Hiromichi Tanaka at Japan Expo (July1~4)

[luciferu]

Which booth were you at? If I knew I'd have come

J'étais dans un coin paumé dans les stands amateur. :X

Need someone who can read french to translate this one:

http://ffxiv.jeuxonline.info/actuali...s-compte-rendu

To sum-up:
- Automatic translation system confirmed
- Beta is way better than Alpha and it's fluid
- Can start configure the game (gamepad, resolution, etc...) in Beta
- The god (sign) you choose in the chara creation will influence you with "favour points"
- Airship confirmed
- Bazaar Servant NPC system but no Auction House for now
- Guildleve gives exp, money and reputation points.
- Rewards from guildleve will differ according to time and difficulty
- Several Instance Dungeons confirmed
- NM confirmed but they work on their pop timer
- Only two strategies: Skillchain and Magic Burst but many people can be involved in to obtain different effects
- Can level all the crafts to max cap but they might change it later due to balance issues

[omegaB]

only studied french in HS butseems like they are confirming NMs but they are still working on/deciding about respawn. My guess is they arent exactly sure how they want to implement them yet, hopeully they dont go with the old tecniques honestly they kind of sucked.

[Jinko]

only studied french in HS butseems like they are confirming NMs but they are still working on/deciding about respawn. My guess is they arent exactly sure how they want to implement them yet, hopeully they dont go with the old tecniques honestly they kind of sucked.

agree'd hopefully its something tied to the guildleve and faction points.

[Hyan]

hopeully they dont go with the old tecniques honestly they kind of sucked.

Actually by mining some .dat's I found out there's an area called dragon's aery and a mob named Fafnir resides there. sorry guys.

[Kawfee]

Actually by mining some .dat's I found out there's an area called dragon's aery and a mob named Fafnir resides there. sorry guys.

Hyan do you play any PVP games that I can grief you repeatedly in, please PM me with your name/server/etc.

[Lucavi]

Yeeeaah booyiiee~ Get your bots and mules ready!

[naninani]

Yeeeaah booyiiee~ Get your bots and mules ready!

IT'S ABOUT TO GO DOOOOOOWN
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/9356/onaboat.jpg

[Hyan]

Not really surprised to see that they'd want to take another stab at it.

[Lucavi]

IT'S ABOUT TO GO DOOOOOOWN
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/9356/onaboat.jpg

/brofist.


Seriously though, just do it right this time, SE. You've had an infinite amount of experience on what not to do. Getitright.com.

[mastamind]

As long as nm drops are retardedly better than anything else around their level (leaping boots, okote and emp hairpin...) and only has something like 1 or 2 more stat points than a +1 crafted item of that level, then people wont feel "required" to have them.

[BlackheartX]

IT'S ABOUT TO GO DOOOOOOWN
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/9356/onaboat.jpg

As many alpha vids that went out not one person shouts "I'm on a boat".
(instanced or not I don't care do it in beta)

[sruon]

Full and accurate translation. (at least I'd like to think it is.)

Spoiler: show

Made it to the Warwick Hotel at 11 A.M., and once we entered the projection room we were greeted by different Square Enix Crew Members, all very professionnal and nice with us.

They also gave us a press book to introduce us to FFXIV for the least informed of us, and among all things, it indicated there would be an automatic translating system.

Then, at 11:15, they showed the game on a huge screen! No doubt, alpha is long gone, beta is fantastic and very fluid in comparaison. On top of this screen, there were 2 computers available for us to test the game but the planning was tight and we didn't have time for it.

At 11:30, while the attendees were waiting for the presentation, we noticed it'd be possible to configure the game from its beta version, be it graphics or controllers, which is globally a good news.

Then at 11:40, the introduction of the beta version started, and even if we didn't notice anything new, it was interesting to see that excluding the Name and First name of Avatars, the character creation was integrally in french!

