New Information Collection

[BlueBun]

Just starting a topic to discuss findings etc. about new information in ARR. Last video that was released was about gathering and crafting, and I took some time to look over some of the mechanics.

General:
i) There is a Crafting Log (No more looking up mooglebox)
ii) That has all the learned recipes including the lvl of the craft
iii) How many mats you possess / what mats are required.
iv) How the new gear would change your stats.
v) Items have a "Difficulty" # associated with them.(Ie. Maple Lumber has a 11 difficulty rating, Plumed Maple Shortbow has a 28 difficulty rating)

Crafting Mechanics:
i) Different objects have different max durability and acts much like HP. (ie. Maple Lumber has 30/30 durability)
ii) There is "CP" for crafters, much like MP for battle. There are many unknown factors that contribute to your max CP ... probably level and gear.
iii) Different objects require different amounts of "Progress" to complete a synth. (ie Maple lumber requires 0/11 progress to complete and Bone Harpoon has 0/23.)
iv) "Standard Touch" is the new "Careful Synth" which ups the Quality, but does not contribute to progress now. Using this action consumes 22 CP.
v) Abilities like "Masters Mend" require CP to use (66 CP) but now they have a recast time (5 Steps)
vi) "Standard Synthesis" only affects the craft's progress, but requires 0 CP. Using this on a "Bone Harpoon" once increased the progress to 12/23, but using it a 2nd time completed the Harpoon, so that means the amount of progress varies.
vii) Quality required to HQ is different from 1 item to another. (ie Maple Lumber requires 180 quality for 100% HQ while Bone Harpoon requires 204 quality for 100% HQ)
viii) It seems all objects start at 1% to HQ at the start with 0 quality.

Also... I heard a Taru is in the Alpha test atm >w> feel free to post info here XD ... no one outside this group vists here anyways. I currently have a key to get into the beta as well .. because we picked up the first wave of PS3 FFXIIIs ...

[Fuzzlewhack]

I actually got into the alpha but haven't had a chance to check it out yet. Once I do I'll post some things that I shouldn't be posting.

[kuponut]

The fields are improved, they are larger expansive areas as opposed to the narrow corridors they were before. The battle system is an improvement, but it seems 'weapon skills' all share the same recast timer, and since you are constantly at full TP (seems to regen very fast anyhow) battles are just a constant WS spam and waiting on short timers. Battles are very short, they made it very solo-friendly for casual gamers, but it still feels a bit dumbed-down. I accidently linked 4 of the Birdman Mobs that were the same level as me, and I didn't even come close to dying.

I hate the quests in this game as well, they are just like the quests in a few of the other MMO's I have tried recently for some reason. Just a constant quest-afterquest-after-quest to level up. There is no mini-storyline behind these quests like there would be in FFXI, instead they are "go kill x number of mobs and come back for reward" or "go talk to another npc and get a reward." There's nothing lost to the game if they didn't have most of those quests anyways.... and I hate having those stupid exclamation points showing above all the NPCs head telling me there's a quest I need to do.

That said, quests appear on your screen, and clicking the title brings up the quest log with a description of the quest, and clicking the quest requirements (like killing x number of mobs, or gather certain number of items) will display the map showing where to go. The mini map also has arrows pointing to available quests, quests to complete, etc.

Your characters name isn't displayed above your head............. =/

The interface on the screen is improved. The lower right corner of the screen shows your current inventory and equipped items, but displayed as green and blue dots.

You can only choose male Hyur or female mithra so everyone is running around as large bust size Mithras at the moment. Can only play as Lancer, Conjurer and Archer.

When I logged in for the first time, the "loading" bar is a cute little delivery moogle flying.

I'm not really the best person to give details about the Alpha, as I wasn't exactly active in XIV anyways....


I'm not quite sure what you want me to investigate, let me know... I'm guessing Bun is curious about the crafting such and such.

[Rain Dog]

I'm also in the Alpha Fuzz. What server are you on?

[Kiki]

- Bahamut

[Rain Dog]

I have chars on Bahamut and Moogle. They are both named Rain Dog. Probably going to make one on Chocobo also. I'll try to find you or send a friend req.

[BlueBun]

I didn't realize we had so many agents inside already o_o; I guess SE doesn't like Canadians >w<.

Sorry I haven't been posting lately, I was sick with .. I don't have a degree in medicine.. with what I can only assume though what I felt like, the plague.

Aww is that a good series Kiki? I haven't done much reading now since the past decade >w< but a long time ago I used to love Fantasy Books by David Eddings.

My thoughts on the alpha stuff so far: It looks kinda boring >_< I wish they released better videos, because its hard to defend the game with these types of videoes being released that are like any other MMO out there. They are not going to win the fight being like any other MMO out there : ( I heard Guild Wars 2 has a system like "Fate" where you do a train of quests in certain aeras than move onto the next area. The videoes make it look like WoW when I tried it over a decade ago >_<

[Kiki]

Sorry to hear you've been sick Blue! There's been a lot of bugs going around at work, but I've managed to avoid them. I do get the flu shot every year, maybe that helped.

I really have enjoyed the Ryiria books, definitely would recommend them. I didn't read much for about a decade myself, but since I bought a kindle two years ago (partly because I was called for jury duty and figured it would be handy while waiting hours), I've been reading quite a lot.

[celeste]

I finally made it into the Alpha test. No key to the beta test. Have 2 chars Laddy Killer on Bahamut and Darn It on Louisoix. I didn't have a choice of the servers others have mentioned. If anyone is on send a friend request.

[Kiki]

Moogle and Chocobo were merged this week and became Louisoix. I have Akiki Kalila on Louisoix, but will probably be on Bahamut when I do play.

It's been interesting seeing the changes, but I find having to use mouse/keyboard a bit annoying, so I haven't been playing much.