Final Fantasy XIV news

[mikewl]

Looks like I was wrong, that does actually look crap.

What happens if you have a bunch of friends that all want to party for an evening, however some of them are near the surplus.

This really does seem like its there to just slow peoples progress down, maybe they don't have any end game content ready yet, 8 hours just seems way too short.

I think maybe they have gone too far to cater for the casuals here.

[mikewl]

[I]

Any experience earned past that point is saved as ?surplus.? There is surplus for each class, and if you begin to see it please consider playing another class and adjust accordingly.

However, experience points are not specific to any class and therefore the decrease in experience points is not affected by changing classes.

This confuses me, they tell you to change class and then go on to say changing class does not affect experience points, hmm.

[abigsmurf]

Square-enix are doing an excellent job of sabotaging their own launch. Even if they remove this system now, there'll be a whole bunch of *** circulating on the net.

Is there an extreme lack of content or something forcing this? How could they ever think you'd get a positive reaction from something like this?

*edit*

Just read that interview...

That is absolutely horrendous.

A set 8 hour weekly limit? Do they realise that you're going to get people powerleveling as much as they possibly can for that time? Not exploring, not taking in the story, not socialising, just going all out to get the maximum amount of xp in that time.

[Irons]

It's just about the worst idea for an MMO mechanic I've ever heard off.

Can you imagine the reaction this will get from western reviewers

[shafropuff]

Its 8 hours full XP and then it decreases over 7 hours rite?

I don't think I'll have to worry too much, I'd be lucky to get more then 3 hours in during the week.

[Tsingtao]

When this hits open Beata I'm taking anyone can jump on and start playing?

[sj33]

Am I reading that right? 8 hours a week? I must be missing something here. My brother has been known to play FFXI for more than 8 hours a day before now, and it is usually a couple of hours a day at the very least.

[mikewl]

SE really need to be more specific, is it 8 hours from the moment you switch to a class, after the first time you attack an enemy or does the timer only go down while in active mode, if its only during active mode then its not as bad as it will mean 8 hours pure battle time.

[mikewl]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...er-eight-hours

Well its hit the headlines now and its not sounding too good, the thing is new details have come to light that is not making into these news items.

Throughout the week while your not xping a class the surplus % gradually goes back up, the weekly thing just guarantees it will be reset at least once a week, this means you could do 4 hours aa day and while your not xping it will regenerate abit.

[abigsmurf]

I'm getting very confused

From what I can gather, there's fatigue and there's surplus.

Fatigue is a universal XP penalty that at 8 hours, you either start to lose xp or your xp is already down to 5%.

Surplus is when you level a class 'too much' and the xp penalty stays forever unless you start levelling another class.

Whether or not the two are being confused and there's only one system. The fact is, this is a pretty awful system. You don't punish subscribers for playing your game.

There was huge amounts of hype and good will towards this game up until the last week or so and they're throwing it away. This shouldn't have got past the drawing board. It certainly shouldn't be the main topic, weeks from launch when they should be concentrating on that final bit of polish.

[Darwock]

Maybe it's a bid to stop the Koreans from killing themselves? In any case I kind of applaud what they are trying to do, even if it does sound a little screwed up.

It sounds like they are taking a little responsibility, I mean there's no denying that MMORPGs are addictive as hell.

[Number45]

That sounds all kinds of crazy. It would be unlikely to affect me, but I can't say I'd be terribly enamoured with paying S-E ~£10/month for them to tell me what I can and can't do with that time. Crazy.

Balance the game, not the players.

[Irons]

From the beta site...

Once again, we would like to thank you all for your participation and support during the Closed Beta. We will continue to take your valuable feedback into consideration as we develop the game during Open Beta and even beyond the official release.

Now I would like to take a moment to respond to the many questions and opinions regarding the manner in and rates at which experience and skill points are obtained in Beta 3.

Firstly, the concept for FINAL FANTASY XIV was to design a system of character progression that offers meaningful advancement for those with limited time to dedicate to playing. We did not want to create a game that forced people to play for hours on end to see their efforts rewarded. To that end, in addition to the Guardian's Aspect and guildleve systems, we introduced a means of apportioning swifter advancement to shorter periods of play.

