Final Fantasy XIV open beta begins August 31

@Talos Izanagi

Unfortunately, I feel the same way. I ponder on what went down over at Square.

"Hey, so are plans with gameplay is to make simple things like picking up items really difficult. Oh, and the combat system? Let's make it feel like labor.

This is the same problem I had with Crisis Core. You have what has the potential to be an incredible game, butbends up getting bogged down by terrible mechanics. Why, why, why?

Why not have the same system of combat, inventory, magic, everything, the same way Kingdom Hearts did. That game was masterful in what seemed like endless categories. Why is it so hard to make a FF game that feels right. It's a spectacular franchise that's losing momentum. It needs to get back into the pool of greatness.

/end rant

@Shadowbender *but ends up*

Not butbends, eww.

@Talos Izanagi Most of the controversy over that was wrong. Its not a time based system, but an XP system. With that said I'm on the fence with the game. I'm going to either have to hear great things about open beta or play it myself and like it.

@Shadowbender You sure you didn't mean butbends, Shadowbender? I cannot stop laughing about this ahahaha...

@Talos Izanagi

Hopefully the beta testers that make it will raise enough hell to kill that fatigue garbage.

@Talos Izanagi

I think its funny that so many people are appalled by the surplus system, when really the lack of any way to search retainers or an auction house is what is gonna kill this game.

Everyone is so focused on this surplus xp thing, which by the way, I don't see a whole lot of people ever encountering, but then they say nothing about the fact the economy is already screwed going in because buying things from other players is a complete bitch right now.

I found two players standing near each other, one selling a piece of armor for 200 gil the other selling the same thing for 6000 gil because no one knows what anything is really worth without some kind of searchable marketplace function which currently does not exist.

Don't get me wrong the game has some good stuff going for it, but its going to be a rocky start if they launch it anywhere near the state that is was in Beta 3

@Monkey D Luffy

You know there is a difference between "easy mode" and non-intuitive

Too lazy? Personally, I'm not too lazy to search for something, but when retail comes out, do you know how many people are going to deal with having to look around for three hours trying to find something that in any other game would take them seconds?

Look I get what you are saying about inflation, but this is not the way to fight it. I would rather see the game developers tell me the max amount I could sell an item for, than to not be able to find anything without going to 15 different market instances searching through what will possibly be thousands of retainers.

6 months of this and everything rare will inflate to ridiculous prices auction house or not. People will talk, they will look online, and gil sellers will inflate things anyway. It may take a little longer to figure out, but you are kidding yourself if you think their system is going to stop inflation.

In the meantime, you see people who spend their time digging through thousands of retainers trying to find a shield, or hoping to god someone offers one to them or you will see people simply not use the system at all and have no gear progression or perhaps they just won't play.

@Monkey D Luffy don't worry about that; without an auction house to go to, crafters won't have much luck finding enough of the rare synthesis items they need to make said armor. A friend playing the beta complained that these crafter guys are not 'working together enough,' and I don't doubt that the lack of an AH is the main reason these guys are forced to be like that. If you're lucky of course, you might find someone selling on a bazaar -- but don't be complaining if he ends up asking double what you were wagering to buy. Don't like it? spend another 2 hrs wading through retainers.

the Jeuno bazaar scene has gotten marginally better in 11 thanks to a few people doing manual checks and updating a searchable website; with no website like that, let alone a searchable AH for cheaper goods, it's going to be one hell of a time getting your pack set up for the next adventure.

All that said, I will try the beta for shits and giggles -- hell, there's like a 0.1% chance that they actually fixed everything and it's become a fantastic MMO.

@public anenome

Find a new website to read if you don't like the one you're reading.

@ThePenIsMightier

I have, they're called Destructoid and Epic Battle Axe. I had to post a comment after 2 consecutive stories trashing SC2, FFXIV and their fans. I'm all for satire, but making sure you're actually funny comes first, and being a dick should always come second.

@Elfonzyo2

I play all the numbered FFs.. but the MMOs

Which should be called "Final Fantasy Online", makes more sense then being 11 and 14.. ruining it. :/

@Elfonzyo2

You make it sound like XIII wasn't good. It actually was a pretty damn great game.

