# Final Fantasy XIV will "Rival" World of Warcraft.



## Imperial Impact (Dec 24, 2009)

http://www.develop-online.net/news/33514/Final-Fantasy-XIV-a-serious-WoW-rival-says-Wada



> Square Enix is positioning Final Fantasy XIV as a serious rival to Blizzardâ€™s World of Warcraft series, company president Yoichi Wada has revealed.
> 
> In an interview with Develop, Wada disclosed the full extent of Square Enixâ€™s ambitions for the upcoming Final Fantasy MMO, and indicated that Blizzardâ€™s need to â€“ eventually â€“ build a full World of Warcraft sequel could be a real test for the studio.
> 
> ...


 
Really big lols.


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## Foxstar (Dec 25, 2009)

What's so lol about it? Blizzard's refusal to port WoW onto any of the current consoles is one of the things that keeps the game's numbers from really being high. SE does know how to do MMO's. After playing 11 from PS2 launch till a month ago, they sure know how to do a good story and lore.

But if it's not very casual friendly, I don't expect it to match WoW, no.


(Cue the whining and tears from people about the grind, not being able to solo, being looked down on for meh jobs or stupid subjobs, bitching about a timesink when every MMO on earth was built to be a time sink)


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## Imperial Impact (Dec 25, 2009)

Didn't it take Final Fantasy XI a year just to reach its target player base?


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## BloodYoshi (Dec 26, 2009)

well, another MMO gaining players is one thing

WoW still isn't leaving until it feels like leaving


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## Hyenaworks (Dec 26, 2009)

If it's another FFXI grind fest with no lore, I'll pass.  There were things I liked about FFXI, but ultimately the leveling just sucked ass.


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## Foxstar (Dec 26, 2009)

Hyenaworks said:


> If it's another FFXI grind fest with no lore, I'll pass.  There were things I liked about FFXI, but ultimately the leveling just sucked ass.



11 had a crap ton of lore. Did you do the story missions? Or side missions? Or Dynamis? Or COP? Or ToUA? Or WOTG?


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## Foxstar (Dec 26, 2009)

Perverted Impact said:


> Didn't it take Final Fantasy XI a year just to reach its target player base?



No. It had it shortly after US PS2 launch. It had it before, really, with the JPN PC and PS2 launches.


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## CryoScales (Dec 26, 2009)

I am going to lol so hard when FF XIV finally reaches WoW's players in 2008... in 2012. By that time WoW would have 3x as many players. It's going to be hilarious when the MMO fails and Enix looks stupid.


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## Digitalpotato (Dec 26, 2009)

Enix actually has any say over Final Fantasy XIV? 

I atually heard Final Fantasy XIV will favour a little more soloing compared to Xi, so I don't really know.


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## Hyenaworks (Dec 27, 2009)

Foxstar said:


> 11 had a crap ton of lore. Did you do the story missions? Or side missions? Or Dynamis? Or COP? Or ToUA? Or WOTG?



The what?  I just know it took forever to get to level 10.  If there were complex emersive quests, they didn't put much effort into directing me to them.


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## Foxstar (Dec 27, 2009)

Hyenaworks said:


> The what?  I just know it took forever to get to level 10.  If there were complex emersive quests, they didn't put much effort into directing me to them.



So hand holding it is?


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## Digitalpotato (Dec 27, 2009)

There's a difference between "hand-holding" and expecting you to know where something is, you know.


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## Runefox (Dec 27, 2009)

Hyenaworks said:


> The what?  I just know it took forever to get to level 10.  If there were complex emersive quests, they didn't put much effort into directing me to them.



Welcome to World of Warcraft, where "dude, the game doesn't begin until level 40". After two weeks of grinding, I was at level 17, my friends were all level 60 or near it, and the game was nothing but grinding and fetch quests. Frankly, I don't know what anyone sees in WoW to begin with, except for OMFGBLIZZARDGASM. I've never felt immersed in the world, I've never felt like I was a part of anything, and it just plain felt boring. Needless to say, I've never played for more than one month at a time, and I've completely sworn it off after the last time I attempted to "play" the game.

And yes, I do know you're talking about FFXI. However, all of that applies to WoW. Very specifically, actually.

FFXI was short-lived for me, mainly due to the fact that the one person I wanted to play with had no interest in playing with me because of the level difference (this was waaaaay back). However, I did feel as though the fighting was presented in a much more interesting and dynamic style (even if it's the same thing at the basic level), and I felt as though the world itself was pretty expansive and immersive. I wanted to get back into it for a while, but again found myself lacking people to play with.

I'm wondering about FFXIV. It looks beautiful and all, but if nobody's playing it, I'd be hard-pressed to pick it up and pay a monthly fee for it. Frankly, I'd love to see something come along and kick ActiBlizzard in the pants, but it's just not going to happen. People only have so much money and time to spend every month, and most of them are already playing WoW.


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## BloodYoshi (Dec 27, 2009)

game doesn't begin til level 80

leveling sucks, but once you get to 80 it's pretty fun


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## Takun (Dec 27, 2009)

If you played and leveled back when they were releasing new servers it was a blast.  They feel alive when they are new.  Everyone is leveling and working together.  However, after that it's a huge gap if you want to start because no one is in the zones with you.  Everyone is on another continent/world.


