Final Fantasy XIV Then...

[C']

Yeah but I still don’t understand what benefit you think switching the servers off brings?

Suggesting that “either way there will be casualties” and because more will stop playing that everyone should be made to stop playing doesn’t make any sense.

Common sense would dictate that the smaller number should be the ones who suffer

Again, this makes no sense. How does keeping the servers on mean that people who aren’t playing suffer? The very nature of their decision means they won’t be playing regardless of whether the servers are on or not.

[Daragon]

I just get the impression that those that are still playing it are doing so because it's free.

If you start charging for a broken MMO it's not going to be helping anyone. You just make your customers angrier.

Yes, there hasn't been a smooth MMO launch to date, but the vast majority of them have at least been receiving above average reviews at around this same point in their life. They really do have their work cut out for them and in my opinion, whether that counts for anything obviously doesn't seem to be the case here, they would be better served to apologize for the rushed launch and reassess the situation at a later date, preferably not the same month that The Old Republic and DC Universe launch which also happens to be next march.

[djtickle]

Ive been meaning to post in here for days now but just not had the chance. Ive not played much last few days but been busy in RL. I'm prob the only one here who would have no problem paying for it right now. If they turned the servers off I would be gutted tbh.

Ok so it has some problems, many people are just jumping on the "blame" band-wagon because its a easy thing to do. Have most of these people experienced most of the content the game has to offer? 90% of them i'd guess not.

I for one enjoy 30 leves and 20 factions.

I dont get all this "broken" talk. Its not that broken... Yes it has some issues, Targeting, Lag etc.. but all the major items that are not working as they should will be fixed next patch. (Notice how I say as they should) If you dont like the game now your not going to like it come Nov/Dec patches.

Its lacking some content, but so is every MMO at launch. If you dont like the grind then its not the game for you.

Its a game at the end of the day, just like all other games just because it has the "final fantasy" title doesnt mean your always going to like it. I dont like Final Fantasy 13 can I go complain about that for hours on end somewhere? At least SE can fix this and I have no doubt they will. I also expect it will take longer than it should but I doubt they will be that bothered, as they will "re-launch" in March with a PS3 push.

(or when they shut the 11 servers off) YES I SAID IT! LOL

They have invested far to much money in it to turn it off or just let it die.

Has anyone made a list of its good points? It does have them.

[C']

Has anyone made a list of its good points? It does have them.

• My Mi'qote is REALLY cute /stretch

[C']

If you dont like the game now your not going to like it come Nov/Dec patches.

I agree with a lot of your post but if you honestly believe this, we should be worried. The whole point of these patches is to resolve some of the issues that some people may have with the game. If these patches deliver what they say and it doesn't at least bring back some of the playerbase then S-E will have a real problem on their hands.

Yes, there will be some people who will find the game isn't for them regardless of what happens (mostly the "wait a minute, this isn't FFXI-2?" crowd) but there has to be people out there who would rejoin later on when certain fixes are made otherwise I do feel it has a VERY short lifespan.

[Rep]

Except it is broken, ask Tobal or come see it running on my PC. It literally doesn't work. Linkshell functionality is broken, half the time I don't skill up, despite the log telling me I am. The other half of the time npcs and other players have fallen below the Z Axis. Next time you log on just look how far above ground your characters feet are in relation to the floor.

I'm glad you're enjoying it, I wish I could. As a Software Developer though I see it in a different light and it screams of zero quality control. Did they take user feedback during the beta and throw it in a fire? There doesn't feel like any step forward since then.

Every compliant aside content is valid, I'm not sure how you can suggest 90% haven't experienced content, when you don't know that. The fact said content is flawed for most people adds to the strain. The released too soon argument is evident in that basic functionality that exists in XI (search etc) still isn't present. Sorting an inventory A-Z should take one guy at a desk about 5 minutes.

