[FFXIV:ARR] News Thread (No Discussion)

• PS3 menu system is in! Hopefully we will see it during Phase 4, I prefer that more than the icons menu

• Fishing is in!
  - Just for fun as mentioned before does not effect economy, lots of bait options, more improved “Log” system.
  - Currently showing all the different fishing activities such as records, achievements etc.
  - Looks fun! /fishing addict
  - Nice to note, they finally also added in the ‘maps’ view directly into the Log! ^^
  - I really like the fishing RSE he’s wearing! It’s a very YoshiP style outfit… lol
  - YoshiP is obsessed with Lalafell, me likey /approves yes yes go fish up that Lalafell to your hearts content /nods nod
  - The Fishing system is designed to combat fish botting, they will have a bot catching tool in game

• When is Phase 4 and Early Acess starting? Yes YoshiP, this IS the main dish, stop hedging lol
  

  
  OPEN BETA/Phase 4: August 17-19 2013

  
  Those who have been beta testing since Phase 4 can start 08/16/2013
  

  EARLY ACCESS: August 24-26 2013

  
  - Awwwwwww dangit only 3 days we won’t get a lot done lol, he said 1 week in game before! Oh well, we sorta knew it would be changed anyways
  - in a way this is quite a relief, 1) gives them more time to finesse the game, 2) Although excited to start early, was rather worried that it’s unbalanced to give players 2 weeks head start time, this way we get a total of 1 week ‘prep’ time before launch

• Phase 4 Beta will be capped at level 20, only content up to level 20
  - Phase 4 will function exactly like the official version, but with the level cap in place. Totally going to get Arcanist this head start oh yeahhh
  - All game data will definitely be carried over to early start and retail, but if we discover a critical bug (like gil dupe etc) we’ll wipe

• YoshiP has two request for testing:
  - please stress test the housing area! Everything is changeable within the housing area and we really need extensive stress testing in these instances. Please climb the roofs! lol… primarily try to concentrate on Limsa Lominsa as it will be available. You can’t go inside the houses (hmm? need to double check this) but you will be able to swarm the area /imagines awesome taru army)
  - please test the pvp system for us! Coliseum will be in Phase 4. Just hit each other (no problem yoshiP! /smacks person next to her) Just fight each other and stress test as well as system check pvp for us please! Not all PVP abilities and actions are in yet, example if you get slept… uh Run? XD all the gear and actions we showed before will be in for Launch

• Oh YoshiP stop hedging and answer that “Arcanist in Phase 4?” question NAO! /taps foot stop trying to make Morbol dance…

• Oh hello, here we go! Arcanist demo video maybe? (I will be posting snapshot videos later btw ^^)

• Oooohhhh this is Coerthas I bet, the snowy area looks good!!!

• Arcanist Demo: wearing the Bliaud armor set, busily scribbling away at a book, and Carby is summoned
  - blue carby is a magic, back line user, so ranged
  - Arcanist itself is a DPS class but they do get a healing spell
  - Arcanist will get an ability to sacrifice your HP to heal the pet
  - just like with Chocobo buddy, pet will also have their own commands but more in depth.
  - well this is interesting, ground targeting to show the pet where to go hmm
  - there’s obviously the usual pet commands such as defensive (reacts to player being hit/agro), passive (does nothing at all)
  - the example they use is BLM sleeps a mob, you do not wish for it to attack (my question then is… are we able to specify specific mobs not to attack? O.o if that’s the case OMG awesome)
  - there’s also offensive, where the pet fights freely
  - they are mentioning the FF12 gambit system hmmm don’t get our hopes up YoshiP chin ><
  - ok so this was expect but the arcanist itself does not have high DPS, (duh), they will get self skill such as ruin and bio. Bio is instant cast
  - the arcanist he’s playing with is level 50 btw, and he’s fighting mobs in the 40 range
  - Arcanist has access to a number of DoTs (which plays into DoTs being rockin in this game and stack able like the other classes)
  - oh this is interesting, sort of reminds me of the WoW DK ability, arcanist will get an ability to spread up to 3 debuffs on mobs surrounding the primary target (very very cool!)
  - the idea behind arcanist is to keep up debuff while Carby is dpsing
  - Carby is not earned right off, the player will begin arcanist with Bio and Ruin as low level spells
  - Carby will be released later down the line for the player (I assume it will obviously be part of the class quests)
  - Gold carbuncle is up (yes yes I know, its supposed to be gem named but I don’t remember right now lol)
  - ok I’m pretty sure someone else just randomly appeared in the background of his stream, is he on some kind of test server?
  - Gold carby is a tank type … and they switched to Summoner because of ‘secret stuff” oh you!

