LOL yall make me laugh ... nothing to do at 50, and the game is easy???? "A Relic Reborn" to get your relic weapon... oh and then once you do all the hard mode primal fights and countless other things you need to complete your relic, Dragon's Coil opens up... 5 tiers of fucking hard as shit...... get your AF+2 just to get it replaced by Allagan armor from Dragon's Coil......
I love when people hit 50 stop leveling and look around like "what the shit do i do now?"
So i will help you out.
1. Start "A Relic Reborn"
2. Grind Praetorium or CM for tomes of Philosophy
3. Get some Darklight gear from Mor Dhona.
3. Continue work on "A Relic Reborn". Kill the Chimera, and gain access to Amdapor Keep
4. Run Amdapor keep to build more tomes of philosophy and also Mythology be sure to cap your 300 for the week as you will need these later.
5. Continue "A relic Reborn" and fight Hydra!
6. Buy more Darklight and some AF+2 some parts are only 485 myth tomes!
7. Beat Ifrit Hard Mode for your relic
8. Beat Garuda Hard Mode for your relic
9 Beat Titan Hard Mode for your relic ( you will need full DL for this, or you're fucked)
10. Unlock your relic and thus unlock the true end game... Dragons Coil here you come.
AND by the time you finish all this jazz, 2.1 will launch the 24 man dungeon "Crystal Tower" will open its doors, you will get player and FC housing, PVP will make its appearance in Wolves Den. and last but not least, my personal favorite.... More Primals, i think Ramuh and Leviathan shall show up, and will be harder then titan.....
SO there you go people, now quit bitchin bout no end game.
1M Subs after 30 days is meaningless until you compare it to the boxed sales. The number that was important was how many people had canceled their subs 1 month in. So 1 mil subs after 30 days is a lot, but considering they sold 2M boxes, now the number isn't so impressive.Unfortunately, I've no idea what FF's numbers are beyond just over 1M initial accounts. But I can tell you that as recently as earlier this week, I was still seeing log in queues. The next milestone date will be 10/7 since mos tof the free time is over on 10/6.
It doesn't matter how much you spin or coat it, 1Mil is and always will be exactly that, 1Mil.
(nearly) Everyone respects a good comeback. For you "old school" EQ1 inspired MMO players, you'll find a lot to like about FF 14. Its an enchanting world full of detail that's rendered beautifully. The character storyline is enjoyable and pertinent, and the cut scenes add to the experience. Unlike other MMOs the character development and story progression keeps the pace going well.
Don't let the sour grape, fault finding, mini chorus sway you. This is a very good MMO where it's PVE focus is rewarding in itself. FF14 is a good deal of fun to explore in every way. The review is accurate. Consider it a welcome call for those that my be on the fence to finding a new place in Eorzea.
Like others here i would put longevity at around 6 or 7. I enjoy a mmo far more during leveling than the endgame, i always make alts to experience the story from different points of view and take my time leveling because, to me, normal endgame in a mmo is boring. And that's something i can't do in this game (from level 15 the story is the same no matter where you start, quite disapointing)
Therefore leveling a main and then leveling the other classes/jobs there's not enough quests for it, they should have made several story arcs, 1 or 2 for each city (depending if you start there or not) a main story arc that doesn't force you into dungeons (seriously i'm tired of waiting for a team to do a stupid dungeon so i can continue the main story, it's retarded ), a main story that focus on the dungeons and a story arc for the classes/jobs with more that one quest every 5 levels. And at least 3 to 4 times the secondary quests they have.
Crafting however is one of the bests i've seen in a long time.
The rest of the points is ok, but innovation should be a bit lower as well.
1M Subs after 30 days is meaningless until you compare it to the boxed sales. The number that was important was how many people had canceled their subs 1 month in. So 1 mil subs after 30 days is a lot, but considering they sold 2M boxes, now the number isn't so impressive.Unfortunately, I've no idea what FF's numbers are beyond just over 1M initial accounts. But I can tell you that as recently as earlier this week, I was still seeing log in queues. The next milestone date will be 10/7 since mos tof the free time is over on 10/6.
