Hydaelyn Role-Players

I was reading on many mmorpgs website and the impression of players aren't so great and on my side, I am a bit sad about it, because I feel like at my place in this game, it's like a new challenge and even if there's some bugs around, and this is normal for a MMORPG, plus some quests are hidden by SE (we suppose and hope) well the game in general is well done...

On your side, are you optimistic about the future of this game too, or I am just the lonely day dreamer around?

Generally what you normally hear is bad things because the people that don't like it want things changed dramatically and thusly are the most vocal about it.

The ones enjoying it are playing it and not writing about it (bar us here in the RPC, but its a different kind of writing :p). Never cloud your thoughts on what others say since some MMOs aren't suitable for everyone and require a different mentality and taste. And if they tried to make everyone happy it simply would become another WoW clone.

I enjoy it, I like the possibilities with it. And with my previous starting MMO experience I can say not one starts out perfect. A favorite saying among some people is don't play an MMO at the start, wait 6 months.

Just look around at what kind of people this game has attracted right here in the RPC, and decide for yourself where you stand and your reasons for liking it. That's how I do it.

FFXIV is a step in a different direction then most MMOs of recent, which were all trying to be WoW clones or WoW killers. There are issues here with FFXIV, but none so major as to make me cancel my preorder or not want to play. The software mouse is annoying, but I have adapted to the WASD IJKL method of movement/camera pretty well, just like I did with the old FFXI control scheme. UI lag seems to be down a little but still there, something they are working on and in no way game breaking at all.
For the most part, people being so vocal and adamant about the game being bad either just don't want it to succeed because it has the Final Fantasy name to it (It's amazing how many people just hate Final Fantasy games) or they wanted some masterpiece for launch, crafted from pure gold and diamonds, that would shock their eyes into burnt out orbs from the pure win they would witness when loading into the game.
The game is good, it has its bugs but so did every other MMO in history for launch. In no way shape or form is it akin to people saying it should still be in alpha. Also the surplus system is a fine system when people finally understand exactly how it works, and stop crying about not being able to WoWgrind to max level in a week.

A lot of people that seem to be complaining are coming from other MMOs such as World of Warcraft, Aion, and Warhammer. As a result, it's a bit of a shock to go from that kind of UI and control scheme to that of the FFXI and FFXIV method. Overall, FFXIV is a great improvement (so far) to what I've seen of FFXI, though pacing and the like will have to studied very carefully once release rolls around.

One of the more interesting things is that gathering and crafting are no longer a "side" thing. They are now a major portion of the game, enough to even say that for crafters and gatherers, their work takes up and replaces combat entirely. This gives better value to the time spent on these jobs, making the game feel much more varied.

Sure there are visual problems and control problems, but it's good, especially if you've played FFXI.

Now, with the above said, I still can't believe Square had such an issue with webserver and gameserver capacity. You'd think those that developed MMOs would have learned by now.

I'm cautiously optimistic. It's pretty, looks fun to RP in, and is generally pretty easy to level in.

There's not much content though.

I'm worried about that

ArmachiA Wrote:There's not much content though.

I'm worried about that

Same. Something I am a little concerned about, and I hope it's just a beta thing, is the lack of quests. Not the guildeve quests, but the quest quests. The ones you got from NPCs you spoke to around town, and as a result of doing them, got rewarded with coin, or an item, or something.

(Separate from the storyline quest string/missions, that is. Just to be clear.)

It isn't even so much the reward, either. Back in FFXI, those sorts of quests really expanded the world, as well as the lore, because many of them helped you to get to know NPCs better, not to mention learn little things -- some small, some big -- about the world as a whole, or at least the city you got the quest in.

So. Yeah. Know it's still beta, but having not seen hide nor hair of these, I'm left hoping and waiting.

So far it's not bad i would not mind being able to actualy re-program keys to something i'm use to. But the macros are helping me get back into the feel of the game. My only issue is the gathering and the side skills like armor smithing i liked the way they were in ffxi you could just buy the recipie's as long as you had the stuff you need you could make it you did not have to hunt for one person or another. Unless you have never been to the town.

