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It's obviously retarded to review MMOs so soon but actual player feedback backs up what this video review is saying. It's simply unacceptable for SE to release XIV in such a shitty form given the fact that this is now their 2nd MMO, based upon their first MMO. It's been in development for so many years.

This game is missing essential features and tools required for MMOs to be fun and interesting to play. Why couldn't they improve upon and implement the awesome aspects of XI into XIV? They spent all of these years doing what? Building a giant, great-looking, but empty world void of the various aspects that made XI so fun. Unlike FFXI, which was a pioneer MMO for its day, XIV has expectations to live up to and it simply does not deliver... yet.

 

[HappyBivouac]

The game sucks as it is right now. That doesn't mean a review of it should be taken seriously.

I guess it's fair to want to be informed on how the game is right now so you don't buy something terrible. The problem is, they're not gonna re-review it when the game kicks ass 6-12 months from now.

Call me delusional but I see how badly ffxi sucked at its launch and then how amazing that game ended up being. That's all I need to go on. These are largely the same people working on ffxi. They rushed the game out because SE made them, or maybe they just figured "with ffxi we improved the game as it went on, why shouldn't it work here?"

An MMO cannot be properly reviewed as a singleplayer game. It does not work. An MMO is an ongoing experience between player, game, and developers.

It's going to be a repeat of ffxi though. Pretty good niche success making them tons of money, but a bad reputation among the gaming community as a whole because they took the "see what happens once we have actual players, then fix the game" approach.

HAHA

TOLD YOU FUCKERS

FINAL FANTASY FIGHTING IRRELEVANCY

When a Final Fantasy title gets 4/10 from Gamespot, I have already won.

No, Final Fantasy is not YET irrelevant, especially from the sales of FF13. But it's clear that the series is past its glory days and Square is now beating a dead horse.

You saw the 4/10, maybe read the review, then decided to post that. What perspective do you have?

 

[Broadbandito]

pc version = beta test?
ps3 release = real game?

lulz?

 

[notworksafe]

No, Final Fantasy is not YET irrelevant, especially from the sales of FF13. But it's clear that the series is past its glory days and Square is now beating a dead horse.

I think it just means the Online team needs to reevaluate their priorities. Either that or set reasonable deadlines.

Makes the early 2002 dual-platform release of (a really high standard at the time) FF11 seem even more incredible.

I am curious about the PS3 version. I was surprised that they had issues with it. Wasn't the point of Crystal Tools to avoid porting being a pain in the ass?

 

[Man]

Makes the early 2002 dual-platform release of the great FF11 seem even more incredible.
Wtf happened with FF14, so many bad design decisions.

 

[HappyBivouac]

pc version = beta test?
ps3 release = real game?

lulz?

This is a decent assessment, and this is why the review shouldn't be taken seriously. It's fair to not want to pay for a game until it's finished, but this kind of review doesn't make any sense.

Say the game were released a year from now, full of content and polished as fuck with all the bad design decisions out and good ones in. People would see this totally differently. That's likely what the game will look like a year from now. Does it still make sense to call this a bad game?

 

[BocoDragon]

HAHA

TOLD YOU FUCKERS

FINAL FANTASY FIGHTING IRRELEVANCY

When a Final Fantasy title gets 4/10 from Gamespot, I have already won.

No, Final Fantasy is not YET irrelevant, especially from the sales of FF13. But it's clear that the series is past its glory days and Square is now beating a dead horse.

Seems more like a "shit era" than the death of FF.

N64 and Cube were a downturn for Nintendo's fortunes, but that didn't mean they were "irrelevant". They bounced back.

I find it impossible to believe that there will NEVER be a good FF in the future. I'm sure they're taking a long, hard look at how they develop games and they're changing things up.

 

[Kintaro]

Because people don't want to know how an MMO plays in six months or a year. They want to know how it plays right now.

Yes, we get that. This being the case, if you are NOT a hardcore MMO player who is used to playing through launch problems you should not even think about playing a MMO within it's first year.

So, that pretty much makes any "review," especially two weeks or even a month after release, pretty stupid unless you're hunting for clicks.

