What 1.0 and Tanaka did good

[Warlock]

unique =/= good

His systems were half-finished and poorly implemented. Had he more time perhaps the game would have launched better but we'll never know now. Every unique thing he did was executed poorly.

ARR is hardly a WoW clone. Using features that have become the standard in MMOs for good reason doesn't make it a clone. It brings it up to par with the genre as of the past few years. This can be used as a base, to expand on. Get the foundation set properly then try the unique things that may or may not be received well.

Exactly ..just like houses , Your house isn't a clone of the next one but they all need the same flat foundation

[darkstarpoet1]

Holy shit.

You werent kidding.. lol

Can you link the boats one too? I've never heard of either XD

they actually had other parts planned. like making airships and the regular boats, but you would have people from the different crafting classes making parts for them. they were to be group events. let's say the carpenters made the basic build, blacksmiths made the cannons, armorers build the nails/spikes/joints, weavers make the sails, and along those lines. it'd take parts of each gathering and crafting class to be able to make a fully functioning ship........ man i was soooo looking forward to that.

[PSxpert2011]

...
- Fatigue was a nightmare.
- No content was a nightmare.
- The way you got experience was a nightmare.
- Despite the fact the game bragged about 'no levels', there was physical level and class rank.
- Stat point allotment did literally nothing. At all.
- Stamina bar was poorly implemented and not responsive at all, as it should've been.
- Armor aesthetic was pretty boring and dull.
- Leveling was going to take years - it was like 1.5 years before I had my first 50.
- No vision or future plans for the game.
- Lack of regular updates.
...

Also, since when is people playing or not playing an MMO any of your business?

While I do agree with the above(harsh reality of the sorts) we need to practice ignoring those who take things a little too personal and attack by asking the obvious. I didn't like the beginning but I'm sure am enjoying the progression of FF XIV. I could speculate that everything said above could've stayed in BETA but the sad truth is, it carried over and was like a thorn in the side.

With all the respect I have for Tanaka san, his intensions were good: To prevent and make it tougher for RMT/BOT activity. Isn't there any other way? Maybe it was all planned out to not catch too much attention of those opportunist gill-sellers. I might be too much of a optimistic, thinking he was going to revert everything to be like FFxi in the end.

If there's something I will miss, it's Tanaka san's Final "F**k the world" Fantasy, cause I did it 'his' way attitude.

[Dargoth_Draconia]

So now as this version is near to a close, and we've all seen all the negativity, I'd like to take some time and revisit 1.0 and think what we liked about the game, and would/were sad to see go, even if it wasn't as well implemented as we expected.

I, for once, loved the concept of a different physical level from the class/job/weapon or skill you were using. It was a powerful concept but sadly it didn't catch and to be honest, wasn't as polished as it should have been. I liked it because, how many times during FFXI didn't we wondered "if I'm a warrior lvl 75 why the same character starts as a lvl 1 thf/monk/whatever, now I'm welding a different weapon and suddenly I'm weaker?" I understand that Tanaka asked himself the same and that's why he tried to do that distinction in FFXIV.

Crafting and gathering as a full fledged jobs/classes rather than sub-professions. It goes without sayign that this concept hasn't been fully explored well, and I'm glad it persists and I have high hopes in 2.0 to see how Yoshida explores it.

Classes and interchangeable skills. This is so powerful that I cannot even start to imagine the possibilities it holds in the hands of a good designer. For now it's been phased out because of the jobs, but I really really think the core of FFXIV is here and I hope Yoshi don't disregard this aspect of the game and leave it as a curiosity, and improves upon it and gives more class content and depth to the system. It also tied really well with the distinction of a class/physical level, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the future holds.

Slow paced, positioned combat. This comes from FFXI, and it's here as well, but I think it's one of the things I like more, to have to move and dance around the mobs and bosses as a melee DD having to time and position correctly for my attacks to have full effect. I hope they keep this feature and expand on it with the limit system so the whole party is involved, not just skill chaining with ourselves.

Aesthetics and art direction. True that some maps were copy/pasted and are repetitive and dull, but the cities and general design idea of the world of Haydelin is gorgeous. For me every other game now looks way more boring and bland compared to FFXIV, and I think it's one of the things that kept me here and will keep me for a long time.

Final Fantasy themes. Going hand to hand with the aesthetics point, I loved how this game is a Final Fantasy to the core, with all the great elements in it: The music, the crystals and it's influence on the world mechanics and structure, the evil guys that in truth may be not so evil, the characters and story lines, chocobos, the steampunk feel to the technology, mixing a science fiction with a medieval fantasy feel perfectly, it's just great and it's all I ever wanted in a Final Fantasy game.

I know a lot is changing in 2.0, and I'm sad I had to see the physical level/class level go, but I hope to see all the things that 1.0 did right stay and get better and better.

How about the rest of you? What did 1.0/Tanaka did right for you?

I semi agree with few of your points but I disagree with a few as well. The one major thing this game lacked to me was the core Final Fantasy feel, Uematsu did a fairly good score but with a copy/pasted world he couldn't draw much inspiration for it so it lacked in areas for many people. The game really didn't feel like Final Fantasy at all except for the concept of crystals and a few other small elements. The aesthetics (outside of graphics) was pretty bland and dull in many places and really lacked the Final Fantasy world feeling. Way too much copy/paste, poor gear designs, lack of gear choices, there are a few good spots in the worlds and over all design but the bad outweighed the good. Of course some of this is opinion and to each their own.

[Gramul]

poor gear designs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doG7lmlAbvY

[SolArisa]

How about the rest of you? What did 1.0/Tanaka did right for you?

- Mob AI
- specific types of trees dropping specific items, and not walnut trees dropping yew branches
- animals NOT dropping gear (still waiting for a tiny dormouse dropping a full plate armor ...)
- Mage AoE range individuality (THM vs. CNJ)
- speed of leveling (it was just dull, but the speed was right)

[Shougun]

they actually had other parts planned. like making airships and the regular boats, but you would have people from the different crafting classes making parts for them. they were to be group events. let's say the carpenters made the basic build, blacksmiths made the cannons, armorers build the nails/spikes/joints, weavers make the sails, and along those lines. it'd take parts of each gathering and crafting class to be able to make a fully functioning ship........ man i was soooo looking forward to that.

Hopefully that design document is still on the wall - and a plan..

I think boats should come before airships, and it would be good to get swimming into the game asap. (he mentioned boats and swimming at the same time at least...)

[YuriSan]

He did nothing right.

Obviously you could do way better.

[Radnar]

Directed @ OP:

I'm glad you found certain aspects of the original game to be nice. Many others, myself included, did not.

Certain things you wrote about, such as the interchangeable skills, combat, game aesthetic, and crafting and gathering class implementation, are things that I find very bland and uninspired (or bad and poorly implemented) compared to other games on the market right now. That said, I'm glad you've gotten enjoyment out of them anyway. I'd much rather see most of the things you wrote about removed and never spoken of again.

[ejiboo]

i totally agree with you OP! i miss the class system, interchangeable abilities and i would have liked to experience the game before auto attack and the removal of physical levels. i know the the game is 'better' now but i really liked those ideas and i wish that they were refined rather than trashed for something cookie cutter.

i really hope they do combat correctly and it has depth.