Final Fantasy XIV Version 1.0 Comes to a Close
Final Fantasy XIV was probably the most maligned game in the franchise when it was released in September of 2010. Being an MMORPG, it was already going to be reviled by most fans. People that like other games in the series still deride FFXI, many of whom never even played it, simply because of its always online, subscription based nature. Although FFXI started off a bit rocky, it grew to be a success, and one of Square-Enix's most profitable titles. Despite World of Warcraft dwarfing it in terms of subscribers, FFXI had its playerbase that stuck with it throughout the years. But over time it started to show its age more and more. Cue FFXIV, which S-E hoped would replace FFXI as their premiere cash cow.
They were not ready for the level of criticism they received. Although beta testers provided feedback on the official forums about various systems and functionality, they were by and large for the most part ignored and S-E went ahead and released the game in what many considered to be an unfinished state. Critics said it felt like the game had been outsourced, with many of the environments being copy/paste jobs of the same terrain. Fans criticized the fatigue system, wherein players would receive less experience points after playing for an extended period of time. Players bemoaned the lack of an auction house to sell goods (the retainer system being overly complicated for most gamers' taste that were used to FFXI and WoW's AHs). Series staples like chocobos and airships were MIA. In short, the game was a travesty to many players.
Square is hoping to do what no developer has done before. Usually after a MMO launch flops, the game quickly folds, either going F2P or canceling development outright. After a couple months of trying to stem the hemmorhaging of players, S-E issued a formal apology and had the director Tanaka, step down from the project, and relative newcomer, Naoki Yoshida (affectionately known as Yoshi-P by the fan community) step up to the plate in order to try and fix the game. S-E resolved to turn the game around and give the fans exactly what they wanted. In the year that followed, several systems saw major overhauls while the team worked on another engine that would alleviate many of the problems players had with the current infrastructure of the game, such as not having a mailbox to be able to mail items to other players. While adding content to keep the existing players happy (who were allowed to continue playing for free instead of having to pay a sub), Square sought to bring FFXIV up to par with all the features that a modern MMO currently offers.
I played FFXIV for a year (December 2010 - December 2011), but in January of 2012, S-E decided to start charging again, and I decided to take my gil (the ubiquitous currency of the series) elsewhere. As far as I was concerned FFXIV still wasn't up to snuff. I also didn't like how they simplified the crafting system (which was very well thought out to be realistic), the repair system, and gutted my character of the skills I had acquired. I also didn't like the direction that S-E showed with their roadmap. It looked like a pretty generic western MMO, and not the successor to Final Fantasy XI that many fans hoped XIV would be.
But my absence from the world didn't stop S-E from continuing on with their plans. They continued to add content to the game, content that would only be available to current players of the game in the game's current state. Over time, the red moon over Eorzea (the world that FFXIV takes place in) grew closer with every patch, foreshadowing an inevitable impact with the planet that would give S-E the reason and opportunity to design the world anew.
Yesterday marked the last day players could log in and play before Dalamud destroyed Eorzea as we know it. The old servers and the old game are now gone forever, and players await a bright, shiny future when the new servers with the new engine come online sometime in the next couple of months. I wish those adventurers the best. It's a future I no longer want any part of. The last cutscene S-E released is beautiful though. Then again, they've never slouched when it comes to the cinemas in their games, and this one is no exception. If you've made it this far you owe it to yourself to watch the video below.
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