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Final Fantasy XIV Information Thread | PC Open Beta... yeah it's not really open.

I'm starting to wonder if they are releasing the PC version earlier than they planned and the PS3 version still have the release date the game was supposed to have.

I will buy this game but I'm wondering if I should just wait for the PS3 version or buy it next month.
 
IonicSnake said:
I'm starting to wonder if they are releasing the PC version earlier than they planned and the PS3 version still have the release date the game was supposed to have.

Wouldn't be surprised. Right now is the biggest lull in WoW activity, once cata hits it's on again. They're pulling an Age of Conan.
 
notworksafe said:
It's amazing to think this is their second MMO. I wonder what the big rush is for them to release this, as they clearly need more time to work out the kinks.

I'm curious on this as well. I think it just has to do with what is releasing every month past September. There is a LOT of competition in really good games coming out from now till like May of next year. MMO wise it's pretty bleak though because the one big competitor I can think of that would appeal to the same type of players might be Tera right?

Still if they release October or past I think they presume their sales will be crippled. Another guess is the deals they signed for marketing and release dates came to bite them in the ass. If they were smart they'd delay the game till December, and just do open beta testing from September till November till it's all ironed out. December release is the safest bet outside of September, because October and November are jam packed.

That's just my guess though.
 
IonicSnake said:
I'm starting to wonder if they are releasing the PC version earlier than they planned and the PS3 version still have the release date the game was supposed to have.

I will buy this game but I'm wondering if I should just wait for the PS3 version or buy it next month.

Seriously. Im going to feel like a beta tester on launch day. Except Im paying for it.
 
notworksafe said:
Not until Day 31! :D

Would it be something if SEs goofy subscription system charges everyone for September on 9/30 and then for October on 10/1 including those of us that paid for the CE for early access :lol
 
Salaadin said:
Would it be something if SEs goofy subscription system charges everyone for September on 9/30 and then for October on 10/1 including those of us that paid for the CE for early access :lol
:lol Have they said how the payment system is going to work? Hopefully not like XI.
 
HappyBivouac said:
Londa. Nobody is raging. Everybody in this thread has the highest hopes for this game. Notice that some of the people saying "this launch will suck so hard" are also sporting FFXIV avatars? WHAT COULD THIS POSSIBLY MEAN!?

I'll be there day one as well. But I don't expect anything like a smooth launch.

This may, in fact, be the only time in history where I have ever held feelings along the lines of "PLEASE DELAY THIS GAME PLEASE."

Oh really?

falastini said:
damnit
- no AH at launch
- 48 hours leves
- no hardware mouse
- no endgame at launch

Ferrio said:
Shaping up to be one of the worst high profile mmo launches in history.

Salaadin said:
Everything else in that interview is shitty though. I mean, wtf. Delay the game and give us a proper launch.





notworksafe said:
Never does. Clearly we're all haters who just want the game to fail. Seems Square is in that group as well, judging by these announcements.

EDIT: I'm also a week one'r (not day one as I'll be out of town sadly)

SE is just trying to be different than other MMOs.
 
Those are all legitimate complaints. It's just seeming like Square is rushing FFXIV out the door while not implementing important aspects of a good PC MMO experience.
 
notworksafe said:
It's amazing to think this is their second MMO. I wonder what the big rush is for them to release this, as they clearly need more time to work out the kinks.

WAR, AoC and EQ2 all came from mmo veterans.

I'm starting to wonder if they are releasing the PC version earlier than they planned and the PS3 version still have the release date the game was supposed to have.

Doubt it, PC is the flagship platform for these sorts of games.
 
notworksafe said:
:lol Have they said how the payment system is going to work? Hopefully not like XI.


"Due to the fact that we want former FFXI players to feel comfortable in the new FFXIV setting, we've decided to continue the process where we bill you for a full month even if you just activated on Sept 25th."
 
notworksafe said:
Those are all legitimate complaints. It's just seeming like Square is rushing FFXIV out the door while not implementing important aspects of a good PC MMO experience.

Saying the game will be the worse MMO is not legitimate.
 
Worst MMO launches. I agree with that statement. There are going to be a lot of people who will get the game based on SQE's "mass appeal" statements and they will be quite disappointed by a lot of the issues with this game. Since they also will most likely not have played XI they won't have a frame of reference. Hell I played XI and I don't know why SQE is making some of the decisions they are. But a bad launch is not a sign that an MMO is going to be utter garbage or anything like that. It does mean that there is lots of room for improvement, however.

