http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/11066-ga ... -coverage/

http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/11248-fa ... interview/



Sage Sundi!

remember AH's weren't released at launch. Only when Rise of the Zilart was released did AH's become available, thus why NA's always had them.

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Not sure that's true. There was a big compiled list of everything added between JP launch and NA launch. It mentions that Jeuno used to only have 2 Auction Houses instead of 4, but makes no mention that Auction Houses weren't in the game at all.

Source: http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?f ... howmany=50

EDIT: That's probably a good read for everyone, actually. To get an idea of all the things everyone took for granted on FFXI but weren't actually in the game at first.

that is a good post, thats what i get for listening to Pix lol

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I agree with those of you who are going to play the game regardless of its initial faults. We have all dealt with shit before but as long as we deal with it together, then it will be fun lol. Can't wait be playing with you all again.

Square will eventually iron out the major issues it seems, even though they dont talk like that now. Hell, think about how much more we will enjoy the improvements once we've been playing with rubbish for so long. I guess I'm just optimistic heh.

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Be Here Now

I'm feeling the same way. I don't like what I've read here, not at all. This certainly doesn't sound like the game I put a new system together to play. But, patches will come, and we will all be dealing with the same issues. None of those issues will hinder the experience or excitement of exploring new places for the first time as a group.

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Pharmacist by Day, Gamer for Life
XBL: Zuldane, PSN: Zuldane

i just realized the ONLY reason they put Stone Throw on the crafting classes is to initiate battle in the opening sequence on the boat with the jellyfish

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RIP Shiloh - I'll never forget ya

This is supposedly a list of stuff that will be in the Open Beta build, based upon what was in the game during the playable Gamescom build.


I've heard someone say the UI was still a laggy mess, so no hope there.

EDIT: It's worth pointing out we're not entirely sure when the Gamescom build was made. Apparently, Level 40 characters only had 600HP, which seems to imply the build is older. HP levels were bumped up a lot in Phase 3 beta; You get about 800HP at level 20. The linkshell NPC being missing also seems to imply the Gamescom build didn't have linkshells.

Yet the Gamescom build obviously has things Phase 3 beta doesn't. This seems to indicate that the beta build they give to us is simply another branch/version of the game they make on the side and update as appropriate (as they want us to test things). People have been speculating this to be the case for months.

That said, this is SE so I wouldn't put any hopes towards there being some miraculous "Retail" build in the pipeline somewhere.

I've been hoping this was a prototype since I started. I will be really upset if the release doesn't have some major improvements, but I must say I've been in denial about this beta being anywhere near the release. I keep thinking they have another wonderful version of the game locked up - not sharing anything until the very end. Typical SE.

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It's not impossible. For the optimistic among us, there might be some miraculously improved retail build at launch. I'll explain:

The gamescom build would have been branched off a month ago so it could be tweaked and polished for demo use. I'll try to explain this in a basic sense; about a month ago SE would have taken the folder with FFXIV in it, and made a big copy of it. So they now have two FFXIV folders, one called Retail, and one called Gamescom. They'd then basically cease development of the Gamescom version of the game, and get people to polish it up ready to demo. They'd do things like fix up an installer for it, alter the game to restrict what zones you're allowed in to, remove any features that are incomplete or not working, then give it some quick internal testing to make sure it's not going to crash infront of big crowds of people.

At the same time, SE would continue working on their real retail build, those stripped half-finished features would get finished, and extra features would be added, and things would get changed and bugs would get squashed. You can make a lot of big changes in just a month, especially so close to launch where the development team are probably working 23 hour shifts. Anyway, by the time the Gamescom build is shown off and we get to see it, it's already a month old. And now, when the so called "open beta" starts, it's very likely going to be the Gamescom build renamed. So by the time we get to "test" it, it's going to be almost two months old.

This is exactly what will have been happening with the Beta versions up until now. A separate FFXIV folder somewhere that was branched off earlier in development, and nobody actually fixes when it has problems. SE only patch the separate beta versions of the game when it has a major show-stopping issue or when they want us to test something specific. It's not worth their time to patch the beta versions because it means doing everything twice.

They could have avoided this issue by actually pushing out the latest retail build to testers each day, but because they wanted to restrict beta content and keep the size of the download down and such, they couldn't do that. It's what they will have been doing with their internal testers each day though.

