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Final Fantasy Beta Impressions
Nesrie
Member Posts: 648
Now just to put this up front, this only my opinion, not some case for or against fans and haters. I am sure either or both will dislike what I am saying, but I’ll proceed anyway.
I played a bit, stopped for a few days to focus on work, and to reflect on what I was thinking about the game. I never thought much about FFXI when it was launched for reasons I don’t quite remember, but as some might suggest, I am not exactly a hardcore MMO player. I’ve played a fair amount of EQ1 (a few before that even), CoH, LOTRO and EQ2 extended at the moment. That’s just a bit of background to let people know, I certainly don’t need handholding or easy easy easy. There was nothing especially easy about EQ when I played it (corpse rotting for one). Anyway, on to FFXIV.
There is a lot I like about this game, but everything I like about the game seems attached to something I don’t care for, a sort of dichotomy issue I have going.
The character models are beautiful, and I just love them. They are appealing look at both static and moving. <> The character creation process is awful, doesn’t have enough options and doesn’t even give you a 360 degree view of a 3D model you will be using for the life of the game like pretty much every other game does since the genre went 3D.
The game world is stunning, absolutely gorgeous to look at. There is a lot of love and art put into the presentation of this world that is, uniquely, a part of the Final Fantasy world. That explore this world feeling has blossomed here. <> The pathing plays like an RPG, not an MMORPG. It feels like there are set tracks, and you can’t even walk over/jump small inclines. It’s not as bad as playing on rails, but it is more restrictive than I am used to seeing in MMORPGs... more like something you would find in the Dragon Age sort of thing.
I love the ability to shift classes, to just experiment a bit. I wish every game gave you the ability to do that on some level. Each class feels unique and interesting too. <> The actual act of changing careers is spending too much time in the menu switching your gear. I can’t believe they don’t just allow to have pre-made ready to go equipment sets for this that you change out as you get better gear but can switch to on the fly. Maybe macros do this, but as I said, I am a bit more casual in MMOs than other genres, don't do much with macros ever.
The crafting system… by god this is a rich and robust. I love crafting, and I love fighting and the ability to do both, and know that doing both or even either matters in this world, well that’s great. It’s complex, and I am sure I will stumble figuring it out, but I don’t mind learning. <> By god is lag noticeable here, for me walking up to a tree and getting to the point where I may or may not get a resource from my efforts and/or mini-game can take a couple of minutes. I know this sounds like a miniscule amount of time but I can click to start the process go get a glass of water or something and come back feeling I didn’t really waste any time. It is that slow.
I am a PvE player, love playing with players against the world, the AI, the NPCs, whatever you call it so grouping is expected and wanted in the game. It’s early still, so grouping might not be as necessary as it will be later, but I love it anyway. <> The friends list, chatting to others… it’s not that it’s bad, it just seems like some of the other games, a generation or even two behind XIV, do it better. It feels a little obtuse to add people and just plan things, not impossible mind you just not as current as I thought it might be. I’ll have to play with this more to get better at explaining what I mean I think.
The maps are beautiful, feel like an actual map instead of a user interface tool to help you move around the game. It looks great. <> I find the main map to be kind of a pain to use. It doesn’t always to seem to center on me automatically sometimes, and getting it to shift with the ijkl… ugh. The mini-map seems pretty minimal too and not that useful because its radius is so small.
Other games seem to do more with theirs.
The user interface isn’t always in your face. I’ve got 6 horizontal toolbars and one vertical bar going on EQ2 in addition to the mini maps and other tools so basically half the screen is hidden by interface. XIV doesn’t do this so you see much of the world. <> On the other hand bringing up the UI and using it is just painfully annoying to do. I hate the UI. I hate how it works with the mouse and keyboard. I thought I would run into issues using the mouse, as in the mouse would not respond. That’s not the problem.
The menu system, just getting your toolbar/hotbar up is such a pain and you have to keep changing it to fit your job. It doesn’t remember your selection so you’re constantly changing gears and constantly changing your hotbar. Keeping in mind, the game is supposed to be designed for you to change jobs. I find it boggling it doesn’t do better at accommodating the changes.
