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[Augemitbutter]

anybody know if the previous collectors edition had a removable ratings sticker in europe?

that pegi or usk will suck the fun out of it.

 

[Baleoce]

While I personally love SWTOR, I'm torn on voice acting because it costs the developers so much more and delays new content. That said, if you're gonna have a bunch of chatty cutscenes, you NEED voices because it gets really dull, really quickly. Otherwise they need to be trimmed way down.

I always felt that FFXI proved this statement false. There are some epic cutscenes in XI featuring some great and memorable characters that were able to express themselves without being voiced. I certainly didn't need someone to voice a character like Shantotto, Prishe, the stormserpent generals or that funny DNC with the lisp for me in order to understand their characters. The plot, the setting, the music, and the balance is all that was needed I felt.

A great soundtrack and story goes a *long* way in making you forget the need for voice acting. It's just that a lot of MMO's neglect their "RPG" element, so that gap seems more gaping. My favourite thing about XI was that it still very much felt like it retained its RPG roots.

On a side note, here's an excerpt from a recent interview with Naoki Yoshida that should allay any VA concerns for long cutscenes.

In the E3 trailer, lots of major voice actors were talking. When voice is added it really changes the feeling of the game, voice isn’t being added in phase 3 right?
Y: It’s not going to have it. During testing there are issues such as rights.

 

[Dunan]

Seriously dude, are you for real?

Most certainly. With all the different options for hair color and skin color and tattoo position and everything else, there must literally be millions of possible avatars in this world; maybe billions. But there'sonly one possible dominant hand? And that's because it makes cutscenes easier? That's pathetic.

If this game consisted only of pre-made characters, I might feel differently. But we're clearly meant to be able to inject something of ourselves into MMO avatars. And while I love playing different genders and races, I would like the opportunity to retain the personal feature that I identify with the most. I'm not kidding -- to see myself in a female avatar (I'm a man), or an avatar with different skin color or age or even a fictional species, is not difficult and is enjoyable. But to see them swinging their weapons backwards, and not being able to change it, is jarring and more de-immersing than any other thing.

And put your strawman away. You "like to" slouch; you weren't born with it.

 

[ebil]

What was meant above when people were saying classes aren't "worth it" for solo play? Can you play a character without taking any class..?

They mean you'll often want to play as a Job instead of a class, anyway. At least that was the case during 1.x, where classes were pretty much worthless once you unlocked Jobs, outside of a few situational exceptions (Thaumaturge comes to my mind).

 

[Meicyn]

Most certainly. With all the different options for hair color and skin color and tattoo position and everything else, there must literally be millions of possible avatars in this world; maybe billions. But there'sonly one possible dominant hand? And that's because it makes cutscenes easier? That's pathetic.

If this game consisted only of pre-made characters, I might feel differently. But we're clearly meant to be able to inject something of ourselves into MMO avatars. And while I love playing different genders and races, I would like the opportunity to retain the personal feature that I identify with the most. I'm not kidding -- to see myself in a female avatar (I'm a man), or an avatar with different skin color or age or even a fictional species, is not difficult and is enjoyable. But to see them swinging their weapons backwards, and not being able to change it, is jarring and more de-immersing than any other thing.

And put your strawman away. You "like to" slouch; you weren't born with it.

But I was born gay. I personally identify with that a lot and am ignored quite heavily by gaming with notable exceptions lately.

It'd be neat if you could make a pugilist that fights southpaw. But you know what? It's not in. Just like my eyebrows, face, hair style, and body type are not in. I would have loved a creator like Dark Souls had, a game where I could make an avatar that looks damned close to the real life me. But we don't have that.

I'm sorry that the game doesn't have the option you want. But you keep complaining about it over, and over, and over. We get it.

 

[Emitan]

You "like to" slouch; you weren't born with it.

I was born with spine problems so I naturally slouch

 

[Dunan]

But I was born gay. I personally identify with that a lot and am ignored quite heavily by gaming with notable exceptions lately.

Even I can see that gay characters are under-represented in games, and when they do make it in, they're often limited to stereotypes. I'd be right there in your corner if you were complain to a producer who chose to ignore gay characters. You would have every right to be disappointed in the producer if, for example, there were a game where your character could have a spouse in the game, and he said, "sorry, heterosexual couples only; it makes the cutscenes easier" or some such tripe.

I'm sorry that the game doesn't have the option you want. But you keep complaining about it over, and over, and over. We get it.

