[Important Update Details] - An issue wherein objects such as doors could not be displayed properly has been addressed.
- An issue where action bars could not be switched under certain conditions has been addressed.
- An issue whereby the “Sleep” effect caused by sheep monsters’ “lullaby” would not wear off when supposed to has been addressed.
- An issue that caused the remains of Doblyn monsters to persist even after being defeated has been addressed.
- An issue where the text “(Your character’s name) was defeated by (your character’s name)” was displayed when defeated by damage over time effects has been addressed.
- An error caused when selecting clear while trying to mark an NPC has been addressed.
- The time of effect for the crafting ability “Preserve” was incorrect, and has been addressed.
- The craft level and necessary crystals for certain fishing hooks were incorrect, and have been fixed.
- A measure to prevent servers crashing under certain conditions has been implemented.
In Final Fantasy 14, your character has two different "Ranks" or levels.
Physical Level is akin to what most RPGs consider your level. Physical EXP is gained by doing just about anything.
Job Rank is akin to your skill level in the current tool or weapon you have equipped in your main hand.
When you equip a weapon or tool, your character's "job" changes to whatever is associated with that type of item. If you equip a sword, your character becomes a Gladiator.
If you equip a Staff, your character becomes a Conjurer. If you equip a mining pick, your character becomes a Miner. Ad nauseam. Each job your character has started has its own rank associated with it which is completely independant from every other job.
When you perform whatever task your current job is made to do, you gain Job Experience.
Your character might be a level 25 Pugilist, but when you equip a fishing pole you become a level 1 Fisher. When you re-equip your Pugilist weapon you will once again become a rank 25 Pugilist, there is no need to re-level your Pugilist skill.
Leveling up a Job rank grants your character new spells and abilities to use whenever they want, no matter which job you are currently playing as
Physical Level is the culmination of all job experience earned. Whenever you gain Job Experience with any job, you also gain Physical Experience. Your Physical Level remains the same no matter which Job you are currently playing at the moment. To use the previous example, if you start the game as a Pugilist and level that Job to 25, your Physical level may be 15.
You would reference yourself as a rank 25/15 Pugilist.
If you decided to go fishing, you would become a rank 1/15 Fisher.
When your Physical Level increases, you gain attributes points to place in stats to customize your character, and these stats remain the same no matter what job you are playing.
Gladiators are the "tanks" of the game. They have abilities for generating enmity and protecting party members, as well as reducing damage dealt to themselves.
Example Gladiator Skills:
Rousing Provoke - Use a threatening gesture to increase enmity.
Cover - Protect an ally, positioning yourself between them and the enemy to redirect damage dealt to yourself instead.
Rampart - Protect yourself, increasing defense and magical defense.
Still Precision - Steady yourself, increasing accuracy and reducing evasion.
Aegis Boon - Recover behind the safety of your shield, converting a portion of damage sustained when blocking into HP.
Pugilists are the hand-to-hand class of FFXIV. They are limited in range but can use throwing weapons to stun enemies allowing them to close distance between what they are fighting.
Example Pugilist Skills:
Mocking Provoke - Whistle tauntingly to increase enmity.
Blindside - Strike from an enemy’s rear, increasing attack power by half of your dexterity.
Chakra - Channel your vital energies, consuming TP to restore HP.
Steal - Rifle through an enemy’s belongings, stealing a random item. Chance of success increases with stealth.
Featherfoot - Tread lightly, increasing evasion. Effect fades after evading an attack.
Marauders are a physical melee damage dealer. Their role is to simply do as much damage as possible. By staying stationary, they can output more damage, so they are great for fights that don't require too much mobility.
Example Marauder Skills:
Bloodbath - Revel in the blood of an enemy, converting a percetage of the damage dealt by your next successful attack into HP.
Murderous Intent - Throw yourself into your attacks, increasing critical hit rate and reducing TP generation.
Defender - Tighten your guard, increasing defense and reducing attack power. Increases enmity generation while in steadfast stance.
Disorient - Flick dust, sand, or soil at an enemy, reducing the target’s evasion. Effect may stack up to three times.
Enduring March - Take strong and sure steps, enabling movement at reduced speed while bound. While active, also maintains steadfast stance while moving.
Archers are the physical ranged damage dealers. They deal damage from a distance and have enmity reducing abilities to keep enemies from moving to attack them.
Example Archer Skills:
Replenish - Invoke a blessing of renewal, consuming MP to replenish your projectiles to capacity.
Chameleon - Blend in with your surroundings, consuming TP to reduce enmity.
Quickstride - Quicken your stride, increasing movement speed.
Retrieval - Search your surroundings, consuming HP to find and gather projectiles.
Hawk's Eye - Your eyes gain hawklike precision, increasing the accuracy of your next attack.
Lancers are a damage/support class. Some of their weapon skills hit multiple targets, and they have Job Abilities that can increase party members' performance in battle, as well as displace enmity onto other members of their party.
Example Lancer Skills:
Comrade in Arms - Bolster morale, consuming TP to place an enfeebling effect on the target which grants attacking party members enhanced TP generation.
Ferocity - Trigger an adrenaline rush, consuming HP to increase the attack power of your next attack.
Invigorate - Channel your physical energies, consuming HP to gain TP.
Collusion - Employ deception, transferring the enmity generated by your next successful attack to an ally positioned between you and the enemy.
Life Surge - Make sport of an enemy, gaining the ability to absorb HP. While active, successful attacks reduce the target’s evasion.
The Miners’ Guild is responsible for the excavation and handling of Eorzea’s mineral wealth, be it ores, fossils, precious stones, or otherwise. It should come as no surprise, then, that their most eager customers are the realm’s blacksmiths and goldsmiths.
To fully master the advanced techniques developed by the great mining nation of Ul’dah, miners must undertake a wide range of tasks, from the meticulous prospecting of the most minute deposits to large–scale civil engineering. The guild staunchly subscribes to the theory of continental drift, and as such many among its ranks for their patron deity Oschon, the Wanderer. The primary tool of the miner is the pickaxe.
The botanist's profession encompasses the procurement of resources from all forms of plant life. This includes harvesting various vegetables and grains, tending to fruit-bearing trees, gathering wild grasses, cultivating fibrous plants for use in textiles, cutting lumber to supply the carpentry trade, and more.
This wide range of raw materials draws the custom of various other guilds, notably the Carpenters', Weavers', Alchemists', and Culinarians'. Botanists also attempt to educate others about the importance of achieving a symbiotic relationship with Eorzea's plants, rather than carelessly stripping them of their useful parts. This is perhaps best exemplified by the revolutionary irrigation methods devised by Gridania, which first made low-impact, high-yield crop propagation possible. The primary tool of the botanist is the hatchet.
Fishers are the harvesters of the realm's marine and freshwater animal resources. The goods they obtain from their catch place them in direct dealings with both culinarians and goldsmiths.
Be it from the shore of a sea, the bank of a river, or the deck of a boat, Eorzea's anglers must constantly account for a wide range of factors to optimize their success, including season, time, place, tools, and bait. In addition, the sometimes perilous nature of desirable fishing holes, be they on or offshore, above or below ground, prompts many fishers to employ the protection of more combat-oriented professions. The primary tool of the fisher is the fishing rod.
Blacksmiths refine ore and create metal weapons and various other equipment parts. Refining ore requires Fire Crystals which are in high demand by a lot of the crafters in this phase of the beta. It's best to have another source of revenue before starting out in blacksmithing.
Armorers are similar to Blacksmiths, except they make armor instead of weapons. Not many armorer recipes are known at the moment, so the exact extent of their craft isn't clear right now.
Leatherworking is a great profession, as many other crafting recipes call for things such as leather straps, sheathes, and other parts. The only disadvantage to leatherworking is that you can't get the materials solely from the DotH jobs, since it requires animal hides.
Andre Johnson | AJ- Thee Amarys | Amarxist Aurra Field | Aurra Red Nada | billyX333 Nova Strike | Novastrike Soul Djinn | Soulclenz Allais Rox | VRidiculous
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Selbina server:
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PM me if you want to have your name added.
It is strongly recommended that you get a traditional gamepad to play this game. The PC controls are very sub-optimal compared to the Console controls.
Downloaded Told me i needed 12 gigs of free space on the drive that has my documents (60 gig partition) Cancelled install and listened to everyone complain about how broken beta was
Still dunno if I want to try this out, I love the ff games, but never tried 11 cause it's an mmo. The real deal breaker about mmos is the social aspect, if I have to rely on finding a group of other people who aren't drooling retards to get anything done I'm not so inclined to play. Main reason why I prefer strategy games vs mmo, I only have myself to blame if I fail.
On September 22 2010 11:27 EAGER-beaver wrote: Still dunno if I want to try this out, I love the ff games, but never tried 11 cause it's an mmo. The real deal breaker about mmos is the social aspect, if I have to rely on finding a group of other people who aren't drooling retards to get anything done I'm not so inclined to play. Main reason why I prefer strategy games vs mmo, I only have myself to blame if I fail.
