The Puzzle of Final Fantasy XIV
- Categories: Games, News
- Date: Sep 12, 2010 07:38 JST
- Tags: Comparison, Final Fantasy, MMORPG, Production Controversy, Square Enix
Continued investigation of the maps of Final Fantasy XIV reveals it is either hiding a sublime puzzle mini-game (a welcome addition for those waiting for their counters to reset), or as some are starting to fear, is the ultimate in slapdash production values from the company that couldn’t be bothered to include towns in its last major title.
The effect in game:
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Let's just say that i'd still be complaining about this stuff if the game was free to play.
Considering that i'd have to pay regularly for that lazy lame-ass crap, i'd rather ignore its existence altogether.
*rolls eyes* I remember a day when games were for FUN. you know back on the snes and N64. You know why games back then were so fun? CAUSE WE STILL HAD SOULS! no really I'm not joking, back then a game was about having fun in some fantasy style world. Now days all you people want is bigger and better stuff, but you never stop. SE could have spent 27 years carfully making each and every last rock and stone on a 30 mile long road and put a person name on each and every one of those rocks and stones to prove it and you and winny bitchs would STILL find a reason to get upset and say "games shit, I'm not paying money for this". You don't give a fuck about if it's copy paste or not, all you care about is finding someothing to hate and hating it. So go crawl off to your other games and leave this one alone! or are you scared SC will make a post on how THAT game sucks to and then you won't be able to play it anymore cause "god" said it was bad.
THERE WILL NEVER BE A PERFECT GAME! So stop waiting for it and enjoythe games we have now.
You have a pretty weak argument here. Blizzard spent something like 1, maybe 1.5 years making Northrend and Outland for WoW. Take a good look at the terrain detail there, compared to what SEnix was able to come up with over the last 5+ years, or however long they spent making this.
Here's hoping that they've been hiding the REAL world data from the alpha/beta testers all this time. I don't see why they would... but hey, you never know, right?
Wasn't protecting the game, was saying that it doesn't matter of it's the zones or the menu. People just want something to get angry over.
Theres a large number of things in FFXIV I think need to be fixed long before we care about areas. I've played the beta, spending 20-30 minutes in the market ward checking countless npc player stores just to find one freaken dagger is more of a pain in the ass to me then crossing the same tree 4 times on my way to a camp.
Christ dude. Sometimes it's called being an informed consumer. I won't put up with the senseless bullshit they do which detracts from the very same fun you talk about. It's anyone's personal opinion what to make of the information, but it's also the year 2010. Limitations are becoming blurred and there are no excuses for some of the shit they do.
Also wasn't just talking about FFXIV, in general it seems people want to hate games more then like them now. There are a large number of games out there other people loved I hated, like Dragon Age or Mass Effict or CoD MW2. Yet I'm not spending hours picking those games part, drawing up charts then making big hate post on the net about it, I just quietly go play the games I do like. I don't care if people want to hate FFXIII or FFXIV, had my own dis-likes with those game, but really is it worth all this just to make it clear to everyone? Not to me, thats time I could have been playing one of those liked games.
or they could just use a semi-random procedural enviroment generating engine (they exist and some run in real time btw) so they just define the road section, vegetation section, mountain section and let the algorithms do the work, if the artwork attached is good the results can be incredible (go see just cause 2 or red dead redemption if you dont believe me)
You really think Korean MMOs have huge grinds because people LIKE grinding for hours? Hint: the answer is no.
Likewise, you think people like spending 15 minutes getting from town A to B instead of instantly warping there? Which may not be terrible on it's own, but when you need to wait for an entire linkshell to gather and people are always late, snowballing the gathering time?
Or waiting up to 3 hours for a world boss to spawn while sitting in a pit with 100 other people?
Or sitting in town possibly for hours while trying to put a party together because the game forces you into group XP?
Or taking a portal to a boss that only has a 50% chance of warping you to him? Some people have had to attempt 10+ ports, delaying the entire group.
I really, really doubt that some devs sat down, considered this stuff, and thought "people will have a blast doing this stuff!"
Last I checked, devs love putting time wasting roadblocks into MMOs, clearly they are not designing the entire game to be fun.
First this is a Japanese MMO not a Korean one.
