New Items Galore! (12/13/2006)

[Mifaco]

PALETTE SWAPS SURE DO TAX PS2 MEMORY

[Priran]

PALETTE SWAPS SURE DO TAX PS2 MEMORY

I don't know.

[FFXIFlux]

PALETTE SWAPS SURE DO TAX PS2 MEMORY

A PS2 has 32 megs of memory, 4 megs video memory and 2 megs of sound memory. So yes, palette swaps, even though not a huge amount of space, do take up some of the limited space they have to work with.

On the other hand, theres no reason at all that they can't do more for the PC/XBox360 than they're doing now and just limit it on the PS2. Adding particle effects for weapons for PC/360 and having just a palette swap on PS2 is perfectly reasonable. Heck, it'd be nice if they just use the freaking GPU on PCs.

[Kaylia]

Those armors look nice, but let's just hope they are decent "abj" kind of armor. Something you would equip like homam or e.set

[Talint]

On the other hand, maybe if Ridills and E. Bodies weren't Hell-on-a-stick to aquire people wouldn't consider getting them "beating the game" and would play longer. Most people see end-game as a spiraling vortex of misery, bots, and low drop-rates. Maybe if they could somehow combine fun (limbus) with rewarding (Fafnir/Nidhogg) people would be less apt to get their shit and quit because they are actually enjoying themselves (I know, news flash to S-E- people play games for fun and enjoyment) and not just playing because they are next in line for e-peen gear +1.

Ain't that the truth.

I wonder how many people get a fully-upgraded relic weapon and proceed to quit the game less than a month or two later. Talk about "beating the game".

[Khamsin]

On the other hand, maybe if Ridills and E. Bodies weren't Hell-on-a-stick to aquire people wouldn't consider getting them "beating the game" and would play longer. Most people see end-game as a spiraling vortex of misery, bots, and low drop-rates. Maybe if they could somehow combine fun (limbus) with rewarding (Fafnir/Nidhogg) people would be less apt to get their shit and quit because they are actually enjoying themselves (I know, news flash to S-E- people play games for fun and enjoyment) and not just playing because they are next in line for e-peen gear +1.

Ain't that the truth.

I wonder how many people get a fully-upgraded relic weapon and proceed to quit the game less than a month or two later. Talk about "beating the game".

Given that there are some people with three fully upgraded relics, some don't quit.. they just keep going.

Though I do wonder what their Dynamis LSes think of letting those three+ relic people have all the currency... unless they buy it from the LS bank.

[Epical]

PALETTE SWAPS SURE DO TAX PS2 MEMORY

A PS2 has 32 megs of memory, 4 megs video memory and 2 megs of sound memory. So yes, palette swaps, even though not a huge amount of space, do take up some of the limited space they have to work with.

On the other hand, theres no reason at all that they can't do more for the PC/XBox360 than they're doing now and just limit it on the PS2. Adding particle effects for weapons for PC/360 and having just a palette swap on PS2 is perfectly reasonable. Heck, it'd be nice if they just use the freaking GPU on PCs.

And how would they go about differentiating the armor on servers where there are players that use all three platforms? I can see doing this if there were PS2 servers and then PC/360 servers, but there aren't.

[Ninjiz]

The fact of the matter is, SE has NO concept of Time vs Reward. While a company like Blizzard can nail it. Why else do you think a game like WOW which in my eyes in inferior to FFXI (gamrplay wise) has over 7 million clients, while FFXI struggles to keep 500,000? Cause SE seems hell bent on keeping broke mmorpg fomulas, that the game has to be, as someone pointed out, 95% WORK, and 5% FUN.

Thats why i enjoy things like Assault, and Limbus, i get rewarded at a far greater rate for my time, over anything else in the game. Camping something for 3 huours. Only to not even touch it day after day is more work then fun. Maybe if these things werent so mega ridiculously rare, no one would consider them "beating the game". If things in the game dropped at a "decent" rate, it could make everyone happy.

Come on, 2 expansions later, and RoZ HNMs are still the BEST thing to camp to get really good gear? While they keep adding new HNM with Bleh drops?? Wheres the fun of fighting the same thing for more then 3 years, and never getting the equip you wanted 3 years ago?

Dont get me wrong, i still have fun with this game, but some of the end game stuff can be so damn boring, with my TIME being greater then my reward. Its a broken mechanic that a mainstream game like WOW did away with. But i simply dont like WoWs gameplay, though i can still nod to the mechanics that work.

