I guess that now is as good a time as any to give you guys my quick thoughts on FFXIV. I played some of the closed beta… well I guess some is an overstatement. I maybe clocked a combined total of three hours. Is that enough time to comment on a MMO? Honestly, I am a big proponent of the idea that you -can- judge a game right off the bat if it provides players with clear opportunities to judge.
Why did I only play a couple hours? Honestly, you’ve probably heard these reasons from just about everyone else who isn’t playing but I want you to hear it from me too. I’m not even going to touch upon any of the controversial stuff like the fatigue system. My problems with the game are straight forward and simple.
The controls are terrible. Even with a gamepad, which I had to put in after the first hour of play just to be able to continue for another hour, the game is unresponsive. The new keyboard/mouse controls are just plain bad and unresponsive as well.
Chatting with NPC’s is like reading a novel. They say so much… but they don’t say it. I had to read walls of text that I didn’t find the least bit interesting. Some people have told me things like “at least the lore is good”, but I didn’t get that impression. The chat window (unless fixed recently) doesn’t help things.
Combat is unresponsive and dull. It’s not entirely a menu system like you would expect from FF games, but it might as well be given how delayed and clunky everything is… heck, even the menus that you do see are wonky. Is it a lack of polish or just a total lapse in judgment on the dev’s part? I can’t tell. It feels at times like a sloppy port, but then again isn’t the PC the primary platform?
It’s not immersive. Bottom line, I log in and I play for an hour or two and not once do I feel like it’s a game that I would want to play seriously or invest time into. That’s a very, very bad sign for me. Maybe it’s the Eastern influence.
You guys know me. If there’s even a chance that I’ll enjoy something you can probably find me foaming at the mouth somewhere. However, when I don’t like a game even from the start it’s because the game usually has some major problems. This is partly where I don’t know what to think… the FFXI crew might love it but I don’t see how anyone who appreciates a responsive, immersive, and fun game could. Maybe it will do well based upon franchise loyalty, but that doesn’t change the facts.
If you base your decision on playing (or trying to get one of those coveted beta keys) solely from reading this blog, then I’ll do you a favor and tell you not to waste your time. If you’re a loyal to Final Fantasy then please tell me what it is about this game that you love so much.
Yeah, I been playing the open beta as well. I feel exactly the same way as you do. I HATE the controls, I hate the targeting system. It’s a shame too because if they had typical controls like wow, daoc, war, etc etc then I would enjoy it. I don’t undertstand why they are pushing this for the PC when it is clearly console based.
I also can’t believe how primitive the ui is. I mean they still have the same crappy chat system that they had with ffxii. I was really hoping they would of made this ff version a little more friendly to PC players of mmos.
But its all good. I don’t mind letting console players having their game.
I just actually canceled my collectors edition pre-order and probably will just sit on my open beta account and do nothing with it.
i had a few friends who were drooling over this game.. I almost wasted my time downloading it until I saw a gameplay video. Glad I didn’t.
I couldn’t even install the beta due to the downloader instantly crashing on startup.. seems a common problem, maybe something to do with 64-bit Windows 7.
This was after I’d already jumped through hoops to persuade it that yes, I DID have 12 gig of free disk space, just not on my C: drive.
[…] it with a grain of salt. Keen supports some of these and adds his own thoughts to the mix, so take a look for thoughts within our […]
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Keen. They do seem to echo other people’s concerns and have me rethinking my excitement for the game.
When you played, did you have a chance to hop between a few different classes? It sounds like the game is a grinder, but I’m hoping the classes are compelling enough to keep me switching around.
@Carson: Keep trying. I’m on 64-bit Win7 too and got the same thing. It just took a bunch of restarts. Don’t forget to forward your ports, too, otherwise your speeds will be horrible. You can also extract the torrent files and use something like uTorrent for a much quicker download. For the HDD space thing, do you have the game set to install on the C: drive?
@Chris: I tried a mage type that casts spells (not the pet one) and just a plain fighter/warrior type.
I’m certain that it’s a grinder.
The problem is that I can’t see anything about the game being compelling. I felt like logging off rather than staying on or ever playing again.
I normally disagree with you, sometimes vocally in your comment threads, but I’m in absolute agreement – nothing about FFXIV making me WANT to login again. one four-hour attempt was enough for me.
