Friday Fantasy Alpha! - Logs from Eorzea Entry VII [Wicked Edition]
So, with this years E3 over, we have little information available to the public concerning FFXIV. But we did get some cool options, plus a super awesome view of the Beta UI and BattleSystem. New videos posted on the FFXIV Lounge and their youtube channel showcasing a mash-up of 3 separate videos which one of them shows the Beta played by one of the E3 guests and the explanation of some of the new BattleSystem. Finally, we also have yet another log for Alpha 2 testing by Wicked, and one to come by Sugar.
First and foremost, the sexy UI. I love that everything I want and need to look at is at the bottom center. It feels right, it feels natural. HP, MP, TP, plus your action bar, all neatly color coded for the non-gamers out there to maybe actually play this one and not completely suck. Also, it seems in the beta that they've increased the size of the mini-map, as well as other important icons. If my eyes are just messing with me with the video's I've seen...well..they should do it anyway, or at least give us the option of making it bigger. An Overlay would be nice too.
Now then, onto the BattleSystem. They have done some rather impressive improvements! I'm excited! A real ATB(Active Time BattleSystem). They give you a stamina bar now that depleats rather than needs to refill after each attack, like they showed in the Alpha 1 and Alpha 2. Now you can spam skills, with various amounts of stamina taken away depending on the attack, to your hearts content. Although, you should be patient as it will eventually run out if you spam too much. Because of this, the combat speed has improved greatly, and I doubt anyone will be falling asleep now. I loved the combat system in FFXI, but I welcome the ATB in FFXIV, a real ATB, not a knock off of FFIX ATB system. It feels like I'm doing something more than just hitting a macro and waiting for it to go off and the auto attack to kick in between. I have absolutely no issues with the new UI or the BattleSystem and I hope you all join me in this.
Also unveiled at E3, an option if you have too much money and no spouse or children. Final Fantasy XIV in 3D(Ps3 only it seems). Tanaka had some random folk put on the glasses and look at the panoramic screen setup, “Wow” was the comment or choice. Obviously, we could not see it for ourselves, but, it seems like a cool idea, especially for the die hard FFXI fans who really want to FEEL the game. I recall this one occurance when I was in my Mog House in FFXI, changing to NIN from RDM, and my brother called me from my right, and my eyes wouldn't leave the screen and my head moved sooo slowly towards him. Finally when my eyes snapped to where my head was pointing, I realized “I'm not...in my...Mog house...lol...I'm in the real world....-sigh-” Maybe I'll get to feel that too one day with FFXIV.
A small bit on a post I ran across from IGN.
Nick Kolan of IGN wrote in an article titled "Final Fantasy XIV Impressions" - We were told that – as a general rule – if you can see something in the background, you can go there. Actually getting there, though, could be a little more challenging than is entirely necessary, given that, like Final Fantasy XI before it, you cannot jump.
The reply?
Pwnstar4life: Anyone who played FFXI can attest to that. Square Enix does a good job of creating nice and interesting environments for one to explore without the need of jumping. I played FFXI for about 2 1/2 years. I could see why people who play MMOs that cater to the casual crowd like WOW wouldnt want to play something that is actually difficult and requires you to have some sort of skill. I'm quite excited for this game and is one of the reasons I ended up buying a PS3
I for one agree completely with Pwnstar4life, lol. Thank you Pwnstar4life where ever you are.
Moving forwardThe Alpha 2 tests of this past week were less than eventful. Since the remake of my character, I'm already more than half way through xping to the cap of 20. Marauder is around level 11, once that is done I plan to continue on with Gladiator for the tanking fun as I want to experience it in FFXIV.
As of right now, me and a few other players are just exploring aimlessly, waiting for Beta to be released. I have a strong feeling they will do a character wipe for a few reasons. #1 – re-testing EVERYTHING!, #2 – Even playing field, #3 – Testing all new changes and additions. It's very simple, right now we have something like 3-5k Alpha 1 and 2 testers combined, when the Beta is released, I would assume 3-5k would be added every test or so for stress testing purposes. The only thing against the character wipe is the revolt that people will go through when they aren't on the same servers they made friends on already in Alpha 1 and 2. I hope they figure this out so we don't lose those connections they should want us to make, especially considering it's an MMO, that is what they exist for :)
Thats all for this week, I look forward to your commentary as well as the introductory post from our new author SugarSpeak!, with that, this is Wicked, signing off from Eorzea.
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