Elmer over at Zam found some pretty hot cakes! Yes, some Q&A’s, which contains some new information!
Here’s a few highlights!
Q：How much of the game will players be able to experience in the beta?
A ：We started at about 10% of the final product with the playable Alpha version and are ultimately trying to perfect the underlying game system. The bulk of the game won’t be made public until the retail version is out.
(Well, pretty fair for a beta, but at least we can judge how big is Eorzea when beta is out!)
Q：Give us the highlights on character creation.
A：We’ve focused on really allowing the player the freedom to make any kind of character they would like, and designed them to be a much more natural fit with the game world. Depending on your class, even your starting equipment will be different.
(I really hope they can even adjust height for Lalafella, so Taru lovers like us, can kinda have Taru’s again.)
Q：How is the magic system?
A：Magic is classified by levels and by the school the spell is from. For example, spells that serve the same function (e.g. heal HP) might have a different level of potency, an area of effect, longer casting time or higher MP cost depending on the school of magic the spell is from.
A：Are there times when you have to light your way through a dungeon?
A：There are places that will be very dark, but at this time we are considering the need for any torches or illumination magic.
(Awesome idea, I hope they will implement that!)
Okay, the rest on Zam, go read it there =) thanks Elmer for the translation once again =), and Orophen for the tip!
Strawberrie is one of the original members of the Food Taru conspiracy, a White Mage at heart, and the author of a very well-known blog of 
Very nice, I’m glad they are taking level based gameplay away (with the exception of spells) to integrate a skill/ability based proficiency. The game is seeming more and more refined for the Beta release, can’t wait.
I hope they dont make Elvaan stupid again (Int wise). I hate how skewd the races were in FFXI in favor of certain jobs. Yes lots of ppl say that with the proper gear you can be good too, good yes but not great as the other races can get the same gear. For example an Elvaan can never be as good a BLM as a taru or even a Hume- its simply not possible. I don’t mind some differences between the races but FFXI went too far IMO. I hate to compare WoW to FFXI as I love FFXI but hate WoW but WoW did a better job of making the races more equal in terms of an Orc warrior being about as good as a Tauren warrior etc etc… Flame shield on.
The whole point of races is to give you 5 different ways to play the game.. what’s the point of having all the races be equivalent or even nearly equivalent it gives no depth to the game. I don’t wanna see an unequipped 3 ft taru taru dealing the same melee damage as a huge m’f'in galka.. grow up kid, just cuz you wanna be an uber elf doesn’t mean you that race should be good at everything, it takes that thing.. we used to need in games to be good at them.. what was it.. o ya SKILL. i really hope no one on the design team is listening to cry babies like this. BTW my elvaan was a 75 monk/summoner/blm/whm/thf i still had a blast leveling everyone of those jobs despite any drawbacks my char had. Finally no one stopped you from creating a new hume/taru char to make a blm.. it cost a whole dollar more a month.. get a job an a clue. /flame off
Good thing I equipped my shield. It actually interesting is that you pointed out a “huge m’f’in galka” when galka have a lower str stat than elvaan do which is retarded if you look at them. Also note how I said they went too far but not that I did not want their to be differences between the races. Basicly what it comes down to “kid” (as you so called me, you don;t know a thing about me) is that I pointed out something about FFXI that I don’t like and would like to see altered in FFXIV and YOU flipped out about it . Grow up. Also LOL at skill needed in an MMO of really any kind. You want a skill based game? Go to a fucking arcade.
Nice interview
Though I wont agree with the how Jade necesarily put it, I will agree as well that there is no huge differences between races stats wise, Aaron. You mention how gear can make other races good but then immiedietly say “For example an Elvaan can never be as good a BLM as a taru or even a Hume- its simply not possible.” It’s really debatable. There are tons of pimped out Elvaan BLMs on my server who put tarus to shame. If you mean in terms of a taru having the same gear as an elvaan than I agree no doubt. But seriously what two characters are going to have the best/same gear in the game for BLM to begin with? Theres so much equipment choices at 75 that theres loads of way to break past racial constraints. But isn’t that the point of races in MMOs? Your supposed to have diversity in stats no?
I just liked how in FFXI that you werent defined at jobs due to race like in traditional MMO’s like Everquest. You don’t have to pay for another character to make that mage you’ve been dieing to experiment with, because you can just go to your moogle and change from your Warrior to Black Mage on the fly. Any race can be good at any job with enough hard work and determination. That is one of the beauties of FFXI.
