Final Fantasy 14 (FFXIV)

swirlser

MarkJD wrote: »

Unfortunately from what i can tell those that are playing from boards we seem to be spread across 3-4 different servers so no real community.

Yeah, I dont think we could be much more spread out if we tried lol!

Ive been meaning to write some thoughts on this, but wanted to get some end game in first. I kind of went about things backwards, I got several crafts to 50 first, then caster classes (white/black/scholar) to 50 and a gathering (bot) to 50.

I started this thread hyped as f***. Gave V1.0 more time than I should have. Once the novelty wore off, a brief state of denial followed until I eventually accepted it wasnt happening. I was happy SE came out and acknowledged the game wasnt up to scratch and they would go back to the drawing board.

I decided I'd give the reboot a little time before trying it out, knowing I almost certainly wouldnt be giving this MMO a 3rd chance. Towards the end of November I was reading a preview on patch 2.1 and figured its time I gave FFXIV:ARR another go

The game is pretty unrecognisable, almost entirely for the better. The cities havent changed much apart from zoning and npc's, but as for the rest of the world, they hit delete and started fresh. They needed to and what a great job they did! Every ability and spell has been messed with. Theres quests galore and a storyline that runs from the moment you arrive til well after you have hit the current level cap.

The good:

A long and well structure storyline that will send you all across the world, reward you with items, money, exp, and unlock dungeons as you go.

There are dungeons! (Silly this even goes on a list, but in 2010 there werent any!)

Convenience exists in ARR. Decent options to let you search for or create parties. Or queue for cross-realm instances.

Encounters are well thought out and enjoyable.

UI is no longer a laggy clusterf***.

The inventory has been very well done. Each equippable slot has its own storage space, and entire gear sets can be created and selected with a single click.

Level sync is well utilized, allowing players above the specified level to take part in FATEs and dungeons without being way out of whack in power.

A perhaps novelty achievement - but fun all the same, you can buy a house (and furnish it) as a free company (guild). It's actually good craic! It serves as a nice hang out and adds an extra layer of bonding to your FC mates. We got one which neighbours to 2 other FCs we are friendly with. Complete with sex dungeon and all (perverted lot!)

You can use your mounts to fight along side of you and they are actually useful. Complete with own skill tree and armor (aesthetics only).

Aesthetically pleasing. Armor, environments and effects are all done to a great standard.


The bad:

The game is too solo-centric (pre hitting cap anyway). In XI you were pee'ing against the wind trying to do anything beyond level12 by yourself. This game took the direction of being more friendly to solo play but didnt seem to know when to stop. Open world quests can be done in a group but you cant share quests, and even if you and whoever you have teamed up with have the same quest active you will be basically doing it as if you were alone - appearing on the other persons screen as if you are interacting with nothing. Most (possibly all?) quests which are instanced as part of either the story or class-specific must be done solo. And a big kicker, they introduced daily dungeon roulette's in the last patch, which can only be done solo - hopefully that will change!!

Most optional quests are very dull. Its a kill X amount of Y, talk to A, B & C, or collect items off the ground. At level cap, you can do daily faction quests which attempt to vary in style, but its nothing to write home about. While every MMO has some form of this, ARR doesnt even attempt to pull it off with any flare or variety.

Classes feel watered down (!). Not to a disastrous degree, but you can feel like maybe a spell or ability is missing.

The cross-class system has been dumbed down to hell. XI had a real intelligence about it, and surprisingly even V1.0 had a better system

Some might find this good, but I think its a bad choice. The gearing path is out of whack. You get tomes (a form of currency) for doing high level quests and the daily random instances (as a level cap char). With these you can purchase the highest ilvl items in the game without actually having to go into proper end game content :S Basically you are given nearly a full set of gear from you class quest, pretty much handed to you at 45 and 50. There are 2 types of tomes atm, 1 which you get in ample supply which gets you ilvl70 (decent) and the other gets you ilvl90 (afaik the current top level) which is slower to collect (and has a weekly cap).