You can probably bum a free trial key off someone who has bought the game if you want to try it out. I'll have mine to give away when I get my copy tomorrow.
It's a lot more solo friendly than 11 was, although that isn't saying much.
The video is a nice way to explain the fatigue system, but it does assume that higher levels of a given discipline will level up faster than they might under a "standard" system. As the limit in beta was 30, nobody really knows for certain.
I know I read that they planned to make the physical level "limit" a lot looser since you get physical exp regardless of your current discipline. Shouldn't be too hard to work around the current system, especially for people that are "altaholics" on other games. Or for most people crafting as it would be very rare for someone to be able to just craft for 8 hours straight. Getting materials/selling/trading stuff you make will likely take up quite a bit of time as well.
My biggest concern is inventory space. With multiple classes, and also optimal gear different for various classes leading to several outfits, plus crafting materials/results I can see it getting clogged very quickly. Eighty on your character and eighty on your retainer seems very small. Hopefully the solution for release isn't just "pay more per month for a ton of mules."
still dont like the fatigue system. pretty much knew everything in that video already. hardcore players are going to level sub classes regardless because its smart.
my main question was still not answered, so if you hit the max threshold and want to begin resetting it, you have to sit out a week from battle for that class otherwise it...? does it immediately reset to full when i enter battle or gradually reset to full? for example: if i hit a threshold and i want to reset it, i have to wait a week. so if i go inactive for 3-4 days and i enter a battle, does it immediately reset to a week of necessary rest time? so if i enter battle on day 6 rather than wait the full week, i can potentially need 13 days to fully reset? or is it gradual? like if i enter battle on day 6 for 1 hour, it will just add ~1 hour (or 1 day or w/e) of additional rest time required to reset or add another week? T_T
and is it more efficient to level one single class non stop until you hit a threshold so you can immediately put it on cool down (a week) then begin other classes? or can we just level classes evenly like (get lvl 10 pugilist, get lvl 10 marauder, get lvl 10 lancer then play pugilist again) or would that make the threshold last even longer? this kind of is linked with my first question as well maybe i should focus completely on 1 class to like 15-20 until i hit a brick wall then focus on sub classes? (its so much easier to lvl with a lvl 6 marauder and a lvl 6 pugilist for bloodbath/second wind which is why i ask but if its more efficient to focus on one to reset threshold i guess i'll have to do this)
On September 22 2010 11:02 Aurra wrote: It is strongly recommended that you get a traditional gamepad to play this game. The PC controls are very sub-optimal compared to the Console controls.
Is it any good with a gamepad? I tried it out and just got to the first city using keyboard/mouse prior to un-installing due to the control scheme being so bad it wasn't worth learning.
I played the game with my PS3 controller (using MotionInJoy custom drivers) and the difference was night and day. When using a keyboard there was an inherent delay to every action you perform that just isn't there when using a controller.
I'm assuming the PC code is running some sort of emulation of PS3 hardware because once you plug in a controller all that weird input delay suddenly disappears.
The best thing they could do to retain subscribers would be to throw a simple USB gamepad in the box. :p
The fatigue system is really THE thing the worst designed in this game and I'll tell you why.
The goal of this system is to keep the casual progression in par with the hardcore players, nothing bad in that idea but that implies that you have to artificially stop the high play time player to move forward in the game or help the one with low play time to catch faster. But the restriction is made on the playing time and not on an amount of xp or a specific level so it just doesn't do that much.
First mistake let's prevent players to play how they want by not letting them get xp more than 8hours per week instead of giving a boost to people that play less than 8hours a week.
Second mistake let's make it a timer restriction at the first fight you do. Just adding some number in a game is not always a good idea and not attractive to all kind of audience for one game. Okay so now, I can kill monsters and gain xp for the next 8 hours InGame. What if I want to take a break? That's okay just take a break and if you don't kill monster and gain xp in 30minutes the timer stop, and I think(hope actually) that the 30 minutes inactive are deducted. What if I'm in a party or something? Xp are shared in a party so if two people take a break for 15minutes and that the party can't continue an instance/leve/party content at the return of the said AFK either those two loose 15minutes of play from their week or all the party just take a break for 30 minutes and everybody loose 30 minutes doing nothing.
Third mistake, with this implementation it really doesn't help low play time players and it actually is at their disadvantage I'll just quote a post someone made on a ff14 forum about that.
XP Gain Since surplus has been stated to be time based, the more of your time killing mobs, the faster you will level without capping out. It is ALL about xp per minute. The goal is to kill as many mobs as you can as quickly as you can. No time to stop, no time to run to crystals to regain mana, no time to do anything but kill, kill, kill. This means very fast paced parties. This means absolutely no socializing, talking, chatting. No getting up to get a soda. No peeing except at approved rest breaks.
Why?
Let's say we have two groups of people. One gets 600 xp per minute on average being super serious and hardcore. One gets 200 xp per minute bumbling along.
At the end of two weeks, group 1 are level 45. At the end of two weeks, group 2 are level 15.
You can see that it is much more rewarding to NOT fool around. In fact, the system directly rewards players for not enjoying themselves. While this is the case in ALL MMOs, in other MMOs you can joke around and enjoy yourself for a few hours, then get serious and play for real without any direct repercussions on your character. In a system like this, however, one hour joking around limits your character advancement for an entire week. One hour of joking around means that you lose about 7% of your character's advancement potential in that class for that week.
The surplus system doesn't take time into account at all whatsoever with the exception of the once-a-week reset which happens 168 hours after you first gain a point of experience. The eight hour thing is actually a numeric amount of experience that Square-Enix figures someone will get if they grind for eight hours straight. You can take as many breaks as you want and goof off as much as you want, it doesn't matter. Surplus kicks in once you reach a certain number of experience points, not after playing a certain amount of time.
I played way more than 8 hours a week during open beta and never hit surplus once due to all the exploring and random stuff I did that did not contribute to gaining experience points.
GW: From what we heard at the CEDEC presentation, it looks like the development team is kept extremely busy.
DK: I’m usually focused on solving the problem right in front of me, so I guess I’ve stopped noticing how busy we are.
GW: And how is the development process coming along?
DK: I feel like I’m always saying that, though. For FFXI, beta was but a small part of the whole. With FFXIV, we get to see our bug fixes in action as the official version is gradually being completed.
GW: Compared to Closed Beta, Open Beta seems to have patches nearly everyday.
DK: The changes made in Closed Beta were fixing specific parts. In Open Beta we were approaching release and were fine tuning everything.
GW: Are there more balance adjustments to come?
DK: There was a gap between where Closed Beta was and where it should be for release. We could’ve fixed certain things now, but then the client would’ve still been far from ready for retail. We decided to tackle those in a version update, then. Release is fast approaching,and I want to be able to show everyone those changes as soon as possible.
Attached Image: ff04.jpg
Servers were flooded at thestart of Open Beta, so it was pretty hard to even just log in.
GW: What’s an example of a high-priority item?
DK: Definitely game balance, the biggest problem being enmity. For example, the Cure spell was drawing way too much hate.If we left that unchanged, users’ play styles would drastically change come official release. So we tried to fix that right away.
GW: As director, what part of the beta process struck you the most?
DK: There were a lot of problems with stability and enjoyability. I thought if I could just get feedback and focus on the problem, things would work out. Unfortunately, it was a very time-consuming process.
GW: How was international participation in Open Beta?
DK: Japan and North America didn’t really change much, but there didn’t seem to be many European players. That might have to do with our maintenance schedule. I went to Gamescom hoping to draw a little more participation from our European friends.
GW: While some players complained of frequent client crashes during beta, others had no problems at all. What might have caused this?
DK: We’re looking into that. We weren’t having that problem on our machines, but we were finally able to recreate it when under heavy loads. We know that not everyone has the same computer environment as we do, so we’re eliminating causes one-by-one.
Okada: PC specifications differ from player to player, after all.
DK: It might just be too demanding on computers, so we’ll see if there’s some common link among occurences.
GW: So you’re still not quite sure what’s causing it?
DK: It’s not just one big cause. There are many smaller reasons, so we’re trying to narrow it down via the process of elimination. There are some fixes in the beta version and more to be implemented in the retail version.
GW: A lot of players are complaining that the User Interface is hard to use.
DK: There are many sides to this problem,such as a problem with the fundamental structure of the UI or a problem with lag, etc. There are parts we have to fix in time for release day. It’s not just a simple UI problem but also has to do with the server load, so we’re really focusing on fixing server issues. We’re also making changes to the UI to goalong with this and will continue to do so even after the game releases.
GW: So the retail version will be relatively easier to use?
DK: We have to make it that way. If a lot of players are in the same area, it slows down. So it depends on who’s where.We’re trying to tune that as well as work things out with the people overseeing the servers. I think it will be fixed, though. And of course, we have a handful of plans to fix the UI itself.
GW: Will you be adding things like saving skill sets to the action bar or gear swapping?
