I
rejoined FF14 in late SEP 2017. I am Marcus Livius the Paladin on
the EU Server "Odin".
Final Fantasy XIV
A Realm Reborn is, hands-down, the loveliest MMO I've ever seen. I
took breaks from it only because of
time -- so many games ... so little time.
I spent six months in the original
FF14, before the "ARR" part, which we called "FF14 1.0". I was
there at the SEP 2010 launch. That game was clunky as hell,
with a horrid UI, bugs out the wazoo and countless other issues that others
have well-documented.
Still ... even back then,
its lovely potential was obvious and it was with deep regret that I stopped. I rejoined in 2013, after the relaunch under the "ARR" label, then took
another long break before returning in SEP 2017.
The most important reason for my positive opinion of FF14 is the
admin. Square Enix (SE) did something with FF14 that is unprecedented
in the MMO industry: they admitted that their first attempt
at FF14 was a mistake. They
apologized to the user community for a product that was "unworthy
of SE" and especially "unworthy of a numbered FF game". Then they took
the game offline -- to fix it. Doing so cost them about $105 million in
lost revenue.
Stop reading for a moment and think
about that.
Now imagine a USA-based MMO company facing the same
issues ... do you think -- for even a moment -- that they would go the
admit-apologize-go-offline-and-fix route? You're not that naive, are
you?
Two years after their failure with FF14 1.0, SE relaunched it under the "ARR" label. The
result was nothing short of sensational.
Here's a good
documentary about it.
So I'm back. Since
I've been gone, there have been two expansions and a 3rd one is coming soon. I think this time I'm
here to stay.