Comments from the Devs

[Lucavi]

I get what you're saying, but you're honestly lying to yourself. That's fine, for you, but not for the legacy of a game. That you consider a lack of information or feedback from a developer something that can be twisted into an "adventure" only serves to awkwardly praise a company for failing to provide certain content. That's just weird.

I totally get what you mean, and I'm glad that so many BGers enjoyed the lack of information and feedback from the brass when it came to the game, but referring to it as an "adventure" smacks of the same nostalgia-blindness that old-timers threw out when they talk of everything being better when they were kids; when everything was located at the top of a massive, snowy hill, apparently requiring them to walk up it, barefoot, constantly.

[Patriarch]

I get what you're saying, but you're honestly lying to yourself. That's fine, for you, but not for the legacy of a game. That you consider a lack of information or feedback from a developer something that can be twisted into an "adventure" only serves to awkwardly praise a company for failing to provide certain content. That's just weird.

I totally get what you mean, and I'm glad that so many BGers enjoyed the lack of information and feedback from the brass when it came to the game, but referring to it as an "adventure" smacks of the same nostalgia-blindness that old-timers threw out when they talk of everything being better when they were kids; when everything was located at the top of a massive, snowy hill, apparently requiring them to walk up it, barefoot, constantly.

oh cmon, I said "adventure" may not have been the right word!

How about, ridiculous "myths" that sometimes resulted in fun?

Albeit I do agree with the nostalgia comment, thats why I don't ever want to log into FFXI again because I'm sure I would ruin my own fond memories of it

And all the same I want 2.0 to somehow take place of that

[Lucavi]

See? There you go! You just cleaned it up! Good job!

Adventure was just the wrong word, because you've got other people in here throwing the word around like its some kind of Buzzword that the youth made up and adults stole 10 years too late. Everything is either "XI had adventure and XXXY MMO didnt!" or "XI had that Final Fantasy Feeling and YYYZ MMO did not" lately, and I wasn't going to let you add to the pile of stupidity.

And yes, I agree with you on why you aren't logging back in. If I see and play the game again, I'll be pissed by the stubborn controls and lame animations. By keeping the OSTs, though, I can "replay"the game in my mind, without having to apply post-XI elements to the genre, so it always plays better. Plus I can focus on the good Cses in my mind (things that I enjoyed) instead of the lesser-desired elements.

Its odd that I have to do that with XI, though. I can replay IV anytime and no matter what, the game still feels delicious. It must be an increased, SUPER form of nostalgia, because I was around that magical age of 10-12 when I first got my hands on it, and we all know that anything you pick up at that age is perfect, no matter what.

[Patriarch]

See? There you go! You just cleaned it up! Good job!

Adventure was just the wrong word, because you've got other people in here throwing the word around like its some kind of Buzzword that the youth made up and adults stole 10 years too late. Everything is either "XI had adventure and XXXY MMO didnt!" or "XI had that Final Fantasy Feeling and YYYZ MMO did not" lately, and I wasn't going to let you add to the pile of stupidity.

And yes, I agree with you on why you aren't logging back in. If I see and play the game again, I'll be pissed by the stubborn controls and lame animations. By keeping the OSTs, though, I can "replay"the game in my mind, without having to apply post-XI elements to the genre, so it always plays better. Plus I can focus on the good Cses in my mind (things that I enjoyed) instead of the lesser-desired elements.

Its odd that I have to do that with XI, though. I can replay IV anytime and no matter what, the game still feels delicious. It must be an increased, SUPER form of nostalgia, because I was around that magical age of 10-12 when I first got my hands on it, and we all know that anything you pick up at that age is perfect, no matter what.

In less words, that entirely captures how I feel about XI. I know that the game wasn't that good by any standards, but it was my first foray into the MMO world. I dabbled in Everquest/UO but I was only 13 and wasn't cognizant enough to really dig into MMO-type gameplay. XI was just so large in scope at the time, and with RL friends playing I could lose days/weeks/months wandering into new zones, exping, and ultimately working towards getting my 1st relic, killing kings, Sea, etc etc. You know the laundry list of things to do in XI. But now that it is dumbed down so that anyone can log in and hit 99 in a day, and experience all the content the game has to offer I don't want to play it. Even though I know that this is a good thing for XI because the game was horribly time consuming offering minimal reward for time invested, but that was the XI that I knew and loved, which is pretty terrible if you think about it.

