More Final Fantasy XIV Details

[Fuzz]

Looks like there are some more details available for Final Fantasy XIV. SE may be slowly letting this out now that FFXIII is released and happy.

According to recent Japanese game magazine articles, there are much more updates - plus the Website FFXIVCore.com has a long list of everything, but here are some highlights:

• The PC version will be able to run on PCs from a few years ago, but the alpha version will only run on high-end PCs
• Can be run on 512MB of VRAM and above
• Alpha test starts soon
• Square wants to make it possible to play with your friends from FFXI
• Character customization won't be fully available in beta (can't change facial features)
• There's a mode for restoring HP while moving
• The plan is the make the maximum number of members in a party between 6 and 8, and there will also be alliances
• The important things in battle are distance, range, and direction
• There will be magic you can use while moving

Apparently, FFXIV will have players fight on the move, and in battle, position is key.

Square Enix has included information about registering for the FFXIV beta in copies of Final Fantasy XIII's PS3 version.

Source: Kotaku

[bobbo087]

Do you know when it is due to come out in America for pc?

[Che]

Looks like there are some more details available for Final Fantasy XIV. SE may be slowly letting this out now that FFXIII is released and happy.

According to recent Japanese game magazine articles, there are much more updates - plus the Website FFXIVCore.com has a long list of everything, but here are some highlights:

• The PC version will be able to run on PCs from a few years ago, but the alpha version will only run on high-end PCs
• Can be run on 512MB of VRAM and above
• Alpha test starts soon
• Square wants to make it possible to play with your friends from FFXI
• Character customization won't be fully available in beta (can't change facial features)
• There's a mode for restoring HP while moving
• The plan is the make the maximum number of members in a party between 6 and 8, and there will also be alliances
• The important things in battle are distance, range, and direction
• There will be magic you can use while moving

Apparently, FFXIV will have players fight on the move, and in battle, position is key.

Square Enix has included information about registering for the FFXIV beta in copies of Final Fantasy XIII's PS3 version.

Source: Kotaku

The positional requirement thing sounds fun! And magic able to be used while moving? Sounds like this game is gonna be pretty fluid (at least I hope).

Parties between six and eight? That's quite a lot of people for one party.

Wonder if that mode for restoring HP while moving is only for Alpha testing, or if it will be in the final version.

[Kairug]

New details on official FF14 site!

Just added:

They added the third bio on the city-states and also placed city-state Limsa Lominsa on the "map" in said section.

Am I too excited about this game and giving boring info.....?
/confused /sad /happy ..... /hurray!!!

[ExQuentin]

How much exactly will it cost a month to play this game?
*ExQ is sad that you must pay monthly to play a great Square Enix game, this makes him sad *

[Kairug]

---News--- September 3rd, 2009

As many of us have already expected, Square Enix will be charging for their 2nd and upcoming online Final Fantasy (XIV). Hiromichi Tanaka, lead producer, has confirmed that the title will use the standard (30-day) MMORPG subscription model.

I think 95% of us were probably expecting a monthly fee, so no real surprise there. Problem is, once you charge a fee, there comes expectations. Square Enix has already delivered online success with FFXI generating over 500,000 active paying users currently. If they can raise the bar in game quality, server performance, and other user-centered perks... I think they can definitely build a larger user base with Final Fantasy XIV.


Source: Escapist Magazine
__________________

-----
Fuzz

I found this under FFXIV forums. Don't be discouraged by the pay per month, If you have played an MMO before, u get used to it. If you think about it, its's not so bad. If your a hardcore gamer, the time you spend playing compared to say..... $12-$13/month isnt so bad. But this is coming from someone who spent a little time on FFXI^^

Kairug

[Zargabaath]

Today I decided to check out the website for this game to see if anything new had been released. To my enjoyment there has been. First off there are new details for Limsa Lominsa (World -> City-States) which include a new description of the city-state; the original was 6 pages long whilst this is only 2. Also added for Limsa Lominsa are 4 "Landmarks" which are: the Mizzenmast, the Octant, the Pharos Polaris, & Hawker's Alley. Six "Guilds" have been added as well for Limsa Lominsa: Naldiq & Vymelli's, Coral Tower, The Bismarck, The Astalicia, Fisherman's Bottom, & The Drowning Wench.

What has got me more elated is SE gave descriptions to the other two city-states [Gridania & Ul'Dah] after having "Coming Soon" on them for so long. For a refreshment, Gridania is the city-state located in the forest and Ul'Dah is in the desert. At this time there are no "Landmarks" or "Guilds" for Gridania or Ul'Dah.