The first part of the demo was about Char creation with "Tartampion Blabla", Lalafell Guest-star, made for the occasion. This creation was a bit limited in this beta version to keep the novelty for release, but it already allowed us to pick some very advanced options, such as birth date, Guardian (that will influence the char's connivence(?) points (or favor), obtained by doing some things.). Which? How? Mystery... We also learned that depending on the the ethnic orientation of characters (Fire Roegadyn/or Sea), the customization was a bit different.

Now, time for the game itself! In fact, considering the beta only happens in Limsa Lominsa, it is pretty much identical to the one we had in the benchmark, and of course, possesses an english dub and french subtitles. That being said, while waiting for introduction loading, SE guy said they tried to incorporate as few pre-calculated scenes as possible, to give a better immersion impression to the player by the integration of his character in each cutscenes. The introduction CS will be different depending on your starting city.


After then, it was time to discover the fight system, and for our greatest pleasure, it wasn't Tartampion but 2 level 40 chars (max level at this time), a Gladiator (who we can consider as a tank) and a Conjurer (fml? I'm not even sure) which, quoting "is closer from a black mage than anything"

But before unshealting our sword, a little visit of LL was imposing itself. Yes it was quick, but we could discover the harbour, which with all other transport platforms were closed until now. On this topic, SE guy said they'd be open as soon as necessary and it will be possible to board an Airship!


We discovered the Retainer service, it is possible to place it in the second covered (inside a building? not sure) market (first being dedicated to NPC sellers), and they will sell all your goods even when offline, with a 24 hours restriction for the beta. And to those who still doubted it, SE guy confirmed there won't be an integrated Auction House.


Once that was done, we moved onto Guildleves that were a little more detailed this time around, with the EXP points, rewards and reputation once completed.Finally the formed team started a low level Guildlevels called "Megalocrabe" in which 2 level 40 chars literally slaughtered monsters.


During that guildleve we noticed the TP bar went up to 3000 and that Gladiator was really oriented Tank, with abilities such as "Phalanx" that drew attention of monsters toward you, "Circular Strike" was an AoE attack or "Red Lotus II" that looked a lot like its XI counterpart.

On top of that, the debuff received by player were showing directly on the screen in the form of text accompanied with an icon, floating for some time on your char so you could notice your character received a debuff.

Finally, they completed the Guildleve and we heard the "Fanfare" music, very familiar to FF players.

But it's not done! Because after this hour-ish demo, there was a Q&A session, which, we'd like you to discover:


Q: "You said you should take care of Bombos because they could sight aggro, but why didn't they aggro at all?"

A: Aggro system is indeed present, but this time we used high level characters and it was in a low level zone, therefore it wasn't a problem. But we can ensure you such system is present.

Q: "Does timing influence rewards in Guildlevels ?" (seriously... l2alpha)

A: There is a reward table showing when you accomplish a guildlevel, listing all the rewards and time it took. We've had confirmation that following difficulty and time taken, rewards would be different.

Q: "Are there raids planned?"

A: Instanced dungeons are planned and the PVP question was very quickly dealt with, they told us it wasn't to exclude but if anything, it'd be in a really long time. For now, they're still working on a 18 players max format in a group, like FFXI, but depending on Beta testers/players feedback, it could change.

Q: "We remember in FFXI, we'd fight often NMs for equipements, will this system make a come back?"

A: Yes, but nothing is sure as of now, they may work on a repop timers for monsters.


Q: "In FFXI we sometimes had troubles to level up because there were too few EXP spots, do you have solutions for that?"

A: We're working on repop timers so that there isn't few spots of XP in a zone but a zone filled with XP spots. Once again, it will depend on players feedback.

Q: "About strategies, can you tell us more?"

A: Strategies will be, basically, a Skillchaining and Magic Bursting system like FFXI. That being said, they will allow for abilities that the whole group need to use and depending on order they could allow for special effects... Discover them!

Q: "About Crafts, will it be possible to level them all (Not 1 like FFXI)? If yes, is paying 3€ per additionnal characters a sort of message meaning that only one char is enough?"

