The direction this game is taking.

[Bibimbap]

Simplified - Less gear slots, less aggro types, less materia, simpler monster A.I, etc. In-depth battle mechanics are replaced with things like gear-dye and housing. Can't even have a decent character limit on the forums.

Fluid - FATE & Duty Finder is everything. Through claiming and instance mechanics, competition has been removed. Gone are the days of waiting for anything (unless you're a DD in Duty Finder).

Casual - Effortless progression. Enemies are 5x larger but 5x easier. Ease of game-play actually breaks illusion of achievement, even for casuals. 99% of the open-world content can literally be beaten with a chocobo.

Hardcore niche - Item level, cross-class, and a few difficult fights. It's hard to say how difficult it will get, but there is definitely a desire to have something in there for the hardcore players. PvP included in the meantime.

Discuss!.. because this is the forums... not shout chat.

[Jess_Spark]

I don't think housing is replacing things. It is an addition to the game, and actually an important one to many of us.

[Bibimbap]

Yeah, it didn't actively replace anything. More like, "instead of that, we have this." But yeah, I can't wait for housing.

[Starlord]

Simplified? Wait till your like 30ish and tell me that again

Casual? Some aspects yes but once you get to around 30 the leveling curve goes up ( making it hard to get 1 level a day even) Unless you pour hours of time into it then yes.

Hardcore? the first 30 levels are Casual I can agree with you on that much, after that it becomes less causal ( of course you can still be casual it will just take a while for you to get 1 level)


That's how I personally feel as a player my highest is 38 ACN.

[Bibimbap]

I've seen and done enough to have valid opinions without having to personally have a 50 battle class. Besides, having one or two 50's doesn't exactly put anyone at the apex of hardcore opinions.

[Jacked]

I've seen and done enough to have valid opinions without having to personally have a 50 battle class. Besides, having one or two 50's doesn't exactly put anyone at the apex of hardcore opinions.

Lol. I'm sorry, but this isn't true at all. The game is much different at 50. The opinions of your low level have absolutely no relation to later game content

[Klefth]

Simplified? Wait till your like 30ish and tell me that again

Casual? Some aspects yes but once you get to around 30 the leveling curve goes up ( making it hard to get 1 level a day even)

Hardcore? the first 30 levels are Casual I can agree with you on that much, after that it becomes less causal ( of course you can still be casual it will just take a while for you to get 1 level)

Oh, Starlord...

(SMN 50 3 days after launch - university student here, so not exactly 24/7 play times)

[Starlord]

Oh, Starlord...

(SMN 50 3 days after launch - university student here, so not exactly 24/7 play times)

3 days eh? with school time? somehow I highly doubt that. Just me being skeptical is all. Take it as you will.

Edit: Then again with any launch of a game/patch people tend to "move along with the crowd". I like to see people say they do it this fast when you leveling from scratch with barely anyone around you ( this is me right now leveling LNC from 1-15).

When the "rush is over" you see things like:

- Finding a hard time doing FATEs due to very little people around to them them with= Time consuming
- Duty Finder will have a hard time finding people due to people not in that level range to do it ( people won't do low level dungeon while being high level 9 times out of 10)
- Levequests are limited (though I have 90 currently) they go fast, and with the how many you get a day you will run out.

The only things you can do is rely on your free company to help push you through those hard levels ( where nobody is around).

[Dartanis]

The game does't get fun till endgame dungeons, mainly Coil. Speed lvl then come back.

[kukurumei]

Actually that is correct.

The game is GW2 type, in which mechanics are simple and replace with "mem"canics. Instead options, they are replace with puzzles.

Most battle revolves around tricks that a player needs to figure out and react to, or as we know it, circle syndrome. This is very casual in concept, and only tests motor skills more then it does connotative abilities. Sure there is nessary for extreme concentration, and perfection, but it is much like playing tetris at lvl 50 instead of lvl 5.

If I ask you to play DDR, it's merely a movement and rhythm game. Then I ask you to do it drunk, then I ask you to do it drunk while answering math question. Then I ask you if you make a mistake you slap yourself. It doesn't change the movement and rhythm, the simple math question, or the drinking, it's just pressure to make you lose easier.

It is not very "hardcore" or "gamer" in nature. This is very casual thinking. And everything reflects that, from class balance, to equipment, etc.

ARR has very very "basic" math in all manner of the term. They just keep piling on speed, punishment, and multi-tasking.

It's the type of gameplay that is exactly put into "casual" game development.