f13.net

Apparently exclusive for PS3.

Square Enix announced at GDC 2008 that the new MMO will indeed target the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows operating system, and hinted that Mac and Linux clients are not out of question.

Square Enix announced at GDC 2008 that the new MMO will indeed target the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows operating system, and hinted that Mac and Linux clients are not out of question.

Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Square Enix), announced that FINAL
FANTASY XIV, an all new massively-multiplayer role-playing game (MMORPG), is planned for
simultaneous global release with language support in Japanese, English, French and German.

Platforms: PLAYSTATION® 3 & Windows®
*Details on required PC specifications to be announced at a later date
Languages: Japanese, English, German, French (simultaneous release)
Genre: MMORPG
Release: 2010
MSRP: TBD
ESRB: RP (Rating Pending)
Copyright: © SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
Development Staff
Producer: Hiromichi Tanaka (FINAL FANTASY I, II, III, XI)
Director: Nobuaki Komoto (FINAL FANTASY IX, XI)
Art Director: Akihiko Yoshida (Vagrant Story®, FINAL FANTASY XII)
Music: Nobuo Uematsu of SMILE PLEASE (FINAL FANTASY series)

not to grind...

Please please please please don't fuck this up. I will play this. Just don't *fuck it up.*

If I could barge into the SE offices and make one demand, it would be this:

MAKE A FUCKING INTUITIVE INTERFACE ON THE PC SIDE THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE A GODDAMN CONTROLLER TO PLAY PROPERLY.

That is all.

Once you got used to the interface and tweaked it a bit, it wasn't that bad (yeah, I know I'm the only one who felt that way). I just can no longer tolerate a game where I'm spending an hour doing nothing LFG.

Don't get your hopes up. It was developed with the PS2 in mind and I'm assuming this one will be developed with the PS3 in mind.

Once you got used to the interface and tweaked it a bit, it wasn't that bad (yeah, I know I'm the only one who felt that way). I just can no longer tolerate a game where I'm spending an hour doing nothing LFG.

Apparently exclusive for PS3.

Well considering how much Square's been working on moving FFXI away from a lot of the suck of its first few years - UI and control issues notwithstanding - in the past ten months or so, I wouldn't put it completely past them to make at least a solid effort at improving themselves for round two, especially considering that they've been moving team members from the current FFXI live team to FFXIV at a pretty steady pace.

So, here it comes the WoW killer.

Out of curiousity, cause I can't remember very well: does anyone here rember if Final Fantasy XI was the MMORPG with the most subs before WoW, or am I just making stuff out? Same, am I wrong or it got the lead by passing and leaving behind the original EverQuest?

Yes, it had 500k active subs beating EQ1's 450k.

The thing is it should be clearly and far and away superior to group to get things done.

Another very important concept that takes a different direction from FFXI, for FFXIV we want to make it so the player can choose to play solo, in a party, 40 minutes, all-day... there will be content for ALL of those play styles and systems for all of those play styles.

Considering that all Single Player versions of the FF series require you to manage 3 or 4 characters during combat, wouldn't it be the easiest thing in the world to simply allow the player to recruit NPCs and allow the player to either directly or indirectly control them?  I assume it isn't turn based combat (never played FFXI) that would allow full control if desired, but if nothing else you could have your team of henchmen.  Certainly not as good as a human group, but likely more viable than leveling solo.

FFXI with prettier graphics mixed with Guild Wars heroes for when you don't have a full group.  (And less grind, thanks!)  That would be :heart:.

Considering that all Single Player versions of the FF series require you to manage 3 or 4 characters during combat, wouldn't it be the easiest thing in the world to simply allow the player to recruit NPCs and allow the player to either directly or indirectly control them?  I assume it isn't turn based combat (never played FFXI) that would allow full control if desired, but if nothing else you could have your team of henchmen.  Certainly not as good as a human group, but likely more viable than leveling solo.

See, they'd like to clarify yesterday's announcement that the game was "exclusive" to the PS3. It's not. There'll also be a PC version. Following that, however, a carefully-worded statement said "in terms of all other hardware, including Microsoft consoles, we are considering all other options at this time".

Well, whatever it means, that's an often overlooked feat...

There was nothing wrong with the Lineage numbers. It's a subscription-based game(s) and NCsoft, until recently, diligently included the numbers in their financial reports (they switched to using PCU numbers).

  Q: What influence have games like World of WarCraft have on the development of FFXIV?
12:02
   A: As with WoW, we want to aim a bit for the casual user. However, we don't want to make a copy of WoW. We believe we will have things that are unique and will stand out from that game.

 :heart: 

As much as I hated having to level them, I thought SE's job/subjob concept was pure awesome.

If I recall Lineage was one subscription = one character and that the Korean accounts were mainly PC bang accounts charged by IP number, not by subscription. Meaning there was no cost for most users to create or maintain one.

Anything else about the weapons?

The team let slip to us that choosing weapons for specific tasks one day versus another could affect how your character develops.

Because no one has ever said that before when talking up their MMO?

The difference here is that FFXI does have some rather unique elements to it. 

Good parts of ffxi:

* Auction house implementation better than any I have seen so far, puts WoW's AH to shame

Like the extreme size of their grind.  Am I rite?  :why_so_serious:

I got the impression that the game was basically designed around the bad parts and the good parts were fairly incidental

The guide (http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/guides.html?guide=187) makes it sound like you can't even search for items by name or filter down available selection entering level range etc in FFXI AH... if that's the best you've seen, just how many implementations have you seen, out of curiosity..?

There was no item level requirements to use items, so there's no need for a range selection.

You never needed any sort of 'search' anyway.

Why are you trying to argue against a system that you have never personally used, based on some guy's guide online?

...which I believe consisted of screaming in a cave.

People should really compare the FFXI auction house to the available systems in other games at the same time, which I believe consisted of screaming in a cave. It's a 2002 game ffs.

What modern day MMOs have influenced the design and direction of FFXIV?
In addition to the team's original work on Final Fantasy XI, World of Warcraft, Age of Conan and Warhammer Online have been three recent games that have had some pull, but the FFXI community's feedback has been the most important factor in its design.

"Is it fun?"

Because they both had some very good ideas.  And some very, very bad things they can learn to avoid.

I asked myself that question pretty regularly when I played WoW. I found the answer the day I quit playing.

my guess who be this and heavy on the "what not to do" side of things. hence, MEMO: things to avoid...see WAR + AoC

People should really compare the FFXI auction house to the available systems in other games at the same time, which I believe consisted of screaming in a cave. It's a 2002 game ffs.

