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Final Fantasy XIV Beta Discussion + Media

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A

Amneisac

Member
LaneDS said:
Once you run out of levequests, which didn't take long, you're left with the following options in the current phase of beta:

-Grind on enemies. There are two variety of enemies, the very easy kind (Wharf Rats and such) and the ones that are clearly not balanced for a starting zone (most everything else). And to me, grinding and leveling up is pretty pointless when there's nothing in the game yet to do with a powered up character.
-Harvest stuff and level up something like Botanist or Miner, which is (a) pretty boring and (b) pretty pointless presently. It's also very unfinished according to Square (things like Lay of the Land are mentioned in the tutorial levequests and don't appear to be in the game, or at least weren't when I switched over my Pugilist to the appropriate gathering class).
-Explore. The game is very pretty, but there are two "zones" outside of Limsa Lominsa, the second one being very difficult to explore due to the strength of the monsters there. And even if you can explore it, it's just as barren and empty and lacking in content as the zone above ground. Sure, it looks different, but that, to me, is hardly compelling content.

The game looks great. I like the combat. I think it'll be really great in time. If this beta is indicative of Square's progress, launching it in two months is a mistake. Content, to me, means having some purpose to the experience. Leveling up just to level up does not inspire me to play the game.

I know plenty is being withheld from the beta, so my comments are really only directed at the game in it's current closed beta state. I keep saying it because I mean it, but I really don't want to be negative towards the game. I'm hoping it's fantastic and I hope to proven wrong ultimately as I really enjoyed a lot about XI and want to see this game take those positives from XI and make smart changes to make it a MMO that lasts for another decade or so.
Click to expand...

I really think you are answering your own concerns there. I'm sure there is plenty more content and more features that won't be released until later in the process. This is the third beta session in the first week of beta. There are still five or six more weeks (they have to print a gold version at some point) and they will surely have some day one patches waiting for those who are starting with the retail version.

I completely understand your concern, and even not being in the beta myself I'm getting nervous from the impressions I hear. I was hoping that the things we FFXI fans had to overlook would be addressed, but it really seems like we're just getting a very nice coat of polish over a lot of the same problems. I've adjusted my expectations a little bit, but I wouldn't abandon all hope just yet.
 
H

HappyBivouac

Member
LaneDS said:
Once you run out of levequests, which didn't take long, you're left with the following options in the current phase of beta:

-Grind on enemies. There are two variety of enemies, the very easy kind (Wharf Rats and such) and the ones that are clearly not balanced for a starting zone (most everything else). And to me, grinding and leveling up is pretty pointless when there's nothing in the game yet to do with a powered up character.
-Harvest stuff and level up something like Botanist or Miner, which is (a) pretty boring and (b) pretty pointless presently. It's also very unfinished according to Square (things like Lay of the Land are mentioned in the tutorial levequests and don't appear to be in the game, or at least weren't when I switched over my Pugilist to the appropriate gathering class).
-Explore. The game is very pretty, but there are two "zones" outside of Limsa Lominsa, the second one being very difficult to explore due to the strength of the monsters there. And even if you can explore it, it's just as barren and empty and lacking in content as the zone above ground. Sure, it looks different, but that, to me, is hardly compelling content.

The game looks great. I like the combat. I think it'll be really great in time. If this beta is indicative of Square's progress, launching it in two months is a mistake. Content, to me, means having some purpose to the experience. Leveling up just to level up does not inspire me to play the game.

I know plenty is being withheld from the beta, so my comments are really only directed at the game in it's current closed beta state. I keep saying it because I mean it, but I really don't want to be negative towards the game. I'm hoping it's fantastic and I hope to proven wrong ultimately as I really enjoyed a lot about XI and want to see this game take those positives from XI and make smart changes to make it a MMO that lasts for another decade or so.
Click to expand...


So how is it that you know they have plenty of content they're keeping out of the beta, and yet the lack of content in beta is still making you concerned? Isn't that sort of like... anti-logic?

It is frustrating right now with the mob distribution trying to get exp out on your own. But honestly, if there's anything you can expect SE to do right in an MMO it is provide completely awesome story content. Seriously. FFXI knocked it out of the park there, and just from the "Treasures of the Main" quest it's already showing promise.
 
