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Final Fantasy XIV |OT| ARR: Alpha Closed. Beta mid-Feb

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D

Dega

Eeny Meenie Penis
Coldsnap said:
Yea, I've just been running around linkshell-less since Red Dot broke up. Game is really clickish right now and I feel like I'm just bugging people if I ask for something.
Click to expand...

You can always bug me! <3

(Name change)
 
Gromph

Gromph

This tag is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance...
Staff Member
Rentahamster said:
New info from another interview:

Dungeons will have multiple paths, and the loot rewards you get will vary depending upon your clear time, as well as path taken.

Other confirmed jobs are Paladin, Monk, White Mage, Black Mage, Dragoon, Bard
Click to expand...

OMG!!! Let the music begin! /action "Chocobo Mazurka" <me>
 
Gromph

Gromph

This tag is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance...
Staff Member
Wall of text new letter.


Letter from the Producer, XII (27/06/2011)
Hello again, all fans of FINAL FANTASY XIV!

Information on 1.18 has recently started popping up on Topics, and today I’ll touch on some details about this patch as well as talk about our balance reform plans. In particular, I’ll be casting the spotlight on guildleves. Now, to give you due warning, this letter is going to be a wall of text. This isn’t without good reason, though—the content can only be described as pivotal, and I ask you to bear with me to the last word.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Balance Reforms
In order to keep up with the times and cater to changing lifestyles, large-scale MMORPGs such as FINAL FANTASY XIV need to offer a more casual playing experience than before. Mind you, that’s not to say that the entire game should be casual. Rather, there should be elements that can be enjoyed in a lighthearted way, for example, after coming home tired from work or school, with mobile phone or refreshing beverage in hand. To elaborate, content that can be enjoyed with little fuss, that doesn’t demand large time investments—up to an hour, say—or require a party to be formed.

But come weekend, players have the choice of undertaking more elaborate adventuring, forming parties with linkshell members and/or likeminded adventurers to accomplish mutual goals. Light parties can exploit the versatility offered by classes to conduct forays into beast tribe settlements, something that a lone adventurer would find grueling. Full parties, on the other hand, can immerse themselves in fine-tuning job configuration in preparation for their bid to obtain rare items in advanced battle content. Disciples of the Hand can outfit the battle-inclined with equipment boasting the requested attributes. And last but not least, Disciples of the Land can set about gathering ingredients based on current class and materia crafting demands.

We still have some ways to go, but FINAL FANTASY XIV will gradually shift from being a grind-centric game to one that offers enjoyment for all playing styles and circumstances with its ever-expanding variety of content.
Patch 1.18
As part of the reforms based on the above direction, 1.18 will see the introduction of instanced raids along with the first stages of the battle system reform. In addition to these two areas, which have been discussed in some detail in previous letters, we’ll also be carrying out major revisions to guildleves.
Guildleve Reforms
When FINAL FANTASY XIV was launched last September, it was stated via official channels that guildleves will form the heart of the game. Today, I’d like to officially retract that statement.

Guildleves will no longer be central to FINAL FANTASY XIV.

In my mind, central content isn’t a static thing. Rather, it’s new content that we continually develop for our fans’ enjoyment, with no one item indefinitely bathing in the spotlight.
Guildleve Repositioning
We will reposition guildleves as content catering to solo adventurers, which can be enjoyed repeatedly and with minimal time investment and fuss.

Large volumes of quests are being added—now and in future patches—which require adventurers to interact with an NPC. Until you do so, you won’t be able to gauge the quest’s difficulty level. In contrast, Guildleves can be initiated simply by visiting guild counters and aetherytes. Bone-tired after a hard day’s work? Got only a bit of time to spare? Then guildleves are just what the doctor ordered. Being able to get started without delay is without a doubt the biggest selling point of guildleves.

Having said that, we want to avoid boring players to tears with monotony. We recognize the need to add a pinch of spice to the mix, such as a system in which special levequests can be triggered, that borrow inspiration from guildleves.

Based on my rationale above, 1.18 will see the following changes made to guildleves. This marks only the beginning, mind you. Further revisions are in store for future patches, all driven by the same overarching goal.

Imbuing Rewards with Regional Identity
Guildleves won’t simply offer fuss-free adventuring. We also intend to make it so that through guildleves, adventurers will be able to experience the richness and diversity of the world of Eorzea. To achieve this, we will accentuate the uniqueness of rewards for each region. For instance, if it’s metal armor or Blacksmiths’ Guild marks you’re after, you’ll want to make a beeline for Limsa Lominsa.

