I just got finished watching the Game Spot review of FFXIV...and I am appalled. Keyboard hot-keys for armor sets, recycled content, vendor location for sales items, requisite macro creation, copy and pasted visuals? What extra-fabulous game that I don't know about has all this contained effortlessly remedied underneath its umbrella? I don't know of a single game that addresses all of this...is it really just me? Oh, and unbeknownst to the reviewer...there is a command/hotkey for targeting enemies; and there is an auto-follow in FFXIV...did the reviewer actually play the game; or did he angrily begrudge his fingers the satisfaction of this fretful chore? Furthermore, what is wrong with the map...it works just fine for me. What need is there for a zoom if it works as it is (most times, zoom feels like a gimmick anyway...it is more or less useless as far as any real gaming necessity). Indeed, I can see party member name/locations on it well enough when I open it. What is the reviewer complaining about here?
I agree there are some things that were painful the first month of play...but most of the worst of these have been resolved well enough. Some other hassles include: double or triple key presses for even the most simple of actions, the long timer on levequest reissuance, the pain of finding items in your inventory for equipping, the slow rate of anima restoration. I understand what Square Enix is trying to do here...limit the player to less playtime per day; a kind of moralistic approach to the problem they must see arising in their culture (videogames creating antisocial inclinations in people, an unhealthy trend to be sure). This theory makes sense since they seem to have disclaimers on all their more time-consuming products now. I think it's a commendable attempt: to try to convince people that they can have much more fun in smaller intervals...than all at once, and all the time. Well, anyway...I think the release was all I expected it to be...except for the market wards, which I loathed. But now that this is fixed (the market ward system), I really do love the game just as it is...and I am looking forward to more content in the future. I think it is going to be a wonderful game, in a couple years time. All great MMOs become sweeter with age, and I hope/project FFXIV to be one of these games.
The review here are actually quite high when compared to real reviewers. I think primarily because there is a small community that have hope in the original parts of the game.
Personally I think there is almost 0% chance that someone from MMORPG staff will review the game, as not to sever ties with whatever future press-releases, nice tib bits, and future projects of square enix.
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There also another aspect where they just blatently artifically capped all advancement without even trying to hide it. That is going to piss off ANY mmorpg gammer even if they NEVER hit the cap. The fact also remained that the advancement quests were pretty much the only thing you could do.
With the advancement system they had they should have just gone with real time advancement like EvE, and they would have scored so very much higher with this community.
They also pissed all over the FF name in the sense that there was no way any character was going to get anywhere near 10 hours of real story.... where with the final fantasy name you expect at least 40 something maybe even up to a hundred+ if you need to min-max.
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Personally I look forward to when FFXIV becomes a real game, Not going to bother until then.
There is a reason why FFXIV is almost the lowest rated AAA game in ANY genre and gametype in the past few years.
Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.
"At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."
While I respect the fact you like the game, I would have to say given the resignation of the game's director and his apology, along with the current never-ending free-trial more than justify the harsh reviews. Also, a cursory persual of the various forums discussing the game should give you plenty of answers to your initial question.
The only decent FF game released after 8, which was also kinda meh was, FF10. 12 pissed me off because half way through the game all your characters were essentially the same after you unlocked everything on the unlock board. It was lame having all the same characters with different skins. That was one thing that set all the FF games previous t 8 apart was that you had unique characters with unique abilities. I lived the FF series until 8 i played the original on the nintendo and i loved that game but the direction of the game went in a direction that i felt was not true to the original theme of the game.
I think FFXIV has deserved every negative review it's ever gotten.
Here's a simple litmus test to see how bad a game is... compare it to its predecessor.
'Is FFXIV as good as FFXI'. The answer is no. That means they spent a bunch of years to create an inferior product with better graphics. Your sequel games are supposed to be better, not worse.
So it gets a couple points off the review just for 'Didn't you play your company's previous game? Did you pay any attention?'.
FFXIV is a good example of why the currently established MMO standards in features work so well as propagated by WoW & co, and what can happen if devs stray away from those standards in a quest to do things 'differently' and 'innovatively'.
Does that mean that innovation should be shied away from?
