Revisiting the 10 year roadmap

[Jojoya]

Considering some of the recent discussions here regarding the design of FFXIV, I thought that some might appreciate viewing Live Letter 68 where the 10 year roadmap for the game was discussed. It took place February 2022.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2TWmsce_eg

The roadmap comments start at about 26:50 (before that was the normal introductions and a few comments about the game's development before Endwalker).

Some will find the comments starting at about 29:30 important as it discusses what type of game they intend for FFXIV to become. It's a decision they've made based on feedback from long time Final Fantasy franchise fans.

[Ath192]

Yup, this is a game that hates itself and its own category, and it's going to try its best to shed that and fit in with the rest of the single player titles in the franchise. It will ever embrace going more basic and prioritize ease of use and storytelling over actual gameplay because it has chosen to deny what it is.

As such, the game will never embrace the fact it's an MMO and use the categories strengths to provide a stellar experience and example of the genre, instead, it will hide them away the best it can so other players that don't like MMOs can play it.

Trust me, the fact the game has now become a play and quit title is well known to us.

I would like to highlight that in 6 months at 12.99 dollars we pay what you can expect to pay for an entire game with excellent graphics and complete MSQ from start to finish and full voice acting, since, well that is the cost of XVI when I purchased it at full price. And in that time we get one alliance raid and a few MSQ quests or 4 savage raids and a few MSQ quests.

FFXIV should come with a fine print: Don't stay after MSQ.

6x12.99 = $77.94 USD

XVI = $69.99 USD

What have you gotten these last 6 months for your sub?

[Reinhardt_Azureheim]

FFXIV should come with a fine print: Don't stay after MSQ.

6x12.99 = $77.94 USD

XVI = $69.99 USD

What have you gotten these last 6 months for your sub?

- a type of pvp that appeals to me that I don't have to switch games for
- multiple types of raiding of all difficulties that appeal to me that I don't have to switch games for
- playing my own character. no offense, FFXVI is banger, but I like my own character due to attachment
- being able to make my own choice in a wide spectrum of activities not limited to current patch, usually with other people
- human interaction with other players that I dont have to switch games for [most important]

Probably more I could name but can't remember from the top of my hat. What Im trying to say is, the overall quality may not be great, but its a huge sandbox to me. Could FFXIV need improvement? Absolutely but Im not gonna bash the game on the level like some people do because it doesn't fulfill my every desire.

I am glad to simply have a stable MMORPG that doesn't fold itself by making tanks completely useless and turn everything into a 1min fight or crush itself because Devs can't stop making actually terrible decisions that cause a mass exodus of players.

[Ath192]

- a type of pvp that appeals to me that I don't have to switch games for
- multiple types of raiding of all difficulties that appeal to me that I don't have to switch games for
- playing my own character. no offense, FFXVI is banger, but I like my own character due to attachment
- being able to make my own choice in a wide spectrum of activities not limited to current patch, usually with other people
- human interaction with other players that I dont have to switch games for [most important]

Probably more I could name but can't remember from the top of my hat. What Im trying to say is, the overall quality may not be great, but its a huge sandbox to me. Could FFXIV need improvement? Absolutely but Im not gonna bash the game on the level like some people do because it doesn't fulfill my every desire.

I am glad to simply have a stable MMORPG that doesn't fold itself by making tanks completely useless and turn everything into a 1min fight or crush itself because Devs can't stop making actually terrible decisions that cause a mass exodus of players.

Most of these including the PvP mode were designed before the stipulated 6 month mark. So those activities have already been paid for more than twice over.

Don’t get me wrong I’m glad you enjoy the game, but it doesn’t take away from the fact your are getting ripped off even if you don’t feel like you are. We all are when we compare what other games could offer for the same type of cash we are spending.

Small mini games in the form of PVP and 10 minute linear instances are not worth $150.00 dollars a year.

[Reinhardt_Azureheim]

Most of these including the PvP mode were designed before the stipulated 6 month mark. So those activities have already been paid for more than twice over.

Don’t get me wrong I’m glad you enjoy the game, but it doesn’t take away from the fact your are getting ripped off even if you don’t feel like you are. We all are when we compare what other games could offer for the same type of cash we are spending.

Small mini games in the form of PVP and 10 minute linear instances are not worth $150.00 dollars a year.