Does FFXIV have problems? Hell yes. Will they be sorted out? Yes they will. In time. But everyone in this thread knew that from the word go.

One thing I can't help thinking though is that a lot of people who are saying that this doesn't have the charm of FFXI when it first came out and so forth and so such are on some major, major nostalgia drugs.

Makes the early 2002 dual-platform release of (a really high standard at the time) FF11 seem even more incredible.

This isn't true. PS2 version hit first, then PC version. It's the reverse this time around. In fact, it took FFXI six months. The same about of time it looks like it will take FFXIV. You can view 2002's patch history here for a history lesson on the game.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

This is a decent assessment, and this is why the review shouldn't be taken seriously. It's fair to not want to pay for a game until it's finished, but this kind of review doesn't make any sense.

Say the game were released a year from now, full of content and polished as fuck with all the bad design decisions out and good ones in. People would see this totally differently. That's likely what the game will look like a year from now. Does it still make sense to call this a bad game?

Ummm yes?

Goddamn some people can be so gullible. You are not only paying the retail price, but also a damn subscription fee to play this 'bad' game. It is totally in their right to point out flaws and problems with the game...

 

[LaneDS]

This is a decent assessment, and this is why the review shouldn't be taken seriously. It's fair to not want to pay for a game until it's finished, but this kind of review doesn't make any sense.

Say the game were released a year from now, full of content and polished as fuck with all the bad design decisions out and good ones in. People would see this totally differently. That's likely what the game will look like a year from now. Does it still make sense to call this a bad game?

I think so. It is currently a bad, broken game. I wanted to love it dearly, and have been trying to love it from alpha onwards. I paid my $75+tax for the CE. A few weeks later, I've cancelled and uninstalled and am super disappointed with how it turned out. If it's an amazing game a year from now, then sure, we can call it a good game. In it's current state, however, it stands as my biggest gaming disappointment in quite some time (perhaps, sadly, since FFXIII).

Needless to say, opinions and all that... I'm glad some people are finding the game fun. I wish I could too.

 

[BocoDragon]

Who said anything about the death of FF? FF wont' die and it certainly won't be the death of GOOD FF's either.

But it is obvious the fangasm FF honeymoon that Square once had on its fans and media has loosened.

Then you are definitely correct.

 

[Kandinsky]

Why do people keep bringing FFXI's beta/first years, this is their second MMO, and its 2010 for ffs, I hope this game fails and goes f2p

 

[Rahxephon91]

I really don't think an online FF is the one to rate the irrelevancy of the franchise or anything.

 

[Spire]

FFXIV is an embarrassment. It is shocking that such high-budget game from a large studio could be so poorly designed, it ignores every lesson MMO developers have learned over the past decade. It's not like the game is being archaic and stale for the sake of anything, it doesn't add any interesting social aspects or gameplay, it's just obtuse and infuriating. Square should be kissing Gamespot's feet right now because a 4/10 is a goddamn gift. FFXIV is bad, as in "people need to be fired" bad.

 

[Conceited]

Why do people keep bringing FFXI's beta/first years, this is their second MMO, and its 2010 for ffs

This.

I always wondered how people could say "well thats how it was when FFXI came out"

What the hell kind of reasoning is that? That was 8 years ago! Everything should be different, it should be NOTHING like FFXI's launch.

 

[Chrange]

Say the game were released a year from now, full of content and polished as fuck with all the bad design decisions out and good ones in. People would see this totally differently. That's likely what the game will look like a year from now. Does it still make sense to call this a bad game?

Depends - are they releasing that imaginary game from a year from now or are they releasing the lame one?

 

[notworksafe]

Even comparing it to the launch of WoW is getting iffy. That was almost six years ago.

 

[KaYotiX]

Ouch, pretty harsh. It's only been out for what? Two weeks? SE would patch those flaws, hopefully. WoW wasn't great when it launched back in 2004, but look at it now.

Yeah but WoW was fun even with its kinda rough launch.....the UI was almost perfect for a MMO launch and it pretty much nailed everything about how to launch a new MMO and grab people.