Nope. But people tend to forget that such standards are there because they've proven to be working and the most liked of all kinds of mechanics and features that have been going around throughout MMO history. If those standards would suck, then other gameplay mechanics and features would've been the standard.
So devs better make sure that when they innovate and use something different than the standards, that those new and different features better be a good, enjoyable alternative to the standard.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
I think FFXIV has deserved every negative review it's ever gotten.
Here's a simple litmus test to see how bad a game is... compare it to its predecessor.
'Is FFXIV as good as FFXI'. The answer is no. That means they spent a bunch of years to create an inferior product with better graphics. Your sequel games are supposed to be better, not worse.
So it gets a couple points off the review just for 'Didn't you play your company's previous game? Did you pay any attention?'.
You make a good point on post number 33. I also respect the quoted user's opinion. Please understand that I do agree that there are some things about FFXIV at release that I wish they had done a little better...spent a little more time on. I also think that there should be a little more content, even for a new game. That being said, I still like the game enough to pay to play. Is this strange? Whatever, say what you want in response to this question. Also, the post quoted above is overlooking a glaring formality that people should be aware of regarding the MMO world. A game that took nearly 9 years to get right from its original release status is not a fair comparison to make with FFXIV at this moment in time. Indeed, FFXI was ported to us almost a year after its initial release in Japan...so even the most die-hard American FFXI nuts never witnessed the bare-bones state of it in its infancy. Please remember this, and the argument made above by MMO.Maverick, before you get too gung-ho in your criticisms
And, let me also say this, I do understand many of the gripes. However, these faults (and maybe even a few more) are things I am willing to suffer through. I still think that this 'noticeable mess' is likely the germinating seed of a great thing for FF and SE...after a bit more work is done.
Oh, and I am sorry. I shouldn't bash on MMORPG.com for things that are not really of their doing. I have no reason to believe otherwise. I will consider all our previous gripes with one another (in between MMORPG.com staff and myself six years ago) to be "water under the bridge." It is possible that they changed their management lineup since then...and pole restrictions, so I will consider it all just a minor error (that does not reflect on how they do business normally). It was stupid of me to place blame on you all based off of events that took place so very long ago. I know nobody here (save maybe some of the staff) know wtf I am talking about...and I will not cause further defamation to anyone, so I will now kindly shut my mouth. The End.
It is not MMORPG.com, nor any other game rating organization, that is too blame for this ill-omen. I am aware of this. Sorry for making it appear as though I think otherwise.
A game that took nearly 9 years to get right from its original release status is not a fair comparison to make with FFXIV at this moment in time. Indeed, FFXI was ported to us almost a year after its initial release in Japan...so even the most die-hard American FFXI nuts never witnessed the bare-bones state of it in its infancy. Please remember this, and the argument made above by MMO.Maverick, before you get too gung-ho in your criticisms
... you're acting like Square Enix had NOTHING at all to do with FFXI, and that they're a rookie company making FFXIV.
They're a big company, not some indie startup... and they've already done an MMO that wasn't half bad. I'm not comparing FFXIV to FFXI after 9 years, I'm comparing it to how it started off in the US.
If they can't manage to make a game good without waiting a year, they should have kept the game in Japan where the competition is less harsh until they have a halfway decent game.
Also, they should have taken all 9 years of polishing FFXI into their creation of FFXIV. It seemed more like they told their art department to rip off FFXI, but never actually played the first game to see what sort of things people might like in an MMO (Hint. Make your UI better, not worse. I have NEVER seen anybody say that the feature they really want in a game is a significantly worse UI.)
If Blizzard were to release WoW 2 (They're not, but let's say for the sake of argument they decided to), and it didn't even stack up to vanilla WoW, they would be rightfully laughed at. I still insist Square Enix deserves every bad review they got. Maybe if the game had been made by some kids programming out of their basement, that score would be overly harsh, but if you're a big company with a big budget, charging big company subs, people are going to rightfully expect a little... more.
