Final Fantasy XIV

[Rhun]

beta is starting up for this soon, myself and some other guildies will be playing if anyone wants to come check it out

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/

[Nucholza]

I really hope this one doesn't suck complete and utter horse cock. A good FF MMO would be one of the only things to get me to play another MMO.

[Rhun]

beta starts feb 25th

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/60542

Hello again to all of you eagerly awaiting FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn. Yoshi-P here, and I survived my flight, allowing me to bring you the forty-third Letter from the Producer from San Francisco! (I don't know why I have to fly everywhere. )

I'm sorry for taking so long to put up this letter, but the news you've all been waiting for is finally here. Assuming no dastardly bugs or server errors slow us down, phase 1 of the beta test will begin on February 25!

The roadmap we released has the schedule set for mid-February, so the start is about a week late. However, the extra time has allowed us to prepare more system features and character options for testing. While you all enjoy the game, I hope you also provide us with tons of feedback like you did during the alpha test.

I've been on a roll with screenshots lately, so here are a few from our own phase 1 testing that I found tucked away on my hard drive.

go here for more news

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/index.html

[Nucholza]

Has anyone received a Beta invite?

[Rhun]

they have started coming out, i haven't got one yet

[Rhun]

they sent out another wave recently, i didn't get one still

here is some new stuff

http://www.dualshockers.com/2013/04/04/here-are-the-final-fantasy-xiv-letter-from-the-producer-live-iv-qa-summary-and-relevant-screencaps/

[Blake]

just signed up. probably to late to get in tho. never played a FF MMO before but ive heard one of them was rly awesome

[Blake]

just got my beta invite, anyone else in it?

[Nucholza]

share your infoz with me! I'm leaving for Colorado on Sat. but I'd like to play when I get back in 11 days!

[Blake]

k, infoz in PM, ima be playing tonight and this weekend, and the GF is gunna be playing, but im sure there will be plenty of times when its not in use. just ask. i use Gtalk / AIM / MSN / Skype 24/7 or u can txt me (just got the new S4 after dropping my S3) you can hardly tell the difference

http://i.imgur.com/hxEeZy8.jpg?1

[Nucholza]

Thanks Blake - check your PMs

[Rhun]

finally got an invite, i'm on excalibur

[Blake]

nuch got his own invite also, were on midgardsomething.

this weekends test is over. u should roll with us. sucks having to pug ppl for the instances but I guess next test the LFG system will be ingame.

what lvl did u get to

[Rhun]

i barely got a chance to play, server went down yesterday and when i tried to play today the test had ended

[Fusa]

lol zorthy


and lol more at the wowgoons.com

[Gogan]

and lol more at the wowgoons.com

That's actually pretty funny. It is a joke, right?

[Rhun]

try to click anything on that page

and if you are ever bored, this thread is pretty entertaining:

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/9165617205?page=1

[Gogan]

How do free guilds even work? Are they ad-supported? That sounds miserable.

Haha

[Blake]

The next Beta test is scheduled to begin July 5th at 2:00 a.m. (PDT)/9:00 (GMT).

We will begin stress testing the duty finder feature at the start of the next Beta Test; however, the system is still undergoing QA testing. As a result, there is a possibility that the duty finder will not be available at the start of the test, but instead will be implemented through an update that occurs during the Beta test.

Testing details, such as when the duty finder will become available and also the closing schedule of the next Beta test, we will be making another announcement before the test begins.

you should roll on midgard zorthy so we got more ppl to do duties with

keep in mind your class determines your starting location. around 18 you get to a common area where everyone can play together

[Rhun]

i work doubles on fridays, then only have evenings off for sat/sun, so my time is pretty limited for this anyway.

[Blake]

this test might be longer then just this weekend. they havnt announced the end and only said that once the duty finder is bug free will they end this test.

[Megasteve]

Keys, if anyone needs one still:
https://na.alienwarearena.com/giveaways/FINAL-FANTASY-XIV-A-Realm-Reborn-Closed-Beta-Key-Giveaway-NA

[Blake]

roll on midgardsomething

[Blake]

Dates and Times
July 10, 2013 (Wednesday), 2:00 a.m. to July 15 (Monday), 2:00 a.m. (PDT)


* Beta test phase 3 will conclude on Monday, July 15th. The beta test phase 4 schedule will be announced at a later time.
* Testing of the new Lodestone will conclude on Wednesday, July 17th at 2:00 a.m. (PDT) / 9:00 a.m.(GMT). Please note that the new Lodestone will be inaccessible when testing has ended.