DK: At first it had to be done manually. But once people got the hang of macros, many were saying that was simple enough. I definitely hope players try that out. We’re also considering saving skills to the action bar even when you switch classes. We received a lot of input regarding this as more and more people tried out gathering and crafting classes. We’re currently making big adjustments to this.
GW: So even abilities you can’t use won’t be unequipped?
DK: For example, when a gatherer changes to a fighter class, their gathering skills are automatically unequipped. We’d like to change that to make it less cumbersome when they decide to switch back.
GW: We’ll be able to set both battle and gathering skills and change which are usable just by changing our weapon?
DK: If there is space. We’re still working on making unused skills not take up AP. There are still other things that need adjusting, but I can say we are currently working on a solution.
Attached Image: ff05.jpgAttached Image: ff14.jpg
Right: Producer Tanaka talks aboutchanges to the action bar at the Pre-Live event.
GW: The Actions & Abilities screenitself is fairly difficult to understand.
DK: Indeed. A lot of players were unaware of the pull-down list at first. We’re working on having it display your skills automatically among other things.
GW: Anything else you’re working ondevelopment-wise?
DK: Tons! Both things that need to be fixed by the release date as well as things we’ll keep an eye on as the game progresses.The big ones are skills, as mentioned above, and server stress. Our biggest priority is that users can play and not worry about stability. After that come bugs, I suppose, and fine-tuning leveling balance.
Tons of New Missions and Quests
GW: What new things can we look forward to in the final version?
DK: The big addition will be quests. What you saw in beta was just the tip of the iceberg. Tons of new ones are being added, so I hope everyone is looking forward to that.
GW: So we’ll see more guildleves?
DK: Well, of course we’re adding new guildleves, but this is different. Currently there are only three quests available, one for each major city. Those are also just a fraction of the whole. Class quests are also being added, and we’re working on the final adjustments right now.
Attached Image: ff15.jpg
Talking briefly about class quests at the Pre-Liveevent.
GW: What will class quests be like?
If you’ve played FFXI, they’re similar to the artifact quests available to each job in the mid-level range. When you reach a certain level on a certain class, a quest specific to that class starts. It’s designed to be enjoyed solo,and there are quests for crafters and gatherers, too. They have unique cutscenes and involve quests that, unlike guildleves, feel like a classic Final Fantasy story.
GW: So guildleves aren’t the main content?
DK: There’s a lot of talk among the developers about what the main content is. My opinion is that if guildleves were a food, they would be bread or rice. They allow you to progress but don’t become dull or monotonous. You never grow tired of it. From that perspective, guildleves are the focus. But it doesn’t end there. New quests pop up and new items or skills become available, making progression fun. So I think of guildleves more like a staple food than a main course.
GW: Ultimately, what kind of play style will FFXIV have?
DK: We’re designing the main scenario to be mostly soloable. Thereare party battles, but the focus is solo play. The storyline is pretty hefty. Even the quests available in-game seemed pretty high-volume because of the custscenes, but it will increase even further. If you’re wondering what we have in store for crafters and gatherers, we’re still preparing it so please look forward to it.
GW: We only had a portion of the main storyline available. What’sthe big picture?
DK: The main scenario starts in various ways from each of the threecities. Think FFXI. Eventually the three paths will combine into one story. It stretches into the higher levels and makes use of instances. Beyond mere dialogue, there are plenty of cutscenes and characters with special abilities.
GW: Main quests are available every 10 ranks. Will this stay thesame?
DK: They will probably become a little more frequent than that. Playerswill also have class quests for each of the classes they level, so we want them to have a plethora of quests at their fingertips.
Attached Image: ff07.jpg
In Open Beta, six quests were available in the threemajor cities.
GW: It has been said that it is impossible to finish all thequests in FFXI. Will FFXIV be similar?
DK: It will certainly be hard to. At release it might not be impossible, but it’ll certainly be close.
GW: You could hardly participate in endgame content if you were just a crafter in FFXI. How about FFXIV?
DK: For starters, we want to make crafted items the most powerful.High-end content will involve crafters and gatherers, and we are trying to add gear that will catch their eye.
GW: How will that play out?
DK: We’re still working on that. There might be some things similar to FFXI. I’ll leave it up to your imagination.
GW: Content from FFXI will be making an appearance?
DK: Indeed, but we’re focusing on not making it a time sink. There will be content that spans long periods of time, but nothing that requires hours upon hours for each attempt.
GW: Will it be soloable?
DK: Some will, but a fair share will only be possible in a party. We want to give players some options based on their play styles.
GW: It seems like the difficulty of guildleves in Open Beta encouraged party play over soloing.
DK: The idea of being able to solo to cap still remains, as well as being able to solo quests. Soloing is the basic premise of the game. In Closed Beta, we were unable to achieve a balance that providing extra merit to forming a party. We’re working on adding an extra reward to party play while not discouraging soloing.
GW: So we should be doing quests alongside guildleves?
DK: Yes. Even among guildleves you’ll be able to see some amazing new things around level 40. Gameplay will be more difficult and innovative, so prepare yourselves. Faction leves have yet to be explored, and there is certainly some interesting stuff awaiting players there.
The Future of PVP
GW: When can we ride the chocobos?
DK: You’ll have to wait a little longer. It’s easy enough to make them ridable, but we already have teleportation available from the get-go.Compared to that, a chocobo isn’t very convenient. Therefore, we want to addsomething more to them, so we’ll probably time it to coincide with other newcontent (*perhaps as a way of accessing it?).
Attached Image: ff08.jpg
A seemingly healthy chocobo, but you can’t take it for a test drive just yet.
GW: What can you tell us about the Market Wards?
DK: The market is still not matured and there are still things to be done with retainers regarding usability. There are things we want to fix by retail and things we want to watch as the game progresses. We want to make the experience more user-friendly overall and are currently working on that. Perhaps some method of finding out where to buy what, and so on.
GW: How about Companies?
DK: They are a high-priority item, but we will need a little more time to work on them. I can say we’re in the planning stages, and there will be more information soon.
GW: Have you already worked out Company dynamics?
DK: It’s like an advanced form of Linkshell. Linkshells are about ease of communication. Companies involve the player more and are a way to pool resources.
Attached Image: ff16.jpg
Concept art of a Company’s guild house.
GW: So there is merit to joining a Company?
DK: If not, there wouldn’t be much point to it, I think. The main factor will not be implemented on release day, but we encourage everyone to enjoy the current content and watch as we unveil new things.
GW: Will it be for experienced players?
DK: A main element of a Company is to allow novices to group up with veterans in order to experience the world. We’re keeping this in mind as wework on it.
GW: Can we expect PVP battles between guilds?
DK: We are considering it, but I can’t say much on the topic rightnow. Once I can, I’ll let everyone know.
GW: So the probability of implementing such a feature ishigh?
DK: We will definitely do so.
Okada: Some players might have noticed, but many skills were createdwith PVP in mind.
GW: Will PVP be different from what we saw in FFXI?
DK: The battle system itself is completely different. Like chocobos and companies, it would be easy to implement if it were just a simple one-on-onefight. We think about how content will be played before we release it, so we want it to be nice and polished.
Trying Something New GW: The stir over latent (*bonus, surplus, whatever they want us to call it…) experience seems to have calmed down some since Closed Beta… DK: It’s currently working as intended. A bug caused a huge increase in earned SP and XP during Phase 3, and many hit the cap and were left to wonder. The system had been in place since the start of Beta but didn’t really manifest itself until the massive boost in skill gains. The parameters themselves weren’t tweaked.
caption: “There are currently no plans to add a special bonus to surplus experience,” says Komoto.
GW: As it stands right now, fatigue will gradually recover when you’re not playing, right? DK: It will recover not only if you’re logged off but even if you’re just playing a different class.
GW: So tell us more about surplus experience… Okada: If you collect enough bonus experience your surplus rank will increase for that class, but there is currently no benefit associated with that. If we add powerful skills unlocked with surplus, it will just encourage everyone to pursue it. We’re trying to figure out what rewards we could offer that wouldn’t be overly enticing. DK: The reason there is no reward currently is so players don’t misunderstand our intentions and think we’re forcing them to earn surplus experience. Even if we do add something, it will be nothing more than a novelty gift. First things first, we have to see how much surplus players are collecting on average.
GW: Once you earn a certain amount of SP, you begin to collect surplus. Is this based on a time limit? DK: We based it off of how much SP a player is likely to earn in a sitting, but this was mistaken to mean that it was solely time-based. In Open Beta, characters were able to go from Rank 1 to 20 in a week and never see a drop of surplus. If you play at a normal pace, you should seldom see it.
Attached Image: ff10.jpg Some Battle Regimen combos shown at the Pre-Live event.
FFXI players might remember that level 20 is around when you need to consider leveling a support job, and we wanted to encourage a similar type of experience. Also, we think leveling speed is still a little slower than intended, so we’re considering lowering the amount of SP needed to reach Rank 10. If we do that, then there definitely should be no surplus gained up through Rank 20.
