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Re: Honest First Impressions? (For those of us still on the fence)
While I'm sure some of you may appreciate J9's contributions, I need to add a remark here. J9, this thread is for those of us in this community that is currently on the fence regarding the purchase of this game at a later date (i.e., PS3) While you're certainly welcome to contribute, the fact that you do not currently play this game does not lend credence to your posting. Aksannyi has already said that she's been researching the various forums and communities and that she's hesitant with her decision because she realizes that a lot of the information on the internet is anecdotal and not evidenced-based. Much like your post.
Please refrain from posting or reposting the opinions of other players so as to not derail this thread. Leave this open to those of us from this community to add our comments and opinions about the game and let Aksannyi and the others decide on their own.
I'll add my opinions here in a minute.
---------- Post added at 11:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 AM ----------
I have few concerns with this game and will preface my understanding with the notion that this game is not unlike the other games of the genre. It's an MMORPG game. Massively Multiplayer Online RPG. Having solobility options only enhances it; but it is not and should not be the main focus of any titles under this genre. We already have a separate genre for those who are strictly seeking an individualized and personal experience.
With that said, I'll outline my expectations of any title released under this genre.
1. Time sink and lots of it.
Even though SE has stated it would take a more casual approach with this title, it is still developed as a huge time sink. The basic principal of any subscription based title is to create an incentive whereby players feel the need to spend an exorbitant amount of their time online. Despite the ridiculously ironic warning that pops up as you start the game, you're expected to put in time to advance or progress. Make no mistake about it; this game demands that kind of time investment.
For one thing, it is almost impossible to work on crafting on leve rewards alone. The rewards from leves have been reduced from beta while the basic mats have risen in price. Starting gear that was available from NPCs are no longer so classes that want to fill in an empty armor slot or two (marauder) do not have the option to "gear up" this time around. These forces a player to either squander hard earned Gils into the market (overpriced entry level crafted gear) or go into the time sink themselves.
While I feel strongly about having a need for an economy with crafters being an instrumental driving force behind it, I'm also wary of not providing an opportunity (i.e., AH) for the general populace to dictate the value of the items (classic supply vs. demand) I do not like FFXI's AH system, as it was very, very bad. I prefer the WoW AH system and let capitalism and free market do its work.
There's lots of farming, what with the constant need for shard, crystals and gathered items. Again, this is time sink in the classic sense and there's lots of it. If you absolutely abhor time sinks, then stay away from this game.
2. Lack of organization
There seems to be a lack of tools that help a player to either group up with friends or with just about anyone else. The tools to not have to be near someone in order to not only invite them into a party or linkshell but to even administrate functions such as promoting a player in the linkshell is a critical element which has been mysteriously left out. Either this is a decision based on design or a badly missed mistake, but in either case this needs to be rectified ASAP. WoW is the 10,000,000 ton gorilla and unfortunately any MMORPG title will be subjected to comparisons to that game. One thing that Blizzard did right, however, was the ease in which you could interact with other players and organizing a simple paired experience or up to a large 40 man raid was trivial at best. I wish SE will fix this.
3. Lack of communication
Another issue that I have problems with is the lack of communication tools. More emphasis was placed on emotes and associated voice overs and motion captured movements but not enough on basic chat functions. Communication, like organization, is an integral part of any MMORPG title, and any perceived hindrance to the proper operation of such functions will completely ruin any meaningful experience in the game. Again, this needs to be addressed quickly, probably more important than any other UI problem.
4. Minor issues
I'll just list a few other trivial issues:
1. Lack of monsters (low rate of spawn, this needs to be increased temporarily for the next few weeks and during peak hours)
2. Leve difficulty scales strangely. At the moment, I can 2-man a 5-man quest with such ease that it's disturbing. Yet, the rewards are not commensurate of the difficulty involved. Rewards need to be further adjusted to reflect both difficulties in the quest itself and in organizing larger groups in the first place.
3. Improper labeling (coloring) of difficulty on monsters. These are bugs that were reported during beta and still have not yet been fixed. Some yellows are easy as pie and some greens are just outright ridiculously difficult.
4. No in-game mail. Yes, this is detrimental to the experience and unless retainers are made more versatile and account based (rather than character base) this will forever be the crux of my discontent with this game. This alone would be important for me but may be trivial for many other players.
5. Targeting is clunky and needs to be addressed. This applies to both targeting of party members as well as targeting between multiple enemies.