Thats the bones of it anyway. The game has come a loooong way and I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys MMOs. Equally so to a new comer to the genre, the game holds your hand plenty. Even with its extra time in development, the game is still a baby as MMOs go. With that in mind, I would say someone who can play 10-12 hrs in a week would experience plenty with a 3 month sub. With hindsight, I would have taken the 3 month sub over the 6 month ^_^ But the game is growing and even with some breaks I'll be returning again and again Im sure.

Doctor Jimbob

I have to agree with the point on this being good for a newcomer to MMOs. It's the first I've been able to get properly into, very gentle learning curve but it's maintaining a challenge for me as well which is great. I've had the game since last saturday and I've only gone one day without playing it since despite being fairly busy.

Barrythe chopper

I love it :-)

ArthurG

swirlser wrote: »

The bad:
The game is too solo-centric (pre hitting cap anyway)

I'd disagree with this. The game gives you the option to do as you please. I'm currently leveling my 3rd class (going to 4th soon I hope), and I'm doing it pretty much exclusively using the dungeon finder.

If I wanted to play solo I could do so - quests, fates, hunting log, leves etc.

I find there is great flexibility.

swirlser

Actual flexibility would let me decide if I want to bring someone else into an encounter, or for teaming up on quests where it made a difference, or go into a dungeon by myself or with a friend or 2. If SE state something must be done solo then it must be done solo, if they say your not going inside the door without 4 people then you must have 4 people. Its not what I would call flexible.

Theres many games that have managed to crack the whole teaming up with people and letting them pool their efforts to get something done together. Maybe Im completely alone in thinking an mmo should open up more opportunities when you do group up, not have the things you can do shrink o.O

Its nice you can login and craft, exp, gather, queue for a dungeon all without depending on anyone else - definitely convenient. Good stuff. But the game would very much benefit from adding even basic functionality to let you see what quests people you are grouped with have AND help each other with them! Maybe a suicide mission, but if I want to go into a dungeon with less than the recommended setup, let me! There is a level cap and a player limit which is understandable for balance reasons, but if it takes my fancy to try with less than that, just let me! I dont see why they prevent you from queuing up for daily randoms when grouped with someone. I dont see why they prevent you from queuing for anything when you have your pet out (seriously ^_^ just dismiss it when its time to teleport into your instance!).

TheBandicoot

swirlser wrote: »

I dont see why they prevent you from queuing up for daily randoms when grouped with someone.

Because the point of roulette is to get more people playing the lower level dungeons and reduce queue times for players doing that content for the first time. Having a full team of people who are doing roulette doesn't accomplish that goal.

swirlser

Thats a reasonable point, but there are randoms that cover level capped hard modes.

While doing the low level dungeon random does increase the pool of people doing that content and thus speeds up queue times for people that need to run those places for gear or storyline, most people see the roulettes as either a way to get tomes or for that 1 off exp bonus for a class your leveling. As someone who is leveling a low level atm and depending how much longer I continue to play have plenty of other jobs that I could level, I stand to gain from having people who are otherwise not bothered with that content joining in, and yet Id accept a reduction to that pool in a heartbeat if it meant more options down the road.

You can do nearly all level capped stuff from entire premades, partial PuG, or entire PuG. Bottom line, choice is nice! And if I only get to play with my bf for an hour in the evening, I dont want it to be either we do something together OR you can get your tomes.

ArthurG

swirlser wrote: »

And if I only get to play with my bf for an hour in the evening, I dont want it to be either we do something together OR you can get your tomes.

You can have both..... You do know you can make a partial party and join specific dungeons? You don't HAVE to use the Roulette.

TheBandicoot

Game is on Steam now. Bear in mind there is a sub and you need an SE account and so on- Steam is just a way of downloading the client and nothing else.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/262342/

swirlser

ArthurG wrote: »

You can have both..... You do know you can make a partial party and join specific dungeons? You don't HAVE to use the Roulette.

