If the software mouse is laggy that means you have the graphic settings too high or your GPU can't keep up. I had the same problem until I tweaked down the settings and now it responds instantly.
The UI issues show what little research the devs did into other MMOs before completing their product. Right-click options are standard bells these days and not having them is just unacceptable. The actions and abiltities window is clunky and if it wasn't for the helpful person who mentored me in the use of how to add the actions I would still be using only the slash ability.
I too was embarrassed when I died for the first time and the person in my party told me to return to the camp; I had no idea as the usual pop up was not there. I felt pretty stupid having to ask the guy how to respawn.
It's hard to be impressed by the graphics because although I was able to run it at full settings (other than turning down AA to 4X) the scenery was visually lacking detail and a variety of colors. The city feels empty (long, empty corridors) expect for the market and guildleve areas. Running through the outside wilderness (after spending 30 minutes trying to get out due to the bad map graphics) I found it pretty lame as I could run by all of the mobs without any of them getting aggressive towards me.
Back to the UI again - the lack of global chat makes it hard to meet other people. Those of us starting here without friends feel a bit lonely atm.
I am sincerely hoping that the game will get more interesting after I get more comfortable and get a few levels higher. I was really looking forward to this game.
But I now realize what an incredible game AoC was at launch for new players. The biggest complaint about that game at launch was pvp balance which is not even relevant when comparing the game to a pve only game like FF.
Reviews like this are why game companies need to discontinue Open Betas. And any review that tries to definitively evaluate a game based on Beta is senseless and silly. Just one example, after closed beta SE stated in at least one interview that they were aware of dissatisfaction with the mouse by some players and they would be improving that. Not surprising that they didn't get it in the week before open beta.
A game review might be worth something once there is a live game. This is only a review of a beta test.
Open Betas are for stress testing and otherwise the project is complete. Your argument to discontinue open betas only applies for developers who are putting out a crappy product and want to sell the game before the players get a chance to realize it is not worth buying. Credit SE for providing the OB because it shows the confidence they have in their product.
It is not silly to evaluate a game in OB. Your argument only is valid for earlier beta testing experiences, not experiences 3 weeks before live launch.
...Your argument to discontinue open betas only applies for developers who are putting out a crappy product and want to sell the game before the players get a chance to realize it is not worth buying. ...
I wouldn't consider myself a FF fanboi, but I do plan on playing it. I have only ever played three FF games. FF Tactics, which I loved to death, FFVII, and I tried FFXI for about 2 months. I couldn't get past level 16 in XI without a group and sometimes it took hours to find one. So I quit.
So far this game does seem more solo friendly. It looks to still be better for group play, but at least there are options you can do solo. You aren't stuck sitting around while waiting for a group.
Mouse lag - I haven't really noticed a big issue. Then again I have a new computer built for gaming. If you're running an old PC turn down your graphics. A hardware mouse would be better, but otherwise it is mostly just people trying to run the game at settings not optimal for their PC.
UI - I admit there are a few gotchas, but nothing took more than 20 seconds to figure out. Maybe it helped that I watched a couple of Rocks Loc videos on youtube last month. Maybe it helps I've been playing MMOs for 10 years. I never had to go to a fansite to figure out the UI. For a brand new player to MMOs I can see there being confusion. For anyone else, I don't understand. It was fairly intuitive. Bring up Actions for actions, there is a drop down box on the right....use it. Most computer literate people should be able to figure it out.
I honestly don't think the UI and mouse are enough turn off to not play. Sure I too would love a hardware mouse and UI designed seperately for the PC, but I don't see it as that big of a hassle.
Bazaar - The biggest turn off for me. I wish it was more like DAoC's housing zone. Everyone had their own stall, and there was a bulletin board that let you search for items and told you which stall had the items. You'd still have to travel to the stall to buy the item and check on prices/stats, but it would be 100 times better than the current system of guesswork. Long term, unless things change I think this is the worst part. I don't want to spend hours and hours searching through retainers every time I need something. Your only hope is being in a linkshell with people who can help.
I downloaded the game just out of curiosity, incredible obstructions with getting the key, download and patching the game seemed like a nice challenge to beat
I won't comment much on the game alone, it isn't my cup of tea - I am not 13 y/o nor I am pedophile to watch juvenile characters running around.
