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Final Fantasy XIV: 1.19 Patch Impressions
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
The arrival of last week's Final Fantasy XIV v1.19 patch has been heralded by many players as a 'game changer', a great step in the right direction for the troubled game. Others, however, are less than impressed. MMORPG.com's Adam Tingle has taken a look at the v1.19 patch and offers a few impressions from the perspective of FFXIV veterans and for those returning/new players. Check it out and then weigh in with your impressions in the comments.
To date, both patch 1.18 and 1.19 are the largest to hit the ailing Final Fantasy XIV. From playing the former build I was underwhelmed by the changes made to this MMO, but when formed together with October's latest additions things are finally starting to make sense. This isn't to say that this game is excels in any way but it is now at least playable. So while many players will still raise their Alt+F4 fingers with rage, as a whole the experience is getting better and things are moving in the right direction, finally.
Read more of Adam Tingle's Final Fantasy XIV: 1.19 Patch Impressions.
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Comments
Seems to me you cant help but put a downer on any good comment you try to make. True the game does not flow like the rest of the linear fun fair train rides, But that is some of its appeal. Otherwise whats the point in making a new game lay out. Might as well just copy paste new skins onto a game and give it a new title.
You are correct in saying the game is moving in the right direction and that is the important part for lots of players. So hopefully SE will keep moving at the enspired pace and get the game to how ppl desire. (Although not everyone will ever be happy)
Well written article. Exactly how it is.
But ofcourse the few "known" hardcore fans will come chime in any moment now and burn the writer on the fire staple.
The truth hurts. But it is as it is. Square Enix is just moving way too slow with this game.
Exactly like you said. They needed a whole year to enable Airships and Chocobos? Just an example.
By the time this game is really worthy to come back to, most people will have long forgotten about this game and moved on.
The only hope SE has, is to manage to release it for the PS3 one day... but even that I just don't see it ever happening.
Even the stake holders and CEO(s) have their patience limit in how much they willing to continue invest in this game to make it a success.
Fact is, the PC version is lost! As people will simply not flock back en masse! Sertainly not in this time.
Half of the things in here is decent and others are just plain IGNORANT comments.
i.e. Grind? What grind?
Have you seen the official forums on the lodestone? Yoshida boost the exp gain ridicuously than ever before. Some guy even posted proof that he help powerlevel some of his linkshell mates from 1-50 IN A DAY.
Even if you weren't powerleveled, exp is far more easier to gain.
I could go on with other examples but I don't feel like it and most of what I say would be ignored anyways.
Yes, the game is still not ready, however I would recommended to people to try it out if they want a head start, its only a box fee of what 20 dollars? But since people at this stage probably don't care about headstarts, I'd tell them to wait.
Will this game ever release on the PS3? I don't see any point getting it on my PC when it pretty much requires a controller to play.
Hopefully everyone that moaned at the last review of this game will eat there words now that we have another opinion from this website that the game is still a mess at least for people wanting a smooth experience.
I'm torn on this one still. I would tell any old player that already has the game to reinstall and check out the changes (they have improved the game) but would tell a new player to wait before spending money on it.
The game is a lot better than it was a year ago, but so many things make it painful for reasons I can't explain, one example: SE makes the last mob in a quest run from you (most of the time) and summon more mobs, this in itself would simply be a minor thing if it was only every once in a while AND the mob only ran a short distance AND the controls and UI were not so bad. But instead, its almost every levequest AND they run nearly across the entire zone.
Just painful.
I am holding out hope though, I really want this game to do well, and it does seem to be on the right track.
www.90and9.net
www.prophecymma.com
Rather than return on my launch day toon (yep, was there) with all it's skills, crafts and jobs either half leveled to max or max, I was thinking to return to the game as a brand new toon. Most of the people I was guilded with have long moved on so the friend attachement isn't there. I'm thinking it's best for me to start the game on a new server (probably Besaid this time instead of Lindblum), roll noob status and TRY to play the game as if I just started.
I'm thinking after reading this review, checking the officials and such that I probably need to wait a bit longer still. At launch I was in a guild that was trying to be "first" in just about everything and be "ready" for all the new stuff when it was put in but that's not really my style of play. Basically they ate everything as it was released piecemeal so now anytime SE puts something in, they last a bit then cry about what still has to be done yet. (still talk with them on Vent)
I'll probably wait one or two more major patches before I consider rerolling as I think SE owes it to me as someone who was in their beta and suffered through corporate mismanagement for months afterwards in silence. Still going for TOR and GW2 but if they continue to keep doing what they are doing, I'll definitely be back for FFXIV.
I know the game will still be around because they have too much money invested, this is their "flagship mmo" for the next decade and they still have to release in China which probably will be their big moneymaker IF they can outperform games like Wulin, ArcheAge and other Asian sandboxes.
"TO MICHAEL!"
The amount of money invested doesn't matter, as they will never earn it back anymore anyway.
The only reason they continue invest in this title, is that they still have the funds for it and to try salvage their damaged reputation (something typical japanese and the diehard fans might be glad for it).
Any other company would have switched off the servers long ago.
Remember Tabula Rasa? How much money NCSoft sank in that one? It was shut down a little over a year after release!
And that game was actually leaps and bounds better than FFXIV and heck more fun to play! And yet NCSoft didn't want to continue invest in it and terminated it anyway.
But even Square Enix management and their stakeholders have their limits and you can bet on it that there is a deadline set on this title. When that deadline passes and the title is still not performing, even FFXIV will be terminated.
If it's 6 months from now, or a year... that will be anybodies guess... but you can bet there is a performance deadline set!
This was a pretty positive review but I'd be willing to bet the rabid fans of this game will still not give the writer a pass and will make a point of criticizing this review still because the author refuses to not ignore the bad points of the game.
Patch 1.19
-Ruined item system
-Ruined dying system
-Ruined crafting system
-Added 100 times more grind into the game in the form of materia grinding
-Implemented broken PLing system where you can get to level cap in 17 hours
-UI LAG AND COMBAT LAG AND NO LINKSHELL FUNCTIONS STILL PERSIST
All patch 1.19 did was add chocobos and an airship cutscene, using models which were in game since alpha. Wow... they animated a chocobo and an airship. That's one years' work if I ever saw it, lol.
FFXIV got WORSE with patch 1.19, not better.
There were some good things, but they were overshadowed by ALL THE BAD THINGS. You should see the official forums, lol.
Take this from someone who actually plays the game. Patch 1.19 was bad. It added some short-term good stuff, but it added some huge, longe-term game-breaking bad stuff.
The only reason they continue invest in this title, is that they still have the funds for it and to try salvage their damaged reputation (something typical japanese and the diehard fans might be glad for it).
Any other company would have switched off the servers long ago.
Remember Tabula Rasa? How much money NCSoft sank in that one? It was shut down a little over a year after release!
And that game was actually leaps and bounds better than FFXIV and heck more fun to play! And yet NCSoft didn't want to continue invest in it and terminated it anyway.
But even Square Enix management and their stakeholders have their limits and you can bet on it that there is a deadline set on this title. When that deadline passes and the title is still not performing, even FFXIV will be terminated.
If it's 6 months from now, or a year... that will be anybodies guess... but you can bet there is a performance deadline set!
No, the reason they continue to work on this title is because they don't have a replacement mmo after FFXI, which is too old now. That's why the reason to fix this game. Reputation is a part of it but money makes gears go round.
NCsoft shut down Tabula because they already had a stable of mmos to push out after it. Aion and the others were already well underway and we've seen how well AION did since it launched. Tabula also had to be shut down because of a company squabble with Garriott which you forgot to mention. There were many more reasons that it made sense for Tabula to get shut down than you mentioned; the least of which was it was a pretty boring game. (sorry, but it was)
SE already told it's shareholders they've lost tons of money on FFXIV yet they still push it out and spend more. If you think they are spending millions more just to "save face", you're underestimating the almighty Yen.
"TO MICHAEL!"
And you are ignoring half of my post.
I am saying, that no matter what, even SE and their stakeholders have their patience limits.
And no other MMO replacement? They are already working on two other MMO titles. Which isn't even a secret, as it has been publically stated.
They not gonna keep pouring millions in this game forever! You're incredibly naive if you think that's gonna happen.
They already lost one major stakeholder right after FFXIV release that rage sold all his shares lol.
You can bet that more will follow if SE keeps wasting their money with no return!
So again. If you like it or not. FFXIV most sertainly has a performance deadline, before which the game needs to become profitable (aka subscriptions reinstated, PS3 release(?)) and start making money.
In the end SE is a business like any other and it needs income to survive!
90% of the content of patch 1.19 was changes which they will have to go back and revise AGAIN, wasting yet more time to do so.
