Deus Ex Alpha

[youtube]q2RghB8r4tA[/youtube]

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http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/

Got into the closed beta as of June 14th

Made this thread to let everyone know how it is, if anyone is interested. I've been anticipating this re-make for a while now so I hope it's worth the wait. Everything in orange are things I've given Yoshida's team feedback on.

June 14th

-Game size is currently 5.7Gb. Will increase to 20Gb+ as more environments are added.

-Character customization is quite good. I made someone who would look like Maester Seymour's son. I still feel as if they could add more options.

-Visuals look amazing. Some lower res textures can be improved.

-Most animations are great (especially the jumping). However, this game suffers from the generic MMO walking animation syndrome. Basic movement animations need improvement.

-Interaction. Other players, monsters, and quests are standard. We need interaction with other things: climbing ladders, sitting down on chairs/benches, sitting on a ledge letting your legs dangle down, animal interaction, general interaction with any/most AI.

-Good UI customization. Would be better if advanced customization options were given.

-Gameplay is fun fun fun. Parties are even more fun. Enemies need to be a bit further away in combat; close-combat + magic = too many things happening in one place.

-Nobuo Uematsu's soundtrack is phenomenal. Dat epic music every fight as well.

-Enemy name tags are clear, but too many of them in your face at once. Option to display nearby tags (or to disable tags unless targeted) needed.

-Wait time after using potions is very slow. Wait time needs reduced.

Been playing all morning. This is honestly the most fun I've ever had with an MMO. Good Job Square; Yoshida definitely flipped this game around since 1.0

If the game has grind-based leveling and no end-game content it will ultimately still flop.

Leveling is a horrible mechanic. It is completely outdated amongst a generation who no longer wants to wait for things. Even I, a long-time RPG fan, have trouble swallowing level systems because they offer nothing new and are a very slow, boring, repetitive form of "progression" that is not necessary to "learn" the game.

As for end-game content, this one's the hardest. No MMO can match WoW's content on release in a development cycle of 5 years, it's just not realistic. WoW had ample time without competition to hone it's content but new MMO's don't but they need to at least try.

Lack of end-game content is what kills most MMOs for me, this and the grind needed to get there. I don't care if the end-game is fantastic if I have to spend too long getting there (and with the advent of B2P and F2P games there is even less of a reason to delay your users) only to find it doesn't have much of anything when I do.

MMOs need to start focusing on being better games rather than trying to be like other MMOs.

James wrote:MMOs need to start focusing on being better games rather than trying to be like other MMOs.

I read an article related to MMO's recently and it got me thinking:

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminSho ... to_Big.php

James wrote:MMOs need to start focusing on being better games rather than trying to be like other MMOs.

This soo much. I'm sick and tired of people telling me "OH BUT MMO Z IS SOOO MUCH BETTER THAN MMO X," where they then proceed to show me footage of a fetch quest with the exact same gameplay mechanics as every other MMO.


On the forums, I've suggested implementing ATB gauges to make it... I 'unno... FEEL LIKE FINAL FANTASY EVEN A BIT MAYBE?!


With every 'upgrade' phase, this game is being pummeled with bad ideas from MMO fuckheads who won't accept anything other than the standard MMO formula. If this persists, I'm going to stop wasting my time, and wait to play Monster Hunter Online.