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[Jayhawk]

Yeah but you see, HW throws a bunch of gear at me through quests and leves and whatever that I could desynth for free.

And actually, HQ 115 weapons are cheaper than Perfect Pestles, lol.

Perfect Pestles cost like 5k-8k to make and you can make as many as you want. If you want to recoup costs, you sell HQs for like 50k-100k depending on server. Same for Summoning Bells and Shower Stands. You can actually make some to sell to recoup costs of materials for the ones used to desynth.

Your supply of level 115 weapons from the Market Board at low prices will run out and have fun competing with other Blacksmith desynthers that snatch up those items. At your current desynth level, you're going to be blowing up these weapons the majority of the time instead of succeeding and getting skill ups.

And "desynth for free" is misleading. You could be selling those items instead... and to get weapons from leves, that means you're using leves for battle classes. \@.@/

 

[piratepwnsninja]

So I finished the MSQ for the expansion last night, and I love what they did.

Have they mentioned anything about wanting content rollouts to be faster than they were between ARR and HW? It felt like that, for a time after ARR, they were still reacting to a lot of things. Now that they seemingly have things in place, I'd hope we get stuff a bit faster. I still have plenty to do, mind you, and I know this.

 

[Kagari]

Anyone have a decent video guide for Machinist? I read through that massive novel on the official forums but I'd rather see a visual representation at this point, trying to nail down a decent rotation/opener.

 

[Arkeband]

Perfect Pestles cost like 5k-8k to make and you can make as many as you want. If you want to recoup costs, you sell HQs for like 50k-100k depending on server. Same for Summoning Bells and Shower Stands. You can actually make some to sell to recoup costs of materials for the ones used to desynth.

Your supply of level 115 weapons from the Market Board at low prices will run out and have fun competing with other Blacksmith desynthers that snatch up those items. At your current desynth level, you're going to be blowing up these weapons the majority of the time instead of succeeding and getting skill ups.

And "desynth for free" is misleading. You could be selling those items instead... and to get weapons from leves, that means you're using leves for battle classes. \@.@/

I'll have no use for gathering/crafting leves besides achievements in a few months time, so I was more speaking to the 100 leve allowance I'll be sitting on shortly.

I'll revisit the pestles, I might have overestimated the cost of crafting them with their HQ versions. Thanks.

 

[Mr. Hyde]

What is a good server to start on nowadays? I haven't played since the first month a realm reborn came out and I am starting over as a White Mage. My friend insists I go to Balmung but I don't play twelve hours a day like he has been doing lately and timing these character restrictions is annoying, so I probably should go somewhere else.

 

[The Elite]

What is a good server to start on nowadays? I haven't played since the first month a realm reborn came out and I am starting over as a White Mage. My friend insists I go to Balmung but I don't play twelve hours a day like he has been doing lately and timing these character restrictions is annoying, so I probably should go somewhere else.

Ultros is where GAF is but it will take you time to find an open spot for character creation.

 

[Killthee]

So I finished the MSQ for the expansion last night, and I love what they did.

Have they mentioned anything about wanting content rollouts to be faster than they were between ARR and HW? It felt like that, for a time after ARR, they were still reacting to a lot of things. Now that they seemingly have things in place, I'd hope we get stuff a bit faster. I still have plenty to do, mind you, and I know this.

Patch cycle will stay the same, they're focusing on pushing out annual expansions though.

http://www.famitsu.com/news/201502/06070272.html

New year interview.

Quick summary

• 3.0 series will be shorter than 2.0. 4.0 to be released sooner in comparison.
• 3 month interval between patches schedule to be continued. 1 major patch followed by 2 minor updates as has been done the past 2 years.
• No fan fests this year but hoping to have a big event after 3.0 launches.
• Airships are heavily customisable. Looks or specs, choice is yours.
• Airships can be bought at an extravagant price, or your Fc can build it bit by bit everyday.
• Expansion volume is more similar to WoW and other western MMOs than XI. Basically almost an entire new game. But 2 years per expansion is probably not realistic anymore so they're shifting to an annual release schedule.
• expansions and content releases will be more like blockbuster movies, Big, dramatic changes in short spans of time.
• story and content has already been planned up til 3.5
• you can guess when 4.0 will release based on our current pacing, probably.
• blood and splatter is hard to do because of regulations and laws in each region.
• Example, a new miqote npc that gets injured and loses part of his ear. Something serious and with consequences. But we aren't allowed to do that because our said regulations.
• some places will not even allow npcs shot by arrows to be shown.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/2uyh13/30_release_date_not_yet_decided_no_hidden_fourth/

