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[JudgeN]

Japan was substantially more PS2 heavy whereas NA was more PC heavy. Not sure on Europe or post 360 launch.

I believe the PS3 launch will sell a ton, but they're probably not going to release in March now as hinted at on the Eurogamer interview I think it was.

I hope they do push it back, the PS3 launch will give the game a much needed second chance that most MMO will never get. With it the game will get a fresh review of current (and hopefully fixed content/features) and a chance to make some positive hype. I really hope SE has the balls to push it back because it really needs to get that version correct.

A 360 version wouldn't be a bad idea as well (if they can fix the game), but I'm sure its coming just like it did with FFXI.

 

[Teknoman]

At this point they may as well just extend it to the PS3 launch and call this a beta test. Because really, that's what it is.

After all the interviews and seeing what they are adding/fixing/adjusting in November/December...I kinda feel that way too.

 

[Londa]

Figaro is crowded in the city and I see people outside of the city doing their thing. I'm not worried about the loss in numbers.

 

[JudgeN]

Figaro is crowded in the city and I see people outside of the city doing their thing. I'm not worried about the loss in numbers.

Figaro is odd doing the week its like 800 but on weekend it jumps to 2.1k, wonder if other servers are like this as well.

Are you in Wild Cards linkshell? If so holy shit i'm in the same LS as you :lol

 

[demosthenes]

Figaro is crowded in the city and I see people outside of the city doing their thing. I'm not worried about the loss in numbers.

All the cities are crowded w/ a ton of unmoving characters that are bazaaring. Do what Judge did and go to Party and actually see how many are on, then subtract a huge chunk for AFKs :lol

 

[Teknoman]

Well at least this confirms S-E isnt 100% blind. Lots of interviews, keeping it free until the updates that bring it up to most peoples standards, and being a little less secretive to it's community...as long as they keep this up with a decent regular schedule of updates/content additions, they should be able to recover.

 

[Londa]

Figaro is odd doing the week its like 800 but on weekend it jumps to 2.1k, wonder if other servers are like this as well.

Are you in Wild Cards linkshell? If so holy shit i'm in the same LS as you :lol

I did noticed that there is more traffic on the weekend.

Yeah I think I am. lol its the red and yellow icon one?

I was trying to get people to help me with a faction leve. I got Wildcard to come help. We killed the tailtamer.

If you don't mind me asking, what is your characters name?

 

[Teknoman]

There's a new update on the front page, though.

New Items and Balances to Synthesis (11/16/2010)

I would've given a tl;dr but I've got to catch a bus >_<

Additional patch notes for future updates:

The large-scale version updates planned for late November and mid-December will see a number of additions and adjustments to both items and synthesis recipes. This Topics post will detail the nature of these changes, and introduce a new feature designed to aid in the synthesis process.

Additional Items: November, December

The majority of items will be added in the December version update. We also will be introducing gear with all-new graphics for each class in order to provide something for all players.

Below are some of the items scheduled for release in the December patch.



Additions and Adjustments to Synthesis Recipes
Released Recipes: November, December

The following adjustments will be made in the November version update in order to balance the degree of difficulty for synthesis.
Reduction of rank requirement for several recipes
Changes to materials required for several recipes
Introduction of alternate recipes for several items
Adjustments to the effect of each synthesis action on durability and quality
Reduction in the number of crystals required for synthesis
Increase in the number of crystals obtained as rewards for local leves

These changes will be ongoing in the December version update as well, as we continue to focus on improving and balancing synthesis.

New Recipes: November, December

In addition to the balancing changes planned for existing recipes, we will also be introducing a number of new synthesis recipes.

Auto-Selection of Materials: December

To improve convenience while crafting, we will be adding a feature that allows players to select an item to synthesize from a list of previously used recipes. Doing so will automatically place the required materials into the appropriate slots.

