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[Lee Chaolan]

Cool, no end date announced for the new Closed Beta, so seems like we'll be able to play weekdays

 

[Gaiaknight]

woot i get to play again this weekend now i just hope i get a PS3 code from SE so my brother can play with me instead of us sharing my computer lol.

 

[Neferteetee]

Too bad they didn't move the beta forward one day just for the convenience of some North American players lol. I've got a half day tomorrow and I'd love to be able to put a few hours in after fireworks and barbecuing.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

There's enough starting quests on each city and close areas, and I'm not talking about the main story quest, to get a class up to level 15 if combined with the hunting log and a few FATEs. The story quests aren't the only ones quests up to level 15, there's tons of them.

Basically, the way the game is set up now, you should avoid doing non story quests as much as possible on your first job so you can save them for your 2nd and 3rd jobs. Otherwise you're going to be grinding in agonizing fashion at level 5 when you have no more quests to do.

 

[theSlacker]

There are quests for lv15+ on all the areas pertaining the 3 regions tho. Will those quests be enough to level you up all the way to 50? No. But there are still quests, even if there are many areas without quests in the beta, it's already been said that all areas will have their corresponding level quests.

And I mentioned lv15 for a particular reason: Dungeons. As soon as you reach that level you are set levelling wise, and can go all the way to 50 by "grinding" them. Yes, it will be a grind because you'll have to go through some of them more than once, but a good thing will be that you'll gear up that class by doing so.

Now, will there be quests to help level more than 3 classes (at least before a big update -2.1- that might introduce new quests), I don't think so, but then again, if you have taken more than 3 classes to cap or near it, you'll be more than familiar on how the game works and getting lv15 on a new class just on the Hunting Log, FATEs or leves, won't be an issue at all.

You know, you are absolutely correct. I completely forgot about the lv 15 instance and was only focused on Tam Tara, which I knew needed 16.

 

[erawsd]

Basically, the way the game is set up now, you should avoid doing non story quests as much as possible on your first job so you can save them for your 2nd and 3rd jobs. Otherwise you're going to be grinding in agonizing fashion at level 5 when you have no more quests to do.

I hope they have some solution to this for the final game. In a game where part of its "unique magic" is being able to play all classes on one character, that would be much too punishing on.

 

[theSlacker]

Basically, the way the game is set up now, you should avoid doing non story quests as much as possible on your first job so you can save them for your 2nd and 3rd jobs. Otherwise you're going to be grinding in agonizing fashion at level 5 when you have no more quests to do.

Doubt people will do that since you are locked out of a lot of instances until you do the story quest for them. Well unless they change that when it goes life. What I think people should skip to do later are any type of leve.

 

[jiggle]

with 3 cities' worth of low level quests
you can at least get 2 other jobs to lv8-10
since taking the 400xp reward for your high level job doesn't really make a dent
doing fates is a way better way to level up for ppl soloing anyway

i can see some quests becoming repeatable weekly though, like in FFXI

 

[QisTopTier]

Basically, the way the game is set up now, you should avoid doing non story quests as much as possible on your first job so you can save them for your 2nd and 3rd jobs. Otherwise you're going to be grinding in agonizing fashion at level 5 when you have no more quests to do.

At level 5? Town quest and hunting log got me up to almost 9 then I did leves for a level then started up the level 10 town quest which lasted til 14 then I did some more leves til 15 then did dungeons.

What I think people should skip to do later are any type of leve.

Yup this is exactly how I leveled my conj in beta

 

[Akainu]

So the next beta test is to the release of the full game or another 2 day deal? And what is the subscription fee.

 

[Xux]

So the next beta test is to the release of the full game or another 2 day deal? And what is the subscription fee.

Don't know how long it'll be but it's still phase 3. Phase 3's supposed to end 7/14 and then it'll be a week or so until Phase 4. Phase 4 progress will carry over but there'll be a gap between it's end and launch for the pre-order/Legacy early access.

Sub fee info is here under Pricing/Platform.

