FFXIV is too simplistic and bland

[Antonio_Xul]

You're level 25. On a single class.

Yet all these forum posts... maybe you just need to actually play the game more?

He’s probably posting on an Alt character, so he doesn’t get hassled in his main character.

[Auryan]

While you are right that he needs to play the game more, he's not wrong. FFXIV is very simple and at times very basic in nature. Honestly if this game didn't have the final fantasy brand, I don't it would be popular or liked.

That's dumb and demonstrably false. 1.0 had the name/brand recognition and full backing from SE yet was a huge flop. What? Wasn't it FF-ing hard enough? Maybe because the aforementioned factors are marketing and the game has to be actually good in order to hold and grow its player base? Funny that.

[Eriane_Elis]

OP, for the most part while playing FF14 I felt like I was being punished while moving forward rather than being rewarded. While the game is simple in nature, I always felt like many of the game elements to punish players for succeeding or paying for a subscription. It was an odd philosophy that they took and I went with it because I wanted to play with my friend. Eventually I just accepted the game for what it was and played just because. I burnt out a few times really bad but now that I am back, I found things that I enjoy like going back and completing every quest for the lore (I like reading), collecting things, etc... I just feel like they need to change their approach to developing content for the game but they keep clammering to traditional ideals and that adding more staff won't make the game more enjoyable. This sound like they are decisions from the higher up at SE saying these things things for the investors and not for the players.

But, we're fastly approaching the end of FFXIV in terms of jumping to a new MMORPG, it may be another 3 or 4 years but it's pretty near considering it may only about 2 expansions away. They may not want to experiment with a revised formula for XIV since the current one works and they may not want to put much more money in the current game because the focus may be to work on a new MMO.

I digress, XIV may not be THE mmorpg for me, but for many it's as close to perfection as it ever can get. So my opinion doesn't matter terribly much. I did spend about a thousand dollars for this game and some mog station items for two accounts (my friend and I) so I get at least the luxury to state my opinion at least lol

[Kiurai]

I don't get the point of mentioning that one game has a feature that is named the same as another, the Gold Saucer in VII is not the same as the one in XIV. Both are minigames hubs but that's not unique to any game much less the FF series, and XI is a different mmo with different systems you can't do one to one comparisons especially combat wise. They aren't the same combat system so mobs work inherently different. Making difficult overworld mobs isn't super simple. Making them difficult doesn't make the game more interesting on its own either. OW mobs don't even drop gear of any worth anyways so why bother? You will never kill an aldgoat and get a rare tier sword it just doesn't happen. So why overcomplicate it. FATES are one thing but normal roaming mobs are another they don't need to be complex and dangerous like a dungeon mob. Also can I say that OPs boss point makes no sense to me? It's scripted isnt a critism on its own and doesn't make the game worse than any other MMO out there? The mechanics together make the game difficult whether you can map then out or not is a whole other thing. You still have to execute them yourself weird point overall

[zcrash970]

That's dumb and demonstrably false. 1.0 had the name/brand recognition and full backing from SE yet was a huge flop. What? Wasn't it FF-ing hard enough? Maybe because the aforementioned factors are marketing and the game has to be actually good in order to hold and grow its player base? Funny that.

There are a lot of reasons 1.0 reasons failed and I was there to watch it. A ridiculously high pc hardware minimum for the time, being unfinished on release, bad ui, that list goes on. The game was completely inaccessible for most. Of course it was going to be bad, but let's be fair, people gave it a chance because it's FF. It's what brought me and many others to the game. Most of my original group from FF11 stayed around simply because SE always took care of FF11.

Conversely you have modern xiv. Relatively low system minimums even at release and playable on the ps3 and later the ps4. The game did the biggest 180 on accessibility possible. Even if the game was a heaping trash pile like 1.0, it would have somewhat successful due to it being a mainline FF title.

[Wind-Krysvein]

It's funny. Some of the things TC says in the first post actually kind of resonate with me.

