Now that we're in Open Beta, what do you think?

[Samriel]

Hey guys,

 

There are a lot of people playing the Open Beta, so I was wondering what you all think about the game?

 

Any opinion you might have, share it with us!

 

I got my opinion, for now, I'm pretty sceptic about the game to be honest but because I haven't played that much, compared to years of other games, I can't -really- judge yet.

 

From the start of playing, I got this overwhelming feeling that I did not like this game at all. The character creation really let me down because I'm very fond of Roleplaying young characters (kids and teens mostly). Though I really really love a variaty of characters, usually a bit 'weird' characters, I didn't get this with the game. I didn't like most races except for Hyur. All the others are pretty much out of the question for me. So my biggest problem is really with the characters. Also see my post in this thread: http://www.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1323

 

My second little thing is the gameplay. I don't like the playstyle. It's not the way of combat, but everything in general. I will get used to most things, but the UI for example, it just doesn't work for me. It's more of a feeling then a fact to be honest, can't explain it in a good way.

 

Offcourse, the game looks great, but even though my expectations weren't high, I kept myself from expecting a lot of good things, I still got very dissapointed with it. I just think it's not the right game for me.

 

I'm sorry for ranting, but I have to start with my own opinion right?

 

Very curious about other opinions though! And who knows? Maybe, when I've spend some more time in the game, my opinion will change. I'm going to try and play a Highlander, even though I'm not fond of 'manlike-characters', so who knows ^^

 

- Sam :moogle:

[falcolas]

I'm a bit frustrated that I can only run this at half buffer size on my brand new gaming laptop. Makes everything look, frankly, terrible. After all the beautiful images coming out of SE and the folks in betas, this is a real downer.

 

The play style is definitely different, and I would have appreciated a bit more modern control scheme (such as a hardware mouse)... but I can work with it.

 

What's really frustrating me is how much lag affects gameplay. Every single action seems to need to take a round trip to SE, and that means I can't tell if a button press was registered for a good couple of seconds sometimes.

[Vareal]

  \ said:

My second little thing is the gameplay. I don't like the playstyle. It's not the way of combat' date=' but everything in general. I will get used to most things, but the UI for example, it just doesn't work for me. It's more of a feeling then a fact to be honest, can't explain it in a good way.[/quote']

 

 

Compared to the UI in FFXI, XIV's is a godsend. I actually like the gameplay in this game far better than most (the top, in my book, being AoC) The ONLY negative thing I have against the game play is how long it takes to get to and from combat mode. It might be taking longer than it should do to a input lag via a server lag, but oh well if it is and oh well if it isn't.

 

I've heard a lot, and I mean a LOT, of people complain about the mouse controls. Yes, they're a little sluggish and I hope that by launch they'll give us a sensitivity option and, hopefully again, they'll work out the targeting issue with the mouse pointer. But over all I'm pretty gosh darn satisfied with this game and I can see myself playing it for a long time. I have to beat my Lineage 2 record for longest MMO played. That and I'd really like to experience the end game content of this one.

 

The other thing I've run into, and this is only in the first quest "The Color of Sin", is in one part of the quest the description of what you're supposed to do is extremely vague and I almost got to the point of pulling my hair out because I didn't know what to do. (This is in Gridania, btw, and here's the link to my thread on how to get past that part: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1305) But, this is Square we're talking about and much like FFXI, I imagine the wiki will become everyone's best friend.

 

As far as character creation goes, I'm not sure about being able to make a teen or a child, but I'm almost sure that the options we're given in these beta's aren't the full options they'll give us upon launch.

 

Anyway, that's my 2-cents and I'll shut up now.

[Nbokkri]

Short and sweet:

The game requires about another 6 months of development. They aren't done and won't be until well after launch.

[Samriel]

To be honest, I couldn't care less about the UI and all that. Got no problems with the mouse by the way, works fine for me, had to get used to it but got it quickly :approve:

 

My main concern is and always will be with MMORPG's, Roleplay roleplay roleplay, RP RP and more RP. I play games just for that. I played WoW, EQ2, AION and many more for that. ''That Feeling'' is the thing I usually have with games. I even had it with Warhammer for example, it was a nice game, loved the dwarves.