• Summoner
  - Ifrit Egi looks good!
  - Summoner is pure DPS class, Ifrit and Garuda egis are attacker type, Titan Egi is tank type
  - Ground targeting to cast certain spells
  - Summoner, like Arcanist will be using a lot of DoTs, on top of the usual Bio, Miasma, etc. they also get aoe ground spell which will inflect DoTs damage boost. (love this, Summoner will need to pay attention to mob group positioning to maximize their dps)
  - will be able to change summons in battle (need to check this hmmm) looks like he just activates the macro to bring them out
  - additional Egis will be released when game level cap is increased (we already know they’re planning for expansion and level cap increases but did not want to add it during Launch to allow everyone else to catch up, this is exciting news but not unexpected)

• Scholar
  - Full time healer
  - one fairie will heal, the other will cast buffs
  - to avoid cheesing (hehehe my word!) you won’t be able to switch back and forth to avoid pet dying since the casting takes a long time (dangit! I was already planning on switching my pets back and forth lol going to assume this is the same for all the pet class under Arcanist for now)
  - Scholars are also party buffers which will differentiate them from WHM
  - Scholar will also have ability to regain MP (sigh)
  - Healing/Buff based on ground targeting, for aoe spells
  - It’s obviously very different from WHM
  - Game is balanced for 1 WHM and 1 SCH for 8 man content (yay thanks YoshiP! Was pretty sure it’d be balanced right off)
  - Scholar will get a raise type spell

• Payment methods
  - aside from Crysta and credit card, there will be a number of other options such as game time cards
  - this will be available in convenience stores and game shops
  - can buy game time for 30 days and 60 days
  - the designs on the cards look awesome!

• Account services: Paid Server Transfer
  - welcome to the new world order Square Enix /nods
  - can move up to 8 characters to the destination world (ok will post with further details when it’s available)
  - will be added within a month from Live or so (2-3 weeks?)

• Smartphone App
  - is coming!
  - is called Libra Eorzea (that’s really nifty, looks like a library Icon)
  - It actually looks like the same design as mozk-tabetai! Oh man! (will link this later, one of my Fav JP ffxiv databases)
  - You can login to check on character data, compare gear
  - Awesome, it will be a Square Enix supported FFXIV Database so we
  - Can select a gear, look at stats, see how many materia slots, what kind of materia needed etc, where to buy from NPC, which quest rewards this items
  - QUEST DETAILS! Ok YoshiP you win the internetz, an official ffxivdb/mozk-tabetai! /approves
  - apparently this app was pretty spendy to develop lol…. and yet your players were making this in one man teams!

• Repair Updates and Changes
  - in beta so far, repairing when completely broken is more cost efficient than keeping up with repair, this has been fixed
  - sorry for the oversight!
  - additional feedback list will be released (or has been? I may repost this if its available for public viewing was scared of NDA onis)

• Duty Finder changes
  - retry feature will be in! Thank god! lol if we find a good party we should definitely be able to retry and redo things in the same group like in WoW
  - when in duty finder group, if we end up being from the same server can we transfer items? They’re looking into this, do not want RMT to abuse

• In game cosmetic changes and seasonal items
  - patch 2.1 will add the barber, this will be after launch
  - don’t worry about cosmetic changes to character being permanent since you can change at Barber
  - seasonal events will be added for costumes and seasonal gear
  - hahahahahhaha he’s rifling around his papers… here we go the good stuff is coming!!
  - omg… LMAOL SNOW MAN SUIT FOR WINTER /dies laffing I will always regret not getting the reindeer outfit ; ;
  - and oh my… Maid outfit.. oh YoshiP… you and your knee soken team…..

