Can't wait for this but please for god sake's make the online subsciption as simple as wow. Ie. A set monthly subscription and don't get greedy yet by exploiting the micro-transactions. FF11 on PC (install and subscription) was the most horrendous and confusing setup ever and it put me and my friend's of for life even though we love the FF series. If something works... mimick it and then when you have 'bums on seats' and a million gazillion loyal fanbase engrossed in your game. Test the game thoroughly too! Then introduce new micro transactions, etc. But leave the monthly subscription simple and don't try to seem like your a money grabbing producer. Blizzard are good to their fans and we like that the mutual respect. Hope SE are listening.

As a player of FFXI, I am looking forward to transfer over to FFXIV. However, it would be gutting to begin playing this game to later realize that the majority of WoW/Aion players have transferred over too, bringing with them their immaturity and bad attitude.
Paying for items? On top of subscription fees? This is the stupidest thing SE could ever do. What happened to farming away for hours to earn your Gil to eventually get that weapon you've wanted for ages?! This would ruin the game if SE did this. :(

@Meef

FFXI players can be just as immature as WoW players. Believe me, I've seen some real dickwads in FFXI. So don't delude yourself into thinking that FFXI players are more "mature" than WoW players, because they're not.

Also, the item transactions in FFXIV are most likely only going to be vanity items similar to the stuff SE has been doing lately with FFXI. In other words, you won't be able to buy some super-powerful weapon like a Ridil.

Will be interesting. I did not get into the first online MMO Final Fantasy much, but hope this does in fact give Wow a run for it's money. I think a pvp system like vanilla WoW where you actually raid and pvp in towns where people quest was excellent and hope Final Fantasy brings some focus to pvp a decent amount of players are into this/strictly playing for pvp. Merry X-Mas!

On the contrary, I hope it does not end up like another PVP game. The fact that it's the only super-success PVE game is what made FFXI what it is. The developers already stated though that PVP will never play a big role in FF14, but they are considering including PvP elements. This most likely means a duel option, or possibly an arena because those two things were requested for a long time by players in FFXI.

"however we don't want to take it to the other extreme entirely for FFXIV"

I can let out a sigh of relief as I read this. A cash shop would ultimatly break what could be the best MMO comming to our generation. Reading this tells me that the items sold would be along the lines of vanity items and things of that nature. This would be fine as long as those who buy these items get NO advantage over other players what so ever.

As far as PvP goes, I welcome it to a mild degree. An arena and duel system would be nice. Also the idea of guild battles where both parties would have to agree before fighting would be a nice addition as well. Anything more than that in a FF game would be overkill though. There are enough games out there that encourage mindless ganking out there and those games tend to make people forget how fun true PvP can be.

As for FFXIV beating WoW...it can happen if done correctly. If SE can find that happy medium to please both casual and hardcore gamers WoW will surly fall. Another thing FFXIV has going for it is that it will not be a WoW clone. Other companies try to take WoW design and add a feature or two with the expectation of winning. It just isn't that simple. Luckily for us however, I believe SE will deliver us something truly origional as that is the only way to bring WoW down.

I'm sure SE has learned a lot from FFXI, but in my opinion they haven't learned the importance of respect for the fans and of prompt/effective reaction to problems. That makes me think that they won't succeed beyond their existing, very loyal and forgiving, fanbase. So I doubt they will exceed the FFXI subscription numbers (500,000?) by much.

It's hard for me to believe they'll succeed in competing with Blizzard for the millions of regular gamers, who don't feel very attached to the Final Fantasy franchise.

That said, half a million subscribers is more than enough to be called a success.

Are you on crack man?? You seriously think your game is gonna make any kind of significant DENT in WoW subs??

And you think Micro-transactions are wanted or good??? People buy them because a lot of that crap is the only way you can get it..I'm sure NO ONE LIKES IT..So run with it..that's strike one.

Strike two is forced grouping. Again another IDIOTIC MOVE and totally against a large part of why WoW is so successful...People do NOT want to be forced into grouping..they don't want to sit around LFG for 30mins to an HOUR or more just to do something...they want to JUMP RIGHT IN.