And yeah, I had the same control issues.
heh yeah I tried and wanted to like it but its so bleh.
I’m patching up to the OB client as I type this. I was in closed beta and I played a lot more than Keen, probably around 20 hours in total, but the reason I’m only now getting around to patching is that I haven’t felt like logging in for the past ten days or so.
I don’t feel as strongly negative as Keen, but most of his points are sound. To cover what I did like first, I actually liked the NPC conversations. I thought that was one of the game’s stronger points. I loathe voice-acted speech and much prefer to read text, so that suits me fine. Ironicaly, the limited voice acting FFXIV does have seemed to be well above the appallingly hammy standard that so puts me off voice acting in other games.
The biggest plus point is the world, which is hands down the most gorgeous I have ever seen in an MMO. Most of the time I had in closed beta was spent running around exploring and going “Gosh! Wow!”. I also loved both the character models and the monsters, some of which I found laugh-out-loud funny.
That’s about it for good points, though. The controls are indeed poor, although they used to be much worse. I’m hoping that when I get the OB client working I’ll see a big improvement there, but I’m not holding my breath.
The Guild Leve system, so heavily hyped, is nothing more than a very basic mission system, little different in essence from the one I first encountered in Anarchy Online a decade ago.
Combat is pedestrian in the extreme. Even though I prefer steady, simple combat this was a bit slow even for me. I am told it becomes much more complex later on, but I think that’s mostly speculation based on how combat is in FFXI because CB was level-capped at 30 and I don’t think it got any too much different by then.
The real problem, though, is that there seems to be nothing much to do. Supposedly most of the quests are being withheld until launch, and the two quests that were in beta were nice, but I don’t think anyone’s suggesting FFXIV is going to be a quest-driven game. Just what sort of a game it actually is intended to be I was never really sure.
The player-vendor system is demented. It sounds lovely, with your secondary merchant character actually there in the world and so on, but it is next to impossible to use. Imagine EQ’s Bazaar, but with no search facility of any kind. If you want something you have to inspect each vendor individually, just on the off-chance they might have what you want. Then imagine having to zone between each of the dozen or so different levels and floors to look at each of the hundreds of vendors.
I hadn’t pre-ordered but before closed beta I was full intending to buy FFXIV. I may still do so, but not until it’s been out for a few months and not unless they have fixed the vast number of things that really aren’t working.
Uhhh really disappointed to here this but can’t say that I’m surprised. I wasn’t impressed with the control and camera system in the previous FF MMO so wasn’t convinced this one would be any better.
It always boggles my mind though when games are in such poor states. Do the developers/publishers honestly believe that they can get away with producing half finished and unplayable products?
Saying all of that though, it still is the beta and maybe things will change dramatically before launch.
Its definitely a controller UI first, Keyboard second. Last night I logged into the Open Beta and the UI response was so much better than in CB3. FFXIV is its own style of game, so many testers are focused on maximizing leveling. Its definitely not a wow style where the only thing that matters is end game. Hopefully everyone will enjoy the journey, and enjoy the world. It looks absolutely amazing. Mixing each classes abilities to your own playstyle. I only did a few hours in CB3 but and will be in OB a little bit hopefully more this weekend. The changes between each stage is huge.
BTW there is no pet class, 2 Magic Users Thaumaturge and Conjurer. Mostly you are using spirit dart until MP regen skills/ability come into play.
Community is the biggest worry at the beginning.
I played FFXI for a month or two but quit due to 2 main factors: massive lag and awful controls/interface. I then heard about FFXIV and how the UI changed and improvements were made and wanted to give Square Enix another shot at making a decent MMO.
I spent about 45 minutes, starting at 10pm EST, refreshing and refreshing SE’s website to get an open beta key. My first issue with the game occurred before I even entered. The downloader/launcher is incredibly slow for some reason. I’m on a really fast connection (can reach 3.8mb/s) and I maxed out at 60kb/s while downloading the recent patch. Not to mention the download was sitting idle more than it was actually downloading while I happily uploaded at nearly 200kb/s. Torrent patching with no way to limit upload speed, um, how about no?