Last but not least a world map has been added to the website. We won't be able to read much of it because it is written in a unique language, however, we can spot where the city-states are located because of where their banners are; there is also a fourth banner which is presumably Ishgard, a city-state located on a mountain top.

[Trodorne]

okay soon as i saw 6-8 people. im thinking how hard is this game going to be. sounds like soloing might be out of the question.

[Zargabaath]

okay soon as i saw 6-8 people. im thinking how hard is this game going to be. sounds like soloing might be out of the question.

Actually the developers have said that this game will be more solo friendly compared to FFXI which was not so much. Of course there will still be quests/missions that require multiple people but there should be some stuff that can be solo'ed or at least the ability to "level up" alone.

Besides, why you gotta hate on other people? What've they done to you that you don't want to form group and conquer foul demon in a Final Fantasy universe. Fans uniting or is that a bad thing?

[darknesse]

The more the merrier i think. The onl problem i can see is getting that group filled. After that it should be much more enjoyable with a few more alongside you.

As for updates, there has been a few minor additions to the final fantasy 14 homepage, including some info on weapons and classes.

[darknesse]

Mind the second post in a row, but ill just note for everyone that a new trailer, and a couple of videos were released with E3 on the 15th. Take a look if your waiting on any extra info. There really isnt much, but i guess a little viewing cant hurt

[Dynamo]

Do you know when it is due to come out in America for pc?

I am not 100% about any of the release dates, though currently many places are excepting pre-orders and the offical site Final Fantasy XIV are giving a list of a couple of places who are taking them.

For europe ALL these sites are stating 22nd September (For collecters) and 30th for Standard. Aparently pre-orders get an in-game item, and collecters edition holders get couple days head start (like in most new-release MMO's).

[LocoColt04]

For europe ALL these sites are stating 22nd September (For collecters) and 30th for Standard. Aparently pre-orders get an in-game item, and collecters edition holders get couple days head start (like in most new-release MMO's).

It will be the same for North America. I'm not sure HOW much of a head-start the collectors' edition will get, but at least we'll be able to have our games in our hands a little early.

[Merlin]

Won't help me much until Nvidia or ATI unveil their next-gen cards so I can get the current-gen ones for a deal. Plus I need a new mobo, since my current one has PCI-E v1, which is only half as fast as PCI-E v2. If I just buy a video card, it won't make much of a difference. /sigh I can still play it, but it will be rather sluggish most likely.

[Dynamo]

It will be the same for North America. I'm not sure HOW much of a head-start the collectors' edition will get, but at least we'll be able to have our games in our hands a little early.

Aye i beleive it is coming out everywhere at the same time (Japan included). which will be nice.

Even though few months/years down the line the extra few days/week wont matter as everyone (who gets it around the time of release) will be at a similar stage in the game. I will still get the collecters, not just for the "Head Start", but for the other stuff it comes with as well. oh and another plus is in the "Head Starts" first few days places and areas will be less croweded.

[Thanos]

Information at the top is rather old and incomplete... so!

A score of 300+ on the benchmark makes the Beta version playable but rather laggy. By 1300+ there is basically no lag even when in places that remind me of the Jeuno AH. Which is a big change since 1500 was *supposed* to be the bare minimum requirements to play the game before the changes for Beta. If you score 1300+ you can stand around with 100 or so players and not really have too many problems as it is right now. 1GB RAM, duo core, and 512MB ATI seem to be enough.

Character customization could be slightly held back in Beta but there are 4-5 selections for every feature right now, including facial characteristics.

The mode for restoring HP/MP while moving is called Passive Mode. This also drops your aggro range and in some cases makes mobs not aggro you at all. this in comparison to the Active Mode (required to initiate a battle) which WILL make certain mobs aggro and from distances that are quite large. For example, a Dodo will not aggro you at all if you are in passive mode and you run straight through it. If you are in active mode and you get anywhere near it then it will aggro and will chain aggro others in the area the same way as in FF11 (Dodo being an IT mob to low levels).

Larger parties also contribute to larger levequests rewards. I believe there were 6 choices for each quests difficulty level when you choose to start the quest. Solo is an option and is completely viable.

An important and dramatic change to battle is the stamina system. Think of a constantly filling bar. Each specific attack requires a certain amount of Stamina to use. From what I have seen so far there is no actual auto-attack mode that just does a normal attack every X seconds. As an ex-thief from FF11 I really like that. Nothing like popping SA+TA just a little too early and losing your chance for WS to a normal attack on a timer. Also seems to be a great way to drop your enmity to allow a tank to control the mob and this time without having to turn your character around OR disengage altogether.