So delude yourself all you want. How you came to be president is beyond me. These are IDIOTIC choices that will ENSURE that your game is no where NEAR WoW's calibur.

Enjoy being fired when it's proven how stupid these "strong points" are.

What most players, and developers alike, don't seem to realize, is you can't make "take" WoW's place. People playing WoW for 5 years, have too much investment of time into the game to just switch. Players are content with what they have been playing for five years, because it gives them what they want, regardless of what that is.

Having said all that, the only choice a company has is to make a game that is enjoyable, and will attract it's own player base. Only a small portion of that player base will ever leech from another game. If FFXIV can create it's own player base, and win renown with it, then you will eventually see more of the WoW player base looking into it, but by no means will this be a wow killer.

Being president of Square-Enix makes Yoichi Wada a much smarter and richer man than you. He's just voicing an opinion, albeit a biased one, but he actually says Final Fantasy XIV will be serious "a serious rival" he's not saying it's better by any means.
The Final Fantasy franchise has a long rich history. Warcraft only became really popular after it's MMO change. Instead of dismissing what people say as "crack" ramblings, watch ths space.

By the way this magazines comments are for those who actually have something intelligent to say or gaming developers. Keep your fanboy comments to yourself and leave the debating to the people who matter.

Regards

I don't believe, regardless of how good the game will become, that "a lot more" subscribers than FFXI had will be gained. Of course it is possible that they improve a lot, but it will most likely never exceed the numbers of WoW.

This is purely because of the "type" of people that are playing these games. I know I have been loyal to the Final Fantasy franchise and I will continue to be loyal to it, because that's just how I am. I enjoy deep story telling/adventurous and hardcore, japanese-based games. This is exactly what Final Fantasy is and most likely will remain.

As long as the Final Fantasy franchise remains as it is right now, even with all the tweaks, adjustments, and making it "better", it will still probably have the same loyal player base, because that player base enjoys what FInal Fantasy is.

This is good, because the more the game looks like WoW, the less "Final Fantasy" it is. And the less "Final Fantasy" it is, the more the FF player based will be disappointed.

All I can say is, as long as "i" enjoy the game, love the story telling, Nobuo Uematsu's musical magic, the gameplay and graphics I don't care how many people play it.

I have played WoW, capped my level and such, and I obviously enjoyed parts of it otherwise I would not have done it. However, whilst playing WoW I did miss a lot of elements which I really care about in a true "RPG". "Rich story telling, GREAT music, the hardcore-ness, the feeling of really being "victorious" after specific events, mainly in story lines/boss battles, and the culture (people) that think alike, regarding these aspects."

I truly hope Square Enix will never wander from this path, because in "my opinion", there is (almost) no company that compares to Square Enix at the mentioned elements.

The main reason why there are a lot less people playing FF-games is not because the game is bad. It's because they are just not interested in "these" particular elements, which the majority of the FF player base do like. It's hard to reshape that to gain a lot of "new" people/fans without ripping off the "Final Fantasy" label.

A while ago I was actually wondering what the hype was about this "Aion" game. So off I go to YouTube to check out some in game footage and I thought I was watching WoW, literally. Did you see the interface? As mentioned above, you will probably not gain more users when you're practically mimicking a game and slapping a different label on it. Thankfully, from what I can see, Square Enix isn't the kind of company that would do that. They are quite unique in what they do/produce.

Well, sorry for the wall of text. A lot comes to mind when I think about this stuff! I actually enjoy thinking about it and like to hear what others think. Anyone have any comments?

Regards!

I agree with you to a point, Meskya, but those are not the reasons that I did not enjoy Final Fantasy XI much personally. It is almost entirely in game-play elements that drove me away rather than those positive elements you listed. Just as one example, combat has room for improvement in terms of speed, fluidity, etc. That doesn't mean leveling or soloing has to be massively eased or anything, as some FFXI fans seem to fear passionately.

