I don't know why people get so bent out of shape over reviews. The only time I really had an issue with a review here was when Bill Murphy did one for DCUO (it was very positive) and failed to disclose that he was friends with the community manager or whatever he was at soe (RadarX?). Unless they omit pertinent info like that, then I always just treat it as one person's opinion. I haven't played Stormblood but I've heard nothing but good things about it and can understand why fans of FF14 love it.
Oh, and there was the absurd amount of fanboy/white knighting they did with Mass Effect Andromeda. No real problem with the positive review itself( it did come across as written by a total fanboy, though) just the backhanded insults that were made against people who didn't like the game. Andromeda had real issues when it was released (esp. with the graphics) but the entire mmorp.com staff just hand waved it away as haters being haters. I've never seen them so defensive about a game before. It was so weird to see.
You got that wrong I'm afraid. They weren't defensive about their review. They were being defensive of a few people attempting to accuse them of being bribed for a good review. These people just couldn't comprehend that someone who is a fan of the series (which they admitted in the first paragraph) could overlook some of totally overblown reactions to the bugs that appeared in maybe 1% of the overall game. Yes, it's a big game and watching a 5 min YouTube video doesn't give you the insight of someone who completed it or played the vast majority.
Again it was their opinion and I agree with the score. There were some issues. But I had way more issues in Skyrim at launch and I still enjoyed both games. If you played it and didn't like it. That's cool and I respect that. But that's your review of the game.
Fact:
Long ass GCD! Not enough abilities to weave in for a fluid rotation. Combat definitely needs improvement. Sitting around with a pickle up my ass waiting for my next ability to queue is far from the thing of the past.
Because no one likes healing I like DPS more than heals healing I fall asleep at the keyboard, your lucky when you can hire a "Real Life" female player of Fiverr who will play mercy in Over Watch for your team lol.
Because no one likes healing I like DPS more than heals healing I fall asleep at the keyboard, your lucky when you can hire a "Real Life" female player of Fiverr who will play mercy in Over Watch for your team lol.
I love healing, the problem is most games don't make healing fun and now they just give self heals which ruining healing classes even more.
Because no one likes healing I like DPS more than heals healing I fall asleep at the keyboard, your lucky when you can hire a "Real Life" female player of Fiverr who will play mercy in Over Watch for your team lol.
I love healing, the problem is most games don't make healing fun and now they just give self heals which ruining healing classes even more.
I feel the same way as you do about healing roles but for tank roles. In GW2 I don't really feel like a tank and every class can be a pseudo-tank just for example. Great game, not knocking it. But I just end up being dps.
I just enjoy games that have some form of the trinity or even additional roles like support and control. I find it also feels more rewarding to play different roles when playing alts. You learn to appreciate your healers :-) Just my opinion.
Weird to me that reviews are still done for MMOs so soon after a release/launch. The first couple weeks of a new release are almost *always* going to feel new and fresh.
The trick is, how long can they *maintain* that feeling? For most modern MMOs, FFXIV included (even 'especially' given its previous expansion cycle), the answer is "not very long at all".
I am not one to praise everything FFXIV. The core flaws the game has will remain as long as it is a pure linear/throw away content/ non-guild focused mmo. Many of same flaws WoW has basically.
But honestly in comparison with what is on the market 9 or around that is what the expansion deserves. FFXIV:SB is simply one of the best mmos on the market without question atm.
Frankly, saying it's a 9 compared to what's on the market isn't exactly flattering.
A game should be rated based on its own merits. Not based on "how is it compared to other stuff on the market".
In that context... on FFXIV's own merit.. how would you rate SB?
Based on its own merits here would be my review.
I would give it maby a 7.5 when you add more weight to the categories which make it a great mmorpg (Content,Battle System,and economy holding the most weight with everything else with less). With that said to give a comparison I would rate WoW a 6.5 on this same scale, revelations online a 3, archeage a 6, ESO a 7, and GW2 a 6 to put thing perspective. My agreeing with the review of a 9 is based on what I want from a mmo will not happen ever again thanks to the all mighty wow and its success so I based it on a scale of our current choices. But here is my review based on it on its own merits.
