Disclaimer: All answers are based off of over 50 hours of play time currently lv 28. Visited all continents except for the Puklipo (just have not had time to go there yet, everywhere else I had a reason to visit) With that out of the way let the Q & A session begin!
Q: 1) Which MMO does this game borrow its combat system from? What sets it apart from other MMOs? Is it designed around Wii nunchuck controls, or is it better suited for keyboard/classic controller play?
A: Dragon Quest - Reason why I say that is because it uses the same menu based command system as the series. The command system the speed at which it appears is dependent on your speed status. So with that in mind its a good idea to pay attention to finding gear that helps up that stat. Can imagine in the future as more people realize that speed gear (the feet slot equipment) will really go up in price.
What sets it apart from other MMOs? The fact that this one is designed to be Dragon Quest first MMO later. Really cant describe it any better than that. Closest thing which fans would understand is its an online version of Dragon Quest IX with a better story / characters.
Id suggest using the classic controller + USB keyboard if you want to chat. Everything is mapped in a pretty intelligent manner with how the controls work with a controller. Wireless keyboards do work. Am running a Logitech K800 series with zero issues.
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Q: 2) Does it follow the FFXI pattern of quests/story missions? There is missions that are only for story, have set level caps/areas/bossfights, and you group up to clear them as you progress?
A: Yeah the game starts off with a single player prologue which sets up the story / setting and from there goes into the online portion where the story continues online. The offline portion will further the story of happens to your brother / sister character.
Id have to check with a level cap, my friend would know. But I do know there is a class specific quest at lv 30 from what I understand. There are boss fights that are story related.
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Q: 3) What are we seeing for quests? Are they engaging and varied, or is it your run of the mill fetch quests?
A: The quests are pretty standard stuff. Its similar to the kind of quests in IX. For the most part Ive seen fetch quests or go to X location to trigger Y event. At least so far I have not run into kill 10 rats sorta thing. Though as with DQIX quests dont give exp as part of the reward. Usually a quest item. Though the daily (real time) crafting guild quests give crafting exp / gold rewards for listed items asked.
The quests related to the story usually come with cutscenes to watch, so I suppose that makes them engaging.
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Q: 4) Is crafting a MUST do? Is it easy to level, easy to afford?
A: Its not a MUST just like with any game, but yes as long as you have the mats its easy to do. Plus helps crafting your own gear if you dont want to chase after higher tier crafted. Its pretty fun to do and gives you something to do with all the crap you find. Though Id suggest armor crafting over weapon or making crafting tools. Just due to those 2 have more items to sell vs. weapon crafting alone. Esp crafting tools, since everyone needs those. I highly suggest that one reads up on what all the crafting jobs are before actually picking one. As once you go past lv 10 of that skill / take the test to raise the cap I do believe they do not let you change your job. Found this out the hard way myself, when I had tried to switch to armor crafting. Am currently lv 12 in weapon crafting.
What is nice too is that its not the whole BS where you need to convert X item into Y item to make Z item. Its the raw materials is all you need. Then it goes into the minigame which is different for the different crafting skills. Though Blacksmithing is all the same, just different patterns to work on hammering.
Leveling up the crafting skills will give you more skills to use and up whatever your status is for working on said materials. For example blacksmithing goes by "concentration" points which are used for each hit performed on the metal or use of the crafting skills.
In terms of affordability that starts to change as you go up in skill level as some materials become harder to come by and as long as idiots are ruining the prices of items sold then yes it still can be profitable. Really all depends too on how patient you are / ability to play & read the market.
For some heavy money making the alchemy route is an option but the downside is risk vs reward is high esp if you screw up and fail in crafting. Since resources are rare / expensive. But you can make bank if you create a stronger item. Do believe there are 2 different alchemy types. Pot / Lamp. Dont know much else about that though, but those skills is what adds the + # status to equipment and stats up bonuses on them. Its quite important for retaining your current set level, but pushing the stats over the next tier of gear which can save you $$$ in the long run depending on how you think of it.
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Q: 5) What kind of economy are we looking at? Items sold that make most money are from crafting, or is it items off rare enemies?
A: Items sold make the most money, so far have not found anything off a rare enemy. Ive seen what can be considered rare enemies but still at lv 28 they are over powered in terms of strength to my own character. But it doesnt seem to be designed like other games. Where you will have to go farming rare enemies and thank god for that. Though monsters in general do not drop a lot of $$$ so money is mostly made off of selling resources / equipment. So at times its necessary to do resource runs around the world map.
There are rare resources which are dropped at random. These are displayed by a treasure chest with a more "fancy" graphic from the standard wooden chest. But its not to the level of other games where people farm "rare spawns" for the chance to get X item. Dont think that they designed the game to be like that from what Ive seen so far, which I personally I think is a good thing. Since people can just enjoy playing the game rather than being played by the game.
Also prices in the Bazaars differ for each of the continents. So what resource might be common in one is rare in another, therefore the price being slightly higher there than your home country for example. For some reason in the server Im at the Ogre hub town seems to be the main trading zone for everyone using the Bazaar, this is based off of how there are so many items to choose from and high end gear showing up often. I think it has to do with the fact the quest for the job change starts there, so everyone passes through that town. Even if its one of the most irritating design due to how you have to run in a U shape if you want to get to the post office / bank / bazaar. Other hub towns have a slightly more sane design.