[Gogan]

How's the game so far?

[Blake]

its not bad, its a lot like all the other MMO's.

There is a main quest line and then little sub quest. The questing is ez, most kill quest are like 5 mobs, the quest items drop for everyone, and the gathering quest are lootable by the whole party. You get these quest that you can only do so many per every few hours. You go to a spot and initiate it and it allows you to pick a difficulty setting 1-4. The higher setting the more reward you get.

also things like "rifts" spawn randomly where everyone in the zone can go inside the area and kill shit to complete it. you get ranks depending on how much you contribute

moving around from place to place is kind of tedious and confusing but it is starting to get easier. its got loading screens between each zone. you can pay to teleport to main crystals you have already activated. the return skill has a 15min CD and takes you to the crystal you designated as home. there is gryphon type things but they kinda suck. you get your first mount at 22.

once you get to like 18 or 20 you unlock the availability to be any class in the game. Just do a little questline for each and then all you go to do is change your wep and it changes your class. but each class has its own lvls so if I change my 22 archer to a paladin then i go back to lvl 1. its a pretty cool concept so you dont have to make a lot of diff chars.

gathering/crafting is just like changing ur class. when you go to your gather/craft mode you lose your current class and everything. also you wear totally different gear while in this mode.


currently our toons are like lvl 22 but in order to progress the main questline you need to have lvl19 gather/crafting so we pretty much just stopped there

[Fusa]

asano, i have played and it is 90% just like GW2 PvE, same quests, same idea of a "timed" minizone within zones that are like events.

i am also only lvl 11 took me about 4 hours

[Gogan]

I guess that's not surprising. Every MMO is pretty much identical. Just a matter of which lore you like best. FFXIV's idea of the class switching sounds pretty cool though.

[Nucholza]

I think it's hard to judge right now how good the game will be - but I feel that way about any game in beta. What really matters is the end game PvE and PvP, which you can't really judge too early on.

I just finished my first group dungeon. It was pretty boring and trivial. Not sure how much things will change once you get out of classes and into jobs.

In either case, I plan on playing for at least a couple months and checking it out since they covered the game in final fantasy nostalgia.

[Yooxra]

It was pretty boring and trivial. Not sure how much things will change once you get out of classes and into jobs.

YOU said it Nuch, when the game turns into a job. GG.

[Yooxra]

How's the relaunch going?

[Nucholza]

I haven't been playing at all due to the PAD addiction

[Kz]

PAD > FF14 confirmed by nuch

[Gogan]

PAD > FF14 confirmed by nuch

Not that I've played FF14, but I feel comfortable confirming this as well.

[Yooxra]

When we gonna get a new banner Asano

GoL_Pad

[Gogan]

Haha I should!

[Nucholza]

When we gonna get a new banner Asano

GoL_Pad

As soon as you get a smartphone and join us!

[Gogan]

A few people I watch on twitch have been raving about FF14 lately. Apparently there was a big patch recently that turned the game around. So I grabbed a copy for $20 this weekend. Anyone played this recently?

I've played as a Conjurer up to level 11 so far. Gotta say, I'm not impressed. The class/job system is slightly intriguing and unique, but otherwise the game is just like every other MMO out there. Quests are boring and uninspired. Story isn't terribly engaging. The cutscenes that have voiceover are cool, but they're few and far between. Moogles, which were cute and funny in past FF games, come across as ridiculous in FF14 -- they make space-like martian sounds as they fly around. The scenery is quite nice, but the zones are very small and every zone switch requires a short loading time.

I don't understand why people rave about this game. Definitely not worth a monthly sub fee, imho.

Gonna try out ESO soon now that there's no sub fee.

[Nucholza]

I bought the game pre-release and have yet to install it lol

[McGrupp]

Same here. Pre-ordered, installed it, and was so pissed after an hour that I threw the game away..It was expensive too :(

[Blake]

you guys should check out Guild wars 2 again. the first xpac is coming out soon. i have been playing for 2 weeks now and loving it. they have added a lot since release and now everything except WvW is on a big mega-server.

world bosses are awesome. instances are fun. the world PvP is fucking amazing. they have dynamic zones that are basically one big event.

