Alpha First Look: Video 5 - Quests and Combat

[Nox]

Finally have more than levequests? We had quests in 1.0. Have you played it? Quests in 1.0 had way more dialogue than this. We didn't have more quests because they decided to rebuild the whole game. Yoshida has said "this is only alpha" is never an excuse for bad content, so please, stop using it. Animations are horrendously stiff, specially the lancer, but I don't think they'll get much better than that. I hope we can remove that fucking red circle, it looks like shit. The players being higher level but having their HP drop to less than 50% health shows we will either be tackling content that is lower than our own lv when solo, or will be constantly dying attempting anything higher. If those hoglets were lv 15, she would have died. This type of quest is disgusting, but not surprising. Surprising is the reception from the majority of players here, and their brains seemingly unable to imagine ANYTHING that differs from this old formula. It's really impressive how unimaginative you can be. Unfortunately to some of us these quests look boring, uncreative and stupid, we can in fact quite easily imagine something better than this, and we truly wish we had any way to do it. No, there are no other popular MMORPGs with quests that are any better than this, which is precisely why this game is following the trend. It's still shit. Yoshida will not show content that doesn't represent best what the game is going to be, and since it has already pleased most of you, shut it with the "there will be harder more interesting content later on". This is as interesting as you want it. Also, no one but one or two are advocating for vague, impossible to grasp quest content. Your childish arguments all seem to revolve around "if you don't like white then you probably want black", "it's still alpha" and "every kid is doing it". God damn this community and their innate conformism to mediocrity.

then please sir, stop QQing and use your amazing imagination (which according to you is much better than ours) to describe to us what will work in ARR to introduce new players to the game. We are all waiting. please describe in detail how how your amazing idea will 1. be better 2. how it can be produced at a proper pace in order to not just release a handful of quests a month, and 3. how it will help to intergrate new people into the game. The type of quest shown is by definition meant to be easy, not only is it a low level quest, but it is clearly catered towards solo play.

Also, No this is not as interesting as we want it, but it is as interesting as low level stuff is going to get and that is fine. It is essentiallyalmost tutorial like. We already know the type of challenging content we will get at end game, Ifrit extreme, Garuda, and nael Van Darnus (hard) were a clear example of that. Keep in mind that not all content needs to be difficult content.

[strallaalaa]

looks good. but i think that is all they fixed with 2.0. they fixed the engine and graphics but ruined the content and mmo. i refuse to solo level in mmo's. but i will assume soon as i level high enough i can party play level in dungeons over and over with people. but even then it will feel like tera and gw2 and be boring. rather then tons of zones that you level up in like ffxi, every 5-10 levels moving to a new zone it's going to be grind same dungeons over and over.

i'm worried for the game. spirit bond leveling was so much fun. lets hope crystal towers impresses or this game is fuked on the real. either way i'm still excited to see 2.0 release and give it a big time try. this is the one mmo that i sincerely want to love and play for a long time, but you can't convince people for long that a turd is potpourri.

p.s. lol darshu you rock. everything he said is in my brain and wants to punch all of you in the face with it.

[Headseed]

Well this topic turned into a flame fest. Well I also noticed the Water knock back effect which I thought was nice . I also noticed that the mobs had different letters at the end of their names the Hogs had A & B the slugs had K, L, M & N. Does anyone know what those are for? Thanks.

[Biggs]

Well this topic turned into a flame fest. Well I also noticed the Water knock back effect which I thought was nice . I also noticed that the mobs had different letters at the end of their names the Hogs had A & B the slugs had K, L, M & N. Does anyone know what those are for? Thanks.

I would imagine they are there to make targeting and communication amoung party members easier. For instance, when determining which order the party will kill a group of similar mobs, party leader could say, F, then G, then H. Of course, its alpha, so I could be totally talking out of my butt and none of that will be in the final build. Just a guess.

[Darshu]

Got all that what? Most of what I said had nothing to do with predicting how the entire game was going to be. But the questing system can be pretty much defined. Two quests that were published to represent specifically how the questing system is looking like should be enough for us to take our own conclusions. Everything else is real, too. The circle is awful, the animations are stiff, the quests had more dialogue in 1.0. And just like I said, many are excited and interested in this. What many aren't interested in, though, is bringing intelligent responses and rational defenses to what they think is better game design. Not surprisingly, since you can't honestly defend the position that you enjoy what is mediocre. All you can say is "This is alpha/5 minute video". I think if it really bothered you, though, this excuse would not cut it.

