The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

4Renziks

The bad:

Its not FFXI with updated graphics! (which means this is not a "hardcore" mmo, i know this is only my opinion)

No variants between players of the same class: if your a black mage , your the same black mage as everyone else you see.  

Fates, while in theory are good and gives players more option, i never liked the group without grouping mechanics of these evens , it feels soulless. 

Cross class abilities are very limited: would have been better as a classes system. 

Way too much text/dialogue ration.  The VO extremely limited almost to a point where one can say this game has no VO...

Laggy (should improve)

dodge and block built in mechanics, no endurance for sprint...personally i like these abilities to be active.

missing some basic features like wardrobes, gear preview, and the ability to untrack quests

nothing new

 

The good:

Alot of small things done well: getting in and out of bed when logging off/on in an inn, weather system, emotions, alot of RP potential.

Smooth and silky graphics and gameplay

relatively bug free so far

variety of ways to level

XP chains!

crafting!

lots of dungeons!

good ole fashion, never fails trinity. Supporting in an mmo is a must.

community: 0 WoW talk during beta (AMAZING) friendly!

good boss mechanics: so far the blob boss and the end boss in copperbell mines are done really well

while grouping isnt force , it atleast isnt punished like most games. 

spell animations and effects might be the best we seen in an mmo

 

The ugly:

Open beta too short

I have nothing to do for 5 days

PvP not in

 

 

 

ZenTaoYingYang

I agree on the ugly part. no PVP , I keep hearing different messages that pvp will be on release and other messages that pvp will be in first patch 2 months after release. overall its a top notch game, i will be investing and getting myself ready for pvp XD

poefue

There was PvP on the Legacy servers for people over level 30 I believe.

Ravenmane

I tend to agree with most of your post, though overall I really enjoy it.  I just wanted to add a note on PvP.  It is coming just don't expect amazing.  The Final Fantasy games have never been about the PvP, always about the story.  There may be a few elements, just don't be surprised if it doesn't receive as much update love as story content goes.  Especially given the backdrop and story of XIV.

striderbob

I really don't understand all the people complaining about too much text and dialogue in a Final Fantasy game. And when did the world become so lazy that they can't be bothered to read anymore, that they need everything spoken to them.

Gravarg

Originally posted by striderbob
I really don't understand all the people complaining about too much text and dialogue in a Final Fantasy game. And when did the world become so lazy that they can't be bothered to read anymore, that they need everything spoken to them.

+1

 

I had a poll a while back that asked if you read quest text or not, and it ended up being like only 25% of people said they read some quest texts...and they probably were lying, I think it's much lower.  I've had people get mad at me from being in a group reading quest texts in games before lol.  What's the point of doing a quest unless you know why you're doing it?

Unknown

Final Fantasy Earth Zero was about pvp...

 

as for the bad, remember: stress test. why would u put out on a free date, when u can wait till they've paid to take u to the met?

 

#ignorant

Ravenmane

FEZ doesn't really count in my book.  Yes, it was made by SE but it was a small mmo project that eventually didn't do well and was turned off.  That and it wasn't a numbered Final Fantasy (which means story is the emphasis, not PvP).  Like, I said, I wouldn't expect anything extravagant for PvP.  If you're playing because you're a heavy pvper, you're going to have a bad time.

Rufftimes

Originally posted by striderbob
I really don't understand all the people complaining about too much text and dialogue in a Final Fantasy game. And when did the world become so lazy that they can't be bothered to read anymore, that they need everything spoken to them.

Thats the same as saying I don't understand when the world became so lazy that we can't just pick up a pen, paper and die and start playing like we did in the 80's. Things progress. I didn't realize how much voice acting adds to a game (if well done) until I played the beta. Its not a game breaker for me, but I think it would have added to the game immensely if it was in place

tokini

Originally posted by 4Renziks

The bad:

 

and the ability to untrack quests

 

 

The good:

 

community: 0 WoW talk during beta (AMAZING) friendly!

 

1- very strange change, because track/untrack was in beta 3

 

2- very little other mmo/other game talk, community generally good....the strangest thing happened though - with about 15 minutes left in the beta today the /shout chat erupted into a really juvenile political type discussion, with tons of bias and self-loathing being thrown about....really amazing to see lol

Unknown

Originally posted by Ravenmane
FEZ doesn't really count in my book.  Yes, it was made by SE but it was a small mmo project that eventually didn't do well and was turned off.  That and it wasn't a numbered Final Fantasy (which means story is the emphasis, not PvP).  Like, I said, I wouldn't expect anything extravagant for PvP.  If you're playing because you're a heavy pvper, you're going to have a bad time.

 

NA servers died in less than a year. Asia servers lasted how long? if you're talking about mmos, SE has had 3 released so far: earth zero, XI, XIV. if we get into dissidia...that too had emphasis on pvp. i wouldn't expect anything extravagant for XIV pvp as well, but to say that earth zero doesn't count? lol...just google that shiz, yo

Psychei

I would consider FEZ a MMO no matter how bad it was, that being said lets forget about that one if we can..

Also ending a paragraph in yo makes you seem much less credibly, just saying

Lokero

Originally posted by Rufftimes

Originally posted by striderbob
I really don't understand all the people complaining about too much text and dialogue in a Final Fantasy game. And when did the world become so lazy that they can't be bothered to read anymore, that they need everything spoken to them.

