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[BlazingDarkness]

I can't believe GT gave the presintaion of the game a 5.4, its the strongest aspect of the game..

They probably gave it a 9/10 for the graphics and then docked it a point for each issue it has (crappy interface, terrible voice acting etc)
Their overall dislike of the game no doubt pulled the score down further as well

 

[cartoon_soldier]

I keep wondering what the development team did over all these years.

And then we have the game director talking about how they wanted to appeal to the casual players :lol

 

[Fisticuffs]

wow Londa is either really crazy or is getting MFING PAID by Squeenix.

 

[JWong]

I keep wondering what the development team did over all these years.

And then we have the game director talking about how they wanted to appeal to the casual players :lol

They were too busy making fun of the FF13 team and how long it took them to make the game. Ironic.

 

[ghibli99]

I can't watch this video. Wtf is that on his chin? Whatever it is it makes me angry.

Skip ahead to about the 5 minute mark.

 

[JudgeN]

I keep wondering what the development team did over all these years.

And then we have the game director talking about how they wanted to appeal to the casual players :lol

Isn't it the same team that made FFXI? If so maybe they spread there team out 2 thin and this is the result.

 

[Kagari]

I got the CE the day it released, but stopped playing after 1 day - The game didn't explain anything at all so the experience was more frustrating for me than enjoyable
Waste of money really, but eh, at least I have it in my collection.

I wonder if they will insert some sort of tutorial once they release the console version in March. Even after playing FFXI, I was a bit confused on how XIV controlled at first.

 

[Zozobra]

Did SE make any official forums for this game? That was one thing that really irked me about XI.

 

[Bisonian]

Uuuuh yeah. You admit they are not unique, so I'll remain correct until they scrap their entire existing world for a new one.

That's also not likely to happen as it is costly and an ineffective fix.

You got me good!! I was being sarcastic, the game blows. There's truly not a single interesting thing about it, other then how badly designed it is.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Just watched the GT review. This game is absolutely horrible and not ready for release. I can't believe it's being defended.

There might be some salvageable dignity for the game down the future with patches, but right now the game is a piece of shit.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Did SE make any official forums for this game? That was one thing that really irked me about XI.

They learned nothing from FFXI, and apparently forgot things they already knew.

 

[Khrno]

XI was so much better at (American) launch than XIV that it isn't even funny.

But the Japanese launch was a bigger mess than XIV's, and that's the main problem. Comparing both original launches, XIV is a little better. But when it launched in America, it had already been out for year and a half in Japan, all the critical issues had been fixed already (after that launch the only real issues were balance, rmt and cheats - but that's something for any mmo to deal with over their lifespan) and it had lots of content updates AND a newly launched expansion.

I know it is no excuse, and that SE shouldn't have launched until they had all the critical issues fixed and the main features added, but we don't know what made them rush the launch in 2010.

I think this issue was forced by higher management (Wada) or outside contracts. One reason I can think of is Wada telling Tanaka, XIII came out in 2009 (Japan) get a XIV version out in 2010, because 2011 focus will be for Versus (who really knows), but that actually sounds like something Wada would pull out of his ass.

I got the CE the day it released, but stopped playing after 1 day - The game didn't explain anything at all so the experience was more frustrating for me than enjoyable

What? The game starts explaining how to fight, then you get a set of tutorial quests taking you all around town teaching you what is what in there. The main quest NPC tells you how to equip abilities for the first time after you complete the very first quest he gives you (going out to the Aerthyte).

There are tutorial leves teaching how fight and gather, with help messages for every action. There are lots of in game help text explaining what are things for, there in the leve NPC, in the guilds, in the quest giver NPC, in the camps, from the LS npc, from the retainer's npc, and controls are described in the manual (oh but who reads manuals right?).

I do agree there are some things that are missing some help text, like crafting being basically the main one, and I could see a message saying select Return when you die, but as far as tutorials go, anything else and it would just be too much, like in FFXIII, all the tutorials and help files were just too much.

 

[Kagari]

Did SE make any official forums for this game? That was one thing that really irked me about XI.

No, but there's this: http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/index.html

 

[JWong]

You got me good!! I was being sarcastic, the game blows. There's truly not a single interesting thing about it, other then how badly designed it is.

My sarcasm detector fails...

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Watch the entire FFXIV impressions video, it is highlarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei0GxMOBztA

AMAZING!