I think Yoship has also mentioned that future expansions wont be as big as Heavensward, but I'm too lazy to find a source for it.

 

[hamchan]

If they can provide a good 30-40 hour story every year then sure, bring on the annual expansions.

 

[gryvan]

If they can provide a good 30-40 hour story every year then sure, bring on the annual expansions.

I definitely would not mind this

I've enjoyed the story so far

 

[The Elite]

So 4.0 next summer?

Sure. I'm in.

 

[SaintGalgo]

Aero III is useless

What? It's... not? Aero III for the full duration is more damage than 1 Holy.

 

[King_Moc]

So quicker expansions to keep the subs higher, but at the cost of less content. Hmmm...I kind of like it feeling like you're getting a whole new game.

 

[Azzurri]

Problem with yearly expansions is that it's gonna void the older content even faster then is does now.

It's the problem with a vertical progression gear system FFXIV uses. I think it's too extreme and needs to be somewhere in the middle; in between FFXI and what they have now.

 

[Arkeband]

If they're planning on 3 months between major content patches, and they're planning a 3.5, you're looking at a fall/Christmas 2016 launch at earliest for 4.0. Which is technically annual but it's cutting it close.

June 2015 = 3.0
+ 3 months
September 2015 = 3.1
+ 3 months
December 2015 = 3.2
+ 3 months
March 2016 = 3.3
+ 3 months
June 2016 = 3.4
+ 3 months
September 2016 = 3.5
+ 3 months (?)
December 2016 = 4.0

Continuing this schedule would mean 5.0 misses the "annual" target.

 

[Imagine Wagons]

So quicker expansions to keep the subs higher, but at the cost of less content. Hmmm...I kind of like it feeling like you're getting a whole new game.

I'm okay with less content if what's there is highly replayable.

 

[iammeiam]

It was like eight months between FCoB release and HW hitting; that content was relevant way, way too long. We didn't even get a real primal in 2.5. If reducing the number of new zones and FATES helps keep content droughts like that from happening, I'm all for it.

 

[holdthephone]

I definitely would not mind this

I've enjoyed the story so far

I feel like I'm at the point of no return for any attempt at enjoying the narrative. After the first 10 levels or so and now into HW content, I've skipped every cutscene and piece of dialogue XIV has offered. It's a shame because I hear it's become a great story. But I could never get over how it was presented. Stilted avatars with emote animations and text boxes, fetch quests, and a exorbitant amount of back-and-forth turn ins. Ehh. And those early chapters about becoming a great adventurer felt super juvenile.

I greatly enjoyed the MSQ's boss designs and music, though. And glad to see people who stuck with the story are being rewarded with apparently better writing.

 

[irfaanator]

theyve done stuff to keep old stuff relevant like the relic quests and card drops. Also roulette i think has helped out a lot

 

[Killthee]

So 4.0 next summer?

Well they have plans for 3.5 and if they stick to the same patch schedule we'll be getting it around September next year so I'd guess Nov/Dec for new expansion. I assume a shorter expansion should allow them to avoid doing another 6 month content gap before expansion like they did with 2.5 and 3.0.

 

[Sorian]

They aren't going to be on an annual release for expacs. They'll probably start hitting 1.5 years between each though.

 

[HylianScribe]

I don't think I can handle leveling up every class every year. That will probably turn me off to the game eventually. Also not going to be a fan of having too many skills. L2+R2 shortcut is nice trick to have quick access to 3 hotbars (R1 to toggle between two main, L2+R2 for shortcut to third), but if it ever spills over into the need for a fourth, I'm out.

