Official global alpha start date: November 28th.

[Prothescar]

Really do hope they tone down particle effects. One of my most major complaints with GW2 is that you literally can not see the monster if you have like, 3 people attacking it due to all of the particle effects firing off... ruins everything.

[vadre]

They need to ditch the activation effect on ALL weaponskills too, it's just another unnecessary effect that would probably cut epilepsy casualties in half if they sorted it.

[xopher]

Wow, that just looks a mess when they're fighting the Iron Giant. It looks like a Christmas light show with an Iron Giant that's riverdancing.

Alpha alpha blah blah, yeah, I know.

Not an Iron Giant.

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Dullahan

#pickingnits.

[Rakisho]

Each vid by SE is such a turnoff. Why don't they let someone who isn't zoomed in all the way capture the videos. (It being a clicker is kinda annoying too be cause of the huge ability tooltip windows).

And alpha combat looks like shit.

[Lordender]

I really hope there is more to the battle-system come Beta, group play looks a mess at the moment. That battle looked like a giant spam fest of 0 continuity. I'll chalk that up to being cause of Alpha though and being barebones.

Really hoping theres debuff's you have to keep up on targets, procs that make some really strong stuff available, hope it doesn't end up just being spam-fest until limit break can be done.

[miokomioko]

I don't care how nice and simple and fluid a standard battle in an MMO looks, when you get 8~10~12+ people swarming a single mob, it's going to be a mess of flashes and pew pew balls.

The only thing I saw that was noticably 'meh' was the excessive mob staggering (as discussed) and the lack of movement (everyone was standing around as usual).

[Lucavi]

I think they really need to show the projectiles for ranged attacks, especially from mobs. ARC combat, especially vs. a ranged-attacking mob, looks stilted and weird.

Couldn't happen in a "HIT!" "MISS!" style of game unless you're going to auto-direct the arrows to their target, even if the target moves. Loosing arrows all over the place works in GW2 because if someone or something stands where that arrow is landing, they get hit, and if not, they miss. XIV follows the XI style of "once the button is pressed, its all up to the algorithms" logic.

[Arximiro]

I don't care how nice and simple and fluid a standard battle in an MMO looks, when you get 8~10~12+ people swarming a single mob, it's going to be a mess of flashes and pew pew balls.

The only thing I saw that was noticably 'meh' was the excessive mob staggering (as discussed) and the lack of movement (everyone was standing around as usual).

Well if the tank is doing his/her job well then usually you get into position and remain in that position, aside from brd buffs. That was only lvl 20 though so pretty much all the positional combos weren't applicable. Aside from combos and brd buffs you don't really need to move around unless the mob has a hate reset or the tank dies, or you need to run from an aoe.

[vadre]

Couldn't happen in a "HIT!" "MISS!" style of game unless you're going to auto-direct the arrows to their target, even if the target moves. Loosing arrows all over the place works in GW2 because if someone or something stands where that arrow is landing, they get hit, and if not, they miss. XIV follows the XI style of "once the button is pressed, its all up to the algorithms" logic.

Missiles are in WoW without too many issues, and I'd rather have them than the disconnect between the 2 we have right now. Doesn't Stone currently send 3 projectiles out at the enemy? It might just be some clever fiddling to make it look like the projectiles are travelling, but it seems like they are from videos I've seen.

Well if the tank is doing his/her job well then usually you get into position and remain in that position, aside from brd buffs. That was only lvl 20 though so pretty much all the positional combos weren't applicable. Aside from combos and brd buffs you don't really need to move around unless the mob has a hate reset or the tank dies, or you need to run from an aoe.

Well, I'd hope that this is just because it's a low level area, but decent fights need mechanics to keep people moving. Other MMos have introduced more of these on increasingly lower level enemies so that players get more used to 'dodging the fire' at an earlier stage so it doesn't come as a shock at endgame.

[Rakisho]

Well if the tank is doing his/her job well then usually you get into position and remain in that position, aside from brd buffs. That was only lvl 20 though so pretty much all the positional combos weren't applicable. Aside from combos and brd buffs you don't really need to move around unless the mob has a hate reset or the tank dies, or you need to run from an aoe.

