Final Fantasy XIV
 

FINAL FANTASY XIV

New info has come out from Famitsu and the Official FF14 site for NA, EU, and JP.

A run down can be found here: FFXIV Media Blitz! Famitsu, Dengeki & more! :: Final Fantasy XIV (FF14) at ZAM

Instead of Levels and Jobs, a new system will be used in FF14 called the Armoury System. Sounds a lot like FF9 if you ask me. Not sure how this is going to pan out, although being able to change your "job" at will by simply changing equip sounds nifty. I just worry that toward the end of the game, will everyone pretty much be gods with the best skills hand picked from every "job"?

So far it looks like the basic classes are Fighter, Sorcerer, Crafter, and Gatherers. I'm guessing your classic FF jobs will branch out from here. Equip a sword and become a fighter, and train up the skill given to you by that item. Then when you meet the requirements you equip a shield and become a paladin, or a pole arm and become a dragoon.

The races shown off so far are pretty much the same as in FFXI, with a few tweaks here and there. I'm not sure if this will be all the races, but I'm thinking it is. So those of us who were hoping for male "mithra" are out of luck. Though I am hearing rumors that Famitsu hinted that the devs were holding something back? Like they didnt want to announce everything about the races at once? So perhaps we will see something else.

There's still the debate over that "Gria" in the first picture shown off on the background of the old FF14 site.

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/4986/15n26j4.th.jpg The Taru of FF14, aka "Lalafell"

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/1269/69696544.th.jpg The humes of FF14, aka "Hyur"

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/93/qybsyu.th.jpg The Elvaan of FF14, aka "Elezen"

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/1779/32201056.th.jpg The Galka of FF14, aka "Roegadyn"

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/3242/16aadqd.th.jpg The mithra of FF14, aka "Miqo'te"

Erm, so yeah. What do you guys think? So far it's looking to be much more laid back and casual than FF11 is. You should be able to accomplish a lot in small amounts of time, and since it's an open box like MMO you can do whatever you wish to advance.

I pretty much suck at this, I know, but there's more info in the links above.

Also do forgive me if this has been done already. I searched around and could not find anything on FF14..

So let me get this right. It's Final Fantasy XI with fancy graphics, new names, and no experience points?

'Cause if that's the case, I'm gonna go hex-edit my FFXI and play FFXIV tomorrow.

The marrige between the mmorpg and grinding is one born from hell, and their offspring, millions of empty-headed drones looking to xp some more. This I don't like.

I do like the idea of leveling up the gear, I suppose but that just means XP will be there, in the shadows, seducing you with a different name.

I also like the idea of a more casual experience, I was very much a casual player on FFXI and I had a butload of fun with it, aside from it's obvious flaws as a game. I enjoyed the mise en scene from that game as well and it's nice that they are bringing it back allowing folks from XI to ease right into it without too much fuss.

To say the least I am excited about it and all my old pals from XI are going to be playing it, but I still don't like tarus.

New interview with Tanaka on FF14: Gamescom - Famitsu Interviews Hiromichi Tanaka :: Final Fantasy XIV (FF14) at ZAM

An older alpha build of the game was playable at gamescon in Germany. Lots of new info and gameplay vids are out now.

There wont be an auto attack like there is in FFXI. You have to choose your actions for every attack. Looks like the UI will be customizable and the macro bar at the bottom is giving me a WoW feel.

Some videos:

Final Fantasy XIV Online Video Game, GC 09: Range Gameplay (Cam) HD | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com
IGN: Final Fantasy XIV Online Trailer, Videos and Movies

One thing I am sad to hear is that pet jobs wont be making a return. I know SE fucked up the pet jobs in XI, but how can you have Final Fantasy without Summoners? I'm hoping it's going to be like XI and they will be introduced eventually..

