Mmorpg's First Impression Updated 07/03/2013Follow

Loved me some X, I can't wait to play it on my Vita.

A XII HATER!!! How dare you bash my precious XII on this Forums!!!

I still remember playing VII for the first time. I could tell the PS was a step up graphically. Then I put in VII and found out it hadn't till that point. A FInal Fantasy that played like the snes ones, not gameplay shrinked, but looked super.

Are you ******* kidding me? I was in love with my PS starting with this title. I still loved other FF more. But the impact VII had on PS. Good god!

Back in the PS1 days my favorite part of a new FF was the opening cinematic, man I loved those. They look clunky and boring now, but back then that was amazing ****.

It's a matter of what's offered by the game and what you participate in. Let's just throw together a list of potential activities:

1) Leveling combat classes.
2) Leveling craft skills/classes.
3) Quests/Missions/Stories.
4) Solo challenges.
5) Small-group Dungeons.
6) Large-group Raids.
7) Achievement hunting.
8) Pet collecting.
9) House construction.
10) Wardrobe management.
11) Role-playing.

You can add more, I'm sure, and say the sub model is a good value, but that depends on how much of the above you actually care for. The question then becomes how much of your $15/mo goes toward the things you enjoy to receive yet more of it. If you're someone who's only into 1, 2, and 3 where you cap all jobs/crafts and finish the story content, what do you do? Do you keep paying in hopes they'll add stuff for you in the next patch or maybe take a break? What if you pay for 6 months and get nothing new? Might you feel a little ripped off?

This is where loyalty can be bad as a consumer and leads to complacency from the developer. No, not everyone is going to like or want the same things out of SE, that much is apparent if you read a few critique and request threads. And I would hope that SE is internally tracking everything players do so they could put out stuff like a census saying, "x% of players have beaten this dungeon!" or "y% of players have leveled Gladiator to 50!' That kind of data will tell them the things players are into and will hopefully influence more of that content development. The exception I anticipate out of this, as seems to be the case with a lot of other MMOs, is #6. It doesn't matter how small the percentage of the population is that's beaten raid content (while boasting everyone else does it), it unfortunately seems the endgame focus and continues to be an avenue of exclusion for many.

But let's say the game is free to log in and take on basic tasks like 1, 2, 7, and 11 with the first dungeon available to let people have a taste. If you find you like 5, you could pay $3-5 for each dungeon after. But you might think, "There's like... 8 dungeons! That'd be $24-40! Rip-off!" How many dungeons would you realistically expect to come out in a 3 month span? Even at the most expensive end, that's less than 3 months sub and you're doing what you want. Stuff like costumes and pets have already proven successful in other games as simple fluff items, and hardly required to play. I'd also say the same of housing. Role-playing isn't something you can fundamentally charge players to do unless it's stuff like new emotes or scripted actions. Again, fluff. Achievements can certainly wiggle their way into all avenues and reward anything from titles to pets to mounts and then some. Realistically, these should also be limited to fluff, but sometimes "must have" items slip through. And if for any reason you want to take a break? There's no guilt about have 15 days left in the month feeling like your money's going down the drain.

While it may be simple to liken it to up-front payment against payment over time, a good F2P should be cheaper in the long-term for many. A sub model could even remain that offers content for free as well as discounts on the fluff things. Of course, I'd also make sure players have the option to "buy" new content with gil or some kind of currency they can acquire within the game itself. Have trial periods, promotion codes, bulk sales on things like dungeons, basically anything to tell consumers, "Hey, were making stuff! Play it!" And if people like it, they'll buy it. If people don't like something in a sub model? Well, they're usually not given much of a choice to explain why. It's either pay for that stuff too or unsub. In the end, even if you're happy, it doesn't mean everyone else is and addressing their grievances can't lead to a better game for everyone. That's why I've always hated the, "If you don't like it, quit!" or "Maybe this game isn't for you!" rhetoric that some like to spew. Like it or not, they've helped pay for a game you enjoy.

Yes, it was eh. I know everyone loves it but it just wasn't my thing.

You're under some kind of assumption that F2P is a magical DLC investment model that lets players fund the type of gameplay they want to see developed. The reality is, F2P is typically nothing more than a series of one-off items or bonuses designed to make the game easier for the purchaser and to line the pockets of the publisher; it's certainly not to direct future development for the most exciting player experiences from players who vote with their dollars. There's no ongoing game I can think of that offers what you describe; though I'd be fascinated to take a look at it if you can name one.

An MMO is supposed to be one game that evolves over time and where the players experience this progression with a continuity you can't get from jumping from one series title to the next. Subscription dollars are a fairly predictable source of income that lets developers create new content with confidence that the money won't run dry before they're finished; this is the sort of thing you can't get with the à la carte F2P style which seldom concerns itself with major new development except as a way to sell more things to buy for no more purpose than that.

More importantly, there are going to be things in an MMO that you may not care to participate in, but the fact that it exists makes the things you do like better. I have to remind hardcore players all the time that maybe they don't like casual play, but having a population of mostly casual players puts investment into their hardcore gameplay style within the game that they couldn't get if they went it alone. Maybe you like FFXIV for the crafting, and not the endgame, but having a lot of people into endgame gives you customers with which to sell your crafts and acquire ingredients. So you see, a good MMO creates opportunities for enjoyment among people who don't necessarily like the same thing, but their shared participation makes the whole experience possible and rewarding.

Those were always my favourite, too! That and figuring out the new levelling system (I still think X-2's garment grids were my favourite, though I'm aware that's an unpopular opinion).

Absolutely agree. The Dress Sphere system was very fun. It's the rest of the game that sucked for me. The story was just flat out bad, the reused environments got old, the lack of any notable CG after the first hour of play (for a FF game) was frustrating... it felt like they were just trying to cash in on the success of FFX without really thinking of how to put a solid game together.

Edited, Jul 2nd 2013 8:11am by BartelX

Yeah. I like to imagine X-2 just never happened.

Love it or hate it, the opening of X-2 is the best part of the game.



Saved the world. Held a rock concert.

Man, I'm so happy I didn't play that game! This is the only Final Fantasy so far that I drew the line at.

How I feel about FFX-2 --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czmb6tEwFE8