 

[LaneDS]

This.

I always wondered how people could say "well thats how it was when FFXI came out"

What the hell kind of reasoning is that? That was 8 years ago! Everything should be different, it should be NOTHING like FFXI's launch.

And on top of that, people thinking they'll have years to make this game awesome and somehow maintain their subscriber base are, sadly, delusional. There are a lot more options out there today for how gamers can spend their gaming dollar, and unless XIV turns it around quickly they're going to move on.

It's going to take one hell of a turn around and some serious design philosophy changes (assuming, y'know, they have a design philosophy in place to begin with), plus some great marketing and word of mouth to save this game.

Hate to be such a doomsayer, but like I said above this game is my biggest gaming-related disappointment in a long, long time.

 

[Evlar]

Blizzard has been working on their next MMO for what, 5 years now, and it still hasn't even been unveiled? Considering how few publishers have the resources to make this kind of game, and considering how long it obviously takes to do it right even when you have a gigantic team with ample experience like SE or Blizzard, I am beginning to believe that the MMO genre will be dominated by no more than two or three titles (with lots of little also-rans) for a very long time. Decades.

 

[Wallach]

Whether the game is great a year from now is mostly irrelevant. MMOs don't really get a second chance down the line no matter what kind of changes they make. Does anyone here know how much updating and content was done for Age of Conan since it launched? Pretty unlikely. How many people know about how bad Age of Conan's launch was?

The fact that the PS3 version is launching later is not much of a saving grace here. In fact it probably isn't far enough out to make all the PC players they're upsetting now look at it again seriously.

 

[HappyBivouac]

This review implies that the game is bad now (which it is) and will be bad, for as long as it exists. It implies that the only thing you will get if you EVER buy this game is frustration. It says that "fun" can't be patched in--what the fuck does that mean? To me it says "this reviewer is an idiot who makes baseless statements to generate buzz and get clicks." Of course fun can be patched in. That is the entire fucking point of patching a game--to make it more fun.

I just have to wonder how many people subscribing to the views this review expresses will actually pay any mind at all when the game is kicking ass a year from now. Gamers suck. They want to make judgments and get closure NOW. Perhaps the nature of gaming itself breeds this sort of impatient mindset and expectation of instant gratification. Yeah I know you want to know if a product is worth paying for before you pay for it, but it's not that simple with an ever-changing product that is released to grow and mature, and this review seems to think it is that simple.

This.

I always wondered how people could say "well thats how it was when FFXI came out"

What the hell kind of reasoning is that? That was 8 years ago! Everything should be different, it should be NOTHING like FFXI's launch.

I don't see how that changes anything. The game will be a million times better 6 months from now, an two million times better a year from now. 2002 or 2010, an MMO is a game that has to mature. That's obviously not the only cause of the issues with this game--it was released prematurely--but to say a game released in 2010 should be held to higher standards is a bit silly. That's like saying Super Mario Sunshine is or should be a better game than Super Mario Bros.

 

[LaneDS]

I do at least agree with that Happy. Reviewing an MMO and making statements with a sense of finality is pretty silly. While I disagree a bit on the patching in fun portion of your post (if the fundamental design is flawed, you need to change so much about your product it's hard to consider that merely "patching"), it's pretty clear XIV will be a much better product with each passing month.

 

[notworksafe]

Gamers suck. They want to make judgments and get closure NOW.

I just want a game that isn't half baked at release.

 

[Conceited]

I don't see how that changes anything. The game will be a million times better 6 months from now, an two million times better a year from now. 2002 or 2010, an MMO is a game that has to mature. That's obviously not the only cause of the issues with this game--it was released prematurely--but to say a game released in 2010 should be held to higher standards is a bit silly. That's like saying Super Mario Sunshine is or should be a better game than Super Mario Bros.

What? Not even close.

This isn't about it being a better GAME it's about it being a better MMO. People agree that the combat is good and the game is fun and good looking.

But it has an inexcusable amount of bugs and horrible UI and design decisions. This is what needs to be different in 2010, there is no excuse. It seems like you've already made your mind up about this game though, so no point in trying to convince you otherwise.

