Are the developers of XIV out of touch?

[sarehptar]

My concern with these constant "That would be a major change so we don't have plans to do that right now" are less the immediate impacts and more the long-term implications... I don't need more character creation options or a new race right this mcfreakin' instant--I haven't used a fantasia in like two years. But the longer we go without any new options, the more and more obvious it becomes that the game isn't getting the investment and quality of life updates that it needs to remain competitive in the long-term. It's not just character customization options that are suffering. Many requests now are being met with this kind of "We don't have the resources to do that now" response.

The game is okay for the moment. But three years from now, four years from now, will we players really still be expected to be content with four face options, copy-and-paste races, an untenable housing design, subpar glamour and inventory options, recolored gear, below average queuing and cross-server interaction design, bare minimum dungeon content per patch, the same recycled tomestone treadmill? At this point, that's what it feels like. Watching these live letters, reading the community rep responses, I no longer get any sense that the developers intend to sustain this game at any real level above merely operational. There is no sense of "Here is how we are going to continue improving in the future."

The more information I see, the more the words "holding pattern" come to mind...

[GrumbleBeard]

I just go into Q&A's with my expectations as low as I can

Yeah it's my bad, I wasn't clear with what I wrote since I was typing in between an alliance wiping us in lighthouse. I used the live letter and character creation as an example of the bigger issue.

snip

This guy got what I was going for and expressed it way better than I did.

[MOZZYSTAR]

... an untenable housing design, subpar glamour and inventory options, recolored gear, below average queuing and cross-server interaction design...

To be fair, they have tried addressing these issues ^ multiple times. So, while it's not "satisfactory," they are trying and I think that counts for something.

However, how they plan to sustain FFXIV is a bit concerning. I get a sense that they're burning out/taking too much on. SE is not the greatest company to work for. After having researched them a bit ago, they're the type of company who hires few full-timers and a lot of contract workers/part-timers so they don't have to hire more full-timers. I could be wrong, that's just what I had read. If it is true, then they likely do take on too much. So, I think it's understandable, and yet... Well, we'll see how things go. I already struggle to see FFXIV thriving past the next expansion (maybe two).

Just coming back in to note that I find Yoshida being exasperated by the repetitive questions very ironic, considering he's been feeding us the same patch content structure on repeat for at least four years.

(This totally made me "lol" IRL. xDD)

[sarehptar]

To be fair, they have tried addressing these issues ^ multiple times. So, while it's not "satisfactory," they are trying and I think that counts for something.

(I'm not going off on you, promise, just going off in general here!)

I think the issue for me that their attempts to fix these problems are often half-hearted, make the issues worse, or are the most roundabout and least user-friendly options possible, which only make sense in the context of "We don't actually want or have the resources to make any of the many, many necessary infrastructure changes our game badly needs." Chocobo saddlebags? Glamour dresser? More housing wards? They keep slapping bandaids on bone-deep lacerations. Meanwhile, there are plenty of other MMOs (many of which don't even have subscription fees!) in which basic, central features such as glamour and inventory are handled in significantly more reasonable and manageable ways. But we're supposed to be grateful that they're "trying" to fix issues that games ten years older than FFXIV managed to completely avoid? Yikes!

"But their hands are tied because the game's still based on the old code!" Yes, I'm aware. Except now it's been five years--which is two years longer than the first iteration of this game even existed. How long are we supposed to keep buying the idea they have no means to improve their own game's back-end? Is ten more years enough time to expect the infrastructure improvements this game needs just to put some of its most basic features on par with MMOs that have already existed for years? When we just received confirmation that it will be at least three years before any major character customization changes are even considered, the threads about "should they improve this game or just make a new one" aren't even jokes at this point...

I see where you're coming from, and I agree that some attempts to plug up the bleeding wounds are better than no attempts at all, but at some point I feel like I really just have to ask myself: "How long am I okay with things that are 'not satisfactory'?"

As you, me, and others have said, the seeming inattention to the long-term feels very real. The complete lack of transparency on whether anything significant is being done to address the game's severe server and code problems is worrisome because it implies an across-the-board lack of room to innovate, expand, and surprise. Character customization, housing, and gear cannot be the only things suffering from these oh-so-often cited limitations--not now and definitely not two expansions from now.

Which just leaves a terrible taste in my mouth, because I really do love this game. I want to see it grow and thrive for years to come. I don't want to feel like a game I love is already stagnating, barely five years into its (already re-made) run.

All this to say, I guess, that yes, I do think the developers of this game are out of touch. Not because they resent having to answer repetitive "fluff" questions, but because they don't seem to recognize their consistent failure to sufficiently address these fluff concerns is, over time, revealing a systemic inability to address players' greater wants and expectations. Every time I see responses like "We don't have plans for that" or "That would be very difficult to implement, so it is not likely," I'm just left with the thought: "But you expect me to trust that you'll produce innovative, unique, and fun content in other areas instead?" We can't even get solid answers about some of the most basic player desires, but I'm supposed to believe that there are awesome, fresh, never-before-seen things in development for this game that will be revealed if I just wait long enough?



It's just not a good situation when ^ that's how community outreach from the team leaves me feeling.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

[Vhailor]

I see where you're coming from, and I agree that some attempts to plug up the bleeding wounds are better than no attempts at all, but at some point I feel like I really just have to ask myself: "How long am I okay with things that are 'not satisfactory'?"

As you, me, and others have said, the seeming inattention to the long-term feels very real. The complete lack of transparency on whether anything significant is being done to address the game's severe server and code problems is worrisome because it implies an across-the-board lack of room to innovate, expand, and surprise. Character customization, housing, and gear cannot be the only things suffering from these oh-so-often cited limitations--not now and definitely not two expansions from now.

I wholeheartedly agree with you.

Probably the example I find most illustrative is Glamours. The system in FFXI arguably works better than the one in FFXIV, without any of the gear restrictions, Prism costs, etc. This, despite work beginning on FFXI roughly two decades ago, at a time when nobody was thinking about Glamouring in an MMO. That's astonishing, and it makes it very difficult to see FFXIV go years and years without a fully functional system itself.

It's quite possible there are good reasons for all of these things. Maybe SE is sinking the money into a big back-end adjustment to align with the next expansion. Maybe they're making efforts with an eye toward features that no other MMO is offering, and it's taking them longer than adjustments that would allow FFXIV to merely keep pace. I don't know - because there's no transparency. All we hear is that there are limitations here, limitations there, and yet... other MMOs, including XIV's predecessor, somehow solve the problems. It's hard to stomach.

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As to the original topic, I would say that SE seems less out of touch, and more like they're actively and intentionally ignoring us. I get the distinct impression that SE's 'limitations' excuses arise from a lack of motivation more than a lack of capability (though it's entirely possible it's both). I think they're quite content with their position in the MMO market, milking the FF franchise name to a second-place finish with a simple, predictable, easily-maintained F2P-style experience.

[Alleo]

My concern with these constant "That would be a major change so we don't have plans to do that right now" are less the immediate impacts and more the long-term implications...

I just kinda wonder how long in the future they are talking about? They seemingly dont have plans for 5.0 and I cant see that they would work at this between expansion thus earliest would be 6.0...which is at least another 2-3 years (or more) And then its the question of how long they are planning to support the game. So what if they are planning to have 7 expansion thus suddenly more options would not be necessary in their view because there is only one expansion left..I mean ARR was started nearly 5 years ago. How long do we have to wait? 10 years?

Also wouldnt that answer also mean that we wont ever see a new race? Because they also would increase the amounts of possible choices..

Edit: wrong release year