From technical point, the game reminds me not very well made port of console game. That is why all the interface seems so much cumbersome and pain to use for PC users. I don't even think they made any effort to make the game suitable for PC mouse & keyboard. That is why the mouse and UI is so unresponsive(will be for sure fixed before release though).
OK, I started playing the beta with the idea off the bat: Do not use the mouse! I am very happy I did it this way. The game responds so gratiously when using just the keyboard. After about 5 or so hours of gameplay, I said, let me try to use the mouse like EQ2 and WoW, BAH! Makes everything feel slow and sluggish, and you can't navigate the menus well. The OP probably never WANTED to use only the keyboard, and so from his perspective the game did not do him well.
Those who have played FFXI know that using the mouse was not the way to play the game, and they will welcome FFXIV.
I for one am enjoying myself greatly, and I am sure there will be a many others that will to. Seeing the learning curve to use the keyboard only, I can see how this game might not appeal to the masses, and they will all stay low level and quit. So far, level 10+ and Ranking most of the classes, and I am thoroughly enjoying it.
Guess this game is not for those without patience. Goodbye "I want it now" crowds! You wont be missed.
But I now realize what an incredible game AoC was at launch for new players. The biggest complaint about that game at launch was pvp balance which is not even relevant when comparing the game to a pve only game like FF.
You are surely joking as the biggest complaint about AoC on launch was that the game was largely broken. You could combat fatality kill the endgame bosses with no effort, massive siege PvP was broken, crafting was broken...etc...etc.
But I now realize what an incredible game AoC was at launch for new players. The biggest complaint about that game at launch was pvp balance which is not even relevant when comparing the game to a pve only game like FF.
You are surely joking as the biggest complaint about AoC on launch was that the game was largely broken. You could combat fatality kill the endgame bosses with no effort, massive siege PvP was broken, crafting was broken...etc...etc.
1. Software mouse has the feel of moving in mud, making the whole experience laggy.
This is my single biggest issue with this game, the laggy mouse. On the PC, having a lagless, functional mouse is on my list of absolute must-haves if the company wants my money. And why not? Having shoddy mouse functionality for a PC game is absurd. Unfortunately, by all the accounts I've heard, the laggy software mouse is here to stay. People tell me to hook up a controller or whatever to play the game, but I'd need to purchase one. That brings the cost of the game from $50 to $100+, because I'm not gonna grab some shoddy break-in-a-week controller for $10. I don't have that money to drop on -any- game.
2. Controls - while wsad and left button works(laggy as wrote above) interaction with everything(items, mobs, NPCs) isn't via right click, but through menus. This with software mouse makes PC controls just a nuisance, rather then comfortable. Plugging pad helps, but hey this is a PC!
I think the controls, aside from the mouse lag, are mostly functional, but there are things they could do better. For one, most of the time, the menus take 2 or more seconds to pop up. When I have to go through several menus, it can make an otherwise mundane task take way longer than it should. Also, they need some shortcuts keys.
3. Menu here, menu there. Devs must have been obsessed by windows 98 start menu. But, but shortcuts for inventory, quest log, character screen and right clicking items/NPC to use them aren't unique enough(sarcasm!)...Not to mention it's all laggy making each NPC menu coming after 1-2 seconds.
4. No tutorial for movement, camera handling, basic combat. No tooltips for stats, indication for level up. Nothing. Go read fan made websites. There is hand holding and there is basic player friendliness. This game is unfriendly and says buzz off and stop playing. A nice example is learning through fansite that crafters have no combat skills. Sweet to know after 40 minutes of gameplay.
Yup. People on these fansites seem to insinuate that wanting any kind of accessibility is akin to wanting your hand held, which is ridiculous. There's a small handbook for certain mechanics that you can access by visiting an Aetheryte Stone. It'll be the bottom choice. The game presents it as some kind of adventuring book. You'd practically have to stumble on that one by accident, and while it helps a bit, it doesn't help nearly as much as an interactive tutorial would.
5. Shops, important NPC are yet another guy with green complicated name. Again no need for easy mode with quest tracker and !/? above NPCs. A different name color, a signboard over NPC booth would be enough. Till now I do not know where to buy anything useful, like say better equipment?
I've found that shopkeeps usually have telltale signs hanging around them. Some don't though, and have to be found by luck, more or less. As for quest offerings, I think I'm alright with the system they have in there now, the one where you have to actually talk to NPCs to find quests to go on. You do have a quest tracker, though, it's called the Journal and can be found in the main menu.