You get about double the myth using the roulette, which must be done solo. So your suggesting with limited evening playtime, we spend twice as long getting the same thing. Ok.

A look ahead at some things incoming - http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/44427/t1900294-upcoming-updates-latest-2-16-2-2-through-maelstrom-seasonal-events/
Some fun things for sure

MarkJD

Finally got all my battle classes to level 50 the other day. Started working on my crafting and gathering. Also beat Twintania in Turn 5. Well tuned fight that needs well timed execution from all party members. Can be hard to get another solid 7 people!

Xenji

Final Fantasy 14 PS4 Beta launched yesterday and will be running for the next week if anyone is interested, it is a 11 gig download and is free to all.

MarkJD

Reviews of the performance and optimization of the PS4 version have been amazing. People putting it on par with the PC version running on maximum. Allows players to play with Gamepad or Mouse & Keyboard, allows same maximum numbers of players on screen as PC and runs at 60 fps in most situations barring any highly crowded areas etc.

There was a recent sub patch 2.16 that had some massive Quality of Life changes in there. Big patch to come in late march 2.2 with lots of new content.


http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/1e50acf08461e355e3e5d4736391ba3f787720f1

danthefan

Never played the PC version but have tried the PS4 beta - it looks stunning imo. Fairly regular MMO though overall imo (collect 5 of these, kill 10 of those), though am enjoying the beta.

Useful.Idiot

bought this fo cheap on Steam the other day. the game looks beautiful and eager to see more of the main quest but other than that it seems like WoW in Final Fantasy clothes so far, nothing deviating from the bog standard MMO formula. Will keep at it until my free month runs out to see whether or not it's worth subbing

SteelyDanJalapeno

Where can I find the beta PS4 edition?

NoviGlitzko

^ Scroll across from welcome.

I'm completely addicted to this Beta. Brings me back to some older days of playing vintage FF.

jaxdasher

Hey guys I'm looking at the Standard Edition on PSN. Its telling me its unavailable for purchase . Could it be because I played the PS3 Beta? Where can I pay for subscription then?

SteelyDanJalapeno

NoviGlitzko wrote: »

^ Scroll across from welcome.

I'm completely addicted to this Beta. Brings me back to some older days of playing vintage FF.

I looked everywhere in Ps Store and Ps Plus store, what do you mean "scroll accross from welcome?

Xenji

TiltedBrain wrote: »

I looked everywhere in Ps Store and Ps Plus store, what do you mean "scroll accross from welcome?

Add it to your basket from here and it will go into your PS4 download queue http://us.playstation.com/ps4/games/final-fantasy-xiv-a-realm-reborn-beta-version-ps4.html

Razleavy

Looks so good! Make sure you watch until the very end!

OctavarIan

Decided to give this game a whirl, have played about 7 hours (level 15) and have some observations/questions on what the rest of the game is like before I sink more time in.

To start, I love how Final Fantasy it is. It's formal, flamboyant, serious and cheesy all at the same time. The monster design seems to be a step above the traditional MMO fare, no surprise there. Music is stunning. The controller setup is freaking amazing and I've no idea why it hasn't been pulled off this well before. But...

1) It's not really fare to judge based on early single player content, but it's way too easy. The only time I felt remotely threatened was when soloing a particular FATE boss (ice breathing drake things, alphoe or something). The combat seems very mechanical, samey and traditional compared to something like Guild Wars 2. Is this because the game is balanced entirely around dungeons and end-game content?

2) It feels like a single player game. I see the odd person running around but in 7 hours I've seen three messages in the game chat that weren't bots, and they were all guild recruitment. Is it because people are using controllers and not arsed typing? Are the early zones just dead?

3) I've heard reports on players being complete assholes and taking things way too seriously when it comes to dungeon content. Is this generally true? Haven't done any dungeon content yet so not sure.