As of the December update, these two synthesis histories, one for general synthesis and one for local leve synthesis, will each retain the eight most recent recipes made. The version update scheduled for this coming March will expand this feature to retain a player's entire synthesis history.

In addition to all of the above changes, the November version update will also see changes that allow for the stacking of certain items, as well as the removal of a Wear value for smallclothes.

 

[Londa]

Things I like:

We also will be introducing gear with all-new graphics for each class in order to provide something for all players.

Reduction in the number of crystals required for synthesis
Increase in the number of crystals obtained as rewards for local leves

 

[Rentahamster]

Another free month.

COLDSNAP YOU WERE RIGHT! YOU WIN!

Omg Londa, you're ridiculous. "Less lag and whiners"? News flash - there is less lag. It went from horribly laggy at launch to annoyingly laggy now since half the server left.

 

[JudgeN]

I did noticed that there is more traffic on the weekend.

Yeah I think I am. lol its the red and yellow icon one?

I was trying to get people to help me with a faction leve. I got Wildcard to come help. We killed the tailtamer.

If you don't mind me asking, what is your characters name?

Judge Nightstriker is my name, don't wear it out yo :lol

 

[Rentahamster]

When the Nov 25 patch hits, do you think we should make an announcement on gaming side to let the people that quit know that the game is still free and that they should give it another chance? I miss a lot of you

 

[Dreamwriter]

This must have been a last minute decision about the free month - otherwise they wouldn't have done it *right after* sending out emails telling people to pay up or drop out.

And yeah, I definitely think a message should go up in the main forum when Miracle Patch, Part 1 hits. Heck, there shoulda been one about this thread being moved, I went almost a week not realizing it was here, I thought people just stopped posting.

 

[Rentahamster]

This must have been a last minute decision about the free month - otherwise they wouldn't have done it *right after* sending out emails telling people to pay up or drop out.

And yeah, I definitely think a message should go up in the main forum when Miracle Patch, Part 1 hits. Heck, there shoulda been one about this thread being moved, I went almost a week not realizing it was here, I thought people just stopped posting.

There was an announcement thread sticky. I didn't notice it either :lol

 

[demosthenes]

This must have been a last minute decision about the free month - otherwise they wouldn't have done it *right after* sending out emails telling people to pay up or drop out.

And yeah, I definitely think a message should go up in the main forum when Miracle Patch, Part 1 hits. Heck, there shoulda been one about this thread being moved, I went almost a week not realizing it was here, I thought people just stopped posting.

I only found it from searching and then realized that it was in Online :lol

When the patch hits someone should make a thread about the patch notes in Gaming.

 

[JudgeN]

When the Nov 25 patch hits, do you think we should make an announcement on gaming side to let the people that quit know that the game is still free and that they should give it another chance? I miss a lot of you

Na we shouldn't, this thread full of people that will admit its in pretty shitty condition but would like to see the game succeed. We have good old fashion actual discussion as well so lets keep it that way. Hopefully the PS3 version will be delayed and polished into a good game, then the gaming media will give it some more attention if it properly earns it.

Posting it in the gaming forum, you will get 5 pages of people show their Bat signals err Londa signals looking for more flaming.

 

[Rentahamster]

Na we shouldn't, this thread full of people that will admit its in pretty shitty condition but would like to see the game succeed. We have good old fashion actual discussion as well so lets keep it that way. Hopefully the PS3 version will be delayed and polished into a good game, then the gaming media will give it some more attention once its properly earned.

Posting it in the gaming forum, you will get 5 pages of people show their Bat signals err Londa signals looking for more flaming.

I really don't care about the flaming, and criticism - SE deserves a lot of it anyway. What I want to do is to start rebuilding our community and at least get some of the 100 LS members who left (I am not exaggerating) to come back and give the game another shot.

 

[Rentahamster]

Wait wait wait...November 25th? They're gonna release the patch on Thanksgiving??? Fuck.....:lol

 

[demosthenes]

Wait wait wait...November 25th? They're gonna release the patch on Thanksgiving??? Fuck.....:lol

This or GT5...WHAT DO I PLAY?!

