Sounds good so far, XI was my first MMO and there hasn't been a Final Fantasy game I haven't enjoyed. I'm looking forward to it.

Just to comment on the Group vs Solo aspect.

I've read on forums for a few days now people argueing about making a solo-able Final Fantasy will ruin the game or that it will make grouping pointless.

I know this is cliche but look at WoW.  They made it possible for you to group or solo, and I will say that If I were to solo the whole time It would've taken a lot longer to accomplish things, plus I wouldn't get certain items only available upon grouping. 

I for one would like a balance.  The FFXI "ALL MUST GROUP" aspect killed the game for me.  The time wasted waiting for a group plus the death penalty system were the reasons I quit.  

I am currently not playing any mmo, and this will be my next.  I spent years on Anarchy Online, then Final Fantasy XI, followed by the longest time on World of Warcraft.  I want this game to be what I had hoped Final Fantasy XI would've been back then, yet less addicting than wow was for me (if that makes sense)

Originally posted by NeoKyosuke18

Just to comment on the Group vs Solo aspect.

 

I've read on forums for a few days now people argueing about making a solo-able Final Fantasy will ruin the game or that it will make grouping pointless.

I know this is cliche but look at WoW.  They made it possible for you to group or solo, and I will say that If I were to solo the whole time It would've taken a lot longer to accomplish things, plus I wouldn't get certain items only available upon grouping. 

I for one would like a balance.  The FFXI "ALL MUST GROUP" aspect killed the game for me.  The time wasted waiting for a group plus the death penalty system were the reasons I quit.  

 

I am currently not playing any mmo, and this will be my next.  I spent years on Anarchy Online, then Final Fantasy XI, followed by the longest time on World of Warcraft.  I want this game to be what I had hoped Final Fantasy XI would've been back then, yet less addicting than wow was for me (if that makes sense)

 

Oh, I'm sure people will group up, but...  if XIV's solo/party balance is setup anything like WoW's, or LoTRO's or even EQ2's... from what I experienced in those games, parties will be fleeting. You'll get a group just to knock out one or two quests and then people split. There's no sense of "teamwork" involved, everyone's just there to get the quest out of the way so they can move on to the next one.

Also, keep in mind that parties in FFXI are not quite the same as parties in other MMOs. In other MMOs, it's largely just a matter of having enough bodies there to take down the mobs.. If you have enough DPS, you don't even really need a tank or healer, since the mobs go down too fast to ever be a real threat. That always bugged me when grouped up in LoTRO and WoW in particular; no sense of strategy or coordination... everyone just spams their skills and dps's the mob to death, wash, rinse and repeat.

In FFXI, parties mean more because every member has a role to play and if you're fighting T or VT mobs (nevermind IT), and people aren't on the ball, things can go South very quickly. Mobs are tougher in FFXI and take longer to kill, and so to beat them requires a degree of communication and cooperation - even if not "spoken".  Everyone understands what their role is and it makes for a very cohesive experience that - especially when the group is rolling like a well-oiled machine - has yet to be matched - to me - in my MMO experience.

SE developed entire *systems* around group mechanics... skill-chains, SATA, specific job skills, etc. etc. The jobs are designed to interact with and "play off each other" in a party setting. No other MMO I've played (far too many lol) has ever come close to delivering FFXI's group experience. Along with the job system, the complex and cinematic story telling and the overall depth of the game in so many areas, the party system is one of the things that sets FFXI apart from most MMOs out there (that I've played anyway).

Even for all its quirks and flaws issues, FFXI has spoiled me. It's the MMO I judge every other MMO by... not necessarily as in "are they enough like FFXI" but "are they as innovative and unique as FFXI".

Whatever their plans for FFXIV.. I *really* hope that uniqueness and depth is present in that MMO as well.

I'm in complete agreement with WSIMike. 