Graphics 9.8/10 (Almost impossible to beat currently)
Only game that beats it is BDO but that game suffers some performance due to the high graphics. FFXIV would be a 10/10 with a HD texture pack for PC and if they fix some of the issues with clipping on characters with long hair and tails. But honestly for a mmo FFXIV's graphics are top notch.
Sound - 10/10 (Godly)
The best soundtrack in the genre.... enough said SE has some of the best video game music composers in the world
Battle system - 7/10 (Adequate but lacking)
The combat is adequate but suffers from lack of CC and support classes, having only DPS, Tank, Healer leaves out some of the major archetypes of classes in the mmo world leaving combat simply being dodge the circle and maximize your dps output.
There is also a complete lack of group based or synergistic attacks... the combat is all about YOUR rotation and YOUR dmg which is much more shallow then titles of the past. As for combat speed, you are constantly moving, constantly pressing buttons.
Another problem is scripting... every single fight is 100% the same every single time with many a small variance on an attack in the newer fights in SB.
The arguement that FFXIV's combat is slow is laughable unless compairing it to an action mmo. IT is equivalent to WoW, Aion, lineage... insert any non GW2/ Tera style mmo game. This catagory is hit by me for simply leaving out major playstyles from the game.
Content Design - 6/10 (great while it is fresh, will get boring once cleared)
The content is well designed with unique battles and fights for the veteran mmo players as well as the consol player who loved offline ff games wanting to try this title out. The issues are as followed. Horrifically bad longevity of content... all your work all those 100s of hours clearing the hardest content and getting the best gear is handed out to players free of work in 6ish month.
The content is pure linear with no side grades, no situational gear, meaning that once you pass a tier of content it is negated and there if simply never a reason to revisit it unless you want to get vanity gear.
The other game breaking issue for many is the game has 0, yes 0, guild related progression content. IT is designed to funnel you into small static teams to progress through the hardest content with stiff penalties (less or simply no gear rewards) for doing content outside your low man static group. Without the need for guilds to complete content community feeling that kept people playing mmos of the past for nearly a decade is completely lost in FFXIV. So in FFXIV the core of endgame in the mmo, your guild, is nothing but a glorified chat channel with near meaningless buffs.
Economy/Crafting/Gathering 5/10 (a fun, unique, and glorious failure)
FFXIV boost arguably the best crafting and gathering system of any mmo out there right now. THe problem lies in the economy. The actual process of doing it is fine and actually fairly fun and I would probably rate that a 9/10 but the economy is so horrifically bad it kills the real reward for leveling crafts and gathers.
Crafting and Gathering is removed from primary progression in the game, meaning your baby mode raids, entree level endgame primals, and such will always drop gear better then the hardest thing you can obtain VIA the game economy.
So outside mercing the content that rewards you with actual endgame tier gear crafting and gathering is pointless outside obtaining minions and vanity gear. They even made getting materia (Gemming in ffxiv) so easy using crafted gear to convert into materia is a mad mans choice taking nearly 10times as long with 100% RNG on the results vs simply kill a few hunts (boss mobs that spawn like every 30mins in every zone) and choosing exactly what you want.
Outside that it is way way too easy to get HQ everything and mass produce HQ everything, yes the majority hates rng, but lets use a real world example everyone in the world owned 10,000 4 carrot diamonds, and they were as simple to get as digging a hole in your backyerd and pulling out 5 more everytime with no limit... well how much you think they would be worth on the market. RNG is required for a market to exist... there has to be rarity or nothing holds value.
This is real sad because a strong economy is one of the main things that made the content in FFXI have nearly unlimited life and is simply what is even keeping games like archeage afloat where the rest of the game is bad.