Warhammer's public questing system, and the tome of knowledge all come to mind.

The PQs needed scale more, combine the kind of scaling difficulty of COX encounters with public quests and that would be fantastic.

The PQs needed scale more, combine the kind of scaling difficulty of COX encounters with public quests and that would be fantastic.

Provided, of course, you're not a PVP game ;)

The PQs needed scale more, combine the kind of scaling difficulty of COX encounters with public quests and that would be fantastic.

Provided, of course, you're not a PVP game ;)

I asked myself that question pretty regularly when I played WoW. I found the answer the day I quit playing.

You can't scale public encounters the way CoH/CoV does it* cause, well, they are public. People can join it at any time which means you would have to magically spawn more mobs right in front of them to increase the difficulty. And people can pass through a PQ area without participating meaning you'll get mobs popping in and out as people enter the area and leave even if you were willing to have mobs magically appear.

*CoH/CoV actually scales outdoor encounters as well but it's a lot more subtle. The mobs in the public zones don't actually appear until you get within a certain distance of their spawn points (which is beyond visible range) and the groups are very loosely scaled based on what's passing by.

You can't scale public encounters the way CoH/CoV does it* cause, well, they are public. People can join it at any time which means you would have to magically spawn more mobs right in front of them to increase the difficulty. And people can pass through a PQ area without participating meaning you'll get mobs popping in and out as people enter the area and leave even if you were willing to have mobs magically appear.

That's pretty much what CoX does with the rikti/zombie invasions. More people in an area, more mobs show up. Get enough people then bosses and elites spawn. The player number/density checks and spawn rates are such that someone just passing through wouldn't have any effect.

How about the giant boss monsters that were exactly five levels above everybody, all the time? Not sure if that's what Numtini meant but they were sort of like a mini-PQ that scaled: any random passerby could join in the effort and get a reward for participation.

CoH was designed from the ground up to allow people to move up and down in levels "dynamically". That's what allows them to create "Giant Monsters" and other types that "auto-scale" to the people that are fighting them. In item-centric games like your typical fantasy MMORPG that's very difficult to do.

CoH was designed from the ground up to allow people to move up and down in levels "dynamically". That's what allows them to create "Giant Monsters" and other types that "auto-scale" to the people that are fighting them. In item-centric games like your typical fantasy MMORPG that's very difficult to do.

Give everyone free gear or a zone-wide buff

Looking forward to this game, hopefully there will be some sort of closed beta that I can get into.

:awesome_for_real:

:awesome_for_real:

Did I miss the story of Margalis losing his red name or it's simply not public?

But you know, it being in red kinda redeems it.  That makes it cherry flavor.

C H E R R Y F L A V O R ' D N U T ' S I N Y O U R M O U T H

That is an amazingly annoying way to type, if you haven't tried it, well, don't.

so, let me understand this.

Man, here I was hoping for something really awesome and I get a poster who is shitty by FYAD and YCS standards?

Eorza is the name of a region that's the main setting of the game and as a full world, Vana'diel (from Final Fantasy XI) is naturally a little bigger. The actual world the game takes place in is called Haiderin. The style of Haiderin will be different from Vana'diel, aiming for a "high-fantasy" style setting. They want the setting to be more modern in comparison to Final Fantasy XI's more middle-age setting. There will be advanced technology in the world, as you've clearly seen from the skyships in the trailer.

The races in Final Fantasy XIV will bring on a familiar look. However, the races of Final Fantasy XI are being reimagined. The Galka-looking character you've seen in the trailer, will not be called a Galka, but something else. Other changes will be in order as well.

Final Fantasy XIV revolves around character growth. There will be no experience points or leveling system this time around, and a new system will come in to play. Square Enix wants to deliver an experience where new players have the freedom to try out any quest and many different things, growing naturally from their experiences. A deep story will be in tact in Final Fantasy XIV, including cut-scenes, but they're going beyond that by also delivering a wider variety of stories and quests. They want players to enjoy the process of character growth.

Jobs were the lasting appeal of Final Fantasy XI. They want to utilize that concept, but stack more on top of it. The focus will be on weapons, determining how you play, grow, and fight. They'll be expanding upon the basic job system. He says this also explains the Final Fantasy XIV logo, which features weapons sticking out of the name.

The main idea for Final Fantasy XIV is to provide freedom of growth through the variety of quests offered. However, players can meet up with friends and set off on adventure or they can play solo. Players won't be left with nothing to do, bored.

Square Enix is considering large scale battles, however, regular battles will be against single enemies. During quests you can gather parties and fight against multiple foes.

The game's music is going to be composed entirely by Uematsu.

"This will be a Final Fantasy that brings the setting to a whole new world that you can experience with the new friends you will meet." Nobuaki Komoto, director of Final Fantasy XIV said. "I welcome you to join us in the world of Final Fantasy XIV and hope you enjoy your time there."

"You can trust that we plan to create a world of new possibilities that redefine the MMO. I hope you're looking forward to everything we have in store."

The game's music is going to be composed entirely by Uematsu.

What I want to know is will the males all look like females and will the females all look about 10?  This is crucial to my desire to try out out the game.

I feel the same way, FFXI was the last fantasy MMO that I could stand.  Too bad the forced grouping + grind + giving us the game with a mature japanese server population to rape us economically was not a good call.  Oh yeah also PlayOnline can suck my dick, server codes and all that other bullshit that stopped me from even playing in the first place.

I don't think they've really done that "delete your character for inactivity" thing for quite a long time now. I've gone back temporarily a couple of times and after following the procedure in their "Return to Vanadiel" newsletter my characters have always been there.

It's not really an issue for me now of course. I'm not going to return to FFXI when there's a new and better version coming down the pipe.

Also didn't like that you were generally fucked in combat if you even got one add, especially since I seem to recall that mobs would follow you all the way back to the zone line.

This is one aspect of the game I hope they don't change too much. There is a difference between frustration and grinding masquerading as difficulty and actual honest-to-god difficulty. Controlling adds is in the latter category IMO and leads to some very memorable moments.

I trust them to be able to deliver a story-driven MMOG more than a certain other company.

Drew Karpyshyn (Lead writer on Mass Effect, co-writer on Mass Effect 2, and also wrote the two novels) transitioned to the Bioware Austin team recently.

