FFXIV Random Speculation/Question Thread XI: "How you liking that Beta Phase 5?"

[Ruin]

What does the repair NPC crafting support actually do? Is it supposed to give u stuff like "Weaving Training", or just raises ur craftmanship a bit?

[Kirbyprime]

I just tried to summon my retainer and noticed this

"You cannot summon any more retainers in this area"

Anyone else get this? Is there seriously a cap on how many retainers you can have in an area? Especially when they're trying to get us to use their ward system to begin with.

[miokomioko]

What does the repair NPC crafting support actually do? Is it supposed to give u stuff like "Weaving Training", or just raises ur craftmanship a bit?

"Training" manuals are key items only received by purchasing them with Guild Marks, they just make recipes that suggest them easier (and more HQ-able). Tacklecraft, for example, reduces the difficulty of making bait, lures, reels, fishing rods, etc. Most of which are from entirely different classes.

Support appears to simply have the same effect for recipes that suggest the different levels of support. There needs to be a bit more research to be sure. It basically makes some recipes more difficult if you're trying to do them on-the-fly in the middle of nowhere instead of waiting until you're at camp, where you can get basic support. Higher level support makes some recipes more difficult without heading all the way back to your Guild to get better support. It's the concept that some items are more difficult to make without the properly-equipped facilities. It's going to be hard for me to bake some delicious muffins without the use of some ovens and shit, not just my shitty little burner.

[Avalyn]

Only played the open beta, plan on buying retail version later today but had a question I just wanted to make sure.

I've been looking at having Archer as main job but did not like having Gridania as my home nation. Is just best to start there since that is where the Quiver's Hold is, or say if I wanted Ul'dah as my starting point, would that be a huge pain? Or is teleporting between them just not feasible?

[Lucavi]

^ Its not a big deal at all. You'll be running to each city constantly for advanced craft support and for more leves, so starting city doesn't matter unless you want to see a certain quest line.

[miokomioko]

Does anyone know where Rank-4~5 gathering points are in Thanalan? I imagine Bluefog or Broken Water?

[Sephiroth]

I just tried to summon my retainer and noticed this

"You cannot summon any more retainers in this area"

Anyone else get this? Is there seriously a cap on how many retainers you can have in an area? Especially when they're trying to get us to use their ward system to begin with.

Yes, there's a cap. Good luck getting in the battle ward if you decide to move your retainer elsewhere for the night. I'm glad there's a maintenance coming up, because most of the time I sell weapons.

[Nevex]

It is almost perfect the way it is now. Just take out the RNG and up the skill gain for solo leves and they've nailed it.

Although they could also lower the fatigue threshold and remove some of the grind while they're at it.

In a large party, yeah it is.
But solo R22+ is a different story. Of course soloing shouldn't net the same SP/hr ratio a 15-man party does, but at the very least I should be able to get 400+ SP from a single yellow/green mob at the cost of taking longer to kill it.

[Hyan]

In a large party, yeah it is.
But solo R22+ is a different story. Of course soloing shouldn't net the same SP/hr ratio a 15-man party does, but at the very least I should be able to get 400+ SP from a single yellow/green mob at the cost of taking longer to kill it.

You should be able to solo effectively enough during guildleves since you won't have time to party. Which is not the case right now.

But if you have time to run through the leves and solo grind on top of it, you should party instead, because you obviously have the time to do that.

What I realized is slightly problematic in this system is that the grind, logically, should be designed with the best possible exping method in mind. Which seems to be a 15-man party currently.

I'm not sure how exactly the grouping mechanics work, but I think at some point you shouldn't receive any more +skill for adding more members to the party. Balance it at somewhere between 6 and 10, and maybe lower the skill gain slightly when you go over the balance, while your killspeed goes up slightly as well to even it out. Then adjust the grind based on the 'balanced' parties skill gain.

The more members in the party the better (up to 6-10 members), and afterwards adding more members won't really help but won't hurt either. A bitch to balance though.

[fussel]

Or is teleporting between them just not feasible?

In addition to what Lucavi said, Teleport Taxiing/Pooling is pretty common (and can make you a buck, too, if you have spare anima or are teleporting anyways, just shout if somebody needs a lift for a tip before porting).

IMO, it's interesting that this game actually rewards people for _talking_ to each other. I recently was at a camp, in a group, and my THM weapon had "Heavy Gear Damage". I sent a local /say "{Decorated Copper Scepter} {Can You Repair it?} {Reward:} 5k gil" and no more than two minutes later, someone replied.

It's the same for stuff you're making and stuff you're seeking. Ask around and you'll probably get an answer, because it's not just you who doesn't have an AH or an NPC that repairs all your stuff to 100%.

I like this.

[Kaylia]

IMO, it's interesting that this game actually rewards people for _talking_ to each other. I recently was at a camp, in a group, and my THM weapon had "Heavy Gear Damage". I sent a local /say "{Decorated Copper Scepter} {Can You Repair it? } {Reward:} 5k gil" and no more than two minutes later, someone replied.

It's the same for stuff you're making and stuff you're seeking. Ask around and you'll probably get an answer, because it's not just you who doesn't have an AH or an NPC that repairs all your stuff to 100%.

I like this.

It's interesting how Starcraft promotes talks between players. I played a match the other day, and the guy said "glhf", to which i replied "ty, u2".

I don't know about you, but your example is not what I consider "talking to each". Sure, the chance to actually talk to other players is higher when you actually play with them, but every online game has this kind of artificial ritual that mean absolutely nothing.

[Hyan]

I don't think it's the same thing. It's more like imitating the society in a way that your efforts are appreciated and the mutual interaction has a larger meaning than just "talking". I think it is more meaningful than simply an "artificial" ritual like "glhf" in SC2 that isn't more than just words.