Story 10/10 (Best in the genre currently)
SB story is a great addition to the game, easily eclipsing HW and ARR and in my opinion even FFXI with CoP which was my vote for Best Story line in a mmo prior to SB.
I will end with this. FFXIV:SB is one of the best mmos on the market currently. In my opinion better then what WoW has to offer with legion and in a whole different league then what games such at SW:ToR, GW2, ESO, Revelation and so on are offering. If you like Final Fantasy and you are not looking for an action mmo I highly highly suggest you get this game it is easily worth the cost of the box and a months sub, much more then I can say about other games I tried lately...
Weird to me that reviews are still done for MMOs so soon after a release/launch. The first couple weeks of a new release are almost *always* going to feel new and fresh.
The trick is, how long can they *maintain* that feeling? For most modern MMOs, FFXIV included (even 'especially' given its previous expansion cycle), the answer is "not very long at all".
I am not one to praise everything FFXIV. The core flaws the game has will remain as long as it is a pure linear/throw away content/ non-guild focused mmo. Many of same flaws WoW has basically.
But honestly in comparison with what is on the market 9 or around that is what the expansion deserves. FFXIV:SB is simply one of the best mmos on the market without question atm.
Frankly, saying it's a 9 compared to what's on the market isn't exactly flattering.
A game should be rated based on its own merits. Not based on "how is it compared to other stuff on the market".
In that context... on FFXIV's own merit.. how would you rate SB?
There is also a complete lack of group based or synergistic attacks... the combat is all about YOUR rotation and YOUR dmg which is much more shallow then titles of the past. As for combat speed, you are constantly moving, constantly pressing buttons.
Red it till here, just wanna say I lvled 2 chars now till 70, ast and ninja.
Ast got cards that, that can give the whole group a dmg boost, so they need to time their skills for it. Ninja got a 10% more dmg skill he can do on the boss and whole group can benefit from it for 10 secs. Bard got some group synergy skills.
Too busy playing and enjoying it to really care what someone is saying about it......
I always am a little amused by the people who disagree with a review, and instantly suggest that it's not a review, it's an opinion. Last time I checked, that's exactly what a review is, so why would you expect anything else? A review is based on someone's arbitrary opinion based of the facts. Some folks love the slower paced FFXIV content, and some hate it, and guess what? Neither group is right, their OPINION takes the facts, and grades it arbitrarily based on their preferences.
Objectivity is again subjective. Last time I checked agreeing with "your" personal opinion doesn't make something objective. Unless you are looking for a fact based article of exactly what something is, or something isn't, with no color, or no opinion.....that tells me what something is, not whether it "works" or in enjoyable for the reviewer.
Reviews of expansions are rarely going to change someone's mind anyhow, especially if they've tried the game pre-expansion, and found something that they really did not care for...
In any case, enjoy the debate out it, it is amusing watching people disagree and not understand what the fundamental structure of what a review really is. Proof that the adage "The true test of a man's intelligence is the degree to which he agrees with you," has an awful lot of truth in it.
Loving the expansion. Aside from some server issues which I didn't feel too heavily after a couple days due to not being on one of the two largest pop NA servers, it's been a smooth, fun ride. I just finished beating the MSQ, and the final boss fight is insanely cool. Now I have to go see what else can be unlocked, and Omega starts up tomorrow, I think. It's a good time.
I just recently got on the ff14 train after trying pretty much everything else and nothing really holding my attention. The first thing I noticed was the optimization of the game, it is flawless. the game does take awhile to develop and is slower paced in doing so to begin with but it does a good job at not overwhelming you and gradually increases in difficulty. the combat isn't as bad as people have told me and just recently received some off the gcd abilities, combine that with the combo system and it makes it even better but the best thing are the animations and sound fx of the abilities. The quests might be boring but the story adds enough to it to keep my interest. This game isn't revolutionary but what they have been able to do after its first demise is amazing. They basically rebuilt a mmo from the ground up in 2 years.