 

[The Elite]

If they're planning on 3 months between major content patches, and they're planning a 3.5, you're looking at a fall/Christmas 2016 launch at earliest for 4.0. Which is technically annual but it's cutting it close.

June 2015 = 3.0
+ 3 months
September 2015 = 3.1
+ 3 months
December 2015 = 3.2
+ 3 months
March 2016 = 3.3
+ 3 months
June 2016 = 3.4
+ 3 months
September 2016 = 3.5
+ 3 months (?)
December 2016 = 4.0

Continuing this schedule would mean 5.0 misses the "annual" target.

Well they have plans for 3.5 and if they stick to the same patch schedule we'll be getting it around September next year so I'd guess Nov/Dec for new expansion. I assume a shorter expansion should allow them to avoid doing another 6 month content gap before expansion like they did with 2.5 and 3.0.

Ok. That makes sense.

I am good with this.

 

[Azzurri]

If they follow that cycle, that means they're probably working on 2 or 3 jobs right now for the new x-pac.

I hope they add more support classes, because I've always found them to be my favorite, jack of all trades. It's why AST is so interesting to me.

I don't think I can handle leveling up every class every year. That will probably turn me off to the game eventually. Also not going to be a fan of having too many skills. L2+R2 shortcut is nice trick to have quick access to 3 hotbars (R1 to toggle between two main, L2+R2 for shortcut to third), but if it ever spills over into the need for a fourth, I'm out.

I don't think they'll keep upping the levels too much. As for skills, they'll probably reduce the bloat and make skills have multiple uses, so there isn't 1 skill just for one thing. It usually what MMO's do when they get older so you don't have 50 buttons to push. And you're right this game has a controller in my mind its designing for.

 

[Xion_Stellar]

I'm VERY interested in looking at the population census when the anniversary comes up again since I really think they should PS3 support because after reading the Live Letter and hearing Yoshi-P admit that Idyllshire used to be part of The Dravanian Hinterlands (Where we could have used mounts) but was made into an actual town area (Where we can't use mounts) because the PS3 couldn't handle it makes me really mad.

 

[Arkeband]

I feel like I'm at the point of no return for any attempt at enjoying the narrative. After the first 10 levels or so and now into HW content, I've skipped every cutscene and piece of dialogue XIV has offered. It's a shame because I hear it's become a great story. But I could never get over how it was presented. Stilted avatars with emote animations and text boxes, fetch quests, and a exorbitant amount of back-and-forth turn ins. Ehh. And those early chapters about becoming a great adventurer felt super juvenile.

I greatly enjoyed the MSQ's boss designs and music, though. And glad to see people who stuck with the story are being rewarded with apparently better writing.

lol, all due respect, but why the hell are you even playing FFXIV if you're skipping all of the story scenes? Reading this post was nails on a chalkboard level of stealthbrag.

I don't know if your attention span got you to the point where there's voice acting and they completely abandon the stilted emote approach in favor of fully unique animations, but you should probably check them out.

Did you skip the Hildibrand cutscenes, too? Because you might be committing an act of treason without knowing it.

 

[King_Moc]

I'm okay with less content if what's there is highly replayable.

Given the nature of the end game, it needs to be highly replayable anyway.

I'm VERY interested in looking at the population census when the anniversary comes up again since I really think they should PS3 support because after reading the Live Letter and hearing Yoshi-P admit that Idyllshire used to be part of The Dravanian Hinterlands (Where we could have used mounts) but was made into an actual town area (Where we can't use mounts) because the PS3 couldn't handle it makes me really mad.

Ditching PS3, then linking the areas together without loading screens somehow in an update would be great. Might be too much work to make it worthwhile in areas that people have already played through though.

 

[Augemitbutter]

minions are eternal.

 

[Azzurri]

I'm VERY interested in looking at the population census when the anniversary comes up again since I really think they should PS3 support because after reading the Live Letter and hearing Yoshi-P admit that Idyllshire used to be part of The Dravanian Hinterlands (Where we could have used mounts) but was made into an actual town area (Where we can't use mounts) because the PS3 couldn't handle it makes me really mad.

