FFXIV needs an update

[Neoyoshi]

So many people these days are self-proclaimed experts in game design.

[Darkpaw]

I love how everyone rushes to the white knight accusation if anyone points out basic logic. Like if we dont force the big evil corporation to make our dreams reality we are all doomed.

Calm down. This ain’t racoon city and SE aint umbrella.

No one is ever going to be fully happy. Yes there are some valid criticisms of XIV and they should be heard, there are some nice wishlist changes, some are pipedreams and even the posters know it they just need to acknowledge it.

Fact is you dont need to know game development or the budget situation or anything to offer ideas or criticisms the dev team is actually pretty transparent with what they can and can do and what limits them.

Needless to say they have never complained about the game engine or server structure.

They’ve acknowledged one. ONE. Flaw that hinders them. The spaghetti code the game is built on from the initial rebuild of 1.x..

As for graphics, during an interview in a lead up to shadowbringers Yoshi-P expressly said they could but they do not want to as it would prohibit a significant portion of their PC player base who play on outdated equipment.

[Catwho]

They’ve acknowledged one. ONE. Flaw that hinders them. The spaghetti code the game is built on from the initial rebuild of 1.x..

There is a second flaw they've acknowledged, and that's a lack of available experienced Japanese game programmers (or programmers that speak Japanese passably enough to be hired full time. Those guys are worth their weight in gold, and the only one I know of works for ICE at Naughty Dog - not the US agency, the graphics development division for Sony.) SE doesn't like to outsource because every time they try it, it blow up in their faces and they end up bringing it back in house half the time anyway.

Instead what they've had to do is hire people slowly for the XIV team and train them up, and it could be a full expansion cycle before their new people are experienced enough to strike out on their own projects. Brooks Law is alive and well in 2021: Hiring additional programming staff for an already late project will only serve to make the project even later.

[Fyrebrand]

belts have needed to go for a long while. They are the only piece of gear that has no glamour purpose, really don't add much stat wise, and have honestly done nothing but needlessly clog up loot tables since at least HW. I am pretty sure we can all easily recall those times where nothing but belts dropped in an instance. So them realizing if they do away with a useless gear slot they can then give us more inventory isn't a bad thing.

I agree 100%, but those are all reasons why they probably didn't need to exist for the past 11 years, not the reason they're getting removed in Endwalker.

SE doesn't like to outsource because every time they try it, it blow up in their faces and they end up bringing it back in house half the time anyway.

*cough* FFVII remake *cough*

[Ayuhra]

idk if it needs an update to combat and raid design, those are very core aspects of the basic experience of playing.

But it is in DIRE need of an engine overhaul.

Character customization, glamour sets, hairstyles, inventory management, most meaningful content being instanced, extremely pixelated textures, these are all pretty major things for a lot of players.

I strongly believe the developers are very skilled, creative, and passionate but their engine holds them back.

[RitsukoSonoda]

SE is more likely to make a new MMO entry than overhaul this one given how long this entry has been going. More so considering they had entries that were not MMO's start development and have it's engine built for 1 platform then release on another platform or the next gen of consoles without any real update to the engine causing gameplay issues with the title. If they keep the same number gap they did between FFXI and FFXIV then maybe the next MMO will be FFXVII. However that may be a bit off since they're working on FFXVI now and so far I think have only given us 1 teaser for it so far.

[Garnix]

Why trying to force a massive engine update that would take years when you can continuously do some smaller refactoring, one piece at a time, while still working on actual content?
I don't get the idea of changing the combat system. They should rather make a new game instead of wasting resource adjusting all the existing content. People saw pso2ng and thought xiv should do the same. But pso2ng is actually a different game, so it is just like asking for FF17 really...

[tymora]

If it's time for an overhaul, its time for a new game. (and leave the existing one as is)

Bring on FFXVII Online!

[TheMightyMollusk]

I play on a 55-inch TV. I can clearly see all the graphical shortcuts. I do not particularly care. Super-pretty graphics are like icing on a cake; it's nice if it's pretty, but the cake itself is the main event.

[KizuyaKatogami]

FFXIV has already had a massive redesign from the original content - that took about a year during which the game was shutdown.

FFXIV does not need to change to be like anything else thanks - its doing fine as it is.

Uh except it isn’t. Literally the most basic of things people ask for the devs can’t deliver on because of engine limitations. Where have you been?