Oh question for anyone know knows. Whats the macro for equiping off hand items.
/equip ______ "Culinary Knife"

My own thoughts have all been expressed here.
One thing I'd add is that I get that feeling that SE, much unlike most companies these days, do not want to do everything possible to make the game easier for us. For the japanese in general, a game -should- be challenging, or at least that's what I perceive from them.
Remember back when we got the first final Fantasy games over in America? How ridiculously easy and simple Final Fantasy II US was compared to Final Fantasy IV?
A lot of gamers these days simply can't stomach anything more complicated than mashing their iwin key or, for the more hardcore gamers, looking on the interwebs for the best strategy and applying it blindly.
I'm pretty happy with how things are right now.

As for content, I get the feeling it's simply not there because it's beta.
Either that, or we'll just have to look for quests, by talking to NPC's. Quest givers don't have big exclamation points over their heads, so I get the feeling it's a matter of looking around and talking to people.
Just look at how the first storyline quest "ends". I only completed the one form Limsa Lominsa so far but it definitely doesn't "end". There is SO much mysteries yet unsolved once you've done the chain, it's simply impossible that there isn't anything else, later.

Asyria Wrote:Just look at how the first storyline quest "ends". I only completed the one form Limsa Lominsa so far but it definitely doesn't "end". There is SO much mysteries yet unsolved once you've done the chain, it's simply impossible that there isn't anything else, later.

Just so you know, the storyline quests continue every 10 ranks (1, 10, 20, etc.).

So, yes, it most certainly doesn't end.

Im having Mixed opinions, But my sister has given her opinion about it. Which seems to be clear

"1) I can't redefine my keys to anything meaningful for me rendering it playable.
2) The game crawls even in enclosed buildings unless I turn the settings down to mega low.
3) The downloader is broken as all fuck.
4) The mouse makes it unplayable to play and I still haven't seen any responce that it would be fixed yet.
5) They couldn't even keep a server up for longer than 5 minutes to give out keys, this doesn't bode well for anything pertaining to a game come release.
6) I have not read a single thing about how the game actually plays in practice that is positive. Everything I've read that's negative goes into great detail and everything I've read that's positive just says "IT'S NOT THAT BAD YOU GUYS" without actually debunking anything.
7) From SE's track record with FFIX I'm pretty sure the game will not be fixed."

I normally don't tend to play the apologist, so just consider this devil's advocacy instead, since I tend to chafe at long "Negative Nancy" lists, even if I agree with some of the points.

Lukoya Wrote:1) I can't redefine my keys to anything meaningful for me rendering it playable.

Define "meaningful". There is actually a configuration setting where you can change the key definitions of things. In fairness, the arrow keys seem to be entirely off-limits when defining keys.

Lukoya Wrote:2) The game crawls even in enclosed buildings unless I turn the settings down to mega low.

Sounds more like an issue with one's computer. At worst I trudge down to about 20 fps on a nVidia GTS 250, even in busy areas. But again, to strike a fair balance, the speed at which NPCs and PCs appear can sometimes be annoying.

Lukoya Wrote:3) The downloader is broken as all fuck.

Yes. 100% yes.

Lukoya Wrote:4) The mouse makes it unplayable to play and I still haven't seen any responce that it would be fixed yet.

They've mentioned in interviews that they recognize the complaints about a lack of a hardware mouse, and are looking in to it. Take that for what it's worth, since "looking in to it" varies greatly.

Lukoya Wrote:5) They couldn't even keep a server up for longer than 5 minutes to give out keys, this doesn't bode well for anything pertaining to a game come release.

Ever since the original start of open beta, there hasn't been any issues to my knowledge of servers going down that dispense beta keys with the exception of the rocky, first full day. As for suspension of keys, Square said that this would be a "staggered" open beta, if I recall correctly, so they would resume and then discontinue as more and more stress is put on servers from new players. The upscaling from 10 to 15 to now (apparently soon) 20+ servers hints at this.

Even with the ping-pong suspension of keys, no one I know has had to wait more than a few hours to get one if they just tried again a bit later. Maybe your experience has been different, though.

Lukoya Wrote:6) I have not read a single thing about how the game actually plays in practice that is positive. Everything I've read that's negative goes into great detail and everything I've read that's positive just says "IT'S NOT THAT BAD YOU GUYS" without actually debunking anything.

