Final Fantasy XIV battles are “pathetically boring”

Eager MMORPG maniacs awaiting Final Fantasy XIV are aghast at beta gameplay footage showing battles as exciting as Final Fantasy XIII is non-linear.

[Vicophine]

Just cause its not ATB means it boring. It looks fine to me :) Can't wait.

[Reibooi]

A few things people need to keep in mind.

Every MMO combat looks boring unless you are playing it(with a few exceptions).

This game is in Alpha and it's been stated time and time again that less then 50% of the abilities each class will have are present. Hence you will have alot more to be doing when the final game is released and all the abilities are usable.

Also these are easy low level mobs(again the bigger stuff is not even in this Alpha) And what MMO isn't insanely boring for the first few levels?

It's WAY to early to judge the game and that is why SE themselves have not released official game play videos.

[blitz0623]

Wow they need to fix that system. Looks boring as hell.

[iNcRiMiNaTi]

no this combat looks boring

http://www.youtube.com/watc...
this is an mmo as well and the combat is way better than what im seeing in ffxvi

some other games as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

it's all realtime gameplay which is why i would prefer these over ffxvi. i wouldnt want to stand there choosing attack options all day

[Reibooi]

@hi6hli6ht

seems people don't understand what the word exception means.

There ARE games out there that look incredible in terms of game play. Sad thing is the VAST majority of them are not out and never will be because game play like that simply doesn't work in a MMO beyond the concept phase. If it did the way MMO's play would have been like that a long time ago. It puts to much strain on a game that has 1000's of people playing on the same server.

[iNcRiMiNaTi]

Didn't see the parenthesis thingy my bad. Guess it was just me so pissed off after seeing this vid expecting more the seeing "Every MMO combat looks boring unless you are playing it". I was slightly interested in it before but after seeing this I don't really wanna try it anymore.

[karl]

.....that action cannot be perform

it kept saying that. i would guest the player didnt know how to play or something was wrong with the game.. since its alpha

really if playing wow u start pushing the same invalid skill everytime and u perform no action... the it would look boring aswell

[HolyOrangeCows]

The anime-porn site says some early on parts of a beta are boring?

Oh noes!

[thewhoopimen]

Seems to me that the Koreans studios are going to surpass Japan in MMORPGs as the predominant RPG source this gen. I can't help but be impressed by what some of these free to play titles are starting to shape up as.

[Therealspy03]

that looks fine to you? i play MMORPGs, and i almost fell asleep watching this. this is like 10 years in the wrong direction. the environments and graphics aren't terrible, but the game play is some of the worst i've ever seen.

[ThanatosDMC]

MMO's these day are a ton faster than this. Oh well, it is a beta... They should have made it action RPG. Imagine Kingdom Hearts gameplay mixed with Monster Hunter...

[Noctis Aftermath]

I really really hope that this gets changed, it is way to slow and archaic for an MMO, i was hoping for something similar to wow in attacking speed.

[hamoor]

it looks very boring to be honest,even for an rpg fan like me

[himdeel]

...I'm very concerned as this just doesn't look fun at all for a pay/play mmorpg system. I'm just hoping those weapons have VERY HIGH delay values attached to them thus the slow actions on the weapons.

[vx]

lazy Square Enix all the did was brining FF11 in HD gfx, they could've remake FF7 in HD instead not that crap boring MMORPG with the slowest battle system ever.

[Masta_Killa]

this is just the alpha build right? Many things, including the speed, will likely be tweaked before release.

[RememberThe357]

From alpha to gold many things change but not by much. The battle system would need a complete overhaul to make it bearable for me. I am officially not excited for this game. I don't see the combat speed changing very much if at all.

[Noctis Aftermath]

@The357: that's exactly how i feel, if they add in auto-attacks and ability to move around while attacking(i think in the videos everyone was standing still) and increase the speed by about 2x that might fix it.

As it stands now, even though it's in alpha or beta it looks really bad(not graphically), if they want to get a few million subscribers they need to fix the combat system ASAP.

[Celeras]

RememberThe357, are you an idiot? Rhetorical question.

This isn't a beta test, it's an ALPHA. It's a sneak peak they gave to FFXI subscribers, BEFORE the beta. The game is barely on two feet yet, give me a break with the 'overhaul' comments. There's nothing even to overhaul yet..

[Legosz]

I have experienced it head on. It sucks. I am sticking with WoW for my MMORPG.

