How Final Fantasy XIV Can Surpass Final Fantasy XI

Koku Gamer writes: "One of the bigger announcements at this years E3 was Sony's reveal that not only was SquareEnix working on Final Fantasy XIII but that they were also hard at work on Final Fantasy XIV . This came as quite a shock to the gaming populace as for quite some time Square was insistent that Project Rapture would not be a game in the Final Fantasy universe. Yet here we are with Final Fantasy XIV Online. Being a veteran of Final Fantasy XI since the US launch of the game this excited me quite a bit and I began to think what I would like to see and more importantly what XIV needs to surpass XI. What follows is just such a list."

[Elven6]

I'm still not sold on 14, never played XI, was it any good?

[Reibooi]

FFXI is in my opinion one of the best MMO's ever made. The main problem by today's standards is the amount of time it takes to get into the game and get anything done. Stuff like WoW does not even begin to compare in all honesty to how much of a time sink FFXI is. The game is incredibly hardcore and to a extent that's what the fanbase loves about the game.

Square did say after they announced the game in there E3 conference that FFXIV was not gonna be as hardcore and as much of a time sink as FFXI was but it was not gonna be as easy and solo based as WoW is either so it will nice to see how they make the game play. Not to mention the game is easily going to be the most graphically impressive MMO out there when it comes out. Alot of people may play it just because of that fact alone.

[Ziriux]

You really thought so? I mean it was a generic MMO with not a whole lot of depth, but than again I gave up after many hours of play. I also owned it on the Xbox 360, so maybe I didn't have the same feeling towards it as you did. It was my first FF game I've played.

[Reibooi]

That's what I meant by time sink. The games depth is not shown out of the gate because of the way Square set it up. You need to play for a few days to unlock you sub job which allows for the majority of the depth and then even longer to unlock the advanced jobs such as Samurai, Ranger, Summoner, Dark Knight and what have you. Becuase of this players who only played the game for a few hours or even a week or 2 would say the game was nothing but your average generic MMO but thats because the mass amount of content the game had to offer is for the high end players

Truth be told if you were not there from the start you are unlikely to reach that content unless you have a friend to hold your hand and power level you. Thats just the kind of game Final Fantasy XI is. These are the key issues that need to be fixed for FFXIV.

[evrfighter]

There's gotta be a crap ton less time sinks in 14 than 11 if it wants to go farther. The only reason I still log in to 11 once a week is to run nyzul isle with my linkshell.

With star wars the old republic, the agency, global agenda, huxley, and champions online coming out...

They better get their time sink issues under control because I know I won't be missing out on anything if I decide to skip it. What I mean by this is...18 hour Pandemonium Warden battle, Absolute Virtue, and relic weapons that take 1.5-2 years if you do it legit.

[FamilyGuy]

Im excited about it, I've already got my future clan members from my friends list who are all going to buy it and play with me. It's like a year away though so anything could happen but as of right now im interested.

[Reshun]

Reibooi nailed it. Really needed a lot of time to play. I'd say the minimum time requirement for me was about 3 and half hour back then for mid-high levels. 1 hour to find/set up a party then camp it out with the crew. 2 hours of grinding levels may seem enough but you would likely be treated with "WTF" in the group.

[GameGambits]

I played FFXI for 6 years. This game is so deep, difficult, and rewarding which is why I spent that many years of my life in it.

The graphics were great, the classes are all from the FF series so you'll find fun in what speaks to you, the music is of the best FF caliber, and above all each and every expansion was a stand alone FF game with a full story. The story missions were long, hard, and made you the hero of the story. Without the story missions it wouldn't be Final Fantasy.

FFXI was not for everyone and the main reason was it's a huge time sync like others stated. Leveling took a long time, finding groups to level with could be time consuming, getting to areas to fight could already be camped, and it wasn't just a matter of level 1 job, but most of the time you had to have 3-4 leveled to be effective at your main job in all situations. When you get to the end game portion it gets even more difficult as you will spend hours upon hours doing tedious things just for "internet glitter" AKA better gear.

It lacked REAL PvP and class balance has slipped drastically over the years. To add limitations from the PS2 hardware made it very hard to keep adding new equipment that looks unique or more areas, etc. It's now at its final stretch due to hardware limitations if you ask me.

XIV will NOT be a game for everyone. MMORPGs ARENT for everyone. The casual MMO is WoW, and if you are a real MMORPG fan then you know that WoW is very bland compared to the hard core MMOs out there.

