FF XIV ONLINE - Anyone playing?

[pandemonium]

The "skillchain" system, battle regimens, worked just fine from the beginning if you learned how to use them and your party was on the ball. However the interface for it was clunky, and of course the game was so bogged down with other problems that most people didn't ever bother trying to figure out how to properly use it or got frustrated trying to use it. That being said...while battle regimens were awesome as far as DPS increase and mob debuffs if used correctly, the entire system was kinda bleh as far as being fun to use. They removed battle regimens from the game many patches ago though, and no word yet what they're gonna do to replace it (if anything) other than the self-combos. IIRC the self-combos aren't necessarily set in stone atm either.

No, they didn't actually work. You could initiate and execute battle regimens, but no additional effect was produced from beta->2 months of release (about when I quit). I tried, as well as others I played with. All of the Japanese that I was playing with also confirmed it not working. That was one of the several things that was only partially developed and in the game at the time.

 

[darkewaffle]

Got an email about a new patch today, 1.21. I like that they're adding some of the classic FF jobs to XIV but the system sounds a bit convoluted with the relationship between "jobs" and "classes" sounding kind of strange to someone who hasn't played lately.

It sounds like it's kind of intended to emulate the job/subjob system in FFXI, though a bit more locked down. I loved the job system in XI but it definitely created some unforeseen balance issues, so I can see why they'd take this approach.

 

[manimal]

Light SC ; ;



How I miss thee.

FF11 will go down for me as the greatest and last MMO I really played.

Any of you guys play on siren in the old days?


If only they could use the 14 engine on 11...

 

[Imported]

I was on Garuda which then got merged into Lakshmi. 11 with the 14 engine would have been awesome.

 

[darkewaffle]

Pandemonium the very first time at US release, at which point I absolutely hated the game lol, it was brutal for someone relatively new to MMOs and everyone I wanted to play with was already quite a bit ahead of me. Plus they sucked at explaining anything

Hades later and totally fell for the game my second time around, real life intervened, and then started again later on Cerberus, which unexpectedly was the server Hades had been merged with anyway.

 

[pandemonium]

I'm glad you're enjoying it this time around! I haven't given it another chance since I played when NA beta/release was (aside from logging in occassionally to show how graphically awesome it was to a few friends every now and then).

You're absolutely right about it being a brutal game to be your first as an MMO. The FF MMOs weren't designed for ease into the genre, but once you get used to the controls, UI, and gameplay they have some amazingly breathtaking moments; skillchains, landscapes, sunrises, NM fights, small details like dust flow from opening doors, challenging puzzles and mazes, and actually captivating storylines that weren't written by cheesy game plot designers.

FFXI will always have a special place in my gaming heart. The challenge of building parties and pushing your limits to advance your jobs in exp runs I especially enjoyed. Of all the MMOs I've played with a structured class system, the Samurai is absolutely my favorite hands down and I doubt another will ever reach that bar of awesomeness that was set.

 

[tedrodai]

No, they didn't actually work. You could initiate and execute battle regimens, but no additional effect was produced from beta->2 months of release (about when I quit). I tried, as well as others I played with. All of the Japanese that I was playing with also confirmed it not working. That was one of the several things that was only partially developed and in the game at the time.

Look, there were a lot of bad things about the game out of the gate, and the battle regimen GUI and keyboard interface was 1 of them, but they WORKED and produced the desired effects when used properly from the time the game was released (most reliable method was to use a macro with "/br on/off" and whatever WS/spell you wanted to use). If someone missed an attack in the middle of the BR, it would mess up the sequence, however all these effects could be produced:

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/topics/detail?id=29c4026362c3cb8add98892a8b84d9ed371bd789

Our LS would use a rotation of 2 BR setups.
1) All physical DD would put up their normal attack and 1 magic user would put up a normal magick attack at the end. This would stack both the "normal attack > normal attack" and "normal attack > magic attack" to give the mob both the -phys def and -mag def debuffs.
2) All physical DD would put up a WS (never 2 from same class back to back), with mages stacking their spells on at the end. Damage would be increased for every person in the chain (unless someone missed somewhere in the lineup). WS5 would get a bigger boost than WS4, which got a bigger boost than WS3, etc, etc. And the spells tacked on at the end would keep damage boost going. You could technically do spells then WS, but it was far easier to do the WS first. Heck, anyone performing a WS or getting a spell off while the BR was currently executing would get the current DMG boost as well, they just wouldn't add to the DMG boost.

