FF XIV ONLINE - Anyone playing?

[PowerYoga]

I got the error 3012 like thousands of others so i did not have a chance to get anything done other than getting my first quests done and heading out of town before i got kicked out

I was one of the few lucky ones and didn't get that error on saturday night. Spent almost all day sunday crafting and running around, leveled a bunch of crafts to 15 and left off my gladiator at 18. I think it's ridiculous that they were managing the 3012 error manually though.... they had a forum thread that went to over 1k pages with people having issues.

Speaking of which, how do you guys tank? Just spam savage blade and flash, and pull with shield lob?

Not sure if fast blade + savage blade generates additional enmity? Seems like the combo is just a higher damage hit, but does the fast blade damage offset the enmity generated from losing a savage blade?

Also hate people who don't focus target. Had a satasha group yesterday where 2 rangers would just always hit whatever the hell they want and TP dump on bosses. Had the hardest time pulling aggro if I miss a savage blade.

 

[redrider4life4]

A few thoughts after playing this weekend:

I still am not 100% sure I am going to play this game on release, but just in case I:

1) Leveled Thaum and Arcanist to 20 for quicker BLM access, Arcanist feels more like an affliction lock than a summoner to be honest, the pet does everything for you and you just throw up DoT spells

2) This sort of relates to Yoga's comment about pulling aggro, in order for an arcanist to maintain highest dps in an instance you need to keep your Dot up on every mob, but it seems tanks don't have the capabilities to hold aggro if you do this. Maybe they just don't have their abilities yet, but it is what it is. By that same token I'd rather pull aggro with my DoTs so the healer can heal, I noticed a lot of tanks can't even get aggro off the healer.

3) I picked up mining/goldsmithing, I assume all gathering professions are as boring as mining. You just run around for countless hours right clicking or am I doing it wrong? None-theless it is pretty horrible, I think I liked fishing in ffxi better than this gathering system getting 125 xp per hit needing over 10k exp around level 10. It is surprisingly faster to level than I thought, but still very grindy. I find it surprising to be this grindy when the leveling system has no grind at all.

4) The storyline/class quests are still incredibly annoying, they requiring you to run back and forth across zones (yes you can teleport, but seeing how I don't know how much GIL I will need down the line I try to avoid using a 200gil teleport every time I need to travel. I like the story, but the running around is a bit excessive for level 15/20, I'd imagine at higher levels this will only get worse.

5) Instances are pretty good, I noticed they offer excellent exp if you do them when you are equal to the mob level. When I was 17 in Copper Bell i was getting 500-700 exp per mob and chaining, with a good party I can see this being better than FATEs for geared alts.

I tried to touch on as much as possible, it is a very good and polished game, there are obviously a lot of question marks about how everything will be late game, but only time will tell. I have to decide now if I want to continue my adventures.

 

[robvp]

Oop, was reading the wrong page

 

[gothamhunter]

I'm on Siren for those who are still looking for a server. Most others were full

 

[TheUnk]

4) The storyline/class quests are still incredibly annoying, they requiring you to run back and forth across zones (yes you can teleport, but seeing how I don't know how much GIL I will need down the line I try to avoid using a 200gil teleport every time I need to travel. I like the story, but the running around is a bit excessive for level 15/20, I'd imagine at higher levels this will only get worse.

You like the story? I found it incredibly slow and boring. Way way way too much time sitting there watching nothing happen most of the time. They could have told the same story in 1/4 of the time and avoided casting sleep on the player.

 

[TheUnk]

Speaking of which, how do you guys tank? Just spam savage blade and flash, and pull with shield lob?

Not sure if fast blade + savage blade generates additional enmity? Seems like the combo is just a higher damage hit, but does the fast blade damage offset the enmity generated from losing a savage blade?

Pretty much it so far.. I don't think the combo adds additional enmity.

Just sit there watching the enemy list to make sure they are all on you, throwing out flash when needed or a shield lob for one that runs off.

I found it actually pretty engaging when there are 4+ enemies, trying to keep them all on you.

Hopefully there will be much more to it later on though.

 

[Phobic9]

I had a fun time with the game. Maybe a bit too much considering I got all the mage classes to 20 along most of the other classes in the teens. As many as said, the game really isn't anything new but it's a refreshing twist for old EQ1 diehards like myself. Can't wait until the 24th personally.

