Final Fantasy XIV online!

[HumblePie]

If anyone wants any tips or a newbie starting guide on I'm happy to help. I think I've got just about everything this beta has to offer figured out.

 

[Entity23]

Can anyone tell me how to lower the graphic settings? I can't find it anything except for turning off shadows, etc.

In the FFXIV folder there is a file named ffxivconfig.exe. Everything is in there. Everything that they let you tweak that is.

 

[manimal]

If anyone wants any tips or a newbie starting guide on I'm happy to help. I think I've got just about everything this beta has to offer figured out.

FYI your assertion that ff11 was not solo friendly may have been the case at launch but the last few years one can now solo the entire game, fov, bst and dancer subjobs make it very easy. Campaign after level 55ish gets good xp and is super easy to cap. Then you can join pick up alliances in abyssea and get MAD xp and gear that actually is very good for free..

FF14 is much more friendly to part time players. One can play a few hours a week and get things done...


I have about 20 online friends that used to do endgame in a few different games over the years. We are all older busier and are all very impressed with the ability to jump in and get things done in this game. In ff11 it seemed to take an hour to get started lol...

I still play a bit of ff11 these days-about 1-2 hours a week- and its a much easier game. That trend is continuing with 14...

 

[HumblePie]

FYI your assertion that ff11 was not solo friendly may have been the case at launch but the last few years one can now solo the entire game, fov, bst and dancer subjobs make it very easy. Campaign after level 55ish gets good xp and is super easy to cap. Then you can join pick up alliances in abyssea and get MAD xp and gear that actually is very good for free..

FF14 is much more friendly to part time players. One can play a few hours a week and get things done...


I have about 20 online friends that used to do endgame in a few different games over the years. We are all older busier and are all very impressed with the ability to jump in and get things done in this game. In ff11 it seemed to take an hour to get started lol...

I still play a bit of ff11 these days-about 1-2 hours a week- and its a much easier game. That trend is continuing with 14...

Umm I stated my experience with FFXI from the beginning. That was for beta and the first year. I also came back for a bit and tried one of the patches with the blue mage release and tried that out. The blue mage was a bit more solo friendly up until level 30. then it's power dropped off dramatically. Every other class was still in the same boat. I quit after reaching 32 blue mage. I wasn't going to go through that headache again. Anything they changed after that is beyond my knowledge.

 

[airdata]

Anybody else have trouble installing?

I finally got in and got a key, and downloaded the installer. But when I run the program it crashes right away.

I'm running Windows 7 ultimate... I tried setting to compatability mode and that did nothing.

 

[HumblePie]

Anybody else have trouble installing?

I finally got in and got a key, and downloaded the installer. But when I run the program it crashes right away.

I'm running Windows 7 ultimate... I tried setting to compatability mode and that did nothing.

The original installer for SE has problems until it is completely patched. I suggest using a torrent client like Vuze or UTorrent to get everything for now. It works and is much faster.

For a step by step instruction guide to do this, here:

1) Start the SE updater as normal and once it tries to download cancel out. This gives you the .torrent files on your computer to use with another bit torrent client.
2) install a bit torrent client like Vuze or UTorrent first.
3) If on Windows 7 go to the following directory:
c: \users\<your username>\My Documents\My Games\Final Fantasy XIV beta client\ffxiv-beta\downloads\

4) In that directory will be two strangely worded folders. One starts with the letter b and the other with the letter d. The b folder is the folder for the launcher application updates and the d is for the ffixv game itself.

5) Inside each of the folders is a \metainfo folder and a \patch folder. The metainfo folder contains the .torrent files you are looking for. Click on these files. It should launch your preferred bit torrent program you installed at step 2.

6) make sure the .patch file the bit torrent client downloads goes to a temp directory somewhere. Make note of where it goes.

7) Once the bit torrent client is finished go to the directory the .patch file was placed in. Copy that .patch file to the \patch folder listed at step 3.