 

[Khrno]

Basically, the way the game is set up now, you should avoid doing non story quests as much as possible on your first job so you can save them for your 2nd and 3rd jobs. Otherwise you're going to be grinding in agonizing fashion at level 5 when you have no more quests to do.

Grinding in agonizing fashion? On Saturday I got all my classes (after the first one to 15) on a new character to level 10 and it took me around 4~ hours to do it. I did it by following class quests, hunting log, normal quests that were still around from the other 2 cities, and a few leves specially for Conjurer since it was the one that took me longer to level up because doing FATEs if there were no more people around was somewhat hard as it. But it was far from an agonizing grind.

 

[Anteater]

Grinding in agonizing fashion? On Saturday I got all my classes (after the first one to 15) on a new character to level 10 and it took me around 4~ hours to do it. I did it by following class quests, hunting log, normal quests that were still around from the other 2 cities, and a few leves specially for Conjurer since it was the one that took me longer to level up because doing FATEs if there were no more people around was somewhat hard as it. But it was far from an agonizing grind.

1-12 was pretty easy and quick following fate/left over quests/hunts, but I remember once you get to 13 it was around 20k to level up, hunts start running out around that level I think and there were no more quests, so I got lazy and just sit around and do Fates for 2 levels. I'm not sure if it'll be slower if you've cleared all the kingdom quests on your 4th class. It was definitely slower than getting your first job to lvl16 though (which took me a day on a fresh character)

 

[erawsd]

This still kind of bugs me. I don't think you should be able to use Fire spells on Ifrit and still do decent damage. As a mage, it's always fun trying to find the right spells certain enemies are weak to and take advantage of that. *shrug* Maybe that's just me, though.

And I didn't really understand their reasoning about "what if your mage specialized in fire?" Umm, are there such things as specializations? I could understand if there were talent trees or something like that and you had to choose either fire, blizzard, or thunder, but... as far as I know, there aren't.

I would like to see them in some capacity. However, I understand why they are avoiding them since it makes class balance much harder and often ends up with players stacking/excluding classes based on those proficiencies.

 

[Mr. Bubble]

Can anyone speak to tanking differences as it relates to the GLD/PLD vs MAR/WAR paths? Pretty much have my heart set on PLD with moonlighting as a WHM, but am curious about the mechanics of the MAR/WAR tanking alternative.

I can't speak for jobs, but I've played both MRD (Lv 35) and GLA (Lv 20) in Phase 3 up until now.

Gladiator:

• Typical damage mitigation tank with damage reduction cooldowns.
• High HP
• Surprisingly high MP pool for a melee class which makes Cure viable and useful, at least for the early levels.
• Flash (AoE taunt) is learned early, uses MP, and is a good tool for easing newbies into tanking dungeons
• Shield Bash (stuns enemies) has no cooldown (but has high TP cost and is NOT off the global cooldown).

Cons

• Boring combat skills and self-buffs. Not enough variety/choice for DPS/enmity combos. (this has been brought up by many people in the beta forums)
• Weak AoE damage (GLA's AoE damage skill is learned at level 50).
• Unreliable interrupter since Shield Bash is not off the GCD.

Marauder:

• "HP Drain Tank". Has self-buffs that restore own HP based on damage dealt to an enemy.
• High HP, not that far from GLA
• Better threat/enmity generation than GLA.
• Very good damage output (at the cost of a shield, of course)
• Overpower is a good cone AoE damage skill learned fairly early, generates increased threat too.
• Can use Flash and Provoke from GLA.
• Can wear pretty much any tank armor a GLA can (except for shield).
• Has a Stun that is off the GCD (short cooldown)

Cons

• Very low MP pool. Cure-tanking not viable. Isn't that big of a deal unless you like using Flash.
• HP Drain buff is on a somewhat long cooldown (90 seconds).

I think both are completely viable as tanks, but it's likely that GLA/PLD will remain the de facto "main tank".

 

[N.A]

New blog post: eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/blog

Hello all!
Fernehalwes here in muggy Tokyo dreaming of holding hands with a chestnut-eyed Parisian under the Arc de Triomphe while eating slices of ripe brie to the soothing sounds of chanson.