Zomba13

Zomba13

Member
Baloonatic said:
Damn, it kicks you out of character creation if you get a timeout. I guess you lose the character you made?
Click to expand...
If you rotate the camera in the character creator you can sometimes see your old character off in the void, forever lost in the ether of the internets.
(srsly tho)
 
T

Teknoman

Member
Has anyone had the chance to try out a *behest?


*Apparently this just means a strongly worded request.

HappyBivouac said:
So how is it that you know they have plenty of content they're keeping out of the beta, and yet the lack of content in beta is still making you concerned? Isn't that sort of like... anti-logic?

It is frustrating right now with the mob distribution trying to get exp out on your own. But honestly, if there's anything you can expect SE to do right in an MMO it is provide completely awesome story content. Seriously. FFXI knocked it out of the park there, and just from the "Treasures of the Main" quest it's already showing promise.
Click to expand...

I'm just hoping they make dungeons more worthwhile to explore. A decent amount of random treasure chests, and maybe some side local guildleves hidden in the dungeons with Aetheryte nodes nearby.
 
H

HappyBivouac

Member
Woke up up at 11:30 (don't you judge me :lol ), been trying to get in for 35 minutes. Haven't even gotten to character selection.

I'd like to get a character on Shadowlord but at this rate I'm just gonna select my character on Ultimecia and go.
 
L

LaneDS

Member
HappyBivouac said:
So how is it that you know they have plenty of content they're keeping out of the beta, and yet the lack of content in beta is still making you concerned? Isn't that sort of like... anti-logic?

It is frustrating right now with the mob distribution trying to get exp out on your own. But honestly, if there's anything you can expect SE to do right in an MMO it is provide completely awesome story content. Seriously. FFXI knocked it out of the park there, and just from the "Treasures of the Main" quest it's already showing promise.
Click to expand...

I don't know that at all. That's just what people in this thread were telling me earlier to alleviate my concerns. I hope they're right, but I don't think anyone outside of Square knows how much content we'll get at launch with any real certainty.

And I agree 100% on the story content. I'm very content with the Treasures of the Main quest, the characters, the writing, and the expressiveness of both your player character and all the NPCs, it's really a notch above everything else in the genre and is worth getting excited about.
 
K

Kyoufu

Member
HappyBivouac said:
Woke up up at 11:30 (don't you judge me :lol ), been trying to get in for 35 minutes. Haven't even gotten to character selection.

I'd like to get a character on Shadowlord but at this rate I'm just gonna select my character on Ultimecia and go.
Click to expand...

I can't even play my character on Ultimecia.... :(
 
K

Khrno

Member
LaneDS said:
The game looks great. I like the combat. I think it'll be really great in time. If this beta is indicative of Square's progress, launching it in two months is a mistake. Content, to me, means having some purpose to the experience. Leveling up just to level up does not inspire me to play the game.

I know plenty is being withheld from the beta, so my comments are really only directed at the game in it's current closed beta state. I keep saying it because I mean it, but I really don't want to be negative towards the game. I'm hoping it's fantastic and I hope to proven wrong ultimately as I really enjoyed a lot about XI and want to see this game take those positives from XI and make smart changes to make it a MMO that lasts for another decade or so.
Click to expand...

I understand your concern, but I don't think you should worry too much. I cannot say for certain since I'm still trying to go past the 13001 error timeout, but after completing those guildleves that you mention, and leveling up a bit, more guildleves will become available since you have progressed with your character.

If there's someone who hit level 20 in the alpha or something similar now in the beta and can correct my assumption, please do so, but there should content that unlocks as you level.

And remember that this is just one of the three starting cities, and there will be towns, and a bigger central city. Even in XI from 1 to 50 there was quite enough content until the limit quests were introduced in an update.

We should see a content update within the first 3 months anyway, and more will come if we follow their XI update pattern. Also Komoto said that they have a schedule already planned for the first 2 years (you can read that in the last interview, posted in the Gaming thread), so they pretty much have everything outlined for content updates until twhat could be the release of the first expansion.
 
R

Ronok

Member
....In one of the few moments of functional servers today I managed to get a character created on Shadowlord, but then I got kicked before the intro. Now when I manage to get to character selection, the character is there, but it doesn't show up. Apparently I just have to log in with the character to fix though though....... Wonder if it will ever happen.
 
