A quick search on Twitter will reveal that quite a lot of players aren’t all that happy with their requirements.

Previously, we’ve posted about if FFXIV was worth $1k for a new rig. From the comments, not everybody have an i7, so most people are I guess… “below average” PC?

Isn’t this just going to discourage people from playing? If you have such high of a spec requirements, you will turn away customers, when they read your box inside a game store and think “um… well I can’t play this, I don’t have the spec”.

I still think the best way to judge if you can play FFXIV is run their benchmark. But people in-store do not have access or may not even know you have a benchmark program. So I’m not sure posting such a high requirement on your game and the retail box (if they do) will do Squeenix any good.

On the other hand, twitter revealed (yes, its a pretty niffy tool) that SE ended beta earlier than expected today. Uhoh!

Lag Issues? Control issues? Or simply they’ve achieved their objective and decide to shut you guys off from playing!

• Server load and code problems contributed to alpha test problems; have done their best to remedy them.
• Plan is to get one world server stabilized, add enough people to test the stability of that server, then increase the number of servers.  Goal is to have about 50,000 testers total.
• Heavy server load appears to have contributed to players’ inability to see aetherite and odd timing of character motion and attack.
• More players were added for alpha 2.   (Note from Xari:  Invitations went out yesterday, make sure you check your e-mail!).
• Beta testers will be able to play without time limits.
• A completely different battle system will be in place for beta, addressing tempo issues.  The current (alpha) system was never intended to be used, but needed to have something in place for alpha.
• Graphics will change drastically for beta.
• Guildleves are the best way to earn money, but server issues were making it difficult for testers to finish them.  Developers are thinking of solutions to the gil-earning problem such as adding a way to retry failed guildleves and rewarding party members for completion (and not just the person who initiated the guildleve).
• All races destined for inclusion in the final version will be playable in the beta.  (Note from Xari:  Yes, this includes Miqo’te!)
• The play area of the beta will not be extended, but changes will be implemented to encourage testers to play in other locations including dungeons.  Monsters may start to agro in beta.
• The chat and battle log shows all things within a player’s viewable range, with the focus on things happening related to your party.  Developers are planning on allowing players to have control over what information is shown to other players (such as whether others can see the monsters for your guildleve).  The chat filters will also be implemented.
• A mog house won’t be needed because players can carry a much larger number of items than in FFXI.  However, there are plans to make some sort of a large-scale house in the future.
• Developers wanted to have something different from a standardized auction system, so are trying to make a bazaar system that will work even when players are logged off.

The interview then continued with FFXIV Planner Kenichi Iwao:

