Most of the Dev Blogs posted here will be project related, especially as we start revealing new information. Getting to show off our first character concept is really exciting for us, and especially me. Being able to weave this story and watch it grow, develop, and come to life has been truly inspiring. Until we start releasing more and more information however, I'd like to share some of my own experiences and background in gaming and try to be as transparent with our audience as possible. (Ya know, as much as I can get away with without getting evil stares.)
Please feel free to respond to posts, ask questions, and start some discussion if something comes up. While I may not always be able to answer project related topics as openly as I'd like this early on I'll be happy to answer most anything else.
I've been fairly obsessed with strategy titles since I was a kid. I loved playing Final Fantasy, Star Ocean, Xenogears, etc. I am also a fairly huge turn-based fan as well. Disgaea is probably my favorite series while I have played the occasional Fire Emblem and the like. While I truly do love RPG's my largest love comes from MMO's. Technically the first I ever played was Everquest on the PS2 and was pretty amazed at the possibilities. Yet, it was FFXI that turned my world upside down. Having access to every class on the same character was amazing, the endgame was varied and deep, the world was massive, danger truly was at every turn, and it became increasingly rare to see casual players and really anyone without a fairly deep amount of patience even past level 20. Every 10 levels it seemed to weed out more and more players who didn't have the time / patience and the Limit Breaks were extremely daunting for a lot of players. If you could not perform your role in the party properly toward the end it would directly affect your ability to group with others at all.
The most recent MMO that truly captivated me and really stole my heart was FFX|V. I played from Beta all the way through 2.1. Yes, Beta and release were rough and the latency was almost always a hinderance especially through 1.2. I stayed out of loyalty to the transparency that Yoshida brought to the Development team and in 1.23 I felt truly rewarded for my faith. Cutters Cry, Aurum Vale, Garuda (hard), Rivenroad normal and especially hard, Ifrit EX, and legendaries. 1.23b ~ the end of 1.0 as a whole was a truly awesome endgame experience in strategy requirements, execution, and story. These few months before the game closed were some of the most intense MMO experiences I've had in the last 5~6 years. ARR is a fairly interesting experience. I continued to lead my FC into the fray, and we were among the server first 5 and world first 10 to take down the mighty Twintania in turn 5 / Binding Coil of Bahamut. We were at the top, but the challenge was just not the same. The Crystal Tower came as a joke compared to FF's history of large-scale raids as well.
Recent MMO's and dungeon finders have given way to more of the 'elitist' mentalities who drop out of instances in the first couple of minutes if everything isn't perfectly prepared / executed. It sucks, and is not courteous at all yet a large part of the problem is many of these players are seeking high-intensity content but the games themselves have tried so hard to cater to 'everyone' that players are not as prepared upon reaching the group content. Being able to choose your leveling path where at least 1 or 2 of those are done entirely solo is nice for some, but if you are not prepared to deal with party roles you end up with unfavorable chaos. The situation is then perpetuated because these 'Hardcore' players are aiming to push their limits and more casual players feel entitled to be able to participate and try. There's nothing wrong with just playing the game and trying to overcome the content despite the challenge, but when a lower skilled player insists on being able to beat all content and the company is willing to cater to this only a few things can happen: 1) The difficulty is reduced which in turn frustrates the players seeking more challenging content and directly causes rifts between the player-base. 2) The company reduces the difficulty after a time has passed which cheapens the experience for those who have overcome the obstacle and really only renders the value of the win as who did it first. That content then no longer stands as a trial for new players that engage the content later on.
The end result is simply frustration sadly but it comes packaged with a realization that things need to change. When designing a game, especially a strategy game, you have to decide early on 'who' your audience will be and you have to stick to it. You lose faith in your fans by changing paths in ways that are contradictory to your mission / purpose. If you want to make a simpler game that is accessible to 'everyone' then anyone who plays it has to understand what that means for them and the content. When a Developer decides they want to create a daunting and challenging experience, less skilled players need to understand that they have to make friends, and try their best - but not all content will be possible to overcome without an increase in dedication, time, and patience.
You may fall short in an attempt to do something great, but if you never try you will always fail.
Stay tuned with us. We're just getting started.
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