There is magic you can use while moving, but that appears to be only one class and it is an ability of theirs you have to activate, so it's not like you can use it all the time and run around soloing and casting.

The biggest, and somehow untalked about, improvement is the completely fluid ability to move between zones without zoning. There is no wait time, you just walk out of the city, over the grass, and start killing all the wharf rats that get in your way. I've played quite a few MMOs and I've never seen this before. No loading is brilliant.

Change to resource gathering. Mining requires you to learn some timing to keep from destroying your mining point too soon and maximizing it's yield. If you've played that 2010 NBA game on a console, think about the free throws, it's timing like that with a little luck mixed in.

Someone commented that it may be hard to get parties filled with the increase to group sizes. Thats true and false at the same time. With the ability to have one character that can do every job in the game and every crafting job too, all you would need to do is pick say.. 2 classes to specialize in and keep leveling. Allowing people to swap to whatever is necessary on the fly (if they got the equipment in their inventory at the time it only takes 30 seconds after the class change penalty) So, the only thing that should delay parties is people who choose to only do one class and not budge from it.

Lastly, soloing is not as bad as it was in FF11. It is completely do-able but not to the extent that it is in WoW. All in all I'd say that soloing from time to time would be encouraged as, if you were to kill 100 EP mobs in an hour your class rank would rise really really quickly making you better for any party that you get in. Higher the class rank, more abilities unlocked, more WSs etc etc. There is a physical level that never changes, but job/class ranks determine your actual abilities, physical is just a boost to those abilities.

Think they said March 2011 for PS3 release and I know they stopped development for Xbox 360 with the whole greedy Xbox Live issue. September release for PC and a week before that for purchasers of the collector's edition.

Release info...

Spoiler: As a beta tester I'd say it's safe to assume that unless major changes are done to the UI, this game will not be ready by September. If you could see the beta forums, you'd see that at least 90% of the community thinks the UI needs to be redone.

[Merlin]

That's good info to know. At least now I know my computer can muster up the energy to play it without imploding. Of course, I am still going to upgrade, I just don't have to rush to do it. And yeah, I don't see how it will be ready by September if they just now started beta testing. There's way too much stuff in a MMO to check over to be done with it in a month. I say a month because they have to have time to actually print the discs and ship them to the distribution points.

Two things that seem really interesting to me is the Active/Passive Modes and the stamina bar. Two of the things that bugged me the most in FFXI was sitting on my butt to heal and disengaging from a target/turning around/etc.

But I can't comment too much more than that until I actually play it and see.

[Andromeda]

I'm glad for the information, but should you really be saying all of that? Don't the beta tester have a NDA that you have to sign? Or was that only for the alpha testing? Most of the information is clarified stuff that has already been released, but I wouldn't want to get you into trouble.

There is some consideration for my laptop to be able to run the game. But I was already thinking that if I waited the extra six months as taxing and annoying as it would be I'd be able to get into a game that already had six additional months of tweaks and refinements. Which I think will probably help out the game quite a bit. There is also the case that I don't know how well my laptop can handle it, so the PS3 version might just be a better solution anyway. Even if I did the PC version first I'd switch to the PS3 once it came out, no questions about that.

I'm going to need to cancel my FFXI subscription sometime.

[LocoColt04]

I may not play more frequently until the PS3 version anyhow, but I'd expect to own it on both PC and PS3 anyway, since that's how I've already got XI. I did see in an interview on Kotaku that the PC specs would end up being lower than the beta specs (which is a little backwards, but hey, whatever) but I doubt I'd be able to play it on my laptop.

[Andromeda]

I wonder how we claim the FFXIV item that we got for buying FFXIII on the PS3. Is it something that we can only redeem when we play on the PS3 version of FFXIV or something that we can get while playing the PC version. I hope there's an answer to that from SE by the time the game comes out.

[LocoColt04]

I was pretty positive that it's linked to your Square-Enix account. Considering FFXIV is going to require said accounts, it would be really simple for them to know who does and does not get an item.

As for whether you can CLAIM said item on the PC version... well yes, we'll have to wait for some response from them.

[Merlin]

Well I did make it a point to play the test they put out... and while it wasn't choppy as hell or horrible frame rates, there was some noticeable fall-out in scenes with heavy action taking place. I'm hoping that was my video card and not some bug on their part. It was kind of like in FFXI where in tunnels you could see the lines separating different sections as you ran through them... except worse.

And yeah, I wanted to get both versions anyway, but I was hoping for the PS3 version first.