[Reibooi]

Somehow I have a hard time believing that you have "Experienced" the game head on. If that indeed means you played it that's unlikely.

At this point in time the vast majority of the people who have gotten into the game were those that were present at the Vana Fest Celebration for FFXI in Japan.

Seeing as you comments about WoW makes me think you are a WoW fan I find it unlikely that you would go through the trouble to go to Japan and get into the beta by attending the Vana Fest event.

Comparing any MMO to WoW is a massive mistake by the way. As WoW is EXTREMELY causal(hence being able to solo to the highest level in very little time comparative to other MMO's) and most MMO's are built to be the complete opposite.

[Celeras]

Only looks slow because of the server lag, it's an Alpha test. Look at the combat log and measure the time between "Readying" and when the ability actually fires.

The ability timers are mostly around 1 second. World of Warcraft has a 1.5 second Global... so this game is actually faster. The only difference is no auto-attack damage spam, and would anybody really try to make the argument that would 'take away the boredom'? Please.

[WildArmed]

Can'treally tell whats going on.

But it doesn't look too bad.
I loved a Turned based MMO and played it for a long time.. Atlantica Online.

Ofc, I dont think this seems worthy of a monthly fee.
Soo yeah.
But the game looks pretty xD

[Heartnet]

It does look super slow tbh.. they need to westernise it more make it similar to WoW combat system tbh.

[tda-danny]

If you want it to be 'like wow' then just go play wow...

On the flip side, if it was too similar to wow, people would just say it a clone.

Some people will enjoy the game, and some won't. different strokes and all that

[zakupilot256]

Someone needs to add a NSFW to this site in general. hentai ads on the side of the site do not do wonders for those, like me, who are at work.

[ikkokucrisis]

you'd figure they would have learned from their previous MMORPG....

[tda-danny]

you mean the one that's 8 years old, and still more popular than 90% of MMO's on the market?

[kasasensei]

"more popular than 90% of MMO's on the market?"
Really? any source for that? I am just curious.

[Myst]

Seems like FFXI battles with enhanced graphics, which is what the fans pretty much wanted. Seems like Square-Enix is pretty much doing what the fans wanted all along, and trying to gain new people by making the game even more accessible.

[Menchi]

Yes, because comparing a Level 4 Ranged attacker from an alpha build, which has intentionally limited is an accurate representation of the "fun factor" of an MMORPG.

Really. Some people are just that dense.

[Caffo01]

well said!bubbles to you!:P

[CryWolf]

That pretty boring yo square exin need to learn from the other MMORPG if your going to make a Final Fantasy MMO their half to more modern day type of game like FF VII or at least like FF9, it needs more sci fi in the FF MMORPG.

[callahan09]

I never played FFXI, but this definitely looks like an ugly White Knight Chronicles to me. I liked White Knight Chronicles a lot, it was really addictive, but this game looks like that in a not-so-good kind of way. The graphics are hideous. I remember the E3 trailer looked beautiful, but these combat videos don't look good at all... I'll stick with White Knight Chronicles for this kind of gameplay, thanks.

[Caffo01]

hideous graphics? i think it's one of the best graphics ever seen in MMOs...

[BannedForNineYears]

Sad to hear :(

[thehitman]

FF11 and I played shit load of other MMOs... but I got to say that doesnt look pretty good at all. The first vid actually made me laugh at how bad it looked gameplay wise. I was thinking about picking this up but I think ill do just fine with starcraft2 sucking my life dry.

[BYE]

WTF are they doing? The video is hilarious.

[Deios]

I think i'm done with MMORPG games. FFXI will be my last MMO.

[Redempteur]

OMG mmo's battle system are boring to watch ??

seriously some people have nothing to say ...watching someone else play an mmo is ALWAYS boring

[Fel08]

Yeah, I think this is going to be the first FF game I won't be buying.

[timberlan112]

This a test people. Why are so many people hating on a game that is still being tested and will change. Im not really a fan of MMORPG's and i rarely play my copy of FFXI but even i can tell this is early game play. So chill out and let them work out the bugs and speed of the game play.

