[dev1008] About Jumping

[gifthorse]

I can't say that jumping is inherently "bad," that it somehow hinders the game or wouldn't have some place given proper supporting content. I must say though that by choosing to not include jumping, the game instantly took a stance on it. If you can't jump you build the areas with characters being firmly planted on the ground in mind. You create content focusing on other aspects of gameplay aside from area navigation. The game could certainly be reworked to accommodate jumping. It could be built up to provide an in-depth experience with that feature. At what point though are you moving away from what makes sense given what's already there and instead attempting to build an environment solely for a personally desired feature? At what point are you making a new game instead of improving an old one? Perhaps that last point is a bit exaggerated but I do wonder if jumping would truly make the game so much better.

I'm fine with jump if it's added somewhere down the line, as long as there's proper motivation to use it. Personally though I feel too much would need to be changed to accommodate it and what would be gained would hardly justify the effort. We can continue to go around the tree or tear it up and build a road. Either is fine, ultimately, it's just a matter of if saving time not going around the tree is worth the effort of destroying it. =/

Also, one thing to add. I know people saying jumping doesn't seem "FF" enough might get on your nerves. This is XIV and not XI, yeah. Thing is it's built by some of the same people and they set out to give us an experience different from that of the mainstream mmo. It may not be what you or any other person wants, but discrediting someone's argument because they feel that jumping doesn't feel completely in tune with the heart of the game is like saying people can't like other genres of games.

You know what I realised? This all just brings us back to the linearity debate. Final Fantasy XIV was indeed developed with a focus on people navigating through environments in one particular way. Just look at The Black Shroud for a lesson in tunnelling people down a path. Or look at Cassiopeia Hollow as an example of unused areas. Have you ever noticed how much more that zone would open up if you could swim and jump instead of walk over those Lily Pads?

So although the game was designed with these features at its core, that doesn't mean we can't disagree with them. Maybe people enjoy different genres of games, but can't we argue these features by themselves instead of on a genre-by-genre basis? After all, what do you gain from linear travel besides simplicity? The same thing that gives developers the freedom to make zones in a way they see fit is the same thing that removes our sense of freedom to navigate those zones without frustration.

You can build a zone full of knee-high barriers, but you can't expect people to be ok with this in a fantasy MMO which is meant to reflect reality. In real life, such things wouldn't present themselves as a barrier. This itself detracts from the immersion - the ability to engross yourself in the game - simply by virtue of the fact that it leads to frustration. There is a time and place for a genre of games, but an MMO shouldn't try to be a game. It should try to be an imitation of life, but with more interesting gameplay. People play MMOs to do things they can't do in real life, they dont play MMOs to be able to do even less.

In this day and age, you can create a game like FFXIV if you want, but you can't expect it to find a large audience. If you're not even going to try aid in the illusion of freedom in an MMO, then perhaps you're in the wrong industry.