FF XIV ONLINE - Anyone playing?

[darkewaffle]

Didn't get to play much this past weekend. But I started levelling carpentry after I hit 34 leatherworking (which is just about maxxed, I think the betas are capping content/gear at around 34-35), I didn't really realize until now that crafting jobs also are able to 'sub' abilities across classes, so while levelling carpentry I had access to one of my LW abilities which actually quite improved my materials:XP ratio. It's a nice middle ground between FFXI's subcrafts and most games "no interaction whatsoever between crafts". I'm really looking forward to seeing how everything mixes together when all the classes are finally enabled.

I also really enjoy the HQ system, it's nice being able to reliably HQ items that you significantly outlevel if you put a little extra effort into it. Also getting definite percentages rather than 'feeling it out' is appreciated.

I don't know if anything will scale differently in the official release but on one hand I can't help but feel levelling is still too easy. Maybe it's because I can only play every weekend so it's inevitable that I have a bunch of leves (pre-defined quest allotments) saved up which are great for XP. Or maybe I've just been playing a lot lol. But it just feels to me like it could run into the same problem SWTOR and GW2 had in that they 'gave it away for free' and players ran out of activities. On the other hand, having one character that can play any job and gear up every job/craft (btw, their support for multiple equipment sets is excellent so far, just needs the ability to share equipped items between sets imo) does a good job of combating that inherently.

 

[tedrodai]

I don't know if anything will scale differently in the official release but on one hand I can't help but feel levelling is still too easy. Maybe it's because I can only play every weekend so it's inevitable that I have a bunch of leves (pre-defined quest allotments) saved up which are great for XP. Or maybe I've just been playing a lot lol. But it just feels to me like it could run into the same problem SWTOR and GW2 had in that they 'gave it away for free' and players ran out of activities. On the other hand, having one character that can play any job and gear up every job/craft (btw, their support for multiple equipment sets is excellent so far, just needs the ability to share equipped items between sets imo) does a good job of combating that inherently.

I think that problem has more to do with what/how much there is to do at max level than how quickly you level. Cause people are gonna get to max level regardless, then want to do more...that's just how it is. So, no matter the leveling speed, people want near-infinite stuff to do at end-game. But leveling speed is definitely something to balance.

 

[ixelion]

The biggest improvement has got to be the game world. It's significantly more varied and interesting to look at. If feels more like a real place, I was really taken aback by the change especially remembering how incredibly boring and vacant the game world was in 1.0.

That being said, this is still fairly conventional MMORPG stuff, so I am not sure if I would sub. I need to play the beta a bit more to see if combat gets anymore interesting at higher levels.

 

[darkewaffle]

FFXIV release date confirmed as August 27th. I want more beta weekends damnit!

 

[darkewaffle]

Phase 3 beta begins today! Marauder, Pugilist, Conjurer and Gladiator all enabled as well as new 'starter' cities + areas, Limsa Lominsa and Uld'ah, which should also include a number of new crafting and gathering professions. I do not know if any of the advanced classes are available or if crafting has been 'unlocked' yet, as in Phase 2 the recipes available seemed to only go to about 35 or so.

As far as I can tell, all players from the previous betas can join phase 3 as well as any player who played FFXIV "1.0" two years ago in additions to any new invites they may have sent.

Characters from Phase 2 have been wiped (and characters from Phase 3 will be wiped upon the commencement of Phase 4, but Phase 4 [open beta iirc] is tentatively set to carry over to release I believe).

Also not sure if this beta will only run on the weekends or not. But can't wait to get home and play again, I want to try out Fishing and Smithing and see if the combat has changed.

 

[redrider4life4]

Just got the invite, went home to download it so I'm good to go after work.

 

[pathos]

I'm already in the beta's from awhile back. but, uninstalled it after a couple of beta's, for whatever reason. Wanted to go back and play again in this beta, but can't for the life of me find a direct link for the download. All I can find is the "sign up for beta" link.

heh. I guess i should look harder

edit - oh, and to answer my own search, apparently you can download it in the beta forum. that wasn't so hard, i guess /sigh

 

[Imported]

Beta downloaded.. will have to try it out later.

 

[tnt118]

As I've posted in this thread previously, I beg folks to give this a try. FFXIV looks to really be knocking it out of the park. Even on my now-aging 5850, the game is simply stunning. Every time you turn a corner you come across something jaw-dropping. The music, environment and sound effects are superb. It's extremely polished and the beta is getting very positive reviews.

 

[Anubis]

there is a benchmark out there BTW if people have not seen it

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/benchmark/

should run fine any most systems running at a normalish resolution

running at 2560*1440 is a bit rough

 

[Bryf50]

Just played the latest beta phase for a bit. It was pretty enjoyable. The aesthetics and world are very nice and the animations and spell effects are very pretty. It doesn't break any new ground questing and combat wise but as a long time MMO player I don't take that as such a bad thing. Maybe its a beta thing but I was surprised at the complete lack of voice acting. I somewhat expected a modern MMO to at least have partial VA in major quests and inengine cutscenes.

The game in practice is a total CPU killer. Pegged my 2500k at 90-100% while doing pretty much anything. The graphics are great it just begs for some real AA.

