FFXIV Random Speculation/Question thread VI: Phase 3, FFXIV is still on the rag!

[Alderaan]

About the UI, I find it not to be bad at all compared to other MMOs.

Be thankful that your hot keys aren't continuously visible on your screen, blocking 20-40% of your viewing area.

This is actually something that bothers me.

I like have all my hot keys continuously on my screen with the ability to resize it to a small fraction so it doesn't cover anything. I don't like clutter and usually have my chat box, chat text, and hot keys really tiny. I'd like the option to have 2 or 3 rows, or how ever many XIV has, on my screen full time.

[omegaB]

This. I think its really retarded that i will have to use my arrow keys and enter button several times to purchase ONE item from a shop where in even the shittiest and cheapest of f2p mmos it takes one right click on the NPC to open the shop list and a second right click to purchase the item. Crisp UI is one of the most important parts of any game or program. Imagine if photoshop menus and pallettes could only be navigated with the keyboard. LOL.

ehhhh i dont really love mouse kb gaming, so i prefer a mix, at best id rock gamepad kb.

However ill use a mouse for things if the system basically forces you to.

btw, you can in fact use your mouse to click on the npc, then use your mouse to buy the item. i dunno if they should have so many confirmations, maybe compose one screen where you can pick the item and adjust the quanity.

Far as selling in an MMO i think they generally give you an extra accept button so you dont accidently screw your self over, is it worth it? i dunno

[Lucavi]

Yes, MMO companies tend to be retarded. You don't have to point us the obvious =/

You wanted to see more games all about grinding on crabs and beetles?

Oh, I get it. You're trollin' me! You wanted to see more games with catgirl Mithra. I feel ya.

[Kurokikaze]

ehhhh i dont really love mouse kb gaming, so i prefer a mix, at best id rock gamepad kb.

However ill use a mouse for things if the system basically forces you to.

btw, you can in fact use your mouse to click on the npc, then use your mouse to buy the item. i dunno if they should have so many confirmations, maybe compose one screen where you can pick the item and adjust the quanity.

Far as selling in an MMO i think they generally give you an extra accept button so you dont accidently screw your self over, is it worth it? i dunno

What people want to see is the ability to drag stuff from the buy/sell window into their inventory or just buy multiple things at once.

They way I see this being done without overhauling the UI would be to let you shift/ctrl click items to buy a few of them at once.

Or the cleaner version:

Make buy from shops similar to Tales games. List of items -> choose how many of each you want by pressing left/right -> get a total at the end and buy all at once.

As a PS3 controller user the latter would be best, definitely not ideal for mouse/keyboard players but slightly better than how it is now.

[Lordender]

You wanted to see more games all about grinding on crabs and beetles?

Oh, I get it. You're trollin' me! You wanted to see more games with catgirl Mithra. I feel ya.

You forgot crawlers!

[Lucavi]

Silly me!

@Balphas: Squirrels will kill you in FFXIV. Ladybugs. LADYBUGS. MMOs are a dangerous and frighting place.

[Balphas]

Those fugging crabs man, they still haunt me to this day. Crabs, rats, bats, beetles, mandragoras, bees, gobbues, pugs, slugs, crawlers, worms and giraffes. The wildlife that Final Fantasy is not to be trifled with.

[Lyle]

@Lyle: I don't think anyone's really complaining about the main screen UI. Its the menu UI that's terrible. Its the shop UI that's terrible.

Ah, the menu does has room for improvement. I don't see what they were thinking when making the main list as a sidebar on the right side. People tend to read on the left side when given an option and it would take some getting use to if it carries on to the end product. I think it would be more feasible if they moved the main list to a top bar and the sub list to the side bar if they really want to go that route.

Personally, I would more prefer just a top bar that drops down the sub list like a typical web page would. My opinion is that would fit more comfortably with the general crowd.

This is actually something that bothers me.

I like have all my hot keys continuously on my screen with the ability to resize it to a small fraction so it doesn't cover anything. I don't like clutter and usually have my chat box, chat text, and hot keys really tiny. I'd like the option to have 2 or 3 rows, or how ever many XIV has, on my screen full time.

Yep, some people would want this too. Which games we have played the most and what we have become accustomed to over a long period of time that influences our personal tastes. Those used to games like WoW would still like the GUI interface even if they didn't like the layout at first. It is just something they gotten use to.

Though I know it would never happen due to the rigid nature of Japanese developers, it would solve everyone's problems if they made the UI interface fully customizable using other MMO's out there as separate templates and including a few unorthodox/original designs.

As long as the end result allows a comfortable adaptation from what many of us are use to (mostly the FFXI community) to what they plan to release. I would be contempt.

[Kirb]

I thought SE was supposedly lowering the delay time between menus? I vaguely remember seeing it on a patch update.

But yeah, from what I've seen, the UI does need a definite lift in usability. I don't really give a shit about the mouse, but all of the practical targeting, crafting and buy/sell menus need a boost.

[Katlan]

I'm just laughing at how the press isn't even excited for the game..
"Yeah, we got the play it.. the game is very pretty.. we got owned by ladybugs.. UI sucks.. a bunch of us couldnt figure out how to play so had to have our hand held... We were getting two shot by mobs and having issues healing"
SE must be shitting themselves lol

[Ramsey]

Buying/selling should not require any confirmation. Simply move to the item with the controller and press left/right to toggle a # up/down. For mouse/kb users left/right click will toggle the number up/down. Once you have the # of all items at the vendor you'd like to purchase you click "buy" which would function like a checkout, and purchase all the items you have in your "cart."