That simple rotation absolutely murdered mobs. Even the simplest -phys def or -mag def debuff would help out a lot. For the damage BR, if you used the minimum abilities needed, say "WS1 > WS2 > Spell", you wouldn't notice a huge damage increase. But if you got most of a 15 person group (max group size at the time) in on it, and no one missed, players could be hitting for ~1-2k towards the end of the sequence on the huge "end-game" NMs.

You can look up quite a few vids on youtube showing people using them as early as beta (with various levels of effectiveness). In fact, here's one I found posted by some folks that used to be in one of my LS's (albeit in December):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USdsiKuuJEY

 

[PowerYoga]

FF11 was one of my first MMORPGs, but it was already fairly mature when it was released to the NA audience. It was filled with a lively world of conflict and had an economic system that actually worked, and the story was gripping to say the least.

FF14 had no life in the world. It was boring. To be fair, it was probably more of a late alpha build that was nowhere near ready for prime time. But in this day and age, where MMORPGs get exactly ONE chance to launch, FF14 has missed the boat.

With GW2 and Diablo3 coming out very soon, I can't imagine people wanting to go back to FF14 unless they are truly diehards or they really like catgirls.

 

[imagoon]

FF11 was one of my first MMORPGs, but it was already fairly mature when it was released to the NA audience. It was filled with a lively world of conflict and had an economic system that actually worked, and the story was gripping to say the least.

FF14 had no life in the world. It was boring. To be fair, it was probably more of a late alpha build that was nowhere near ready for prime time. But in this day and age, where MMORPGs get exactly ONE chance to launch, FF14 has missed the boat.

With GW2 and Diablo3 coming out very soon, I can't imagine people wanting to go back to FF14 unless they are truly diehards or they really like catgirls.

Hey Hey. I logged in just to get my catgirl a swimsuit. <cough nerd cough>

 

[PowerYoga]

Hey Hey. I logged in just to get my catgirl a swimsuit. <cough nerd cough>

so did I. <cough>

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Who doesn't like cargirls?

 

[darkewaffle]

FF11 was one of my first MMORPGs, but it was already fairly mature when it was released to the NA audience. It was filled with a lively world of conflict and had an economic system that actually worked, and the story was gripping to say the least.

FF14 had no life in the world. It was boring. To be fair, it was probably more of a late alpha build that was nowhere near ready for prime time. But in this day and age, where MMORPGs get exactly ONE chance to launch, FF14 has missed the boat.

With GW2 and Diablo3 coming out very soon, I can't imagine people wanting to go back to FF14 unless they are truly diehards or they really like catgirls.

While I think GW2 and D3 will be successful, I also don't think they're really in the same niche as FF. I think FFXI still has players because they decided to take an 'online multiplayer game' and go in a direction with it that's still fairly unique to this day. FFXIV has little chance of ever getting the numbers of WoW or probably even SWTOR, and even with a perfect launch I don't think it would have, but I think they can definitely succeed in carving out their own niche in the industry once more.

I mean I think there's a lot of people who loved XI but accept it's essentially an end of life product at this point, and a lot of those people still want to love XIV. If SE can deliver (and personally I think a lot of their proposed ideas for XIV 2.0 sound very promising) then I think they can re-capture a lot of those folks, myself included.

Also when I mentioned Pandemonium earlier I meant that was the first XI server I played on, I didn't mean to make it sound like I was addressing pandemonium the poster

 

[PowerYoga]

While I think GW2 and D3 will be successful, I also don't think they're really in the same niche as FF. I think FFXI still has players because they decided to take an 'online multiplayer game' and go in a direction with it that's still fairly unique to this day. FFXIV has little chance of ever getting the numbers of WoW or probably even SWTOR, and even with a perfect launch I don't think it would have, but I think they can definitely succeed in carving out their own niche in the industry once more.

I mean I think there's a lot of people who loved XI but accept it's essentially an end of life product at this point, and a lot of those people still want to love XIV. If SE can deliver (and personally I think a lot of their proposed ideas for XIV 2.0 sound very promising) then I think they can re-capture a lot of those folks, myself included.

Also when I mentioned Pandemonium earlier I meant that was the first XI server I played on, I didn't mean to make it sound like I was addressing pandemonium the poster

In general, I think FF11 was the last "hardcore" MMORPG that was successful. It was never a wow killer, and I don't think FF14 was touted as a "wow killer" either. Part of its success is due to a large loyal japanese fanbase. FF14 does not enjoy the same fanbase, and a lot of things that made FF11 game successful is quite simply not there in FF14.

