Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn- Beta and Release Information

Serious, please refrain from calling my lady a "wench". Thank you.

I am a Gladiator lvl 15, but I took all other classes as well. Once you finish lvl 10 quest for your class, in your guild, you can join any other guild and thus you can have all classes. All you need to do to switch between them is to equip the classes' specific weapon. However your stats will be returned to lvl 1 and you have to earn your levels in each class respectively. It's a good idea for MMORPG, because guys that want to maximize everything will have a LOT to do.
My lady is playing as a White Mage...hows it called...hmmm...can't remember.
This game and it's funny names.
She's just lvl 5. She hates the lock on system (can't blame her) and Options Settings don't affect it. Beta bug I guess.
She just strolls around randomly healing people with Cure, cos she got bored of killing animals with one type of spell. Spamming it endlessly. Some Stone magic. She has Aero, but it does little damage, so she deemed it worthless. She's a lot like me.
However, she likes MMORPGs a lot more than me, so she has a lot more experience with those.

As someone who has relatively extensively played every class (short of Thaumaturge), I can say that some classes are definitely more interesting than others.

Conjurer (which is the white mage thing) is definitely rather boring to just run around solo with on account of the fact that you basically just get one attack spell and one DoT spell and just spam away. One interesting thing to note, however, is that healing someone who is attacking a monster counts as you attacking it, so FATEs and other things can be completed by  Conjurers without even needing to attack.

Archer is rather interesting in the fact that you can actually move while attacking which brings in some interesting kiting options, but as Sentinel says, the melee range is a bit ridiculous and can hit from very far away. Hopefully that's just in the beta but we'll see. There are also a few skills that have separate cool downs from the others so you can keep attacking instead of waiting 2.5 seconds, which adds a little bit more entertainment into the game, at least for me.

Pugilist is one of my favorites in the fact that you have to chain moves together. The first skill puts you into Raptor form, which then lets you use the next skill to go into Opo-opo form, then you use that one and keep moving up the forms. It brings a little variety in past just spamming one skill. In the end it's still only one combo which I'm sure gets boring, but I've been enjoying it

Pugilist and Lancer both also have skills that vary damage based off of where you're attacking the enemy from (flank, behind) which brings in some interesting points, but it can get boring specifically on the lancer because they only have one skill like that (by level 10) where as Pugilist gets it on almost every skill.

Gladiator I haven't played much but I could definitely see how it could get boring since there only really seem to be two attacks. I haven't run into any issues with flash not working but I also haven't had much occasion to use it.

Marauder is an interesting tank in the fact that they can also go DPS, but they have limited skills and can get spammy kind of fast.

These are my opinions on the classes and I can say that Conjurer, Archer and Pugilist are definitely my favorite so far, but Conjurer doesn't really get fun until you start doing dungeons at 15.

For the open beta, I don't think it will actually be starting until mid-late July, so I hope you get into phase 3 Serious

Sorry, just to say in my circle of.. well everyone i know wench isnt a bad thing to say, but ill refrain as you wish

hmm well i never really wanted to white mage it.. ill probably try out lancer or pugilidt as they aound cool

Yeah I hope i get phase 3 too but meh we'll see. I mean Unless I'm blown away i probably wont be getting the game anyways, but I wanna at least say I gave it a go.

BartholomewWenceslas, thank you.
I'm amazed someone had enough time to actually go and try out all the classes, especially when you can play the game only on weekends.
That said, I did met guys with lvl 40 and higher already. Some people... O_O

I really like the fact, that as a Conjurer (thanks for helping me with the name btw) you get Exp and can win events even if you only heal. Not many MMORPGs have this.

Archer still seems as the best option for me, especially if I could swap to some melee class if things get too personal. But I really have huge issues with melee attacks and with ranged attacks tracking. Just one of the first enemies used some form of ranged attack on me and it missed me, because I always move, but it still did damage. That kind of thing grinds my gears a lot.

Pugilist and Lancer sound like a lot of fun and I will finally have some meaning to circle around my enemies. I do it with Gladiator ans see no damage boosts. I still do it, because just standing still and trading hits seems kinda silly. Especially when my Gladiator's shiled usage is based on % and not player input. Super hate this tbh. Seeing character with huge shield getting attacked and not blocking. I do have a Shield Bash attack of sorts. But then again, shield is for protecting me, not to use it as a weapon.

Haven't tried Marauder yet. I had huge problems getting into...Limsa...Limett...whatever the name of their city is. The game doesn't tell you much, you need a Airship Permit (no idea where to get it) and the ferry is kinda out of plain sight. Ul'Dah and Grindania are ok, I just rode a chocobo from one to the other.


Serious, it's ok. I'm just used that the word is being meant as a slander. No hard feelings buddy. ^^

I share your opinion about the game in full.