6. Death via some sweet looking creature, while shocking isn't really bad. But frustration with dead body and wondering what to do now is. No message, no pop up. Go look on fan website how to respawn. JUST DON'T DO ALT+TAB.
There are symbols next to the monster name that says whether or not it should be around your level. You can find out which symbols mean what from the book at an Aetheryte Stone. Whether these ratings are to be trusted, unlike FFXI's completely untrustworthy ratings... I don't know.
7. Alt+tab or win key in fullscreen mode. I get idea that they don't want those to work. So what to do? Normal devs would just disable those. But hell no here. Game will crash to punish stupid players. Another "uniqueness".
Fortunately, I found a way to bypass this. You can start the game up in windowed mode, set it to the resolution you're using, and then use a script to get the game into a borderless windowed state. More info on how to do this is here: http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/10729-borderless-window-script/
That script worked like a charm for me, though some people probably won't want to download some third party program to do it for them. If it wasn't for community fixes like this, I doubt I'd even be able to play the game right now. It's kind of sad how the community has to fix things in place of SE.
8. Random crashes and bugs. Enough of these to be noticeable. Black screen after SE logo, crash when servers are down, when alt tab and some random game crashes(i.e. when teleporting after completing guild leve). All sort of errors 10300. A simple message - servers are busy try again later or servers are offline or could not connect to server would solve stuff. Also some minor stuff like non-translated Japanese words.
Yeah, had it crash a couple of times myself. Speaking of non-translated things, I have some symbol at the top of the screen that gives some Japanese when I mouse over it. I'll have to found out what it is later, but things like this should have already been done if SE hopes to launch this month. There's also a good amount of errors while fighting. I routinely get "That action couldn't be performed" or similar while fighting baddies, making me unable to retaliate for a good 10 seconds. I have no idea why it happens, and with such a vague error message, probably never will.
9. Downloading patches and installing those. Making people to read fan websites to use torrent clients to download patches in somewhat comfortable way is not customer friendly. Also I never seen longer 4 GB patch applying, ever.
Yup, had to uTorrent the patches myself. Launcher wouldn't go faster than 10Kbps, whereas uTorrent got up to 600KBps. Well, hopefully they lose a lot of business if they decide not to competently design a patcher.
The good.
1. Graphic of course. Though with hardware requirements it should be awesome. And it is. Cut-scenes are really nice looking. So are avatars and NPCs. Though more main NPC voicing would be nice.
2. Music. Very nice and definitely adding a level of additional immersion.
3. Story. Polished and nice. This is where true potential of this game lies.
4. Many unique features - crafting, repairing, class changing and many more. Definetely some refreshment here.
Gotta agree with these things. I quite enjoy my time logging and mining with their little mini-game. That is, when I'm not stumbling over the UI and mouse controls.
Final words
I'd gladly pay and play this game if it's gameplay was at least a bit user friendly. But it is not. It's just opposite way. And fanboism in comments below won't change it. "Fairness in controls for PC/PS3", "no hand holding", "unique design", "it's SE game", "it's beta", "go play WoW". I've seen those comments enough times already but those are just poor excuses. And one final note, this is just my opinion mixed with some facts about UI/controls, not the ultimate truth about game. I'll give it a shot after half a year as I hope this is enough time to finish the half baked game.
The game is close to being something worth paying for, but if they don't plan on making decent PC controls, I guess that's that. They should stick to console games if they can't be arsed to properly design their PC games/ports.
Comments in orange.
On a side note, I've never seen another beta where the company denied access to the official forums for an entire section of the population. Nothing says "I care" like not accepting any kind of feedback from your biggest beta segment.
In short - after playing OB yesterday I can only say one thing - I'm not FF fan enough to deal with this game. If You are looking for game with beautiful graphics, story and player friendly gameplay LOTRO is having free to try launch very soon, wait and try, save Yourself frustration.
And the longer version
The bad:
1. Software mouse has the feel of moving in mud, making the whole experience laggy.
2. Controls - while wsad and left button works(laggy as wrote above) interaction with everything(items, mobs, NPCs) isn't via right click, but through menus. This with software mouse makes PC controls just a nuisance, rather then comfortable. Plugging pad helps, but hey this is a PC!
