FFXIV Random Speculation/Question thread III: Where's my beta invite?

[supercoco]

I find useful being able to switch jobs whenever we want, because we could switch to "whm" helping our healer raising ppl while we're wipping , which halves the recovery time.

and maybe that's the reason for the 30 secs ? just change jobs/gear if its necessary

[Araelus]

30 seconds the same as level sync deactivation. Coincidence?

[BlackheartX]

I don't know any other MMO's that allow you to change gear during battle, I don't think I can think of many single player RPG's that allow you to this either for that matter.

As long as SE take their time with itemization and tuning classes correctly then we won't need to switch gear about like we did in FF11, personally I think they should take the whole ability to change gear during battle out completely.

The faith is strong in this one.

[brand]

There are a lot of tiny changes, practically all for the better that help smooth out clunky-ness or clean up the interface. There are a few changes to the battle mechanics besides the obvious, but one of the things I noticed I don't know if it is a change or not, or just something I hadn't notice before. I'm going to wait until the other regions have a go before spoiling those things they might want to discover on their own. On the other hand, there are various systematic changes that might benefit the next region tests to know, if only to save them the hour I used in discovering them:

Spoiler: show

Rain is definitely in, but that was the only weather effect that happened.

There are a heavy amount of bloom effects in town.

Depth of Field is gorgeous on a clear day. I was taken away when I first got out of LL.

Ambient Occlusion rapes my FPS, I had to turn that off or suffer a constant 12-15 FPS + sluggish mouse (Intel Q9550, nVidia 9800GTX+)

Sad to say that the Char Creation completely misleads you and tells you FFXIV is 60 FPS capped now, only to drop back down to 30 FPS cap the moment you enter the game.

SLI is working just as well as it does in the benchmark; that hasn't changed (yet).

No server choices, but if you choose the same name during multiple char creations, the lobby will automatically attempt to create on a server where your name is not already taken (though this is probably a rare scenario).

The current client also definitely allows Language Bar based Japanese typing in at least the English language client.

There was only one guildleve at the first Camp available; I didn't go back to town to check if others were available at the desk.

Weakened State is shorter than it was in Alpha; I'd estimate 3 minutes, but I only died once. I used to be able to walk from the first Camp to Cedarwood in one weaken; I only made it 2/3rds of the way.

Everything else that comes to mind after that are all battle related. If there is anything else, I'll probably edit this post.

[e] I forgot the biggest point...

Spoiler: show

There is still no function to filter your chat box of "___ prepares for combat/sheaths their weapon." Also, the chat filter is set up a bit awkward. The on-off switches are reverse of what they were in FFXI. On signifies that it's passing through the filter, not that there is a filter in place for it. I did a basic check of letting nothing go through, and all it did was fill my chat box with ONLY prep/sheath notices. I assume they are classified as system messages, which there is no filter for or else, not classified at all.

I hope they fixed the log-in issues they had at the start of this region test for the others. We got a notice about an hour after the test began that they resolved the problem, so other regions hopefully won't stutter at the start.

[e2]I only noticed one small addition to the opening tutorial scenes, despite what one of the magazines wrote about it. I guess when they told you to watch it carefully, they were mostly referring to graphical changes.

[Elcura]

The faith is strong in this one.

I lol'd. Nothing wrong with a little faith though.

[Gokulo]

What about the mouse controls brand? Better than in alpha or still the same?

[naninani]

The current client also definitely allows Language Bar based Japanese typing in at least the English language client.

[Axiseleven]

Hmm thinking about this (this is just speculation of course) but what if they decided to add a piece of armor like a hecatomb harness which you know is great for weapon skills but bad for tping in. With the restrictions on gear swapping would you keep it on all the time have it slow you down? Or macro it in and have its positive stats halved for 30 secs for you to use it with your skills and then switch out?

Again just speculating.

[brand]

What about the mouse controls brand? Better than in alpha or still the same?

