Stop trying to be like WoW. Stop selling out.

[RushDivine]

People can today still play FF7, 8 and 9 as they were in all their original glory. They'll forever be immortalized on plastic discs. Sadly, as it stands only a shadow remains of what XI was in it’s prime. I know better than most that an MMO has a life cycle, I lived through the decline and fall of Ultima Online which was equally revolutionary to the genre. FFXI was without a doubt revolutionary, it was the worthy successor to Ever Quest which had provided the framework for much of XI’s incentive mechanics. I played every MMO on the market, I did the book work too, the community mechanisms and supporting mechanics of FFXI were nothing short of genius; the proof was in the unparalleled depth of relationships and the strength of community.

Are you going to put the same team that has neutered FFXI in charge of XIV? Have you fired all of the staff that made XI great or did you tie their hands SE? Who is calling the shots today, just who is making the games?

In your efforts to monetize XI and XIV you've let the uninformed and unqualified lead. Look what it's gotten you. You've sold out and lost your credibility, you're now just another company servicing the bottom line. You used to have vision and dominance in creative story telling thru video games. It truly breaks my heart to know what XIV could have been. It could have been better than XI which would have ensured your companies place in the history books. In the future people will look to the individual talent of specific games instead of looking to the SE brand.

You know what you're doing SE. Having said that it makes seeing XIV as anything but a betrayal very difficult. You're not new to this, you had XI and the input from fans like myself. You willfully tried to f#$% us and now you're paying dearly for it; however I fear not dearly enough. There will regrettably be enough WoW'zers come along and tolerate this sub-par, sad excuse for a Final Fantasy title that it might just satisfy the aforementioned uninformed -- who will surely then champion this as a success. I know, and you know what XIV could have been, and so do millions of others; you failed in the eyes of your most valuable and loyal customers.

Has anyone ever read or heard a positive recount of SE technical support? I certainly have not. Your support for your own products is as half hearted and detached as your efforts to produce at the standards you once held. You simply have refused to listen, the very late date of this letter to you is proof enough of that. Where was this avenue when it was truly needed? If it wasn’t for a sheer lack of options I believe adamantly that you would find yourselves today at the edge of a financial abyss.

What has truly vexed me SE is the reality that you had to know, you surely had to know that the initial player base for XIV was going to be existing XI players. So you either willingly sold us out to appeal to an entirely different player demographic (WoW’zers) -- or you developed this game in a vacuum and wrote us all off. But, something just doesn’t add up all the way, it seems unimaginable that a corporation with your resources and native talent could make such a mistake. Again, and again, I am forced to conclude that you simply f#$%ed us, the original XI player base.

Below I will list just a few of the things that come to mind as I’m writing. This is by no means a full account of what I see as wrong with the game.

Where did the party go? Why did you disband the community? You’ve done everything you possibly could in this game to remove reliance on your fellow man. No one has the opportunity to begin relationships in the game. There is so much testimony to this end, it is not guess work, it has been proven in games predating even XI that when you create situations of reliance you increase the opportunity for relationships to form. So why the f#$% did you remove that?

What happened with the Auction House system? Instead of improving upon what you had in XI. Or switching to an NPC vendor based system all together you create some kind cluster-f#$% hybrid of the player Bazaar farms that used to congregate outside Jeuno. Not in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that to be a superior base for the player-to-player economy.

Why can I equip anything at level 1?
You've robbed me of a visual sense of progression and a way to bare my success and status to the community. Furthermore to this point: you've quite intentionally made any kind of real merit based distinction impossible. Even the Linkshell icons seem somehow undistinguished. Everyone looks the same; which would be fine if this game was 9 years old and the base was all in end-game. That is not the case, and it's not cool to have no visual separation between beginners and non. Where did my Bazaar comment go? I would gladly give the ability to have two colors in my hair for the simply luxury of a bazaar comment. Or where is the equivalent to such methods of expressing your individuality?

There is no sense of identity or belonging in this game. I was proud to be Bastokan, I loved my home town and its unique history and culture. It was hard getting to other nations which made the trips meaningful and rewarding. You've made XIV so easy that despite the breath-taking visuals it feels hollow and flat. There is no story line that unites the three great nations against a common enemy; or even a feeling of anticipation for greater things to come in my life here.