As far as SQE trying to be different, I understand that. But some things (well one...hardware mouse) should be non-negotiable.

fizzelopeguss said:
WAR, AoC and EQ2 all came from mmo veterans.
Good point. Sophomore slump, perhaps? :lol
 
Basically like any GAF topic (Metroid Other M for example), over exaggerations about the quality of the game will happen (both ways).
 
Londa said:
Saying the game will be the worse MMO is not legitimate.

Pretty sure I said "worst high profile launch". Yes, there's plenty of really bad mmos that'd put this to shame in the shitty department. Though you should expect something better quality from a company as big as square.
 
notworksafe said:
Good point. Sophomore slump, perhaps? :lol

Reading comments from that APB dev it seems they can get so buried in their work they don't have time to stop and reflect.

Brad Mcquaid, the everquest guy has gone on record saying that during the development of vanguard (another disaster for you :P)he didn't even bother to play WoW...ever. I mean fuck... If you're spending 30 million dollars of Microsofts money atleast sample the competition.
 
Ferrio said:
Pretty sure I said "worst high profile launch". Yes, there's plenty of really bad mmos that'd put this to shame in the shitty department. Though you should expect something better quality from a company as big as square.

The quality is fine, its just that they aren't catering to every request, which I prefer, because after awhile if they catered to everything they got feedback on, the game would be very far from what they was targeting to create.
 
Not sure why people are upset that end game will not be in at launch. I honestly cannot think of 2 many mmos that had a full end game at launch. They usually have some high level events, but nothing substantial.

Hell when FFXI originally launched, it was capped and you didn't really have an end game in that, the only reason we got an endgame when it launched is because it launched with the expansion RoZ, which was the end game.

It's not like people will not have enough to do with leves, crafting, and story quest.

If they do FFXIV anything like FFXI then the endgame area might be there just not accessable, until the quest etc are added in to access it
 
fizzelopeguss said:
Brad Mcquaid, the everquest guy has gone on record saying that during the development of vanguard (another disaster for you :P)he didn't even bother to play WoW...ever. I mean fuck... If you're spending 30 million dollars of Microsofts money atleast sample the competition.
Ugh, fuck Brad McQuaid. Him and his "Vision". :lol

Londa said:
The quality is fine, its just that they aren't catering to every request, which I prefer, because after awhile if they catered to everything they got feedback on, the game would be very far from what they was targeting to create.
That's not exactly a bad thing. Your end being farther from your target game could mean it has improved. Heck, look at fizzelopeguss's post. Maybe if RTW or Brad McQuaid had taken the time to look around at some feedback or other MMOs they might have ended up with different games that were better.

Whatever though...I'll deal with most of the issues but I'm really bummed that the mouse is still going to be broken. Why not just use a hardware mouse cursor? You make no sense, Square!
 
FrankNitty said:
Not sure why people are upset that end game will not be in at launch. I honestly cannot think of 2 many mmos that had a full end game at launch. They usually have some high level events, but nothing substantial.

The Big Kahuna, WoW, came with multiple max level dungeons, the Onyxia's Lair raid and Molten Core raid.

You don't need to have a full end game system out there, but something has got to keep the max level players interesting, and it won't be crafting.
 
Home said:
The Big Kahuna, WoW, came with multiple max level dungeons, the Onyxia's Lair raid and Molten Core raid.

You don't need to have a full end game system out there, but something has got to keep the max level players interesting, and it won't be crafting.


There was also pvp, it was limited, but it was there.
 
Londa said:
Oh really?

Exactly how was what I said raging?

damnit
- no AH at launch
- 48 hours leves
- no hardware mouse
- no endgame at launch

Most of the concerns above were voiced by many here only for you to respond that "it's only beta". Where's the "faith" in SE that you told us we should have? The mouse controls in particular. I'm pretty sure you guaranteed that SE would have them fixed before launch? You willing to eat crow now, or you gonna backpeddle some more. I have said plenty of good things about the game itself, have you ever said anything critical? Your a straight up fanboy, it's ridiculous. It's like you take these criticisms of FFXIV personally.


teknoman said:
Basically like any GAF topic (Metroid Other M for example), over exaggerations about the quality of the game will happen (both ways).

I agree to an extent. That's common on any online forum. But there is a difference between criticizing a game by watching videos and another when the game is in playable beta and a month from release.

notworksafe said:
Ugh, fuck Brad McQuaid. Him and his "Vision"
I second that. I was in that awful beta, it was filled with EQ1 fanboys who kept pointing back to his "vision" anytime someone offered a suggestion that differed from old school EQ.
 
True...those were the glory days. Beating the snot out of Horde scum with my guild and loving every minute of it, even though I was playing a Paladin. :lol

Now I'm a Blood Elf on a PvE server. How times have changed. Still a Paladin, though!
 