And you saying that FFXI has no skill and then advocating for arcade games really doesn’t help either. Though I sort of get what you mean in an MMO with the whole “monotonous” level grind(it can get boring for some people no doubt, however why play and MMO if you don’t like that to begin with?), and the arcade scene for that matter, there are a number of missions in FFXI, HNMs, and many other activities that actually do require skill. Then again, if FFXI has no skill could you post vids of you soloing AV? It would greatly help the FFXI community^^
FFXI requires some skill for sure. But many times I do wish that it required a little more, maybe throw in some more timing elements found in old school square games like Chrono Trigger. I just think that it should be painfully obvious when someone buys a high level character without gaining the skill of leveling.
And making MMOs a little more skill intensive makes them more fun, imo.
My comment about the skill required in an MMO campared to an arcade game is a valid one. Having been to Japan, to the the arcades in the Akihabara district, and watched the locals play through the new cave shooters with seemingly a billion bullets on the screen at once and never losing a life takes skill- real skill. Camping NM endlessly for awesome item drops and making gear swap macros takes time and a visit to FFXI wiki. Yes some people are willing to put more effort into getting said items but a person with “skill” who hits the swap equip macro and WS with pimp gear will do the same dmg as a person who has no “skill” but who has the same gear and WS macro.
As far as Elvaan BLM putting some tarus to shame, there is merit to that but my point is that if that Taru had the same items it would once again be Taru > Elvaan. The person who posted above me before made a comment about 5 races offereing 5 different ways to play but that simply isnt true. All 5 races when playing BLM (sub any job really) will be casting spells as your main dmg tool. I guess you could say that a “different” way of playing is that elvaan will do less dmg and be able to cast less spells but thats not really “different” but it is much WORSE. Also the argument fails if you wanted to say “Oh Aaron but teh Elvaan has teh superz str, I can be the leet meleez with my blm scythe… lol” This statement and arguement are Fail.
Overall I wanted FFXIV to have diffrences in the races more the way WoW did with different racial abilites and more minor differences in actual stat allocation (not no difference just less). I’ve played FFXI for 5 years, its not like I don’t know the ins and outs of the game, its my opinion that is this regard SE could take a page or two from blizzard. That being said I LOVE FFXI and I HATE WoW but I’m willing to see the pros and cons of each.
Finally, I agree with the statement that adding more skill to MMOs would mae them more fun.
Your point about arcade is very interesting and now I see what your saying. I didn’t think about it like that o o. I think the difference between a MMO like FFXI and a arcade cave shooter is the fact that FFXI requires more groups of 6 or 18+ to accomplish really hard things compared to 1 or 2 people playing an arcade shooter. I’m not sure if it’s even good to compare the two games even but I still understand what your getting at.
What I like about FFXI is that team aspect though. I remember when the game first came out and a majority of players were upset how the game wasn’t solo friendly. I didn’t understand this though. Why play a MMO if you want to solo all the time? Why play a Final Fantasy MMO for that matter when you should know from past games that the basis is a group of people with common goals vanquishing evil?
Yea I figured you meant if the same two characters have the same gear. But my point was isn’t that the point with having different races? They are supposed to vary. But like I said, that’s when the beauty of FFXI comes in and at higher levels, keeping up with other races of the same job is not a problem with the gear available. Just because your Elvaan or Galka doesn’t automatically mean your going to suck as a mage because you have like 5-10 less INT then a taru at 75. And where did I say “Oh Aaron but teh Elvaan has teh superz str, I can be the leet meleez with my blm scythe… lol” lol? No offense to anyone here but lol@BLMusingScythe
Though I don’t agree or understand what you mean with racial differences, I do agree to an extent with you on your argument over skill. In terms of SE taking some tips from Blizzard, you can rest assured that they have been eyeing WoW; especially with the recent but not so much so recent article where SE mentions that they want to compete with WoW. I was kinda under the impression that you were fond of WoW lol but it seems thats not the case^^
Lol good times, a discussion. I know you never said anything about lol blmm eleee I was simply using that as an example to show that there is not 5 different ways to play a blm just because there are 5 different races in FFXI- all races cast spells (or at least they should
Thank you for having a discussion with me about our points of view in regard to this matter. We shall see what SE decides to do…
You’re trying to justify differences in attributes off of race so they can all be equal, which sounds rediculous in all honesty. Why should an Elvaan or a Taru be able to do the same amount of magic damage, or even a Galka or a Hume. Wouldn’t that leave the current caster races at a disadvantage. Because if every race did the same amount of magic damage, than they would have to do the same amount of physical damage as well, right? And if it comes to that, why have races at all? Why not make one race called Tahugamitvaan and they can live in the Republic Nation Kingdom of Equalityland. There’s a reason races are implemented in any game, whether it’s tabletop or online you don’t seem to understand it.