Should not compare it to FFXI. Compare it to Rift, WoW, etc. In WoW you'd rarely if ever have to move during combat pre-mid/high level instances. Rift did that a lot better. This is alpha, and low level alpha, naturally the combat won't be interesting. But looking for varius forums, these videos scare people away. Sure, those people are idiots/retards/etc, but those people are still an important part of any MMORPG, they pay for the game.

[Spira]

is it me or the alpha they're playing comes with um.. different music?

[Arximiro]

Should not compare it to FFXI. Compare it to Rift, WoW, etc. In WoW you'd rarely if ever have to move during combat pre-mid/high level instances. Rift did that a lot better. This is alpha, and low level alpha, naturally the combat won't be interesting. But looking for varius forums, these videos scare people away. Sure, those people are idiots/retards/etc, but those people are still an important part of any MMORPG, they pay for the game.

I wasn't comparing it to FFXI, I was comparing it to FFXIV, and your post appears to agree with mine?

As for missiles I think we can all agree that thanks to the PS3 we can't have that. With its 256MB of ram or whatever, and other embarrassing specs.

[Rakisho]

I wasn't comparing it to FFXI, I was comparing it to FFXIV, and your post appears to agree with mine?

As for missiles I think we can all agree that thanks to the PS3 we can't have that. With its 256MB of ram or whatever, and other embarrassing specs.

Not sure. The

This is alpha, and low level alpha, naturally the combat won't be interesting. But looking for varius forums, these videos scare people away. Sure, those people are idiots/retards/etc, but those people are still an important part of any MMORPG, they pay for the game.

was not really directed at you/your post, just in general.

[Tomino]

I agree that the "party combat" video is quite a turn-off. I don't even know what it is supposed to show - 8 people using their skills on a single, huge mob?

Besides, when it comes to MMO, I don't think a single fight accounts for how nice party combat is done. Multiplayer experience is about dungeon crawling (exploration, pulling, dealing with enemy groups, etc) or boss battles and their own mechanics.
I would never showcase WoW party combat having 10 players dps-ing Patchwerk.

[Spider-Dan]

Each vid by SE is such a turnoff. Why don't they let someone who isn't zoomed in all the way capture the videos. (It being a clicker is kinda annoying too be cause of the huge ability tooltip windows).

Displaying the tooltip windows is a thoughtful gift for anyone that didn't get into the alpha.

[Lucavi]

I agree that the "party combat" video is quite a turn-off. I don't even know what it is supposed to show - 8 people using their skills on a single, huge mob?

Besides, when it comes to MMO, I don't think a single fight accounts for how nice party combat is done. Multiplayer experience is about dungeon crawling (exploration, pulling, dealing with enemy groups, etc) or boss battles and their own mechanics.
I would never showcase WoW party combat having 10 players dps-ing Patchwerk.

...That's... that's a really, really good way to state things. Like, "so good it should be slapped on Yoshi's desk this morning" good, and I have to agree. If they wanted to show the sweet leve text (and it is), they could have done that separately, but who were they aiming for with a video showing a bunch of people standing still against a mob that has an entire AI platform devoted around "hit the person who is hitting me hardest"? This doesn't even begin to touch the actual pace of combat, simply the look of it.

Had it simply been a fight -within- alpha, I'd have had no problem, but by releasing it to the public, you open yourself up to legitmate criticism.

Thinking back on it, patchwerk was a great gear check, but not the fight I'd be showing if I wanted to promote the "awesomeness of Naxxramus".

[Stromgarde]

'cacophony' would be a good word to describe the accumulative effect of the battle sound effects in that video.

[Lucavi]

Amalgamation would be another, as that... "scene" was an amalgamation of sounds stitched together with blood, sinew and hatred.

[Sephiroth]

I'm not really expecting interesting complex battles at level 20, that would just overwhelm new players. You're still learning how to play at that kind of level. But this video is proof that SE should stop showing videos until at least mid way through the beta. People (mostly OF tards) are judging the entire game off newbie content.

[Alkar]

is it me or the alpha they're playing comes with um.. different music?

I thought that was obvious when they showed their exploration video using level 50 characters