[Megathread] Final Fantasy XIV

[Issalice]

Reactions from a non-FF fanboy:

1. Fighting: crisp, responsive, and spells look great. The GCD is a bit long (on my Lancer for example it's 2.84 sec - 3 sec) but there are items with +Skill Speed on them which increase your GCD. So haste possibilities are there. It is, however, typical tab-targetting. The skill system is a mix of Aion, TERA, WoW, and Rift: you start with an ability (i.e. Power Thrust) and it enables another ability (i.e. Diverging Thrust) to do twice as much damage if you attacked with Power Thrust first. Typical debuffs abilities are there (slow, DoTs, stuns, etc). To my surprise, there is dynamic "dodging." Let me explain: if a monster starts casting an ability that has a 2 second cast, you can run behind the mob, do a backstab or whatever and evade the damage from that spell altogether. Very cool. So it's not all static fighting like some people have said.


6. Map: I had to create a section just for that because in its current state, the map is simply terrible. The quests located in your quest log do show up on your map, yes, but there is no indication of where to go. If a quest is in Zone A, you click on the quest in your quest log, click on the "Map" button, it opens up the map and shows you where the quest is without showing where you are and how to get there. It's not that big of a deal after you play for 2-3 hours but it does take some time getting adjusted to. I believe they should spent quite a bit of time in making sure that the map is much more user-friendly and ergonomic upon release.



8. Things I haven't done: didn't spend anytime crafting since they'll be wiping characters from Phase 3 --> Phase 4 beta. Couldn't try any dungeons (was planning on doing that today but I guess the beta was only from Friday - Sunday) either. Not sure if PvP is included in the game either. Haven't been able to access higher level areas and see if the game becomes a bit more challenging. Only played the Lancer class up to Level 16 and the Conjurer up to Level 4. Both very fun classes.

.

I love the fighting style as well, it felt like a FF game. Down to the music even they pegged it

The map was one of my few complaints. It took me awhile to get use to it, sadly right before the servers were shutdown last night I was finally able to decipher it lol.

PvP will be introduced, not sure when but it is being added.

[Shink]

PvP will be introduced, not sure when but it is being added.

Phase 4

10char

[lollermittens]

So when are the servers supposed to come back up to keep testing Phase 3? I was very disappointed this morning when I realized I couldn't log onto the servers

[-aiko-]

So when are the servers supposed to come back up to keep testing Phase 3? I was very disappointed this morning when I realized I couldn't log onto the servers

I mentioned this above, but they're almost always weekends. So we're looking at next weekend or the next.

[Bigitybones]

well in phase 2 i think after lvl 10 you had points each time you leved up and yes they were permanent

no they were not permanent you could reset them

[Remilia]

So when are the servers supposed to come back up to keep testing Phase 3? I was very disappointed this morning when I realized I couldn't log onto the servers

I assume next weekend, but no official mention on the English or Japanese forums.

[Bigitybones]

Reactions from a non-FF fanboy:

1. Fighting: crisp, responsive, and spells look great. The GCD is a bit long (on my Lancer for example it's 2.84 sec - 3 sec) but there are items with +Skill Speed on them which increase your GCD. So haste possibilities are there. It is, however, typical tab-targetting. The skill system is a mix of Aion, TERA, WoW, and Rift: you start with an ability (i.e. Power Thrust) and it enables another ability (i.e. Diverging Thrust) to do twice as much damage if you attacked with Power Thrust first. Typical debuffs abilities are there (slow, DoTs, stuns, etc). To my surprise, there is dynamic "dodging." Let me explain: if a monster starts casting an ability that has a 2 second cast, you can run behind the mob, do a backstab or whatever and evade the damage from that spell altogether. Very cool. So it's not all static fighting like some people have said. The application and utilization of your abilities are dependent on you Tactical Points (TP) gauge. Power Thrust, for example, cost 80 TP. All characters start with 1000/1000 TP.

2. Skill Progression: There are 12-14 unique active skills per class (Warrior, Pugiligst, Mage, Conjurer, etc) and you unlock them all the way up to 50. You also have Traits which are passive abilities with the first being unlocked at Level 8 (for LNC, it's a permanent +2 STR increase for example). Along with the inherent skills from your primary class (called Jobs in FFXIV), you can also unlock other classes by simply equipping the correct weapon. So switching from a Level 15 Lancer to a Conjurer by equipping a Level 1 staff, I become a Level 1 Conjurer (or White Mage) and will have access to to all of the 12-14 unique spells associated with the Conjurer class. Then, 4-8 spells from that Conjurer class are added to your Lancer's abilities skill-set if you are a Lancer with a Conjurer "sub-job;" at this point, we're talking about managing 16 - 24 spells altogether per class depending on how high you get your job/sub-job (note that Traits, or passives, don't get mixed from one job to the other).