3. Menu here, menu there. Devs must have been obsessed by windows 98 start menu. But, but shortcuts for inventory, quest log, character screen and right clicking items/NPC to use them aren't unique enough(sarcasm!)...Not to mention it's all laggy making each NPC menu coming after 1-2 seconds.
4. No tutorial for movement, camera handling, basic combat. No tooltips for stats, indication for level up. Nothing. Go read fan made websites. There is hand holding and there is basic player friendliness. This game is unfriendly and says buzz off and stop playing. A nice example is learning through fansite that crafters have no combat skills. Sweet to know after 40 minutes of gameplay.
5. Shops, important NPC are yet another guy with green complicated name. Again no need for easy mode with quest tracker and !/? above NPCs. A different name color, a signboard over NPC booth would be enough. Till now I do not know where to buy anything useful, like say better equipment?
6. Death via some sweet looking creature, while shocking isn't really bad. But frustration with dead body and wondering what to do now is. No message, no pop up. Go look on fan website how to respawn. JUST DON'T DO ALT+TAB.
7. Alt+tab or win key in fullscreen mode. I get idea that they don't want those to work. So what to do? Normal devs would just disable those. But hell no here. Game will crash to punish stupid players. Another "uniqueness".
8. Random crashes and bugs. Enough of these to be noticeable. Black screen after SE logo, crash when servers are down, when alt tab and some random game crashes(i.e. when teleporting after completing guild leve). All sort of errors 10300. A simple message - servers are busy try again later or servers are offline or could not connect to server would solve stuff. Also some minor stuff like non-translated Japanese words.
9. Downloading patches and installing those. Making people to read fan websites to use torrent clients to download patches in somewhat comfortable way is not customer friendly. Also I never seen longer 4 GB patch applying, ever.
The good.
1. Graphic of course. Though with hardware requirements it should be awesome. And it is. Cut-scenes are really nice looking. So are avatars and NPCs. Though more main NPC voicing would be nice.
2. Music. Very nice and definitely adding a level of additional immersion.
3. Story. Polished and nice. This is where true potential of this game lies.
4. Many unique features - crafting, repairing, class changing and many more. Definetely some refreshment here.
Final words
I'd gladly pay and play this game if it's gameplay was at least a bit user friendly. But it is not. It's just opposite way. And fanboism in comments below won't change it. "Fairness in controls for PC/PS3", "no hand holding", "unique design", "it's SE game", "it's beta", "go play WoW". I've seen those comments enough times already but those are just poor excuses. And one final note, this is just my opinion mixed with some facts about UI/controls, not the ultimate truth about game. I'll give it a shot after half a year as I hope this is enough time to finish the half baked game.
After trying teh beta for a several hours I'd say I agree with most of your points. It's a visually impressive game with a seemingly nice storyline and some unique features but things like extremely annoying mouse lag (please stop with "your PC is not adequate" nonsense - my PC is MORE than adequate, I have ALWAYS had (starting with Voodoo 2 cards running in SLI in 1998) the most up-to-date and the best performing hardware inside my own PC since I waste most of my free time on playing various PC games and I have plenty of $$$ to support this hobby) and general unfriendliness (points 4-6 in your post are the best illustration for this) made me completely lose all the interest in this game. Maybe all (or some) of these annoyances will be fixed in the final version later this month, but at that time I probably wouldn't care anymore and would definitely not waste any $$$ (unless there will be free trial) just to try and see how well those fixes (if there will be any) were implemented.
I played FFXI for 6 years or so, and i'm kind of torn with FFXIV. I like the combat in the game, it is really engaging when you are actually playing it (just watching it on videos is like watching chess...boring to watch but fun to play).
To be honest I was hoping for a WoW style of game set in the Final Fantasy universe :P lol this is the one time I wanted a game to be somewhat of a WoW clone...
It isn't a big deal though, I'm still going to play it and give it a chance. FFXI brought me into the MMO genre, so naturally i'm going to see what their next MMO will be like. I won't judge a game based on its' beta, there are too many factors during beta that won't be their when it actually goes live.
In short - after playing OB yesterday I can only say one thing - I'm not FF fan enough to deal with this game. If You are looking for game with beautiful graphics, story and player friendly gameplay LOTRO is having free to try launch very soon, wait and try, save Yourself frustration.
