Final Fantasy XIV @ gamescom 2009 (Updated)

[Averrinicus]

what time is the interview today?

2nd

wondering if I'll stay up tonight again or not.

[Maguspk]

I wonder how much of the game is going to involve point-click interactions? Monsters, Menus, Objects...

What I liked about the FFXI UI, was that my hands never had to leave the keyboard.

It is being developed with consoles in mind so you can guarantee you won't need to point/click, similar to FFXI's controls.

[Kaluuki]

Also since I'm basically deciding between giving up XI for XIV or ignoring XIV and staying with XI, it's even more important for me to make the comparison.

.__.

Good luck finding a party in FFXI when the majority of the players leave for FFXIV. lol


Anyway.

From what I've seen from the Alpha, this game looks very promising. I hope they reveal a bit more tomorrow, it was nice having a big chunk of info to read when I woke up today. As for gear swap... I think you're going to end up relying on a chocobo for that, as opposed to macros. Kind of like a command outside of battle. At least, I hope so. Gear swapping for different fights is a pain in the ass via macros... ugh.

[Reiju]

Very easy to answer, as there are several abilities used in all the videos. TP is at 2514, gladiator uses red lotus and it went down to 2500.

I answered yours, you answer mine ;p

Hmm, in what video is that? In this one Final Fantasy XIV Online Video Game, GC 09: Magic & Melee Gameplay (Cam) HD | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com Red Lotus is used from 3000TP and consumes 500, bringing it down to 2500, so the TP cost per ability doesn't seem to be a fixed amount. Maybe it'll affect how potent the ability is.

[Rautha]

good morning. first off...wow, what a waste of 4 pages. but good to be back on the road again now


http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/5393/whatisthisl.jpg

This is important gameplay information and should be answered, good question guy!

at this bar you can switch between your abilities. like shown in the mage video (taru running around crazy), that is your main attack that you have now. you can switch to other abilities here though (seen in the mage video, verrrry quickly. i took 2 screens from that ability/spell switch at page 19/20. it seems that you are able to switch with the mouse wheel.... it is so fast that i can only imagine this by mouse wheel ["dioxae, fessel, hellbane, dunkelheit" discussion])


Final Fantasy XIV Online Video Game, GC 09: Range Gameplay (Cam) | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com
in this video you can see the ranger switching between ranged attack ("Bow-Attack") and Stealth/camouflage-Shot ("Tarnschuss")

Originally Posted by Celeras

Hmm, in what video is that? In this one Final Fantasy XIV Online Video Game, GC 09: Magic & Melee Gameplay (Cam) HD | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com Red Lotus is used from 3000TP and consumes 500, bringing it down to 2500, so the TP cost per ability doesn't seem to be a fixed amount. Maybe it'll affect how potent the ability is.

yeah, red lotus needs 500, then he switches to level 1 or 2 "sword slash" (see the gladiator pic), hits the enemy and gets 500 tp back so he is at 3000 again.

[superzombie23]

I may be wrong, but having one item for everything, is the opposite of strategy. Strategy involves setting yourself up for the task at hand and planning your attack/defense accordingly. If you aren't going to have complex gear then this is X-blades the MMO. The whole idea behind low level awesome gear was that they would be useful to people at any level but hard enough to get that you wouldn't see them on everyone. Why else would you live at Argus for 6 months for that gear? Get a high enough level or enough money and you have something that lasts you for YEARS and is versatile. Isn't that what everyone is asking for? Get something that is universally usefull?

The strategy of taking a character and making a taru SAM pull 2500+ penta while watching some elvaan DRG pull 1300 BECAUSE you understand the game, is what makes it fun. Throwing a bunch of nub shit at your toon and getting the same numbers as everyone else is what makes a game suck. Who cares about your toon's eyecolor when everyone in the game does the same damage, heals for the same amount, enfeebles land at the same rate, and all things you do instantly work. What set's you apart from the other person, the way you customize your gear setup for the situation.