So I have the game installed, log in, and create a character. The character customization is somewhat bare bones. It provides more options than WoW, but not even in the same ballpark as Aion, City of Heroes/Villains, or other recent MMOs. Only 4 hair styles for my Lalafell? I r sad.
I now entered the world on my Thaumaturge and sit through about 15 minutes of scripting game sequence and cinematics with a quick combat introduction in the middle. After that, there is another 5 or so minutes of sequences when you reach the town.
After all that stuff, which I really couldn’t care less about, I’m finally able to go out and fight. And here’s where the straw breaks the camels back. The controls are AWFUL (for a mouse/keyboard). Just to fight something, you need to engage combat mode, target a mob, select an ability to use, target the mob again. Why can’t I just target something and press a hotkey???
Then, the lagged command triggers and I start casting. Some spells are out of sync with their damage trigger. Heals for example will show the amount healed nearly a full second after the spell is cast.
That isn’t to say the game isn’t without its merits though. The graphics are really amazing, as is the music. I wish I could comment more on the good things but I couldn’t last longer than 2 hours in the game. I simply wasn’t having fun.
I havent played OB yet, but I was in CB.
In CB, a gamepad worked great for me. Any unresponsiveness is probably hardware ( your side or thiers) related.
The controls are bad, just like they were in FFXI. I dont expect this to change at all. This game is primarily developed for a controller, and SE is pretty stupid when it comes to things like this.
Its not as much of a grinder as FFXI, or Aion, or most other games of that type, at least once you learn to optimize xp. Skill gain is increased on guildleves, and increased further if you ask for your guardians favor. Fatigue/Surplus is the only reason people wont be level capped in a few days. Leveling is very easy.
I liked FFXI, so of course I like FFXIV. If I made the game, I would change a ton of things, but I still enjoy it.
If you werent a fan of FFXI, the only thing that is significantly different on a basic level is the ability to solo. So unless that was your only FFXI complain, I doubt FFXIV is for you.
I enjoy the slower combat. I enjoy battle regimens. I enjoy guildleves as an alternative to grinding ( not as an alternative to quests). I enjoy the story missions alot. I enjoy the world.
I hate the controls. I hate the ‘market battle system’, but an auctionhouse is coming. I hate the surplus system. I hate some of the menus.
Since the content was deliberately left out in beta, I havent formed an opinion on the game as a whole. Still, I like what Ive seen so far, though I do have a high tolerance for SEs bullshit after playing FFXI for a few years.
well this helped my decision immensely… no FFXIV for me. next?
Thanks for the review Keen.
Just a quick addendum to my comments above.
I’ve now patched, installed, applied for and been accepted into the Open Beta and played for an hour.
The controls and their responsiveness seem identical to CB to me. Not sure what Panzur is seeing that I’m not. I found them useable but not pleasant to use before and it’s the same now. An hour of that floaty mouse is more than enough and I had to log out.
I started in the Woodland city this time and the introduction was just unbelieavably good. I would honestly say it was worth installing the OB just to see that sequence. The hairs on the back of my neck literally (and I mean literally ) stood up. Probably the best cut-scene I have ever seen. I really think Square Enix should be making movies, not video games.
The tutorial once you get to the city is virtually a cut and paste of the one in closed beta. It’s a tutorial, so that’s fair enough. The characters and dialog were first rate, yet again, and the plot looks intriguing, as it did in the port city in CB.
Unfortunately, that’s where it stops impressing. Out to the woods for some lacklustre combat, enlivened only by the very first tutorial grade mobs having a massive poison dot that killed me twice out of three times, AFTER I had beaten the fungoid that cast it. The forest isn’t so much a forest as a maze of green tunnels which the lack of a jump function and the inability to scramble up even a gentle slopes turns into a rather dull maze.
I really find FFXIV enervating. After an hour’s play I felt exhausted and frustrated and it’s almost all because of the floaty mouse. I really do feel that with a normal PC-MMO UI most of the other problems would be far less noticeable. There’s a hell of a good game in there fighting to get out.
All of my friends that I played WoW with came from FFXI. I missed the boat on that one because I was still playing EQ and then got deployed.
A few that were in closed beta, who loved FFXI, have said that FFXIV sucks. However it’s an open beta. If you can get in and try the game, why not?
