Comments from the Devs

[Spider-Dan]

That's what I said from the start (and you vehemently disagreed with). If you're in an area and FATE starts up, given that FATE automatically applies a level cap, your choices are essentially:

a) join FATE
b) leave the area and go do something else until FATE is over

Hopefully they add some way to allow players to opt-out and continue whatever they were previously doing, because inability to simply decline event + forced level cap = sketchy.

[miokomioko]

That type of mechanic would be fundamentally flawed considering you could be in the middle of fighting something, in the middle of a quest, on a crafting/gathering class, AFK or any other reason that being level-capped without confirmation would be a terrible idea. It's not so much of a problem in other MMORPGs where you can't change classes to something defenseless (DoH/DoL) or at all.

I'm sure this has occurred to them and will probably require some sort of opt-in requirement outside of happening to be near the event. You will probably only be included if you take some sort of action towards the event itself (not just proximity) like engaging the enemy.

[Spider-Dan]

Why yes, it would be fundamentally flawed.

Given the repeated emphasis they are putting on automatic entry, I'd probably be satisfied with the ability to opt-out. I can understand the reasoning behind automatic opt-in, particularly if it is a newbie-oriented event: it's a way to get newbies involved and have the game kind of explain itself on the fly. But there should be some sort of "Auto-join FATE events: on/off" setting in the game options, at the very least.

[miokomioko]

You just can't have automatic entry with no action taken on the player's part if there's level-sync involved, despite what you might be assuming they are emphasizing in these translated comments.

They have already mentioned an example of FATE being defending against a raid on a town. It is not likely that everyone in said town would be automatically signed up for battle and level-sync'd down to it just for... being in town.

[Spider-Dan]

Well, I don't know if this is "modern MMO" or not, but there are others in this thread who are saying that "if you don't want to participate, leave the area" is a perfectly reasonable requirement. So there seems to be some dispute as to whether that would even be a bad thing.

My point from the very start has been that having a non-capped area that periodically enforces temporary level caps is bad, because you have to plan your activities in that area around the cap intervals. There seems to be some disagreement as to whether or not "if you don't like it, go do something else" is an acceptable solution.

[Wurtbad]

I don't necessarily see this level cap thing being a big deal. I would imagine each zone will have content for a certain range of levels and if there is to be a FATE event in a zone, I would imagine that the level cap would follow suit with that zone's level range. So, unless you are in a low level zone as a high level class for some reason, most of the time when a FATE encounter occurs while you're doing your thing, you will rarely ever be capped. This probably would be the case most of the time, but not in all cases, I am just speculating what makes sense to me logically.

[Izzy]

There's a lot of angst about FATE for only complete speculation on how it's going to actually work.

[Lucavi]

Well, I don't know if this is "modern MMO" or not, but there are others in this thread who are saying that "if you don't want to participate, leave the area" is a perfectly reasonable requirement. So there seems to be some dispute as to whether that would even be a bad thing.

My point from the very start has been that having a non-capped area that periodically enforces temporary level caps is bad, because you have to plan your activities in that area around the cap intervals. There seems to be some disagreement as to whether or not "if you don't like it, go do something else" is an acceptable solution.

All of this would be solved if they'd simply go GW2's route and have every zone capped at a specific level, and scale your gear down to it. A level 80 person in a level 20 zone is level 20 while in that zone (for anything), and becomes level 80 again upon returning to a level 80 zone. A level 20 finding their way in a level 80 zone would obviously still be level 20, and thus, would be one-shot in epic fashion.

All of this would also be solved if people would stop getting so wangsty over something that doesn't even currently exist for testing or play. Jesus. Get outside or play another MMO to actually understand how these things work before sniffling and hiding under your bed because change is coming to that "good ol' Final Fantasy Feeling 2.0", of which 1.0 failed miserably.

[Spider-Dan]

All of this would be solved if they'd simply go GW2's route and have every zone capped at a specific level, and scale your gear down to it. A level 80 person in a level 20 zone is level 20 while in that zone (for anything), and becomes level 80 again upon returning to a level 80 zone. A level 20 finding their way in a level 80 zone would obviously still be level 20, and thus, would be one-shot in epic fashion.

Well, they could institute game-wide mandatory level caps in every zone.

Or they could just let you choose to join FATE when you want to.