The crafting "overhaul" ushered in a wave of unnecessary and illogical changes.
They attempted to give classes more definition by removing the optimal-rank and favoured-class but all it did was piss everyone off because now none of the gear scaled logically, and people are now beset by restrictions where there never used to be any. FFXIV's failing was never due to the freedom it afforded players by way of the optimal/favoured class system. It's hilarious/sad to see them try and rectify an issue by only adding more problems to their game.
They're so obsessed with old MMOs (like WoW and FFXI) that they remove all the progress FFXIV orginally made. Changes to the dying and item system are just further proof of that.
Essentially they wiped 80% of player's items just so they could implant this new item system which turned out to be WORSE than the original one.
They have no idea how to turn this game around. Adding Chocobos and Airships just isn't going to cut it if at the same time they simultaneously remove all of the charm and progress FFXIV launched with.
Pathetic. The new dev team must be run by a random bad-dea generator or something. I swear it must be.
Limits? Everyone has "limits". But you have to realize the Chinese market is huge for SE. That's why they hired a lot of Chinese coders who helped screw this game already. There is a payoff of sorts that was worked in:
SE hires more Chinese programmers (which pissed of Japanese citizens), makes DEDICATED Chinese servers for FFXIV, and they get a lot of exclusive rights in China. This was all reported at length so not sure how you're not aware of that.
This project (FFXIV) does not just represent Western interests.. to the contrary, the real interest will be like what Blizzard did with WoW in Asia.. potentially millions of players to keep the title running the next ten years. This is why they won't give up in the short term.
In fact, I'm pretty sure they've already seen the interest in FFXIV wane heavily just on their own U.S. forums with their dedicated base, yet they still pump millions into it with TOR, GW2, ArcheAge, TSW etc coming out. You don't think SE didn't notice those games and the interest players have, do you?
Of course they noticed. That's why they are putting everything into the game for the Chinese/Asian market. I'll say it again: FFXIV is now being kept up for THAT market, not the Western market and that's why they aren't giving up on it anytime soon.
FFXI needs a replacement and cannot compete with new games today, no matter how much they add in patches.
"TO MICHAEL!"
Adam,
I like the fact that you are following this down the line. The forum thread from the last article you wrote people were accusing you of not giving the game its chance by writing it right before the patch. Now there is a pre-patch and post patch reference. Good job. Now I can really read about the changes and it sounds like its getting better, but not quite there yet.
I think that I might pass this one indefinitey. At one time the client was really cheap, but has shot back up and I still don't think its worth the investment.
Ink
Not only do they not have any other replacement for FFXI, this is also a part of their flagship series. FF in general is everything to SE. And after 13 didn't do so well either they are not about to let the big MMO go down in laughable flames. Pardon the cultural reference but these guys will sooner fall on a sword in their offices then give up on this title. American corporation might be frighteningly utilitarian but don't assume that the Japanese are just like Americans in this regard. An American corporation might set a 6 month or 1 year timelimit. or more likely they would have set a dollar amount limit. SE on the other hand it simply trying not to loose face on this and they will spend as much time and money on it as they need to. It is no longer simply about one title's ROI. This is something that we Americans just don't quite get. It is not just avoiding some embarrasment. This is something else all together.
All die, so die well.
I bought this game for my wife two months ago; because she requested it. She has been a hard core FF fan since the orginal game. She played 1.18 for about twenty minutes and said I could uninstall that piece of crap. I waited because 1.19 was coming soon. A few days ago she spent two hours playing 1.19 and has once again asked that I uninstall it. When I asked her why she said the the UI is crap, the leveling/experence system sucks and that she got killed by a squirel because the combat system was so convoluted as to take the fun out of the game.
In short, there was nothing fun about the game. If a game is not fun, why bother with it?
Looks like someone is on a rather childish crusade to bash the game as much as possible. Paid off or simply afraid to be proven wrong?
First this site "re-reviews" the game mere days before major patches twice, then this silly article that shows quite clearly that the "writer" doesn't even know what he's talking about.
Grind? Just lol. If you want to write some fiction, at least have the decency to label it as such. It's always nice to read some fanfiction, because that's what this poor excuse for an article is. Plain and simple.
