FFXIV Poll Raises Questions

The Player's Poll shows developers are listening, but do they know what to do?

In the days leading up to New Year’s Eve, we learned new information about Final Fantasy XIV would hit the Lodestone Web site on New Year’s Day.

We were hoping for answers, but all we got were more questions – literally.

Players who checked The Lodestone on New Year’s Day found the Final Fantasy XIV Player’s Poll. The online survey asks players about their previous gaming experiences, their favorite pastimes in Eorzea and which updates they would like to see happen first. Posted along with the survey was a greeting from FFXIV producer Naoki Yoshida.

Reaction to the survey has been mixed, and for good reason. On one hand, continued communication from the development team is a great thing. In fact, communication is the one thing Square Enix can do right now to make the FFXIV experience remarkable. On the other hand, I would feel better knowing the development team was working around the clock toward accomplishing a clear set of goals – and how can that be happening if the development team is asking us for directions?

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Then there’s the opening of the third paragraph of Yoshida’s Lodestone post, which states: “As part of the new direction promised, we here on the development and management teams have adopted four new keywords for Final Fantasy XIV: fun, live, reboot and rebuild.” Then, the last question of the Player’s Poll asks whether players would accept changes that “drastically alter the way we know Eorzea.”

Is that cryptic, or is that cryptic?

When anticipating the New Year’s Day Lodestone post, I was hoping for another outline of upcoming updates for Final Fantasy XIV. I wanted to find out when new quests would be coming, and whether we would get any new events, battlefields or other features during the next few months. More than anything, I was hoping for confirmation that updates would come faster and sooner than originally planned.

All of those things were included in the Player’s Poll, but with absolutely no indication of when to expect anything – and with a vague hint that everything might change.

Also unclear is whether Square Enix plans to blindly follow the will of Lodestone users. The lack of an auction house in FFXIV has been the source of numerous online debates; I dedicated an entire editorial as to why an auction house should be implemented. Really though, implementing an auction house shouldn’t take precedence over adding content to the game. But if enough irate gamers checked the auction house box on their surveys, does that mean it could be another several months before there are more things to do in game? Will the development team be wise enough to take the Player’s Poll results with a huge grain of salt?

The Player’s Poll proves the development team is aware of the task at hand. If each issue on the poll is addressed in a timely manner, then this game can still be great. I also appreciate the casual tone of Yoshida’s message. However, I certainly hope this poll is followed by actual information. What is the development team’s plan for FFXIV? How does this survey fit into that?

And what is all this talk of “reboot and rebuild”? That doesn’t exactly encourage me to log in and spend hours a week playing. If there’s one thing that can deter me from playing, it’s the threat that everything I’ve accomplished in game could be negated by a version update. Everyone who has played this game since launch deserves to know the extent of a possible FFXIV reboot.

That said, I marked on my survey that I would welcome dramatic changes to the game. It’s not that I’m unhappy with the game in its current state. In fact, I’m quite happy with the gameplay and user interface. We must remember though that FFXIV was recently given a new development team, and this new team should have the freedom to take this game in the direction it sees fit. If that means making some wholesale changes to crafting, the battle system or anything else in the game, then now’s the time to do it, while we’re all still playing for free.

To say this game got off to a bad start is an understatement, but the November and December updates left me feeling confident about where FFXIV is heading. The development team was upfront about upcoming changes to the game, and then developers delivered on those promises. That, perhaps more than the updates, told players that Eorzea was here to stay.

Now, though, I can’t help but feel there are more questions than answers.

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#REDACTED, Posted: Jan 04 2011 at 3:42 AM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) ...WHEN will there be a complete server-wipe? (or even WILL it happen after all?)
The question is...
# Jan 04 2011 at 9:44 AM Rating: Good
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80 posts
I'm not sure you can just call anyone who supports this game a fanboy. I know people who play it, and enjoy it, that did not play FFXI. I enjoy what this game has to offer despite it's flaws. Flaws that are are going to be fixed, and hey they aren't even charging me to play it!

In my opinion the people who hop on forums just to bash this game by rehashing posts upon posts of other peoples opinions just because everyone else hates the game are FFXIV's twisted version of "fanboy's". "trollboy's". Yes an AH would be nice, more content would be awesome, etc... everyone knows this. Eorzea has a lot to offer those who want to experience it.

Edited: this was a reply to the post above.

Edited, Jan 4th 2011 10:48am by Sploder
Should have read interview before writing editorial
# Jan 04 2011 at 1:54 AM Rating: Decent
Before writing that editorial you should have read the 4Gamer interview with Yoshida (Eorzeapedia has an inofficial translation).

It's clear from your editorial that you haven't, or at least have only read small excerpts of it.
Should have read interview before writing editorial
# Jan 04 2011 at 2:44 AM Rating: Excellent
Thanks for pointing that out! However, after reading the entire interview (both parts), it doesn't change anything I wrote in my editorial. The gist of the interview is that SE is trying to win back our trust, which is something we already knew. No clear direction is given for the game's development over the coming year, and nothing is said about "rebooting" or "rebuilding" the game. It is all very vague.
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Should have read interview before writing editorial
# Jan 04 2011 at 8:39 AM Rating: Decent
My impression of the interview was that it explained why they can't yet give clear answers about "when", "how" and other things, and I thought it could have been useful to include that point in the editorial.