2.0 sounds promising, but unless 2.0 is truly breathtaking and leaps and bounds beyond what other mmorpgs that are coming out (tera for example) has to offer, there's not going to be many people who are still interested. Now the PS3 launch might grab some attention, but that'll be mostly for the japanese consumers.

And catgirls will always have a loyal following regardless of what you do.

 

[darkewaffle]

2.0 sounds promising, but unless 2.0 is truly breathtaking and leaps and bounds beyond what other mmorpgs that are coming out (tera for example) has to offer, there's not going to be many people who are still interested. Now the PS3 launch might grab some attention, but that'll be mostly for the japanese consumers.

I think that's making a false assumption that Tera (or any forthcoming game for that matter) will actually deliver on whatever it's promising. Or rather what customers believe it's promising

I don't know that you can actually release an MMO (or even a game in some ways) that the 'people' will respond positively to now because the community is so wrapped up in it's 'duty' to 'make developers accountable' so every flaw is put under an enormous magnifying glass and any eager praise is dismissed as fanboyism or bias. I actually won't really be surprised if GW2 and D3 themselves actually become victims of their own hype much like SWTOR has; solid products plagued by users with absurd expectations.

 

[PowerYoga]

I think that's making a false assumption that Tera (or any forthcoming game for that matter) will actually deliver on whatever it's promising. Or rather what customers believe it's promising

I don't know that you can actually release an MMO (or even a game in some ways) that the 'people' will respond positively to now because the community is so wrapped up in it's 'duty' to 'make developers accountable' so every flaw is put under an enormous magnifying glass and any eager praise is dismissed as fanboyism or bias. I actually won't really be surprised if GW2 and D3 themselves actually become victims of their own hype much like SWTOR has; solid products plagued by users with absurd expectations.

It has the benefit of having already been released in Korea and a lot of the major bugs have been hammered out. Most of the korean MMORPGs that have been released in the states have been stable from what I've experienced.

And frankly, MMORPG communities will always have vocal pockets that are terribly upset with the game. It's up to you to sift through the bullshit. In the case of FF14, most of the outcry just turned out to be true.

 

[tedrodai]

I don't know that you can actually release an MMO (or even a game in some ways) that the 'people' will respond positively to now because the community is so wrapped up in it's 'duty' to 'make developers accountable' so every flaw is put under an enormous magnifying glass and any eager praise is dismissed as fanboyism or bias. I actually won't really be surprised if GW2 and D3 themselves actually become victims of their own hype much like SWTOR has; solid products plagued by users with absurd expectations.

You've got a point there, but these companies choose their poison as well. This is the entertainment industry, afterall, and there's a LOT of entertainment out there to choose from (albeit not necessarily a lot to choose from in the same genre). You can't expect to be graded on how "solid" a game is, because you have to have something that makes people want to play your game over everything else that's out there. Put simply, you have to entertain people...many of which have played a LOT of games. Also:

1) Companies purposefully fail to establish "realistic" expectations and prefer to spin hype because marketing sense tells them it's the path to more $$.

2) They don't have to cash in on a super-popular established brand. All of your examples are established brands, and high (often unrealistic) expectations are just a fact of life in that boat.

 

[darkewaffle]

HD FFXIV 2.0 gameplay video from GamesCom 2012 Gameplay starts at about the 10:00 mark.

Didn't see this until now but personally I'm excited. It looks like it does make a lot of much needed changes from the initial FFXIV but I do hope it doesn't lose that FF feel trying to keep up with modern MMOs either.

Looks like they took a page out of SWTOR's book with the UI customizer around 12:50, that's quite nice. And the graphics all still look tremendous imo. I'm loving the new design to maps as well, doing away with the corridor/room/corridor/room pattern.

 

[Arkadrel]

@Darkewaffle

FF14 isnt salvagable, its a peice of crap.
They need to remake ff11 with newer graphics, and stick with everything from controlls ect to how job system worked, and just put in new stroy/monsters/new classes ect = money machine.

I cant get over how great ff11 was, and how crappy ff14 is.

Dispite how good the graphics are in 14, and how much they appeal to me (because of ff11), I refuse to play it when the core concepts the intire thing is buildt on, are wrong. They took everything good about ff11 and twisted it around, and spent all their time focusing on how well it would play with a gamepad controller.

