The above link to Escapist came to me via Tobolds blog. He asks a fair question of when is a boss fight too long.
Also some of the commenters make good points, both on the state of FFXI and the idea of an unbeatable boss as a brick wall between players and closure. A means to keep them always around in case they really could pull it off.
I however want to have a quick word about a quote from the article.
"People were passing out and getting physically ill. We decided to end it before
we risked turning into a horrible new story about how video games ruin people's
lives," said Beyond the Limitation member Sylphet. The fight caused vomiting and
fainting among Beyond the Limitation's ranks.
So... they ended it because some of their members couldn't go on. Instead of a news article of a FFXI player horking up a lung after the battle, they consider an article on the fact they went at it for 18 hours better.
To me it certainly implies that if the members involved hadn't been suffering physically at 18 hours they'd have continued smashing their heads against the wall until someone did.
What could you have possibly learned about the boss encounter after the majority of a day that you didn't know after three or four hours?
Also
Before loading the game, Square Enix displays a health warning: "During your
time here, you will be able to talk, join and adventure with many other
individuals in an experience that is unique to online games.That being said, we
have no desire to see your real life suffer as a consequence. Don't forget your
family, your friends, your school, or your work."
Weeeelllll...I've heard from some FFXI players. They don't forget about those things Squenix, but to get past your challenges, they sometimes have to ignore them. That's one of the major reasons I've never set foot in Vana'diel
Posts
3 comments:
I played FFXI for about six months. It was awful in almost every imaginable way.
yeah, it just sounds nuts
Now, I can understand things like lengthy Task Force runs in City of Heroes. With that, you can at least take breaks in between missions, or even between critical points within a mission (see: Statesman Task Force). 18 hours on a single encounter, where your attention must remain focused upon that encounter lest you risk utter and complete failure? Poor game design. VERY poor game design.
... of course, this is also coming from the man who will request off for Double XP Weekend and purposefully stock up on easy-to-prepare foods to minimize downtime, so I can kind of understand the mindset of wanting to accomplish something and going to great lengths to do it. Still, letting your health wane for the sake of a game? That's when it gets a little crazy.
Post a Comment