5. Shops, important NPC are yet another guy with green complicated name. Again no need for easy mode with quest tracker and !/? above NPCs. A different name color, a signboard over NPC booth would be enough. Till now I do not know where to buy anything useful, like say better equipment?
you know i resepect peoples opinions but one quick glance at your map and you would have seen all the shops, class guilds etc.
Waiting for:EQ-Next, ArcheAge (not so much anymore) Now Playing: N/A Worst MMO: FFXIV Favorite MMO: FFXI
Oh yes the map. Is there acutally a way to move the map around or zoom out so I can see the the whole map of where I currently am?? Or are you supposed to just wander around until, just by luck, you went in the right direction and it finally pops up?
I don't remember who said it.... but abysmal is the right word good sir.
First impression: It's slowly bringing me back to the good old days of FFXI but I'm not quite there. It is taking some getting used to and I'm confused as to where I can go or what the attributes do and such.... I'll give it more time before I write up m opinion but I will say there is an adjustment period. Still it's pretty and the cutscenes are fun.. and the final game will of course come with a manual that would clear up a lot of things. I don't even see where it says the level of an enemy for example?
Oh yes the map. Is there acutally a way to move the map around or zoom out so I can see the the whole map of where I currently am?? Or are you supposed to just wander around until, just by luck, you went in the right direction and it finally pops up?
I don't remember who said it.... but abysmal is the right word good sir.
You can move the map around. On my controller, it's the right thumbstick once the map is opened.
In short - after playing OB yesterday I can only say one thing - I'm not FF fan enough to deal with this game. If You are looking for game with beautiful graphics, story and player friendly gameplay LOTRO is having free to try launch very soon, wait and try, save Yourself frustration.
5. Shops, important NPC are yet another guy with green complicated name. Again no need for easy mode with quest tracker and !/? above NPCs. A different name color, a signboard over NPC booth would be enough. Till now I do not know where to buy anything useful, like say better equipment?
you know i resepect peoples opinions but one quick glance at your map and you would have seen all the shops, class guilds etc.
I havent yet found where to buy a conjurers staff in Gridania. Found the guild of course, but they dont sell them. Found the merchant area but they dont either. Pugilist, gladiator and I think one other class's weapons but no conjurer.
Oh yes the map. Is there acutally a way to move the map around or zoom out so I can see the the whole map of where I currently am?? Or are you supposed to just wander around until, just by luck, you went in the right direction and it finally pops up?
I don't remember who said it.... but abysmal is the right word good sir.
i, j, k, and L move the map. Also, when Im trying to figure out what key to use I open the main menu using the home key then choose configuration and there is a place in there that allows you to see and change keybindings. I think its called lock, but if not just look around.
@svann I noticed those were moving my camera. I didn't realize they moved the map too. Thanks!
Also I have noticed a lot of poorly translated lines already (and I haven't talked to that many people). You read them and the sentence just makes no sense lol
@svann I noticed those were moving my camera. I didn't realize they moved the map too. Thanks!
Also I have noticed a lot of poorly translated lines already (and I haven't talked to that many people). You read them and the sentence just makes no sense lol
Theres actually a few words in quest text that are still in japanese language/font! Gotta remember to find the translator next time I login.
Yet another unfinished MMORPG scam it sounds like. Square Enix has the funding. No excuses.
yeah not only sounds like, its exactly what it is, ull have to be a pretty hardcore FF fan to like it, or just never ever have tried a good game in your entire life, so that you dont know anything else.
but i guess it doesnt come as a shock seeing how badly south it went with ff13..
i absolutely LOVE the series up to 11, from there its just shit piled upon more shit and they want cash for it, the old FF series has already died, now its a cashcow
but this game really sets an all new low for the series and im shocked it can actually use the name "final fantasy"
On the first page a lot of people are saying that this game is for people who loved FFXI.
Well I love FFXI. I played it from start till about a year ago. However I'm not a FF 'fanboy' as I've only played a handful of FF games.
I do not like this game so far. I'm still waiting longer to see what development happen during open beta, hopefully improvements enough to make me change my mind. Right now the game feels like an alpha, not a beta, definately not an open beta and most surely not about a month away from release.
I understand it's daunting to think about releasing against something like TOR but this game seriously need more dev time to be worth calling 'finished' in terms of launching a MMO. Heck, getting rid of all the UI and npc lag would go a long way. (and i'm not going to even mention the mouse)
I'm a bit of a MMORPG junkie, been playing them since the beginning, and I love the FF series. I DON'T love the PC games that try to force me to not use my mouse though. I have consoles to play games when I want to use a controller.