Isn't this more a matter of opinion issue? I could easily say something like ...
-I enjoy the combat system, and with the exception of the still-an-issue lag, I think it works quite well.
-Shockingly, I find the crafting system to be interesting, and fishing is enjoyable once you learn how it works.
-Guildeves are pretty fun, and I like being rewarded with actual equipment every so often, not to mention add supplemental XP atop the grind. At least it's better than fetch quests from random NPCs.

... but you could fire back with "That's just your opinion", right?

Lukoya Wrote:7) From SE's track record with FFIX I'm pretty sure the game will not be fixed.

Your mileage may vary, since having been someone who played FFXI from start to until just a few months ago, to me they did fix issues. But you'd have to specify which ones your sister is upset about.

Zyrusticae Wrote:

Asyria Wrote:Just look at how the first storyline quest "ends". I only completed the one form Limsa Lominsa so far but it definitely doesn't "end". There is SO much mysteries yet unsolved once you've done the chain, it's simply impossible that there isn't anything else, later.

Just so you know, the storyline quests continue every 10 ranks (1, 10, 20, etc.).

So, yes, it most certainly doesn't end.

Aha! That's good to know!

Lukoya Wrote:Im having Mixed opinions, But my sister has given her opinion about it. Which seems to be clear

"1) I can't redefine my keys to anything meaningful for me rendering it playable.
2) The game crawls even in enclosed buildings unless I turn the settings down to mega low.
3) The downloader is broken as all fuck.
4) The mouse makes it unplayable to play and I still haven't seen any responce that it would be fixed yet.
5) They couldn't even keep a server up for longer than 5 minutes to give out keys, this doesn't bode well for anything pertaining to a game come release.
6) I have not read a single thing about how the game actually plays in practice that is positive. Everything I've read that's negative goes into great detail and everything I've read that's positive just says "IT'S NOT THAT BAD YOU GUYS" without actually debunking anything.
7) From SE's track record with FFIX I'm pretty sure the game will not be fixed."

My answers to your sister, with all due respect.

1 and 4: Learn and adapt. I come from WoW and it took me a mere 2 days to find myself perfectly comfortable with the default settings, using keyboard alone. They're not working on mouse, because the mouse is kinda useless. Every hardcore mmo player will tell you that. I used to hear it all the time in WoW and I always stubbornly stuck to using the mouse... In FF XIV, I barely spare it a glance.

2- Upgrade your computer, that's all there is to it, really. You can't blame the game for being slow if your specs do not match up to the recommend ones.

3- Yes, yes it is. We all agree, here.

5- That was a mistake on their part. We all agree again. They opened the floodgates and weren't prepared for it. This doesn't actually say anything about release, though, as they are pretty quick in putting more servers online.

6- If you have a good enough computer, the game plays as good as you can hope for, even better considering that "it's only beta" and all that stuff. I barely find any lag, except in the most populated area, but this is something that happens even in mmorpgs that have had years or refining. The graphics are beautiful, the details are breathtaking, you can even see every piece of equipment on your character, down to jewelry!

The UI is extremely simple and easy to navigate, it's just -different- than what us westerners are used to and some people have this retarded idea that different makes bad. It's as simple as hitting the Home key to call the menu, and navigate it with the arrow keys.

Combat is smooth, no boring auto-attack, leaving the player fully in control of the action, and it's just the right pace. No button-mashing and no crawling either, like we seen in early videos that leaked on youtube. The only thing to slow you down in a little is a Stamina gauge but it fills rather fast.

Gathering and Crafting all are their own mini-games, which is much enjoyable and a lot less boring than just clicking and waiting forever for that progression bar to move (ugh!), again putting the player in control and involved.

All in all, the immersion is fantastic and the only time you're not actively doing anything is when you autorun or read stuff.

I should add that if you've never seen this kind of actually positive review, you probably spent a LOT of time on those websites I tend to avoid like the plague because they are so full of negativity.

7. I assume you meant FF XI, not IX? In that case, if you think it needs fixed, perhaps it was simply not your kind of game. I understand, it didn't seem to be mine either, so I didn't play it. Simple as that.

Asyria Wrote:My answers to your sister, with all due respect.

1 and 4: Learn and adapt. I come from WoW and it took me a mere 2 days to find myself perfectly comfortable with the default settings, using keyboard alone. They're not working on mouse, because the mouse is kinda useless. Every hardcore mmo player will tell you that. I used to hear it all the time in WoW and I always stubbornly stuck to using the mouse... In FF XIV, I barely spare it a glance.