Final fantasy 14, is their version of blizzards diablo III, just without the huge number of CD sales.
Nice graphics and cutscenes..... but intire game is a pile of crap compaired to earlier versions (eg. ff11 or diablo II).

*IF* they ever make a "new" mmo, it better be a clone of FF11.
*IF* blizzard ever makes a new Diablo hack'n'slash it better be a clone of diablo II.

Im kinda skeptical, if there will be any of those things though.

 

[clok1966]

@Darkewaffle

FF14 isnt salvagable, its a peice of crap.
They need to remake ff11 with newer graphics, and stick with everything from controlls ect to how job system worked, and just put in new stroy/monsters/new classes ect = money machine.

I cant get over how great ff11 was, and how crappy ff14 is.

Dispite how good the graphics are in 14, and how much they appeal to me (because of ff11), I refuse to play it when the core concepts the intire thing is buildt on, are wrong. They took everything good about ff11 and twisted it around, and spent all their time focusing on how well it would play with a gamepad controller.

Final fantasy 14, is their version of blizzards diablo III, just without the huge number of CD sales.
Nice graphics and cutscenes..... but intire game is a pile of crap compaired to earlier versions (eg. ff11 or diablo II).

*IF* they ever make a "new" mmo, it better be a clone of FF11.
*IF* blizzard ever makes a new Diablo hack'n'slash it better be a clone of diablo II.

Im kinda skeptical, if there will be any of those things though.

Hmm I felt 11 had all the traditional Asian MMORPG failings, extreme grind, punish the average player reward those who make it there life.... not good for 75% of the player base. Extreme cute characters (why does every asian game do that) against normal looking charactes.. a fussy rabbit cat thing? its like eating supper with a scoop of suger in the center.. it doesnt work. keep your design consistant and quit throwing Ewoks in.

We are past making levels last weeks, grind is not good, in any game. And of corse that just my opinion... if oyu like the cute ewoks, no skin off my nose.

I was here to find out how the lastest FFonline was.. but if you say its worse the 11... WoW.. flashbacks to Lineage II.. no game, just grind. While Im not fan of Blizzard, they know how to make a RPG seem "full" you can max level in a couple days if thats your thing.. you can craft, build armour sets, build faction, etc.. yes much of grind.. but with so many option on character development or just simple vanity pets.. they can desguise it better.. Personally thre are no qurrent MMORPG that appeal.. GWII isabout the best, but once past the first few weeks.. its pretty blah too. The new FF looks pretty great in pictures so was hoping it at least kept away fromt eh traditional uber grind asian games like.. i can put up with almost anything but 2 week levels..

 

[Arkadrel]

@clok1966

Have you played FF11 and reached endgame levels? atleast 75+ and gotten some merit(s)?
(ei. played the game for 3months or longer)

Have you joined a linkshell and tried:

Kings? / HNMs hunts?
Dynamis?
Sky?
Sea?
Einherjar?
Nyzul Isle (assault)?
ENM?
MMZ (Moblin Maze Mongers)?
...
..
.
.

(Im probably missing tons of content, cuz I quit along time ago and im not sure what's new in the game)

Dispite the leveling grind, which isnt really a issue, the endgame aspect of FF11 is the biggest of any MMO Ive ever played.
You ll litterly never run out of something to do, some gear to aim for. <----- part of what appeals to me so much, you want to spend years playing/exploreing/questing in a mmo and still have new challenges and gear to aim for ect, storyline missions to do ect.

Not play a MMO like a single player game for 2months then drop it for a new MMO that ll again only last 2 months.

GWII isabout the best, but once past the first few weeks.. its pretty blah too.

GW2 is a lame game, theres no "lasting appeal" to it. (completly oppersite of FF11)
You ll get max level (too fast), figour out theres no "challenge" to getting any gear, and that best gear is dropped from something easy to get (then spend time getting "looking prettier" gear). There is no real "endgame" to GW2, and leveling is quick, so once your at max level, its just another badly made pvp mmo.




Plus FF11 had epic challenge's:
what this guy do a solo that normally takes full party of 6 members (where they even fail sometimes)
(and KNOW that its due to skill of the player, not really his gear, but that he can concentrate for 20+ minutes without error's of any kinde)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snJBKh_aduE

less impressive but I played Dragoon alot so heres one of a dragoon soloing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkX1zQfEQcE&feature=related

 

[aigomorla]

dude the graphics look epic in this.

Much better then GW2...

I would play this however i also heard how broken the game is.

