[dev1008] About Jumping

[gifthorse]

First off, I must assume that people saying there were no jumping mechanics in FF before FFXIII never played FFT, FFTA, FFTA2, etc... all "Final Fantasy"-branded games in which you character automatically jumps over obstacles when the distance is jumpable. I therefore gather that this anti-jump ultraconservative understanding of FF games is either incomplete because they have not played these games I mentioned, or a misinterpretation of what makes a FF game a FF. In either case, it defeats the argument that jumping would kill the FF atmosphere.

In addition, I would like to add that the jump/no jump discussion is probably the most viewed and discussed topic because it's not simply the discussion between those who want jump and those who do not. It is iconic of the argument between a retrograde way of understanding games that has led FFXIV to the state in which it is right now, and an innovative way of understanding games that seeks to make FFXIV a modern MMO, with modern mechanics that allows for more freedom of play.

I do not refer only to freedom of gameplay, but also freedom from the FFXI-bred behavior that leads players to want to control what others do, as is examplified by the many topics in this forums: "I don't want jump because everyone else will be jumping around, even if I won't", "I don't want pvp in the game, even if I can choose not to participate", "I want everyone to adjust to a system that clearly isn't working, not even for the devs", "Hey devs, don't listen to the requests", etc...

This is so true.

People complain of jumping tampering with the integrity of the Final Fantasy franchise, but it probably pays to understand that Final Fantasy is more than just running everywhere and linear exploration. If all Final Fantasy games came down to was a lack of jump, then nobody would play them.

Every Final Fantasy game has sought to improve upon the one which came before it, or differentiate in some other way. In FFXI, drastic combat changes were needed to take it to the industry standard, on account of the fact that you can't have typical FF random encounters in an MMO. Not viably anyway. I do so fondly recall people dimissing FFXI as "not a real final fantasy", which makes it all the more amusing to hear people say the same thing for FFXIV when using FFXI as a typical model.

If FFXI could step forward and make the necessary changes, while still maintaing that "Final Fantasy atmosphere" you are all so obsessed with, I can't see that implementing jump in FFXIV can't do something similar by including jumping.

Unless you're blind, you'll realise that characters jump all the time in Final Fantasy games. Even as far back as FFVIII you had some jumping minigames, not to mention the fact that characters never stopped jumping in cutscenes, or so it felt like.

Lightning was always flipping around and doing shit in FFXIII. In the opening cutscene for FFXIV, we see players running around and dodging. In one of the R46 cutscenes, players are doing crazy backflips. I could go on and drive the point home, but the fact remains that Final Fantasy games are not exclusive to jumping and I still fail to see how that is a valid argument. I would say that, once upon a time, what made a Final Fantasy game was its ability to push the envelope, nowadays there's no chance of that happening when its playerbase is so rooted in what they think is tradition.