 

[Relix]

And I wanted to make this my first MMORPG :lol

 

[Torquill]

Everquest 2 reused entire zones over and over. They would release a "new" dungeon but it was just an existing dungeon, or piece of it, repopulate with new mobs.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

And I wanted to make this my first MMORPG :lol

Get FFXI =)

 

[Pinko Marx]

I'm still holding out hope for the PStripple release. I really want this game to be fun ;-;

 

[LowParry]

wow Londa is either really crazy or is getting MFING PAID by Squeenix.

:lol Were you around beta times? She's a freakin FF Loon Face.


Edit: Looking back, I've concluded the following. Bat shit insane.

 

[LaneDS]

I'm still holding out hope for the PStripple release. I really want this game to be fun ;-;

With a lot of work, it can be. We'll see if they can hold onto subscribers long enough to make that happen.

 

[sdornan]

Get FFXI =)

Or World of Warcraft...

 

[Effect]

Game needs 12 more months of development before they should have released it
At the very least should have pushed PC release back to PS3 release. I think all the damning impressions are really gonna affect interest until the PS3 version hits, when people will take another look to see if it's been improved.

I'm starting to question this. Perhaps in terms of varied locations that might be the case however I don't think so with some other systems. I doubt if they had more time that the crafting system would be any different. That the lack of auction house would have changed. Seeing how it was needed for FFXI and they had to add it but purposefully left it out of FFXIV. The quest structure (if one event wants to call it that) would have been changed. That the UI design would have changed. The problems with them, especially the UI, include some very basic aspects that naturally should be address during their initial creation. That there is no sort feature for the inventory or the chat system is the way it is says to me no amount of extra time would have changed those things if it wasn't change during the testing they did. I get the feeling the game we have now would have been the same game had it launched 6 or 12 months later.

 

[LowParry]

I'm still holding out hope for the PStripple release. I really want this game to be fun ;-;

PC folk are saying the game is much better played with a pad. So hopefully by the time the PS3 version releases, we'll see the much much MUCH needed fixes it needs. But by SE terms, that could be 5 years from now for all we know.

 

[Chris R]

I don't know how the caves constitute as "shitload" percentage of WoW's world, but they definitely have a dozen different prefabs of those caves. You never visit the same kind of cave for several levels.

There are also tons of houses that are the same (but some do have "plagueland" varieties). Every game has stuff it reuses.

 

[-tetsuo-]

But the Japanese launch was a bigger mess than XIV's, and that's the main problem. Comparing both original launches, XIV is a little better. But when it launched in America, it had already been out for year and a half in Japan, all the critical issues had been fixed already (after that launch the only real issues were balance, rmt and cheats - but that's something for any mmo to deal with over their lifespan) and it had lots of content updates AND a newly launched expansion.

I know it is no excuse, and that SE shouldn't have launched until they had all the critical issues fixed and the main features added, but we don't know what made them rush the launch in 2010.

I think this issue was forced by higher management (Wada) or outside contracts. One reason I can think of is Wada telling Tanaka, XIII came out in 2009 (Japan) get a XIV version out in 2010, because 2011 focus will be for Versus (who really knows), but that actually sounds like something Wada would pull out of his ass.

It's just that XIV gets basic stuff completely wrong. Stuff that they already got right in FFXI.

 

[Khrno]

I get the feeling the game we have now would have been the same game had it launched 6 or 12 months later.

With the extra time of development, I don't think the crafting, battle and quest system would have changed. What would have been changed is that the retainer system, the AH, the mail system and/or housing, transport (chocobos, carriages, airships), and even most importantly, or the server and UI lag would have been fixed.

 

[ZoddGutts]

And I wanted to make this my first MMORPG :lol

Wait for Guild Wars 2.

 

[Alex]

The story though? You're right

The main arc sucks, but that's every game save 2-3 flukes. The quest chains, world lore and general writing is very fun, and very humorous in Cataclysm as well, I quite enjoy it. LOTRO and post-Vanilla WoW are def the standard setters for doing it right. Their worlds are filled to the brim with life and content and writing and characterization.

FFXIV barely has a placeholder for an actual story, or any writing, it's empty, like every other facet of the game. Despite it's *ahem* as of late franchise "pedigree", it doesn't even have cutscenes or voice acting in comparable numbers to OLD MMOs let alone the modern stuff.

All I'm gonna say is that nearly the entire free to play landscape is better than this thing, and not just by a little bit! If you want to play an absolutely miserable Asian MMORPG, you can do so for a lot cheaper! You don't need to exist in an almost hilarious purgatory just because of a franchise title! It may sound crazy, but it's true!

I've got to hand it to people actually thinking this game is going to be fixed anytime soon, that's some impressive dedication to a developer that has completely lost the plot. But I thank you for funding Tactics Ogre.

