Originally posted by Hyanmen

 

Just like in any other recent release, these people will flock to the MMO, digest the content in a week, compare to WoW, pick out everything that is missing, and leave.

All that is important is that the game is up to standard for the Final Fantasy fans to enjoy properly. Fortunately western MMO players can be used to make this happen.

 

Yes we'll get the usual locusts, but this is supposed to be appealing to more than just hardcore FF fans, they have spent a lot of money on this, and many XIV 1.0 fans won't like the changes, and there are FF fans that won't give it another chance, and XI fans that will just stick with XI, they need broader appeal. They have said they want a AAA mmo that can compete with the others, (and they mean western ones) that will get good reviews, for that they need a lot of features we are used to. Besides, it will just make the game more fun, after all this time and tragedy, it would be nice to not have to rely of FF nostalgia alone to be able to want to play ARR just as much as GW2, WoW, or the others.

 

Originally posted by zevni78

Yes we'll get the usual locusts, but this is supposed to be appealing to more than just hardcore FF fans, they have spent a lot of money on this, and many XIV 1.0 fans won't like the changes, and there are FF fans that won't give it another chance, and XI fans that will just stick with XI, they need broader appeal. They have said they want a AAA mmo that can compete with the others, (and they mean western ones) that will get good reviews, for that they need a lot of features we are used to. Besides, it will just make the game more fun, after all this time and tragedy, it would be nice to not have to rely of FF nostalgia alone to be able to want to play ARR just as much as GW2, WoW, or the others.

Final Fantasy fanbase consists of tens of millions of people. Lot of them are on the PS3. That is a massive demographic and frankly enough to make the game successful as long as SE is successful in catering to the fans' demands (with fan service etc.). I don't see why only hardcore FF fans would find the game appealing, it is designed to be as casual as WoW. The only threshold is the fact you pay a sub fee and play with other people, which isn't some hardcore vs. casual issue.

As I said, the game needs to be up to the standard. For it to get good reviews, and for the western MMO player to regard the game as equal to all the others they have quit before, as opposed to something inferior. Either way they will quit soon after, but it's not an issue as long as they cater to the people that like the game for it being a Final Fantasy game first, MMO second.

It is simply easier to sell the game to the people who matter by making sure that the people who don't matter don't diss the game, even though they might be indifferent.

£6.89 a month. Boooyaaa!

Originally posted by Hyanmen

 

Final Fantasy fanbase consists of tens of millions of people. Lot of them are on the PS3.

As I said, the game needs to be up to the standard. For it to get good reviews, and for the western MMO player to regard the game as equal to all the others they have quit before, as opposed to something inferior. Either way they will quit soon after, but it's not an issue as long as they cater to the people that like the game for it being a Final Fantasy game first, MMO second.

It is simply easier to sell the game to the people who matter by making sure that the people who don't matter don't diss the game, even though they might be indifferent.

 

Agreed, but as a MMO fan as well as a FF fan I want a game that is good at being both. For the past 2 yrs I yearned to play XIV and visit the different areas, fight Ifrit etc, but the bad game play and crashes wouldn’t let me. Now I can do that, but I want to be more than a tourist, I would like to make ARR my home for awhile, it will need a lot of good content to keep me and other jaded mmo players happy. It's not asking too much.

 

You really think there are that many PS3 FF fans? I've no idea.

From NICONICO LIVE Japanese are very excited for the game the link is under MISC. Info its all in Japanese no CC but worth a watch its sorta of a review on it in japanese with hype

Originally posted by zevni78

Now I can do that, but I want to be more than a tourist, I would like to make ARR my home for awhile, it will need a lot of good content to keep me and other jaded mmo players happy. It's not asking too much.

Maybe it isn't, maybe it is. If the Final Fantasy fans are satisfied, there is no pressure for SE to do more (past launch).

For your sake I hope that their demands are similar in line to yours. Though, they probably won't digest the content as fast as you do, nor take the game as seriously.

Originally posted by DarknessReign
From NICONICO LIVE Japanese are very excited for the game the link is under MISC. Info its all in Japanese no CC but worth a watch its sorta of a review on it in japanese with hype

Yes, I've seen the vids, they seem very exited, hard to tell how representative they are though. Maybe the Japanese are more forgiving? Its hard to get a sense of how those in Japan are receiving Yoshida and his new way.