FFXI was very much a love/hate relationship:

Forced grouping: hated it when I couldn't find a group, and I can't count how many times FFXI left me frustrated because of it, but when I did get a group, the game was 2nd to none in game play.  If they are going to cater to the solo/casual crowd then I'm like some of you in believing that will be the default mentality.  Why have a "MMO" that you can solo your way through?  It's counter-intuitive.  I play these games to meet, interact, and play with other people.  I can play a single-player game if I want that type of playstyle.

User Interface: I was one of the PC players of FFXI and I hated the UI because it was so cumbersome at first, but once I got a gamepad and got used to it, I actually preferred FFXI's controls to any other.  Character control was so much better with a gamepad to me than WASD.  I really hope FFXIV takes the same UI and improves on it.

Playonline: I couldn't stand having to setup playonline to get going and it was difficult to understand, but one thing I loved about it was being able to send messages and talk to friends in game without having to enter the game.  I hope FFXIV has a system that still gives us that same functionality.

Player interaction: As much as I hated the fact that SE was so unapproachable and players had very little (if any) input, at the same time they also didn't cave to the whinners like we see in EVERY OTHER MMORPG.  SE made changes that they believed made the game better instead of trying to appease as many people as they could and wind up with a complete mess because of it.  The bottom line is companies who make MMORPG's need to do what's best for their game and not compromise so they can appeal to the biggest crowd. Out of all the developers of MMO's that I've played, SE is in a class all their own and I have the most respect for them.

Well regardless of how they approach these things in FFXIV, I'm confident they will put out a fun, quality game.

My first MMO was UO. From it I learned about PVP, or moreso how PKers work, the usefulness of magic, as I spent 2-3 hours running my character across the map and continent as an imp's fireball chased me the entire way.. In WoW I learned of the concept of Ganking firsthand(which I was none pleased of), EQ2 showed me there could be actual detail in a game. Final Fantasy 11 was the game to truly catch my attention, the moment I learned of Final Fantasy 14, I was exhilerated :)

Q: What’s going to happen to FFXI?
Tanaka: Development for FFXIV actually began about four or five years ago and has been developed along side FFXI. FFXI is still going strong after seven years and there are no plans to stop development of FFXI.

This baffles me...not saying this is a bad thing just curious...  Is / was FF11 the beta for XIV?  I can see that they have put the Level Sync system in.  Everyone likes that so if they say that they will keep it what other goodies are they going to have...? 

Q: What features from FFXI will carry over to FFIV? Will you keep the level synch system?
Komoto: Yes, many features of FFXI will be improved upon.

Q: Are there any special elements you want to import or improve from FFXI to FFXIV?
Komoto: Our goal from the beginning was to make the best Final Fantasy game possible (with each title).
Tanaka: We are implementing new systems (that cannot be revealed at this time) that other MMOs have not used in the past.

Are they now going to show everyone's TP in a party to do skillchains?  (Just a little joke there to all the SAMs)  But I am really curious as too what...the supense is just killing me!!!

I agree with Mike as well.  When you grouped up in FFXI you were grouping for a min. of 2 hours at least thats what I did.  Heck Id sometimes be in the same group for the whole day.  Which brings me to another thing, people that had to leave pretty much always had a replacement for them when they had to leave or do something with the LS or other friends.

In every other soloable MMO, groups just feel like an afterthought, you group up to do a dungeon run or a few quests if that. Otherwise your just a one man army grinding at quests and or mobs.  I've had the most fun in FFXI meeting new people becoming friends with them grouping up and killing mobs for hours on end.  The reason why I was able to sit in the same camp for hours killing stuff is because of these people. 

Like I and many others say if I want to play solo I'll just play an offline RPG. I understand that people can only play for a few hours a day and some people that don't  like grouping and thats cool. There are some  people that don't like forced grouping, but it seems like all these other more casual games, WoW, LOTRO and such to me seemed like forced soloing which I don't like.

I really hope FFXIV doesn't turn into a solofest then group up for  a few to get a few quests out of the way or get uber gear type thing.   FFXI was fine with the grouping up around LvL 10.  Yeah sometimes before lvl sync it was hard to get a group but thats why I switched jobs a lot so it was easier to get a group. But I don't think it will be  hard at all to get a party in FFXIV.  If they use something similar to lvl sync and the fact that its a new game there will be plenty of people the same level as you and not a bunch of lvl 75's running around.