This game could be interesting but if I were to pay $60 and hopped into this game as it is I'd be pissed. Can't adjust video settings from within the game? Can't alt-tab when I finally figure out how to change the settings? My mouse moves like a turtle and doesn't do anything I expect it to like every other PC game out there? The game tells me to do things but doesn't tell me HOW to do them?
This is the most user unfriendly game I've tried I think. Well except for maybe FFIX. I'm not sure which of these two is worse, but the user interface and controls in both of these have really turned me off from them.
And "what, are you too lazy to read a book to figure stuff out?" is about the most asinine comment I've seen on these forums yet I think. Seriously? You shouldn't have to read a book to figure out how to play a game. Dear lord. More to the point, you shouldn't have to TRY to figure out how to play a game. It should be obvious. If it's not immediately obvious it should be MADE obvious immediately within the game. That's what user-friendly means.
And "it's beta" isn't an appropriate response at this point in development either. There should be such glaring issues as crashing on alt-tab, or missing an in-game option to change settings, or for your mouse to barely work. The translation issues I've seen? Sure, understandable. Some stuttering graphics? Sure, it happens. But those other issues? Yikes.
But like others I'll stick around to help them stress things and hope that there's something super awesome about the game to make me somehow forget the atrocious UI and controls. It looks pretty, and I'm always looking for the next game to play. But I have some serious doubts so far.
Comments
If the software mouse is laggy that means you have the graphic settings too high or your GPU can't keep up. I had the same problem until I tweaked down the settings and now it responds instantly.
The UI issues show what little research the devs did into other MMOs before completing their product. Right-click options are standard bells these days and not having them is just unacceptable. The actions and abiltities window is clunky and if it wasn't for the helpful person who mentored me in the use of how to add the actions I would still be using only the slash ability.
I too was embarrassed when I died for the first time and the person in my party told me to return to the camp; I had no idea as the usual pop up was not there. I felt pretty stupid having to ask the guy how to respawn.
It's hard to be impressed by the graphics because although I was able to run it at full settings (other than turning down AA to 4X) the scenery was visually lacking detail and a variety of colors. The city feels empty (long, empty corridors) expect for the market and guildleve areas. Running through the outside wilderness (after spending 30 minutes trying to get out due to the bad map graphics) I found it pretty lame as I could run by all of the mobs without any of them getting aggressive towards me.
Back to the UI again - the lack of global chat makes it hard to meet other people. Those of us starting here without friends feel a bit lonely atm.
I am sincerely hoping that the game will get more interesting after I get more comfortable and get a few levels higher. I was really looking forward to this game.
But I now realize what an incredible game AoC was at launch for new players. The biggest complaint about that game at launch was pvp balance which is not even relevant when comparing the game to a pve only game like FF.
Open Betas are for stress testing and otherwise the project is complete. Your argument to discontinue open betas only applies for developers who are putting out a crappy product and want to sell the game before the players get a chance to realize it is not worth buying. Credit SE for providing the OB because it shows the confidence they have in their product.
It is not silly to evaluate a game in OB. Your argument only is valid for earlier beta testing experiences, not experiences 3 weeks before live launch.
I wouldn't consider myself a FF fanboi, but I do plan on playing it. I have only ever played three FF games. FF Tactics, which I loved to death, FFVII, and I tried FFXI for about 2 months. I couldn't get past level 16 in XI without a group and sometimes it took hours to find one. So I quit.
So far this game does seem more solo friendly. It looks to still be better for group play, but at least there are options you can do solo. You aren't stuck sitting around while waiting for a group.
Mouse lag - I haven't really noticed a big issue. Then again I have a new computer built for gaming. If you're running an old PC turn down your graphics. A hardware mouse would be better, but otherwise it is mostly just people trying to run the game at settings not optimal for their PC.
UI - I admit there are a few gotchas, but nothing took more than 20 seconds to figure out. Maybe it helped that I watched a couple of Rocks Loc videos on youtube last month. Maybe it helps I've been playing MMOs for 10 years. I never had to go to a fansite to figure out the UI. For a brand new player to MMOs I can see there being confusion. For anyone else, I don't understand. It was fairly intuitive. Bring up Actions for actions, there is a drop down box on the right....use it. Most computer literate people should be able to figure it out.
