Final Fantasy XIV Then...

[mikewl]

Yeah no problems man, figured that was what had happened.

@elaniel, be glad you aren't leveling a mage as i've been on slowly moving through Lv13 for the past 2-3 sessions.

THM skill ups are not so good as a healer / enfeebler at the moment (something I hope is addressed) so I think I will need to do some duo exping or similar on lower level mobs so I can get my skill ups from offensive actions before I get left way behind!

I'd enjoy some two/three party exping, Leves are good but I find I don't get a whole lot of xp for it, it will be good to mix things up a bit.

[C']

I've activated another faction leve as it was offering a Unique body piece as a reward (a Frayed Cotton Doublet Vest). It's called Wanted: Xha Viqqoh the Nibbler at Camp Skull Valley.

If people want to join with it more than happy to do with group but can I ask no one else who does so activates same one (at least until we clear it once) to avoid the treasure chest crap that ruined my last one.

[djtickle]

Did you guys get any leaves done last night? I still have all mine active as i was semi afk most of the night.

Somthing stupid I did find out last night though was repairs are not done on crafting level they are done on "Optimal Rank". Which I think is stupid, if you made the thing why the hell cant you fix it?

I couldnt repair a Rank 27 Armor as a level 20 ARM. Which is a 15 craft.

I was on the other hand happy with my appearance yesterday after some crafting.. (I dont want to talk about the shield lvl20 craft my arse)

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/JlsQdxFkwfUDzhDXOqd__g?feat=directlink

Also managed to make my level 12 Smithing hammer.

Also found this http://www.enjin.com/tools/ffxiv-signatures pretty cool for a 14 sig

[elaniel]

Well they have divided up the wards now, and if you sell the items in the correct ward, it costs 2% to sell instead of 5%.

Seems people are following this rule so far (although if you have quite a varied amount of items for sale, its hard to ensure everything is being sold in the correct wards)

[djtickle]

From looking online is there not a ward for Crystals/Shards? This is complete fail, prob the highest selling items in bazzars.

This still doesnt work though. At the moment im selling Head, Body, Feet and Sheilds. Thats 4 different wards.

Ok its better for finding things but thats about it, really you need a retainer in each...

What happens if the areas fill with retainers?

[C']

Dj is right. It's a "solution" that when you first hear it you think this might fix the problem. Want some accessories? Head over to the Goldsmith ward. Desperate for that new Rank 21 bow for your ARC? Carpentry ward is where you should look.

However, when you think about the practicalities it actually causes new difficulties.

The problem is, in reality, a lot of people will have multiple crafts and want to sell different kinds of item. I try and move both goldsmith and weaver items right now. The tax issue doesn't concern me that much so don't mind taking an extra 3% hit on items sold in the wrong ward. What worries me is that if I choose the Goldsmith ward are my clothcraft sales going to suffer as no one is looking for new armour there?

[djtickle]

Dj is right.

Doesnt happen offten lol

->Open Spoiler<-

<3 sonic 4

Its a fix for "Buyers", seems they didnt think about the sellers.

[elaniel]

Oooh:

First of all, we would like to thank you for joining us in the realm of Eorzea, and hope you are enjoying your adventures.

Since the official launch of service on September 30, 2010, we have received a wealth of constructive feedback from the FINAL FANTASY XIV community, and the development and management teams would like to take this opportunity to express their sincerest gratitude. For those who purchased the collector’s edition and began to play one week before official service began, the month-long free play period is drawing to a close. Considering the nature of much of the feedback we received, however, and the current state of the game, we have decided to extend the free trial period for all users. Please continue reading for further details.

We would like to assure players that the world of FINAL FANTASY XIV is constantly growing and evolving, and the voices of the community are essential to that process. The development and management teams are carefully considering all player feedback, and working diligently to implement whatever changes and additions will serve to make Eorzea a better home for adventurers. We humbly ask for your continued support to this end.

Today, we have released information regarding forthcoming version updates. For further details, please view the following Lodestone Topics:
・Version Updates Coming Soon! (15/10/2010)
( http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/index.html )
・Ask the Devs! (15/10/2010)
( http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com...d19898de3263f8 )
・Message from the Director (15/10/2010)
( http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com...0187bd24c462ad )

Free Trial Extension Details

- Eligibility
Only customers who have registered FINAL FANTASY XIV service account and purchased a character by Oct. 25, 2010 will be eligible for the extension of the free trial period. Customers purchasing their first character after that date will be entitled to the standard 30 day free trial period only.

* Character purchase must be done by 23:59 (GMT) on Oct. 25, 2010 / 00:59 BST on Oct.26, 2010.
* Accounts that have been terminated due to violation of the User Agreement are not eligible.
* If multiple service accounts are registered, all service accounts will be eligible.

- Extended Period
The free trial period will be extended by 30 Days (By combining with the initial free trial period, the total will be 60 days.)

* Both the end date of free trial period and billing start date will be extended automatically. There is no change or update that needs to be done manually. A Reminder Notice will be issued before the billing start date.
* Despite the length of the contract period that was selected, whether it be 30 days, 60 days, or 180 days, the extended period will remain 30 days for all eligible players.
After the extended free trial period has come to an end, billing will be processed based on the selected contract period.
* Even in cases where auto-renewable options have been disabled, the free trial period will be extended and players will be allowed to play FINAL FANTASY XIV until the new end date of free trial period.
* Even if you have already received the notification mail on the end of free trial period and the schedule on monthly fee billing, the extension of free trial period will apply.
* The process of extension of the free trial period within the Square Enix Account Management System is scheduled to take place on Oct. 19, 2010. An announcement will be made once the process is complete.
* After the free trial period is extended, the new billing start date will become available on the Square Enix Account Management System.

