Alpha/Beta Announcement thread. Next Alpha: ???

[Shuichi]

I like this. Does sound like its own instance. Would be neat if we could have a Moogle as a retainer.

[Loaar]

Market Wards sound like separate instances themselves. If so, that should solve people's fear of private bazaars clustering heavy traffic spots around the cities (such as in Aion). A very smart implementation.

I haven't heard anyone mentioned auction house yet. Did it exist in the alpha (I'm referring to the structure, not the function)? Maybe AH will be located in the Market Wards as well.

They do sound like an instanced area, I agree.

There wasn't an AH in the alpha, nor has SE indicated that there will be an AH at all. The last time they answered a question about the AH they just said they were working on doing something different.

Sounds like retainers are it.

From memory the FFXI AH symbol was found in the dats, but it could just be that these market ward areas are entered via a door with the AH symbol on it.

[Hyan]

As long as there's a proper search system (going through 20 areas and multiple NPC's in each would take a while to check out), this sounds neat.

[Purrrfect]

There was a ss of a doorway in the alpha that had and AH-esque logo above it. But if they go with Retainers and no AH I guess that could just be where you enter the instance.

Also, has anyone stated on the alpha forums if it will be possible to simply update the alpha client to beta, or will there have to be an uninstall/reinstall?

[Dredoc]

If I recall, the guy at E3 said the amount they were going to add to the beta was limited by the size of the resulting client download. I'm pretty sure you're going to need to dl a new client.

[Squeaky]

I'm looking forward to seeing this Retainer system. I really hope I don't have to go up to 50 different retainers and see what all of them are carrying. Auction Houses are just way too much fun for me.

[Katlan]

I'm looking forward to seeing this Retainer system. I really hope I don't have to go up to 50 different retainers and see what all of them are carrying. Auction Houses are just way too much fun for me.

I can just assume they alrdy thought of this and will make it so its intuitive and not tedious.... i can hope

[Lucavi]

I'm hoping the retainer system will resemble a virtua farmer's market of sorts. With money coming a goodly bit more frequently in FFXIV, I'm looking forward to spending a few hours wasting time on needless shopping for crafting odds and ends.

[Hyan]

virtua farmer's market of sorts.

What's that?

[Lucavi]

Well you know what a RL farmer's market is, right?

[Hyan]

Yeah, thought you meant some specific game for a sec there.

[Lucavi]

Oh no no, sorry. Just wanting to see something akin to a real-world one.

[SamanosukeShiva]

What's that?

like small stand like in white knight chronicle shop NPC kind of thing

[Lucavi]

^ Essentially. Either NPC or player-run stands that you can actually lay your goods out on. I've seen a lot of those "fluff" items at NPC stands in the alpha; you know, the buckets of seeds and the suit of armor hanging on the back.

I'd like it if these shops we're allowed to set up actually contained graphical versions of what we're selling, especially if these zones are going to be instanced, meaning there's going to be a shit-ton of people doing the EXACT same thing as us.

It'd be nice to see the actual armor set you're looking for or stack of crafted goodies or barrel of food that you wanted to buy, to make it a little easier to determine who has what without having to click on each and every person, ala. the old days at Rolanberry.

[SamanosukeShiva]

if they're going that route, since there's going to be tons of people doing that, i guess it'll be like a shopping mall? lol

[Katlan]

There will need to be a way to sort stuff amongst various ppl. Like maybe going into the zone, see'ing all items from all vendors in a window.. and being able to buy from that window. This will make it much more fluid, then, say, being able to search all bazaars in one window then having to locate the npc and buy from it directly.

I'm sure this area will also server as a good crafting hub

[Lucavi]

Hey, some markets are in malls, so that'd be nice as well.

I mean, if the zone is instanced, then right off the back, they have more memory space to load the individual graphics. Notice how every instanced area in the alpha runs 80 times more smoothly than a non-instanced one.

Just another touch that would, IMO, help bring this game to life a bit more. Its only alpha, yes, but its a very stiff alpha.

[Kirbyprime]

I kind of hope Retainers are upgradable based on crafting jobs. Don't see why a dedicated smither or cook would have a shabby shop instead of a large store, especially if their primary job is ... well, crafting.

[Lucavi]

Hey that's a good idea. Either that, or give us the ability to purchase better looking stands/shacks/stores. Maybe the guy that just started clothcrafting has just a wooden stand with some stuff hanging off the front, but the best tailor in town has an elaborate spread complete with elaborate crafts.

It would certainly make it easier to know who to look for or go to, or whose name to right down to message later, when needing something high level made for you.

[Coren]

As cool as that sounds, no thanks to checking a zillion bazaars instead of AH.