 

I know we will propably have more options at release. I mean, look at 'body types' for example, they do absolutely nothing to change your customization, yet they are there. Maybe they will add body types like skinny, athletic, muscular and fat or something, just to name 4 basic ones. If we can get skinny, I'm happy with my char.

 

I actually had a idea for that. Sliders, like in AION. But only for Height, Weight and Muscle-mass (or something alike). That way, you can create a skinny kiddo (yay for me!), a athletic looking dude or lass, a muscular warrior, a heavy lady or something in between. This would add a lot more variaty in the characters.

 

Because now, when I enter the game, I will see at least 3 or 4 clones of me.

 

So, hoping they will add more options with the official release. I'm keeping my opinion for now as it is, maybe it changes along the way of playing open beta. Who knows.

 

- Sam :moogle:

 

edit:

 

  Quote

Short and sweet:

The game requires about another 6 months of development. They aren't done and won't be until well after launch.

 

Straight to the point, plain and simple, short and sweet and absolutely right. I don't think I know any game that changed, in a good way, after the release etc.

 

By the way, I know this is just a (open-)Beta, I suspect some people would go and point that out sooner or later.

 

- Sam with another :moogle:

[Nbokkri]

  \ said:

I don't think I know any game that changed' date=' in a good way, after the release etc.[/quote']

 

FFXI did and there are pleanty of other examples as well. I think the game will eventually become amazing, but how long will we have to wait? I think things would have been much better off if they had waited until the PS3 launch date and did a simultaneous release. There are just too many promised features and things that are missing to really ship the game. But who knows? They could surprise us.

 

Of course that wouldn't get me to recommend my friends to buy the game lol. I always say:

 

"Never buy an MMO on release, wait 6-month to a year to see where it ends up"

 

I never listen to myself, but if I had I would have saved a lot of money by now ._.

[Samriel]

  \ said:

  Quote

I don't think I know any game that changed' date=' in a good way, after the release etc.[/quote']

 

FFXI did and there are pleanty of other examples as well. I think the game will eventually become amazing, but how long will we have to wait? I think things would have been much better off if they had waited until the PS3 launch date and did a simultaneous release. There are just too many promised features and things that are missing to really ship the game. But who knows? They could surprise us.

 

Of course that wouldn't get me to recommend my friends to buy the game lol. I always say:

 

"Never buy an MMO on release, wait 6-month to a year to see where it ends up"

 

I never listen to myself, but if I had I would have saved a lot of money by now ._.

 

OOPS! I actually meant, I don't think I know any game that DIDN'T change!

[Tadir]

*Chuckle*

 

Small slips can make fools of us all. That didn't totally changes the meaning.

[FreelanceWizard]

Honestly, I'm really torn. I have a pretty serious gaming system here (Core i7-930 and a GTX 470), and the game is pretty laggy. Some of it's graphics related (the lift in Limsa turns the game into a slideshow), and some of it is the well-known input lag. Input lag isn't tremendously bad on some characters and in some games, but this game has a bit of a twitch component to it -- so the lag absolutely must be addressed. My sincere hope is that we're seeing this because the servers are overloaded (or being intentionally underpowered, as they did in CoH beta for stress testing) and the graphics engine is running in its debug mode. I may try turning down my graphics settings to see if I can get the right balance of playability and speed for beta.

 

As for the game play, I like the concept of the guildleves; they remind me a lot of the radio/newspaper missions in CoH, and they're great for some "instant action." I hope there's more standard questing that's just been disabled for beta, though, because one cannot live on guildleves alone. My hopes are raised by the fact that some of the NPCs seem to have quest lead-in text, but just aren't giving out quests at the moment.