XIV players a bit more like an open world than some other more heavily guided games. You can go explore, find things, die from things, and check out dungeons that don’t seem as obvious that they are dungeons… that’s great. <> There aren’t enough random mobs to kill. This could be an issue easily fixed of course and not entirely uncommon for newbie zone/areas but it seems a little more of an issue in this game than I expected.
There is no plus for this one, I am afraid. The lack of feedback from SE on patches, or even the ability to give feedback is just… well it’s just. Not a selling point for me at all.
In summary, I am pretty much leaning towards this not being my game which is, of course, okay. I don't expect all games to cater to me. I can put up with number of things, but the UI combined with some of these issues, not all of them listed, would make the experience just more aggravating to me. It’s a weird position I find myself in though because there is so much about the game I do like and wish to have it put into another game with a better interface mostly. Like I said, I playing EQ2 now and find myself almost overwhelmed with the amount of stuff throw at me. Gear, crap loot, quest items, heck just quests. I don’t mind at all playing for a while using the same gear for several levels or having a few quests and then just getting to go “camp” a dungeon or something. I’ve played a few betas lately too that I completely rejected, even hated so much of the game I had very little positive to say about the game in the end.
Fortunately, I don’t hate XIV, but I do hate the GUI to the point where I just can’t see myself playing it for long without wanting to take my mouse and keyboard and find some fragile thing to implant them into in a permanent basis.
Hopefully I don’t get too many people angry at me over this, but I suppose passions ride high in regards to new releases. I tried very hard not to focus on any beta type issues that hopefully will be fixed (I crash at least once every few hours, translations, that god awful downloader).
One last closing thought… this game sure made me remember fondly my early gaming days of playing FF games on NES and SNES… miss that. I’ve got a lot of respect SE, I really do.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
Comments
My main problem at this point is the UI.
I don't mean controller vs. keyboard/mouse. I played FFXI and actually liked kicking back in my chair to play instead of hunching over a keyboard for 6+ hours. Warcraft gave me neck/back/arm problems from playing it too long where as my 2+ years playing FFXI with a controller never gave me any issues with physical fatigue.
What I do mean is the lag and the lack of ease with nested menus. I never had a problem with using a controller in FFXI but I feel taxed using one so far in FFXIV. I hope they make the interface a bit more intuative.
I'll give you a for instance, in FFXI you could press the right or left menu button to essentially "page down" where as in FFXIV you have to manually click down, down, down, down X1000000 to reach what you want. It seems like they tried TOO hard to make this game different than FFXI for some reason.
I hope a few of the issues are resolved at release.
You can actually rotate your character when creating it using the camera keys and the movement keys.(i've taken to using the game pad and I don't recall what's what)
I think there is definitely a strong sentiment by many that the UI is just too cumbersome(and laggy) for a modern MMO. I love the game when not dealing with it.
At the end of the day it's.
UI crits you for 9999.
Drop the next-gen marketing and people will argue if the game itself has merit.
UI crits you for 9999.
^ This.
I finally decided to try to do level ~10 Battlecraft Guildleves today. There were 3 of them. I spent my old Guildleves and saw what might have actually been equipment upgrades as rewards. I crashed during all 3. Well.. that's my 2 days gone. =
Random frustrating things are making me start to not like this game however much I try to like it.
Objectivity is delivered with a lack of personality made for the mainstream but never used for the mainstream.
I wholeheartedly agree with the OP's review, and it is the best review I've read on this forum. I think what sums up your review is what I've been feeling after playing a ton of the beta.
SE has great artists and animators. They also have some interesting ideas unique to the franchise, such as on-the-fly class switching. But SE is too incompetent at the implementation of their ideas. The rich crafting (and fighting, and about everything else) is bogged down by sometimes horrendous lag; the party/social possibilities are stymied by substandard friending/inviting/chatting; the beautiful hand-drawn map stutters when moved while the mini-map is too small...
Every one of those is an implementation shortcoming towards what otherwise could've been a wonderful feature of the game.
I feel like SE could do itself a favor by moving some of their art/animation budget into hiring the caliber of software engineers and UX designers a global game studio should have.
