FF14 Becoming More "Solo Friendly" is bad, Maybe

[WhiteArchmage]

I actually see it as future-proofing the game, something that XI also started. It's a numbered FF, and MMOs are not eternal, they shut down, that happens. XI is still being supported by a very small and devoted fanbase, but eventually its servers will have to shut down and SE will have to deal with a big gaping hole where a mainline FF title is meant to be.

By making the main story (mostly) soloable, they're starting to figure out how to keep the games up and maybe re-release them when there's no longer enough players able to support the MMO aspect. DQX (Yoshida's previous project) IS actually releasing a single-player version for that reason. And maybe your grandchildren will one day play XIV's re-release as a single-player game on the PS8 and enjoy the story themselves.

[Rulakir]

One of the Wildstar devs is quoted as saying, "And solo players are tragically underserved in most MMOs – something like 65% of players tend to play largely solo (Massively Single-player, as it were)."

I think this is a wise move not just for FF fans who were put off by it being an MMO, but a solo-friendly MMO is going to be alluring to a decent chunk of MMO players too. Personally, the first time I played FFXIV I quit at Sastasha because I wasn't interested in an MMO with mandatory group content. I almost quit this last time due to a raid being required. I've suffered through it only because I had no other complaints about the game at the time, but it's never been fun for me. Had I known last year this was the direction the game was going I would've just waited and been a lot happier for it. Once I got to ShB with trusts my enjoyment of the game increased substantially and the trials are the only downside of the MSQ now.

[Kyuuen]

That is kind of a poor excuse.

FFXI, was a MMO and a numbered Final Fantasy game. It did not go through the same length of game play changes to make it more of a single player experience as far as I am aware. They added the trust system to allow you to solo most of the games content which there is nothing wrong with, as long as you are not ruining other players experience by changing the game play. But I have not played the game in a long time and there may be other people that could shine a better light on how FFXI made the game more solo friendly.

Also Yoshi P is working on FFXVI so that's 2 flagship RPGs he can practice his single player mechanics there.

But once again, I doubt they have any say on making a single player experience in the game, but I do feel they can go about it in various ways that would be least impactful to the current player base.

As far as XI goes, you are unawares then. As XI is where the trust system comes from, moreover if I'm not mistaken (if anyone knows better by all means correct me) the trust system in XI is used in open world content, but XI open world content is built differently from XIV's and XI since it's heyday has long since become far more solo friendly from my understanding.

[ACE135]

If you want a solo experience you can do trusts, if you do not then you can play via the Duty Finder with a multiplayer experience. The devs are hardly forcing players into a solo experience. It’s completely optional…

But the dungeons get dumbed down mechanic wise for everyone, not just for the ones who want a solo experience.

[Jkap_Goat]

as a FFXI player I wanted to add my two cents. Even after not being able to play FFXI during it's prime, I did enjoy the storylines greatly in FFXI even if it was mostly a solo experience, going out into the dangerous overworld and exploring the unknown was a wonderful feeling of just being an adventurer, not some holy God in FFXIV where puts you in on pedestal where you can "do no wrong." it was very refreshing


and some stories just stick with you like with one of the survivors in the Tavnazian Safehold

This settlement is an extension of the underground complex that served as a haven for the survivors of the war-ravaged Tavnazian Marquisate.

I remember a woman told me that her husband was injured during the War while they were escaping and suffers a case of dementia only to realize later when she told me, that it was her best friend's husband and that she was in love with him.

What happened to her best friend? well as they were escaping the War and people was fleeting from the Orcs that was killing and destroying everything in site, she said she "let go" of her best friend's hand as they were running away.

the Woman has guilt and doesn't know if it her hand slipped or just really wanted to be with her best friend's husband that badly and has to live with that guilt for the rest of her life.

yes a NPC story stuck with me that much and FFXI storyline is dark. I love it




but also FFXI is still getting new story content updates with Ambuscade monthly rotations of NM monsters with different mechanics that isn't avoid aoe's and orange telepathic on the floor.

I remember there was some MP sucking orcs in Ambuscade that was destroying the mages and everything else that can heal like geomancers, red mages, scholars, paladins.

the only way I think was to handle this if you had the CHM trust who heals but doesn't use MP except this was I think 600 Deeds of Heroism which every month, you can only get 40 deeds, or Go with a Dancer with some good Waltz Potency gear and have it heal.

Luckily, I'm a Dancer and I have a good gearset dedicated to healing if the situation happens where the mages die or something.

So we was able to clear version 1: Hard difficulty Ambuscade

Final Fantasy FFXI has you planning around bosses and mechanics

whereas in XIV, it's just go X,Y,Z and pretty much kill the boss one way and that's it.

[Kaurhz]

But the dungeons get dumbed down mechanic wise for everyone, not just for the ones who want a solo experience.

Practically every dungeon has been an empty husk of its former self, long before these changes were even incorporated. Not that I necessarily disagree but these dungeons are hardly a staple for difficulty, by any stretch of the imagination. Besides that, I find the syncing to be more of an issue than anything. I think to rework or readjust some mechanics to help facilitate a solo-player experience or to help overcome some of the more abysmal queue times when playing a new character, or just being a new player in general far outweighs the negative in a rework of certain mechanics.

[Dzian]

Yoshida is aiming at players who don't like MMOs. To be honest, it bothers me way more than trusts being added to ARR+.

That's the Problem. Building an MMO and not targeting MMO players... it's beyond dumb.

"Yeah guys we're going to make a new Halo game but we're not gonna target FPS players. No we're going to aim it at players of Animal Crossing"

[Eraden]

I prefer interacting with other people. Social skills, like any other ability, can and DO atrophy when not used. I would rather keep my ability to socialize with others. The consequences of losing those skills are just too terrible to think about.

[Xeronia]

After playing with a friend who plays during off hours and hearing they had to wait 2 hours for Great Gubal Library for the story in HW, I am all for Trusts being added to every story dungeon. One of us basically has to go tank or healer to get into anything at 3am as it stands, having the option to just go "I will see you on the other side of the dungeon" would be fantastic over having to wait forever.

[LaylaTsarra]

But the dungeons get dumbed down mechanic wise for everyone, not just for the ones who want a solo experience.

I don't see where the dungeons have been dumbed down with SHB or EW story dungeons. In addition Criterian dungeons are coming which won't be trust dungeons so the team seems to be working toward more midcore content. Obviously we don't know until they arrive.