 

I can't really evaluate combat that well due to all of the lag. I will say that the active/passive switching isn't very intuitive, nor are the cooldowns or casting times. I didn't particularly like playing my Pugilist for this reason. On the other hand, I love the fact that the UI focuses your attention on the middle of the screen. It improves situational awareness and keeps your eyes on the cool animations.

 

So, right now, I'm going to say it's a rough beta, but I'm holding out hope. I don't see any of the egregious game balance issues yet that, say, CO had during its beta (and still has). I'm about, oh, 50-60% convinced that I should preorder.

 

But, damn, is the game beautiful.

[Tagyr]

They are adjusting a lot of the game to allow PS3 owners. This means weird controls and the text being reduced to an annoying level.

 

Lag is annoying as a caster. As doing something while casting (like hitting another skill) cancels my cast. I've had points where I thought I had a cast off, but turns out it wasn't out quite yet. Not uncommon as an Australian based player. But if everyone else is feeling it, that's something that will hopefully change.

 

Character creation is a little limited, but enough to get some fun combinations. Just that people tend to sway toward the more popular choices so clones do appear a fair bit. But this is an MMO in any case. Doesn't help everyone is running around in beginner gear to help with the picture that you can't really be unique as you'd hope. But the differences are there, however slight (like height choice).

 

Overall they have the MMO stamp of "Still needs work". But can't think of any MMO that was perfect off the top of my head. Even WoW had to be turned on its head before becoming enjoyable for some. People who played paladins during MC raiding days would know what I mean.

 

Just depends how SE will go around it. But I have faith.

 

Good things now...

 

It's a beautiful game that is freaking huge.

 

RP possibilities are there. Reason I came to this game, probably reason I'll stay if all goes well.

 

Character creation doesn't phase me much since I picked a race that is not popular

 

So all in all I have hopes it will improve like all MMOs tend to. And I hope that I can get a chocobo sometime....I see them and I want!

[Samriel]

Agreed and agreed with both two posts above me! :bounce:

 

I, for one, played WoW and I actually played a Human kid there, so I can work my way around the characters and use my imagination for the rest. But, I do have my hopes we get some more character customizations!

 

Anyhow, I will spend some more hours in the Beta tomorrow, my opinion hasn't really changed tonight, though I do see plenty of options, still miss 'the feeling' I wanna get with games. But again, who knows!

 

- Sam :moogle:

[shotgunbadger]

I'm pretty pleased, actually!

 

There needs to be some polish, of course, and like all MMOs it's never going to be perfect and the chances of it having a picture perfect launch are pretty much the same as me growing a third arm that can feed me chips while I game, it'd be freaking awesome but I won't lose sleep hoping for it.

 

I think this game has a lot more RP ability then XI did, and with the community being so organized and ready to join the game I have a very good feeling RP will be a key part of the gameplay experience.

 

The whole thing feels so...organic is the best word for it. I don't have to go home and talk to a flying midget to stop punching orcs and start slinging magic, I just put my fist weapons away, grab my magic-stick, and just blast away. The world feels very immersible, which is kinda Square's thing. Crafting is very natural and fun to do, instead of just watching my character stare at a glowing rock for a bit.

 

Stability needs work, but it always does, and I'm one of those people who will never say there's enough customization options.

 

All that said, I give it a good solid B, room for improvement, not perfect, but far from being a bad thing, and the organic feel of the world and gameplay makes you forgive the negative at times.

[Asytra]

I've been trying to get into this beta for a LOOONG time as I was really interested in seeing what the Miqo'te were like. I've been wanting to play a "neko" in a AAA MMORPG and this is really the first one that's got it right. I know FFXI had the Mithra but they were more beast-like than a traditional neko, which is cool, I like that Square tries to do new things now and then.

 

It seems to me that the Miqo'te take some inspiration from the Native Americans which I find really cool. (I.E. Were predominantly nomadic tribes-people that followed the herds they hunted, good with shortbows, etc... even the name sounds like it... )

 

Anyways upon getting in and after that first intro cutscene and running around the starter city for the first time I was totally hooked. When I saw characters give facial expressions conveying convincing emotions in in-game cutscenes I was even more hooked. I love all the clothing options, they are all so well done and move so realistically. Then I tried the gathering mini-games and now I've totally fallen for it. The gameworld is SO packed full of detail. Just all the little things I keep noticing gives me a magical feeling, something that as an MMO vet I haven't felt in years. Maybe not since when I got my YT-1300 in pre-CU SWG and decorated it up for an RP hub for a group of friends...