 

[LucJoe]

Very enjoyable.

A welcome surprise after being a disappointed early adopter.

Runs perfectly smooth at 2560x1600 with a 2500k/580, and looks great!

 

[Sohaltang]

Looks great on PC. Then I decided to play on ps3 for a bit. It looks like ffxi horrible horrible. Hope they do better on PS4 version.

 

[PowerYoga]

I hate, hate, hated the original FF14. It was just a piece of junk.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I tried out ARR. The game actually feels like a mmorpg now, the graphics and UI overhaul was great and controls are so much smoother it's incredible. The graphics seems to have been optimized to a great degree as well and looks terrific, although I did notice some weird flickering with the shadows.

A bit overwhelming for sure to see all the different stuff but ARR is what FF14 should've been from the beginning. I'll pretend the first "launch" is just an open alpha.

 

[pathos]

A bit overwhelming for sure to see all the different stuff but ARR is what FF14 should've been from the beginning. I'll pretend the first "launch" is just an open alpha.

It really has come a long way since it's original launch. Heck, it's come a long way since the first beta I played in a few months ago, at least as far as content goes. A lot more quests now, and they've added those open world public quest - things too.

I'm wondering, will they be doing the final fantasy thing, and charging you per character? Or will they give you more slots to play different characters for free, like most mmo's out there.

Well, either way, I'll probably be subscribing at launch. Hopefully the game will keep me busy for some time.

 

[darkewaffle]

I believe the central (eg: class and city) quests are tentatively planned to have voice acting implemented, but I haven't seen anything official on that at least.

Didn't get to play as much as I wanted, I was hoping the new phase may have more uptime but oh well. One of the nicest little things is being able to save created character appearances for use across servers/between betas. I started a character on Goblin, found out my friends were on Leviathan (who the hell would choose Leviathan over Goblin, I mean really) and just loaded the appearance and was playing on a different server in just a couple minutes. I have to say it's not a groundbreaking MMO, but it really is loaded with those sort of little quality of life ideas that really make the game feel good. I love the auto-lettering of engaged enemies, the fantastic new crafting system, the intelligent 'queuing' of ability keystrokes, the superb emote animations, the fast and fluid transition between combat and non-combat stance, the new 'armory chest' (inventory and equipment finally kept separately on character, outstanding) and the well executed automatic equipment swaps.

I'm really looking forward to phase 4. I'm ready for the 'real game' to begin lol, much as I enjoy it I don't want to put too much time in when it's only going to get wiped at least once more.

 

[redrider4life4]

I enjoyed the game 100% more than when it first came out. I only got to level 11 so didn't get a chance to enjoy anything more than the initial solo content, it looks just like FFXI (I would probably just re-open my FFXI account if this game is still going to be a paid subscription, this game has to be free to play for it to work.

 

[tedrodai]

(I would probably just re-open my FFXI account if this game is still going to be a paid subscription, this game has to be free to play for it to work.

Has to be free to play for what to work? Anywho, it's a paid subscription plan. They've already announced the fee schedule, at least for legacy.

 

[redrider4life4]

I don't think many people would pay to play this game, it will be like every other MMO that fails several months after release. Nobody wants to pay 15 a month for a subpar game anymore, the market has changed.

FFXI is a significantly better game, I would pay to play that over this.

 

[darkewaffle]

FFXI has charm and plenty to love (I played a lot just earlier this year) but even with Windower and addons there's just so much about it that's tiresome and inconvenient and so outdated. I think 14's 'ceiling' is much higher but it's just going to take time to develop as much content and depth as Vana'diel has.

 

[gus6464]

I got into the beta this weekend and tried it out. I purchased ff14 1.0 and it's a totally different game. It has a lot of FFXI in it which is a good thing and has potential.

 

[gus6464]

FFXI has charm and plenty to love (I played a lot just earlier this year) but even with Windower and addons there's just so much about it that's tiresome and inconvenient and so outdated. I think 14's 'ceiling' is much higher but it's just going to take time to develop as much content and depth as Vana'diel has.

I haven't played FFXI for years but did they revamp it so that you are not forced to party up after lv10?

 

[tedrodai]

For XI--Yeah, kinda. Soloing is much better than it used to be thanks to much higher exp for ep mobs and grounds/field of valor. Then atmas in abyssea allow you to do a lot of soloing/low man stuff at higher levels (once you have decent atmas). And there's a lot of older content now soloable since the level cap increased.

It's still much better to group up after lv15-20ish as far as leveling speed goes, but you're not shoehorned into a traditional party setup. Instead it's better to be in an alliance simply for kill speed.

 

[aigomorla]

i really would like to give this game a shot.

However i got tramatized in FF11.... i swore no more FF MMO's as square makes great regular RPG's but horrible at unending MMO's.

 

[tygeezy]

I have a couple of questions for people in the beta. Does this game run better than guild wars 2? Guild Wars 2 is a very pretty game, but I have always been disappointed with its performance. Is there any information regarding PVP? It doesn't appear to have factions. Is the combat your standard mmo hot key fair? I read somewhere that they have limit breaks, I always loved those. Lastly, do they plan on having any mini games like Chocobo breeding or gambling at the gold saucer?