Well if he wrote two video-game based novels he must be good.  :awesome_for_real:

I did not say either would have good or bad writing. I was not talking about the quality of writing or quality of story.

I was talking about tech and presentation.

So so many ways to go but I'll take the high road. My deep-buried literary snob is threatening to erupt.

When I played it was a very, very player-unfriendly game - much worse than EQ ever was. Maybe it was some Japanese cultural hard-core thing.

Yeah I felt the same, but then I only made it a week in a half in the 30-day.  My highest praise for the game is it was the easiest mmo to ever leave.  Even Shadowbane left me with a twinge of remorse when I unsubbed.

From here (http://www.eorzeapedia.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=924&start=0&sid=be41e887b46450151eae2bd68c54e8df):


All the FFXI races have been copypasted and renamed.

Hyuran (human in FFXI), Lalafell (Taru in FFXI), Elzen (Elvaan in FFXI), Miqo'te (Mithra in FFIX) and Roegadyn (Galka in FFXI).

The new classes and sub-classes are:

Fighter: swordsman, archer
Sorcerer: enchanter, warlock
Crafter: blacksmith, cook
Gatherer: gardener, fisherman

I'm going to assume that while there may not be experience points or levels, there will be job points or skills gained from weapons, a la the Tactics games.

Fear the Archer Gardener.

Whenever people say how unfriendly the game is, I feel the need to remind that it was developed before World of Warcraft, when the MMO to replicate was Everquest.  Also, remember that FFXI open for the US a year after the game was initially launched.  Different time, different culture, both geographically and gaming, so it's no surprise that people find the game harsh when compared to WoW.  However, there are many people who prefer FFXI's gaming style, so FF XIV is the response to WoW.  In addition to SWTOR and Aion, this is one of the few MMOs I pay attention to.

The renkei and difficulty along with an open world were what made FFXI a improvement on the good stuff EQ1 did.  They need to stick with that route because if they try to make it a WoW game they are bound to fail hard.  I hope their answer is to remove leveling but keep it a difficult game because I find WoW's pve even if it is fast to be so mind numbingly stupid and boring that I could never even if you gave me x20 exp gain make it from level 1 to the current max.

The renkei and difficulty along with an open world were what made FFXI a improvement on the good stuff EQ1 did.  They need to stick with that route because if they try to make it a WoW game they are bound to fail hard.  I hope their answer is to remove leveling but keep it a difficult game because I find WoW's pve even if it is fast to be so mind numbingly stupid and boring that I could never even if you gave me x20 exp gain make it from level 1 to the current max.

The problem with FFXI's combat was, you couldn't fight alone or in a small group or at all without a perfectly formed and competent full group.  So literally you sat at the zone line waiting to find one for most of your play session.  There are ways to get rid of that without getting rid of actual pve challenges.

Whenever people say how unfriendly the game is, I feel the need to remind that it was developed before World of Warcraft, when the MMO to replicate was Everquest.

- Eorzea, the continent where players begin their game, is a small continent with several surrounding islands. Time passes, and weather changes, on a regular basis in this world, with one in-game day currently set to be about an hour of realtime. This exact figure may change, but as Komoto puts it, "it won't be like Eorzea will be night for hours because it's nighttime in reality... I want FFXIV to be enjoyed even by those who can play only a short time out of the day, so I'd like the sort of time schedule such that it's always a different experience timewise when you login to Eorzea."

- Eorzea is home to five races which, although they have different names, look quite a bit like the races in Final Fantasy XI. You have the Hyuran (Hume in FFXI), Miqo'te (Mithra), Lalafell (Tarutaru), Elezen (Elvaan) and Roegadyn (Galka), and as you'd expect, you can fully customize the look your character no matter what race he or she's a member of. Hyuran are further divided into "midlanders" and "highlanders," and Miqo'te are divided into the diurnal Sunseekers and the nocturnal Moonkeepers, though how this affects gameplay is still under wraps.

- FFXIV's "armory system" is what defines your character's growth. The game has four broadly defined "job skills" -- Fighter, Sorcerer, Gatherer and Crafter -- each of which has a variety of more specific classes (Swordsman, Blacksmith, Caster, etc) attached to it. You can change your class instantly simply by changing your weapon and armor, and as you fight and complete quests with that equipment, your character will advance in that class. You're free to concentrate entirely on one class, or try to balance yourself out among all the job skills.

This armory system isn't exactly like the "job" concept that most Final Fantasy games work under. "The way I see it, the player can define how his own job works," says Komoto. "For example, if you have the Swordsman skill, that's enough to let you play by yourself, but if you've also raised your Sorcerer skill enough to unlock that skill's healing magic, that'll make solo play a lot easier for you. You can carry enough equipment around at any given time to change your style freely, and the system makes this easy by letting you change sets of equipment all at once."

- This skill and class system largely replaces the traditional RPG concepts of levels and experience points in FFXIV. Instead of worrying about EXP, "I think the main thrust will be raising the skills you have at hand," as Komoto puts it. You'll probably still have to engage in good old-fashioned MMORPG grinding to improve your character, though.

- FFXIV's quest system involves visiting Eorzea's guild and receiving work passes from the guildmaster. Other players can cooperate with you, and everyone can put their passes together to involve the entire gang in a sort of mini-campaign. The available passes change at regular intervals, and completing a single quest from one of these passes will be a relatively short process -- Komoto estimates it at around half an hour or so. "You don't need a set number of people for each quest," he said. "That you can work out by yourself with the other players in the guild, since they're all there for the same goal."

- This skill and class system largely replaces the traditional RPG concepts of levels and experience points in FFXIV. Instead of worrying about EXP, "I think the main thrust will be raising the skills you have at hand," as Komoto puts it. You'll probably still have to engage in good old-fashioned MMORPG grinding to improve your character, though.

On that same train, I wonder how long before the players figure out the min/max equation to most efficiently progress in the game. Will that even matter?

Holy crap, non-diku level advancement?  In an MMO?

I had no interest in this game until now.  All of a sudden I am very interested.

That's one flaw of a skill based system, players can just max out all skills and be done with.  Personally, I think Estiah's class system may be one of the best ways to have the benefits of skill based with the control of class based systems.

