4.0 the new 8.8?

[Lionx]

FINAL FANTASY XIV, The Lodestone

LOL...if its a free month then alright...cuz if it wasn't free i think i would have quit regardless if these were coming later before its over.

Eorzeapedia: Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV, FF14) News, Wiki, Forums, Community and more » Square Enix: “Our Bad”

Although NOW it seems more like a beta...like i expected this during beta. I am still skeptical but i will take this as a positive note. I just hope the amount of people being fanboys won't take it too far.

[Loony BoB]

You can spot the trolls pretty easily right now, they're the ones who are saying that SE are crap despite all the recent updates. I, for one, am loving that I don't have to pay for an extra month - and I would have. Still, the free trial is one thing, the details of their planned updates for the UI show how well they're listening. Almost every one of my complaints has been dealt with. Just need more content (maybe the December version update?) and an AH (although the search ward function will need to be tested first once it's live) and I'd have to actually put thought into what I want next.

On a sidenote, man, the wards are better to move around in, now. Sadly, a lot of the retainers aren't selling the right things in the right wards. It's a shame that a good idea isn't quite being put to use at the moment. I did however manage to sell a few pickaxes real damned quick by putting my retainer in the correct ward, and have also purchased some undyed canvas at a cheap rate in the tailor's ward which meant I could make my Birdsbeak Hamer <3 I'm so happy.

[Lionx]

Honestly the trolls are both ways...there are some that are SO riding on SE's #@$%'s that its amazing. There are others that are haters straight out though that i wondered why they even picked up the game to begin with. But no side is innocent.

[Miriel]

The person on FFXiV blog said:

Perhaps a little bad press is good for Square Enix, so they could really get together and fix those game-breaking problems such as UI lag.

And I think that's EXACTLY what's happening and exactly what needed to happen. Yes, there were lots of harsh reviews, lots of super upset fans, lots of disgruntled threads, but imho this is a GOOD thing. They're rolling out positive changes at lightening speed. Throwing in an extra free month because they're aware of how unsatisfied people were, and I don't think that would have happened if everything just kinda went, "Oh, I'm sure Square will fix things if we just stay patient. There's tons of positive aspects of the game, don't focus on the negatives!"

I truly think that the overwhelmingly backlash has spurred Square to get things back on track in a way that nothing else would have prompted them to do so. Money talks, you know?

I feel confident now that the game will be in pretty great shape by the time the PS3 launch comes around.

It was also super interesting reading the reviews from Japanese players. Thanks for the link Lionx!

[Del Murder]

I agree. I'm sure a lot of this stuff would have been addressed eventually, but I think the speed at which it is being worked on along with the additional free month is a direct result of the backlash from customers. No way this would have came if people didn't complain.

So the lesson is: always complain.

[Renmiri]

It is impossible that the developers did not understand that the release date was set way too early. Someone in the company smurfed up real bad by deciding to release it several months before it was done

4 words:
World of Warcraft Cataclysm

They had to launch it before the next wow or they would have a very tough competitor eating their lunch.

I'm on Wow's beta and the Dec 7th release date seems awful soon. A lot of bugs are still around. I think Blizzard pushed it up because of FFXIV

With that said, my mate who was on WoW beta loves FF and can't stand WoW anymore. He got FFXIV eager to love it. He stopped playing it after 3 days, cursing up a storm. FFXIV retail is worse than WoW's Alpha according to him. Reading the reviews and watching the videos I would have to agree. The WoW beta bugs are annoying but most of the game is there. FFXIV seems to be missing a lot of content and to be full of "placeholder" NPC, placeholder quests, unfinished story lines...

It might not be a fair comparison. WoW has had 10 years of lore and is just expanding on it. FFXIV is just starting a new world. But guess what ? They will be on the game store shelf side by side at Christmas. They will be side by side at your friends' house and yours. Guess which game will be returned to the store and which game won't ?

I think SE was wrong to have released such an unfinished game, merely a month from the largest MMO around launching an expansion. And might have compromised the game's future. In a few months no one will remember FFXIV came earlier to the market. But all will remember the bad reviews for ages.

[Loony BoB]

I'm curious. I've never been at a launch of an MMO before, but I expected the lack of content. This is not a concern to me as I know that content will, inevitably, be introduced in version updates and expansions. You're right in that it is unfair to compare them in that regard.