But… as far as the Galka/Elvaan stats go they do seem pretty backwards, so i’ll give you that. The skill thing you brought up though is pretty pointless. You don’t think there’s different kinds of skills people can have? So you’re telling me the guy in the arcade who can dodge a million bullets on the arcade game can cook, do mathematics, play an instrument, good at organization and planning, flawless memory, is an artist in literature or painting etc. etc. that he can do everything? Reality is, probably not. And the point i’m trying to make is it takes different kinds skills to play FFXI, than it does to play a fast reflex game. The biggest one having the endurance and patience to deal with all the garbage.
I have to agree with Alex, Aaron. First of all you can’t compare the skill it takes to play an FPS with a MMO. They’re different skill sets. My name on the CoD4, and MW2 servers is Hixen. I usually play Bashouse on CoD4. If you’ve ever played against me then you know what I‘m talking about. Which I’m not saying I’m the best, there’s always someone better in my experience. But I’ve played that shit for so long it’s seriously like second nature to kill some one in that game. Which again, not boasting, it’s important to my point. Your timing and comfort level with high action movement becomes more “studied” Just like a boxer, if you’ve ever boxed or done any kind of movement that requires you to have fast reflexes, the constant exposure to it conditions your mind and actually slows things down. Not noticeably but enough for you to start to react faster. Yes this is a real thing, ask any boxer or martial artist or just run a search engine. It’s the reason why when you see fighters like Floyd Mayweather dodge punches like he knows when they’re coming. It’s just a conditioned, a highly conditioned, reaction timing. Yes it’s true each mind has it’s limits, but everyone can get faster then they are untrained. I even think it has a scientific name, an engram.
Now an MMO like Final FantasyXI or XIV is a completely different skill set. Final Fantasy online is akin more to a game of chess. Knowledge, strategy and yes quick timing with macros and casting are what win the day. Thinking so many steps ahead of your opponent knowing their weaknesses, knowing their behavior and to estimate your survival or your parties survival if you intend to engage some difficult mob. What makes Final Fantasy difficult isn’t instant death from a hail of bullets, it’s the intellectual approach at killing your opponent. Just like chess, if you charge in without preparing or knowing anything about who or what your fighting it is indeed guaranteed death. Its an RPG not a high speed game like laser tag. You think before you act. And while forethought and strategy are the corner stone of any war game the games you were talking about are not of that design. They are fast paced action, reaction, oriented games.
Saying a game that takes active reasoning and planned out strategy to be good at is not a skill by way of comparing it to a game who’s actions are on a completely separate playing field is like saying it takes less skill to be a General than a grunt who fights on the field. They’re completely different. In Final Fantasy you are your own General. Your avatar fights for you, with augmented input from you.
Sorry for the long post.
And also I’m not saying that being an actual grunt is easy or siding with how our country runs our army. Was just for the point of this post.
People want to play other races for the most part for looks. I personally fn hate tarus. The way they speak, their whole culture and galkas can go to hell as well. I wish they had made different races to begin with. I want them all to be equal stats and base the gameplay more on strategy/skill than balancing out a char. with camping all hours of the night to get an uber piece of equipment to even out your char or have the hatred toward someone who IS playing a mage even though they aren’t playing an even gayer version of a hobbit. When pvp comes out in this game, I am going to murder you all for most of your asinine comments. For reals.
While it is true that elvaan have a lot less int than a taru and mp, and its not just a little. . . its a lot. We also have something tarus dont. . . survivability. Anyone whos played BLM in dynamis will know. Taru BLM casts thunder IV. . taru blm casts sleep. . . taru blms casts. . . oh shit hes dead! On the other hand elvaan blm with highest mnd and stoneskin is still nuking while the weakened taru is on his knees healing (praying he can get unweakened before an aoe takes him out again)
P.S. I R Grunt XD