[mikewl]

For me even though there are some fundamental issues that won't be fixed such as Zones are too big and lack variety most my other annoyances could easily be fixed via a few decent patches:

Stuff I wan't to see in upcoming updates would be:

Change Rank XP distribution method to a fixed amount for everyone per fight, no more 300 xp for one person, 100 for another 0 for another etc, everyone should be gettin about the same per fight and it should be near the same per same mob everytime. The problem with how it is right now is that it doesn't make people work properly as a team, when i'm partying i'm trying to spam the **** out of the mob to get more XP, if I knew we would all get the same i'd probably slow down, use more skills and everyone would have more chance to do their part appropriately.

Gear damage and repair needs to have a simple solution, make it cheaper to get a player to fix it for you but have an NPC which can fix it 100% which would cost a bit more, if your having inv issues this would at least mean you could just fix it quickly and get it in your bazaar whichout farting around too much.

Retainers should be accessable from all citys regardless of whether its currently out in a market ward somewhere else or not, as there is no mog house to store things its a pain having to go to your home city everytime to sort your inventory.

Crafting needs to be more streamlined, 5-6 clicks to just start the synth is too many, also crafting leves should not need you to keep selecting them to do all its synths, just do one and go straight into the next one. Adding to this maybe some sort of 12 item queue list, so if you have the ingredients you can just put them all in and it just does one and goes right into the next one until you finish the stack, right now its just too much menu to go through.

Inventory needs to accomoodate things such as amunition alot better, using 20 inv slots just for arrows sucks and just causes more inv issues, also you can buy tool belts, maybe these tool belts should have their own inv space for carrying your crafting tools.

Party battle needs to be more like FFXI, longer fights - bigger exp, more strategy.

Something other than leves, my thought on leves is that it made great sense from an ease of development viewpoint, just make more leves to add new content but I would prefer to have some quests and such that don't have anything to do with leves, small individual npc quests like in FFXI would be nice.

It's all stuff which could be sorted and i'm sure alot of it will so fingers crossed this Nov patch makes a good start on some of it.

[Rep]

What I've always found dubious with the battle system is that in early interviews it was touted as "In development for 4 years." If the battle system was revised this update and we could go out there as a traditional group and grind exp, I'd be more than happy.

[djtickle]

I agree with a lot of your post but if you honestly believe this, we should be worried. The whole point of these patches is to resolve some of the issues that some people may have with the game. If these patches deliver what they say and it doesn't at least bring back some of the playerbase then S-E will have a real problem on their hands.

Yes, there will be some people who will find the game isn't for them regardless of what happens (mostly the "wait a minute, this isn't FFXI-2?" crowd) but there has to be people out there who would rejoin later on when certain fixes are made otherwise I do feel it has a VERY short lifespan.

Sure people will come back, but I think they have lost lots now that will most likley go on playing 11 or WoW. What I was trying to say is I think it will be streamlined over the next few months ready for PS3 release with that being lead platform and its major player base.

Except it is broken, ask Tobal or come see it running on my PC. It literally doesn't work. Linkshell functionality is broken, half the time I don't skill up, despite the log telling me I am. The other half of the time npcs and other players have fallen below the Z Axis. Next time you log on just look how far above ground your characters feet are in relation to the floor.

I'm glad you're enjoying it, I wish I could. As a Software Developer though I see it in a different light and it screams of zero quality control. Did they take user feedback during the beta and throw it in a fire? There doesn't feel like any step forward since then.

Every compliant aside content is valid, I'm not sure how you can suggest 90% haven't experienced content, when you don't know that. The fact said content is flawed for most people adds to the strain. The released too soon argument is evident in that basic functionality that exists in XI (search etc) still isn't present. Sorting an inventory A-Z should take one guy at a desk about 5 minutes.

Maybe I shouldnt have used the word broken then, on my hardware its not broken as im sure its not on many others. But in the same sence its broken on yours, tobals and many others people hardware.