But my curiousity extends to things beyond content for that reason. Was he cursing up a storm for any other reason than content? Nobody who is after masses of content should really be playing an MMO at launch. For me, it's about being part of the launch, the experience of it all. It's something I've never done before, as mentioned, and perhaps that's part of why I enjoy it. There is a lack of things to do and I'll hold my hands up in that regard, but as said, it's okay because it's a "new" MMO. I'm sure at many other launches they didn't have even 10% of the content they have 8-10 years later. Not even close. I've been told FFXI had similar content at launch and now it's said that FFXI has so much content that new players don't know where to begin. Hell, even after a few months of playing FFXI a lot, I still didn't know what to do - it was great, don't get me wrong, I think that's a good thing. But it goes to show how much content gets introduced over time. This is something that should always be expected.

Perhaps he's not happy with the core mechanics behind the game, though? Experienced some kind of bug? I'm not sure. I've rarely experienced any kind of bugs since retail launch, personally. And it's pretty clear for me that SE are doing things already, improving the system. Content is, supposedly, coming soon. I hope it is, for the game's sake. At the beginning the UI was what most people complained about. A lot of that griping has gone now, it seems - it's been a while since I heard it. But they're working on that now anyway. The biggest gripe I see nowadays seems to be that people are getting bored due to the lack of content, and this is a concern for me too, but as said, I expected as much regardless and am holding out for a few months before I really offer judgement. I want to see how the game develops rather than giving it a month and then ragequitting, let alone a mere 3 days. I guess the game just wasn't for him, because in 3 days I didn't get much done, personally.

I find the people who dislike this game the most are the people who want a finished game. Not just a "really good launch" but a finished, ten year old game. That's what these people are comparing it to and that's why they're being disappointed. Square Enix seem to be focusing more on ensuring that the game isn't broken first and then adding things, ensuring they don't break the game, and then adding more after that. Little bits, but regularly enough for me. Which I see as a good thing. If they sort out the "make sure the core game isn't broken" bits first, then they can get it out of the way and start working on bigger and better things to add to the game. Like Ishgard. That's one part of the game I think should have been in the launch that was not.

[Renmiri]

Content and UI mostly.

He is a big fan of FFVII where you could explore the entire world and talk to every NPC. And if there is one thing we can expect from SE is the depth of the story. Heck, even FFXII had tons of little stories for npcs and quests! I had reservations about the main plot in XII but the depth and detail they went into each little NPC and hunt was amazing.

So I guess he went in expecting FFVII or at least Crisis Core and got... a blank world ...

On early WoW beta the goblins and worgen walked around with little magic cubes on their heads, named "placeholder" since the helmet models weren't done. Infamously a druid skill was temporarily named "NOM NOM NOM" till they found a proper name, and some bosses dialog to start a battle still had "placeholder" till very recently. But we are now a month from launch and all content is there.

My friend was shocked at the lack of content of FFXIV and how hard and weird the UI was. And trust me, he really wanted to love FFXIV. He is tired of WoW and really wants a FF like MMO, deep in story, gorgeous graphics, awesome music, relaxed "explore world" non linear gameplay.... But what he found was worse than alpha, let alone retail quality.

[Ouch!]

You're comparing the "beta" for an expansion and the beta for an entire game. You're comparing adjustments and additions to a game that has been out for seven years and the initial release of a game. Of course one's going to be significantly more developed than the other. If you want to make a fair comparison between World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV, go look at the status of WoW's retail release. It was nothing short of a disaster--pretty much par for course for every MMORPG out there. I don't mean to say that to excuse the status of FFXIV's launch, but it's something that people should keep in mind when buying. What matters is what the company does the game after the retail launch and how they build on the product. That is where Blizzard has been extremely successful.

[Del Murder]

Yeah, comparing an expansion to a brand new game is kind of silly. I really have little doubt that FFXIV will end up being a great game. It just sucks that the launch wasn't as epic as many had hoped.

[Lionx]

Old School WoW: Patch 0.7
& patch after
WoW -> Patch Notes

Theres other patch notes you can read up about original WoW beta, but the quick 'fatigue' change they had within those beta months were great. I personally feel THATS how the fatigue system should have worked...instead of punishing people it gives a boost to those that don't play as often. And SE looooves to punish people.

Theres also Quests that are severely lacking in FFXIV. I feel aimlessly lost outside of grinding or crafting when i played. Unless you count guildleves which i count it towards grinding due to the lack of variety.

Theres also a mailing system that i believe FFXIV does not have at this point...still. Similarly Mounts (ie: Chocobos) were also available along with early Dungeons (something to aim for) and an Auction House..during beta. Like FFXI's beta when i played...

