FFXIV Closed Alpha/Beta Discussion (Cancelled for this week)

[Skeptic]

When you switch weapons, at least at this stage, your stats dont cap. So, playing conj till 5, switching to a lv 1 thaumaturge for example, my thaumaturge spells would already be pretty strong, because of the stat points i already had allocated. The only downside is I only have access to lv 1 conj spells and lv 1 thaumaturge spells, as well as lvl 1 equipment.

My damage would still be higher than a physical lv 1 DoM level 1 though (because my physical level would be higher, thus have higher stats). I would be able to 1 shot lv 1 monsters, even tho my thaumaturge is lvl 1. This is because my stats didnt cap, my physical level stays the same. Nothing stat wise is decreased.

Hope that made sense, im high ahahah

So in a sense: This would mean you could powerlevel yourself off slightly weaker monsters then you normally fight, and level up quickly? :0
UNLESS theres a class EXP cap... more testing must be done.

I've been embarking on some Sour Diesel myself. AIM me? lol

I'd like to discuss this with you a bit more if you can contact me. It makes sense though.

[mr.bryce]

Think of it this way, the PS3 has a fairly potent CPU, its GPU however compared to what is available currently amid the cream of the crop is weaksauce and that is where a large part of the graphics quality comes from.

I forget exactly but I believe the PS3 gpu is something to the effect of a NVidia 7800-8600GT 256MB in horsepower (probably a bit less).

Decent (as in way better than anything integrated graphics wise) but not even comparable to a 5870 or a 480GTX (not even in the same league).

someone at SE explicitely said PC testers would need a high end processor. which makes sense in regards to whats been said earlier. 256MB for graphics on the ps3 has already started to be a bottleneck

[Ghostsix.Midgard]

found more menus and maps, HD.. kinda

Spoiler: show

http://www.mediafire.com/?3zhzjjanzez

[Loaar]

i asked if grey area were playable. hoping they ll be in the future.

The grey areas are a mountain, not placeholder areas. The map is of an island that has a huge mountain range in the middle of it. The playable areas are the coastal areas at the base of the mountain. It also looks like there are a few plateau type areas that are part way up the mountain you can get to, but its highly unlikely the entire mountain will ever be accessible.

[Karasu]

Good question, maybe not to make you plan those Arrows wiser?

I was actually killed because of this yesterday. When you run out you start throwing rocks and you cannot equip a new stack in combat.

[FREDTHETARU]

the maps may look like theyre all narrow areas, but those narrow areas are HUGE. Seriously u underestimate the scale of that map. Takes maybe 10 minutes to walk a couple inches. the world is almost annoyingly huge lol. thank god for the warps.

[Sinzfeldt]

found more menus and maps, HD.. kinda

Spoiler: show

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IED4864U

nda'ed?

[Ghostsix.Midgard]

its too bad all the humans in dragon age look autistic, bioware just has a terrible time modeling humans, everything else looks wonderful, sad really

this, and the hair.. ugh even on max res it just makes you notice it more.

I ended up playing most of it on an SD + 360 because it actually looks better when you can't see the flaws.
+ Gamepad so I could play in bed.

ultimately what im trying to say, without constantly throwing out god of war as a reference, is the ps3 is more then capable of at least loading a full town of PCs and NPCs, a full alliance, etc. even if the backgrounds were pre-rendered, none of the character models were, and we're talking about models 100 times the size of anything you will see in FFXIV, with much higher polygon counts. 40 players on screen would'nt probably amount to cronos alone. the ps3 can keep up.

I think anything is possible on the PS3, just depends how much time/talent they want to throw at optimizing.

[Kiarax]

Someone on /v/ is saying they just announced they're gonna lengthen the test windows and that scheduling is gonna change. Can anyone with alpha access confirm?

[Arelian]

There's been no official announcement as far as I can tell. They said they want to continue testing the battle system and basic controls since so many of us had issues with mobs spawning last night.

[Kiarax]

Lame, figures it was too good to be true. Thanks.

[Loaar]

Someone on /v/ is saying they just announced they're gonna lengthen the test windows and that scheduling is gonna change. Can anyone with alpha access confirm?

