Boring is the word i used for the gameplay, but if you love the  FF11 mmo you'll love this one for sure i think.

Originally posted by golight

Originally posted by Itchy01

As you've noticed people are very polarized on this game and thats just due to the subjective nature of games and preference, I think the best thing anyone who's interested can do is to try to grab a buddy key and give it a go for themselves or come back in the future once the game and the community has had some time to develop.

 

I'm sorry but there is nothing subjective about the UI they have created, it's simply painful to use. The rest of the game, sure. We all like different things. But it's just stupid to pretend that this game would not have been much better with a user friendly interface. How can something as simple as NOT being able to have 2 different windows open at the same time be a good thing?

 

Have you tried creating a macro? Would it not been much easier if you could have your inventory, skill and macro window open at the same time so that you can just quickly and easily see what you need to write in your macro (lets not even talk about copy and paste.. that's not hardcore enough is it..). Instead of having to write down each skill and gear item on a piece of paper and then edit your macro? 

 

Or how about equiping a piece of gear? What's wrong with being able to click on a item and have the option to equip it? No... that would be too easy. Or what about 3 windows before being able to sell a single item to a vendor? Why not just click on the item in your inventory.. or I forgot, you can't have your inventory window open at the same time as any other window...

 

Defending something as stupid as the UI is beyond me. There are lots of great things about this game, but not that.

Yup... its still subjective.

Ah always the same doubtful persons :)

As for Challenge it can be challenge special in a group and at the higher guild leves. Than again this can not know the trolls around here. Aside of that have some enemies even in lower levels a kind of behavior that needs to be considered. For example it can be life or death if you not move away when certain enemies start to dig themself down into the earth.

An other thing is that leves get with higher level more complex. Like around level 10 they involve some changes, like that an enemy runs away and you end directly up in an ambush.

Not to mention that you get additional guild quests around level 20. Special in groups works leveling pretty fine.

The only real problem I encountered is that there are way to many people for way to less mobs in normal encounters. Oh and mindless button smashing certainl not works in most cases, special when you consider stamina and spellcasttime.

In short it is maybe not the hardest system in combar by far, but when someoen says it is simple and just button smashing it is just a lie.

The game sure does have problems, but well it are not tehse, that the same people always complain about.

Aside of that these threads move always in circle, and one of the next posters will sure make all my arguments usless or prove that they are the posting of a fanboy. ;)

Originally posted by Vaen

 

There's so many  threads about how disappointed someone is with the game due to, in my eyes, absolutely pointless things. They complain about lagging UI or typo somewhere or some unpractical action sequence required to craft or the difficulty of distinguishing NPC's from each other and so on... Most of the issues can be fixed and will be fixed, or the stuff people complain about is something so small that it has minimal impact on the game a whole. I'd like to know what's the big picture.

 

I noticed few saying FFXIV seems to be challenging and quite old school-like. Is that true and why? I can't deny, those are qualities that I appreciate in a MMORPG above all. What kind of content is there, anything special? Are there challenging dungeons? Is crafting in-depth? How about RP potential? Do you feel there's enough stuff to do in the game? How about the general feel of the game? Does it feel like an adventure and something different? Does the combat feel engaging and is it challenging? I don't really need or want answers to all the questions, I just like to hear opinions of a person who knows his/her stuff, has played the good MMORPG's and doesn't get caught up with the details and bugs, or different controls. I'm all PC guy, mouse and keyboard are like an instrument I master, but I can happily play a good game with joystick or NES controller for all I care. Just wanna hear what kind of feelings this game raises in you, who look beyond the surface and find WoW an awful game.

I'm honestly puzzled by the first paragraph, because all those issues come down to playability. If it takes 5-15seconds for a menu to load, during a system that relies heavily on menus, I don't see how that's unimportant. Yes all the issues can be fixed, but it's a question of will they be fixed / how long will it take. It took FFXI a year to fix all those issues. All that aside, if a people don't like a game for reasons you feel aren't important, then I guess you'll have nothing to worry about.

Now to the more important paragraph, the second:

- FFXIV, in my experience is challenging, but not quite like old school MMOs in it's challenges. I personally find the combat to be incredibly easy. So far, from what I've witnessed of the game, crafting is challenging, but it's too early to tell if that's due to the system coding or if noone has figured out how to work it yet. It's incredibly easy to fail at crafting, and the results seem extremely random. The bulk of the challenge for this game, seems to be in figuring out where you are supposed to go / what materials you are supposed to use. That's basically it.

- Content, from what I've seen (and read since launch), is still lacking, but getting better. Hopefully they will implement more soon. I strongly suggest you not only read into the leave system, but thoroughly think through how it works (you're basically grinding the same quests over and over and over again). The story isn't bad though.

- Crafting seems about as indepth as it was in FFXI. People are still figuring out all the recipes and specifics (which is a good thing)

- RP Potential. It's FF, it could be a game about mud and the fans would find a way to RP it. There's no problem w/ RP here.

- I don't feel there is enough stuff to do in the game (which is why I'm waiting on this one).

- It does feel like an adventure at first, but I don't feel it sustains that feeling nearly as well as FFXI did.

- Combat, again, I don't find very challenging. The profession customization is nice, but it also makes things VERY simple. It's really easy to lvl up a couple combat classes to get their self heals and just plow through mobs that way. There was a bug in beta with threat generation, though. So casters would almost always pull hate, but I think that's fixed now.

I know you said you didn't want all your questions answered, but you asked them, so there it is. If you like FF games, this one may be good enough for you, just keep in mind that it does have a lot of room for improvement, and just isn't the greatest FF game out there. If you really need your FF fix and just can't wait, then give it a shot. It can be a bit more expensive (especially if you want more than one character) than other games, but you might enjoy it. If you can wait, I'd wait a few months -> 1 year to see where the game goes. (that's about how long it took before FFXI started to become the game we enjoy).

I won't rehash what others have been saying, it has it's problems sure and it is no where near polished. I will say this I loved FFXI and I've been a final fantasy fan since the dawn of time, I even tolerated ff13 when many criticized the hell out of it. Be that as it may I have passed on this game and will be waiting a few months watching the updates and fixes as they come out.

My beta experience was more of a "wow this looks really awesome" however that excitement was quickly killed off with "wow this game plays like shit."

Give it time and I'm sure it will catch wings, FFXI took a while I'm sure this will too.

Originally posted by holdenhamlet

mod edit: please keep it civil. Soliloquy

Please keep the discussion to within forum friendly tolerances.