Xpac is in beta right now with the first stress today. I haven't read much of the small amount of info that is out about it. some stuff i heard is that unlike WoW xpac which adds new level cap and makes all the old content/gear obsolete. the expantion will be "horizontal" progression.

if you just start playing. most of us were on the server "crystal desert"

check out some of these bosses. they look so fucking awesome. http://imgur.com/a/RqJ4a

[McGrupp]

How is loot divided up on a world boss? Is there 'tagging' like in WoW or what? I've always had interest in GW2 but could never get started

[Blake]

no tagging for anything. even just normal mobs in game. if you do dmg you will get credit for the kill for quest/loot.

events (including bosses) have a gold/silver/bronze tier system for rewarding exp/karma/gold/loot. which comes down to the amount of damage or time spent doing the event. gold tier is really easy to get. as long as you are trying to complete the boss/event you will get max reward. hitting the boss once then afk'ing wont get you credit.

there is no raid system for grouping, party is 5man in size. but i have gone to a boss solo with 100+ other people on a lower level char and still got full credit.

also when you go into a lower zone the game will auto adjust your level to the zones. some bosses are in lvl 15 zones so all the 80's get set to lvl 16 which reduces hp/def/dmg/ect. however a lvl 80 will still do more damage than a lvl 15 just not crazy amount like wow.

in PvP it will auto up level you to max 80 with your stats. WvW sets you to 80 but does not unlock your skills/traits. sPvP will put you at lvl 80 unlock all skills/traits, normalize gear, and give you access to all runes/sigel/weps.

[Gogan]

That does look pretty cool. Just never really got into GW. I might give it another shot some time -- I have been hearing good things about it lately.

Right now I'm really enjoying ESO. It easily has the best low-level (I'm only level 8) questing experience of any mmo I've played. None of this "kill X enemeies; collect Y things; rinse; repeat" bullshit. It's all very story driven with full voiceover. Very engaging, very immersive. I haven't felt the slightest need to grind anything or race leveling up. Just enjoying the stories. Apparently the game is worlds better than it was at launch, although I never played it back then so I couldn't say. I have no idea what end-game is like, but right now I don't care. Hard to say whether it's worth the $60 price tag (no sub fee), but so far so good.

[McGrupp]

I'm installing GW 2 today. I have to finish one last rogue-like run on TOME and I'll be ready to shift gears. I'll look you up when I do

[Gogan]

Are you not playing Pillars of Eternity when it releases tomorrow?

[Blake]

I am on crystal desert. i think thats where most GOL went when the game came out but no one else besides me plays anymore. currently im in a pretty cool guild that is ran by the top GW2 streamer. lot of fun, very big (have 80 ppl online atm), and helpful to new players.

a lot of people are coming back to GW2. tons of new players also. it is a great time to start before the Xpac.

IGN: zol:6907

I have a small raidcall to chat on and the guild has a big teamspeak. i will help you out with whatever you need bud.

also remember server is just for WvW. outside of WvW all the servers play together.

[McGrupp]

Definitely will be Asano. I'll play both casually!!

[Gogan]

I've secretly been playing FFXIV -- a lot -- for the last 2 months. There's something about it that has me hooked.

It's true that the questing is not great. It's not even good. What it does do well, however, is weave the main story through all of its content. Several dungeons, "trials", and raids are a part of the main story questline and done so quite well. It really makes the fights feel more epic and impactful -- and all the cutscenes throughout the raid make you the hero, so it has a pretty personal feel even if you're one of 4, 8, or 24 people.

The story isn't spectacular as far as FF games go, but it definitely has its moments -- and those moments are glorious when they happen. It's not until 2.0 that it really picks up though.

But I think it's a lot of little things that FFXIV does so well that are just absent in other MMOs.

Crafting and gathering are shockingly fun compared to every other MMO out right now. You level them from 1-50 just like every other class/job, complete with their own gear, quests, actions, skill rotations, and even end-game content. There's lots of synergy with the other crafting/gathering classes. It's all very deep and very rewarding. You could play the game solely as a crafter if you wanted. And with the xpac coming in less than a month, I'm debating whether I want to level my mage, healer, or crafter first. It's that good.

The game does a really good job of not just tolerating new players, but incentivizing you to help new people through content. When you run a dungeon with someone who is doing it for their first time, everyone gets bonus xp/tokens. When world "bosses" spawn, you'll only get max credit if you're in a full group, so its in your best interest to invite people to your group. All dungeons and fates (randomly spawned world events) are level-sync'd so you can always run with your friends regardless of your level difference without worrying about completely overpowering the content. Rewards are scaled accordingly, so you'll actually get comparable xp even if you're running a low-level dungeon as a high-level player. As a result, I find the community in general to be surprisingly nice and helpful. The toxic and hostile cretins you find in WoW are a really rare exception in FFXIV.