If SE wants to fix the main issue behind gear swaps, the answer is not making them obsolete, make it so everyone can. We didn't have them in XI because you couldn't do it on a PS2(Their reason). While others hacked binding keys to make it work the same as WoW, or added script macro's to change all their gear for a WS them pop it all back for TP gain. THOSE people are the ones I chose to merit with, the catch all people killed chains and made the game slow, the all out people made chain 200+ with ease.

I like gear swaps, I like complex gear choices. From the sounds of what SE is getting at, gear changing is what changes your job now, not your Moogle. Making going from one mission to another much easier. Crafting? Change ONE piece of gear, kill fafnir, change another, level in the dunes, change yet again and fish. Not enough X to kill Y? Hold on let me pull out my other weapon and be that job, no more going from sky to MH back to sky just because you need another WHM.

So keep the weapon based job changes, I like that, keep your armor complex, it is what separates the nubs from the pro's and by making XI or any other MMO so easy a 12 y.o. can play it, you kill the interest for the 25-50 range.

Personally, I think the older and more dedicated the demographic ends up being, the more solid the game will be. The whiners complaining about balance caused SE to nerf jobs for 4 years before learning we actually meant for them to buff the jobs they broke with the first TP nerf. After all, would missing a hit or two on guillo matter near as much if you got the number of WS's you did pre MNK relic nerf?

SE boning that nerf instead of making un upgraded relic knuckles +1 delay, made for a long process of jacked nerfs that ended with the game being WAY too easy. (Aside from select endeavors).


All just my couple pennies worth, but what do I know

I agree with EVERYTHING you said. In case the quote and this post is tl;dr for some of you, it's all good reasons for why gear swaps and a huge variety of items aren't a bad thing in FFXI; the gameplay system, depending on how one utilizes it will make you desirable or undesirable. I like the fact there are so many items and gear swaps in FF11, since it gives you more of a challenge to obtain all of these items to make the best gear swaps/outputs possible, thus separating you from the average and making you valuable. Then, you can show off ;p. On the topic of FF14, I'll kind of leave it out till the end.

I like FF11 b/c it all depends on how much you are dedicated to getting rare items, if you want to become more desirable and be admired by other players; what items you possess/equipped clearly shows how dedicated you are. FF14 should have items that casual players would have, and rare items that would likely be out of their reach. A dedicated person with rare items would easily out-perform one who just buys the gimp items from the AH and goes straight to leveling for example. You just have to enjoy the feeling when you freaking pwn someone with damage output because you are the more dedicated one.

I see some posters on here saying FF14 should just combine all those stats into one powerful item if the system was similar to FF11's gear swapping... uh HELLO, you're talking about the last item you'd need in FF11 terms. FF11's best end game items do not need to be swapped out, or at least some of them don't need to be; it's kind of situational depending if you need Evasion/accuaracy/haste/etc. FF11 would become too simple if everyone was wearing armor that had every stat on it to minimize gear swapping. It would become WoW's armor system, since most of WoW's has every stat. The fact gear swapping exists along with the rare items in FFXI separates the dedicated from the undedicated. It allows a player to basically 'unlock' different ways of playing their job. They take the time to get the specific rare items from NMs/HNMs (or AH) and utilize the gear swaps, and make their spells/WSs shine above the average. And, I like that you can obtain a lvl 30ish item and still use it at 75. These reasons makes you value your rare items a LOT more, and makes your time spent feel worth it when you perform. "Oh yeah, I'm sexxay with my l33t looking armor." And that's another great thing, equipping rare FFXI armor increases your sex appeal.

People who use parsers and spellcast to achieve optimum performance with those rare items will be the best - it's simple as that. If you can't use spellcast for the millions of gearswaps, i'm sorry about your ps2 limitations or you just can't 'afford' FF11 windower. In the end, what matters in my opinion is that I want to be the best if I decide to become dedicated, and I better be feeling rewarded for doing WAY more spectacular results than the undedicated/disadvantaged player O_O.