Well I came back after 4 years of being inactive. I stopped a couple months after the game released. I am REALLY enjoying the game. I haven't even made it to Heavensward or Bloodstorm even though I bought both. Getting all the release classes to 50 before moving on. I am really looking forward to all the new bosses and instances.
I mean when you consider the crap that other companies like Trion Worlds shoveled out the door about the same time with their ArcheAge 3.5 update, Stormblood should be closer to a 10/10 rating.
"Engaging combat"......really? by whose definition? Certainly not compared to many much better combat systems. In fact it's widely noted as one of the games weaknesses.....phrases like this are why people assume it's a paid review. Be honest, and cut the marketing BS.
I enjoy the combat much more than ESO/TERA/Lotro/Conan Exiles....not sure what better combat systems you mean though. I haven't really played a lot of the new stuff out there to compare
Edit: You can add Black Desert to the list *shiver*
Cons
Too many DPS players bottle-necking content
Troubled launch
Tackling the second point first - there where a couple of quest progression blocks which, not surprisingly, frustrated the heck out of people. Bottle-necking players to clicking on single npc's.
Frustrations that where already at boiling point for some people owing to the overcrowded server queues.
- but initial rushes are just that, initial, and things have calmed down.
Now the first point - too many dps players - hey, there are always more dps players.
However, Stormblood added to this imbalance with two actions:
- introducing new dps classes which some tanks/healers would want to try out, even just for curiosity.
- but crucially they messed about with some of the non-dps classes, to the detriment of a couple of them. On the healing side the changes to the whm and sch have not been well received, at all.
Whm was stripped of most of it's interesting functionality, whilst sch took some major hits to their core strengths. So some players not surprisingly switched away from them, making it even more tempting to try the new dps classes.
The result of these two actions only added to the dps v tanks/healer numbers in the game. Adding new classes is bound to be a magnet for some players, nothing new here.
But the changes to some of the other classes, particularly those mentioned above need some post launch adjustments - and fairly soon, or players who've switched will become too attached (and geared up) with their new class and will be loathe to switch back.
The final score is much too high. A high 7.X or low 8.X would be much more realistic. Or was this article sponsored by SQE?
MMORPG rating system: have a fan of the game play it and give a 9-plus/10 despite any negatives or lack of really outstanding content.
So 9/13 critics who have reviewed this on metacritic have giving it 9/10 or higher. None have given it below an 8/10. The average for those below 9/10 is 8.25/10.
So what is the argument that you're making here exactly? The fact that MMORPGs rating system is aligned with the majority of reviewers? Or that the deviation between the lowest critical review and the average is +/-10%? or that the deviation between user average score and average critics score is less than 4%?
Yeah, I don't know what the problem is. It's probably about an alignment of expectations.
I broke down got the game up to date with expansions. Good deal buying Stormblood gets you Heavensward for 30 bucks! Having a blast so far and I tend to agree with OP game rating. But I need to give the game a good month of playing and see where I end up. So far it is a good game if you want to get away from games like WoW, SWTOR, etc.
“The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept.”
―
George Carlin
The final score is much too high. A high 7.X or low 8.X would be much more realistic. Or was this article sponsored by SQE?
MMORPG rating system: have a fan of the game play it and give a 9-plus/10 despite any negatives or lack of really outstanding content.
So 9/13 critics who have reviewed this on metacritic have giving it 9/10 or higher. None have given it below an 8/10. The average for those below 9/10 is 8.25/10.
So what is the argument that you're making here exactly? The fact that MMORPGs rating system is aligned with the majority of reviewers? Or that the deviation between the lowest critical review and the average is +/-10%? or that the deviation between user average score and average critics score is less than 4%?
Yeah, I don't know what the problem is. It's probably about an alignment of expectations.
This review lost me at "The game has long been renowned for its engaging combat", I didn't actually read it past that.
