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

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J

Jinko

Member
Jijidasu said:
I also feel that this super marketing campaign they're launching him into should have started a couple of months ago.
Click to expand...

Games not out for ages yet, no point marketing a beta is there.

I'm not too worried waiting a few more weeks, we will know in advance because they said they would send a code to our emails prior to beta anyway.
 
T

Talents

Banned
Getting so hyped over this game, hopefully it lives up to it. Even went as far to build a new computer with help from people in the PC thread on Gaming.

Doubt there's anyway to update that quiz about your computer specs for the beta is there?
 
O

omlet

Member
Talents said:
Getting so hyped over this game, hopefully it lives up to it. Even went as far to build a new computer with help from people in the PC thread on Gaming.

Doubt there's anyway to update that quiz about your computer specs for the beta is there?
Click to expand...

No, but chances are good that when you sign up / register for beta you will be asked to provide your specs just like in alpha, so you can "update" your answers at that time.
 
A

Allard

Member
Jijidasu said:
Kind of disappointing really. I have serious doubts they're going to hit the target time to start the beta in the middle of the month.

Unless of course his next correspondence bounces out next Monday or Tuesday and announces the launch of the beta for the end of the week, which it won't. lol.

I also feel that this super marketing campaign they're launching him into should have started a couple of months ago.
Click to expand...

SE 'Mid February' can mean anywhere between 11th to the 22nd, as long as its not at the tail end of the month its considered the middle of month more often then not to them. My guess is beta either starts on Friday the 15th (after Yoshida gets back from his tour) or monday the 18th so they have a whole work week to fix any server related issues that might crop up on the first couple days, the very last day it launches I would say is Friday the 22nd before they come out and say it is delayed, the fact that they won't even acknowledge a possible delay at least tells me its mostly on track and could be delayed by at most a week.

Last time he did a media tour it lasted almost a week, but still wasn't quite a week, he stayed in Los Angeles for like 1 day before heading off to London, and last time he did the tour I could have sworn he also stopped in Germany or France too, the fact he is only going to 3 locations, (2 of which he can hit in one day if his schedule allows it) makes me think the tour is going to be relatively short and his comment on jet lag makes me think the producer letter will come out later that week after he is done with the media tour.

Anyways my fear on phase 1 beta test came true, we are staying in Gridania. I hope they at least open up some of the other areas we couldn't get to for the Alpha test (Sylph Village and the whole area to the north of it, southwest part of northern Black Shroud etc.) and the other fear I have with it staying in Gridania... what about the other classes? We only had access to 2 crafting, 1 gathering and 3 combat classes, none of which were tanks. How can we even test gameplay balance without the full spectrum of classes available? I hope they do some kind of beta only activation where you talk to an NPC somewhere in gridania after the initial set of quests where you can become any of the vanilla 1.0 classes so we at least have the option of testing them.
 
E

ebil

Member
Allard said:
Anyways my fear on phase 1 beta test came true, we are staying in Gridania. I hope they at least open up some of the other areas we couldn't get to for the Alpha test (Sylph Village and the whole area to the north of it, southwest part of northern Black Shroud etc.) and the other fear I have with it staying in Gridania... what about the other classes? We only had access to 2 crafting, 1 gathering and 3 combat classes, none of which were tanks. How can we even test gameplay balance without the full spectrum of classes available? I hope they do some kind of beta only activation where you talk to an NPC somewhere in gridania after the initial set of quests where you can become any of the vanilla 1.0 classes so we at least have the option of testing them.
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Heh, that was my main concern back when they released the beta roadmap, guess they're either being super-confident about balance or they'll implement a class change NPC.
I remember them releasing a night shot of Gridania with a Paladin a few weeks ago, so there might be a chance for the latter after all.
 
J

Jinko

Member
No reason to be fearing anything, beta is for testing not playing *strolls off to the official forums*

But yea not having all the classes would be a bit disappointing especially if they want to balance and get feed back on the battle system.
 
J

Jijidasu

Member
Allard said:
SE 'Mid February' can mean anywhere between 11th to the 22nd, as long as its not at the tail end of the month its considered the middle of month more often then not to them. My guess is beta either starts on Friday the 15th (after Yoshida gets back from his tour) or monday the 18th so they have a whole work week to fix any server related issues that might crop up on the first couple days, the very last day it launches I would say is Friday the 22nd before they come out and say it is delayed, the fact that they won't even acknowledge a possible delay at least tells me its mostly on track and could be delayed by at most a week.

Last time he did a media tour it lasted almost a week, but still wasn't quite a week, he stayed in Los Angeles for like 1 day before heading off to London, and last time he did the tour I could have sworn he also stopped in Germany or France too, the fact he is only going to 3 locations, (2 of which he can hit in one day if his schedule allows it) makes me think the tour is going to be relatively short and his comment on jet lag makes me think the producer letter will come out later that week after he is done with the media tour.