This is the first MMO I’ve ever looked forward too, but at the same time I fully expect it to suck. I hope it proves me wrong but I doubt it will.
Okok .. enough. I canceled my preorder.
I am impressed that you lasted three hours, I stopped after one. Everything you said Keen was dead-on. I can’t understand how a company could get it so wrong. This even goes beyond the Asian/Western MMO differences and just into poor game design.
They should have taken the development money and put it into a full-length feature film made up of the cut-scenes which are the only aspect I did enjoy. Albeit in my very very limited time.
My question, those that hate the controls/UI… did you play FF11? Is it alike or different?
World
of
Tanks
I just can’t get past World of Tanks’ concept to play it. Sorry. 🙁
@Epiny: I actually played FFXIV for like two weeks I think. The controls were much better.
To all: (not just main poster :P)
I just have to say this. SE and FFXIV where developed for a controler. I’m not saying that your complaints about mouse controls are invalid or anything like that because I agree that the devs should have understood that when you make a PC game, people want to use PC interfaces.
However, If you have a PS3 controler or other controller that can be hooked up to the PC, go ahead and try the game with the controller. Please at least give the controller a chance and you might be suprised about how much more you feel in control of your character.
I played FFXI for 3 years before I left for WoW. I was in CB and now just got my key for OB. As much as everyone is saying how the controls/UI for FFXI sucks, I sorta liked it (or maybe got used to it after playing for 3 years).
However, everything that Keene said is correct… I totally hate the controls/UI that FFXIV has implemented. The controls are clumsy and combat mode is redundant and slow. I was really looking forward to this game, but I’m seriously contemplating on canceling my pre-order 🙁
@Raziel: It was unnatural feeling even with a controller. Something about it was just wonky with a controller and VERY wonky with mouse/keyboard.
Funny enough I really enjoyed the combat, I liked the tactical aspect of it. Unfortunately, laggy UI, the fatigue system, 8 quests only every 48 hours, shitty targetting controls, lack of basic functionality hotkeys (auto reply)..
Unfortunate, since I was looking foreword to the game, the delay on doing ANYTHING from crafting to shopping to opening your inventory and menu screens is horrible. The story is allright, but it’s hard to get very far due to dealing with all the issues, and the lack of direction in some quests also had me seething. I played maybe 5-6 hours, and overall, even though I had fun in the parts I COULD play, I wouldn’t recommend the game either.
Good thing you didn’t get into the fatigue system, it pretty much highlights that you simply CANT devote time to the game, even if you did enjoy it.
Yeah, I didn’t even want to get into any debate over the fatigue system or crafting or anything like that. For me the game wasn’t playable from the start.
Spot on most points, controls terible – that floaty mouse was killer, the cutscenes where awesome, world vivid, chars endearing.
How was your perfomance ingame, even on lowest of settings game wasnt smooth on 1920×1080 for me (I5 750, Ati R5850) ?
All in all EQ2 pops in mind about all of this.
lol and more lol thanks god they not gona fix the mouse keyboard crap i hate play with that .this game is to be played on gamepad 🙂 and thats why i really love it i love this game overall wow is crapppppp . this game is for ff11 fans and thanks god is still the same. remeber this is a jap game. controls for me works great only thing is bad is the inertface when you press the buton and take action this can be fixed . i can belive wow players looks for this game ff11 comunity is very diferent to wow or other mmmo if you like wow dont bother with this game . i love ff11 because is so much diferent to all other mmo i personally think wow is crap i play for 2 days and get bored cus how stupid easy that game is . ff mmo is for hardcore skill players . if you like wow wow stay playng wow and leave this game to US ff mmo fan cus it is make for us 🙂
If using a mouse, its software only so is affected by FPS, and can instantly kill your experience. That can change when they put in the hardware mouse stuff. 🙂 I also was playing in the middle of the night so I don’t know how much server side congestion played in peoples enjoyment or lack there of. In CB3 the actions selection screen was painful and would error out a lot. This time around it was very responsive so I was pleased. It is definitely a different kind of game so many will not find the adjustment easy or not their cup of tea. I am currently in the dilemma of having one person from old Linkshell wanting to play on another server that doesn’t have his special name taken 🙁
The world and item detail is amazing.