But my point is that there have been some absolutely shocking reviews recently on this site that mean it is hard to take the scores they give out seriously.
The final score is much too high. A high 7.X or low 8.X would be much more realistic. Or was this article sponsored by SQE?
MMORPG rating system: have a fan of the game play it and give a 9-plus/10 despite any negatives or lack of really outstanding content.
So 9/13 critics who have reviewed this on metacritic have giving it 9/10 or higher. None have given it below an 8/10. The average for those below 9/10 is 8.25/10.
So what is the argument that you're making here exactly? The fact that MMORPGs rating system is aligned with the majority of reviewers? Or that the deviation between the lowest critical review and the average is +/-10%? or that the deviation between user average score and average critics score is less than 4%?
Yeah, I don't know what the problem is. It's probably about an alignment of expectations.
This review lost me at "The game has long been renowned for its engaging combat", I didn't actually read it past that.
But my point is that there have been some absolutely shocking reviews recently on this site that mean it is hard to take the scores they give out seriously.
So you chose a fairly subjective metric to base your assessment on? I'd be willing to be that there are plenty of people who actually find the combat quite engaging. Personally, as a fan of the series, I think the combat is fine, but doesn't really flesh out until later levels. In something like WoW, even, I don't really need to expand beyond a single hotbar. FF sort of forces you beyond that since the GCD is so much longer.
Anyway, if you're a fan of the action-oriented combat systems, I agree, this game isn't going to be engaging to you. Personally, though, I struggle with the FF action-oriented combat games. Most recently I tried HD Type-0 and couldn't stand it. That doesn't mean I dislike action combat, as I do enjoy TERA, as one example. However, I personally think it doesn't have a place in the FF series.
So maybe you're simply not a fan of the series, or feel like they need to go more towards the action-oriented combat. If that's the case then this probably isn't for you, but my guess is that you already knew that since you obviously took issue with the engaging combat comment. Anyway, it's all about context. There is plenty more to these reviews than a number, and that should give you a good idea whether or not the reviewer is aligned with your own likes and dislikes, which will help provide some context as to whether you'll agree or disagree with the review regardless of the final number.
Gotta say that this expansion crushed it. Stormblood def deserves a 9 IMO. I feel the score is accurate. People are actually playing together - killing World Bosses, doing dungeons, the new Raid, Fates, hunt marks, etc
They took what they had before and made it better. They then added some new elements to encounters and mechanics. They redid the jobs and for the most part the player base is very happy (yes I know some of the scholars are upset.)
The final score is much too high. A high 7.X or low 8.X would be much more realistic. Or was this article sponsored by SQE?
MMORPG rating system: have a fan of the game play it and give a 9-plus/10 despite any negatives or lack of really outstanding content.
So 9/13 critics who have reviewed this on metacritic have giving it 9/10 or higher. None have given it below an 8/10. The average for those below 9/10 is 8.25/10.
So what is the argument that you're making here exactly? The fact that MMORPGs rating system is aligned with the majority of reviewers? Or that the deviation between the lowest critical review and the average is +/-10%? or that the deviation between user average score and average critics score is less than 4%?
Yeah, I don't know what the problem is. It's probably about an alignment of expectations.
This review lost me at "The game has long been renowned for its engaging combat", I didn't actually read it past that.
But my point is that there have been some absolutely shocking reviews recently on this site that mean it is hard to take the scores they give out seriously.
So you chose a fairly subjective metric to base your assessment on? I'd be willing to be that there are plenty of people who actually find the combat quite engaging. Personally, as a fan of the series, I think the combat is fine, but doesn't really flesh out until later levels. In something like WoW, even, I don't really need to expand beyond a single hotbar. FF sort of forces you beyond that since the GCD is so much longer.