• The stream is now taking a break and playing a promo video ^^

• Corrections from Part 1
  - Scholar primary stat is MND up till level 50
  - Summoner primary stat is INT up till level 50
  - post level 50, they’d like us to decide (<,< >.> wut)
  - yes SCH will have raise but WHM will be able to spam heal so it’ll be good to have both styles of healing (again back to tank and raid healing, get used to it!)
  - using ground targeting, you can move the fighting away from you
  - in this case, using ground targeting for fairies will make it so you can place them next to the party members which will be better for the buffing and healing (makes sense ^^)

• Special Guest
  - Oooo they point to the extra seat… and who… what the heck… who is this? WHERE IS MY WADA!
  - voice actress for Kan-e-senna and Garuda – Tanaka Rie san
  - she’s definitely…. a fascinating personality lol……
  - YoshiP is enamoured or something lol is he blushing???
  - her hair is phenomenal
  - she’s going through the questions and picking some out

• Crystal Tower and Bahamut bosses
  - there will be hard mode after launch
  - Bahamut Labyrinth explains what happens tot he Version 1.0 players that Louisoix teleported away
  - We will continue to modify the difficulty level and enhance battles with each patch
  - can’t talk about types of mobs or bosses yet
  - battle mechanics wise, should probably not stand in one spot, have to split up and fight based on each encounter
  - there will be places where you start the dungeon as 8 but mid way through, split up into two groups
  - theres also an encounter where you have to deal a set amount of dps in a set amount of time
  - need good gear to challenge these (in a way new players should probably work on primal gear sets before doing these)
  - Crystal Tower is 24 man raid content
  - the content is a bit hard but we also want to open it to Duty Finder and pick up a group
  - for this reason its moved back to patch 2.1 scheduled for after launch
  - this will give players time to get good gear in preparation for Crystal Tower around 3-4 months (this is great! Will let us finish relics, complete our primal weapon sets etc)

• How will the primal encounters change from Version 1.0?
  - Ifrit’s ability ranges will be changed and players already saw some of it in Beta
  - Garuda was pretty hard in 1.0, wonder what it’s like in 2.0!
  - paying attention to the primal map will be critical

• Can we send tells during Raid?
  - Currently still cannot because they want to regulate player interactions (this is my interpretation >.> I mean this is REALLY what it sounds like to me and completely disagree with this decision, just let your players do whatever they want!)
  - we will expand the duty finder later
  - we will release the /tell feature later maybe (sighhhh I’m sure you guys have your reasons but none of it make any sense what so ever)

• Moogle will be 2.1?
  - moogles are not really a primal, it was created for 1.0 content
  - OMG she has moogle nail art /loves lol
  - moogle battle is prepared there will be 3 different difficulty, easy, hard and extreme! (awesomeee)

• UNICORN MOUNT!!
  - oh my goodness… Unicorn Mount… and it looks pretty /wants ; ; very welld one animations too
  - side saddle is pretty awesome ^^
  - gender and race will change the sitting animation, nice again!
  - Tanaka Rie is totally freaking out at the unicorn, its kind of cute lol
  - apparently this is part of the Conjurer class quest…. hmmmmm so what do the other classes get?????

• Loot system
  - adjustments have been made to end game content in regards to drop rate, clear rate and gear to role ratio balancing
  - there will be no restrictions at launch (this is referencing that original idea that you can only need a certain amount of time in a week/day etc which was mentioned by YoshiP last year)
  - they want to continue encouraging Legacy players who do dungeons etc and have been passing gear to new players (awww yay community ^^)

• Tanaka Rie-san is now asking her own question: racial stat differences, will this be a big deal at 50?
  - its small and nothing to worry about

• What about shared retainers or shared items between retainers?
  - this will not be done
  - ability to transfer relics between characters seem a bit broken etc. and system can be abused

• Equipment for Buddies?
  - will be ready for launch
  - high level FATEs may have this, dungeon or boss clears as well

• Primal furniture??
  - they are showing something that looks like Leviathan… fountain?
  - and now they’re showing Garuda sofa lol… hahaha
  - ohhh the bed designs are awesome, it’s like a bookshelve/nook with a bed built in, APPROVE!
  - Free Company also has their own furniture series design