Bottom line is, no other game has even came close to holding my attention for 3 years like FFXI did.  The reason being is because it was group oriented, player interaction is very important to me in a game and FFXI required teamwork to get things done. 

Great now I have to decide if I want to spend time playing this or swtor when they release but I will try both out for sure.

I wonder if they will have different servers based on your preference.  For instance...at the moment they have 32 servers (assumming they use the same server names from FFXI).  If you break those down into 2 other "mini" servers or "instances".  You would now have let's say Kujata - Solo and then there is Kujata - Group.  You could instantly switch between servers if you wanted too. 

Q: Are there any especial elements you want to import or improve from FFXI to FFXIV?
Komoto: Our goal from the beginning was to make the best Final Fantasy game possible (with each title).
Tanaka: We are implementing new systems (that cannot be revealed at this time) that other MMOs have not used in the past.

To my knowledge no one has done this so far.

Originally posted by Sixpax

I'm in complete agreement with WSIMike. 

FFXI was very much a love/hate relationship:

Forced grouping: hated it when I couldn't find a group, and I can't count how many times FFXI left me frustrated because of it, but when I did get a group, the game was 2nd to none in game play.  If they are going to cater to the solo/casual crowd then I'm like some of you in believing that will be the default mentality.  Why have a "MMO" that you can solo your way through?  It's counter-intuitive.  I play these games to meet, interact, and play with other people.  I can play a single-player game if I want that type of playstyle.

I agree, it was easy to get frustrated when you flagged for 2 or 3 hours and couldn't get a group. As for the solo content though look at the class or race gear quests, every time I remember having to finish those quests I never could find groups to help with it. I never finished the quest to unlock Paladin for that very reason. Any of those quest I finished, I only did so beacuse a high level friend helped run me through them. Cases like those are why more small group content would be viable.

User Interface: I was one of the PC players of FFXI and I hated the UI because it was so cumbersome at first, but once I got a gamepad and got used to it, I actually preferred FFXI's controls to any other.  Character control was so much better with a gamepad to me than WASD.  I really hope FFXIV takes the same UI and improves on it.

I agree completley, once you got used to the UI it was very easy to use.

Playonline: I couldn't stand having to setup playonline to get going and it was difficult to understand, but one thing I loved about it was being able to send messages and talk to friends in game without having to enter the game.  I hope FFXIV has a system that still gives us that same functionality.

Luckily they said in the Q&A that FFXIV wouldn't be set up on the play online launcher. Hopefully they will have a function like EQ2 where you can chat with friends or guildies ingame from a community website.

Player interaction: As much as I hated the fact that SE was so unapproachable and players had very little (if any) input, at the same time they also didn't cave to the whinners like we see in EVERY OTHER MMORPG.  SE made changes that they believed made the game better instead of trying to appease as many people as they could and wind up with a complete mess because of it.  The bottom line is companies who make MMORPG's need to do what's best for their game and not compromise so they can appeal to the biggest crowd. Out of all the developers of MMO's that I've played, SE is in a class all their own and I have the most respect for them.

I agree totally, the only time they should compromise is when it's beneficial to the game and the majority player base.

Well regardless of how they approach these things in FFXIV, I'm confident they will put out a fun, quality game.

Originally posted by banshe13

I just hope it stays PC and PS3 only since if the take it and make it xbox 360 then it leads to unable to upgrade stuff later onfrom xbox360 being dvd formated and out of date.    If they make it xbox make sure it xbox 720 not the 360 even tho xbox player must wait it be better allround for the game in about 4 years when stuff cant upgrade from the xbox 360.

The fact that the 360 uses dvd means absolutely nothing. All MMOs use HDDs to put content in so thats a moot point. What will matter are system specs and the 360 is more than capable of keeping up with the PS3 for expansions.

