FF14: ARR Release in 7 days mmo

[Sky]

Hey everyone.

 

Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn releases officially on August 27, 2013. Early access for anyone who preorders the game before that date starts a few days earlier.

I've had the privilege to play since Phase 1 of the beta, and have seen a lot of changes, and instead of going into detail about it, I'm just going to link the changes made straight from the beta forum, since the NDA was lifted a while a go. First off, I just want to say that this game features an overwhelming amount of content. There is a PvP system, but they've opted to hold off on implementing it until v2.1 (the first patch) along with housing; yes, you can own a house, or if your guild (linkshell, free company, etc.) feels so inclined, can own a town, or guild houses, or a giant guild house if you like that sort of thing.

 

First, here's a link to their site for anyone who is interested in buying the game: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/product/

 

Don't worry, by the way. If you don't think your PC can handle it, the game is available on the PS3 as well. Cross-platform, of course.

You can also download the benchmark tool, here: http://na.finalfanta....com/benchmark/

 

Also, you might want to watch the 3-part video showing both the PC and PS3 versions.

I'm linking to the third part, which was done on 7/4/2013.

Each of the 3 videos showcases different areas of the game, and there are a lot of them. Hundreds.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0w5dyfENwA

 

 

 

What classes will be available at launch?

 

Disciples of War and Magic fulfill the combat class roles.

Disciples of the Land fulfill the field-work class roles.

Disciples of the Hand are the crafting classes in the game.

Job Roles require other requirements to unlock. An example is the Dragoon, which requires you to have Lancer Lv.30 and Pugilist Lv.15, at which point you unlock the quest chain to obtain the Dragoon job.

 

Disciples of War

• Gladiator
  
• Pugilist
  
• Marauder
  
• Lancer
  
• Archer
  

Disciples of Magic

• Conjurer
  
• Thaumaturge
  
• Arcanist
  

Disciples of the Land

• Miner
  
• Botanist
  
• Fisher
  

Disciples of the Hand

• Carpenter
  
• Blacksmith
  
• Armorer
  
• Goldsmith
  
• Leatherworker
  
• Weaver
  
• Alchemist
  
• Culinarian
  

Job Roles

• Paladin
  
• Monk
  
• Warrior
  
• Dragoon
  
• Bard
  
• White Mage
  
• Black Mage
  
• Summoner
  

Aside from listing the roles a player can fulfill in the game, the rest would take hours, and many, many pages to link it all. When I first bought v1.0, I was seriously upset with the lack of... everything.

However, with the release of ARR coming out, I have to honestly say that I'm flabberghasted at how much content has been stuffed into the remake.

 

If anyone decides to give it a try, you can find me on the Excalibur legacy server (where non legacy players will be able to create characters starting in early access.

I really haven't found anything since phase 4 that I could complain about, legitimately... but end game (Lv.50) "raid" content is not available at launch, and neither is PvP.

World bosses will be available, with three difficulty modes: Normal, Hard, and Extreme, with regards to both casual, hardcore, and every player in between.

 

PvP content and the housing system will be released in v2.1 (the first official patch) as Yoshida wants to make sure everything is down-right perfect, first (i.e. it isn't in a state where they are ready to release this content.)

End game raiding is in v2.1 or v2.2 (I forget, sorry!)

 

However, they said the reason for this is further testing / balancing, and to make sure non-legacy players have a chance to get to Lv.50, first. Also, with the crazy amount of content, I don't think it'll be an issue for most players.

Don't forget about chocobos, either. Oh, yeah, you can name your chocobo, he/she can join you in combat, and at some point, they've promised breeding / races / etc., which were all classic features in FF7.

 

TLDR; watch the video, buy the game (it's 29.99 on pc, 39.99 on ps3). The subscription information is here: http://www.ffxivinfo.com/service.php

They key idea is if you don't plan on having mules, you'll only care about the 12.99 plan, instead of the standard 14.99 we see in MMOs these days.

This is because in FF14ARR, your one character can be every class. Change your weapon, and go. Also, You can save gear sets. Seriously. "Hey, I want to switch back to my CNJ. *Open Gear Sets, Load Set.* It's as simple as clicking a button when you want to save/load, and your inventory is 100 slots, to make sure you always have the room to carry gear for multiple roles.

