https://www.vice.com/en/article/i-th...ve-with-ffxiv/
FFXIV has been my favorite MMO, hell, my favorite game for over 10 years now. I’ve vehemently defended it since ‘A Realm Reborn,’ nearly costing me friendships over arguments on why it’s so much better than World of Warcraft in every conceivable way. Yeah, I used to be that guy. I’m still that guy, but I used to be, too (thanks, Mitch). And now, I sit here, having not touched the game since ‘Dawntrail,’ wondering what’s happened. Was it a symptom of rampant Final Fantasy fanboyism? Were the warning signs there all along, and I just missed them? Am I just a boomer, shaking my fists at the sky and longing for the old days? Probably.
I’ve more fond memories of FFXIV than I can count. Meeting some of my best online friends through random FATE parties. Theorizing the plot of ‘Shadowbringers’ alongside my buddies as we experience it together. The Titan fight from ‘A Realm Reborn’. The Pre-‘Endwalker’ PvP scene. Eureka. Man, do I miss when Eureka was at its peak.
I can’t really pinpoint the exact reason for my FFXIV spark fizzling out. I just know, somewhere along the line, it has.
Maybe it’s due to the rampant job homogenization over the past few expansions, nearly stripping what’s left of any class identity in the game. Where every job essentially produces the same results with a different coat of paint.
‘FFXIV’s jobs were a beautiful mess, but they served a purpose
It’s an odd feeling, running a dungeon while decked out in classic Paladin armor. When, somewhere in my mind, I’m just imagining four blank assets, each with red, green, or blue tints to denote their role in the group. I no longer feel like ‘The Paladin’ anymore; I’m just ‘The Tank.’
Jobs may not have mattered that much in dungeons, but now? You might as well remove job icons altogether. Hell, just remove healers as a whole, since they’ve become redundant enough that parties are statistically more efficient without them. As tanks and DPS jobs become more self-sustainable with each expansion, it’s no wonder the literal hardest content in the game is being cleared without healers present.
I know, I know; job balance was all over the place before 4.0, and certain designs were counter-intuitive to engaging gameplay. But you’ll never convince me ‘Heavensward’s Astrologian wasn’t brilliant, albeit intimidating to play. You can’t deny that a good Dragoon wasn’t an impressive feat to witness or that managing MP on a Dark Knight gave players, I don’t know, something to do.
I miss the class diversity. When what little buffs and debuffs the game has mattered. Grinding a different job for specific sub-skills, creating even a crumb of agency in your skill set. When having a Bard in the raid was cause for celebration rather than glossed over to fill a ‘Ranged DPS’ role. I don’t know; I just feel like if I no longer have to adjust my strategy to play any given job under a particular role, there’s a problem here. Maybe we’ve made it too streamlined.
It’s okay to disrupt the status quo
Maybe it’s due to the hyper-formulaic approach that nearly all FFXIV PvE content suffers from. The dungeons, with each new addition a predictable pattern of three to four bosses. Those bosses, separated by a few groups of trash mobs, further separated by a series of walls ensuring your group can pull just enough (but not too much!) to force one or two Cures out of your healer.
Yeah, The Aurum Vale was a nightmare, but guess what? You’ve never forgotten about it. The wipes, the DPS standing in the piss pools, the bad breath. It’s burnt in every 2.0 player’s mind. On the contrary, I couldn’t tell you the name of a single dungeon from ‘Dawntrail’. Not one!
Now, FFXIV‘s content formula is all the more apparent, increasing the gap between patch cycles while giving us less content than ever before. One new dungeon that never dares to stray from the usual, tired format. One new trial boss that just might wipe your party a few times. Maybe a new raid series that, really, are just trial bosses with slightly more advanced mechanics.
If we’re lucky, a new relic weapon quest series may appear. If we’re really lucky, obtaining those relic weapons may actually require a modicum of effort from the player aside from spamming duty roulettes. Hey, if we’re really, really lucky, we may even get a rehashed seasonal event that somehow requires even less effort than before to complete.
“Alexander?” *lights cigarette* “Haven’t heard that name in years”
Remember when raids in FFXIV felt like, you know, raids? When you’d enter massive labyrinths, each with their own unique designs, and had to fight your way to a boss? When some Turns of a raid didn’t even feature a boss, but instead a challenging gauntlet of enemies, or something less predictable than what we’re offered today?
