New FF14 Interview: What you hated in beta is here to stay

[Asyria]

Noooo the PIE is truth! and it's also Piety.

The CAKE stat however, is entirely untrue. ^^

[Shamadconde]

Ya, I forgot about that. Sorry for any heart attacks I caused!

[ArmachiA]

The history of FFXI - good read if you want to know how things will most likely progress in FFXIV. The Beta was just as closed as FFXIV's!

 

http://jpbutton.bluegartr.com/?p=145

[Shamadconde]

WOW! We nonJPs really missed out on some awesomely bad stuff. It took them two weeks to open the AH? Probably so people would actually have stuff to sell but still.... My guess is we won't see the really good stuff until PS3 release. Oh well. IT WILL BE FUUUUUN!!!

[Kashemia]

Right now, the only real problem with the things they've said here is the mouse. It sucks when you can generally play the game on high settings, but still have to turn them down to low because your mouse lags <.< I REALLY hope they change their mind on that one.

 

Other than that, I'm ok. I agree with Asyria on the mana thing, and about the AH... I haven't been missing it. I actually enjoy walking around and browsing when people put up retainers, to me, it's far more immersive. I understand that people don't want to rp all the time, but it's not really about that, I just enjoy the feeling of it.

[Shamadconde]

Plus it doesn't give RMT something to manipulate and ruin things for us!

[Kylin]

More interview results Gamescon! (Posted on Zam)

 

4Gamer sat with Final Fantasy XIV developers Hiromichi Tanaka, Nobuaki Komoto and Sage Sundi to discuss the big changes coming for the open beta. Check out the details below:

 

Source: 4Gamer.net

 

* Many players are still requesting faster battles and quicker action, and the developers are working on fulfilling their wishes.

* So far, players are very happy with the ease of solo play. In FFXI, players complained they couldn't get parties, but in FFXIV, they don't even bother trying to join one.

* New types of Guildleve quests will open up for players as they increase in level.

* The open beta phase will last about 2-3 weeks. Tanaka believes they will be able to handle several hundred thousand players.

* The game currently has 10 servers, with more possibly planned for when service begins in September.

* The distance between each city-state is very far, allowing players to really explore the vast landscape of Eorzea for the first time. Getting to and from Limsa-Lominsa will require access to a ship.

* Once the open beta is complete, all data will be deleted. However the developers are hoping to allow players to retain their names for the release version.

* The game has been designed in a way that players cannot monopolize certain monsters in an area.

* A new version of the benchmark software is under development.

[Seraphine Felstar]

I'm glad they're releasing a new benchmark. It's very iffy at the moment if my laptop can handle the game after upgrading the processor. Apparently all I need is a dual core processor and my laptop is set, but doing so will void my warranty and might make it overhead. I don't want to risk that if I get better results with a new benchmark. At worse I'll have to steal Zane's computer when he's at work or not using it to play for the first month. After that we'll be able to afford a new computer for me, but why spend the money if I don't have to?

[Smiling River]

* So far, players are very happy with the ease of solo play. In FFXI, players complained they couldn't get parties, but in FFXIV, they don't even bother trying to join one.

Does this sound good to anyone? I loved the party system in XI, and this is coming from someone who played solo BST >.>

[Kashemia]

Does this sound good to anyone? I loved the party system in XI, and this is coming from someone who played solo BST >.>

 

I think they just wrote it in a bad way. It's not like you can't group anymore, you just don't have to. To me, it feels like most other games, I still prefer grouping because I have more fun that way, but I like being able to solo when there's no one online. I think it's fine that they're not forcing you to group all the time, so if there's no one online, you don't have to sit through a horrible group of rude people to get anything done at all.

 

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the news. I'm glad there's a good distance between the city states, and from what I've seen so far, the world appears to be without zoning (perhaps excelt for Limsa Lominsa), and I've missed that for many games!

[Asyria]

What Kashemia said. ^^

 

The mouse thing doesn't even bother me, personally. I learned to play with keyboard only. I used to be a clicker in every other mmo I played, but it only took me 2-3 days to convert to keyboard. I only use my mouse occasionally to target because Tab targeting is kinda weird. I think it has to do with facing and camera angle, so if you want Tab to target the closest mob, you kinda have to face it. It really should target the closest NPC/mod no matter what first, and go from there, and by closest I mean closest to your character.

 

Also, faster battles? I think it's fine as it is. It looked slow in the early videos that leaked out on youtube but as it is, the only thing slowing battle down is =sometimes- you run out of Stam but it goes back up pretty fast. Any faster and it will be a button-mashing fest.

 

Otherwise, looking good!

[Tadir]

Tab targeting works differently in this game than any I've seen. It selects from the point of view of the camera. The first time you hit tab it targets you. The second time it targets the character the closest pixel distance to the right from the center of your screen. The tabbing has nothing to do with your character or the ingame world. It's all about pixel distance from the center of the screen...which is stupid.