Originally posted by Hyanmen

Originally posted by zevni78

Now I can do that, but I want to be more than a tourist, I would like to make ARR my home for awhile, it will need a lot of good content to keep me and other jaded mmo players happy. It's not asking too much.

Maybe it isn't, maybe it is. If the Final Fantasy fans are satisfied, there is no pressure for SE to do more (past launch).

For your sake I hope that their demands are similar in line to yours. Though, they probably won't digest the content as fast as you do, nor take the game as seriously.

I won't take it that seriously, I just get bored fast, against my will. I've been playing FF games since FF2, and I know where many fans are coming from, and with ARR there is a solid foundation to add many interesting features, and we know fighting chocobos and gear are being made, and other things we havn't seen in mmos before.

I believe they said subscribers to FFXIV 1.0 will get access to Beta but is there any other way? I was going to play the game for a month to get a feel and access to 2.0 Beta but I read that it is no longer available.

So I was wondering if there has been any mention of other ways Beta will become available to non subscribers to 1.0? I know I am asking early but I'm super psyched to try the game out :)

Originally posted by angerbeaver

I believe they said subscribers to FFXIV 1.0 will get access to Beta but is there any other way? I was going to play the game for a month to get a feel and access to 2.0 Beta but I read that it is no longer available.

So I was wondering if there has been any mention of other ways Beta will become available to non subscribers to 1.0? I know I am asking early but I'm super psyched to try the game out :)

right now you can apply for the ALPHA it is about to start its 3rd and final phase . Then when beta is ready apply for that or if your V1 account was curent to 1st shutdown of servers im sure SE will send you a email.

There is a Alpha video out i cant and wont link to it but it shows combat and a few emotes it is on a major video website where you can find just about anything i will not name it. But if you are smart you can figuer it out :)  and before a Mod gets all high and mighty i know there is a NDA for this game and i did not detail any info , links or search commands to show NDA content have a nive day : )

From the Offical FFXIV:ARR Website The Dev. Blog is now live! find link under offical websites for FFXIV on front page will have *NEW* FFXIV:ARR Dev. Blog as its tital and the link

added the new video to main page quest and combat

Originally posted by DarknessReign
added the new video to main page quest and combat

How did you like the look of combat and questing?

it was ok . Combat reminds me of XI a little faster i liked it. Questing looked good. It was modern set mostly for Solo players to gain EXP and items off questing. Adds something more. All in all it reminds me of FFXI but modern witch is what WE the FFXI community really wanted

I found some info from FFXIVCORE notes taken from Yoshi-P what to expect in a nutshell

FFXIV “Version 1.0” General Additions between September 2010 & September 2012:

• Spirit Bonding and Materia System (similar to FFVII) where you can equip gear, it has a “spirit gauge” bar and when it maxes you can break it down into material you can equip which boosts your stats.
• Grand Companies for each city which serve as a main focal point for story quests (also issues your Chocobo)
• Primals and Weapons (Ifrit, Moogle King, Garuda)
• Airships between cities
• Auto-Attack
• Quests that grant EXP
• EXP parties with exp chains
• Jobs, Artifact Armor, Relic Armor
• Fatigue System is LONG gone

• The Free Company system. Think of these as Linkshells (FF equivalent of guilds) taken to the next level. The details are scarce at this point, but things such as company bases, company summons, and other large, cool stuff of that nature has been hinted at.

• Instanced Housing System (3 sizes, small, medium, large. Medium and Large cost high amounts of gil.) – Need to read more on this. Comprehensive Info.

• Adjustment to Gil Retention (All costs were brought down, so you will have less gil when you start.) Example: V.1.0 You had 10,000, now have 1 less numerator = 1,000.

• Auction House (Finally)

• Chocobo Augmenting / Gearing the Chocobo/ Fights with you out in battle / Can call it anywhere outside of cities

• New mounts (Courels, Drakes)

• PVP (this will be contained to two main areas; one for small-medium scale encounters and other for much larger, objective based encounters.)

• Delivery Box (Mognet?)

• Jumping Function

• New summons (Titan and Odin)

• Rebalanced/new class abilities and traits.