Ive died so many times now, its also taken me around an hour to figure out how to start quests and pretty much do anything. Still havent figured out how to do the crafting quests. Still keen dieing constantly. I hate this game.
I couldn’t stand FFXI. With that feeling in mind I went into the FFXIV CB and… found it to be something I could tolerate.
As mentioned above, numerous times, everything said is quite true. The game is in a very poor state for being from such a well known and veteran company. There are ways around some of the problems, others that can be endured, but really… is that what a company should ask of its potential customers?
The biggest problem with the game, from my view, is the lack of basic information in-game. I’m referring to things like stats; we may understand, basically, what they might be for but there is no certainty. This also extends to the numerous menus — some of which are *referred* to but never explained and other systems like combat and harvesting/crafting which are only really lightly touched on. Harvesting, for instance, is a hot/cold mini-game — once you figure that out and what the messages mean, it’s actually fairly easy to do. Same with combat; while initially slow, as you gain more abilities you can sort of queue them up during their animations and chain them a bit — this speeds things up quite a bit. No real indication that they’re queued till they go off, though.
Having a bit more complex game with far less available information is a bad combo.
And, to anyone saying this game is simply more ‘hardcore’ and not ‘easy-mode’… What exactly makes a game hard? All you do is mash some buttons, perhaps know to string a few things together… I always see this in reference to games that tend to be more ‘grindy’, is sitting in one spot killing the same group of monsters for 12 hours straight somehow more difficult than running around questing? Trial of patience, sure, but I don’t see the skill involved being ‘greater’. Perhaps I’ve just played too many MMOs.
In any case, I’ve got the game pre-ordered but am on the fence as to cancelling it.
@RAF
It’s a pity you can’t use a gamepad to type with, because you obviously have serious trouble using a keyboard.
@Blacknimnus
ohsnap.jpg
@RAF as well.
LOL FFXIV is for hardcore skill players PLEASE……. It is not. You have all the time in the world to attack and such, no quick response needed for anything. Also, how is it hardcore when they specifically have a system in place, fatigue, to prevent hardcore players from even playing heh.
But as I said in my original post, I don’t mind them having another game for console control users but, they SHOULD NOT be pushing it for PC as much as they are because this game is terrible for people used to playing on PCs.
I do love the graphics and such but the targeting system, combat system, chat system all need major work.
After seeing the performance, I have serious doubts about how it will translate to consoles, too. I mean, this thing chugs on decent machines. How they could chop it down enough to function on the PS3s 512MBs is beyond me… unless they strip down all those pretty visuals. And then what’s left?
I have the same sentiments as Keen. To think that i had buy a new PC rig just for FFXIV. FFXIV fanboys will like this game no matter what the issue this game have. It’s like blinded by love.
Sounds like another wow clone. I’ll pass.
@ jay p
if it were a WoW clone even in some aspects it may be recieveing better reveiws lol
i agree SE have totally missed the mark with this one and I had such hight hopes..glad i held off preordering
I think Jay was just trolling. 😉
I was so very disappointed after logging in… and still am.
Even if I’m bored, I won’t log in to open beta; choosing to be bored rather than bored AND frustrated.
Such a damn shame…
I know no mmorpg is going to be perfect at launch. well i will buy the normal edition only to play and pass time while waiting for guild wars 2 and diablo 3.
Perhaps its time for me to buy a ps3. hehe.
@Chris – i was thinking the same, but at last they don´t have to worry about full servers…i don´t think a lot of pc players will play it. The controlls, the ui, combat…ah just so horrible. The fatigue system ..oh well no comment. Only thing i liked are the graphics, but there are other games that look great too and good graphics don´t make a good game so…
Uninstalled the beta a week ago. Won´t buy it.
Played the open beta this morning, lasted only an hour before quitting.
–System requirements too high
-Software cursor >.<
-Gamepad oriented UI that probably works well with ANALOG joysticks but not with the bloody keyboard
-As someone above mentioned, one of the first mobs you fight has a massive DoT that WILL kill you after IT dies, leading to http://i.imgur.com/QJHIS.jpg.