 

[HappyBivouac]

I just want a game that isn't half baked at release.

I'm with you, but taking this with a sense of finality is faulty logic at its finest.

FF13 was half-baked at release. FFXIII was half-baked at release (though I think smarter development rather than more time would've been the solution here) and FFXIV is too. The difference is FFXIV will continue baking. That's the beauty of the whole MMO thing. That's why you can't review an MMO in this manner. The continual development is an integral part of the ride.

 

[notworksafe]

That's true, but how else should review sites deal with MMOs? Perhaps just having an opinion piece without a score would be better. I believe that is what Game Informer is doing.

You can't exactly tell them to revisit it 6 months - 1 year later. There are always new games coming out and many places don't have the resources to have people go back and replay year old games.

 

[HylianScribe]

Okay, seriously. What the hell is wrong with some people? How can you sit by and accept a game is "broken" at launch, but if it is patched in any time frame other than immediately, it's worth your money? Why the hell do you not demand the game be ready when it is released and you pay for it? Sure, a game can be improved and be a mere shadow of its terrible self a year after launch, but then what the hell was that year for? Why weren't things working then? You're going to pay for all that time when the game wasn't good just to wait? Sure, if you're an obsessed fanboy who has to "be the best" at Final Fantasy Has Gone to Hell XIV, then have at it. You're OCD and nothing will change your mind, so have at you. But for the rest of the sane people, WTF? Why isn't what FF XIV "could" be in a year from now what it is right now?

 

[Evlar]

I'm with you, but taking this with a sense of finality is faulty logic at its finest.

FF13 was half-baked at release. FFXIII was half-baked at release (though I think smarter development rather than more time would've been the solution here) and FFXIV is too. The difference is FFXIV will continue baking. That's the beauty of the whole MMO thing. That's why you can't review an MMO in this manner. The continual development is an integral part of the ride.

The question is whether it will have a chance to improve before the subs flee. It probably will, I'm guessing, because of SE's unique position in the Japanese market. Most other publishers couldn't get away with it, though.

 

[Alex]

You really can't sweep the immense problems and barren content of this game under the rug just by saying "well, MMOs are rough at launch". That's just nonsense, there's a difference between feature complete and full polish and the absolute destitute state FFXIV launched in.

I've been playing MMOs off and on for about 12 years now, and it's one of the roughest I've ever seen. It has absolutely nothing going for it, where people are even seeing potential for the state it's in is beyond me.

 

[Kintaro]

FF11 owned when it first came out.

Nostalgia talking like a madman now. FFXI had its first expansion under its belt before its US release and it was STILL dogged at the of its release. Every single thing people are dogging FFXIV for now, they dogged it for then.

Now, that doesn't speak well for FFXIV since it's 2010 and now 2004. No one in the thread is saying FFXIV doesn't deserve its licks right now. It does. However, it will improve down the line so come back later. If you think the game will go under, it won't. It'll be small, but it won't go anywhere. If Age of Conan can make it past its launch (which was destroyed here on the forums as well), FFXIV will.

But, go nuts on it. It is funner that way. =P

It's kind of funny seeing old SoDers dog FFXIV left and right when I know and played FFXI with them for many, many years through the times they themselves claimed the game sucked and was an awful game. Yet, there they were. Playing everyday... :lol

 

[HappyBivouac]

Okay, seriously. What the hell is wrong with some people? How can you sit by and accept a game is "broken" at launch, but if it is patched in any time frame other than immediately, it's worth your money? Why the hell do you not demand the game be ready when it is released and you pay for it? Sure, a game can be improved and be a mere shadow of its terrible self a year after launch, but then what the hell was that year for? Why weren't things working then? You're going to pay for all that time when the game wasn't good just to wait? Sure, if you're an obsessed fanboy who has to "be the best" at Final Fantasy Has Gone to Hell XIV, then have at it. You're OCD and nothing will change your mind, so have at you. But for the rest of the sane people, WTF? Why isn't what FF XIV "could" be in a year from now what it is right now?