But oh well, SE wont change, and i came to terms with that. But i just dont like to see someone knock another, or rain on their parade when they point out a broken mechanic in the game, such as terrible drop rates to FORCE you to do the same generic thing over and over and over instead of developing worth while content for you to "move on to" as oppossed to "getting content with you staying 2 steps back" do produce less content, and have you still doing teh same thing form 2 expansions prior. Good Job SE.

Now to get ready for Limbus lol

[Ninjiz]

And how would they go about differentiating the armor on servers where there are players that use all three platforms? I can see doing this if there were PS2 servers and then PC/360 servers, but there aren't.

I think they did something like this on the old Phantasy star online. When they made Version 2. Items that Version 2 players had, looked a new way, but if they played in version one mode WITH version 1 players, they saw thier items the way they were meant to, but Version 1 players saw them as the old model. If i remember correctly, its been so long since i played that.

[Septimus]

PALETTE SWAPS SURE DO TAX PS2 MEMORY

A PS2 has 32 megs of memory, 4 megs video memory and 2 megs of sound memory. So yes, palette swaps, even though not a huge amount of space, do take up some of the limited space they have to work with.

On the other hand, theres no reason at all that they can't do more for the PC/XBox360 than they're doing now and just limit it on the PS2. Adding particle effects for weapons for PC/360 and having just a palette swap on PS2 is perfectly reasonable. Heck, it'd be nice if they just use the freaking GPU on PCs.

And how would they go about differentiating the armor on servers where there are players that use all three platforms? I can see doing this if there were PS2 servers and then PC/360 servers, but there aren't.

Is there any reason they couldn't make two different dat files that go in the same location depending if you are on PC/X-Box or PS2? Like have one sword that has glowing sparkling effects for PC/X-Box and another one that is normal for PS2, just in the same folder so it doesn't have to change how it tells the machine what to display. (Just like regular dat file swaps that people do every day.)

[Epical]

Noted, but you're giving SE way too much credit. =P

[Kyreth]

ppl get their shit and quit. Why would SE want to make it easier for people to "beat the game" just to move on to another game ?

More people would stick around if endgame wasn't 95% work and 5% play (or less), how many people wish they never started FFXI or timesink mmorpg's in general?

All endgame in every MMORPG that does well ends up aiming this way.

FFXI. WoW. EverQuest. They all had massive time investment for endgame, and still do.

If you don't believe me, go raid in WoW for a while at the top tiers. What pisses off FFXI endgamers is their endgame mobs haven't changed significantly in quite some time, Dynamis has gotten old, and ToAU hasn't brought it's endgame content up yet. Cerebus is closer to oldschool Serket than gods, after all, gear and ability changes taken into account.

People want to be l33t and have more gear progression than Byakko's Haidate, Riddil-me-this-Batman, and abjurations. More rungs on the ladder.

If there was something to shoot for, people wouldn't be bitching about endgame. It's hitting the ceiling that makes grumpy players.

[Ninjiz]

PALETTE SWAPS SURE DO TAX PS2 MEMORY

A PS2 has 32 megs of memory, 4 megs video memory and 2 megs of sound memory. So yes, palette swaps, even though not a huge amount of space, do take up some of the limited space they have to work with.

On the other hand, theres no reason at all that they can't do more for the PC/XBox360 than they're doing now and just limit it on the PS2. Adding particle effects for weapons for PC/360 and having just a palette swap on PS2 is perfectly reasonable. Heck, it'd be nice if they just use the freaking GPU on PCs.

And how would they go about differentiating the armor on servers where there are players that use all three platforms? I can see doing this if there were PS2 servers and then PC/360 servers, but there aren't.

Is there any reason they couldn't make two different dat files that go in the same location depending if you are on PC/X-Box or PS2? Like have one sword that has glowing sparkling effects for PC/X-Box and another one that is normal for PS2, just in the same folder so it doesn't have to change how it tells the machine what to display. (Just like regular dat file swaps that people do every day.)

GASP that would mean SE would have to do some work

[Isiolia]

There shouldn't be any problem using multiple versions of armor depending on platform. It wouldn't be any different really than .dat swapping.

