Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

[lecompte]

Any community interest in this game?

A group of friends and I are going to be going into this game pretty hard to carry us over to EQ:N. We'll be on the Gilgamesh server and firing up a linkshell/company.

Anyone else going to be playing? If your looking for a crew to play with when it comes around, our linkshell/company information is available at http://meteorology.shivtr.com/ so you can track us down.

[Millburn]

A few of my RL friends and their FFXI linkshell will be playing when it goes live. We're all on the Cactuar server for this beta phase in the meantime.

[lecompte]

Nice! How're you guys liking it? Got into the beta but I don't like pre-playing these sort of games because it removes that thrill of the first go around. If I get into an early beta I'll play because I want to help make the game better but at the stage of load testing, I just pass.

[Millburn]

I played FFXI semi-hardcore many many years ago but never went into the whole end game scene with it but the people I'm playing with have basically devoted their entire online gaming life to FFXI. The general consensus with them is that it's the second coming of Yoshi-P or something haha.

I've been enjoying it a lot so far. The interface has vastly improved and the sluggishness of the engine that we all know and love (lol) has for the most part been stamped out. Those two things have gone a long way in terms of making it feel modern and lessening that barrier of entry. It feels like a whole package now even though we're missing at least two classes and who knows how many jobs.

[lecompte]

Ya sounds like the expansions/new content are going to be coming hard and fast. I wonder if they will take on the Eve model and just keep the subscription but release new content in a steady stream for free... One can hope.

[Ishukone]

Picked it up this weekend for a beta test, fun as hell. The flexibility of characters is really refreshing from a standard mmo.

[Khaleesi]

Any community interest in this game?

A group of friends and I are going to be going into this game pretty hard to carry us over to EQ:N. We'll be on the Gilgamesh server and firing up a linkshell/company.

Anyone else going to be playing? If your looking for a crew to play with when it comes around, our linkshell/company information is available at http://meteorology.shivtr.com/ so you can track us down.


I'm pretty critical of ARR, however am also fair.
The game is not as good as FFXIV 1.0 (with 1.23 combat and patch) - 1.0's strength was that in contrast to the market trend of MMOs, it was difficult, not a hand-holder and felt more like an updated FFXI but with it's own spin on things.

ARR is a very watered down, ease of access, spammy style version of 1.0, that moves even further away from FFXI heritage and more towards our modern expectations of online RPGs.

Having said that, the story is strong(even if the cut scenes are horrendous), the group play is cohesive and the overall enjoyment is there - it just however gets repetitive when you realize that it's yet another game that forces you to push through half of your level cap in order to start actually enjoying it.

This is not the game that should tide people over to EQ Next (which is nowhere in sight), unless of course you are valuing social relations more than anything else.

However if it's group play you like, then NeverWinter online has a lot of communal connectivity and is setup to be very multi-person friendly. It's greatly accessible, much like GW2, to let you and your pals jump on, play for a few hours and accomplish a lot, then log off and not worry about it.

Picked it up this weekend for a beta test, fun as hell. The flexibility of characters is really refreshing from a standard mmo.

Maybe from your perspective, which may be limited - yet the job system is not new, it and in other forms has existed for many years. FFXIV 1.0 had the best of them with the overall adventure level, and then subsequent individual job levels beneath it. Unfortunately ARR did away with this, so for example if your adventurer level was 44, you could travel to places with mobs at around that level without significant fear of death or penalty; even if your highest job level was only 36. Now in ARR, your job level (obviously only one active at a time), IS your level. If you advance one job to 50, and can go around traveling with little resistance(as rightly you should, you earned it), you then switch to your 15 Conjurer, and you're now fresh meat again for the mobs.

[lecompte]

Hrm, sounds like an interesting mechanic.

[xCry0x]

FFXIV in the late beta up until launch was such a horrible experience they would have gone beyond free to play and actually paid me to install it and give it a go on launch.

The perspective that FFXIV had anything 'good' about it is amazing.. you are entitled to your own opinion but when a game was such a catastrophic flop that the company comes out and publicly apologizes it speaks to the extent of you being in the minority. (given I never played it in launch)

Maybe the mechanics of the game were misunderstood but when I played the crafting system seemed to have a giant degree of randomness to when your combines would go critical and explode. The crafting system was huge in FFXI and intricate to the point of the moon cycle etc... I spent a good amount of time doing wood working in FFXIV, spinning in circles, timing the hour of the day, talking to the more advanced japanese crafters.. all the feedback was that it was random and you just had to sit and suffer.

Then you get into the class system... some people like it but I hate games with no real defined holy trinity system. I enjoy playing the healer for one game, the tank for the next, dps for the next etc. I rolled some sort of mage in the FFXIV beta and it felt underwhelming getting into the 20s (iirc) and basically just nuke heal nuke heal etc etc etc. I liked the EQ-ism of FFXI forcing you to group at level 3 and I liked the whole class system where you could mix and match jobs to be a healer/mage if you leveled up black mage/white mage or whatever but then you were subject to the short comings of making yourself a 'hybrid'.