It doesn't matter how much you spin or coat it, 1Mil is and always will be exactly that, 1Mil.
And so? it is a P2P MMO. Even SWTOR and WAR managed to pull impressive numbers for first couple of months. The real question is will it last? 1 mil only matters and SE gets bragging right if they go up from here not down.
No one will remember the first month numbers if it loses half of its player base like P2P MMOS always do in few months.
They really just don't like the form of endgame FFXIV has but you would think if that was the case they would just move on or not have bought it in the first place. SE made it clear that this would be a raiding style game months before its release.
If they don't like it nobody else must not like it. If they do, they are wrong and should not be listened to.
Using LOL is like saying "my argument sucks but I still want to disagree".
Longevity a 10? I couldn't even make it past the first month. You grind CM 52 times and then go do a couple other dungeons. A patch isn't coming for another two months.
Oh, and there's really nothing else to do at the moment.
Take one combat based job to 50, then see how many quest's you have left to level a second combat based job, then, once you have finished grinding fates over and over again, see how much you really feel like levelling a third combat job, never mind all of them.
Even if you pay the sub fee that allows 8 character slots, knowing what grind lays ahead will put many people off making alts.
I figured it wouldn't take many posts until someone had a "cow" over the Longevity score hehe. Every one of these people do NOT mention crafting...at all...like it doesn't exist. There are a LOT of crafters that will have tons to do in preparation for the next patch. The overall score is accurate.
Currently playing SWTOR and it's MUCH better than it was at launch.
Good scoreing and right on with that ability lag. I really really wish that it wasnt present, I cant get past it, but if you're someone who can, this is a great place to call home.
I've been playing for about a week now and i have yet to experience this ability lag you speak of.
Longevity a 10? I couldn't even make it past the first month. You grind CM 52 times and then go do a couple other dungeons. A patch isn't coming for another two months.
Oh, and there's really nothing else to do at the moment.
What's CM? I've been playing for over a month and have yet to experience over a half of the dungeons in this game along with the vast majority of players, so help me out here.
Using LOL is like saying "my argument sucks but I still want to disagree".
FF14 is a nice game but not worth paying 15$ / month to continue playing. GW2 was a B2P with more world to explorer and more content at launch. Unfortunaltely, I couldn't stand the "no healer" thing as I mostly play an healer class.
Things in FF14 that should have been there at launch :
Search box in crafting / hunting log
Search box in inventory / armory
A dressing room
More than 1 color on an armor for dye.
Report for gold spammers and blacklist with a click.
Items comparision (can't tell if the new item have more Piety by checking the tooltip is annoying)
Item linking
On top of that, the long GCD of 2.5 seconds and the ability lag is painful.
Crafting is awesome tho... gotta give SE that but it won't have me sub...!!!
Its $12.99 last i looked. And play a monk you wont notice a GCD. Hell even on low levels you wont notice the GCD with a monk if your doing it right.
But then again timing your attacks to the mobs animation so you always get your position bonus off takes more skill then the standard I wanna face roll my attacks with no pause. Not everyone likes fast past always moving combat in MMOs but if you do then find the right class they dont all have to play the same.
Good scoreing and right on with that ability lag. I really really wish that it wasnt present, I cant get past it, but if you're someone who can, this is a great place to call home.
I've been playing for about a week now and i have yet to experience this ability lag you speak of.
I havn't either. But last night a guild mate was complaining of lag. I didn't feel it but then again he got to talking and his computer wasn't that great.
Originally posted by Rockniss Good scoreing and right on with that ability lag. I really really wish that it wasnt present, I cant get past it, but if you're someone who can, this is a great place to call home.
I don't know what crappy internet you people have but i have zero skill lag and i play from Europe. Maybe want to check out your provider.