Anyway, if you're a fan of the action-oriented combat systems, I agree, this game isn't going to be engaging to you. Personally, though, I struggle with the FF action-oriented combat games. Most recently I tried HD Type-0 and couldn't stand it. That doesn't mean I dislike action combat, as I do enjoy TERA, as one example. However, I personally think it doesn't have a place in the FF series.
So maybe you're simply not a fan of the series, or feel like they need to go more towards the action-oriented combat. If that's the case then this probably isn't for you, but my guess is that you already knew that since you obviously took issue with the engaging combat comment. Anyway, it's all about context. There is plenty more to these reviews than a number, and that should give you a good idea whether or not the reviewer is aligned with your own likes and dislikes, which will help provide some context as to whether you'll agree or disagree with the review regardless of the final number.
You misunderstand, I am not commenting on the game at all; indeed, FF14 is probably one of the best mmos on the market. I have just lost faith in this site's capacity to present a reasonable review, I tend to get much better insight into what a game is like from reading forum posts by members like yourself than from the "official" reviews (especially the scores, sometimes the review itself has good info but the score is wonkers).
Has good music and has good boss fights. Combat is a bit too slow paced for my liking but it's a FF game what do you expect? If you disagree, go to a YT video of FFXIV: Stormblood, mute the video, click half way through it and press play for 5 minutes. Then you can make your own choice.
I played ARR for a month or two when it launched, also was in the CB for some time. It's a gorgeous game, and it's easy to see the sheer amount of love and effort that went into making it. That being said, I can't help but wonder precisely what "engaging combat" this review is referring to. I loved just about everything else about the game - well, except for the invisible walls out in the world - but the combat is what drove me away.
"We are all as God made us, and many of us much worse." - Don Quixote
Comments
Again it was their opinion and I agree with the score. There were some issues. But I had way more issues in Skyrim at launch and I still enjoyed both games. If you played it and didn't like it. That's cool and I respect that. But that's your review of the game.
I feel the same way as you do about healing roles but for tank roles. In GW2 I don't really feel like a tank and every class can be a pseudo-tank just for example. Great game, not knocking it. But I just end up being dps.
I just enjoy games that have some form of the trinity or even additional roles like support and control. I find it also feels more rewarding to play different roles when playing alts. You learn to appreciate your healers :-) Just my opinion.
Imo healing is more challenging, dpsing is just get your rotation and do it over and over on boss, walk or do mechanics sometimes.
Based on its own merits here would be my review.
I would give it maby a 7.5 when you add more weight to the categories which make it a great mmorpg (Content,Battle System,and economy holding the most weight with everything else with less). With that said to give a comparison I would rate WoW a 6.5 on this same scale, revelations online a 3, archeage a 6, ESO a 7, and GW2 a 6 to put thing perspective. My agreeing with the review of a 9 is based on what I want from a mmo will not happen ever again thanks to the all mighty wow and its success so I based it on a scale of our current choices. But here is my review based on it on its own merits.
Graphics 9.8/10 (Almost impossible to beat currently)
Only game that beats it is BDO but that game suffers some performance due to the high graphics. FFXIV would be a 10/10 with a HD texture pack for PC and if they fix some of the issues with clipping on characters with long hair and tails. But honestly for a mmo FFXIV's graphics are top notch.
Sound - 10/10 (Godly)
The best soundtrack in the genre.... enough said SE has some of the best video game music composers in the world
Battle system - 7/10 (Adequate but lacking)
The combat is adequate but suffers from lack of CC and support classes, having only DPS, Tank, Healer leaves out some of the major archetypes of classes in the mmo world leaving combat simply being dodge the circle and maximize your dps output.
There is also a complete lack of group based or synergistic attacks... the combat is all about YOUR rotation and YOUR dmg which is much more shallow then titles of the past. As for combat speed, you are constantly moving, constantly pressing buttons.
Another problem is scripting... every single fight is 100% the same every single time with many a small variance on an attack in the newer fights in SB.