Also, normal FF mobs make a comeback. :)

http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000...w1_390x640.jpg

http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000...w1_640x583.jpg

http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000...w1_640x608.jpg

I'm still not happy with the whole one class and choosing abilities thing. I'm disappointed that they would go with this after stating they would use FFXI's job system and improve it. They pretty much just deserted it, not improved it. The graphics look very nice and the game play looks okay so far. I'll reserve the rest of my judgments until the open beta hits. It's still too early to spew criticism now with an old Alpha build that doesn't completely reflect what they have done so far.

What the hell is with that Cactuar design?!

I don't mind Square-Enix trying new things, I guess...but messing with the classic designs so crudely? :(

Stay tuned for a new Moogle design: 10 feet tall, with pom-poms for feet and hands, and devil wings the size of bed sheets.

Judging from this review it looks like it finally hit the fan over at ol' SE.

I'd actually be very happy to see them lose a ton of money on this, maybe then they might realize that impressive graphics and catering to fashion trends can only for so long mask generic stories and characters, insultingly bland gameplay and outright stupid design and marketing decisions.

I'm a big fan of FFXI, it was my first MMO and I still play occasionally, so you can say that I was super excited for FFXIV.

I got the collector edition and omg how can SE be so stupid...There's so much constraint that seriously it's not fun to play nor there's much to do...

I actually like the gameplay and the class system, but being force to level all of them and not just the one you like is really annoying for me.

It's their second MMO and it feel like their first and even worst than that. There's some feature that should have been implanted in the game that are just nowhere to be found (like the ability to sort your inventory, yep not even a manual sort...)

I can't see this MMO last as long as FFXI or if it does they pretty much have to change the whole system...

The Gametrailers and Gamespot reviews are right in every way.

The game is simply not fun. It is a chore to accomplish anything. They have opted to get rid of much of the abstraction between game and reality. You want a spear? You've gotta craft every single part of it and then assemble it. Hope you don't fail!

I was excited about this game coming out, but last week I just found no interest in logging in anymore.

The game is missing basic core functionality as stated on the Gamespot review. SE is claiming to do something about the economic problems, yet it seems they still have no intention of introducing an Auction House.

I rolled a Conjurer and found myself massively frustrated in group situations, frequently having improper UI display of party member HP bars (makes healing really fun when you don't see health bars!)

Crafting isn't as painful as it was in FFXI to some extent. The game gives you the illusion of control of the situation and you have better control of skill-ups. If you break a synth, you lose everything.

Gathering was reasonably entertaining but there's no means to really distribute items. The bazaars and market system is not really friendly to buyers.

I've never played FFXI, but from the fact that it somehow managed to maintain its "still around, in spite of WoW" status over the years, I assume that it must have done quite a few things right. So how could this happen, especially with promising genre-entries like The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2 on the horizon?

There might be quite the juicy inside story behind this ... which of course we will never know about, since extracting this sort of information from a Japanese developer is like asking a Sovjet era Kremlin to comment on the General Secretary's drinking habits.

Yeah, they named it "Final Fantasy" and put a roman numeral behind it. That's sadly enough for some people to pledge undying loyalty to a game.

We all know popularity doesn't always mean it's good. FFXI survived as long as it has simply because it is Final Fantasy. As someone who has played most the major MMOs that have been released since 99, I can honestly say Final Fantasy XI was worse then most of them. I only tried to stomach it as many times as I did because my friends played it and it was their first MMO because... guess why? It's Final Fantasy.

Totally agree. I was really excited to play this game and make it my first MMO. But after reading all the horrible comments and reviews about this, I'll stay away.

Fkking square. 2 so-so MMO's in the main line of FF games... and I didn't even care to play either of them. What a waste. I just want Final Fantasy to improve or go away. FFXV better be something new and refreshing. FF13 was trash imo.

If you love FF VIII, you have no right to express an opinion of videogames beyond the colours are pretty.

I bet you get more balls in your mouth than Mr Bucket.

FINAL FANTASY. NEW. REFRESHING. SPONSORED BY CRYSTAL PEPSI.

