Quote Originally Posted by Jennestia View Post
No. The issue was other balance reasons, not the length of battle -- They reduced HP to try to help with the fact you can literally gain 0 SP after a fight and doing say a 40 second battle only to get 0 SP...yeah that didn't work.

Then comes the fact mobs used to run back and regen full HP then come back and charge you while you were beaten and battered -- That was why the HP was reduced on leve mobs.
I think I found the original video from alpha to beta which shows the differences in battle speed.

FINAL FANTASY XIV "Metamorphosis: From Alpha to Beta"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-99sSSS3eP4

Uploaded on Jun 24, 2010

We are happy to call attention to some improvements made in transitioning from the alpha version to the new beta version of FINAL FANTASY XIV. Notice the difference in lighting, the new depth of field effect, and the faster battle system.