Final Fantasy XIV - Thoughts and Theories

The Armchair Empire have an article up on Final Fantasy XIV where they look at what's known about the game so far, what directions they think the game may go in, and what lessons Square-Enix may have learned in MMO development since the release of Final Fantasy XI.

One thing that will probably make a lot of people happy is that there are plans to completely retool how characters get stronger in FFXIV. Characters won't be gaining experience points and gaining levels here, following the contentious grinding system discussed earlier. Instead, character growth appears to be centering around weapon usage in some way. Square hasn't gone into detail as to how this works, but it does suggest that this game will step away from the level grind that many complained about in FFXI. My only concern with this is that weapons will get stronger through continued use in a fashion similar to, say, World of Warcraft. If they go this route, I fear that one form of grinding will just be replaced with another. This change in how characters get stronger could be a key feature in whether FFXIV can appeal to a wider audience like the game's developers seem to want.

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More information.

Interesting to watch because there haven't really been that many follow-up MMORPGs, have there? I remember EQ2 (not exactly a resounding success), but I can't think of any others besides Lineage 2, which as a simple westerner I can't hope to understand.

I really don't see what they will do about grinding ... but if they actually address it and still have you get more powerful it will be interesting.

It's annoying to me that they use the same name and numbering system for the MMORPGs in the series. I wish they would call it something else, or at least add something to the title that separates it from the single player FF games.

JDR13 said:

It's annoying to me that they use the same name and numbering system for the MMORPGs in the series. I wish they would call it something else, or at least add something to the title that separates it from the single player FF games.

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I wonder how many people bought FF XI thinking they were getting a regular SP game?

txa1265 said:

I wonder how many people bought FF XI thinking they were getting a regular SP game?

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Good question, I'm sure it happened at least a few times....

Anyways, I have very little interest in FF IV, or in FF XIII from the description. As the series gets older it keeps getting further away from fantasy, and more into high tech, futuristic settings.

I really don't believe we'll see a non-grind MMO EVER - simply because of how the genre works.

The trick, I guess, is to hide the grind or to give the illusion of "meaningful" activities in a computer game meant to be played for years.

But, as with all entertainment - you either give them content to last for years, which is almost impossible to achieve given the costs involved and the kind of content that can effectively "hide" the grind - OR you give enough power to the players so they effectively make their OWN content, but then you're facing the nightmare of balancing a fair playfield with that kind of power in the hands of players.

WoW seems the be the current champion of the first approach.

Mortal Online seems the current "best attempt" at the latter, and as a result the one I'm most interested in - but it's for certain that such a game will never appeal to the casual market, because casual players generally don't want to pour their lives into a game. Nor do I, really, but I'm still keen on the whole concept

It might be that I will never again buy any mmo. They simply dont seem like worth the time put into them. There are many more meaningful and enjoyable ways to consume one's freetime.

zakhal said:

It might be that I will never again buy any mmo. They simply dont seem like worth the time put into them. There are many more meaningful and enjoyable ways to consume one's freetime.

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That is certainly my conclusion as well.

I have never really lasted past the trial period on any MMO, except ToonTown, but there we got a 6 month account for long-term review, so the cost was the same

I played Final Fantasy XI for a while, and while the whole time management issues eventually killed it for me, I enjoyed it. The thing that I really enjoyed about it (and other MMORPGs if I would try them as well I think) is the exploration aspect. This is really only prominent in the beginning. Once you know where everything is, how to handle it etc, that's when the game lost all of its charm for me even though it was still fun occasionally.

I might give this a try if they really come through on providing entertainment for players that are on different schedules.

I wish they didn't change core things, they're bound to alienate a lot of current players, unless they want to basically create a new game for a different set of people while keeping FFXI at the same time?

wolfing said:

I wish they didn't change core things, they're bound to alienate a lot of current players, unless they want to basically create a new game for a different set of people while keeping FFXI at the same time?

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Given the ebb and flow of MMO's, that might actually be the strategy ...