If you look into macros, you could switch classes and skills with a push of a button...makes the game fun...although the amount of time to get to buyingselling to NPC is just slow SE needs to focus on limiting the amount of steps it takes to do such things... Who ever thought of this UI should be fired. But again I say, if you make macros ..then switching classes and skills is simple and fun. As for crashes, if it happenes on release then I want game time refunded...
OPs Impressions gel well with my opinions on the game...I in no way hate the game and feel there's a lot in it could grow to liek even more but there's too much in the way of that for me to want o call this my game...I don't want o have to use a controller if I don't want to or to have to write pages of macros to make the UI functional....on the positive side I do like the look of the UI but I've always favored minimalist looks to my UI when possible.
Today I did alot of everything and the only issue so far is that the game still needs more optimizing. I run a I-5 750 quad 8 gigs ram DDR3, 2.66 ghz and GTX 465 and I still get some lag in certtain areas in Limsa Lominsa but nothing game breaking here at all. I think once Square Enix optiimizes better and people get a better handle of the UI then its all good from here.
I don't think you'll make anyone mad with that post Nesrie. I thought it was pretty good and I can understand those aspects you didn't like. To me it almost seems that if you were to spend some time playing with macros and giving a controller a shot that you might like the game. I don't know how the game plays with a controller though, I'm going to assume it's just like FFXI. I thought it was kinda silly to play an mmorpg with a controller but after recently giving FFXI a shot I'm diggin it. I'm not trying to persuade you to buy FFXIV btw. Very good post and very well stated. I hope you find a game that works for you.
Wrong, I use a gamepad, my right joystick (controls the camera) rotates the character in the character creator. I asume that whatever controls the camera on the keyboard will rotate the character in the character creator. But there is a 360 view of your character. I highly doubt its only limited to gamepad users.
Waiting for:EQ-Next, ArcheAge (not so much anymore)
Now Playing: N/A
Worst MMO: FFXIV
Favorite MMO: FFXI
Would probably work that way for me as well, but...a game that more or less forces you to make your own macros in 2010??? I think I will wait a while and see what happens to this game a week or two after launch before buying (or get a ps3 and play it on since it seems to be developed with the ps3 in mind).
Yeah I get what you're saying about the macros. Who knows in the future they might change things a bit to where you don't need to make a macro for gear changes. Probably not though. I know some people use macros in WoW as well though, no doubt not to the extent they'd be used in FFXIV. Anyways, if anyone is on the fence about this game and might consider giving the game another go come launch time, keep watching this forum as I have no use for the buddy pass that comes with my CE so I'll probably make a post in the future offering it up to someone. That would give someone a free month to play around with it and make a decision.
You can rotate during character creation with J and L keys. Funnily enough, they are the camera move keys lol :P
I was wrong its not the controls that move the camera, but the controls that move the character. That will move your character in the CC.
Waiting for:EQ-Next, ArcheAge (not so much anymore)
Now Playing: N/A
Worst MMO: FFXIV
Favorite MMO: FFXI
No one will get mad at constructive criticism or praise silly bear. It was a good write up. It seems like the game just isn't for you as it isn't for many others. It will probably be a niche game like XI, but for those that it is good for it is really really damn good. I think it's good to have games like this and EVE and Darkfall and all the other niche games because it gives those rare people their really really damn good time.
Well i can't say much yet, as laptop + hotel c/x = fail, but now that i managed to do the "pain in the butt" installation process (i was taking some time in relocating my documents...) and have the game on my rig, i'm kinda stunned.
About controls, on the laptop again it was a pain, even with a G13, but i got amazed when i plugged one 360 controler here; this game's really made for controlers, seriously.
As the OP said, with keyboard and mouse u can't even rotate ur char (or i dunno how) but with controler it's easy, it makes character creating much better.
So, i'll see how it goes in terms of content, but FFXI was good for me, so if FFXIV's bout the same but with better variety in mobs and tad buffed up gameplay, it might be goodie for the coming months (till TOR or maybe GW2 or even TERA).
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That they support macros is a great thing especially since there are a limted number of buttons on a controller. But I agree that "NEEDING" to use macros is unfortunate. This could be easily fixed by simply having the game remember what your equiped actions were in association with any given weapon or tool. If I reequip my Weathered Cane or any equivelent. It should be smart enough to put all my conjuror spells back in the slots they were last in. That one change would make a huge difference.