8) Rerun the SE updater. It should realize you got the patch completed once it is copied over to the proper folder and then apply the patch.

9) Do this for all patches until everything is done.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I just let mine patch itself, took a few hours, was pretty simple.

 

[tedrodai]

I just let mine patch itself, took a few hours, was pretty simple.

Eh...mileage may vary. Someone posted a link to a very good guide earlier in this thread for going around Square's updater. I think the guide has links to all the torrents, and maybe links to direct downloads for the patch files. It's pretty simple, and I'm pretty sure you can download ALL the patches at once, place them in the correct folders, then the updater (once restarted) can pick up each one in turn with no more oversight needed from the user.

 

[HumblePie]

Also, you can remap keys for this game to those who said you couldn't

Main Menu -> Configuration -> Keymap button

You can't remap all keys though. The Enter, Backspace, and Arrow keys are not mappable. It sort of sucks. To remap a key, it can't be mapped to something else first.

Also for those people complaining about lack of camera following your character there is a trick for that.

First go to the movement tab under the keymapping menu. I deleted the mapping for the Q and E key. Do this by hitting the backspace key on the key field. Then I went to the Camera tab on the menu. There is a look left and look right option which are currently mapped to J and L keys by default. I mapped those to Q and E.

Now when I run forward pressing the W key, I can "turn" by looking left or right with the Q and E keys. My character will turn in the direction the camera turns which makes it seem like the camera is following my character. This doesn't work with autorun activated though. However, the standard move left and move right for the A and D keys work with autorun to do the same thing.


One bit of note is that the game doesn't exactly remember keymap changes you make. It does and doesn't. Meaning if you close out the game after making changes and reload the game, the controls are set to the default. However, if you open the keymap menu again your changes are shown there as correct and the game automatically reloads the keymap. It is a bit of a hassle to always reopen the keymap menu and they close it everytime I start playing, but it is what it is.

 

[tedrodai]

I agree with most of HumblePie's views, though after last night I've decided to try the game out at launch. I've about decided I'm really not getting much graphics slowdown at all. After changing my graphics settings back and forth a few times, adjusting the resolution to several different (reasonable) values, trying windowed and full screen...I've noticed a negligible difference. However, last night there was SIGNIFICANTLY less server lag (no change in my network latency), and the game was actually starting to be enjoyable to play. Maybe it was just the areas I was exploring (away from the mass mob grinding and crafting), but my menus were significantly more responsive (though still needing an upgrade), and my camera didn't jump around when I tried to shift views quickly...hell, even the usually horribly slow non-hardware mouse cursor was almost usable--I swear to God! So, after taking away much of the server lag issue, I was able to get stuff done and have fun.

The 'mystique' of the game world is one of the reasons I'm really intrigued, but I also feel they've taken that aspect too far. Certain basic game mechanics just need to be explained in-game, and they offer almost none of this. Maybe they'll have a good user manual, but I seriously doubt that. As a new player just hopping into the game and trying to have fun...it's not going to happen unless you read some (or a lot of) user-created guides on the internet. However, people have already started to compile a lot of info to help you get started--I found a lot of good threads/links at the FFXIV Origins forums. Comparing this game to its predecessor: upon FFXI's US launch, the game had already been out in Japan for nearly 1.5 years, and there was already a lot of info compiled. I remember constantly going to FFXI sites to find info about most aspects of the game...because you couldn't find it in-game without badgering people in chat and getting lucky. Currently, the only people who know diddley about FFXIV are those who have played pre-release versions of the game. Frankly, I'm amazed at how much info is available considering people have had to take the time to figure things out in-game and write guides/etc. for them. Square should definitely do better in this aspect--considering the initial complexity of the game--however players will make up for this mistake given a little time.