Dude, EVERYONE has the ability lag, that you can't see it or understand what it is doesn't mean that it's not there. [mod edit]
I don't. I click my button for say, "Fester" and i see the damage instantly in my log and on screen and the animation goes off instantly too. Maybe lower the graphics settings if your pc can not handle it or as i said before get some real internet connection.
This is about where I thought the score should be. This game raises the bar of MMORPG polish and quality and anyone that disagrees with that should see a doctor. If you wanted to get a gamer into MMO's that hasn't played any before then this would be the best option out of the whole genre. It should be celebrated that the lackluster MMO genre has this game in it's arsenal to showcase. I mean just look around this site at the advertisements to other MMO's, this game is a blessing and we need more quality titles like it.
probably one of the best write up's ive seen of an mmo on this site. well done, accurate, and fair.
thank you.
"There are at least two kinds of games. One could be called finite, the other infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing play." Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse
I think the score is a little low. Not -real- low...but some. I think the Value score throws it off; 3 month content patches is a very good pace, particularly for adding in raids/instances/etc. Any faster and people won't all have time to necessarily enjoy the new content, and any slower and you're in WoW territory. At half the price of any other competing game, there is simply no way that a 7 for value is fair unless you're comparing it to the supposed 'free' and completely overlooking what you need in a 'free' game to match up to what this game is giving you.
Success, as in selling copies and getting people to try your game, doesn't mean the game is actually good. Even more people bought D3 and many regretted it. I've always maintained that what makes an MMORPG excellent is how long it can keep you busy and how long it can keep you subbed - AND the quality of that. Not how fast [mod edit] can blitz thru the single player portion of your so-called MMORPG and how quick people can blitz thru the thin endgame before exhausting everything your game has to offer in a month or less.
BTW, sure, FFXIV has ok graphics. Just ok. It's not spectacular. I'm playing Far Cry 3 right now and it blows FFXIV away completely for graphics. Graphics don't make a game. It's certainly nice to have good graphics instead of crappy or ancient graphics. Graphics are more important in some genres than others. For MMORPGs, graphics aren't usually that high of a concern and should not factor heavily into a review score - ESPECIALLY when the engine is so utterly crappy that it can't render more than 20ish players in one area at a time (do odin, do svara, go anywhere that people concentrate - and you won't see them unless you're standing on them). So you can say FFXIV is pretty, but at the same time, the engine is a piece of crap - I've never played ANY MMORPG where the engine was so horribly limited for how many avatars at once it can handle.
8.4 is a joke and FFXIV is a joke.
It's a stripped down and even more dumbed down than ever post WoW clone with weak content. It is in no way worthy of an 8+ score.
Weak story, weak general quests, fates are a joke, endgame is a joke of repeating very little content, instances are filled with miserable and boring trash (and excellent boss fights but boss fights are about the only good thing about the game), weak loot, generic loot, weak player economy, polished but weak UI (in that many elements are ultra clunky like inventory or retainers) that lacks basics like gear preview or tooltips, ultra generic character system with no real potential for customization (no talents or anything like it, no difference between you and everyone else who plays your class).
I guess I don't get it. If this game is worth an 8.4 then almost every other good MMORPG that's ever been made must be a 12 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Throw in horrible launch, ongoing tech issues like 15-45 minute wait times for level 50 instances even when queuing as a full group, long as hell downtimes anytime there are downtimes, and SE seemingly not giving much of a crap about any player that's not in Japan.
Throw in a game held back because it was designed to be playable on ancient out of date consoles. MMORPGs are PC games. There's no good reason to make a weaker PC game to include out of date consoles or even future consoles. Throw in lack of a seamless world and zoning and loading screens and more loading screens going in and out of weak cutscenes that lack dialog.
The fact that what FFXIV does offer is highly polished doesn't counter the fact that it offers very little.
