. I'm playing less myself. I think it is evident that the "less content but more niche or experimental things" isn't working well.

[Kaliesto]

For one thing here is what I believe Yoshi P. should at least try:

1) All Dungeons would have random encounters instead of Fixed encounters so that way each dungeon run is different every time, he could take it further by adding rare encounters inside the dungeon like how Classic Final Fantasy always did.

2) Reduce Normal Enemy HP to a more practical amount except special enemies and give them more better abilities & specific battle patterns, this was one complaint among many players as normal enemies really don't offer any challenge whatsoever. Again this goes back to Classic Final Fantasy when even some normal enemies had something hellish behind their fierce gaze.

3) Stop relying on many instant Death Mechanics within one Savage Boss, I find this really unfair for the people who Play Savage Content as one mistake could end the raid in disaster. People who don't have that kind of time to spare constantly, and it is really deterring them away from the content half of the time.

[Vhailor]

I think SE as a whole should take a new route. If I were a stockholder, I'd be looking to fire the entire leadership team.

I really can't say for a certainty how much of a new direction FFXIV itself needs. I'd certainly remove Yoshi-P from any involvement with FFXIV if I had my way; he doesn't seem to have any ambition left in him, and the game is stagnating under his stewardship. That said, I think XIV could probably do well with only small changes; more responsiveness to the community, real efforts to add QoL features, and a bit more creativity are probably all it needs. There's a solid foundation to build on. All it needs now is a director with the willpower to take some risks.

[Oriens]

I think SE as a whole should take a new route. If I were a stockholder, I'd be looking to fire the entire leadership team.

This makes no sense. Stockholders are interested in profits, and as long as the game keeps producing numbers to their satisfaction the game will not change. SquareEnix is extremely unique in that it is the only company to ever completely REDO their MMO after a complete flop. This means they are probably more conservative than ever in changing the status quo of what's working to try new things. To the company, Yoshida is the one who salvaged their game and made it profitable.

It may seem the game is stagnant to you. Stockholders see numbers and make decisions on that, not on their in-game experience.

By the way, I completely agree the game is stagnant (recently unsubbed after seeing the latest live letter) but to say you'd fire the entire leadership team if you were a stockholder makes absolutely zero sense.

[Vhailor]

This makes no sense. Stockholders are interested in profits, and as long as the game keeps producing numbers to their satisfaction the game will not change. SquareEnix is extremely unique in that it is the only company to ever completely REDO their MMO after a complete flop. This means they are probably more conservative than ever in changing the status quo of what's working to try new things. To the company, Yoshida is the one who salvaged their game and made it profitable.

It may seem the game is stagnant to you. Stockholders see numbers and make decisions on that, not on their in-game experience.

By the way, I completely agree the game is stagnant (recently unsubbed after seeing the latest live letter) but to say you'd fire the entire leadership team if you were a stockholder makes absolutely zero sense.

There's a difference between short-term profits and long-term stability and viability. As an investor, I pay more attention to the latter than the former. SE's practises and the resulting financial reports are an illusion, a sugar high. It would make me tremendously nervous were I one of SE's stockholders.

Being overly-conservative is just as harmful as being overly-risky. Both guarantee the eventual failure of an organization. SE has been overly-conservative not just with FFXIV, but with all of the franchises I've played under their corporate umbrella over the past five years or so. It's a recipe for disaster.

[Jybril]

make a new mmo with action based combat is my thing. as others said, they would need to rework this game from the ground up and a lot of people won't like it. the watered down battle system is killing us from any fun and new content.
I just wanna new ff mmo at this point.
I am sorry but I can barely stomach this game anymore.

[Savagelf]

monthly boycott of a free service how does that help anyone. the app is free. SE is doing fine

[KaivaC]

monthly boycott of a free service how does that help anyone. the app is free. SE is doing fine

As mentioned in other threads, it is starting a dangerous trend in search of money. Why would we need the app? Communications? We already have that in the form of Discord and TeamSpeak, the former of which is usually preferred. Additional currency for what? These are things they should have added with the Eorzea app that is already available. At present, it is optional - a bad option, but an option nonetheless. But this is the start of something that, four years into FFXIV's life, should not have been made in the first place. If they were going to do it, it should've been added into the already existing app, provided they fixed that rather than just making something that is overwhelmingly negative.

[KisaiTenshi]

As mentioned in other threads, it is starting a dangerous trend in search of money. Why would we need the app? Communications? We already have that in the form of Discord and TeamSpeak, the former of which is usually preferred. Additional currency for what? These are things they should have added with the Eorzea app that is already available. At present, it is optional - a bad option, but an option nonetheless. But this is the start of something that, four years into FFXIV's life, should not have been made in the first place. If they were going to do it, it should've been added into the already existing app, provided they fixed that rather than just making something that is overwhelmingly negative.

The trend, in the mobile space, is to have dedicated "chat" apps that you can sell premium "sticker" and "emotes" in. That's where i see that heading.

[Shurrikhan]

The trend, in the mobile space, is to have dedicated "chat" apps that you can sell premium "sticker" and "emotes" in. That's where i see that heading.

So, LINE after you ban (by threat of lawsuit) the use of anything resembling your IP from being sold as stickers on LINE?