• Redesigned combat / Limit Break System

• New notorious monsters (rare enemies; small and large varieties) and new enemies/monsters.

• FATE System (to add)


• Armory System / Job System (Classes & Jobs)

You start the game as either a Disciple of Magic or Disciple of War. These are classes you can start as. At level 30, you can advance to the designated class job, which grants you more skills, power, and equipment.

Gladiator > Paladin
Marauder > Warrior
Pugilist > Monk
Archer > Bard (P.s. Archers don’t need to buy arrows separately anymore)
Lancer > Dragoon
Conjuror > White Mage
Thaumaturge> Black Mage
*NEW* Arcanist > Summoner

Artifact Armor / Relic Weapons
Each job has a set of artifact armor (AF) that you can start gathering through a string of quests starting at level 30.

Relic Weapons have a string of quests that are much larger in length. (Anyone who played FFXI knows this)

• Leveling / Experience Points / Quests

Gone are the days of grinding. Side quests, game content, and the main storyline grant you the majority of your experience points for your job to level up to 50. There are NUMEROUS side quests. Quests pop up over NPC’s heads and have a “Where to go” feature on mini map.

• Main Storyline

The main story is brand new in FFXIV:ARR and the main storyline alone can get you from level 1 to 50.

• End Game

• CROSS-SERVER dungeon/content finder (Automatically matches you up with those that are seeking the same content.)

• Crystal Tower (TO ADD)

• Bahamuts' Labyrinth (TO ELABORATE)

Full Parties = 8 People
Alliance = 3 Parties (24 people for End Game Runs)

More or less all this info can also be found on the front page reading and watching the links. Maybe this can clear up some issues and awnser questions people have.

Originally posted by DarknessReign

I found some info from FFXIVCORE notes taken from Yoshi-P what to expect in a nutshell

FFXIV “Version 1.0” General Additions between September 2010 & September 2012:

• Spirit Bonding and Materia System (similar to FFVII) where you can equip gear, it has a “spirit gauge” bar and when it maxes you can break it down into material you can equip which boosts your stats.
• Grand Companies for each city which serve as a main focal point for story quests (also issues your Chocobo)
• Primals and Weapons (Ifrit, Moogle King, Garuda)
• Airships between cities
• Auto-Attack
• Quests that grant EXP
• EXP parties with exp chains
• Jobs, Artifact Armor, Relic Armor
• Fatigue System is LONG gone

• The Free Company system. Think of these as Linkshells (FF equivalent of guilds) taken to the next level. The details are scarce at this point, but things such as company bases, company summons, and other large, cool stuff of that nature has been hinted at.

• Instanced Housing System (3 sizes, small, medium, large. Medium and Large cost high amounts of gil.) – Need to read more on this. Comprehensive Info.

• Adjustment to Gil Retention (All costs were brought down, so you will have less gil when you start.) Example: V.1.0 You had 10,000, now have 1 less numerator = 1,000.

• Auction House (Finally)

• Chocobo Augmenting / Gearing the Chocobo/ Fights with you out in battle / Can call it anywhere outside of cities

• New mounts (Courels, Drakes)

• PVP (this will be contained to two main areas; one for small-medium scale encounters and other for much larger, objective based encounters.)

• Delivery Box (Mognet?)

• Jumping Function

• New summons (Titan and Odin)

• Rebalanced/new class abilities and traits.

• Redesigned combat / Limit Break System

• New notorious monsters (rare enemies; small and large varieties) and new enemies/monsters.

• FATE System (to add)


• Armory System / Job System (Classes & Jobs)

You start the game as either a Disciple of Magic or Disciple of War. These are classes you can start as. At level 30, you can advance to the designated class job, which grants you more skills, power, and equipment.

Gladiator > Paladin
Marauder > Warrior
Pugilist > Monk
Archer > Bard (P.s. Archers don’t need to buy arrows separately anymore)
Lancer > Dragoon
Conjuror > White Mage
Thaumaturge> Black Mage
*NEW* Arcanist > Summoner

Artifact Armor / Relic Weapons
Each job has a set of artifact armor (AF) that you can start gathering through a string of quests starting at level 30.