If this game isn't on your radar it will at least be worth your time to try if the reviews hold up to your standards of what is a "good" game or not. As for me it could be 7 at the least and I'd still day 1 buy it. I loved XI and I know I'll love XIV.

[Icemael]

Meh... The Final Fantasy games don't interest me, and neither do MMOs. Hmm... does adding two DO NOT WANTs result in a DO NOT WANT that's twice as strong, or do the two nullify each other, resulting in a DO WANT? This requires further investigation...

[Ziriux]

What lol? I'm so confused, you got me twisted like a pretzel.

[ExgamerLegends2]

Just let it go Z

[Ziriux]

Great job with the article. I do agree on almost all things. Final Fantasy XI while a great game in the FF universe it definitely fell short out of most games in the series.

I think the lack of the story and not being a SP game in anyway just threw me of a bit. I don't think i'll be going with XIV, just because I'm not a fan of MMO's.

[Reibooi]

When the game was first released it seemed to lack a story line and wasn't really all that interesting but when Chains of Promathia was released that all changed. Square introduced full blown cinematic cut scenes and very endearing characters like Prishe into the game that players to this day remember long after the story line ended. Even after CoP the newer expansion packs brought good stories like ToAU talking about the origins of Odin and Alexander and the Wings of the Goddess talking about the past and the giant crystal war that ravanged the world.

The game certainly has a rich story line history that wasent there from the beginning.

[DeadlyDevil]

I lost 1.5 years of my life to FFXI dont tell me XIV will be better cuz i will end you! :P

No honestly, i dont MMO.

[Reibooi]

Sounds like you do if you spent a year and a half playing one if you ask me.

[The Gamer Guy 345]

I have never liked any of the Final Fantasy's online. IMHO, it doesn't work as a MMORPG.

[Ziriux]

Thank you, I thought I was the only one. I can't wait to try that Huxley FPS MMO, but just as with FF when I was skeptical about being a MMO I have the same feeling when it comes to a FPS games being a MMO. Can servers really handle all that intense fraggin action?

[Carnage1290]

Sweet article, Square sure is really good at unveiling new games, not so much on the putting out new games.

[Elven6]

Really? I was a bit underwhelmed by the FF14 announcement myself, maybe it's just because I'm not that into the franchise? I did find the FF 360 announcement pretty overwhelming though, I for one wasn't expecting it at the time.

[Ziriux]

Well Square is known for announcing one game before the previous one is even revealed.

[Hellsvacancy]

Last week i got chattin 2 my old man (we talk sumtimes 4 ages bout random b-s)and i happened 2 mention about the latest Final Fantasy (he hasnt played them but like the style and liked Advent Children)his response was (2 my utter amazement) "4 summin thats sumposed 2 b final it dont-alf go on" then we got on2 the idea of The Never Endin Fantasy - i told him he could b on 2 summin there lol

[Ziriux]

Ok, what is the exact point to your post lol, you had me confused at "4 summin thats sumposed 2 b final it dont-alf go on"

[Reibooi]

I got a headache before i finished reading what was written.

[Tony P]

His old man is wondering why they call it FINAL Fantasy when there are 14+ games. They then go off on a tangent in conversation. The end.

[Hellsvacancy]

I just read wot i had written and it does look a bit retarded i was havin bit of a smoke last nite when i had written that so thank u and a buuble 2 u :-)

[Harri4444]

it Foocking better.

[Funqy]

Good article, they have big shoes to fill.

[Halo3 MLG Pro]

Being a JRPG fanatic and a huge FF fan. I was ecstatic that the 360 stole Sony's once exclusive because it saves me some money from buying a ps3. I did try the Final Fantasy Online and it was one of the worse games I have ever played so I'm not really looking forward to this one. But who knows, maybe it might be good.

[Raoh]

your argument makes no sense..

ffxiii does not equal ff online..

ffxiii exclusivity was a big deal

ff online on more platforms only means more people to play with..

i'll take ffxi over ffx and ffxii any day

[Halo3 MLG Pro]

What?

[Raoh]

meaning the online game isnt the jrpg game we are used to

ffxi and ffxiv is more like playing WoW or everquest

there is nothing about exclusivity or console wars here...

ffxi was a ps2/pc game and later a 360 game.. that meant more people to party with, psn and xbl had nothing to do with it..

the console wars have no place in an mmorpg unless its made by nintendo, sony or microsoft for their system solely

[Halo3 MLG Pro]

Still have no idea what you said. All I'm saying is that I didn't like the previous FF online game and the new one announced at e3 looks to be the same type of game.