 

[Dega]

I want to play this game more, but I just don't have the time right now. So for now I will occasionally level up my gld until I can put more hours into FFXIV. I hope you enjoyed all the crystals and shards I gave you Dega. I figured that since I won't be playing for quite some time I might as well give my shards, etc.. to someone who needs them. BTW as for repayment I will need you to make me some new tights

yeah, thanks a bunch. lol

I'll help you out a bunch when you come back. o.ob

 

[DrDogg]

So I was partying over the weekend on my CON. It's the first time I've been in a legit party (i.e. at my proper rank), and while I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and could see myself grinding to 50 this way, I still have a bevy of complaints:

Why is the party search system backward?
- If I want to join a random party, I have to search in hopes that someone has already started a party and needs a class around my rank?
- If upon searching, I see no parties (the norm), I can create my own, but I have to essentially sit and wait until enough people join to start the party, and I have minimal control over the people that actually join. So if someone with crap gear, or who's just an idiot (ran into another CON in the last pt who had NO idea how to play CON), I have to allow them to join, then kick them? Fail...

Party combat is still boring, and lacks challenge...
- As CON, all I do is spam cure. If there's no THM in the party, I'll toss out a Bio or some other enfeebling spell, and if no one is in need of healing, I'll use spirit dart (I won't use offensive spells because I need to conserve MP).
- There's a degree of hate control, but really all it entails is don't spam cure too much, while still keeping the party alive, and try to cast buffs at the end of a battle to gain SP from it, but avoid getting the mob's attention.
- In order to maximize SP gain, I spam Curaga and Curaga II, spam Spirit Dart, and use buffs toward the end of a fight. I don't even have to be strategic about it for the most part, but it means I do very little during the party.

I didn't pick CON and THM as my main offensive classes so I can spam cure all day. Even as WHM in FFXI I did far more than spam Cure. If this isn't changed by the PS3 launch, I probably won't be around for long afterward.

TL;DR: I still hate the game. Partying is boring. There's no challenge. Fix it by PS3 or I leave.

Figaro is crowded in the city and I see people outside of the city doing their thing. I'm not worried about the loss in numbers.

I'm okay with a lot of the statements you make. I hate this game with a passion, but I have seen no real reason to join the others and show you my Boom Stick. But this statement... this statement... all I have for you is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX161ulHrSA

 

[Rentahamster]

Dogg, if you can help it use sacrifice 1 and cure 1 instead of cure 2. sacrifice 1 will net you more SP because you get SP for the heal and for the regen buff. On average, you can also get more SP by using two Cure 1s, rather than one Cure 2.

Keep the Thaumaturge's Exhaltation skill on your skillbar. Even when you switch classes, the cooldown won't reset. So, when you run out of MP as a CON, switch really quick to THA, use exhaltation, then switch back to CON.


As for using nukes - there are two situations when it is SP/MP efficient to use nukes as a CON.

1 - while doing a leve, and you have multiple mobs (names in red) in front of you.

2 - in a party of around 5 or more ppl. Less people, and your nuke will proc only about 30-80 SP a hit. Not worth it. In a decent sized group, though, you can potentially proc 150-250 SP a hit, which makes nukes sorta worth it

This is dumb, IMO, since nukes should be usefull in any situation regardless of party size, but whatever.

 

[DrDogg]

I do keep the THM skill in my skill bar, but I don't like switching between the two because my THM is only 12, so when I switch back to CON I have to re-equip spells/skills that are removed due to lack of available AP on my THM.

I also find that nukes are resisted too often to really be worth it. This is with max PIE, INT and MND for my rank.

 

[Rentahamster]

I do keep the THM skill in my skill bar, but I don't like switching between the two because my THM is only 12, so when I switch back to CON I have to re-equip spells/skills that are removed due to lack of available AP on my THM.

