ffxi-2? Well, maybe... but WHICH ffxi?

[derekx]

This is neither an endorsement nor an attack on the idea of FFXIV taking the route paved by FFXI. That's another complex issue which deserves to be debated; there's a juicy thread, active right now, about that topic.

However I think it's important to clarify one point in the discussion. When most people wax nostalgic about the earlier game, they (we) are usually focusing their memories on the admittedly clunky, yet deep and rewarding game we all played before the word Abyssea was ever pronounced in it. We're referring to the rich game mechanics that supported a complex and varied Skill Chain system, which generated party play that could last for hours, with clockwork team interaction being always pushed off-kilter by links, differences in mob strength and sheer human fallibility. We probably are thinking of the slow-paced, half-mental, half adrenaline-rushed race to cap, the perpetual frustrations thrown your way by Matt & Co., the arcane and semi-buried stat interactions that stimulated theory-crafting and more fan sites that memory can recall now... Admittedly, it was a tough world, but it was one that made acquaintance flourish into friendship with surprising speed.

This wants to be a reminder to the community that posts in this forums to start qualifying their nostalgic calls with the PRE-ABYSSEA adjective... I rushed to post this, after I read part of that thread I referenced above, and therefore didn't do my homework: If I could mention the development team (other than Tanaka) responsible for most of that, I would do it. Acknowledgedly, there were epic fails in their work: The already mentioned hyper-clunky interface, most dismally exemplified by the chocobo-raising experience, but not only; the failure to unite and integrate (until Level Synch) high-level players with the newbies (the Mentor feature was one rather pallid and unsuccessful attempt; ) and finally and especially, the lack of some connective tissue to give better context and sense of purpose to what was, ostensibly, the most epic grindfest this side of Lineage I.

Now, let's make clear THAT is the model we refer to when we dream of aspects of XI as models for future FFXIV develpment, not the watered-down version of itself that it became after the level-cap was taken beyond 75.

Agreed (mostly), I don't like Abyssea overall. In fact, its keeping me from resubscribing. However, there were other really good changes that happened with the new development team since the level cap increase. Oh, and the magian trials are way out of hand.

This is a good distinction to make though.