I think ARR will fail.Follow

I do not think I'm communicating my thoughts very well.

I'm not concerned with Legacy status, or anything like that. I just want SE to actualy start communicating a bit better so we aren't left guessing or dealing with wild rumors.

The whole back tracking on the Alpha testers with no explanation makes SE look like what they say and what they mean are two different things.
I don't think they are actualy lying or being deceptive, but it realy behooves a company to make sure they are explaining their actions to the public so that things don't get misconstrued. You can just never underestimate just how dumb the average joe is. Most people are not going to think about the possibility that they invited the Alpha testers because there wasn't enough Legacy members who accepted the beta invite. Most are going to jump to the conclusion that 'OMG!! SE is playing favorites" Like you pointed out with the Whole Legacy/Non-legacy thing.

SE needs to step up for positive press, because it's not like the fan base can say anything about the positive changes in the Beta without breaking NDA. Right now all we have is some rather limited videos and still pictures, and a whole mess of outdated info on the Lodestone. SE needs to crush the rumors with hard facts so as to keep the public's opinion of the game high.

Welcome to FFXIV! I share your enthusiasm in the search for more information about FFXIV ARR.
Please allow me to assist you with some more information that might have escaped your notice.



The following links has more information and videos if you have not already visited them.
http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/FINALFANTASYXIV?feature=watch <official FFXIV youtube channel>

Might I suggest visiting FFXIV lodestone forum as well for latest information.

Mr. Wint from this esteemed website has also linked the latest information in his article.

If you have viewed all these information before, you would know as much as we do, with the exception of information not yet ready for released, such as Beta content. As things might and can change during Beta, it would be prudent to release finalised information so as to reduce chances of confusion.




Let me put forward my point of view on the official forums and the folks that frequent there. There are naysayers as well even on Lodestone (official forums), not everyone is a whiteknight. However, I would like to think that Lodestone forum is more civilised than others you might find.

In regards to the article by PA, if the actions of a few casts a bad light on the rest of us, it is a sad day indeed. I do want to put forward that if you do actually read the comments, most if not all, presented their critique of the article in a civil manner. Readers of an article is allowed to critique an article as much as the author has the right to an opnion. (article)

All in all, all this will be behind us when the time to play ARR comes. Of this, I am sure.



Unfortunately, your statement regarding no information about legacy on Beta recruitment is incorrect. I genuinely hope that you have made a simple mistake of not reading the information, instead of venting your frustrations.

Beta application announced 7th Jan 2013.
Announcement clearly states Legacy player starts in Phase 1 & 2 and need not apply. I am not a Legacy player.
http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/index.html

On the Beta application page as well, it states this information again with more details provided.
https://secure.square-enix.com/enqt/s/run?sq=b0b2026ccf19abb7ea581aac20b6a20a9dfacdb6a13ab1514cb72060cacd21b34cef9c2cfcb690fec12a2bb5c310fead0ab32bef5c2cfcb546212e6009d0

Even on Zams FFXIV report, it is stated.
http://ffxiv.zam.com/story.html?story=31517

It is quite hard to miss the information that Legacy players will get in first. Which is fine, I feel those people deserve to see Beta first seeing as they actually paid money to support SE during the tough period of transition.



Please forgive my ignorance and link the information where they posted in official forums that Alpha testers would not be automatically selected. I am interested to see this.

Whether you like this game or hate this game, it is your choice. Everyone has differing preferences and tastes. There is no satisfying everyone.

You can bash on the aspects of the game you do not like, bash on the community on Lodestone which I am a part of, bash on our fanboyism or Whiteknighting(?) but I implore you to not bash on the staff of FFXIV including YoshiP. They are working hard and least we could do is to recognise their effort even if the result does not interest you.

Should you have any questions, I will do my best to help.

Drewe
Masamune

Thank you good sir. There is a sudden influx of people who are unable to find any information about this game for some reason. Yet, they are brimming with predictions and opinions (based on 1.0 I assume) of future outcomes that will befall SE and 2.0. They also seem to hold all the answers for how things should really be handled, and what is most needed.

I definately am either not communicating my points well, or I'm writing well above the reading level of some people here.


I have found all the videos on the FFXIV channel, as well as most of the various other 1.0 and 2.0 videos available. Thank you.

The lodestone is almost pointless atm due to the outdated info on it. the only use is for the Beta sign up, the RSS and the Twitter feed. for actual info you are better off just going to the FFXIV site. Obviously they will update it for 2.0 eventualy, but right now it gives bad info to those who know nothing about the game and might not be as good at finding info out on their own.

I have seen worse forums, but I've also seen alot better. The thing is, the Fans are near fanatical, the critics are trolls, and the reasonable people get shouted down. Not exactly a shining example of intelligent discussion about something we all share an interrest in. It dosen't help eaither that the forums are locked to anyone who didn't register a 1.0 copy. Althought I'm not certain how much letting everyone post at the offical forums would help, it could actualy make it worse I guess.

No where in any of the beta info pages dose it say that phase 1 and 2 would be limited to only certain groups.