Also another interesting point is crafted items start off as "New" though once equipped it becomes binded to your character, therefore there is no "used" market for gear. Which means when you upgrade your own stuff its basically either shelving it, if its a different tier set or selling it back to the vendor. Plus with how limited bank space is, keeping tons of sets is not a real option at the moment. Unsure if there is a bank space upgrade quest yet. My guess is more space for storing things will come when you are able to buy a home / furniture, only a guess right now, since that feature is not activated yet too.
In short from Lv 1-10 its easy to raise from there will take a bit more work as more rare components start to come into play.
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Q: 6) Speaking of rare enemies, do they exist? Any crazy spawn times?
A: There are strong enemies but am not sure if you would consider those the same as rare enemies. No idea bout spawn times since they still are out of touch with trying to fight it due to being so high level.
Spawn times for regular enemies are quick and even when places are crowded its not that bad getting something snared to fight. Some folks pick and choose their targets, so if you are going after a certain type too can be a bit of a competition on who gets to it first. Those instances are mostly with people looking for a certain resource drop. For example beast skin, which is used for various things.
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Q: 7) Does the game do instance runs at all? How easy is it to group up and find people if instances exist?
A: No instances that Ive seen yet in the world.
People generally find groups by standing in the town square and announcing they are looking for groups to do X quest or just make parties for leveling. Since monsters dont really give you a lot of cash, making money is more based on running marathons around the world harvesting from resource points. Which is done simply by running up to the shining white spots in the world and pressing the action button. No harvesting items are necessary such as with other games. Locations are always the same but just timed respawn based.
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Q: 8) Is there a reason to group up? What's the optimum party size? Do parties require a healer, tank, DD set up?
A: There is, if you want a party thats a bit smarter than the AI plus you can talk with them to help coordinate things during battle. 4 is the max for party size. If you want a well balanced party is usually a good idea. Though since there is no taunt skill yet, tanking is a bit different. Its more with how the party is placed and the main DD characters keeping the enemy away from casters by pushing them away. Since in this game you can physically push enemy mobs as you would a heavy object like in action games. So its an interesting strategic addition to the battle itself and actually paying attention to placement in battle. There isnt any real "useless" class also so its not like FFXI where certain classes would be ignored for the most part due to not being part of the "perfect party" formula of the month.
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Q: 9) Any word on what kind of endgame they have planned?
A: No idea, no word on that. Game just started. But there obviously are a lot of things planned down the line seeing various facilities not even implemented for use yet, but exist physically in the world.
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Q: 10) Any PvP ? Plans for it?
A: Might have PvP but since the Japanese dont really care about PvP for the most part Id say its not a priority. There is a Colosseum but no idea what its going to be exactly yet as its not open. The Japanese in general prefer cooperation over conflict. That and really if they did add it to this game all its going to be is mostly a stats / gear game. But Id imagine some folks might enjoy that, but might break the market in some ways with the + gear prices going through the roof due to PvPers willing to pay high price for it. Which personally I would not like to see in the game. As that type of + gear is quite important for those who wish to solo or just be a more effective player overall. As always healers are in a big demand. Mages also, due to some enemies being physical resistant so magic is needed to deal the majority of the damage.
Now if the Colosseum added a mode like the other DQ games where you can use befriended monsters to fight other peoples monsters, that might be a larger hit than actual PvP. Since its how the Colosseum worked in other DQ titles.
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Q: 11) How deep is character customization? As a follow up, how often are you changing equipment and how varied/bad ass can you look? One of my favorite things about MMO's is getting sleek bad ass gear to just feel like the baddest mother in the town I'm in.
A: Physical features are based off of the following set choices below. (Its not deep like what you can do in Phantasy Star Online 2 for example.)
3 body sizes S M L (height related)
12 hair / skin / eye colors
3 facial shape types
8 facial types (eyes mainly + unfortunately nothing like facial hair for males)
9 hair types
Equipment is mostly based on levels, though if you buy "upgraded" stuff from normal which generally is stats increase to the base stats of the gear. Those stats upgrades are done by the alchemy and what not trade skills. The look is varied for the most part as you can expect for a MMO that just started. More than personal looks Id say how it effects your stats is more important. Lots of people who might look cool are quite useless stats wise. For example my gear that Ive been wearing which is lower tier stuff from 28 and up, out classes higher level guys by far in terms of defense. But if you want to look good, the armors are quite nice looking in design for the most part. Casters look well like as a caster would so cant really comment too much on that lol. Also there is the option to have your head item displayed or not. Similar to what you can do in WoW.
In short you might look good, but stats wise it will be a different story. So usually when searching for NPCs its a good idea to take a peek at their gear / stats. Just so you dont get "glass cannons" so to speak, even then that doesnt happen since the average player isnt purchasing the highest possibly damage output items with the + stuff. But for the most part with human players dont have to worry as much unless one is really AR about things. Since with communication you can help change the flow of battle, rather than having to rely on the AI to do the correct commands based off of the "order sets" you have them set as currently.
Also crafted gear vs. store bought stuff will at times have the same tier level but slightly better than the normal set. For example, there are 2 level 7 types of swords for the fighter, but one has a slightly damage output. Its a more "unique" crafted item since it uses a different component to make. Same goes for armor. For example Chain vs. Iron, folks like chain more since it looks cooler, but iron has a higher defense output. Equipment also has a weight status, but I need to read up on what that exactly effects.
Hope that answers your questions and anyone else who has some feel free to ask and will assist with answers to the best of my ability.
I have a feeling something's going to go wrong, it's just my luck.