[elaniel]

Also from the director:

As always, we would like to thank you for choosing to play FINAL FANTASY XIV.

In this Topics, I will speak at length about the forthcoming version update.

Allow me to begin by stating that the development team plans to release a version update at a rate of once every three months, of which the large-scale version update currently planned for December will be the first. Nothing is more important to us than seeing to the prompt implementation of the various changes and features players desire to improve playing conditions. In that vein, there are several adjustments and additions which we will be introducing before December's version update.

A good deal of the constructive feedback we received was in regards to the market and retainer systems. As previously addressed in an installment of Ask the Devs, several improvements will be brought to both of these features. Among these are a simplification of retainer access which no longer requires use of the interactions menu, and specific reduced taxes in market wards which will serve to reorganize them by item types.

Further changes we have planned for the near future, which will be coming sometime after the first version update, include the following:

Search feature to allow item searches by individual wards
Icon display to identify retainers selling sought-after items
Increase in the number of retainers that may be employed

A version update scheduled for late November will contain a number of other changes and additions as well. Below is a list of the primary points of focus.

User Interface Adjustments
In response to the generous amount of player feedback we received, a number of changes and new features will be implemented in this area. Many players have voiced dissatisfaction with several facets of the user interface, such as the chat feature and targeting mechanism, and we will be working to remedy these issues as soon as possible.

For more details, please read Ask the Devs.

Party-Based Battle Balancing
Party-based battle will be undergoing a number of adjustments and tweaks, but players may rest assured that we have every intention of staying true to our policy of making a game that is enjoyable for solo players as well.

At present, players have voiced concern over a lack of necessity for forming parties, as well as a shortage of situations that demand the execution of multiplayer battle strategies. To address such issues, we will be making modifications to the way in which the enmity mechanism works, in addition to reexamining the Battle Regimen system.

Server Lag
Notable lag has been observed in certain areas of the game, particularly when a large number of players are gathered together. To combat this, such areas will be divided into multiple "sections" for the purposes of server-side processing, thereby reducing concentrated loads and subsequent lag on individual World servers.

Distribution of Enemies
In an attempt to further reduce occurrences of lag, we initially avoided placing a large number of enemies in close proximity to one another. With, however, the implementation of the measures mentioned above to reduce server lag, and as player concentrations are beginning to disperse from the starting areas, we will be looking into a redistribution of enemies that is more conducive to enjoyable adventuring.

Another significant addition planned for the December version update is the introduction of notorious monsters (NMs), which will appear in open areas and on guildleves (faction leves). Coming together with the notorious monsters will be a wide variety of new items and rewards, and future version updates will usher in all-new content centered around these formidable new enemies.

Further details regarding notorious monsters and associated new loot will be released in Topics posts as they become available, so be sure to check in regularly!

We also have several seasonal events scheduled to take place beginning in December, and hope that you will all look forward to those as well!

There are still more changes and additions slated for year's end and early next year as well. We will make sure to release information regarding them as soon as we are able in the ongoing Ask the Devs FAQ.

Thank you again for your time, and we hope that you will continue to enjoy your time in ever-evolving Eorzea!

FINAL FANTASY XIV Director
Nobuaki Komoto

[Rep]

Didn't most of us see that coming? The JP PS2 XI launch had teething issues and that also received an extra month free. Good result though and pretty generous (unless they take away the XI discount ).

[InvisibleKid]

Well, I actually feel pretty reassured and encouraged for their response.

I might even play tonight when the Mrs. has gone to bed

[abigsmurf]

The issue with FFXI was more down to the servers not being up to snuff though wasn't it? This seems more of an admission that the game isn't good enough.

The patch does at least seem to indicate they're aware that wide scale improvements are needed but those fixes, and the extra 30 days aren't enough to make me start playing again I'm afraid.

The major December update frankly needs expansion pack levels of improvements to bring the game up to par.

[C']

Didn't most of us see that coming? The JP PS2 XI launch had teething issues and that also received an extra month free. Good result though and pretty generous (unless they take away the XI discount ).

I remember having that conversation about the XI launch before we even started XIV and we joked that the same thing could happen again. Pretty awesome news.

I do like the sound of some of the updates planned though. Have to laugh at the way they used the term "current state of the game". XD

Previously completed quests will now appear in players' journals

As someone who is OCD about knowing exactly what I've done, it annoys me that all my records of regional/local levequests are erased every tally. I've had this complaint since I started the beta but good to see it will be coming.

In addition, we will be introducing a new feature that will allow players to select recipes from a list of recently crafted items and recipes learned through levequests, and set all of the appropriate ingredients with the touch of a single button, thus making repeated synthesis of a single item a snap!

Again this wil also be awesome. I rememebr when I first completed a local leve and I was told I was rewarded with a recipe. Spent ages looking through my menus wondering where it was recorded. The journal has so much potential for things like this but is woefully underused right now. Currently I actually write down every recipe reward I receive on a pad on my desk. Fingers crossed the game at least has a record of what recipes it has rewarded me with already and they will populate the hournal after the patch that adds this. Don't want to have to earn them all again.

The mid-December version update will introduce many new guildleves; among them special faction leves that pit players against deadly notorious monsters.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Start stocking up on those faction points now.

[elaniel]

This is what I can't wait for

The second adjustment, planned for the late-November version update, will see a significant reduction in the amount of anima required to teleport or return. To be specific, the cost for Returning will be reduced to 1, and halved for Teleportation to one of up to three "favorite" aetheryte destinations designated by the player.

[mikewl]

I can get 3 Limsa and 3 Ul'Dah leves tonight if people want to do some partying/leves.