3. Gear Progression: so far, everything that I've bought up until Level 16 was obtained from vendors and quests. It's not like WoW where you'll find weapons with +759 STR or anything but modest increases in Attack Speed, Damage, and Stats attached on a weapon (i.e. +1 STR/ +1 VIT/ +1 DEX/ +1 Skill Speed vs. +1 STR/ +1 VIT weapon). The look of the armors range from the "wow this looks pretty cool!" to "what were they thinking...?" (I'm looking at you Subligars...)

4. Quests/ Monsters/ FATE: lots of quests. A little too much even, since for a lot of them they have you running around everywhere. Which is fine since from Level 1 you have access to a Sprint spell that uses up all your TP (Tactical Points) but lasts 20 second on a 30 second cooldown. At level 10, you're also eligible to use Chocobos but they're not like summon-able mounts: you have to go to a Chocobo Trainer and "rent" one -- prices ranged from 5 gil/ min to 80 gil/ hour. Kind of weird and I hope they include personal summon-able mounts in the final release. FATE quests are pretty much the group quests you find in GW2 and Rift. They're much more like GW2 in terms of speed and rewards. There are also no "tiers" like in Rift: you get into the FATE, kill the spawning monsters ASAP and fill-up a bar within an allotted time-frame (like 15 minutes) and if all the monsters are slain within that time-frame, you're rewarded with EXP + gil.

5. Leveling Other Jobs: now that's where it becomes a bit annoying. Let's say you're a Level 15 Lancer. You equip a staff and become a Level 1 Conjurer. Now, you'd think you'd have access to the same quests that got you to Level 15 with your Lancer but nope... you're going to have to join FATE quests located all over the map and grind Korean-MMO style. It's not the end of the world but getting your adjacent jobs at a high level will take some time.

6. Map: I had to create a section just for that because in its current state, the map is simply terrible. The quests located in your quest log do show up on your map, yes, but there is no indication of where to go. If a quest is in Zone A, you click on the quest in your quest log, click on the "Map" button, it opens up the map and shows you where the quest is without showing where you are and how to get there. It's not that big of a deal after you play for 2-3 hours but it does take some time getting adjusted to. I believe they should spent quite a bit of time in making sure that the map is much more user-friendly and ergonomic upon release.

7. Graphics: absolutely stunning. They've done a fantastic job in re-optimizing the engine. Even in areas with lots of people, my FPS drops from a constant 60 to 45-50 FPS. Even in zones where fighting is heavy, the FPS is steady and doesn't dip in any annoying way. Last but not least, the spells/abilities look great. They have a "crunch" feel to it and it's satisfying watching the HP bar of the mob you're fighting go down either fast or slow depending on your reaction time and what chain skills you are using.

8. Things I haven't done: didn't spend anytime crafting since they'll be wiping characters from Phase 3 --> Phase 4 beta. Couldn't try any dungeons (was planning on doing that today but I guess the beta was only from Friday - Sunday) either. Not sure if PvP is included in the game either. Haven't been able to access higher level areas and see if the game becomes a bit more challenging. Only played the Lancer class up to Level 16 and the Conjurer up to Level 4. Both very fun classes.

Conclusion: I pre-ordered the game. I really didn't expect this level of polish and... actually having fun playing a total WoW-clone with a theme park setting. The game currently is very easy (didn't die once all the way to Level 16), a little slow compared to other MMOs (standard 2 - 4 GCD depending on the class and ability), but very pretty; I would go on to say that this is the best looking MMO on the market currently. So I can't speak about end-game and if there is an actual difficulty curve at higher levels but if you're looking for a polished, responsive, high-quality MMO in a Final Fantasy setting, look no further.

PS - Make sure to sign-up for the beta (Google: "FFXIV beta registration" since I can't link anything given this is my first post) as there will be an Open Beta phase either in late July or early August. That should give you an idea or whether or not this game is for you.

welcome aboard sir your are more than welcome to this fantastic game and glad you liked your beta weekend

---------- Post added 2013-06-16 at 04:50 PM ----------

Yeah Mouseovers are what#s really missing. the information on skills in tooltips is also often lacking.

Is there a word on how much the monthly costs will be? i suppose it will be the same as 1.0---but I don't know these either :P

2 price points basics membership which is 12.99 and membership wth 8 character per realm to a maximum of 490 for 14.99

[lollermittens]

I assume next weekend, but no official mention on the English or Japanese forums.