I'm not complaining over and over and over. I found out about Yoshida's decision, criticized it, and am now arguing with one other person. And I'm basically done with that as I've said my piece here and will probably just make the point to Yoshida in the beta forum as well.

I was born with spine problems so I naturally slouch

You were born with them; the other guy said he "liked to" slouch.

 

[bumpkin]

I was just talking with a friend of mine who's in the PC beta -- I'm in the PS3 -- and they just said you can only play on Fridays and Saturdays (JP time). Is that true?

 

[gillty]

anybody know if the previous collectors edition had a removable ratings sticker in europe?

that pegi or usk will suck the fun out of it.

In North America the box had a plastic slip cover with the logos, removed you are left with the glorious art.

 

[ROBOKITTYZILLA]

I was just talking with a friend of mine who's in the PC beta -- I'm in the PS3 -- and they just said you can only play on Fridays and Saturdays (JP time). Is that true?

Friday and Saturday only for the first few tests. Later tests will last for longer periods of time, similar to phase 1. The official start and end time for each test will be posted on the beta forum.

 

[Augemitbutter]

In North America the box had a plastic slip cover with the logos, removed you are left with the glorious art.

that sounds great. hopefully they'll follow that model.

 

[Kintaro]

I hope you can turn off the VA in the retail release. It was damned terrible in the trailer. This game never needed it.

 

[VillageBC]

Well, I can't remember what was available at level 15. However at 20 I would...

1. Pop Haymaker when it procs
2. Apply Touch of Death DOT
3. Straight shot damage buff from Arc
4. Bootshine > Twin Sankes > Snap Punch - Applies Twin Snakes dmg buff and 1st stack of Greased Lightning
5. Bootshine > True Strike > Snap Punch - Applies second stack of Greased Lightning
6. Blow Offensve CDs
7. Bootshine > True Strike
8. Alternate between 1-7 depending on what needs to be refresh

In groups you will lose Haymaker, but the huge increase in positional dmg you get on your WS more than make up for it.
You're managing 1 debuff, 3 buffs, and dancing from the back/flank of a mob depending which attack your doing -- I def enjoyed it. You can get away with just mashing 1-2-3, but I don't think thats the most efficient (or fun) way to play a PUG.

Cool, thank you. So things do get more interesting as I level up/group up. So far, it's been just solo and only have option 5 to apply.

One thing I've found disappointing so far is the ease of the game. I was fond of FFXI because it was damn difficult, and a relative high skill level requirement of your fellow players to execute combo's etc. Hope it gets tougher, or more group requirements higher up. It's an MMO, I want to be forced to play with other players because if I'm not I will solo a lot of it. =)

 

[Ferrio]

So what's the difference between Marauder and Paladin tanks? Why choose one over the other for parties?

One thing I've found disappointing so far is the ease of the game. I was fond of FFXI because it was damn difficult, and a relative high skill level requirement of your fellow players to execute combo's etc. Hope it gets tougher, or more group requirements higher up. It's an MMO, I want to be forced to play with other players because if I'm not I will solo a lot of it. =)

FFXI combat wasn't difficult at all least of what I played. It was basic basic stuff, just think there was a lot of derp due to the player base.

 

[Ravidrath]

So what's the difference between Marauder and Paladin tanks? Why choose one over the other for parties?

Unknown, right now.

In 1.x Paladin was better for single-target tanking and Warrior was better at multi-target. But that could all change now.

So far the changes to Flash seem like they could solve PLD's multi-tanking issues already, so it could just be down to one being a HP-based tank and the other being a DEF-based tank.

 

[erawsd]

I doubt there is enough hp or time on normal mobs to do all that jazz when soloing.

Yes and no. Most normal quest mobs won't live through much of that (though at lvl 20 its pretty close). Great thing is that almost everything is a buff, so you just pick up where you left off when moving from one mob to another. The only thing that has to be reapplied is touch of death since it is a debuff.

 

[notworksafe]

I hope you can turn off the VA in the retail release. It was damned terrible in the trailer. This game never needed it.

There's a "Voice" slider in the sound menu, so I think that would work if you turned it all the way down.

 

[cpp_is_king]

The very last thing I did when the servers shutdown was unlock the story quest with the dark mage and the lancer guy, and then Lv. 15 class quest for PUG. Both raped me, but I think I got pretty close on the class quest.

I think it's a little strange though that the level sync says it will sync you to 17 if you're higher, yet the quest is for level 15. I guess my options are to level up ab it more, or head to Gridania, unlock CNJ, and level him up enough to get Cure, Protect, and Shell. I'll probably take the latter approach.

 

[devious.one]

Unknown, right now.