#1 thing FFXIV has going for it is lack of competition. The only recent entries it had to go up against are Neverwinter, which is horrid in every way, and GW2 which isn't really an MMORPG (it's a single player game that happens to be online) and doesn't appeal to people who actually want an MMORPG (ie, people who don't solo most of the time in massively multipier games). We're like not getting any other biggies til next year some time. When you're the only game in town (only new game anyways), with lots of people looking for something new to try, you apparently get the royal treatment from the press and players lose their minds (and call the mediocre "the greatest game ever" and somehow fail to see the tons of flaws and mediocrity in FFXIV).
I told my regular group that I didn't intend to sub and therefore saw no point in playing anymore and one said, well, there's nothing else out, what're you going to do? I replied that you don't have to play a crappy MMORPG just because no other MMORPGs are currently interesting (or that we haven't already beaten to death).
I seriously think a lot of players have this mindset. It's new. There's nothing else new. Let's put up with a mediocre at best game just because there's nothing else to do. Except, there is tons of other stuff to do, maybe just not in the glacially paced high end MMORPG space.
The fact that fate grinding is a huge part of FFXIV should immediately drop the score for it big time - worst content ever in an MMORPG (well ok, maybe FFA PvP is worse but no decent game offers that anymore because the 100 psychopaths who want it can't support a game themselves). If that's your idea of good gameplay and a good MMORPG...I /vomit. So I guess to outdo this score the next game needs to just give you xp every few minutes on a timer just for being logged in, because that's the only thing that could be dumber and easier than fate grinding, which is a huge part of FFXIV.
Along with that the next game can give you just ONE instance to grind at endgame instead of one 4-man (AK) and one insanely boring and stupidly easy 8-man (CM). Repeat one or both several times a day for your complimentary all but handed out for fate-like difficulty "uber set of gear." I expect grind at endgame but it's usually, in a good game anyways, a little more interesting or at least there's a wider variety of content to grind. Not in FFXIV - nobody is doing any content except that which is "most efficient" so that means running an ultra boring and easy story mode 8-man and an easy 4-man with about 10-15 minutes worth of bosses and 45 mins worth of trash (less if you're uber geared but if you're uber geared and still running the same boring instance you most likely ARE the undead yourself).
FFXIV takes the genre to all new lows, IMO, it's a game where accomplishment means nothing. People say in chat "ding 50" and I'm like so what? You just leveled in a matter of days doing mindless and uttlerly easy crap content - you want a cookie for that? The same sentiment goes for any gear you get doing mindlessly easy content of any type in FFXIV. The story quest is so shallow and weak, the generic quests of kill 3 or emote at 3 npcs and here's your pile of xp, money, and loot item are just pathetic (what few there are). Leves are ungodly boring and repetitive. And again, since fates are xp welfare, that's what most people focus on, and fates are zero challenge/zero effort - and amazingly boring.
Maybe, maybe when 2.1 comes out "this year" (ie, not that soon) or in some future other patch they'll introduce "the real game" finally and things won't be so stupidly boring and easy. The review should be about the game now, not what it could become.
Now, I'm not saying an MMORPG has to be HARD to be good. Challenging is more like it and challenging doesn't mean it has its way with your corpse. But there is a galaxy sized difference between FFXIV and any degree of challenge. FFXIV is slightly more difficult than logging in, going afk to surf the web, and coming back at a higher level, but on by much.
I am in no way some kind of amazing gamer or uber elite raider - I'd say I'm middle of the pack, and I find the "challenge level" in FFXIV to be insulting [mod edit]
Remember when MMORPGs used to be about grouping, and challenge, and achievement meaning something? Notice how all the solo ez mode games have shifted everything towards instant gratification and nonstop gratification for doing next to nothing? Well, FFXIV takes the easy even further, and to me, that is NOT a good thing, it's an abomination, and as such, there's no way this game is 8.4.
Premium MMORPGs do not feature built-in cheating via cash for gold pay 2 win. PLAY to win or don't play.