-Did i mention unclear instructions on how to recover from "death"? Guess which option resses you from death in the screenshot above
++Animations are amazingly lifelike and believable
+Art direction is stupendous, a tie with Blizzard in terms of it's focus and consistency
+Character designs and monster designs look good (at the beginning)
++Music is by Nobuo Uematsu. Enough said.
I was. I watched someone play FF XIV for a bit and had no interest in the grindyness of it. Maybe because it was my first but have not been able to replicate the excitement playing DAOC gave me. Every year or so i reup for a month or so, not the same, not sure why. In the last month ive played Lotro Beta and Exerquest 2 Extended. Hard to get excited about the ftp aspects that aren’t included. Fooling around with guildwars until guildwars 2 comes out. Well made game, one drawback for me, and correct me if im wrong, is it seems all pve is instanced.
I played WOW for 3 years. And i can’t say i liked it as much as daoc but there was something about it that had me addicted to the game. Printing booklets on jewelcrafting/ Leveling multiple alts crafting etc. Blizzard had me hooked but again i can’t say it was a great game for me. Always needing to grind for gear so i could grind for more gear. Finally quit when my wife said enough.I couldn’t keep playing 6-7 hours a night after working all day.
Warhammer for 1 year. Probably the best trailer i have ever seen for a game so flawed. Hoping for DAOC magic but endgame was so borked i quit in frustration. Now that they’ve fixed it somewhat i hear it just a massacre with maxed out players zerging through everthing that moves.
Again sorry if i bored you guys, just wanted to vent. I’m hopeful for Guildwars 2, Rift, Planes of Telera looks well made, even if it is a “wow clone”. We will see…….
I have actually been playing the OB a lot. I agree, it needs a lot of polish is many areas. A lot of the clunkiness people feel can be attributed to server side lag, but the UI sure doesn’t help it any. This is one of the most user un-friendly MMOs I have ever played. Reminds me a lot of DAoC and EQ where you wander around not knowing wtf you are doing. This is arguable good and bad. At this point, I am enjoying it, but the things wrong with it a glaring and obvious. I can only hope they have something better prepared for release.
Thank you very much for your post, and for everyone’s comments.
I stayed clear of FFXI because of how horrible the controls were. I however heard that they made things better in FFXIV.
Now that I read that it’s still a horrible mess… I’ve just canceled my collector’s edition pre-order.
I’ll still be buying the soundtrack from e-bay or something 🙂
I’ve been playing OB for a while now and I throughly enjoy the game. Then again I’m one of those weird ones who doesnt like WOW too much. I’m having immense fun teaming up with people doing guildleves, exploring, crafting, gathering. When there isn’t any lag the combat feels like a different game. It’s fast and fluid, but the lag is pretty bad at the moment. I have no complaints really except for I wish there was a better keyboard and mouse layout. But if you use a controller, the game plays great in my opinion. I did not enjoy FFXI but yet I really do enjoy this one. This one is far less grindy, but still grindy. Then again what FF was not grindy with the random encounters in over world map.
Square has also said they are holding back a lot of content because they don’t want to spoil it in OB.
I say try it out guys. If you like a compelling personalized story this is a game for you.
I’m exactly the opposite of most of these comments. I actually put in my order for my collector’s edition after I played the OB. Yeah, it’s sorta laggy and unresponsive, but every patch they put in it gets better. I was a FFXI die-hard fan, though. I also played WoW for years. FFXIV is my chance to play a fun, beautiful, challenging game made by the historically best RPG-maker in the world. I’ve always loved JRPGs, I’ve always loved Console RPGs. This is pretty much a Console RPG made into an MMO. And once they put in a hardware mouse (Which there’s already a 3rd party hotfix for, made by Cliff of FFXI’s Windower fame), you don’t even really need a joypad.
Yes, it needs a LOT of spit and polish. But I know it will end up being the best MMORPG on the market as far as my tastes go (and I know not everyone will agree.. this is MY TASTE), and I’m willing to fight through it in order to secure my spot at the finish line when it’s all said and done. I’m extremely looking forward to a challenging MMO that doesn’t give me free “epix” just for logging in and killing some trivial bosses that a 5-year old can achieve.
All in all, 80% of the FFXIers I’ve talked to absolutely love this game. And probably 15% of people who never played FFXI that I’ve talked to love this game, so obviously FFXIers are what they were aiming for when creating this game.
