We are pleased to introduce a brand new column here at MMORPG.com that will specifically cover Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. In the inaugural column, we take a look at the changes between the original and now and what we hope will make the FFXIV experience truly reborn. Read on!

FFXIV is a bit of an oddity in the MMO universe.  On the one hand, it’s an attempt to relaunch and rebrand an MMO – something rarely attempted in the industry.  On the other hand, we are in many ways looking at an entirely new iteration of Final Fantasy.  It might be more apt to refer to this as FFXIV-2 than to simply think of A Realm Reborn as the second launch of FFXIV.  This makes writing about FFXIV a bit complex.  It is simultaneously the story of an existing game’s evolution and a new game’s development.

Read more of Ryahl's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn - And So It Begins.

Hello there Victor, Eidalior and Domoto!

Victor, it's good to be here too.  I liked your 'teardown mentality' article.  Now that I have my hanlde built I probably need to start adding comments on those. :D

Eidalior and Domoto, absolutely its great to see FFXIV-ARR moving along.  While it's very much a high-stakes play by Square Enix, you have to give them props for doing the right thing.  If this works, SE may have created the road-map for fixing a dead MMO.

If the first attempt at an MMO was so terrible that they essentially had to apologize and start over, I kind of wonder if starting over is actually a good idea.  I mean, think about it, they are essentially doubling down on the investment they are making in the game, except when the second version launches they have a lot of negative energy to overcome in addition to all of  the usual hurdles a new MMO faces.  If A Realm Reborn crashes and burns they are going to lose their pants on the investment versus how much money it makes.  Based on how most MMOs that are not WoW are doing, this seems like a bad idea.

Might have been smarter to let this one die.

That's an interesting point Raventree, and it represents the primary idea that FFXIV-ARR has to overcome if this reboot is to succeed.

The thing is, FFXI (their first MMO) didn't crash and burn.  Indeed, it has one of the better long-term sustained customer base (back when a half million accounts was rocking).  Considering the age of FFXI, a revamped FFXIV could easily bridge technology generations and help keep a sustained subscriber base.

I think the "die or restart" decision had to have happened (and did happen) last year.  At some point you have to decide to (a) pull the plug or (b) put it on life support.  Option (b) is the normal response (see Vanguard as an example of a similar failure).  SE has taken option (c) and chose to just start over.

I'm with you on the musing as to whether it might have made more sense to simply choose option (a) and then start a new product.  However, I can see where letting FFXIV fail as badly as it was going to fail might have created a permanant blight, keeping SE from ever getting back successfully into the MMO market.  It may turn out that option (c) was the only viable path - albeit a risky one.

That said, I'm less convinced the MMO problem is a genre problem.  I'm more convinced that the problem lies in bad product/business design decisions (not unlike the FFXIV launch).  I looked at MMO subscription levels in a blog editorial earlier this year.  While I think there is room for a Box+ business model, I don't think the subscription model itself is inherently flawed.  Poorly excuted by many, yes, inherently f lawed - I'm not so sure.

Anyhow, thank you for the read and thanks for the comment.  You may very well be correct in your final assessment - it should be interesting to see how this turns out.

Great summary of what has happened and what is expectec to happen.  I played FFXIV on and off and a lot more once Yoshi-P took over.

I am waiting with cautious optimism about FFXIV ARR.  A lot of my friends are in alpha... they all love it, but i'm a little worried about the combat.  If the combat is deep, and rewarding... i will be playing FFXIV for a very long time.

was that jumping in the gridania vid???

*boggle* JUMPING!!!!!

I...I really want to play ARR...I whitheld playing FFXIV due to it's issues, and by the time most were fixed, I was playing other games.

Really looking forward for BETA sign-up and putting the effort at bug reporting and polishing the game to have it held up high as any proper FF game should.

Thank you all for the comments.  As with all of you, I'd love to see an alpha/beta invite, but I can play sideline observer patiently for a while longer.

@Vismal, I know what you mean.  I'm working on information for the next column and, suffice to say, I'm finding myself wishing I'd gotten back into FFXIV more this past year.  Yoshi-P's team put a lot into 14, but as you note, there were a lot of other distractions out there.

I can't wait to get back into FFXIV... Have already decided that I'll be buying a new TV to play it on when it's out :P

I wouldn’t have bothered to visit XIV 1.0; despite Yoshi's work it was still very fundamentally flawed. Unless you could afford pay for a sub for the legacy status and not play it.

As to the controversial quests and combat video, it is important to note that was a low lvl demo that doesn’t apply to the 1.0 vets that are hating on it, as they will start at 50 for most classes. Questing is more minimal than other mmos as exp chain grinding is more valid, and the 2 classes in the combat section where the least effective at that level to show the changes.

There is also a backlash from people who actually somehow liked 1.0, even before Yoshi took over, it is important to remember their tastes do not reflect the overwhelming majority, and as a very vocal, if largely now irrelevant minority they create more controversy that reflects the games potential success among a general audience. In short, they had their chance to convince the world and the devs of Tanaka’s “vision”, the majority get their FF mmo now.

Also the degree to which people are making up their minds based on 4 mins of Alpha footage indicates that there is a lot of closed minds out there with no patience, I think after all Yoshi has done he deserves the benefit of the doubt, at least until open beta.

@zevni.... I agree.  

On the other hand, people felt royally screwed by Tanaka's FFXIV.  It's hard to ask people to be patient and give it a chance.  They already did, and it was horrible.

I am actually one of those who loves what Yoshi-P has done.  He will get my "benefit of the doubt" and then some because I experienced all of the changes since he took over.  I have every class at 50 btw.   However, if the gameplay is boring, with no depth, I won't hesitate to leave.  I think what Yoshi-P has done is epic, but it may fall short.  That's not his fault.  Most deves get 3-5 years to create an mmo... he was given 2 years, where half the time was spent on fixing the old version and the other creating a new one.

REgardless of what happens with FFXIV ARR... i'm a fan of Yoshi's and will check out anything he works on.

Originally posted by ZizouX

 

 people felt royally screwed by Tanaka's FFXIV.  It's hard to ask people to be patient and give it a chance.  They already did, and it was horrible.

Yes, but that was the old team, Yoshi doesn't deserve such distrust (though Tanaka does, no question), nor does the game as it's built from scratch, we need to keep reminding people it seems. Yoshi made the absolute best and bravest call from the start, they literally couldn’t be doing more to fix XIV. But it’s a difficult balancing act, Yoshi has to make ARR appeal to a broad audience, and the 1.0 fanboys, and the FFXI fans, and both of them seem to expect him to cater just to them.

 However, if the gameplay is boring, with no depth, I won't hesitate to leave. 

Fare enough, however remember it may be that most will judge the game at launch, and ignore what happens after, but Yoshi has made it clear that many great elements may not be in time for launch but be part of the first major update. Not saying it deserves a 3rd chance, but spread out your play time and wait a few months before deciding if its worth subbing longer.

 REgardless of what happens with FFXIV ARR... i'm a fan of Yoshi's and will check out anything he works on.

Me too, I just hope he doesnt need to change projects for a long time.