So yeah, there is likely a "Retail" version of the game that's about a month or two ahead of everything we've seen so far. However, this is also SE and really the clunky UI and bugs aren't really the biggest problem (these will get fixed). Our big problem seems to be SE not really listening to what the fans want, and fixing the game in the areas we believe it needs to be fixed. It'll have huge sweeping changes, but not in the areas we want.

Bascially, this. I also think there are specific things they are looking for feedback during each phase.

Feedback related latency and stability; production issues that requires testing at scale (e.g. things that would bring the system to a halt) are probably things that they want to focus on during beta.

Those things are hard to fix and are usually in the (so-called) critical path / launch blocking.

Whereas game balance / fatigue / improvement to the retainer system can all be tweaked even after the game is launch.

In fact, I'm pretty sure they fully expect they'll need to tweak those after launch.

And the truth is, engineers always underestimate how long things take to fix. Even when they x2 all their estimates, there will always be features that have to be pushed to v2. But in-time, those feature will come as patches and expansions.

The things that probably can't change are: races, aesthetic,
world / background settings, general (non) job system.

And so far, those look good for me, so I'm still excited about XIV!



The bold quote pretty much settled my fear for the lack of AH.

The main drawback of the retainer system is the lack of search.
And SE seems to know that they will need to build that in.

My hope is that there will be a rudimentary search system at launch,
or within the 1st 3 months after launch.

Better search options will be added about a year to 18months after.
(It sucks, but that's how long it takes to build things in large software
companies sadly)


I can understand why SE doesn't want to have an AH system because for
all it's glory in XI, it has its flaws.

1. It's a blind bid. You can only guess the price by its history.
I haven't try to retainer system, but if it's like Bazaar, then you know the
price upfront when you purchase the item. There's less chance of mis-bid
and no way of manipulating the sells history.

2. You don't know who you're buying from
This is a minor difference that I hope will make a big difference for RMT.

We probably have all unintentionally supported RMT when we purchase
stuff they farm from AH.

By making transaction face to face, player who are passionate about RMT
can find out who their retainers are, and boycott them.

I also really look forward to meeting new people as I trade with them.
The few times I have had a symbiotic relationship with another crafters
were times that I really enjoy. So hopefully, I'll experience that much
more frequent in XIV. [/b]

omg, Hi, Ruru. <3 Can't wait to see you in the game! I think I'm going to be elvaan this time though XD

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zomg <3333 milly~
Can't wait till I see you in game too <3

Will Matti still play? He sound pretty disappointed when he hits fatigue during
beta XD

:O you're going to play elvaan @_@!
but I finally convinced slo to play lalafell (even though they look so wierd, I
miss my tarus ; ; )

I miss you two so much!! When beta starts again play on the same server as everyone! We can have leveling parties! I'm getting so excited!! <3<3<3

I think Matti will play... he says he's not going to play very much, but I think once the kinks are worked out he'll come around. He's going to be a cat again, I'm pretty sure.

I've been playing a lalafell archer in beta, but I made an elvaan girl and she's pretty sexy XD I'm torn on being lalafell or elvaan.... I love being tall! >.>

Has Slo tried fishing yet??! It's awwful; ;

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Do it!

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COBRA KAI DOJO NEVER DIES
RIP Shiloh

which server are you guys playing on?

haha~ can't imagine matti play anything but mithra XD
Elvaan girl does look a lot better this time around
And I guess it is nice to not see everyone's knees all the time...

Slo said he couldn't find a fishing pole so he hasn't try fishing yet.
He also said you'll out fish him in no time lol

I think you should be an elvaan girl Milamber. There likely won't be a lot of them in comparison to other races/genders and so its nice to have a variety of unique people around.

Also, they have big busts, and everyone likes boobies.

*blows on his bubble pipe while adjusting his monocle.* Indubitably...

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I think I'm probably going to end up playing both XD I was laying in bed last night thinking, "Why do I have to choose between them!? There must be some way!" Then a golden light came down from the ceiling and then a melody of angelic voices sang, "Ahhh..."

I'll probably play my elvaan most though and work on my lala when I'm fatigued on things.

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