L

LaneDS

Member
Amneisac said:
I really think you are answering your own concerns there. I'm sure there is plenty more content and more features that won't be released until later in the process. This is the third beta session in the first week of beta. There are still five or six more weeks (they have to print a gold version at some point) and they will surely have some day one patches waiting for those who are starting with the retail version.

I completely understand your concern, and even not being in the beta myself I'm getting nervous from the impressions I hear. I was hoping that the things we FFXI fans had to overlook would be addressed, but it really seems like we're just getting a very nice coat of polish over a lot of the same problems. I've adjusted my expectations a little bit, but I wouldn't abandon all hope just yet.
Click to expand...

I mean, assuming that the content is just being purposefully held back and that there will be plenty at launch, then yes, all will be well. Again though, those are just assumptions and hopes.

They have made great progress from alpha to beta on a number of fronts and I'm even impressed by some of their fixes between different waves of the beta. I'm not without hope for the game, and I don't mean to be negative to the point where I make others less excited for it either. I fully expect the game to be great, eventually, I just hope it's great on September 22nd when we all get started on it.

Khrno- there presently aren't enough levequests to let a player only do those to level up. The experience and difficulty needs tuning, but those things are semi-easily remedied and almost definitely will.

But overall, I hear and agree with what you're saying. I probably am coming across more negative than I intend to. If Square has plenty lined up for us to do on September 22nd and the weeks and months ahead, I'm plenty happy. The game has lots of potential and a really amazing look and sound to it, so I just want to see it make good on that potential ultimately.
 
F

Fakto

Member
Ronok said:
....In one of the few moments of functional servers today I managed to get a character created on Shadowlord, but then I got kicked before the intro. Now when I manage to get to character selection, the character is there, but it doesn't show up. Apparently I just have to log in with the character to fix though though....... Wonder if it will ever happen.
Click to expand...
I'm in the same boat >,<
 
J

Jinko

Member
Due to technical difficulties, we have ended the Beta Test currently under way at 9:30 (PDT). Also, we regret to inform you that the beta test that was scheduled to occur on from Jul. 15, 2010 at 17:00 to Jul. 16, 2010 at 3:00 (PDT) has been canceled due to the same issues.
 
F

Forbiden

Member
Jinko said:
Due to technical difficulties, we have ended the Beta Test currently under way at 9:30 (PDT). Also, we regret to inform you that the beta test that was scheduled to occur on from Jul. 15, 2010 at 17:00 to Jul. 16, 2010 at 3:00 (PDT) has been canceled due to the same issues.
Click to expand...

Laaaaame
 
D

desa

Member
Jinko said:
Due to technical difficulties, we have ended the Beta Test currently under way at 9:30 (PDT). Also, we regret to inform you that the beta test that was scheduled to occur on from Jul. 15, 2010 at 17:00 to Jul. 16, 2010 at 3:00 (PDT) has been canceled due to the same issues.
Click to expand...

:lol sweet
 
The Elite

The Elite

BOSS
Jinko said:
Due to technical difficulties, we have ended the Beta Test currently under way at 9:30 (PDT). Also, we regret to inform you that the beta test that was scheduled to occur on from Jul. 15, 2010 at 17:00 to Jul. 16, 2010 at 3:00 (PDT) has been canceled due to the same issues.
Click to expand...
WHAT?!!?!?!

Infinite Sadness.
 
K

Kyoufu

Member
Never forget guys, the same thing happened during the launch of FFXI (Japan) where their servers couldn't handle a measly 95k players wanting to login.

September WORLDWIDE launch is going to be disastrous.
 
L

LaneDS

Member
Kyoufu said:
Never forget guys, the same thing happened during the launch of FFXI (Japan) where their servers couldn't handle a measly 95k players wanting to login.

September WORLDWIDE launch is going to be disastrous.
Click to expand...

You'd think eight years of experience running an MMO across (eventually) three platforms and multiple regions would have helped them better prepare for this.

Scary.
 
J

Jinko

Member
It probably no doubt has, but they are running with completely different code this time most likely.

You guys are so overly critical lol.

On the plus side they can get on with the maintainance theyhad planned over the weekend and perhaps get through some of the bug reports.
 