A game that took nearly 9 years to get right from its original release status is not a fair comparison to make with FFXIV at this moment in time. Indeed, FFXI was ported to us almost a year after its initial release in Japan...so even the most die-hard American FFXI nuts never witnessed the bare-bones state of it in its infancy. Please remember this, and the argument made above by MMO.Maverick, before you get too gung-ho in your criticisms
... you're acting like Square Enix had NOTHING at all to do with FFXI, and that they're a rookie company making FFXIV.
They're a big company, not some indie startup... and they've already done an MMO that wasn't half bad. I'm not comparing FFXIV to FFXI after 9 years, I'm comparing it to how it started off in the US.
If they can't manage to make a game good without waiting a year, they should have kept the game in Japan where the competition is less harsh until they have a halfway decent game.
Also, they should have taken all 9 years of polishing FFXI into their creation of FFXIV. It seemed more like they told their art department to rip off FFXI, but never actually played the first game to see what sort of things people might like in an MMO (Hint. Make your UI better, not worse. I have NEVER seen anybody say that the feature they really want in a game is a significantly worse UI.)
If Blizzard were to release WoW 2 (They're not, but let's say for the sake of argument they decided to), and it didn't even stack up to vanilla WoW, they would be rightfully laughed at. I still insist Square Enix deserves every bad review they got. Maybe if the game had been made by some kids programming out of their basement, that score would be overly harsh, but if you're a big company with a big budget, charging big company subs, people are going to rightfully expect a little... more.
If you're saying the FF franchise is a long record of quality products for SE then I think you need to look a little harder into your history. Square Enix started making FF games at # 8. Square and Square Soft made all the ones before that and apparently FF7 is arguably the last good FF game.
Ehh, FF7 is good but FF10 is a better game. I also found FF12 to be great, very immersive and a total blast. Square Enix may have issues but not worthy of a blanket statement.
They dropped the ball on FF14 to a ludicrous degree. If I was a previous FF11 gamer, I would be crying but since I am not, I'm just laughing.
I agree with the OP that all the bad reviews are based on FFXIV when it had only just been released - somewhat buggy and plain not enough content. However there are 2 patches and one update every month now and each little change makes the game a little better.
I will not go into detail of why I like the game. Playing Conjurer feels just leveling Red Mage on any of the classic FFs like 1, 3, 5, 11. Did you say Fanboy? Maybe I am but I don't see why I should feel ashamed about enjoying something that worked for me since the early 90s.
On a sidenote: Many of you said the game shouldn't have been released yet and it's not worth to pay for it. I agree at least on early release part.
But what many of you seem to miss here is that SE is NOT charging for the game yet. I don't expect to pay the fee before .. june maybe?
And the retail price here still says $49.99. Just today I bought another copy at Amazon for 17€ for my sister and I highly doubt that it's still that much more expensive in the USA.
But what many of you seem to miss here is that SE is NOT charging for the game yet. I don't expect to pay the fee before .. june maybe?
And the retail price here still says $49.99. Just today I bought another copy at Amazon for 17€ for my sister and I highly doubt that it's still that much more expensive in the USA.
To make it clear, SE had EVERY intention of charging us a monthly fee. It wasn't until a month into the release with all horrible reviews did they say they were extending no sub fee. And even then, they said another month or so, it wasn't until another month or so that they said it was free indefinitely.
And they took a lot of money in the process from CE boxes and standard sales for a game that was about 40-50% completed. Sorry, see Rift for an example of a game that choose to be 98% complete at launch and charged me the same fee as SE did and take into account they are a new company with a new IP! That's impressive if you ask me. Why gamers would defend this game is far, far beyond my mental capacity. Every time I open my junk drawer and see FFXIV game box I shiver at my careless impulse buying.
I know that the current game is different from when it launched, but I really can't see how it's that much different, and you know what … I'm enjoying it. I really can't understand how this game got so universally paned when there are many, many, many other mmo's out there that sucks so much harder than FFXIV yet don't get pissed on anywhere near as much as FFXIV.
Yeah, I'll admit that it's lacking in content ATM, but it's a mmo! The content will come in time, the main thing I concern myself with on a new mmo is the games structure and mechanics, as long as those are decent then I'm content to wait for the rest and IMO FFXIV's structure and mechanics are just fine.
