worth it to play yet?

[Nicolette]

So i've been putting it off, first cause I didnt have a PC that could run it, and then second because everyone basically said stay away. Have enough things been fixed/changed to make this game enjoyable or should I wait for the ps3 release content? With upgrades to my pc im benchmarking about 4500 on the official benchmark. Hows that translate to actual usability ingame?

ciao

 

[Reya]

I played for the first month the game came out then quit shorty after that. I have returned to the game about three weeks ago and I have to say I am very pleased in the direction the game is heading. It's on the up and can only get better from here.

-UI lag has been addressed. There is still some lag when shopping at the NPCs and in combat animation.
-Market Wards are now seperated by category and have a searchable option.
-SP changes have been made depending on party size and leve linking. With a good linkshell it's possible to haul anywhere from 10kSP-20kSP an hour.
-Behests are public quests that take place every hour on the hour that can sink you a few thousand SP in about 10 minutes. Difficulity is adjusted depending on the participants.
-You still can only pick up 8 regional and 8 local leve quests.

The 5th letter from the producer came out today with the results from the second player's poll. From the sounds of it, it looks like they will be focusing more on class specification and more instanced party content. It's very exciting! It also sounds like they may be doing away with physical levels.

NMs have been introduced in the game. Their drops can be sold or given to crafters to make some really nice high end equipment and weapons.

1.16 goes live today and with it comes additional NPC quests you can pick up in town. No body really knows the specifics of it yet however, it is speculated that you can hold up to 16 at once and that there are rewards. Some people even think that you will be able to aquire fame, like in FFXI, to receive harder and better rewarding quests.

I think of playing the game now as a head start to what the "real FFXIV" is going to be. The game is still free to play. Making gil is much easier in this game than it ever was in FFXI. The player markets are priced so that you will never have to worry about not being able to afford your next rank's gear. If you decide to pick it up, a bunch of us are running around causing havoc on Istory. Most of us are in Paradigm Shift or Prismatic Llama linkshells.

Hope to see you soon!

 

[Alereth]

Reya sums it up nicely. It's becoming more like the game it should have been and it's alot more enjoyable. I'm personally surprised and pleased that SE is actually listening to the playerbase, and the game is making leaps and bounds in many aspects.

 

[Takumifujiwara]

I had put it down for about 3 months until today. I like the functionality they added with the gamepad such as being able to zoom in and out while autorun is pressed and whatnot. Its all about the little things. The game is VERY streamlined now.

As for what Reya was saying about the quests per day; I think they will either add more very soon or increase the rewards even further to make it truly worth its rarity. If party exp is fixed to near perfection then the game will have a whole new reason to play because before now there was no point, real fun, or advantage in grinding as a party. Lemme tell you, though people either hated/loved the party grind experience in FFXI, I personally always loved it because I would meet new interesting people that way often.

Im bringing my friend back into the game as well now that things are running smoothly. We often chat in skype and vent to make it that much more fun so if anyone wants to chat party in skype or vent just lemme know and we will bring you into the group for the shenanigans.

 

[Takumifujiwara]

Oh and more on point. Nico, if you come into this game fully grasping that its NOT ffxi or a super polished MMO then you will fare better. Otherwise you will drive yourself crazy thinking about how its different than FFXI. Its best to not apply final fantasy into your thought process and instead think of a work in progress with huge promise.

I personally believe that by christmas this game will be exponentially more complete and start to regain its user base. They have some serious making up to do with how terrible the launch was.

 

[naue]

havent bought the game/cant run it on current PC, but ive been following comments from people on a variety of boards.

I'd say this is the bottom line:

The game is definitely going in the right direction, and everyone seems please with the changed that have been made over the last few months. It is still not a finished product, and it will be a while until it is so.

That being said, I think the general consensus is that the game has survived its low point (release) and will be around for the long haul. So if you would like a small headstart on the larger player base that will join/re-join once more content is released/the game is brought up to standard, then it is for sure worth playing at this point.

I, along with what i would assume is a lot of people, will be waiting until the game is in a more complete (as complete as an MMO can be...) state. I want a LOT of content, and I want the game to be in a state where everyone can stop referring to it as a work in progress.

FFXI was not released in the US until it had its first expansion already....