I have to admit I shied away from using the mouse. There's just no point with either a kb or a gamepad. It's functional if you want to use it, but all I used it for was moving the camera and selecting from menus. I might have clicked a skill once.

The biggest noticeable change about the mouse is that the button to interact with objects (such as Aetherytes or, say, elevators...) has been swept into the main menu, so now you can't just click on a dynamic button near your action bar, you have to open the menu (either with a click or the home key) forcing mouse participation. It's the same with selection actions to put on your bar, which got more confusing, though it's probably a bug. Clicking on an open space on your bar doesn't highlight the space, so you don't know if the menu is activated to put the skill on or not. It's compounded by the fact that for some reason, skills can be attached to the offhand, which I didn't really explore as my stats listed my offhand as 0/0 (I started a Pugilist).

If that's not what you meant, you're going to have to restate the question.

[Myth]

Hmm thinking about this (this is just speculation of course) but what if they decided to add a piece of armor like a hecatomb harness which you know is great for weapon skills but bad for tping in. With the restrictions on gear swapping would you keep it on all the time have it slow you down? Or macro it in and have its positive stats halved for 30 secs for you to use it with your skills and then switch out?

Again just speculating.

I don't know if that piece of equipment would be very effective with its stats halved. If you give SE enough credit half stats also means a negative effect on whatever "additional effect" that piece of equipment might provide you. Unless something completely changes from what we've been hearing it's safe to say that TP gear and WS gear concepts have been completely thrown out the window for now.

[Hyan]

I absolutely love how the update notice is almost exactly the same format as the FFXI version updates notices. This is truly FFXI 2.0.

You also fight monsters with swords and sorcery.

[Jinko]

The faith is strong in this one.

Is more like hope

[qweasd123]

Sad to say that the Char Creation completely misleads you and tells you FFXIV is 60 FPS capped now, only to drop back down to 30 FPS cap the moment you enter the game.

.....got to be f'ing kidding me.

Could someone please confirm this during the NA window, or find out if this was simply someone using V-sync without triple buffering. I'd appreciate it.

[Freelancer]

So, where are the screenys hidden nowadays? (please PM )

What I REALLY want to see is characters of all races sitting down, yep... just plain ole /sit... didn't see anybody do that in alpha and I'd like to see what the new sitting animation is like.

[Munba]

Some screens from 2ch:

Spoiler: show

http://lint.s1.x-beat.com/up/img/up12960.jpg
http://minus-k.com/nejitsu/loader/up56149.jpg
http://minus-k.com/nejitsu/loader/up56064.jpg
http://minus-k.com/nejitsu/loader/up56104.jpg
http://minus-k.com/nejitsu/loader/up56124.jpg
http://minus-k.com/nejitsu/loader/up56133.jpg
http://minus-k.com/nejitsu/loader/up56140.jpg
http://minus-k.com/nejitsu/loader/up56072.jpg
http://minus-k.com/nejitsu/loader/up56090.jpg
http://tune.ache-bang.com/~vg/outitem/up/img/24852.jpg
http://minus-k.com/nejitsu/loader/up56154.jpg
http://minus-k.com/nejitsu/loader/up56112.jpg

[supercoco]

amazing. i like 'em very much.

i guess those screens have been taken @ High setup?

[Pearlsea]

Is the NDA still active in this beta?

[Myth]

Yummmmmmm PIE.

Definitely liking the look of the UI this time around. Also, a huge fan of the minimap overlay, that will single-handedly appease some of my frustrations from 11's UI. Cannot wait until I can actually get my hands on this game in September though.

[Freelancer]

This right here is the saddest yet most epic thing I've ever seen in my life.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...yshitthing.jpg


Suuuppppeeeerrrr! (needs blue hair and a metal nose though)

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...fxivfranky.jpg


http://www.bakachan.net/animepics/Fr...d%20Poster.jpg

[Gokulo]

Equip screen looks weird now, with slots floating near the character X.x