I'm honestly kinda dreading the combat update that is eventually going to come (once they get that latest survey finished), I like the slow paced system where every action is treated like a skill attack and all the flailing about auto-attacking is completely done away with.
Do any of you remember WoW at launch? Damn I was so pissed off for the first couple weeks of that effing game. And someone was forced to resign from SE because of some noticeable launch issues. ! I am sorry...I am still quite confused here. And also, Japanese people are quite different from us culturally; they will commit Seppuku at the slightest threat of a professional upbraiding at work. A very different culture than ours to be a member of. Take their much higher suicide rates as some proof of this.
Not someone...pretty much the whole team. They replaced almost everyone. Btw, have you played the game? Because you make it out to be that you haven't yet tlk as if you have. It was awful, horrible, just bad. Not the combat system, or its inovative ideas. thats why I wanted to play it, but that it was missing such a large amount of basic basic BASIC features that an MMO cant function without. On top of that, the servers were rediculously laggy ( I heard they were all based in japan, so that would probably be why) there was no content, and it may have been shiny, but it wasn't fun, at all, the crafting system was annoying, especially with the way the broker, or lack there of was set up (heard they added one?) ext ext ext... Theres a reason they fired most of their team on this game, and it is still a f2p as of 4-5(?) months after its release. I like that they are trying to fix their game, and are tying to keep their player-base around, and that shows how truly good of company they are, and how much they care for their player-base, but I know that myself, and the 10-20ish people I went with into this game will NEVER come back to it. They blew it, and my 75 bucks.
Simply put they sold a unfinished product to the market.. Square knows the game is trash, as thats why they fired a lot of the people working on it.. You can't say that before hand they didn't know the game was unfinished either, it's not like we didn't voice it in the beta test.. Square released the game unfished to beat out Cataclysm/DCUO/Rift's launch day; when FFXIV should've still been in developement today.
You can't release a game as bad as FFXIV and not expect to be flamed about it.. Especially since a lot of people are fans of FF11 and this one sorta went a whole different direction; especially in terms of gameplay quality.
Currently Playing: Rift + Starcraft II + Gears Of War 3 Beta
i dont know about you but when i saw this guy's credits, i said to myself, "ooooh, that's why some of square's games suck. he wasn't on board."
that's the guy who designed the active battle systems, job systems, and junction systems for the ff series.
let's face it, battle system for both ffxiv and ffxi were both not up to par of the other ff games.
good battle system direction is probably the hardest part of making a game these days. i find what i hate most about mmos is that the battle system is usually not as good as single player rpgs.
According to that wiki he's part to blame for that abomination that was the Final Fantasy 12 Battle System. IMHO FFXI was that last good FF and that one was an MMO . I thank SquareSoft for many great years of gaming, but kind of seems like they've lost that magic. Hell I still can't decide which I thought was worse 12 or 13. Too bad the Phantasy Star series died out and went straight multiplayer back when the Dreamcast was new.
In War - Victory. In Peace - Vigilance. In Death - Sacrifice.
I thank SquareSoft for many great years of gaming, but kind of seems like they've lost that magic. Hell I still can't decide which I thought was worse 12 or 13. Too bad the Phantasy Star series died out and went straight multiplayer back when the Dreamcast was new.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
I thank SquareSoft for many great years of gaming, but kind of seems like they've lost that magic. Hell I still can't decide which I thought was worse 12 or 13. Too bad the Phantasy Star series died out and went straight multiplayer back when the Dreamcast was new.
Heh, funny. I found FF12 better than FF8 and FF9.
I guess tastes differ.
All three of those were made by Square Enix. The last FF mad by Square Soft was FF7, which is arguably the best.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
hands of western Culture's most terrifying weapon: the 'bad rating' and the 'gaming boycott'.
Just wanted to clarify this for the OP so this will be the only part I address.
It tanked in Japan as well. FFXIV was one of those games that failed to garner the following it had hoped to anywhere. Eastern/Western, it didn't matter. FFXIV was just one of those games very few liked and not many kind words could be found about it regardless of where you looked on the globe.
hands of western Culture's most terrifying weapon: the 'bad rating' and the 'gaming boycott'.
Just wanted to clarify this for the OP so this will be the only part I address.
