Did you PLAY or TEST?

[Anathiel]

lol I just remember when I criticized there was nothing to do, somebody told me, "This is just beta of course we're only see'ing 10% of the game". I don't know, I really enjoyed alpha's combat system over beta's but it was indeed slower.

[Zantetsuken]

I was a first-wave Alpha tester.

Looking back at my feedback and the state of the game a year ago, the game was literally unplayable. You would be online for a just enough time to walk around a bit, lose connection, and spend the rest of your time trying to get back online. It was clear that the game wasn't even ready for an Alpha test. Server issues, serious glitches, and other fundamental problems should have been 99% sorted out before they ever sent invites out.

Those first several months were spent primarily getting the game to a point where the Alpha testers could actually test some of the things they asked us about. Unfortunately, everything was so unfinished, it was very difficult to give feedback as you didn't know what the development team was looking to accomplish or what direction they were looking to take the game. In short, we were asked to give feedback on specific and very rough pieces of a puzzle, without either the neighboring pieces to measure them by, or any clear idea of what the puzzle should look like when assembled.

We gave feedback on things like the pace of battle which ultimately resulted in the elimination of the accuracy/damage meter. But overall, it was difficult to know what to comment on due to not knowing where they were going with it.

It was clear that completely unrealistic promises were made about FFXIV's development time-line both internally and externally at SquareEnix. After the release, when the general public got their hands on the game, did the reality set in with the upper management. Yoshida-san has a daunting task ahead of him. He has to take Tanaka's vague vision and years of development, and turn it into something worthy of the Final Fantasy name in a relatively short time.

Personal thoughts: I've always thought that FFXIV has the potential to be a fantastic game, far better than FFXI. But it won't be an easy task. First impressions are very stubborn things, and SE will have to work twice as hard to win back those they lost -- not just players, but gaming press and reviewers as well. Fortunately, the PS3 release is a great opportunity for that. However, If the game for some reason turns out to be unsalvageable, I wouldn't be surprised to wake up and find this game be renamed as FF:Online II, in order to preserve the franchise.

[Anathiel]

OH And in alpha you received an email telling you what they wanted feedback on. i remember trying to do battle regimens for an entire session and not being able to pull it off once. but i always gave super positive feedback on crafting. ive loved the crafting and gathering system since day one. the one thing i did give negative feedback on was crafting recipes and having the need for player repairs.

[Grimm]

^ Thank you for the well thought out post. I agree FFXIV has the potential. I just hope they listen rather than just giving everything most players ask for it can be game breaking. There is a difference between listening and thinking on a request than handing what ever people ask for to them.

[Neptune]

I posted so many damn bugs and issues. They are welcome to go back and read my feedback. If all they ever do is read that beta feedback and respond accordingly, this game will have a very bright future.

[Griss]

First wave Pro Bono Crash Test dummy here. I tested, reported, and gave feed back until my eyes fell out and my fingers went numb. though after a while you got the impression that things were falling on def ears. Heck i honestly think the only changes that came from all of it all at the time were the current mouse camera control scheme and getting the con pips to be a bit more friendly to the colorblind. and those felt like herculean efforts. The communication was almost nil and the forum mod only stepped in and regulated due to really really outrageous things being said.

here's the thing though if you look over the things that have been changed since then, it mirrors a lot of the stuff we old guard were saying back while we were under our nda's. Would have been nice had this stuff gone in before the public laid eyes on the game, but hey they messed up the bed, now they got to fix it. and it really feels like they got the wake up call they needed.

[Grimm]

Sounds like they are going through old beta feedback then comparing it to requests being made now and going ''Oh crap why didn't we do this before do it now!''

[Luluna]

I was on the very first Alpha test and like Zantetsuken said it wasn't really ready, and staying logged on was pretty good if you could manage it, and almost every leve that i did in a party would crash out. Lots of bugs where reported by myself and lots of other players with great feedback and suggestions, sadly a lot was ignored. I also remember spending 30 minutes with somebody trying to Battle regiment and we looked like a right pair of muppets lol.

[Nephera]

Welp this paints a bleak picture, but its not like we werent already looking at one.

[Evangelus]

I remember some comment in beta test like : "DONT SHIP THE GAME ! DELAY IT!" ;_;