I honestly don't think the UI and mouse are enough turn off to not play. Sure I too would love a hardware mouse and UI designed seperately for the PC, but I don't see it as that big of a hassle.
Bazaar - The biggest turn off for me. I wish it was more like DAoC's housing zone. Everyone had their own stall, and there was a bulletin board that let you search for items and told you which stall had the items. You'd still have to travel to the stall to buy the item and check on prices/stats, but it would be 100 times better than the current system of guesswork. Long term, unless things change I think this is the worst part. I don't want to spend hours and hours searching through retainers every time I need something. Your only hope is being in a linkshell with people who can help.
I downloaded the game just out of curiosity, incredible obstructions with getting the key, download and patching the game seemed like a nice challenge to beat
I won't comment much on the game alone, it isn't my cup of tea - I am not 13 y/o nor I am pedophile to watch juvenile characters running around.
From technical point, the game reminds me not very well made port of console game. That is why all the interface seems so much cumbersome and pain to use for PC users. I don't even think they made any effort to make the game suitable for PC mouse & keyboard. That is why the mouse and UI is so unresponsive(will be for sure fixed before release though).
Is FF XI the same in this aspect?
OK, I started playing the beta with the idea off the bat: Do not use the mouse! I am very happy I did it this way. The game responds so gratiously when using just the keyboard. After about 5 or so hours of gameplay, I said, let me try to use the mouse like EQ2 and WoW, BAH! Makes everything feel slow and sluggish, and you can't navigate the menus well. The OP probably never WANTED to use only the keyboard, and so from his perspective the game did not do him well.
Those who have played FFXI know that using the mouse was not the way to play the game, and they will welcome FFXIV.
I for one am enjoying myself greatly, and I am sure there will be a many others that will to. Seeing the learning curve to use the keyboard only, I can see how this game might not appeal to the masses, and they will all stay low level and quit. So far, level 10+ and Ranking most of the classes, and I am thoroughly enjoying it.
Guess this game is not for those without patience. Goodbye "I want it now" crowds! You wont be missed.
You are surely joking as the biggest complaint about AoC on launch was that the game was largely broken. You could combat fatality kill the endgame bosses with no effort, massive siege PvP was broken, crafting was broken...etc...etc.Wow, you did all that at launch? Wow.
to reply to topic title...
Fans of what?
Not ff12, that's for sure. Not ff10, not ff7, 8, and 9, and certainly not fans of ff6.
Fans of ff11? Fans of ff13? Possible since that game sucked too.
Good because FFXI was a great game.
Comments in orange.
On a side note, I've never seen another beta where the company denied access to the official forums for an entire section of the population. Nothing says "I care" like not accepting any kind of feedback from your biggest beta segment.
After trying teh beta for a several hours I'd say I agree with most of your points. It's a visually impressive game with a seemingly nice storyline and some unique features but things like extremely annoying mouse lag (please stop with "your PC is not adequate" nonsense - my PC is MORE than adequate, I have ALWAYS had (starting with Voodoo 2 cards running in SLI in 1998) the most up-to-date and the best performing hardware inside my own PC since I waste most of my free time on playing various PC games and I have plenty of $$$ to support this hobby) and general unfriendliness (points 4-6 in your post are the best illustration for this) made me completely lose all the interest in this game. Maybe all (or some) of these annoyances will be fixed in the final version later this month, but at that time I probably wouldn't care anymore and would definitely not waste any $$$ (unless there will be free trial) just to try and see how well those fixes (if there will be any) were implemented.
I played FFXI for 6 years or so, and i'm kind of torn with FFXIV. I like the combat in the game, it is really engaging when you are actually playing it (just watching it on videos is like watching chess...boring to watch but fun to play).
To be honest I was hoping for a WoW style of game set in the Final Fantasy universe :P lol this is the one time I wanted a game to be somewhat of a WoW clone...
It isn't a big deal though, I'm still going to play it and give it a chance. FFXI brought me into the MMO genre, so naturally i'm going to see what their next MMO will be like. I won't judge a game based on its' beta, there are too many factors during beta that won't be their when it actually goes live.
you know i resepect peoples opinions but one quick glance at your map and you would have seen all the shops, class guilds etc.