@Sentiel It's funny when you say "I get hit by an attack even though I'm at 15 m". FF is like that, only way to not get hit is by having a high evasion stat. I'm assuming the "combat" is similar to FF12. If that's the case it's just like the old FFs but with the exception of the ability to move around, which doesn't do anything except looking cool and running away easier. Once you're in a fight everything is determined by your stats and commands. FF combat isn't about skill but quick thinking and strategy. Again I haven't played the game so I'm just assuming.

About the evasion. I'm not sure how this works. Sometimes I see DODGED instead of damage number, but sometimes I also see PARRIED, or BLOCKED and some % number, which probably means the damage received got reduced by that % when the PARRIED, or BLOCKED occured.

If they wanted to make it like old FFs, there's no reason why it doesn't have an arena based fights, like FFI-X. There's actually one MMORPG that has this combat system and does it quite well. If they want to have a real time combat, they can't just use clutches like this to avoid deepening the combat system.

If enemy casts some AoE attack, or spell, you can see a red circle on the ground. If you move out of the circle + some DkS style lag, the attack will miss you. The things I was talking about don't occur at all until you start moving during the combat. As long as you stand still and trade blows with the enemy everything is fine and peachy. But as soon as you want to run away, or employ hit&run tactics, you'll notice the enemies hitting you from ridiculous distances with basic melee attacks. This isn't lag I'm talking about either. Yes, if I strafe around a giant turtle and it's bite misses me because I'm behind, yet I still get damage, I can somehow manage to accept that. Poor thing has to defend itself somehow.

But when the said turtle bites me from 15 meters away, or if a shot hits me when visible missing me by several meters, or by hiting an inanimate object, like a boulder, or a wall. That is what pisses me off to high heaven. Yes, I believe stuff like this was present in FF XII. And it was one of the many reasons why I hate it. Not only that, but any FF post X. The series just went down on quality after X. I hope Versus, or XV if you prefer will save it. It won;t be a FF, but it seems like a very good game. The last Final Fantasy game I played, was for some strange reason named Lost Odyssey. If you know what I mean. 

I understand what you mean. If there's lag (internet lag) then it definitely sucks. If combat is how you and me describe it then hit and run tactics isn't a very good strategy. You have to imagine that once you aggro the monster it's like being in a old FF battle. You either fight or run away. Position doesn't matter either, although I think that if you sneak by a monster and hit him without getting him aggro'd you could receive a preemptive attack bonus and vice versa, IDK. At first when I played FF12 combat was confusing and I was feeling the same thing as you. Then I said well things didn't change so much I have to see it like an old FF battle. The other benefit about these types of battles is that you don't have the opening battle and ending battle scene which gets monotonous fast. About parried and blocked attacks that must be some shield stat doing its job.

You're asking for a very illogical stance in an MMO. TAC[ True Action Combat ] can only be taken so far; and FF is not the game to do it with MMO style. It would be too clunky and probably wouldn't work. Tab-Targeting is possibly the best thing this game could have done and it will most likely be a success. The gameplay may not be praised, but the overall atmosphere might be.

As for the series going downhill post-X? Seems like opinions there. I personally loved X, XII, and the XIII series. I enjoy finding lore by myself and not having my hand held. Though X held your hand pretty well, but I played the International for both X and XII, so that is probably why I like them more. And yes, I still love the older games and don't think they're any above the ones that has been out.

Just to put out a note on your PARRY/DODGE/BLOCK. You're talking about the RNG Combat Table, and there were definitely stats that increased that in the game. So you could have built a tank for it? I'm assuming that is how Tanks will be dealt with. Now I haven't gone to page 12 and read anything else said, so the rest is based off ignorance on what I see in this page. ~Nod~ Just observations I am making and pointing. >> Also for Old FFs, you took the damage regardless. Unless anybody raised their evasion (which good luck), you were taking damage. So this having a chance to miss (~5% without the combat table being involved) is super nice. Lol.

To clarify, I have nothing against X. I was talking about FFs after X. X-2, XII, XIII, XIII-2. I don't count XI as it is MMORPG. Just like XIV, it has a number, but I don't consider it a part of the series. Just like I consider Lost Oddysey a part of FF, because that game has more in common with FF I-X than any FFs post X has.

I don't remember having a shield, or I can't remember any character with a shield in old FFs, except for Warrior of Light in first FF. Even so, it would still piss me to high heaven to see a character with a shield, who doesn't use it to block enemy attacks. Even if all MMORPGs do this way, it doesn't mean XIV has to be the same. I have a skill that uses the shield as a weapon, so why can't there be a skill that uses that shield to block? It would only make sense and I find this much better than having to rely on %.

Also, I don't compare XIV to older FFs. While it has the name and some elements from the series it is a MMORPG< which is essentially very different in gameplay and mechanics. Too much to be asociated with single player only games.