This brings me to the subject of how SE is saying FF14 is going to be casual-friendly. IMO, it's just a line to attract the people who don't want to waste more than an hour playing a day or trying to appeal to WoW players. They won't get the best items, and they won't accomplish as much as a hardcore, dedicated player. They won't be invited to parties that want the fastest, best results. If they let casual players easily access the best end game content, that's kind of retarded.

To sum it all, I love FF11's rare item/gear swap system, where your performance solely relies on the items you have and the gear swaps (spellcast... or you can mash macros), and pure knowledge of the battle system. There's no reason to pursue endgame seriously, if you don't like that system. In contrast, WoW was just a button masher to lvl 80 with questmap addon, and everyone has easy access to end game by joining a PUG -.-. Don't get me wrong, there was a clear line between the professional and n00bs in WoW (because n00bs can't do the hard/new/valueable content and talent tree/ability rotations), but the system behind WoW's loot drops/abilities/dungeon system just isn't appealing because everyone seemed to have everything you had. All the races and classes with their specific armor didn't suit my eyes when there's like 100 players cramped up together. Maybe it's because the huge amount of players on a WoW server would make one feel unworthy... who knows? But, I just felt right at home in FFXI, even if there are a 100 players cramped up. It must be the cartoony look of WoW... that's my only excuse because FFXI's character models/animations is more realistic looking, and the armor stands out more to me (as I mentioned previously about sex appeal) XD. Job changing, situational rare items for gear swaps that make you stand out, sexy un-cartoonish armor (I feel WoW's armor most of the time is ugly, especially on a skinny undead), re-speccing a talent tree gets super annoying, and feeling time is well spent in FFXI makes it the best imo. My sexy DRK elvaan with Insurgency owns my stupid DK tauren anyday . FF14 should incorporate the unforgiving nature FF11 has when it comes to WHAT ARMOR YOU HAVE, the harsh high/low income economy minus RMT exploits, and instance dungeons, and reduce the HNM camping and similar life-wasting activities to an extent. All of that + next gen graphics should KILL WOW!!! As far as I'm concerned, it shouldn't get anything from WoW because WoW doesn't last long. I think I vented my thoughts after reading this whole thread...

[Gokulo]

it seems that you are able to switch with the mouse wheel.... it is so fast that i can only imagine this by mouse wheel ["dioxae, fessel, hellbane, dunkelheit"

Or, as someone said it changes when you hover with the mouse above the skill bar.

[Reiju]

yeah, red lotus needs 500, then he switches to level 1 or 2 "sword slash" (see the gladiator pic), hits the enemy and gets 500 tp back so he is at 3000 again.

Yes, obviously when you're at 3000TP Red Lotus brings you down to 2500, but Celeras mentioned that in another video Red Lotus was used at 2514 but only consumed 14TP.

Over at IGN IGN Video: Final Fantasy XIV Online PlayStation 3 Gameplay - GC 2009: Off Screen 3, we can see that each enemy hit feeds you 2TP. Defeating an enemy also seems to give an important chunk of TP, about 2000 here.

FFXIV seems a lot more TP centric than FFXI.

[richardd]

gulkeeva is going to love how the mithra emotes look

needs more male elf footage rly

[Shippou]

People who use parsers and spellcast to achieve optimum performance with those rare items will be the best - it's simple as that. If you can't use spellcast for the millions of gearswaps, i'm sorry about your ps2 limitations or you just can't 'afford' FFXI windower. In the end, what matters in my opinion is that I want to be the best if I decide to become dedicated, and I better be feeling rewarded for doing WAY more spectacular results than the undedicated/disadvantaged player O_O.

This brings me to the subject of how SE is saying FF14 is going to be casual-friendly. IMO, it's just a line to attract the people who don't want to waste more than an hour playing a day or trying to appeal to WoW players. They won't get the best items, and they won't accomplish as much as a hardcore, dedicated player. They won't be invited to parties that want the fastest, best results. If they let casual players easily access the best end game content, that's kind of retarded.

ITT: Elitists still bitching about WoW.

[Averrinicus]

gulkeeva is going to love how the mithra emotes look

needs more male elf footage rly

I want to see the Male Eelezen myself as its the race and sex I want.

