What would you like to see (differently) in the next Final Fantasy MMO?

[SamRF]

Assuming one will be made.

What should be done differently? What should remain the same? How should the game function? What kind of (new) features do you want? What are your expectations? ......?

(Forgive me if this thread has been made before, but I couldn't find anything with advanced search.)

[Kalise]

What should be done differently?

• No 1.0 garbage spaghetti code.
  
• No half baked Class > Job system that gets abandonded after the first expansion.
  
• Don't tie Duties to MSQ and then have to force Duties to be the ONLY content because you need to fill up the queues so newbies can complete the MSQ. (If you must, do what Astellia Online does and have the MSQ required event be a solo version of the duty)
  
• Healing should not be focused around oGCD healing spells for the majority of their output.
  
• There should be some actual choices in terms of gearing and class/job customization.
  
• Duties should be more than just Hallway simulators or "One dude in an arena"

What should remain the same?

• All classes/jobs on one character.
  
• Deep and interesting lore and story.
  
• Gold Saucer for mini-games.

How should the game function?

I'm not entirely sure. I have many thoughts about "What if it was this?" but it's hard to say what would be ideal. Like, it could continue to be tab target gameplay, or it could become action orientated. Maybe it could even work in a similar way to Wildstar where every skill was a skillshot that put down a telegraphed AoE? Who knows...

What kind of (new) features do you want?

Multi-classing. Not the BS 2.0 kind with the "Cross Role Actions" that required you to level up classes X, Y and Z in order to have your complete skill set... But the kind that's similar to in FFIII where you can optionally sacrifice part of one job to get part of another job.
E.g. If I wanted to make a Monk, but then gave up Chakra to cross class into Ninja and get Ninjutsu so I could attack like lightning with Greased Lightning + Huton. Or what if I wanted to be a Dragoon that sacrificed some leaps and damage to cross class into DRK to get increased defence and TBN.
All the while, "Pure" jobs can still perform just fine with their full kits without need of utilizing a second class.

Voices for PC's. These days, our character is actually doing a lot more talking. Only, silently for us... Given that we have options to pick voices on character creation, it would be neat for the next FF MMO to fully embrace it and allow us to pick a proper voice as well as personality.

Job mastery incorporated into MSQ. I.e. If after a battle, people are injured and you're playing a healing job, your character runs to go tend to them. But if after the same battle someone else is playing a tank job, they go to the front to protect against any suprise attacks etc. Different paths based on what your character is actually good at (So no, dueling Lyse and threatening her by... Holding a BOOK at her ) - Which would also give rise to replayability with NG+ as you could go through with different jobs to see different scenes.

Dynamic scaling FATES/Hunts. I.e. If you're the only one doing a FATE or taking out an A Rank hunt, it scales so as to be reasonable for you to do so. If, suddenly, 20 more people show up and start doing it too, then the Health, number and difficulty of said FATE/Hunt also increases proportionately. This not only makes them more viable with low population/engagement in the zone, but also adds in protection to stop Trains from zerging through content in 0.1 seconds.

[Barachim]

Only one thing I can think of off the top of my head right now, something I always wanted. Make all the skills you've unlocked available on level sync.

I just always get bored out of my mind when I run a level ro, and end up in one of the early dungeons where I only get to push like 4 buttons.

[Theodric]

- A more efficient player housing system. Set up in such a way that all players get access to a small housing plot and, over time, they can pay to upgrade the size to a medium and then later large plot.
- A greater amount of character customisation. Especially where male characters are concerned. More options for tall, well-built guys that look like Gladio from FF15 or Snow from FF13. More options for stubble and so on.
- A greater amount of choice in regards to how our character reacts to the world around them and which factions/characters they can actively support.
- Death should be meaningful. No bringing back slain characters for what is obviously fan-service. No ridiculous levels of plot armour beyond that which exists for the player character, either.

[Bright-Flower]

I'd like some sort of job customization akin to talents and specs from WoW. Not necessarily a 1 to 1 copy. Then again maybe that lack of cusotmization is why the game's able to add two of them per expansion as is.

[SamRF]

I'd like some sort of job customization akin to talents and specs from WoW. Not necessarily a 1 to 1 copy. Then again maybe that lack of cusotmization is why the game's able to add two of them per expansion as is.

What if they went the multiple job route? Where there's a base class which will have multiple jobs, just like Summoner and Scholar.