Levequests yielding guild marks will be limited to city-states hosting the corresponding guild only. In compensation, we will make it easier for players to amass the guild marks they desire.

Skill Points: Introduction and Balancing
In light of guildleves’ repositioning as solo-oriented content, leve link bonuses will be reduced. To make up for this reduction, skill points will be added as a new reward for the benefit of solo adventurers.

At the same time, the objectives of certain guildleves will be adjusted in order to accommodate a system in which difficulty and completion time influence your reward. For example, completing a high-difficulty levequest in a short amount of time will yield greater rewards. Through this we hope to encourage skillful adventuring.

In addition to guildleves, sidequests will also be made to yield skill points upon completion, thus providing players with more avenues for advancement.

Regional Levequest Battle Rebalancing
Given the tremendous amount of work required for instanced raids and battle reforms in 1.18, we weren’t able to allocate sufficient time to review balance for regional levequest battles. Rather than do a cursory job of rebalancing and risk making a mess of things, we decided to put it off for a later patch.

A handful of levequests with peculiar demands, however, such as those that would send adventurers scrambling long distances, will be revised on a case-by-case basis. At the same time, we’ll implement a system that allows the same levequest to assign different routes, which should help to even out adventurer distribution.

Regional Levequest Usability Tweaks
Automatic updating of minimap marker position.
Pegging of enemy rank variance based on guildleve difficulty.
Revised menu position when cancelling within guildleve issuance window.
We’ve finally gotten around to making the adjustments above, and a bunch of others besides. Adjustments like these will continue well beyond 1.18, with changes great and small to be implemented as required to improve user-friendliness.

On a related subject, failing guildleve objectives due to disconnection is a major issue that many players have raised, and we’re looking at ways to tackle it. We’d been deferring work in this area due to concerns that the ability to resume a guildleve after disconnection may be exploited to unfairly obtain large amounts of skill points. But with rewards now undergoing adjustment, we feel this is a suitable time to put together a plan of action to address the issue.

1.18 and Beyond
Phew, that pretty much sums up all the guildleve changes planned for 1.18.

Although guildleves are just one aspect of FINAL FANTASY XIV, they play a significant role in the overall scheme of changes. And so in deciding to carry out guildleve reforms, I made a pivotal decision that will have a profound impact on the game. I wrote this letter while fighting sleep, and hope I managed to underscore the importance of the adjustments.

Though I’ve already buried you in a mountain of text, there’s actually still a lot more that I wanted to write about, and many more tasks that we have to complete. Here’s some of them, in a flurry:

Reforms to behest are still outstanding, and more new content is in the pipes. We’re doing what we can to reorganize the opening stages of the game, but progress is being made. A complete reworking of recipes is planned for 1.19, with the goal of granting Disciples of the Hand and the Land more power to invigorate the game economy. Likewise for the materia crafting system. Disciples of the Land will benefit from the addition of a stealth skill to their arsenal, and we’re prepared to invest as much resource as needed to improve the map.

The team will keep soldiering on, working intently towards clearly defined goals, and we ask that all adventurers keep doing what they do best: adventure!

1.18 has proven to be a time-consuming patch, but there’s a good reason for this. 1.18 is the momentous first bold step towards the ideal game that we’ve envisioned, and we hope our fans will be able to feel and appreciate the passion that went into its creation. We ask for your patience for just a little while longer.

This letter ended up taking on quite a formal tone, didn’t it? I suppose it’s only natural, though, considering the weightiness of the content. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me and reading to the very end!

See you next time and/or on the forums!
Click to expand...
 
Munba

Munba

Member
The new Letter is nice but the Connect On interview is awesome. Combo jobs confirmed, housing, bard... to good to be true. :D
 
A

Amneisac

Member
That's pretty good news. Guildleves were kind of part of what I didn't like about FFXIV, it felt like doing chores. I'm cautiously optimistic about this game still, but who knows.
 
Gromph

Gromph

This tag is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance...
Staff Member
4gamer interview fully translated.

http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/2011/06/27/4gamer-interview-june-2011/

Yoshida: I think it’s not an exaggeration to say that the Grand Companies make the world of FFXIV. How will adventurers be linked to the three city-states of Limsa Lominsa, Gridania, and Ul’dah and how is the Empire going to become mixed into all of that? How does it complement the main storyline? How are the leaders in the different city-states going to become involved?

Also, some characters well known in the Final Fantasy series will also make their appearances so people will want to watch for where they show up and how they get involved. A big storyline will also be included in patch 1.18 so I hope people look forward to that.
Click to expand...