GW: So ultimately, you don’t want players to obsess over just one class? DK: There are two reasons. First, we want to balance casual and hardcore gamers. There’s the eternal question of which group to make the game for. Despite many aspects counter to the fact, FFXI is seen by many as a purely hardcore game. We wanted to lighten it up a bit, make it less of a time sink. In trying to balance the two play styles, we realized we are able to raise the base leveling speed to compensate, as mentioned before.
Second, every player comes to a point where they need to change classes or take a break. How the player spends their time is up to them, but we wanted to show them there are more options to choose from than just one class. Hence surplus showing up in the chat log, letting them know they should start considering trying something else out. We aren’t trying to hold players back. We want to present them with opportunities to try out the myriad of options.
GW: It appears that many are confused about how to execute Battle Regimens. Okada: I think that’s because the effects weren’t known. For example, if you chain a regular attack with another regular attack, it lowers the physical defense of a mob for a period of time. It doesn’t require TP, so you can start off with it right away, save up some TP and chain a Weapon Skill with another for a Battle Regimen that will deal increased damage.
GW: Many times players were confused about when to initiate a Regimen, and the battle was over before they knew it. Okada: We realize the explanation regarding Battle Regimens is lacking. We will have to come up with something a little easier to understand. Regimens were created to be less confusing than the skill chains of FFXI. It’s included in the UI, and timing is less of a factor than with skill chains.
GW: So it’s taking the place of FFXI’s skill chains? Okada: The point of a skill chain was to cut a chunk out of a monster’s hit points. Battle Regimens have various effects, and the timing is more in the players’ hands. In FFXI, the player starting a skill chain was under a great deal of pressure to start it at just the right time. There was probably a great sense of relief when a skill chain was executed well. We wanted to expand the concept more and allow for greater party play, and so Battle Regimens were born. We’re placing the emphasis on having fun, not a nerve-racking experience.
You Only Want to Be a Crafter? No Problem! GW: Why are local leves mostly performed near aetherytes? DK: Item repair is going to be an important element of gameplay. Sure, there are NPCs that manage that, but they only repair up to a certain percentage and charge accordingly. We wanted to draw them out of the cities and into the camps, so they can mingle and meet prospective customers.
Okada: It’s impetus for them to not keep themselves holed up in the city all day long.
caption: Local leves are opportunities to meet possible clients.
GW: Are there leves that have crafters traveling long distances? DK: As a crafter’s rank increases, they’ll no longer be targeted by low-level aggressive monsters. Just by playing a crafting class, you can see the world and even learn its deepest secrets. We want crafters to travel abroad and use it as a chance for new business opportunities and ventures.
GW: When you finish a local leve, you are given a recipe. Is it saved or written down anywhere? DK: Honestly this idea barely made it into the game. Many were saying they didn’t know any recipes, so we wanted to give some hints. We released some recipes on the internet and have more things in the works. Recipes as a reward from a local leve is another way we’re trying to help. It’s not that you can’t make it if you haven’t gotten the recipe yet. It’s more of a tip.
Attached Image: ff12.jpgYou’ll see a lot of crafters huddled around the aetheryte as they work on their local leves.
GW: So recipes can be seen out-of-game? DK: We are considering posting the basic recipes on our website, etc.
GW: The main site mentions a recipe compendium in “The Delicacies of Life” of Aeleyora (*see IV: The Joy of Cooking, for those who are curious). Does it exist in-game? DK: Due to various reasons, we cannot show it at this time. It is in the works but is not a high-priority item at the moment.
GW: Ingredients are hard to come by lately, and this makes it difficult for crafters to rank up. DK: The problem right now is that the market doesn’t provide enough, I think. One option is to have vendors sell them. The drop list could also be adjusted, especially regarding shards and crystals, the fundamental parts of any recipe. We, too, noticed as we were playing that hey, there isn’t enough of this or that.
GW: Crafters’ main option for fighting is throwing stones. Will they be able to attack with their tools? DK: We’re not saying that they’ll get a bunch of attack options come release. However, we’ll see how things go and will hopefully add something in coming version updates.
Okada: It would indeed be nice. There have been various opinions about it within the department, so I hope we come to some sort of agreement on it.
GW: Are there still no pet jobs like FFXI’s Beastmaster and Summoner? DK: Something is in the works, but it’s not ready yet. It’s still under review, but I think I will be able to reveal more after a little while. We’re still working on the fundamentals. This time we hope to add classes without the need for an expansion disc. We’re even considering the next version update, so I think I’ll be able to say more around then.
GW: FFXI usually added new jobs in expansions. Will FFXIV be doing that in version updates instead, then? DK: We are considering it for this update.
PS3 Version Under Development. There Will Be a Beta, but the Duration is Undetermined GW: What are your plans for expansions after official service starts? DK: We’ll probably have a major patch once every three months. I expect there will be a mountain’s worth of emergency updates right after release, though, so we’ll see. The pacing of expansions will probably be similar to that of FFXI.
GW: Lately expansions for FFXI have been solely Downloadable Content (DLC). What will you do for FFXIV? DK: I don’t think the chance of things heading that way is nil. But if you’re going to go out, you might as well go all out. A bunch of new content all at once garners more attention, so we’re considering discs first.
GW: How’s the PS3 version coming along? DK: We returned home from Gamescom right in time for a meeting on the topic. We were able to see it in action. The party system and fundamentals were coming along, but it still needs tuning before we can show it to everyone. Please wait just a little longer.
GW: When do you think PS3 Beta will start? DK: As of right now, all I can say is that we will still have a PS3 beta test. We will have more information on that soon.
GW: Are there any changes to the scheduled release date? DK: No. It remains as announced.
GW: Finally, anything you want to pass on to our readers? DK: I want to continue hearing players’ opinions. I’ve learned loads just by logging in and interacting with players directly, and I think this is just the beginning. Join with me and help improve the game and change the face of Eorzea.
Okada: It has been quite a while since development started, but this is not the end. I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m looking forward to molding it along with all you players out there and surpassing FFXI.
On September 23 2010 01:37 Aurra wrote: It resets a week after you start building experience no matter how much you play, you don't have to stop playing for a week for it to reset.
It'll always been more efficient to level multiple classes as there isn't enough time in the week to play each class enough to start hitting surplus.
wowow really??? so basically the most time effective leveling strategy would be to gain experience on ALL the classes immediately (just do 1 battle then change classes and repeat) and this would set all of them immediately on cool down (1 week)? then you should be able to freely do anything while everything is cooling down for the week regardless of what you play not nearly as bad as i thought, hope this is true
On September 23 2010 05:27 Aurra wrote: Essentially. You do not have to keep switching classes to start any specific timer though as the timer is character-wide.
ok so you're saying as soon as i gain experience on a pugilist on day 1 and 6 days later im leveling up a marauder, the marauder will also reset at the same time the pugilist does?
ok so you're saying as soon as i gain experience on a pugilist on day 1 and 6 days later im leveling up a marauder, the marauder will also reset at the same time the pugilist does?
It seems more likely that the Marauder would reset 1 week from when you started getting experience in that class, as opposed to all classes resetting at the same time as the oldest experience gain class (first one you used) - aka Pugilist.
As for getting a little in everything at the beginning of a week, definitely a possibility. Would be interesting to find out if it keeps that 1 week timer even if the gradual "decay" from not playing a class brings it back to zero or if the timer resets as soon as the internal "experienced gained" amount hits zero again.
Also, the interview mentions that a lot more content is available at release for those that were asking about it. More quests than the 1 per city (plus 1 more per city at 10, I think it was in open beta). Class quests, faction quests, more guildleves (and a faster cooldown planned, from notes I read) etc.
It was nice for them to a give an example number in regards to fatigue. Stating that you can go 1-20 without even hitting surplus, let alone experience dropping off by quite a bit is nice to hear. The eight hour number more or less assumes a min-max group that can gogogo in a good area. I'd imagine normal people will take two or three times as long at least to gain the same amount of experience.
My friends and I were gonna play on Cornelia ("Welcome to Cornelia" "I like swords" "Welcome to Cornelia" "I like swords") but if most of TL is gonna be on mysidia I'll have to think about convincing them to play there instead. Most of the names we use are unlikely to be taken, but hard to say.
On September 23 2010 05:04 Novastrike wrote: Haha yeh, no mouse lag now. But who uses mouse? All keyboard here. Whats your in-game name Judo? Are you on Mysidia?
Sorry, but I'm playing with my friends on Selbina T_T if anyone happens to randomly choose that server from TL then feel free to contact me, IGN = Guy Endymion
On September 23 2010 13:05 Aurra wrote: There is a lot of people on Mysidia. They've taken the server off the list of available servers to create new characters on.
On September 23 2010 13:05 Aurra wrote: There is a lot of people on Mysidia. They've taken the server off the list of available servers to create new characters on.
wow this is not good -_-
Yeh...and who knows when they will increase server capacity. On a side note, Anyone in Grid or Lominsa see a shield for sale for less then 40k?