An interesting post from another thread:

I low key still wonder what the game would be like now if they had continued down the split class/job road. I think this could have opened up a lot of possibilities for jobs we don't have. White Mage and Geomancer, Summoner and Scholar, Astrologian and Time Mage, Warrior and Berserker, Bard and Ranger, Machinist and Medic/Chemist, Black Mage and Necromancer. If done correctly we could see similar themes with different sides from every job. I think it would have been a really interesting idea to expand on, however I know it will never happen, and probably for good reason. Though, I can't help but wonder what could have been.

These alternate job ideas sound so cool to me, I'd add "ninja and thief".

[Bright-Flower]

What if they went the multiple job route? Where there's a base class which will have multiple jobs, just like Summoner and Scholar.

An interesting post from another thread:


These alternate job ideas sound so cool to me, I'd add "ninja and thief".

Something like that could work. Depending on how it's implemented.

Personally I'm also not a fan of the specific weapon types that FFXIV has. Play paladin? You're using a sword. Warrior? Hope you like axes! there are occasional exceptions like the mine pick paladins can use in shb, but they're generally few and far between. Then again, the system has allowed some unique weapons like dancer thrown weapons and red mage rapiers + focuses so maybe I'd be okay with keeping it, but I miss the realative flexibilty of weapon types in WoW too, where a paladin could have an axe or a mace or a flail etc.

[SamRF]

Something like that could work. Depending on how it's implemented.

Personally I'm also not a fan of the specific weapon types that FFXIV has. Play paladin? You're using a sword. Warrior? Hope you like axes! there are occasional exceptions like the mine pick paladins can use in shb, but they're generally few and far between. Then again, the system has allowed some unique weapons like dancer thrown weapons and red mage rapiers + focuses so maybe I'd be okay with keeping it, but I miss the realative flexibilty of weapon types in WoW too, where a paladin could have an axe or a mace or a flail etc.

I really wish I could play Warrior fury berserker style with dual wielding weapons.

[Lauront]

What should be done differently?.

• Enhanced focus on the backgrounds of the playable races, e.g. having a home city or region, and strongly defined racial lore. Racial specialisations in lore, at the very least, even if not implemented mechanically.
• More unique races drawn from the FF series, with a good mix of human-like and more bestial ones. Elves which look good!
• Greater choice in character customisation; I wouldn't want the free for all BDO has, which can end up looking monstrous, but I'd like less constraints and more preset choices. More choice in body types, and more sliders (yes, including those sliders!)
• To avoid tying the protagonist to being the Good Guy (tm), and allow for branching options in the story writing, where your choices matter. I think the Ascian storyline could easily allow for this, but XIV as a game is not built to accommodate this kind of thing.
• Related to the above, allowing for some job choices which shatter boundaries a little in how morally "grey" they are.
• Important characters who aren't antagonists also facing the prospect of death. Less of the constant "hey, guess who's back!"
• Events in the game to result in changes to the game overworld/cities.
• Greater flexibility in job customisation. Strong job identity.
• WoW-style glamour system where the image of the item is abstracted and retained in memory.
• Instanced housing system. I think what would be cool would be to allow for house owners to choose whether they want to integrate their house into a specific neighborhood, allowing for control over what its overall appearance would be - no stupid looking houses to ruin the overall feel.
• Find a narrative way to make the ex/savage/whatever modes the canon ones. Eden is on the right track for this, i.e. you can attribute the differences to a foggy memory or w/e.
• Make official the fact that some jobs are intended as support and segregate this out as a role in its own right, to allow for jobs under this rubric to focus on this. In the same vein, more of a focus for healers on healing.
• More challenge modes besides ex, savage and ultimate. Basically, improve the content formula so there's challenging content outside of raiding as well.
• Don't bother with PVP if it's not going to be given the attention it needs to be fun - try focus on a format of it that suits the MMO genre.
• Better inventory management. Multiple jobs on a single character absolutely requires it.
• A good standard of graphics, with as much future-proofing as possible to allow for easy future upgrades.

What should remain the same?

• Multiple jobs on one character.
• Existing jobs.
• Same attention to detail with regards to crafters.
• Focus on awesome music.
• Trusts - it's a good mechanic.
• Focus on strong story writing. Really, these games are nothing without it.
• The epic cinematic fights.
• The existing playable races, albeit with modifications as appropriate to fit the setting.
• Keep with the instanced zone nature of cities and areas. It helps maintain a sense of scale, which is lost in games like WoW. Just avoid making big empty zones for the sake of flying... they should feel alive.

How should the game function?