 

The combat seems fine to me but I've only got a few abilities so I can't really tell. I DO love that you are "locked on" to your target and because of this it actually appears that you are hitting, and being hit by the enemy. This is something sorely lacking from MMOs.

 

My biggest complaints have to do with the unfriendly UI and lack of hardware cursor. I'm not sure how I feel about the XP system, but the penalty seems unfair to paying subscribers. Since I am planning on taking three jobs out the door I will have my mits full but I don't like a system that has lots of people reconsidering a purchase of what seems to be one of the better MMOs that's come out in a very long time.

 

I also hate hate hate UI and crafting lag. I really hope this gets fixed before release.

[EDEN]

Ya I haven't yet seen a clone of my characters though I do tend to lean towards the gruff bearded manly men and most seem to enjoy playing as eleven sophisticated types and tidus clones...woot for muttonchops :afro: if only we had this hair option

[Rhio]

It has some problems, definitely. But as I've said before and elsewhere, this is significantly better than the game I had envisioned, and I'm in love with it. Now if we could just get some useful vendors for armor and shields, we'd be golden.

 

And yes, the UI lag is a bit of a problem. But that's one of those things that always gets refined and worked on as time goes by. I'm not too distressed by that.

[Asytra]

Just officially preordered the CE!

 

I still had $20 credit from buying Red Dead Redemption on Amazon.com and release date shipping was only $.99 for me so since Amazon doesn't charge you tax it ended up being $56 for me. :cheer:

 

I swear there's no point to go to Game Stop anymore... sides the only one in my town is in a mall that doesn't open till 10am and never does midnight releases.

 

Also what happend to that tumbler cup thingie? I thought that was in the CE?

[Rhio]

  Quote

Also what happend to that tumbler cup thingie? I thought that was in the CE?

 

To the best of my knowledge, the CE always contained an early release, a security token, a little certificate you get mailed, an early release, an artbook, exclusive box art, an early release, a pre-order item, an early release, an early release, the game itself, and an early release.

 

I paid $50 extra two get two copies eight days early. I have worked very hard on trying to regret this decision and have not yet done so.

[Samriel]

  Quote

Ya I haven't yet seen a clone of my characters though I do tend to lean towards the gruff bearded manly men and most seem to enjoy playing as eleven sophisticated types and tidus clones...woot for muttonchops :afro: if only we had this hair option

 

This, is approved with a big stamp of awesomeness. *places stamp*

 

I love to hear people who like manly characters, big and tough with beards and all Because I pretty much always play girly, boy-characters. If not, total weirdos.

 

Anyhow, going into the beta again and play for some more hours today! See if anything changes for me. And most importantly for me; Can I play my Miqo'te as a male, or young boy?

[Lunaticked]

I enjoy it. I love to walk around and take in the sights.

 

My issues though..

 

I NEED RP. Need it. And one person trying the beta who was interested in RP'ing with me decided not to because there wasn't around room to type out anything meaningful. This character limit on what we can say in a single message is ridiculously small. There is no room to form a coherent thought, nevermind a small paragraph.

 

 

Synthesis needs a tutorial.

 

 

The entire UI really needs an overhaul and some degree of customization.

 

 

I have no idea what monsters I can fight and which will do 2500 damage to me in a single shot if I so much as look at them wrong.

[Samriel]

Completely agree with you, Luna. I'm also in the need of RP!

 

I've been walking around in Girdania (that's how you spell it right?) and sitting at the little lake near the Chocobo stables a bit.

 

Should you see me around; Samaeriel , a Miqo'te (though my char is a boy pretending to be a girl!) with messy, dark blue hair ^^ Always in for some RP, because that's how I get to know the game better!