• Players will be able to choose which guild they want to belong to from the beginning (as opposed to belonging to and having to work for a starting nation).
• Everything in Hydaelyn (the FFXIV world) is made of different balances of the six elemental aethers.  Crystals are pure manifestations of one element.
• The history of the world is split into alternating eras of stability (astral eras) and turmoil (name not yet localized).  The current era in the game is the Sixth Astral Era.
• Eorzean mythology includes “The Twelve,” 12 guardian deities of the city-states and players.  Each of The Twelve has their own personality; some are easily angered, some are more caring.  Each deity is related to an element.  It has not yet been revealed whether or not you’ll be able to meet the deities.  The Garlean Empire does not believe in The Twelve.
• You will select a guardian deity during character creation but will likely be able to change it during the game, with a penalty attached.
• FFXIV is currently set only in Eorzea but other lands and worlds may be made available later.
• The war with the Garlean Empire, seen in trailers and the opening movie, affects a lot of things in the story of the game.  PvP content may wind up being related to the story of this war.
• Eorzea resembles ancient Greece or medieval Italy in that many large, independent cities grew together and thrived.  Some of the cities in Eorzea had problems with each other in the past and still do, but generally the citizens get along with each other and some organizations manage to exist outside of city-state relations (the guilds).
• Some city-states have fallen since the map was made, and others have come into being.  The game map still shows the old city states.  The significance of the two flags on the bottom left of the map is a secret.
• When asked if city-state territories will change over the course of the game, the planner noted that they would like to do that, but it would present complications such as players new to the game not having the same starting experience as other players.  They do plan to implement some “social changes” at some point, however.
• Limsa Lominsa is the marine capital.  Ul’dah is a hub city like an oasis.  Gridania is surrounded by forests similar to a Mayan city.  There will not be drastic differences between the cities since they are all part of the same “cultural sphere.”
• Each guild has a city that houses its base of operations, but still maintains a presence, like a branch office, in each of the cities.
• They are planning on allowing players to play in the gambling and fighting arenas of Ul’dah.
• Chocobo, horse-drawn carriages, ships, and airships are all in the game.  It is still secret for how long they may be used and what experience level is needed to use them.
• There are NPCs in race/gender combinations that you can’t choose as a player (male Miqo’te and female highlanders).  He cannot declare that players will be forever unable to play as them.
• Monsters having something to do with FFXI will appear in the game, especially those from ToAU onward.  Qiqirn and Apkallu will appear in the game and can communicate with players.  They may appear in towns or in fields, too.
• The beast tribes have their own skills and there are things you can learn from them.  They also have their own opinions and sense of individuality.  Iwao thinks it would be fun if players can make and equip weapons which are influenced by their culture.  There will likley be more communication between humans and humanoids in FFXIV.
• The plan is to have outfits that deviate from the typical style of games.  Iwao cites sorcerers in heavy armor as one example.  The emphasis is on customization, including the ability to choose the color of your equipment.  The appearance of an item will match the components it is crafted from (e.g., if a hat looks leather-like, then leather is likely one of the synth ingredients).
• Players will likely be able to inscribe items they craft.
• Some NPCs are not named and instead show their direct impression, like “exhausted adventurer.”  These NPCs will be those that “don’t really do anything.”

This confirms a lot of what we previously mentioned as rumors.  I found the insight into the game lore provided by the Planner particularly interesting.  What piqued your interest?

Full text of the translated articles can be found on FFXIVCore here and here.

Beta-related:

• The system will be changed so it is easier to string together attacks
• The “tempo” of battle has been adjusted/increased
• The beta shadowing system has been updated, which accounts for the different appearance of screenshots taken in alpha vs. beta
• A “robust” chat log filter will be in place for the next round of beta
• More alpha testers will be added; participants have already been selected via drawing

Beyond beta:

• Limsa Lominsa will have two levels
• Gil will be easier to come by
• A “large scale” home is being worked on, similar to FFXI’s mog house
• You will be able to change the god you choose for your character
• Chocobo, horse-drawn carriage, boats, and airships will be used for transportation
• You will be able to choose different colors for your equipment

Additionally, the folks at Eorzeapedia did some additional digging and found a few other tidbits in the original leaked article (from Game Jouhou).  The  information was gleaned from Google Translate, so its truth may be a bit more uncertain.  These items are :

• Players may be able to bazaar goods while logged out
• Players can participate in Ul’dah’s fighting arena and gambling halls
• Items may be inscribed like in FFXI

Which bit of  information are you most excited about?  Discuss below!

Header image background courtesy flickr user hattie.stroud.

What is causing the server instability?

Tanaka: We have the same amount of testers in each region, but from our experience beta-testing FFXI, we figured only 50% of players would be logging in at the same time. Additionally, the testers in Japan were all selected as passionate FFXI fans, so they are eager to play, and the percentage of them logging in is extremely high. The servers don’t crash as often during North American and European tests.

For the April 15th update, we extended the amount of time between logins required to remain in queue to 10 minutes and introduced a system to display your place in that queue. It allowed people who were waiting to get in to have some visual indication of their progress, and it let us organize the traffic better.

Komoto: As for the test itself, we sincerely apologize that everyone has not been able to enjoy the game to their satisfaction. We are also extremely grateful for all the feedback and opinions we have received so far. (Good to know at least they are trying to fix it as well as improve the “wait” experience!)

Really! (laughs) Would we know it was your character if we saw it?

Will you move on to the beta phase once you have fully examined the growth rate?

Tanaka: Currently, the alpha test takes place on a single World. The next step is to increase the number of Worlds, which will multiply the number of testers. That will be the start of what we call Beta-1, or perhaps Alpha-2. (Good news I guess more testers will be needed later on!)

