FFXIV 2.0 announcement

Recently SE announced that FFXIV was going to start charging again Nov-Dec of 2011, the first step leading up to the 'new FFXIV' as they keep spouting off.

Now the charging thing alone rings heavily of potential trouble, as that is right around the same time frame as the new SWtOR MMO is released. That alone may actually drive players away from the game. This of course isn't the only issue I see, and certainly not the first one that popped into my head. At this time FFXIV uses the Click and Buy third party group to do their billing instead of a custom system like FFXI had, or more or less any other MMO company. Just another wheel SE tried to reinvent. Is FFXIV worth $12-16 a month for the next year before this FFXIV 2.0 vision is seen in full view? Will people still have to go through a shady third party website in order to even play rather then setting up their account directly through SE? Lots of questions, but all important in regards to keeping players with the game. I started off negative, and it is well deserved, as most have heard stories of billing system gone wrong and the MMO devs saying it was the third parties fault.

The complete overhaul of the world... I don't know. Seems like the world is going to be far more instanced or zoned then it currently is, which has it's perks, but at the same time can make the game feel so much smaller. Certainly it is needed, but I just hope they do it right this time.

The overhaul of the UI was another thing I sat back and shook my head sadly. They wouldn't have needed to overhaul the UI if they had done it properly in the first place. People should be able to alt-tab without using AutoHotKey, Shiftwindow, or some other third party software. Add-ons aren't even really needed in my vision, but I just hope it's easier to work with then the current nightmare macro system in game.

I will admit, the concept art looks good. I am really wanting to get my Lancer leveling up so I can be a Dragoon again, as the armor looks great. Everything here, in classic SE fashion, looks excellent.

Overall, I will admit that what was announced would be a huge step forward for the game. The idea of charging current players while they overhaul the game leaves me on rather shaky ground. The biggest obstacle that SE will need to overcome is the horrible initial release of FFXIV. The name alone has a taint that almost everyone in the MMO circles knows about.

We'll see how it goes.