Um.. summer release?

[Yrusama]

That's like saying that FFXIII is the same game as FFXIII-2 to be honest.

I'd normally agree with you, but in this case I must clarify what Amherst meant. 1.0 and ARR are comparable because ARR is a reattempt at XIV. The story might be a continuation, but ultimately it's an updated version of the same thing, whether it uses the same client or not. We keep our characters and items, though the rest changes.

Indeed it's more analogous to that 4-part .hack series released on PS2. I never did get to play past the first

[Abriael]

I'd normally agree with you, but in this case I must clarify what Amherst meant. 1.0 and ARR are comparable because ARR is a reattempt at XIV. The story might be a continuation, but ultimately it's an updated version of the same thing, whether it uses the same client or not. We keep our characters and items, though the rest changes.

Indeed it's more analogous to that 4-part .hack series released on PS2. I never did get to play past the first

Keeping the same characters doesn't make it less of a new game. It's very comparable to a sequel.

Balur's Gate 2 is not the same game as Baldur's Gate, yet you get to keep your character. Same for the Mass Effect trilogy and many others.

New engine, new client, new assets, new gameplay mechanics, new environment. It's literally and by all means and purposes a new game. It shares the setting and reuses a few models, but that's as far as it goes, and many sequels do that as well.

[Neptune]

Welcome back Neptune, I was starting to worry after you disappeared in January.

Also you do know they delayed the phase 3 beta to early June to apply the feedback from phases 1 and 2, right?

~Nyaa

Thanks. I've been reading here and there, but nothing to post about until now. I'm aware of the date for phase 3 but if you take it all in context I think it's more because they had work to do and less because they stopped in their tracks to implement feedback.

Restate: i trust better an insider then someone responding to him "Oh really? Tell me more." in a sarcastic behavor

Then you are a

Oh no, you tell us more. Do you have any evidence of what you say, or all you have is "the previews disagree with my doomsaying, so they must obviously be dishonest!"?

Evidence? Of what? That you agreed to an NDA? You already said you did. I'm not sure if you really don't understand what a contract is or if you're just too belligerent to read my post without coloring it with your own bias. I also didn't say anyone's reporting was dishonest, I said it wasn't honest, because to be honest there would have to be no NDA thus no restriction on what could be written. Do I really need to explain that to you? Surely you are capable of understanding that on your own. Also people (blind fanboys?) knocked "doomsayers" in 1.0 beta testing too. So things go without critical thinking and prebaked agendas.

So to sum up if you were a better journalist you would understand what a contract is without it being broken down for you, you would understand the effect of the NDA on your reporting, you would understand the kind of rosy scenario Square has painted for themselves with glowing (but notably restricted) press, and perhaps if you were a better person overall you would understand that I'm not doomsaying because I do enjoy the idea of the game and I posted to encourage it to be a success instead of having a rough launch.

[yukikaze_yanagi]

cut

There was an NDA in place to not write about any area outside Gridania or things wasn't in place of phase 2 beta (the same NDA got lifted about Gridania). Because you know, they were the parts still under heavy development. What they should wrote, about an area with missing textures, monsters, half the skill still under revision ?
Is this the kind of publicity you think they should do ? Your post is an insult

[Abriael]

Evidence? Of what? That you agreed to an NDA?

Nope. of this: "Every news outlet has been under a contract to not give honest feedback about FFXIV"

]You already said you did. I'm not sure if you really don't understand what a contract is or if you're just too belligerent to read my post without coloring it with your own bias.I also didn't say anyone's reporting was dishonest, I said it wasn't honest, because to be honest there would have to be no NDA thus no restriction on what could be written.

First of all telling that someone's reporting isn't honest is exactly the same as telling that someone is dishonest.

Secondly you're running your mouth without any knowledge of what you're talking about.

We didn't sign any contract to write our previews. The only NDA we had was exactly the same every single beta tester agreed to (same site, same system, same text), as I already wrote and as you conveniently ignored. It had absolutely no specific restriction on what to write about and on how to write about it in any kind of article. As a matter of fact it did not even TALK about writing previews because it was the standard NDA for all players. The NDA was there to initially access the beta, and not to cover it on our outlets, and it forbid to talk about anything related to the game, like for everyone else.

Once the embargo on previews was removed the NDA ceased to exist for what those previews were concerned. The removal of the embargo is by all means and purposes a full exemption from the NDA, making it completely irrelevant.

There was nothing in the NDA that indicated what we could or couldn't write about after the drop of the embargo, nor there was anything about it in any further communication had with Square Enix.

We were authorized to talk about every single element of the game that was present in phase 1 and 2. Nothing was excluded. There was also no indication about being positive, negative or anything in between.

No indication was given other than the informal recommendation to use the screenshots provided and not our own (which again is standard practice for previews), separate from the NDA.

So yeah, you're making a false claim with no evidence about something you know nothing about.

Some developers do have you sign a specific NDA when you write previews, limiting what you can talk about because some elements are kept for future unveiling. But those NDAs never induce you to give less than honest feedback, as they don't in any way ask you to be less or more positive about the game.

In any case NO such NDA was required by square Enix when writing the preview of Final Fantasy XIV: ARR, and the removal of the embargo completely exempted us from the standard NDA as far as the preview was concerned.

So to sum up if you were a better journalist

Luckily exposing your lies and attempts to mislead and misinform doesn't mean being less than a good journalist. Quite the opposite, since the duty of a good journalist is to portray reality. Reality is that you made a claim that not only you can't prove, but that is also completely false under every point of view.

you would understand the kind of rosy scenario Square has painted for themselves with glowing (but notably restricted) press

Only, they didn't paint any rosy scenario, because the only restriction was about screenshots. There was no restriction of any kind on content and opinion, or on the topics we could talk about.

No. Restriction. Or. Indication. At. All.

Did i spell it easy enough?

If I felt like writing that the game was a piece of crap (obviously I did not), I could have done so. I had absolutely nothing preventing me from doing so, besides the fact that it isn't true. And differently from you I'm not into the business of making up stuff.

and perhaps if you were a better person overall you would understand that I'm not doomsaying because I do enjoy the idea of the game and I posted to encourage it to be a success instead of having a rough launch.

A good person points out a lie or a false claim when he sees one, and that's exactly what I'm doing.

The fact that basically everyone that wrote a preview disagrees with you doesn't mean they're not being honest. It just means that they disagree with you, and that should probably tell you something about your own opinion.