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The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV did not ruin your birthday party
If you were one of the many, many people trying desperately to get Square-Enix's account management page to work on Wednesday evening, you're probably not one of the people this week's article is aimed at. It's pretty clear that even amidst all of the recent controversy surrounding Final Fantasy XIV, there is no shortage of players who couldn't wait to get into the game at the first opportunity. So if you were also up until way too darn late hitting "Refresh" and getting sick of hearing that the connection was reset, you don't need to worry. But there are a lot of things that have prompted players to call the premature death of Final Fantasy XIV. The fatigue system in particular did a wonderful job of making roughly nobody happy, spawning rage-filled comments that are still showing up in my inbox. Guildleve cooldowns are another big complaint, the one that originally prompted me to start planning this article. (Yes, well before Komoto tried to calm people down and accidentally did precisely the opposite.) But the sky isn't actually falling, and these systems do have their positive points... and there are very good reasons that we shouldn't be worried.
Devil in the details for Final Fantasy XIV's fatigue
When the news broke yesterday regarding the fatigue system in Final Fantasy XIV, it made virtually no one happy. Even the system's defenders generally had an attitude of "it's not all that bad," and most players were up in arms over the very idea. But a day can make a lot of difference, and as it turns out, we didn't quite have the clear picture of the fatigue system that we thought we did. The official translation from Square-Enix covers most of the same ground, but adds several important facts. The two most salient points are the fact that the limiting factors are not time-based but value-based, and the fact that the "cooldown" on fatigue sets in as soon as a player starts doing something that won't grant skill or experience points. There's no word on whether or not this will be the case during time spent logged off, but it means that the much-loathed figures about how much time would be productive are not altogether correct. Take a look at the official translation, which should provide a much-needed balm for several angry Final Fantasy XIV fans. [Thanks to John for the tip!]