* The difference in ability between races is said to be less severe than that of Final Fantasy XI
* Battles progress in real-time, but are not action-oriented, i.e. There is more to consider during battle that simply targeting the enemy and wailing away on it
* The Armory System allows for job changing anywhere, so inventory space is of great importance. Therefore, ways to change armor quickly and easily are being considered
* Currently investigating whether to allow all skills to be mastered, or have a see-saw style system like crafting in Final Fantasy XI
* "Guild Leave" will be a system of quests that include monster hunting, skilling up and a myriad of other activities. Players will obtain items to allow them to travel instantly to their required destination. There seems to be a lot about this system in the article as well, but we'll save that until it's fully visible.
* There will be weather effects and night/day transitions. One game day is one Earth hour.
* Final Fantasy XIV will be casual enough that even playing one hour a day is sufficient to enjoy the game.
* The game currency will be gil.

I didn't get skills from that at all. I got classes changeable and perhaps mixable at will.

Now, if SE can just get over their phobia of PvP and create a place where we can all beat the crap out of each other.. I would be one happy gamer.

but there was ballista  :why_so_serious:

More screenshots and some more info. (http://www.destructoid.com/final-fantasy-xiv-screens-look-like-ff-xi-screens-143073.phtml#comments)

All this talk about inventory space being important makes me a little concerned that they're going to make your backpack so tiny that it'll be a major annoyance that takes the fun out of the game.

All this talk about inventory space being important makes me a little concerned that they're going to make your backpack so tiny that it'll be a major annoyance that takes the fun out of the game.

Page is content filtered here for Adult Content.  I don't know if it really is but, if so, you should really NSFW it.

All this talk about inventory space being important makes me a little concerned that they're going to make your backpack so tiny that it'll be a major annoyance that takes the fun out of the game.

You know, I can't think of any RPG off the top of my head, MMO or otherwise, that had an inventory system that wasn't annoying in some way. I think its a way for developers to get back at the world for whatever transgressions they have suffered.

The character art is phenomenal, but that was expected.

You can't have an MMO without elves. It's a rule.

And that leaves us with Taru Taru. Fucking. Creepy.  :ye_gods:

Die.

Also, the high-res character art is phenomenal. Akihido Yoshida (Vagrant Story) is doing the character/monster design so I am less than worried.

The FFXIV website (http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/) updated yesterday to include a lot of the information that's been released in the last week.

"To take an example, let us follow a day in the life of Leeroy" :ye_gods:

I really like the guildleves system.

The way I read, it, and the way I hope it turns out is that everyone picks an objective and reward from the quest giver, and then you group up with other people and it creates a dungeon based on that.  It's not that far from what Anarchy Online did with it's mission terminals anyhow. 

I got the feeling guilds were NPCs from the writeup.

I got the feeling guilds were NPCs from the writeup.

I can't get excited about this.  Never been much of a FF fan, so that's probably got something to do with it.

Don't hype yourselves up too much about this just yet, or you might be sad when the reality comes.  They were all 'go back in time and struggle to save the past!' with the latest expansion for XI, but the past sucked.  A lot.  Struggling to save it involved getting dull daily quests for items that weren't particularly good.  The reality of the guildleve mechanics may turn out to be kinda bland.

I imagine that any talented people they had working on FFXI were moved to the FFXIV team a while ago.

Character data is stored for 3 months after the Content ID has been cancelled. Within that time frame, Content IDs can be reactivated. If you perform reactivation procedures after 3 months have passed and your data has not yet been deleted, you will be able to reactivate your Content ID. If you would like to reactivate a Content ID, you can do so on the PlayOnline Viewer from: Service & Support → Membership → Contents → Reactivate ID.

Customers who cannot reactivate their characters through either of the above methods are eligible for the Character Reactivation Service.

I don't believe they ever actually did that in the first one, and if they did they stopped that practice a long time ago. So I would guess no. Too much money to be made in luring back old subscribers, for one thing.

but there was ballista  :why_so_serious:

and ballista sucked so badly. thing i loved about ffxi was how i felt like i was hitting the mob. it felt very fluid... in ballista the shit feels like wow how i can stand 10ft away and some how hit you with my dick... well then again thats a bad example

I think he meant the animations and the way the mobs reacted to your hits.

Dear gods, save me.

In most MMOs the combat is so transparently fake, the enemy takes damage as you have a dance-off.

One thing this thread is really reminding me of is how slow squeenix is to react to player behavior and issues in the game and get things back on course, which is a real downer on my enthusiasm.

They really should have patched it to be more efficient then. The one thing that stands out in my mind is playing WoW, it all seemed that me and a bunch of other people weren't in a group together, we all just happened to be there all hitting the same guy. I miss the ffxi skill chains and the group-supportive dynamic that it introduced.

and is the best way to level. 

Hah, I almost responded to that too. When there's a "best way" to level it easily becomes the only way to level.  So hurray for forced grouping.  No thanks!

The aspect I don't enjoy about combat in FFXI is melee combat.   Players whack a mob until they reach 100% or so TP and then execute a style. The whole concept of skill chain and magic bursts was discarded once people realized it was faster to sub NIN, dual wield, and pass around the hate. 

"Recently announced" in this case equates to "been in development for at least 3 years".  At this point I'd be surprised if FFXIV isn't closer to being done than FFXIII.

that gives me some hope that we might get to play it sometime soonish.

The archer in the first video had such a tiny little head. Wandering around a field fighting big fluffy chickens, eh, don't they have any more impressive enemies for their demo?

So pretty.

Yea, because Final Fantasy sure is short on impressive enemies.  :roll:

Am I the only one who thought the anime-styled PCs and buildings looked really, really out of place against the realistically-textured terrain and mobs? Maybe it was just the poor video quality but for some reason those videos gave me a strong uncanny valley vibe.

That said, how the hell did you get uncanny valley from buildings against creatures. That's not really how the classic definition of uncanny valley works.

The combat looked very slow to me, but I assume some of that was the player not knowing what the fuck to do or being busy giving a speech or whatever.

If the world was a sane place I wouldn't expect FFXIII to fall to far from a solo friendly experience.  The solo players are legion, and will provide a lot of money.  That doesn't mean they'd have a free pass for a shitty game, though.  However, when I think of Japan, sanity is not exactly at the forefront of my mind.  Anything goes from that sector, as far as I can tell.

Aside from WoW, has this model really given rise to any other big time games? 

That isn't a great argument because MMOs, in general, have not given rise to any other "big time" games for the most part.  That is part of the reason WOW is so big-  there is a large swathe of the gaming population that likes to play online without other douchebags to fuck up their experience. 

Aside from WoW, has this model really given rise to any other big time games?  In fact, if this tries to do that I expect it would actually do worse than FFXI.  I don't personally like really solo oriented MMOs at this point (I used to), so I might just be biased here, but most of the MMOs that have tried to capitalize on it don't seem able to retain/grow subscribers.