Plenty of people are legitimately enjoying the game now, and will gladly pay for that year. Just because one reviewer gave it a 4/10 and the game in its current state is not great to most people doesn't mean it is an awful game to literally everyone. There is a decent chunk who consider it totally worth playing right now.

I'm iffy on the game at the moment, knowing its a horribly unfinished game, but it is a game I plan to stick with in the long run. See, the thing is, you don't have to pay for it now. You can jump in later. I only take issue with the fact that this review implies the game will always be terrible, and it will stay a 4/10 forever. That just doesn't work, because a year from now the review should no longer apply to the game. It will be a completely different game than what was reviewed, but the reviewer pays almost no mind to this fact. He only briefly acknowledges it, then quickly sweeps it aside with an idiotic and baseless statement meant to give closure where closure is not even what the game is about. It doesn't work.

 

[blitz64]

sadly, i agree with the review. hope the game improves.

 

[Conceited]

Nostalgia talking like a madman now. FFXI had its first expansion under its belt before its US release and it was STILL dogged at the of its release.

Pretty sure FFXI was reviewing in the 7.5-8.5 range when it launched in the US. I didn't hear too many people complaining about it when it first dropped and I was there from PS2 launch.

 

[Man]

Looking forward to the 6/10 PS3 game and 7/10 PS4 game (lol).

 

[LaneDS]

After watching the video review, I think it's fair and agree with just about 95% of what he had to say, the only notable issue I take with it is about the art design being uninspired (though he focuses on saying the zones are empty and boring... which they are). The video review also doesn't really imply anything about the quality of the title down the line, just says that today you shouldn't play this game... and that's pretty much spot on.

And Kintaro, I disagree completely about XI being in the same state as XIV at launch. At least, not the US PC launch of XI, which in fairness had the benefit of a whole expansion and many version updates at that point. I happily played XI for months and it had a lot going for it (like, y'know, letting me sort my inventory... pretty cutting edge stuff).

 

[Kandinsky]

It's kind of funny seeing old SoDers dog FFXIV left and right when I know and played FFXI with them for many, many years through the times they themselves claimed the game sucked and was an awful game. Yet, there they were. Playing everyday... :lol

I'm about to do the same in FFXIV in days:lol

 

[Yuripaw]

Pretty sure FFXI was reviewing in the 7.5-8.5 range when it launched in the US. I didn't hear too many people complaining about it when it first dropped and I was there from PS2 launch.

I think by my avatar, it shows I'm a little bias towards FFXI, but even if it did get review scores like that, at the time of FFXI's launch, it frustrated me to no end that it didn't get as much play as I think it deserved.

I still feel it was and is a ground breaking title, even if only for the fact that it launched on the PS2. Yes, it came out on PC first in North America, but the game was originally developed for and published in Japan on the PS2, which I think is amazing for a title that was released in May 2002. Not to mention that it was a game that shared servers with a different platform. That's a concept hard to find in a game today, let alone 8 years ago.

As far as graphics go for FFXI, I always thought it looked amazing. Yet when it did get released in 2003/2004 on PC/PS2, no one talked about it's visuals, and even put it down in some cases. I honestly did not see any MMOs that looked that good in those years. WoW wasn't even out yet for comparison, so it boggles my mind in a pre-WoW world, that FFXI didn't get any recognition for it's achievements. The only other big MMO I remember in 2003 was Star Wars Galaxies, and that game was a buggy mess. In FFXI, perhaps the textures were muddy, but the art style was brilliant, and has kept the game looking good to me even today.

FFXIV may have it's own problems, but I think what it does right, it does well. Every MMO is a grind, even everyone's beloved world of warcraft is just a grind. I don't see how FFXIV is any different. It's concepts are different, but in a world now where everyone copies WoW, I would rather commend them for daring to be different. I was frustrated about the leveling cap myself, but it is true that there are people out there who spend too much time in the MMO games, and waste a considerable time of their lives to it, so I guess it is only responsible that they try to come up with a means to not encourage playing the game for too long. Although I would argue that they shouldn't charge a monthly fee then.