It tanked in Japan as well. FFXIV was one of those games that failed to garner the following it had hoped to anywhere. Eastern/Western, it didn't matter. FFXIV was just one of those games very few liked and not many kind words could be found about it regardless of where you looked on the globe.
That is all, thank you for reading.
While this may have been true for the time after the first 1-2 months or so, initial sales were very high and successful. Sure a lot of people quit, but you only hear the NA side of the story. Now, there was concerns about the game in Japan as well, but not nearly as much as one who does not live there thinks/hears/believes/assumes.
Case in point, is the FFXIV sales. It has been in the top 3 in Japan since it;s release, and in Jan it retook #1 spot for the top selling PC game. It even beat out the latest edition of Japan's beloved Monster Hunter games. Now that says something if you know a thing or two about MH and JP.
In addition it also looks to be the #1 seller again in Feb, numbers to come soon. So it’s hard to say things like “it tanked in Japan” when it clearly continues to have substantial sales. This isn’t player opinion, but fact. People are buying this game in increasing numbers.
I do not agree with the release state being horrible, I do believe that it was not finished and feel we may have been beta testers for the Ps3 version. However, for all its faults, the game has done nothing but improve, and is continuing to improve with each patch.
1. No jumping, falling down hills just to die or having to walk around a ledge or fence for 3 seconds. (seriously?)
2. No endgame at early starter/release. (NO MMO had endgame at release)
3. Graphical issues like re-used objects/terrrain. (Desperately trying to find faults in the most beautifull MMO game engine to date because they can not admit that their current favourite MMO looks like it was developed 1994)
4. A Combat system that is not auto attack/win (funny how this was and still is the main hype with AOC)
you know they are full of shit.
"Give players systems and tools instead of rails and rules"
Cause the game feels pointless you go to explore the land and you find areas where theres npc's that just stand there with no point to them itsa unfinished game that was or is going in the wrong direction.
Comments
I just got finished watching the Game Spot review of FFXIV...and I am appalled. Keyboard hot-keys for armor sets, recycled content, vendor location for sales items, requisite macro creation, copy and pasted visuals? What extra-fabulous game that I don't know about has all this contained effortlessly remedied underneath its umbrella? I don't know of a single game that addresses all of this...is it really just me? Oh, and unbeknownst to the reviewer...there is a command/hotkey for targeting enemies; and there is an auto-follow in FFXIV...did the reviewer actually play the game; or did he angrily begrudge his fingers the satisfaction of this fretful chore? Furthermore, what is wrong with the map...it works just fine for me. What need is there for a zoom if it works as it is (most times, zoom feels like a gimmick anyway...it is more or less useless as far as any real gaming necessity). Indeed, I can see party member name/locations on it well enough when I open it. What is the reviewer complaining about here?
I agree there are some things that were painful the first month of play...but most of the worst of these have been resolved well enough. Some other hassles include: double or triple key presses for even the most simple of actions, the long timer on levequest reissuance, the pain of finding items in your inventory for equipping, the slow rate of anima restoration. I understand what Square Enix is trying to do here...limit the player to less playtime per day; a kind of moralistic approach to the problem they must see arising in their culture (videogames creating antisocial inclinations in people, an unhealthy trend to be sure). This theory makes sense since they seem to have disclaimers on all their more time-consuming products now. I think it's a commendable attempt: to try to convince people that they can have much more fun in smaller intervals...than all at once, and all the time. Well, anyway...I think the release was all I expected it to be...except for the market wards, which I loathed. But now that this is fixed (the market ward system), I really do love the game just as it is...and I am looking forward to more content in the future. I think it is going to be a wonderful game, in a couple years time. All great MMOs become sweeter with age, and I hope/project FFXIV to be one of these games.
The review here are actually quite high when compared to real reviewers. I think primarily because there is a small community that have hope in the original parts of the game.
Personally I think there is almost 0% chance that someone from MMORPG staff will review the game, as not to sever ties with whatever future press-releases, nice tib bits, and future projects of square enix.
______
There also another aspect where they just blatently artifically capped all advancement without even trying to hide it. That is going to piss off ANY mmorpg gammer even if they NEVER hit the cap. The fact also remained that the advancement quests were pretty much the only thing you could do.