What im trying to get across is for me the games not broken, it needs streamlining. E.g pressing 5/6 buttons to do a craft. Just like on PS3 hardware when it comes out it wont be crashing every 10mins etc.

We cant compare it to 11, its a different game. 11 has been streamlined for many years now. You can look up on the loadstone peoples, levels and see who has unlocked all content and who hasn't. At a guess I bet these high level players are still playing.

Although im not sure what you mean by the content is flawed. By content I mean leves, nation and job quests, I have not seen any issues with this content it works.

Item sort, search are functions that the game doesnt have. Ok maybe it should but again we cant compare it to 11. I think many people thoughts on the game would be so much different it 11 didnt exist.

I feel your thoughts would be different if the game worked on your hardware. Are SE interested in these kind of faults? Im not to sure, so far it seems to be the hardware develeopers who are making there drivers etc compatable with 14. So I guess we will see. But it brings me back to the point were I think that SE are more interested in a PS3 launch / development.

[Rep]

My feelings would remain the same, despite my hardware issues. As I said before you're taking your own experiences and failing to acknowledge the wider audience, placing you a small minority. Most people have a mile long list of issues and so far the only thing we haven't had is real answers and fixes, just "it's being worked on".

There's an inherent difference in flawed and broken, allow me to explain. How many times have people crashed, disconnected etc during a leve only to receive a fail upon return? Or the issues when the Faction leve was undertaken. The utterly pointless "return" command from the menu, having no control over where you can set your home point. As you've mentioned too, the laggy interface, and the ludicrous navigation through crafting and selling. Again, there are dozens of these common "flaws" shared across the user-base.

Asking for the most rudimentary features such as an item sort, it isn't fair to argue that this isn't FFXI. Even NES games had an item sort. The fact that they did exist in FFXI should have made them all the more easier to implement. I'm sure the Windower team had already done it prior to the C&D.

[C']

How many times have people crashed, disconnected etc during a leve only to receive a fail upon return?

This does need a more elegant solution than the straight fail we get now. I can understand why they don't allow you to restart it as it would encourage people to basically pull their connection if it looks like a fail is on the cards. However, I just lost a new belt as I R:0ed during a mining leve so not best pleased.

They need to make it so that the leve remains active for however long is left on the timer so you can log back in and continue. The leve system DOES allow you to repeat a failed leve in the next cycle (without using one of the 8 slots) so it's not a total loss, but still means I have to wait until Tuesday to reattempt.

[C']

Things still pretty quiet around the LS. I have 6 rank 30 leves (Cedarwood and Cassiopeia Hollow) active if people want to maybe group up tonight.

[Rep]

I logged on and crashed within ten minutes.

Final straw; Subscription cancelled.

[djtickle]

Things still pretty quiet around the LS. I have 6 rank 30 leves (Cedarwood and Cassiopeia Hollow) active if people want to maybe group up tonight.

Not been on due to CoD, will jump on tomorrow!

[C']

Here it is! Updates list for November and December patches.

Comprehensive Content of Upcoming Large-Scale Version Updates (11/11/2010)

This Topics post will be detailing the content included in the large-scale version updates scheduled for release in the months of November and December. In addition, content slated for release in future version updates will also be introduced

November & December Version Updates

Quests
The addition of new guildleves
Adjustments to existing guildleves
- The implementation of a feature allowing players to lower levequest difficulty after activating the leve
- Adjustments to local levequest rewards
- The Addition of a feature allowing players to abandon local levequests
- The implementation of main map markers to indicate the locations of local levequest clients
Adjustments to existing behests

Combat
Adjustments to classes
Adjustments to combat balance
- Adjustments to enmity rates
- Adjustments to physical and magical accuracy rates
- Adjustments to how skill points are awarded
Adjustments to monster population and territory
The implementation of notorious monsters
Improvements to the targeting feature

