The character graphics look really nice from what I've seen elsewhere… but I'm still really confused by game companies focusing so much on that lately.

Once we zoom way out, does it really make any difference at all? Hair style and broad facial features (see: Mithra facial pigment) are the only differences you can really see. Customization is great and all, but most characters are going to look almost exactly the same anyway, especially when wearing a full set of armor.

How much development time is actually spent on this crap?

People love being able to create a character they identify with. The better it looks the better; it'll definitely make more people play the game if they can make a character they really like. It may not look very different when you're in a sea of characters, but you know how much people like taking screenshots in XI - I'm sure that'll be no different in XIV, and that's where custom models really shine.

Esp. running around FFXI ant seeing the same mithra hairstyles everywhere (basic halfspiky white and the red(brig, rafa) hairstyle). =P

I would have loved to be able to customize more in ffxi. Sadly that didn't happen. 16 faces to each race was kind of a let down but the game is still fun.

I guess I'll find out if my laptop works with ffxiv soon enough.. Cari got picked for the beta, her computer refuses to download/install but mine can do it XD So….. Weeeee, and such. (but sloooooow download T_T) SE needs to upgrade their connection from 7.2k modems, I think….

but I'm still really confused by game companies focusing so much on that lately.

I think aestetics are critical to draw people in the game. Particularly effective on womans pertaining to character customization. I didnt play WoW not because i tought its was bad, because i could not stand the game's look and feel. I got drawn into aion because the characters are so fucking amazing. You know what i'm talking about kiri. You might be underestimating the time spent with a closer camera angle to your character. I spend 60% of my game time waiting for people. What do i do then ? Zoom in and play dirty cat whore, spank people, etc. Again, you know what i mean by that kiri.

but you know how much people like taking screenshots in XI - I'm sure that'll be no different in XIV, and that's where custom models really shine.

I have 1312 screenshot and 427 captured videos (totaling 24h, 12m of video time) over 6ish years. :P


* more FFXIV screenshots

I don't have the beta but for the benchmark, it wouldn't run at all until I updated my drivers. If you're having trouble, try that.

The character graphics look really nice from what I've seen elsewhere… but I'm still really confused by game companies focusing so much on that lately.Kirisawa

Yeah, the character models do look good, but the environmental skins (and models for non-characters… the slimy mobs in the benchmark during the ship fight make me cringe) and lighting effects are terrible. Which is shocking, 'cause they're simply amazing in FFXI, especially for a game that's so old. I really can't figure it out. I guess they did stuff that probably takes a lot of processing power to do, but it just doesn't look as good as older games.

If they bumped up the poly count and upres'd the skins a bit from FFXI, they could release a new game on the same engine, and it would look good on today's hardware. That's really impressive, which makes FFXIV that much more disappointing.

You shouldnt jump to conclusions about 14 yet. The benchmark does not represent the final game state. Even if it doesnt make sense. The A vs B video is the best example. The benchmark doesnt even support all the high end hardware. Between the alpha and beta versions, they revamped the lighting effects and the whole combat system. I trust i will not be disapointed.

After seeing that video, i wont take you seriously if you tell me you wont be playing FF14. (FF14 version of the white panties cman is always wearing in that video too)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-JIdpHuLKYAiraa

After seeing that video, I feel even more that XIV is just XI v2, giving me even less reason to be interested in it. I've heard people have that complaint before, but I thought it was just because the races are the same. Yeah, it looks great, and I'm sure they've updated some of the game mechanics - but the jobs look the same, the story looks the same and the mobs look the same. I guess SE already plumbed the depths of human mythology and really isn't capable of coming up with something fresh here. Disappointing.

I guess we do spend a lot of time sitting around doing crazy stuff in FFXI, and FFXIV may lend itself to that realm of thought. But in MMO (and MMO-like) RPGs in general, it seems like you could spend so much time creating your character, and making them look exactly how you want them to look… and then you zoom out and everything goes *poof*.

Great examples of this are Oblivion and Perfect World. In both, you can customize every aspect of the face, down to nose bridge length, spacing between the eyes, etc., but in the former, you'll probably spend the majority of time in 1st person view, and in both it is not possible to zoom in on your character to the depth of the character creation screen. For example, when customizing your face in Oblivion, the character's face takes up the entire screen. When you switch to 3rd person view, the only way to see yourself up that close is by standing next to and turning the camera through a wall. PW is even worse about this; as soon as you approach the zoom ratio of the character creation screen, the camera jumps into 1st person view.

I can't remember what game it was offhand, but another F2P game I tried out let you pick from about 30 different starting outfits, then customize the colors on top of it. I played around with it for over 30 minutes, cycling through different options and going crazy with the colors. Once you're done, you play for 2 minutes, and are given new armor to wear. From then on, you will never see that starting clothing ever again; it is not possible to unequip all of your gear and effectively "go naked" anymore. The FFXI correlation would be allowing for customization of your starting RSE, but having the gear dissolve into the ether forever the first time you put something else on, so you can never go back.

I can't remember which game it was, because I'll never play it again.

~Wee~ I like typing!

As an aside, descriptions of Perfect World International, a Chinese F2P MMORPG by the developers of Diablo II that feels somewhat similar to WoW:

"The only game I've ever seen where you can play as a guy with angel wings, wings coming out of his head, a fu manchu, weird eye make-up, and an authentic-looking chinese robe… and fly. Also mini-dragon things hovering randomly in space."

"Humans get a mount at level 30: It's a giant flying sword. Yes, you surf around on a giant fucking sword in the sky. You can also opt to fly around in the sky on a giant glowing sword whilst completely naked except for your underwear while simultaneously holding a female player-character in your arms who is also naked, zooming across the game doing this."

^– No exaggeration, this is an actual gameplay mechanic. It may not look or feel as smooth as the flight mechanics of Aion, but the game has some interesting stuff for being funded by cash shop micro-transactions (no offense to micro-transaction-based games; man of them are pure win).

And Max, in case you haven't tried it out before, I give you "Venomancer"; yes, that is a summoner/wizard/beastmaster cat/bunny/bat-girl class. So much fun it's in many of the game's logos!