On the recent letter

[Nix]

Haven't seen enough for people to rave about it and claim it's going to be awesome, either. But I don't see anyone calling people out when they make those claims.

Funny how that works.

Critical? "You haven't seen enough to form an opinion"

Praising? "You haven't seen any more than the critical people, but that's okay. Your assumptions and hopes of how it's going to be is more than enough to go on"

It's the ultimate double-standard.

Honestly if people made those claims and were like "HEY THIS IS AWESOME" I'd be telling them to zip it because of NDA too.


People are absolutely welcome to their opinions, it's not my place to tell them they are right or wrong and if OP had stated OMG I LOVE IT, I totally would have responded in the same way.

But that's cute that you pulled my post thinking that I'm only telling them to zip it because it was something negative.

I do not want to see NDA breaches, I don't want to see people getting their account ganked. That's all there is to it.

[Zumi]

I think SE needs to watch that video very closely.

Or Wildstar might just have half their subscriptions.

Double jump is meaningless. But the use of the dodge mechanic, and jump mechanic used to avoid enemy attacks adds a TON of emergent gameplay that FFXIV will not have.

Sprint on it's own meter in Wildstar means melee aren't at a disadvantage in pvp. (Why does sprint cost TP in FFXIV?) If it's because mages can't move when casting, then let them move...
(No NDA breaking, shown here: http://youtu.be/_N4G854ANo0?t=2m51s)

Example: Mage vs melee start fight with full TP.
Melee uses TP move on mage.
mage sprints off.
melee has no TP to sprint after mage.
Wat.

And lastly, that combat looks fun, engaging and doesn't appear to hold your hand and treat you like an idiot.

I'm liking the looks of Wildstar. I really hope SE is watching.

ARR needs to do better than the competition, not just meet it. Otherwise it will be outshined as soon as a new game comes out that steps the genre one step further.
(yeah, that needs to be bold)

I think you want them to make an action RPG but SE is going for the more 2004 style mmo that floods the market now.

[Kavaskous]

I think SE needs to watch that video very closely.

Or Wildstar might just have half their subscriptions.

Double jump is meaningless. But the use of the dodge mechanic, and jump mechanic used to avoid enemy attacks adds a TON of emergent gameplay that FFXIV will not have.

Sprint on it's own meter in Wildstar means melee aren't at a disadvantage in pvp. (Why does sprint cost TP in FFXIV?) If it's because mages can't move when casting, then let them move...
(No NDA breaking, shown here: http://youtu.be/_N4G854ANo0?t=2m51s)

Example: Mage vs melee start fight with full TP.
Melee uses TP move on mage.
mage sprints off.
melee has no TP to sprint after mage.
Wat.

And lastly, that combat looks fun, engaging and doesn't appear to hold your hand and treat you like an idiot.

I'm liking the looks of Wildstar. I really hope SE is watching.

ARR needs to do better than the competition, not just meet it. Otherwise it will be outshined as soon as a new game comes out that steps the genre one step further.
(yeah, that needs to be bold)

Someone mentioned the combat being all bland and tank and spank in 1.0? Not everything was. They started getting it near the end there - I have high hopes there will be even harder stuff ahead @_@;;

Also, I have to admit, I just watched that 4 minute trailer for Wildstar and, for a cartoony looking game, it certainly looks interesting - though I also said that about Aion and that game went downhill quick imho, got tired of winning all the large battles because of sheer numbers due to racial imbalance. <_<

Anyway.... *crosses fingers* Phase 3 O_O

[Nix]

@Kava - I was one that mentioned it being a bit bland in 1.0! I completely forgot about the NVD battle - I have to admit I would LOVE to see more fights like tht that actually got you to switch it up and think on your toes, but battles like that seemed kinda few and far between ><. My wish for 2.0 is that we see more fights like that, granted not for trash mobs but for larger bosses and dungeons etc, it would be fun!


Have a wonderful day!