I also find that nukes are resisted too often to really be worth it. This is with max PIE, INT and MND for my rank.

Yeah, I hate the other skills resetting too, but I have a macro so that reequipping them takes only one keystroke.

You could even make a class change macro so that the process is even easier:

/equip main "Copper Scepter"
/wait 5
/ac Exhaltation <me>
/bm
/equip main "Pine Crook"

Also, did you see this guide?

http://ffxiv.zam.com/forum.html?forum=152&mid=1289507772208175199&page=1

For your nukes, are you nuking with the element strong against the mob's elemental affinity?

 

[HappyBivouac]

I have a feeling the low numbers are due to a lot of people like me; people who haven't logged in in over a month, but are nonetheless eagerly awaiting the game to reach a point that is actually fun to play. If I understand correctly, they can't really get an accurate picture of the number of subscribers as things are right now, so the number that's being looked at is how many people are actually playing.

I have faith that these updates and maybe the next few months ending with the ps3 release will bring this up to at least ffxi numbers. That's enough to make me happy.

Hopefully these updates bring about a vast improvement in the enjoyability of this game, and hopefully then they'll bring in some high profile media attention.

 

[Coldsnap]

COLDSNAP YOU WERE RIGHT! YOU WIN!

heh I knew it. Now I just need to buy more ram for my pc so I can enjoy the free month.

 

[JudgeN]

Speaking on partying, I would like to get everyone opinion on how its working currenty and how it can be improved. I read from a lot of old FFXI players that they think this game is spammy. Which is funny considering FFXI was a very spammy game as well, I mean as a DD you auto attack till 100 TP then did the same WS over and over. As a rdm I cast the same 4-5ish buff spells and cured, as a whm you healed people and cast status recovery spells. This mostly applies to leveling up/meriting because end game monsters had a variety of strategies so it doesn't apply and FFXIV has no end game to compare with. So why is this game considered spammy while FFXI was considered fun?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say if they took out the random skill up gain and went for a static skill up system like the crafting system is you would eliminate 80% of spammy feel. A thaumaturge could cast debuffs like a rdm and nuke/heal when need, as could a conjurer. Kind of give it a FFXI like feel IMO. But for the high ranking people out their, would this solution be enough to make parting a little more enjoyable for more of the userbase?

 

[Rentahamster]

Speaking on partying, I would like to get everyone opinion on how its working currenty and how it can be improved. I read from a lot of old FFXI players that they think this game is spammy. Which is funny considering FFXI was a very spammy game as well, I mean as a DD you auto attack till 100 TP then did the same WS over and over. As a rdm I cast the same 4-5ish buff spells and cured, as a whm you healed people and cast status recovery spells. This mostly applies to leveling up/meriting because end game monsters had a variety of strategies so it doesn't apply and FFXIV has no end game to compare with. So why is this game considered spammy while FFXI was considered fun?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say if they took out the random skill up gain and went for a static skill up system like the crafting system is you would eliminate 80% of spammy feel. A thaumaturge could cast debuffs like a rdm and nuke/heal when need, as could a conjurer. Kind of give it a FFXI like feel IMO. But for the high ranking people out their, would this solution be enough to make parting a little more enjoyable for more of the userbase?

This kinda goes back to what I wrote earlier:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24186929&postcount=5342


There's more "spammy" feel to it because zerg rushing efts and raptors is the best way to "play" the game in its current form to most effectively gain SP.

Plus, whereas in FF11 you can just sit back and auto attack, in this game you press 11111111111111111111. That probably adds to the "spammy" feeling.

As of right now, there isn't much strategy per se, as all you really need to do is zerg rush everything to death and that pretty much is good enough. At higher ranks no one really cares about guildleves any more as they give crap SP/effort spent. It's a shame, since guildleves do require a little bit more strategy and thinking.

