LOLPATCH 1.16a

[Evovenom]

It's been quite sometime since this game launch, patches need to be quick but adding lots of things not just couple of things. I would prefer to wait two months to get 30 items then 6 each month. I would feel the change more.
It's understandable that japan is in a crysis but square enix still has a job to do and lives goes on. It's unknown how this game will turn out, many other games are out and coming up. It will be hard for Square Enix to catch us but if I've learn anything from this company is that they are excellent in playing catch-up.

[BruceyBruceyBangBang]

SE just had a poll for the combat system and class uniqueness is being worked on as we speak, did you not catch that?
They even said, in two months they plan to roll out the battle changes, i don't understand what you're complaining about.

Your post, I agree with, but I'm going to have to nit pick just a tad.It reads that they were (at the time of the interview) releasing battle changes during these next upcoming patches over the span of two months. Not in two months. Of course, that is all delayed now.

Back on topic, yes, there is a lot out there to contend with offline and online, but the point of it is to point out that there are possibly superior games coming. In the end, what is it all for? To discourage what FFXIV can be when all of the patches are cohesive in the end and it goes to pay to play? I understand what the OP is trying to do, but is he in or is he out? The answer is obvious.

He has a right to bring up these issues, but you have to look at the circumstance. FFXIV is at the inferior status currently compared to what is out there. The new development team is trying to correct this and no one knows if it will be corrected or if it wont be. Just have to wait and see before you pass judgments. Doing it now could very well be pointless when all the plans are implemented. I am cautious just like the rest of you guys, but I choose to not be the loud mouth in the end eating his words.

[Betelgeuzah]

Maybe I'm just being impatient, but I kinda agree that this game needs some monumental changes before it can compete with anything out there in the market.

Herein lies the answer.

This game needs monumental changes. This game is getting monumental changes. For the Spring, Class system rehaul, Combat system rehaul, Auction House, Jumping Mechanics, and the Companies are being planned. These are all monumental changes and/or additions, more or less.

But what do you people think about the development time for all of these features? Do you think they can be implemented gradually? Do you think their development will be completed in less than a month?

As far as the combat system rehaul goes, that can be developed gradually but the developers have already stated that they will release the changes in larger parts, not little by little. Companies may have been already largely finished but the developers have said that they want to develop content for the system before implementing it. The rest of the features do not have to be released in a completely 'ready' state, but the over-all structure (that takes the most time to complete) has to be in place for the feature to function properly (AH for example).

Now, someone may wonder what's taking them so long- it has been 6 months since the release already after all.

When was it that the developers started the development on these features in the first place? Why did they start the development so late? Why did they get nothing substantial done from December to February?

The first question is quite easy. Late-January to early-Feb is most likely the period they began the development on the features listed on Yoshida's first letter. Before that, they were mostly setting everything up, changing update policies and restructuring the dev team, as well as catching up on the development and features so far. It is not something you finish in a week, and even though it can be said that they could have been faster in the process, it would not be in any way surprising or unlikely that to get the development rolling again, it took them at least a month if not longer. The way Yoshida seems to handle the development is quite a bit different from Tanaka, so at this point I don't think Yoshida stepping up was only some kind of a PR stunt with seemingly no further consequences. Wada wanted him to fix the disaster, and that's what he seems to have set out to do.

So, now we know that although it has been 6 months since the release, they have been developing these features for only 2 to 3 months at best. Exceptions exist obviously, such as Companies that were most likely in development even before the release (which is probably why Yoshida seems to not be so modest about the feature, as it has been in the making so long) and the combat system development that probably did not start as early as the other development (mid- to late-Feb probably).

What can we tell from all this? These smaller updates do not matter in the big picture, as the development has been focused on getting the rehauls out during the Spring (probably starting on 1.17). Features that are finished in a matter of month or less and can be implemented gradually have been included in the updates so far, but they are not that numerous- as the dev teams focus is not to develop features that take less than a month to develop at this point. They are working on the UI gradually, so those additions and improvements can be added monthly.

Surely, once the rehauls do come they may suck or may be too small in scope. That time isn't yet though, for reasons stated above, and so far they have done a good enough job, although I am still expecting them to get better as they become more efficient working the way they have for these few months. I can see that this 1.16a is already better than 1.15b was, so they are definitely improving.

Further, even though they may get the rehauled features 'right', even more important is how they can shift their development towards efficiently polishing said features as well as implementing content and smaller additions as fast as possible. They are working on the larger picture right now, but that will not last forever- and when they need to implement a lot of smaller improvements monthly, their Q&A team may be overwhelmed, resulting in a lot more bugs getting through, and the development structure may be too byrocratic to allow for the necessary flexible development environment which is probably a big problem for Japanese companies as a whole.

A lot can go wrong, but so far so good.

And to clarify, this seems to be the way they are updating the game right now:

Mid-sized patch (1.15a) > Small patch (1.15b) > Mid-sized patch (1.16) > Small patch (1.16b) > Mid-sized patch (1.17) > Small patch (1.17a) > Large patch (1.18) and so on, roughly every few weeks.

So I hope all of you can at some point realize that every 2 weeks we are going to get a patch with pretty much nothing in it, and that it doesn't matter in the long run at all whatsoever. In addition, the mid-sized updates have been gradually getting larger, so we still haven't seen just how much they can get out of themselves in a matter of month.

*braces himself for the inevitable bitching in mid-April and 1.17a*

[Bloody]

Very small patch. Kinda bummed, but not really. Why? It's 1.16a, which means it is basically a subpatch for the main patch (1.16). 1.17 is where I will be looking forward to more adjustments, content, etc.

[Radaghast]

Why are they making the target system more complicated than it has to be. Just add a separate button/key to be able to toggle through target modes.

[Randis]

i playstation pad has just that many buttons.

[Akumu]

lmao Belgianrofl is back! The forums became a little bit more settled after your absence. Thought you finally left for good.

[Natabant]

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...6a-Patch-Notes


When do they expect to revive this game? 2016?


I'm sorry, but this is very discouraging...

Mortal Kombat - April 19
Portal 2 - 25 Days
L.A. Noire - May 17
Brink - May 17
Duke Nukem - June 14
Alice - June 14
From Dust 6/30 [link]
Tera Online - Mid 2011
Gears of War 3 - September 20
Guild Wars 2 - November 2
Forza 4 - November 4
Elder Scrolls - 11/11/11
The Last Guardian 12/30
Age of Empires Online - TBA 2011
Doom 4 - TBA 2011
I Am Alive - TBA 2011
Diablo 3....

Half-Life X...........

You forgot Infamous 2 :'(

[Abriael]

NO one is ignoring that but what they have planned is not at all what the fans have been pleading for. and its easy to see that you can say that becasue you love this game and play alot ppl are pissed because they are not happy with the product but of course there are a few multi rnk 50 O.o that play this game like crazy and are happy with this broken product

First of all. You have the usual quite elastic idea of the term "broken". All the systems of the game work, ergo, there's nothing broken. It needs evolution, polish and more content, but the term broken doesn't really apply.

Secondly, but more important, you aren't "the fans", so I would avoid to associate what you personally want with "the fans". What "fans" are you talking about?
You say "screw companies", but "the fans" (or at least the fans as represented by the player's poll, which is the only statistical representation we have) actually stated as a majority that the issue they want to adressed first is lack of content (very understandably). And guess what? The companies are *content*, which means they are (or they have the potential to be) exactly what "the fans" want.

You != the fans.
You != the majority.

Looks like it's a common mistake around the forums here

[Evangela]

Mortal Kombat?

No, thanks