[Kashemia]

Yeah, the tab targeting is a big confusing. I agree that it doesn't work completely well, the way it targets, but I'm sure you can get used to it.

I usually only use my mouse to turn with, so I cna live with that too, though it's a bit of a pain when you have to chose something in the menu. Though if they get rid of the lag on the mouse, I'll likely use it to target mobs with more often too.

 

And I agree on the combat speed, I actually enjoy that it's not just button mashing, but a bit slower. Gives you time to think what is best doing in each situation.

[Asyria]

I seeeee.... well knowing that will help, thanks. ^^

But ya, it it kinda dumb. At least from our perspective. Maybe that's how they do it over there in Japan.

[Tadir]

I spent about half an hour last night figuring out the order for the tab targeting. As soon as I invert my camera controls it'll work fine. I'm getting used to it, and I stopped using the mouse.

 

As a caster I like the current battle speed.

[Nikolai]

they should at least put your retainer in a specific section based on what it's selling the most of' date=' so I can go browse the armor and weapons section for instance.[/quote']

 

Quoted for great justice, as they say!

 

Someone who can do so really should suggest that on the Beta Feedback forums.

 

Haha, I kinda just did. I'm tester639_45200. You guys should give my post a read and see if that sort of idea is what you're looking for, too, and if not, what would you change about it? I don't want it to just get buried by trolls. D:

 

Also, I really hope they don't increase the battle tempo too much. I think it's fine the way it is.

[Asyria]

More or less.

Your ides, while cool, sounds kinda complicated. It doesn't need to be all based on retainer interaction.

 

Simply, they could determine that Area X is for weapons and Area Y is for Armors, and Area Z is for Reageants and things like that.

 

That would already be a huge step in the right direction.

 

AH and Search functions are pretty dangerous for a server/game's economy, as it promotes a wealthy elite controlling the market by buying the lowest priced items and reselling them at a higher price, which can easily ruin a casual player's experience by making things that -should- be affordable too expensive for them.

[Nikolai]

Well then you should post that! Stir up some conversation and hopefully pique the interest of the devs, you know?

[Asyria]

I can't post, I don't have the rights.

Otherwise, I would have posted a while ago, on a lot of topics. ^^;

[Smiling River]

I think they just wrote it in a bad way. It's not like you can't group anymore, you just don't have to. To me, it feels like most other games, I still prefer grouping because I have more fun that way, but I like being able to solo when there's no one online. I think it's fine that they're not forcing you to group all the time, so if there's no one online, you don't have to sit through a horrible group of rude people to get anything done at all.

I don't think people will group if they don't have to. Maybe with friends for fun, but if I'm someone interested in leveling and I can do it alone at the same rate as in a group, who needs a group? I like the way it was in XI. You have to group most of the time for most jobs or else you die. Oh and the K.O. penalty was pretty brutal The spirit of coming together to accomplish anything gave XI a certain feel that other MMOs didn't have. The time I played around with a couple, they felt like single player games with chat boxes. I feel that solo play should basically be the worst option. I wouldn't have met a lot of cool people if I hadn't been partying all the time on some other jobs.

[Tadir]

There needs to be a significant advantage to grouping, but I don't think you should have to group to do anything. For me, that was the worst thing about FFXI. Sometimes I don't have four hours to dedicate to a group. The death penalty was also too extreme in FFXI. It kept people from trying new things and experimenting. That is bad in a game. You want people trying new things. If you are going to lose 3 hours of work for trying something different, even if it turns out that it would have been more effective, no one will do it.

[Asyria]

There's an important difference between encouraging something and penalizing people when they're not doing it.

FF XI penalized people for not grouping.

With FF XIV, SE wants to encourage grouping, which is a much better way to do things.

Everyone will tell you nowadays, positive reinforcement is much better than negative reinforcement.

The problem right now is that not only grouping isn't better, but soloing is better. They need to find a way to fix this without making soloing a pain in the behind.

Making grouping better by making it better as opposed to making it better by making soloing worse, you know?

[Kima wolf]

Yes they need to simply increase the bonuses on things like gil and skill points when in groups to make it more appealing, or give groups special leves specifically designed for groups, not just the star scaling thing, but leves which say "Warning! Bad ass Kobold stomping holes in people around Wineport! go investigate with a group!" lol not those words but things like that. sure you can try it solo, maybe even win, but most likely you'd die. It still wouldn't hurt soloers and would give a reason to group up.

[Kima wolf]

And also I wouldn't mind grinding sometime, but it seems like most enemies around the starter area simply are way too hard for one, two, heck even three lowbies to take. how about adding mobs which are challenging, but won't one shot you as soon as you step out of the city.

[Tadir]

I've had no problem with grinding as a conjurer.