On September 23 2010 13:05 Aurra wrote: There is a lot of people on Mysidia. They've taken the server off the list of available servers to create new characters on.
wow this is not good -_-
Yeh...and who knows when they will increase server capacity. On a side note, Anyone in Grid or Lominsa see a shield for sale for less then 40k?
you mean like, any shield? i saw a lvl 5 one for like 20k when i was browsing gridania. are shields that hard to find? T_T
CE experience is massively improved on the beta, very little menu lag, no battle lag, no mouse lag which were pretty much the three main gripes people had with the game. They say server capacity will increase next week with the regular edition going on sale.
edit: Gonna try and set up a livestream tomorrow night, I'm still really low lv and inexperienced with this game, but I will have my FFXI crew with me and this should be fun, Ill try and keep you all posted.
Nice to know Aurra. I found a shield, forget name, but its just for DoW recommended level of 11. It cost 40k in Ul'Dah. Its also a wooden shield so guess I can wait, but I'm impatient lol. Sadly, SE lessened the amount of gil obtained by doing the main quest.
Question for the CE people, what do you actually do in game? Guildleves, farm, craft? Are there some quests? Any of them fun to do?
Is the story more developped do you learn more about Eoarza while leveling up? What interested me in this game is how the ff11 people described ff11 as a game with a great story, since i'm looking for a MMO who really use the RPG aspect i have hope for ff14. Does it deliver?
Just like in FFXI there is a "main quest" of sorts that you do while leveling that is full of cutscenes and storyline that develop the world. Each of the three city-states has it's own questline that will most likely converge into one once people reach the capital city of Ishgard (FF11 did the same thing with Jeuno).
I haven't uploaded many yet as I had to go to work and the servers went down early for maintenance today but it gets more and more interesting the further you go.
FAQ what is ff14? an asian mmo how do you level? grind end game content? grind trade skills? grind role play? jerk off and grind how are the graphics? nice for grinding what are the pros? grind and the cons? grind
xX whispers: CHEAP GAME GOLD $9 YES BUY YES NI HAO xy whispers: CHEAP GAME GOLD $9 YES BUY YES NI HAO xz whispers: CHEAP GAME GOLD $9 YES BUY YES NI HAO xa whispers: CHEAP GAME GOLD $9 YES BUY YES NI HAO xb whispers: CHEAP GAME GOLD $9 YES BUY YES NI HAO xc whispers: CHEAP GAME GOLD $9 YES BUY YES NI HAO
Downloaded the game and installed, had a lot of trouble getting the patches and listened to a crapload of people telling me the game is bad. Went back to Minecraft.
On September 24 2010 08:46 nennx wrote: How did the game change from the OB? I played it then but it didn't exactly seem like it was worth buying.
Is the UI lag fixed (not just the mouse)? Are guildleves still on a long timer? Are there any more quests?
The mouse lag is gone. Guildleves are now on a 36 hour timer if I.m correct, but thats okay since yu can help others do their quests even if you do not have it. There are more quests. The game will only get better, imo.
Or you could join the lonely Guy Endymion on Selbina... . BTW how's everyone's progress? I'm currently physical level 14, marauder 11, miner 8, and blacksmith/armorer 5.
On September 25 2010 06:33 shire wrote: wow i am downloading update... well seem more like i am uploading update.
upload is at 130kb/s download is at 88kb/s ..... wtheck? gonna take me 2 hours to get the update lol
go to downloads > my games > final fantasy xiv > downloads>ffxiv and click on one of them and then click on metainfo should be a torrent file in there. download the patch with bittorrent then replace it with the patch place holder in the patch folder its will always be faster than the ffxiv updater because they purposely force you to seed by stopping your download and forcing you to upload
On September 25 2010 06:23 judochopaction wrote: Or you could join the lonely Guy Endymion on Selbina... . BTW how's everyone's progress? I'm currently physical level 14, marauder 11, miner 8, and blacksmith/armorer 5.
On September 25 2010 06:23 judochopaction wrote: Or you could join the lonely Guy Endymion on Selbina... . BTW how's everyone's progress? I'm currently physical level 14, marauder 11, miner 8, and blacksmith/armorer 5.
Apparently more than one of my friends got the collector's edition and have already started playing/made their characters, so I'll be playing on Cornelia.
I would love to have one if anyone can spare it! I have good karma i gave away my SC2 trial to TLers! Also Aurra where can i find Actual gameplay from Retail? all the clips on youtube are from beta or gamescon, trailers etc... :/
So I just started playing. and i'm kind of confused. I'm a casual player that logs on for like 2-3hours every now and then
you get 8 leves per 48hours? so then you can only 8 quests per 2 days? huh? I started in uldah and finished the courts in sands quest, are there others? if so where do i get them?
Is the rest of it mostly grinding then? And what about parties? it feels like I cant get into the social aspect of it, I'm soloing everything and no one is ever talking I know theres a search party feature but are there like group quests or what should i do?
I'm really interested in getting into the game, but it feels like somethings lacking or maybe its just not noob-friendly?
After a few solid days playing on a fairly low population server I must say the lack of a good market is really starting to pain me. I can't solo any more at ten with my starting armor for the wrong class so I'm forced to look for new armor/weapon but it's absolutely impossible to find.. and yes I've trekked to all 3 cities and browsed every bazaar in the first/second market ward of all of them.
Granted, I dunno if FFXI was like this at the start, but it feels so much like a beta still.. So many things locked or missing..
I finally decided I'm just going to grind gathering skills until the regular release and hope things are added, but if not, at least there will be more people around and hopefully some CE's wanting to drop off old armor sets (since there's no real bank either heh)
HOW THE HELL do i play this PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE somebody let me know.. i havent gotten an email from them.. and i dont know how to download the ''torrented'' version of it that plays online..Please please somebody help would be so amazing.. i loved final fantasy..never played 11 but rest i played and i love them. i would love you forever if you helped me with this!!!!!
On September 28 2010 09:33 Famous wrote: HOW THE HELL do i play this PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE somebody let me know.. i havent gotten an email from them.. and i dont know how to download the ''torrented'' version of it that plays online..Please please somebody help would be so amazing.. i loved final fantasy..never played 11 but rest i played and i love them. i would love you forever if you helped me with this!!!!!
On September 28 2010 09:33 Famous wrote: HOW THE HELL do i play this PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE somebody let me know.. i havent gotten an email from them.. and i dont know how to download the ''torrented'' version of it that plays online..Please please somebody help would be so amazing.. i loved final fantasy..never played 11 but rest i played and i love them. i would love you forever if you helped me with this!!!!!
Can't you just purchase it...? Or am I missing something.
the game isnt out till the 30ths. people playing now bought the collectors edition. its pay to play.
Question: can anyone tell me what max lvl is on the "classes" and "crafts" are?
i plan on getting it if it turns out to be a big grind like ff11 was.
the only reason i want it to be a grind because u can do anything with your character and i dont feel like having to compete with ever single person on the server if i do crafting.
Wow, the registration process is so needlessly complicated and frustrating. Had to make an additional two accounts/passwords in addition to the one I used to play the beta. Then I apparently had to add a character in addition to the basic service (seriously, what kind of basic service doesn't include a character to play the game with).
Fiiiinally get through all the bullshit, go to make a character, and half the worlds aren't open so I can't even make one on the server my friends did like... a week ago. Mysidia isn't on the list either so I can't just say "fuck it" and play with TL people. I should at least have the option to make one on the same damn server I played on in Beta.
There's been a lot of criticism about the game mechanics, but those I can deal with as they just lead to a different style that some enjoy more than others (stuff being harder than "normal" often leads to less noobs, but how hard this game is supposed to be is another discussion). Having 20 hoops to jump through just to play with my friends. I feel like I'm trying to register friend codes on a DS, but three times more needlessly convoluted. -.-
Edit: At this moment, if I try to make a character I have a choice of 7 (SEVEN!!?) servers. Kashuan, Melmond, Bodhum, Saronia, Fabul, Istory, and Rabanastre. I could've sworn there was closer to 10 a few hours ago when I first tried to make my character. A post on FFIVcore has the list of servers that were to be available at launch in the news section. There's 17 names there. Over half the worlds are unavailable two days after the main retail launch.
Is there anyone who wants to shoot a buddy pass over to me? I tried to get the beta to work but download always said maintenance after i got my beta key, and just never got around to getting it working. I'm actually looking forward to the higher learning curve of the game compared to others (such as wow)...
I can send a guest pass for SC2 for whoever wants to swap (or just be nice and share ;P )
I gladly would give you a friend/buddy/trial pass if I knew where to go to get you a code/whatever that needs to be done. Didn't see anything in the packaging about it.