 

[HappyBivouac]

You really can't sweep the immense problems and barren content of this game under the rug just by saying "well, MMOs are rough at launch". That's just nonsense, there's a difference between feature complete and full polish and the absolute destitute state FFXIV launched in.

I've been playing MMOs off and on for about 12 years now, and it's one of the roughest I've ever seen. It has absolutely nothing going for it, where people are even seeing potential for the state it's in is beyond me.

Potential in:

-Amazingly gorgeous design in the evironments, characters, equipment, etc.
-Unique progression/job system that lets a player really flesh out his/her character the way he/she wants to.
-Story content with production values through the roof for an MMO.
-Uematsu.
-FFXI's community is/was one of the best I have ever seen in an online game. This game's community is largely composed of those same people. (This one isn't universal, but it's how I feel)
-Thoroughly integrated economy, given time to develop properly, will offer a much richer economy than what FFXI has and what most other games have.
-An overall experience and design philosophy very different from what the "standard" MMO offers. I could elaborate on this one but I won't in this bulleted list.

Being weighed down by:
-Clunky UI
-Lack of content
-Certain systems not yet being in place
-Stupid control issues that were overlooked but will be fixed
-Overly random/unbalanced skill point gains
-Mob spawn distribution not properly balanced for player volume

All of these things will be fixed in short order. People fail to see this. It's a great game being weighed down by a sum of mostly small issues.

I do not include "lack of play information" in the list of things weighing it down because if you're going to play a game for months, maybe years, getting immersed in the gameworld and community, the need to learn a few things isn't going to kill you. Things could be improved on that front, but I don't think it kills an MMO, at least not for me. An MMO is a game you play for the long-term. Once you learn how to do something, you know how to do it forever. If a learning curve in an MMO ruins it for you then you're an impatient twit who isn't going to like that sort of long-term gaming anyway.

 

[LaneDS]

As far as graphics go for FFXI, I always thought it looked amazing. Yet when it did get released in 2003/2004 on PC/PS2, no one talked about it's visuals, and even put it down in some cases. I honestly did not see any MMOs that looked that good in those years. WoW wasn't even out yet for comparison, so it boggles my mind in a pre-WoW world, that FFXI didn't get any recognition for it's achievements. The only other big MMO I remember in 2003 was Star Wars Galaxies, and that game was a buggy mess. In FFXI, perhaps the textures were muddy, but the art style was brilliant, and has kept the game looking good to me even today.

Hm, I think FFXI looked stellar at PC launch. I still have a bunch of my screenshots from back then and I think the art design holds up a dated engine extremely well (although my male Elvaan in subligar looks as horrific as he did 8 years ago). I think the graphics back then were definitely worthy of praise, and each zone had some amazing atmosphere to it. Still does I'd say. Good art design + great music goes a long way.

 

[Kintaro]

Pretty sure FFXI was reviewing in the 7.5-8.5 range when it launched in the US. I didn't hear too many people complaining about it when it first dropped and I was there from PS2 launch.

You didn't pay much attention though. A simple search for FFXI will net you what GAF thought of FFXI, even in its later years. (OMG YOU GET PENALIZED FOR DEATH?!?!)

Anyways, no use in continuing. I'm not defending FFXIV really. I'm enjoying my time playing with friends while fighting through the junk SE should have included that will be fixed down the road. Both FFXI and FFXIV were and will never be MMOs for the masses. SE will make you pull your hair out. Yet, you still end up enjoying yourself.

 

[notworksafe]

I do not include "lack of play information" in the list of things weighing it down because if you're going to play a game for months, maybe years, getting immersed in the gameworld and community, the need to learn a few things isn't going to kill you. Things could be improved on that front, but I don't think it kills an MMO, at least not for me. An MMO is a game you play for the long-term. Once you learn how to do something, you know how to do it forever. If a learning curve in an MMO ruins it for you then you're an impatient twit who isn't going to like that sort of long-term gaming anyway.