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## BloodYoshi (Dec 27, 2009)

Takumi_L said:


> If you played and leveled back when they were releasing new servers it was a blast.  They feel alive when they are new.  Everyone is leveling and working together.  However, after that it's a huge gap if you want to start because no one is in the zones with you.  Everyone is on another continent/world.



yeah basically this

the majority of all server population is on whatever the new continent is: not the continent people begin on, so unless you have friends leveling with you specifically, it's difficult to find other people (until you reach the highest level continent)


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## Azbulldog (Dec 28, 2009)

Takumi_L said:


> If you played and leveled back when they were releasing new servers it was a blast.  They feel alive when they are new.  Everyone is leveling and working together.  However, after that it's a huge gap if you want to start because no one is in the zones with you.  Everyone is on another continent/world.


I agree with this, because this is where I started off. I just happened to choose a server that was a just few weeks old, maybe not even that much. This is one of the reasons that made vanilla so much better in my opinion. Everyone was running the lower dungeons, general chats in each zone was lively (Barrens chat). The game's best aspect is it's players. It really isn't worth it starting up playing right now, possibly with the changes in Cataclysm. I'm waiting for Blizzard's next gen MMO to see what they have up their sleeves. In the next few years as the MMO playing field is leveled out more there should be some excitement. Every other MMO right now is lacking any additional appeal. Also, somewhere it said Blizzard wishes to look at consoles once more, for one reason or another.


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## Digitalpotato (Dec 28, 2009)

I still remember when you could walk around and trip over three groups forming for Maraudon and Scarlet Monastery. 

Nowadays you'll be lucky to find even one, even using the cross-server dungeons. (Which believe me, those of us on Wasteland EST PvP servers like Dentarg are saying "...ABOUT FREAKING TIME!!!" for - we wanted those back in 2007!)


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## Ishnuvalok (Dec 28, 2009)

Runefox said:


> Welcome to World of Warcraft, where "dude, the game doesn't begin until level 40". After two weeks of grinding, I was at level 17,



Two weeks of grinding, lvl 17.....what

Now question is, what was your total playtime in those two weeks? 4 hours?


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## StarGazingWolf (Dec 28, 2009)

I for one will be looking forward to XIV, I just don't like Warcraft since they decided to get all weird looking since III. If WoW had been similar in style to the artwork for Warcraft II I would have been all over it.


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## Runefox (Dec 28, 2009)

Ishnuvalok said:


> Two weeks of grinding, lvl 17.....what
> 
> Now question is, what was your total playtime in those two weeks? 4 hours?



It took me like 4 hours to go up a level. Griiiiiiindfest.

Most people seem surprised by that, but I'm surprised at their surprise. It seems like perhaps WoW players have a different concept of time.


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## Digitalpotato (Dec 28, 2009)

Runefox said:


> It took me like 4 hours to go up a level. Griiiiiiindfest.
> 
> Most people seem surprised by that, but I'm surprised at their surprise. It seems like perhaps WoW players have a different concept of time.



....4 hours to go up one level?

...I still find that hard to believe - especially the first 12.


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## Azbulldog (Dec 28, 2009)

With the changes set forth in the last major content patches that drastically reduced the experience and time needing to level up..taking four hours to level doesn't happen until you're way up there, aside from having knowledge on where to find quests and other things. For me at least, getting to level 10 alone doesn't take that long.


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## BloodYoshi (Dec 28, 2009)

Runefox said:


> It took me like 4 hours to go up a level. Griiiiiiindfest.
> 
> Most people seem surprised by that, but I'm surprised at their surprise. It seems like perhaps WoW players have a different concept of time.



if it took you that long to go up a level then yeah, wow isn't for you


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## Digitalpotato (Dec 28, 2009)

Azbulldog said:


> With the changes set forth in the last major content patches that drastically reduced the experience and time needing to level up..taking four hours to level doesn't happen until you're way up there, aside from having knowledge on where to find quests and other things. For me at least, getting to level 10 alone doesn't take that long.



Maybe they were playing on Launch day when they intended you to take your time?

Also, not having knowledge is void - With a few exceptions, most quests literally tell you RIGHT THERE what to do for it and where to find the objectives - And even if that's not enough you can just track it, which only saves you a trip to Thottbott or Wowhead and nothing else.


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## Runefox (Dec 28, 2009)

> Maybe they were playing on Launch day when they intended you to take your time?


Maybe not Launch Day(TM), but I was playing before any expansions were even announced. I'm told it isn't as bad now, but I refuse to play based on prior experience and as a general boycott against ActiBlizzard. Of course, just me not buying their products won't do anything important in the end, but on the same note, I don't feel as though WoW or any other of their games would be a prudent investment at this time.


