The Remaining Concerns

[cobbi]

It's no secret that I have been very excited for FFXIV since it was announced two E3s ago. FFXI is a very nostalgic and fun experience that garnered a lot of my hours because of its world, story, combat, and social elements that led me to meet some great friends that I hold to this day. There are many elements that excite me about the game:

Comments

[sleipnirs]

I'd say I am a little bit more "woe is me, this game is not looking fun" than you are. But I do agree with Cel about the Leves. As logging in and just doing shit, I like the fact that they are there. I do hope they get a bit more epic once you get to a higher level.

On the flip-side of that, I really hope they flesh the world out and do add the traditional FFXI-style quests. While some people thought they were annoying and time consuming, I think that contributed a bit of their charm (and certainly helped me remember them, to this day).

One annoyance of mine is that due to no zoning (which I like, of course) and strange names, I cannot get used to the locale names at all. In my exploration of the area outside of Limsa (which is large, as you said), I often felt like I had no idea where I was, lost on some grassy terrain that stretched endlessly, and that the repeated turf got dull after a while. With areas this big, I hope that they vary the terrain up inside the huge areas themselves, and maybe find an easier way to name the areas for players sake.

Also, as you said, the lag on the interface is HORRID. The mouse moves slowly, input with a d-pad is grossly slow at times, and the menus are wretched. Even at 60FPS, menus and the like are slow as molasses. This doesn't make sense.

These might seem like nit-picky comments, but at this point in my life (wife and job as compared to high school/college in FFXI) if I'm going to commit a lot of time to a game I want it to be pretty awesome. Also, I don't expect them to put out an amazing, mind-blowing project; like FFXI, I'm expecting a work in progress. But I am hoping for exactly that; progress. Not stubbornness and "that's the way it is." type answers.

[krsjin]

-I actually hope for XI's style of quests and missions to return, too. Especially up til the shadow lord arc and such. I just hope they're not overly difficult to organize is all.

-Yeah all the names and locations really threw me off until I started partying with people and they'd be like ok meet at 'xxx'. Wasn't until then that I actually had a grasp of my location and where to go. Really though, I feel that way in every game when I begin out. Looking back, figuring out the different entrances to Valkrum and Jugner (I think that was the name of the forest lol) was flat out intimidating ot me at first haha.

-Interface and menu lag is attrocious. Unplayable even, if you really break it down lol. What annoys me more than anything right now is the lack of a proper targeting system. Without F8 and /assist, it's incredibly tough to lock onto mobs and make sure everyone is on the same page. I have no worries with this though, I'm certain it will be ironed out, if not by launch, shortly there after.

Every single MMO I have experienced (Not that many actually, like 3-4) has had really bad starts in all honesty. Be it bugs players exploited causing rollbacks, economic failures, server crashes, etc. Comes with the territory. I just hope they stay sincere in monitoring the player's 'needs and wants' and actually tailor the game more around them. I too don't like the "that's teh way it is" answers you mentioned Ika. Even though that's sometimes just PR smoke and mirrors.

All in all, I'm actually really faithful, but it may be a really rough start.
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Since we're discussing it here. Here's the stuff I want to see most come retail. Most I assume will be 'fixed' or better by open beta but we'll see.

*Proper targeting system. If I have to type /target Firstname Lastname in the fashion I had to in XI, which was already shitty, I'll be mad and sad. I want easy targeting that cycles through enemies separately from PCs and NPCs.

*Proper search functions. I'm sure they're on their way, but we can't search some basic stuff. There's a party search system in the game, and the options make it look good, but it can't be used yet.

*I'm assuming we'll be able to make different tabs for the chatbox. It appears so anyway. Good. Better be. I want to be able to configure my chatbox down to a T.

*Less latency issues in combat. Game actually runs pretty well already on my system, but this mysterious lag will hit when I begin to crank out abilities. Cobbi mentioned it, others recite it as well. That can't be happening in intense fights and someone begins a battle regiment or someone needs help.

*Variety. Which I'm actually really faithful in after seeing this last batch of screens. I remember XI on release didn't even break level 50 cap right? So variety was actually slim. But looking at the entire lifespan of the game, it had plenty. And I expect even more this go around.

All I can think of right now.

[sleipnirs]

"*Variety. Which I'm actually really faithful in after seeing this last batch of screens."

I'm glad you mentioned this Noda, because I was going to and forgot to. I was stoked after seeing those screens, it really revamped my hope in the game. It was pretty much like "is this the same game I have been beta testing?" which is a great feeling. I'm excited, for sure. I just hope it doesn't turn out like Phantasy Star Universe, the sequel to my OTHER most-played-game of all time that didn't turn out so hot.

[krsjin]

Haha oh man, PSU definitely was a let down from PSO. I'm almost willing to put it on my life that XIV won't result in the same sort of let down but I guess it is all subjective. But yeah, time and effort alone won't let that happen from SE's standpoint. They've sunk way too much into this to let it fail when they do have the means to fix it.