It might not be so bad if battle regimens actually worked but alas, they fail half the time and it's not worth it at all to use them.

In concept, there was much hulaballo about positioning and how that would be important to partying and strategy. In reality, it doesn't really matter all that much except for:

Marauder steadfast
Skills like Blindside
AoE positioning
Fighting mobs like rapotors that have an OHKO move if you stand behind them.

Having static SP per mob would definitely improve party play as that changes the incentives.

Current gameplay party incentives:
Tanks take lots of damage
DD try not to do so much damage
Mages spam tier 1 cure spells and that's it
Mages don't use buffs
DDs even try to use taunt and provoke to get some SP
everyone spams their shit to get as many SP procs as possible before someone else does
Everyone competes with their own fucking party members which is goddamn stupid


Static SP gameplay party incentives (I would also wish for chain exp like in FF11)

Kill the mob as fast and efficiently as possible (THAT'S IT)


I would also suggest the following to SE -

Scrap your stupid battle regimen idea and implement combo techs like in Chrono Trigger, and like how you showed in the opening cinematic.

 

[JudgeN]

Good shit

Another big problem that needs to be fixed is animation locks, the positioning aspect of the game is gimp because you have to guess when an enemy is going for his charge TP attack and move before he locks into position on certain moves, example would be Opo-opo's backflip. If they removed the animation locks it would give battles a bit more dynamic feel in terms of what attacks you can evade.

There is also incapacitation but their isn't a whole lot of data to go on at this point but I hope they make it easier to do. From what I read its a pain in the ass to do and the drop rate of what you broke off isn't even 100%.

As well as fix the path issue/recover HP problems monsters are using to gain HP back massively for no reason. But SE already said they are looking into that issue.

 

[Rentahamster]

Due to lag, it is hard to avoid certain TP moves using positioning. Also, due to lag, it is hard to interrupt enemies TP moves or spells with stun, because either 1. you're too slow on the trigger due to lag, or 2. you don't have enough stamina

Incapacitation is easy against mobs that con blue or green to you solo. It's hard to really really hard against mobs that con yellow to red to you solo.

Positioning also matters with incapacitation, but that also gets messed up time to time due to lag and stupid mob AI/pathing.

The idea behind incapacitation is really good, but I'd give the current implementation a C+.

 

[Rentahamster]

Who wants berets? In my time murdering Apkallus for down, I think if I had like one or two more rank 30+ ppl, we could kill a lot of em really fast.

This is my idea:

We all just attack, and when the Apkallu gets down to about 25-30% HP, we spam our stun moves like Leg Sweep and Pounce to interrupt its stupid AoE sleep move. I've had some success with it so far, but sometimes stun doesn't proc, so if I had a couple other more ppl to do it with me, we could probably farm a lot of Apkallu down in relatively short time.

http://ffxiv.yg.com/search?s=beret

+control + mag craft hat

 

[DrDogg]

Yeah, I hate the other skills resetting too, but I have a macro so that reequipping them takes only one keystroke.

You could even make a class change macro so that the process is even easier:

/equip main "Copper Scepter"
/wait 5
/ac Exhaltation <me>
/bm
/equip main "Pine Crook"

Also, did you see this guide?

http://ffxiv.zam.com/forum.html?forum=152&mid=1289507772208175199&page=1

For your nukes, are you nuking with the element strong against the mob's elemental affinity?

I have macros changes for my gear. I can't do classes because I'm actively ranking 11 classes. With only three gear sets (four if you count changing gloves for my THM), I don't really need to make macros for every weapon change. However, I may look into AP macros so I can set my third crafting skill for my higher rank crafting classes and not worry about losing skills going from THM to CON.

As far partying, I've seen that guide, and I used Thunder against a crab with max PIE, MND, INT and Lightning elemental attribute for my rank, and was still resisted too much to make it worthwhile.

