Why Final Fantasy 14 will avoid player-killing PvP

Final Fantasy 14 will include a PvP mode, but it's less about killing other players and more about competition, according to game director Naoki Yoshida, because he doesn't want to "shock" Final Fantasy fans new to the MMO genre.

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Player-versus-player (PvP) combat is a pending feature for Final Fantasy 14, and one that director Naoki Yoshida sees as a necessary component for an MMORPG. When it is implemented, though, Yoshida wants to make sure it doesn't put off newcomers to the genre.

Yoshida told the Japanese magazine Famitsu (via Polygon) that openly killing players is "not a match" for the franchise. "If you don't know MMOs and you're playing this because it's the new Final Fantasy, I think it'd be a big shock if some other player started attacking you right at the start. So instead of that, the PvP here is a competition between players a way to better themselves, and its essence is different from PKing (player-killing). The fact that the two concepts get conflated with each other indicates, I think, that MMOs and PvP combat still have a ways to go in becoming mainstream."

So if it's antithetical to the franchise, why include it at all? That comes down to personal preference and business considerations, says Yoshida. "An MMORPG needs some kind of consumer activity for the economy to work, and PvP is a great vehicle for that. We're implementing it in part because I personally like PvP, but also because it's indispensable for worldwide deployment. There's never been a really successful MMORPG without PvP."

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  • reply
    August 29, 2013 12:15 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Why Final Fantasy 14 will avoid player-killing PvP.

    Final Fantasy 14 will include a PvP mode, but it's less about killing other players and more about competition, according to game director Naoki Yoshida, because he doesn't want to "shock" Final Fantasy fans new to the MMO genre.

    • reply
      August 29, 2013 7:51 PM

      Boring. I want Open-World PvP. Period.

      If I want to play FAIR PvP. I rather play Fighting Games (Sreet Fighter), FPS Games, Sports games playing Online or play MOBA.

      Now that's Pure Honest PvP IMHO. Because you start from SCRATCH. You work your skills up and bring it to your opponents face.

    • reply
      August 29, 2013 9:14 PM

      You mean characters that wield weapons and magic may in fact hurt others with them? That's fucking insane!

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