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I have played mmorpg's since I first started with Everquest in 1999. I started playing FFXI in November 2003, and been happy with that ever since.
Ever so once in a while, I manage to get friends to join the game to try it out. So far, it's been 100% computer players.
Of the 8 or 9 friends that I've recruited into this game, only 2 have chosen to stay. The major reason for this is the graphical engine.
Command LAG
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The one thing that enfuriates my friends enough to leave the game, is the delay between pressing a command, and it actually doing something. I'm not talking about server lag (or maybe I am?), but the built-in delay in the game from keystrokes happen until a player can see something happen on the screen. It is simply too long. When my friends have tried the game, five of them quit the game again just days after because of this.
Sitting down, standing up, engaging in combat, casting spells is all something that they expect immediate response from, and not a half to a full second (or more sometimes). Everyone I know in-game, including myself, that play on PC, *still* have issues with this. As recently as yesterday, in a party, I had to repeatedly press macros because even though the macro window appears holding down CTRL or ALT, when pressing the proper command, things don't happen at once, and you're left wondering if your keyboard is messed up.
This "Command LAG" as I've entitled it, is a major, major showstopper for the game. I do not know how this is on PS or 360, but on PC, it is a fun killer, and, like I said, all the people that I invited to the game, left it because of this.
MACROS
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Another issue that most of my friends adressed, was the need to hold down CTRL or ALT keys for any macro to be executed. There is no reason for this on PC. The keyboard and macros in particular should be fully customizeable, so if a player would like his/her macros mapped to keys 0 to 9 and use SHIFT + 0 to 9 for the alternate macro set, he should be allowed to do so. Having to press TWO keys to execute a macro is cumbersome and prone to errors. This should be adressed.
CUSTOMIZATION
---------------------
Font sizes should be customizeable, and there really should be an option to put damage output in a separate window. Today, the only options are to either filter away damage, and loose that information - or keep it, and loose in-game communication with friends, party and linkshell. Particularly during events that require alliances, the text spam prevents the players from fully taking advantage of the information presented to them. The split/hold window has very limited capacity, and is nowhere near a solution for these problems.
WINDOWS
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Last, but absolutely not least, it should be possible to ALT-TAB into windows, so that the player does not need to log out of the game to check his email, use his instant messaging system, or perform other tasks on the computer. Players on the XBox and PS will more than likely already have a PC close by, and many other players have a separate laptop or computer for this purpose only. I understand the fear of third party applications that this would open up the possibility for the players to use, but frankly, I do not believe that it would make things worse in game (RMT / Hacks) than it already is. Consider other games where ALT-TAB is indeed possible, there isn't more cheating going on there than in FFXI. Technically, I'm more than confident in that SE posesses the skills required to catch all illegitimate use of 3d party software.
RMT's and GM Presence
------------------------------
There are, at least on Leviathan where I play, a number of players that are so apparently RMT that you start to wonder what kind of deal they have with SE that allows them to stay there without being banned. I can name several characters in-game that are positioned at the same location, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, killing the same monsters over and over again, and never doing anything else. In my view, GM's should be forced to be visible, and at the same time be forced to be located in player-visible areas. Much like a visible police presence, I believe this would dramatically reduce the number of player / player issues, and practically remove all RMT activity where this is happening. 90% of the player base is well behaved, and does not need to worry about that GM presence anyway, so to have such a "GM PAtrol" in-game can only be positive. It would also help immensly to the ever going spam in Jeuno and whitegate from players that should perhaps have gone to sleep instead of incomodating everyone else in the zone.
I really hope that someone within SE reads this post, and can communicate the contents of it to someone that can do something about it. If you do, thanks for listening
Ever so once in a while, I manage to get friends to join the game to try it out. So far, it's been 100% computer players.
Of the 8 or 9 friends that I've recruited into this game, only 2 have chosen to stay. The major reason for this is the graphical engine.
Command LAG
------------------
The one thing that enfuriates my friends enough to leave the game, is the delay between pressing a command, and it actually doing something. I'm not talking about server lag (or maybe I am?), but the built-in delay in the game from keystrokes happen until a player can see something happen on the screen. It is simply too long. When my friends have tried the game, five of them quit the game again just days after because of this.
Sitting down, standing up, engaging in combat, casting spells is all something that they expect immediate response from, and not a half to a full second (or more sometimes). Everyone I know in-game, including myself, that play on PC, *still* have issues with this. As recently as yesterday, in a party, I had to repeatedly press macros because even though the macro window appears holding down CTRL or ALT, when pressing the proper command, things don't happen at once, and you're left wondering if your keyboard is messed up.
This "Command LAG" as I've entitled it, is a major, major showstopper for the game. I do not know how this is on PS or 360, but on PC, it is a fun killer, and, like I said, all the people that I invited to the game, left it because of this.
MACROS
----------
Another issue that most of my friends adressed, was the need to hold down CTRL or ALT keys for any macro to be executed. There is no reason for this on PC. The keyboard and macros in particular should be fully customizeable, so if a player would like his/her macros mapped to keys 0 to 9 and use SHIFT + 0 to 9 for the alternate macro set, he should be allowed to do so. Having to press TWO keys to execute a macro is cumbersome and prone to errors. This should be adressed.
CUSTOMIZATION
---------------------
Font sizes should be customizeable, and there really should be an option to put damage output in a separate window. Today, the only options are to either filter away damage, and loose that information - or keep it, and loose in-game communication with friends, party and linkshell. Particularly during events that require alliances, the text spam prevents the players from fully taking advantage of the information presented to them. The split/hold window has very limited capacity, and is nowhere near a solution for these problems.
WINDOWS
-------------
Last, but absolutely not least, it should be possible to ALT-TAB into windows, so that the player does not need to log out of the game to check his email, use his instant messaging system, or perform other tasks on the computer. Players on the XBox and PS will more than likely already have a PC close by, and many other players have a separate laptop or computer for this purpose only. I understand the fear of third party applications that this would open up the possibility for the players to use, but frankly, I do not believe that it would make things worse in game (RMT / Hacks) than it already is. Consider other games where ALT-TAB is indeed possible, there isn't more cheating going on there than in FFXI. Technically, I'm more than confident in that SE posesses the skills required to catch all illegitimate use of 3d party software.
RMT's and GM Presence
------------------------------
There are, at least on Leviathan where I play, a number of players that are so apparently RMT that you start to wonder what kind of deal they have with SE that allows them to stay there without being banned. I can name several characters in-game that are positioned at the same location, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, killing the same monsters over and over again, and never doing anything else. In my view, GM's should be forced to be visible, and at the same time be forced to be located in player-visible areas. Much like a visible police presence, I believe this would dramatically reduce the number of player / player issues, and practically remove all RMT activity where this is happening. 90% of the player base is well behaved, and does not need to worry about that GM presence anyway, so to have such a "GM PAtrol" in-game can only be positive. It would also help immensly to the ever going spam in Jeuno and whitegate from players that should perhaps have gone to sleep instead of incomodating everyone else in the zone.
I really hope that someone within SE reads this post, and can communicate the contents of it to someone that can do something about it. If you do, thanks for listening
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