Relic Weapons have a string of quests that are much larger in length. (Anyone who played FFXI knows this)

• Leveling / Experience Points / Quests

Gone are the days of grinding. Side quests, game content, and the main storyline grant you the majority of your experience points for your job to level up to 50. There are NUMEROUS side quests. Quests pop up over NPC’s heads and have a “Where to go” feature on mini map.

• Main Storyline

The main story is brand new in FFXIV:ARR and the main storyline alone can get you from level 1 to 50.

• End Game

• CROSS-SERVER dungeon/content finder (Automatically matches you up with those that are seeking the same content.)

• Crystal Tower (TO ADD)

• Bahamuts' Labyrinth (TO ELABORATE)

Full Parties = 8 People
Alliance = 3 Parties (24 people for End Game Runs)

More or less all this info can also be found on the front page reading and watching the links. Maybe this can clear up some issues and awnser questions people have.

Yes saw this as well lets just say that  EXP parties with exp chains is true lol.

A new Blog from a FF fan with a little insight for the game a break down of the combat AND a new Blog post from the Offical FFXIV website ( you can find the link on the front page ) This is the video and its got some great Info Enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbFTX5YG1V0

Also shows a Pic of Ul'Dah region

More detailed info from Yoshi-P

-Current Alpha Version of XIV is from ARR Version a few months ago, and the real version is much more developed.
-The Physics Engine isn't implemented in Alpha (Will be in Beta)
-However, basic enmity, and aggro system is implemented. (might be incomplete, but there's proof)
-there is also an active Instanced Dungeon (tam-tara deepcroft) in Alpha with working features.
-Beta Version will include a lot more features from the "Actual Game" such as prototype Housing, PvP, etc
-Yoshi-P will keep on inviting Alpha Users, currently, Alpha is in Phase 3
-Remember, Alpha Test is solely for "STRESS TESTING", had to mention
-Levelling in FFXIV: ARR will be more spread out, from Guildleves, to Quest, Dungeon, NM, Strongholds, FATE
-Alpha Level cap is Level 20 and Only CNJ, ARC, LNC, so Battle System is very limited
-In Beta there will be "Fall Damage" and no more Invisible Walls
-I don't know about V2.0 Repairs, but in V1.0, NPC repairs Any Gears to 99% with Lv 50 Gears charging 5k Gil max
-In V1.0, you already have Repair button
-There will be Gold Saucer, Crystal Tower, Great Labyrinth of Bahamut, etc etc from Previous Final Fantasies
-Content will be optimized to all level, ranging from Solo-Trio, Light Party(4-7), Full Party(8), and Alliance (Up to 24)
-Dungeons and Raids are for Parties, [Hard] Mode needs everyone to be good and experienced
-Upon Launch, A New Class Arcanist will be available, and It's job summoner to come soon after
-There will be Toggle Systems on Ingame Features (UI, Dust, Physics, Targetting, etc)(Already in V1.0)
-The areas are difficult to approach for alpha testers (cap lv 20) hence the tour char. is lv 50
-Yoshi-P did not want XIV:ARR turn into an Action game
-Bestiary / Monster Book system is planned and is on work
-F.A.T.E.( Full Active Time Event) is a new World Content System in XIV:ARR (Public Event ??)[Prototype in Beta]
-No limit on how many people can participate in a FATE, rewards are based on Individual performance
-Examples of FATE types, Open World Contents(NMs, etc), Hamlet Defense, Chocobo Escort)
-In FATE, you will be level-synced to the content level. (Only If you are above the level)
-Benchmark is soon to be released, There is 2 types of Benchmark. (Character Creation and I forgot the other one)
-Incapacitation will be improved and put into use (Has been used(Crucial) since Original Launch)
-New Genders If you haven't found out, such as "Male Miqo'te", "Female Roegadyn", and "Female Highlander"
-Yoshi-P commented on New Races (Still a long way to go) but said between "Reptile-Humanoid" or "Viera"
-Alpha will end near around "Mid-End" December, Beta will start January-Feb
-Limit Break will be a form of "Team-work" Ability/Super-skill requiring to fill a PT Bar.
-Free Companies are granted the power of Primal-summoning for a certain time If they're the first to kill it.
-To summon the Primal, the Company must fill in certain Bar, when summoned World Weather will change.
-Free Company is a Higher-level of Community, they will be able to have Headquarters, and many more is to come
-Housing will be on an Instanced neighbourhoods, they will be able to choose plot of lands to buy
-There are 3 different types of lands and plots, being Small, Medium and Large
-Large lands can have small houses, but small lands cannot have large houses
-Players can freely decorate their indoors or outdoors(gardens)
-It is possible to have several people living inside a house (for example, multiple rooms like sharing apartments?)
-There will be "Trophy" decorations inside the houses
-A New Instance of Neighborhood will be made automatically If a land is bought.
-Land and House prices are separate, you can also craft furnitures or plant gardens. (Crafting & Gathering)
-Land starts expensive, but if it's not bought, the price will start to drop
-You can buy them right in the location, or from the Market Boards. (Retainers/Banks will be placed in your home)
-No Land Expansions, If you bought S-Land and want o have M-Land, you have to buy it again
-But Moving onto another patch of land is possible (?? From S-land to another S-land in different location maybe)
-All Cities, along with the World Map was radically changed (Ul'dahs gate might be able to open)
-You can sell unneeded lands to NPC (Maybe PC too, but no information on that)
-There will be PvP modes like; 1v1, 3v3, 8v8, Tournaments, etc etc typical PvP modes
-Chocobo Breeding systems(from chick), you will be able to optimize your Chocobo types like Mage, Tank, DD, etc
-There will be other mounts such as Magitek, Ahriman, Coeurl, Drakes, etc
-Although there is no plan for Magitek to be used in Battle, Devs are hoping to do so in the future
-Chocobo Armory system, Chocobo will be able to wear gears(Head, Body, Legs) to enhance their performance
-Foods and Consumables will have a bigger part in ARR
-ARR Story at launch will be divided into 3 at first, being "7th Umbral Era", "The Garlean Empire" and "The Primals"
-Barber NPC for quests to change appearance (Hairstyle, facepaint)
-Marriage System
-Inventory is limited, but banks will have larger capacity (Shared Banks for Free Company with authority selection)
-There will be Vanity slots for Vanity Items
-Monsters divided from Small to Medium to Large (Already in 1.0)
-More Monsters behaviour, according to their types (Voidkin, Seedskin, etc) (Was in XIV 1.0 to an extent)
-[From Alpha Phase 2] Able to handle 1000 Players in 1 place and show around 100+ Characters at the same time wit haround 300+ Battles simultaneously