And secend out of everything you listed the only one you really NEED to do is grind. It's not a rule to join endgame events. some people like it yes but some don't. Lets put it this way, my best memory of FFXI wasn't my 2 years in Dynamis, it was unlocking cor with my friend. Both of us were only around level 60-62 and wanted to try it, so we printed up maps (this was before viewer and the 3rd party one wouldn't work on our pc's) and set out to become cor's. And what an adventer that was xD I found out Jnun agrro the hard way, after we got lost trying to find the key item. Then a pack of imps left us both dead xD after that we finaly made it safely to the ??? point to get the job but it took over 2 hours of being lost and dieing to pull off. And I'd do it again any day cause for me, that miss-adventer in the swamp was 10x more fun then any endgame drama event will ever be.
To each there own yes, but to me hanging out with friends and just doing what I enjoy and not what some elite endgamer says I should do is where the fun is for me.
Lets just call a truce at this, we each think different and a 100 post will never change that. So lets move on to other stuff ^^
Hahahah holy moley
Hey~ give 'em a break!
FF Otakus need something to occupy their limited time in the mmo of ff flavored "fun" outside of making the prefect brew! squenix just cooked up the prefect idea to distract everybody from the bland as hell combat of dead faced puppets and fireworks per strikes~
I still remember the days of myself watching old cartoons where they recycled the background over and over again, it's the action in front that needs your attention and not that identical rock face!
lol guys as if you would buy the game if it would be better :)
So no one is pissed off by the terrain being a pointless maze instead of large open areas?
You can't get from any significant point A to point B without running into a canyon wall, running off a cliff (if that's even possible), or running into a body of water. There is no cruise control because everywhere you go there's going to be 10+ god-damn obstacles in your way. Not only is it stupid that the the maps repeat themselves, but the land formation is an unnatural labyrinth.
It's one of the million things wrong with the game right now.
The game is a perfect example of "So close, yet so far..."
It's easy to see what they could fix to make the game so much better, but you just know (from their reputation) that they won't. Their customer relations has always been a trainwreck. For example, people have been complaining on the private tester forums since EARLY ALPHA to fix horrible mouse support. Literally hundreds of threads, thousands of posts... It all fall on deaf ears. Like I said, just one of a million complaints. One is forced to wonder why they bothered to open up forums at all if they didn't listen to any of the advice.
what kind of map is that??
thats very puzzling....
Wouldn't they copy paste to save file space for the downloaded open beta?
It's not a very good representation of the game if that's the case, but it's only a beta.
Name one major MMO that has done this. Last I checked, you release betas to give people a taste of the game. If you don't let them play the game then it's not representative and thus doesn't serve its function. Which can only spawn derision like we see here. It would make no sense from Square's perspective or from a prospective customer's POV.
Last I checked you release betas to get free play-testing to help find bugs and use the large amount of players to run some stress tests.
the hell? though im not playing ffxiv good luck to those who will.
I received an invite during the alpha phase, and enjoyed myself somewhat for the first few hours. The game had a lot of flaws. The zones clearly were not finished, with towns/cities made inaccessible by big blurry textured walls, big open spaces with no mobs in them, etc... And it was all fine, cause you could tell yourself: "It's just the alpha build. The beta would fix everything right?"
Well when the beta came around, it was shocking... Yeah they sped up the combat a little bit... and the world was slightly more fleshed out... But the game still handled like shit. Camera, controls, the god damned MOUSE that lagged at least 800ms behind your hand movements.
Then I noticed that I was hardly getting gil from monsters anymore. I also noticed that there were hardly any MONSTERS anymore, at least of my own level. Seriously, when you walk out of the first town, two thirds of the shit walking around will ANNIHILATE you at first level. Even at 8th level. Right outside the fucking gate.
Then I noticed they removed all the NPCs that sold basic armor. I think you could buy basic upgrades for weapons and shields, but that was it. No chest pieces, hand pieces or anything like that. You could get a handful of things from doing quests, but they had a ridiculous 48 hour cooldown on 3 quests. All other gear needed to be crafted and sold to you by other players, or you had to spend hours getting the skills/materials to craft it yourself. On it's own, that's not such a big deal.