Anyways my fear on phase 1 beta test came true, we are staying in Gridania. I hope they at least open up some of the other areas we couldn't get to for the Alpha test (Sylph Village and the whole area to the north of it, southwest part of northern Black Shroud etc.) and the other fear I have with it staying in Gridania... what about the other classes? We only had access to 2 crafting, 1 gathering and 3 combat classes, none of which were tanks. How can we even test gameplay balance without the full spectrum of classes available? I hope they do some kind of beta only activation where you talk to an NPC somewhere in gridania after the initial set of quests where you can become any of the vanilla 1.0 classes so we at least have the option of testing them.
Click to expand...

You are right, they have always said February nakaba/chuujun which is the middle 10 days of the month. Providing that they don't need Yoshida around to kick off the beta (which should be the case) it could get running on time.

I think they'd have to open up the areas as it's going to have a lot more congestion than the alpha. In the alpha I think only 1/2~3/4 of the player base was allowed in? And even then it was pretty jam-packed.

We've still yet to see the area's you've mentioned in a legit manner and Western Shroud.
 
J

Jijidasu

Member
I could be looking too deep into it but over on the JP side of the OF is a thread wherein a bunch of people are speculating (again) about the date. Alarmingly a lot of the Japanese are composed and don't seem to think there's anything wrong. This could be because the letter used a word that basically means the media tour is to join together/combine with the beta launch, timing wise.

If this is the case the Reps might need to report it over to the English side.
 
Munba

Munba

Member
That is a a bit disappointing... a combat system with 3 classes at lv35 (the beta level cap), with dungeons included, is not fully interesting/reliable and not a good choise imo. >_<
 
E

ebil

Member
Yeah, I agree with you Munba. There is definitely going to be a lot of bitching about the battle system (which probably was the weakest part of Alpha, in part because it was so incomplete with most classes missing) for a while because of this decision. Oh, well.
 
J

Jijidasu

Member
That is really disappointing. By all accounts they're on schedule to release on time so I don't understand why they couldn't just pop an exclusive job change NPC for the duration of the first 2 phases.

Phase 3 is when Limsa and Ul'dah levelling paths are being introduced so it seems that we'll be stuck with the same classes until then.
 
R

Relaxed Muscle

Member
Jijidasu said:
That is really disappointing. By all accounts they're on schedule to release on time so I don't understand why they couldn't just pop an exclusive job change NPC for the duration of the first 2 phases.

Phase 3 is when Limsa and Ul'dah levelling paths are being introduced so it seems that we'll be stuck with the same classes until then.
Click to expand...

The biggest problem is that a good chunk of new people for FF XIV are gonna be introduced to the game on a watered down battle system. First impressions are important.

We know that there will be more classes and all but how many newcomers are gonna think:"Wow so booring!" after a few hours?
 
D

desu

Member
Jijidasu said:
That is really disappointing. By all accounts they're on schedule to release on time so I don't understand why they couldn't just pop an exclusive job change NPC for the duration of the first 2 phases.

Phase 3 is when Limsa and Ul'dah levelling paths are being introduced so it seems that we'll be stuck with the same classes until then.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this, well kind of good because thats even less incentive for me to pick the game up again (before phase 3).

The only think really want to try is higher level crafting to get a better feel for it. Don't want to destroy all my stuff once your progress is saved.
 
O

omlet

Member
Relaxed Muscle said:
The biggest problem is that a good chunk of new people for FF XIV are gonna be introduced to the game on a watered down battle system. First impressions are important.

We know that there will be more classes and all but how many newcomers are gonna think:"Wow so booring!" after a few hours?
Click to expand...

Said newcomers need to remember that beta isn't "free to play everything temporarily" mode, but a functionality test. If what's there is solid, what's to come should be something to look froward to, not something to bitch about. If what's there is garbage, then there's cause for concern (*cough1.xbetacough*).

Edit: Don't get me wrong, I wish there were more classes going to be available, too, but if they are really changing the battle system as much as scuttlebutt leads me to believe, I think even these limited classes will be a good indicator of the system itself as a whole, despite obviously not being a good indicator of specific class/ability design. (Besides, I hardly had time to touch crafting and gathering in alpha so I will have plenty to be testing).
 
KrM DeLorean

KrM DeLorean

Member
I don't mind the delays at all. More time to polish, and get things RIGHT. They have a chance for a RARE 2nd impression and if open beta turns people off, it will snowball downhill again.
 
J

Jinko

Member
ebil said:
Market wards and erm... Some adjustments, I guess (we know the Gear Set system has been revamped, for instance)?
Click to expand...

Marketward is in phase 1 ?? hmm I look forward to seeing what they have done with it. (won't be expecting much though lol)

Relaxed Muscle said:
The biggest problem is that a good chunk of new people for FF XIV are gonna be introduced to the game on a watered down battle system. First impressions are important.

We know that there will be more classes and all but how many newcomers are gonna think:"Wow so booring!" after a few hours?
Click to expand...

Phase 1 will be mostly legacy members so there won't be new people to disappoint.
 
R

Relaxed Muscle

Member
omlet said:
Said newcomers need to remember that beta isn't "free to play everything temporarily" mode, but a functionality test. If what's there is solid, what's to come should be something to look froward to, not something to bitch about. If what's there is garbage, then there's cause for concern (*cough1.xbetacough*).

