Odds are, you can think of more than a few games that faced this challenge before. And in defense of the questions, they do sometimes make the game better for everyone. But if the incoming changes are not handled with care, it can make a lot of players feel alienated.
According to Masaki Nakagawa, the lead battle designer for Final Fantasy 14, their MMO fell into the latter category.
Prior to [Dawntrail], our policy of reducing gameplay-related frustrations was sometimes taken too far, and in some cases, even the hurdles and frustrations that existed to make the gameplay more engaging were eliminated, which made them less fun.
This information comes to us through a PC Gamer interview, where the design lead spoke about changes to Final Fantasy 14's combat system.
[We] vetoed some interesting ideas for mechanics so melee players wouldn't be frustrated by periods of downtime where they can't attack the boss; we removed them regardless of how interesting the mechanic could be.
According to Nakagawa, internal discussions focused so much on avoiding frustration, that they'd created an environment where otherwise-interesting ideas for combat were scrapped with ease.
That environment, that mindset, was felt immediately by the players. Combat became simpler, but it also became a slog. Minimal downtime, no positionals, just damage and damage-sponges.
Recognizing the mistake, Nakagawa assures players that the development team has taken on a new approach to combat design. This new philosophy is readily available in Dawntrail, and players are already responding positively.
Difficulty and accessibility. Perhaps the only aspect of game design to create heated arguments on the level of politics. Players value their skill at a game, and when things are "dumbed down", they can feel like the game doesn't care to appeal to them anymore. It's an isolating feeling.
But that isolation, ironically, comes with the goal of bringing more people into the fold. And rarely does this goal fail: when things are more accessible, more people will try it out, and more people will stick around.
That means more money flowing into the game, which means more content, more expansions, longevity, sequels, all that good stuff - on top of growing a larger community. Isolation in a larger population.
Rewarding dedicated players is obviously important - these are the players who sing the loudest praises for the game. But for equally obvious reasons, accessibility is fantastic for a game's health in both the long and short terms.
These goals can often come into conflict with each other, but they don't need to contradict per se. Accessible games can also be rewarding. It's just a tough balancing act to get right - doubly so when you need to modify an existing game, rather than create a new one with these goals in mind.
The Final Fantasy 14 developers had a tough challenge ahead of them, and while they stumbled on their way there, it looks like they're happy with the end result.
Posted:
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion
Source: https://www.dualshockers.com/final-fantasy-14-mmo-designer-combat-simplicity-taken-too-far/
"Final Fantasy 14 Designer Thinks Combat Simplicity Was "Taken Too Far"" :: Login/Create an Account :: 2 comments