[n4f]

how about resent ff suck period(8,11,12,13 and now 14)

[kiddster58]

To all how think the graphics suck:This is one,a alpha build ,second, a crappy youtube video and third, this is from pc,We don't know the specs of it. It is probably on low settings to allow for fraps.
Also what MMOs gameplay is not boring when watching video of it and not playing it. I think it looks like white knight and I am really excited because I loved that game. Also something that is not in the alpha which they confirmed is something like a skill chain system.
And Unlike XI this one doesn't have auto battle which is a lot better

[KillerPwned]

I really hope they improve this, I played FFXI for like a year and just got tired of the battle system that`s why i stopped made me feel like it wasnt worth my $13 dollars a month. But i am willing to trust SE and give this one a shot.

[Jack Klugman]

LOL!

That does look pathetic and boring.. Way to go SE!

Dont have the Xbox to blame on this one.. wonder what it will be now?

I suggest going the lazy dev route.

ed-okay it is alpha so i give it a break

[ViciousBoston]

seeing as how the level up system is weapon based, I think the higher level you get the faster you swing and can issue commands.

[Christopher]

I find it hard to believe that this will be the end result. FFXI wasn't this slow, and that's saying something considering how slow the combat in that game was. If combat is as slow as it was in FFXI, though, you won't see me playing it.

[dablackg]

graphics look good, it be good if there was more of an interaction between weapon and enemy i think that is what is lacking in mmo it just always feels like there hitting air and enemy just flinches, even though i see this as a bit of a problem i dont see it as a major suprise, it just looks like an updated version of ffxi and i loved that game, im sold to be honest, it can only get better

[Meryl]

yawn the battle system for WKC is better:(:( i am skipping this

[Natsu X FairyTail]

So who's going to blame the xbox 360 for this?

[Senden]

Wow that looks awful.. I had planned on getting into ffxiv but if I have to wait a stupid amount of seconds standing still like a lemon between auto attacks.. come on ff13's combat was hailed as amazing and while this is an MMO.. MMO doesnt have to mean slugging slow and boring combat, just look at WoW's combat!

[JD_Shadow]

There are a few things that may combat this thought:

1. This is early in the build. Things could change.
2. This guy is really not playing the MMO the way many are played. It doesn't look like he's that skilled of a player. He's taking quite a long time to actually DO something that resembles an actual action against a mob. Usually, skilled MMO players will look for specific actions that get the job done quickly. The only thing the guy in the first two videos did was use the bow and arrow. Did he not have a sword or axe in addition to that or any abilities that he could use?
3. The latter of 2 showed me that this could also be very early in the game, as in, you just made the character.

I'm not saying this assessment was right or wrong. I think it's quite unfair to judge based on these three videos alone because too many things can be brought into question.

[JAMurida]

Okay... first of all, what A LOT of people are once again missing here is that this gameplay footage is from the "ALPHA TESTING". Things are very much likely to change come beta/final build of the game, (graphics, gameplay, etc...)

I have played FFXI for 3 years and loved every second of it, and I can't wait to play FFXIV. I personally like the fact that SE is not following everything WoW does and making their own MMO game. The combat in FFXIV reminds me a lot of WKC's gameplay, which is fine with me. I will agree tho, I think SE should also make the game fit for the casual as well and not just the hardcore like FFXI was.

[Omega Zues]

I saw this coming miles away. I doubt SE will do much to improve the gameplay mechanics. I played FFXI for two years and yes it was painfully slow at times. Yes I understand its the beginning stages but wheres the hook? Why should I play through hundred of hours of pain before I taste any thing good? I mean you need at least some Hook in gameplay, something exciting, unique, something that makes you want to push forward.

This however, makes me want to stay the hell away. As is, theres no way i'd buy it, nor would I pay per month to play it.

[Biggest]

Was no one watching the same videos I was? Most of the time he wasn't doing anything anyway. It seemed that he spent a good 30 seconds thinking about how to maybe begin to try and move toward doing something to the mob that didn't want to attack him first. Then he tried to do the same thing that wouldn't work at least 10 times every chance he got. The auto-attack function will be there. This isn't the first time SE has tried a MMO. The first FF did and is doing well. Free Realms is also doing well. These videos aren't the final game at all.

[TheGameFoxJTV]

They should have made the gameplay more like Korean MMOs, look at 1.1.2 for some youtube videos of Korean MMOs. They look 100x more fun than this. Hell! Maple Story, and Ragnarok look 10x more fun than this!

[Mr_Luke]

Damn, it's what i fear.... i really hope things will change in the final version...

[darkscion0]

Whoever posted this is an idiot. Not only is combat currently hindered by input lag which is slowing down combat but one of the videos he's specifically trying to complete a battle regimen which accounts for him not firing off a skill for long periods of time.