[Enygma55]

Sorry if a beastmen invasion of a town inconveniences your crafting. Its a good thing you can just opt-out so they just ignore you while every npc in the town dies.

From a development stand point, level capped FATE will most likely be more of a static event in a specific location. It won't be in towns or village areas. It'll probably be in areas such as Totorok dungeon (designed for lv 30s) where a scouting party has been investigating and noticed "strange noises" coming from within. Or it could cap you at 30 when doing the lv 30 choco escort.

If you believe every FATE is level capped, then I'm gonna assume 90% of the general idiotic population will complain and it will get changed to how I just described. Also level cap can mean a lv 50 cap so in effect, no change.

[Grey Jorildyn]

I really hope the playes that bitch are completely ignored. This game needs to head more in the direction that Yoshi and the developers want and not the one that the morons on the OFs want. If they had their way, this game would practically still be living in the stone age.

That said I hope the direction is a FF-esque blend of present ideas and new ideas (read: their own). They did this well with XI in many cases and were able to also offer many forward-thinking ideas (Nyzul Isle/Assault) as well as some revisited ideas (ie. ZNM) in the ToAU era. As we've discussed before, this game can thrive on brand alone, but if you plan to bring in fresh players then certain models will work for familiarity, but not longevity (quest grinding). The game needs to be a trend-setter to pull itself out of the muck at this point. Borrowing from GW2 is a start, but they also need their own spin on stuff that is both practical and functional while being rewarding or worthwhile.

[Elcura]

There's a lot of angst about FATE for only complete speculation on how it's going to actually work.

Welcome to Comments from the Devs! Where comments turn into tangents that go no where.

[Kurokikaze]

Well, they could institute game-wide mandatory level caps in every zone.

Or they could just let you choose to join FATE when you want to.

With Spider-Dan there is no such thing as gray-area or middle ground... He only deals in absolutes.

[Eagleheart]

I really hope the playes that bitch are completely ignored. This game needs to head more in the direction that Yoshi and the developers want and not the one that the morons on the OFs want. If they had their way, this game would practically still be living in the stone age.

There is a crowd on the forums (I won't pretend to know what percentage, but they are there) that believes that the entire Meteor storyline is naught but Tanaka's original plan for XIV, and by corollary, that Yoshi P is destroying Tanaka's masterpiece with ARR.

(<_< ) I'd like to figure out how exactly one obtains a herd of idiots that believe one can do no wrong. I'd raise a damn army or something. In any event, I do hope that they will ignore the more obtuse of the playerbase, because as you say, there is a lot of danger in taking advice from the OF denizens.

EDIT: This is really the greatest thing for me out of the recent JP interviews. We've got Yoshi P here saying "Okay, so I walked in and things are a mess. Trying to figure out how to get rid of the mess and start over... thinking... gotta think of somethi- hey, what's that, guys?"

"Uh, that's Menphina's Hound."

"o.O The hell is that?"

"Um, basically it's a small moon that follows the bigger moon around, and it's red."

"Cool, can I crash it into the planet?"

".....uh, I guess? You're the boss..."

"Cool. And inside the moon is BAHAMUT! Yeah, that'll be awesome. Make it happen, folks!"

*a hundred-odd slack-jawed stares in XIV dev center*

(*'-') I bet the knuckledragger Tanaka fanboys on OF were livid about THAT little reveal.

[Grey Jorildyn]

Sometimes you gotta break some eggs to make an omelette. Or a red moon to make a new mmo. Same thing, y'know?

[Niiro]

With Spider-Dan there is no such thing as gray-area or middle ground... He only deals in absolutes.

[Spider-Dan]

With Spider-Dan there is no such thing as gray-area or middle ground... He only deals in absolutes.

The irony is that the comment that I was responding to was suggesting an absolute ("all zones should have their own separate enforced level caps") in response to a gray-area (temporary enforced level caps).

But please, tell me more about how great the "every zone should have its own level cap" idea is. I hear it is Modern.

[Gadritan]

Shut. The fuck. Up.

[millionsknives]

lolKotaku interview with Yoshi-P. Nothing crazy new.

http://kotaku.com/5963155/new-final-...h-the-original

[Kurokikaze]

Friend who is going on vacation sent me a message and linked me to this: