SE stop doing the "norm"

[Tonkra]

We did see how quests work. You speak with an NPC, you get a throwaway story, you get your objectives, you return you get your reward. Basic quest system.

You don't need to see the low level dungeons or instances to determine if it's "new and exciting" or not, every MMORPG has thus far been exactly the same in setup. What will attract people to XIV over current successful MMORPGs? This is what SE has to figure out.

every MMORPG has thus far been exactly the same in setup

aha and which one? i havent seen MMOrpgs these days where you develope through low level instances like these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxJt3UOBhU8#t=01m30s

The only real reason Star Wars is doing so poorly is because of it's lack of end game. .

i think its not just the content.. it was instanced way too much, and it was too strict linear on the other side.

every cutscene and quest was synchronized... so how about to twink now? exactly.. you will progress through the same quests and movie cutscenes over and over again.. how exciting is that? not at all..

in FFXIV you have the advantage that you only have to progess through the story once, because you can have all classes/jobs on only one character

[Arcell]

We did see how quests work. You speak with an NPC, you get a throwaway story, you get your objectives, you return you get your reward. Basic quest system.

The story is only "throwaway" if the player doesn't care about story. Those of us who do will read them. Even in 1.0 there were a great deal of quests that had interesting stories, some even going back to patch 1.16 that mentioned Dalamud. Also what you described is quests in general, there's really no way to make it vastly different than that basic concept. GW2 tried to do it with their "dynamic quests" but really they're just on repeat timers.

You don't need to see the low level dungeons or instances to determine if it's "new and exciting" or not, every MMORPG has thus far been exactly the same in setup. What will attract people to XIV over current successful MMORPGs? This is what SE has to figure out.

Things are similar because we're in the same genre. You don't see people calling FPSs clones of each other, because they're in the same genre. The basics tend to work the same or very similarly and the details are where things start to diverge. Just like with FFXIV: ARR.

What will attract people? Probably the same thing that caused us all to buy FFXIV at release despite having played the atrocious beta. Same reason people are still playing. There's something about the game that brings people back. I've had a handful of friends leave in 1.0 for various MMOs only to come back to this one because they missed it. Even flawed 1.0 was able to bring people back from other MMOs. 2.0 will do the same.

[Elexia]

The story is only "throwaway" if the player doesn't care about story. Those of us who do will read them. Even in 1.0 there were a great deal of quests that had interesting stories, some even going back to patch 1.16 that mentioned Dalamud.

Indeed they did, that's what I liked about XI and XIV most, the quests actually had good stories but that's mostly because it wasn't setup in the fashion that was there to level you. When I mention "throwaway stories" it's because in most quest grind MMOs the story is just there to fill the box, not much else, the real purpose as we know is for the exp and reward at the end which is why they all tend to be the exact same quest repeated countless times. The Guildleve system was basically the quest grind of XIV while sidequests were actual lore and stories about the world.

When you need to make more than enough quests to level players the quality usually takes a hit, something SWTOR definitely had happen to it after the early levels and that was a game banking on it's story.

[syntaxlies]

The story is only "throwaway" if the player doesn't care about story. Those of us who do will read them. Even in 1.0 there were a great deal of quests that had interesting stories, some even going back to patch 1.16 that mentioned Dalamud. Also what you described is quests in general, there's really no way to make it vastly different than that basic concept. GW2 tried to do it with their "dynamic quests" but really they're just on repeat timers.



Things are similar because we're in the same genre. You don't see people calling FPSs clones of each other, because they're in the same genre. The basics tend to work the same or very similarly and the details are where things start to diverge. Just like with FFXIV: ARR.

What will attract people? Probably the same thing that caused us all to buy FFXIV at release despite having played the atrocious beta. Same reason people are still playing. There's something about the game that brings people back. I've had a handful of friends leave in 1.0 for various MMOs only to come back to this one because they missed it. Even flawed 1.0 was able to bring people back from other MMOs. 2.0 will do the same.

read, what is read, 2.0 voice over ftw

[Velhart]

And being a "standard everyday MMORPG" is why new MMOs rarely last a quarter of a year, because it's nothing new or exciting, it's the same thing over and over again.

To the average MMO player, unfamiliar concepts are unappealing. Can call it SE giving in to the standard, but I think they know well enough that if you want a good chance at those numbers, you need to reel in those new customers with a sense of familiarity, then throw something unique at them.

If FFXIV 1.0 was successful at launch, I doubt that it would of gone over a million, 500k+ at most. While that is a number that makes the game up and going, I believe SE wants to go beyond those numbers and wants FFXIV to last 10+ years, able to make improvements on it to keep it standard. While I think the FFXIV 2.0 audience will be 2 million at most, they have a better chance of reaching that number by standardizing itself instead of being too unique. With the PS3 audience coming in, I definitely think those numbers are a possibility.

In short, I think more numbers will come in being standard than being overly unique. The only real reason Star Wars is doing so poorly is because of it's lack of end game. As long as SE delivers well on the end game content, then I believe it will keep itself up there with WoW and GW2. I doubt it would reach their numbers, but it will keep itself in the competition for a long time.

[Elexia]

To the average MMO player, unfamiliar concepts are unappealing. Can call it SE giving in to the standard, but I think they know well enough that if you want a good chance at those numbers, you need to reel in those new customers with a sense of familiarity, then throw something unique at them.

If FFXIV 1.0 was successful at launch, I doubt that it would of gone over a million, 500k+ at most. While that is a number that makes the game up and going, I believe SE wants to go beyond those numbers and wants FFXIV to last 10+ years, able to make improvements on it to keep it standard. While I think the FFXIV 2.0 audience will be 2 million at most, they have a better chance of reaching that number by standardizing itself instead of being too unique. With the PS3 audience coming in, I definitely think those numbers are a possibility.

