Final Fantasy XIV BETA Sign Ups Open

[Raedon]

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z172/mulmulmul/Final%20Fantasy%20XIV/Final_Fantasy_XIV_Online.jpg

Square Enix has started accepting requests to join the beta testing phase for its massively multiplayer online RPG Final Fantasy XIV.

Players interested in joining can go to the game's official website (http://entry.ffxiv.com/) and sign up to participate.


Final Fantasy XIV is scheduled to release in 2010 for PlayStation 3 and PC blah blah etc etc.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/sentok/FINALFANTASYXIV9.jpg?t=1261119953

[kupomogli]

The beta testing is only for PC right now. I'll beta test for PS3 maybe, but my PC probably can't even run this so I'm not even going to try and get in.

[portnoyd]

Woot, applied. Thanks Raedon.

[gokugohandave]

I wonnder if a 5500gx would run it? :rockets: Ill be waiting for the ps3 beta as well.

[Tempest]

I was in the FF IX beta for the PS2. Maybe I'll get in on this one as well.

Tempet

[AB Positive]

I'll give it a go - I had some fun with XI back in the day.

I think I have a 6500 or so in my setup, here's hoping that's enough :D

[BHvrd]

Nice, wish they had one for DC Universe cause between it and FFXIV I will be playaing one on the ps3 for sure. Went ahead and signed up for pc beta though as seeing what it is like ahead of time could shift my choice, hopefully it's alot like FFXI with more flexible combat cause really other than that I have no gripes with FFXI's formula.

[NayusDante]

I've got a decent rig, hope I get in this time. I applied for the FFXI beta, but didn't make it. I'm definitely excited about this...

[kupomogli]

When I was playing FF11 it was a massive grinder but I heard some people say that it was changed in an update later on to have less grinding and enemies gave more exp percentage now. On FF11 you had to get into parties just to grind because eventually the enemies you could beat solo started giving you no exp. If this is true and FF14 isn't the grinder FF11 was, then maybe I try it out.

Obviously not on my PC which wouldn't be able to handle it. Maybe a rental and try it out a month.

[Valkrazhor]

When I was playing FF11 it was a massive grinder but I heard some people say that it was changed in an update later on to have less grinding and enemies gave more exp percentage now. On FF11 you had to get into parties just to grind because eventually the enemies you could beat solo started giving you no exp. If this is true and FF14 isn't the grinder FF11 was, then maybe I try it out.

FFXI has gotten a lot easier to progress through since its release but you still need help to complete nearly anything worthwhile in the game. This wouldn't be a problem if the community was great but due to the games archaic, grind-filled and unforgiving nature this isn't the case. Since people have to invest so many real life hours simply putting a party together or doing whatever needs to be done, if another person makes a simple mistake or isn't a total master at the game they will get called out like no other. To add on top of this, some things require alliances to complete and gathering 12 people or so for one, with correctly balanced jobs, equipment, and skill can take hours and hours. I remember waiting around nearly 16 hours once trying to form an alliance to get some rare item in the game. It's a total bitch. I wondered why I was even playing. I felt as if Square should be paying me instead of me paying them!

The biggest problem with FFXI though is that gil is way too scarce. You have to compete for farming spots with others to have a chance at making gil, and even once you get a decent spot to farm which isn't filled with people, it takes hours and hours to make a decent amount and nowhere near enough to buy the nice gear in the Auction House. To add to this, everyone farming around you is usually agitated since the gil is harder to earn than real life money so they will spout rude comments to you or whatever it may be. Not to mention that Square has gimped the already low sale price of items from most popular farming spots to attempt to prevent automated bots from farming these places and selling the money for real life currency. Don't even get me started on camping notorious monsters either... Like the ones that only spawn once every 24 hours and you are waiting in a room with 10+ other people, all of which who are totally rude and act as if they are your worst enemy since the competition is so fierce and the time wasted so high. The only way to really aquire the great gear in the game is to be part of a LinkShell which is incredibly active so they can wait those 24+ real life hours alongside you to try to increase your odds of claiming the fight with a monster spawn and get your item. Though to be part of a decent one you will have to literally sign your life away, for obvious reasons. Notorious monster hunting is so stakes filled, competitive and exhausting that once the monster of desire finally spawns you will either have a heart attack if you see it unclaimed, will shoot yourself if you see it claimed by another party, or even worse you will claim it and after killing it it will not drop the item your after and you will sit there for another 24 hours straight in complete agony. It's more stress-filled than most any real life event will ever throw on you.

After countless hours of FFXI I am sick and tired of that game for good and the reason for this is the community. The reason the community is bad though is a combination of the game being quite old at this point and the fact that the game is harder than real life work in the real world. After typing all of this, it reminded me how happy I am to not be playing it anymore.

On a positive note, FFXI has a killer job system. The best in any MMO to date. I love that you can do multiple jobs with a single character since after hours with you character you tend to get attached a bit to him/her and it sucks to have to start a new one once you max out a single job in other games. I did have some great times with the game but those great times were heavily overshadowed by the bad. Probably the best thing that came out of FFXI was that for being the last person out of thousands to register for one of their conventions I won a FFXI soundtrack boxed set signed by all the developers and others involved with the game.