IMO no auction house/search & terrible mouse interaction overall (software mouse, but also the the menus lacking drag and drop) are pretty crucial and important in making an interface in 2010 usable on the PC especially in a game with so much itemization and for a game that relies so heavily on crafting.

on a side note:

A game should take advantage of what the platform offers standard like breadth customization and keyboard/mouse controls on the PC. Regardless of what some former XI players think, telling players to either deal with what is generally considered a cumbersome non-standard keyboard control scheme with literally no options or genuine reason for being different other than its similar to FFXI, or to buy/use a controller will always be a band-aid.

If Square-Enix is so worried that the PC will offer such an advantage over the PS3 players to the point where they would handicap new players on the PC they should have either developed the game only for the PS3 or segregated the platform servers.
 
Home said:
The Big Kahuna, WoW, came with multiple max level dungeons, the Onyxia's Lair raid and Molten Core raid.

You don't need to have a full end game system out there, but something has got to keep the max level players interesting, and it won't be crafting.


I remember Onyxia being there, and they had BRD, Strat, and Schol. MC I don't think the quest line was even finished yet. Hell I know when I ran MC Ragnaros wasn't even in yet I believe. You were only able to get to the Flamewalker before the end. Given there was high level content. I started a about a month after WoW released.

Still in most cases it is usually added in pataches. Like Kazzak, and Azergous. I honestly wouldn't even count BRD, Strat, and Scholomance as endgame. You could run those at 55, and just keep re running them over and over.

I'm sure they will have Guildleves that are suited to your level that people will do the same with. What it comes down to is what you get from them if it makes it worth it to re run them. I expect something will be there, but nothing substantial. Who really knows though, launch is still a month away.

All I'm saying is even if a full endgame is not there, there should be plenty to do to keep players busy, unless you play 24/7 but then that's an entirely different problem all together.
 
Thats what I'm saying. When FFXI launch, you were capped at what level 60? No end game until RoZ was released, and I believe the areas that had the ground kings were added in RoZ. US just got lucky because when it launched here it included RoZ, even though with the way leveling worked in FFXI you didn't reach end game for awhile.
 
FrankNitty said:
Still in most cases it is usually added in pataches. Like Kazzak, and Azergous. I honestly wouldn't even count BRD, Strat, and Scholomance as endgame. You could run those at 55, and just keep re running them over and over.

While you can run them now at 55, when the game first came out, those 3 dungeons actually allowed raid groups to enter, and Black rock spire as well. Ragnaros was in the game upon release, but required reputation with a faction to spawn majordomo, which did delay his defeat by a while.

I don't expect it to compare to WoW's current endgame, nor FFXI's current endgame, but in a game with zero pvp, there must be something there besides endless grinding and 48 hour quests. Factionleves may be awesome, we don't know yet obviously, but the way guildleves are now, and the way things in FFXI are even to date, I'm not getting my hopes up.
 
Seriously, UBRS, BRD and Scholo were pretty hard shit back in the day...remember when we used to 10-15man that shit?

Most definately can that be considered end game content for a lot (most) people.
 
I was so shocked at how well a Xbox/PS3 Controller worked with FFXIV that I thought initially the designers probably never intended you to use a keyboard/Mouse outside of typing text. :lol

Felt right at home with a console controller. Navigating menus, picking skills in combat and moving the camera just felt right. Game started to be really fun for me then (fun before but even better now).

Based on that interview and my own experience with the keyboard, I can't recommend enough to go ahead and pickup a controller (or get the drivers for you Xbox/PS3 controllers installed).
 
Halfmunch said:
I was so shocked at how well a Xbox/PS3 Controller worked with FFXIV that I thought initially the designers probably never intended you to use a keyboard/Mouse outside of typing text. :lol

Felt right at home with a console controller. Navigating menus, picking skills in combat and moving the camera just felt right. Game started to be really fun for me then (fun before but even better now).

Based on that interview and my own experience with the keyboard, I can't recommend enough to go ahead and pickup a controller (or get the drivers for you Xbox/PS3 controllers installed).


I was eventually going to ask someone if I should do kb/m or if I should start working on setting up a controller for myself. I'm going to get a bluetooth adapter so I can use my DS3, but I wouldn't go through all that headache if I was going to end up using kb/m.
 
Home said:
I don't expect it to compare to WoW's current endgame, nor FFXI's current endgame, but in a game with zero pvp, there must be something there besides endless grinding and 48 hour quests. Factionleves may be awesome, we don't know yet obviously, but the way guildleves are now, and the way things in FFXI are even to date, I'm not getting my hopes up.


