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[Column] Final Fantasy XIV: Is FFXIV: A Realm Reborn a Dark Horse?
MikeB
Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555
Final Fantasy XIV crashed and burned in 2010, but the re-launch of the game as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is fast approaching. The re-launch seems to be flying under the radar for now, but could Square Enix's second try at the game end up as a dark horse in the MMO genre? Read on as we weigh in!
The footage I’ve seen so far, from the new trailer, to the Gamescom presentation, to the Special Talk Session, all looks promising. Honestly, the game is looking pretty slick. The world already looks more varied from the examples of blatant copypasta we saw in the previous incarnation, and frankly, the combat looks quite fun. I really think Square Enix could have a dark horse here and surprise fans and skeptics alike.
Read more of Michael Bitton's Is FFXIV: A Realm Reborn a Dark Horse?
Comments
They'd have better luck putting their money on "Final Fantasy online 3".
There's MMO's popping out left and right like mushrooms in the rain, if one MMO fails to impress at launch, they can polish it to pure gold and it'll still fail to draw in the crowd. MMO-players are maybe the most unforgiving bunch, thanks to oversaturated market.
FFXIV needs a fair dose of innovation to have any chance of succeeding - especially in part 2.
Quest hub grinding, even with a FF skin, is still just not going to work.
FFXIV flopped and burned so horrible due to ridiculously bad implementation, but they at least had some interesting and innovative ideas.
Part 2 looks to fix the implementation and polish/common sense issues, but where is the innovation?
I hope I'm just not seeing them as I haven't done TOO much research into FFXIV:2 but I have been following it.
But group based combat/content and such was the bread and butter of FFXI, turning FFXIV into a solo quest hub grinder is a bad, bad idea.
Agreed.
I think SE does deserve some props for at least going on the record and effectived saying, "We f'ed up and we're going to try this again". In previous instances, the MMO was usually abandoned by the developer/publisher leaving a skeleton crew to maintain and supply minor updates.
FF14 is essentially being rebuilt from scratch. My biggest concern was FF14 1.x is heavily reliant on repeating the same (although extremely fun) content over and over in addition to fighting the awful RNG monster. If this is the same end-game they have planned for 2.0.... FF14 : ARR will have a short-lived success.
That, and the current community largely feels that having an awful RNG makes the game old-school hard and therefore more fun. If Square Enix can strike a balance between a game that is accessible to casual players and hardcore players... then I think 2.0 has a good chance. Right now, casuals are essentially gated from most of the fun end-game content (and there are no fun alternatives for casuals which is a problem).
when i first got FF14, i got a book to understand how to play- the first thing that was on the first page was, FF14 is not your tipical Western MMO game, i was ok by that but when i started to play= it felt SOOOOOOO MUCH MORE like a game console game i hadto drop it.
not sure were it failed but the navigation wasnt your standard MMO PC mechanics it juts felt so wrong to be called an MMO. why reinvent a 'standard' way to navigate an MMO, if it isnt broken.
FF14 felt broken.
I hope they re-design the navigation functionality to fit most if not all standard MMOs if they want MMO players.
the fact that they keep showing the same video for a year now=says much abt the game. they could learn a few things from RED5 team.
Ill keep my out on this again- but I dont forsee major changes-prove me wrong.