No, the reason they continue to work on this title is because they don't have a replacement mmo after FFXI, which is too old now. That's why the reason to fix this game. Reputation is a part of it but money makes gears go round. NCsoft shut down Tabula because they already had a stable of mmos to push out after it. Aion and the others were already well underway and we've seen how well AION did since it launched. Tabula also had to be shut down because of a company squabble with Garriott which you forgot to mention. There were many more reasons that it made sense for Tabula to get shut down than you mentioned; the least of which was it was a pretty boring game. (sorry, but it was) SE already told it's shareholders they've lost tons of money on FFXIV yet they still push it out and spend more. If you think they are spending millions more just to "save face", you're underestimating the almighty Yen.
Not only do they not have any other replacement for FFXI, this is also a part of their flagship series. FF in general is everything to SE. And after 13 didn't do so well either they are not about to let the big MMO go down in laughable flames. Pardon the cultural reference but these guys will sooner fall on a sword in their offices then give up on this title. American corporation might be frighteningly utilitarian but don't assume that the Japanese are just like Americans in this regard. An American corporation might set a 6 month or 1 year timelimit. or more likely they would have set a dollar amount limit. SE on the other hand it simply trying not to loose face on this and they will spend as much time and money on it as they need to. It is no longer simply about one title's ROI. This is something that we Americans just don't quite get. It is not just avoiding some embarrasment. This is something else all together.
They are ALREADY embarassed. Already. FFXIV was a complete and utter failure, period. Actually, if it were to shut down now, they'd save more face overall because they can apologize once and for all.
Instead, the game has been an open sore for over a year now because they keep "picking" at the scab. Face is not what it used to be and this is what Westerners don't understand; this is not feudal Japan where people actually fall on swords much anymore. Money (yen) justifies just about everything in modern day Japan nowadays. I think some Westerners still think Japanese businesses and corporations are made up of samurai willing to off themselves because of financial failure. If that was the case, the removal of the FFXIV exec should mean we'd be reading his obituary already, which we haven't. In fact, no one has died because of FFXIV in Japan.. this isn't an issue.
In today's Japan brand name only means as much as what investments your company can bring because of it; not because you've "shamed your ancestors". The new Japan is not the old in this global economy.
Again, the main reason this game is still pushing out content and trying to fix itself up is for FFXIV's future, not Square Enix's name. Fans will still buy FF titles no matter what in Japan. But without a 'next gen" mmo to replace FFXI this company would be in serious trouble period. This game has to succeed for that reason plus the amount of money sunken into it already.
Square Enix already did a cost assessment somewhere with it's own analysts and the decision came down to it's cheaper to keep putting money into FFXIV than to 'start over' with some other mmo not even out of planning whiteboard stages yet. If they didn't feel they could get their money back long term with China, they wouldn't be pushing this anymore.
"TO MICHAEL!"
They are putting money into this game b/c they know a lot of players will try it again during ps3 release. Event if in the west population won't be that big, japanese will definitly give this game another chance. If the game fail after that I doubt they would shut it down. They would propably just keep it around with patch every year and 2 servers.
A reply to a reply to further drive this thread off topic (j/k)
Tabula Rasa was shut down because of legal issues between NCSoft and RG, not because to much money was wasted, NCSoft was right in the middle of a new expansion (already released videos and screens of the expansion). You dont do that when your about to pull the plug due to no more money.
So "IF" FFXIV ever gets canned, and "IF" its due to a lack of funds or tired of wasting funds it will in no way be anything like TR getting canned.
*Sorry, but I have a soft spot for TR and dont like miss information being spread about it*
*Sigh* why cant someone relaunch TR......
www.90and9.net
www.prophecymma.com
Square probably has overall written off the "Western" market. The game is only pushing worked on because of the large Asian population left to see it in a "fixed" state.
That is PS3 players (which I didn't mention before but Twilight did) and the Chinese. Western market is basically the demo testers for that market's re-release.
I'm sure SE expects a further downtrend from Westerners once TOR/GW2/TSW hit.. they aren't that out of touch.
"TO MICHAEL!"
Did you know how long did FFXI took for it to be good? around 3 years, when it 1st came out, it was almost in the same state as this one
so i'd say, ask your wife to try again next year, should change alot
as much crap as SE made this one, i still believe SE to be a top dev and they will do something about this one
So What Now?
What ton of other mmos are you talking about in this example?
"TO MICHAEL!"
This has got to be the most offending instance of MMORPG.com really trying to force itself to like the game, i mean just how many games gets re-reviewed this frequently?
Give it a rest, the game's a stinker and will probably always be unless the whole game is redesigned.
The whole game is getting redesigned.