I know, for instance, a REALLY casual player that I met in Champions Online who players FFXI also.  So, the sort of "brutal" requirement of grouping isn't necessarily going to turn people away, as long as you offer them something they like/want.  With the huge amount of soloable MMOs out there at this point, I don't see a big advantage to making this a selling point.

The problem is you have to provide a very good incentive to get people to play a strictly group oriented game.  This is not the case for a solo friendly game.  I posit there are a LOT more (MMO) people who enjoy a solo experience with multiplayer flavoring than there are group/raid fetishists.  

I don't disagree with this, really.  I Just don't think that a lot of the people who enjoy a solo experience are going to necessarily  leave their current MMO to start a brand new one.  And if they do, they'll probably leave after a month or two, at least thats the trend we've seen for pretty much every game that has tried to capitalize on the market WoW illuminated.

They left because the games sucked on some fundamental level.  I really wouldn't read too much into it beyond there are a bunch of people out there interested in trying something new.

If the game requires grouping upfront it's going to have to:

• Depart from tank/healer/dps/(cc) - this shit is tired, find another way to have group members depend upon eachother
• Depart from using loot to bring out the worst in group members - people suck just standing still, I don't need a game design that actively encourages them to suck more
• Provide at launch an excellent looking-for-group mechanism
• A sidekick ability
• The ability to easily add group members as replacements for group members that have to leave

Do not plan on adding any of that later, have it at launch. If you don't have all that at launch, do not require grouping. 

Edit: My point is, in case it wasn't clear, isn't that people don't like the single player MMO experience, just that I think its already been done about as well as it can be.  I think there is more market space in doing something different and doing it well than there is copying WoW.   Especially when you've already got FFXI, which is quite a successful game, and doesn't use the WoW model, so there is already a precedent there.

Not a one failed because it tried to hard to be solo friendly.

Oh, and just to reiterate the most important of Typhon's points:  make sure my friend and I can group every night we want to no matter what our relative levelling speeds are.  That means no travel cockblocks as well as no level disparity cockblocks.  EQ2 is far and away the best at this so far with its mentoring system and advanced transportation system, although CoH started the ball rolling in the right direction with its Sidekicking.  If grouping is required and only no-lifes who are able to dedicate most or all of their evenings to playing your game are able to establish long-term groupings, then only no-lifes will end up playing your game for very long!

I'd argue that CoH has the better system still than EQ2; mentoring in EQ2 only allows the high level player to reduce his level, while in CoH, the higher level player can exemplar down OR the lowbie can be sidekicked up.

I'd argue that CoH has the better system still than EQ2; mentoring in EQ2 only allows the high level player to reduce his level, while in CoH, the higher level player can exemplar down OR the lowbie can be sidekicked up.

Champions Online is actually doing a decent job with this now.  The sidekicking is basically the same.  Also, they are working on, or maybe they even added in into this recent patch last week, a system by which you can get any quest someone in your group has, even if you aren't eligible for it (not high enough level, or you've already done it, haven't done the previous quest in the chain, whatever), and it generates a reward appropriate for your level.  It also doesn't count as doing the actual quest if you haven't already done it, so it doesn't mess up with your questing later on.

Champions still does have the problem of level gated zones though.  So if you aren't level 27 you aren't going to see Monster Island, and if you aren't level 33 (I think its 33), you aren't going to Lemuria.  I'd like to see that changed.

Um, you can sidekick up but you still can't get into the zone?  I vaguely recall that from CoH (it's been a long while), but wtf is up with that anyway?  Why bother?  The point is to be able to play together.  Adjusting levels up and down as appropriate.  The quest rewards for all thing is brilliant tho. 

My bad.  I only remember it sidekicking you up.  Did they add exemplaring later or is my memory that bad? 

They left because the games sucked on some fundamental level.  I really wouldn't read too much into it beyond there are a bunch of people out there interested in trying something new.

The next MMO I'm going to play with any seriousness is this one. I just hope they don't fuck it up.

The medication is definitely working  :heartbreak:

Hmm is grunk the new falc, but for pve....

Hmm is grunk the new falc, but for pve....

i guess people want some of that old school Grunk?  That cock stain DLFugly has been quiet but i was close going full "bezeks" mode and anally destroying him ;)

know what that taste in your mouth is? 
A) mah big hairy nuts
B) mah big hairy nuts
or...
Nah its just mah big hairy nuts.

As i drop mah hairy balls in your face, realize you nuttin but a disgrace.  Throw your shitty draws in the hamper, next time come strapped with a fucken pamper.

Derail with serious question, is this one going to have some cool minigames ala actual FF games?  I want a monster ccg game or fake sports.

Minigames != Puzzles.

Hence my use of IF.

I was talking about the games within the main game of FF, they were 100% optional but you could get some good loot if you took the time to master them?  It seems like such a good idea to take 1-3 of them and put them in a FF:Online.  I listed to examples even, I wasn't at all talking about puzzles and whatnot in the regular PvE content.  Not that I don't think that is a good idea but I do think people are working towards that in WoW's instanced raid content.

Doesn't WOW now have in-game something? Puzzle quest?

It would certainly give people a way to kill a few minutes while waiting for a party to congregate or something.

Wow has Bejeweled and Peggle, but only as addons; Blizzard has not actually added a mini-game to WoW.

FFXI has Chocobo racing and a pokemon type thing, but both require pretty significant investments of time and they take place in the 3D world. They aren't the sort of thing you can just bring up and do while waiting for party members to rez or something.

That's what I'm talking about I don't think they had those at launch?  They should have both types but even if its 3d world stuff I think its pretty cool and nifty.  Too bad they are linked to big time/resource investments instead of just a casual fun side deal but that was the problem with pretty much every type of content in FFXI it was all so damn hard.  You couldn't even grow plants without making a fucking commitment to plant growing.  Or was it growing crystals?  Plants to get crystals?  Memory is foggy.

Yeah, I was kinda surprised that they didn't ask for a dxdiag file.

Indeed.  When I got to the part where I detailed my system, I was like, 'but people can lie!'

I found it amusing that there wasn't an option on the fansite for "I don't run any kind of fansite at all".  :uhrr:

You are talking about the Square Enix account and not Play Online, yes?

Have you tried rebooting your computer or powercycling your modem?

Was anyone else scared when they saw the question asking what kind of controller you have?