[Rautha]

Or, as someone side it changes when you hover with the mouse above the skill bar.

yeah, that is an argument

but. i don't see any mouse cursor hovering over the skillbar in the ranger video. hm.

[superzombie23]

ITT: Elitists still bitching about WoW.

Sorry if I come off as elitist, but it's 3 AM and I don't care what comes onto my keyboard ;p. That's just my opinion and what makes FFXI worth playing to me.

[Celeras]

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/5393/whatisthisl.jpg



at this bar you can switch between your abilities. like shown in the mage video (taru running around crazy), that is your main attack that you have now. you can switch to other abilities here though (seen in the mage video, verrrry quickly. i took 2 screens from that ability/spell switch at page 19/20. it seems that you are able to switch with the mouse wheel.... it is so fast that i can only imagine this by mouse wheel ["dioxae, fessel, hellbane, dunkelheit" discussion])

How does it function? When you chose an attack and it goes here, is it auto-executed at your next swing timer? Or is it more of a plan-ahead type queue, where you put your next attack there and then hit a separate button to execute it.

[Rautha]

Yes, obviously when you're at 3000TP Red Lotus brings you down to 2500, but Celeras mentioned that in another video Red Lotus was used at 2514 but only consumed 14TP.

Over at IGN IGN Video: Final Fantasy XIV Online PlayStation 3 Gameplay - GC 2009: Off Screen 3, we can see that each enemy hit feeds you 2TP. Defeating an enemy also seems to give an important chunk of TP, about 2000 here.

FFXIV seems a lot more TP centric than FFXI.

yeah, when they hit you get 2 TP. red lotus here also needs 500 tp.
the circle blade (aoe, roundabout hit) needs 1505
"schutzschild" ... "shield" needs 500

at this point he has 510 tp left. and the box says: You have to wait until you can use Red Lotus!
Defeating an enemy gives 2000 tp back, yeah.

deafeating the 2nd puk with the ability red lotus doesn't give any TP back to you. the red lotus needed 10 TP here.


celeras:EXACTLY!
in theat IGN video 3 you can see him having the sword slash first. he does normal hits. then suddenly it switches to red lotus. like 2 secs later he performs red lotus. then the red lotus stays on top of the interface...however nothing happens. no normal hits, no red lotus. the chat box doesn't say "player attacks" or "you have to wait to use red lotus again". then after 5 secs the player switches to "shield" and he instantly casts/performs a shield buff. after this back to red lotus... there it says " you have to wait to use again". after 0,5 secs later he performs another red lotus.
then a normal sword slash after he switched to sword slash. then a switch to red lotus woth the chat saying "you have to wait...", followed by a red lotus attack 0,5-1 secs later

so.... when you switch to the abilities (i don't see any mouse-cursor at the skill bar here either) they are performed automatically. but they have some kind of cool-down-time to use again. wow-like.

[Celeras]

Are you speculating or did you play? Otherwise its impossible to tell if the abilities are fired by themselves in queue, or by another action from the player.

[QotsaM]

About the interviews, the french-speaking website JeuxOnline is going to post its report this morning (GMT+2 here) on their boards. They mention they're going to post screenshots of the powerpoint presentation, dealing with combat system, 3 jobs, a few armor sets and interactions between character classes (dunno what they mean here).
The interview itself is (sadly) going to be about global stuff and not really specific, as they say. I really don't know what to expect here but I'll keep you in touch.

[Rautha]

Are you speculating or did you play? Otherwise its impossible to tell if the abilities are fired by themselves in queue, or by another action from the player.

speculating by studying and analyzing =)
but yeah you are right. however, I can't see or hear any inputs (key or mouse) for firing off the abilities.

[Celeras]

Day 2 of #FFXIV and #Gamescom begins. Soon heading in to meet with FFXIV's producer.
37 minutes ago from web

ffxivcore twitter ;x

[fussel]

This is important gameplay information and should be answered, good question guy!

IMO, this looks like a cooldown timer, since it switches around when the chatlog shows "xxx cannot be used." "yyy cannot be used."