The Daily Grind: Will you play a friendlier Final Fantasy MMO?

I second that. The UI was terrible. I also had the feeling that my feet were glued to the ground.

FFXI's control system was built for a PS2 controller, and if you use a controller, it's pretty good. It certainly has its downsides, but I prefer it to other games where you're constantly clicking around all over the place with your mouse and hitting random buttons on your keyboard. Instead, I can most everything I want using my controller.

How is using the keyboard for input somehow equal to hitting random buttons? The PC version needed a better UI, one that wasn't so heavily based on macro's and menu's. I guess if you enjoy clunking around menu's with a controller the game was a blast.

Ok seriously you guys.... >.>

DUH is what I have to say. This game does not do anything new we've known this for 3 years now where have you been? I'm sorry if you weren't aware this was going to be a refined and more accessible Lineage 2 for the casual gamer but that's what it's always and is. Have we got that?

IT'S Only PvP!!!??? Yes it's the first RvR PvP endgame we have that's actually good in recent years with some PvE mixed into it.

It's ok if this isn't the game for you but Aion does exactly what the devs have said it would do. I can't say that about AoC, WAR or Vanguard to name a few.

I'm sorry I replied to the wrong guy!! :S

What has Aion done besides make pretty graphics?

Obviously you haven't played, it has a awesome Story based quest system decent crafting and is a hell of a lot of fun to play. I'm having a blast which is why I pre-ordered. and that is something I have never done before.

@wolfsterne,
I have played it, I can play it at this moment, and unless you count killing assorted named teddy bears and birds in an endless "kill 10 rats" I'm not seeing that "story based quest system".

Stringing together a bunch of kill task is hardly "unique". PQ's were unique and new. Kill 4 bears walking in a field under the pretense of a storyline because the NPC tells you to go talk to another NPC in a linear single path map, not so much. And thats pretty much what you are going to be doing in Aion your first 7 levels or so. Kill task on a linear, directed, single route map.

Aion looks pretty but it's a bimbo.

The Aion hate is undeserving and silly. It's not Aion's fault you don't understand what story based system means.

But FF14 is going to be better, and I say that simply because Square is the only company that truly innovates what it usually does. It's never totally dramatic but it's always highly effective and something no one else does or does well.

Aion is a very good game, but FF14 will be better. That's my prediction. :P

Aion is more of the same. The only difference is that they have "required" missions that progress the story. It still doesn't change much intrinsically.

On-topic, yes, I'm all for a more user-friendly FF. An updated, more intuitive UI would work WONDERS for this game. I hope they find a way to allow more playstyles - make it possible for the casuals and the soloers - while still retaining the emphasis on grouping and collaboration that FFXI is renowned for.

AION has done virutally nothing in term of enhancing PvE experience. I played both AION Korean and AION China with English patch and without English patch. Unless AION US has a complete quest campaign re-done (which I seriously doubt, they are re-writting quest dialogs but I don't think they will re-do the quests), it offers nothing compare to the story telling FFXI did.

I remember the first time I ran through FFXI main mission. I was completely enthrall by the story, how they connected together and evolved. I actually wanted to complete the next mission to see what happen next to those characters. Many plot twists definitely left a fond memories about those missions. I wanted to see those cutscene again and again and again because they are so good from the directing, dialogs and music.

AION offers no such thing. The cutscenes were pittifully done only to offer a preview of the zone you will be fighting in. The mission campaign only offers a very simple plot which has no characters development, no relationship between characters, no plot twist, and the amount of story telling is very little. Side quests don't really offer any additional depth to the story. In term of story telling, PvE experience (atmosphere, music, climax...), AION is light year behind even FFXI.

As I have run through these quest lines multiple times for both Korean AION and Chinese AION, I can tell you questing in AION only serve as a mean to get to high level so you can PvP. That's it. PVP. AION offers nothing better and many things worse than FFXI in term of PvE. If FFXIV continue what FFXI has done in term of PvE and story telling experience with the new graphic engine. It wouldn't be even funny to compare the two (AION and FFXIV). AION may have offerred good PvP experience, but it's a mediocre at best in term of PvE.

Plus, don't forget guys. Nobuo Uematsu will be composing the music once more! The man who composed all of the FF music. Man I love his work.

pretty much sums up how i feel about this. this game NEEDS to happen, even moreso than ffxiii. it will probably have a more dedicated fanbase, not more than regular ff games but they will be more devoted.