Final Fantasy XIV at E3 2010

[Zerocool]

It's not about instant gratification, that term is really over used big time. It's about combat being able to respond as quickly as i can think it. I want difficulty in strategy and not to be tied down to ridiculous game mechanics that exist just to exist.

That core community you speak of is also long gone, i mean just look how far this forum has degrading over the last 2 years. I do agree it was great around '04-'05 but now it's like listening to people i have on my vent that play WoW.

Yeah most of those people don't play anymore, but hopefully FFXIV will draw them back in. Though I'm not holding my breath.

As for the battle, to each their own I guess. I mean I know a lot of people want WoW or Aion speed combat where you're constantly spamming skills, but to me personally I find spamming the same skill rotation over and over can get pretty repetitive and boring since you're basically just staring at your action bar the whole time.

FFXI was a bit too slow though, so something in between WoW and FFXI will be great for me and that's where it seems FFXIV is at. Though I haven't play Alpha or Beta so I can't say for sure. I will just have to wait and see if it's for me or not.

[Kurp]

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3179972

1up preview, not terribly exciting

[Kaylia]

The game is getting horrible feedback. The booth was indeed full, but not many people were impressed with the battle system still even with it's improvements. Maybe they need to see what it was before, but useless if the more speedy system is still deemed slow. Gamers want combat to be irrationally fast.

Square had the right idea creating a new battle system for XIV, however, it's looking like a swing and a miss according to the E3 audience. New = great -Auto-Attack = disinterest. I don't think Square will budge on this battle system. They are set on not having auto attack and that alone looks like it's gonna hurt them.

Personally, I don't mind it. I'm still excited for this game and if it turns out to have FFXI's population amount in the 2004-2007's I'll be happy.

I don't think speed is the issue. It's just that a simple battle system like this one is unappealing to most people. What's the selling point right now?
Epic battle? x
Multiples dungeons (events) to explore? x
Fight against horde of enemy? x
Fight involving a lot of tactical positioning? Maybe...it's more an annoyance than anything in the alpha, and I've seen nothing about it at E3.


People complain that traditional rpg are boring..and in that sense mmo are way worse when you can adds interesting twists to a battle system.

Hopefully they use this feedback for our advantage. Honestly, feedback on stupid quests like kill 5 chickens is useless in the long run, but maybe they will be like "hey this game needs more normal attacks and better monster AI" or some shit.

Unless you mean scripted fight (ie: salvage chariot), I'm not sure AI would be fun. Monsters ignoring threat mechanics or reacting to players skills directly is more annoying than anything.

[BRP]

It could be many things. Like the crabs should cooperate, using mechanics like Cover and what-not. Instead of just hitting you over and over.

[Kachi]

In a PVE game, I would much rather not be fighting stupid enemies. Scripted is fine, but a well-tuned AI would be preferable.

[supercoco]

It could be many things. Like the crabs should cooperate, using mechanics like Cover and what-not. Instead of just hitting you over and over.

that would be a nice idea , which i doubt they will implement

[Kaylia]

It could be many things. Like the crabs should cooperate, using mechanics like Cover and what-not. Instead of just hitting you over and over.

That kind of thing is a script more than intelligent behavior, but yeah, gimmick like this are more fun than the bland old "melee you to death and use tp occasionally". It make the world more lively..or something.

There is already a few in the alpha, and there should be more in the final version of the games, I just don't think it's enough to push your limit as a players. In the end, you will just end up learning the beastiary, and doing the obvious thing to counter it.

[Hyan]

The rate at which mobs attack right now is surprisingly slow. I don't think lag causes it, maybe to compensate the fact that there's many mobs to fight at time.. or something?

[Kaylia]

Even if there is many monsters, there isnt much you can do. It could hit me 100 times per second for 1 dmg, or one time every 5 seconds for 500dmg, it wouldn't really change my strategy at this point. I havent played a tank job long enough though, maybe they have skill for that.

[100percentile]

Since FFXIV is supposed to be based around fighting many mobs at once, maybe we'll see monsters buffing each other and whatnot more often. Even that would spice up battles a bit.

[Hyan]

It could be so that you can spot the times you can do reactionary attacks like phalanx easier too.

[Kaylia]

Since FFXIV is supposed to be based around fighting many mobs at once, maybe we'll see monsters buffing each other and whatnot more often. Even that would spice up battles a bit.

