The New Aggro-Icon

[Sonic_the_Hedgehog]

from a few posts I translated some of the japanese are on the fence of the icons. They see the good and bad of them. They dislike the well easy mode of it but at the same time feel it could be good to help newbie to ffxiv/mmo. Most mmo out now are not very newbies to mmo friendly. So SE trying to get into that looks like. According to one poster he called them wet blanket marks.

Well they can always turn it off if they think it makes the game easy.

[Peregrine]

Well they can always turn it off if they think it makes the game easy.

This is faulty logic, since the option to make the game easy by telling players what mobs agro is a statement about what kind of game it is and the kind of player it wants. It's not just a matter of personal preference. You can't have both kinds of players just voluntarily making the game how they want it.

If players who have kept their agro icon off for 30 days enjoy increased drop rates, that's another thing. Then you can play your game and they can play theirs fairly.

[Kilta_Firelotus]

This is faulty logic, since the option to make the game easy by telling players what mobs agro is a statement about what kind of game it is and the kind of player it wants. It's not just a matter of personal preference. You can't have both kinds of players just voluntarily making the game how they want it.

If players who have kept their agro icon off for 30 days enjoy increased drop rates, that's another thing. Then you can play your game and they can play theirs fairly.

so you feel ppl should be rewarded for having the icon off? And you feel that is fair?


You do know the target audience is casual player who don't have hours to play the game. Since ffxi was time consuming and scared ppl off who didn't have hours to play.

Sorry but thats kinda well... silly. It is really personal prefernce. Many gamers of many ability levels play mmo. Why should it only cater to the elite? What if a gamer who is so so at gaming, why should they be chased off a game?

[Sonic_the_Hedgehog]

This is faulty logic, since the option to make the game easy by telling players what mobs agro is a statement about what kind of game it is and the kind of player it wants. It's not just a matter of personal preference. You can't have both kinds of players just voluntarily making the game how they want it.

If players who have kept their agro icon off for 30 days enjoy increased drop rates, that's another thing. Then you can play your game and they can play theirs fairly.

I don't think having these icons are going to make the game easier considering you won't know the actual strength of the monster until you fight it. Also to me there's no difference in having the icon on or off. With the icon off and you came across an aggro, you would probably just run away. With the icon on, you're gonna avoid that monster, the same thing you were doing with it off.

I don't think the people that have it off should get any kind of benefit, they wanted it off so the game wouldn't be "easy" so let them have it off and enjoy their "difficulty".

[BelgianRofl]

from a few posts I translated some of the japanese are on the fence of the icons. They see the good and bad of them. They dislike the well easy mode of it but at the same time feel it could be good to help newbie to ffxiv/mmo. Most mmo out now are not very newbies to mmo friendly. So SE trying to get into that looks like. According to one poster he called them wet blanket marks.

I ran some of their posts through the translator as well. Several are of the opinion that while the information is good, It shouldn't be shown above the heads of every monster, effectively ruining the sense of adventure and landscape.

[Lyndis]

Okay I admittedly haven't been keeping up with all the discussion nor have I even read this entire post. But I'd like to throw my opinion out there.

Problems:
I think adding aggro icons and now this was and is a bad idea. I agree with the people that it makes the game too easy. To those who say turn it off: I don't think that creates an adventurous, immersive, or fair playing field. I want to know that my companions see the same thing I do when I play the game. Being able to turn this feature off is like if I hacked to make my rank 1 armor to look like a harlequinn's set; looks great to me but doesn't affect anyone else. To those who say this game focuses on casual players: I don't want to believe this game will ever definitively be solely casual. FFXI is one of the few MMORPGs that took the step to be different and tough. Thus it brought on a different crowd and still had a large player base. Targetting casual players means bigger competition for Final Fantasy XI. Every other MMORPG is very similar and targets casuals. Square Enix has proven they can make a game that is different, challenging and good. I want to see Square Enix do what they've proven to be one of the best at.

Solution:
As I understand that I can't persuade everyone to believe this game should be the same game I want it to be I offer a sort compromise: Keep color coded or some kind of basic check system like what we have. This creates a measure of ambiguity on enemy strength and ability keeping the sense of danger. Add a a libra type ability that allows you to check an enemy and display it's stats to the party. This could simply include making the level and aggro information display next to the enemy's name like the picture shown by the OP. This could also be much more advanced or have a version II that shows more about the enemy such as weaknesses, HP, MP, battle tips, etc. This ability can be awarded to a class such as ranger to give further class uniqueness and a reason for teamwork.

Plea:
I've always had a lot of hope for this game. Thought this would be my new home. When I played the alpha I was excited, in the beta I was more excited, when the game was released I just knew this game could only get better. It seems the development team is sadly moving the game in a direction that is leaving me, and the audience I represent, behind. I had faith that Square Enix was the one company that could make a game for us but now decisions are being made that throw me into doubt. Things that I liked are actually being taken away when I thought there was only room for improvement. Square Enix, please don't forget these fans.

[Nephera]

Well, the icon looks better smaller but I still think its a pretty lazy piece of work, ah well.

The level indicators are nice, I'll enjoy having those. Though I can already imagine the complaints about it making the game too easy.

[Sonic_the_Hedgehog]

Well, the icon looks better smaller but I still think its a pretty lazy piece of work, ah well.

The level indicators are nice, I'll enjoy having those. Though I can already imagine the complaints about it making the game too easy.

Like I said, the people that don't like it can turn it off.

[Nephera]

Like I said, the people that don't like it can turn it off.

Oh I know, but opting to not use the feature never stopped people from complaining about fast travel in oblivion so we'll see :/

[Kilta_Firelotus]

Oh I know, but opting to not use the feature never stopped people from complaining about fast travel in oblivion so we'll see :/

funny story about that..... sorry for derail :P

in skyrim they are keeping the fast travel BUT you must have went there first. I like the insta travel just more so AFTER i found the places.

anyway I wouldn't mind an option if there really NEEDS to be one. But having too many option will defeat the purpose of it being casual/less time consuming game also with option taking up room.

I like the icons it makes me feel like Im playing a video game vs an interactive movie.