Items/Synthesis/Gathering
Adjustments to existing synthesis recipes
The addition of new synthesis recipes
Improvements to synthesis controls
- The addition of a list that contains a player's eight most recently used recipes
- A reduction in the amount of commands necessary to begin synthesis
Adjustments to gathering balance
Adjustments to stack totals on select items
The addition of a repair icon
The addition of an auto item sort function
Adjustments to item durability
An increase in player inventory capacity

Markets/Retainers
Changes to how players access the market wards
Adjustments to retainers
- A feature allowing players to change their retainers' equipment
- Changes to the retainer interface
- The addition of a default display of prices next to each item in a retainer's bazaar
- The implementation of icons for bazaar statuses (buying, selling, looking for repairs, etc.)
An increase in the number of employable retainers
The addition of an item search feature

User Interface
Improvements to the Main Menu
- The splitting of Attributes & Gear into two separate menu options
- The addition of a Loot option for easy access to the loot list
Changes to how statuses are displayed
Improvements to the Map
- The addition of mouse scrolling functionality
- The addition of a zoom feature
- The addition of party member location markers
The addition of new customizable keyboard commands
Improvements to the action bar, allowing players to freely position the widget
Adjustments to macro functionality

Communication
The addition of a party invite feature to the friend list
Changes to linkshell display
Improvements to chat functionality
- The addition of a chat mode toggle feature
- The addition of multiple log window tabs and a feature allowing for multiple log windows
- The addition of chat filters for synthesis and harvesting
- The addition of a feature allowing the customization of chat mode font color

Others
The further alleviation of server-load issues
The reduction of various anima costs and the introduction of a feature that allows players to set "favorite" teleportation destinations

The Lodestone
The addition of a linkshell page

First 2011 Version Update

Quests
The addition of new guildleves
Adjustments to existing guildleves
The addition of new main scenario quests
The addition of new class quests
The addition of new tutorial quests
Adjustments to existing tutorials

Combat
Further adjustments to classes
Further adjustments to combat balance
- The further differentiation of actions to enhance class identities
- Adjustments to the effect of various parameters
Adjustments to enemy population and territory
The addition of notorious monsters (NMs)
The addition of new battle content
- The addition of notorious monster-related battle content
- The addition of hamlet defense battles
- The addition of item exchange quests
The addition of graphic displays to better clarify the effective ranges of actions
The addition of countdown timers on status icons
The addition of an "/assist" text command

Items/Synthesis/Gathering
Further adjustments to existing synthesis recipes
The addition of new synthesis recipes
Further improvements to synthesis controls
- The addition of a reference list that contains all previously used recipes
Improvements to repair controls
- A reduction of the number of commands necessary to begin repairs
The addition of a manual sort function for items
The addition of a gameplay feature that determines the quality of materials obtained from battle and gathering

Markets/Retainers
Further adjustments to retainers
- An increase in retainer inventory capacity
- An increase in the number of items that can be placed in a retainer's bazaar
- A fix assuring that retainers do not leave their bazaar locations after server maintenance
- The addition of a sale/purchase history
- Functionality changes to the "buying" feature
The addition of a delivery service

User Interface
Changes to main menu display format
Changes to inventory list display format
Improvements to various user-interface layouts
Improvements to the Interactions menu
The addition of a help text window
The reorganization of on-screen information
The reformatting of existing widgets, allowing for access of multiple windows at the same time
Improvements to Actions & Traits menu response time
Improvements to mouse and keyboard controls
- Improvements to character controls
- The addition of drag and drop functionality
- The addition of mouseover popup help text
- The addition of right-click menus
- The addition of a feature that will allow the cutting and pasting of macro buttons from the macro palette

Communication
The addition of "companies" (player-run guilds)
- The addition of company-owned ships
- The addition of company-owned buildings
Improvements to existing linkshell features
The addition of an in-game/Lodestone mail feature
The addition of new search features

Others
The addition of player titles

The Lodestone
The addition of new linkshell page features
The addition of a company page
The addition of a linkshell and company search feature
An expansion of viewable character information

The development team will be focusing their efforts on the three points elaborated below.

