Will be on tonight also 
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I'll try and be on tonight, any idea what sort of starting time we're looking at?Comment
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Linkshell situation is getting depressing. For most of Saturday was just myself and Buju online for the majority of the day. Seem to be losing members every day.
Fortunately I’ve been able to solo a good majority of the leves I’ve been getting. Rank 20 leves at Bloodshore I can solo at 3 star difficulty for a decent challenge and even soloed a rank 30 leve in Cassiopeia Hollow but failed another so at my current rank it does seem to depend on what I’m fighting (Yarzons and Imps are pretty much no goes at this time).
Need this November “miracle” patch to land asap and try and pull more players back. There’s already rumours of server merges which would be disastrous for the game’s reputation this early in its life.Comment
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Really disappointing to hear about the LS but even more so the server merge rumour. As much as I am enjoying XIV it does seem that the launch condition has badly effected how many people have kept playing after month 1-2. Lets hope the November patch is enough but I begin to fear the worst (especially with WoW Cataclysm only a month away).Originally posted by C' View Post
I am good for Leves and/or EXP this week (now at Lv16/21 after the weekend).Comment
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I wonder if the patch will come before the trial period ends, because right now I'm not interested in playing for free, let alone for a monthly fee. There's only so many times I can fail a level 1 synth and repeat the same Leve before getting bored ****less.
Perhaps being part of the beta was a mistake, since nothing seems to have evolved since then, making it feel "that much longer". The UI still bothers me and I really hope it gets fixed, after spending the last 3 years studying User Interface and design, it probably bothers me more than others.
Is there any form of standard exp party yet? Where a group of 5-6 can get together and grind a decent amount of rank points?
After 9 years of experience this should have been alot better. Regarding the server merge rumour, it will be interesting to see how many people have dropped the game in the last month, since congestion at launch meant 4-5 new servers were added.
Apologies for the negative post, but it's just **** and I'm bored of trying to convince myself it isn't.Comment
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Wonder if SE would be better served to just turn off the servers until March next year, spend the down time revamping whatever's broken and then just relaunch when the PS3 version is ready (if it ever gets to that stage).
A second free month and server merges this early in its life should be firing off alarm bells.Comment
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Yes! In fact, it's the only way to get decent SP after the low 20s. The problem is very few of the English speaking players know how to use the party recruitment function (myself included as those who don't have a clue) so don't know how to go about it. Apparently the Japanese understand it completely and are already pushing close to rank 50.Originally posted by Rep View Post
Myself I'm on rank 24 PGL now and have been for about 4 days and still only just over halfway to rank 25. I am going to have to start looking at grinding EXP properly. I've tried to keep it slow so that my crafts can keep up with being able to repair/supply my own gear and as such have made a decent stock of gil (although I'm not rich by any means with reports of people having 25m+ already) so I probably just need to start spending some of it on gear and push on.Last edited by C'; 01-11-2010, 13:39.Comment
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It's a shame people are giving up on this so early, for me I just see potential for it so i'm happy to keep playing as and when it takes my fancy.
As Rare says you can group and grind exp, i've had some decent parties where we were just non stop grinding for about 90 minutes and definetely pulled in alot more than doing leves in that same amount of time.
The Search feature baffled me for awhile because the way it works is kind of reverse to how you search on FFXI.
To search for available parties you just go to Party - choose which job from the list you will be using and then search and you'll get a list of parties suitable for you.
To make a party you just setup the recruitement part instead and people are then free to join, you don't have to manually invite anyone, its all handled in the search feature.
I think one thing that has made exping harder has been not knowing exactly where to go to party, imagine though when FFXI came out and everyone had no clue, i'm sure it was the same situation then.Comment
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I have to admit my first impressions were so hideous I've not logged on again, not really even played it yet I just detested the interface. Way to slow and the idea of hammering buttons to attack is just tedious.
I'm sure I'll get onto it but to be honest FFXI is way more fun than FFXIV right now.Comment
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Comparing the two games as a whole Is a bit Moot though. One is two months old, while the other eight years.Originally posted by InvisibleKid View Post
The point I was trying to make though is after all those years of experience, the launch shouldn't have been so bumpy, and a half finished deliverable produced. There were a number of different lengthy testing phases, from which feedback is only just being addressed in the November update. An update which should have been available at launch.