I was trying to think of how they could appeal to both type of players, those who prefer to solo and those who prefer to group.  It almost seems like they are mutually exclusive because as soon as you make the content soloable, group-play seriously suffers.  Sure you can build groups in a solo friendly game, but in order for group play to really flourish, you need people who are available to build groups.

Then I thought about DAoC in the early days.  You could solo your way through most of the content, but it was far more efficient to form a group and "camp" a location.  Perhaps FFXIV will have a similar system, or have a huge resting bonus so you can solo for an hour or so at the same exp rate as grouping before it drops off to nothing.

About "...because as soon as you make the content soloable, group-play seriously suffers...." I agree. But unless one full job is to play games :-) which is not true for majority .... such game that "lives" by group play can never count on high numbers in subscriptions. And companies live from subscriptions. And want to make money, which is main reason they started some game. Ok, is for fun, they are enthusiasts .... etc ... but at the end of day you need money to buy sandwich.
Also do not know from where idea that MMO equals "group play". Just simply mean many many players playing at same time on same server(s). That's all, nothing more, nothing less. I personally favor a lot solo play because of my time schedule and work. Although grouping can be fun .. is also more thrilling trying solo ... must be much more careful, planning well actions, all steps, ... etc etc. As for socialization … I’m pretty active in chat, using a lot crafting (where available) and AH, …. Etc etc. Many times I like to help players in problems. This is for me important part in MMO world, much more then grouping per se. In groups I find myself just running behind others and mashing buttons, dps-ing, healing, … I would never play games where I need few hours to get company and then in last moment few drops and go to work, to sleep, mother is angry ... etc etc. Or entire raid is wiped because of many experts.
Not only for this of course but also for this reason I love WoW, AoC, War, .... They can all be soloed up to max level. I do not see anything wrong with this. Actually … this is main condition for me to start at all any game. Of course not the only one …. But even the best looking game and all the rest … can not get me in if I will have to spend life time to get groups.
And about being easy if soloable ... give me a break. If something is soloable does not mean at all is easy. Many times solo quests are harder then group. Of course in sense if you play solo quest alone compared to group quest played with group.
 

Originally posted by Qinshien

Originally posted by shamall

The only thing that made me stop playing ff11 was the group or die gameplay. To hear that they are also not using PlayOnline is a plus. It seems like this will be the final fantasy mmo I thought I was going to be playing when ff11 came out. About freaking time.

 

They didn't say they aren't using playonline...

Actually somewhere in the interview, I believe he mentions that they aren't going to use PlayOnline, they want to try something different.

Originally posted by pre_mar

About "...because as soon as you make the content soloable, group-play seriously suffers...." I agree. But unless one full job is to play games :-) which is not true for majority .... such game that "lives" by group play can never count on high numbers in subscriptions. And companies live from subscriptions. And want to make money, which is main reason they started some game. Ok, is for fun, they are enthusiasts .... etc ... but at the end of day you need money to buy sandwich.

I think FFXI itself is evidence that you can make a successful MMORPG that has forced grouping.  Of course they don't have the subscribers of WoW, but they aren't hurting for subscribers or money by any means.  And I'll reiterate that SE has never been about designing a game just to get the most subscribers, but rather making a quality game.  It's called integrity.

Obviously though FFXIV will have solo/casual gameplay so it remains to be seen how they pull it off without crippling groups. So the point is really moot until we get more info.

Cant wait to get some more information on this game, iv loved the final fantasy games for a long long time. Never had the chance to play XI but to hear Final Fantasy XIV is coming to the ps3 is awesome. Cant wait to try it out ! :D

I think that FFXIV will do much better than FFXI just because more FF players will be less unsure of themselves going into it.

When FFXI was launched there was a huge uproar about FF going online.  A LOT of FF players refused to play an FF Online and have to pay to play.  I personally know quite a few.  With the popularity of WoW, and the rise of the MMO as a genre, I believe that FFXIV is going to hit solid this time around and make quite an impact.

And since we all know SE has learned a lot from FFXI and other popular MMORPGs of today... <(^_^)> I'm so excited!!!