 

Actually, here's a video that'll sell it better than I can. Chocobo battles. CHOCOBO BATTLES!!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2nfLWxYin4

 

Also, because some people might ask, I found this to be a pretty good comparison video...

 

Edited August 19, 2013 by Sky

[onyxdragoon]

I am really excited for this. I played the open beta this past weekend and I love it.

[Sky]

Speaking of the Open Beta... FF14ARR broke the world record for most active and online users in an MMO beta.

 

http://www.gaminguni... (Gaming Union)

 

 

 

Also, sign up on the excalibur server at early access or at launch. It's the most populated english-speaking server currently. It's also legacy, which means a lot of veterans (like me!) will be there to help new players.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Sky

[VooDooPC]

Monster Hunter has the same your-class-depends-on-your-weapon-equipped kind of thing. Not sure I'm a fan of it. Doesn't feel like an RPG when you can just be like, "I'm a warrior with a sword! I picked up this book, now I'm an expert mage!" Does this make the game SUPER loot focused?

[JackieChan]

*walks in*

 

Oh...

 

I thought this was about FragFest 14...

 

*walks out*

[Sky]

Voodoo, as far as loot is concerned:

 

 

In raids, dungeons, etc., if you are in a group, when loot drops from mobs and/or chests (chests spawn after bosses die, containing loot and other items) you can only roll NEED on items that support whatever class you are currently playing as.

This means if you go in as a Marauder, and gear with CNJ, THM drops, you can only greed.

 

But, yes, you generally collect gear for each of the roles. However, some roles can share gear, as long as the gear affinity supports the current role. The perk to using the same gear for multiple roles is when you switch classes, your talent points (Strength, Vitality, Mind, Piety, Intelligence, Dexterity, etc.) switch to whatever you've set them to for that class; if you haven't assigned the points, you'll be able to assign them. This is because Intelligence, for example, increases magic ATK, while Mind increases magic potency (healing).

 

In regards to super focused? No, I don't think so, since a lot of gear supports multiple class roles.

For me, I use the same gear on my archer, lancer, and marauder. I change a few pieces up when I want to tank on my MRD and ARC, though.

 

It doesn't make you an expert by simply changing weapons, though. You actually have to level the classes. The perk to leveling different classes is being able to mix abilities unlocked with a class with other classes abilities.

 

A lot of people have asked if it's essentially a button masher, letting you stand still. You could try, but... starting at level 6, mobs start exhibiting mechanics that until now, other mmo mobs have only exhibited in end game raid content.

[onyxdragoon]

It plays like a traditional MMO like WoW with elements from other MMOs/games.

The whole weapon thing doesn't really matter since in most games classes use 1-2 weapons except GW2 but they had a unique system that based on weapon was your skillbar.

 

With work on the day it comes out I might wait till the weekend.

[Sky]

Yep. FF14 is also strategy-heavy. Rolling into combat and button mashing will likely result in dying. Combos are pretty important, as well, at least for the DPS side of things. A lot of the elements of 14 were drawn from 11. The HUD (action bars) were drawn from WoW. That video about the WoW vs FF14 really does a solid job explaining the differences.

[LiMiT]

Not sure how I feel about this game. I love the depth that it offers, but I'm afraid that it's just going to be a horrific grind. I'll need to do more investigating, but I did enter a contest to win a copy.

 

S.

[Sky]

The developers have gone through pains to remove the grind feel that people have come to expect because of FFXI.

Here's an example of how I leveled my first few classes (I rolled a new character during beta so I could experience the game, since my legacy character is already at 50 for the classes I enjoy):

 

Leveled my conjurer doing the main story quest. Didn't even have to do any of the quests in the towns. Each class has its own hunting log targets, so I did those as well. Easy leveling.

Leveled my gladiator doing some town missions + hunting log. Because I have a conjurer above the gladiators level, I get a 30% experience boost (1% for each level difference). Easy leveling.

 

Can always do FATE's, Behest's, Guildhest's, Dungeons, and many of the other ways of leveling.

 

 

 

What I'm trying to say is... the grind isn't as tedious as people have come to expect from FF mmos. Sure, there's still a grind from it being an MMO, but in my experience, the guild wars 2 grind was more of a grind than the FF14ARR grind.

Yes, leveling additional classes will be slower than doing every quest out there, but it's still faster than a lot of other games, since the focus is on story and fun factor, not "how long we can make you suffer."

Edited August 22, 2013 by Sky