Japanese games are notorious for terrible UI, because everything is too many menus deep, and there are too many confirmation messages. Crafting is obnoxious not because the actual process of crafting (choosing synthesis types etc is obnoxious) but because selecting all of the items in your giant glacially slow list of unorganized crap is tedious to the extreme.

In crafting they need to add at least one of two things: Honestly there should be a recipe book, even if the items aren't there unless you've made them at least once. You shouldn't have to put the items into the slots every single time. If not that, there should be a "repeat" button, to repeat the last synthesis. Honestly, there should be both of these options.

The confirmation screen with the amount of shards/crystals/clusters used shouldn't be there. That information should be in the tooltip when you choose the item you're making (and in a recipe book if one is added.) These simple changes would make crafting a much less stressful experience.

[Lyle]

I'm just laughing at how the press isn't even excited for the game..
"Yeah, we got the play it.. the game is very pretty.. we got owned by ladybugs.. UI sucks.. a bunch of us couldnt figure out how to play so had to have our hand held... We were getting two shot by mobs and having issues healing"
SE must be shitting themselves lol

I feel sorry for those preople really, they are so used to all these games they review like Battle Snake http://www.lisisoft.com/imglisi/12/M...tlesnake_1.jpg that they are completely caught off-guard by the ruthless tenacity we know as FF Online XD

[Dmitry]

I just registered the beta on my Square account. Do they send an email with a link to the beta forums as well as to download the client or is there something I'm missing from the page to go to download it?

If anyone could PM me I'd appreciate it

[Kirb]

I just registered the beta on my Square account. Do they send an email with a link to the beta forums as well as to download the client or is there something I'm missing from the page to go to download it?

If anyone could PM me I'd appreciate it

https://dev-na.ffxiv.com/

Beta forums. Dunno if it'll take a while for the system to register you as a tester though.

[Ramsey]

I just registered the beta on my Square account. Do they send an email with a link to the beta forums as well as to download the client or is there something I'm missing from the page to go to download it?

If anyone could PM me I'd appreciate it

Assuming you mean you got an email confirmation that you got into the beta (not that you just went and opted into the beta) just Google "FFXIV dev" it's the first site that comes up, it also has the download once you log in.

[Dmitry]

My friend pointed me to that site, but thanks guys.

It actually let me log in to the site, attempting download now. Going to have to search to find out how to torrent it faster. Remember reading it but didn't think I'd get a code for Beta so don't remember much how to do that.

[Ramsey]

Go to my documents/my games/square enix/final fantasy XIV/downloads (or something along these lines, not at my PC at the moment, and FFXIV doesn't install to the iPhone so I can't look up the file structure.. uahaha.)

But you'll find the torrent files somewhere in here under metadata or something like that. The torrent will download a directory of folders, point it to the very same directory in that folder (so that all the folders merge properly) and viola.

[Kuya]

Buying/selling should not require any confirmation. Simply move to the item with the controller and press left/right to toggle a # up/down. For mouse/kb users left/right click will toggle the number up/down. Once you have the # of all items at the vendor you'd like to purchase you click "buy" which would function like a checkout, and purchase all the items you have in your "cart."

Japanese games are notorious for terrible UI, because everything is too many menus deep, and there are too many confirmation messages. Crafting is obnoxious not because the actual process of crafting (choosing synthesis types etc is obnoxious) but because selecting all of the items in your giant glacially slow list of unorganized crap is tedious to the extreme.

In crafting they need to add at least one of two things: Honestly there should be a recipe book, even if the items aren't there unless you've made them at least once. You shouldn't have to put the items into the slots every single time. If not that, there should be a "repeat" button, to repeat the last synthesis. Honestly, there should be both of these options.

The confirmation screen with the amount of shards/crystals/clusters used shouldn't be there. That information should be in the tooltip when you choose the item you're making (and in a recipe book if one is added.) These simple changes would make crafting a much less stressful experience.

I actually like the idea of a recipe list that lets you "repeat" synths without having to manually put the same items in again and again and again.

[Chakra]

This is the first time I've ever been apart of a beta where it seems to be going backwards as it gets closer to launch.

Of course I'm not going to be making irrational judgments just yet. Waiting for open beta. If I'm still not feeling it... I'm not going anything further. I gave as much feedback as I could. If they feel that they need an extreme negative reaction for EVERY system so be it. I can't say I'd be surprised if this progression system is still in the launched version though I do anticipate the surplus system being less harsh. Really though... why have it at all. There are too many burdens and it is just killing the gaming experience. I honestly feel kind of dumb for forgetting how XI's development team implements their systems and how frustrating they can be.

I'm whining, I know. Just very disappointed so far and hoping to be wow'ed (no pun intended) when their open beta version is up.

[Lucavi]

I actually like the idea of a recipe list that lets you "repeat" synths without having to manually put the same items in again and again and again.

Watch it, Kuya, you'll get flamed to Kingdom Come with talk like that. We don't take kindly to "other game's" methods round' these parts.

If its too convenient and intelligent, it gets branded as "4 casuals and nubs".