The choice by the LOC team to go with I, II, III, IV instead of -, -ra, -ga, -ja was an attempt (whether the best one or not is still up for debate) to have a naming system that leaned towards the latter. That’s not to say, however, a game should be dumbed down because of that.Īnd here’s where logic takes us: There is a big difference between challenging and difficult or more specifically “challenging but intuitive” and “difficult because it’s not as intuitive as it could be.” Anything that is going to give you an advantage, no matter how slight, will be a benefit in the long run. I don’t need to tell you that MMORPGs are different from turn-based RPGs in that in the heat of battle, split-second decisions need to be made. The decision to go with the I, II, III system was merely an attempt by the EN team to make the naming system a bit more intuitive so that it might better achieve that goal. We want FINAL FANTASY XIV to be enjoyed by as many people as possible. Our fearless producer has stated in the past that we are not targeting a single player base. This also wasn’t an attempt to cater the game specifically to WoW players, Rift players, Star Wars players, Mabinogi playaz, etc. If the decision the EN team made on this particular issue has led some players to believe they are being slighted, then for that I apologize. The LOC team is made up almost completely of westerners, and if anyone tried to do that here at SQEX, we would be the first in their faces. There is no hidden agenda to rub mud in the face western players in general. There was a time when an ‘easy’ version of a certain FINAL FANTASY was released because it was believed the American market couldn’t handle the JRPG difficulty level. So, on to the meat that goes with the potatoes:įirst off, the decision to go with the numerical naming conventions for spells was NOT because we think American gamers are irreparably dimwitted or somehow less skilled than their Japanese counterparts. It’s a copout (though, as a dev, I can kind of understand why they do it…being called “an ignorant -tard” by a nameless shadow in front of the entire world wreaks havoc on the soul). I don’t want to pull the good ‘ol “we’ll ignore them and they’ll go away” tactic, because as a player myself, I absolutely hate it when devs do that. But, I want to make sure that you guys are informed. The long nights and weekends are beginning to take their toll on both my body and sanity. It has been several weeks since I’ve seen my newborn awake. Hopefully this doesn’t end up making the fire bigger.
A fire is burning hot, so I’ve put aside the Phase 4/2.0 work to attempt and quell the flames.