[Andromeda]

I was hoping for both at the same time since they were going to be doing a worldwide release. But I guess we shouldn't be too surprised since they have said previously that they were doing the PC alpha and beta first. And then the PS3 beta would be started sometime after the PC beta had begun. So it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to imagine that the PS3 was going to release later. Though I'm surprised that it is 6 months later. I guess that the PS3 will have a longer beta period than the PC if it starts soon.

[Merlin]

That brings up the question of if the PC version gets pushed back, will that also push back the PS3 version? They shouldn't fart around too long as I feel sure Blizzard or one of the other groups is already cooking up a FF XIV killer. Of course, with Blizzard, they have the same problem as Squeenix does about announcements. They tell you about it 4 years before they release it. Quite silly.

[Andromeda]

Well one of the things that explains Blizzards issues is that I learned that everyone there only ever works 8 hour days. They never do any overtime like most game companies do. They probably also don't cut scope when they are running out of time. So those two factors explain Blizzard's problems. So it takes them a lot longer to get anything out because they don't actually try to make a deadline.

Anyway, I suspect that the PC version will get pushed out even if it is not 100% working. They'll put it out and work on fixing all of the problems that exist as time goes on. Which is why I'm considering it may just be safer to stick with the PS3 version just because all of the early bugs still in the game when the PC version ships will be worked out.

I'd imagine we had a much cleaner product of FFXI when we got it after it had already been out for a year in Japan. But I would imagine that they have a lot of their content already done or almost done. They are just holding it back to keep the testing within reason. They'll probably hit their release date, it just will probably have needed another 3 months of beta'ing and polish.

[Merlin]

WoW wasn't really ready for prime-time when it was released either. But you would think that after all these years, companies would know better than to release a beta and "fix it later". Customers aren't as forgiving as these companies seem to think they are. It eventually burns them.

[Andromeda]

I agree with you. There is probably a certain amount of thinking that "It's Final Fantasy" we have a guaranteed user base even if it is burns people. Which is not a good thing to be thinking if they are because it's not the FF fans you have to win over. It's the people that are trying it out and curious and not devoted that you have to win over with a solid game that isn't totally broken out of the box. I just hope that's not the case though and they have their stuff in order.

[chaosweapon]

I'm not worried by the bugs and any remaining features. I'm simply worried about the system requirements. Final Fantasy XIV requires a high-end graphics card. Most people are going to have to buy a new graphics card to play this game. I don't think that casual gamers will bother to upgrade their PC for just one game. Unless Square Enix lowers the system requirements, the choice of playing FFXIV will solely depend on the graphics card of the person.

[AveMaria]

I'm not worried by the bugs and any remaining features. I'm simply worried about the system requirements. Final Fantasy XIV requires a high-end graphics card. Most people are going to have to buy a new graphics card to play this game. I don't think that casual gamers will bother to upgrade their PC for just one game. Unless Square Enix lowers the system requirements, the choice of playing FFXIV will solely depend on the graphics card of the person.

yeah thats my concern too, thats why I can't maximize the graphics and can't enjoy it either.

Just feel sad as i read some of comments from other FFXIV Reviews, the game don't meet their expectations and FFXIV got negative rating. Or I'm just alone who enjoy playing FFXIV a lot?

[Andromeda]

Well most of it comes from the fact that I think FFXIV is still very much FFXI with design changes put into place. I don't know if that is because they wanted familiarity or that they just feel that is the best design. But from what I understand one of the biggest issues is that Square doesn't explain almost anything to you like with FFXI. You have to go online, ask around in game or figure out things on your own. Which I actually really liked about FFXI, there was a sense of discovery since you weren't be spoon fed everything. This is just personal opinion, but it can be rather offending at times when they design games in such away as to assume the player is an idiot.

But I always assumed with what I was seeing that FFXIV was just FFXI 2.0. Which, I love FFXI so I knew that I'd enjoy FFXIV. It's just a major graphical upgrade and a few design overhauls. Though I think the core Japanese game design remained very inherent, I'm just guessing with that since I honestly haven't a clue what their design foundation is. But lately East and West game design tend to clash greatly that those on opposite sides have trouble accepting the other, especially the West which has changed from Japan can do no wrong to Japan is stuck in a rut and wrong about everything. This tends to be a common theme in a lot of the reviews I see from people about games coming from Japan, usually JRPGs, which tend to be more traditional than most games from Japan.

Either way, I think most reviewers are going to be very closed minded about MMOs due to WoW existing and being held as the perfect model due to its success. The problem is that it is a catch-22 in that if you copy WoW they call you on it and if you do something different you fail. There is not a lot that can really be done about it. FFXIV will net the usual amount of subscribers and most likely a few more since it is more casual friendly than FFXI was when it released.