Is the general framework of the world complete?

Tanaka: The basics are pretty much done. Like I mentioned, it’s mostly cosmetic changes that are left. (laughs) System-related things like the user interface, or additional quest material are still being worked on. If we consider how FFXIV has been in development for 5 years, we’re probably in the final 10% of its development cycle, which accounts for 50% of the game. (Um… time to pick up the pace if we are to play this game this year!)

Read the rest here! Credit and Image goes to Elmer from Zam for the translation and image=P

Here is a breakdown of what I personally found noteworthy:

Status & Gear: This is where you can check on your status (physical, weapon and elemental stats) and change equipment. The twelve equipment slots are: Primary/Secondary Arm, Large/Small Pouch, Head, Body, Hands, Waist, Legs, Feet, Undershirt/Undergarment.

Those who have played games utilizing something like Undershirt/garment, it may seem kind of silly at first but there are times when a really neat looking undershirt or garment can become part of an in town set up or make your armor a little different or even cover parts of the body that the body armor might not cover (Female WoW players may know what I mean here).

Attribute Points: This is the second “leveling” aspect. Physical level is not tied to your rank – so that level increases independently and remains static irrespective of your class. As you gain experience, you are awarded points which you can allocate to various stats (HP, MP, TP, Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, Agility, Intelligence, Mind, Charisma, Luck, Fire, Ice, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Water). So again we see, from the beginning, that customization is king in FFXIV.

Yes, customization seems to be very big here in FFXIV! People who are heavy into either magic or combat can choose stats specific to those roles, or focus primarily on a more rounded character if they like to switch between the two. Or… level more than one character for people who are like me and can’t make up their mind. As mentioned in an earlier article, S-E has mentioned that the retail version will include the ability to re-allocate these stats. Whether or not there is an small or large tax to this feature is yet to be determined.

Actions: This area allows you to place the class abilities into your action bar. According to Famitsu, the status (i.e. growth) is split into two parts – “rank” and “physical level.” Rank is associated with the weapon used – so as you gain more experience with a particular weapon, your “rank” with that weapon class increases. As that rank increases, you will learn additional abilities. Notably, once learned, these abilities remain with the character. In other words, skills learned while a Pugilist, may be used while you are a Conjurer. There will be certain restrictions on this, however, and not all abilities will be usable by any class, and there are penalties (strength of the effect and/or time limits) when using an “out-of-class” ability. This leads to a very customizable character development.

For more information and a glimpse of screenshots 4Gamer was able to publish, check out Eorzepedia!

I was in a BlackBerry group as well as an MSN group all chatting with my friends about the Pookypoo livestream when that happened. Yep, I took out my 3G stick and burned my 1.5GB data out of 1GB that I had per month… streaming that live.

After a day, the hype still haven’t died and you could still see twitter as well as forum posts regarding the hottest video released yet.

And as the celebrity frenzy that marked the Alpha testing launch dies down, reality is replacing hype – by Pookypoo. Some Japanese even call him “God”.

The verdict so far? Oh it’s amazing. It’s Diablo II + WoW + FFXI, merging the good stuff together! Let the in-game cut-scene (updated) speak for itself.

We couldn’t come up with a number of how many Alpha testers were selected. It’s safe to say a fair amount, since we do recognize a few names in some of the footage.

“This video is full of win!” says one of the people in the channel while the footage is being broadcasted live. Another said “I was holding back onto FFXIV, not anymore after I saw this!”.

The peak viewing was up to 1600 users simultaneously. The channel was under “Slow Mode”, meaning each user could only type one message per minute on Pookypoo’s justin.tv channel.

Users in the channel were all contributing when Pookypoo was playing, exclaiming “You’ve learned a new skill!” or “Use those attribute points!”  It was amazing to be there, we all felt like we were playing it as well.

Generally, there was a huge amount of players, causing sluggish gameplay and tremendous lag. However, the existence of “instances” was definitely a nice add-on. There were even messages warning you “You are about to enter/exit an instance” – a good move for areas that could eventually contain a large amount of players.