 

[grandjedi6]

I keep wondering what the development team did over all these years.

And then we have the game director talking about how they wanted to appeal to the casual players :lol

Square Enix's teams take like 5-10 years to make a Final Fantasy game for some reason. Their CEO wants their teams to now release games every 2 years, no matter what. The result....

Now the real question is why the hell Square takes so long to develop these titles. Typically, alot of it was because Square announced the games way way too early and before development had gone far enough. But that doesn't explain FFIV since it was "only" announced at E3 09. Unless, of course, they had barely started developing as of then...



What I really hope for is a Gamasutra postmortem on this game. Those are always awesome.

 

[zlatko]

And I wanted to make this my first MMORPG :lol

It had so much potential. If they had just held off a year, then it COULD have ended up not being this disastrous.

Other MMO's worth looking at though:

World of Warcraft (no brainer here. They are always giving out free trials to get you hooked)

Guild Wars 2 (long wait, but could be worth it)

Tera (has great potential.)

Not sure what else is worth getting excited about. Tons of free to play MMORPGs to try like Guild Wars 1.

I played FFXI for 6 years on and off, and it might be worth checking it out again now that you can get from 1-85 in like a week is what people say. However, I haven't heard if there is tweaks to make the storyline missions easier, which is the real meat of FFXI. Chains of Promathia story line > many standalone FF games story lines.

 

[LaneDS]

With the extra time of development, I don't think the crafting, battle and quest system would have changed. What would have been changed is that the retainer system, the AH, the mail system and/or housing, transport (chocobos, carriages, airships), and even most importantly, or the server and UI lag would have been fixed.

I agree with all of that. 6-12 months would have cleaned up the experience considerably, even if an unfun quest system was still in place.

Honestly, if they just loaded the game with more story-based missions/quests it'd be a lot more compelling. Another year of dev time would have probably resulted in a fair amount more, and I think they wouldn't have such a slow and broken SP gain system in place where you'd be able to progress through ranks without having to grind for tremendous amounts of time.

Also, we'd probably have an acceptable amount of zones at launch. What we have now is a joke.

 

[LowParry]

I've got to hand it to people actually thinking this game is going to be fixed anytime soon, that's some impressive dedication to a developer that has completely lost the plot. But I thank you for funding Tactics Ogre.

Can I get a Amen brother!!

 

[Pai Pai Master]

I played FFXI for 6 years on and off, and it might be worth checking it out again now that you can get from 1-85 in like a week is what people say. However, I haven't heard if there is tweaks to make the storyline missions easier, which is the real meat of FFXI. Chains of Promathia story line > many standalone FF games story lines.

They removed the level cap from the CoP missions. It's pretty much a mindless breeze now.

 

[Khrno]

I've got to hand it to people actually thinking this game is going to be fixed anytime soon, that's some impressive dedication to a developer that has completely lost the plot.

There's not reason not to believe otherwise. And it's clear that they aren't sitting with their thumbs up their asses right now, they are working to fix and improve the game they were rushed to launch.

They removed the level cap from the CoP missions. It's pretty much a mindless breeze now.

I know the fights are a joke now, but the story remains been as good as it ever was, although I would guess that any new player might not see it in the same way as I, and most of us did back in the day when it was actually an accomplishment to get sea. Dumbed down fights can hurt badly an awesome story, I agree with that.

That's why I still have my hopes high with XIV, because Komoto is the man behind it, so I'm sure the story will deliver.

 

[Lebron]

Not surprised the reviews say it's terrible. The game currently is the definition of shit. I wouldn't even recommend it to my worst enemy. I may give it another go again later down the road, but in its current state, no way in hell.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Looks like I'll be jumping back onto DDO. And this after I bought a CE for myself and my girlfriend

Will wait for them to get some work done on it.

 

[Moobabe]

The main arc sucks, but that's every game save 2-3 flukes. The quest chains, world lore and general writing is very fun, and very humorous in Cataclysm as well, I quite enjoy it. LOTRO and post-Vanilla WoW are def the standard setters for doing it right. Their worlds are filled to the brim with life and content and writing and characterization.

FFXIV barely has a placeholder for an actual story, or any writing, it's empty, like every other facet of the game. Despite it's *ahem* as of late franchise "pedigree", it doesn't even have cutscenes or voice acting in comparable numbers to OLD MMOs let alone the modern stuff.