PS3 is the reason they zone off everything and nothing is seamless like older MMO's, i.e WoW, RIFT, and even newer mmos like WildStar.

 

[Sorian]

I don't think I can handle leveling up every class every year. That will probably turn me off to the game eventually. Also not going to be a fan of having too many skills. L2+R2 shortcut is nice trick to have quick access to 3 hotbars (R1 to toggle between two main, L2+R2 for shortcut to third), but if it ever spills over into the need for a fourth, I'm out.

Don't level up every class

As new skills come, usually, old skills become obsolete. I don't know how FFXIV will handle it but a lot of MMOs handle this problem perfectly fine each expac so hopefully FFXIV tries to learn from its betters in this regard.

PS3 is the reason they zone off everything and nothing is seamless like older MMO's, i.e WoW, RIFT, and even newer mmos like WildStar.

All three of those examples have zones though. And quite a lot of them.

 

[Azzurri]

Don't level up every class

As new skills come, usually, old skills become obsolete. I don't know how FFXIV will handle it but a lot of MMOs handle this problem perfectly fine each expac so hopefully FFXIV tries to learn from its betters in this regard.



All three of those examples have zones though. And quite a lot of them.

But the majority of the land mass depending which continent your own are seamless. FFXIV does not, but 1.0 was seamless even if it was Copy Pasta

 

[Sorian]

But they have seamless zones, FFXIV does not. 1.0 was seamless.

Define seamless, I don't think I'm understanding what you're trying to convey here.

 

[Kagari]

But the majority of the land mass depending which continent your own are seamless. FFXIV does not, but 1.0 was seamless even if it was Copy Pasta

1.0 also ran like hot garbage.

 

[Haly]

No loading screen in between zones.

Servers/PS3 limitations blah blah etc. Sometimes I wonder what this game could've been without being shackled to the PS3.

 

[iammeiam]

lol, all due respect, but why the hell are you even playing FFXIV if you're skipping all of the story scenes?

People say this all the time, and it pretty much never makes sense. You get story cutscenes once every few months. After a couple of days or weeks, cutscenes are done. What do you do between patches? Unsub? Sit in the inn rewatching the cutscenes? Or maybe the non-story stuff? Sitting through the story isn't going to be how a lot of people spend the bulk of their time, and the constant shock that a portion of the playerbase has no interest in the story or the way it's told makes no sense.

#TeamSkipButton

 

[holdthephone]

lol, all due respect, but why the hell are you even playing FFXIV if you're skipping all of the story scenes? Reading this post was nails on a chalkboard level of stealthbrag.

I don't know if your attention span got you to the point where there's voice acting and they completely abandon the stilted emote approach in favor of fully unique animations, but you should probably check them out.

Sometimes I don't manage to skip scenes fast enough and do hear the VAs. I know they've been implemented for a while now in select scenes. But yeah, I guess I don't have the attention span for it. If it was a single-player game I'd dig it, but as an MMO it feels like a constant and unnatural interruption.

But I like the PvE content so I'm well enough.

 

[Azzurri]

Define seamless, I don't think I'm understanding what you're trying to convey here.

You know when you go from middle la noscea to Wester la noscea, you cross a Blue zone like and load in, you don't do that in WoW or WildStar, unless you're crossing continents or going to space.

No loading screen in between zones.

Servers/PS3 limitations blah blah etc. Sometimes I wonder what this game could've been without being shackled to the PS3.

It's the reason why there's 2.5 GCD too. But that is PS4 too since it needs to work well with a controller.

 

[Kagari]

No loading screen in between zones.

Servers/PS3 limitations blah blah etc. Sometimes I wonder what this game could've been without being shackled to the PS3.

A lot less successful than it is, that's for sure.

