FFXIV Closed Alpha/Beta Discussion (Cancelled for this week)

[loyaltrekie]

is it just me or does 14 seem to play just like 11? Doesn't seem like there's any big fundemental change in gameplay

I'm so confused - it's actually the direct opposite in the way they are handling combat. Where instead of auto-attacking and every min hitting a ws button or every few min's hitting a job ability button; they are using a very heavy ability useage system.

If you compare the XIV system to a job such as Monk - you can see the large change in the combat 'feel'.

[solracht]

That was the biggest "Sorry, what?" thing they've shown so far. I fully understand that this is an alpha and that it'll probably change so much before release, but still... What is Square's current thought process?

I'm starting to think alpha was just a ploy to make the players come up with/encounter a battle system they like and then they put it into beta. Like they're waiting for someone to fill in the gaps of their own puzzle. The whole Alpha phase is really unorthodox.

I don't think anything has changed regarding classes, I believe it's just a localization issue.

Japanese players are still playing as "sword-users", "lance-users", or "staff-users". We're not, because it would sound dumb. Instead our options are named after very obscure ways of saying the same thing, that you're just using that weapon. I'm not going to bother finding Elmer's article, but he explained this when the classes were first named.

Lately they've just been calling them "classes", but I believe it's just easier for them talk about them as such because the names contradict what they really are.

We'll see though, from what we've seen I really don't think the original idea has changed, only SE's way of referring to them.

[Hyan]

That was the biggest "Sorry, what?" thing they've shown so far. I fully understand that this is an alpha and that it'll probably change so much before release, but still... What is Square's current thought process?

I think they were pretty much trying to avoid exactly what's happening now.

I don't think there was any other reason to have named classes than to not stray too far away from the system used in XI.

We hear comments like "the system is really alien to me" and that's probably what they wanted to avoid. Even if the system is new, if there's some old features it might not feel as "alien" as if it was completely new, without classes and such.

But looks like they didn't succeed that well, since people are still saying stuff like this. Or maybe we'd see more comments like that if there were no classes at all. I dunno.

[Jinko]

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/201...beta_schedule/

Final Fantasy XIV Staff Details Alpha/Beta Schedule
PS3 owners to get access in phase two of beta.
Posted Apr 10, 2010 at 01:13, By Anoop Gantayat



Coinciding with the start of the Final Fantasy XIV alpha test, Famitsu.com was given a chance to quiz the development staff on a variety of game issues. Here's a summary of the Q&A.

The staff first shared a rough schedule for the game's alpha and beta programs.

The alpha test will take place in just one world. The world is named "Shadowlord." They'll be conducting tests three days a week, with each session lasting about four hours. These tests will be conducted in Japan, North America and Europe, each region separate from one-another.

Once they've gotten the basic functionality of the game stable and conducted tests on server load and so-forth, the'll move into phase one of the beta test. Phase 1 of the beta will use the same version of the game as the alpha, but will have multiple worlds running in parallel. There will be some adjustments made in the switch from alpha to phase 1 beta that will require them to do a data wipe.

After they've adjusted the game to fix problems and reflect the opinion of test players, they'll move to beta phase 2. From here, the game will run 24 hours. The content of the game used in this beta will have changed considerably and will be closer to that of the final game. The PS3 version of the beta test will begin here.

Phase 2 will gradually expand with additional worlds as the staff runs load tests on having hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections.

The final service-in for the game will come following a few weeks of open beta testing.

The current alpha test version of the game limits play to just the Limsa Lominsa city-state and its surroundings. This will be the case throughout the alpha and beta tests. You won't be able to access the rest of the world until the final version. Limsa Lominsa and its surroundings account for less than 1/5 of the final version's full world, according to the staff.

Other topics addressed in the Q&A:

Character Names
FFXIV lets you input both first and last names for your character. The reason for this is that each world will allows multiple players to have the same family name or same first name -- although two players can't have the same pairing of first and last names, of course. This will give players a chance to more easily play using the name of their choice. When using chat, there's a system in place that will make it so that you won't have to input the full name.
Different Starting Points
What kind of differences can you expect when starting in a different country? Each country will have a different story. Additionally, each city will have different facilities and unique atmosphere.
Enemies
There will be combat-loving monsters who attack you. Additionally, there will be powerful enemies unrelated to the scenario for players to go after. None of this is in the alpha.

[iceynutz69]

/sarcasm

Another 3GB download with thier shitty wanna be torrent client. It's finally good to see SE is getting smarter with thier update methods. I can't wait for the retail, I bet we will have to buy new copies of the game before every update!