[Solace]

The system definitely needs work but I am hoping for something even more dynamic than FFXI was..
It was great combat though.
I would like to see team moves..
I have a vision... Where one character uses his/her strength to assist another.
Remember how in advent children they were always working together?

Say you have a DRG in pt..
Only the DRG has certain moves so only the DRG can initiate them.
DRG does super jump (BAM!) Icon comes up in every PT members screen, asking if they want to assist.
If they do, the move turns into something even more deadly.

Every member that responded jumps into the air and is assisted by the DRG, being tossed high into the sky.
DRG on his way back down, is assisted by each player, who has chosen to assist and it increases his velocity massively.
Increasing the damage he does in an extreme way.
Extreme enough to make up for the loss of DPS for the members who chose to assist and some..
We can get into some fun camera angles here and make the game feel epic, as it should.
Not to mention big abilities = big effects. :P

Status abilities could become more powerful, last longer, etc.

You could do this with every job though I think..
War has strong abilities, like whirlwind..
Members could assist the action, increasing the AOE radius and damage.
Could be a different ability though, doesn't have to be whirlwhind. :P

Mages could easily assist each other using just the power of their magic.
Now that could be something to see.
Tendrils of magic, glowing from the assisters, leading to the main mage who is casting.


I'm thinking only certain special abilities could be assisted.

If there is going to be a game pushing the boundaries, I want it to be FFXIV..
I miss scripting games.. Wish I had never stopped..
But this is the best I can do.. Offer some hopeful insight and ideas.

[Kavaskous]

The system definitely needs work but I am hoping for something even more dynamic than FFXI was..
It was great combat though.
I would like to see team moves..
I have a vision... Where one character uses his/her strength to assist another.
Remember how in advent children they were always working together?

Say you have a DRG in pt..
Only the DRG has certain moves so only the DRG can initiate them.
DRG does super jump (BAM!) Icon comes up in every PT members screen, asking if they want to assist.
If they do, the move turns into something even more deadly.

Every member that responded jumps into the air and is assisted by the DRG, being tossed high into the sky.
DRG on his way back down, is assisted by each player, who has chosen to assist and it increases his velocity massively.
Increasing the damage he does in an extreme way.
Extreme enough to make up for the loss of DPS for the members who chose to assist and some..
We can get into some fun camera angles here and make the game feel epic, as it should.
Not to mention big abilities = big effects. :P

Status abilities could become more powerful, last longer, etc.

You could do this with every job though I think..
War has strong abilities, like whirlwind..
Members could assist the action, increasing the AOE radius and damage.
Could be a different ability though, doesn't have to be whirlwhind. :P

Mages could easily assist each other using just the power of their magic.
Now that could be something to see.
Tendrils of magic, glowing from the assisters, leading to the main mage who is casting.


I'm thinking only certain special abilities could be assisted.

If there is going to be a game pushing the boundaries, I want it to be FFXIV..
I miss scripting games.. Wish I had never stopped..
But this is the best I can do.. Offer some hopeful insight and ideas.

For the record, let's take into account that there is limit break system with 3 levels and no one has given us anything major on the system; depending upon how legit and/or realistic (and fair) Limit Breaks turn out to be, if they're terrible, this would be an interesting modification of your idea.

I admit, the idea would be great; Make party combos that are based on Class selection, not job, this way you can base them off of the weapons being used, not the specification. e.g. Perhaps a GLA, using a Shield, and a LNC obviously using some form of spear, may have to get close to one another - the LNC/DRG uses all of his TP to jump onto the GLA/PLD's shield, whom is then flung off of the shield while using jump (perhaps to balance classes and job further due to the imbalance this could cause, certain Job skills are available when using a combo) a player could do much like the old Battle Regimen system.

The PLD/DRK initiates the combo by hitting a certain key and then selecting one of the few skills that have a combo available on, one being Shield Bash. The DRG then runs over to the PLD and gets close (meanwhile, the player can skill fight on until the other play iitiates.), hits the same key and then jump. The DRG then "Jumps" off of the shield, while Shield bashing upwards, and hits their target even more height (Should get to see the entire jump, would be awesome to feel like a DRG) landing on the Target, and doing a lot more damage with Jump.

