SE aims to repair FFXIV’s reputation by pledging fixes and reaching out to players.
We waited with bated breath for Final Fantasy XIV to go live; but when the servers
fired up, the game fell woefully short of our high expectations – and we let Square
Enix know it.
We criticized the retainer system. We ripped apart the user interface. We flamed the
server lag, the lack of a player search feature, the lack of quests and the behavior
of monsters. The list of flaws went on and on. And we weren’t the only ones who got
in on the flame fest. Bloggers and game reviewers got in on the action too.
On Friday, the folks at Square Enix responded.
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In one fell swoop, they restored much of the community’s faith in FFXIV by outlining
exactly how they plan to improve the game between now and December. More importantly,
they showed us that they’ve learned a thing or two about communication, and that
swallowing a little pride can go a long, long ways.
Everything in FFXIV Director Nobuaki Komoto’s message gave us reason to believe in
Square Enix as a viable MMO manager – and reason to believe FFXIV will be around for
a very long time.
The market wards will be fixed and fitted with search functions, but in a way that
preserves this unique approach to facilitating a player-based economy. Server lag
will be addressed in a way nobody should notice. Notorious monsters will be added in
guildleves and open areas. The cluttered user interface will be simplified. Seasonal
events are on the way.