/sarcasm off

[Kya]

The current alpha test version of the game limits play to just the Limsa Lominsa city-state and its surroundings. This will be the case throughout the alpha and beta tests.

Good stuff, wouldn't want the content getting spoiled because it sounds like the planned schedule will take a few months.

[vrumpt]

Good stuff, wouldn't want the content getting spoiled because it sounds like the planned schedule will take a few months.

don't like this, makes the other 2 starting areas very prone to bugs.

and more bugs. unless SE has a very hefty QA team working on it.

[Hyan]

/sarcasm

Another 3GB download with thier shitty wanna be torrent client. It's finally good to see SE is getting smarter with thier update methods. I can't wait for the retail, I bet we will have to buy new copies of the game before every update!

/sarcasm off

Don't apply for the fucking Alpha if you can't deal with shit like that. Your enjoyment is not the purpose of the testing. Testers like you deal with shit like that so there won't be any problems in retail version.

[Kya]

don't like this, makes the other 2 starting areas very prone to bugs.

and more bugs. unless SE has a very hefty QA team working on it.

To be honest, things like collision errors are probably really general bugs, as collision code on the whole is consistent throughout, and everything else could easily be tested and optimized in a few areas.

Perhaps the only errors would be evil invisible walls trapping you. But they'll probably get some unfortunate young QA tester to run laps around EVERY map in the game lol.

[sruon]

don't like this, makes the other 2 starting areas very prone to bugs.

and more bugs. unless SE has a very hefty QA team working on it.

that's what closed and open beta will be for.

[iceynutz69]

[Removed Info about alpha]

[Jinko]

that's what closed and open beta will be for.

says above "This will be the case throughout the alpha and beta tests. You won't be able to access the rest of the world until the final version."

I plan to go Gridiania so would like that area to feel totally new to me when i play the game.

[Destinye]

don't like this, makes the other 2 starting areas very prone to bugs.

and more bugs. unless SE has a very hefty QA team working on it.

Honestly, they already had testers go through the stuff before opening alpha to the public for testing.

And currently it wasn't THAT bad (what errors happened was bound to happen during alpha anyway) so they got it together.

[iceynutz69]

Don't apply for the fucking Alpha if you can't deal with shit like that. Your enjoyment is not the purpose of the testing. Testers like you deal with shit like that so there won't be any problems in retail version.

I was sarcastically making a point as to SE's poor implementation of client distribution methodology. You totally took it out of context.

FYI: I'm not in the alpha and didn't apply for it

[linkinsg]

Don't apply for the fucking Alpha if you can't deal with shit like that. Your enjoyment is not the purpose of the testing. Testers like you deal with shit like that so there won't be any problems in retail version.

I think you missed the sarcasm tags

[Hyan]

I think you missed the sarcasm tags

Bitching is bitching, with or without sarcasm tags.

[sruon]

says above "This will be the case throughout the alpha and beta tests. You won't be able to access the rest of the world until the final version."

I plan to go Gridiania so would like that area to feel totally new to me when i play the game.

I don't know, Open betas generally have the whole game content. But we'll see.

[Jinko]

What do you think the chances are of SE listening more to its userbase now btw, what with the way they are going about the Alpha/Beta.

Also do you think that future expansions will get beta testing like WoW does ? (public testing etc for patches)

[loyaltrekie]

don't like this, makes the other 2 starting areas very prone to bugs.

and more bugs. unless SE has a very hefty QA team working on it.

Am I being whooshed? Or are you serious...most MMO's don't really have area bugs that are very serious by the time retail version hits. Closed Alpha, Closed Beta, and Open Betas all test varying factors much of which don't require you to be in any given area - just that your there doing things. Just because they chose this city-state to start you hardly means the other area's will be unplayable.

The logic like this is so flawed - it reminds me when MW2 was getting ready to be released and people were bawwwing all over the place that with no open beta the entire game would be full of glitches, bugs, and there would be no balance.

[Katlan]

What do you think the chances are of SE listening more to its userbase now btw, what with the way they are going about the Alpha/Beta.

Thats what beta testing is for, certain thing they will, others they wont. Like there is a lot of ppl in favor of the naming system and a lot of ppl against it. But they won't be changing they naming system mechanics just because ppl want to be the only one w/a first name. And stuff like HNM's they wont remove just because some ppl want them to only be instanced (I'm sure they will have both forms of HNMs). But a lot of things they will