Nayan R.

Despite Square Enix’s constant delays when it comes to the release of Final Fantasy XIII in both Japan and North America, there was no trepidaton at Sony’s press conference two days ago when Jack Tretton announced Final Fantasy XIV, much to the surprise of fans all over.

Ostensibly a sequel to the massively multiplayer online title Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XIV is looking to be the second MMORPG in the series, but not more of the same. During the untelevised Q&A session that took place yesterday, Square Enix attendees made sure to point out that the title would be a step in a different directon from Final Fantasy XI.

What does Square Enix need, though, to make sure the game is successful, especially in this post-World of Warcraft era?

During the Q&A session, it was clear that World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs that had released since Final Fantasy XI first launched had made a large impression on the designers of FFXIV. Final Fantasy XI was working from an antiquated rule book: much of the conventions that made the game what it was were taken from Everquest, an MMORPG that has aged poorly.

In the case of FFXI, one of the biggest issues was accessibility. Gamers needed to invest a considerably amount of time in the game, often without proportional results. A lack of job balancing early on after its release resulted in a lot of wasted time for plenty of players. Much of the game after Level 9 required a party, and not any old party; every party needed to be full, and needed a specific group of characters. This made certain jobs more important than others.

White mages were always in high demand because their healing capabilities were required for a group, while tertiary melee classes like the Monk, whose attack capabilities only augmented damage dealt, lay ignored. This resulted in a vast majority of players either switching to one or two highly sought jobs, or a whole lot of waiting. I played a Samurai/Monk during my time in FFXI, and spent, on average, 3 hours looking for a group that might dissolve in just 30 minutes given the worst possible combination of players and factors.

The economy was also broken. Materials for crafting or for sale were a scarce, and most of the most important items were dropped by perhaps only one creature. Because FFXI launched years before instanced regions were an accepted practice in MMORPGs, that one single creature that dropped the much sought after item would be dogged and stalked by every player strong enough and interested enough in either acquiring the item for themselves, or making money from selling it. Some of these creatures took entire days to return to the land of the living after being slain, and no doubt particular creatures woke up to a line of adventurers trying their luck next.

This by no means indicated that Final Fantasy XI was a bad game. What it was, though, was antiquated. It worked on principles that many other developers had thrown away in favor of more casual-oriented. The game operated on the preconception that the future of the massively multiplayer game was in the hands of the most hardcore, the most dedicated, and the most invested.

Perhaps partly because of the lessons learned while running Final Fantasy XI, party the feedback from its throngs of players over the years, and partly the out of control success of World of Warcraft, those same design tenets seem to be absent. They could not have been any clearer at the Q&A when they stated that, like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV would be focusing more on casual players, while still trying to offer content for those dedicated players that are willing to invest the time. They also highlighted that there would be a wide variety of content for players from the beginning: solo questing, large scale battles, and everything in between. It is a tall order indeed, but as long as the team focuses on specific things from the outset, the game can be nothing but a success.

The first great step that Square Enix has taken is with its visuals. Decidedly familiar to Final Fantasy XI, FFXIV seems to include all of the same character races and the same visual style. I always felt that Final Fantasy XI’s strongest suit was its art style, and it’s nice to see that they themselves recognize it. It was also a stroke of genius to rope in Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII alumnus Akihiko Yoshida to head up art direction.

With art already dealt, focus must be placed on job balance. There’s no question that the key to balancing jobs in the game is malleable group makeup. By creating jobs in such a way that a group can be successful with a number of different job combinations, misfit classes that only serve to augment damage or assist with protection can form their own parties without fear of being horridly underpowered for virtually every challenge. This ties into solo play as well. The stronger a job is when playing solo, the more valuable they can be when augmented with abilities that serve to improve the player themselves as well as the group with which they run.

Equally as important is instancing. It tends to break the illusion of a massive world in many ways, but the practicality that comes with having a private dungeon to pillage is invaluable. Item scarcity becomes a thing of the past, as players can no longer monopolize resources and valuable monsters in hopes of regulating the market for their own personal gain.

The most important thing, of course, is to introduce something new. The game needs new systems, new mechanics and new concepts that push the boundaries of what we expect out of an MMORPG. Square Enix attendees at the Q&A session seemed very intent on making a game that learned from World of Warcraft, but was not its copy.

If anyone can do it, it’s Square Enix.

(Source: hdrlying.com)