FFXIV Random Speculation/Question thread V: No one told me beta would have problems in it

[Hyan]

Also sure it can be an inconvenience sometimes but really, if I wanted something as convenient as possible I wouldn't be playing MMO's in the first place, but an online RPG instead (PSO, diablo, monster hunter etc.).

I find the gameplay usually better in those kind of games too, so even soloing isn't nearly as bad. But when it comes to MMO's, at least for me it's an absolute must to do most of the things in group or I won't last long >_>.

[Gulkeeva]

Well hopefully they fix the exp grouped.. or you will be enjoying.. one super.. long grind fest on "very hard" mobs for a insanely long time >.>

Like this snail we all punched for a good 30sec+ aoe'ed our entire group down for 370-440, everyone in range died.. gave 128 exp >.>

considering the 80K tnl, thats going to be brutal ;/

heard in early beta/alpha grouping gave like 100% exp bonus that multiplied to some insane amount... would of been nice!

[brand]

So these Yellowjackets. I was grinding in Cassiopeia close to the Aetheryte and I saw one spawn. Told my friend to come duo it with me but before she had arrived he despawned. Couldn't have been up for more than 1-2 minutes. Does that mean he's at some other camp now..?

They only stay up for 3-4 minutes max, but I am fairly certain by this point that they spawn at a specific point of the hour (at the :40). Which hour will determine which camp. In two test periods now, I have participated in the Bloodshore Behest at the same time, 2:40AM PDT, and twice, I have seen the Cassiopeia Yellowjacket spawn at the :40; I'd have to cycle through my photos to see what hour specifically. Assuming the next test starts again at 7PM PDT, we can probably expect the same spawn times of Yellowjacket NPCs.

@Falcon, I noticed that also, how tragically dismal melee skill ups were on elementals, and came to the same conclusion that the skill point value is somehow connected to the damage done, or perhaps proportional to how much hp of the enemy is taken. Have to wonder what kind of points a caster could earn on those.

@Kachi and Gulk, the current problem, as I see it, with partying is that mobs don't last significantly longer if you jump up to red dots while in a party, unless they are so high in level that you miss a lot, which then reduces your chance to earn skill points.

I think the bigger problem is that those mobs are tuned in HP to be soloable, and thus destroyed with a group of 4+ (pending hittability), leaving no room for any practical use of regiments. If party work is going to be more viable, they're going to have to figure out some party oriented mobs, and if that's the case, there's also going to have to be a standardized party size, or at least an assumed one.

[Hyan]

I think the bigger problem is that those mobs are tuned in HP to be soloable, and thus destroyed with a group of 4+ (pending hittability), leaving no room for any practical use of regiments. If party work is going to be more viable, they're going to have to figure out some party oriented mobs, and if that's the case, there's also going to have to be a standardized party size, or at least an assumed one.

Doesn't the guildleve system already do something like this?

[supercoco]

don't you find stupid that equipped pieces of armor and weapons takes up inventory space?
this is a fail imo :/

[Arximiro]

I think they are intending party vs mob party battles in this game for a lot of things. I haven't seen mob pts outside of Leves yet, but I could see it working for exp also.

[brand]

Doesn't the guildleve system already do something like this?

A guildleve scenario is vastly different from the general field, but yes, there is a system in place to (arbitrarily) scale mobs up in difficulty on demand. The question is how to get from choosing it on a menu for a 30 minute exercise, to getting it on the fly with a roaming 4-5 man group. Maybe even that is the wrong approach. Maybe there should be, tucked in some corner, an area specifically with party-level mobs... or even mobs in a party. I don't know; it gets really hairy with how many considerations there are to be sure. Suffice it to say there are a lot of options.

[Hyan]

A guildleve scenario is vastly different from the general field, but yes, there is a system in place to (arbitrarily) scale mobs up in difficulty on demand. The question is how to get from choosing it on a menu for a 30 minute exercise, to getting it on the fly with a roaming 4-5 man group. Maybe even that is the wrong approach. Maybe there should be, tucked in some corner, an area specifically with party-level mobs... or even mobs in a party. I don't know; it gets really hairy with how many considerations there are to be sure. Suffice it to say there are a lot of options.

What I always thought was that the guildleve system would replace the camping for mobs approach, although roaming parties might be an option as well. Some gameplay mechanics already support this idea, but then again, some mechanics do not. It's hard to say which direction SE wants to take the game, because currently I can't really see what exactly they want to accomplish.

I still expect there to be a lot longer leves than just 30min bursts though, as SE has said before (which can be a lie/exaggeration too of course). If they make us grind (which they will), I'd say that making us do longer/shorter guildleves would make the most sense.

[Destinye]

don't you find stupid that equipped pieces of armor and weapons takes up inventory space?
this is a fail imo :/

Most MMOs has a system like this, it usually locks the item however it's still in your inventory OR it adds to your weight depending on the MMO system.

[supercoco]

yea , but with so many available gear we can wear , we won't have too many free inventary slots.

in ff11 we had this problem and i don't want to have this issue again

[Hyan]

I think that's the least of their concerns right now.

First they need to get people to play long enough for such thing to even become an issue :D.