I'm hearing content? :D
 
staticneuron

staticneuron

Member
Rentahamster said:
Yoshida posted in the forums about how he is a Street Fighter 4 fan, so I made a mockup of a producer vs producer dream battle.

Click to expand...


That is brilliant!

Coldsnap said:
Yea, I've just been running around linkshell-less since Red Dot broke up. Game is really clickish right now and I feel like I'm just bugging people if I ask for something.
Click to expand...


Red Dot broke up? Lol, that makes it 3 LS's since the start. Is there another one to replace it or is everyone without a shell?


and yea for content.

Eccocid said:
Characters from other FF games?
That sounds so cheap and lame way to attract people ugh.
Click to expand...


Actually most FF shares character names if not personality types, As mentioned above Cid is normally a staple but there are also Biggs and Wedge, every now and then Boko (chocobo), Mog (normally a moggle), Gilgamesh (character or summon) in addition to most summonings from other titles.
 
B

Buttons

Member
desa said:
Well, I'm a little excited but September? That's when I'll be getting my Gears of War/Dark Souls on. Was hoping for sometime next month. This overhaul sounds like FFXI-2. Can't say I'm mad at that.

Oh Buttons. Are you that Taru that post all those awesome pictures on Blue Gartr?
Click to expand...

Yup that's me. ^_^/ Although most of my pictures are on my blog nowadays. :)
 
E

Eccocid

Member
Rentahamster said:
You like cheap and lame gimmicks? Check out my other thread :)

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/10303-DevTalk-Time-s-Running-Out.-Bring-Out-the-Gimmicks-%28Sephiroth-Kefka-Dream-BCNM%29
Click to expand...


Oh yeah i remember reading that.
To be honest it is such a nice idea to attract people and do some fan service.
But...
I am not a fan of sephiroth, cloud or any other ff cast!(maybe except the ones in ff xii, they were cool sans vaan and penelo)

Also i wonder how they gonna blend them if they just pull characters directly from other FF games. Some kind of space and time anomaly, a rift opens up and characters just pours in to Eorzea and we have to kill them?:p

Instead of that i would prefer having costumes of them as a rare drop or rare craft etc. Stuff liek buster sword, seph's masamune as a weapon, Vivi's hat, Balthiers pants!
 
T

Teknoman

Member
So we need another new LS? Hopefully this one will be the final shell.

Currently the "Job" names that finalized are: Paladin, Monk, White Mage, Black Mage, Dragon Knight, Bard.

Hmm so I guess that Chocobo song animation was real. But if Bard is real...what class would it stem from?

Tutorial dungeon sounds awesome for those complaining about getting into the game.

"About raid dungeon, there will be multiple routes to clear. The loot item will change based on the time spended, and the route choosed."


Very nice. Yoshi and crew really do know what they are doing/have a clear vision. Glad that the Dark armor in letter IV was confirmed to be an AF of sorts...think i'll be a Dark Knight this time around or whatever name they choose for that job. Also glad they finally confirmed combo jobs and that classes would be seeing expansions as well, even though that should've been obvious from the start.

Seems cool that you'll only be able to get specific guild marks or equipment in certain areas that are home to that guild. Definitely should help even populations, along with whatever company we choose.

EDIT: Man if Gilgamesh pops up in XIV and voice acted not to mention a new Cid...cant wait. I doubt its going to be anything Dissidia'ish like Lightning jumping in out of nowhere and punching your character or Golbez actually being the main enemy.

Have you guys decided on a new LS name yet?
 
R

Robobandit

Member
Once 1.18 drops, I'll join in the fun.

I've already got a character on lindblum.. just need an invite to whatever shell we're running at that point..
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
staticneuron said:
Red Dot broke up? Lol, that makes it 3 LS's since the start. Is there another one to replace it or is everyone without a shell?
Click to expand...
Err, we didn't break up. It's just that most of the members don't log on that often.
 
C

Coldsnap

Member
Eccocid said:
Is it gonna be a social LS or more hardcore with crafting, banking items hunting NMs etc?
Click to expand...

Next LS reform we are going to focus on cooking in Eorzea. It's going to be a baking focused linkshell with an open oven.
 
E

Eccocid

Member
Coldsnap said:
Next LS reform we are going to focus on cooking in Eorzea. It's going to be a baking focused linkshell with an open oven.
Click to expand...

Lol seriously i liked the idea!
Give a name related to cooking and cuisine and we just do cooking nothing else and sell food across the Eorzea! Doing deliveries etc!
 
Riposte

Riposte

Member
I'll be logging on once they patch the game. Though I may be logging on sooner than that, depending on I get a sudden urge to play it instead of a newer game that just came out. (Right now I am going through DQ5 on DS.)