Yoshi-P, on the other hand, is LIVING the dream at Japan Expo. Why, just this morning, I found this picture of him on Twitter:

That's OBVIOUSLY the producer/director illicitly using our project's funds to catch some tasteless cabaret act.

OR...

It could be that he's attending the premiere for the new live-action FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn television commercial! The following COULD be stills from that commercial...

My sources at Square Enix Europe tell me that from concept to completion, the commercial has been a year-and-a-half in the making, and it will be debuting in PAL regions in the weeks before ARR launches (which is why we cannot post the actual video here yet).

My sources also tell me that the costumes used in the filming will be on display at this year's Gamescom in Germany, complete with Miqo'te models and all!

I know where I'll be this August!

(in Tokyo, translating patch notes... /cry)

Fernehalwes

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Sure would be nice if they would spend money on cutscenes in the game instead of commercials.

So far, there have only been 2 CGI cinematics. The opening cutscene is actually a mix of CGI from the original game's opening cutscene and the End of an Era ending cinematic. The only other CGI cinematic is the one seen when you get on the airship at level 15 for the first time, which I won't spoil for people who haven't seen it yet.

 

[Kintaro]

Are you arguing for more CGI cut scenes? I don't think they're needed at all.

 

[Khrno]

1-12 was pretty easy and quick following fate/left over quests/hunts, but I remember once you get to 13 it was around 20k to level up, hunts start running out around that level I think and there were no more quests, so I got lazy and just sit around and do Fates for 2 levels. I'm not sure if it'll be slower if you've cleared all the kingdom quests on your 4th class. It was definitely slower than getting your first job to lvl16 though (which took me a day on a fresh character)

I'm going to try and take all 6 classes to 15 this weekend without using the auto-level up npcs and see how long it takes for each class, Conjurer will be the hardest I'm sure.

 

[Kintaro]

I'm going to try and take all 6 classes to 15 this weekend without using the auto-level up npcs and see how long it takes for each class, Conjurer will be the hardest I'm sure.

I wouldn't say "hardest" but longest. Even when you start as a CNJ with the help of all the story quests, its slower. Relaxing though as you can't die. Lol

 

[N.A]

13 minute video about the duty finder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIBPqZ0rNQ8

 

[Bogeypop]

13 minute video about the duty finder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIBPqZ0rNQ8

Aww was about to post this, beaten to the punch. Unfortunately, no news about this beta weekend's end date in the video.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Are you arguing for more CGI cut scenes? I don't think they're needed at all.

The huge scale of FF stories tends to be best shown in CGI cutscenes. The limitations of in-engine cutscenes are already made pretty clear in the game so far.

Spoiler

During the End of an Era cinematic, we actually see Bahamut laying waste to the whole region. An in-engine cutscene which occurs in ARR shows the same event from the point of view of the three leaders of the Grand Companies and consists pretty much of talking heads even though Bahamut is supposedly flying around wrecking shit at the same time. You don't even see Bahamut during that flashback sequence!

I wouldn't say "hardest" but longest. Even when you start as a CNJ with the help of all the story quests, its slower. Relaxing though as you can't die. Lol

Haha, you can die during the CNJ's level 15 class quest. The complaining about the CNJ and THM level 15 class quests on the beta forums is pretty epic.

To be fair, the THM level 15 class quest is completely opaque as to the method to clear it until you either figure out on your own or look on the Internet after a few aggravating deaths that you need to

Spoiler

sleep the archers and run past them to the urn

or you will never beat it.

 

[Riposte]

Duty Finder sounds cool, but I want to set a preference where the game looks for players within my world first before going for cross-world stuff.

EDIT: Wasn't the scene covering what happens in the opening

Spoiler

an echo? If so, it makes sense no one "sees"/remembers Bahamut, since they don't remember those kind of specifics IIRC.