I guess is depends on how you read it, but I think whoever told you that is just seeing what they want to see.

What SE said wasn't about lengthening the windows but lengthening the testing period. I read that as the current testing focus in the alpha will go for longer than planned to allow more time on it, not that each test window would go for longer.

[King Zuca]

I guess is depends on how you read it, but I think whoever told you that is just seeing what they want to see.

What SE said wasn't about lengthening the windows but lengthening the testing period. I read that as the current testing focus in the alpha will go for longer than planned to allow more time on it, not that each test window would go for longer.

yep, FFXIV in 2011.

+1 for pessimism.

[Kiarax]

I guess is depends on how you read it, but I think whoever told you that is just seeing what they want to see.

What SE said wasn't about lengthening the windows but lengthening the testing period. I read that as the current testing focus in the alpha will go for longer than planned to allow more time on it, not that each test window would go for longer.

Interesting, this is their exact post, not that it makes any difference:

They just announced that they're gonna lengthen the test windows a bit, btw. They also said that the scheduling will change a bit, dunno if that will affect the test phases tomorrow and on saturday.

Was hoping it was true, oh well.

[FREDTHETARU]

Lets end all rumors shall we?

Let me begin by expressing my thanks to all of you for participating in the first two tests in the alpha phase. I will be the first to admit that things have not gone as smoothly as we had originally hoped, and I offer my sincerest apologies to everyone who has had difficulties logging in to the game. We understand your frustration, but ask you to remain patient while we assess the problems and work to alleviate them.

For those testers who have been able to access the game, we greatly appreciate all the excellent feedback you have continued to provide. Your opinions are uniquely valuable to us as they provide an insight into the player’s perspective on the countless elements which make up FINAL FANTASY XIV. In response, our development team has been working around the clock, reviewing bug reports and browsing the tester forums, and will continue to make every effort to incorporate your opinions into the game’s development process.

Of course, due to the server and client issues, we are aware that many of you feel you have not had enough time to fully test the features indicated in the Test Content threads, such as basic controls and the battle system. For this reason, we have decided to extend the testing period for these areas of gameplay. In conjunction with this extension, we will be postponing plans to reset characters and conduct level balancing until players have had further opportunities to fully experience the battle and control systems.

The following is a summary of issues encountered during the first and second alpha tests:

- First Alpha Test
Due to unforeseen technical difficulties, the gathering of large numbers of characters in a single area caused a client-side error for many testers. This, in turn, resulted in server load exceeding estimated levels, ultimately limiting the overall number of testers being able to log in.

- Second Alpha Test
For the most part, we were able to resolve the client-side error players experienced on the first day of testing. However, solving that problem resulted in the emergence of new issues, which directly affected the testing efforts of many.
In addition, our efforts to alleviate server load issues proved insufficient, preventing us from increasing the maximum number of players able to log in simultaneously. This, unfortunately, meant that a large proportion of testers were unable to participate in the test.

In addition to the login issues, we also realize there still remain several other critical problems preventing many of our testers from testing the client software, even if they are able to log in. We are working on solving these issues one by one, and hope that with each new test, the software will become increasingly stable, and ultimately allow all of our testers to participate in the debugging process. The changes may not come overnight, but rest assured, they will come.

Again, I apologize for any inconvenience and frustration caused, and humbly ask for your continued support and feedback.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Director
Nobuaki Komoto

[Lazytowner]

yep, FFXIV in 2011.

+1 for pessimism.

Man, we all know it'll be pushed back to 2017, while Square Enix tries to milk us even longer with modified versions of their previous games.



Ohoho, I'm thinking of Valve. Nevermind.

[disland]

At least they're not bullshitting us




...for now

[Loaar]

Yeah, theres nothing in there that makes me think what you read is accurate Kiarax.

[Kiarax]

Hm, could be taken either way really. It's very ambiguous.

[Hyan]

im still plotting in my head a way to do some proto-dark knight shit. Marauder with some Thaumaturge skills ftw. idk lol.

So far I don't see why you couldn't.