Likewise, Two THM classes/jobs stanging anywhere can initiate a "Fire & Ice" combo, or a WHM and THM class could stand next to one another and combine the elements of the two into new spells, or a BLM (Or the next THM Job) could support a WHM by increasing their elemental effectiveness, allowing the "elements" they work with to be "conjured" in their more powerful and pure forms.

Then again, SE might have already thought of that... can only hope, but not too hard =/

[Duelle]

Yes I do, I played it for almost 7 years.

You do realize that gear swapping has absolutely nothing to do with this topic?
You can have an involved fight and some really intricate tactics that DON'T revolve around gearswapping.

You mean like "type /kneel" to Odin? Rotating bards for soul voice and summoners for perfect defense is not intricate nor involved. Rotating DPS that slept themselves to 100 TP is also not intricate or involved. Supertanking is not intricate and involved.

I like fights with mechanics as much as the next guy (probably moreso, as I greatly enjoyed that aspect of raiding in WoW), but trust me, XI's battle system is the furthest thing from what I call exemplary combat design. Some people's judgement has been clouded by FFXI nostalgia, is all.

[Orophin]

I think SE needs to watch that video very closely.

Or Wildstar might just have half their subscriptions.

Double jump is meaningless. But the use of the dodge mechanic, and jump mechanic used to avoid enemy attacks adds a TON of emergent gameplay that FFXIV will not have.

Maybe not everyone wants fully active combat like GW2 and TERA have? If I wanted to play a game like that I'd play Street Fighter.

Thankfully SE seems to be gravitating towards old combat systems like WoW and FFXIV 1.23. (although faster paced) If they were to change how battle works that wouldn't turn me off from the game, but my preference is what they're showing now. And I don't see ARR suffering because they refuse to go in the direction of GW2/TERA/Wildstar's more active combat.

[Nix]

You mean like "type /kneel" to Odin? Rotating bards for soul voice and summoners for perfect defense is not intricate nor involved. Rotating DPS that slept themselves to 100 TP is also not intricate or involved. Supertanking is not intricate and involved.

I like fights with mechanics as much as the next guy (probably moreso, as I greatly enjoyed that aspect of raiding in WoW), but trust me, XI's battle system is the furthest thing from what I call exemplary combat design. Some people's judgement has been clouded by FFXI nostalgia, is all.

I was only using XI as an example^^ and did CLEARLY state in my post that some people would not think it is technical. Maybe you missed that?

My point was that I didn't want combat to be exactly like XI, but anything a little more involved than it was in 1.0 is a step forward.
For the most part I disliked XI's combat - I hated being pidgeonholed into one role and one role only and there was a great many things that needed to be done away with, such as the convoluted gearswapping, being able to supertank and being able to pure TP burn most stuff etc etc.

But I guess the minute one person mentions XI in this forum it automatically means they want a clone of it.

That's quite laughable.

[Radacci]

I can't like your post enough.

We need a MMO with engaging, thought provoking combat.

If the core, and beginning of a game isn't fun, what makes anyone think it will magically be fun at endgame?

Positioning, enemy abilities, environmental effects, party makeup, elemental wheel, status effects, a diverse bestiary, thoughtful action use, resource management, diversified encounters and a slew of other things should play a role in making combat enjoyable from beginning to end.

Similar monsters, tank and spank, same 2-5 skills used from 1-50. {no thanks}

(All hypothetical and needed for any game really, not just FFXIV)

1.0 was very boring early levels, and got more fun end game.
How do you suppose ARR, or any other game is different?
Melee classes were pathetically boring and annoying at low lv, cause most of your attacks missed; so you had to lv casters first, then level melees, using magic.
At end game, you could actually hit stuff, and had a few combos.
If you think end game is gonna be as boring as low level (restricted) content, you're being silly.