A: As of now, yes, every crafts will be able to levelled to max level on a single char, because the game is based on "Armory", which allows for quick change of role depending on equipped weapon. That being said, to balance, there could be restrictions. As for the additionnal cost, it is legitimate to think of it as a dissuasion, but also as a commercial strategy or a wish to alleviate server load.


Q: "Beta phase will be short, is it really dedicated to help developpers make the game beta through feedbacks or is it purely commercial?"

A: Of course we can't deny the commercial side of betas, but you can rest assured that FFXIV beta is a real beta, and feedback from players are important.

Finishing with this last answer, SE guy said he saw the game change a lot between first version and current one. So, nothing is really done, and everything could change.

Who do I send the bill to.

[mintyice]

Full and accurate translation. (at least I'd like to think it is.)

Spoiler: show

Made it to the Warwick Hotel at 11 A.M., and once we entered the projection room we were greeted by different Square Enix Crew Members, all very professionnal and nice with us.

They also gave us a press book to introduce us to FFXIV for the least informed of us, and among all things, it indicated there would be an automatic translating system.

Then, at 11:15, they showed the game on a huge screen! No doubt, alpha is long gone, beta is fantastic and very fluid in comparaison. On top of this screen, there were 2 computers available for us to test the game but the planning was tight and we didn't have time for it.

At 11:30, while the attendees were waiting for the presentation, we noticed it'd be possible to configure the game from its beta version, be it graphics or controllers, which is globally a good news.

Then at 11:40, the introduction of the beta version started, and even if we didn't notice anything new, it was interesting to see that excluding the Name and First name of Avatars, the character creation was integrally in french!

The first part of the demo was about Char creation with "Tartampion Blabla", Lalafell Guest-star, made for the occasion. This creation was a bit limited in this beta version to keep the novelty for release, but it already allowed us to pick some very advanced options, such as birth date, Guardian (that will influence the char's connivence(?) points (or favor), obtained by doing some things.). Which? How? Mystery... We also learned that depending on the the ethnic orientation of characters (Fire Roegadyn/or Sea), the customization was a bit different.

Now, time for the game itself! In fact, considering the beta only happens in Limsa Lominsa, it is pretty much identical to the one we had in the benchmark, and of course, possesses an english dub and french subtitles. That being said, while waiting for introduction loading, SE guy said they tried to incorporate as few pre-calculated scenes as possible, to give a better immersion impression to the player by the integration of his character in each cutscenes. The introduction CS will be different depending on your starting city.


After then, it was time to discover the fight system, and for our greatest pleasure, it wasn't Tartampion but 2 level 40 chars (max level at this time), a Gladiator (who we can consider as a tank) and a Conjurer (fml? I'm not even sure) which, quoting "is closer from a black mage than anything"

But before unshealting our sword, a little visit of LL was imposing itself. Yes it was quick, but we could discover the harbour, which with all other transport platforms were closed until now. On this topic, SE guy said they'd be open as soon as necessary and it will be possible to board an Airship!


We discovered the Retainer service, it is possible to place it in the second covered (inside a building? not sure) market (first being dedicated to NPC sellers), and they will sell all your goods even when offline, with a 24 hours restriction for the beta. And to those who still doubted it, SE guy confirmed there won't be an integrated Auction House.


Once that was done, we moved onto Guildleves that were a little more detailed this time around, with the EXP points, rewards and reputation once completed.Finally the formed team started a low level Guildlevels called "Megalocrabe" in which 2 level 40 chars literally slaughtered monsters.


During that guildleve we noticed the TP bar went up to 3000 and that Gladiator was really oriented Tank, with abilities such as "Phalanx" that drew attention of monsters toward you, "Circular Strike" was an AoE attack or "Red Lotus II" that looked a lot like its XI counterpart.

On top of that, the debuff received by player were showing directly on the screen in the form of text accompanied with an icon, floating for some time on your char so you could notice your character received a debuff.