Im paying for an online service that doesn't have to put character progression into micro transactions to sustain itself because of this. How much I get out of it each month is my own choice and not exactly easy to quantify number - someone who is new and blasts off crazy in month 1 will have the value of his lifetime, someone who logs for raiding, pvp and social interaction will obviously get less.

For me it is worth that money, and no matter how much people seem to shit on that mode, PvP is a massive factor for why Im staying. It also helps that the overall game's setting suits me.

The Riot MMO or the Tera PS may be diversions that may be well worth my time, but I will continue supporting FFXIV until it either shuts down or turns into something I cannot put money into with good conscience.

[Renathras]

- a type of pvp that appeals to me that I don't have to switch games for
- multiple types of raiding of all difficulties that appeal to me that I don't have to switch games for
- playing my own character. no offense, FFXVI is banger, but I like my own character due to attachment
- being able to make my own choice in a wide spectrum of activities not limited to current patch, usually with other people
- human interaction with other players that I dont have to switch games for [most important]

Probably more I could name but can't remember from the top of my hat. What Im trying to say is, the overall quality may not be great, but its a huge sandbox to me. Could FFXIV need improvement? Absolutely but Im not gonna bash the game on the level like some people do because it doesn't fulfill my every desire.

I am glad to simply have a stable MMORPG that doesn't fold itself by making tanks completely useless and turn everything into a 1min fight or crush itself because Devs can't stop making actually terrible decisions that cause a mass exodus of players.

Im paying for an online service that doesn't have to put character progression into micro transactions to sustain itself because of this. How much I get out of it each month is my own choice and not exactly easy to quantify number - someone who is new and blasts off crazy in month 1 will have the value of his lifetime, someone who logs for raiding, pvp and social interaction will obviously get less.

For me it is worth that money, and no matter how much people seem to shit on that mode, PvP is a massive factor for why Im staying. It also helps that the overall game's setting suits me.

The Riot MMO or the Tera PS may be diversions that may be well worth my time, but I will continue supporting FFXIV until it either shuts down or turns into something I cannot put money into with good conscience.

These two posts are more or less the answer.

If it's not worth the money to you, why are you paying it?
If it's not enjoyable too you, why are you playing it?

And if it is those things, then bashing it endlessly makes no sense and isn't helpful.

Is it perfect? No.
Can it be improved? Yes.

Does that mean it needs constant bashing? No, and constant, incessant bashing doesn't help make it better, either.

[Tsumdere]

I agree that 7.0 is going to be the make or break regarding the battle system. 2 Min meta is unpopular everywhere and has been the spawn of more balance issues than I've personally seen since starting this game. Crits, buff drift, DH, downtime, certain jobs being so genuinely bad at a fight that they are all but excluded, MELEEWALKER... They must know it's completely out of control or they wouldn't have nerfed the DPS check of Anabaesios into the ground.

Not only that, but none of the game has any difficulty while leveling. Then you join an EX fight and get your shit pushed in because you've been on easy mode for 100+ hours at this point.
The difficulty curve is bad. By Stormblood, dungeons should be asking more of people. By Endwalker, dungeon bosses should have enrages (still loose ones), insta kill abilities (make them slow casted), and mechanics that use at least two brain cells instead of one. Think of the Vault before we greatly outgeared it.

This is one and only area of CBU3 that I genuinely hope they just flat out fire everyone (job team) because they are incredibly incompetent.

FFXIV should come with a fine print: Don't stay after MSQ.

6x12.99 = $77.94 USD

XVI = $69.99 USD

What have you gotten these last 6 months for your sub?

- ultimate
- raid tier
- tons of fishing (please save me)
- housing
- place to hang out/RP with my friends
- too many hours collecting stuff
- leveling more jobs on my raid alt so i'm not locked into a certain role
- making gil for the ugly gold mounts and prep for ex shiny weapons I like.
- pvp

I'm having fun. I personally get my money's worth. Could it be better? Absolutely. See above.

[Ath192]

This is one and only area of CBU3 that I genuinely hope they just flat out fire everyone (job team) because they are incredibly incompetent.

Firing people isn’t the solution. They just need to change what their goals are. These sorts of comments create a lot of animosity between devs and the player base because they read these things sometimes. We are not talking in a vacuum here.