4) PvP. Does it exist? I can't imagine it working at all given the combat style, but would reserve judgement until giving it a go.

I'm basically comparing this to the most recent MMO I've played (Guild Wars 2) and for me it's losing in everything bar music at the moment. I wasn't a huge fan of the complete lack of structure to fights in GW2 but this game seems to be going too far on the formulaic side.

VampiricPadraig

OctavarIan wrote: »

Decided to give this game a whirl, have played about 7 hours (level 15) and have some observations/questions on what the rest of the game is like before I sink more time in.

To start, I love how Final Fantasy it is. It's formal, flamboyant, serious and cheesy all at the same time. The monster design seems to be a step above the traditional MMO fare, no surprise there. Music is stunning. The controller setup is freaking amazing and I've no idea why it hasn't been pulled off this well before. But...

YoshiP's Magic...I don't know either but it's genius.

OctavarIan wrote: »

1) It's not really fare to judge based on early single player content, but it's way too easy. The only time I felt remotely threatened was when soloing a particular FATE boss (ice breathing drake things, alphoe or something). The combat seems very mechanical, samey and traditional compared to something like Guild Wars 2. Is this because the game is balanced entirely around dungeons and end-game content?

They (Square-Enix) wants to put emphasis on the grouped events. They force you into running dungeons so you can get used to the experience because that is most of the end game....group content. 8-man dungeons, primals and the 24-man raids. Short answer: Yes.

OctavarIan wrote: »

2) It feels like a single player game. I see the odd person running around but in 7 hours I've seen three messages in the game chat that weren't bots, and they were all guild recruitment. Is it because people are using controllers and not arsed typing? Are the early zones just dead?

It is normal for MMO's to not have people in early zones like 'Bentbranch Meadows'. You will find people in locations such as Mor Dhona (Mostly end game peeps) and the 3 cities (Ul'dah, Limsa Lominsa and Gridania)

OctavarIan wrote: »

3) I've heard reports on players being complete assholes and taking things way too seriously when it comes to dungeon content. Is this generally true? Haven't done any dungeon content yet so not sure.

Compared to other games...No. In fact, FFXIV has one of the nicer communities. Just stay away from French people...You'll see why once you start running dungeons/primals/raids.

OctavarIan wrote: »

4) PvP. Does it exist? I can't imagine it working at all given the combat style, but would reserve judgement until giving it a go.

It does exist, but SE is more PvE heavy. You will unlock it at Level 30 from your Grand Company guy. It's a 4v4 brawl (1 tank, 1 healer, 2 DPS). Can be fun if you get a good group.

You will get matched with people between 30 and 39 (But will Level Sync to 30), and when you hit 40, you unlock the Level 40 mode (40-49, synced to 40) and Level 50. You will also unlock a 2nd Level 50 mode which allows you to group up with another 3 people and take on another pre-made group.

There is rewards available and special PvP abilites available.

OctavarIan wrote: »

I'm basically comparing this to the most recent MMO I've played (Guild Wars 2) and for me it's losing in everything bar music at the moment. I wasn't a huge fan of the complete lack of structure to fights in GW2 but this game seems to be going too far on the formulaic side.

Give it time, you are only Level 15 now. You still have a long way to go. Story, dungeons and even the raid.

--

Just a bit of info about the dungeon content, you will mostly run 4-man dungeons while you are levelling. When you get to the end of the story (which I won't spoil of course), you will be running a 8-man dungeon (2 tanks, 2 healers, 4 DPS).

Along the way, you will face off against the Primals (Titan, Ifrit and Garuda), which is just you 4 versus the boss. The primals come in 3 difficulties, Normal (During story), Hard and Extreme. There is also other primals that will be available at the end game, but I will let you discover those. :P

You also have the raids. Raids are 24-man instances comprised of 3 Alliances (Each Alliance is a 8-man group). You will be split up and face off against some mini-bosses, but will come together for some of the main bosses in the raid.

If you are not already, get into a Free Company (Guild), and ask them for help going through dungeons and content. They are your most valuable asset in FFXIV.

TheBandicoot

OctavarIan wrote: »

1) It's not really fare to judge based on early single player content, but it's way too easy. The only time I felt remotely threatened was when soloing a particular FATE boss (ice breathing drake things, alphoe or something). The combat seems very mechanical, samey and traditional compared to something like Guild Wars 2. Is this because the game is balanced entirely around dungeons and end-game content?

I have never played GW2 so I can't answer a comparison like that. You are only at lvl15, it is going to be easy. As you progress you will see that the difficuly basically comes from handling boss and dungeon mechanics(dodging aoes, killing certain adds, managing debuff stacks), DPS races and at end-game, tank swapping and generally a lot of tank skill tests. It is 'traditional' in that sense, it is not a evolutionary combat system. Just normal DPS/Healer/Tank stuff

The game is balanced around dungeons, yes. You haven't even done the first one yet, so it is probably not clear to you. Dungeons are your fastest way of getting exp, level relevant gear and money. They are your bread and butter for progressing your combat classes. The gameplay for combat classes is all about playing your role properly in a party(dungeon group) setting. The solo content is just teaching you to play your class well, dungeons teach you to play your role.

OctavarIan wrote: »

2) It feels like a single player game. I see the odd person running around but in 7 hours I've seen three messages in the game chat that weren't bots, and they were all guild recruitment. Is it because people are using controllers and not arsed typing? Are the early zones just dead?

Depends heavily on what server and what time you are playing. Can you give those details? There should be huge crowds of people in the main cities, especially around the market areas, crafting. You probably only have access to your starting city. As for lack of in-game chat- no one really talks in the general channels, they talk in party chat in dungeons or just hanging out queuing for dungeons, FC(guild) chat or Linkshells(basically just a chat channel). There is lots of conversation happening, but you won't start seeing it until you make some in-game contacts and/or join an FC and socialise.

However it is a legitmate complaint that a lot of the areas in the open world are kind of dead- there is no reason to come back to places once you level past them and the main story quests take you elsewhere. Generally the maps are filled by people levelling low level characters by doing hunting logs and quests, FATE parties roaming around, gatherer classes mining, fishing and harvesting to gather resources used in crafting, and occasionally people doing treasure hunts. But yes, past a certain point people just spend all their time idling or crafting in inn rooms, in main cities, or in Mor Dhona, an endgame area you will see around level 45ish.

OctavarIan wrote: »

3) I've heard reports on players being complete assholes and taking things way too seriously when it comes to dungeon content. Is this generally true? Haven't done any dungeon content yet so not sure.

Depends really, I don't have much trouble with this. You can just vote dismiss someone who is acting up. I would say however, try to avoid going into new dungeons blind. Read a guide/watch a video while queueing so you know how the mechanics work and what to expect. Otherwise some people can get a bit frustrated with new players. People can also be very short with tanks and healers. The game design puts more pressure on those roles and any mistake they make is generally very visible, so people get into a habit of blaming them for everything. As a tank you are also de facto expected to know the dungeon and be able to lead the party through it, hence why I recommend reading up a bit before doing a dungeon.

OctavarIan wrote: »

4) PvP. Does it exist? I can't imagine it working at all given the combat style, but would reserve judgement until giving it a go.

Think you can only start at lvl30. I have never even tried it, I hear it is crap. In any case it is instanced, it's not world PvP.

OctavarIan wrote: »

I'm basically comparing this to the most recent MMO I've played (Guild Wars 2) and for me it's losing in everything bar music at the moment. I wasn't a huge fan of the complete lack of structure to fights in GW2 but this game seems to be going too far on the formulaic side.

Well I have never played GW2 so this doesn't really mean anything to me. My understanding of FFXIV is that is just a well implemented traditional holy-trinity sub-based WoW-style MMO. Not trying for anything too new.

TheBandicoot

Razleavy wrote: »

Looks so good! Make sure you watch until the very end!

TBH I'm not all that excited- it's a lot of difficult end game content that they are adding when I am unable to beat the current stuff. I have been playing since launch and I have done T1 once(after two attempts), T2 twice with enrage, T3 once and have spent 7 hours trying to do T4 and failing. I haven't even beaten Garuda Ex yet. Was able to beat Ultima once but don't have a group to farm it with, and the problem isn't me anyway, it's other members dodging and ****ing up the bombs. I don't even see it in PF anymore..

I just don't play this higher level content with my FC because it just leads to drama since we are all at different skill levels and it is impossible to pull a well-geared static group together, and all the PuGs are only interested in farming. I also just don't enjoy playing at that level- in Coil it feels like I need to constantly pour heals into the tank to keep him alive, never feel in control or comfortable and I just don't want the stress. I level my other classes, farm myth and do any other content below Coil with FC people who need a hand.

So adding more turns of Coil that I will never play, an extreme King Mog fight and extreme Levi primal is just not exciting me. I am also annoyed that there is key plot and story tied up in Coil that I have not and will not be able to experience- I don't want story tied up in content only hardcore raiders can do. When 2.2 comes out I will just be playing the new dungeons, farming the new tomes and completing my myth sets and maybe trying the nerfed coil after waiting a month or two for them to be DF-able.

MarkJD

They will be reducing the difficulty level of the older Extreme content and Turns 1-5 as they added to the Duty Finder. I know how frustrating it can be to be tied up with content because of other people being able to do simple tasks but get yourself with a FC that is capable or when you meet decent players from your server in these Extreme fights that arent the ones failing make a simple LS for you guys to hook up and get stuff done.

TheBandicoot

MarkJD wrote: »

They will be reducing the difficulty level of the older Extreme content and Turns 1-5 as they added to the Duty Finder. I know how frustrating it can be to be tied up with content because of other people being able to do simple tasks but get yourself with a FC that is capable or when you meet decent players from your server in these Extreme fights that arent the ones failing make a simple LS for you guys to hook up and get stuff done.

My problem is finding people with skill, it's just from a gameplay standpoint I don't like the pressure of the high level raiding, and from a social standpoint I am not interested in the rough nature needed for progression, as seen here

If you want to be serious about progression, you can't let yourself be held back by a few bad apples. You are going to have to hurt someone feelings and not care.
Set the expectation early..."This group is going to run on these days, at these times. If you cannot commit to this, tell us now, cause if you miss I will replace you."
Be online early. If someone is late, pug their spot. If somone doesn't show, replace them. Going to have to make a choice, wether you want to down content or not. If you do, you're gonna have to use a heavy hand.

Basically I've made the choice, and it is that I don't want to down the content.

MarkJD

Just comes down to what you want to do then I suppose. Im primarily focused on gear progression and playing with competent players but who remember to have fun. All well in good in have an awesome group but if everyone is self centered and an elitist that gets old really fast and I dont have the patience to play with those sort of people.

I guess i could be just lucky that iv surrounded myself with like minded players. Like to get on, get stuff done and have fun. I havnt even touched some of the daily quests or other hard mode dungeons as iv been focusing on weekly clears and tome caps.

Shaneoh

Hey guys, been a while since I've been around these forums! How is everyone enjoying FFXIV?

MarkJD

Very much enjoying it.. Just a bit fed up with the random number generator that is the drop system but hey.. Welcome to MMOs. Been clearing Turn 4 in BC since Early September and not seen 1 Healer body drop... At least i can farm it a bit now come the 27th.

Plenty of content come Thursday. Can only imagine how much there will be come a year into this game will be a really well balance MMO and have plenty of content. You playing itm uch?>