Infos on the Real game Direction? WHEN?!

[Dragonheart]

We can test plenty of what they want us to test in just the gridania area :P. But yes, What I REALLY want to test is Gla, mrd, and Thm, but it has to wait til phase 3 which disapoints me so.

I'm so not interested in testing out archer, because we all know archer is really just a musician with a bow in the end :/ /uninterested

Well i think that the zones / content will be the same of the alpha.. plus the FATE system...
Also, we are supposed to give feedback regarding the other classes in the final 2 phases... isn't that too late? *mumble mumble*

[Reika]

Well i think that the zones / content will be the same of the alpha.. plus the FATE system...
Also, we are supposed to give feedback regarding the other classes in the final 2 phases... isn't that too late? *mumble mumble*

Yea it kinda would be too late. It would be way better for us to be able to give feedback on the classes from the beginning, but all we can do even when beta test starts is speculate on the Uldah and Limsa classes/jobs. They could be broken as hell and it would be too late to get any real fixes on them before launch, however Gridania classes they should have plenty of time to fix their brokendness, especially since they should have had some feedback on them in alpha. They must really like Gridania.

[Dragonheart]

Yea it kinda would be too late. It would be way better for us to be able to give feedback on the classes from the beginning, but all we can do even when beta test starts is speculate on the Uldah and Limsa classes/jobs. They could be broken as hell and it would be too late to get any real fixes on them before launch, however Gridania classes they should have plenty of time to fix their brokendness, especially since they should have had some feedback on them in alpha. They must really like Gridania.

Also just 2 phases to test the other 2 regions and their content...
Testing and fixing bugs for 2 never seen region plus the classes in only 2 phases... Pretty strange..

[Nadrojj]

Also just 2 phases to test the other 2 regions and their content...
Testing and fixing bugs for 2 never seen region plus the classes in only 2 phases... Pretty strange..

Nothing seems to please you. Every single post you have made has been a complaint. I really wonder if you know what goes into a game, and that our "beta" test is no where near a finished game, it's just us trying it out. Your latest complaint of only getting one area to start out playing in beta is just down right ridiculous.

The developers are going on a marketing campaign trip on the the 10th, expect information to flow starting around that time. The latest haiku contest ends the 14th, to which they are awarding beta keys for the game. I'm expecting beta to start anytime after that from the 15th to the 20th. I really hope it starts soon, reading most of the posts here is just getting old.

[Orophin]

It's actually only one phase to really test and provide feedbacks...
Wonder how much testing we can do just with phase 3 for the other classes.

Phase 4 is pretty much open beta, and demo for the PS3 players as YoshiP said. (He assumes PS3 players in beta will want to play the game instead of 'test'). Don't think it's good to have major bugs 'if any' in a demo imo. Demo supposed to be appealing and make players 'want' to play more and buy the finished product.

I guess time and players feedback in phase 3 will tell...

Well the good news is that character data will get imported into Phase 3, so at least people with multiple 50s will be able to test game balance fairly quickly.

[Hulan]

Also just 2 phases to test the other 2 regions and their content...
Testing and fixing bugs for 2 never seen region plus the classes in only 2 phases... Pretty strange..

Well, if it's not ready it's not ready. They're not holding out on us just to spite us. 2 Phases to test 4 battle classes and 2 (to 5) regions is quite brief, but SE can't bend reality to their whims. If things turn out really badly, they may just extend the beta.

That being said, 9/10ths of the things we need to test in the beta can be tested in one region. Things like netcode, GUI, controls, general battle pacing; these are all things that can be tested in one region just as easily as 3. Plenty of games release with just in-house beta testing on huge swaths of the game, so as long as we do our job and review what we have available, it's no time to hit the panic button just yet.

[AdorraEloom]

Yea it kinda would be too late. It would be way better for us to be able to give feedback on the classes from the beginning, but all we can do even when beta test starts is speculate on the Uldah and Limsa classes/jobs. They could be broken as hell and it would be too late to get any real fixes on them before launch, however Gridania classes they should have plenty of time to fix their brokendness, especially since they should have had some feedback on them in alpha. They must really like Gridania.

I think that Limsa/Uldah areas/classes are most likely still in production, perhaps that is why they are not going to be released in phase 1. No other reason for SE to not get as much testing as possible on Limsa/Uldah during beta.

[Reika]

I think that Limsa/Uldah areas/classes are most likely still in production, perhaps that is why they are not going to be released in phase 1. No other reason for SE to not get as much testing as possible on Limsa/Uldah during beta.

Well gee, I guess we will do a lot of testing after launch then

/MemoriesOf1.0

[Coombah]

Well gee, I guess we will do a lot of testing after launch then

/MemoriesOf1.0

[Sorel]

Here's a logic question for the community.

If you believe that Producer/Director Yoshida will listen to testing feedback and make changes accordingly,

- AND -

That some changes and adjustments will definitely be required ...

- THEN -

Would it not be extra development work to build everything all at once to work with the original system mechanics, then have to re-build everything again once you get feedback to alter something in that system??

Let's say, for example, that global cooldowns is just a big flop. Or that auto-attack is just too powerful, or that the HQ synthesis rate is excessively high.

Isn't easier to test the fixes to these possible global system problems on a small scale with a small sample, see if it works, then build the remainder to the new working model ... instead having to build, then rebuild everything, perhaps repeatedly??

Once you have the global world-defining systems nailed down, then you can introduce and test specific case scenario's and fix them individually. Bard Arrow-Burn parties are clearing dungeons in a quarter of the expected time? Player feedback is asking for Paladin's Cover ability to be an AOE semi-circle behind them? Those types of issues are better nailed down after the primary systems are tested and finalized.

Be patient. It's a process. Let the process run. After bringing FFXIV from 1.0 to 1.23, do you still not trust that Naoki Yoshida knows how to run a development team and get results??

tl;dr - It's faster to test and re-test fixes on 3 classes (or one zone) multiple times and then move the fixes out to the remaining classes ONCE, than it is to test and re-test fixes on all the classes multiple times.