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[IbizaPocholo]

When Final Fantasy XIV was first released with version 1.0, it was such a disaster for Square Enix, then CEO of the company, Yoichi Wada, had to publicly apologize, feeling it had tarnished the Final Fantasy name. It would take a certain YoshiP to bring life back into the struggling MMORPG and save FFXIV.

While Final Fantasy XI had initially struggled, Square and its team used patches to bring FFXI into a state players enjoyed, and eventually, it became a massively successful game for the company. But, after the incredible success of World of Warcraft, Square wanted a true competitor, and went about creating a new MMORPG in the form of Final Fantasy XIV.

However, for FFXIV version 1.0, many team members had been inexperienced in MMOs in general, and were overly reliant on future patches to win over fans.

Instead of entirely throwing in the towel, Square put Naoki Yoshida in charge of FFXIV, who went about both updating FFXIV to a fun, and playable state, while simultaneously working on version 2.0, A Realm Reborn, which was built from the ground-up, and essentially a brand new game that would win over fan trust, and renew the good name of Final Fantasy. Dave Klein breaks all of this story down, and how Final Fantasy XIV SAVED itself!

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
0:22 - Hironobu Sakaguchi's interest in MMORPGs
2:40 - The release of Final Fantasy XI
4:20 - World of Warcraft
5:11 - Planning on Final Fantasy XIV
5:42 - Final Fantasy XIV 1.0
8:03 - Yoshi-P
10:00 - The coming of Final Fantasy XIV 2.0
11:06 - Naoki Yoshida's on making FFXIV good
14:25 - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
16:36 - Conclusion

 

[Bond007]

I was addicted to XI for so many years that i found the transition to XIV too daunting. I couldn't get into it now matter how much i tried.
It def improved so so so much- but i was too stuck on XI.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Arguably the most successful turn around story in gaming. I haven't even played the game, but speaking here from the financial side of things, as well as wider sentiment and popularity it has today.

 

[Captain Toad]

I was addicted to XI for so many years that i found the transition to XIV too daunting. I couldn't get into it now matter how much i tried.
It def improved so so so much- but i was too stuck on XI.

Yeah, you can't compare the two. I was addicted to XI for years, too. Going in looking for that type of experience is a mistake.

XIV feels like an offline game when compared to the living, interdependent world of XI. Your relationship with other players in XI is everything. XIV you can complete without ever really interacting with another human outside of the Duty Finder, and even then, talking is optional.

 

[Puscifer]

Arguably the most successful turn around stories in gaming. I haven't even played the game, but speaking here from the financial side of things, as well as wider sentiment and popularity it has today.

I loved they rebooted the game with a literal apocalypse. I thoroughly enjoyed my 2 years with it (the free period, plus a year paid) but MMOs arent my thing anymore. Might be the only real turn around in gaming I can think of that turned a bad product into a great one, not just mediocre.

 

[j.k.2021]

Arguably the most successful turn around stories in gaming. I haven't even played the game, but speaking here from the financial side of things, as well as wider sentiment and popularity it has today.

Sea of thieves.

 

[H4ze]

The noclip video about this topic is absolutely amazing too.

 

[German Hops]

Arguably the most successful turn around stories in gaming. I haven't even played the game, but speaking here from the financial side of things, as well as wider sentiment and popularity it has today.

No Man's Sky.

 

[Raven117]

Sea of thieves.

No Man's Sky.

Nah. Neither were revamped on the scale that FFXIV was.

FFXIV went from abysmal to one of the best games in the industry on scale that could significantly affected Square if it failed.

 

[Bond007]

Yeah, you can't compare the two. I was addicted to XI for years, too. Going in looking for that type of experience is a mistake.

XIV feels like an offline game when compared to the living, interdependent world of XI. Your relationship with other players in XI is everything. XIV you can complete without ever really interacting with another human outside of the Duty Finder, and even then, talking is optional.

So very true.
A linkshell was your lifeline into getting most things done for better or worse.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Nah. Neither were revamped on the scale that FFXIV was.

FFXIV went from abysmal to one of the best games in the industry on scale that could significantly affected Square if it failed.

Not familiar with Sea of Thieves, but No Mans Sky was a series of big patches and updates from what I remember.

With XIV it was basically rebuilding the entire game alongside building a new game engine for an MMORPG and keeping fans on side. They did that in like 2-3 years I think?

 

[MagiusNecros]

XI is a Everquest style MMO. Old school MMO. Every log in session is it's own adventure.

XIV is a single player RPG trying to be a MMO and is just a one and done Theme Park.

If they merged sub fees I'd try XI again because going through Play Online ID is such a chore.

But FFXI feels and looks like a Final Fantasy game. Exploring the world is such a joy as is figuring out what to do as well as charting out the zone. Enjoyed my time as Monk before shelving it for Endwalker which just made me miss how good Vanadiel was.

They continue dumbing down XIV combat that I can't be bothered to continue playing it. Especially with their 2 minute meta now.

XIV did get turned around yes but they sacrificed Tanaka to do it. If Yoshi P and Tanaka were still working together I think the game would be in a better place.