On web forums, as the alpha testing begins, testers voice numerous complements about the game so far. They all seem very positive, ranging from “excellent graphics” to “you could spend a whole day creating your character.”

Unfortunately, like other alpha testing, the alpha testers are subject to a non-disclosure agreement, the violation of which unfortunately got Pookypoo removed from the game. There was rage on the forums directed at the person who even called Pookypoo out.  However, aren’t you all supposed to be testing the game? ^^

“I can’t wait to see him get banned,” “Ban his FFXI too,” and “Ban this website too,” were just some of the comments beside the stream. Even with all that harsh content, Pookypoo continued doing his job and reporting bugs as he saw them.

For those that missed the stream, well don’t worry. There are other “authorized” website such as famitsu, 4gamer as well as andriasang which contain the alpha-gameplay report. The game will be even better when it launches as the final product. The alpha had lots of restrictions that are expected to be removed before beta such as a limit of physical level to 20, no Miqo’te to play and a non-working chat filter.

After everything, Pookypoo got his account suspended. However, he had his reasons for doing what he did. He explained it clearly on his website (3 different letters). He had a great point: Your fans wanted it. They have waited too long for any worthy information about the game. From the bottom of my heart, I was one of them.  I’m sure that’s also true for many of the readers who weren’t selected as alpha testers as well.

To summarize!

• There is so much more to do in the alpha compared with the Gamescom version 7 months ago
• Again, feels character creation is like a day’s work in and of itself
• Once your MP is spent, you cannot recover it through resting
• Disciples of Magic have a basic magical ranged attack that does not consume MP
• It is possible to move while casting magic, but still important to be aware of the area of effect your spell will cover when cast
• Sheathing your weapon puts you into Passive Mode, which begins to recover HP, making it possible for even magic users to solo effectively

For the rest, go visit FFXIV on Zam! Images are courtesy of Zam/Elmer.

Edit:

Random thought, now just imagine a Galka/Roegadyn, have pure mage stats. Now we’re talking about real Galka/Roegadyn Mages lols!

You can read the paraphrased version of the Alpha “Details” over at GameInformer

Lets just say even the screenshot presented “closely” resembles the manual “Details”.

Updated: You can find the Alpha manual here.

It’s as close as it gets before upsetting anyone especially SE! Enjoy guys! Just to be safe, we’ll have to put a disclaimer =P Just so we can continue to bring news without upsetting anyone XD

What our Lawyer makes us say:

Regardless, we’ve got another rumor (Various forums!)! That is Squeenix will have a model similar to other MMORPG (especially the Korean), and is to have the monthly fee scrapped! Due to the Non-Disclosure Agreement that we all agree on when signing up for Beta, we shouldn’t really link the article, but the original poster can leave a comment for the actual link!

Anyway, how this works is, Squeenix will simply charge you for equipment! If you are one of those casual players, where you don’t login in as much, then you don’t have to pay! However, if you play a lot, then naturally you would want to have decked-out equipment, hence you would pay for your virtual world equipment. I think that’s a pretty decent model. Come to think of it, RMT was such a big problem in FFXI. Squeenix probably learned their lesson and is like “Well, rather than IGE earning the money, why not us!”

A quick look on Google is all that you need. There are already numerous gil seller websites out there. (Surprise huh, FFXIV gil is already up for sale, that must have got Squeenix mad!)

In FFXI, there were numerous times where buying a CD’s or accessories would yield in-game rewards. Perhaps it was Squeenix’ method of testing out the waters. Squeenix even try Mog Bonanza, an in-game lottery event where getting all 5 numbers right would allow you to gain a substantial amount of in-game currency call “gil”, or if you don’t like gil, you can pick some exquisite rare items. The same month, they also recorded the record-breaking amount of characters registered/created in-game. This only suggests that Squeenix actually loves “Real Money Trade”, trading real money for in-game money and rewards.

Well, this changes the whole ballgame for me. I guess it’s time to pull out my SC2 / Diablo 3 PC rig fund and save it up so I can RMT in FFXIV. *gulp*

Update: Yesterday’s Video “Life in Eorzea” is now available in TEXTp mode.