I expect more information to be released within a week or two... If not, I might consider going into rage mode :o
Agree to serious changes.
# Jan 04 2011 at 12:53 AM Rating: Default
I felt some of the answers to those questions were too incomplete, I really wish i could have had a paragraph or two to tell them my mind on some key issues.

But the last one I can only hope a lot of people checked they wanted to see some of those changes. What kind of game Is ff without those all so familiar classes. Warrior white mage thief, red mage, etc. I never cared for the mage classes in my time playing FF, but they could do a little better then what they offer in 14. One is a black mage white mage rolled into one class, and a lot of times are forced or assumed they will be heals for the party. The other has enfeeblement spells and lacks a little bite. I may be wrong and sure people will disagree with me but they can do a little better with the class design. I would welcome an over hall to the classes, and the map of the black shroud. Looks like a 5 year old took a crayon and drew on some paper and they used that as a blue print for a map. Add a heavy amount of Copy and paste and there you have it.

The question I liked the most was to the lines of what do you like about ff14 and my answer .. other: the potential

Ok end of my rant.
The answer:
# Jan 03 2011 at 10:46 PM Rating: Good
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2,448 posts
Know why they need to ask us what's next? Because they already fixed most of what we complained about in the beta forums feedback threads they never read. Unfortunately, because nothing was fixed in the beta, we were never able to move beyond the first set of issues. If they had solved these issues then, we would already have moved on to where we are now, but at a much sooner date in time.

Clearly the issues of party play and story content are the two single largest beasts that need to be tackled. These are the two main reasons people play MMO's.

1.) To enjoy content with friends.
2.) To enjoy content with friends.

c whut i did thar?
The answer:
# Jan 04 2011 at 11:07 AM Rating: Decent
I think you've hit the nail on the head.

As for some of the speculation as to why the poll; I see a lot of people assuming that we all want an AH. This poll will show what the population really feels, not just the people who are vocal in forums and with the feedback links. (I for one am willing to try an alternate system which performs a similar function. I think the idea of Retainers and merchant stalls is nifty, but poorly implemented. The current search is inadequate, and the wards are clunky are poorly located. Better, but still not Good.)

I saw someone mention the world felt 'dead' to them. I thought it was just me, a hangover from launch day when you could travel almost anywhere without getting jumped. (I can handle things being a little off-kilter right at initial launch.) But there's no theme, nothing feels 'full'... like an artist's drawing board with just the wireframe sketched in. The animals wander aimlessly and I kill them for no particular reason. Right now crafting is all that seems worthwhile, and without the proper market supply and demand the result is empty anyhow.

I think this game has an awesome framework built, and other than some minor tweaks to some of the game systems all it needs is a MASSIVE amount of content. I'm talking models, gear, quests, enemies, story, the whole bit. And they need to add more Game World area for us by the time pay to play kicks in, to make up for the whole Fiasco. People are calling for server wipes... but I don't think it will be necessary. I would be happier to have them just give all of us a free extra Character slot when paytoplay kicks in. That way we can restart a new char to take advantage of all the new content, and still keep the chars we've invested time in. Because at this point at least some of us have paid to help put this game through the *REAL* Beta-test stage, and all of us have put in our time.
The answer:
# Jan 04 2011 at 3:48 AM Rating: Decent
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101 posts
I have to agree. I think people are concerned with the AH a bit too much, and I have a feeling that SE might give up on their commitment to market wards because of that. An AH would placate some players for a short period of time, but it's obvious that an AH is far from FFXIV's most pressing problem (in fact I like the market wards but thats a different matter.) In depth content and changes to encourage group play are integral to changing how players feel about this game. I would argue people will deal with the market wards, especially after the most recent changes, but without group centered content, there will always be a sense of something missing from the game. I'm worried that SE will spend time dealing with some of the more immediate, superficial changes that get most of the attention rather than building something significant and substantial.
The answer:
# Jan 04 2011 at 11:47 AM Rating: Default
FinalSwag wrote:
I have to agree. I think people are concerned with the AH a bit too much, and I have a feeling that SE might give up on their commitment to market wards because of that. An AH would placate some players for a short period of time, but it's obvious that an AH is far from FFXIV's most pressing problem (in fact I like the market wards but thats a different matter.) ... I'm worried that SE will spend time dealing with some of the more immediate, superficial changes that get most of the attention rather than building something significant and substantial.

I am of the same opinion.

i do feel that they threw around the words rebuild and reboot a little half-hazardly. They are not going to reset player accounts, that would be a dangerous move. Having read the interviews though, the keyword was 'trust' and thats what i think the rebuild and reboot is all about. Rebuild trust with current players, and reboot the trust of players who abandoned the game.

I choose 'no' for drastic changes, because i would rather see this game being built upon, rather then demolished and restructured. I like the game the way it is right now(i feel like one of the rare few), would rather see things added to increase my like of the game.
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