FFXIV ARR is amazing! Kudos Yoshi P and team!Follow

Due to recent service outages there have been much negativity. So I thought I'd post something positive!!

Played 1.0 at release for casually 2 months or so, didn't get too far but felt so disillusioned I just had to stop.

Rebought FFXIV ARR and I have to say, HUGE kudos to Yoshi P and the team. I'm only level 15 out from Gridania but so far I have been very impressed. They have seriously turned this game around! It's actually FUN and jam-packed full of intriguing story, great gameplay, and an amazing sense and realisation of the world of Eorzea.

Not only am I amazed at the many fundamental improvements to how the game plays (e.g. combat system, world layout), I've also loved the little things that the dev team have included which reflects their incredible attention to detail. I'm loving the little things like when you zone, your character doesn't just suddenly stop and the screen fades. You actually see your character run off into the next zone, making it a more seamless transition. Like when you are amongst larger crowds of players there's rustle-and-bustle murmuring and crowd-like noises. Also love how a lot of unnecessary server-side processes (e.g. dialogue) have been changed to client-side; makes things much swifter and quicker. Also love the little icons and logos on top of mobs, marking their importance—quest mob, hunter's log mob, etc.

Also I want to mention how GREAT the gamepad works. PC players without gamepad—GO GET A CONTROLLER!!! You won't regret it! It makes adventuring so much more relaxing and creates greater opportunities to take in the sights and sounds of this fantastic world!

I think there are still little niggles here and there that hopefully will be improved on: I think there is definitely room to improve how mobs are labelled; often there's just a clutter of mob text littered across my screen which significantly cripples the journeying experience and immersion. We also can't compare loot easily.

But anyway, those are minor gripes. Wow is this game much better than I had expected. Can't wait to see more!!

Anyone want to share their most-loved changes in ARR?


Edited, Aug 26th 2013 1:30am by tarutso

Heh

Made me giggle.

100% in agreement!

Great point. It just feels like the dev team took lessons from a wide range of games with split loot, split nodes, split mob tags. Reminds me of how great Diablo III's looting system was when playing friends—no fighting over loot which ultimately leads to less annoyance/bickering, more fun! There seems to be quite a number of features that FFXIV borrows and tailors for itself.

Edited, Aug 26th 2013 1:27am by tarutso