Anyway, the Grand Companies leaders cutscenes were a letdown compared to what we got in 1.0. They should have employed an echo and just reused those scenes. Merlwyb's was too good for that kind of downgrade.

 

[raven777]

13 minute video about the duty finder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIBPqZ0rNQ8

haven't finished watching yet but do they mention if this duty finder will be included in tomorrow's beta?

 

[EndcatOmega]

haven't finished watching yet but do they mention if this duty finder will be included in tomorrow's beta?

It will, yes. Stress testing it seems to be the main goal of this particular test.

 

[solomon]

Missed most of last weekends beta, but this weekend ohhh lawd this weekend IMA have a box of easy Mac next to me as I type this paper for class -_-

 

[raven777]

finished watching duty finder video. It looks amazing. I had hard time looking for party last weekend and wasted a lot of time. This will make party matching a lot easier and quicker.

 

[Ferr986]

Do level sync also makes your gear scale with the synced level (ala FFXI), or you have to use low level armor? I noticed in the duty finder video that he wears a different armor when he is synced with the low level player.

 

[TheMink]

Do level sync also makes your gear scale with the synced level (ala FFXI), or you have to use low level armor? I noticed in the duty finder video that he wears a different armor when he is synced with the low level player.

You can just wear your equipment, not sure exactally how it works though.

Can you imagine if you had to keep around equipment from all walks of life haha

 

[raven777]

Do level sync also makes your gear scale with the synced level (ala FFXI), or you have to use low level armor? I noticed in the duty finder video that he wears a different armor when he is synced with the low level player.

I think he is wearing the same armor after level sync. So I assume armor's stats go down to match the synced level maybe?

 

[EndcatOmega]

I think he is wearing the same armor after level sync. So I assume armor's stats go down to match the synced level maybe?

That's how it worked for syncing down to story quests, as far as I could tell.

 

[N.A]

Gear scales down during level sync. Scaled down gear will not be as good as gear intended for that level.

 

[Sheppard]

It's stupid how excited I am for this game. Everything is coming together nicely.

 

[Ferr986]

I think he is wearing the same armor after level sync. So I assume armor's stats go down to match the synced level maybe?

LOL is true is the same gear. Im friggin blind.

Can you imagine if you had to keep around equipment from all walks of life haha

Well, thats what happened in FFXI pre level sync for the capped CoP fights >_<

 

[Khrno]

To be fair, the THM level 15 class quest is completely opaque as to the method to clear it until you either figure out on your own or look on the Internet after a few aggravating deaths that you need to

Spoiler

sleep the archers and run past them to the urn

or you will never beat it.

Well, color me surprised, I never thought of doing that (sleep and run), I slept one and killed the other one while tossing more sleeps and cures in-between, took me ages to complete, but killed all the enemies lol

Well, thats what happened in FFXI pre level sync for the capped CoP fights >_<

And hard-mode CoP was amazing. But this is 2013, and I'm too old to run through that kind of thing again, so I'm very happy for all these "modern" features.

 

[SoraanTribal]

I would like to see them in some capacity. However, I understand why they are avoiding them since it makes class balance much harder and often ends up with players stacking/excluding classes based on those proficiencies.

Well, if they added something like talents that affected certain spells, I could understand their decision to make no enemy have an elemental weakness. But as it is now, they aren't doing that. Maybe they plan to do it in the future?

-------

Duty Finder looks to be quite handy! I like that you can CHOOSE to join a dungeon in progress. Most of the time, these types of things don't give you that option.

Also, anyone who has done dungeons in the beta... Is it like FFXIV 1.0 where in a lot of the dungeons, you just run from enemies the entire time until you get to the bosses? That was a big turn off to me from 1.0 where all the dungeons were huge and had SO many enemies with a short time limit. So there was no way you could fight monsters along the way to the bosses... It just annoyed me and took some of the fun out of doing dungeon runs which is to kinda sit back and relax while killing regular monsters until the bosses.

 

[Ferr986]

And hard-mode CoP was amazing. But this is 2013, and I'm too old to run through that kind of thing again, so I'm very happy for all these "modern" features.