Finally, they completed the Guildleve and we heard the "Fanfare" music, very familiar to FF players.

But it's not done! Because after this hour-ish demo, there was a Q&A session, which, we'd like you to discover:


Q: "You said you should take care of Bombos because they could sight aggro, but why didn't they aggro at all?"

A: Aggro system is indeed present, but this time we used high level characters and it was in a low level zone, therefore it wasn't a problem. But we can ensure you such system is present.

Q: "Does timing influence rewards in Guildlevels ?" (seriously... l2alpha)

A: There is a reward table showing when you accomplish a guildlevel, listing all the rewards and time it took. We've had confirmation that following difficulty and time taken, rewards would be different.

Q: "Are there raids planned?"

A: Instanced dungeons are planned and the PVP question was very quickly dealt with, they told us it wasn't to exclude but if anything, it'd be in a really long time. For now, they're still working on a 18 players max format in a group, like FFXI, but depending on Beta testers/players feedback, it could change.

Q: "We remember in FFXI, we'd fight often NMs for equipements, will this system make a come back?"

A: Yes, but nothing is sure as of now, they may work on a repop timers for monsters.


Q: "In FFXI we sometimes had troubles to level up because there were too few EXP spots, do you have solutions for that?"

A: We're working on repop timers so that there isn't few spots of XP in a zone but a zone filled with XP spots. Once again, it will depend on players feedback.

Q: "About strategies, can you tell us more?"

A: Strategies will be, basically, a Skillchaining and Magic Bursting system like FFXI. That being said, they will allow for abilities that the whole group need to use and depending on order they could allow for special effects... Discover them!

Q: "About Crafts, will it be possible to level them all (Not 1 like FFXI)? If yes, is paying 3€ per additionnal characters a sort of message meaning that only one char is enough?"

A: As of now, yes, every crafts will be able to levelled to max level on a single char, because the game is based on "Armory", which allows for quick change of role depending on equipped weapon. That being said, to balance, there could be restrictions. As for the additionnal cost, it is legitimate to think of it as a dissuasion, but also as a commercial strategy or a wish to alleviate server load.


Q: "Beta phase will be short, is it really dedicated to help developpers make the game beta through feedbacks or is it purely commercial?"

A: Of course we can't deny the commercial side of betas, but you can rest assured that FFXIV beta is a real beta, and feedback from players are important.

Finishing with this last answer, SE guy said he saw the game change a lot between first version and current one. So, nothing is really done, and everything could change.

Who do I send the bill to.

Just release the game now. Seriously. I don't care if it's beta, I'll pay for it.

[Kachi]

As long as nm drops are retardedly better than anything else around their level (leaping boots, okote and emp hairpin...) and only has something like 1 or 2 more stat points than a +1 crafted item of that level, then people wont feel "required" to have them.

People will still want to be able to fight the NMs, and there are plenty of min/maxers who will do it for a single stat point. That won't really solve the problem.

The inherent problem has always been bottlenecking the NMs. If there's a worldwide spawn-- not an instance-- then eventually a line will form behind the item. Only it won't be a nice line where everyone waits their turn, but a cutthroat competition, like buying a Tickle Me Elmo before Xmas. That might be fine if there were any fun to the sit-wait-and-claim game, but it's a lose-lose for everyone involved.

The other problem has been low drop rates. When a monster takes even 6 people to kill and only drops one of an item that all six people want, you automatically have to fight it six times, which is more than enough for many people.

[Shiinpu]

I want to see a system where Leaping Lizzy is on a single pop timer, but has a completely random chance of spawning in at least 5-10 different zones, heck maybe even every zone that has lizards in it. It could pop at varying levels depending on zone level, and maybe have a chance to drop higher level items at higher level pops, I don't know.