[Ishukone]

Khaleesi calm your autism I was just saying I liked the game jesus christ

[lawll]

No small NMs to camp for quick cash or good gear. No skillchains or magic burst or anyway for people to work together in the group other then filling out the limit break and having one person use it. The world doesn't even make sense like FFXI did, you can't go from forests to snow mountains to sandy beaches in a linear fashion (you know to make it feel like your really in a open living world). The story line is way to focused on a single player story and doesn't really feel like your part of a mmo but more of a single player game. You also don't have that feeling like your just dropped in the world and its up to you to find out how to make your epic story in this huge world. Also it lost that feeling of joining LS or meeting some friends and they show you the way of the game now the game is so linear like every other game since 2004 you already know what to do and don't need help from other people till endgame. Then again FFXI was based off the old EQ model and this new FFXIV is based of the wow model. So my point is FF is no longer a virtual world but more so a action role playing game like everything else. Also the game reminds me A LOT like swtor but I just can't put my finger on what.

[lawll]

Also the first two dungeons I did was basically a copy and past of the deadmines from wow, was kinda funny.

[Sularus Oth Mithas]

All I need to know is have they changed the controls since the first inception. It was so clunky I dumped it after an hour.

[lawll]

All I need to know is have they changed the controls since the first inception. It was so clunky I dumped it after an hour.

It plays like WoW pretty much (but wow still has the smoother game engine).

[OngorDrakan]

Khaleesi calm your autism I was just saying I liked the game jesus christ

Go play w/ your dragons or something Khaleesi.

ANYWAY, I liked it. Thought it was SOLID. UI is amazing, graphics top notch, and playing was fun. May just get it to play w/ my buddy Ishukone. Maybe.

[bizzum]

Glad to hear the positive feedback (I work on this title).

I think Khaleesi will be the only person on the planet to think 1.0 is better than 2.0.

[OngorDrakan]

The engine is beautiful bizzum. And the UI matches it.

[Ishukone]

My one problem is I want to play but characters are getting wiped before open beta :(

trying not to invest too much

[xCry0x]

I think Khaleesi will be the only person on the planet to think 1.0 is better than 2.0.

WTB a 1.0 emu server.

./barf

[lawll]

Glad to hear the positive feedback (I work on this title).

I think Khaleesi will be the only person on the planet to think 1.0 is better than 2.0.

Because at least 1.0 seamed like its own game and not really trying to copy anyone else. 2.0 is a standard post-2004 mmo with a shitty world map (the world map feels and looks like a action RPG game).

[bizzum]

My one problem is I want to play but characters are getting wiped before open beta :(

trying not to invest too much

Yea I really don't like the way they were handling the beta. Carrying over characters for the entirety would be smart not only for players having more enthusiasm to max out for the next tier of stuff but also have people ready to test that content rather than having to start off.

I guess I kind of understand the weekend thing, but they should just have patches during the week and let people play the whole time too.

[Sinlea]

I'm playing in the beta, if anyone else is.

[bizzum]

Because at least 1.0 seamed like its own game and not really trying to copy anyone else. 2.0 is a standard post-2004 mmo with a shitty world map (the world map feels and looks like a action RPG game).

I didn't get into 1.0 too much because it didn't even work on my computer (lol), but I guess some people did like it! I can see what you mean by 2.0 having a lot of qualities that aren't necessarily innovative, and I think there are quite a few reason to speculate as to why that is, but I think there has been good work so far in at least making all of the content solid and done well, on top of sprinkling in some of the old mechanics and of course FF Lore.

I don't know about the map being action RPG like, you'll have to explain to me more about that. Seems like a normal MMO/RPG map to me. I really like some of the areas though--maybe I'm just a sucker for environment graphics but the quality is top notch (granted you have the system for it!)

I don't think its a complete cookie cutter game, and I'm impressed with the class playability myself--some of the DPS are actually interesting and not just skill rotations. You should give the 4th Beta a chance and try out some of the raids :)

[Ishukone]

Yea I really don't like the way they were handling the beta. Carrying over characters for the entirety would be smart not only for players having more enthusiasm to max out for the next tier of stuff but also have people ready to test that content rather than having to start off.

I guess I kind of understand the weekend thing, but they should just have patches during the week and let people play the whole time too.

This is how I personally think it should have been handled;

I respect their phase choice; it gives them the ability to test certain features of the game, but I think they could have handled it a bit better. Phase 3 should have been a Legacy/Endgame test. Instead of giving non 1.0 players "play with the first 15 levels", they should have let you get a free 50 with all jobs etc so we could test Artifact gear and the Job mechanic. I hardly think there were enough 1.0s to get the job(eheehheehehhhehe) done.

I like the phase 4 "If everything goes okay, you keep your character for launch" idea. Hopefully they enable voice acting that phase so I don't want to gut myself while questing. I'd be interested to see how early access is going to work if beta accounts are leveled up. This phase seems like it's working against 1.0 players, they get to grind endgame content that is only partially there. Whoopee.

I just feel they've put far too much effort into testing low level content and not enough in endgame. On top of that, ACN/SMN are going in with -absolutely no testing-, except for internal, and that could be a huge mess.