The arguement that FFXIV's combat is slow is laughable unless compairing it to an action mmo. IT is equivalent to WoW, Aion, lineage... insert any non GW2/ Tera style mmo game. This catagory is hit by me for simply leaving out major playstyles from the game.
Content Design - 6/10 (great while it is fresh, will get boring once cleared)
The content is well designed with unique battles and fights for the veteran mmo players as well as the consol player who loved offline ff games wanting to try this title out. The issues are as followed. Horrifically bad longevity of content... all your work all those 100s of hours clearing the hardest content and getting the best gear is handed out to players free of work in 6ish month.
The content is pure linear with no side grades, no situational gear, meaning that once you pass a tier of content it is negated and there if simply never a reason to revisit it unless you want to get vanity gear.
The other game breaking issue for many is the game has 0, yes 0, guild related progression content. IT is designed to funnel you into small static teams to progress through the hardest content with stiff penalties (less or simply no gear rewards) for doing content outside your low man static group. Without the need for guilds to complete content community feeling that kept people playing mmos of the past for nearly a decade is completely lost in FFXIV. So in FFXIV the core of endgame in the mmo, your guild, is nothing but a glorified chat channel with near meaningless buffs.
Economy/Crafting/Gathering 5/10 (a fun, unique, and glorious failure)
FFXIV boost arguably the best crafting and gathering system of any mmo out there right now. THe problem lies in the economy. The actual process of doing it is fine and actually fairly fun and I would probably rate that a 9/10 but the economy is so horrifically bad it kills the real reward for leveling crafts and gathers.
Crafting and Gathering is removed from primary progression in the game, meaning your baby mode raids, entree level endgame primals, and such will always drop gear better then the hardest thing you can obtain VIA the game economy.
So outside mercing the content that rewards you with actual endgame tier gear crafting and gathering is pointless outside obtaining minions and vanity gear. They even made getting materia (Gemming in ffxiv) so easy using crafted gear to convert into materia is a mad mans choice taking nearly 10times as long with 100% RNG on the results vs simply kill a few hunts (boss mobs that spawn like every 30mins in every zone) and choosing exactly what you want.
Outside that it is way way too easy to get HQ everything and mass produce HQ everything, yes the majority hates rng, but lets use a real world example everyone in the world owned 10,000 4 carrot diamonds, and they were as simple to get as digging a hole in your backyerd and pulling out 5 more everytime with no limit... well how much you think they would be worth on the market. RNG is required for a market to exist... there has to be rarity or nothing holds value.
This is real sad because a strong economy is one of the main things that made the content in FFXI have nearly unlimited life and is simply what is even keeping games like archeage afloat where the rest of the game is bad.
Story 10/10 (Best in the genre currently)
SB story is a great addition to the game, easily eclipsing HW and ARR and in my opinion even FFXI with CoP which was my vote for Best Story line in a mmo prior to SB.
I will end with this. FFXIV:SB is one of the best mmos on the market currently. In my opinion better then what WoW has to offer with legion and in a whole different league then what games such at SW:ToR, GW2, ESO, Revelation and so on are offering. If you like Final Fantasy and you are not looking for an action mmo I highly highly suggest you get this game it is easily worth the cost of the box and a months sub, much more then I can say about other games I tried lately...
I always am a little amused by the people who disagree with a review, and instantly suggest that it's not a review, it's an opinion. Last time I checked, that's exactly what a review is, so why would you expect anything else? A review is based on someone's arbitrary opinion based of the facts. Some folks love the slower paced FFXIV content, and some hate it, and guess what? Neither group is right, their OPINION takes the facts, and grades it arbitrarily based on their preferences.
Objectivity is again subjective. Last time I checked agreeing with "your" personal opinion doesn't make something objective. Unless you are looking for a fact based article of exactly what something is, or something isn't, with no color, or no opinion.....that tells me what something is, not whether it "works" or in enjoyable for the reviewer.
