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The Daily Grind: What game would you love to have designed just for you?
Most of us know that while we might want to be the sole deciding voice in a game's design, it's just not realistic. No matter how big a fan you are, if a game has even just 10,000 subscribers, your voice represents .01% of the population. So no game can really be designed for just one person. But wouldn't it be nice if just once, you could throw that to the wind and have a team of designers cater solely to your whims? To learn that the designers don't care about those other 9,999 people; they just want to hear what you want out of the game? Unless you have an enormous bankroll, that's probably not going to happen. Even so, it's fun to speculate. So what game would you like to see made just for you? Is it a well-known title you feel is lacking some mechanics or one that has mechanics you'd like to discard? Or is it something more obscure? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Final Fantasy XI outlines the road ahead for classes
Final Fantasy XI has a pretty expansive list of classes, and while that gives players plenty of freedom, it can pose a headache for design trying to keep each job distinct. But the development team has managed thus far, and the latest update previewing the future philosophy for job adjustments shows that there are still more elements to be brought into play. Each of the game's 20 jobs has a unique vision and role, with several potential new abilities discussed. While none of the directions design is taking jobs will be of huge surprise to veteran players, there are some interesting promises of future abilities and goals. For example, the team wants to give Beastmasters the tools to be useful and desirable in a party, while Dragoons are potentially getting more enmity management and more synergy with the wyvern. Final Fantasy XI players should look at the full rundown to see where their favorite class sits in terms of design -- as well as hints of what might be coming down the line.
