should not westernize FFXIV

[Randis]

This is purely related to the visuals and not the gameplay.

I get the idea and i do understand it from the marketing standpoint but trying to westernize this IP is IMO a big mistake.
FF already has a huge fan base thanks to all the other offline FF titles, common sense tells that people much accepted all the previous styles worldwide.
I know that some developers worry about having what so many call a 'manga/anime' style (misused term) assuming that most westerners dislike 'anime' characters,
it is not entirely true, people reject it only if it is made poorly and that so far never was the case in the FF titles.
All the old FF concept art was done by Yoshitaka Amano, It was a very artistic and widely accepted and to my knowledge never even compared to a typical 'manga/anime' style. With FF7 the style changed but the game did not loose any popularity.

There are many alternatives to all the offline and online RPG titles and other games.
If i want to play a western RPG, i simply would pick up one.
I pick FF titles because they offer me something original.
If people disliked the style of all the offline FF titles they would not have bought it.
FF XIV style is playing it way to save IMO, the graphics are great, do not get me wrong. The texture and model quality is great, its just the style.

The style lost a lot of charm, magic and originality. With originality i by no ways mean that it is copied, it just does not feel fresh.

I am no big fan of WOW, but i did play it and one has to admit that they have their certain cartoony style, they stylized many elements in a interesting way and made the game the way they wanted it.
Look at blade and soul, not everyone may like the strong sexual content (large boobs, sexy cloths) but you have to admit that this game does not feel like they had to compromise the style of the artist.

I really love the work of Akihiko Yoshida but this game does not reflect his style and charm.

Look at the charming Illustrations of the FFXIV cities:
http://ffnext.com/images/game/ffxiv/artwork/CityStates-Aug-7-2009/ffxiv-city-states-gridania.jpg

The actual in-game graphics do not reflect it.

IMO this could be changed in a acceptable time-frame, reusing the existing content.

[Luhy]

I don't care about graphics. We played FFXI because rewards, victories over top NMs and so on were all more difficult to obtain and required more skill than other MMOs. FFXIV caters to the skill level of a baby WoW noob.

[Randis]

well the content of FFXIV will grow, that is certain and changes are on the way.
FFXI did not start out as complex as it became over the years, i remember well.

However, as stated this thread is not about the game play.

[Enrei]

Gridania still looks pretty similar to the concept art, as if it were following the same concept. All the pregame art exists only to generate ideas with the devs.
I'm happy with the graphic/art style, but the environmental zones need some more variety.

[Punxsutawney]

Well, Luhy, FF14 is still harder than WoW if it makes you fell any better. And i am sure Yoshi is going to add some hard stuff, people have been requesting it.

[Seikninkuru]

I love the east asian artstyle, I wish more games adopted it. Just don't call SOGA(EQ2) East Asian. That's ugly no matter how you look at it.

Also want to add, I love the WoW is so easy bandwagon approach. Have any of you who say these things played the game? It's not different than any other MMORPG out there. Long grinds for the potential for phat rewards. Just because it took longer in FFXI doesn't make it more difficult.

Never really understood that. I have a feeling that those who say that are just repeating what they heard from x source.

-Have Fun

P.S. it took me two years in Warhammer Online to get the tier 1 dungeon boots. So does that make it hard too?

[Enrei]

WoW was much MUCH easier to level, it only felt grinding after 75, and in your endless quest grind, you were getting constant gear upgrades. Dungeons almost always dropped gear, and, save for raids, could easily be completed with a random party.
Warhammer Online was also pretty easy, but I never touched PvE content. The PvP items took maybe a day to get...

[OmegaNovaios]

Graphics grab my attention, game play decides which game I play. Graphics appeal to my eyes which can lead to my heart, game play appeals to me overall which can lead to my heart as well.

Personally I prefer Japanese style art to Western style art, and IMO Realistic graphics appeal greatly to the entire world.

[Chardrizard]

yes i agree with OP, i feel the color palette on eorzea isnt vibrant enough, they didnt go nuts on colors, they put too much emphasis on realism... there are also no "WOAH" feeling as you enter the town..

[Randis]

IMO Realistic graphics appeal greatly to the entire world.

This is not entirely true, it is the aspect of 'Quality' that appeals, the more sophisticated and detailed something is the more 'realistic' it seems even if the goal is not 'realism' in a classic sense.
Looking at popular IP you will see that they not have to be realistic at all. Final Fantasy (the spirits within) was very realistic but nowhere as popular as the pixar (and most of the other studios) CG animated films.
Also Many of the popular MMO RPG are rather cartoony.
With a 'cartoony' look i did not mean cellshaded styles or games like angry birds I prefer more painterly and loosely styles over the highly symetric and polished graphics.
Take FFVII or FFIX for example, the architecture had some great charm, everything was a bit uneven, shifted, used up.
It felt more personal and charming. FFXIV offers great texture quality, details, more realism in terms of colors, realistic proportions, high poly count, shader...
It all seems polished, new, perfectly even and symmetric, it lacks certain character.
It is my personal opinion, i do not expect everyone to see my point.

However, the visual appeal of a game dictates for me the mood and i felt more connected to some of the older FF titles.

















(some screenshots are of Vagrant story, last one is xenogears)

i didn't pick out awesome CG movie renderings, those are all simple ingame screenshots, they may look not spectacular this days as they are old.
Hard to show what i mean with a couple screenshots but if you played the games you should know the charm.