So far I'm less than impressed (having finally gotten my character on Cornelia started). There were some problems in Beta and I wrote half of them off as "beta" things and the other half being shit I could put up with. They're pretty much all here in the release version. They weren't really holding back story content in the interest of testing game mechanics for the beta. They just don't have much content at all. I think there may be some class quests that were added for mid-ish levels and maybe a third section of the story around 15 (apparently there was a second part in the beta at 10, but I didn't bother to grind as it was beta). But hey, they fixed some stuff. There's a wounded dude lying on the ground in the Gridania quest line that whines about losing his polearm but in the beta he had a polearm still attached to his character model. No more in official release! Though seriously, I noticed a few of the quests had been cleaned up from the beta (notably, the emote quest).
Inventory is still a mess. You only have 80 slots and items that are equipped still count towards that limit and there's 15-20 equipment slots (some aren't used for every class, like the ammo slot). Your retainer can hold another 80. That's it. With a shit ton of crafting materials, and gear you would need if you want to play multiple classes, along with just generic loot from killing stuff, it will be quite easy to hit that cap. Currently they don't have the ability to buy a second retainer ($1 a month per, after your first one). Extra characters are $3 a month (they're only $1 in FFXI). There's no way to move stuff from one of your characters to another without having a buddy act as a middleman, and trading mass items takes a LONG time, just like selling does.
Other stuff is still broken, like fighting multiple creatures. I can aoe stuff as a Conjurer, but I don't get physical or class experience for anything other than the first enemy. Get the loot, but no actual experience. The number after I've killed everything is the same as if I just killed one, so it isn't lumping it all into a final "end of battle" number either.
They also made crafting harder from the beta. Using Rapid has a much higher durability loss than it used to, so it's rather hard to even get a successful synthesis, let alone one with a high quality (and higher quality = more experience on top of the base for a successful synthesis). That's more of an annoyance than a huge complaint, though.
The game is chocked full of things that lead you towards one choice (say leveling multiple classes to increase the potency and options of your main) only for you to find other parts of the game directly opposed to you doing just that and making it harder on you. It can't decide if it wants to be casual friendly and limiting for hardcore players to keep the gap from growing to be, or being hardcore friendly at the expense of not being easy to pick up for a casual player. It's like the game has one, huge identity crisis.
It's a shame, because I really wanted to like the game and play it for a long time, but there's just so many things done poorly and so little that's amazingly right. Currently I'd have to go with popular opinion of "hold off on buying/subscribing for several months to see if they fix/add stuff." Unfortunately due to the retainer/inventory system I don't see them changing that anytime soon (unless they intend it to be a retainer per city, and not just multiple mules). Given that I like to play lots of classes and not just a single one all the time I'd end up fighting the system all throughout my playtime. I'll likely play off and on through the rest of the free month, but unless something changes my mind I'll probably cancel the sub. The "Diamond" to "Rough" ratio is currently waaaay too skewed in favor of the Rough.
Looks like for MMOs I'll end playing DDO (since their main payment model is essentially "free, buy areas via micro transaction as a one-time fee") and probably Runescape... lol.
[rage] Fucking dammit, why isn't this game the amazing game it could've and should've been. Screw you Squeenix. [/rage]
Played a bit more. Crafting isn't quite as frustrating if you go to the guild of that class (only one, in a specific city of the three) as you can pay to get a buff which helps your success rate. You can either get common (100), guild (200), or master (500) help. Buff seemed to be about 5 mins, but for the two local leves I did at the Alchemist guild with the mid level buff I had a rather high success rate. Granted they were level 1, but in the Beta when I did some without the buff it was essentially spamming rapid (completion %) and hoping to get lucky. Bit more consistent with the buff, even though rapid takes more durability now. It's annoying that it's only in one spot in one city, but at least crafting is doable without failing 60%+ of your attempts... or at least the lowbie stuff I was doing.
Amusingly, there's a low level Goldsmith/Alchemy leve (and Weaver a bit higher, I think) that has the turn in at an outpost in an area with a bunch of high level stuff. Like, short canyons to run through so hard to avoid enemies, which aggro and hit you for 1800-2500 a hit... when the most you're gonna have is like, 700. Rather silly design. Did I mention the map doesn't actually tell you how to get into the area (cave) and that some areas that look like dead end canyons on the map are wide open paths that save you a ton of time, if you know they're there and that the map is lying. Managed to get to the camp along with someone else facing the same issue with only one death due to some luck and waiting for the aggressive enemies to path just barely far enough away to squeeze past. Quest rewards were, of course, utter shit.
If the game had something to shoot for, some goal to aim for (high level area/loot/armor/dungeon/whatever) it'd be easier to be motivated to play and level up. As is it's essentially "level up and hope there's a reward when you get there." Given the sparseness of the lower levels, I'm just not filled with confidence that I'll feel rewarded after leveling to higher areas. Going from the level one zone that had Wharf Rats to the next one over (level 10 camp) that has "Plains Rats" doesn't excite me to see higher level creatures either, and that's not the only example of blatant copy, recolor slightly, paste.
And of course I like to play casters and the design in this game is incredibly archaic. You have MP, but you can't rely on using it because you'll run out way to fast if you actually use your baseline spells. It's like leveling a lowbie Priest in WoW. Sure you can kill something faster if you use your spells, but then you'll spend 70% of your time drinking to get mana back, so instead it's better to cast minimal buffs and just wand the shit out of stuff (aka, Spirit Dart).
Seems SE has decided to take a page out of WoW's book and start making random cultural references.
So for those that still has a passing interest in FF14, I decided I give an overview of how the game has fared since launch. The developers admitted that the game was so crap upon release that they gave everyone not one, but two free months past the initial free month that most MMOs come with. I got the game at the end of September and I won't have to think about whether or not to actual pay a subscription until New Years.
They released a decent patch in November and have another major one planned for December sometime. The UI is slightly improved in appearance and information, and a couple of the menus aren't -quite- as obtuse. UI lag is still there, though I think the December patch is supposed to target that more than the November one did.
Inventory space got increased from 80 to 100. Still takes half an hour to sell shit to vendors, though. The market ward system got an overhaul. Instead of everyone cramming into the first one or two instances, they're spread out now as the tax (aka, auction house cut) is reduced on specific items in specific wards, making it more likely that you will find Conjurer/Thaumaturge crap in the "Spellweaver's Ward" (or whatever it's called) for example. I heard that the recent patch added some type of search function, but I haven't given enough of a shit to go have a look.
Leveling goes much faster in the early levels (aka, where 95% of people are at) as the experience needed between 1 and 20 (what the devs consider the game's tutorial levels, apparently) has been nerfed by a decent amount. On top of that they got rid of the retarded "random exp" system. Now you just straight up get skill points/experience when you kill stuff. Kinda like that system is the standard for a damn reason or something. I've only sat down for 2 or 3 decent play sessions since the patch and have gone from 11 Conjurer to 18 19. Hoping that I can bring myself to get to 20 as I think that'll unlock a class quest and possibly another story quest (looks like 20 is the main story quest that everyone gets, after doing the mini-storyline unique to their starting town).
Speaking of which, so far the game is just as barren and lacking in content. They apparently redistributed some of the monsters in the patch (more even placement, less completely empty tracks of land) but actual non-grind, game content is still incredibly scarce (and sounds like a quest every 5-10 levels + one or two class quests here and there from what little I've read - bleh).
Crafting gets -slightly- more involved once you get a few of them to 10, when you unlock the first ability (which can randomly show up as an option during synthesis). Although it's slightly less annoying, even with the guild buff (now lasts 30 minutes instead of 5, btw) crafting very much feels like a rather random coin flip. You get a little control, but it's generally just spamming "standard synthesis" and hoping you don't fail too much. Sometimes throwing in a bold or two if you have spare durability.
I've only been crafting via local leves, which provide all the materials for me so I risk practically nothing for free exp (good for physical experience, too). Have to pay for the guild buff, but the leve reward usually pays for that and more (especially now with the longer buff duration). And crafting still annoys me. If I had to spend the time/energy/money/whatever to actually gather the needed materials, I might just go crazy. Their system may be more involved than a "click, wait on progress bar, done" system but it just isn't fun enough to be worth it. Just feels needlessly complex for very little sense reward. In a word: chore.
I've heard mention that you can get crafting gear to improve your ability, just like you can for a class like conjurer or marauder. Unfortunately the crafting system isn't nearly engaging enough for me to care, especially since inventory is already pretty jammed. I recently sold off useless crap, keeping only stuff that may be useful to Carpenter or Alchemist, the two crafting professions I'm doing. Between those few items and all my "conjurer" gear and weapons for a couple of classes, I was at 52/100 inventory.
Ultimately, if you're really want to like the game then just check back in a year when they'll have had time to add actual content. Doesn't seem like it's worth the frustration and grind right now just for one or two mildly interesting quests every 5-10 hours of playtime.
Granted, the (story) quests so far have been mildly interesting, but it feels like it'd be much easier to just wait for someone to post a copy of the plot/find it on youtube as there really isn't much interaction so far (and usually only token interaction - early on it's something like "these monsters are attacking... but have 10 health and die instantly to any of your attacks") and is really just "observing" the story move along rather than being a part of it.