 

[darkewaffle]

XI is grindy (in that all your XP does come strictly from killing), but to me it actually worked for the game because XPing (for a long time) necessitated partying; and it's in partying that the game really shines. Well, past the beginner levels at least; early on it's still pretty basic.

But once you start getting stronger weapon skills and more interesting, unique class abilities I think the mechanics of partying really become deep and enjoyable. Each tank, each dps, each support, each healer, each caster plays unique unto themselves and they all contribute something different to the party (and there's 20 with 2 more coming); so each different party composition is slightly or even substantially different. And even if you stick with a static party, as you level up and unlock new abilities and spells, it changes how the party plays sometimes in small ways (Convert and Refresh for example) or even big ways (SATA). Throw weapon skills, skill chains, magic bursts, and experience chains into the mix and (despite the game's slightly sluggish/clunky feeling) you have a really engaging and exciting game.

One of the things I didn't like about XIV was how the Leves (aka quests) kind of put players in the mindset of "quest for XP first" and it felt like partying was an afterthought. I hear that the emphasis on the Leves has been lessened so I'm hoping there might be more of a shift back to the value of partying. Admittedly I only put a few weeks into XIV originally so I don't know if it changed as you progressed or not.

 

[imagoon]

I played FF11 for years. I "grew up" as a Blackmage first. Lived through the "must have a BLM era" then the "lol blm" then the "blm = handy" phases. I think the largest issue was how poor job balance became. When I quit, BLM was really powerful and I was geared quite well. The issue was that overall, for a battle that lasted seconds (think Abyssea) melee with WS could out damage blm all day. Outside abyssea melee kept that ability while blm (and most mages really) had this pesky thing called MP which requires rest to recover well. Pile on the gear swaps needed to be "good" it got to be complex and even frustrating to do things like swap jobs.

Over all the game was fun but the odd shifting of the jobs got annoying. I wasn't all that interested in Melee so I have Black Mage, Summoner, Scholar, Red Mage and White Mage at max level and decently geared so I could do some variety.

 

[pandemonium]

@clok1966

Have you played FF11 and reached endgame levels? atleast 75+ and gotten some merit(s)?
(ei. played the game for 3months or longer)

Have you joined a linkshell and tried:

Kings? / HNMs hunts?
Dynamis?
Sky?
Sea?
Einherjar?
Nyzul Isle (assault)?
ENM?
MMZ (Moblin Maze Mongers)?
...
..
.
.

(Im probably missing tons of content, cuz I quit along time ago and im not sure what's new in the game)

Dispite the leveling grind, which isnt really a issue, the endgame aspect of FF11 is the biggest of any MMO Ive ever played.
You ll litterly never run out of something to do, some gear to aim for. <----- part of what appeals to me so much, you want to spend years playing/exploreing/questing in a mmo and still have new challenges and gear to aim for ect, storyline missions to do ect.

Not play a MMO like a single player game for 2months then drop it for a new MMO that ll again only last 2 months.

GW2 is a lame game, theres no "lasting appeal" to it. (completly oppersite of FF11)
You ll get max level (too fast), figour out theres no "challenge" to getting any gear, and that best gear is dropped from something easy to get (then spend time getting "looking prettier" gear). There is no real "endgame" to GW2, and leveling is quick, so once your at max level, its just another badly made pvp mmo.




Plus FF11 had epic challenge's:
what this guy do a solo that normally takes full party of 6 members (where they even fail sometimes)
(and KNOW that its due to skill of the player, not really his gear, but that he can concentrate for 20+ minutes without error's of any kinde)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snJBKh_aduE

less impressive but I played Dragoon alot so heres one of a dragoon soloing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkX1zQfEQcE&feature=related

Anyone who dismisses FFXI for the grind, I can guarantee they didn't get past a week in the game. It takes a certain amount of patience to get there. I actually got fed up with the game a few times during my first few hours and I'm a very patient person (the controls are what drove me nuts - then I got used to them).

 

[PowerYoga]

FF11's grind sucked. But the community, the story, the atmosphere and most of all... the experience is something FF14 completely lacks. Partying with actual people is fun and it created some real connections between gamers. They've since toned down the grind a bunch though, but FF11 is still a real time sink where if you didn't have hours to do a quest, you shouldn't even be online.

The world of ff14 is just barren and dead and boring, and in its very first incantation.... it felt like a chore to play because the only thing you'd be doing is chores for other people. People say its load better now but honestly, the bar was set so low it's impossible to make a worse game.