Make FFXIV a 'Sandbox' game. No way it can compete against upcoming 'Themeparks'.

[gifthorse]

Yes, I would. Garlean troops, fallen enemies and bandits attacking will be controlled by AI, whereas other players will use the opportunity to nail you down to the floor without so much as a breathing space. At least the AI can be controlled to be responsive in only a certain area, whereas players will see you anyway on the mini-map, and come running after you with a nuke or weapon skill ready. And when the players are f***tards who want nothing more than to ruin people's pleasure of playing a game, I'll take the AI kills over PvP any day. So yea, I'll say it's safer.

Some people have no understanding of dramatic tension. Those Pker types are what makes games interesting and dangerous. Besides, consentual PvP servers are always a possibility. The only reason i said PvP was necessary was because I could see urban sprawl being an issue and players would need a way to quash that. Siege battles would be needed, but this could be in the form of consentual PvP where nobody is caught off guard.

[gifthorse]

Gift what you have to release the pc's in xiv are on the same side. That's how the world was designed so of course we aren't fighting each other. now if say LL, Uldah, and Gridania were at war with each other looking to conguest the other lands, than PvP would be a necessity. This game in that respect is not designed like wow or rift with faction at each others throat or aion between the two sides.

now arena style PvP where the best warriors test there might on behalf of their companies would be a really neat idea SE can look into to bring PvP into xiv and make it fit the world. You gotta look at PvP from the perspective of the game.

Faction PvP doesn't make sense and I'm not endorsing it. Faction PvP limits freedom by, again, telling people how to play and who to kill.

[Seikninkuru]

Faction pvp is terrible. Free for all none or at all(my motto).

[gifthorse]

Really? Let me correct a bit of a error. "Currently all of those games do" *nothing at all*, considering that they haven't even launched (if you exclude that blandfest wow clone that's rift), most of those don't even have a firm release date, and no one has any idea if they will have any real quality behind the PR claims.

Yes because all of the beta footage of those games are just scams.

There's no need to be "sandbox" in order to compete. All it needs is more rides, and better rides than the competition, which is entirely possible.
It already has plenty diversifying and unique features (the armory systems for instance). I do find it funny, though, that some, OP included, clamor for the removal of the unique features the game *already has* and then say that it needs to be unique to compete.
Quite telling.

Presumptuous much? At what point, just tell me this, did I ask for the removal of the armory system or any of FFXIV's unique features? A sandbox game wouldn't discourage group play, the armory system, or any of the good things about FFXIV, but it would however give FFXIV more of a chance in the industry to capture a bigger player base. Possibly, anyway.

What's quite telling is your inability to express any hesitation about how right you always are. But really, you don't know that the addition of more content - at a very slow pace might I add - will be enough to ensure this game's success. You're just stating that because you feel like it or something.

[gifthorse]

Which sadly people who never played FF games feel it shouldn't be a "FF", and more like a "standard MMO". If FFXI was a standard MMO, every year after NA release where they kept saying it will die this this year etc woulda been correct.

Go to a thread where people are actually asking for this to be a standard MMO and then say that. Your idea of what a FF MMO should be is one perspective and based off the only rendition of a FF MMO. There is no reason FF MMOs can't change when the need arises.

[gifthorse]

I don't get the theme park metaphor. Are you comparing quests and game content to rides in a theme park? Seems like a far fetched metaphor tbh.

It's not my own metaphor. It's a gaming term...

[Verecund]

Personally, I was really hoping that this game would've been more of a PvE/PvP hybrid with heavy faction, lore, and plot involvment. Since PvP was supposedly to be implemented anyway, I think it would've given the world an interesting (though quite un-Japanese) and more chaotic feel to the world, with faction relations and societies beginning to break down under Garlean assaults.

Or they could go straight sand-box, but they'd still also have to really come up with some dynamic content/events to keep people playing (or get people to play over the other games). IMO

[Peregrine]

Recreate it into a Fallout MMO?
Ideas from the players have officially jumped the shark, now listening to us will only hurt them more.

[OmegaNovaios]

This allows FFXIV class system to keep the current Armoury System (mass sandbox mode) while promoting class uniqueness/roles. I think it's a very good idea.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...pecializations

[Jennestia]

Your idea of what a FF MMO should be is one perspective and based off the only rendition of a FF MMO. There is no reason FF MMOs can't change when the need arises.

XI was based around FFIII, which means the idea for a FF MMO is taking aspects of Final Fantasy games -- So it's not my idea of what a FF MMO, it's literally Square's idea and if they didn't want to make XIV so different from XI you can guarantee it would have been exactly like XI only with more freedom to do better graphics, systems and content type because the PS2 held XI back and it has taken almost 10 years for it to feel the effects of being a PS2 title, so with XIV they could have done everything they couldn't do with XI, but chose to go a new direction that realistically didn't work out too well barring the rushed release.

For reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_F...XI#Development

Hiromichi Tanaka, the producer of the game, has stated Final Fantasy XI is heavily influenced by Final Fantasy III, especially in its battle and magic systems. According to Tanaka, Square put in Final Fantasy XI what they could not put in the first Final Fantasy titles due to technical limitations, thus making Final Fantasy XI the "most representative Final Fantasy of all the installments"

So realistically, a FF MMO is and should be based around the series it's actually a part of, just like World of Warcraft was based around the Warcraft lore. You said it yourself, there's only 1 FF MMO, which means there's no reason to "change" now, when it already doesn't feel like a FF game to begin with -- While true it somewhat resembles Final Fantasy II, it still doesn't have that "feel" to it that XI does which is why polls have shown people really do want it to live up to it's Final Fantasy name -- Best bet is if you expect it to "change" they have to drop the name and rename it back to Project Rapture, it's why they're now pretty much trying to transform it into a FF game because it's what a lot of people want.