[lawll]

The map looks like a action rpg because each of the 3 lands look like just a small piece of a whole world. You can't zoom out and make sense of the world like going from snow mountains to a forest and then to beaches in a linear fashion. The map feels like it's just a Act in diablo and not like living world with geography that makes sense to immerse you into the game. When you travel from one side of the world to another the geography doesn't make sense and feels like you were just ported over. FFXI had a huge world with many different kinds of lands and when you traveled from one side to the other you saw the progression of how land is on earth when you move through all the different regions. I suppose they could always open up the world a little more but even classic EQ was bigger and had more a variety of land.

[Ishukone]

The latest test was fun, think it would have been better with some duty finder action, but we'll be getting that next test supposedly.

Saving crafting for p4, but so far what i've dabbled with has been fun.

[Khaleesi]

I'm still disappointed about the attitude towards open world/zone mob grinding.
The only group play (and I don't even like people) that exists in the game is :

-Dungeons (limited to level gap ranges and repetitiveness - the loot system is still crap)
-*hests (snore)
-PUG Leves (no tactics, just smash and bash to finish the mission)

Everything else in between is a solo quest grind like Warcraft.
It's not a matter of it being less like FFXI, it's more a matter of it being less like an MMORPG in terms of the brand standard.


ARR so far offers nothing that it's competitors don't and they do everything better.
I'm still trying though...trying to like it.

[Hex]

Just another standard mmo. Being playing beta, and it's just meh. Nothing special at all.

Also, don't trust a game that has to close down, rebuild, and re release.

Wildstar (yep I'm a fanboy) is where it's at though.

[Sularus Oth Mithas]

Being a complete FF Nerd I have to play it, even if it doesn't pan out to be a game I dedicate myself too. We'll see.

[Ishukone]

Also, don't trust a game that has to close down, rebuild, and re release.
.

I find a company that recognized their game was terrible and rebuilt it, firing the development staff, and doing a complete 180 on it more reassuring than worrying.

Also, beta weekend this week, no end date set~

[Hex]

Beta weekend in Wildstar too. Much better game.

[Ishukone]

if you like cartoony NCSoft bullshit sure i guess

[Hex]

I'm not into NCSoft games at all. I usually don't care them. But this one is awesome. And lol, aren't all video games cartoony? At least they are in my mind. EQ Classic is easily cartoony.

[Khaleesi]

Being a complete FF Nerd I have to play it, even if it doesn't pan out to be a game I dedicate myself too. We'll see.

That's exactly what they are counting on.
However given the supposed shame that 1.0 brought the company, you'd think they'd make good on all those apology letters and ensure it really was awesome.

[lecompte]

Phase four beta starting soon. Sounds like characters aren't being wiped in that phrase.

[Sularus Oth Mithas]

I'm not into NCSoft games at all. I usually don't care them. But this one is awesome. And lol, aren't all video games cartoony? At least they are in my mind. EQ Classic is easily cartoony.


I will say one thing about cartoon style graphics like WoW, it helps the longevity of the game because you don't notice the graphics dating themselves as quickly as MMO's that go for more realistic art.

[Khaleesi]

Phase four beta starting soon. Sounds like characters aren't being wiped in that phrase.

Most likely they'll stay.

Please remember all, that crafting materials you see available at the 'guild supplier' will be taken away after release most likely.

If people whom played 1.0 thought 'crafting is much smooth rand easier to get into with this version...' that's because they did it intentionally to allow you to progress and experience the crafts.

[EchoedTruth]

I'm not into NCSoft games at all. I usually don't care them. But this one is awesome. And lol, aren't all video games cartoony? At least they are in my mind. EQ Classic is easily cartoony.

Id actually say EQ classic is one of the least cartoony mmo/rpgs I have ever seen :confused:

[lawll]

That's exactly what they are counting on.
However given the supposed shame that 1.0 brought the company, you'd think they'd make good on all those apology letters and ensure it really was awesome.

It is awesome if you enjoy playing the same quest hub mmos that have been released since 04. FFXIV does nothing new at all for the genre, the crafting is a straight rip from EQ2 and the only thing that the FFXI had over other games was the skillchain and guess what it's removed from FFXIV. This game screams SWTOR with the very small linear world, long GCDs, and mindless quests. They don't even have a damn talent tree of any sort and the only way to customize a class is to level another and mix base ability's heh. Square is only sorry that they didn't make 1.0 more like wow in the first place to make all the casuals happy.

[Millburn]

You sound really mad

[Arclyte]

http://i.imgur.com/R8LXdEK.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/R8LXdEK.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/R8LXdEK.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/R8LXdEK.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/R8LXdEK.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/R8LXdEK.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/R8LXdEK.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/R8LXdEK.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/R8LXdEK.jpg

[Arclyte]

if you play this game you have assburgers

[Gadwen]

speaking of EQ next....who wants to vomit?

https://www.everquestnext.com/

[Millburn]

Wow that wallpaper is a fucking disgrace and embarrassment to Keith Parkinson.

[Kiwaukee]

Lecompte! I saw you running around earlier on some guy's stream of the Phase 4 Beta. Game looks great from what I've seen... what are your thoughts?