Thats the same as saying I don't understand when the world became so lazy that we can't just pick up a pen, paper and die and start playing like we did in the 80's. Things progress. I didn't realize how much voice acting adds to a game (if well done) until I played the beta. Its not a game breaker for me, but I think it would have added to the game immensely if it was in place

Well, it's not just a laziness thing.  Like you said, it adds alot of character/immersion/effect.  Voice acting is just one of the "little things" that goes into making an MMO world feel more lively.

I, personally, read about 10x faster than they can talk, and am more apt to read the text  and then skip some of the voice lines. So, I read the text, and can do so quickly, but I still prefer having it there to listen to.  All of that is assuming the voice acting is actually decent though.  If the voice-acting isn't quality, then it's just worthless, entirely.

Rufftimes

Originally posted by Lokero

Originally posted by Rufftimes

Originally posted by striderbob
I really don't understand all the people complaining about too much text and dialogue in a Final Fantasy game. And when did the world become so lazy that they can't be bothered to read anymore, that they need everything spoken to them.

Thats the same as saying I don't understand when the world became so lazy that we can't just pick up a pen, paper and die and start playing like we did in the 80's. Things progress. I didn't realize how much voice acting adds to a game (if well done) until I played the beta. Its not a game breaker for me, but I think it would have added to the game immensely if it was in place

Well, it's not just a laziness thing.  Like you said, it adds alot of character/immersion/effect.  Voice acting is just one of the "little things" that goes into making an MMO world feel more lively.

I, personally, read about 10x faster than they can talk, and am more apt to read the text  and then skip some of the voice lines. So, I read the text, and can do so quickly, but I still prefer having it there to listen to.  All of that is assuming the voice acting is actually decent though.  If the voice-acting isn't quality, then it's just worthless, entirely.

I agree 100%, and I think thats where the problem is. Catering primarily to a Japanese market the ability to get decent voice overs in two languages would be a bit of a challenge. Hell, I even found the voice selection for my character annoying.

 

Torcip

Originally posted by Psychei

I would consider FEZ a MMO no matter how bad it was, that being said lets forget about that one if we can..

Also ending a paragraph in yo makes you seem much less credibly, just saying

I was under the impression FEZ was made by a company that was absorbed into SE, not made by SE themselves.

NobleNerd

I can agree on most of the OP's post. 

 

One thing I am disappointed on is definitely the lack of VO. I was under the impression they were adding more of it to the game, but even the main storyline cutscenes lacked voice acting.

 

Combat is better each beta. Combat animations I enjoy over many other MMOs out there! Crafting is going to be fun, but hope there are hidden discovery recipes or something.

 

BIG shout out to the gamepad control hotbar design.... BY FAR THE BEST I HAVE USED IN ANY GAME! 

Jacobin

The game works well as a standard MMO. SE had to remake the game and its obvious that they wanted to play it extremely safe and noob friendly.

 

And therein lies the problem: ARR is highly simplistic and takes zero risks which has resulted in a polished, yet bland experience.

 

With a 2.5s GCD, up to 3s spell casting times and a ~2s wait in between auto attacks, ARR easily has the slowest combat system of any MMO in at least the past 5 years, maybe longer.

 

As the OP stated every class is identical - there are no specs or talent trees. Every warrior is exactly the same as any other in terms of gear and playstyle. Everyone being a clone isn't very interesting. Everyone is rushing to get to the exact same place as every other person in their class.

 

The third major problem is the simplistic skill system. Classes have few skills and they unlock slowly. The vast majority are extremely simplistic to use and most classes are using the same 1-2-3 combo 90% of the time.

 

Clearly the game has its dedicated fans despite the extremely safe and simplistic design choices. This is probably because there are enough people who just want a basic game that requires little thought but with a modern skin.

 

shockwaved1

Again u want pvp go play DFUW. NUFF SAID.

Psychei

Originally posted by Torcip

Originally posted by Psychei

I would consider FEZ a MMO no matter how bad it was, that being said lets forget about that one if we can..

Also ending a paragraph in yo makes you seem much less credibly, just saying

I was under the impression FEZ was made by a company that was absorbed into SE, not made by SE themselves.

You are right about Fenixsoft developing FEZ and being absorbed by SE, however FEZ was released in 2006 in japan, SE absorbed FS in 2008, SE who owned developemental rights allowed this game to be released in the US in 2010 years after knowing how crummy this game was and then shutting down the game 3 months later and selling it to gamepot which I think may have taken the gaem to China.

So anyway SE is responsible for giving us FEZ and shaking the faith of many US SE fans.

striderbob

if SWTOR is any precedent to what a fully voiced game can do then I'm glad this game isn't voiced.

SWTOR - 27 gigs - shit ton of money spent on VO, skimped on other stuff - clunky, ugly engine - not a whole lot of content

FFXIARR - 8-10 gigs - story line voiced, well balanced game - smooth, beautiful engine - lots of content

Hmm...fair trade in my opinion.

MagikrorriM

I did a couple of matches in PvP 30 cap, 4v4. The arena was small, and no lag, plays like wows arena once you dead your dead, when your team is dead you loose, seems to be perfect for premades. I had all my level 30 abilities though, I went in as archer, because I haven't done the bard quest yet.