Originally posted by Sixpax

Originally posted by pre_mar

About "...because as soon as you make the content soloable, group-play seriously suffers...." I agree. But unless one full job is to play games :-) which is not true for majority .... such game that "lives" by group play can never count on high numbers in subscriptions. And companies live from subscriptions. And want to make money, which is main reason they started some game. Ok, is for fun, they are enthusiasts .... etc ... but at the end of day you need money to buy sandwich.

 

I think FFXI itself is evidence that you can make a successful MMORPG that has forced grouping.  Of course they don't have the subscribers of WoW, but they aren't hurting for subscribers or money by any means.  And I'll reiterate that SE has never been about designing a game just to get the most subscribers, but rather making a quality game.  It's called integrity.

Obviously though FFXIV will have solo/casual gameplay so it remains to be seen how they pull it off without crippling groups. So the point is really moot until we get more info.

Depends how you define sucessfull. With FFXI is left to guessing how much more (or maybe less) subs would have with different approach. What i have been reading on forums ... my guess is would be much more successful and have broader player base.

About making a quality game ... of course you need quality. To get money. :-) Being myself programmer for 30 years on various systems (financial and statistical applications, no gaming :-)) i know how enjoyable is creating software, at times for weeks have been programming whole nights .... I guess especially enjoyable is program games :-) .... but at the end what matter to your boss is money company will get. No one will invest millions and millions of $ to have mediocre success.

And about FFXIV... I'm afraid they are creating in same house same kind of game. And this could on long run hurt either of two.

Btw, I always loved lore of FF series ... but never played MMO only because impossible to solo.

Blizzard have obviously discovered working formula. :-) But this may not apply to their new announced mmo.

Anyway ... time will show who is right.

Nice screenshot even though its cutscenes, GIVE us real screenshots of gameplay. Thats one thing that bothers me, when I go look for games, I dont wanna see screenshots, I want to see GAMEPLAY screenshots. Am I the only person that feels like this? I want to see what I CAN do not what the cinema can do lol.

I played FFXI for 5 years, still play just took a break for the first time in 5 years from the game to give WoW a fair shake and I feel like Im cheating on FFXI. It was my first mmo, and SWG was my 2nd so those 2 will always be my favorites.

I am alone i guess in that i wished they kept this game more hush hush .Too much hype ,too early on will lead to disappointment.

I actually hope this new game is ALOT like FFXI,as i feel ffxi was/is the best QUALITY game ever made.There is miles of room for improvement,so i just hope they take the old and improve on it.

One thing that bothered me in the Q/a was the talk about listening to the public voice.I call BS on that one,they listen to a small core of people somewhere,but i guarantee it is nobody from North America.The majority of changes i nthe game left be baffled beyond belief,they caught me way off guard.The changes near the end ,lately have of course been good,like the books and level sync.

They talk of a much different world,that scares me because there has been times hroughout the FF series ,that i have not agreed with the style of game play.They tend to do it a lot different each time.In FFXI i liked the TP idea and the fact you had around 5 seconds to finish the chain.I have seen other times that they like to go with ridiculous speed like performing a combo in a split second,i do not EVER like arcade type game play,i like a MMORPG to be as it always has over the last 20 years,very relaxing.I do not want macro mashing,i like the feel of combat where it is full of action and reactiopn and time to use thought while playing.

Two things that can make it a bad game are split second finishing combos and FPS type aim and icon mashing as soon as re use timers are up.I liked the way "HATE" is done in FFXI,it does not allow egoists to mash away endlessly with no care for control of hate or team work or trying to show off how much damage they can do.

I really did not like the last expansion or the newest mini expansions,they feel like Square is getting money hungry and putting out weaker quality .This is further acknowledged by the fact they brought out  a new security token that you have to pay for.

FFXI is an AMAZING game because so much of it,shows a thought process behind everything,it feels to me like someone put their heart and soul into it.I am skeptical this will happen again,but at the same time i am hopeful,with both fingers crossed.

Most of all i hope they have learned how to handle cheating and RMT,it ruins/breaks a games economy VERY quickly.