Thank you for your continued interest in and support of FINAL FANTASY XIV.
While more than two months have passed since the official launch of FINAL FANTASY XIV service, we deeply regret that the game has yet to achieve the level of enjoyability that FINAL FANTASY fans have come to expect from the franchise, and for this we offer our sincerest of apologies.
After thorough deliberation on how to meet those expectations, it was decided that the most viable step was to approach improvements under new leadership and with a restructured team.
To realize this vision, and in doing so, provide our customers with a better game experience, we have assembled our company’s top talent and resources. Taking over the role of producer and director is Naoki Yoshida, a passionate individual for whom customer satisfaction has always taken top priority. Not only is he one of our Group’s most accomplished and experienced members, Naoki Yoshida is also a charismatic leader possessing the skill to bring together and effectively helm a team which encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. We also welcome several new leaders handpicked from other projects to work with the existing talent on FINAL FANTASY XIV.
We realize time is of the essence and are fully determined to provide our customers with quality service. It is because of this that we ask our customers to be patient until we are able to confidently present them with a concrete plan outlining FINAL FANTASY XIV’s new direction. The free trial period will be extended until that time.
Regarding the PlayStation 3, it is not our wish to release a simple conversion of the Windows version in its current state, but rather an update that includes all the improvements we have planned. For that reason, we have made the difficult decision to delay the release of the PlayStation 3 version beyond the originally announced date of March 2011.
The FINAL FANTASY XIV team is working hard to bring our customers an unparalleled adventure, and we ask for your continued understanding and support as we march ever diligently towards that goal.
President and CEO, Yoichi Wada
The development and management teams would like to make an announcement regarding personnel changes.
[Organizational Changes to the Development Team] To improve the service of FINAL FANTASY XIV, Square Enix has made the following changes to the development team:
Managerial Changes
Producer/Director Naoki Yoshida
Section Leader Changes
Assistant Director Shintaro Tamai (FINAL FANTASY X, Front Mission 5: Scars of the War)
Lead Game Designer Nobuaki Komoto (FINAL FANTASY IX, FINAL FANTASY XI)
Lead Combat System Designer Akihiko Matsui (FINAL FANTASY XI)
Technical Advisor Yoshihisa Hashimoto (Next Generation Game Engine Development)
Lead Programmer Hideyuki Kasuga (FINAL FANTASY XI, DIRGE OF CERBERUS -FINAL FANTASY VII-)
Senior Concept Artist Akihiko Yoshida (FINAL FANTASY XII, Vagrant Story)
Lead Artist Hiroshi Takai (FINAL FANTASY XI, THE LAST REMNANT)
Lead UI Designer/Lead Web Designer Hiroshi Minagawa (FINAL FANTASY XII, Vagrant Story)
These members will make up the development team’s new core—a core dedicated to ensuring we achieve a level of enjoyability that will more than satisfy our customers. Under a schedule of more frequent version updates, the new leaders and their respective sections will strive for continued improvements to FINAL FANTASY XIV service operation and development.
[Extension of the Free Trial Period] As stated above, the newly restructured team’s top priority is to bring about improvements to the game’s enjoyability, and therefore we have decided to extend the free trial period until we can provide a plan that outlines a level of enjoyment that will satisfy both us and our customers. When we are confident that we have reached that goal, we will notify our customers immediately.
[Future Version Updates] At present, the development team is putting the finishing touches on the previously announced version update, which is still slated for release in mid-December. In addition, there is one more version update scheduled for release before year’s end. Details on the content and dates of these updates will be released in the near future.
[Delay of the PlayStation 3 Version Release] Although the release date for the PlayStation 3 version of the game was previously announced as late March of 2011, we regret to inform that this date has been changed.
The PlayStation 3 release will be delayed until we are confident that the game has reached the level of enjoyability and service befitting the FINAL FANTASY name for users on all supported platforms. We offer our sincerest apologies to any fans anticipating the PlayStation 3 release, and humbly ask for your continued patience and understanding as both the development team and Square Enix as a whole strive towards making FINAL FANTASY XIV a truly enjoyable and unforgettable adventure.
[New Development Team Policy] I would like to take this opportunity to greet all of you—those currently playing FINAL FANTASY XIV, those who have taken a respite from playing, and those awaiting the PlayStation 3 release—and offer a brief word by way of an introduction.
No doubt there are very few, if any, among you who have ever heard the name Naoki Yoshida. To be sure, I have never been in the fore on any of the titles I have worked on in the past. I am, however, honored and privileged to work alongside many talented and inspiring colleagues, and with their support have enjoyed making games for a number of years. I am aware that a great many people will think the responsibility of leading FINAL FANTASY XIV is far too large a task for someone so unknown. After all, even my very best may seem no more than a drop in the bucket when considering the sheer scope of FINAL FANTASY XIV. But working together with me are the very talented and very capable development and management teams, whose dedication and motivation are unwavering. I would like to ask you to please put to rest uncertainties that you may have.
Now, more than ever, myself, the development team, and Square Enix as a whole, are committed to furthering our efforts to provide a quality service.
Everything we do will be for our players and customers.
FINAL FANTASY XIV Producer/Director, Naoki Yoshida
First of all, I would like to apologize for our inability to fully satisfy our users with the initial release of FINAL FANTASY XIV. I take full responsibility for the game’s current situation, and have therefore made the decision to step down from my role as producer. A number of concerns that have been voiced by users, such as the design of the user interface, availability of tutorials and game content, and battle system functionality, represent key issues that must be addressed. While improvements are already well underway in many areas, we were unfortunately not able to incorporate player feedback as quickly as we would have liked. We are aware, however, that in many cases, addressing these issues will call for a reworking of game elements. As these changes are our first priority, they will be commanding our full attention and efforts. It is to that end that we have put a new organizational structure into place for the development team. Under this new system, FINAL FANTASY XIV will see changes and additions in line with the desires and expectations of players. Though no longer producer, I will be continuing to support the development team in other capacities, and personally hope that you will continue your adventures in the realm of Eorzea.
You gotta love Japanese customer service. While I hate the game as much as everyone else in it's current state, it's great to see that Squenix is as dissatisfied as all of us and are hard at work to improve it.
i gave up on ffxiv mainly because my computer couldnt handle it. it is nice to see square enix listening to feedback, making changes, and extending the free trial period, even though the game was so bad to begin with
I've upgraded my computer just for this game! Even though the current state of the game is poor, I believe they will live up to their promise and improve it drastically.
On December 10 2010 18:41 UniversalSnip wrote: That email is... impressive.
I know, right? I love the fact that they're not going to charge monthly fees until they decide how they're going to fix it. I'm not going to play it anyways (lol), but it takes HUGE balls to man up and do something like that.
Yeah I'm really glad they actually started listening to what we had to say. I can't even begin to explain to people who haven't been a part of the FFXI scene for a long time how difficult it used to be to get anything changed that needed to be changed. Around 2007-2008, they finally started turning a new leaf and it looks like they'll be using this new-found strength to make FFXIV something enjoyable instead of the POS it is right now. Here's hoping they can create another MMO legacy b'-')b
Yeah this is good news for FFXIV but I already quit. I went all out for the first week but quickly realized I wasnt working to anything but more repetitive guild leves. There were no npc quests, no town missions, no AH yet, main town wasnt available yet, no content beyond lvl 50 etc etc etc. It was just craft or do guild leves.... forever. I think this game will definitely get better over the next year. According to the ffxiv forums, FFXI was piss poor judging by all their patch notes, but NA players don't know this because the japanese release preceded the NA release by a whole year.
I might pick this back up after an expansion pack though. I still follow the patch notes.
On January 15 2011 11:03 luckyseven wrote: hows it going?
i wanted to play this , registered to squaresoft, but cant find ANY info on how to play, buy or download this game
seriously can someone link me to some info? i cant be this dumb can i.......surely there is some info on how to play this game somewhere.............
Step 1) Visit a store and purchase the game Step 2) Install the game Step 3) Play the game
Unless I'm somehow completely misunderstanding the question here.
On a related note, have there been any major updates to this game since December 10th? I'm interested in trying it out but not quite enough to pick it up yet. Perhaps if new content was added in the last month I might go through with purchasing it.
On January 15 2011 11:21 Serejai wrote: On a related note, have there been any major updates to this game since December 10th? I'm interested in trying it out but not quite enough to pick it up yet. Perhaps if new content was added in the last month I might go through with purchasing it.
^ I'd also like to know what so bad about it, I enjoyed XI but held off on this one due to everyone saying it sucks, but I cant really find a list reasons.
Well, if you max out a class and kill all the world NM's and get the gear for your whole LS it gets kinda boring just ranking up other classes. The changes made to the up to this point made the game much better and I wish it would have been this way since launch. For example, the market ward is basically an AH now the way it is set up. Also ranking up DoW/DoM due to Sp changes is faster, more bearable and there is no more UI lag. In all honesty though, I would wait for the next update because I think it will be the one that really changes the game, if the 2nd player's poll dictates what content will be changed in the next update. Until then I would hold off from buying the game. When/If you do buy the game join server Mysidia and add Nova Strike. I'll help you out.