Reviews of expansions are rarely going to change someone's mind anyhow, especially if they've tried the game pre-expansion, and found something that they really did not care for...
In any case, enjoy the debate out it, it is amusing watching people disagree and not understand what the fundamental structure of what a review really is. Proof that the adage "The true test of a man's intelligence is the degree to which he agrees with you," has an awful lot of truth in it.
I'm back to enjoy it...cheers!
Joined - July 2004
I enjoy the combat much more than ESO/TERA/Lotro/Conan Exiles....not sure what better combat systems you mean though. I haven't really played a lot of the new stuff out there to compare Edit: You can add Black Desert to the list *shiver*
Too many DPS players bottle-necking content
Troubled launch
Tackling the second point first - there where a couple of quest progression blocks which, not surprisingly, frustrated the heck out of people. Bottle-necking players to clicking on single npc's.
Frustrations that where already at boiling point for some people owing to the overcrowded server queues.
- but initial rushes are just that, initial, and things have calmed down.
Now the first point - too many dps players - hey, there are always more dps players.
However, Stormblood added to this imbalance with two actions:
- introducing new dps classes which some tanks/healers would want to try out, even just for curiosity.
- but crucially they messed about with some of the non-dps classes, to the detriment of a couple of them. On the healing side the changes to the whm and sch have not been well received, at all.
Whm was stripped of most of it's interesting functionality, whilst sch took some major hits to their core strengths. So some players not surprisingly switched away from them, making it even more tempting to try the new dps classes.
The result of these two actions only added to the dps v tanks/healer numbers in the game. Adding new classes is bound to be a magnet for some players, nothing new here.
But the changes to some of the other classes, particularly those mentioned above need some post launch adjustments - and fairly soon, or players who've switched will become too attached (and geared up) with their new class and will be loathe to switch back.
MMORPG rating system: have a fan of the game play it and give a 9-plus/10 despite any negatives or lack of really outstanding content.
So 9/13 critics who have reviewed this on metacritic have giving it 9/10 or higher. None have given it below an 8/10. The average for those below 9/10 is 8.25/10.
So what is the argument that you're making here exactly? The fact that MMORPGs rating system is aligned with the majority of reviewers? Or that the deviation between the lowest critical review and the average is +/-10%? or that the deviation between user average score and average critics score is less than 4%?
Yeah, I don't know what the problem is. It's probably about an alignment of expectations.
Crazkanuk
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Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
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― George Carlin
This review lost me at "The game has long been renowned for its engaging combat", I didn't actually read it past that.
But my point is that there have been some absolutely shocking reviews recently on this site that mean it is hard to take the scores they give out seriously.
So you chose a fairly subjective metric to base your assessment on? I'd be willing to be that there are plenty of people who actually find the combat quite engaging. Personally, as a fan of the series, I think the combat is fine, but doesn't really flesh out until later levels. In something like WoW, even, I don't really need to expand beyond a single hotbar. FF sort of forces you beyond that since the GCD is so much longer.
Anyway, if you're a fan of the action-oriented combat systems, I agree, this game isn't going to be engaging to you. Personally, though, I struggle with the FF action-oriented combat games. Most recently I tried HD Type-0 and couldn't stand it. That doesn't mean I dislike action combat, as I do enjoy TERA, as one example. However, I personally think it doesn't have a place in the FF series.
So maybe you're simply not a fan of the series, or feel like they need to go more towards the action-oriented combat. If that's the case then this probably isn't for you, but my guess is that you already knew that since you obviously took issue with the engaging combat comment. Anyway, it's all about context. There is plenty more to these reviews than a number, and that should give you a good idea whether or not the reviewer is aligned with your own likes and dislikes, which will help provide some context as to whether you'll agree or disagree with the review regardless of the final number.
Crazkanuk
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Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
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They took what they had before and made it better. They then added some new elements to encounters and mechanics. They redid the jobs and for the most part the player base is very happy (yes I know some of the scholars are upset.)
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.