And when I look at it, I know that I most likely won't ever be able to get into XIV like I was XI. I really hope that 2.0 brings about a level of depth that I feel is missing. Or just shove more good content into the game so there are things to do, LS events, etc etc. I am guilty of only having 1 level 50 class/job and not fully experiencing everything the game had to offer before servers went down; but it felt so dry. Primals (or whatever they were called) seemed to be the only thing XIV had going for it. I want the ability to lose myself in the ocean of content I hope 2.0 has. wall of text etc yada yada

XIV to me, is like Diablo 3 is to Diablo 2 fans. I want it to be good but it has a long way to go before it rekindles that flame.

[Niiro]

People need to understand that "flame" is pretty much impossible to rekindle because you can never be 15 again and you can never have another first MMO.

Yes, everyone's first time is special (for better or worse), but it was special because it was your first time. Move on.

[Rakisho]

...

I can relate to a lot in this post. Despite all the shit I'm giving FFXI, the only reason I am interested in FFXIV is because of my fond memories of FFXI.

I don't think anyone on this forum expects FFXIV to be the best MMORPG out there in terms of anything, it just won't happen. It has the potential to be a decent/good game with some tweaking after alpha, and for me, right now that's enough to make me choose it over the other MMORPGs out there. Hell, my first "serious" MMORPG was Ragnarok Online, playing the beta in late 2002 when I was 12. I ended up playing it for years, even though it was, and still is a terrible terrible game, (I played it for a month just a few months ago, just because of nostalgia feelings, 10 years after I first played it) it, along with FFXI, WoW and Rift has given me many many fond memories, as nerdy as it sounds, I'll never forget.

What a cheesy post.

[Patriarch]

People need to understand that "flame" is pretty much impossible to rekindle because you can never be 15 again and you can never have another first MMO.

Yes, everyone's first time is special (for better or worse), but it was special because it was your first time. Move on.

007 Goldeneye was the 1st FPS I ever played and I enjoyed it for years and years and years. But I still love playing Battlefield 3.

I don't expect to resurrect my MMO virginity and experience the magic of FFXI again, I just want to find a MMO like FFXI that I enjoy playing, is all.

/e or just an MMO that uses this music as a background for any zone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpf-dD4atHw#)

I'd play it for eternity

[Elcura]

I get why you'd want that feeling again, I just don't understand how you can be so naive as to think it could ever possibly happen with another game.

Enjoy a game for what it is and move on to find another game you'll enjoy. Because 10 years later you'll probably look at both experiences in a similar light, but you can't do that if you just want new games to be like old games.

[Patriarch]

I get why you'd want that feeling again, I just don't understand how you can be so naive as to think it could ever possibly happen with another game.

Enjoy a game for what it is and move on to find another game you'll enjoy. Because 10 years later you'll probably look at both experiences in a similar light, but you can't do that if you just want new games to be like old games.

I don't expect to resurrect my MMO virginity and experience the magic of FFXI again, I just want to find a MMO like FFXI that I enjoy playing, is all.

Like I said above, I don't plan on ever reliving that magic. I'm think you are misconstruing the point I am trying to get across here.

Eventually, I would like to find an MMO where I can enjoy and feel the immersion on a level that might possibly come close to what I felt with FFXI.

I think that FFXIV will be that game, it just needs time. I took the wrong approach initially, in the naive sense that it may possibly fill the FFXI void. It won't, and I am fine with that!

You are 100% correct in what you are saying however. I agree.

[Elcura]

You're right, I misread that. My bad.

[Grey Jorildyn]

The name of the game these days is to keep an open mind. It could be FFXIV rocks your socks, but it could disappoint and some other game you might overlook could be "the one".

The nature of the business allows us to be this way now too, for better or worse. It's like when you're dating. She could be the one you wanna marry but there's also lotsa other fish in the sea to try... Grats again our your marriage fff

[Patriarch]

The name of the game these days is to keep an open mind. It could be FFXIV rocks your socks, but it could disappoint and some other game you might overlook could be "the one".

The nature of the business allows us to be this way now too, for better or worse. It's like when you're dating. She could be the one you wanna marry but there's also lotsa other fish in the sea to try... Grats again our your marriage fff

ty sir

[Gokulo]

From Yoshi:

Hello everyone. This is producer and director Yoshida.

There hasn’t been much information to disclose and I'm very sorry for making everyone wait. At this point the development team is working on the final stages of beta test phase 1 (myself included) and each day is passing by insanely fast. With each thing there are so many things to do -- The blog! The letter! -- and I'm sorry I haven’t been able to get everything up and going like I planned.

