I'm gonna say option 1 and hope for the best...

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RIP Shiloh - I'll never forget ya

If you asked me in January, I'd have said option 1.

Unfortunately, 6 months afterwards, the game has barely changed. The stuff they show and the changes they propose are great, but its simply coming way too slow. It boggles my mind that some of the more crucial changes are still barely in the planning stages.

If all the things they were currently pimping (dungeons, new battle system, materia, chocobos, etc) were all coming in this June update (that we've been waiting for 6-7 weeks for, might I add) then I'd say the game could be redeemed. But right now it's looking more like: Mid-June=Dungeons, Early-July=Auto Attack, Late-July=Random Tweaks, August=SOME of the Battle System, Late-August=Jobs, September=The rest of the battle system, October=Finally some chocobos...

It's too slow, people are already struggling to keep interest. Hearing every single suggestion and complaint met with "the dev team said it's not a priority until the battle system is overhauled" (which is a fair comment) only for it to be followed up with battle system "blueprints" designs and proposals (meaning they've barely started working on the damn thing) means we'll be waiting an eternity for all of the "little things" that this game sorely needs.

I hate to say it, but while in January I'd have said Option 1, right now it's looking more like Option 2.

Pretty much exactly what Ket said.

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This makes me said, but I have to agree with Ket. Man, we were all so excited about this game, too. Even Kitty, who normally doesn't get excited about MMO's and only joins them reluctantly after I start playing them, was looking forward to this game.

And here we are at month 9 of retail, and the game is just bleh. I'm turning 30 on Monday. Maybe it's for the best that I'm not excited about playing this MMO. Maybe it's time to grow up some and play more casual games from now on. I dunno.

I just really wish we, as a linkshell, could pick up and move to a better game. Hell, even all of us playing WoW together may possibly make it fun. It's where this game is heading, anyway.

I really want to keep playing with all of you, but I can honestly say I just don't feel like playing this game anymore. New content may make a difference, but it's going so slow.

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Once an MMO loses it's spark it's always a struggle for the developers to keep it alive, and by not actively adding content to keep what little playerbase they have interested; I can't see the game lasting more than 2 years unless they really get their shit into gear.

Content drives all MMOs and I don't think any amount of updates or the PS3 playerbase can save the game unless they give the players what they want on a reasonable time scale. People get bored / lose interest and move on, and we've already seen alot of that.

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Im going to vote for the FFXIV limps along till Dec 2012 when the world ends. YES THIS WILL BE THE LAST MMO YOU WILL EVER PLAY!

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Take my hand, brave adventurer. We face this dungeon together - with FRIENDSHIP!

Unfortunately, although changes and additions are planned pretty much none of them have appealed to me.

They really missed the mark by not modeling this game more after ff11, I think they should have stuck with with Rapture and kept it separated from the Final Fantasy franchise. I think placing that name on it opened a pandora's box of expectations they simply could not live up to with their plans.

I think a ff11-2 would have been wildly successful or ff11hd. However, now with 14 I just don't see this being possible. They wont have 3 ff mmos running simultaneously with similar features.

Its the shadow of ff11 that is the only real reason why anyone has purchased and stuck with this game. Not many saw the original ff14 and thought, "this is what i want to play."
Sure, they are trying to mold it after a few features common in modern mmo's and a few things borrowed but altered from 11, but its not enough and not fast enough. The fact that they are stubbornly trying to build these new systems around the old broken one also puts me off.

It's like having a dilapidated building that everyone agrees is a neighborhood eyesore, and rather than demolish it, you instead spend a lot of time and money building a fancy new house right next door and hope it distracts people enough. I don't really want a game that ends up being a mishmash of crack houses and mansions but that is what tract it seems to be on.

as much as i'd like to be there for CKD in every capacity, i honestly dont care about this game anymore. it was actually a lot of fun for a while, exping with ket kio ridere krellis etc. Fighting notorious monsters. building drama with other linkshells. but the missions were pathetic, they never drew you into eorzea, no one cares about the beastmen or the nations struggles, the terrains were a bore to explore, and the way the world works just never felt right, you know with level 90 monsters smacking you for 9999 damage without any sneak or invis. this game has one of the most pathetic item-systems ever (Diablo 2 was probably the best ever, and FF11 was also great). gear stats dont mean shit, thus, WHY EVER LEAVE TOWN? why ever kill monsters? Why do anything?

it never once had that spark that FF11 had. gotta say, FF11 was an amazing amazing game that was very special in a way that i think no other game can match. but yea FF14 just boggles my mind. how the company that has made such epic and lasting adventures could green light this half assed project. and im one of the FF14 die-hards so if i say it then there must be something wrong.

i'll be around if the game gets good, but for now there isnt really any reason to log in.

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RIP Shiloh - I'll never forget ya

11 was in my opinion the best game of all time. I have enjoyed myself in this game but all my lvling and everything has been for the hope that one day it will matter. I notice myself playing less and less but im still die hard as of now. if this game doesn't turn around I imagine Ill stop playing in the next few months. If im saying this than you know its bad.

thing i found odd about 11, was every time i would level a new job it was fun. I didn't mind going to the same array of camps over and over, it became something of a nostalgia. You got to meet new people all the time. The only thing that hindered it was that actually assembling and maintaining a viable party was time consuming and difficult, especially when some hot blooded people would refuse to accept anything but the optimal arrangement.
However, from what I hear, there's been a lot of additions to the game to get around this if you should so please.