The camp. You got rid of the camp... There was significant research done in studies showing that MMO's where people 'camped' had far richer in game player cultures and closer communities. When people working in groups are allowed to stop between fights, or wait for new arrivals, they begin to socialize which leads to the creation of friendships. Again, why did you remove this SE? -- You had to know.

Where are the dungeons? Every MMO sense time and memorial has had dungeons; for f@$%-sake even D&D had dungeons. Of course to no ones surprise XIV didn't include any. I feel like the entire world is just a giant plate with grass on one half and sand on the other.

In an nutshell nothing has any meaning in this game because the social mechanisms that create the illusion of value are simply not there. Why the f#$% does anyone play an MMO and not an RPG? Because of the social influences; when you neutered the community you created a vacuum that cannot possibly facilitate the placement of value on anything. Which means no one is going to cultivate a character, no on will invest, no one will care, no one will play for a second longer than the eye-candy and instant-gratification entertains them.

I could go on, and on, and on... with all of the utter failures in this games mechanics but I won’t because I know it is falling on deaf ears. I know the talent that created XI is still accessible. I know they have the answers and if SE wanted those solutions they would have acquired them long ago. I am forced to conclude that this sham of a forum is only here to facilitate the creation a hybrid game that is essentially WoW with FF visuals.

[auritribe]

Looks like someone forgot to take their prozac today.

[Shougun]

None of your points lead to describing FFXIV as being a WoW sellout.

In fact most if not all points were in agreement to a WoW system (or almost any other mmo besides square's).

[Umo]

You're still playing.
Funny, isn't it?
On a side note:

The purpose of this forum is for players to submit feedback and suggestions related to the FINAL FANTASY XIV official forums, The Lodestone and other official websites concerning FINAL FANTASY XIV.

Do your homework...

[Masamune1004]

A story.

[Hagito]

I have to agree with most of this.

1. The first time I saw the maps, I only found plain fields, no dungeons - no challenge.

2. Parties, and social stuff are pretty limited in this game to be honest, 99% of my time in-game I'm soloing killing stuff, because I don't really need other's help for some reason, which is weird.

3. Gear should be level locked, a level 50 armour should not be able to be equiped by a level 1 player. There's no visual difference of who is "pro" x3

4. Linkshells, they're supposed to be like "guilds" or "factions" but you can join more than one, which takes the whole sense of it, not to mention the icons, yes, they all look the same. On most games, icons can be customized, even back to Ragnarok Online (that one is old enough to give you an example...)

5. The game is about grinding?, so far, that's what I have done for over 30 levels ._.

6. Market is messed up, when I search for an item, most of them will have nonsense prices like 999,999,999 lol.

Think I'm gonna end up again in Perfect World, bleh x.x

[MariyaShidou]

Where are the dungeons? Every MMO sense time and memorial has had dungeons; for f@$%-sake even D&D had dungeons.

That's the only thing that caught my attention. Unless my sarcasm radar is off, D&D is named Dungeons & Dragons because they have both...

[Fiosha_Maureiba]

I could respond in length, but this looks like more of a farewell letter that wanted to vent first.
edit: Yup, it was a vent letter, OP hasn't been back in a few weeks.

Anyhew, I disagree OP. I might suggest Everquest 1 and hunt for servers that replicate launch rules, almost painfully slow.
(not saying it to be rude. It sounds closer to what might float your boat).

[Doulifee]

i would love people to stop discarding good idea because they are implemented in wow. But i agree that the game need dungeon of various difficulty for everyone.

[Eldaena]

This letter of sorts seems quite late. Some of the mechanics pointed out as flaws are currently being worked on. Actually, every aspect of this game is being overhauled. Also, one particular point I wanted to say was camping, in my opinion, splits up the community a lot more than the mostly instanced content we have now. We now can openly talk with other parties while waiting to enter and not feel in any real competition with them. Another point, there are supposed to be additional dungeons being added right around the corner, in 1.21. I'm sorry, but the only thing you're saying to me in this "letter" is "I'm impatient."