[Lunaticked]

  Quote

Should you see me around; Samaeriel , a Miqo'te (though my char is a boy pretending to be a girl!) with messy, dark blue hair ^^ Always in for some RP, because that's how I get to know the game better!

 

Could designate that spot a mini RP meetup area, actually. It gets foot traffic, but if people are sitting around it, could indicate "Hey! RPers!"

[Samriel]

  Quote

  Quote

Should you see me around; Samaeriel , a Miqo'te (though my char is a boy pretending to be a girl!) with messy, dark blue hair ^^ Always in for some RP, because that's how I get to know the game better!

 

Could designate that spot a mini RP meetup area, actually. It gets foot traffic, but if people are sitting around it, could indicate "Hey! RPers!"

 

Yep! Good idea! It's the little lake just off the Adventure Guild thing in Girdania, pretty much one of the first places you will pass along your ways while questing in the city. But I'm propably changing my character soon-ish again, the name doesn't suit the race in my opinion. And maybe another city, I'm oblivious of all the other spots we could use to 'hang out' as Roleplayers.

[Lunaticked]

I'm actually parked there right now, watching people go by.

 

Well, if you head to the big U I can hang with you on Rev, but Farah's staying in the wonderful place of trees and happy and green stuff.

[Zyrusticae]

Heh, my first post here as a complete an total newbie to the Final Fantasy MMO universe:

 

- Crafting drives me up the friggin' walls. I kinda like the fact that most people won't see equipment upgrades until they're well into their teen levels, as it makes them a really big deal compared to, well, every MMO out there, but OHMYGOD could they have made it ANY more newbie-unfriendly?! I predict a huge falloff as players just try to get into it and FAIL and FAIL and FAIL and FAIL and FAIL SOME MORE FOOL over and over and over and over again. It's ridiculous. There's no curve to it whatsoever. It's completely, unfailingly unintuitive and completely, unfailingly unforgiving. If Square is serious about drawing customers that were turned away by FFXI they have GOT to do something about crafting, especially since it's the ONLY way to get new gear.

 

- The game requires a gamepad. Absolutely no question, you will not be able to enjoy this game with a mouse and keyboard. Or, rather, your experience will be completely compromised without one. It's possible to enjoy it that way, but I'd rather run far, far away than contend with the horrible UI lag with a mouse and keyboard.

 

- You have to make macros to quick-switch classes. I'm just... scratching my head with this one. You have to make macros. Or else you get to manually, slowly, painfully reassign every single action every time you switch classes. Which, uh, kinda defeats the purpose of such a feature in the first place, doesn't it? ...I think the UI designer at Squeenix needs to be replaced. ASAP. Seriously. Too much fail here. It's inexcusable.

 

- Guidleves. I don't quite understand them. I mean, I understand they work best in groups so you can just keep chucking out quest after quest, but the loooong cooldown and the automatic failure on disconnect (lol, and with a game that crashes this often) is pretty, well, unforgiving.

 

These things aside, though, my impressions are largely positive. But then, I have a high tolerance for BS (hell, I played APB for about 400 hours over the entirety of closed beta and the first month of release...), and I can see many things that will turn off less-hardcore players, which is a bad thing as that's exactly the customer base Squeenix was trying to attract with XIV in the first place. But, well, I can see myself getting into it, as the ambiance and the immersion and everything is more well-done than any game I've played in recent memory. Just have to get past those little niggles...

 

And the crafting. Oh, boy, the crafting...

[Magnus]

  Quote

I have no idea what monsters I can fight and which will do 2500 damage to me in a single shot if I so much as look at them wrong.

 

 

I lol'd when I got killed in one shot by a goat standing outside the city entrance.

 

 

Other than that I don't really have an issue with anything yet. The targeting in combat has a learning curve, and coming from WoW I really miss my jump. Running into dividers in town and not being able to jump over them is bothersome. "look its a hand rail. I'll be the gentleman and go around" But really I just want to jump over it.