@Vegeta has a ps3 I guess what I meant was that while people dislike the game, I enjoyed XIII and thought it was a great game, and I don't understand how other people could not enjoy it as well.

@Talos Izanagi

If you drop $30/month to play any game, then you're a member of that game's hardcore audience even if you think you aren't.

@The Joy of Painting w Bob Ross Then why the hell would they limit that and use a pathetic excuse like giving casual gamers a chance. Honestly I don't care what you think it's all opinions about what's hardcore and what's not. Besides that was hypothetical there is no way in hell I'm touching this game as long as that system remains in place.

@Talos Izanagi $30 a month?

Uhh, its $13, and people who rant about the Surplus system don't understand it. For you to max it out you would have to play over 100 hours a week.

@Kaemon 14$ huh...that makes it much better you changed my mind I'm going to get this game asap!...yeah right, I happen to like sticking to a certain class like for instance a fighter, I don't want to be forced from playing my style just because I play that one particular class a lot.

@Kaemon

Isn't that 100 hours a week amongst all classes, though? How much is it per class before you start losing XP? Or gaining less, I guess it would be.

@Kaemon If this is true then why include the system in the first place?

@Talos Izanagi
Chances are that you fell for one of the many misleading or simply partially misinformed articles out there. The system only has a *soft* cap that can easily be avoided, so it's not nearly as much as a problem as some paint it.
here's how it really works:
http://thisismyjoystick.com/editorials/final-fantasy-xiv-how-the-fatigue-system-really-works/

You can easily exp all week without encountering any kind of reductions. people just like to make things look more "sensationalistic". It brings more hits to their websites.

@Abriael
The article says if you're playing multiple classes, you won't experience the cap. But I don't feel like playing multiple classes, I'm only interested in one. It's a stupid system.

@doucheland

Living up to the name, I see.

@Acosta02

Thank god there's a few who have the balls to defend what they love. Be it MMO, FPS, or fail game bloggers (whom you seem to love).

@doucheland
That's weird, as I took the writer's remark as a slam against the game, not it's players.

As far as FFXIV goes, I think it's admirable that some players are willing to give it a chance. FFXIII gave me the same skepticisms that I'm feeling with FFXIV, but in my humble opinion XIII sucked by any known RPG standard.

Also, FFXI was known for punishing players (I can't believe I used to play XI for nearly two years before realizing that), and FFXIV looks to do the same.

My excitement for XIV went from cautiously optimistic to "forget it, I'm not gonna waste my time searching for any justification that the game is worth playing". This "fatigue" system, and the fact that the game appears to be deep down just a rehash of XI with a new coat of paint, doesn't really do it for me.

@context

As much as i love Bioware and have purchased and enjoyed every single RPG game they have released, i just can't get excited when i see the gameplay of SWTOR. I will play it because i enjoy new MMOs and i am loyal to Bioware. Its just in the long run and end game content that i am worried about.

People will keep comparing every MMO to WoW and you cant blame them .. WoW did it right.

@chapel666

You are aware that the producer of the game said earlier this month that there is not an auction house, right?

Here have a direct quote from Tanaka from the interview with FFXIVcore.com at Gamescom.

"Regarding Final Fantasy XIV and the market battle system is something we would like to consider the equilevent to the auction house we had in Final Fantasy XI. Only that you'll also be able to fix your equipment and things like that. It is something we really want people to enjoy. Also after the release of the game we will see how it goes and for example find out what kind of search options players will want and need and improve the situation. We don't really want to introduce the auctionhouse from the beginning because that is going to determine the economy system. So we want to improve it slowly and adjust it accordingly."

I think they will implement it at some point, but I would be very shocked if it will be there at launch because that would mean that the developers actually listened to some of the player feedback they are getting. The problem is that if they don't launch with this stuff, its going to end up driving people away before they get to it 6 months or a year down the line.

The reason XI was successful was that there was not a lot of competition. Now in 2010, MMO's are everywhere and a lot of people are not going to put up with paying for 6 months of post launch beta testing. Someday I have no doubt, this will be a better game than FFXI but not at launch and probably not at PS3 launch either.

I have played the beta, quite a bit actually, but I am not going to white knight the damn thing just because it has Final Fantasy in the title. Its decent and has some good stuff going for it, but if it launches this way, a lot of people are not going to get past the 30 day trial.