The PC interface had better not be the same bullshit jank it was last time around, I have no patience for that anymore.

I know I'm in the minority, but I liked the PC controls in FFXI. Didn't take long until you could do everything (except macros) easy and fast with just right hand on the number pad, leaving left hand for macros and occasional masturbating over hot mithra chicks.

Surprisingly enough Square has announced just few days ago there's quite a bit of new content coming for FFXI (http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/event/vanafes2010/), scheduled throughout the year (including level cap raise from 75 to 99) Pretty odd move with FFXIV scheduled for the same year, unless that possibly means there's some delays a-coming...

Old time friend of mine who still plays (from NA release ffs) got in. She said something about it starting in October from what the cryptic email they sent her. Not sure if that means the beta she got the invite to is then or if that's a ~release date~. I'd be shocked if Square actually releases FFXIV in 2010.
 

Never understood why a player would need to see their own name above their character.

Since FFXI was my first true MMORPG, I somehow feel obligated to purchase and sub to this game for a year. I feel so dirty.

And as a follow up, my friend got her wires crossed. October was for something else - and I didn't ask.

Gladiator: Defender of the weak and defeater of the strong. He is the party’s greatest defense. For all-around players.
WAR
Pugilist: The front-line brawler. The pugilist needs to think on his feet to control his stances. He’s the party’s jump-into-the-fray role. Made for people who don’t sweat the small stuff.
MNK
Lancer: A physical fighter who attacks from a distance, the lancer must have the power to make decisions based on the situation. The party’s last line of defense. For the tactical player.
DRG
Marauder: A powerful, overpowering, macho attacker. The trump card in battle. Made for those who want the most glorious parts of the battle.
DRK
Archer: The sniper who watches the battle from afar and waits for his chance to strike. The party’s shortstop. For people who love being alone.
RNG
Conjurer:The support role who can change his role in battle from attacker to defender to healer based on the situation. For those who like to be in control.
RDM
Thaumaturge: The party’s strategist that controls everything in the field through status-changing magic. For those who like to plan out their battles.
BRD

Since FFXI was my first true MMORPG, I somehow feel obligated to purchase and sub to this game for a year. I feel so dirty.

It looks like the crafting skills are actually going to be classes, and characters shift between classes more or less at will. So being a miner is something you do when you're not being a mage or whatever.

I'm curious as to how this will work out.  Apparently crafting classes do have some in-combat abilities (Miners can throw rocks and debuff "enemies with mineral compositions", while blacksmiths can weaken metal enemies and discover extra loot).  I'm wondering how much grouping will be required to advance in crafting jobs, and whether or not it will be hard to get groups since crafters presumably won't be carrying their weight so much in combat (don't know how easy it is to switch classes and if it's something you'll be able to do between combat).

Q: Will you be able to change classes during battle? If it’s only possible outside of battle, will you be able to change classes my sheathing your weapon while your party battles?
A: There are two modes in FFXIV: A passive mode, where players can restore HP while walking, and an active mode, where they enter a battle stance with weapons drawn. Players can only change their class in passive mode.

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/

Site is updated. Now with more flesh. Nice to see they are keeping some weapon skill names the same.

Flash? You got my hopes up:)

They also have new music on the site, which sounds like it will be the battle theme.

Two things worry me about that video:

1. System Requirements
2. Linear Level Design of cities; not so much a world as tiny hubs connected by extremely linear paths.

I want interesting, well-designed cities, not, for example, Windurst. If I have to travel all around town to do town business instead of being able to get back to the game-play that I want, then they'll have failed hard.

I spent way too much time in Bastok moving between illogically placed areas of interest in the city.

I'm not sure I agree about the cities; FFXI cities seemed more like cities than those in say, WoW, where they feel far too small to be cities.

I don't think I would have had as much of a problem with the cities in FFXI if the game had the kind of quest journal features of more modern MMO's so it wasn't such a pain in the ass to find a particular NPC.  Obviously that kind of thing wasn't exactly commonplace back when FFXI was developed though.

- Going it Solo  Being able to solo will factor big into the world of Eorzea, and the developers reveal that they are working hard to make a game that does not impede the solo player.  Naturally, since enemies can appear in parties, there will be difficult, or even insurmountable challenges out there.  However, Iwao in particular finds a certain romantic image in the lone adventurer, and hopes to accomodate that playing style to the fullest.

- There have also been some additions to the JP FFXIV site regarding races (lol night elves) which has been translated here (http://which has been translated here).  Each race is broken down into two tribes essentially, so for Humans (Hyuran) for instance you get the Midlanders, who are more intellectual, and Highlanders, who are stronger.

which has been translated here (http://which has been translated here).

There is no here here.

Lots of alpha info (http://ffxiv.zam.com/story.html?story=22042) printed in Famitsu.

Interesting, they apparently use some variation of the "old school" way of letting the player decide how to change attributes of their character with points gained from whacking foozles, instead of the auto-growth-as-you-level stuff.

Without respecs, this will create frustration.

I thought I had read that there weren't any respecs in the testing phase.  I don't know where I read that though.

The leaked alpha manual, you bad boy you...

Lot of leaks coming out of this alpha already.  In fact, even the soundtrack has been leaked, or at least 70+ tracks (not sure if there will be more in the final game).

Yeah... and this gets me curious. There are almost too many leaks in this alpha, my spidey senses are pinging back "suspicious."

In MMO development, transparency can help more than it hurts.

First video on the site shows a chat window being adjusted and moved with a MOUSE. HOLY SHIT.

I'm tentatively posting this, as there doesn't appear to be any kind of NDA for it, but the alpha testers manual and some videos have appeared on the major news sites.

http://kotaku.com/5516194/heres-the-final-fantasy-xiv-alpha-tester-guide

First video on the site shows a chat window being adjusted and moved with a MOUSE. HOLY SHIT.

I'm pretty sure that stuff is under NDA.  I think most of the leaks are just too widespread for Square to bother with doing anything about it at this point though.  The only things it seems like they're going after are the live streams.

Also, I wouldn't get too excited about the mouse stuff just yet.  Supposedly, mouse support is still shit and since the Alpha is just made up of long time FFXI players, there's apparently a ton of sycophants telling Square that keyboard only controls are just great and they don't really need to worry about mouse support.

In a fit probable insanity, somebody saw fit to send me a confirmation of my participation in their beta program.  My streak of rejection seems to be at its end.