It was stated that Legacy would get in from the start, that was announce with the Legacy campaign I belive as part of the perks for being legacy.

The beta page it's self actualy states that the Alpha testers would not get automatical selected under
"Users who applied for the Alpha test" [link= http://entry.ffxiv.com/beta/detail_na.html] http://entry.ffxiv.com/beta/detail_na.html[/link]

I have no desire to bash anything, I've not seen or heard anything that makes me think the game is bad, I don't have a problem with Fanboys people are often pasionate about their interrests. Whiteknitghts annoy me. It implies that you don't have enough faith in Yoshi-P and the Devs to be able to stand on their own merrits and abilities.

What I have seen from watching the letters from the producers shows me that Yoshi-P dose not need defenders, he has shown that he is pouring his heart into the game, it shows in his face everytime he speaks about the game.
Honestly it amazes me how many people think I am bashing Yoshi-P for pointing out that the way they are handling communications with this beta is giving bad impressions that could easily be delt with by just keeping people informed. The fact that so many even in this thread have missed or misunderstood things posted on the Offical site shows that they are not communicating as well as they could be.

I want to see this game do well, this is why I keep harping on things I belive are giving the game a more negative impression than it deserves.

The thing is, there really isn't enough information about the gameplay, which is the main thing that most seasoned gamers are looking for. Gameplay, especially regarding the combat, is the thing most of us would be doing for hundreds of hours. Until we see what it looks like and understand how it works, there isn't enough information. It doesn't matter how much information you share about every other detail of the game. Without this information, a large portion of the potential playerbase will remain unconvinced.

So far, the only gameplay/combat videos we have seen have been incredibly underwhelming.

Well yeah, or I wouldn't consider myself a fan of the series. 6, 7, and 9 were some of my favorite games of all time.

Having said that, would I enjoy them for a thousand hours plus? Probably not. But will FF XIV be borrowing gameplay mechanics from those games? Not at all.

I'll put it this way, because it's a very apt example of the gameplay that we might expect to see, and can commonly see in MMOs in general (not just Final Fantasy): Will I enjoy playing as a party of interchangeable units, each possessing unique skills, taking turns to strategically defeat an enemy... for about 100 hours? Sure, sounds like a great time.

Would I enjoy having a few friends over, and we each play as only ONE character in the party, and we do this for over a thousand hours? Very unlikely. It has to be treated as something other than an RPG altogether at that point, because it plays nothing like an RPG on the player's end.

This is one of the key differences between the RPG and MMO genre. In an RPG, you control a party. In an MMO you control a single unit. The gameplay dynamics are totally different. It's often the difference between checkers and chess.

I can think of a million examples of this being untrue. (Mass Effect, The Elder Scrolls, Dark/Demon Souls, Radiata Stories, 'Tales Of' Series, Persona although you can change to control the party, Phantasy Star, Every D&D or table top rpg, Contact, etc)



This is the basis for the origination of RPGs, the table-top rpg.

Even rpgs that place you in a party don't always allow you to control the entire party. The entire concept of a role-playing game is based on playign the role of 1 character. I would argue that party control rpgs are LESS like rpgs and more like rts/strategy games.

Edited, Mar 1st 2013 9:54am by Louiscool

Edited, Mar 1st 2013 9:54am by Louiscool

Which is why you form a party, and work together to pool those resources.

This is also why there is no Dark Souls MMO, and why The Elder Scolls mmo makes no sense.

Maybe I'm missing your point, but IMO, the FF experience translates very well to an mmo, or even a multiplayer FF. Did you play Crystal Chronicles? Aside from carrying a bucket, it was some of the best times I've had with friends on the couch.

Can you elaborate on this a little more, or if you have already, post a link. I'm curious as to what you have to say. This is just my thought and why I want to see what your stance is. FF is a party based game. And from my experience, most MMOs have been party based. Or is that not the part you are referring to?

Edit: Trying to read through the previous posts for more detail but feel free to answer anyways.


Edited, Mar 1st 2013 12:46pm by Geffe

Thank you for that response that had absolutely nothing to do with what I said.

Sure, if you've played many JRPGs before, you know that you typically have a party, each member having their own skills, stats, equipment, attack turns (sometimes affected by speed), and sometimes inventories or other things. Basically, every unit represents a pool of resources, and you as the player are controlling several pools at once to respond to the enemy. Strategy games are all a matter of managing your resources better than your opponent. Because these pools are all separated, but working together, you are not only managing the units independently, but you are responsible for their "social" behaviors. In an MMO, that's not the case. You don't manage any of the other units. You get one unit. It takes a -lot- of the strategy out of your hands, and frankly, most JRPGs are not even that strategically challenging to begin with.

Here's an example for you. It's like playing chess, where you have 16 pieces. Now, if you were to take a chess-lover and tell him that you're going to only let him control one piece, and 15 other people would be controlling the other pieces, he'd probably slap the **** out of you until you were dead.

Hyperbole of course, but the point being, the game is completely different from the player's perspective. Even though to someone who's only watching the board, it looks like the same kind of game, the gameplay has changed completely.

Thank you. I see what you are saying now.