I completely dislike the state of the game and how disposable it has become but I don’t think it’s because they can’t change it, it’s because they want to do something else with it. Either way if it continues down this path I will stop playing it but I wouldn’t like to see heads rolling on the team.

I do hope they realize their 10 year road map is less about giving the MMO enthusiasts what they want and more about ignoring them and trying to get people who don’t like MMOs to play XIV. This is a slap in the face to their current customers because they are ignoring us to chase the people who haven’t wanted to play the game.

[Tsumdere]

To put it as gently as possible, you have no idea what went into that decision and have no grounds to justify that statement other than being mad. You're perfectly allowed to not like it and want it to go back - I'm still bitter about Kaiten and will probably die mad about it - but it's very likely there's telemetry data driving this decision that none of us are privy to.

Firing people isn’t the solution. They just need to change what their goals are. These sorts of comments create a lot of animosity between devs and the player base because they read these things sometimes. We are not talking in a vacuum here.

I completely dislike the state of the game and how disposable it has become but I don’t think it’s because they can’t change it, it’s because they want to do something else with it. Either way if it continues down this path I will stop playing it but I wouldn’t like to see heads rolling on the team.

I do hope they realize their 10 year road map is less about giving the MMO enthusiasts what they want and more about ignoring them and trying to get people who don’t like MMOs to play XIV. This is a slap in the face to their current customers because they are ignoring us to chase the people who haven’t wanted to play the game.

I dun care if they don't like me. And they don't read these forums anyways.

Just tired of people squawking about "buh hard to balance buh" and "you don't know what they are thinking uwu they got so much data" when we ALSO have data through FFLogs and Lucky Bancho. Players aren't stupid. We're not in the dark.

Also Kaiten change was very stupid because it didn't solve any the issues they claimed to want to change, but altered the playstyle to Shinten spam. SAM still has button bloat and still has incredibly wide damage variance. And like... every job presses buttons... before other buttons... That's how rotations work. If they wanted to get rid of "buttons we always pressed before skills" they should remove the 12 from every 123. Remove Life Surge. Remove Reassemble. Remove Requiescat. Remove Blood Weapon. ETC ETC

Truly genius.

[Reinhardt_Azureheim]

Also Kaiten change was very stupid because it didn't solve any the issues they claimed to want to change, but altered the playstyle to Shinten spam. SAM still has button bloat and still has incredibly wide damage variance. And like... every job presses buttons... before other buttons... That's how rotations work. If they wanted to get rid of "buttons we always pressed before skills" they should remove the 12 from every 123. Remove Life Surge. Remove Reassemble. Remove Requiescat. Remove Blood Weapon. ETC ETC

I don't think the buttons you listed can be compared to Kaiten that easily...


123 combos aren't transformative in the way using abilities is so that one I don't get why we compare it.
Requiescat isn't a "press before every single Holy Spirit" button, though at Lv90 it is basically the glorified spell combo opener.
Life Surge is best used on Full Thrust / Heaven's thrust, but you don't use it on every single Full Thrust / Heaven's Thrust.
Reassemble is best used on Drill / Air Anchor / Chainsaw, however you don't use it on every single Drill / Air Anchor / Chainsaw.
Blood Weapon is a glorified Infuriate since Shadowbringers and was a Haste buff + resource generation boost pre Shadowbringers, why is this listed?

The reason why Kaiten was different, which is likely why they did the change they did, is because other than pre Lv52 and pre 62 on AOE, there was never a single instance where you DIDN'T press Kaiten -> Iaijutsu, you did always and without question as any of the Iaijutsu's charged with Kaiten was a complete gain over using Shinten/Kyuten and/or using Kaiten on non-Iaijutsu combo finishers. It was so baseline you always did, which they saw as "well if you always do it, why do we even have the option to use it without?" and decided to get rid of it.

Do I like it? Personally yes and I say this as someone who lost Dark Arts and Speed Weapon, because it was a 100% mandatory button press on every Iaijutsu without question. Do I understand why people are pissed? Also yes, it essentially didn't get any Kenki spender replacement.

That said, where is my Hissatsu: Seigan counterattack? I miss that one a ton more than Hissatsu: Kaiten and just flat Kenki gain on Third Eye is boring.