To list my biggest gripes: (1) targetting issues (2) menu responsiveness (3) having to re-equip all your skills/etc every time you change class (4) no auction house??? as if gold sellers aren't going to work around this and just charge more per gil cause it takes more work to acquire (5) chat capability needs some work

That's not everything, but I've run out of steam and this post is getting too long. I haven't listed the biggest pros, but like most people I'm better at griping . I do LOVE the ability to switch classes at a whim--so sue me--and use cross class skills that I've aquired.

 

[HumblePie]

tedrodai,

I and a few of my guildmates have been having significantly more lag the last 3 days. I had very little over the weekend, but the last 3 days have been terrible. Last night was pretty much unplayable for me. This was not the case for everyone in my guild. It was certainly the case for everyone in Texas though. I think it has something to do with a few massive storms rolling through here the last few days so I can't blame SE for that if it is the reason for the lag.

As for the mouse lag, try the hardware mouse lag fix. Google it, get it, and apply it.

As for having to equip everything after switching classes, you need to make macros. To make a macro go to Main Menu -> Configuration -> Macros.
For example these are the ones I use:

Thaumaturge Macro:
/equip main "Weathered Scepter"
/equip sub "Worm-eaten Square Shield"
/equipaction 3 "Scourge"
/equipaction 4 "Bloodrite"
/equipaction 5 "Bio"
/equipaction 6 "Slow"
/equipaction 7 "Dia"
/equipaction 8 "Punishing Barbs"
/equipaction 9 "Sacrifice"
/equipaction 10 "Exaltation"

For Pugilist:
/equip main "Weathered Bone Horra"
/equipaction 2 "Light Strike"
/equipaction 3 "Concussive Blow"
/equipaction 4 "Haymaker"
/equipaction 5 "Second Wind"



I have made a macro to switch out all my classes with the single press of a button. Everytime I get a new skill for a class I want to use those I have to update my macros.

 

[tedrodai]

Thanks for the macro tip, I'll set some up to try it out. Say...with the /equipaction approach, do you ever experience the bug where the game says your skill is equiped, but it won't update the [1-10] bar and let you use any of the skills? It happens all the time using the game's menus when it's laggy, seemingly requiring a log-out/log-in to fix.

I know about the mouse hack (posted a link for it earlier in the thread ), but I'm not real worried about it since the open beta won't last much longer. I've been using the keyboard primarily cept for camera control while I move. If it's the same way in release...well, I'll just assume for now they have some weird reason to disable it during beta that makes sense for them.

Also...same experience for me with the lag progression, except last night. I'm not sure what conditions caused it, but it was very nearly lag free for me during the hour or so I was doing stuff. I'm not sure how busy the Bodhum server was last night, but there weren't many players around me. Perhaps I should have added (6) LAAAAG as one of my major gripes, but I've never been in an Open Beta that wasn't laggy like this from the stress testing. Though, I've experienced a lot more bugs during this particular open beta than I usually do.

 

[HumblePie]

Thanks for the macro tip, I'll set some up to try it out. Say...with the /equipaction approach, do you ever experience the bug where the game says your skill is equiped, but it won't update the [1-10] bar and let you use any of the skills? It happens all the time using the game's menus when it's laggy, seemingly requiring a log-out/log-in to fix.

Nope. Not even once have I had this bug. I use the macros to swap and basically just wait the 10 seconds or so that it takes to complete the macro before doing anything else.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Am i the only who doesn't want a multiplayer FF ?

 

[Onita]

Am i the only who doesn't want a multiplayer FF ?

Well, you're several years late to that party...

 

[tedrodai]

Am i the only who doesn't want a multiplayer FF ?

God...I don't want any more SINGLE player FFs if they're gonna keep going in the direction they took with FFXIII, and to a lesser extent FFXII though it wasn't horrible.

edit: I'll never buy another FF game without trying it first. Ever. I used to be enough of a fan to take it on faith that the next game would be fun and interresting, but I can't even imagine the effort it took to make FFXIII, and it's so, so bad.