And of course there's the job system. Being able to level all classes/jobs on the same character is amazing. No more worrying about inviting alts to guilds and re-logging to switch between dps/heals/tanking. There are so many reasons why doing everything on one character is amazing -- and this is coming from someone who loved to make alts in other games. This is just a better system.

Hunts. Hunts are just great. They're basically world bosses. Some are tougher than others. None of them are "hard" because so many people swarm them that they're basically all zerged down. Since they spawn relatively frequently and there are many different bosses, it keeps people going to all the different zones and interacting with each other. It's not uncommon to see 100 people all traveling to fight the latest S-Rank mob that spawned. The fights never last long -- just a few minutes -- so it's always a rush to get to the location and group up for the kill.

I could go on... customizable player/guild housing, better hard/expert mode dungeons/trials, long-running "relic" quests for end-game weapons, triple triad card game from FF9(!), a casino full of mini-games, etc. It's just a good MMO. It's hard to justify a subscription these days when you're competing against other solid F2P MMOs like Tera, SWTOR, and GW2. But between WoW and FFXIV, I actually think FFXIV might be the better game.

The current story ended on an epic cliffhanger and will be continued in the new xpac coming on June 19, Heavensward, along with 3 new classes. FFXIV's launch may have been a colossal failure, but they've really turned it around and built an MMO that I think could have real staying power.

[Nucholza]

If anyone was so inspired by Asano's review that they want to pick it up and play then let me know! I still haven't ever used the copy I bought at pre-release lol.....

[Gogan]

LOL, I don't at all expect anyone here to play it -- or any other MMO for that matter. I think those days are over for most people here.

On a slightly different note, I saw EQ officially launched progression servers and they've been wildly popular. If you EQ boys are feeling nostalgic, it might be worth checking out. It's the original content, but with the latest UI and graphics. Apparently the progression servers require a sub though ($15/mo).

Probably just a matter of time before WoW does the same, but I can't see myself getting interested in vanilla WoW again.

[Kz]

yea they have private vanilla servers only and progression servers for wow and i was like o hell no.

[Gronthor]

I am so bored with games, i could use a new something. I have been bouncing around WoW, SWToR, and my damn iPhone i need something new.

Honest opinion, is it worth the money?

[Gogan]

Are you asking if the EQ progression server is worth the sub? I dunno, I didn't play EQ much back in the day so I don't hold any nostalgia for it. The few streamers I've heard talk about it love it though. Thing is, it's not something *new*. So maybe you'll get bored with it, especially if you don't have other people to play with. EQ is not exactly solo-friendly.

If you're asking if FFXIV is worth the money... I actually think so assuming you're still into MMOs. I'm a big FF fan though, so if you're not too into that franchise you might feel differently. The game itself is pretty cheap ($20?) and you get the first month free, so if you're tempted it doesn't cost much to try. If you like FF, I think you'll like it. It's very solo friendly and offers a lot for altaholics like you. I think you'll find the community surprisingly friendly and helpful. The dungeon/raid finder is just as good as WoW's, though DPS queues can get long (30-60mins). Crafting is incredibly good -- best in any MMO I've seen. Dungeons are well done and on the shorter side (20-30 mins) for normal modes; haven't tried hard/expert modes yet. Raids are easy to get into and on the same level as WoW in terms of complexity.

Less than a month till the xpac, but you need to complete the main story questline to play the new content. It's possible, but you'd have to hustle. Of course, there's no need to rush either -- the story is worth enjoying. It's a good time to join because a lot of people are coming back and catching up for the xpac -- won't have any trouble finding groups for dungeons/trials/raids.

If you do check it out, create a character on Jenova. It's a smallish server, but it often gets locked to new characters during prime time, so you may need to wait till late at night or early in the morning to create a new char there. I'm in a really large, active, and friendly guild (free company) you can join. There are members from all over the world so there are always people online spanning all character and skill levels. It's midnight right now and there are 45 people on chatting and doing stuff. Usually about 65ish ppl on during US prime time out of the 460+ total members.