Until the free month of included gameplay is over I'm not convinced of anything, the time I've spent in game hasn't offered anything very fun at all, the combat is extremely boring, once the new kid on the block factor is gone, I don't expect this game to even maintain half its servers.
Originally posted by traplinex Until the free month of included gameplay is over I'm not convinced of anything, the time I've spent in game hasn't offered anything very fun at all, the combat is extremely boring, once the new kid on the block factor is gone, I don't expect this game to even maintain half its servers.
Well that's in the next few days so you don't have to wait long.
Granted, all players with 1.0 have already been billed so about half of the playerbase remains to need to pay.
Haven't seen a drop in player numbers at all.
Using LOL is like saying "my argument sucks but I still want to disagree".
Did a fast count on total player numbers on Odin (EU) - out of total players in the world 15% were lvl50. Largest number of players was in the lvl21-25 and 26-30 range.
True number should be somewhere in the 20%'s, taking into account lvl50's leveling other classes.
Using LOL is like saying "my argument sucks but I still want to disagree".
I respectfully disagree. The visual distance is very short - the zones are tiny, the textures are far too low res. Animation sliding/gliding while walking is abundant.
10 is perfection - this is not perfect which is why 9 is more accurate IMO.
There are aspects of other games that are better - AoC for example - visual range and godrays are done better, also much less sliding.
10 would be done better than anything on the market, and FFARR falls a hair short - again 9 IMO.
You can pick out games that do a certain aspect of the visuals better (aside from the music) but they all fall short in everything else. FFXIV:ARR is the most balanced effort out there in the MMORPG genre and thus deserves a 10 out of 10. Other MMO's may excel in one area but fall short in everything else, thus they don't deserve a 10.
10 is not perfection - 10 is better than what most MMO's can accomplish overall.
Excuse me, but what world do you live in? When the scale is set from 1 to 10, 10 is always considered perfection, that's why it is called a scale and not a bell curve that gives consideration to other games in the market.
Take one combat based job to 50, then see how many quest's you have left to level a second combat based job, then, once you have finished grinding fates over and over again, see how much you really feel like levelling a third combat job, never mind all of them.
Even if you pay the sub fee that allows 8 character slots, knowing what grind lays ahead will put many people off making alts.
I figured it wouldn't take many posts until someone had a "cow" over the Longevity score hehe. Every one of these people do NOT mention crafting...at all...like it doesn't exist. There are a LOT of crafters that will have tons to do in preparation for the next patch. The overall score is accurate.
Niche gameplay (crafting) doesn't apply to the majority of gamers, maybe the fault lies with your perception? The game is primarily an adventure game and it focuses more on combat than any other mechanic, so when people argue longevity, it would of course, be targeted at that primary component of the game.
Comments
LOL yall make me laugh ... nothing to do at 50, and the game is easy???? "A Relic Reborn" to get your relic weapon... oh and then once you do all the hard mode primal fights and countless other things you need to complete your relic, Dragon's Coil opens up... 5 tiers of fucking hard as shit...... get your AF+2 just to get it replaced by Allagan armor from Dragon's Coil......
I love when people hit 50 stop leveling and look around like "what the shit do i do now?"
So i will help you out.
1. Start "A Relic Reborn"
2. Grind Praetorium or CM for tomes of Philosophy
3. Get some Darklight gear from Mor Dhona.
3. Continue work on "A Relic Reborn". Kill the Chimera, and gain access to Amdapor Keep
4. Run Amdapor keep to build more tomes of philosophy and also Mythology be sure to cap your 300 for the week as you will need these later.
5. Continue "A relic Reborn" and fight Hydra!
6. Buy more Darklight and some AF+2 some parts are only 485 myth tomes!
7. Beat Ifrit Hard Mode for your relic
8. Beat Garuda Hard Mode for your relic
9 Beat Titan Hard Mode for your relic ( you will need full DL for this, or you're fucked)
10. Unlock your relic and thus unlock the true end game... Dragons Coil here you come.
AND by the time you finish all this jazz, 2.1 will launch the 24 man dungeon "Crystal Tower" will open its doors, you will get player and FC housing, PVP will make its appearance in Wolves Den. and last but not least, my personal favorite.... More Primals, i think Ramuh and Leviathan shall show up, and will be harder then titan.....