• Free Companies
  - (We heard some of this a while back so it’s nice to get details on it woot!)
  - FC earn points by completing quests and buying ether wheels
  - players will egt an affect for some time
  - they are now showing moogle, tonberry mandy, chocobo chick items for the housing (which I assume is the source of the FC wide buff? ok this sounds a bit off… will confirm later so don’t take this as fact lol)
  - oo the Ahriman clock thing is pretty awesome
  - Tanaka Rie san exclaiming at each screenshot is pretty amusing lol she’s so excitable
  - Morbol series bookshelves…. chandelier HAHAHAHA

• LIVE Demo of PVP? and random chatter
  - they’re trying to set this up so they’re just chatting now
  - Tanaka Rie rocks, trying to get them to show us more Darklight pieces, YoshiP said no :p
  - Excalibur system… what the heck is that? whatever it is, it’s not the real name but they did specifically mention the word Excalibur so >.> I need to look this up hmm
  - There’s apparently lots of graphic work put into it… ahhh it’s the FF legendary weapon system? fascinating

• Marriage system – will add in after launch some time (this is not priority! XD)

• Grand Company Specific Gears
  - as a version 1.0 player, changing grand company in 2.0 makes previous gc seal gear earned obsolete since you cannot equip it
  - apparently its part of the role play element where you have to make a choice hmmm
  - will provide more detail on this later

• PVP gears (and vanity slots?)
  - some kind of awesome looking helm
  - cool looking lance weapon?
  - a bird themed staff
  - wait is that a legatus themed 2H staff?
  - aww cold weather gear like coat and junk… ok this cant be PVP gear lol
  - dutch maid outfit
  - a… ferry man outfit? O.o
  - ok some ff4 looking pvp gears?
  - a musketeer pompadour style hat/outfit set
  - warrior of light looking outfit as well

• (they’re jibba jabbaing right now so going to paste some official translations below)

• Additional Housing details
  - does your GC affiliation lock down which city you can make housing in? Nopes!
  - Can we have housing in Ishgard and Coerthas? this is interesting, YoshiP asks if we’d like it if Behemoth attacks the housing area lol
  - can minions roam around the housing area? YoshiP likes this idea and will ask dev team

• Can job quests be cleared solo?
  - if you the skills! (good answer

• Duty Finder additional details
  - if signing up for ‘any/all’ content, will there be a loot bonus? not currently but may be implemented after launch when theres a lot more dungeons being added
  - token system will be implemented then and player can collect token to get gear (sounds similar to Justice point system to me!)
  - even if you cannot clear ifrit completely or all the time (hmm?) with tokens you will be able to get something close/similar in order to clear the content

• YoshiP is trying to troubleshoot something on the demo system it looks like? Regardless its hilarious watching them trying to ‘cover’ for it

• Status points – reapply (PLEASE??)
  - YoshiP is hedging because he thinks this is a hard question…
  - he does not want players to arbitrarily change stats on the fly
  - (OK even with the live translate and my basic understanding of spoken JP, his answers kind of make no sense, so I think he’s just distracted by the problems with the demo engine and a certain level of “no comment” lol)

• Addons! (finally)
  - it’s ready to go, but they won’t release it right now since there’s still a lot of work to do for it
  - he expects around 6 months after launch
  - they want to provide the tools and foundation for creation of the add ons
  - these tools will be provided to users

• YAY! Demo engine is up
  - appears to be an area in Limsa Lominsa, looks grey, maritime ahhh the Coliseum area!
  - I see a moogle here for mail delivery, boat dock apparently connected to Moraby Bay
  - a ranking board for PVP
  - loving the look and feel of this place, almost seems like pirate town! wooo
  - there are two teleport/aether on screen interesting, speak to npc to join battle
  - area is created in a crater caused by the Dalamud
  - 4×4, 8×8 arena available through finder, works the same way as regular finder where you can have a premade party signed up for additional members etc.
  - they stopped the stream, YoshiP and his secrets lol
  - that was really cool that they decided to show portions of the Coliseum on the spot like that, not a planned event at all YAY FOR TRUE LIVE!