<Working Towards Stress-Free Gameplay>
<Goal-Oriented Content & Comprehensive Tutorials>
<Establishment of in-Game Communities>

Gameplay Improvements

As part of the version update scheduled for November, areas within the game will be partitioned across several servers to mitigate load-balancing issues and increase response times. In addition, a general restructuring of user interface (UI) operations will lessen lag and sluggish response times.

The UI will also be undergoing several additions and adjustments aimed at creating more intuitive and user-friendly controls. Furthermore, a new UI geared towards users playing with a mouse and keyboard is currently being designed, and will hopefully be ready for implementation in a coming version update. The current in-game UI will remain available for those users who prefer to play via controller, while the newly designed UI will be available as an option for those who wish to use a mouse and keyboard.

User feedback will continue to play a major role as we further address issues and make ongoing improvements in these and future version updates

Goal-Oriented Content & Comprehensive Tutorials

Together with the aforementioned improvements to gameplay, the availability of "goal-oriented" content and items, and the need for comprehensive and clear tutorials are issues that will be immediately addressed.

In the hopes of providing players with opportunities to engage in such content as soon as possible, the November version update will see a reduction in the amount of skill points required to reach rank 20. By effectively reducing the amount of time necessary to reach rank 20, players will sooner be able to gain access to class quests and high-rank guildleves.

Further content scheduled to be released in the Decemeber version update:
- Notorious monsters
- Item search feature
We believe that these additions will go a long way towards fulfilling the need for goal-oriented content and improving general usability of in-game features.

Notorious monsters (NMs) are a special category of enemy that can be found throughout the various areas of Eorzea. Sometimes associated with levequest objectives, several of these formidable opponents, and a vast array of equippable items associated with them, will be coming with the December version update. This will be the first of many installments bringing NMs to Eorzea, with future updates promising to introduce even more NM-related content.

Implementation of a item search feature will serve to stimulate the in-game economy by helping prospective buyers and sellers to find one another. This will be accomplished by making it easier for users to discern what items are currently available, as well as simplifying the process of finding a specific item.

In addition to the above, the version updates will also feature adjustments to class balance, changes to enemy population and distribution, and the addition of all-new quests, items, and recipes. It is our hope that this will allow users to enjoy their time in Eorzea by providing them with a more concrete sense of purpose, no matter which class they choose. Additional tutorials are also slated for introduction in November and December, and will greatly simplify the learning process when using the game's various systems and engaging myriad content.

Establishment of In-Game Communities

The forthcoming November and December version updates will introduce what are known as "companies," a special type of linkshell with more group-oriented progression and goals.

Once estbalished, companies will be able to work towards acquiring their own communal assets, such as buildings that can serve as headquarters, or ships that can be used to access multiplayer content. The system will provide concrete benefits to players who align themselves with a company, as well as motivate already established companies to seek out new recruits. In essence, the focus will be on providing new, innovative content for all players to enjoy. The FINAL FANTASY XIV Lodestone will also offer a number of online services covering both companies and linkshells.

All of the additions and changes mentioned above are currently in the final stages of development, and we are optimistic that they will be implemented in the version updates of November, December, and early 2011. Beyond those listed here, there are still numerous other features being planned. More information on these will be released in the future as details become available.


While there is nothing we would like more than to address every individual issue raised by the community, the upcoming version updates will be centered on resolving the problems and shortcomings within the three categories outlined above. We apologize if there is an aspect of the game not mentioned here, and assure you that we will be working to make as many refinements and improvements as possible.

We hope that you continue to enjoy your time in Eorzea, and promise that things will only be getting better!

---
FINAL FANTASY XIV Development Team

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/topics/detail?id=9a18c549d68b08a4e6f2d162f5bd4263ed466626