D

desu

Member
LaneDS said:
The game looks great. I like the combat. I think it'll be really great in time. If this beta is indicative of Square's progress, launching it in two months is a mistake.
Click to expand...

This pretty much sums up the beta so far. I know that its still a beta and I could live with this fact, if there wasn't a very little detail .... the release date. Honestly playing this I would expect it to come out by the end of the year or maybe early next year as the controls (for pc users) are pretty nucg non existent, ui doesnt feel great and somehow there are bugs and odd things everywhere. I have at least some faith that content and balancing wont be that much of a issue for them.

I still need more time (and give the game another few chances) but right now I would either cancel my preorder or just preorder it and wait until the ps3 version is out and hope that the 6 extra months full of patches have done the game something good.

Guess I am very bitchy and negative, but I really want this game to be awesome but right now I see this getting raped to pieces by the media once it comes out.
 
L

LaneDS

Member
The whole idea of a beta is to be critical. Not on a private section of GAF, obviously, but getting complaints out and known is the only way Square knows they need to improve their product.

And on a personal note, I like to think I've balanced my gripes about the game with the things about the game that are awesome. There's plenty of both.
 
T

Teknoman

Member
2zppdg8.jpg
 
J

Jinko

Member
LaneDS said:
The whole idea of a beta is to be critical. Not on a private section of GAF, obviously, but getting complaints out and known is the only way Square knows they need to improve their product.

And on a personal note, I like to think I've balanced my gripes about the game with the things about the game that are awesome. There's plenty of both.
Click to expand...

Sure it is, but screwing your face up because there is no content is kind of pointless at this stage, alpha seemed to be the place to test guildleves (probably why they have nerfed them in beta), now they are moving on to stability and crafting issues.

Beta's aren't supposed to be fun :S
 
notworksafe

notworksafe

Member
Dunno about that. I've been in betas with much more content to test even when their release was more than two months away (Korean MMOs, Wrath of the Lich King, APB, Star Trek Online). I'm not surprised that a handful of quests and a few zones with mobs too hard to kill aren't cutting it for people.

Hell Cataclysm is just an expansion and it's got more content to test...and it probably won't be out until November.
 
L

LaneDS

Member
Yeah, I've been in countless betas over the last decade, XI included. If people want to attack my opinion on it lacking in content, that's fine. But there's nothing saying beta tests can't be full of content to test, or quite a bit of fun. If you have to convince yourself otherwise though, by all means.
 
J

Jinko

Member
FF11 didn't have much content prior to Zilarts though did it ?

I know the MMO genre has changed massively since then, but it doesn't seen SE got that memo :lol
 
notworksafe

notworksafe

Member
Isn't the point of a sequel to improve the parts that were lacking in the first game? Hey, at least the graphics are better...right guys?
Story stuff seems badass as well, to be fair.
 
L

LaneDS

Member
(To Jinko) It didn't. I wasn't using XI as an example of a particularly amazing beta (although a free hard drive for the PS2 from Square was nice!), but just to answer Kyoufu's first-time tester claims.
 
T

Teknoman

Member
LaneDS said:
(To Jinko) It didn't. I wasn't using XI as an example of a particularly amazing beta (although a free hard drive for the PS2 from Square was nice!), but just to answer Kyoufu's first-time tester claims.
Click to expand...

From what i've learned, the FFXI NA/EU beta spoiled most people, since that was pretty much most of the retail version minus zilart.

Anyone know what was available in the XI JP beta?
 
J

Jinko

Member
I wouldn't be surprised if they have a load of stuff that they have been working on that's just not ready yet, kind of how they were working on a battle system and implemented it for beta.

Content can be added quite fast as long as they know what the content is going to be, which I'm sure they do.

Saying that I'm not going to be surprised to see the release date pushed back, if it happens.
 
Zomba13

Zomba13

Member
Anyone know if the beta is on tomorrow 12pmGMT - 10PM GMT? It says nothing about it being off (only 12am - 10am being off, the one later on tonight)
 
T

Teknoman

Member
Zomba13 said:
Anyone know if the beta is on tomorrow 12pmGMT - 10PM GMT? It says nothing about it being off (only 12am - 10am being off, the one later on tonight)
Click to expand...

Werent there only two tests today? One supposed to be early morning - evening, and the second from evening - early tomorrow morning.
 
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