I think the original hope with the NM system, based largely on FFXI team's naivety, was to have these cool rare strong type monsters that you could just happen to come across every now and then so it would feel special. Of course it ended up being camped and bottlenecked like crazy. If the spawn area was literally the entire world, it would be something you happened upon instead of camped.

[Lucavi]

People will still want to be able to fight the NMs, and there are plenty of min/maxers who will do it for a single stat point. That won't really solve the problem.

The inherent problem has always been bottlenecking the NMs. If there's a worldwide spawn-- not an instance-- then eventually a line will form behind the item. Only it won't be a nice line where everyone waits their turn, but a cutthroat competition, like buying a Tickle Me Elmo before Xmas. That might be fine if there were any fun to the sit-wait-and-claim game, but it's a lose-lose for everyone involved.

The other problem has been low drop rates. When a monster takes even 6 people to kill and only drops one of an item that all six people want, you automatically have to fight it six times, which is more than enough for many people.

Pretty much. Its like 400 moms tying to get those 3 Furby's left in stock at Walmart 8 years ago, except these moms, in addition to being snarling, ravaging, bloodthirsty women, are smart enough to both discover and design exploits and ways to undermine the next mom on the way to the toy isle.

[Kachi]

That could work ok, though it still makes the opportunity to engage in certain battles purely a matter of luck. Most likely you'll end up with something similar to camping, only people will be roaming all over the place instead-- an end to the sitting and botting, but still the same thing in principle. And it could be a huge contributor to RMT, who would probably be in every zone at all times looking for NMs to sell their rare and hard to find drops to people who would rather not need absurd luck to even find the mob they want.

Personally I would prefer if the vast majority of battles I can attempt without any ridiculous hassles.

[Jinko]

This is why I think they should implement very difficult guildleves which you can complete and have 100% chance to get an item from completing the leve.

They could then use those items as hand in's to an NPC to get the piece of armour you want, kind of like tokens or currency.

[Shiinpu]

And it could be a huge contributor to RMT, who would probably be in every zone at all times looking for NMs to sell their rare and hard to find drops to people who would rather not need absurd luck to even find the mob they want.

That's true, it would just make things easier for RMT and harder for the rest of us.

But say a single NM could spawn at ANY location in ANY zone where the correct mob type is found, I think it would be uncampable, even for RMT. Though they could just have a character or two roaming around every possible zone, and they'd have a much higher chance of finding it than someone just passing through. I guess at the end of the day it's a flawed concept no matter what.

[Lucavi]

This is why I think they should implement very difficult guildleves which you can complete and have 100% chance to get an item from completing the leve.

They could then use those items as hand in's to an NPC to get the piece of armour you want, kind of like tokens or currency.

Just mix the guildelve with the classic BCNM, but with a smallish loot pool like with guildelves (which actually do have different rewards - I've gotten 3 types of armor from the same quest) that has a 100% drop for one at a time.

Higher difficulty equals a better item. Do a rank 6 BCNM-elve with 3 people or something like that and get a freaking sweet reward. There's the challenge, the instanced feature, the drop rate, and just put it on a daily or even weekly reset if you're worried about flooding the market with the goods, although, if these kinds of items would be relatively low level, like O.kote and Emp. Pin, I don't see the problem with giving people not only a fair shake at the guildelve, but also within a reasonable respawn. Also, if you don't want people re-selling them, and thus, becoming RMT-fodder, bind them to the character. The only RMT-worthy system you'd have in place then would be RMT's offering to power paying customers through the guildelves, but if the quests and missions leading up to these special guildelves were restrictive or tough enough, even that could be filtered out.

Technically, there will always be an opportunity for RMT to do that, but so long as you make the process not only enjoyable, but accessible, people shouldn't feel the need to have to pay someone else to help them do it. Let the social part of the game come out for once.

There's a lot of potential for the guildelve system: I liken it to a MMO version of previous FF's hunt system, or even the old-school billboards in WoW, which Blizzard was foolish enough to get away from, even though those types of quests were not only fun, but typically had good rewards.