These are just some of the issues that currently stick out in my mind more than others. Overall, I rate this game (at least in comparison to the early days of FFXI) to be far superior but it still lacks basic tools and functions which should not be happening in 2010. Compared with other MMORPG titles, however, it falls a bit short. I'm giving SE another 5 months before deciding whether to quit or continue.
Originally posted by jenova_9
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Please refrain from posting or reposting the opinions of other players so as to not derail this thread. Leave this open to those of us from this community to add our comments and opinions about the game and let Aksannyi and the others decide on their own.
I'll add my opinions here in a minute.
---------- Post added at 11:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 AM ----------
I have few concerns with this game and will preface my understanding with the notion that this game is not unlike the other games of the genre. It's an MMORPG game. Massively Multiplayer Online RPG. Having solobility options only enhances it; but it is not and should not be the main focus of any titles under this genre. We already have a separate genre for those who are strictly seeking an individualized and personal experience.
With that said, I'll outline my expectations of any title released under this genre.
1. Time sink and lots of it.
Even though SE has stated it would take a more casual approach with this title, it is still developed as a huge time sink. The basic principal of any subscription based title is to create an incentive whereby players feel the need to spend an exorbitant amount of their time online. Despite the ridiculously ironic warning that pops up as you start the game, you're expected to put in time to advance or progress. Make no mistake about it; this game demands that kind of time investment.
For one thing, it is almost impossible to work on crafting on leve rewards alone. The rewards from leves have been reduced from beta while the basic mats have risen in price. Starting gear that was available from NPCs are no longer so classes that want to fill in an empty armor slot or two (marauder) do not have the option to "gear up" this time around. These forces a player to either squander hard earned Gils into the market (overpriced entry level crafted gear) or go into the time sink themselves.
While I feel strongly about having a need for an economy with crafters being an instrumental driving force behind it, I'm also wary of not providing an opportunity (i.e., AH) for the general populace to dictate the value of the items (classic supply vs. demand) I do not like FFXI's AH system, as it was very, very bad. I prefer the WoW AH system and let capitalism and free market do its work.
There's lots of farming, what with the constant need for shard, crystals and gathered items. Again, this is time sink in the classic sense and there's lots of it. If you absolutely abhor time sinks, then stay away from this game.
2. Lack of organization
There seems to be a lack of tools that help a player to either group up with friends or with just about anyone else. The tools to not have to be near someone in order to not only invite them into a party or linkshell but to even administrate functions such as promoting a player in the linkshell is a critical element which has been mysteriously left out. Either this is a decision based on design or a badly missed mistake, but in either case this needs to be rectified ASAP. WoW is the 10,000,000 ton gorilla and unfortunately any MMORPG title will be subjected to comparisons to that game. One thing that Blizzard did right, however, was the ease in which you could interact with other players and organizing a simple paired experience or up to a large 40 man raid was trivial at best. I wish SE will fix this.
3. Lack of communication
Another issue that I have problems with is the lack of communication tools. More emphasis was placed on emotes and associated voice overs and motion captured movements but not enough on basic chat functions. Communication, like organization, is an integral part of any MMORPG title, and any perceived hindrance to the proper operation of such functions will completely ruin any meaningful experience in the game. Again, this needs to be addressed quickly, probably more important than any other UI problem.
4. Minor issues
I'll just list a few other trivial issues:
1. Lack of monsters (low rate of spawn, this needs to be increased temporarily for the next few weeks and during peak hours)
2. Leve difficulty scales strangely. At the moment, I can 2-man a 5-man quest with such ease that it's disturbing. Yet, the rewards are not commensurate of the difficulty involved. Rewards need to be further adjusted to reflect both difficulties in the quest itself and in organizing larger groups in the first place.
3. Improper labeling (coloring) of difficulty on monsters. These are bugs that were reported during beta and still have not yet been fixed. Some yellows are easy as pie and some greens are just outright ridiculously difficult.
4. No in-game mail. Yes, this is detrimental to the experience and unless retainers are made more versatile and account based (rather than character base) this will forever be the crux of my discontent with this game. This alone would be important for me but may be trivial for many other players.
5. Targeting is clunky and needs to be addressed. This applies to both targeting of party members as well as targeting between multiple enemies.
These are just some of the issues that currently stick out in my mind more than others. Overall, I rate this game (at least in comparison to the early days of FFXI) to be far superior but it still lacks basic tools and functions which should not be happening in 2010. Compared with other MMORPG titles, however, it falls a bit short. I'm giving SE another 5 months before deciding whether to quit or continue.
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