 

[darkewaffle]

I love crafting. Made it to almost 20 BS/LW/CRP after I finished the story bit as Archer

I'm actually finding combat to be way more enjoyable as archer; while I think the 'combos' are a nice idea for melee, it becomes too monotonous. I'm pretty sure Pugilist doesn't work off of combos either so I'd like to give that a try at some point as well. Though as characters progress I think the ability to sub more class abilities (and earn more of their own) will likely really open the classes, for now you basically just have your 'one two punch' and some cooldowns.

I crashed more during this beta, but could be my drivers. I updated them for the first time in nearly a year a couple weeks ago. Did have a little bit of trouble logging into Leviathan (why my idiot friends went for Leviathan instead of Goblin I'll never know) but nothing major.

A few friends got the login error but they did manage to fix it Sunday night I believe and extended the uptime somewhat, most of them got quite a while to play anyway. I think all but one has enjoyed the game so far.

 

[pathos]

I'm actually finding combat to be way more enjoyable as archer; while I think the 'combos' are a nice idea for melee, it becomes too monotonous. I'm pretty sure Pugilist doesn't work off of combos either so I'd like to give that a try at some point as well. Though as characters progress I think the ability to sub more class abilities (and earn more of their own) will likely really open the classes, for now you basically just have your 'one two punch' and some cooldowns.

I'm playing a pugilist and got up to 14, I think ( had to work this weekend, so didn't get much playtime). Had gotten one up to 16 I think, on the previous beta's.

Pugilist has stances. You use 1 attack, and it moves you to the next stance. Then, an attack that only works with that stance opens up. When you use that attack, it moves you to a 3rd stance, where you get a different attack. So, when you use the 3rd attack,it moves you back to your base stance, where you start all over again.

Perhaps you get multiple attacks per stance, or perhaps more stances open up later on, I don't know. But, as it is, it's kind of like combos, and kind of not, i guess?

One thing I was reminded of during this beta, is that I really dislike newbie zones during launches. I stopped playing Sunday night when I ran out to a quest area to kill 4 mobs. The area spawns like 6-8 mobs of that type....there were no mobs up, and 10 people standing around, heh.

Alot of the quests like that have alternate spawn points (your quest tracker just doesn't bother to point them out to you). I don't remember any alternate spawn points for that particular mob though. I threw my hands up in the air and logged off for the night.

I really enjoy the game, and will definately play it, but I might just wait for a week or so, until at least some of the new players have a chance to clear out, at least a little.

 

[TheUnk]

One thing I was reminded of during this beta, is that I really dislike newbie zones during launches. I stopped playing Sunday night when I ran out to a quest area to kill 4 mobs. The area spawns like 6-8 mobs of that type....there were no mobs up, and 10 people standing around, heh.

Many of these types you don't have to be the one to tag the mob. As long as you help kill it you'll get credit towards the quest.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Many of these types you don't have to be the one to tag the mob. As long as you help kill it you'll get credit towards the quest.

This is true. I found this out, because I was getting annoyed too.

 

[PowerYoga]

Pretty much it so far.. I don't think the combo adds additional enmity.

Just sit there watching the enemy list to make sure they are all on you, throwing out flash when needed or a shield lob for one that runs off.

I found it actually pretty engaging when there are 4+ enemies, trying to keep them all on you.

Hopefully there will be much more to it later on though.

Found some more information on that... Enmity on savage blade is is 3x the damage dealt, so it behooves you to use the fast blade -> savage blade combo for extra damage instead of just spamming it.

 

[TheUnk]

Found some more information on that... Enmity on savage blade is is 3x the damage dealt, so it behooves you to use the fast blade -> savage blade combo for extra damage instead of just spamming it.

Good to know! Some of the abilities need better tooltips it seems.

Do you know more details on what the indicators mean by the enemy list?

Flashing red
Yellow up arrow
Yellow down arrow
Green

Red is when they are attacking you, but does the flashing mean anything?
Yellow is they are attacking another, but what does the arrow mean?
Green seems to be when they aren't attacking anyone

 

[PowerYoga]

Good to know! Some of the abilities need better tooltips it seems.

Do you know more details on what the indicators mean by the enemy list?