Exploring the Coils of Bahamut in FFXIV, navigating within the chambers of Alexander. Both incredible experiences that really drilled down the idea of the foreboding presence you were up against. I imagine it’s much like the feeling of entering Molten Core for the first time for WoW players.
It’s a stark difference from today’s FFXIV raids, teleporting you to familiar square-shaped arenas with bosses conveniently placed before you. Wanna bet the fourth boss of that new raid series has a second phase? Was actually traveling through a raid too difficult? Too time-consuming? Is this what players want now, an à la carte menu of appetizer-sized content?
In an effort to remove even the slightest amount of friction from the average FFXIV player’s experience, they’ve swung the pendulum so far that I fear it’s never returning. What once felt like an adventure now feels like skating on a smooth lake of ice, grazing the occasional pebble along the way to remind players they are, in fact, playing an MMO.
Maybe ‘FFXIV’ could use another shake-up
But FFXIV‘s reluctance to rock the boat has made it the most stale it’s ever been. Its sparse content output, packaged and served like Lunchables, is designed for mass consumption that anyone can stomach. Easy to digest, and even easier to forget.
Maybe I’m just a bitter elitist, waxing nostalgic for a game that’s outgrown my tastes. I can’t help it. Growing up with Ultima Online and Final Fantasy XI, two games with virtually no streamlining (back then, at least) and a penchant for making players earn every ounce of their progress, conditions me this way. I want that sense of achievement, but instead, I feel I’m standing in line for my inevitable turn to grab the bag of party favors.
Though, I can’t be the only one bitter with the way things are. Especially when FFXIV‘s shortcomings are constantly excused for its 1.0 “spaghetti code” year after year. Or when World of Warcraft, an MMO almost twice the age of FFXIV, releases a housing system that outclasses the latter in almost every way. Or when a consistently updating online store features purchasable headgear that still isn’t equippable by two of FFXIV‘s races.
I’m not sure what the point of all this rambling is, really. I’m not providing anything particularly helpful or new to FFXIV discourse. I still think it’s the best MMO available, and though it’s changed in a way I may not vibe with anymore, there’s clearly a reason behind it. And, you know what? If this is what players want Final Fantasy XIV to be, then this is what Final Fantasy XIV should be. Who cares what I think? I guess I’m just looking for a way to say goodbye to a game I love.
Continue reading...
FFXIV has been my favorite MMO, hell, my favorite game for over 10 years now. I’ve vehemently defended it since ‘A Realm Reborn,’ nearly costing me friendships over arguments on why it’s so much better than World of Warcraft in every conceivable way. Yeah, I used to be that guy. I’m still that guy, but I used to be, too (thanks, Mitch). And now, I sit here, having not touched the game since ‘Dawntrail,’ wondering what’s happened. Was it a symptom of rampant Final Fantasy fanboyism? Were the warning signs there all along, and I just missed them? Am I just a boomer, shaking my fists at the sky and longing for the old days? Probably.
I’ve more fond memories of FFXIV than I can count. Meeting some of my best online friends through random FATE parties. Theorizing the plot of ‘Shadowbringers’ alongside my buddies as we experience it together. The Titan fight from ‘A Realm Reborn’. The Pre-‘Endwalker’ PvP scene. Eureka. Man, do I miss when Eureka was at its peak.
I can’t really pinpoint the exact reason for my FFXIV spark fizzling out. I just know, somewhere along the line, it has.
Maybe it’s due to the rampant job homogenization over the past few expansions, nearly stripping what’s left of any class identity in the game. Where every job essentially produces the same results with a different coat of paint.
‘FFXIV’s jobs were a beautiful mess, but they served a purpose
It’s an odd feeling, running a dungeon while decked out in classic Paladin armor. When, somewhere in my mind, I’m just imagining four blank assets, each with red, green, or blue tints to denote their role in the group. I no longer feel like ‘The Paladin’ anymore; I’m just ‘The Tank.’
Jobs may not have mattered that much in dungeons, but now? You might as well remove job icons altogether. Hell, just remove healers as a whole, since they’ve become redundant enough that parties are statistically more efficient without them. As tanks and DPS jobs become more self-sustainable with each expansion, it’s no wonder the literal hardest content in the game is being cleared without healers present.
I know, I know; job balance was all over the place before 4.0, and certain designs were counter-intuitive to engaging gameplay. But you’ll never convince me ‘Heavensward’s Astrologian wasn’t brilliant, albeit intimidating to play. You can’t deny that a good Dragoon wasn’t an impressive feat to witness or that managing MP on a Dark Knight gave players, I don’t know, something to do.
