NEW TGS 2012 Trailer

[Lucavi]

That's a nice sentiment to have, one I also share, but the fact is no one would wait that long. The problem isn't even the current playerbase either, but if you keep servers down too long after coming off a paid subscription hump it becomes a serious PR issue. Publicity hasn't been great for SE thus far, they really cannot afford to take as long it needs.

Not my problem. SE put themselves into this mess by releasing that Tanaka-coated bullshit the first time around.

They've got a hard road ahead of themselves no matter how they slice it. Anyone not coated in the hype of seeing an engine that's an improvement over 1.0, but still not up to snuff with what else is out there, would agree. They have a long, long way to go, if what we've seen thus far is any indication of where they are.

Edit: I still don't see the point of letting people bring their characters into the beta. What beta have you ever participated in where all progress was carried over. Not early release, but actual beta. If they allow people to bring their characters into beta and don't save the progress, half the people bitch. If they don't let people bring their characters into the beta, the other half bitches. Either way, you've got bitching abound for shit that has nothing to do with the actual state of the game and how it will be perceived by the masses.

It looks like they're finally going to run a halfway-decent beta and actually listen to the suggestions that people make. Don't fuck it up by spamming their shit with non-issues like "I wanna play my 1.0 chara in 2.0 beta because its been too long without my fix! I miss his sparkly hair and ravishing smiiiilllleeee~!"

[Skai]

Actually, I think bringing 1.0 characters in for the beta to test higher level content may be a good thing. We saw how buggy high level contents in Guild Wars 2 are, and if I remember correctly, it was because not enough people got that far to test the contents.

[Alkar]

Actually, I think bringing 1.0 characters in for the beta to test higher level content may be a good thing. We saw how buggy high level contents in Guild Wars 2 are, and if I remember correctly, it was because not enough people got that far to test the contents.

But they're not going to let you test high-level content. They probably won't even let you access all the areas in the game.
I'm all for testing stuff but being able to do everything in beta is not a good thing.
I can see maybe one raid being available for general testing purposes but they're not going to fire all their shots in beta.

[Gokulo]

I'm all for testing stuff but being able to do everything in beta is not a good thing.

In this case I'd say it is.

[Alkar]

In this case I'd say it is.

No. If people test everything in beta for months there'll be nothing to look forward to in the final release until a new patch hits. It's a really bad idea, especially when the open beta starts. You'll be bored of it before it even releases, especially if beta takes 5-6 months.

[Thiefami]

I think calling it a beta test would be relative at that point. Again, more or less an official unofficial release of ARR for the people who bought and paid for a copy of FFXIV. They can accept feedback, but they could use it as a prelease and a beta. Honestly, it hurts nothing considering upon official ARR release the people joining in will be just as behind as they are anyway. Most players have many, if not all classes at 50. A lot of players are also filthy rich.

Retail release doesn't need to coincide with ARR servers reopening to previous paying customers.

Not my problem. SE put themselves into this mess by releasing that Tanaka-coated bullshit the first time around.

Was responding because you mentioned people getting uppity. They have very good reason as these are people who have legitimately paid to play. Yoshi/SE and crew let the "as long as it takes" ship sail the moment they decided to reactivate subscription fees. I obviously have no idea of their current plans going forward and how or even when they are going to handle the return of current players. But if it is some how decided that people will be locked out of their characters progression for 6 months or more, I can all but guarantee all hell will break loose.

I honestly would give them no more than 2 months (generously) before shit would totally hit the fan.

[Jamison]

But they're not going to let you test high-level content. They probably won't even let you access all the areas in the game.
I'm all for testing stuff but being able to do everything in beta is not a good thing.
I can see maybe one raid being available for general testing purposes but they're not going to fire all their shots in beta.

The thing is, current raids (assuming they aren't removed in 2.0) are already in the game. They don't need to keep them a secret or a surprise. It would be to everyone's benefit to have them in the beta for testing purposes.

[Gokulo]

Well, actually they are being remade to be quite different. Still, I don't think the surprise factor is the most important stuff here.