SO there you go people, now quit bitchin bout no end game.
Good scores means the company may be willing to fork over money for more publicity. It was a well written post to ensure the longevity of mmorpg.com
Boycotting EA. Why? They suck, even moreso since 2008.
It doesn't matter how much you spin or coat it, 1Mil is and always will be exactly that, 1Mil.
(nearly) Everyone respects a good comeback. For you "old school" EQ1 inspired MMO players, you'll find a lot to like about FF 14. Its an enchanting world full of detail that's rendered beautifully. The character storyline is enjoyable and pertinent, and the cut scenes add to the experience. Unlike other MMOs the character development and story progression keeps the pace going well.
Don't let the sour grape, fault finding, mini chorus sway you. This is a very good MMO where it's PVE focus is rewarding in itself. FF14 is a good deal of fun to explore in every way. The review is accurate. Consider it a welcome call for those that my be on the fence to finding a new place in Eorzea.
Like others here i would put longevity at around 6 or 7. I enjoy a mmo far more during leveling than the endgame, i always make alts to experience the story from different points of view and take my time leveling because, to me, normal endgame in a mmo is boring. And that's something i can't do in this game (from level 15 the story is the same no matter where you start, quite disapointing)
Therefore leveling a main and then leveling the other classes/jobs there's not enough quests for it, they should have made several story arcs, 1 or 2 for each city (depending if you start there or not) a main story arc that doesn't force you into dungeons (seriously i'm tired of waiting for a team to do a stupid dungeon so i can continue the main story, it's retarded ), a main story that focus on the dungeons and a story arc for the classes/jobs with more that one quest every 5 levels. And at least 3 to 4 times the secondary quests they have.
Crafting however is one of the bests i've seen in a long time.
The rest of the points is ok, but innovation should be a bit lower as well.
And so? it is a P2P MMO. Even SWTOR and WAR managed to pull impressive numbers for first couple of months. The real question is will it last? 1 mil only matters and SE gets bragging right if they go up from here not down.
No one will remember the first month numbers if it loses half of its player base like P2P MMOS always do in few months.
If they don't like it nobody else must not like it. If they do, they are wrong and should not be listened to.
Longevity a 10? I couldn't even make it past the first month. You grind CM 52 times and then go do a couple other dungeons. A patch isn't coming for another two months.
Oh, and there's really nothing else to do at the moment.
I figured it wouldn't take many posts until someone had a "cow" over the Longevity score hehe. Every one of these people do NOT mention crafting...at all...like it doesn't exist. There are a LOT of crafters that will have tons to do in preparation for the next patch. The overall score is accurate.
Currently playing SWTOR and it's MUCH better than it was at launch.
I've been playing for about a week now and i have yet to experience this ability lag you speak of.
What's CM? I've been playing for over a month and have yet to experience over a half of the dungeons in this game along with the vast majority of players, so help me out here.
Its $12.99 last i looked. And play a monk you wont notice a GCD. Hell even on low levels you wont notice the GCD with a monk if your doing it right.
But then again timing your attacks to the mobs animation so you always get your position bonus off takes more skill then the standard I wanna face roll my attacks with no pause. Not everyone likes fast past always moving combat in MMOs but if you do then find the right class they dont all have to play the same.
I havn't either. But last night a guild mate was complaining of lag. I didn't feel it but then again he got to talking and his computer wasn't that great.
I don't. I click my button for say, "Fester" and i see the damage instantly in my log and on screen and the animation goes off instantly too. Maybe lower the graphics settings if your pc can not handle it or as i said before get some real internet connection.