"I feel like.. uhn... touch them"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq-hDTCtLxk&feature=channel   :why_so_serious:

I laughed so hard. Apparently the demo is so awesome that the reviewers' retinas could withstand about two seconds of it.

I can't wait until I'm able to discuss the Alpha client. 

Looks friggin' awful. Right click anchors your mouse, and then you move it around like an analog stick to move the camera. Incredibly slow-paced combat. The only difference I could tell between FFXIV and FFXI were that you had little timer bars to tell when you were going to attack again in FFXIV.

Maybe it was just because most of the other decent MMOs that I saw there were all click-to-attack, and MUCH faster paced, but this felt glacially slow. Lots of text dialog for back and forth talking.

I laughed so hard. Apparently the demo is so awesome that the reviewers' retinas could withstand about two seconds of it.

Or, you know, it's a bad design.

I think the thing that bugs me the most about this game and other asian MMOs is that I know I'll never have any interaction with the people who made the design decisions on the game> I don't even speak a language that they understand. I'll never read their blog or see them post on various messageboard, having semi-intelligent conversations with semi-intelligent people who happen to play their game.

Your chance of influencing the developers on anything is about nil, and the larger the game, the less likely it is.  You have to win the lotto to make a difference on an official board.

Final Fantasy XIV will easily have a million subscribers. I am looking forward to this game, and as long as they fix the major fuck-ups from the first one (DEATH PENALTY, lots of downtime waiting for groups), I'm solid.

I'll probably have to start with a healer class though, even though my heart is in DPS.

I think I got to talk directly with Raph once about system design

This game won't break a million if the PC UI/Control scheme stays the way it is.

You can talk to me anytime right here. :)

I think it will sell a million on the name alone. Retention is a completely different story. Now then, show us on the doll where the devs touched you...

Hard to say.  I'm pretty sure FFXI never had 1 million subscribers, but then the PS2 version required you to by the Hard Drive, so that probably restricted its potential somewhat.

Breaking NDA here is probably not the best idea.

That was honestly my biggest complaint about FFXI. I got the impression that it might have controlled OK if I was using a PS2 controller, but when trying to do it on a PC everything from combat to simply tweaking settings felt awkward as hell.

Link the releases pleaz.

Wow, if those links aren't bogus, that's a full three months sooner than I expected it to launch.  That's almost too soon to even get properly frothy about it.

Looks like it's legit, unless Amazon pulled the date out of their ass, which I can see Gamestop doing, but not Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-XIV-Collectors-Pc/dp/B003O6EFKI

but that shows the 22nd, which seems about right if it has the headstart as listed.

Beta has not even started....

This video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-99sSSS3eP4) would imply otherwise...

You forgot the  :why_so_serious: Unless you were actually serious. But trusting amazon? really?

Unless SE has changed up their timetables for beta which was suggested as at least 4 months - more like 6, then there is no way they hit that date. Beta has not even started....

This video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-99sSSS3eP4) would imply otherwise...

This video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-99sSSS3eP4) would imply otherwise...

That combat looks utterly terrible.  I've been keeping out of the videos for this game to keep from being spoiled, but that is some craptastic looking combat.  I think I fell asleep watching the fight.

This game is doomed.

I never played FFXI but the impression I get is it had a pretty shitty ui/interface/controls and that FFXIV is essentially the same.  So, just how bad is it?  What I read was that you almost have to play with a controller over mouse/keyboard?  I'd like to pre-order this and play it come September but this is my one sticking point so any input is appreciated.

I'll let you know when the NDA falls.

Can still talk about how the FFXI controls are :)

So is it in fact easier to play FFXI with a controller vs a kb/mouse?  Also, what controller would be best?  I would assume getting a PS3 style controller since it is coming out for PS3 next year?

I'm tempted to buy the Collector's Edition just to give this game a shot. I dunno. The only reason I wouldn't pick this up Day One is overwhelming cynicism for MMOs.

I wonder if they'll make their lowbies dress up in leather bondage gear and a beret like we did in FFXI.

Here's the official Square press release, since it hasn't actually been linked:
http://release.square-enix.com/na/2010/06/30_01.html

Preorders (http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/order/) are up for north america.

I will never learn, preordered yesterday

What the hell... went ahead and preordered.  I played FFXI for 3+ years starting at NA launch and it was a lot of fun.  I'm willing to give 'em a chance again and see if they've learned anything since then...

I'm willing to give 'em a chance again and see if they've learned anything since then...

see if they've learned anything since then...

Any idea if the PS3 version will support a keyboard setup? Or be able to play with friends using the Windows version?

The producers have confirmed that the PS3 players will be in the same servers as the PC players, and that if you for some reason shell out for both versions of the game, can play both with the same account.  I dunno about the keyboard.

I'll bite the bullet and get guild stuff going on FFXIV when it launches.

I'm going to proceed under the working assumption that I should pre-order for the PC, unless someone out there can think of a good reason to not do so. 

As opposed to the PS3? Yea, go with the PC version based mostly on the fact that it'll be out in September, while the PS3 won't be here til March. I believe they've said that you can use both version for one account, so if you'd really rather play it on PS3 just buy it again then.

Well in your case Vision, wait until shortly before its PS3 release to make that decision; it's still 9 months away. Of course, from most reports FFXI played better on PS2 than PC, so I don't see why the PS3 version of FFXIV would be inferior.

Recommended System Requirements
OS   Windows® 7 32-bit/64-bit*
CPU   Intel® Core™ i7 2.66GHz or higher
RAM   4GB or more
HDD/SDD   Installation: 15GB of free space
Download: 6GB of free space on the drive containing "My Documents"
Graphics Card   NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460 or better with VRAM 768MB or more
Sound Card   DirectSound® compatible sound card (DirectX® 9.0c or higher)
Internet Connection   Broadband or better (always-on)
Resolution   1280x720 (32-bit) or higher
DirectX®   DirectX® 9.0c
Others   Mouse, Keyboard, Gamepad

The GTX 460 is nvidia's new mid-class card, only $200. 

Where are you guys seeing these benchmarks? The link posted only has the system requirements.

Where are you guys seeing these benchmarks? The link posted only has the system requirements.

I want to purchase pre-built PCs based on their FFXIV Benchmark score.

The days of me caring about every part are over. Call it Console-itis. I just want a system I know will perform at a certain capability rather than putting parts together and hoping I know what the fuck I'm doing.

:facepalm:

Buy it for PS3?