[Jecht]

Umm, I'm sorry perhaps you can clarify something for me...

You would take FFXI over FFX?

I can see over FFXII because that game is boring as hell, but FFX? No frickin' way. FFX is epic. The last great FF game ever made. There's no way that FFXI compares at all.

But, then again, it is just your opinion. And you are entitled to it. But it boggles the mind that someone could take FFXI over FFX. FFX's story alone is reason enough to be confused about that. It's no FFIV, but it's better than FFVII... IMO.

[N4Sony]

XII was a lame duck, very boring, poor story and dry characters. X was incredible. Tied with VI as being the best imo. Square needs to get back to that formula to make sure XIII doesn't blow.

[emanon88]

Well this is a tricky thing to say about whether 11 was better then 10. A lot of people have stated that had Chains of Promathia was one of the greatest FF story lines, up there with 4,6,7 ect. I myself fall in the crowed that did enjoy FF 11 more then 10 if we just looked at storyline that is.
Unless you have actually played through FF 11 from rank 1-1 all the way to finishing Chains I cannot explain how awesome the whole story is. Hell the story and writing is so good that you even fall in love with the npcs that help you and are apart of the story. MMONPCs for Christ's sakes.

[rob6021]

From what I've read up on this game so far they're going to be making a greater effort to make the game have more traditional Final Fantasy game built in then build the MMO aspects around that. They haven't confirmed yet but hinted that there will be voice acting this time around.

[Raoh]

Better solo support.

stop listening to wannabe game developers on the forums. they do not know how to balance a class they know how to moan and groan until a class gets nerfed.

make grind sessions vary so there is no ONE STATIC group..

make shifting a party is nice but should not be allowed to be a standard.. i did not make a nin/thf so i could freaking tank.. i want to damage deal

dont say dark knight sucks cause your tank cant steal hate

add more community admins to deter camping of item drops

dont make crafting so tedious that you don't want to do it.

online market place is a must.

find a solution to kill stealing

i could do this all day

[DrWan]

I would like better solo-ability, quicker weapon swing, waiting 15 seconds for my great axe to strike is..wtf..

I love the no mouse control on the computer so try to keep that option for ppl who wants to do that please.

Sub Job and Job system MUST KEEP, if they drop this, I won't play 14, this system sets it apart from ALL MMOs, because it allows you to have maximum gears and all job level max with just ONE character, u dont have to choose from a tech tree, u can Master it ALL. No wrong decision here.

Great game i lost 3 yrs of life to...

Better partying system, more ways to play a single class. By that I mean, u can make your WHM into a DD if u have the right gears, sometimes looking for a BLM or a PLD or a NIN tank is too hard. More job should be able to tank if they sacrifice a few things.

A possible way of how this may be able to be done is to allow maybe 2 sub jobs, if u r a War, if u say sub Ninja and PLD maybe u can shadow tank and get boosted defense. If u swab it back to DRK and THF for attack boost and critical strike as a DD. Or a expanded tech tree for skills that you may not need for that level, so if u r training ur War as a DD, u have the DD moves, but u can train ur War into a Tank as well if u go back and re-invest some exp points on the Tank tech trees. So there are ways this can be done, I favor the double sub jobs system so u don't get bogged down during ur character advancement too much, but u will still be leveling subjobs lol, could be a pain.

Party seeking improvment please, allow job seeking as multiple jobs at once.

Travel less painful please, takes too long to get to places for partying.

Job change on the fly please, and less mog house limitation, with so many jobs 50 initial slot is not enough

[Raoh]

to follow up on one of your comments

please add keyboard and mouse support to the console versions.

and yeah the sub job system is a must

nothing like switching between bst/nin, bst/war, bst/drk :)

bst and drk were my two favorite jobs

nin would have made my list if the tools werent so expensive and every time i logged on as one i was asked to tank.. if i wanted to tank i would have stuck with warrior

[OGharryjoysticks]

Then out of ego, FF13 became some type of Holy Grail because it was another game Sony had in the war chest of exclusives of big name titles. But if those 360 fans were real Final Fantasy lovers like they claim to be they would have already bought a PS3 because that was the only "certain" all along.