This is about where I thought the score should be. This game raises the bar of MMORPG polish and quality and anyone that disagrees with that should see a doctor. If you wanted to get a gamer into MMO's that hasn't played any before then this would be the best option out of the whole genre. It should be celebrated that the lackluster MMO genre has this game in it's arsenal to showcase. I mean just look around this site at the advertisements to other MMO's, this game is a blessing and we need more quality titles like it.
probably one of the best write up's ive seen of an mmo on this site. well done, accurate, and fair.
thank you.
"There are at least two kinds of games.
One could be called finite, the other infinite.
A finite game is played for the purpose of winning,
an infinite game for the purpose of continuing play."
Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse
Success, as in selling copies and getting people to try your game, doesn't mean the game is actually good. Even more people bought D3 and many regretted it. I've always maintained that what makes an MMORPG excellent is how long it can keep you busy and how long it can keep you subbed - AND the quality of that. Not how fast [mod edit] can blitz thru the single player portion of your so-called MMORPG and how quick people can blitz thru the thin endgame before exhausting everything your game has to offer in a month or less.
BTW, sure, FFXIV has ok graphics. Just ok. It's not spectacular. I'm playing Far Cry 3 right now and it blows FFXIV away completely for graphics. Graphics don't make a game. It's certainly nice to have good graphics instead of crappy or ancient graphics. Graphics are more important in some genres than others. For MMORPGs, graphics aren't usually that high of a concern and should not factor heavily into a review score - ESPECIALLY when the engine is so utterly crappy that it can't render more than 20ish players in one area at a time (do odin, do svara, go anywhere that people concentrate - and you won't see them unless you're standing on them). So you can say FFXIV is pretty, but at the same time, the engine is a piece of crap - I've never played ANY MMORPG where the engine was so horribly limited for how many avatars at once it can handle.8.4 is a joke and FFXIV is a joke.
It's a stripped down and even more dumbed down than ever post WoW clone with weak content. It is in no way worthy of an 8+ score.Weak story, weak general quests, fates are a joke, endgame is a joke of repeating very little content, instances are filled with miserable and boring trash (and excellent boss fights but boss fights are about the only good thing about the game), weak loot, generic loot, weak player economy, polished but weak UI (in that many elements are ultra clunky like inventory or retainers) that lacks basics like gear preview or tooltips, ultra generic character system with no real potential for customization (no talents or anything like it, no difference between you and everyone else who plays your class).
I guess I don't get it. If this game is worth an 8.4 then almost every other good MMORPG that's ever been made must be a 12 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Throw in horrible launch, ongoing tech issues like 15-45 minute wait times for level 50 instances even when queuing as a full group, long as hell downtimes anytime there are downtimes, and SE seemingly not giving much of a crap about any player that's not in Japan.
Throw in a game held back because it was designed to be playable on ancient out of date consoles. MMORPGs are PC games. There's no good reason to make a weaker PC game to include out of date consoles or even future consoles. Throw in lack of a seamless world and zoning and loading screens and more loading screens going in and out of weak cutscenes that lack dialog.
The fact that what FFXIV does offer is highly polished doesn't counter the fact that it offers very little.
#1 thing FFXIV has going for it is lack of competition. The only recent entries it had to go up against are Neverwinter, which is horrid in every way, and GW2 which isn't really an MMORPG (it's a single player game that happens to be online) and doesn't appeal to people who actually want an MMORPG (ie, people who don't solo most of the time in massively multipier games). We're like not getting any other biggies til next year some time. When you're the only game in town (only new game anyways), with lots of people looking for something new to try, you apparently get the royal treatment from the press and players lose their minds (and call the mediocre "the greatest game ever" and somehow fail to see the tons of flaws and mediocrity in FFXIV).
I told my regular group that I didn't intend to sub and therefore saw no point in playing anymore and one said, well, there's nothing else out, what're you going to do? I replied that you don't have to play a crappy MMORPG just because no other MMORPGs are currently interesting (or that we haven't already beaten to death).
