Mac players already know they’re going to have to occasionally work around the whole Windows-only games situation by firing up Bootcamp and playing out of that. The release of an official Mac client for a game should solve that, right?
Unfortunately for players who were looking forward to the Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Mac client, that isn’t the case. Developed by TransGaming, the “native” Mac edition has been a disappointment for many players, being deemed unplayable. The client is essentially still the Windows client, wrapped to make it work on the Mac OS. Even Hideyuki Kasuga, lead programmer for FFXIV, admits that the current Mac version really will not be able to compete with the game’s performance on PC; he does note, however, that it could improve with the next Mac OS, El Capitan. Kasuga promises that the team is working on improving the experience on Mac OS through patches.
Many have taken to the Final Fantasy XIV forums to air their grievances, but not everybody has deemed the game unplayable. Some players who have more updated systems are able to play the game at a decent pace, but those with older systems display dismal results.
The Final Fantasy XIV Mac client as it is is a poorly-wrapped piece that appears to have been deceitfully marketed prior to release, with minimum specs only being revealed recently. It’s hardly fair to charge players $60 for a shoddy experience on a machine that we know is capable of running games pretty well, if they’re built for the Mac OS. For now, Mac players will probably be better off playing through Bootcamp.