The last time I saw such an oddly-timed burn, I was visiting Waco.

Oddly timed? OR BEST TIMED?

To be fair, Pang, I thought the Crystal Pepsi joke was clever seeing as Final Fantasy is all about the crystals.

YOU MEAN MATERIA, JESUS GET YOUR GAMES RIGHT

ALSO - BUSTER SWORDS

Just stepping in here for a moment to make a snide comment about final fantasy series

I actually bought this. Lucky, I don't have to unsubscribe because they've decided to waive the subscription until it's a game. Haven't played in two months

Awesome I am a final fantasy fan especially the love story of FFX.. i really want to play this game

This game is a MMO. No story to it at all.

To top it off, it blows.

i know final fantasy games never deceived us

Deceived us in regarding what, exactly?

i mean all final fantasy games never fails us

I can think of a number of titles that have failed the series, XIV being their latest abortion.

lol this thread

who would even play this game anymo- oh

http://i.imgur.com/KrFYV.jpg

Couldn't be bothered to think of any real names and thought this an appropriate tribute.

Fucking manthra.

The fuck, Skate is back-- whatever, weird shit happens nowadays. A Realm Reborn actually looks like it might be halfway decent, so maybe I'll pick it up when it launches. I am wondering what sort of nightmare female Galka(-but-not-named-Galka-anymore) look like.

EDIT: Wait, I just noticed something. WHAT THE FUCK are those things flying in the background

Manqo'te won't be showing up for a couple months at least. Thank goodness.

Female Roegadyn look pretty good. There's already one in-game as the leader of one of the city-states, but the designs for the playable look a little different. Mostly the thickness.

http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/img/...349/rea_20.jpg

Those are Garlean Empire airships. A couple patches ago they were barely visible, flying across the sky. Last patch they got bigger. After this most recent patch, well. The game is setting itself up for a big showdown.

They look like massive goddamn flying isopods.

I'm actually liking how the showdown/thing/whatever setup for ARR is going. It's pretty slick.

The game was pretty crap at launch. It's still kinda crappy right now, but it's reasonably fun and entertaining crap. I'm really looking forward to seeing if they can keep up this push well into 2.0 launch.

YouTube Video

FFXIV 1.X is now over.

All MMOs that fail should have meteors slammed into them.

ne1 else l00king 4ward to the next installement ?

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a65...4569111455.jpg

No? Oh well what the fukk

Did anyone join the beta? They've been giving out beta keys to people, and I'm pretty tempted to try it but I just don't have the time. How is it? Any difference from the old version? Is it worth getting it this time?

sign up page for the lazy

I got into the beta, but I never played the original so I can't compare it. Combat is mostly like FF XI-- which is to say, it's like most MMORPGs. The music is good, there's a surprising quantity of actual narrative here, quests are worth a damn (in XI it seemed like they were only good for getting advanced Jobs). I do like these weird Fate things, which are impromptu mini-quests that pop up in the field that anyone can join in on and get experience/items. One had like 20 players ganging up on this one bandit chick, another murdering Cactuars for drops. My favorite was against a horde of beastmen-- a solid 50 players charging endless waves of lizard men and Qiqirn (mobs from Aht Urghan in XI) for about five minutes. Pretty fun.

Still on the fence, though. The only reason I liked XI so much was because it was like Final Fantasy V Online: tons of jobs and variations. I mean, technically Jobs and Subjobs are still around, but in a weird way. Not a big fan of how they work, though at least there's Paladin.

I'd probably be all aboard if there was Blue Mage or Puppeteer, but for now I'm cautiously optimistic. God I miss PUP. :(

I've been in since the Alpha (and also played some 1.0) and it's WAY more polished and much better than the original version. And a hell of a lot prettier, if that matters.

It's really cool to see a bunch of similar areas and place names that were destroyed/ravaged by [the calamity at the end of 1.0] rebuilt, but still familiar. The FATE system is pretty neat too.