EDIT: I actually thought dungeons would be in the game by now, but I guess they were intentionally vague by what they meant by patch in June.
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Nakazato said:
thinking about logging in tonight we got a new shell yet ??
Click to expand...
We still have the same shell. (Red Dot)

Are you still using the Gunsmith Cats pearl?

Anyway, the ones who are still online usually in the GAF shell are Renta Hamster, King Lala, or Maki Star

Send a tell if we're on.
 
N

Nakazato

Member
Rentahamster said:
We still have the same shell. (Red Dot)

Are you still using the Gunsmith Cats pearl?

Anyway, the ones who are still online usually in the GAF shell are Renta Hamster, King Lala, or Maki Star

Send a tell if we're on.
Click to expand...
yea im in red dot going to do my best to be on tonight. wanna try to lvl as fast as possible to get the new jobs. we might need to think about doing a lvling drive for the next few weeks twice or 3 times a week.
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Nakazato said:
yea im in red dot going to do my best to be on tonight. wanna try to lvl as fast as possible to get the new jobs. we might need to think about doing a lvling drive for the next few weeks twice or 3 times a week.
Click to expand...
They didn't say anything about a minimum rank requirement for the new jobs, but who knows. What was your highest rank job?
 
N

Nakazato

Member
Rentahamster said:
They didn't say anything about a minimum rank requirement for the new jobs, but who knows. What was your highest rank job?
Click to expand...
im thinking its 20-24 not sure haven't been on in 2 months or so :(
 
T

Teknoman

Member
Riposte said:
I'll be logging on once they patch the game. Though I may be logging on sooner than that, depending on I get a sudden urge to play it instead of a newer game that just came out. (Right now I am going through DQ5 on DS.)

EDIT: I actually thought dungeons would be in the game by now, but I guess they were intentionally vague by what they meant by patch in June.
Click to expand...

We were supposed to get 1.18 by mid June by the earliest. That got postponed, which is why we're hearing about the dungeons and 1.18 content now.

Either way, for now i'm just hanging at 30 and i'll jump back in once 1.18 hits.
 
H

Hulud

Member
I'll probably be back when the new jobs become available. I hope the Dragoon class is going to be awesome because Lancer is my highest rank.
 
H

Hasemo

(；・∀・)ﾊｯ?
I find it tempting to grind some leves with my LS before the new jobs come out, so I can unlock the new content faster (if it'll need unlocking, that is) and to try the dungeons. My PUG is only 22 now and I've been playing since the headstart :<
 
Y

Yuripaw

Banned
I haven't logged in this game since maybe October or November...I'm debating if I should log in later this week cuz I have a lot of time off. I'm not even sure what changes have been made, but I have to imagine they're changed a lot.

Is it like FFXI yet? lol
 
H

Hasemo

(；・∀・)ﾊｯ?
Just completed 3 GLs and did a grind until the next rank. If you're thinking about playing this way, better wait until 1.18 or 1.19, because not much has changed. And the lack of synchronisation between attacks, animations and hp meters is still as annoying as it was before.
 
T

Teknoman

Member
Yuripaw said:
I haven't logged in this game since maybe October or November...I'm debating if I should log in later this week cuz I have a lot of time off. I'm not even sure what changes have been made, but I have to imagine they're changed a lot.

Is it like FFXI yet? lol
Click to expand...

Wait for 1.18.
 
H

Hasemo

(；・∀・)ﾊｯ?
Teknoman said:
Something with WoW/Rift in the text.
Click to expand...
Main point of the first topic is to make quests to seem more "alive" and connected, similar in fashion but a bit different the Rift/WoW ones.
Something about MAP (why is it always in caps anyway)?
Click to expand...
Monsters will be gradually relocated before the map improvements will be made.
Something about damage dealer/nuker
Click to expand...
There was some kind of error in naming in Yoshi's previous post, and the correct class type was DD/nuker (instead of DPS, I think).
Something about Dragon Quest? I dunno just saw DQ lol. Lots of likes though.
Click to expand...
Well it's about MMOs that Yoshi likes and he's explaining the xp curve etc. I didn't really read it carefully but at a glance there's nothing really interesting there aside from fact that it's annoying to lose much xp because of one death and that the time required for getting to max lv shouldn't be too long/too short.
Another post about roles: Damage dealer, buffer, nuker, etc. Also a mention of 1.20.
Click to expand...
Jobs will be implemented after balancing the current classes which will probably be after 1.20.
The role list shows a preferable party composition, but YoshiP stresses that it's not the only way to go and you can "of course" modify that.

That's about all important information I think.
 
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