Another change that needs to be made of course is better mouse support. That is, they need to allow a click on inert environment to move the character to that location. This would require no changes for existing controls and wouldn't give the mouse user any ability that isn't duplicatable with a controller. They also need to add context menus on objects and UI elements.
Finally, they need to have a default controller setup in place. They designed the whole interface around a console controller but when you plug a controller in it doesn't do anything by default? That is simply idiotic. It is ok to have to fix something if you by an off brand controller and it is to be expected that some people will not prefer the default lay out. But to have to configure from scratch a controller which is very nearly necessary when you are not familiar with what any of these commands do in the game is crazy.
All die, so die well.
Overall, for myself of course, the game is growing on me. I have no doubt there will be more content. I am growing to enjoy the story delivery philosophy. I love the graphics and audio. The environment design is awesome. The world feels very real. You really get the impression that each NPC is someone in this world. I love the job system. I am very impressed with the detail of the crafting system and love the way it is being made central to the game's economy.
I only have two real problems.
First, the UI will be a hinderance to a lot of people. I am finally getting used to it because I forced my way though it but most people will not give it hour after hour of second chance. I really feel like I cannot recommend the game to most of my friends and guildmates simply because the UI is will be too offputing. I know one girl who would absolutely fall in love with the Lalafel. Unfortunately I also know that she is a casual enough player that she would never be willing to spend the time to learn the interface. She just wants to sit down and enjoy a game, not conquer the UI monster.
The second problem is the system requirements. I have one friend who is a FFXI vet. He is the reason I have this game as much chance as I did. He is a true believer and was a guarenteed sale. But right now he is not sure if he will be able to play the game because it bogs down on his machine too much. He is calling it lag and is hoping that it will be fixed soon so he can play without cussing. I am not so sure it is lag as in server or network lag. I am concerned that it is lagging because of the steep local system requirements. They need to perhaps allow the graphics to be configured down more so that people with lesser machines can enjoy at least the game if not the graphics.
These are the two biggest issued that I see limiting the wider adoption of this game.
All die, so die well.
I'll say one thing, the game so far is a pain in the ass, All the crap you gotta do to get to the download link, wow. Then download a 117 meg client installer, then have it tell you that you need SP3 for XP. What kind of game tells you that a specific SP is needed? Yeah yeah I should be on WIndows 7 well this si a work laptop and im not due for a new one till 2012 :P
I hope all this bs is worth it. I have NEVER played an FF game before but tons of mmo's. Is everyone accepted in to beta or should I feel special?
Well finally finished the sp3 install, then the client install, run the client and poof, ffxixboot.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. we are sorry for the inconvenience.
So far, the game blows lol.
I guess I was wrong about the 360 degree thing. Sorry about that. It is, however, yet another control scheme clearly designed for the gamepads to find it easily but for m/kb to struggle to figure out what keys they'd use.
I believe the server was down today (so I was told)... maybe that was your issue?
I to have a gamepad actually, saitek, but it's not something i like to use so much as toy with with games that are ports for a few weeks. MMOs that I plan to play for a year or longer, it's pretty important for me to use the pc as pcs are intended. I have my console for gamepad action.
Thanks everyone for taking time to "hear" my feedback and taking it so well, and even to manage to point out I was incorrect in a mostly nice fashion :-)
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
I agree with this, and I hope they will have an open forum for suggestions like this soon.
I agree with this post 100%. I enjoy the game in bits and pieces, but after my levees are done I can't seem to figure out what's left to do.
Also, can anyone tell me where to get weapons in order to change classes?
The sleeper awakes...and rides his dirtbike to the mall.
In Limsa Lominsa it's the shop that sounds like it sells guns (top level, near the bottom but not quite at the blacksmith / armorsmith). I am unsure where it is in Gridania or Ul'dah. Something that sounds like a weapon shop on the main map is probably your best bet, or ask somebody in your town.. if anybody responds...
Objectivity is delivered with a lack of personality made for the mainstream but never used for the mainstream.
Thanks, I'll look around.
Maybe you can tell me this though, what do you do when all of your levees are done?
The sleeper awakes...and rides his dirtbike to the mall.