Waiting for:EQ-Next, ArcheAge (not so much anymore)
Now Playing: N/A
Worst MMO: FFXIV
Favorite MMO: FFXI
Oh yes the map. Is there acutally a way to move the map around or zoom out so I can see the the whole map of where I currently am?? Or are you supposed to just wander around until, just by luck, you went in the right direction and it finally pops up?
I don't remember who said it.... but abysmal is the right word good sir.
Yet another unfinished MMORPG scam it sounds like. Square Enix has the funding. No excuses.
First impression: It's slowly bringing me back to the good old days of FFXI but I'm not quite there. It is taking some getting used to and I'm confused as to where I can go or what the attributes do and such.... I'll give it more time before I write up m opinion but I will say there is an adjustment period. Still it's pretty and the cutscenes are fun.. and the final game will of course come with a manual that would clear up a lot of things. I don't even see where it says the level of an enemy for example?
FFXI is my favorite MMO
FFXIV not so sure yet.
It's just going to take some adjustment.
You can move the map around. On my controller, it's the right thumbstick once the map is opened.
I havent yet found where to buy a conjurers staff in Gridania. Found the guild of course, but they dont sell them. Found the merchant area but they dont either. Pugilist, gladiator and I think one other class's weapons but no conjurer.
i, j, k, and L move the map. Also, when Im trying to figure out what key to use I open the main menu using the home key then choose configuration and there is a place in there that allows you to see and change keybindings. I think its called lock, but if not just look around.
@Hryar thank you for trying
@svann I noticed those were moving my camera. I didn't realize they moved the map too. Thanks!
Also I have noticed a lot of poorly translated lines already (and I haven't talked to that many people). You read them and the sentence just makes no sense lol
Theres actually a few words in quest text that are still in japanese language/font! Gotta remember to find the translator next time I login.
yeah not only sounds like, its exactly what it is, ull have to be a pretty hardcore FF fan to like it, or just never ever have tried a good game in your entire life, so that you dont know anything else.
but i guess it doesnt come as a shock seeing how badly south it went with ff13..
i absolutely LOVE the series up to 11, from there its just shit piled upon more shit and they want cash for it, the old FF series has already died, now its a cashcow
but this game really sets an all new low for the series and im shocked it can actually use the name "final fantasy"
On the first page a lot of people are saying that this game is for people who loved FFXI.
Well I love FFXI. I played it from start till about a year ago. However I'm not a FF 'fanboy' as I've only played a handful of FF games.
I do not like this game so far. I'm still waiting longer to see what development happen during open beta, hopefully improvements enough to make me change my mind. Right now the game feels like an alpha, not a beta, definately not an open beta and most surely not about a month away from release.
I understand it's daunting to think about releasing against something like TOR but this game seriously need more dev time to be worth calling 'finished' in terms of launching a MMO. Heck, getting rid of all the UI and npc lag would go a long way. (and i'm not going to even mention the mouse)
I'm a bit of a MMORPG junkie, been playing them since the beginning, and I love the FF series. I DON'T love the PC games that try to force me to not use my mouse though. I have consoles to play games when I want to use a controller.
This game could be interesting but if I were to pay $60 and hopped into this game as it is I'd be pissed. Can't adjust video settings from within the game? Can't alt-tab when I finally figure out how to change the settings? My mouse moves like a turtle and doesn't do anything I expect it to like every other PC game out there? The game tells me to do things but doesn't tell me HOW to do them?
This is the most user unfriendly game I've tried I think. Well except for maybe FFIX. I'm not sure which of these two is worse, but the user interface and controls in both of these have really turned me off from them.
And "what, are you too lazy to read a book to figure stuff out?" is about the most asinine comment I've seen on these forums yet I think. Seriously? You shouldn't have to read a book to figure out how to play a game. Dear lord. More to the point, you shouldn't have to TRY to figure out how to play a game. It should be obvious. If it's not immediately obvious it should be MADE obvious immediately within the game. That's what user-friendly means.
And "it's beta" isn't an appropriate response at this point in development either. There should be such glaring issues as crashing on alt-tab, or missing an in-game option to change settings, or for your mouse to barely work. The translation issues I've seen? Sure, understandable. Some stuttering graphics? Sure, it happens. But those other issues? Yikes.
But like others I'll stick around to help them stress things and hope that there's something super awesome about the game to make me somehow forget the atrocious UI and controls. It looks pretty, and I'm always looking for the next game to play. But I have some serious doubts so far.