Flashing red
Yellow up arrow
Yellow down arrow
Green

Red is when they are attacking you, but does the flashing mean anything?
Yellow is they are attacking another, but what does the arrow mean?
Green seems to be when they aren't attacking anyone

Flashing means the mob is on you, attacking you. Yellow up is you're 80-90% to the tank's enmity, yellow is around 50-80, and green means you're below 50%. I just read about this yesterday and it's super cool that SE built the aggro meter into the game already.

 

[redrider4life4]

Has anyone been able to register for the pre-order? I ordered from greenman gaming (for 22.50) and they sent me my 18 digit code. I followed the instructions to the pre-order site, but when inputting the code it says it isn't valid.

 

[PowerYoga]

don't work for me either. But then I'm a little suspect of the EU link at "http://preorder.eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/us".

 

[redrider4life4]

Posts on reddit confirm their site is overloaded and having issues so we aren't the only ones. The site is correct, all of them end in .eu apparently, it is the /us at the end that matters for different countries

 

[PowerYoga]

yup... i talked to the GMG support and they said its likely AAR pre-register site just isn't taking the codes yet and just wait 2 hours.

 

[robvp]

from the beta woes and the registration code issues, seems like SE has not provisioned for the high amount of traffic this will cause them, i hope the prelaunch goes fine and i can finally log on and play a bit, been waiting for this since the servers closed last year

 

[CrowDog]

Mine wont work either. I bought a few weeks ago off the SE site and Im trying to use the product code that came in the order confirmation email. I'm not feeling good about it though because my CC hasn't even been charged yet nor do I see any recent activity on my bank account from SE.

Is it just me or is SE's account management some of the worst ever? I cant even find a customer support phone number on their website. There no phone number that came in the email either...

 

[darkewaffle]

from the beta woes and the registration code issues, seems like SE has not provisioned for the high amount of traffic this will cause them, i hope the prelaunch goes fine and i can finally log on and play a bit, been waiting for this since the servers closed last year

While I want the game to succeed, too many servers can be harmful as well and building your infrastructure for launch is just going to result in a lot of wasted resources once the honeymoon ends. SWTOR had that problem; any 'big' MMO is going to be overloaded on launch because of the "fad" nature of the market in recent years. The thing is that only lasts for a month or two and then those crowds move on, post bad reviews, and start overhyping the next big thing

What's crucial is that once that happens, there still needs to be enough "regular" players on the servers so that they still feel 'populated'. If players can't find other players, it's just a domino effect of people leaving. Though since the Duty Finder ("LFG" tool) is cross-server that should help, but you still need people using the market board, levelling classes, doing quests and FATEs.

I almost think it's better to 'tough it out' for a little while than risk spreading people out too much.

 

[PowerYoga]

Is it just me or is SE's account management some of the worst ever? I cant even find a customer support phone number on their website. There no phone number that came in the email either...

Yes. Square's been improving but upper management is certainly not one of them.

There's some obscure link on the help page that lets you send them an e-mail though, but the response is hellishly slow.

If you're going to ask about the code, just wait a few hours. You have until the 24th anyway.

 

[robvp]

Square enix has the worst customer service i have ever experienced, took me forever to find a link to contact them and then they took their sweet time to respond and actually fix my issue (couldnt link my POL ID to SE account)
I have friends who reported their accounts hacked and years later the issue is "still being investigated"

When i called blizzard for my hacked account i was up and running within 10 minutes, when i had to remove sms protect because of phone loss it took 3 emails back and forth within the same day

Still, i enjoyed ffxi for the most part and want ffxiv to be successful, but they need to up their customer support

 

[nanobreath]

Many of these types you don't have to be the one to tag the mob. As long as you help kill it you'll get credit towards the quest.

What is really amazing, is that this is really the first MMO I know of to do this. It's so ingrained in an MMO players brain that if you don't tag the monster you don't get credit that I've noticed people will always pass up helping me to go kill another spawn. Hopefully people will learn the way FFXI will give credit to anybody helping kill a monster and this should really help the whole camping for spawns issue.

 

[nanobreath]

Don't know if anybody else has paid attention to their "Hunter's Log". Each class/job you play has a list of monsters at east level you can hunt. Kill a certain number of them and you get bonus experience. It's basically an achievement system, but you get experience for it instead of just a shiny check mark. You have to complete the 1st hunting log which goes to about level 10 before you unlock the 2nd tier. These hunting logs can be very beneficial for gaining needed experience. The logs are different for each class you play. The default hot key for the log is "H". Hopefully this informs somebody else who missed this.