In 1.x Paladin was better for single-target tanking and Warrior was better at multi-target. But that could all change now.

So far the changes to Flash seem like they could solve PLD's multi-tanking issues already, so it could just be down to one being a HP-based tank and the other being a DEF-based tank.

Yeah, Flash has such a high enmity rate now, and it's pretty spammable considering the MP you use on it, you easily get back with a few WSs (Can't remember the name of the one that gives you MP back.)

The very last thing I did when the servers shutdown was unlock the story quest with the dark mage and the lancer guy, and then Lv. 15 class quest for PUG. Both raped me, but I think I got pretty close on the class quest.

I think it's a little strange though that the level sync says it will sync you to 17 if you're higher, yet the quest is for level 15. I guess my options are to level up ab it more, or head to Gridania, unlock CNJ, and level him up enough to get Cure, Protect, and Shell. I'll probably take the latter approach.

I believe Shell is gone now, I think Conj gets a Passive ability at a later level that makes it so Protect gives you M.DEF now.

 

[Dreamwriter]

I really enjoyed the game this weekend, but I hate how it seems to be 99% single player. Is there a point where you start needing to go out in groups to be able to kill the normal monsters wandering the land, not just instanced boss fights or dungeons? Do parties get to help with all main story quests after a certain point?

So far the game seems less an MMO than a single player game with multiplayer minigames (like dungeons). I understand we'll never get the likes of FFXI again, but in that game by the time you were level 10 you pretty much had to group to keep leveling, grouping earlier still helped speed up the early game, and main story quests were definitely something done as parties, with only the cutscenes being solo.

You can go anytime in a party and fight monsters. If you look around there are a ton of NM (notorious monsters) roaming the land that you can fight. Also don't be fooled by the NM's a lvl 10 NM is much harder than a normal lvl 10 monster for example. Also keep in mind not all the content or areas are in the game.

When areas like Castrum Novum, Castrum Occidus, Beastman Stronghold open up you will quickly see how important a group will be needed. There are also plenty of raids where you'll need more than one party and quests for things like completing your AF gear all require parties.

So the normal game doesn't really have multiplayer content, just special named monsters, dungeons, FATEs and raids? Not the quests or normal creatures?

 

[bomblord]

Has the NDA been lifted can I post screens yet? I haven't been keeping up on that.

 

[Dreamwriter]

Has the NDA been lifted can I post screens yet? I haven't been keeping up on that.

The only thing you can't post yet are videos.

 

[Kintaro]

So the normal game doesn't really have multiplayer content, just special named monsters, dungeons, FATEs and raids? Not the quests or normal creatures?

What? All of those things are part of the normal game.

 

[notworksafe]

Has the NDA been lifted can I post screens yet? I haven't been keeping up on that.

Pics and impressions of Phase 3 (nothing before) are allowed now. Video is not.

 

[Dreamwriter]

What? All of those things are part of the normal game.

I was talking about quests and exploring the land, those are what I do the majority of the time. In previous MMO's I've played, inlcuding FFXI, you needed to go out in a party to do those things except in certain solo class builds.

 

[Spiritreaver]

I was talking about quests and exploring the land, those are what I do the majority of the time. In previous MMO's I've played, inlcuding FFXI, you needed to go out in a party to do those things except in certain solo class builds.

Doesn't seem to be the case. It's the way most modern MMOs play today thanks to the market catering to more casual playstyles. Even FFXI in its later years moved toward more solo progression.

FFXIV tries to keep the party/community aspect important by having FATEs and forcing you to group for storyline progression. Outside of those the only other multiplayer required content I saw were guildhests.

It's a shame really. As it's my biggest gripe with the modern MMO. It's a lot less about social experience and more about catching carrots. I think FFXIV is doing a pretty decent job of bridging the gap though.

I'm hoping that when it comes to leveling new jobs without the aid of quests, mob grinds/FATEs become the best form of XP. Though I know most people won't agree with me.

 

[devious.one]

I was talking about quests and exploring the land, those are what I do the majority of the time. In previous MMO's I've played, inlcuding FFXI, you needed to go out in a party to do those things except in certain solo class builds.

eh, unless something had True Sight you didn't really need a group in FFXI to explore either.

 

[cpp_is_king]

Yeah, Flash has such a high enmity rate now, and it's pretty spammable considering the MP you use on it, you easily get back with a few WSs (Can't remember the name of the one that gives you MP back.)



I believe Shell is gone now, I think Conj gets a Passive ability at a later level that makes it so Protect gives you M.DEF now.