I miss the class diversity. When what little buffs and debuffs the game has mattered. Grinding a different job for specific sub-skills, creating even a crumb of agency in your skill set. When having a Bard in the raid was cause for celebration rather than glossed over to fill a ‘Ranged DPS’ role. I don’t know; I just feel like if I no longer have to adjust my strategy to play any given job under a particular role, there’s a problem here. Maybe we’ve made it too streamlined.
It’s okay to disrupt the status quo
Maybe it’s due to the hyper-formulaic approach that nearly all FFXIV PvE content suffers from. The dungeons, with each new addition a predictable pattern of three to four bosses. Those bosses, separated by a few groups of trash mobs, further separated by a series of walls ensuring your group can pull just enough (but not too much!) to force one or two Cures out of your healer.
Yeah, The Aurum Vale was a nightmare, but guess what? You’ve never forgotten about it. The wipes, the DPS standing in the piss pools, the bad breath. It’s burnt in every 2.0 player’s mind. On the contrary, I couldn’t tell you the name of a single dungeon from ‘Dawntrail’. Not one!
Now, FFXIV‘s content formula is all the more apparent, increasing the gap between patch cycles while giving us less content than ever before. One new dungeon that never dares to stray from the usual, tired format. One new trial boss that just might wipe your party a few times. Maybe a new raid series that, really, are just trial bosses with slightly more advanced mechanics.
If we’re lucky, a new relic weapon quest series may appear. If we’re really lucky, obtaining those relic weapons may actually require a modicum of effort from the player aside from spamming duty roulettes. Hey, if we’re really, really lucky, we may even get a rehashed seasonal event that somehow requires even less effort than before to complete.
“Alexander?” *lights cigarette* “Haven’t heard that name in years”
Remember when raids in FFXIV felt like, you know, raids? When you’d enter massive labyrinths, each with their own unique designs, and had to fight your way to a boss? When some Turns of a raid didn’t even feature a boss, but instead a challenging gauntlet of enemies, or something less predictable than what we’re offered today?
Exploring the Coils of Bahamut in FFXIV, navigating within the chambers of Alexander. Both incredible experiences that really drilled down the idea of the foreboding presence you were up against. I imagine it’s much like the feeling of entering Molten Core for the first time for WoW players.
It’s a stark difference from today’s FFXIV raids, teleporting you to familiar square-shaped arenas with bosses conveniently placed before you. Wanna bet the fourth boss of that new raid series has a second phase? Was actually traveling through a raid too difficult? Too time-consuming? Is this what players want now, an à la carte menu of appetizer-sized content?
In an effort to remove even the slightest amount of friction from the average FFXIV player’s experience, they’ve swung the pendulum so far that I fear it’s never returning. What once felt like an adventure now feels like skating on a smooth lake of ice, grazing the occasional pebble along the way to remind players they are, in fact, playing an MMO.
Maybe ‘FFXIV’ could use another shake-up
But FFXIV‘s reluctance to rock the boat has made it the most stale it’s ever been. Its sparse content output, packaged and served like Lunchables, is designed for mass consumption that anyone can stomach. Easy to digest, and even easier to forget.
Maybe I’m just a bitter elitist, waxing nostalgic for a game that’s outgrown my tastes. I can’t help it. Growing up with Ultima Online and Final Fantasy XI, two games with virtually no streamlining (back then, at least) and a penchant for making players earn every ounce of their progress, conditions me this way. I want that sense of achievement, but instead, I feel I’m standing in line for my inevitable turn to grab the bag of party favors.
Though, I can’t be the only one bitter with the way things are. Especially when FFXIV‘s shortcomings are constantly excused for its 1.0 “spaghetti code” year after year. Or when World of Warcraft, an MMO almost twice the age of FFXIV, releases a housing system that outclasses the latter in almost every way. Or when a consistently updating online store features purchasable headgear that still isn’t equippable by two of FFXIV‘s races.
I’m not sure what the point of all this rambling is, really. I’m not providing anything particularly helpful or new to FFXIV discourse. I still think it’s the best MMO available, and though it’s changed in a way I may not vibe with anymore, there’s clearly a reason behind it. And, you know what? If this is what players want Final Fantasy XIV to be, then this is what Final Fantasy XIV should be. Who cares what I think? I guess I’m just looking for a way to say goodbye to a game I love.
Continue reading...