 

[Allard]

But the majority of the land mass depending which continent your own are seamless. FFXIV does not, but 1.0 was seamless even if it was Copy Pasta

FFXIV 1.0 did not have seamless zones, they did a nice optical illusion and manipulated the server work to make you 'think' the zones were seamless but they weren't. You could see the zone buffer line, always a narrow, vision obscured tunnel/hallway and by the time you walked out of it the next zone had been loaded to your PC, the thing is the server would always lag when adjusting you entering the zones so it wasn't uncommon for Players and monsters to suddenly 'pop in' to the zone while walking through it. This was particularly bad in cities like Ul'Dah where the buffer had to be adjusted to accommodate for the flux of people who made it the home city. They had to move the Inn NPC out of the adventurers guild and into the center of the city so it could be in a different server zone then the one with the marketboard. I'd love for them to eventually make something seamless, and it is indeed an issue related to the PS3, but make no mistake 1.0 was not seamless (Especially if you traveled between regions, the change between them was so jarring thanks to the asset management near those zone lines, its much, much better now).

 

[Valnen]

People say this all the time, and it pretty much never makes sense. You get story cutscenes once every few months. After a couple of days or weeks, cutscenes are done. What do you do between patches? Unsub? Sit in the inn rewatching the cutscenes? Or maybe the non-story stuff? Sitting through the story isn't going to be how a lot of people spend the bulk of their time, and the constant shock that a portion of the playerbase has no interest in the story or the way it's told makes no sense.

#TeamSkipButton

Absolutely disgusting. I would not have enjoyed this game without the cutscenes.

 

[Jayhawk]

#TeamSkipButton

When are they adding a 'skip crafting skill animation' button, so all my crafting macros can be done in like 5 seconds?

 

[iammeiam]

Jayhawk how dare you want to break your crafting immersion.

Absolutely disgusting. I would not have enjoyed this game without the cutscenes.

I mean... Is "different people like different things" really that big of a shock? I completely don't get the outrage.

 

[Azzurri]

Jayhawk how dare you want to break your crafting immersion.



I mean... Is "different people like different things" really that big of a shock? I completely don't get the outrage.

Because this is a Final Fantasy game first and how dare you play it as an MMO!

 

[Sorian]

A lot less successful than it is, that's for sure.

lol, PS3 defense force makes me laugh every time.

 

[Azzurri]

A lot less successful than it is, that's for sure.

 

[King_Moc]

1.0 also ran like hot garbage.

It's unlikely that that's related to the streaming, just incompetence by Square Enix (or whoever they farmed it out to).

 

[Lanrutcon]

THE MAIN STORYLINE

DOES NOT WANT TO END

I JUST UNLOCKED ANOTHER DUNGEON

i am never getting to the expansion, am I?

 

[Haly]

No, Kagari is right. FFXIV would never have the success it does if it tried to compete head to head with WoW on its home turf. That's just common sense. The game is more or less Vanilla WoW and we all know how well that worked out for Wildstar.

 

[Sorian]

THE MAIN STORYLINE

DOES NOT WANT TO END

I JUST UNLOCKED ANOTHER DUNGEON

i am never getting to the expansion, am I?

Which dungeon? If it's snowcloak, you still have a while to go. (If it's not snowcloak, you have an even longer amount to go)

No, Kagari is right. FFXIV would never have the success it does if it tried to compete head to head with WoW on its home turf. That's just common sense. The game is more or less Vanilla WoW and we all know how well that worked out for Wildstar.

lol no, Wildstar failed because it tried to cater to the hardcore market that can no longer hold up an MMO on its own. FFXIV is not Vanilla WoW. Vanilla WoW was catering to a completely different fan base.

 

[SRTtoZ]

THE MAIN STORYLINE

DOES NOT WANT TO END

I JUST UNLOCKED ANOTHER DUNGEON

i am never getting to the expansion, am I?

no

 

[Zomba13]

Because this is a Final Fantasy game first and how dare you play it as an MMO!

If people want to skip cutscenes they already can. There is even an option to automatically skipped watched cutscenes. Forcing new people to skip the cutscens is bullshit though. If they wanted to skip them they would. If you don't want to be paired with people who watch cutscenes then go in a premade group or don't pick a story heavy dungeon. By all means play the game how you want, just don't force that on the new people.