C'mon man! Let's talk about the crafting in the game. How exactly would one learn from using only in-game information all about it? It mostly seems to be a guessing game. What do you do for each colored orb? There's nothing in game to tell you. So using only in-game info I'll just have to guess while losing my materials each time I mess up. That's a pretty awesome way to teach someone your game.

Would it have killed Square to just write a manual for the game? Tell us how to do basic tasks, it shouldn't be this hard. If we're comparing MMO launches, at least WoW managed to launch with a large manual that explained how the systems and mechanics work. LotRO came with a very nice starter guide as well.

 

[Chris R]

At this point now, 4/10 is too generous. Game should be a 6.5/7 when the PS3 version drops. Shame really, they should have just delayed everything until March. People would be over Cata by then and looking for their next fix, and the game would be in a much better shape to provide that fix.

 

[Crash Station]

HAHA

TOLD YOU FUCKERS

FINAL FANTASY FIGHTING IRRELEVANCY

When a Final Fantasy title gets 4/10 from Gamespot, I have already won.

No, Final Fantasy is not YET irrelevant, especially from the sales of FF13. But it's clear that the series is past its glory days and Square is now beating a dead horse.

Spoiler

Sorry, I had to.

 

[LaneDS]

At this point now, 4/10 is too generous. Game should be a 6.5/7 when the PS3 version drops. Shame really, they should have just delayed everything until March. People would be over Cata by then and looking for their next fix, and the game would be in a much better shape to provide that fix.

Agree 100% on that it should have gotten a simultaneous launch in the Spring. I'll assume the game was launched now due to budgetary reasons moreso than bad management, but it's entirely possible someone at the top said "releasing it before WoW means success!" and was woefully mistaken.

Announcing the release date to the game a week before closed beta even began (after a terrible alpha phase) was really the most telling sign this game was hugely mismanaged and/or out of money.

 

[Yuripaw]

C'mon man! Let's talk about the crafting in the game. How exactly would one learn from using only in-game information all about it? It mostly seems to be a guessing game. What do you do for each colored orb? There's nothing in game to tell you. So using only in-game info I'll just have to guess while losing my materials each time I mess up. That's a pretty awesome way to teach someone your game.

Would it have killed Square to just write a manual for the game? Tell us how to do basic tasks, it shouldn't be this hard.

It was a little trial and error, but I didn't really have any difficulty figuring out the crafting system. I think HappyBivouac is right, if you're going to play a game for months, or perhaps years, you should figure somethings out yourself.

People had the same kind of complaints about FFXI, and it is true, that game was a lot worse when it came to not really telling anyone how to do anything. Hell, at least FFXIV has a journal that tells you where you need to go for a leve quest. FFXI didn't have anything like that.

Not being told exactly what to do in FFXI I think is one of the reasons I found it so endearing. So many games today have some form of waypoint system, or journal, or map that tells you exactly where you need to go, and at that point I kinda feel like what am I playing for? So many games are just basically "follow the line". I enjoyed figuring things out for myself, or finding the way with a group of people. I know I'm probably in the minority there though, but then people should be grateful that FFXIV DOES have a journal that you can look at that tells you what you need to do.

 

[notworksafe]

Not being told exactly what to do in FFXI I think is one of the reasons I found it so endearing. So many games today have some form of waypoint system, or journal, or map that tells you exactly where you need to go, and at that point I kinda feel like what am I playing for? So many games are just basically "follow the line".

In those MMOs the "follow the line" bits that mark everything out are optional and can be turned off. So are the pop-up tutorials, hints, notes, and quest tracking, and the rest of the helpers. You can tailor many MMOs to be as hand holding as you want or just turn off the helpers and figure it out yourself. The problem I see is those things aren't even an option on FFXIV.

 

[Undubbed]

Only thing that's keeping me going is the armoury system where you can mix abilities and the fact that I LOVED FFXI yet it seems that everyone and their dog hated it judging from common internet banter. Also I heard that FFXI release was just as bad so there may still be hope.

 

[Zinga]

I haven't been following the game much but am really surprised that in this day and age that a AAA development team would release an MMO in such an unfinished state, makes me glad that The Old Republic is taking its time before release.

 

[LiK]

sounds like a great game.