I kind of liked the difficulty of CoP, but having to swap gears for all the diferent level caps was really annoying. Level sync in FFXI was a godsend.

 

[KeRaSh]

Just watched the Duty Finder video and I really like the system.
No more /tell fests to find a party!

 

[Alexanderon]

Well, if they added something like talents that affected certain spells, I could understand their decision to make no enemy have an elemental weakness. But as it is now, they aren't doing that. Maybe they plan to do it in the future?

-------

Duty Finder looks to be quite handy! I like that you can CHOOSE to join a dungeon in progress. Most of the time, these types of things don't give you that option.

Also, anyone who has done dungeons in the beta... Is it like FFXIV 1.0 where in a lot of the dungeons, you just run from enemies the entire time until you get to the bosses? That was a big turn off to me from 1.0 where all the dungeons were huge and had SO many enemies with a short time limit. So there was no way you could fight monsters along the way to the bosses... It just annoyed me and took some of the fun out of doing dungeon runs which is to kinda sit back and relax while killing regular monsters until the bosses.

You have a 90 minute time-limit to complete the dungeons. Was it different in 1.0?

None of my groups went that way, and I'm glad for it. If it turns into GW2 again where people are just skipping everything, I'll be disappointed.

Also liked the Duty Finder feature. Looks as advertised. I just wish there was a cross-server search option as well and not just pure matchmaking. Maybe something they can add onto it later so I can play with friends on other servers.

Duty Finder sounds cool, but I want to set a preference where the game looks for players within my world first before going for cross-world stuff.

You can use the player search feature to find people on your server that are looking for groups.

 

[kch]

Duty Finder sounds cool, but I want to set a preference where the game looks for players within my world first before going for cross-world stuff.

Yes I'd love that or an option to only search for people from my world. Much easier making new friends that way..

Duty finder looks really solid otherwise.

 

[raven777]

collaboration with lightning returns FFXIII

There will be a quest where you fight alongside lightning

if you clear the quest you get her outfit

also weapons from LR

 

[Akainu]

Sub fee info is here under Pricing/Platform.

Thanks. Considering all the delays for the ps3 version I'm not buying it for 40 bucks.

So what is up with the monthly price and the subscription length being 90/180 days?

 

[KeRaSh]

collaboration with lightning returns FFXIII

There will be a quest where you fight alongside lightning

if you clear the quest you get her outfit

also weapons from LR

Is this for real?

Spoiler

I wouldn't mind having Fang's lance since I'll be playing as LNC...

 

[EndcatOmega]

Thanks. Considering all the delays for the ps3 version I'm not buying it for 40 bucks.

So what is up with the monthly price and the subscription length being 90/180 days?

Pay for 90/180 days at once, and it works out cheaper per month then buying it in 30 day installments.

 

[raven777]

Is this for real?

Spoiler

I wouldn't mind having Fang's lance since I'll be playing as LNC...

yea its real.

Look at that monk's weapon...it looks hideous. Now I want to make LNC

 

[Riposte]

You can use the player search feature to find people on your server that are looking for groups.

Why do you think it would actually work that way with duty finder around?

EDIT: That H2H weapon... so terrible lol.

 

[Capell]

collaboration with lightning returns FFXIII
http://i.imgur.com/nxJ6W3O.jpg[/MG]
There will be a quest where you fight alongside lightning

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/pGc1nR7.jpg[IMG]
if you clear the quest you get her outfit


[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/ApFMy54.jpg[IMG]
also weapons from LR[/QUOTE]

...why?

 

[ROBOKITTYZILLA]

13 minute video about the duty finder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIBPqZ0rNQ8

It looks really polished! I like that you have to at least discover the dungeon first.

Duty Finder sounds cool, but I want to set a preference where the game looks for players within my world first before going for cross-world stuff.

This is a good idea. I would hope for this to be the default behavior.

 

[Akainu]

Pay for 90/180 days at once, and it works out cheaper per month then buying it in 30 day installments.

So when you first start you get the entry fee and then the standard afterwards?