But then your gear breaks 2 hours into your session. Oh fuck. What an ordeal. Now you are REALLY FUCKED. You have to find someone, pay them, and get the materials required to fix your basic shit. There goes at least double the time you spent breaking it.
I could go on and on about how much I hate this game so far. I really wanted it to be good, but let's not kid ourselves. You'd have to be a sick masochist to enjoy this game.
*rolls eyes* We get.....the point....you don't have a good enoufe pc to paly so your bashing it none stop....now shut up!
as for me I'll say this right here in the pit of hate and bitching
I WILL BUY, PLAY, AND ENJOY THIS GAME.
I know cause I'm playing the beta and while hate boy above might make it look bad it's not, you really don't notice to much and if your so ultra focused thats ALL you notice...well theres something wrong alright but not with the game.... >.>;
as a closing question what is the point behind this sites bash-happy ways of late? I mean come on 4 post about how somethign sucks, 1 post about how highschool of the dead is great cause it's got boobs in it....what are you 7?
I'm sorry but I have to roll my eyes at you sir. First of all, my PC is MORE than good enough to play this game at max settings. Especially since the game is capped at 30 frames per second...
I'll say it again. I've been playing since the alpha launched. The game was no where near ready then, and not much has changed since then. It's shocking that they spent money making this, not to mention charging money for it.
They could have perhaps gotten away with this 8 years ago. But today the standards are different. It is, at it's core (figuratively and literally) FFXI with better graphics and less interesting zones. I loved FFXI, and I played it for many years... but I got tired of it. The game needed to evolve, and I was really excited when FFXIV was announced, because I thought that was what was going to happen.
This is not a game that is just not quite living up to its hype. This is a game that is at least 10 years behind the standards set by other MMOs. It has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
lol, you're a fuckin tool.
No its not, fucking sunday I have go to fucking work in 4 fucking hours because every fucker in my fucking apartment is fucking ill, NOW CAN YOU SEE WHY I'M SO FUCKING ANGRY!!!!!!!!!
i see retards thinking square enix or any jap companies can make mmorpg up to blizzard's calibre. WOW has it flaws but u can see the dev team constantly striving to balance the game, and not let sth outrageous break it. That's the spirit and what keeps players not too frustrated when shit goes wrong. Whats the point of having extremely beautiful graphics when the game is flawed fundamentally:laggish,sluggish movement and profession,long loading times and exp cap,i mean seriously?
i used to be a jp game fanboy but sadly most jap games made in recent years are a disappointment and just feels like a blackhole to suck your money,the latest being ANOTHER CENTURY'S EPISODE R from ps3. Support blizzard if u like quality games honestly
Still better then WoW.
ENJOYMENT IS FUTILE!
The map looks like a screenshot from Civilization, with it's square lakes and 90 degree rivers and coasts. They couldn't make the landmass look at least a little natural?
Guess it makes it easier to copy and paste.
While I won't be playing this for other reasons; pretty much every MMO is guilty of this, I don't see what the big deal is.
I'm so tired of "NO TOWNS"
Yes, Final Fantasy is not a great game. BUT IT'S NOT BECAUSE IT LACKED TOWNS.
It's because of tens of other things.
I brought FF XIV without waiting for reviews because I was sure this game would rock.. and it really is shit. The copy paste thing people are complaining about is justified, I noticed it after 5 mins play outside town. The interface is obsurd, the combat slow and laggy, its like they couldn't be bothered with quests and just had you talk to the same people and then go to the same place to activate it.. WHY? crafting seems hit or miss (dont get me started on fishing) in fact other than the nice repetitive visuals the game has nothing going for it. The last game I played was a free to play game called runes of magic, and that had a much better interface, city areas, ah, homes, chat, combat, WAY less lag etc etc. I'm really pissed I brought this game. I want my money back.
Took hours to dl the beta, only to be disappointed entirely. Loved ffxi, for a little while.
I was really looking forward to this game, and was shot down :[
I'm playing beta and was a bit surprised when I found no dungeons, instances, or any variety in the terrain.
The world just consists of mobs scattered around bland terrain with the same vegetation for miles.
(at least that's the case for the firs week of play)
I put the game down for now, the UI issues, mouse issues and so many small issues which you can't ignore, make it almost unplayable for me.