[Lordender]

They really need to be smart about BETA, if you have followed BETA's over the past few years people are just jumping on thinking "early access time!" instead of reporting bugs and trying to break shit. I hope to god people do a better job at reporting broken shit and actually get into the meat and potatoes of the mechanics to test them with the intent on breaking them instead of "ooooooh'ing and aaaaaah'ing" over the game itself.

[Gokulo]

They really need to be smart about BETA, if you have followed BETA's over the past few years people are just jumping on thinking "early access time!" instead of reporting bugs and trying to break shit.

Because that's what they basically were. Nowadays betas serve more of a marketing function. But there always are people who do test and report. The devs just need to actually do stuff afterwards.

[Sephiroth]

There's no way they will let character progress continue over. What if there's a serious exploit for duping or obtaining lots of gil quickly? I don't even see why they're letting us use our characters. If they want high level content tested they could always have the option on the beta client to create a character that has levels maxed out and decent gear already. It's going to be annoying having to deal with the inventory overflow in beta and then repeat it in the release however, same with setting up your gear sets.

Also since alpha and beta are being delayed, anyone think they might also delay the end of 1.23? There's no reason they couldn't keep it going until the end of November now.

[Gokulo]

First of all, why did you suddenly start about saving progress. No one was talking about that. Secondly, does it somehow hurts you that they want to let us use our characters in the beta?

Also, let them pull the plug already, no reason to keep it up even longer.

[Alkar]

Because that's what they basically were. Nowadays betas serve more of a marketing function. But there always are people who do test and report. The devs just need to actually do stuff afterwards.

It's not about the surprise factor at all, it's about clearing content. If you let players do everything they'll get bored unless there's a patch shortly after release to keep them interested. Like it or not content gets old quite fast in MMOs which is why Yoshi-P is gonna take the "release stuff when it's done" approach instead of having big updates every 2-3 months.

[Sephiroth]

First of all, why did you suddenly start about saving progress. No one was talking about that. Secondly, does it somehow hurts you that they want to let us use our characters in the beta?

Also, let them pull the plug already, no reason to keep it up even longer.

Me? That's been pretty much the discussion for the past two pages. It makes no difference to me whether they allow it or not, but it does seem like an unnecessary risk.

[Gokulo]

It's not about the surprise factor at all, it's about clearing content. If you let players do everything they'll get bored unless there's a patch shortly after release to keep them interested. Like it or not content gets old quite fast in MMOs which is why Yoshi-P is gonna take the "release stuff when it's done" approach instead of having big updates every 2-3 months.

Well, let's just say I'm of a different opinion and believe they also have other things to consider and worry about.
Also, "release stuff when it's done" was used by him to refer to the release of ARR. Yoshi said he wants to release patches in a similar time like they did now. Once the game is out, good and going it will be important to have steady updates, so don't confuse the two things.

[Jamison]

I've said it before, but they will need a VERY good test of the character data port from 1.0 to 2.0. They'll need us to to check for any problems, lost items, glitches, dealing with inventory overflow, gil, retainers, quest progress on relic reborn, etc.

[xopher]

I've said it before, but they will need a VERY good test of the character data port from 1.0 to 2.0. They'll need us to to check for any problems, lost items, glitches, dealing with inventory overflow, gil, retainers, quest progress on relic reborn, etc.

And since Gridania is the only current working area right now..

[Izzy]

Why in the world would anyone think they'd carry your data from beta over to launch? No game in the history of ever has ever done this ever ever ever.

Are you literally that attached to your character that you can't/won't beta test without saving all of your precious time? It's a fucking beta.

You wanna talk about upset people losing their character data, tell that to the people beta testing Ragnarok Online back in the day who lost almost 2 years of playtime when they were just like, "lol wiping data see ya".

[miokomioko]

You would think people would understand that beta is only there to be tested. They need to test the character data port, so that's why it will be allowed. Other than that, they are not going to save your character's progress during potentially broken test periods into the actual released game.

[Gokulo]

Why in the world would anyone think they'd carry your data from beta over to launch? No game in the history of ever has ever done this ever ever ever.

Not true I think. Some games do carry over Open Beta content. Of course, like I said the OBs are more like free trials than a real testing.