With the advancement system they had they should have just gone with real time advancement like EvE, and they would have scored so very much higher with this community.
They also pissed all over the FF name in the sense that there was no way any character was going to get anywhere near 10 hours of real story.... where with the final fantasy name you expect at least 40 something maybe even up to a hundred+ if you need to min-max.
________
Personally I look forward to when FFXIV becomes a real game, Not going to bother until then.
There is a reason why FFXIV is almost the lowest rated AAA game in ANY genre and gametype in the past few years.
Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.
"At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."
While I respect the fact you like the game, I would have to say given the resignation of the game's director and his apology, along with the current never-ending free-trial more than justify the harsh reviews. Also, a cursory persual of the various forums discussing the game should give you plenty of answers to your initial question.
dey alrdy got ur US$ chiching, if u dun laik teh gaem den leav it alon. it sak brah bat dey d'n't vorce u 2 bai it.
sori mai inlish a tiney bad
The only decent FF game released after 8, which was also kinda meh was, FF10. 12 pissed me off because half way through the game all your characters were essentially the same after you unlocked everything on the unlock board. It was lame having all the same characters with different skins. That was one thing that set all the FF games previous t 8 apart was that you had unique characters with unique abilities. I lived the FF series until 8 i played the original on the nintendo and i loved that game but the direction of the game went in a direction that i felt was not true to the original theme of the game.
I think FFXIV has deserved every negative review it's ever gotten.
Here's a simple litmus test to see how bad a game is... compare it to its predecessor.
'Is FFXIV as good as FFXI'. The answer is no. That means they spent a bunch of years to create an inferior product with better graphics. Your sequel games are supposed to be better, not worse.
So it gets a couple points off the review just for 'Didn't you play your company's previous game? Did you pay any attention?'.
FFXIV is a good example of why the currently established MMO standards in features work so well as propagated by WoW & co, and what can happen if devs stray away from those standards in a quest to do things 'differently' and 'innovatively'.
Does that mean that innovation should be shied away from?
Nope. But people tend to forget that such standards are there because they've proven to be working and the most liked of all kinds of mechanics and features that have been going around throughout MMO history. If those standards would suck, then other gameplay mechanics and features would've been the standard.
So devs better make sure that when they innovate and use something different than the standards, that those new and different features better be a good, enjoyable alternative to the standard.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
You make a good point on post number 33. I also respect the quoted user's opinion. Please understand that I do agree that there are some things about FFXIV at release that I wish they had done a little better...spent a little more time on. I also think that there should be a little more content, even for a new game. That being said, I still like the game enough to pay to play. Is this strange? Whatever, say what you want in response to this question. Also, the post quoted above is overlooking a glaring formality that people should be aware of regarding the MMO world. A game that took nearly 9 years to get right from its original release status is not a fair comparison to make with FFXIV at this moment in time. Indeed, FFXI was ported to us almost a year after its initial release in Japan...so even the most die-hard American FFXI nuts never witnessed the bare-bones state of it in its infancy. Please remember this, and the argument made above by MMO.Maverick, before you get too gung-ho in your criticisms
And, let me also say this, I do understand many of the gripes. However, these faults (and maybe even a few more) are things I am willing to suffer through. I still think that this 'noticeable mess' is likely the germinating seed of a great thing for FF and SE...after a bit more work is done.
Oh, and I am sorry. I shouldn't bash on MMORPG.com for things that are not really of their doing. I have no reason to believe otherwise. I will consider all our previous gripes with one another (in between MMORPG.com staff and myself six years ago) to be "water under the bridge." It is possible that they changed their management lineup since then...and pole restrictions, so I will consider it all just a minor error (that does not reflect on how they do business normally). It was stupid of me to place blame on you all based off of events that took place so very long ago. I know nobody here (save maybe some of the staff) know wtf I am talking about...and I will not cause further defamation to anyone, so I will now kindly shut my mouth. The End.
It is not MMORPG.com, nor any other game rating organization, that is too blame for this ill-omen. I am aware of this. Sorry for making it appear as though I think otherwise.