The abundance of uninteresting, "giant hall"-esque (and non-connecting) zones, lack of actually interesting gear with unique effects, fights relying too heavily on DPS instead of other possible variables, travel becoming overly homogenized (especially now that you can fly in ARR maps) and the like.

But for every single intelligent point made, two ridiculously simplified strawmen follow. You almost had me with you man. Almost.

[Auryan]

There are a lot of reasons 1.0 reasons failed and I was there to watch it. A ridiculously high pc hardware minimum for the time, being unfinished on release, bad ui, that list goes on. The game was completely inaccessible for most. Of course it was going to be bad, but let's be fair, people gave it a chance because it's FF. It's what brought me and many others to the game. Most of my original group from FF11 stayed around simply because SE always took care of FF11.

Conversely you have modern xiv. Relatively low system minimums even at release and playable on the ps3 and later the ps4. The game did the biggest 180 on accessibility possible. Even if the game was a heaping trash pile like 1.0, it would have somewhat successful due to it being a mainline FF title.

You just contradicted your entire original point. First you stated that XIV is only popular and well-liked because of name recognition (conveniently ignoring 1.0 having that too and still flopped) and now you backtrack and say 1.0 failed because...it was bad? And 2.0 was smart enough not to scare away its potential subscribers with antiquated and frustrating systems? That's all true, but one gets the feeling that you're trying to run away from your easily disproved original statement. Attributing XIV success solely due its FF name is reductive and, you know, dumb.

[Alleluia]

Travel:
Traveling in FFXIV is more simplistic than even the first Final Fantasy, FFI.
XIV has walking, mounts, and what I call "black screen." What I mean here, is using the "airship" in XIV is not using a airship as it is in FFI. You buy your ticket and get a cutscene and thats it. Expounding on this, you dont even get a cutscene for a vast majority of interations. Going to the gold saucer on airship, there is no cutscene. Most all boats there is no cutscene. FFI was praised for its canoo, airship, boat, and its many forms of transportation. XIV has taken a step backwards, all the way before 1987, which is when this title was released. Sure they added swimming with 4.0, but that is not going to push it beyond the options and engaging aspects introduced in FFI.

I urge no one to try arguing "teleporting" is a form that pushes XIV past FFI, because level 5 black mages in FFI could teleport/warp to different parts of dungeons....

I don't even know what this point is. Canoes are boats. We have those. (Don't we have those? We have those.) We have airships. We have mounts. We have feet. We have teleporting. Like.... how else do you travel???

Are you saying you want boats to move in real time like FF11?

[SakiKojiro]

Gee I wonder why a game that nearly sank the company and probably still hasn't payed for itself all these years later wants to play it safe?

I mean, it just boggles my mind.


Because then they'd have to come face to face with the fact that maybe, just maybe, they don't have nostalgia goggles big enough to cover for the fact that FFXI doesn't hold up today. That it's actually not that great and they just stockholm syndromed themselves after punching millions of crabs.

So it's just better to not touch it. and just ride off those nostalgic memories of sitting in Jueno for months on end trying to get a party because you had the termerity to pick a crap Class/ subclass. Because, you know, fun. Better to live off those memories than actually re-experience it and ruin those memories.

Hasn't payed for itself? Citation needed.

[Razard]

Hasn't payed for itself? Citation needed.

"Probably still hasn't payed for itself."

If that was a attempt at a gotcha, do try harder.

And Yes. You have to remember that, on top of the usual costs (Including being free to play for a while) and a cost prohibative releauch working in the background, the 1.0 version of the game was so bad that a SE investor sold their stock in disgust.

https://www.pcgamer.com/investor-rag...f-the-company/
(The only article i could find on the subject, it was literally a decade ago.)

The fact the the game is still going strong and with a growing install base, no matter what whiny nay sayers like TC and his blind FFXI fanboyism say, is nothing short of a miracle. One that, I must say, I am quite happy for.