In short, I think more numbers will come in being standard than being overly unique. The only real reason Star Wars is doing so poorly is because of it's lack of end game. As long as SE delivers well on the end game content, then I believe it will keep itself up there with WoW and GW2. I doubt it would reach their numbers, but it will keep itself in the competition for a long time.

Indeed, but as we seen with MMO players these days, they're a very finicky bunch compared to the last generation of MMO gamers. This is why it really depends on what SE does to really entice people to it. While GW2 is fun, people got bored of it very quickly mostly due to it's progression setup, people still play it but it went into an extreme in some ways that is normally normalized in a lot of other MMOs, much like MoP in WoW was almost "the opposite" of what they were doing prior to it.

People are more likely to stick around in a famliar setting over a different one, but they are also more likely to leave if it's really nothing new, especially in an age where somehow P2P is the lesser desired model, that's another thing they have to keep in mind how there's becoming more and more MMOs out there compared to even when XIV first launched that are F2P or B2P which is what the basic casual playerbase prefers as seen by social gaming on facebook and the like.

[Velhart]

Indeed, but as we seen with MMO players these days, they're a very finicky bunch compared to the last generation of MMO gamers. This is why it really depends on what SE does to really entice people to it. While GW2 is fun, people got bored of it very quickly mostly due to it's progression setup, people still play it but it went into an extreme in some ways that is normally normalized in a lot of other MMOs, much like MoP in WoW was almost "the opposite" of what they were doing prior to it.

People are more likely to stick around in a famliar setting over a different one, but they are also more likely to leave if it's really nothing new, especially in an age where somehow P2P is the lesser desired model, that's another thing they have to keep in mind how there's becoming more and more MMOs out there compared to even when XIV first launched that are F2P or B2P which is what the basic casual playerbase prefers as seen by social gaming on facebook and the like.

At this point, the biggest selling point to 2.0, like Star Wars, is the name itself. The one issue that FFXIV faces is that it has been released once before. SE has to convince it's new audience that this is a brand new game and not the same game as the current version. So I believe their highest sales and numbers will come from the PS3 release, then word of mouth will get around and PC sales will start rising from there. After that though, it is SE's job to keep them in once they reel them in, which Star Wars failed to do. As long as FFXIV delivers well on it's main storyline, quests, dungeons, and end game, it will be a success in some form.

Star Wars gave me one of the best leveling experiences ever, but end game after two days made me quit. I felt no need to progress after I beat my Bounty Hunter's storyline. It reeled you in with "Star Wars" and "BioWare", but failed to keep you interested in the long run.

The thing with GW2 was as you said, got boring very quickly. The level progression felt very hard for me as it was a series of go in and find events to level on. At least with basic questing systems, I get a chance to read dialogue and get to know the world better. In GW2, the best way for that is the main story line. I am sure the lv.80 end game content is incredible, but that level progression part is very hard for me at least.

Overall I believe FFXIV will be a success compared to the others because of name alone and SE learning from their mistakes and making sure they deliver in all areas. Can call it a "We can't afford to screw up again." situation.

[Warlock]

At this point, the biggest selling point to 2.0, like Star Wars, is the name itself. The one issue that FFXIV faces is that it has been released once before. SE has to convince it's new audience that this is a brand new game and not the same game as the current version. So I believe their highest sales and numbers will come from the PS3 release, then word of mouth will get around and PC sales will start rising from there. After that though, it is SE's job to keep them in once they reel them in, which Star Wars failed to do. As long as FFXIV delivers well on it's main storyline, quests, dungeons, and end game, it will be a success in some form.

Star Wars gave me one of the best leveling experiences ever, but end game after two days made me quit. I felt no need to progress after I beat my Bounty Hunter's storyline. It reeled you in with "Star Wars" and "BioWare", but failed to keep you interested in the long run.

The thing with GW2 was as you said, got boring very quickly. The level progression felt very hard for me as it was a series of go in and find events to level on. At least with basic questing systems, I get a chance to read dialogue and get to know the world better. In GW2, the best way for that is the main story line. I am sure the lv.80 end game content is incredible, but that level progression part is very hard for me at least.

Overall I believe FFXIV will be a success compared to the others because of name alone and SE learning from their mistakes and making sure they deliver in all areas. Can call it a "We can't afford to screw up again." situation.

Other things ppl look for in a FF are also the unique exotic design of everything (clothes,cities,landscapes,monsters) something both FFXI and FFXIV missed at release and then comes the music and Summoner too ofcourse hehe

[Tonkra]

But i think there are many points which give FFXIV ARR the typical Final Fantasy uniqueness to it.

first of all the setting,is over than 10 years old. its a big RPG franchise.

- Job Change system
- Chocobo companion gambit system
- group limit break
- Primal Summon system
- market wards
- the setting (Moogles, chocobos, airships, shiva, ifrit etc.)
- crafters can also perform quests
- hamlet
- ingame casino
etc. and more to come

are the small things which still makes FFXIV ARR unique in my opinion.
well i mean i dont know any MMO out of there where you only can play one character and use all classes at the same time.

What makes the offline Final Fantasy series unique? isnt it the setting, the memorable characters which you see in all FF titles over and over... which makes the offline Franchise unique? the strong and emotional storylines? strategical combat?

isnt that what makes Final Fantasy unique?


and its time for the online FF franchise to catch up with the quality of the offliners. that means, story, story developing through content (which you also do in offline final fantasy's) and catching up with the modern standard.