Yoshi has given some comments on how he thinks a future MMO should be designed, which point towards the MOBA/BR genres... I can't say I'd be awfully interested in that, but as always it'd depend on the implementation. I'd be open to an action or tab target MMO, provided the game had enough depth for me and was fun (and contingent on it handling spellcasters properly); I'd also like something which stuck to the trinity (or trinity plus support), as I've yet to find an MMO which diverges from it, which I enjoy. That's what matters most to me in an RPG - a good story and fun combat mechanics with lots of choice/variety. I'd also like for them to consider, thematically, whether they want high fantasy, sci fi, or what. Personally I'd rather see a good high fantasy MMO, but the sci fi and steampunk fantasy genres have not yet been graced by a solid, successful MMO of this calibre, so they're possible avenues too.

What kind of (new) features do you want?

I think the "differently" part covers this, but I'll echo what Kalise said on PC voices and your job path affecting the MSQ cutscenes more.

What are your expectations? ......?

For it to get the (re)investment, manpower and love and attention a game of its secure profitability stream deserves.

[LittleArrow]

This is a really fun idea to go through! I'd like to try my shot at it

New:

1. Combat: I want a more active combat system, something like Blade and Soul / Black Desert / those fancy new MMO's I haven't even played but hear a lot about!

2. World: I know the classic medieval world is getting a bit old, but I would really like a much grander expanse of land (no zoning!). Something that reminds one of the medieval time period, but with -a lot- more mystery involved. If you remember an old PS1 game called Grandia, definitely something more along those lines!

3. Mounts / Mount System: I really want to see the ideas GW2 had with mounts (different mounts gave you different gameplay) put into other MMOs. Honestly, I'll occasionally just log into GW2 to play around with the mounts. I think Mounts = speed is a very tired and old idea in the gaming genre. Watching different types of mounts change the game was incredible!

4. MOAR STORY!!! This one I'm pulling from Elder Scrolls Online. I will make a new character just to go through all the incredible amounts of side quests in that game, and with 3 factions to go through it's so much fun. Each side quest stuck with me, some more than others. Seeing those stories affect the environment was also really surprising (Ex: You had to lead a wife into a monster infested crypt / dungeon to try to find her husband... if you leave her alone with the survivors something -very- unexpected happens! It changed how I looked at all 'side' quests going forward)

5. New Content Formula: I've really enjoyed all the callbacks to the FF franchise, and honestly, I would suggest this game to played purely for that wonderful and rich love letter to the franchise to any FF fan. However, I really would like to see the developers in the new game have a completely different content cycle. Yes - holidays, Yes - dungeons / raids, but it would be nice to see them spice it up and break those shackles every once in a while.

6. Greater Variety of Dungeons: I know there used to be public dungeons in 1.x and they scrapped it for obvious reasons (poorly implemented with little content back in the old days). Still, I -really- like the idea of stumbling into a cave or hide-out and finding a sprawling dungeon to explore. It would be nice if that could be implemented to add to that 'adventure' effect. Also, going through those dungeons on higher levels was a lot of fun too.

More of the Old:

1. Races: Something coming from FFXI to FFXIV I think often about is how happy I am to see Galkas, Mithras, Tarutarus, Elezen, and Hyurs. I'm even happier to finally get to see their gendered counterparts! I would be really sad if the next FF-MMO didn't start off with the races we currently have. I want to see them carry over these beautiful creations so I can play my character in a new world with a new adventure. I know Yoshida doesn't like all the races, but maybe with new code he could streamline them. (That includes full Viera / Hrothgar races and the Aura).

2. Jobs: It wouldn't be a Final Fantasy game to me without the classic tactic jobs. I wouldn't mind seeing them implemented in new and fresh ways, but I absolutely would want the old jobs.

3. Chocobos / Moogles / and Summons - Oh my!: Definitely have to keep the hallmarks of the FF genre in there. Including Cid of course

4. Housing: This should be implmented but definitely improved upon. Either allows us a crystarium apartment complex and outdoor balconies or instanced housing. Something that is more inclusive, fun, and less of a chore for the developers / servers / players

Expectations

Honestly, I'm expecting something a little familiar with a lot of new. I know Yoshi and Se are probably sick of this world by now and want something drastically different. Heck, I'm sure players are probably getting a bit tired of the same old formula. However, I think to throw out the whole thing would be a really bad decision imo. So I'm expecting a similar transition from FFXI to FFXIV. Hopefully they carry over enough that it feels familiar but change enough that it'll be a totally new experience for everyone.