Been playing since Beta, and unfortunately your assessment is fairly spot on. Now, I am taking a wait and see approach for 2.0, but honestly I am already looking heavily at Neverwinter for a back up. They will fix the big performance, UI, and tech issues. And some things like the limit break system and other revamped systems will be great too. Of course graphics and that FF feel wil be there as well. However, with al that being said, certain common sense things will be ignored or not changed enough. This is likely due to the JP vs western culture clash, and SE trying to please two very different audiences. It just is what it is. And you are 100% correct on the lack of innovation, they arent trying that again. FFXIV failed at launch, they wont risk that so you are going to see them play it safe and use MMO standards. They will at least give it that FF touch, but quest hubs are quest hubs. I did however read that levequests would stay for solo content and quest hubs and leveling dungeons would require groups. It also looks like they will be doing something like tokens to ease rage over drop rates in dungeons(5% is a bit much lol). The other bad factor is the forum community, the official forum comminity makes mmorpgs look like sweetness and light. .........and they are listening to these people that are so interested in the way they want the game to be in some cases to the exclusion of things that would help ensure 2.0s sucess. Im serious, ive never seen a more self destructive community. In game is different though, so there is that. The only other thing Ill say is that if you want truely hard PvE endgame, this is your game. Even if you know the content and have had many good runs there is still random factors that could mean a full wipe. This isnt necessarily a bad thing but makes it unapproachable for casuals, and its not a huge problem now but in 2.0 I can easily see elitism being rampant. The last thing ill say is some people might be put off by the crafting and materia, that can make better gear than dungeon gear and which can be bought.
TL,DR: excellent potential, but prepare a back up plan.
P.S. Yes SE has and always has had horrible marketing, they like to rely on word of mouth.....
Sorry about wall of text, tap type from Android.
but they added the ability to JUMP!
sad to say but that has me a bit more interested. I am looking forward to version 2.0.
Any company that is willing to publicly state they screwed up and done as much as SE has done to correct the issue deserves a second chance in my mind. They could have just shut down and cut their loses screwing over every one who bought a copy of the game, but they didnt. So if nothing else they have earned atleast 1 more month subscription from me.
the missing link in a chain of destruction.
All spelling and typographical errors are based soely on the fact that i just dont care. If you must point out my lack of atention to detail, please do it with a smile.
Been playing since Beta, and unfortunately your assessment is fairly spot on. Now, I am taking a wait and see approach for 2.0, but honestly I am already looking heavily at Neverwinter for a back up. They will fix the big performance, UI, and tech issues. And some things like the limit break system and other revamped systems will be great too. Of course graphics and that FF feel wil be there as well. However, with al that being said, certain common sense things will be ignored or not changed enough. This is likely due to the JP vs western culture clash, and SE trying to please two very different audiences. It just is what it is. And you are 100% correct on the lack of innovation, they arent trying that again. FFXIV failed at launch, they wont risk that so you are going to see them play it safe and use MMO standards. They will at least give it that FF touch, but quest hubs are quest hubs. I did however read that levequests would stay for solo content and quest hubs and leveling dungeons would require groups. It also looks like they will be doing something like tokens to ease rage over drop rates in dungeons(5% is a bit much lol). The other bad factor is the forum community, the official forum comminity makes mmorpgs look like sweetness and light. .........and they are listening to these people that are so interested in the way they want the game to be in some cases to the exclusion of things that would help ensure 2.0s sucess. Im serious, ive never seen a more self destructive community. In game is different though, so there is that. The only other thing Ill say is that if you want truely hard PvE endgame, this is your game. Even if you know the content and have had many good runs there is still random factors that could mean a full wipe. This isnt necessarily a bad thing but makes it unapproachable for casuals, and its not a huge problem now but in 2.0 I can easily see elitism being rampant. The last thing ill say is some people might be put off by the crafting and materia, that can make better gear than dungeon gear and which can be bought.
TL,DR: excellent potential, but prepare a back up plan.
P.S. Yes SE has and always has had horrible marketing, they like to rely on word of mouth.....
Sorry about wall of text, tap type from Android.
in their latest little bit of news they announced they were removing arrows, expendable throwing items, and expendable fishing tackle from the game.
Its going to be interesting, given players have taken it as fact that if you want to shoot and fish you have to spend money ever since FFXI in 03.
Yes i would be sure intresting to test this game
I can't wait. I watched the gameplay video and the game looks amazing. Gridania/Black Shroud is completely different.
And one question:
Why FF XIV: A Realm Reborn doesn't have its own board?
Darkfall: Unholy Wars was announced last month and already has its own board here.
FF XIV: A Realm Reborn (aka FF XIV 2.0) was announced in 2011 and.... I don't see anything.
I started rolling my eyes when you mentioned subscription models being bad, then again when you said quest hubs don't work.
Even though this article is supposed to be about FFXIV, anyone who's frequented this website can see it's really more of a GW2 fanboy post.
This ^
From what I've seen out of SE, though, they don't know how to innovate anymore. They suffered from brain drain a while back and appear to still be suffering the results. They got really lucky w/ FFXI. They had a loyal following, and even though it wasn't the most successful MMO, people stuck w/ it. However, they are losing that momentum pretty quick.
SE is suffering from 2 really unfortunate problems atm, which make me wonder about their capacity to keep the FF IP going. 1) They lost their best designers, & 2) Their fans are rapidly outgrowing the franchise. They've been trying to attract a younger following for a while now, and all it's been doing is alienating the fans they already had. Rock & a hard place indeed.
I "liked" the game. Well not in the sense that it was extreamly fun, but that it was extreamly different. Can not really explain it. Did not play for long though, but I have to say I do respect that they pulled the game and rebuilt it and am willing to give them a second change, but this is really the last. If they screw this up then they could make 10 more final fantasy online games, but I will not get them unless the reviews are insane.
I like GW2. I like Mists of Pandaria. I like the secret world. I like rift and want to try the new expansion. Never before have i had so many mmos id like to spend time on and so little time to dedicate them.
I cant honestly imagine myself giving a second chance to a bad flop like ffxiv. Perhaps in 2011 i would have considered it. Now, theres not a chance.
Its not that i dont believe they can pull it off, the problem is that there is too much offer right now, and most of it (to my taste), quite good.
Exactly.
When I think of a Final Fantasy MMORPG - what comes to mind is:
-Some brilliant and different new combat scheme: something innovative and different, I remember when FFXIV was very early in development we got hints and teases about formations and role based party play with interesting team-based combat mechanics.
-Top notch character progression and true multi-class and job-switch etc.
-Massive size and scale - grand everything / epic as norm not exception.
-Awesome storyline with impressive CGI cutscenes.
How much of this did FFXIV have and how much is FFXIV 2.0 going to have?
FF11 was garbage at release, and I seriously doubt it turned out any better despite having a large enough japanese following to keep it afloat.
Square just never understood the genre. They tried to copy EQ with FF11 instead of making a game that was similar to FF5-10 like they could have. They failed to innovate even when for them it would have been easy because they had a single player mold to work with.
FF X-2 and 13 and 13-2 show that the old square is clearly dead and gone. FF14 was such a sadly slapped together money grab that it's as humorous as it is sad. It's unlikely that square gets it anymore than they did at release, and there's no way they can change the game to be worth a sub fee.
It's just not possible to completely change foundational concepts, which is what ff14 truly got wrong.
FF still has a huge following as a franchise. XIV needs to first appeal to FF fans in general. Second it needs to draw in the XI players by being a game that will appeal to them but bring it all up to date so that it can bring in a wider crowd for the first time.
I think if FFXIV can retain some of its sandboxy feel with its economic system and very flexible job system while keeping its appeal to FF fans it will do fine. Maybe not great but fine.
All die, so die well.
Might be a suprise hit. o/
I payed 70 bucks for this crap the first time around, I won't touch it unless I don't have to pay another up-front fee and I get at least a free week.
I remember my second day playing, a quest sent me on some pointless run though the map in a maze like canyon with mobs so high a level and so weirdly spaced that the quest was impossible.
Oh and the economy lol...
sigh... I will be checking my e-mail for an invite from SE. If I don't get one y'all have a great time!
For starters Bill already commented on this somewhat. The payment system that square had set up is old, antiquated, and down right hard to use. I remember trying to set up an account for ffxi and the pain I went though trying to set it up. In today's market when folks have lots of alts, that is really not the way to go.
I can remember when ffix hit folks were like omg, and then it bombed. I not been watching it. I figured by now they would have let it die. Now it is back from the dead, but with square I can see they not learned any of the lessons from fxxi and only some from the previous release.
I really expect this one to burn, after all its just another grinder, and unless you love running the same content over and over all the time, then it can not work in the west, now the Asians will probably love that type of grind but I just don't see it working in the US.