Note that I didn't like FFXIV when I first tried it. The quests are unoriginal and uninspired -- it's your usual kill and courier quests. The 1.0 story doesn't have much voiceover, so most of the quests you'll have to read (there's much more VO later on). It's not really until ~level 15 that things start to pick up and you can run your first dungeon and open airship access to the other cities. Until then it might seem slow and kinda boring. Fortunately, you can get to 15 in a single night. At 20 you'll get your mount (chocobo) and life get much easier. At 30 you can train your mount to fight for you (it'll gain xp, level up, spec it for tank/heal/dps... tons of customization here). Also, while there is PvP in the game, almost nobody queues for it. Don't expect to do any pvp in the game.

Bottom line: Is it a groundbreaking new take on MMOs? No. It's the same formula as every other MMO out there. But I think there's more depth to FFXIV, has a better community, and does some things better. If you could justify a subscription for WoW or SWTOR or Tera, then you'll have no trouble finding the same value in FFXIV. I've been subbed for the last 2 months, playing about 40hrs/week, no sign yet of slowing up, and not even close to doing everything the game offers.

Anyway, on a different note, you could also check out Witcher 3. If you like DA:I, you'll probably love W3. Don't need to play the first two to enjoy it. I think that's probably the only other big game out right now. That's what I'd be playing if it weren't for FFXIV.

[Gogan]

If you're looking for an MMO, Gron, you might also check out ESO. It's completely free and very good. It has its downfalls as well (no dungeon finder killed it for me), but the questing and storyline is extremely well done.

[Blake]

im still enjoying GW2. mainly for pvp but i have 7 max lvl chars (alts are really easy and there is no gear grind to get good end game gear, but there is a grind for the best). expansion is coming 3rd qt this year.

there is no raids. the world bosses are mainly just big zergs, only a few take any skill. highest pve are called fractals which is random 5man bosses that take skill. fractals have a 1-50 level system where each lvl increases the difficulty.

[Megasteve]

I've been thinking of giving FFXIV another go around since I've been bored out of my mind painting 40k miniatures. With an xpac around the corner maybe I'll give it a shot. Are there any classes to stay away from, as in they're boring as shit to play?

[Gogan]

I've only played a few classes: 50 Conjurer, 50 Thaumaturge, 43 Arcanist, 15 Archer (Black Mage, White Mage, Summoner, Scholar). Haven't touched the melee classes yet.

Conjurer was boring to dps with. The first 15 levels until you can start healing in dungeons are slow.

I hear the Bard is basically a 1 button job, so that could be boring.

I don't think there are any "bad" classes or jobs, though. They all have their strengths/weaknesses/utility in groups. Of course the nice thing about the game is it's really easy to switch between classes and jobs to find something you like.

[Gronthor]

I am playing. I am level 10. Overall pretty much what i expected, coming from your reviews. It is not bad. The questing sucks. I will forever be ruined from questing due to SW:ToR and their story driven quests.

I read the first few quests text but now i don't care. I am on your server you mentioned so if you want to friend up let me know.

I am still pretty green except for the combat as that is universal. Still getting down the lay of the land and features.

[Gogan]

Yep, the questing sucks and doesn't get any better to be quite honest. The only quests worth reading are the main story quests. You won't miss too much early on if you skip through them, but you'll start paying attention around level 30 (can't remember exactly) when things get interesting and voiceover/cinematics become more common.

I know it sounds cliche, but hitting level 50 really is just the beginning. The main story quests that happens after that is when things really start getting interesting.

Lots of stuff unlocks at certain levels (e.g. 15: air travel to other cities; 20: mounts; 30: mounts will fight for you), but it's done via the main story questline, so make sure you're always making progress on that.

What's your name on Jenova? I'll be on tonight ~6:30pm PST and will look for you.

P.S. I'm Reki Valdier in case you find me first.

[Gronthor]

Gronthor Heindrath i think first game i have two names!

[Gogan]

Yeah, at first I hated having to think of a last name. But then I realized I could have any of the first names I like because the last name will ensure it's unique.

I keep looking for you in-game, but I guess we're missing each other (I'm usually on from 6:30 PST - 11pm/midnight, all day on weekends). I'm in the Crowne of Thorne free company (often abbreviated as CoT above player's heads). If you see someone running around with that tag (we're everywhere), feel free to submit an app to join. Right click them, select View Company Info, and there should be a button to apply. We accept everyone and we're currently under the member cap (512) so there shouldn't be any issues, though sometimes people are lazy about inviting applicants. Worst case, I'll see it when I logon at night.