I don't feel any of this affection while leveling in 14. It feels messy. It's not motivating to try to start out as a newbie on a new job with someone whom has been playing for a while is 100xs better than you at the same level because of all the cross over mess and physical levels. When i do jump on a new melee, i'm basically still just playing my lancer regardless of the new class. No changing of venue for long stretches, no overworld leveling, not very much grouping with other players of the game except for maybe a 5 minute behest. No adventuring, no carrots except for abilities to make your other classes even more ambiguous.

Its just odd to me that i loved leveling even jobs i hated in ff11, even despite the grief that sometimes went along with it. Yet, in 14, I'm completely turned off, even from the classes I should be enjoying more than i am.

I think the armoury system is a lot to blame. It's actually a good idea on paper, but just doesn't really work in the long run for an mmo i think. It probably would have been a lot more interesting converted into a console ff game. Sort of like ff5 but expanded. I'm hoping the introduction of jobs will help, but I'm apprehensive about what the harmony of the game will be like after implementation. As stated above, I'm suspicious of how well old and new can actually gel in the same arena.

I also wonder if it'll even be possible to mix parties full of jobs and classes. As, despite their promise to rebalance (aka nerf) the existing classes, I cannot see how someone with all the classes leveled and all the abilities available cannot overpower someone on a regular job. Either they have to make the classes suck so hard that you can barely function and grow as a character, or that they may make jobs event only applicable and not have fixed anything at all.

You know how you get ability points, or whatever they're called, to equip abilities in 14?

Maybe if they set it up so that there were "other class" points, too. So a R50 THM would have 66 THM points and 18 Other points.

and if each ability cost ~3, they'd have access to equipping around 6 moves from other classes, and that's it. That'd give it more of a subjob feel, I guess. I dunno. That change wouldn't make me want to play the game anymore. Just throwing that out there as an idea. haha.

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My "quick fix idea" was to simply make it cost more ability points to equip an ability that comes from another class. I dunno, maybe +50% or +100% or something.

So an ability normally needs 3 points, but make equipping it on another class cost 6 points. That way you'd need to think hard about whether another classes ability is really worth it, because using it means losing two of your own.

Anyway, seems they already decided on a fix for this and that's jobs. It seems each class will only have a single job tied to it, so you wont be choosing between specializations. Instead it seems you'll be choosing to flip between versatile-solo-mode (Class -- Can use cross class abilities) and unique-party-role (Job -- Can't use cross class abilities, gets lots of unique role-specific abilities to compensate).

subjob system was pretty good in hindsight. they should just use that and balance it to avoid cookie cutters.

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RIP Shiloh - I'll never forget ya

I have an idea. They should get rid of stamina and the action bar altogether. Instead change it so abilities are automatically equipped when you switch to a job. You can only use abilties if you meet of exceed its optimal level, and can only use abilities for your own job. Then you can equip (1) subjob which allows you to use subjob abilties up to 50% of your current job's level. Then implement autoattack.

In all seriousness, you guys have great ideas. Increase the cost of abilities from other jobs...it's an easy fix that will stop people from creating unstoppable characters with a mix of abilities from every class. I still don't understand how specialized jobs will be any better if they can't mix and match abilities like the current jobs.

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This is actually what I want the most, it would make a huge difference to the game. This and some basic commands like <stpc> and <stnpc> which other people have already mentioned.

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They already confirmed they're getting rid of the Stamina bar when auto-attack comes in. All abilities will be instant-on-cooldowns like they were in FFXI.

Hopefully they rebalance TP moves at the same time (get less TP per hit, and make the TP moves much more damaging) and right there they'll have fixed a lot of the battle system. Then they just need to fix the versatility nonsense coming from the armory system.

Oh snap I didn't know that!!! They need to hurry the f' up with these changes!

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an MMO's success is completely dictated by its launch. It didn't use to be that way, but wow changed that. This game not only botched its launch, but 9 months later has still yet to put a product together i would consider worthy of retail release.

It'll be replaced by SE rushing a new mmo, and hopefully they learn there lesson this time and the next one isnt garbage.

The big issue they have now is, like alot of other die hard SE fans, theyve pretty much crushed alot of our faith in them. Whatever online game they produce next, ill probably check out the beta, but it wont be a day 1 buy for me anymore. i'll wait and see.

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Kluya, yoshould read my official forum thread more often

Does make me sad that after FF13 and FF14, my big desire on S-E RPGs, online or not, has been crushed. But whatever.

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yeah rid i didnt really even think or mention that, but 13 followed 6 months later by 14 really crushed me too. I use to be a diehard SE fanboy where id play every ff title, loved kingdom hearts, and even tried out and enjoyed some of there lesser crappy rpgs. after 2010s lineup, i just dont have it in me anymore

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I agree with Ket whisp and Ridere. This game is facing the right direction, but its just not moving towards it at all. This game is spinning it's wheels.

I agree with Fattino. SE is loosing its name as a top quality game developer.


Personally Im kinda in the "wait for E3" mode.

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COBRA KAI DOJO NEVER DIES
RIP Shiloh

Ill always be a FF fan. Even if this game doesnt go anywhere its not gonna make me stop buying and playing these games. Ive really liked all of them, well maybe a couple have sucked, either way its a great series that has put out alot of great games and Im not gonna turn my back on them even if this one flops. I really do like this game right now. It could be better but Im still enjoying it... maybe Ill fell different after the new wears off but for now im content. Plus its free to play so cant bitch too much about that lol

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JOINING OF SIX!

Heh, when people abandon a graphically beautiful game that was supposed to pwn everything to play shit like Minecraft or Terraria then that doesn't bode well for FFXIV.

I mean at the moment I'd rather play Pac-Man DX sometimes...

...what does this say about your game SE?