Anyways, I am pretty confident that FFXIV will make a change for the better. They have to if they want to compete with other popular MMO's of today. I think they know this though because they have been modifying FFXI as much as they can recently to try to make it more accessible. It just will never be a very accessible game though. Anyway, here's hoping I get to join the beta for the new one.

[Jorpho]

I was in the FF IX beta for the PS2Um...


If this is true and FF14 isn't the grinder FF11 was, then maybe I try it out.It would be a clever approach if they left FF11 for those who like grinding (!?) and then had FF14 for more "casual" gamers.

[BHvrd]

Fileplanet subscribers can now take part in the beta (limited keys):

http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/final-fantasy-xiv/

[MarioMania]

Where's the 360 version??

[NayusDante]

They couldn't reach an agreement over Xbox Live. Funny, because they did with FFXI...

[Tron 2.0]

Where's the 360 version??
FF14 is exclusive for the PS3&PC so no 360 release.

Though i wish there was a beta for the PS3 version i know i would give it a try.

[c0ldb33r]

I tried to sign up for the beta.

It's a frustrating experience.

Done - don't care. Won't buy the game. :mad:

[betamax001]

Urghhh where do I get this "code" why do I care? I probably wont buy it because of monthly fees...blaaaah

[BHvrd]

Urghhh where do I get this "code" why do I care? I probably wont buy it because of monthly fees...blaaaah

You totally missed out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Final-Fantasy-XIV-Online-PC-Beta-/280548601447?pt=Video_Games_Games

[NayusDante]

Open beta was SUPPOSED to start tonight, but it was postponed due to bug reports. Isn't that a bit like saying, "We can't test for bugs because we found some bugs."

Regardless, the downloader is now available.

North America Page - http://entry.ffxiv.com/na/index.html

[NayusDante]

Well, the open beta is open now, but the page to get a key just times out.

Also, we have two threads about the game now, which could probably be merged.

[Darko]

Yeah, still can't log into the site. Not surprised. There are probably 50,000 people trying to do the same thing as I'm typing this.

[portnoyd]

7am on the east coast and I got my code. Now's the time, folks!

[NayusDante]

Applications for the FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test have been temporarily suspended. Please wait until we are ready to accept new applications and then try again.

That's what I got at 3AM last night, and that's what I get now whenever I don't get a "sorry we're too busy" page.

[portnoyd]

So I played the open beta for a few hours. It's taking some getting used to.

The software cursor sucks. A lot.
The GUI still kinda sucks.
The map is pretty weak.
I can't drive with the arrow keys but gotten used to the number pad.
Using the keyboard and mouse together does not gel at all.
Doing anything is more of a chore than it needs to be. See also: Synthesis.
Combat is appealing but the GUI makes it harder than it is.

It has a week to convince me why I shouldn't cancel my LE order.

[NayusDante]

I've got my key activated, but I haven't had time to play it. One of my friends started already and he's on the Selbina server, meaning that I may spend the next year or so "waiting in Selbina." I thought those days were behind me... >_<

[BHvrd]

Ok, had a helluva time installing this, MANY PROBLEMS. Anyone who needs help go here:
http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/12719-open-beta-download-links-install-instructions/

So anyway now that i've got it installed and the character created what server is everyone playing on?

[portnoyd]

Oh yeah, that exact thread is how we got it up and running. The torrent software in the official patcher is horrendous even with the proper ports open. I torrented the ~5gig main file and have been using megaupload for the small patches.

And no, they haven't learned a damn thing. I hate to call them fanboys, but the people on ffxivcore who defend the game will either say IT'S NOT MADE FOR THE PC (Bullshit) or it's just different (different is a copout way of saying not as good).

Someone who is awesome made a patch that enables the hardware mouse cursor in the beta. Gigantic difference in the right direction.

[NayusDante]

Once I get around to it, Selbina. Between classes starting and cleaning out my gaming closet, I haven't had any time to do anything.

[BHvrd]

Oh yeah, that exact thread is how we got it up and running. The torrent software in the official patcher is horrendous even with the proper ports open. I torrented the ~5gig main file and have been using megaupload for the small patches.

And no, they haven't learned a damn thing. I hate to call them fanboys, but the people on ffxivcore who defend the game will either say IT'S NOT MADE FOR THE PC (Bullshit) or it's just different (different is a copout way of saying not as good).

Someone who is awesome made a patch that enables the hardware mouse cursor in the beta. Gigantic difference in the right direction.


Yeah, personally i'm using a gamepad and it works great, I can understand the complaints and they are valid, I have to admit though i'm liking this ALOT better than I thought I would! The one problem I had with the original game has been addressed.

I used to hate the way combat would lock and your character moved SOOOOO slow, now it is much faster and the lock-on is much improved!

