In a recent interview, Naoki Yoshida, the director of the popular MMORPG Final Fantasy 14, stated that he feels the game has become too easy over the years. He mentioned that he and his team at Square Enix plan to increase the difficulty of upcoming content to offer players a more challenging and fulfilling experience.
Yoshida told Famitsu (translated by IGN) that he recognizes that Final Fantasy 14 has undergone considerable changes to make it easier and less stressful for players. Nevertheless, this may have unintentionally resulted in the game losing some of its fundamental challenges. He compares it to a side-scrolling game without the risk of failure, resulting in a less captivating experience overall.
It’s true. Many MMORPGs are really just click simulators. You go from one quest to another, grinding in between, and you’re not worried that you’ll fail because they tend to make things simple for you. All you’re really doing is clicking, not thinking.
“In terms of Final Fantasy 14, I would like to restore that [stress] somewhat. By doing that, we could offer players the right kind of challenge, and do it better than ever. This is a development challenge for the next 10 years, and I’m currently working on various game design elements, which is fun. However, I’m sure some people will think, ‘Why on earth would you do that?'”
Naoki Yoshida (translated by IGN)
Moving ahead, Yoshida wants to make Final Fantasy 14 more challenging to encourage skillful play and provide a greater sense of achievement. It’s worth noting that this increased difficulty will not happen quickly but will instead be a slow change in the game’s design over the next ten years.
Yoshida’s decision to make changes may not please some players who like the game as it is. He recognizes this and emphasizes the importance of balancing challenge and stress in an MMORPG. However, there are ways to keep the challenge for certain players but remove it from others.
Apparently, players can expect that the difficulty level will increase in dungeons, trials, and raids. This way, you have to agree to the increased challenge. Anyone who feels the game is too easy has difficulty, and anyone who is uncomfortable can avoid it. Everyone wins this way.
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