Of course this gets in the way of the constant desire for more convenience and "individuality", but to some it is the appeal of an MMO when the gameplay just won't cut it.

[fussel]

I don't know about you, but your example is not what I consider "talking to each". Sure, the chance to actually talk to other players is higher when you actually play with them, but every online game has this kind of artificial ritual that mean absolutely nothing.

Uhm. I used the autotranslator to address a probably multinational audience, and the result was a short dialogue in /tells. (he to me: "Stop, don't run away!" me: "Oh, ok, one sec, putting it up in the bazaar." *repairrepair* "Thanks."... )

My comparison would be Aion, where nobody ever talked (at least that's the impression I got - I tended to ignore Russian or Spanish dialogue, because I couldn't understand it).

[MrSamuels]

It's interesting how Starcraft promotes talks between players. I played a match the other day, and the guy said "glhf", to which i replied "ty, u2".

What about your APM!?!

Has anyone found out about how weapons get damaged at all, i mean as a caster who spams dart and cures the group, my weapon seems to degrade about 10 times faster then the pugilist or maruader i group with.

We started the group out both at 100%, after an hour or so of grinding my weapon had hit heavy gear damage, whilst his hadn't even dropped below 75%, do caster get more of a penalty for casting, is it because of dart spam and you ain't meant to be doing that as a caster (lol if it is this). I don't understand it, i am not using a weapon 10 levels above me like the pugilist i am using a copper scepter at 16

[Lordender]

What about your APM!?!

Has anyone found out about how weapons get damaged at all, i mean as a caster who spams dart and cures the group, my weapon seems to degrade about 10 times faster then the pugilist or maruader i group with.

We started the group out both at 100%, after an hour or so of grinding my weapon had hit heavy gear damage, whilst his hadn't even dropped below 75%, do caster get more of a penalty for casting, is it because of dart spam and you ain't meant to be doing that as a caster (lol if it is this). I don't understand it, i am not using a weapon 10 levels above me like the pugilist i am using a copper scepter at 16

pretty sure someone at FFXIVcore said it was 60 durability per dart and 100 for every damaging spell.

[Kaylia]

I don't think it's the same thing. It's more like imitating the society in a way that your efforts are appreciated and the mutual interaction has a larger meaning than just "talking". I think it is more meaningful than simply an "artificial" ritual like "glhf" in SC2 that isn't more than just words.

Of course this gets in the way of the constant desire for more convenience and "individuality", but to some it is the appeal of an MMO when the gameplay just won't cut it.

Because "WTB ____" is roleplaying, and not just a mean to an end.... There is absolutely no individuality in what they did.

Other mmo also have trade chat that deal with the same things.

[Hyan]

What do you consider "talking to each other" then? Interaction between players, and the game promoting you to do so, is what I consider "talking to each other". The game just wouldn't be as fun if there was no such thing, as "artificial" as it may be? And most important of all, it can spark more lengthy conversation and lead to bonding and so on.

Trade chat is a good thing indeed.

[Grey Jorildyn]

I would welcome more server-wide channels than just Trade. A party channel would be good, so would world chat or at least regional chat. These are some really simple things to implement too, and would enhance player communication a ton.

[Ruin]

"Training" manuals are key items only received by purchasing them with Guild Marks, they just make recipes that suggest them easier (and more HQ-able). Tacklecraft, for example, reduces the difficulty of making bait, lures, reels, fishing rods, etc. Most of which are from entirely different classes.

Support appears to simply have the same effect for recipes that suggest the different levels of support. There needs to be a bit more research to be sure. It basically makes some recipes more difficult if you're trying to do them on-the-fly in the middle of nowhere instead of waiting until you're at camp, where you can get basic support. Higher level support makes some recipes more difficult without heading all the way back to your Guild to get better support. It's the concept that some items are more difficult to make without the properly-equipped facilities. It's going to be hard for me to bake some delicious muffins without the use of some ovens and shit, not just my shitty little burner.

Appreciate ur attempt at an explanation, altho it may have confused me more!

The parts I put in bold, Its like ur saying support can make some synths -more- difficult?

[miokomioko]

I'm sorry, I worded that poorly. A recipe having suggested training/support simply makes the recipes more difficult, requiring you to obtain the appropriate training and/or support in order to bring its difficulty down to any recipe of the same rank that doesn't suggest. training/support. It's like having an optional ingredient to the recipe. You can still attempt the recipe without it, but it will be harder than normal.

Now, the support thing isn't 100% proven yet, as the Repair NPCs offer crafting support specifically so you can repair your own equipment, which does not have "recommended" facilities for accomplishing, suggesting that it might slightly increase your craftsmanship or something as well. There's so many damn variables, this will be very hard to pin-point.


Getting long-winded here...

From a difficulty rating of 1 to 3 and assuming these three recipes are all the same rank:


With nothing:

Recipe 1: No suggested training/support (1)
Recipe 2: Training Manual (2)
Recipe 3: Guild Support (2)
Recipe 4: Training manual + Guild Support (3)


With just Training Manual:

Recipe 1: No suggested training/support (1)
Recipe 2: Training manual (1)
Recipe 3: Guild Support (2)
Recipe 4: Training manual + Guild Support (2)


With just Guild Support:

Recipe 1: No suggested training/support (1)
Recipe 2: Training manual (2)
Recipe 3: Guild Support (1)
Recipe 4: Training manual + Guild Support (2)


With both Training Manual and Guild Support:

Recipe 1: No suggested training/support (1)
Recipe 2: Training manual (1)
Recipe 3: Guild Support (1)
Recipe 4: Training manual + Guild Support (1)