All I'm gonna say is that nearly the entire free to play landscape is better than this thing, and not just by a little bit! If you want to play an absolutely miserable Asian MMORPG, you can do so for a lot cheaper! You don't need to exist in an almost hilarious purgatory just because of a franchise title! It may sound crazy, but it's true!

I've got to hand it to people actually thinking this game is going to be fixed anytime soon, that's some impressive dedication to a developer that has completely lost the plot. But I thank you for funding Tactics Ogre.

I think my problem with wow's story is a problem with the story in MMOs more generally. I certainly found the main arcs interesting but, as is the format, there's so many storyless quests to fill in time between more interesting arcs. Hopefully GW2 will change that, though I'm still cautious.

 

[Fisticuffs]

Not surprised the reviews say it's terrible. The game currently is the definition of shit. I wouldn't even recommend it to my worst enemy. I may give it another go again later down the road, but in its current state, no way in hell.

well Londa would recommend it to her best friend. Shes effed up

 

[i hate bees]

PC folk are saying the game is much better played with a pad. So hopefully by the time the PS3 version releases, we'll see the much much MUCH needed fixes it needs. But by SE terms, that could be 5 years from now for all we know.

It's better but targeting is pretty bloody broken, more so than with a mouse.

By far the worst game I've played in quite a while, GT review is good but I'd say even 4.2's a bit generous considering just how bad it is.

 

[Lebron]

well Londa would recommend it to her best friend. Shes effed up

That's the beauty of the Final Fantasy series. No matter how shit you think one of the games turns out(a lot of them as of late), it will have its fair share of defenders. The game has potential, but SE is pretty inept currently.

 

[Londa]

I hope you don't get mad at others for drawing opinions on FFXIV when they haven't played it, either.



There's actually a free trial, but I figure your view is set in stone.

No I won't get mad if people do the same for ffxiv. I keep asking people, "why play if you don't like it?"

Please do everyone who likes the game a favor and stop playing the game if you do like it. At lease most have stop whinning inside of the game. Can't wait for the fan forums to go back to normal.

 

[KaYotiX]

UGH, what a waste of $$ this was......

 

[Khrno]

Not surprised the reviews say it's terrible. The game currently is the definition of shit. I wouldn't even recommend it to my worst enemy. I may give it another go again later down the road, but in its current state, no way in hell.

I would recommend the game to anyone willing to deal with the current issues for a few more months. Basically to any longtime FFXI player, not those that started in 2007 or after. At work some WoW players asked if they should give it a go, upgrading their PC and all that stuff, they're not FF fans at all, so I told them that they should try it out, but after level cap removal, whenever that is. By that time the game should be on a good track, I just can hope that it will get there because I'm one of those that have actually found this game fun.

 

[Moobabe]

No I won't get mad if people do the same for ffxiv. I keep asking people, "why play if you don't like it?"

Please do everyone who likes the game a favor and stop playing the game if you do like it. At lease most have stop whinning inside of the game. Can't wait for the fan forums to go back to normal.

Because we're frustrated? Is it not ok to have grievances about the game or should discussion only be positive? I imagine that conversation will be a lot shorter.

A lot of us want the game to be great - I played FFXI for 3 years and have been waiting for a successor for so long. WoW was ok - though it didn't scratch the same itch, EVE wasn't for me, GW was great but it wasn't XI. Also - a LOT of people have paid money for this game - whether it be the SE, CE and through subs so do they not have a right to complain either?

 

[Pai Pai Master]

UGH, what a waste of $$ this was......

Had to wait for reviews to decide?

If you played open beta last month and you still bought the game, I dunno how much you can complain that you wasted your money and blame anyone but yourself....

 

[LowParry]

Had to wait for reviews to decide?

Open beta should of been the indicator on the purchase. At least it was for me.

 

[Londa]

well Londa would recommend it to her best friend. Shes effed up

I live in america where its free to do and like whatever you please. Guess you must live in china where they regulate how much you play online, and even who gets a noble peace prize.

 

[Relix]

No I won't get mad if people do the same for ffxiv. I keep asking people, "why play if you don't like it?"

Please do everyone who likes the game a favor and stop playing the game if you do like it. At lease most have stop whinning inside of the game. Can't wait for the fan forums to go back to normal.

So you can be joined by delusional people as well?

I live in america where its free to do and like whatever you please. Guess you must live in china where they regulate how much you play online, and even who gets a noble peace prize.

Meltdown incoming. I can feel it.

 

[Khrno]

To be fair the game runs way better than in the betas, but otherwise, I'd rather judge by a beta than a review.

Hopefully a free-trial in 9-12 months will bring people back.