THIS GAME SHOULD BE SOLD AS “JP-ONLY”
holy crap — flashback to … 2002? … or 1998?
i played and enjoyed FFXI a LONG time ago when there really weren’t other good mmos … this FF 14 is like a prettied up version of that with some of the highest specs ever seen — yet a UI and keyboard layout, etc from 1998!
so i ran it with extremely low, bad graphics in order to play at a decent speed … hurts my eyes to play at this pixelated manner
extremely frustrating — like someone said, if it had modern UI and controls, i would love to delve into it — but this is unplayable currently
will be a huge flop except for in Japan and among some hardcore FF peeps
It seems like some people are trying to use WoW as a basis for comparison for an MMO… WoW is not the best MMO that all others have to be like it in terms of gmaeplay, UI, graphics, or what not. FFXIV is different and thats the important part. Why play another WoW clone with rehashed gameplay and concepts?
Ive played WoW for years and in comparison, its EZ mode. Lefthanded retarded red-headed stepchildren can get to 80 and get carried through dungeons for gear.
As for grindage, what MMO didn’t require you to grind? getting to 80 in wow is a grind, an super retard easy one, but a grind nonetheless…
I think FFXIV has made something new and unique with the notion of making crafting/gathering a class in their own.
I enjoy crafting aspects in games and the crafting done in FFXIV brings about a intersting challenge, not present , in everyones fave game WoW. The chance at failing a craft makes it appealing to me rather than the tired “LF crafter I have mats, make me an uber sword/axe/armor” routine.
Ive been playing OB and I do think there are some kinks that need to be worked out but I still think this game will be enjoyable.
I played the CB for one night before it ended and then played the OB for a couple nights before uninstalling the beta and washing my hands of it.
Nothing about this game felt fun or immersive in the least. The game feels overall awkward, clumsy, slow and unintuitive and not because of any technical/lag/server issues but because of the nature of the gameplay and the game mechanics. And then there is whoel Fatigue system which is just too stupid to even get into.
Tried it with a controller and it didn’t make the game any more playable, in fact I was getting pretty good at using the mouse/keyboard ingame, but the fact that the game chains you to an annoying menu system is a big turn off, aside from all the other turn offs.
The graphics are good but nothing wowed me visually and I had become so bored with the gameplay early on that I spent a decent amount of time just traveling around looking at stuff. I also really dislike the character/mob art style in general, but that is just me.
Despise the crafting, I despise it as much as I dislike the crafting in Aion.
I amnot a Wowhead either, never played it never will. I have enjoyed themepark games and sandbox games, AAA games and niche games in my 10 years of MMO gaming, but I can’t bring myself to like FFXIV.
Fortunately I never preordered so I don;thave to cancel it.
Spot on Keen.
If it wasn’t for the Final Fantasy name on it, I would be surprised that this game isn’t f2p.
I remember enough about the early days of FFXI to know that the quality was already there. The FFXI UI is probably the most efficient interface I’ve used, and extremely responsive. The city missions and storylines were fun and interesting right off the bat, especially anything involving Tarutaru. Combat was a blast, targeting was a breeze, the command line was a bit of a learning experience, but extremely fast and easy once you had the hang of it.
I can’t remember any glaring issues with FFXI since the day I bought and installed it, whereas with FFXIV, I’ve already stumbled upon a number of things. If you sit down in water, for instance, and try to pan the camera, it shifts to a first person look, but it’s still in 3rd person, and the only way I’ve found to get it back out is to right click the screen with the mouse.
I mean, FFXIV feels more like a regression from FFXI than progress. Why pay more for an inferior game experience? Well, I’m not going to, despite the fact that many of my friends will be playing it, I’ll likely cancel my pre-order of the collector’s edition, an $80.00 value, and stick to XI until something GOOD comes along, perhaps it’ll be TERA.
I totally agree Paul. FFXI had something that made you hooked and after playing for a bit your were very efficient with the UI and game mechanics. I never got bored unless WFP with a less desired class. it still is the best MMO experience I have ever had, community and all.
FFXIV IS indeed a regression. They refuse to listen to anyone…laugh off suggestions and plug ahead. This game has no soul. Maybe it will change…probably not.