Current feedback after lurking all the main forums suggests similar feelings to my own; update before the trial period ends or no renewal. The update needs to be vast and pushed out within the next 2 weeks, I think Rare described it best as the miracle patch. There's a vast line between not renewing and quitting though, especially after all the money I invested to play this game. Wings of the Goddess had a similar issue, it was fairly hyped pre-launch and ended up being a big meh for about 6 months, Campaign and a bunch of re-skinned existing areas. Look how that turned out "In the End".Comment
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I guess its all down to personal thoughts. Im loving it atm, and now some of us have access to the 30 leves its got even more interesting, like the faction leves not all of them are simple.
Crafting for me is still amazing, ok yes it could do with 2 or 3 less windows to get to the craft but its no biggy.
For me I can sit back in my chair and play this on my own or in a group. No waiting about 5 hrs for a party to do somthing I want. Much more casual if i want it to be.
Maybe im getting old. I have no doubt that they will fix things in days/weeks to come, guess if just fits for what kind of game i want to play atm.Comment
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I continue to play as I enjoy when I do but I appreciate a lot of the concerns people have and whilst I agree with Wedge/Tonco that it’s the thought of the potential that I work towards, I do realise that for a lot of people that is simply not viable
For the most part I like the battle system. Yes the enmity can go very screwy at random times and sometimes battles can feel a little spammy but hopefully this can be tweaked with some later battles focussing on single target, large-scale battles (hopefully the NM Faction Leves in December). However I like that even at rank 24 I already have over 15 abilities to use in battle so it feels like there’s always something to be doing when fighting and I actually feel like the weapon skills I have (4 at the moment) all have value in different situations. XI was so much more restrictive in comparison and by level 25 you’d be lucky to have 3 or abilities and a few weapon skills (two of which would be pure **** and never used). Similarly, the way you can mix and match abilities across different classes is again much more flexible than the subjob system of XI. I haven’t really strayed beyond PGL much yet but I can imagine some of the different builds that may be possible when you have multiple classes at high ranks (especially with guild mark purchases) may be incredibly powerful.
There are certainly a lot of things where you look at what S-E has failed to implement and wonder why as they seem such basic functions that players would need. Things like a delivery system and ability to sort your inventory seem so fundamental and without them, the game feels more complicated than it should be.
I can certainly see that they need to do something quick as Rep says, there will be a good percentage of people who will not continue once the free trial period ends (and I don’t think a further extension of this would be viable). I think 23rd November is the date when it renews and they did say the first patch would be late November. I wouldn’t be surprised if it hit on 22nd (assuming they go with Monday patches like XI).Last edited by C'; 02-11-2010, 13:26.Comment
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I've voiced my opinions on what I disliked about this game before, not much point in going over old ground by repeating that.
However on the first big patch I've a few opinions:
This should've been done in the beta, early on in the beta at that.
Frankly, almost everything about the user interface needs a top down rewrite. Make it client side, make it so that nothing you can do in the game requires more than 3 actions. Early quests and writing needs an overhaul. Hold the player by the hand for a bit, prod him in the right direction, show him where he needs to go for what.
People are quitting this game in record time. You should be sucked in after a couple of hours, not turned away. I've never played an MMO which has made me get to the "why should I bother..." frame of mind by the third playing session. Extending playing time to a few days after the patch won't help. People have already stopped, they're not going to care about a patch for a game they think is beyond help.
The game doesn't just need a bit of extended playtime with a patch at the end to appease the players. It needs a relaunch. It needs to win back these players who have had such awful impressions, it needs to get Magazines to re-review it and go "Wow, Square Enix have produced a miracle". Get this patch out, get another patch out in december, once they have a quality game, go on a PR offensive.
Treat this as a beta for the PS3 version (as they seem to be doing), the game will die before then and it will haunt Square Enix's future MMOsComment
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Interesting editorial ZAM echoing (most of) out thoughts on the current situation:
The first month of Final Fantasy XIV came and went without much fanfare; or, at least, without much positive fanfare.
Ever since the game?s official launch ? which Square Enix pulled off with no glaring setbacks ? any positive reactions to the game have been largely drowned out by horrendous reviews, angry forum posters and gamers who remain on the fence about investing in this new MMO. In response to the criticism, Square Enix extended the game?s free-trial period for a month and promised to fix the most problematic aspects of the game by the year?s end.