But it's almost 99% sure that there will be a level/rank cap at launch (most likely to be at 50). So we won't be getting to the final cap until at least 6 months or 1 year later.

There's no point on talking about lack of end-game content when we won't even get to that level until several months later. What we need is people asking in these interviews what other content there is besides guildleves, story missions and crafting. In my opinion, that's the critical question at this time (content-wise).


Halfmunch said:
Based on that interview and my own experience with the keyboard, I can't recommend enough to go ahead and pickup a controller (or get the drivers for you Xbox/PS3 controllers installed).

Well, if the camera is set in the arrow keys instead of IJKL then only keyboard will be just as good as a pad, and I'm sure that many FFXI players will enjoy it more using just the kb.

However I did play the beta with my 360 pad, and as you said, it works wonders. So it is a good alternative for those that can't get used to the kb only.
 
Class_A_Ninja said:
I was eventually going to ask someone if I should do kb/m or if I should start working on setting up a controller for myself. I'm going to get a bluetooth adapter so I can use my DS3, but I wouldn't go through all that headache if I was going to end up using kb/m.
Its playable with kb/m if you can maintain framerate its just everything feels very slow in the menus(because it is) kinda like scrolling through menus on a lot of console games which is why a controller feels right at home :lol

Khrno said:
However I did play the beta with my 360 pad, and as you said, it works wonders. So it is a good alternative for those that can't get used to the kb only.
Can you scroll on the map with the analog sticks? I'm using keyboard and mouse right now and the only thing that scrolls the map is IJKL which is godawful.
 
Class_A_Ninja said:
I was eventually going to ask someone if I should do kb/m or if I should start working on setting up a controller for myself. I'm going to get a bluetooth adapter so I can use my DS3, but I wouldn't go through all that headache if I was going to end up using kb/m.


DO NOT use the kb/m! I did the same thing you want to do. I got a blue tooth adapter for $10, hooked it up to my PC, downloaded/configured Motion Joy, and then was able to use the DS3 controller wirelessly for FFXIV...


...still doesn't improve the shitty input lag in this game >.<
 
Valru said:
Its playable with kb/m if you can maintain framerate its just everything feels very slow in the menus(because it is) kinda like scrolling through menus on a lot of console games which is why a controller feels right at home :lol


Can you scroll on the map with the analog sticks? I'm using keyboard and mouse right now and the only thing that scrolls the map is IJKL which is godawful.

Controller works well with map too, scrolls nice and smooth with the analog stick. Once I got the controller setup for PC, FFXIV immediately recognize it and can change the button configurations as well

I don't won't to write the Kb/m off completely but its worth setting up both to see what which one you might like better.
 
Valru said:
Can you scroll on the map with the analog sticks? I'm using keyboard and mouse right now and the only thing that scrolls the map is IJKL which is godawful.

Sorry, not having access right now to phase 3 so couldn't tell you.


DrForester said:
What end game was around with FFXI first launched in Japan? Shadowlord rank 6 fight?

FFXI relevant updates history:

- May 16, 2002: PS2 ver. released.

- Aug 8, 2002: Rank 5 Missions (including the Shadow Lord fight) were implemented, but with the level cap at 50, no one had beaten it.

- Sep 12, 2002: The level cap is raised to 55. High Level Notorious Monsters, such as Behemoth, are added to their respective areas.

- Nov 7, 2002: PC ver. released.

- Nov 26, 2002: Level cap raised to 60.

- Apr 15, 2003: Rise of Zilart preparation update. The level cap now became 65.

- Apr 17, 2003: Rise of the Zilart goes on sale.

- May 16, 2003: Final Fantasy XI Completes 1 Year of Service

- Jul 17, 2003: The level cap became 70. A new region, Tu’Lia, was unlocked. New HNMs were added (such as King Behemoth).

- Oct 21, 2003: Rank 9 and 10 missions were added to the three nations, completing their storylines. The conclusion to Rise of Zilart was also added. Players could now enter the Shrine of Ru’Avitau and The Celestial Nexus.

- Oct 28, 2003: North American PC ver. released.

- Dec 16, 2003: The level cap became 75.

JP Button - Development History
 
Well, I finally got to try the beta, granted I only explored the city and haven't delved into the battle and crafting system. The mouse control wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. A bit more sensitivity would be perfect, but I can live with it as is if I have to.

Lack of key binding sucks. Navigating around I've found that my biggest needs are: a way to have the camera turn when I turn (rather than having to rely on the mouse), I can run to the left and right, but the camera doesn't turn with my character; I also want a button for auto-run.