Speaking on partying, I would like to get everyone opinion on how its working currenty and how it can be improved. I read from a lot of old FFXI players that they think this game is spammy. Which is funny considering FFXI was a very spammy game as well, I mean as a DD you auto attack till 100 TP then did the same WS over and over. As a rdm I cast the same 4-5ish buff spells and cured, as a whm you healed people and cast status recovery spells. This mostly applies to leveling up/meriting because end game monsters had a variety of strategies so it doesn't apply and FFXIV has no end game to compare with. So why is this game considered spammy while FFXI was considered fun?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say if they took out the random skill up gain and went for a static skill up system like the crafting system is you would eliminate 80% of spammy feel. A thaumaturge could cast debuffs like a rdm and nuke/heal when need, as could a conjurer. Kind of give it a FFXI like feel IMO. But for the high ranking people out their, would this solution be enough to make parting a little more enjoyable for more of the userbase?

Partying in FFXI was not spammy because I had to pay attention. As a WHM or RDM in FFXI, I had to keep a close eye on everything that was going on to make sure everyone had what they needed.

For example, with a NIN tank I would need to keep Haste up (if there's no RDM in the pt, or the RDM can't do it), make sure I'm casting Silena as soon as the NIN is silenced, use higher tier cure spells when shadows are down and Regen or lower tier cure spells when shadows were up, watch where the enemy was facing to ensure all other party members were healed properly... all while not gaining the attention of the mob. RDM and SMN had even more to do, especially if there was no WHM or SCH in the party.

In FFXIV, as CON all I do is spam cure spells every time someone gets hit. It doesn't even matter who was hit because I'm spamming curaga. If there's no THM in the party, I'll add an enfeeble or two, then you've got buffs, but to get the most SP I'm not supposed to use buffs.

FFXIV is straight spammy, and there's next to no challenge to playing each class.

 

[JudgeN]

Partying in FFXI was not spammy because I had to pay attention. As a WHM or RDM in FFXI, I had to keep a close eye on everything that was going on to make sure everyone had what they needed.

For example, with a NIN tank I would need to keep Haste up (if there's no RDM in the pt, or the RDM can't do it), make sure I'm casting Silena as soon as the NIN is silenced, use higher tier cure spells when shadows are down and Regen or lower tier cure spells when shadows were up, watch where the enemy was facing to ensure all other party members were healed properly... all while not gaining the attention of the mob. RDM and SMN had even more to do, especially if there was no WHM or SCH in the party.

In FFXIV, as CON all I do is spam cure spells every time someone gets hit. It doesn't even matter who was hit because I'm spamming curaga. If there's no THM in the party, I'll add an enfeeble or two, then you've got buffs, but to get the most SP I'm not supposed to use buffs.

FFXIV is straight spammy, and there's next to no challenge to playing each class.

I agree that having to use abilities to get skill up is a very stupid mechanic and it should be switched to a static exp scale. But I think your overestimating FFXI, especially after TP burns became the norm for partying and all I had to do as a rdm was haste and cure when the DD's got hit. IMO TP burns dumb down mage gameplay alot in FFXI and I was TP burning in sky on deco weapons in 2004 before TP burns became mass knowledge. But I do have a slight bias because I had 4 75 jobs in FFXI, 3 of them were melee's so I always felt like I was spamming the same shit because I was.

I will give FFXI its credit though, in FFXI you do fight more monsters that tend to do status effects. I haven't really fought anything other then sea hares which have an AOE that inflicts amnesia. I hope to see more monsters inflict status effects thus requiring mages to pay more attention in FFXIV.

 

[demosthenes]

To be fair, Silena is level 22 and Haste is level 40.

Is later CON play enhanced at all by new spells? I don't know as I'm rank 22 :lol

 

[Teknoman]

Wait wait wait...November 25th? They're gonna release the patch on Thanksgiving??? Fuck.....:lol

Well...something to work off the turkey after thanksgiving events I guess.