Hmm, that's weird. It was in phase 2. So between 2 and 3 it got removed?

 

[Zalasta]

I'm hoping that when it comes to leveling new jobs without the aid of quests, mob grinds/FATEs become the best form of XP. Though I know most people won't agree with me.

It's going to depend on whether they decide to make partying lucrative by increasing the XP versus soloing. But as a party you should definitely take on mobs several levels above you, thereby gaining a bigger bonus to the base XP as well as through XP chains.

 

[Teknoman]

You will most likely need parties for tackling certain grand company story quests, job or class story quests, and some of the later scenario quests, if 1.x is any indication.

 

[devious.one]

Hmm, that's weird. It was in phase 2. So between 2 and 3 it got removed?

Apparently so: Proshell Lvl. 16 Conjurer Passive Ability

 

[threetri333]

If anyone can help me, I need to know if I can get a free game and a month free online if I already purchased FFXIV before.

Source would be lovely!

 

[JLeack]

I'm so worried about this game and SE. Despite being a FFXI fanatic I find FFXIV's combat to be atrocious. While its other qualities are stellar gameplay is the most important factor.

As a Thaumaturge I literally just spam Blizzard. What the heavens.

 

[Ratchet1848]

As a 6+ year veteran of FFXI, I have to say I'm already hooked and can't wait to have my little BLM running around again.

And it seems everything I didn't like about FFXI has been replaced or fixed it seems with ARR and what I did like they seem to have kept for the most part.

Definitely going to pick this one up. Just hope to talk the G/F into playing with me.

 

[QisTopTier]

As a Thaumaturge I literally just spam Blizzard. What the heavens.

Stop playing bad

 

[Kintaro]

I was talking about quests and exploring the land, those are what I do the majority of the time. In previous MMO's I've played, inlcuding FFXI, you needed to go out in a party to do those things except in certain solo class builds.

You will need to party to complete quests as you level up. You will need to party to complete dungeons. You will want to party to kill HNMs, do Guildhests, etc. Exploring? You never needed a party in FFXI to explore. Sneak/Invis and staying out the way of HNMs no matter your class was all you needed.

 

[chickdigger802]

how is lvling up non dps classes in this game?

mmo solo quest grinds tend to suck dick for classes like tanks and healers and what not

 

[Pai Pai Master]

I always felt that FFXI proved this statement false. There are some epic cutscenes in XI featuring some great and memorable characters that were able to express themselves without being voiced. I certainly didn't need someone to voice a character like Shantotto, Prishe, the stormserpent generals or that funny DNC with the lisp for me in order to understand their characters. The plot, the setting, the music, and the balance is all that was needed I felt.

A great soundtrack and story goes a *long* way in making you forget the need for voice acting. It's just that a lot of MMO's neglect their "RPG" element, so that gap seems more gaping. My favourite thing about XI was that it still very much felt like it retained its RPG roots.

This, so much this. VA doesn't get you far if your story is awful shit. FFXI had a really good story and was presented as such without any voice work in the game at all. It was just really well written. It channeled the classics of the series, which definitely didn't need any voice acting to get their stories across to the players.

I'm happy that FFXIV has some voice work but it won't matter much if the story isn't as good as XI's.

 

[Momentary]

When these Betas are over and done with, will we be able to still use our saved presets from character creations? I know that our beta characters won't carry over. I know this has probably been asked a 1000 times already, but after spending two minutes on Google to find the answer, I give up.

 

[SoraanTribal]

I always felt that FFXI proved this statement false. There are some epic cutscenes in XI featuring some great and memorable characters that were able to express themselves without being voiced. I certainly didn't need someone to voice a character like Shantotto, Prishe, the stormserpent generals or that funny DNC with the lisp for me in order to understand their characters. The plot, the setting, the music, and the balance is all that was needed I felt.

A great soundtrack and story goes a *long* way in making you forget the need for voice acting. It's just that a lot of MMO's neglect their "RPG" element, so that gap seems more gaping. My favourite thing about XI was that it still very much felt like it retained its RPG roots.

On a side note, here's an excerpt from a recent interview with Naoki Yoshida that should allay any VA concerns for long cutscenes.

Totally agreed. FFXI had some amazing characters and cutscenes, and it was all done without voices. It'd be cool if XIV had more VA, I guess, but it's not that big of a deal for me.

 

[devious.one]

how is lvling up non dps classes in this game?

mmo solo quest grinds tend to suck dick for classes like tanks and healers and what not

Truthfully, not too bad. During the Beta this weekend I leveled Gladiator and I made it to 20 within the small amount of time the Beta was opened. I just made sure I took advantage of every FATE and guildhest I seen going on.

