XVI and XIV implications

[Ath192]

I liked XVI quite a bit.

1. I play single player titles for the story and thats what I got.
2. I wanted a darker story and thats what I got.
3. I'm a graphics junky and I got excellent graphics.
4. Gameplay wasn't boring to me because I was progressing towards an end, but it was rather easy and mindless. Something I don't mind when I'm just playing for the story.

So, I would rate XVI 9/10 IMO, great job, not perfect but still great. Also, considering the buggy messes game releases are now a days the game was surprisingly polished, albeit not perfect. A lot of work goes into that so it must be acknowledged.

Unfortunately to me XVI has reinforced my belief that CBU III or whoever is making all the decisions for this unit, maybe Yoshi P is solely responsible, maybe not, is better suited to making single player titles than MMOs. Both of these games are polar opposites in what most people look for in games and while CBU III design philosophy delivers in a game with a set end and people wanting to see the story without wasting too much time travelling or mastering combat and exploring it falls extremely short on an MMO game where the story matters but guess what.... People play them to waste time, master the combat and do spend time crafting and exploring. And so this easy to digest, quick to master and get through approach kills a lot of joy from XIV imo.

Anyways, implications:
1. CBU III knows how to make good graphics, this is a great sign for graphics overhaul. Won't be near XVI levels, but they know how to make things look good, so their experience on the subject matters.

2. Systems will keep getting easier and more basic because that is what CBU III does well, ease of use. Job complexity/depth is probably going away forever.

3. Exploration and creativity is not going to get fostered or done well for the rest of XIV's life imo. CBU III enjoys heavily guiding and restricting players to exactly what they want them to do and nothing else. Seen in XIVs linear design and further reinforced in XVI.

And that sums it up. I am not sure I feel excited for the future, but hopefully I can get proven wrong, or that CBU III reads this, and tries to change their design philosophy for the MMO. It is time to try something new after all...

A giant lobby where everyone just sits around doing nothing after the MSQ and insta queuing to linear dungeons over and over again is really tired imo.


I would buy another single player title and would be excited for it from CBU III, however. It's just the MMO outside of MSQ mode that needs work or they can't do.

[R041]

It's weird to say, but I would almost prefer the smaller chunked XVI type maps over what we have in XIV now. It's clear they know how to make a visually stunning game with great mid-sized areas. Give me more of that in XIV.

XVI gutted a lot of what we expect from FF games in general, and that alone scares me for both future FF games, and XIV. It did introduce some sick boss fights, so if we ever keep anything from CBU:III I want it to be some form of boss DDR combat.

[Nav_Fae]

I actually had the opposite opinion. I thought CBU3 was better at making MMOs than single player games. Not saying FFXIV is great, but between the two I would rather play FFXIV than FFXVI. Considering 16 has a lot of elements from FFXIV, it reinforced my opinion that it doesn't work for a single player game. Linear dungeons was one thing for an MMO, but for a single player too? That draws a line for me.

[kpxmanifesto]

1. CBU III knows how to make good graphics, this is a great sign for graphics overhaul. Won't be near XVI levels, but they know how to make things look good, so their experience on the subject matters.

FFXIV with FFXVI graphics would be a dream for many players. I know we already can't expect that, like you said, but to have FFXIV's graphics meet XVI's graphics even halfway would be a huge improvement. This is one of the updates that I'm looking forward to the most for 7.0.

2. Systems will keep getting easier and more basic because that is what CBU III does well, ease of use. Job complexity/depth is probably going away forever.

I really hope not. Hopefully someone at CBU III eventually starts listening to player feedback.

[R041]

I actually had the opposite opinion. I thought CBU3 was better at making MMOs than single player games. Not saying FFXIV is great, but between the two I would rather play FFXIV than FFXVI. Considering 16 has a lot of elements from FFXIV, it reinforced my opinion that it doesn't work for a single player game. Linear dungeons was one thing for an MMO, but for a single player too? That draws a line for me.

I think the problem is they have a weird mix of both? They have a lot of archaic MMO systems in both games, and they water them down so you only really get the boring bits of them and use them for 'storytelling'. But it's also clear that they want to focus on single-player storytelling and spectacle in general.

They often do away with gameplay to make sure you can enjoy the stories they tell. But this obviously conflicts with the fact that they're.. A game.

[Ath192]

I actually had the opposite opinion. I thought CBU3 was better at making MMOs than single player games. Not saying FFXIV is great, but between the two I would rather play FFXIV than FFXVI. Considering 16 has a lot of elements from FFXIV, it reinforced my opinion that it doesn't work for a single player game. Linear dungeons was one thing for an MMO, but for a single player too? That draws a line for me.

Interesting xD. Yeah I can see where you are coming from, since my focus was on what's happening next on the story I never really paid attention to the linear surroundings as much as I do when I play an MMO. I feel FFXVI could have easily been a 10/10 game if they adopted an open world design, Witcher 3 levels of side quests and world depth and a decent gearing/attribute system instead of full on auto pilot. Really those were the elements that I missed the most. The rest was great to me.

I can only imagine they didn't do that because of the testing and Q&A + balancing work it would entail, which I don't blame them but.... You're not going to get 10/10 if you are not going to go the extra mile.

[Ath192]

I think the problem is they have a weird mix of both? They have a lot of archaic MMO systems in both games, and they water them down so you only really get the boring bits of them and use them for 'storytelling'. But it's also clear that they want to focus on single-player storytelling and spectacle in general.

They often do away with gameplay to make sure you can enjoy the stories they tell. But this obviously conflicts with the fact that they're.. A game.

This is a very accurate take on the subject TBH.

[Kes13a]

I really hope not. Hopefully someone at CBU III eventually starts listening to player feedback.

I believe thats already the problem. they HAVE been listening to player feedback.

"this is too hard" "this is too complicated" "I want my job to dps as much as other dps all the time"

sad part is, we dont know WHAT part of the player base they are listening to, but the way the game is going did not pop out of a vacuum. people do not like grouping, so we get more solo content... they just need to be more clear about where this "feedback" is actually originating

[Nav_Fae]

I believe thats already the problem. they HAVE been listening to player feedback.

"this is too hard" "this is too complicated" "I want my job to dps as much as other dps all the time"

sad part is, we dont know WHAT part of the player base they are listening to, but the way the game is going did not pop out of a vacuum. people do not like grouping, so we get more solo content... they just need to be more clear about where this "feedback" is actually originating

You're absolutely right about this.

[Syln]

First "mainline" final fantasy i enjoyed playing since the 10 so i would say it's a win for me.

That being said, i hope they will ... refresh ? the current formula of FF14 since it's getting old in many regards (dungeon linear design and combat gameplay mainly for me.)