About the PARRY/DODGE/BLOCK. I was merely curious what it is and how it works. While I have a Gladiator, I have it only because I like swords and want to use them as my weapon. I definitely refuse to be a tank. I don't expect to be able to dual wield, but being able to focus only on the sword and sacrifice the shield seems as a better option than tanking and having to rely on luck when it comes to blocking.

Just got a beta code for playing in the PS3. But it isn't valid in the US, fail.

Looks great, but how is it that they pick their beta testers?

What if you try to log in to a EU server, will it work then?
Perhaps try to contact them with the issue?

How they pick beta testers...
Since they picked me, I guess they do it randomly, or they get really drunk and play Triple Triad over it.

Myztyrio wrote:Looks great, but how is it that they pick their beta testers?

 I got into the beta because of a code I got for preordering FF13.

Ahh crap.. I accidentally signed up for the beta as an EU account...

My beta code won't work on my PS3, well at least I was able to make an EU account on the computer and I'll be able to try it out on the PC.

If anyone is dumb like me and signed up for the wrong one hopefully this will help.

Here's a really long link to sign up for the US.

https://secure.square-enix.com/enqt/s/run?sq=6f6b02b1fcab196e1085c2aca26acd829d14a26ea1de413bea69022bcad912689bef8dc260698e3b1ad9fc6be14cfe2c9c6a2b51c51a956b51c52e95845f

and here is another really long link to sign up for the EU.

https://secure.square-enix.com/enqt/s/run?sq=c0c72ab159ec40c610e0c19adcc22a9c201ba2c4c2de2afeb9c3cdcf9aa212c40146a01a60c14851ad0206c13c013ba19cc4cf46211a60c7fec5122b8e2a

For the sake of your sanity I would strongly recommend console gamers to not go into the beta forums at all. Seriously it is a sh*t show in there in regards to anything outside of the feedback section. 
And I say this as a mainly pc gamer.

Onion Knight wrote:For the sake of your sanity I would strongly recommend console gamers to not go into the beta forums at all. Seriously it is a sh*t show in there in regards to anything outside of the feedback section. 
And I say this as a mainly pc gamer.

 On a scale of 1 - Yahoo News, how bad is it?

Railage wrote:

Onion Knight wrote:For the sake of your sanity I would strongly recommend console gamers to not go into the beta forums at all. Seriously it is a sh*t show in there in regards to anything outside of the feedback section. 
And I say this as a mainly pc gamer.

 On a scale of 1 - Yahoo News, how bad is it?

 With threads along the lines of 'the ps3 version needs to go away' I think it surpass' even Yahoo News for the most inane place for anything ever. 

I just dump my feedback in there and get out as fast a possible.

Hey Onion,

When does phase 4 of Beta start? We have to roll new characters then, correct? And those characters we get to keep, correct?

crbngville2 wrote:Hey Onion,

When does phase 4 of Beta start? We have to roll new characters then, correct? And those characters we get to keep, correct?

 Well according to my better informed friends phase 3 has 'at least' two more weekends maybe more till it ends. After it ends there will be a two/three week downtime where they will implement more content and the feedback from phase 3. After all that then phase 4/open beta begins.

And yes you have to roll new characters and you will keep them forever unless they encounter a critical bug or something.

Also on top of that since most people here will be on the ps3 version there is a lot of changes expected to be implemented to that version in time for phase 4.

I was under the impression that there would be 4 tests in phase 3, so it's possible that there's only one more weekend of testing left.

BartholomewWenceslas wrote:I was under the impression that there would be 4 tests in phase 3, so it's possible that there's only one more weekend of testing left.

 But last weekends test focus (duty finder) got delayed till next so there will probably be two more weekends to compensate for this.

Onion Knight wrote:

BartholomewWenceslas wrote:I was under the impression that there would be 4 tests in phase 3, so it's possible that there's only one more weekend of testing left.

 But last weekends test focus (duty finder) got delayed till next so there will probably be two more weekends to compensate for this.

 It has now been confirmed by the producer that there are three more weeks of phase 3. 'Now that we're half way through phase 3 ...'

Full post from forums:

Letter from the Producer, XLVII (07/02/2013):

Onion Knight wrote:
 It has now been confirmed by the producer that there are three more weeks of phase 3. 'Now that we're half way through phase 3 ...'

Full post from forums:

Letter from the Producer, XLVII (07/02/2013):

I can't tell whether I should be happy that I get some more time to play with my current characters or sad to know that I'll just get that much more attached to them before they're gone forever

I'm just trying out everything: all races and all classes (both combat and crafting.) So far I've whittled it down to Lalafell and Marauder/Gladiator. But race is the important one naturally since you can change classes on the fly. 

I also have my 1.0 character from the original game. But I want to create a new character so I can just experience everything a fresh (and forget the car crash of 1.0.)

R.I.P my alpha phase 2 and beta phase 1,2 and 3 characters.