[Sonomaa]

the updates are done seperatly for all systems via the dats. Give PS2 users a very low quality dat swaped piece of gear, give the PC/Xbox users a high quality version of the dat with bangles and sparkleys. It sounds like its more work but its really not, take the HQ, drop the pixel quality, remove the extra stuff, mash delete key and jpeg sample it. Who cares. PS2 users dont exactly get a pretty game anyway, they wont notice too much.

Just release an expansion that doesnt have PS2 support, offer PS2 users a free download of the full FFXI release on an FTP, GRATS I JUST SOLVED PS2 ISSUES AND ONLY USED BANDWITH AND MADE THEM ALL BUY A NEW HIGH QUALITY EXPANSION.

EQ did this years ago with a massive graphical update, you could still use the old models if you wanted, but the new models didnt have a low version, so you just saw replacement armor graphics for it (old shit that looked like ass).

[Ninjiz]

ppl get their shit and quit. Why would SE want to make it easier for people to "beat the game" just to move on to another game ?

More people would stick around if endgame wasn't 95% work and 5% play (or less), how many people wish they never started FFXI or timesink mmorpg's in general?

All endgame in every MMORPG that does well ends up aiming this way.

FFXI. WoW. EverQuest. They all had massive time investment for endgame, and still do.

If you don't believe me, go raid in WoW for a while at the top tiers. What pisses off FFXI endgamers is their endgame mobs haven't changed significantly in quite some time, Dynamis has gotten old, and ToAU hasn't brought it's endgame content up yet. Cerebus is closer to oldschool Serket than gods, after all, gear and ability changes taken into account.

People want to be l33t and have more gear progression than Byakko's Haidate, Riddil-me-this-Batman, and abjurations. More rungs on the ladder.

If there was something to shoot for, people wouldn't be bitching about endgame. It's hitting the ceiling that makes grumpy players.

BUT some of these games reward yoru TIME far faster then others... Its not about just being l33t. Its about having something to show for the time you invest, and not taking over a year or more to do it. In WOW sure end game raids are investments, but it doesnt atke nearly as long to get Good equip for most of teh people participating.

[JoOeetheplatypuS]

BUT some of these games reward yoru TIME far faster then others... Its not about just being l33t. Its about having something to show for the time you invest, and not taking over a year or more to do it. In WOW sure end game raids are investments, but it doesnt atke nearly as long to get Good equip for most of teh people participating.

In WoW Molten Core, for example, is completely obsolete now as well. In FFXI the content is actually still worthwhile 3 years later.

Its just different design choices

[aurik]

the updates are done seperatly for all systems via the dats. Give PS2 users a very low quality dat swaped piece of gear, give the PC/Xbox users a high quality version of the dat with bangles and sparkleys. It sounds like its more work but its really not, take the HQ, drop the pixel quality, remove the extra stuff, mash delete key and jpeg sample it. Who cares. PS2 users dont exactly get a pretty game anyway, they wont notice too much.

Just release an expansion that doesnt have PS2 support, offer PS2 users a free download of the full FFXI release on an FTP, GRATS I JUST SOLVED PS2 ISSUES AND ONLY USED BANDWITH AND MADE THEM ALL BUY A NEW HIGH QUALITY EXPANSION.

EQ did this years ago with a massive graphical update, you could still use the old models if you wanted, but the new models didnt have a low version, so you just saw replacement armor graphics for it (old shit that looked like ass).

4GB download

Would be better to release a PC-only expansion and include classic/zilart/cop/au data in the box. Unless you have a cd-key for the old stuff it's useless anyway.

[Kyreth]

BUT some of these games reward yoru TIME far faster then others... Its not about just being l33t. Its about having something to show for the time you invest, and not taking over a year or more to do it. In WOW sure end game raids are investments, but it doesnt atke nearly as long to get Good equip for most of teh people participating.

The spelling nazi in me longed to fix this, but I refrain.

You've never sat there grinding an instance repeatedly for something, I assume? Tossed people through the same raid over and over again to kit up folks so you can repeat the process with the next one?

Honestly, I can think of one simple method to make people happy.

Make AF2 pieces buyable with currency along with the usual odd drops. People either hoard bills and such for their pieces or pray they get one to drop, or use a purchased piece to fill in for the one that just won't show up for them. AP purchases for Assault gear works. Dynamis currency for Dynamis armor drops would too.

[Lordender]

Heh my theory and i'm sticking by it till the end of time is that the "creative" dev team is working on SE's next big mmo project and there is a skeleton crew doing the patches/updates -.-