Edit: Don't get me wrong, I wish there were more classes going to be available, too, but if they are really changing the battle system as much as scuttlebutt leads me to believe, I think even these limited classes will be a good indicator of the system itself as a whole, despite obviously not being a good indicator of specific class/ability design. (Besides, I hardly had time to touch crafting and gathering in alpha so I will have plenty to be testing).
Click to expand...

That's the theory but that won't stop most of those people to expect a proper game experience, the want to have fun since is more a demo for them than just to test things. Dosn't help that most MMO betas has way more content the the first 2 phases in XIV.

I'm dissapointed but I know this could happen and actually I want to try the new FATE system and the changes in the battle mechanics. So is not really a problem for me.

Jinko said:
Phase 1 will be mostly legacy members so there won't be new people to disappoint.
Click to expand...

There's also Phase 2, unless they change things for that one.
 
J

Jinko

Member
Yea betas these days are more like free trials than actually testing, I guess the perception of a beta test has changed over the years lol

As long as the FATE system has a decent amount of content it should be good, also we will be getting 2 new dungeons (I think) and the marketward so crafting will be easier and will be interesting to see how the economy plays out with the new gathering system.

Curious to see how much they have changed regarding the feedback they got in alpha also.

Should be getting the "new" behest also.
 
O

omlet

Member
It's not SE's fault that people's sense of entitlement regarding beta tests is completely unrealistic, and saying "welp, that's just how people are these days" doesn't excuse the mentality at all.

If this (phase) were an open public beta then yeah I totally agree they'd probably be shooting themselves in the foot with this limited amount of content, but it's not. It's a "see the progress we've made since alpha" test with another progress wipe at the end and people should set their expectations accordingly. Perhaps I am preaching to the choir in this thread, but whatever :p
 
E

ebil

Member
There's a new blog entry with tiny screenshots, cool-looking new mobs and many Gladiators (-_-).

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/blog/post/191

LAdDBUb.jpg


5iCU6TE.jpg


rRIwLfz.jpg
 
J

Jijidasu

Member
It doesn't look as though they managed to fix the plate armor/metallic armor looking like plastic yet, hm.

Edit: looks like a lot of lighting is still missing/not implemented yet. Might be similar to old FFXIV beta where they didn't light up the inside of the buildings/leve counter until beta but well, this is the beta.
 
R

Ravidrath

Member
Hmm, can't tell what that monster is in the first shot.

Giant reskinned Ahriman, maybe...?


And a haunted mansion type of dungeon would make sense, too, because that monster looks like the succubus concept art.
 
A

Allard

Member
Zafir said:
Have we got to sign up again if we got into the Alpha?
Click to expand...

If you are a legacy member from FFXIV 1.0 release you don't need to sign up again, you will automatically get the beta code (in your email or automatically given to your account) to access beta for PC release. If you don't have legacy status or want to participate in the PS3 part of the beta testing then you will need to sign up again. Its a separate sign up process.
 
T

Talents

Banned
Such a troll... just got an email from Square Enix regarding the Final Fantasy 14 beta, turns out it was just a form to sign up for the beta which I've already done.
 
Munba

Munba

Member
In those beta screens there is a gladiator... i'm a bit confused now, on how many classes we'll see in phase 1.
 
J

Jinko

Member
Second Screen looks like it could be inside Haukee Manor, looking forward to trying that out, hope beta will be a bit more organised than alpha was didn't see many gaffers in alpha.

Would be cool to arrange some stuff on the red dot forum when its up and running. (what with there being no LS and FC's)
 
I

IonicSnake

Banned
Looks like soul binding is coming to ARR.

Item Binding
We wanted to give you more information about the item binding that was mentioned in the Letter from the Producer Live IV.

For items that bind to characters, it will not be possible to transfer them to characters under the same account.

Also, since we are planning to make it so once you accumulate more than 1 point of spirit bond the item will be bound to you, as long as you do not fulfill this criteria it will be possible to transfer it to other characters.

Finally, regardless of whether they are bound to you or not, EX items and such that could not be transferred previously will still not be able to be transferred.
Click to expand...

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/60308-Item-Binding?p=956725#post956725
 
Munba

Munba

Member
Ok, mistery solved. You can use Gladiator in phase 1. :D

Producer/Director Yoshida here,
There was one comment missed in the NA forum post. (from the rep)
In the NA forum it is said you can only use those classes from Gridania in Phase 1.
Normally in main quest you run through the 3 cities and then go through contents with all the classes but in beta phase 1 we have only opened Gridania for Phase 1 & 2 so you can't use Gladiator.

However for the level 25 dungeon there is one where you go through after going to all 3 cities and is adjusted to where everyone needs to play their role. (Also it works with the finder). In order to take on this dungeon you will need a tank therefore as a special case even though you can't go to the Gladiators guild you will be able to use Gladiator.

After completing some quest you talk to one NPC and you can use the class.
For more details we will note it in the phase 1 manual but I wanted to correct this part before the wrong information spreads.

Will have the NA forum make this announcement as well but as today being Saturday and time difference it may take few hours for this information to be out.
Click to expand...

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...JP-to-English)?p=957139&viewfull=1#post957139
 
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