I have heard all over the place that FFXI prior to US release was quite similar to XIV in the fact that it felt vastly incomplete, lacking content, and boring in general. For that reason, I choose to err on the side that XIV will become vastly better over this year.

I plan on picking it up by Christmas 2011. I am confident that in a year the game will be in the shape it should be to keep me happily entertained for years to come!


edit: I do want to add one thing: I am VERY impressed with how SE is now doing player polls and seems to be trying to cater to exactly what the players want done, and in the order that they want things implemented.

 

[DeviFoxx]

Of course SE is catering to the player base. They better. The fact that they were gutsy enough to give it a numbered title... "14"... making it part of the main canon of the franchise and not relegating the game to a simple "Side Story" scenario [like "Crystal Chronicles" and all its spin-offs that they don't need to seriously focus their attention on] would mean that they planned to / intended to invest a lot of money in this game. They BETTER be taking it seriously. It means their jobs.

Personally... I haven't been playing 14 (or 11 for that matter) for a few reasons.

The PC that I played the game on crapped out and I need to get it replaced, for one.
And with the way the game was at launch, there was little incentive to continue playing. Which I found to be a major disappointment...

I've been playing with Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity (Japanese) on Sony PSP for the time being until Square-Enix gets it together and makes 14 into the game it ought to be.

 

[Shadowneko]

wow march. I wonder how things are in July?(which is now)

 

[Shadoboy]

I too, am curious. What's it like in Eorzea? I'd like to stage my return soon and this time, not be the annoying teen that gets on everyone's nerves. Ah...the joys of growing up.

 

[Thelona]

well theres a big update coming very soon, dungeons, auto attack, new battle animations and other little stuff, and then after that they are releasing a job system, which will let each class specialize in a "Job" like Pugilist > Monk or Gladiator > Paladin or maybe *crosses fingers* Lancer > Dragoon or dragon knight.

and later on there will be more then one job per class, and even jobs that require more then one class ranked up to undertake, Like say R50 thm + R50 Mrd = Dark Knight? just an example, they havn't confirmed what jobs are coming yet.

Also more storyline quests in next update, which I'm very excited about, if you havnt ranked up enough to get to the R46 storyline quest, your missing out, once i saw the r46 cutscene I was hooked, easily one of the greatest cutscenes i've ever seen in an mmo.

 

[Thelona]

more info coming out at a steady pace recently, 1.18 will do away with the fatigue system, and 1.19 will have airships and chocobos!

 

[Sicius]

Does it cost to play right now? And what's an awesome server to play on?! :3

 

[Pasquale]

Does it cost to play right now? And what's an awesome server to play on?! :3

I'm pretty sure they aren't charging a monthly fee, yet.

The game is leaps and bounds better now then it was when it was released. I think once the big 1.18 patch hits, the game will be a lot more fun.

 

[Thelona]

1.18 is awesome, the UI is LOADS better, auto attack is great, the new WS animations are awesome. I'm not sure how they are doing the no charge thing, i was under the impression that only those who bought the game near release are getting free time. but i could be wrong.

Oh and if your lookin to play and wondering what server to join, come to istory, lotsa Quetzalcoatl folk here and its a good community, not one of the biggest servers but not the smallest either

 

[Giaganta]

What Linkshell are most ppl in on Istory? the one i was in when I quit is usally empty now that I am playing again

 

[Romper]

What Linkshell are most ppl in on Istory? the one i was in when I quit is usally empty now that I am playing again

Are you still in Wolves of Mibu? It is depressing in there when I do log in.

 

[Giaganta]

Yeah I am, its usually just me , games fun but only for so long without some socializing haha

 

[Romper]

I logged in today for a little bit to check out the auto-attack change. MP for Pummel/Light Strike on my Puglist kinda sucks.

 

[Rips]

I too am on wolves of mibu and it is dead. Not that I'm playing much of it, I'm still waiting a bit more.

Still, huge improvements. I just hope a community returns.

 

[Ecks]

The one thing truly keeping me from this game, is a class that uses a Great Sword and/or Scythe like Dark Knight did in FFXI. I want my damn heavy weapons. And no, an Axe and a Polearm will never cut it for me. I want something that I can build up into a poweful melee class with a cool weapon. I absolutely hate.... hate hate hate, the big Axe thing that Marauders use... so...dumb looking.

My toon will just have to stay in stasis until such a time that what I want occurs.