For the Final Fantasy series, I'm extremely concerned about the quality of information as well as screenshots and artwork that are to be released. You wouldn't believe what we have to go through even when we want to release something to our fans! (lol) With that said, before something is released I need to check it, so the promotional team cannot take it upon themselves to release assets.

While there was already a reply from a Rep about this, we are currently working on the official site to make adjustments to the readability and add information to coincide with the start of the Beta Test, and there are tons of tasks alongside this for development, promotion, and the new Lodestone. With that said, we appreciate your patience.

Once I send the next letter the day after tomorrow, I will be focusing on the current blog and will post some new Beta-related material.

P.S.
Within the next couple of days I will be performing the final checks for the first benchmark "World volume”, and then it will undergo the final QA check. We would like to distribute this right before phase 1 of the Beta Test begins, but I think it's looking pretty good, so please look forward to it!

And other stuff:

For those of you asking if the same management tools for removing inactive and offline players will be implemented for linkshells as well, the answer is yes!

We also have a few more details to share with you.

The dev. team is currently looking into the possibility of allowing players to leave messages in the LS and FC (ex: /lsmes). They are also thinking about implementing a feature for free companies to leave comments for members. On top of member comments, they plan on allowing leaders to customize different ranks and access levels within their free company. Lastly, free companies will have their own chat so there is no need to create a linkshell for your members to communicate with each other.

Greetings!

I'd like to give you all an update on the status of the marking feature we have been working to revamp.
Enemy and Ally signs will be combined into one category
Only party leaders will be able to mark targets
It will be possible to use these freely -- no more Guildleve or other content restrictions!

Greetings,

We know that there were some requests from users who also wanted to have access to knockback abilities (if for nothing else than to get revenge for all the times you've been knocked back in version 1.0!), so we wanted to give you a brief update.

We've actually begun implementing knockback moves into the game and there were even some featured in the Alpha version! Of course, enemies that use similar abilities are still around, and they even have other abilities to able to draw you in. You can expect that there will be a variety of ways your enemies try and attack you!

Good evening,

The new version of the Lodestone site will feature as much in-game information as possible when it comes to things like crafting recipes! You'll be able to see more detailed information like the items level and stats and such and not be left guessing anymore! You'll also be able to easily search for recipes using updates to the search criteria, too!

Greetings!

I'd like to give you all an update on the progress we have been making on gathering point grades.

We understand that in 1.0, the gathering point grades varied quite a bit which made it difficult to choose one appropriate for your level. In A Realm Reborn, we will be preparing corresponding grades for each level.

We feel this should solve the problem that many of you have brought up where the experience points you were receiving past 40 from grade 5 gathering points just wasn't enough to level up efficiently.

[Hatedregret]

It's something. Thank you for that.

[Churchill]

What's the link to the recipe information on lodestone? I'd like to at least voice a request that we get detailed combat (attack, ws, defense, enmity, etc) information even though we'll likely be spending a week figuring it out for ourselves.

[Gokulo]

Lazy and even removed the cute pug. Shame on you.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...423#post940423

[Churchill]

I am serving a purpose, my pug will be back pending litigation.

[Patriarch]

knockback, might be interesting

[xopher]

Lazy and even removed the cute pug. Shame on you.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...423#post940423

I WANT TO SEE THE PUG HOMG PUGS.

Let's make this thread about pugs. I can contribute and it'll be far more interesting than the last five pages.

[Fievel]

New blog post: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/blog

As the old saying goes, all work and no play makes Fernehalwes a dull boy. On the other hand, all play and no work makes Fernehalwes an unemployed boy, despised (and most likely hunted) by hordes of FINAL FANTASY XIV fans patiently waiting for Beta Test content to be localized. And therein lies the dilemma--how to have fun while desperately trying to remain afloat in this sea of guildleve objective text.

I know! I can sneak over to the design team’s booths and snap never-before-seen pics of scantily clad primals and post them to the Developers’ Blog! Score one for lax security!




That icy stare...!
That icy hair...!

Could it be...? Nah... It couldn't be... Or could it?

Lady of frost...
Likes her diamonds in dust form...
Name rhymes with “diva”...

Hmmm... Maybe we need a wider angle...



(This is normal map sculpt data created using ZBrush for those of you keeping track)

Better... But how about one more shot of the original artwork, just to make sure...



There we go. Undeniable proof that this can be none other than.........SIREN!

I mean, Shiva!

Fernehalwes