Arg, thanks for the response. I'm going on vacation next week (Hawaii, Kauai!!) and will be coming back Sunday night in exactly a week. I hope the beta servers will be up 24/7 after weekend #2.

Oh well... one can only hope/ dream!

[Bigitybones]

Arg, thanks for the response. I'm going on vacation next week (Hawaii, Kauai!!) and will be coming back Sunday night in exactly a week. I hope the beta servers will be up 24/7 after weekend #2.

Oh well... one can only hope/ dream!

we can switch places if you want ill go to hawaii for you and you can play beta!

[HAcoreRD]

No, but traditionally (as in, in the other beta phases) they were strictly weekend times. So next week maybe.

i could cry ;;

[fletch101]

Reactions from a non-FF fanboy:

1. Fighting: crisp, responsive, and spells look great. The GCD is a bit long (on my Lancer for example it's 2.84 sec - 3 sec) but there are items with +Skill Speed on them which increase your GCD. So haste possibilities are there. I

The official site Instruction Manual for Beta Phase 3 says this for Skill Speed:

"Skill Speed Reduces the recast time of weaponskills."

I don't know if this means it's what you referred to as GCD reduction, or if it's a reduction on the cooldown timer. It will be easy to test during the next test.

[Bigitybones]

The official site Instruction Manual for Beta Phase 3 says this for Skill Speed:

"Skill Speed Reduces the recast time of weaponskills."

I don't know if this means it's what you referred to as GCD reduction, or if it's a reduction on the cooldown timer. It will be easy to test during the next test.

as someone who played it it reduces the GCD because the GCD is the only recast time on weaponskills

[Viertel]

Is there a good site that's up to date on stats? Wondering if stats are doing what they've said they're supposed to do (like dex increasing accuracy AND crit, or vit increasing defense and HP). Also, is there a list of the best stats to go for on certain classes? Tried google, but it keeps giving me 1.0 stuff.

STR(Strength) Increase melee attack power and the percentage of damage mitigated by block and parry

DEX (Dexterity) Increase range attack power and the chance of blocking or parrying an attack

VIT (Vitality) Increase maximum HP.

INT (Intelligence) Increase attack magic potency for thaumaturgy

MND (Mind) Increase attack and healing potency of conjury

PIE (Piety) Increase Maximum MP

Fire Reduce the amount of damage received from fire-aspected attacks

Ice Reduce the amount of damage received from ice-aspected attacks

Wind Reduce the amount of damage received from wind-aspected attacks

Earth Reduce the amount of damage received from earth-aspected attacks

Lightning Reduce the amount of damage received from lightning-aspected attacks

Water Reduce the amount of damage received from water-aspected attacks

Accuracy Increased the accuracy of physical and magical attacks

Critical Hit Rate Increase the probability that an attack will deal critical damage.

Determination Increase the amount of damage dealt by all attacks and the amount of HP recovered by spells

Attack Power Increase the amount of damage dealt by physical attacks

Skill Speed Reduces the recast time of weaponskills

Attack Magic Potency Increase the amount of damage dealt by spells

Healing Magic Potency Increase the amount of HP recovered by spells

Spell Speed Reduce the cast and recast times of spells

Defense Reduce the amount of damage received from physical attacks

Parry Increase the probability that an attack will be blocked or parried

Magic Defense Reduce the amount of damage received from magical attacks

Slashing Reduce the amount of damage received from slashing attacks

Piercing Reduce the amount of damage received from piercing attacks

Blunt Reduce the amount of damage received from blunt attacks

Morale Reduces the amount of damage received from player's attacks

It's all explained in the manual that's on the launcher.

[Lethey Alexandros]

Is the phase three beta done? Or is it just down for maintainence?

[Bigitybones]

Is the phase three beta done? Or is it just down for maintainence?

phase 3 test 1 is over

[Lethey Alexandros]

phase 3 test 1 is over

Anything on when test 2 will start?

[Issalice]

we can switch places if you want ill go to hawaii for you and you can play beta!

lol I second that one

[Bigitybones]

Anything on when test 2 will start?

not yet no but going by previous phases most likely next weekend

[fletch101]

as someone who played it it reduces the GCD because the GCD is the only recast time on weaponskills

OK. I had two on an archer that were longer than Heavy Shot, Straight Shot, or the Poison Dot. One was the execute type thing that was under 25% enemy health only, and then there was another single target attack that had a cooldown. I take it those are not classified as weapon skills? Thanks.

[Deleted]

http://www.ffxivinfo.com/service.php

thanks a lot, but what's the incentive to have more than one character in FFXIV? As i can learn everything on one char and even get drops for classes I'm not currently playing. I don't see the appeal of standard over entry