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## Azbulldog (Dec 28, 2009)

Runefox said:


> Maybe not Launch Day(TM), but I was playing before any expansions were even announced. I'm told it isn't as bad now, but I refuse to play based on prior experience and as a general boycott against ActiBlizzard. Of course, just me not buying their products won't do anything important in the end, but on the same note, I don't feel as though WoW or any other of their games would be a prudent investment at this time.


Still, even then, it shouldn't have taken four hours. Although exploring and just learning the game could have done that. Not until higher up do I remember getting about one level each day.


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## Kesteh (Dec 28, 2009)

I can get level 14 in about six hours total if I'm lazy. I'm a standard casual player. There isn't a grind until you hit the 60-69 area---Burning Crusade.
70+ content and the new dungeon system make you level much faster even though the experience needed for each level suddenly doubles/triples.


Going to miss the old server events. I wanted to do an Ahn'Quiraj opening, but Blizz effectively stopped those from happening on new servers. All existing servers had it happen.
Can't do old Naxxramas, that's now a level 80 place and the item sets from it are 80. Since Naxx was moved and Ahn'Quiraj opens instantly, you can't even get some of the ultimately rare and hard to get items that required both areas in cooperation.

Come Cataclysm, you won't be able to do Molten Core any more at level 60. It's the first raid instance, but I don't see many people do it anyway--much like any other vanilla.

I heard those world events were so much fun and a majority of the people wouldn't mind doing them again. Blizzard 'felt' that the AQ-opening event 'slowed down' content after that point.
The game isn't bad, but Blizzard just wants you to get to 80/Lich King content as fast as possible. They didn't exactly fix the vanilla parts in the game to be prepared for today. Hell they give you boosts and auto-quest accepting until a certain level. 
This why they are releasing Cataclysm to pretty much re-balance everything and give vanilla areas a purpose once again.
Though, if they keep the new-character boosts when they transition to Cataclysm it'd be a blatantly stupid move to just speed everyone through the critical part of the new content.

Though I'll forever miss the old fun that vanilla had, I can say that the Lich King content (Not deathknights) is pretty fun.


*HOW DOES I FORGOT NAEM. I don't know. I never went to the places and didn't care.


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## Digitalpotato (Dec 28, 2009)

Stratholme? Don't you mean Naxxramas?


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## Azbulldog (Dec 28, 2009)

Kesteh said:


> Come Cataclysm, you won't be able to do Molten Core any more at level 60. It's the first raid instance, but I don't see many people do it anyway--much like any other vanilla.


wat
Ragnaros is now in Hyjal, and two new instances are being added to Blackrock Mountain, nothing has been said what is going to happen to old Molten Core.

Also, Zul'gurub was the first raid instance, if that is what you meant.


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## BloodYoshi (Dec 29, 2009)

Digitalpotato said:


> Stratholme? Don't you mean Naxxramas?



heh, there is a level 80 Stratholme in a manner of speaking, but it's a Caverns of Time instance

Naxxramas floated over to Northrend and isn't in the plaguelands anymore.

Edit: funny how a thread about how FF XIV would rival WoW isn't even on the topic of FF anymore


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## Kesteh (Dec 29, 2009)

We don't talk about Zul'Gurub...


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## Tycho (Dec 29, 2009)

After FFXI drubbed me over the head repeatedly with "GROUP OR DIE" gameplay, "Even Match" mobs that were anything but, and a clique-y player base full of aloof and indifferent linkshells with no interest in new blood... I'll just be over here waiting for Guild Wars 2 (and hoping it'll be more than just another WoW-clone).


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## Ishnuvalok (Dec 29, 2009)

I'm trying to find out if there has been an MMO since WoW that _hasn't_ been said to become a "WoW killer" or will "Rival WoW".


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## Tycho (Dec 29, 2009)

Ishnuvalok said:


> I'm trying to find out if there has been an MMO since WoW that _hasn't_ been said to become a "WoW killer" or will "Rival WoW".



Those terms always get used by fanboys and speculators - no avoiding it, really.  Only the "niche" or "decidedly different" MMOs escape that kind of labeling (e.g. EVE Online), and sometimes not even then.  Blizz has succeeded in thoroughly infecting the MMO scene to the point where WoW is more than just a name.

It should be noted that the label "WoW killer" or "WoW rival" seems to somehow jinx an MMO - Warhammer Online was touted and hyped HEAVILY as a WoW-killer, and look at it now.  Sad too, it was a decent game at times - if they had gotten rid of that dickhead Mark Jacobs earlier and brought in some people who actually knew what the hell play-balance was, and FIXED SOME REALLY GLARING BUGS AND FLAWS, they might have attained WoW-rival status (but never WoW-killer).


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## Digitalpotato (Dec 29, 2009)

Tycho said:


> and a clique-y player base full of aloof and indifferent linkshells with no interest in new blood...



This. Unfortunately that describes a multitude of games with online modes...how often have you been called a noob or just asked for advice and were told something like "Stop sucking", "Suck less", or "OMFG READ A GUIDE YOU DIP!"?


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## Takun (Dec 29, 2009)

Even a few weeks after launch, it should only take a maximum of 5 hours to reach level 10 in WoW.  The only time it would take longer is on a new server where you are fighting over mobs.  So yeah...


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