That said... I'm gonna say though that the battle system feels NOTHING like FFXI's. If anything I'd say they took the base system from WoW and made all kinds of improvements and basically made it into its own game. I wouldn't call it a WoW-clone by any means, but if I had to compare the base battle system to some other popular game, that'd be a fair comparison.

That said (since I get it for free) I'll likely be playing this once it comes out in August.

How do you measure feelings, exactly? All I mean is that all MMORPGs have the same general battle system (in that you can move around freely and you're essentially operating under an invisible ATB). They can have subtleties like the weapon proficiencies from XI, but if you've played one MMO, you've got the gist of every battle system.

I just meant that in XI everything is menu-based (or text commands, if you prefer)... in that you have to select commands, sub-commands, and targets, (example: Magic > Fire > Target, or Abilities > Weaponskills > Frostbite > Target, and the like) almost like in traditional RPGs, whereas in XIV it's got more of a MMO-type feel. I have nothing against XI (I still play it to be honest), it's just so drastically different from most other MMORPGs that I've played, and XIV definitely doesn't have the same feel. That's all.

Well, it looks good good based on what I've seen online. I just don't have the time to play MMOs anymore. Although I might just try it if I have the time.

The phase 4 (open) beta should be starting soon (within the next couple weeks), so that might be a good time to give it a try. You know, since it'd be free and all. :3:

Never tried classic FF XIV, since I have a strong aversion to spending money on bad games.

That said, I did get a key for the current beta test of A Realm Reborn, and spent a few hours running around last night. First off, the game engine seems pretty solid. Didn't run into any major bugs; a few graphical glitches and anti-aliasing doesn't seem to work right, but there's a good chance that's AMD drivers and not the game proper. Graphics are quite nice, and more importantly, the game runs smoother than a Draven made out of butter and wrapped in silk. Guild Wars 2 hangs out in around 20FPS at the best of times on this computer, and FF XIV never seemed to drop below 30 frames per second even when a dozen moe catboys and catgirls were running around shanking helpless Cactuars in front of me.

http://i.imgur.com/rwX9YWWl.jpg
I AM A HUNDRED FEET TALL and also the only black person in the entire world

Gameplay-wise, it feels like a slightly slowed down version of World of Warcraft. You don't get the action elements like dodging that games like Guild Wars 2 brought along. This might not be a bad thing, since as anyone who's played that game knows, every single fight turns into an action-obscuring particle effect maelstrom within about two seconds. Gamepad controls work very well if you have a mouse and keyboard along to do boring menial nerd tasks like inventory management and chat; I switched over to my 360 controller and never looked back. Quests have tended towards the Twenty Bear Asses side so far, but at least they aren't random drop dependent yet, and the rewards are good. World events are a neat touch.

http://i.imgur.com/qf6UYVal.jpg
This plate mail let through a disturbing amount of jiggle. Always remember to pack a good bra with your adventuring kit.

I dunno if I'll pick it up when it hits retail, but the fact that I'd even consider buying it and paying subscription fees is a pretty big compliment to the developers! They've managed to turn a Duke Nukem Forever-level laughingstock into a game that's actually worth a look, and that's no small feat.

Yeah, i'm enjoying my time with the Beta thus far, and almost considering actually getting the game, which is pretty huge for me. I absolutely cannot stand subscription systems as they currently operate, though, because any time i'm paying a monthly fee it makes me feel obliged to play the game. Which, when you play as many different games and jump between them as often as i do, is just not a good feeling.

I want to play your game, Square Enix, but let me do it on my own terms - a week here, a few days there, without having to pay you for the days i just feel like doing something else.

Does anyone else on GFF play this game? I played the beta, enjoyed it but forgot about it since I was on a League of Legends (is the worst game) kick at the time, got a free month with my fancy-pants i5 processor in October, enjoyed it but forgot about it, picked it back up on a whim during the free weekend, and fell in love and bought a subscription.