It's notable how impressive the game is for its age, and in general how well the game HAS aged. It's also one of the few survivors among MMOs of the non-WoW variety.

ok wtf microtransaction, even if it is just vanity items or the whole damn game, if u make items buyable with real money u ruin it in some way shape or form, some people LOVED doing the events in FFXI (I wasn't one of them) if u make those random worthless christmas/made up FFXI holiday items buyable wtf is the point of playin this 1 if your favorite part of FFXI is gone. A online shop is never a good idea. I know RMT were huge plague on SE in FFXI, conceding defeat isnt the way to go. lazy lazy

While I have a hard time believing WoW will ever be topped (player base is just too massive), FFXIV definitely stands a good chance to put a dent in the market share. Nothing else really does. FFXIV has a built in audience from fans of the series, as well as all the people who will convert from XI. Games like Aion and other new MMO's are good games, but a lot of people haven't even heard of them.

I agree with Meskyanichi. FF has a huuuuge built-in audience and if they do this game right, they could grab a pretty decent chunk of the MMO action.

FFXIV looks sweet though, so I think it stands a good chance. For anyone wanting to know more about the game itself I'd check "this site out":http://ps3rpgs.com

Hopefully they'll put out a release date soon, I want to know how much longer I have to wait.

All right people. First of all who cares if one takes market share from the other or not. Neither are going to suffer. Both will be around for a long while. I've played both games getting 2 jobs to 75 and doing end game stuff in FFXI, and I've also gotten a char to 70 in WOW (stopped playing shortly after) and done end game stuff. Both have advantages and disadvantages. WoW is a lot easier to do things solo. I like the way they have exp given for quests. I love quests. But I also thought that the "rise to the top" was a rather quick journey in WoW as opposed to FFXI. FFXI does force people to group together, but that was part of the draw for me anyway. I made some great friends in FFXI. I think that continuously having to spend countless hours farmin in FFXI was a drag. It would be nice if, like WoW, they made it a lot easier to acquire gil at higher levels playing solo. After 3+ years in FFXI, farming got REALLY old. Bottom line is. Play what you want, if you like it, great, if not, move on. No point in bashing either game, everyone has their own opinion, and no one's opinion is wrong...it's their opinion.

In my opinion, whether or not FFXIV beats WoW as far as players is irrelevant. I have played WoW since Vanilla, and I spent about 4 months playing FFXI. WoW appeals to a broader audience than FFXI did, and probably FFXIV will. WoW started off more "hardcore", but in an attempt to broaden their audience, they changed the game in ways to make it easier for more people to experience end game content.

I myself, like being part of an elite few that can do a certain task, whether that be down a certain boss, beat a certain dungeon, have certain gear, or whatever. Just based on my time in FFXI, I can tell you, FFXI offered much more of a challenge than WoW ever did. Some "hardcore" gamers like this challenge. More people, however, like less of a challenge so that everyone can be on the same playing field. Whether they admit it or not, that's what I witnessed during my 5 years of playing WoW.

I, personally, am really excited about FFXIV. I will DEFINATELY be trying it out, and won't be surprised if I stick with it. The only thing I didnt like about FFXI was the fact that it was so group-orientated. If they change that in FFXIV, I can't see a reason why I wouldn't enjoy it. MMO's have a lifespan.

No MMO will stay on top forever, no matter how many expansions it has. I doubt any ONE game will ever take WoW's place, but I do believe at some point WoW's numbers will fall. They have lost myself, and several of my friends, and eventually other's will look for something new as well.

as others here said...who cares if they would get more or less subs than WoW - other than themself, sure healthy population is needed but can be way lower than WoW to be healthy.

now the disappointment....item mall really, and how wise is it to say you got both sub and item mall without tell what kind of items could be aquired, hate the mini transaction model deeply - I dont believe you cant make good content for 15$/month and make a load off it. if you cant raise the fekkin rate to 18...20$ w/e. and focus on content rather than items to put in your mall

Final Fantasy's glory days are over. Final Fantasy IX was the last great game, and it was all downhill from there. Is it any coincidence that the games radically changed after Squaresoft became square-enix? I wish the best of luck for this upcoming MMO, but in the end, you just can't match the story, the thrill, and the ability setup of 7, 8, and 9.

If FFXIV releases as is, it'll be a disaster. The game is in poor shape, some very serious issues that need major attention yet still are overlooked by the developers. Honestly speaking, I cancelled my pre-order because of many of the issues and many others did. FFXIV needs much more time in development before launch ~ as it stands right now...everything is wrong in the game.