[Vimes]

Grinding levels in mid teens is no fun. At least the way it is in beta now.

cXP > pXP

Physical EXP (pXP) is added consistently. I have no problem with it. Like most of you, I prefer to level in group. The way it is right now, in general, your pLVL will raise slower in PT play. What I mean is, a mob that cons teal to the party, will give less individual pXP than a teal mob that you solo. I'd still prefer to party though, if it wasn't for...

Class EXP (cXP).
cLVL seems much more important than pLVL. It gets you new skills; while a pLVL up doesn't really make you feel stronger. You get skillups during battle, if you kill the mob, these skillups are added together and added as cXP. Surplus cXP seems to be independent of skillups during battle, but I'm not sure how it works yet. Either way, the calculations behind this and the seemingly randomness of it can be quite discouraging though. Especially in party play. You can duo a mob and the CON gets 50cXP and you get 400cXP. You can level solidly on a type of mob and then suddenly (without levelling up in the progress) get them to give no more than 100cXP per kill. Etc.

This would all be a non-issue if there were something to do (guildleves are quite fun in PT, especially if you ramp up the difficulty) and you'd get skillups in the process anyway. I think that's what's missing in beta. The current system is hell, because we're grinding since there's nothing else to do to level up (or because we haven't found a better way to level yet). Right now, levelling mining or so is much more enjoyable than levelling a melee/mage past the mid teens. It's plain more fun.

I feel like we're missing something. I still wonder what it'd be like if you could get 10 people in a party and get them to share all their guildleves and do everything on 5 star difficulty. That would mean 80 GL runs which would probably take an entire beta session to finish. It would also mean party vs party combat. Would it mean good EXP? I don't know, but it might be a lot less boring than the way we're levelling now. I've also noticed, even in beta, not everyone gets the same GL's (at skull camp for example).

[CrstyCptSteveWitherspoon]

Grinding levels in mid teens is no fun. At least the way it is in beta now.

I agree. I'm assuming it's just because it's beta. I'm always like 3-4 pL ahead of cL. Though I do have to disagree to an extent with the pL not making much of a difference. I leveled CON to 15, then switched to LAN. I reassigned points(the max allowed to me at the time) and boosted str to 20 and dex to 20, and proceeded to play. About an hour+ later I was allowed to reassign points again, this time I think I pumped everything up to near 30 str and dex. Immediately I noticed a jump in dmg and a bit more acc. Dont get me wrong, I still had a crazy whiff fest now and then which resulted in me screaming at the computer, but I did noticed an overall increase in acc.

I wish they would decrease the leve cooldown. Like everyone has said, the grind is just damn boring, and leves are the best way to get gear/gil atm. I duo'd a lv 10 leve at skully valley with a friend and threw it on 4 stars just for the hell of it. The increase in difficulty was very apparent. We had to kill twice the amount of mobs, and they seemed to be a bit more coordinated, almost killing me in a volley of attacks upon engagement.

For the next test I'm going to try to back off of actually just leveling lancer(conjurer is hung up until they make some sort of adjustment) and focus on crafting, something I haven't tried yet, hopefully being able to repair some weapons or make new gear by the time I'm done.

And of course, to beat a dead horse, SE how about replenishing our anima? I'm getting low and don't want to spend my testing time running from one camp to another or limsa when I could be testing out battle mechanics or crafting.

[Mortilia]

Yesterday my weapon broke, and I started hitting mobs for 60-65 damage per hit (Marauder). I teleported in town, got it repaired by NPC, and bought a new one (same lvl 16 weapon) as I didn't feel like teleporting every hour to get it repaired.

With my repaired weapon I was hitting for 70-75. I thought it was low, and equipped the new weapon I bought. I then started hitting for 100-110 damage ! And that was all against the same mobs.

Has anyone else noticed something similar ? So far I have 2 theories:
1) you do less damage as durability goes down. the top 50% durability gives most of the damage from the weapon.
2) Repairing doesn't actually work properly if the weapon is broken.

Either of those would really suck.

[Kurokikaze]

I actually think its the 2nd one. That or a weapon that breaks often will eventually be rendered useless.

[sruon]

I don't think Physical Level will really matter over time because it never changes, it's a one time deal kinda.

I have no idea how it will pan out, but eventually I think our EXPing (Parties?) will be based around class skillups, and not Physical.

[Heslon]

i heard there is a ability which makes you use tp instand of mp for spells is that true? which lvl/job is it?

[Kurokikaze]

I posted in the other announcement thread buuuut I'll put it here too:

Phase 2 of beta testing commences 19:00 (PDT) Wednesday, July 28, and servers will be online 24/7

Game time folks!

[Hyan]

I don't think Physical Level will really matter over time because it never changes, it's a one time deal kinda.

This is why, IMO, PL should raise a lot lower than class rank.


Oho, Phase 2. I wonder if this means Version Updates?

[Vimes]

With my repaired weapon I was hitting for 70-75. I thought it was low, and equipped the new weapon I bought. I then started hitting for 100-110 damage ! And that was all against the same mobs.

I don't really see the problem. Your repaired weapon is at 50% durability. Your new weapon is 100% durability. NPC can only repair up to 50%.