I thought FFXIV looked interesting but the latest news is beyond embarrassing; I wasn't going to play it regardless, and as a viewer from the outside I'm seriously baffled.
It's like this is a pattern of distinguished mentally-challenged fellow MMO decisions; it's as if Blizzard employees have secretly joined these teams, sabotaged their games, and bailed out like fucking ninjas.
"you know how we take out WoW? Make a Warhammer game with no space marines"
"that's brilliant, it just might be the left field sales pitch we need!"
"you're welcome
"
"I want to make a revolutionary Star Wars game. What if there was...get this: no real space combat, just on-rails combat to attract casual Wii players to our market"
"it's so crazy it just might work!"
"
"
"what if we made an MMO that punishes you for playing too much? I think this could make our product abstract art in its truest form"
"I can't wait to hear what Ebert says, let's do it!"
"sure thing
"