 

[Feneant2]

This is probably a stupid question, but what is the purpose in the game at this point? I created my account and logged in but I'm just going around killing critters and doing some leves here and there. Will there be more to it in the long run?

I'm still enjoying it somewhat but it performs terribly on my laptop so it's choppy and laggy. Not sure if I will get it because of that but I'll see.

 

[tedrodai]

I've not read it first hand, but I've been told there will be many more quests after release that aren't guildleves. We'll see. Right now, WYSIWYG.

 

[techgamer]

*Bump*

Any new opinions of the Open Beta? How bad is the experience fatigue?

 

[morpheus305]

Experience fatigue probably won't effect anyone here that's playing. I'm a pretty hardcore player(23 conj/18 carp/15 alch) and the most fatigue i got was like a days worth and the end of my week. Also it was only 10&#37; fatigue which is really nothing. I highly doubt most people will be playing as much as I did. Most of the casual players and even most of the hardcore players I know never hit fatigue in open beta.

Also yesterday, SE released some new info about changes for release and upcoming changes. All of it sounds really good imo. Hardware mouse support and shorter cool down on leves with increased anima regen. Heres a link to the info http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/17035-final-fantasy-xiv-pre-launch-event-coverage/

 

[NikolaeVarius]

*Bump*

Any new opinions of the Open Beta? How bad is the experience fatigue?

Unless you play for for 8 hours straight doing NOTHING but kill monsters with NO downtown. You will NOT hit fatigue.

The exp is literally the most experience you could ever possibly get if you were killing monsters at the highest possible rate with no travel time, no camping time, nothing ever stopping you from killing monsters that provide the highest exp/time used to kill rate.

 

[tedrodai]

Also yesterday, SE released some new info about changes for release and upcoming changes. All of it sounds really good imo. Hardware mouse support and shorter cool down on leves with increased anima regen. Heres a link to the info http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/17035-final-fantasy-xiv-pre-launch-event-coverage/

Yep, those 3 changes you mention are very good changes. I wish I could read that link at the moment (work filter). Quick couple of questions for you, if you don't mind answering them: are you still able to solo well vs monsters around your conj rank? Also, have you had any trouble locating materials for your crafting as your level progresses? I kindof wonder if the crafting classes will require some time for the player economy to take off, since recipies are so co-dependent with other crafting classes.

I've not had any exp fatigue problems, but I've been switching classes quite a lot during the open beta.

 

[manimal]

Ya I played almost all the jobs and 3 professions to level 10ish before stopping. I truly enjoy the game and find some of the things they are doing very innovative.

I still hate the fact that there is no auction house....
Running around searching for shit you want to buy is frustration with the current state of the economy..

 

[Entity23]

Decrease in Leve time would be really nice. I am sitting here on cooldown grinding to make money to craft and selling it to the NPC. It is slow going.

 

[HumblePie]

Experience fatigue probably won't effect anyone here that's playing. I'm a pretty hardcore player(23 conj/18 carp/15 alch) and the most fatigue i got was like a days worth and the end of my week. Also it was only 10&#37; fatigue which is really nothing. I highly doubt most people will be playing as much as I did. Most of the casual players and even most of the hardcore players I know never hit fatigue in open beta.

Also yesterday, SE released some new info about changes for release and upcoming changes. All of it sounds really good imo. Hardware mouse support and shorter cool down on leves with increased anima regen. Heres a link to the info http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/17035-final-fantasy-xiv-pre-launch-event-coverage/

Good to hear.

I've been using windowerXIV for the hardware mouse support as well as fixing a few other directx10 issues the game has. I got to 18 thaum and decided to take a break and wait until release. Their change of direction to increase anima regen, decrease level times, and other things are steps in the right direction. If they would let us know for sure if there are going to be quests like the single main story line quest we are now seeing in beta then I will be right there at release. Otherwise I'll have to play wait and see.