Not exactly the way you imagined the first month of the new game would unfold, is it?
Regardless of whether you love or hate Final Fantasy XIV, by now everyone can (and should) agree that this game was launched way too early. There?s no need to rehash all of the reasons here. Anyone who plays this game on a regular basis is well aware of its shortcomings. The difference is that while players such as myself find this game to be enjoyable even in its unfinished state, others are clearly not satisfied with their in-game experiences. Some have gone as far as to call the game ?unplayable,? despite the fact that many people are happily playing.
Going forward, the real question is this: If you?re among those who are still on the fence about playing FFXIV, how much time are you willing to give Square Enix before finally deciding to take your business elsewhere?
If you?re one of those swing vote players, then I?d imagine a big part of your decision will rest upon what happens during the next two months. Most of the game?s biggest problems would be solved (or nearly solved) if Square Enix follows through on November and December version update plans. I don?t think the development team would have gone public with its update plans if there wasn?t a strong sense of confidence -- not optimism, but confidence -- that these fixes would be doable as pledged.
Then again, this is the same company that has still not finished the Wings of the Goddess expansion for Final Fantasy XI. For those of you unfamiliar with FFXI, the Wings of the Goddess expansion was launched in November 2007. Yes, you read that right -- three years later, it is still not complete.
What happens if Square Enix doesn?t get around to making the big fixes in November and December? What if only some of the fixes are made? What if everything planned is implemented, but the updates don?t adequately solve all the problems? For example, what if the menus are simplified, but the user interface remains slowed by server lag? If Square Enix asks for a deadline extension for its proposed fixes, how long are you willing to give SE the benefit of the doubt?
My guess is there are many people who have faith in Square Enix, but also many others whose patience is wearing thin. The game has already lost a sizable number of players, and others are likely withholding their purchases because of the negative reviews. However, a large percentage of those players could just be waiting to see what happens in November and December. I personally know several linkshell mates who are taking a wait-and-see approach before deciding their investment in this game.
Only time will tell if those fixes go far enough to satisfy the masses. I?m confident they will. I also believe many people sincerely want to enjoy this game, particularly those who played Final Fantasy XI. As long as most of the fixes work as intended, I feel most on-the-fence gamers will give Square Enix the benefit of the doubt. Square Enix could help its cause by going above and beyond the call of duty; introduce some new content ahead of schedule, or perhaps make some player-friendly adjustments to the item durability system. If I were a higher-up at Square Enix, I?d even consider extending the free trial for a second time. In short, I?d do whatever it takes to lose as few subscribers as possible.
I?ve said this before and I?ll say it again and again: Final Fantasy XIV has a lot going for it. Some of the criticism heaped on this game is undeserved or skewed, depending on your background in gaming. For example, people who came to FFXIV from other MMOs may criticize the game for having slow travel times between camps and cities. Meanwhile, those who migrated from FFXI understand that the teleport system -- even with limited use of anima -- makes traveling far more easier than the early days of Vana?diel.
I was satisfied with my first month in FFXIV. I?ve never played an MMO at launch until now, so I?m not even going to touch the ?all games are like this at launch? card. I?m simply having fun exploring, fighting and crafting. My time in the game isn?t spent grinding on any specific job; rather, I?ve been leveling three crafts and two battle jobs, and all are close to being equal in level. Thanks to the guildleve system, players can level crafts without investing tons of gil -- another thing that wasn?t easily possible in FFXI.
That said, I?m completely aware that many people were not satisfied with their first month of FFXIV. In fact, ?not satisfied? may be a gross understatement. And even those who were satisfied have plenty of reason to doubt the future of this game. Like it or not, the early blunders of Square Enix could have a huge impact on the long-term health of this game. Yes, more people will subscribe at the Playstation 3 launch. Yes, Square Enix could pull off its upcoming fixes to perfection, bringing back many players who are currently sitting on the fences. The reviews are already out though and some damage can?t be undone. Square Enix has already lost players who will never come back.
Overall, the first month of FFXIV can?t be viewed as anything other than a failure, but I don?t think a single bad month will doom this game to mediocrity. Failure during the next two months would be significantly more devastating.
As we brace for the next two months of Final Fantasy XIV, it?s up to the players to decide whether "better late than never" is an acceptable answer from Square Enix. And if late turns into later, where will players draw the line?
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