The most fun I had was in the character creator, that speaks volumes.
it's BETA version what you expected from it
Played since the OB and I'm really liking it. Copy-pasta environments? Oh please, I enjoyed PSO 1 & 2, and if I let something like this bother me, I wouldn't play games at all.
Slow combat, slow progression, slow overall feel, is nice for a while. Having played WoW, AoC, WAR and GW, they all had the feel that I'm in a hurry all the time, level asap, grind asap to get enough stuff for raid etc. FFXIV could probably break that trend for me.
I find the 'mood' for an adventure like I first had in PSO to be there too. Have you walked around in Gridania just watching around and looking at the lamps hanging from ceiling? Marvelous.
i still play pso, however that isn't a far different game than this.
that is more of an action game wraped in an rpg shell
I hate to be the guy that defends this stuff but I'd like to see a WoW version of this. like, EVERY inn is an exact duplicate.
1 word: pokécenter
ok, the inside of a building that is ment to be familiar where ever you go, compared to a whole fucking world... you kind of see why your argument holds no watter... right?
It's not the whole world, it's just the map and terrain. People are just looking for any reason to attack the game atm. I will be the first one to say, yes it does suck atm, but ffs give it a rest. It IS still in BETA.
@Kazaki
It's the people like you that are greatly to blame for SE's actions. That is to say, releasing shitty FF games that cannot hold a candle to the games of the past. People like you defend their games no matter how bad they are and even worse, you actually buy them. The high level of sales, in turn, signal SE that despite having released another turd of a game, people are still buying it and so they release more and more sub-standard quality games.
FFX was the nail in the coffin for me. I just stopped after playing it. I still love SE's (then Squaresoft) older games, but they are never going to begin creating good games ever again unless people turn their backs on them and stop buying the shit they are making now.
they have 5 maps up there and screenshots that its copy paste. and no word (as if we can trust that anyway) that it will change when it out of beta.
people who were looking forward to this
as in me, i look forward to most mmo's in hopes i can find something fun.
have every right to bitch, and hopefully bitch so loud they change there fucking minds on what they are doing.
not voicing your opinions is how we the customers get FUCKED by big companies on things.
The game is LAUNCHING in like 10 days. Please, for the love of god, stop saying "it's beta."
Unless you really believe there is gonna be some huge patch on release day that changes entire maps in the game. And I don't believe anyone can be that naive.
No one mentions they dint even bother to change the engine from their last game they use the same engine they used on the 360 and ps3 for ff13. They did not even convert the formats the game uses to standard pc format so your computer has to convert everything before it even loads the maps and players.
Wow, you truly have no idea what you're talking about.
if he is complaning about long load times, than he is a fucking twat. this game is massively detailed, if i give it credit for anything its that. and all that detail is a bitch to load.
i realy wish they had more pc optimization so this thing required less to run, i mean it looks good, but it doesn't look it needs a gforce 460 to run at 1280x720 on high settings good.
Even copypasta would still have been better than the series of tunnels that was FFXIII.
oooooo thats a hard one.
a series of tunnels, but not one tunnel looks the same as any other one (i only for 7-10 hours in)
or a game thats big and open but is all the same shit... thats a tough one
played the beta.
tried out all the classes, but the best one was the uninstall wizard.
pants-on-head retarded menu system. targeting is a chore, crashes fairly often to warrant more than mere annoyance.
at least it looks good
So it's the most valuable class again? Good to know that they kept the essentials from FFXI...
LoL @ uninstall wizard.
Truly the only class worth playing.
I've played since alpha and the game is truly a joke. Gameplay is really tedious and boring (especially combat - which was even slower and more boring during alpha believe it or not). The dull environments affirm the really boring/tedious/slow feel of the game. If you guys don't believe the game really is all copy and paste by all means try it. But anyone whos played a significant amount of time will tell you that environment is bland, empty and repetitive. It's just incredibly boring. It's all rolling hills and empty repetative fields...
Nothing like some of the early promising screens:
http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/rpg/finalfantasy14/images/0/131/?full_size=1
Fuck uninstall wizard. Just remove everything including the little specks of shit it tends to leave behind in Registry with CCleaner.