I’ve been putting off my next post as I’m waiting for anything good say about FFXIV… anything.
I’m sticking with it because I believe in what they’re trying to do, and I’m willing to give them the time to do it – but for the time being it’s just not looking good. On the bright side, another free month to play while they get their shit in order. Maybe Warhmmer should of gone this route…
-D^t
After not being able to get onto the server I wanted with my guildmates Wednesday, last night (Thursday) was much more fruitful.
All in all, this has been a fairly smooth pre-launch and a fun headstart for those who are used to the SE and FFXI way of doing things. To those that aren’t (my wife for example who, bless her heart, struggled all night learning the ui and leve system while fighting with general FFXI idiosyncrasies), try to imagine this analogy while playing.
General MMOs like WoW, EQ2 and LoTRO is like eating with a fork. It’s functional, efficent, tried and true, and most importantly – your used to it.
FFXIV is like eating with chopsticks for the first time.
It’s difficult to hold, hurts your fingers, not terrible intuitive, and at least initially, you can’t grab more than one item at a time off your plate. Does this make chopsticks a terrible eating utensil? One would think so, but nearly half the world prefers it.
I hope that helps as you find your way in Eorzea, I’ll have more design reviews to come.
-D^t
Congratulations Wahammer, you made it… kinda.
Hopefully within the year you will follow suit and go “free to play” much like EQ2, LotRO and DDO. One can only hope.
Check it out here.
-D^t
Link from FFXIVCore.
GW: So guildleves aren’t the main content?
DK: There’s a lot of talk among the developers about what the main content is. My opinion is that if guildleves were a food, they would be bread or rice. They allow you to progress but don’t become dull or monotonous. You never grow tired of it. From that perspective, guildleves are the focus. But it doesn’t end there. New quests pop up and new items or skills become available, making progression fun. So I think of guildleves more like a staple food than a main course.
Interesting comparison – this was an argument I had made to a friend a couple weeks into beta that leves are more like daily’s from WoW or a meta game to FFXIV main storyline. While I’ve detailed before what leve’s may turn into in a years time, I think for the time being fans should think of them just as the developer mentioned – a supplment.
GW: Ultimately, what kind of play style will FFXIV have?
DK: We’re designing the main scenario to be mostly soloable. Thereare party battles, but the focus is solo play. The storyline is pretty hefty. Even the quests available in-game seemed pretty high-volume because of the custscenes, but it will increase even further. If you’re wondering what we have in store for crafters and gatherers, we’re still preparing it so please look forward to it.
This must be where they originally talked about FFXIV being a solo oriented game a year or two ago. It’ll be interesting to see the dynamic of a classically group oriented playerbase in a solo oriented storyline – I wonder if it’ll feel as epic as CoP or RoZ – or if it’ll be more along the line of ToA.
GW: It has been said that it is impossible to finish all thequests in FFXI. Will FFXIV be similar?
DK: It will certainly be hard to. At release it might not be impossible, but it’ll certainly be close.
This sure raises a few eyebrows…
GW: You could hardly participate in endgame content if you were just a crafter in FFXI. How about FFXIV?
DK: For starters, we want to make crafted items the most powerful.High-end content will involve crafters and gatherers, and we are trying to add gear that will catch their eye.
…as this as well.
GW: Content from FFXI will be making an appearance?
DK: Indeed, but we’re focusing on not making it a time sink. There will be content that spans long periods of time, but nothing that requires hours upon hours for each attempt.
I think this is what mature (dare I say older?) gamers are looking for. Put in the time and effort = get rewarded but not be outpaced by those without a job / family / friends. Time invested is meaningful even if the marginal benefit is just that – marginal. This is they’re clear direction and thus far I approve.
GW: What can you tell us about the Market Wards?
DK: The market is still not matured and there are still things to be done with retainers regarding usability. There are things we want to fix by retail and things we want to watch as the game progresses. We want to make the experience more user-friendly overall and are currently working on that. Perhaps some method of finding out where to buy what, and so on.
GW: How about Companies?
DK: They are a high-priority item, but we will need a little more time to work on them. I can say we’re in the planning stages, and there will be more information soon.
GW: Have you already worked out Company dynamics?
DK: It’s like an advanced form of Linkshell. Linkshells are about ease of communication. Companies involve the player more and are a way to pool resources.
I put these three together for obvious reasons. I believe SE has a plan in regards to markets/companies that far extend ingame trade/pooling. I would expect a bazzar / company website in the near future as an extension of they’re playersite. Also look for them to join the cell phone app market extremely soon as I think this is exactly the area of the game they’ll exploit first.
Interesting stuff to say the least… now if only Gamestop would allow me to purchase my CE today (Sept 21) so I could get in on early release instead of waiting till tomorrow. =/
-D^t
I’m tried of hearing / talking about it – but I found a great youtube video on the fatigue system.
A fatigue-ish type system exists in Eve where character growth is horizontal and the # of skill points you can possible reach in a week is hard capped. It works extremely well and promotes cross disciplining.
I see this as a great work around and should be very successful.
-D^t