... you're acting like Square Enix had NOTHING at all to do with FFXI, and that they're a rookie company making FFXIV.
They're a big company, not some indie startup... and they've already done an MMO that wasn't half bad. I'm not comparing FFXIV to FFXI after 9 years, I'm comparing it to how it started off in the US.
If they can't manage to make a game good without waiting a year, they should have kept the game in Japan where the competition is less harsh until they have a halfway decent game.
Also, they should have taken all 9 years of polishing FFXI into their creation of FFXIV. It seemed more like they told their art department to rip off FFXI, but never actually played the first game to see what sort of things people might like in an MMO (Hint. Make your UI better, not worse. I have NEVER seen anybody say that the feature they really want in a game is a significantly worse UI.)
If Blizzard were to release WoW 2 (They're not, but let's say for the sake of argument they decided to), and it didn't even stack up to vanilla WoW, they would be rightfully laughed at. I still insist Square Enix deserves every bad review they got. Maybe if the game had been made by some kids programming out of their basement, that score would be overly harsh, but if you're a big company with a big budget, charging big company subs, people are going to rightfully expect a little... more.
Always looking to make more friends http://opdisasters.proboards.com/index.cgi
Ehh, FF7 is good but FF10 is a better game. I also found FF12 to be great, very immersive and a total blast. Square Enix may have issues but not worthy of a blanket statement.
They dropped the ball on FF14 to a ludicrous degree. If I was a previous FF11 gamer, I would be crying but since I am not, I'm just laughing.
Playing: EvE, Warhammer free unlimited trial, Allods Online
Played: Anarchy Online, WoW, Warhammer, AoC, Ryzom. Aion
Strongly Recommend: Ryzom, EvE, Allods Online
I agree with the OP that all the bad reviews are based on FFXIV when it had only just been released - somewhat buggy and plain not enough content. However there are 2 patches and one update every month now and each little change makes the game a little better.
I will not go into detail of why I like the game. Playing Conjurer feels just leveling Red Mage on any of the classic FFs like 1, 3, 5, 11. Did you say Fanboy? Maybe I am but I don't see why I should feel ashamed about enjoying something that worked for me since the early 90s.
On a sidenote: Many of you said the game shouldn't have been released yet and it's not worth to pay for it. I agree at least on early release part.
But what many of you seem to miss here is that SE is NOT charging for the game yet. I don't expect to pay the fee before .. june maybe?
And the retail price here still says $49.99. Just today I bought another copy at Amazon for 17€ for my sister and I highly doubt that it's still that much more expensive in the USA.
To make it clear, SE had EVERY intention of charging us a monthly fee. It wasn't until a month into the release with all horrible reviews did they say they were extending no sub fee. And even then, they said another month or so, it wasn't until another month or so that they said it was free indefinitely.
And they took a lot of money in the process from CE boxes and standard sales for a game that was about 40-50% completed. Sorry, see Rift for an example of a game that choose to be 98% complete at launch and charged me the same fee as SE did and take into account they are a new company with a new IP! That's impressive if you ask me. Why gamers would defend this game is far, far beyond my mental capacity. Every time I open my junk drawer and see FFXIV game box I shiver at my careless impulse buying.
I know that the current game is different from when it launched, but I really can't see how it's that much different, and you know what … I'm enjoying it. I really can't understand how this game got so universally paned when there are many, many, many other mmo's out there that sucks so much harder than FFXIV yet don't get pissed on anywhere near as much as FFXIV.
Yeah, I'll admit that it's lacking in content ATM, but it's a mmo! The content will come in time, the main thing I concern myself with on a new mmo is the games structure and mechanics, as long as those are decent then I'm content to wait for the rest and IMO FFXIV's structure and mechanics are just fine.
I'm honestly kinda dreading the combat update that is eventually going to come (once they get that latest survey finished), I like the slow paced system where every action is treated like a skill attack and all the flailing about auto-attacking is completely done away with.
