The Not So "Final" Fantasy

The Not So "Final" Fantasy By: Brandon Gunter



Source article "Final Fantasy XIV alpha has "no major problems," by
Marshall Honorof on the Escapist Magazine, November 2, 2012

In the video game industry Square Enix has been
privileged with being in control of the direction of one of the
world's most infamous titles and lead competitors in the online gaming
world. Since 1982 Square Enix attempted one last attempt at the game
industry releasing Final Fantasy which was successful enough to
project the company to spawn many great sequels and spin – offs. With
such accumulated suspense and expected greatness players found the two
year wait to be greatly disappointing in the first launch. The arrival
of the long awaited launch of FFXIV (Final Fantasy 14) was such a
disappointment that Square Enix decided to give players an extra
thirty day trial while they made some changes.

<img src="http://3xgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Final-Fantasy-14-5.jpg">

Unfortunately for players the overall quality of FFXIV
did not meet the expectations of consumers which had been accumulating
for the past two years since FFXI (Final Fantasy 11). Square Enix has
made considerable income over the years for their outrageously high
number of sequels and spin-offs but hasn't managed to come close in
success to the release of FFXI.

Considering players pay a set amount of money every
month to have an account to play, including costs for every extra
character, FFXI was defiantly the most successful Final Fantasy game
to date since its release in 2002 as it prepared to compete with the
vast World of Warcraft and successfully exceeding it. Putting too much
effort in outdoing themselves and constantly making improvements, the
changes have acted as the bane to this beast. The designers have
changed several game mechanics which have been proclaimed by many
consumers in disappointment. Knowing people who have been playing FFXI
since its release in 2002, they can't stress more on these
unreasonable changes.

In FFXI your regular melee attacks were automatic intervals based on
your weapon's delay rate. It's not like Square Enix could slightly
tweak this mechanic which worked so well, but they completely rewrote
it. Now in FFXIV you must click the button for every attack. But wait
that's not all… newly integrated is a new action bar. While waiting to
click your attack the action bar fills as the longer you wait to
attack the stronger your next attack will be.

The changes vary in size and relevancy but still have an influence on
the authentic feel of the originals. Square Enix unusually decided to
change the names of the races in the game which have stayed the same
for years. Feeling sympathy of his consumers Yoshida exclaimed that
"with all the changes that have come to pass, I realize that it must
have been difficult for you, the players." Getting feedback from
players, I found that they are reluctant to even learn the new names
of the same races they've been playing all along let alone adapt to
undesirable changes.





Sources :

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104445-Final-Fantasy-XIVs-Poor-Launch-Leads-to-Trial-Extension

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118089-Square-Says-Final-Fantasy-XI-Is-Its-Biggest-Cash-Chocobo