The only other really unacceptable performance is the responsiveness of the NPC menus. A 2+ second delay is just not going to cut it, in any kind of software. When I press a button I expect immediate feedback. That is something I can't overlook.

Overall I'm pretty happy with what I saw and experienced. Also reaffirmed my belief that a lot of people are making mountains out of mole hills. Some things do need to be improved upon, but some could be adapted to if necessary.

The endgame complaints are a bit ridiculous at this point. When you get there, then you are in the position to do so. I imagine XIV will be much easier than XI to hit cap, and even then I did it in less than 4 months, and I doubt most people here can claim to have done it quicker.
 
DrForester said:
Anyone know when the beastman kings were released? Would have had to have been after Zilart since they were all advanced jobs, right?

The NQ version were probably added on the Behe update, and the 3 beastmen kings, the HQ, were most likely added in the HNM update with KB, 2 months after Zilart's release.
 
Figures that'd be SE's repsonse. Let's hope they're just being conservative with their response and really planning to change stuff.

There are just so many issues that should be addressed it's really annoying to get some kind of half-assed answer from them.
 
Zalasta said:
Lack of key binding sucks. Navigating around I've found that my biggest needs are: a way to have the camera turn when I turn (rather than having to rely on the mouse), I can run to the left and right, but the camera doesn't turn with my character; I also want a button for auto-run.

The only other really unacceptable performance is the responsiveness of the NPC menus. A 2+ second delay is just not going to cut it, in any kind of software. When I press a button I expect immediate feedback. That is something I can't overlook.

Don't worry about the menus lag, they are addressing it.


For auto-run:

key-en11.jpg


Press R or 7.



key-en15.jpg


Press L1 or LB.
 
Khrno said:
Don't worry about the menus lag, they are addressing it.


For auto-run:

http://j.imagehost.org/0113/key-en11.jpg

Press R or 7.



http://j.imagehost.org/0842/key-en15.jpg

Press L1 or LB.

It's amazing they forgot all F-key targeting, and implementing a menu button for WASD based players.

Then there's the fact there isn't a context menu when you press confirm like in FFXI. Going to the menu every time is pretty darn annoying. And what's with targetting yourself when tab or using 0. =|
 
That is one thing I would like to see. Targeting with the F1-6 keys. Ecspeically playing a conjurer.

I'm a huge fan of the num keypad movement, but it just needs some tweaking. It's been almost 4 years since I quit FFXI and thats what I used, but it just feels like something is missing in comparison to the keypad movement in XI
 
Launch WoW's end game sucked, and it sucked hard. I will fight anyone who says otherwise because it's all just a whiny, nostalgic rant. FFXI was actually probably better than WoW at launch in most respects other than solo accessibility. I personally just could not into early WoW at all. Bugs and boring ass leveling ahoy.

Once you capped, it had a few dungeons to blaze through that ultimately were meaningless, a simple raid and a full scale raid, but the content was all miserable. Time sink heavy, awful itemization, bad boss designs, awful class design. All of Azeroth in general pretty much sucked and you could offer very little feedback, rare, truly meaingful patches, no communication with developers outside of the blue moon Kalgan would post during.

Launch WoW was very much part of the old school brigade that needs to be bottled up and forgotten entirely, almost alllll of the good shit came from BC+, BC was a fucking brilliant turn around that has intensified every expansion. Luckily Blizzard agrees since they've pretty much fire bombed the entire shitbin old world and are rewriting all game systems with Cataclysm, and it's nice to see the genre overlord still busting ots ass, changing everything when they dont need to, and toiling out almost bi-weekly patches at times in the beta.

What I think I like to see more than anything in an MMO is effort, because until the last couple years it was very much not a common trait.

Now, while I don't expect Square to be able to piss money around like Blizzard or update like Blizzard, I do think they NEED to try harder to communicate with their fanbase like Blizzard and polish up their game. Half of the huge gripes here are because of isolation and backwards thinking that a designers vision needs to be pandered to like it is in Japanese games.

It's egotism if anything. Following your own design and not caving = good. Following that logic in the face of all odds, while people scream at you for years and your beta has venomous word of mouth = not as good. Get a few developers out there to mingle with players and better judge the field instead of Tanaka telling you your dog is dead and maybe they'll get you a new dog some time in the future.
 
Can't afford to get a decent gaming rig right now, so gonna slum it on my MacBook Pro until the PS3 version comes out.

Anyway, I'm gonna setup Boot Camp shortly but just wanted to ask which version of Windows runs FFXIV the best? I assume 7, but just wanted to check.
 
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