[dev1034] What ARE companies, though?

[Godai]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but I remember reading the Black shroud maps were being redesigned. I didnt think much of it at first, but with the side quests saying " I wouldn't be surprised if the empire attacked Gridania any day now" that seems like a perfect lead in to [B]why[B] those areas will appear different. It would be a bit lame to just change the maps with no in game story, so it seems we have the perfect lead in !!! Sounds hella awesome to me! Can't wait to see the devastation (^.^)b

P.S. wouldn't a Public Company be a smaller force within a Grand Company?

[Mack]

wow someone who does not care about other opinions over the internetz .
how innovative, as much as companies.
for someone who toss random "who cares" line you definitely seem to care people want info after waiting for 6 months.

I was being sarcastic and It wasn't his opinion so much as It was the fact that he was threatening with "I'm done"...yea, so who cares? (was it you?) and you have no idea how to speak English properly, I dunno how innovation fits into my speech choice, so stick to Spanish and no one will miss you. Just messin' with you man, relax, have fun.

[Endyne]

Yeah, we are in the dark, but some speculation can be fun, yes? I seem to remember Hamlet Defense being tossed around a while back. If they are re-doing zones, and Companies play a part, I could see Campaign-esque type battlefield content where we fight the Garleans. I am not opposed to Grand Companies offering the chance for large-scale battles where we get to command groups of NPCs we recruited into the Companies. You know, a war setting to lead charges against the Garlean threat. Could be fun .

[Sigmakan]

Seems like even SE does not know what companies will become. Perhaps they are waiting for a good idea to pop-up on forums and then go from there? If thats the case . . . lets hear some more ideas people!

[Betelgeuzah]

Companies seem to be related to everything concerning the Garleans. Aside from the aetheryte camps that are operated by the city-states themselves, although those have been established to counter the primal threat iirc.

So I assume it goes like this: City-states vs. primals (+ Ishgard vs. dragons), and companies vs. garleans. We'll probably get to fight some Archons as well, since some of them have defected to the enemy ranks according to the lore. Makes for a good starting point for the dungeon bosses, like sub-bosses of sorts (Ark Angels anyone?!).

[Uzziah]

I'm of two minds. I'm tired of waiting for stuff and I'm intrigued by the little that has been released and looking forward with great anticipation. First, a bit tired of waiting because I, like many of you have been faithful to SE, when in a sense we feel as though SE betrayed us by releasing this game in an absolute mess. One of my officers said to me the other day, "I feel like we are gama testers". This is seven months post release now. I've read and re-read everything I've been able to find on anything to do with Companies. I found the following quote by SE in a document that still exists on the lodestone.

Establishment of In-Game Communities
The first version update of 2011 will introduce what are known as "companies," a special type of linkshell with more group-oriented progression and goals.



Once estbalished, companies will be able to work towards acquiring their own communal assets, such as buildings that can serve as headquarters, or ships that can be used to access multiplayer content. The system will provide concrete benefits to players who align themselves with a company, as well as motivate already established companies to seek out new recruits. In essence, the focus will be on providing new, innovative content for all players to enjoy. The FINAL FANTASY XIV Lodestone will also offer a number of online services covering both companies and linkshells.

and here is the link to the document.
http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com...f018ec5fb504d2

This obviously didn't happen in the first version update of 2011 but I am still quite intrigued by the statement and it's one of the things that holds my interest in the game.
Since that document was released, nothing more has been said regarding the quote above.

I would be content to hear that the statement is still true... at least the part about the content planned, as the time line has come and gone already.

Anyway, SE, if you read this, thanks for everything. I've sent plenty of emails detailing my frustration and my suggestions. I hope you understand all of our frustrations and am glad that you are listening to us.

I encourage all players to continue to hang in there. I truly do believe this game will be "A Legend in it's own time".

[Nyaku]

i believe that part in lodestone regarding that form of company, was referring to private companies and was planned by Tanaka-san. which would make sense, since Yoshida-san said in a ZAM(i think) interview, that those form of companies will be held off. The grand companies seem to be something entirely different, more of a 3 faction type thing (which is about all we know).

Clues as to the differences of 2 types of companies, or even that there will be 2 different types, seem to be hard to find and not very solid. And I'm pretty sure SE has a pretty good idea of what companies will be so i kinda doubt they are waiting for a big idea to show up on here. I'm not saying some big idea on here wont reflect the later outcome of the system, but if they didn't have at least a good place to start they wouldn't start releasing the content already, which however little it has been, there is grand company related content now.

But obviously everything i say can only be speculation. I am very eager to see what SE is going to do with this, but I can't help but be extremely frustrated with just, when will it happen? I understand game companies (especially SE XD) can never give a release date before they are 100% sure about it and ready, but at this point with this looong wait, a general amount of time would be great. If companies aren't going to really become anything for... idk a year, then I think many would like to know so they don't get let down and just give up after a month. Or if it will be in the next week, or couple months even, that would be great to know as well.

Normally I'd never expect a game company to appease to the fans with all that info so much, but given this game's situation, it seems fair... but the second part of this month's patch will be released this monday, so lets hope that will shed some more light on companies and, at the least, release more quests leading into it.

To SE reps and developers, i understand this is a rough situation for everyone, you are all being forced to work like crazy to come up with ideas for this game and to keep it alive while you do so, as well as doing all this with the disaster in Japan. The community reps have been great with showing how much attention they are giving us all, something pretty new for SE to do. I would just ask that the communityy reps try to find some compromise with Yoshida-san and the devs to give us some kind of timeline, to let us know where the game is heading now, give us some general idea. It feels like, sometimes, that we keep getting told all these things we will see over and over, yet we never really see any of them.