As far as fighting, I usually time my attacks for max effectiveness instead of spamming. If you spam, theres always the chance that you'll get caught by a monster special attack that you could've dodged. Gladiator requires timing to block sucessfully and use some weapon skills (phalanx for one).

Cant comment on the rest.

The only thing I dont like about the PCgamer topic is the massive amounts of exaggerations from both sides.

EDIT: Think they'll lower the level required to learn certain spells/abilities? I want my shield bash x_x

I also support the idea to make a big "retail standards" patch topic either after November patch or December patch hits...granted neither actually backfire.

Also was this posted?

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/topics/detail?id=cb4dc09784bc24b4fde2e45de9f018ec5fb504d2

Comprehensive update list with bullet points.

Also looks like companies = special linkshells, so we'll probably end up ditching social SoD shell and just remaking as SoD company?

I have a feeling the low numbers are due to a lot of people like me; people who haven't logged in in over a month, but are nonetheless eagerly awaiting the game to reach a point that is actually fun to play. If I understand correctly, they can't really get an accurate picture of the number of subscribers as things are right now, so the number that's being looked at is how many people are actually playing.

I have faith that these updates and maybe the next few months ending with the ps3 release will bring this up to at least ffxi numbers. That's enough to make me happy.

Hopefully these updates bring about a vast improvement in the enjoyability of this game, and hopefully then they'll bring in some high profile media attention.

You're probably right, looking at the various fan forums. No one is saying they 100% quit and "to hell with this".

I would also suggest the following to SE -

Scrap your stupid battle regimen idea and implement combo techs like in Chrono Trigger, and like how you showed in the opening cinematic.

Hell yeah.


By the way, that lodestone post about adding gear isnt just for near 50 right? Better be to fill in the blanks leading up to 50.

 

[Azzurri]

So 3 free months. I don't recall any other mmo doing this.

 

[Teknoman]

No other MMO was this high profile with lots of potential yet tripped all over itself at launch.

 

[TheFatOne]

yeah, thanks a bunch. lol

I'll help you out a bunch when you come back. o.ob

You have the greatest tag ever :lol

 

[Teknoman]

Heh, got my adventurers certificate today.

 

[FrankNitty]

To be fair, Silena is level 22 and Haste is level 40.

Is later CON play enhanced at all by new spells? I don't know as I'm rank 22 :lol

No, no it's not lol.

On a side not just dinged 50 conj today, now on to Thaum

 

[xelios]

I would like to join you guys but have no idea how. Just started playing a couple of days ago so all my ranks are <10. I'm in the Ul'dah area for now.

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/rc/character/status?cicuid=7359466

 

[demosthenes]

Servers down? Can't start up at all.

 

[xelios]

Not for me.

 

[Vespene]

Are servers now sparsely populated as this report says today?

http://pc.ign.com/articles/113/1134941p1.html

 

[demosthenes]

Are servers now sparsely populated as this report says today?

http://pc.ign.com/articles/113/1134941p1.html

That's such a vague and stupid statement to make, very like IGN.

Why not mention where they logged in, why not say they just opened up the Party search to say how many people were on :lol

If you long on you'll find people to play with, especially if you play w/ GAF, but yea, populations have gone down since release a fair bit.

 

[Teknoman]

I would like to join you guys but have no idea how. Just started playing a couple of days ago so all my ranks are <10. I'm in the Ul'dah area for now.

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/rc/character/status?cicuid=7359466

http://stars-of-destiny.enjin.com/

Also even the most recent Game Informer has an article about "What S-E needs to fix in FFXIV", written by Phil Kollar (not familiar to me, but he plays the game, thats worth something).

Hits points on Account setup, menu navigation, story gaps (mostly due to ranking-leveling up, limited guildleve types, and of course the market wards (but does cite the latest organizing of the wards).


Everyones eyes on XIV, so S-E needs to really bring it in these updates.