Gotta admit that so far it feels more like i'm playing a Final Fantasy game instead of an MMO at this point and that is a good thing, despite the other problems.

OH AND THERE IS WINDOWED MODE! HALLELUJAH!...lol

[portnoyd]

Yeah, the one thing I can clearly say I liked was the combat.

Synthesis on the other hand is awful in every way. Every fucking way.

Achika and I are on Rabanastre.

[NayusDante]

I'm guessing we'll all meet up and do the guild thing after the beta?

I finally have a free moment to check it out, so I'm just going to play around with character creation and get a feel for the game before I start working on my main.

[Overbite]

This game is awful. Looks nice but is lacking in every area compared to MMOs that came out years ago.

[portnoyd]

That is by the best one-liner I've seen in regards to this game. Nicely done.

[NayusDante]

I haven't put enough time into it to give it a fair review, but I like it so far. It's a little rough, but I can see where they're going with it, and with a little time it should be a good game.

However, this will NOT be a "WoW killer." What I've seen so far is completely alien if you're used to western MMOs, and it seems to distance itself even more than FFXI did. It builds on the format and style of FFXI and updates it for the modern console generation, with maybe a lesson or two learned from other MMOs. It still feels like a console game, not a modern MMO, and that's what I wanted. The market for "console style" MMOs is smaller, but the right audience will absolutely love FFXIV. I'm willing to give it some time, but I can see myself really enjoying it in the near future.

My biggest gripe with the game so far is the input lag, but that went away after I disabled ambient occlusion. I haven't messed with my settings enough, but the performance hiccups are really weird. Cutscenes and gameplay will render beautifully and be silky smooth, but if your system isn't enough for your settings, the input will be laggy and not smooth. Once you find that balance, though, it seems to be fine.

[NayusDante]

It's probably a bit late to post this, what with the DP server move and all, but I'm on Wutai. I initially objected to letting my friends pick that world for fear of FF7 fanboys, but it's actually decent.

[portnoyd]

Based on the open beta and the slim chance they'd revise the game in 2 weeks into something playable, we canceled our preorders. Maybe we'll take a look at it in a year if it's still around.

[BHvrd]

Based on the open beta and the slim chance they'd revise the game in 2 weeks into something playable, we canceled our preorders. Maybe we'll take a look at it in a year if it's still around.

Can't really blame you. I agree that in this day and time I just can't find a reason to plunk down the cash for this monthly. It is neat, the voice narration in sections is nice and I like the more story based approach, but honestly it kinda feels like Resident Evil Outbreak and not MMO enough.

Initially I liked the fact that it seemed fairly linear, but now not so much and honestly it has been kinda boring. I really hate the crafting! Really I would say that the gathering and crafting is what has turned me off totally and been a game breaker, it's just too generic and phony.

I may revisit this down the line somewhere, but for now i'm gonna continue playing Darkfall, RoM and awaiting DC Universe Online, but honestly when I first played FFXI I was much more impressed, and honestly from where I stand, I believe it is the superior game, this game actually made me want to go back and play it *shudders*.

[NayusDante]

So... would I be correct in assuming that I am the sole representative of DP on FFXIV? I guess that kills the idea of a DP linkshell...

[portnoyd]

Can't really blame you. I agree that in this day and time I just can't find a reason to plunk down the cash for this monthly. It is neat, the voice narration in sections is nice and I like the more story based approach, but honestly it kinda feels like Resident Evil Outbreak and not MMO enough.

Initially I liked the fact that it seemed fairly linear, but now not so much and honestly it has been kinda boring. I really hate the crafting! Really I would say that the gathering and crafting is what has turned me off totally and been a game breaker, it's just too generic and phony.

I may revisit this down the line somewhere, but for now i'm gonna continue playing Darkfall, RoM and awaiting DC Universe Online, but honestly when I first played FFXI I was much more impressed, and honestly from where I stand, I believe it is the superior game, this game actually made me want to go back and play it *shudders*.

Yeah, FFXI is considerably better and even was better the first year it was out. The crafting in 14 is horrific. Achi, a player of 11 for 5 years, adored the crafting in 11 but could not even stand watching me trying to craft in 14. That says a lot because 11 crafting was not very forgiving as it was.

Blame for such a turd falls on SE. The question is why make the game such a chore? Was it pure Japanese influence, arrogance thinking they should not lift mechanics from WoW, too short of a dev time or what, I don't know.


So... would I be correct in assuming that I am the sole representative of DP on FFXIV? I guess that kills the idea of a DP linkshell...

Sounds like it. You are a better man than I. I really, really wanted to like it but just couldn't do it.

[NayusDante]

At the moment, I'm treating the game more like a single player RPG and just trying to get through the story. If I can find a good LS, I'll probably put a good deal of time into it, but I don't see that being the case right now.

I'm going to try to "finish" the game rather quickly, because I don't really find myself compelled to play it for years like I did in FFXI. I would probably blame that on the fact that I've simply burned out on MMOs. They were fun back in 2002 or so, but not so much today.