• Welcome Back Campaign! and Veteran Rewards
  - those who played FFXIV Version 1.0 can play FFXIV: ARR for Free until Sept 9th (Monday!)
  - you will recall this was mentioned a while back, instead of a ‘free trial’ we get the free play time for around 2 weeks
  - download client for free
  - veteran rewards program grants various bonuses depending on how long you have been a subscriber
  - this is coming from the marketing and PR team

• Veteran 30 Days reward
  – Wind=up Cursor Minion (HAHAHA I was waiting for this) and Phial of Fantasia
  - now they’re showing the wind up cursor in game… and its… RIDICULOUS! I must bug Vivid with this… kind of reminds me of the constantly pointing Fairie in Dragon’s Crown
  - Phial of Fantasia is a character remake ticket

• Veteran 60 Days reward
  - Black chocobo chick minion!! So cute lol they’re showing it now
  - Black swimsuit? Heck is that….

• Veteran 90 Days Reward
  - Beady eye minion!! Ok… SUPER CUTE!!
  - Voidal Resonator Mount – ahriman mount oh yeah! Tarus on the eyes look… ridiculously awesome lol
  - ok… a tall Elvaan demo on an ahriman.. that poor mount looks like he’s about to wilt from the weight, see that Katsu, Lalafell rules /nods- there will be additional categories such as 120 days, 180 days
  - if you pay up front for these play times, you’ll get all the rewards at once
  - ok Ahriman mount is rather ridiculous lol
  - more rewards for longer pay time will be added with each patch, so look forward to it!

• I think they’re finally wrapping up now? lol each Live Letter gets longer! /not complaining ^^ /yoshiPFangirls

• Additional announcements
  - August 21-25 YoshiP will be at Gamescom in Germany for a stage event, battle challenge and autograph session
  - (hmm this is cutting super close to launch YoshiP! /cracks whip)
  - The battle challenge is to fight TITAN! Niceee very very cool idea me likey
  - winners get a cool t-shirt with “I Beat Titan”
  -August 27th – Launch event in Shibuya Hikarie Hall B in Japan
  - Mini letter from the Producer LIVE
  - Demo booths (ahhh I want to go ; ; but I also want to play the game lol and I’m not in Japan so _-_)
  - I believe that this the event where only 200 invites will be sent out, I will look for that registration page and post here
  - August 30 to September 1st – Pax Prime – At the Red Lion in Seattle, AMERICA hahaha I love that they highlighted that
  - Ok I’m super jealous, both Varg and Kenny will probably get to meet YoshiP ;x maybe I should have accepted that ticket Kenny got me ><
  - Stage event, battle challenge and autograph session as well
  - and omg… Knee-high Soken will be there … Kenny, make sure you tackle him
  - Again, the battle challenge for the new events will be Titan
  - Ok Vargy! Your job is to transmit live footage of the event okiedokies -_-
  - YoshiP is complaining that he will not have any time to level up his launch character lol…
  - Foxclon is going to London and will be missing even early access and Beta Phase 4, they’re whining now puahahaha
  - Tanaka Rie rocks…. “well.. sorry but we’ll be having fun with the game teehee”
  - it really is too bad that they wont be able to login to launch and junk coz I’m pretty sure these two likes to drop in on players anonymously lol
  - all these events will be broadcasted apparently? I’ll definitely be keeping track of this! Even with the game going on hmm… wait.. hmmm /torn

• They just referred to her as Tanaka-san …. that…. lol…. I preferred Rie-san

• She just shoved her plushie moogles at YoshiP and his face is really red now oh my lol

• YoshiP is rambling and asks “what was I saying” to which Tanaka Rie-san says “Who the heck knows???” jk XD

• Collectors Edition
  -He’s showing off the CDs, box art, etc now, cannot wait to see my collectors edition ^^
  - ohhhhhhhhh the book is absolutely beautiful!!
  - all online purchases for Collectors Edition ran out but apparently some local stores still have copies (Japan onry obviously)

• Last Comments from Yoshida-San
  - From the announcement of ARR during First Live Letter until now, we’ve been working our butts off
  - Phase 3 saw a lot of players logging on and playing continuously even though the beta itself only lasted 13 days
  - Thank you for all the support /bow
  - I’m sorry the Phase 3 will be wiped but play Phase 4 /nods
  - See you again at the next Live Letter and during Launch!!
  - No I’m not quitting!