On June 27 2011 14:00 joban wrote: I haven't touched this game in the longest time. Does anyone here play it or think it's gotten better?
Yea, I really want to know. I participated in beta, but stopped after 3 weeks due to terrible lag in all aspects of gameplay despite having 15 mb/s download speed internet and top-of-the-line (at the time) system specs. Apparently FFXIV didn't run well with Radeon GPUs or something. Lag was terrible to the point where I couldn't enjoy the game, much less play it. Not to mention completely sub-optimal UI for keyboard/mouse play.
When it was released, just heard a bunch of negative comments, anecdotes, and reviews. Never bothered to get it or give it a second thought. Even heard SE gave players free playtime as compensation.
So. Any TLers have any good news about this game? Or is that email posted a page ago still the SE policy on FFXIV?
On September 16 2011 14:48 UniversalSnip wrote: I was wondering if anyone still plays this game and how it's doing. I really haven't heard any updates on it, is it just dead?
On September 16 2011 14:48 UniversalSnip wrote: I was wondering if anyone still plays this game and how it's doing. I really haven't heard any updates on it, is it just dead?
On September 16 2011 14:48 UniversalSnip wrote: I was wondering if anyone still plays this game and how it's doing. I really haven't heard any updates on it, is it just dead?
I think the tsunami was the nail in the coffin.
What?
All of Square-Enix's Japan based projects (like this one) suffered huge downtimes and delays following the tsunami. A week or 2 of being unable to log in completely screwed everything.
I'm honestly not sure if the game is still running, but I heard it was down for a long time.
As far as i've seen it seems they replaced large amounts of the original team and have been working hardcore to restore confidence. its a long way from what we all expected but according to the people playing it. its definately getting better because they are listening to the community.
I'll be holding onto my spare EU collectors edition jsut incase this gets a revival. i hope it does because it was a stunning game just lacked polish and content originally.
Is this just out on PC Because I'm sure I've had it on preorder for PS3 for a year now. I haven't been keeping up to date with it but I thought they held back Ps3 because it was a massive disappointment on PC.
On September 17 2011 18:42 Denzil wrote: Is this just out on PC Because I'm sure I've had it on preorder for PS3 for a year now. I haven't been keeping up to date with it but I thought they held back Ps3 because it was a massive disappointment on PC.
Been out around a year on PC (exactly one in 4 days). It was a massive disappointment, on the scale that it compared unfavourably with f2p games. Graphics was great, then I stopped playing due to everything else.
I'm bumping this since some weeks ago the revambed version was published. From what I hear it's much much better than it's last/first release. Anyone playing this now? Any thoughts on how it fares with its competition?(swtor,tera,gw2)
On February 10 2012 04:28 Steveling wrote: I'm bumping this since some weeks ago the revambed version was published. From what I hear it's much much better than it's last/first release. Anyone playing this now? Any thoughts on how it fares with its competition?(swtor,tera,gw2)
i would like to tell you, but rather than give me any information at all, their website shows a slow to load, unskippable intro.
Wow, lol! You pay for your account AND for every single character, including the first one. Like, shouldn't they already have realized that this is a terrible policy after FFXI?
On February 10 2012 04:28 Steveling wrote: I'm bumping this since some weeks ago the revambed version was published. From what I hear it's much much better than it's last/first release. Anyone playing this now? Any thoughts on how it fares with its competition?(swtor,tera,gw2)
I have been very tempted to come back and play, but ff14 is like a old ex girlfriend who broke my heart to me. It needs some more time before i give it a try even though i have been checking ffxivcore.com to check for updates etc. Last i have heard they are merging servers to make it seem like more people are playing and the true revambed version is 2.0 and wont be out till 2013. FF14 and competition still dont belong in the same sentence maybe next year
On February 10 2012 04:28 Steveling wrote: I'm bumping this since some weeks ago the revambed version was published. From what I hear it's much much better than it's last/first release. Anyone playing this now? Any thoughts on how it fares with its competition?(swtor,tera,gw2)
I have been very tempted to come back and play, but ff14 is like a old ex girlfriend who broke my heart to me. It needs some more time before i give it a try even though i have been checking ffxivcore.com to check for updates etc. Last i have heard they are merging servers to make it seem like more people are playing and the true revambed version is 2.0 and wont be out till 2013. FF14 and competition still dont belong in the same sentence maybe next year
as someone who has an active account right now, I'd definitely recommend just waiting until 2.0. The only real reason people are playing now is to get an advantage (money, levels) for when 2.0 gets released. The game has definitely improved a ton but I really cant recommend it to anyone until we see how 2.0 turns out.
Well if you played before expect everything to be "different" the classes have been completely redone but in my opinion they didn't turn out any better than before especially the mage classes. This next patch will bring the most in terms of content with two dungeon and faux jobs (5 new abilities for each class and a rename). As of right now and even with the two raids inbound I don't feel like the game is worth paying and canceled my sub. As for 2.0 and server mergers I feel it's too little too late, by 2.0 it will be up to standard of like a 2009/2010 mmo as they're only redoing the already existing content but we'll have new and or innovative mmos like guild wars 2 out by then which don't even charge a service fee and will be much better (competitive). the server mergers are 2-3 months late and most of the population bailed because of it/charging fee. I feel like SE is very out of touch and they're creating and ffxi/wow hybrid which is inferior to both in every way and sticking to outdated policies. The only people I foresee playing 2.0 are hc fanboys and people who don't know any better.
edit: OH and don't even expect pvp till like a half a year after 2.0 or more.
On July 05 2012 07:02 snow2.0 wrote: Just found out i have a bit of leftover cash. And i just have a knack for FF games in general.
How can i actually get an account? And are servers unified worldwide with the funny autotranslating text as in FFXI?
Probably have to get a physical copy still. And use it quickly before your key expires. Which rather irks me about Squeenix. They always project such a "you should be happy we let you play our game" mindset when it comes to the online components of this series. Probably due to pc gaming not being big over there as well but if they truly wanted a second chance this would have been a good moment to modernize a bit. Kind of curious myself, I love FF and it looks pretty nice, but such a hassle.
That said, anyone know if anything's really changed? MMO sites are pretty useless to figure such things out these days.
I feel like, square will have to do a lot for the fans to get them to come back to these game, and lately square hasn't been very good the fans of Final Fantasy, with 13 and 13-2 being "okay" when we all expect greatness.
I keep thinking about playing FFXI again but then I remember that's stupid at this point, and then I think about FFXIV, its beta, and what a piece of shit it was (is?). I just heard about 2.0, is there any official word on the beta for it? I'd love to play and I want it to be good
On July 25 2012 13:57 Artifice wrote: I keep thinking about playing FFXI again but then I remember that's stupid at this point, and then I think about FFXIV, its beta, and what a piece of shit it was (is?). I just heard about 2.0, is there any official word on the beta for it? I'd love to play and I want it to be good
Probably should just wait for FF15 at this point. It's going to be open world like Skyrim <3
No one talks, no one does anything, there are a ton of bots everywhere, the leveling system is long and boring and the interface of the game is a fucking piece of trash.
No one talks, no one does anything, there are a ton of bots everywhere, the leveling system is long and boring and the interface of the game is a fucking piece of trash.
Aww, man. I had quite high hopes for this one. But somehow they always have difficulties with their MMORPGs.
For what it's worth, Amazon has a digital download available. It still uses autotranslate like XI did, I haven't used it much, but I'm sure it's a billion times more robust than XI's was. Like any mmo, if you don't find a decent group to do events and such with, you won't enjoy it. I haven't gotten very far yet myself, but I'm playing with people that I used to play XI with and for what it's worth they all seem to enjoy it.
If I hadn't bought it a few months ago, I'd probably wait for 2.0 at this point, however.
EPT![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22393-1/ffxiv.jpg)
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![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22381-1/elezen.png)
![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22386-1/lalafell.png)
![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22388-1/miqote.png)
![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22392-2/roegadyn.png)
![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22484-1/Gladiator_1-01_600.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22490-1/Puglist_1-01_600.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22488-1/Marauder_1-01_600.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22482-1/Archer_1-01_600.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22486-1/Lancer_1-01_600.jpg)
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![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22500-1/Miner_1-01_600.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22496-1/Botanist_1-01_600.jpg)
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![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22504-1/Armorer_1-01_600.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22510-1/Goldsmith_1-01_600.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22512-1/Leatherworker_1-01_600.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22514-1/Weaver_1-01_600.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://pics.allthatremains.org/main.php/d/22502-1/Alchemist_1-01_600.jpg)
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. BTW how's everyone's progress? I'm currently physical level 14, marauder 11, miner 8, and blacksmith/armorer 5.![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/SxlO4.jpg)