Is it? I thought people were simply misled by the intro video where npc fight many monsters. I dont remember ever reading that in interview.

[edit]

The few aoe I had were also a pain in the ass to use, since monsters would never get close enough. I would much prefer (dare I say) WoW targeting that allow you to point where on the ground you want your AoE. Having to center it around you or a target is kinda annoying.

It could be so that you can spot the times you can do reactionary attacks like phalanx easier too.

defender vs utsusemi pretty much. There will obviously be subtle thing like this for tanking, but since most jobs work fine solo and since I havent seen many defensive ability, it doesnt really matter.

[100percentile]

Is it? I thought people were simply misled by the intro video where npc fight many monsters. I dont remember ever reading that in interview.

Idk I think I read that in some interviews back in 2009.

[Hyan]

Yes Kaylia, that's what SE seems to emphasize this time. Also roaming parties and not static ones.

The gametrailers vid for example had this party fight against multiple crabs and then crabs + elementals at the end. Alpha leves, from what I noticed, also had many encounters where you had to deal with multiple monsters. At least starting at rank 5 or so.

I think we'll be fighting against single enemies a lot less frequently than before. Even the /check system takes into account the overall strength of the group of monsters, and not just the single monster, further strengthening the assumption.

[Loaar]

SE said in an interview late last year that they wanted to have more battles based on a party of players fighting a party of monsters.

They also said they want "placement of characters and using abilities to assist each other could have much more impact."

Honestly not sure what interview it was from, but sections of it were copy/pasted onto my guild forums a while back, and that was part of it. I'll try and find the source when I have time.

[Hyan]

They also said they want "placement of characters and using abilities to assist each other could have much more impact."

Which seems to be the case too. Chat logs shows where the attack comes from so it definitely has some effect, and many skills benefit other party members.

I don't think we should rule these things out because they, while unpolished, seem to be a great part of the whole combat system and this stamina gauge is just one factor to it.

[Kaylia]

SE said in an interview late last year that they wanted to have more battles based on a party of players fighting a party of monsters.

They also said they want "placement of characters and using abilities to assist each other could have much more impact."

Honestly not sure what interview it was from, but sections of it were copy/pasted onto my guild forums a while back, and that was part of it. I'll try and find the source when I have time.

Never heard about the "fighting party of monsters", but I supose it's a good thing if they actually make it a common thing. I like crowd control a lot in mmo usually since it tests out people's awareness more than single enemy fight.

I've seen the "placement of character" things multiples time, but I really don't see it in the alpha. Or rather, it feel more like an annoyance for ranged job than anything... Attacking from behind, attacking from far, staying in front of the monsters... does it really add strategy or interesting dynamics to the fight?

You don't need to look for the interview, it doesn't really matter.

[Hyan]

It definitely isn't such a big part of combat when you're alone. Once in group, positioning yourself behind the mob you're currently dealing with should be the no.1 priority in the simpliest of cases. It builds off from there.

[Loaar]

Clearly the alpha version was one giant placeholder. Even the stats your character will have changed in the beta client, not to mention combat, menus, stat allocation, how the action points work, chat filters, guildleves rewards. The visuals look the same but pretty much everything else looks different.

At this point I wouldn't base any assumptions about the game at all on what we saw in the alpha.

[Kaylia]

It definitely isn't such a big part of combat when you're alone. Once in group, positioning yourself behind the mob you're currently dealing with should be the no.1 priority in the simpliest of cases. It builds off from there.

You get additional damages meleeing the monster from behind in nearly every mmo (game). It's not rocket science. That's fine, but it doesnt make FFXIV unique or special here.

For range, I dont really see the point of it (especially since there is no auto attack anymore). You have to reposition yourself constantly if the monsters move, but it's not interesting (especially without plugin that tell you the distance). If surviving would require perfect positioning from everyone all the time, it could be challenging, but basically, you're just going to kill the pointless shit slower.

Clearly the alpha version was one giant placeholder. Even the stats your character will have changed in the beta client, not to mention combat, menus, stat allocation, how the action points work, chat filters, guildleves rewards. The visuals look the same but pretty much everything else looks different.

At this point I wouldn't base any assumptions about the game at all on what we saw in the alpha.

But the alpha is all we have for the next month. If thing changes, my opinion will change.

I seriously hope the beta will have some form of events other than xp grind. Guildleve are rewarding, but I need something more exciting.