I seriously think a lot of players have this mindset. It's new. There's nothing else new. Let's put up with a mediocre at best game just because there's nothing else to do. Except, there is tons of other stuff to do, maybe just not in the glacially paced high end MMORPG space.
The fact that fate grinding is a huge part of FFXIV should immediately drop the score for it big time - worst content ever in an MMORPG (well ok, maybe FFA PvP is worse but no decent game offers that anymore because the 100 psychopaths who want it can't support a game themselves). If that's your idea of good gameplay and a good MMORPG...I /vomit. So I guess to outdo this score the next game needs to just give you xp every few minutes on a timer just for being logged in, because that's the only thing that could be dumber and easier than fate grinding, which is a huge part of FFXIV.
Along with that the next game can give you just ONE instance to grind at endgame instead of one 4-man (AK) and one insanely boring and stupidly easy 8-man (CM). Repeat one or both several times a day for your complimentary all but handed out for fate-like difficulty "uber set of gear." I expect grind at endgame but it's usually, in a good game anyways, a little more interesting or at least there's a wider variety of content to grind. Not in FFXIV - nobody is doing any content except that which is "most efficient" so that means running an ultra boring and easy story mode 8-man and an easy 4-man with about 10-15 minutes worth of bosses and 45 mins worth of trash (less if you're uber geared but if you're uber geared and still running the same boring instance you most likely ARE the undead yourself).
FFXIV takes the genre to all new lows, IMO, it's a game where accomplishment means nothing. People say in chat "ding 50" and I'm like so what? You just leveled in a matter of days doing mindless and uttlerly easy crap content - you want a cookie for that? The same sentiment goes for any gear you get doing mindlessly easy content of any type in FFXIV. The story quest is so shallow and weak, the generic quests of kill 3 or emote at 3 npcs and here's your pile of xp, money, and loot item are just pathetic (what few there are). Leves are ungodly boring and repetitive. And again, since fates are xp welfare, that's what most people focus on, and fates are zero challenge/zero effort - and amazingly boring.
Maybe, maybe when 2.1 comes out "this year" (ie, not that soon) or in some future other patch they'll introduce "the real game" finally and things won't be so stupidly boring and easy. The review should be about the game now, not what it could become.
Now, I'm not saying an MMORPG has to be HARD to be good. Challenging is more like it and challenging doesn't mean it has its way with your corpse. But there is a galaxy sized difference between FFXIV and any degree of challenge. FFXIV is slightly more difficult than logging in, going afk to surf the web, and coming back at a higher level, but on by much.
I am in no way some kind of amazing gamer or uber elite raider - I'd say I'm middle of the pack, and I find the "challenge level" in FFXIV to be insulting [mod edit]
Remember when MMORPGs used to be about grouping, and challenge, and achievement meaning something? Notice how all the solo ez mode games have shifted everything towards instant gratification and nonstop gratification for doing next to nothing? Well, FFXIV takes the easy even further, and to me, that is NOT a good thing, it's an abomination, and as such, there's no way this game is 8.4.
Premium MMORPGs do not feature built-in cheating via cash for gold pay 2 win. PLAY to win or don't play.
Well that's in the next few days so you don't have to wait long.
Granted, all players with 1.0 have already been billed so about half of the playerbase remains to need to pay.
Haven't seen a drop in player numbers at all.
Did a fast count on total player numbers on Odin (EU) - out of total players in the world 15% were lvl50. Largest number of players was in the lvl21-25 and 26-30 range.
True number should be somewhere in the 20%'s, taking into account lvl50's leveling other classes.
Excuse me, but what world do you live in? When the scale is set from 1 to 10, 10 is always considered perfection, that's why it is called a scale and not a bell curve that gives consideration to other games in the market.
Niche gameplay (crafting) doesn't apply to the majority of gamers, maybe the fault lies with your perception? The game is primarily an adventure game and it focuses more on combat than any other mechanic, so when people argue longevity, it would of course, be targeted at that primary component of the game.