-Yoshi-P was thinking of separating Daggers from GLA, making it usable to THF
-Yoshi-P was interested in the Idea of Samurai
-Yoshi-P will implement either a "Sky" or "Sea" Content Expansion in the future (There's a chance for swimming)
-Yoshi-P is planning on "Expanding the Magic Division" first, he is also interested in crowd control roles
-ARR Server will have better response than the current version
-ARR Graphic Engine is created for easier use for various range of PC specs (Low to High)
-ARR is also made for the PS3, hence the graphics adjustment
-PS3 and PC will be launched at the same time, if not similar
-PvP and Housing will not be available immediately at launch, but will follow soon after
-Housing will be like Instanced Neighbourhoods, where you can buy a plot of land in an Estate
-Uematsu didn't compose all the music in XIV 1.0, but he did 72 themes of them
-ARR's story is based around 5 years after the Fall of Dalamud, sent to another dimension by Louisoix
-Current Music team (Sound Director) Masayoshi Soken, Naoshi Mizuta, Ryo Yamazaki, Tsuyoshi Sekito
-ARR will be voice acted in Japanese, English, French and German
-The Alpha stage will go for a few month, with 4 Phases in total. First 2 Phases will be Local Test
-Alpha is currently at Phase 2, Phase 3 to follow very soon
-Beta Testing will begin around January if not Early-february
-PC & PS3 Beta Test will go on similar timelines
-ARR is supported by fully-customizable UI
-It is said that it will support 3rd Party Softwares such as mods (to modify UI, etc)
-Level Sync will also be implemented
-The XIV Dev Team played lots of various MMOs, not only WoW
-ARR is an almost complete redesign (World Redesign, Graphic, Server structure, etc)
-ARR will not have DirectX11 compatibility at launch, but that is their next goal
-ARR is planned to be released by Q1 2013 (Jan-Mar)