[Hestern_Nestern]

Following are two snippets of Darshu's posts and my responses to him and to all:

God damn this community and their innate conformism to mediocrity.

Got all that what? Most of what I said had nothing to do with predicting how the entire game was going to be...

Please refrain from claiming to know or understand the attributes players (or people) possess. It's not polite - but there is more than a lack of manners in such things - there is a lack of prudence, also. It is not wise to make such grand claims about people on this forum or elsewhere or humanity itself based on the amount of data you have accumulated on this forum. I do not know you so I cannot say that this is a normal habit of yours - I can only say that I sincerely wish that this does not become a habit of yours. It's terrible for human relations and it's terrible for the health and growth of your inner being. It does not prove your intelligence or your prescience to have said that others are ridiculous - it conveys ignorance and rashness of judgment - though I do not claim either one of those are necessarily true of you (I do not know you enough to say). This harms your message's delivery - it makes it so others will not see the truths buried between the insults.

We must be fair. Not only to each other as players and posters, not only to ourselves, but also to the men and women who work diligently and passionately to complete this game. And it is true - we have been most unfair to them. We identify that this is a product and somehow because of that we lose our compassion for the people behind the product. I cannot abide by that. I must defend.

Let us consider for a moment that none of us knows much of note. Let us also consider that this alpha build is much older than its Beta counterpart. Yes, you are right in stating that "this is just alpha" is not a reasonable argument. On behalf of everyone else who has said this, I apologize. But it is also not a reasonable argument to state that one video made with the sole intent of showing us the questing (and battle) system is proof of every single quest that is to follow and for questing in general.

I understand that Yoshi-P wants to show us the best. I also understand that it is unlikely that the best quests the game has to offer exists within the five or more zones (I forget the exact number) available in the alpha. We know what alphas are generally used for in MMOs. We also know that SE thought that people were displeased with the lack of direction in the beginning portions of the game and had promised to make it so new players could integrate themselves into the game more easily. If these quests are a byproduct of a need for direction, then they have definitely succeeded. I also agree that having too much information when on a quest can be just as bad as having too little -- all of you are right in stating your claims for either side of that issue - but what is truer of both is that some balance must be made - between the ease of the quest and the mystery - in order for this questing system to be successful.

Let us be prudent, all, of what we claim to be true of the game and what we claim to be true of others.

~H.N.~

[Allesasi]

People complaint too much thats all I'm gonna say.

[Davy]

People complaint too much thats all I'm gonna say.

People would complain about a cure for Cancer and HIV. . .

[ZakarnRosewood]

Quote Originally Posted by Darshu View Post
Got all that what? Most of what I said had nothing to do with predicting how the entire game was going to be. But the questing system can be pretty much defined. Two quests that were published to represent specifically how the questing system is looking like should be enough for us to take our own conclusions. Everything else is real, too. The circle is awful, the animations are stiff, the quests had more dialogue in 1.0. And just like I said, many are excited and interested in this. What many aren't interested in, though, is bringing intelligent responses and rational defenses to what they think is better game design. Not surprisingly, since you can't honestly defend the position that you enjoy what is mediocre. All you can say is "This is alpha/5 minute video". I think if it really bothered you, though, this excuse would not cut it.

I had posted a defense on the previous page, if you care to look for it. If not I see no need to repeat myself on every other page just to make sure my points are current.

To add to it, the comment about stiff animations has been addressed several times in the last month or so by the devs and Yoshi-P himself, the red circle? i see no problem with it, it tells you which direction the mob is facing which is useful for things like Flans and in big groups when you will have WS that do damage from behind. As for the comment about killing mobs and damage, the official post of the vid states the damage algorithms are being adjusted.

Your comments are mostly biased and based on a lack of information. But this is just my opinion. Can't wait to play ARR!

[Linkurrra]

The one thing I enjoy about this video, is how the NPC text is so much easier to read now! Black on white text can be read so much faster! At least for me.

I'm still sad to see such a rigid camera attached to the character. I prefer very slight camera bobs with movement and some character movement while turning. I know it was mentioned in a post that hitting Ctrl+Mouse axis would make the character animate. I would just like to see this if it is indeed optional. This is never deal breaker for me for playing the game. Just a nagging feeling that feels awkward. Once your in the heat of battle this issue completely dissolves into nonexistence!