I think bailing on my Gladiator in favor of an archer/bard was the secret to Actually Having Fun, since I've always hated the stress involved in tanking...also, my Elezen archer is much, much, much cuter than my Hyur gladiator ever was. Also much more hipster, since everyone either plays as a Huyr, a Lalafell, or a goddamn cat goddamn girl JESUS CHRIST TOO MUCH CATGIRL.

http://i.imgur.com/SdUQmXgl.jpg
Pictured: bosoms. I was slightly disappointed when I hit level 30 and had to ditch the glasses and cleavage in favor of a helmet and sensible armor.

I'm Elena Mayi on the Phoenix server, if anyone happens to be on there.

I'm still playing it from time to time, though i'm on the Ultros server, unfortunately. Game has gotten awful lonely since the friends i started the game with dropped out, and now that i'm at endgame stuff almost everyone i run into is an endgame person (read: min/maxer with no time for actually living in Eorzea).

My main class is a monk, though i'm building up the gladiator class and having fun with that too. It's nice to get to play a different role now and then.

I'm playing too, but it seems like we're all on different servers...

http://i.imgur.com/nkwZGNel.png

I just got this wicked i90 body and waist piece last night. Woo.

I'm playing as a catguy Dragoon on Hyperion. Even the Backloggery free company is about 80% deserted these days, since I think most people quit when they finished the main story. I still have two levels to go before I can do that, but I'd like to at least try running the Crystal Tower and the other endgame dungeons. Well, except for the Binding Coil. I have no interest in min/maxing, long raids, and other typical endgame crap, so I don't know how much longer I'll stick with it once I beat the story. I tend to get easily sidetracked by crafting and mining, so progress has been slow lately.

I can tell you that, of all the endgame stuff, Binding Coil is really a small part of it. There's a lot of stuff you can run repeatedly to get the tomestones to get good gear, and the hard mode and extreme mode boss fights are simple enough to go in and try without feeling like you need to commit a long period of time to them.

In case anyone cares (they don't), I'm Bhatu'to Dhorajii on Excalibur. I'm a catboy dragoon who has a zenith'd relic and a bunch of philosophy gear. Yay me!

e: And when the new patch comes out that adds more turns to Binding Coil, the old ones will get turned into more standard pick up dungeon things and made easier. So non-raiders do get to see it eventually.

Unrelated: Someone made a Facebook page for their FFXIV character. They talk to their character, and their character talks back. I want to kill myself.

I was originally in the Backloggery FC when it started up, but transferred to Balmung when they were having that free transfer period, cause I expected it to die out quite a bit (just like the FFXI linkshell did)... Ah well.

Binding Coil is kinda fun, actually. I've only done the first two turns, though. Got some decent gear out of it!

That is kind of horrifying, and yet totally what I expect from the average Miqo'te player.

Also, does anyone else play this game on Radeon hardware, and if so, is it more problematic than the usual bluescreens/dead fans/cards dying within one year that you would expect from an average Radeon card? I get random yellow flickering from time to time, and for some reason turning off the 30FPS frame limiter makes the game unbearably laggy even on minimal graphics settings.

Can't wait to blow my tax refund on a GTX 660 because jesus christ how the mighty have fallen.

I use a Radeon HD 77xx (I forget which model exactly) and haven't had any issues with FPS or anything. I have pretty decent graphics settings and turned off the limiter, generally get 62-65 FPS unless something REALLY crazy is going on (like those new Crossover FATEs on the first day or two).

I tried playing this out of loyalty and the 7 or so years I spent in FFXI. But packet loss problems, and well, the some what isolating community couldn't keep me around.

So they've come out with a free trial program, if there's anyone left who hasn't tried this game and is still interested in giving it a spin.

FINAL FANTASY XIV

Also, they've started a recruit-a-friend program with some neat rewards, so if anyone does decide to play let me know because i want that two person chocobo dangit

Yeah, I wouldn't mind that EXP boosting circlet from friend referral either if anyway decides to sign up.