 

[Rentahamster]

Yeah populations are way down. At launch you had around 2k people on during busy times and you noticed, because the game lagged all to hell.

Nowadays, you see more like 800-1000 people on at any one time, but you must keep in mind that the game has evolved to the point where a good 20-50% of those people are AFK bazaaring.

Anyways, gamasutra has a pretty good article on MMO economies. The last page is dedicated to FF14.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6205/virtual_economic_theory_how_mmos_.php

 

[Teknoman]

Heh even FFXI did it right. I guess S-E realized the overabundance in item types, and thats why the coming updates are phasing some items out?

EDIT: The most important part -

The Conclusion: A Viable Alternative

So what should Square Enix have done? It should have set up a comprehensive market system that allowed players to set both buy and sell orders, just like EVE Online. Moreover, this should be a single, unified market accessible from all three major cities. In FFXIV, players can instantly teleport from one city to another, meaning that setting up three isolated markets accomplishes nothing beneficial at all and merely inconveniences players by forcing them to ask someone in another city to check the prices there and teleport if market conditions are more favorable.

Players should be able to list more than 10 items, and the market system should allow players to simultaneously place orders for equivalent items (for example: you can set an order that buys all items, including the +1, +2, and +3 versions, either for the same price, or for four prices). Finally, this market system should show historical transactions, ideally dating back for a full year (as in EVE Online) but even the last few transactions (as in FFXI) would be acceptable for players to make an informed decision based on both current market brackets and past market performance.

In conclusion, there are a number of valuable lessons all MMORPG designers should take into consideration when developing their virtual economy. First and foremost, give players the tools they need to be an active participant in the game economy without undue burden or stress.

Secondly, ensure that all types of players ("market players", casual players, and everything in between) feel like the market works for them.

Thirdly, make sure to balance all your opportunity costs: don't let the MIMO trickle cause too much inflation. Continual money-out outlets like Player Housing are a fantastic way to keep your economy in check. Finally, remember that you're making a game. It should be fun to play. Empower your players, not just with sword and powerful magic, but with the chance to make dreams of riches on the market a reality too!

 

[jiggle]

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/11/17/mini_flying_get/

A few more details on the PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIV via what appears to be an interview in this week's Famitsu.

The game has been 100% ported from the PC to PS3 and is in a moving state. While there are some slight differences in textures, you won't notice that much of a difference when you see the game in motion.

The PC and PS3 versions will share the same servers.

 

[SuperLurker]

Due to lag, it is hard to avoid certain TP moves using positioning. Also, due to lag, it is hard to interrupt enemies TP moves or spells with stun, because either 1. you're too slow on the trigger due to lag, or 2. you don't have enough stamina

Incapacitation is easy against mobs that con blue or green to you solo. It's hard to really really hard against mobs that con yellow to red to you solo.

Positioning also matters with incapacitation, but that also gets messed up time to time due to lag and stupid mob AI/pathing.

The idea behind incapacitation is really good, but I'd give the current implementation a C+.

So how does incapacitation work for you melee types? From the lodestone post it sounded like you could destroy certain body parts on enemies using certain WS. When the body part is destroyed you get a visual cue, like knocking a skeletons head off.

As a mage, I only have 1 WS that can cause incapacitation and I'm not even sure its the same thing as the what they're talking about on the lodestone. When I do it, it doesn't matter where I'm standing, the WS just randomly hits a targetable portion of the enemy. For example when I'm fighting skeletons it sometimes hits the head and other times it hits the femur, no matter where I'm standing. The amount of damage I do doesn't seem to matter, the incapacitation is always triggered on the mob if the move hits and the mob is capable of being incapacitated. However when I do it, there's no visual cue and the incapacitation effect goes away after like 2 seconds.

I routinely get pumpkin drops from ants and wings from ahrimans however I have not been able to get drops from other types of mobs. I'm wondering if melee and casters have two different systems going on, my WS sure as hell doesn't behave like the melee ones seem to do.