All Patch notes: WoW -> Info -> Under Development -> Previous Patch Content (Dates are inside the actual patch notes, for reference the release date of game was November 23, 2004)

[Loony BoB]

Content and UI mostly.

In that case, while content is lacking, it will definitely be coming and by the time the game is eight years old I'm sure there will be a similar content level to FFXI at the moment - ie, more than you know what to do with. But in the early days, I'm just glad at the lack of bugs as it means that they have a stable environment to work with and build upon. A lot of content that doesn't work isn't much better than little content that does work. Still, as mentioned, I'd have liked to see more at launch but I can understand why there isn't so much just yet. We'll see if Ishgard will arrive come November. I hope it does, because it feels silly not having it there at the moment.

There are a lot of NPCs. Not much have a story to tell, although the ones that talk about the various enemies of each city are interesting. I oddly can't wait for goblins to make their inevitable appearance in Thanalan, as it was mentioned they had left but suggested they'll be back. The other NPCs generally just talk to you as if you were a random passer by rather than someone looking for a novel to read, but I guess that's just how things will be until expansions kick in and whatnot.

As for the UI, it's in the process of being improved and I think they mentioned late November as the date to see the new one on. I'm interested, although lately the UI speed (which was my only real gripe with the UI outside of inventory sorting and the highlighting of damaged items, or rather the lack of both of those things) has improved a lot so I'm not bothered even if it were to stay the same.

But yeah, as someone who may have come from an 8-10 year old world through to a 0 year old world, your friend my have had higher expectations than he should have.

[Madame Adequate]

But WoW had plenty of content at launch. It has a lot more now obviously, but I recall no criticisms on that front. And WoW came out after EverQuest had been around for five years, but it wasn't lambasted for lacking content in comparison. City of Heroes had a good deal of content at launch, though nothing compared to what it would gain later. Heck, FFXI had plenty of content, which would grow and grow. FFXIV's will as well, but that doesn't mean that what is there now is sufficient, or that comparisons are unfair.

World of Warcraft (At release): World of Warcraft for PC Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic
FFXIV: Final Fantasy XIV Online for PC Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic

If folks like FFXIV then good for them, and as I've said I hope with time it does grow into a game I'm interested in. But this massive difference is clearly based on a lot more than just people derping and expecting a new MMO to have as much content and polish as one which is six years old, and "lack of content" or "limited questing" or just "repetetive levequests" or some such seems to be a theme across almost all the reviews.

[Rostum]

I still think it's a little unfair to compare this game to older games, especially FFXI. People's expectations of the genre have changed dramatically, they are wanting heaps of content and a bug free game on release. They also don't want a World of Warcraft clone, yet they do. The genre is very confused at the moment, imo.

However, I don't believe this to be unreasonable. Everyone is always looking for the next MMO to really push the genre forward, and that's just not what FFXIV is doing in its current state. If it were released back in 2002 then I bet it would have been better recieved as the genre was more niche and people actually liked grinding 'hardcore' MMO's. But now people want a theme park MMO that has a nice story - which is perfectly fine, that's what I want at least.

I just don't find the idea of grinding slowly with no short term or long term goals other than the hope that the company might put enough content in, in the future. And the track record of that company doing said things is extremely bad.

Edit: I just wanted to add, because it's been bugging me. The character models and animations are so damn good, but the environments are so boring... What's up with that? Throw in some interesting landmarks at least.

[Lionx]

I think the reason i compare it so much to FFXI is because i played in the beta of FFXI, and throughout most of my MMO years. Despite its flaws and other bs, it was enjoyable with the friends i made there, and it gripped me in some weird way at the start.

I didn't expect a miracle but i expected at least the game to interest me in beta like FFXI did. It just didn't, theres nothing to aim for. In FFXI I saw that friend of mine on a chocobo and i was excited, the NPCs having weapons/armors that i can aim for, and i saw people talking about doing this and that.

None of that is in FFXIV. Theres just nothing to do outside of grinding for...i dunno what they have in store later in FFXIV. No point to explore either. It doesn't motivate you to log back in. =/

Also...as long as the UI has been 'consolized', theres no way in hope that the UI will ever be good or looked on in that way despite any improvements to it. This shows out out of touch they are with the PC userbase. It was forgivable back in the day, but now you gotta keep up.

EDIT: Did you guys remember when they said FFXIV is going to be more casual to every gamer and easier to get the hang of? A game for just about anyone? That is a total lie LOL, this game is so hard to learn to do anything.