 

[Ravidrath]

how is lvling up non dps classes in this game?

mmo solo quest grinds tend to suck dick for classes like tanks and healers and what not

It's pretty good, I think.

I also leveled Gladiator and actually enjoyed it, and it was extremely slow and painful in 1.x.

And Conjurer has offensive spells and abilities so it can solo well, too. Probably won't kill things as quickly as a melee class or Thaumaturge, but we're talking like 40 seconds instead of 30 for fodder mobs.

When these Betas are over and done with, will we be able to still use our saved presets from character creations? I know that our beta characters won't carry over. I know this has probably been asked a 1000 times already, but after spending two minutes on Google to find the answer, I give up.

Yup. At least as long as you don't delete your save data in the Windows user folder or wherever it puts it.

The next benchmark will also have a character creator so even non-beta people can make and save character appearances, too.

 

[jiggle]

how badly have they nerfed leve quests since 1.0?
used to be able to solo 1-50 in less than a month without much time/effort by doing only those

If anyone can help me, I need to know if I can get a free game and a month free online if I already purchased FFXIV before.

Source would be lovely!

you get the pc client free, but not the ps3 one

don't know about the free month
but i kinda doubt it if you already used it before
would be nice if it does though!

 

[chickdigger802]

well... thats good. I've always been more of a paladin guy because they actually have to do shit in dungeons (varies game by game duh), but leveling them always sucked. You don't die, but usually take forever to sweep mobs.

 

[Spiritreaver]

I'm cool with not much VAing as well. Both can work. SWTOR does a pretty fine job of making every piece of dialogue worth listening to, but FFXI proves it's not necessary to tell a story.

The game needs their promised UI scaling yesterday though. I skipped a lot of the textual dialogue simply because it was an eyesore to read on my TV. At one point I just dropped the resolution down to 1080p to be able to read the menus. :X

 

[Ravidrath]

well... thats good. I've always been more of a paladin guy because they actually have to do shit in dungeons (varies game by game duh), but leveling them always sucked. You don't die, but usually take forever to sweep mobs.

Yeah, soloing is fine on Gladiator.

Also, with FATEs, Guildhests and leveling dungeons, I think there will be plenty of demand for you to actually tank for parties, too.

 

[CTLance]

Arrrgh. Rant time.

Being a 1.0 CE victim I already have a rather strained relationship with this game. Still, I recently got my beta code mail and thought hey, why not give the game another try. Can't hurt. Thank $deity I didn't lose or throw away my Security Token.

So far, so good.

Downloaded the game to PS3 (28MB initial launcher install). Started said launcher. Went through maybe half a dozen Update-and-restart cycles.

And now it just sits on a black screen, playing music and showing a white mouse cursor that I can control using the left analogue stick. Nothing else, not even after leaving it running for 5 hours. Only way to exit is to keep the PS button pressed for a while since the normal PS menu is disabled (only the "not permitted" popup in the upper right corner).

OK, no biggie, it's a beta. I got this. Time to hit the beta forum.

Tried to open the beta forum to get to the beta client... login failed. "Weird", I thought. "Better check if I used the wrong login". Nope, everything checks out, I can readily access the account page. My login only fails if I try to get to the beta forum. Yay.

Now, three days after I got the mail with the codes I happen to stumble upon a client download link in this thread (Thank you, I love you, unnamed benefactor). Oh hell, maybe that'll work. Register PC code for good measure.

I install. Log in. Everything seems to work. TOS, bla, bla, yes yes yes. True install starts. True install ends. FINALLY!

Play button remains grayed out, "undefined" displayed above it. Reboot client. Same thing.

...
This game is mocking me.

Seriously, by now I'm rather deflated. Still can't access the beta forums. Still can't get the PS3 client to stop being a weird music player. Still can't get the PC client to work.

Looking forward to what the support will tell me.​

This darn game better be worth all that trouble.

 

[LeMaximilian]

Is the current beta phase finished? Servers have been under maintenance since last night.

 

[Aeana]

Is the current beta phase finished? Servers have been under maintenance since last night.

Not the phase, but that portion of the beta. It was only for the weekend (JP time, so it ended Saturday for many in the west). The next part of phase 3 will be this weekend.

 

[Ravidrath]

Is the current beta phase finished? Servers have been under maintenance since last night.

Yeah, won't be up until next weekend.

Also... is that The Maximilian? If so, you should get out to Salty more often.