• SAYONARA!!

Download and Install the FFXIV: ARR Beta Test Software (Windows)

1. Please note that you may only participate in the beta test using the Sony Entertainment Network account to which this promotion code is applied.

2. To participate in the beta test, you must first link your Sony Entertainment Network account to your Square Enix account. Please be advised that linking a Square Enix account to a Sony Entertainment Network account is an irreversible process.

3. In order to carry character data used in Beta Test phase 4 to the official release version, you will have to link your Square Enix Account and Sony Entertainment Network account

4. Please be advised that once accounts have been linked it cannot be reversed even after official service for the game begins. Please be sure to read the onscreen instructions carefully.

• FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn (Beta Version)For those who have been asked to participate in the Beta test by using PlayStation 3, please follow the instruction to enter the promotion code that has been sent via email and download the test client (PlayStation 3 version).
  

  • How to download from PlayStation®Store
    
    1. Select “PlayStation®Store” icon located under “PlayStation®Network” category on XMB™ (XrossMediaBar).
       
       *If you are not signed in to PlayStation Network, you will be prompted to do so. Please sign in with the account you wish to use for the beta test.
    2. Select “Redeem Codes” at the bottom of the PlayStation®Store screen menu and enter the promotion code.
    3. Follow the onscreen instructions to download the client. Once the download is complete, the game will be installed automatically.
    
    
  • How to download from Account Management
    
    1. Log in to PlayStation Network.
       
       * Sign in to the PlayStation®Store with the Sony Entertainment Network you wish to use for the Beta Test.
    2. Select “Account Management” icon located under “PlayStation®Network” category on XMB™ (XrossMediaBar).
    3. Select “Redeem Codes” and enter the promotion code.
    4. Follow the on-screen instructions and move on with the test client download process. Once the download is complete, the game data will be automatically installed.
  
  If you select “Download in Background,” you will return to XMB™. By selecting “FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn (Beta version)” icon located under “Game” category, the test client installation will begin. The installation will take several minutes to complete.
  * Promotion code can be redeemed once.
  
  * If the test client download could not be completed, please try again from “Download List” under “Transaction Management” on “Account Management.”
  
  

• Launching the Game* A maintenance message will be displayed until August 15, 2013 when launching the game.
  
  

  1. Starting the game
     
     Select FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn (Beta Version) on the XrossMediaBar.* If you are not signed in to PlayStation Network, you will be prompted to do so. Please sign in using the account with which you downloaded the beta test client.
     
     * Please note you must sign in with the account used to register the promotion code in order to participate in the beta test.
     
     
  2. Launcher Application Version Check and Update
     
     The game will first check to see if the launcher application is up to date. The necessary data will then be downloaded from the network and the launcher will be updated to the latest version. This process may take several minutes to complete. Once the most recent version has been downloaded, the launcher will begin automatically.
     
     
  3. License Agreement (Once Only)
     
     When starting the game for the first time, the FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Tester Agreement will be displayed. Read the agreement carefully. If you wish to proceed, check the box for “I accept the terms of the license agreement” then click Next.
     
     
  4. Gameplay Procedures (Once Only)
     
     When starting FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn (Beta Version) for the first time, you will be prompted to link your Sony Entertainment account. Please enter the Square Enix account ID to be used for the beta test, which will also be linked to your Sony Entertainment Network account. Please be advised that linking a Square Enix account to a Sony Entertainment Network account is an irreversible process.
     
     • Please note that you may only participate in the beta test using the Sony Entertainment Network account to which this promotion code is applied.
     • To participate in the beta test, you must first link your Sony Entertainment Network account to your Square Enix account. Please be advised that linking a Square Enix account to a Sony Entertainment Network account is an irreversible process.
     • In order to carry character data used in Beta Test phase 4 to the official release version, you will have to link your Square Enix Account and Sony Entertainment Network account
     • Please be advised that once accounts have been linked it cannot be reversed even after official service for the game begins. Please be sure to read the onscreen instructions carefully.
  5. Game Client Version Check
     
     The game will first check to see if the game client is up to date. The necessary data will then be downloaded from the network and the client will be updated to the latest version.