I'm torn between going into Beta and learning all I can so I'm ready for launch and waiting until launch and being genuinely surprised by things I encounter, which may lead to less than optimal progression but a more entertaining experience.

Based on what I'm reading, the launch is going to be more closely mirrored after the Japanese launch of FFXI (with much reduced functionality) compared to the more expansive NA launch that included the first expansion and all the tweaks that came with it.

Uh, yeah... the "more expansive" U.S. launch for FFXI in NA might have had something to do with the fact that it launched almost a year and a half later.

Yea, it did. So? FFXIV is launching simultaneously in US and Japan this time.

Exactly, which is why your previous post seemed a little bit on the blindingly obvious side.

FFXIVcore claims to have confirmed it.

http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/10311-sharing-beta-experience-and-ss-is-ok-open-beta-soon/

Probably a post about it in the actual beta forums as well, but that's something I can't see personally.  Given that fileplanet is giving away keys now, it's probably true though.

That said, spill it.  I need a source of info on the game from someone I actually trust.  Don't make me start shaking my tiny impotent fist at those of you who have actually seen the game.

I may have to pass on this one, at least for a bit.

http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/11248-famitsu-gamewatch-gamescom-interview/

F: Tell why you decided to implement Fatigue and Latency (note: I really don't know how to translate that, but it's something in-game to keep you from playing too long at a time on one class).
DK: We'd like you to think of it as a reward to those players who don't have much time to commit to the game. Those hardcore players out there might think it's a little unfair, but the main concept behind it is that you don't need to put in massive amounts of time to enjoy the game.

F: Still though, there are a lot of disgruntled looks coming from those hardcore gamers.
DK: For those who have more time on their hands, they'll be able to try out all the various classes. Fatigue doesn't carry over when you change weapons, so we hope that they'll try out not just battle-oriented classes but maybe some crafting or gathering ones as well. So for those who end up with many high-level classes, they'll have more choices when it comes to any situation, whether solo or party play.

F: Will there be a change to the two-day cooldown on guildleves?
DK: There's been a lot of debate over this even among the development staff, so it may or may not. We decided on the current set-up to allow those who only have an hour a day to play to be able to progress only via guildleves, so balance does become an issue. We want to encourage people who've completed their leves to group up and help others, but currently there isn't enough benefit to forming leve parties.

F: So soloing will be the basis of the game?
DK: Yes. More than a one-man army, it's more of a slow-and-steady kind of thing. In FFXI many things weren't possible solo, so we'd like to avoid that from developing this time around.

It will start anew when you skill up again.

There was a retranslation of the press release.

http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/97835-Komoto-s-Official-Explanation-of-Surplus

The FFXVIcore one turns out to be pretty sloppy and leaves out some key facts, like that it regens in downtime.  To me it looks like it'll probably only ever be seen by bot accounts, and was an accident it ever even showed up in beta due to thresholds not having been changed.  I've seen more than a few ancedotal posts from people who claim to have binge played during beta and never saw surplus at all.  No reason to panic, move along.

Open beta set for Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 19:00 (PDT).

Regardless of what has been said about this xp limiter issue, fact is in beta 2 and 3 at least, you could max out your surplus scores easily in the beginning of the week and that limiter was in place not only with class/weapon but also with your physical level.

It seems like such a controlling, heavy-handed and unnecessary system. If someone wants to focus on one job why stop them? Is it like launch AoC where the upper levels aren't done yet or something?

Or, you know, it's a sequel to the game that looked at Verant-era EQ and went "You know what that needs? More forced grouping and a slower xp grind!"

Balancing Character Growth in Beta 3

Once again, we would like to thank you all for your participation and support during the Closed Beta. We will continue to take your valuable feedback into consideration as we develop the game during Open Beta and even beyond the official release.

Now I would like to take a moment to respond to the many questions and opinions regarding the manner in and rates at which experience and skill points are obtained in Beta 3.

Firstly, the concept for FINAL FANTASY XIV was to design a system of character progression that offers meaningful advancement for those with limited time to dedicate to playing. We did not want to create a game that forced people to play for hours on end to see their efforts rewarded. To that end, in addition to the Guardian's Aspect and guildleve systems, we introduced a means of apportioning swifter advancement to shorter periods of play.

In order to achieve this balance, we calculated a value for the amount of skill or experience points that could be earned in a one-hour period. This theoretical value represents an hour spent engaged solely in combat, levequests, or any other activities that earn skill or experience points, and sets a threshold delimiting how many of these points can be earned in a period of play.

Based on this, we have implemented a “threshold value” concept. These thresholds are regulated by a one-week timer that begins counting down the instant you earn skill/experience points. After a week has passed, the thresholds will reset, and the moment skill/experience points are earned again, the timer begins counting down anew.

For the first eight thresholds during this week-long period, players will receive skill/experience points at the maximum rate possible. The actual amount of time spent reaching these thresholds is not significant. That is to say, a player who exceeds eight hours of gameplay will still be rewarded the maximum amount of skill/experience points, so long as the total amount earned is below the eighth threshold value. For the subsequent seven thresholds, players will earn skill/experience points at a gradually decreasing rate, eventually reaching a rate of zero.

It is worth noting, however, that the reduced rate will also gradually recover while players are engaged in activities that do not yield skill/experience points. In this manner, it is possible for the threshold value to reset completely, even before the completion of the one-week timer.

Any skill points earned in excess of the threshold maximum—that is, at a rate of zero—will be stored as "bonus skill points." These are specific to each class, so players limited to earning bonus skill points still have the freedom to change classes and begin earning skill points again at the maximum rate, allowing their reduced skill rates to recover in the meantime.

The experience point threshold, however, is unrelated to class, and switching classes will have no effect on the decreasing rate of earnable experience.

I wanted to see what all the fuss is about, but it looks like open beta isn't 'open' from what I'm reading.  Not sure... but they're no longer accepting beta applications so I have no way to download the client or make an account.  W/e I guess.

Worst bittorrent client ever.

Rethinking critical advancement systems a month before opening?

Good thing that's worked out so well all the other times that's happened.

Going back to the exp gating all I could think of was in wow terms "Hey, now you get to do the barrens 10 times in a row!"   :awesome_for_real:

having to stop and switch classes is one thing but when you think about it, you'll be cycling through the same content immediately after doing it except you probably won't even get to re-do quests.  Imagine if you will an mmo where you are forced after ever vouple levels to switch to an alt but on that alt you could only do dungeons or grind mobs.  FFXIV is sort of like that.