Not someone...pretty much the whole team. They replaced almost everyone. Btw, have you played the game? Because you make it out to be that you haven't yet tlk as if you have. It was awful, horrible, just bad. Not the combat system, or its inovative ideas. thats why I wanted to play it, but that it was missing such a large amount of basic basic BASIC features that an MMO cant function without. On top of that, the servers were rediculously laggy ( I heard they were all based in japan, so that would probably be why) there was no content, and it may have been shiny, but it wasn't fun, at all, the crafting system was annoying, especially with the way the broker, or lack there of was set up (heard they added one?) ext ext ext... Theres a reason they fired most of their team on this game, and it is still a f2p as of 4-5(?) months after its release. I like that they are trying to fix their game, and are tying to keep their player-base around, and that shows how truly good of company they are, and how much they care for their player-base, but I know that myself, and the 10-20ish people I went with into this game will NEVER come back to it. They blew it, and my 75 bucks.
Simply put they sold a unfinished product to the market.. Square knows the game is trash, as thats why they fired a lot of the people working on it.. You can't say that before hand they didn't know the game was unfinished either, it's not like we didn't voice it in the beta test.. Square released the game unfished to beat out Cataclysm/DCUO/Rift's launch day; when FFXIV should've still been in developement today.
You can't release a game as bad as FFXIV and not expect to be flamed about it.. Especially since a lot of people are fans of FF11 and this one sorta went a whole different direction; especially in terms of gameplay quality.
Currently Playing:
Rift + Starcraft II + Gears Of War 3 Beta
According to that wiki he's part to blame for that abomination that was the Final Fantasy 12 Battle System. IMHO FFXI was that last good FF and that one was an MMO
. I thank SquareSoft for many great years of gaming, but kind of seems like they've lost that magic. Hell I still can't decide which I thought was worse 12 or 13. Too bad the Phantasy Star series died out and went straight multiplayer back when the Dreamcast was new.
In War - Victory.
In Peace - Vigilance.
In Death - Sacrifice.
Heh, funny. I found FF12 better than FF8 and FF9.
I guess tastes differ.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
All three of those were made by Square Enix. The last FF mad by Square Soft was FF7, which is arguably the best.
? Afaik the merger was later in 2003, and those first 2 were made by Square, or Squaresoft.
Me, I found FF7, 10 and 12 great and 8 and 9 nice but not as great.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
hands of western Culture's most terrifying weapon: the 'bad rating' and the 'gaming boycott'.
Just wanted to clarify this for the OP so this will be the only part I address.
It tanked in Japan as well. FFXIV was one of those games that failed to garner the following it had hoped to anywhere. Eastern/Western, it didn't matter. FFXIV was just one of those games very few liked and not many kind words could be found about it regardless of where you looked on the globe.
That is all, thank you for reading.
While this may have been true for the time after the first 1-2 months or so, initial sales were very high and successful. Sure a lot of people quit, but you only hear the NA side of the story. Now, there was concerns about the game in Japan as well, but not nearly as much as one who does not live there thinks/hears/believes/assumes.
Case in point, is the FFXIV sales. It has been in the top 3 in Japan since it;s release, and in Jan it retook #1 spot for the top selling PC game. It even beat out the latest edition of Japan's beloved Monster Hunter games. Now that says something if you know a thing or two about MH and JP.
In addition it also looks to be the #1 seller again in Feb, numbers to come soon. So it’s hard to say things like “it tanked in Japan” when it clearly continues to have substantial sales. This isn’t player opinion, but fact. People are buying this game in increasing numbers.
I do not agree with the release state being horrible, I do believe that it was not finished and feel we may have been beta testers for the Ps3 version. However, for all its faults, the game has done nothing but improve, and is continuing to improve with each patch.
If all reviewers complain about:
1. No jumping, falling down hills just to die or having to walk around a ledge or fence for 3 seconds. (seriously?)
2. No endgame at early starter/release. (NO MMO had endgame at release)
3. Graphical issues like re-used objects/terrrain. (Desperately trying to find faults in the most beautifull MMO game engine to date because they can not admit that their current favourite MMO looks like it was developed 1994)
4. A Combat system that is not auto attack/win (funny how this was and still is the main hype with AOC)
you know they are full of shit.
Cause the game feels pointless you go to explore the land and you find areas where theres npc's that just stand there with no point to them itsa unfinished game that was or is going in the wrong direction.