In order to achieve this balance, we calculated a value for the amount of skill or experience points that could be earned in a one-hour period. This theoretical value represents an hour spent engaged solely in combat, levequests, or any other activities that earn skill or experience points, and sets a threshold delimiting how many of these points can be earned in a period of play.

Based on this, we have implemented a ?threshold value? concept. These thresholds are regulated by a one-week timer that begins counting down the instant you earn skill/experience points. After a week has passed, the thresholds will reset, and the moment skill/experience points are earned again, the timer begins counting down anew.

For the first eight thresholds during this week-long period, players will receive skill/experience points at the maximum rate possible. The actual amount of time spent reaching these thresholds is not significant. That is to say, a player who exceeds eight hours of gameplay will still be rewarded the maximum amount of skill/experience points, so long as the total amount earned is below the eighth threshold value. For the subsequent seven thresholds, players will earn skill/experience points at a gradually decreasing rate, eventually reaching a rate of zero.

It is worth noting, however, that the reduced rate will also gradually recover while players are engaged in activities that do not yield skill/experience points. In this manner, it is possible for the threshold value to reset completely, even before the completion of the one-week timer.

Any skill points earned in excess of the threshold maximum?that is, at a rate of zero?will be stored as "bonus skill points." These are specific to each class, so players limited to earning bonus skill points still have the freedom to change classes and begin earning skill points again at the maximum rate, allowing their reduced skill rates to recover in the meantime.

The experience point threshold, however, is unrelated to class, and switching classes will have no effect on the decreasing rate of earnable experience.

This is how the progression system currently works.

This system was not introduced in Beta 3, but has been in place since the beginning of beta testing. There are several reasons why many people believe that these features were only recently implemented:

- Leading into Beta 3, operation hours were extended, making it possible to play more often during the span of a week.
- To encourage players to form guidleve parties in Beta 3, skill and experience point rewards for guildleves were significantly increased.
- The process that reduced the amount of skill/experience points awarded for weak enemies attacking in groups was unintentionally removed at the start of Beta 3. (This issue has been addressed.)

That last reason in particular was the biggest cause for players running up against the threshold penalty, with characters earning far more skill/experience points than we anticipated. We also faced an issue where we were simultaneously unable to adjust the amount earned for guildleves as well as the effects of crossing each threshold.

We sincerely apologize for the lack of explanation and our failure to make the necessary adjustments in the game.

The threshold values are being reexamined, and we plan to further adjust the different rates of earnable points based on feedback from our testers. One of the top issues we are looking at right now is fixing the excessively rapid drop after crossing the eighth threshold. We also plan to improve experience point reduction rates, even more so than for skill points, considering the threshold is unaffected when changing class.

At the very least, we can promise that players won't be running into the threshold penalty in the same short time span as they did in the beginning of Beta 3.

We would like to take this opportunity to also explain the following issues.

The diminishing results experienced during gathering are a function related to that class alone, and have no connection to this progression system. We are in the process of adjusting this system, and plan to make changes based on tester feedback.

We are currently in the process of considering the means in which bonus skill points can be used. There have been suggestions for various types of incentives, but as encouraging people to play with that in mind defeats the purpose of this threshold system, we will be examining this issue very carefully.

These are not the only adjustments we have planned for Open Beta. As mentioned previously, we are looking into increasing the amount of skill points earned when fighting in a party, and we look forward to seeing your input on these changes.

Last of all, I would like to apologize for the delay in releasing a developer's comment due to my recent attendance to Gamescom. The article based on my interview during that trip, coupled with conjecture, outdated information, and some misunderstandings on overseas websites, only added to the confusion. In the future, I hope to avoid similar problems by responding directly through official developer's comments as often as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

See you in the Open Beta Testing!

FINAL FANTASY XIV Director
Nobuaki Komoto

I honestly fear for this game now and I think it could take to the PS3 launch if not more to recover. Even if the system is tweaked so it only ever affects the really hardcore 5% the internet is simply flooded with it now.

How a company of SE experience could let this get so far out of hand is astonishing and it is clear their unwillingness to communicate with the player base is hurting them really badly.

[Tobal]

How does this game offer to do outside of exping/skilling up? I assume its next to nothing like all starting mmo's then i think i won't play past the 1st free month.

[C']

You have the mission line obviously and there are Guildleves which are basically like Assault missions but take place in the field rather than specific battlefield areas.

Very early days like you say though so content is a little thin at the moment.