Regarding the mouse, not entirely true. Most computer MMO's targeted at Asian gamers focus on the mouse to the exclusion of the keyboard. Playing with the keyboard in Lineage II, for example, is all but impossible.

I happen to agree that the mouse is unusable, and the keyboard controls are not sufficient to make up for the lack of precise targeting options. When i can spam <tab> and I'm standing in front of a quest NPC... and the reticule never switches to that NPC, there's a problem.

Quote:2- Upgrade your computer, that's all there is to it, really. You can't blame the game for being slow if your specs do not match up to the recommend ones.

A modern gaming computer should not be limited to playing the game at half resolution, with all the options turned all the way down. It looks atrocious. And yet, that is what I (and others) are stuck with on their less-than-a-year-old alienware computers.

Quote:6- If you have a good enough computer, the game plays as good as you can hope for, even better considering that "it's only beta" and all that stuff. I barely find any lag, except in the most populated area, but this is something that happens even in mmorpgs that have had years or refining. The graphics are beautiful, the details are breathtaking, you can even see every piece of equipment on your character, down to jewelry!

I have found the lag to be unbearable within the UI. The graphics might be nice if you can turn them up, but see the point earlier. If they're good, they're great. If they're not... the game looks like a pixelated mess from the early 90's.

Quote:The UI is extremely simple and easy to navigate, it's just -different- than what us westerners are used to and some people have this retarded idea that different makes bad. It's as simple as hitting the Home key to call the menu, and navigate it with the arrow keys.

The UI, compared to any modern MMO (from any country), is terrible. It's aimed at console users, and it shows. Having to build macros to switch jobs? Not knowing when you're done casting? Having no meaningful way to get information about mobs around you? A nearly impossible to navigate map (Coming from Limsa, trying to find the exit, took me several 10's of minutes of exploration just to get the map to show the exit). It's bad, bad, bad. And there's nothing anybody can do about it (unlike most other modern MMOs which allow customization).

Targeting a console as a platform is not a bad thing, unless it's done to the exclusion of playability on the PC, such as has happened here. When you have to pull out a controller in an MMO to make the game feel like it's designed to feel, something was done wrong.

Quote:Combat is smooth, no boring auto-attack, leaving the player fully in control of the action, and it's just the right pace. No button-mashing and no crawling either, like we seen in early videos that leaked on youtube. The only thing to slow you down in a little is a Stamina gauge but it fills rather fast.

I have found it to be a ton of spamming the same attack button (spamming, since you don't know technically when you're ready to cast it again, and need to press it often to not miss out on a swing timer), occasionally switching to another button. It's the reason that auto attack exists, and why Conan combat was so unpopular.

Quote:Gathering and Crafting all are their own mini-games, which is much enjoyable and a lot less boring than just clicking and waiting forever for that progression bar to move (ugh!), again putting the player in control and involved.

This is an improvement made dozens of times previously (as early as EQII that I have personally played) and doesn't add a lot to the crafting experience. But that's just my opinion.

Quote:All in all, the immersion is fantastic and the only time you're not actively doing anything is when you autorun or read stuff.

Perhaps to you. To me it feels like busy work (and I find that so far there's a lot of time where I'm doing nothing but running around and reading stuff).

I would add an 8: sub-twitter length chat lines, 9: Silly typos in quest text for the newbie quest lines, and 10: place and character names that look like a 5th grader pounded them out on the keyboard.

Number 11 might be personal, but I'm kinda tired of the NPCs treating my character, the hero of my story, as a complete moron who just fell off the short bus. I can all but hear them tittering "F'ing n00b" as my character walks away.

falcolas Wrote:Number 11 might be personal, but I'm kinda tired of the NPCs treating my character, the hero of my story, as a complete moron who just fell off the short bus. I can all but hear them tittering "F'ing n00b" as my character walks away.

That's because at the beginning, you are a noob.

Shamad Conde Wrote:That's because at the beginning, you are a noob.

I have to disagree. I'm not a nobody noob, I'm a hero. I have survived in extraordinary circumstances and single handedly saved people from a menace in those circumstances. I speak Moogish. Green behind the ears, yes. But certainly not deserving of their constant scorn for the first 5 levels.