EDIT...whatever Halo boy. But you'd buy a 360 for Halo and name yourself from it huh. You're exactly the type of compulsive shopper who claims to know and love videogames, but really only follows the marketing. And yes, I've played Halo 3. Killzone 2 sh.ts on it. It uses the Halo 3 disc as TP to wipe up and then flushes. Sorry.

[Halo3 MLG Pro]

That's stupid. I'm a fan of FF and I'm not going to buy a ps3 just because it's going to eventually be coming. I'm also a die hard Twisted Metal fan and I'm not going to get a ps3 now because Twisted Metal is eventually going to be coming out maybe next year. Their are factors like price or newer ps3 models that might come out by the time these 2 games come out.

[TheBand1t]

So what about FFV13? You interested in that?

[Epedemic]

Too bad the 360 is more expensive than the ps3 when you think about it. Membership, batteries, HDD, etc.

[ravenl0rd]

On a completely unrelated note, is any other die-hard FF fan annoyed that Square ruined the number system with MMORPG's?

[Omegabalmung]

After playing FFXI for almost about 5 years now I was hyped when they announced FFXIV.

All I can say about changes is that make the pacing a little faster. Instead of a few jobs that can solo like in ffxi all jobs can solo to an extant. One more thing they can change is make the resting a little faster instead of resting for about 15 mins just to get 1k hp and I'm still sitting on yellow bar.

Other then that not to much to complain, but if they dont add samurai to the job list in FFXIV I would probably wont pick this game up.

[braydon619]

is your name david by any chance?

[Gun_Senshi]

And right now I need my dose of FFXIV :( 2010 is too long. I wonder how they are going to do Job System. They said its going to be differt

[Weed]

Don't make the crafting system retard friendly. That's all I ask. Crafting in FFXI's economy is like a whole other game in itself.

[Skyreno]

well im getting it i just hope and anyone who can answer this question can i use my playstation network card to pay game mothly i mean 10 bucks each month with PS3Network card?

[Blasphemy]

We probably won't know this until closer to the games launch. Man I wish they hadn't announced this until next year. Now I can't wait to play this. LOL

[i3eyond the Circle]

I was one of those FFXI players that had gear like the JP players.

I had a full Japanese static party during nights that I communicated with using only the Auto Translator.

1-75 was more fun for me than it was for most people.

Good old days and during the day I ran a Casino on top of the Jeuno AH clocking in maybe 3-4million gil per day.

Ending up selling my account for almost 2grand! and sold the gil for a little under 1k.

3K for 2and1/2years of play definitely payed off my monthly fees lol.

But all in all it was the BEST MMO experience I have ever had.

and yes....I've played World of Warcraft.

I cannot wait to see how SE improve on the game.

I will be getting this game DAY ONE and that is a promise.

[Blasphemy]

Damn man that's nice. I too will be getting this day one. I hope they launch the game worldwide simultaneously as promised this time around.

[Blasphemy]

I loved and hated so many things about FF XI. Can't wait for XIV. I have to say though I had more fun doing missions and leveling up then I did doing end game stuff. Getting end game equipment was kinda pointless. I mean what is the point of getting better gear if you are at maxed level?

I got to a point where I got tired of doing raids and end game stuff because it was boring and ultimately severed no real purpose to me in the end.

[robotnik]

Because waiting 6 hours to get a party is just wrong...

Right now the only people playing FFXI are hardcore FFXI fans that are waaay to obsessed with their equipment. They should make the game much casual friendly so everyone can accomplish something while playing some little time a day.

FFXI was good, but its flaws where too big.

[Tony P]

But as much as the dedicated enjoy what the hardcore nature of FFXI, most people don't and the community numbers suffer for it. I'd been at it for a few years and my experience with the game ranged from rewarding to extremely frustrating. At some point the frustration of being unable to find a party, solo, or otherwise make meaningful progress in a given day won out. But even that took a few years. For many of my peers, patience lasted only a few days.

It's good to hear from SE that FFXIV will try to be less hardcore and hopefully less of a time sink.

I also hope they've upgraded the physics a bit. I'm a bit spoiled by being able to jump in practically every game I've ever played, MMOs included. It'd be nice to get that back.

[rob6021]

If by succeed you mean make more revenue than all other Final fantasy games combined (like FFXI has and still continues to do so), then it being very similar would be a good way to succeed.