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The interface? The controls? The specs? The combat?
Jorikuza
Member Posts: 46
Question number one: Is the interface the same as the previous game(FFXI)? I found the interface in FFXI to be the biggest drawback(followed closely by the control scheme), and am hoping the make it a little more keyboad+mouse friendly. Maybe a bit more clicky, and a bit less press the enter key, use the arrow keys. Heck, if they could at least make it optional and leave the ability to use the previous UI, but allow you to use a more standard UI?
Question number two: Are the controls going to be the same? You know... move with the 4, 2, 6 and 8 keys? Ya I know you could switch to compact and use the WASD keys, but it still wasn't that great, could they offer an option exactly like, or very similar to, the stand MMO? Or I should ask, will they?
Question number three: How nice of a computer will I need to play, I know one reason I could get a lot of my friends to play FFXI, despite it's drawbacks, is that they could have a really bad computer and still run it at higher settings. Now I know it's not going to be like that for this one, but if I have a computer that can run AoC at max settings+DX10(which I don't), am I going to need to purchas something twice as strong?
Question number four: I had planned on asking about the combat, but I just watched a gameplay video and realized it's still going to be slow. So I ask, why do they do this? I don't mind slow combat, but this is sad, move on from FFXI. An epic battle does not feel epic when your character swings his sword, to weaken the foe, every ten seconds...
"I went to the store to buy a candle holder. They were out, so I bought a cake." -Mitch Hedberg
Comments
one: http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/4730-ff14-fan-alpha-screenshot-analysis-translation/?s=f3c38c5a87fd9503ea210394bd42f945
four: I guess thats the style of Final Fantasy. I personally do like that slow style and hope that it will be the same like in FFXI. Theres no reason for them to state why they do it that way, thats just Final Fantasy and the way it should be.
Q1: Not entirely, so far at least. A hot bar is present, so everything is not done through menus anymore. Controls aren't known yet, and while I think they won't be as good as they could be for the PC version, they'll be good enough for everyone that is not anal about it not being just as good as in PC only MMO's. The Alpha/Beta testers will most likely give Lots of input about it if it sucks, so I wouldn't worry too much. If it sucks, testers will say it, and SE will act accordingly.
Q2: They definitely could do either. The alpha is right about to begin, so then we'll know for sure- and even then, it's subjective to change. SE wants this game to succeed, so they'll figure out a way to appeal to keyboard/mouse users. One good fact to give hope is that the game is designed for PC first, PS3 second- unlike FFXI, which was designed for PS2 first.
Q3: The alpha minimum specs aren't that high. A 3-4 year old PC will be able to run the game fine. But since the game is on alpha, where the point is to optimize the engine to deal with all type of PC's, we don't know how well they'll be able to do that, yet. One thing is for sure though- it'll only get better from here on.
Q4: You watched a German WoW player trying to play FFXIV like WoW, spamming skills. He didn't realize skills need Tactical Points to be able to be done, and especially that there is no auto-attacking in this game. All we can see in the chat log is "You don't have enough TP to execute this skill"-spam. Take those vids with a Huge grain of salt.
1 - Totally different. SE decided to go the route every MMO has gone in the last 5 years. It looks like it'll be a lot less menu style play, but like every MMO to go through their alphas and beta...it can change drastically. Tanaka did mention however the keyboard would be the prime hardware for interaction...whether he meant for gameplay and/or socializing, we'll have to wait and see. However, if you checked the Gamescom videos, he's only playing with the keyboard.
2 - Again, we'll have to wait and see. The key thing to note for this question is that SE said they want the UI to be a lot more customizable. Which they've shown clearly...but how far...only time will tell.
3 - Again, the wait and see game. AoC is one of (if not the most) demanding MMO to date. A lot of people agree that if you can run AoC on high settings well, XIV should be fine on your computer. However, SE is quoted in saying the average Core 2 Duo PC game in the last couple years will "struggle" with XIV. And they expect the average gaming PC 4-5 years from now should be able to run XIV no problem. So take it with a grain of salt.
4 - That was a very early alpha build that no one was expecting at that time. No one. It's a miracle they even set it up in time, SE said it themselves. Here's the issue. Ever since WoW, every MMO released since they have aimed to have first person shooter style combat like it. It's great at first, and very fun with PvP. But it gets stale after awhile. Why? There's really no thought involved. It really just becomes a twitch/reaction key spamming mayhem. Great at first, I loved it, was a huge change of pace from XI. But after 3-4 years?... Bleh. You realize just how thought out XIs combat was at the time.
Yes, XIs combat was pretty....bland. But remember, it was before WoW reared its head and followed the trend of MMOs predating it. Make everything, including combat, feel stretched yet give enough of an accomplishment feeling that everyone would play on. Golden rule of MMOs.
SE is attempting to alleviate XIs combat short comings by completely changing the style. First, and most importantly, no auto attack. Each and every action you do onto the target will be done by you. There are a couple of gauges that will stop people from just spamming over and over again, as well as cool downs. Position in combat also will be a key element. In WoW, melee DD were all about staying behind the target, but it seems like SE will be taking this idea a bit further.
I also had the chance to skim over the alpha notes (just google it, but remember not to talk anything too specific about it) and it mentions a few things with combat. And believe me, some of the things mentioned sounds fantastic. More precisely, the group combat.
In short, we're still in the early stages of alpha. Things will change, some things even drastically. It's guaranteed. The people who are crying "there's only so much they can change from alpha to release", clearly have not participated in alpha--->release in any other MMOs. I can understand a lot of people feeling uneasy on how similar it looks to XI, but really, do you actually believe SE would bring out FFXI 2.0? Even when they clearly expressed they want XI and XIV to run side by side with each other? And how XI has 3 major content updates and basically a overhaul planned for this year?
I'm honestly a bit on edge myself. Because what we have here is a MMO being developed by the same company/studio/team that brought us XI, one of the most (and still one of the current) successful MMOs in history. They've clearly shown they're a contender, and can adapt to change (compare XI release and XI now...lots of changes, lots). The biggest thing that gives me hope is how SE has said, and clearly shown so far, that they took player feedback very seriously. Gives me hope. If any of you get into beta, during the heavy testing periods, give them lots and lots of feedback. The more they have, the higher chance they'll listen to it.
Sorry for the rant, but I was suddenly in a typing mood. Perhaps it's because I'm literally drunk from all the info SEs been releasing lately
I don't want it 'fast paced'. For single player use it's ok, but in groups, things are better slowed down so each member can use strategies and collaborate with others in the group. It really does make a group much more than the sum of its parts. In fast paced MMOs, a group is usually a bunch of people soloing together.
But I do agree with making the controls more universal. And definitely include a first person view mode.
Especially with the "battle regimen" system around, the combat being slower paced is almost a requirement. The players need to communicate with each other even in the tides of battle, to cooperate with each other. It's not just 2-8 individuals that happen to fight the same monsters- it's a team and teams need to work together, backing each other up and creating stronger attacks with one another.
If the combat is too fast, there's just no time for that. It's only 2-8 people that happen to fight the same monster, doing their own thing.
There are a lot of misconceptions about combat in this game because of those videos... What Hy said in an earlier post pretty much sums it up (see below). We will probably see an actual combat video with the videos SE are starting to put out or by alpha/beta testers posting videos in the future.
"Q4: You watched a German WoW player trying to play FFXIV like WoW, spamming skills. He didn't realize skills need Tactical Points to be able to be done, and especially that there is no auto-attacking in this game. All we can see in the chat log is "You don't have enough TP to execute this skill"-spam. Take those vids with a Huge grain of salt."