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Final Fantasy XI rolls out the September version update
Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to log in to Final Fantasy XI and start your weapons. Assuming they need to be started, anyway; they probably don't require a ripcord or anything. The point is that the game has just released its September version update, which brings with it several new forms of battle content. Obviously the addition of the Incursion battle is the biggest addition, but Surge Walks and Endowed Walks are now available in the Walk of Echoes, giving players that much more to tear through in battle. Rune fencers, dragoons, dancers, blue mages, and beastmasters have also undergone some job changes, while alter egos have been buffed with the inclusion of "killer" traits and some individual buffs. As always, there's a lot of other content in the patch and several quality-of-life adjustments; if you're enjoying your time in Vana'diel, it would make sense to check out the full patch notes to see all the details. While you're waiting for your weapon to start, maybe.
Final Fantasy XIV previews Frontline
Carteneau, the site of the final clash before the Calamity in Final Fantasy XIV, is now a smoldering wasteland devoid of any worthwhile objects... save a number of Allagan ruins. All of the great nations of Eorzea are eager to claim those ruins, but rather than starting a bloody conflict, the nations have agreed to a join contest by the Grand Companies to settle matters in a civilized fashion. It's all the justification you need for Final Fantasy XIV's Frontline, a new PvP mode in which 72 players face off for a three-way conflict. Participating in the battle comes down to moving between control points on the map and acquiring them for your company, earning points for your side as you maintain control. Points can also be earned via slaughtering other players and taking out monsters that appear on the battlefield. Those who take part will earn PvP experience, Wolf Marks, and tomestones, meaning that Frontline offers a reliable one-stop shop for all sorts of bonuses.
The battle is joined: Starting new and fighting through Final Fantasy XIV's relaunch
I know a lot about Final Fantasy XIV. This is surprising to no one; there's a reason Joystiq sent me to the preview event, a reason I write a weekly column about the game, and a reason I still have the Final Fantasy XIV collector's edition box sitting in my office. The net result is that I have spent a lot of time playing the game. As a result, I was more than a little nervous when sitting down to play the revamped version at the Final Fantasy XIV press event in San Francisco last week. Done incorrectly, playing the game could feel subtly wrong, like a stranger pretending to be your old friend. And even if I avoided that pitfall, the gameplay could feel inelegant or forced. I'm happy to report that none of that is the case. Make no mistake -- the game is very different from its original incarnation, but it also sports enough familiar stuff that you aren't left wandering around baffled.
The Mog Log: Proof of concept
Final Fantasy XIV's last major patch was back in March, when 1.16 brought out the first iteration of the game's quests. Sure, we've had updates since then, but even 1.17 didn't really have the appeal and the energy that you'd expect from a major patch. And 1.16 was something of a disappointment at the time -- not bad, but not nearly what the game needed. There was an awful lot missing there, stuff that seemed basic. I wasn't happy, in other words. Well, here we are now, at 1.18. Any better? In a word, yes. A lot of the stuff that needed to be fixed has been, and a lot of the improvements the game has needed have come through. I've unfortunately only had a little time to play around with the update, but what I've played has been pretty uniformly positive. Positive except for the notable issues that the game was having with the login server right after the patch, but who actually expects patch day to go smoothly? (Other than me, I mean.)
Final Fantasy XIV outlines changes to the enmity systems
Enmity, hate, threat, or whatever term you prefer is a big part of combat in any MMO. It's the principle around which the concept of a tank is based, the idea that you can have one person responsible for drawing the attention of monsters. And in Final Fantasy XIV, the process of holding that enmity was complex, lacked an indicator, and was generally difficult to gauge. As part of patch 1.18's major battle system overhaul, the functions of enmity are being changed, streamlined, and improved to make tanking more straightforward for all players. Monsters will be gaining a new indicator for enmity, allowing each player to effectively judge whether or not to hold back on attacking based on enmity. Similarly, the process of accumulating, holding, and dispelling enmity will be significantly streamlined. Final Fantasy XIV players fond of taking on the tanking role will want to take a look at the breakdown, which promises to make threat that much easier to hold on to.
The Mog Log: Pre-reaction
So Naoki Yoshida's producer's letter came just a bit too late last week for me to rewrite my column, which focused mostly on the dungeons and rampant speculation regarding same. This week, however, I can write about all of the things that came out of both his producer's letter and Akihiko Matsui's combat revision document, both of which provide a lot of meaty information for Final Fantasy XIV players to digest. Pretty much all of it is good, with only a couple of downsides here and there. Since there's way too much to possibly digest point-by-point, I'm going to hit the parts that strike me as having the most far-reaching impact and the most concrete data. A lot of this is going to pertain specifically to the combat revisions, as well, since let's face it -- the meat of the game is in fighting things off, solo or in groups. And it's with the battle revisions that one of the biggest changes is coming to Final Fantasy XIV, namely, the removal of physical levels altogether.
New producer's letter and battle mechanic changes for Final Fantasy XIV
Naoki Yoshida has been bringing change to Final Fantasy XIV, and while the previous changes have been largely based around communication, there are more substantial alterations just around the corner. With the announcement that tomorrow will bring patch 1.15a (coinciding with the abandonment of the "version update" naming schematic), the development team has explained some of the changes coming to the battle system, including better damage and healing displays without overlap, better gains for parties, and larger gains for taking on enemies that outlevel the player. Solo players aren't left out, either, as the experience curve has been adjusted to help ease some of the more onerous level bands. Yoshida has also penned his second producer's letter, this one clarifying the coming changes in more detail for both 1.15a and the further future. As he notes, there are many things that both he and players in general want to change, which means there's a lot to discuss in a limited amount of space. Players who were upset by the somewhat flippant tone of the last letter will hopefully be mollified by his apology for same -- as Yoshida himself puts it, sometimes his personality gets the best of him. The full list of planned changes is available within the letter, with more due in the near future, a clear sign that Final Fantasy XIV is being worked on with vigor by its new team.
The Mog Log: Stare too long into the Abyssea
The first of two December version updates has hit the community, and as a result I'm torn. On the one hand, this means that Final Fantasy XI has seen another major upheaval in the form of more levels and new content, which is really significant... if you're up at those levels. I am not, and consequently a lot of what I can say about those high levels is pretty darn speculative. Most of the concrete information I have heard about the update seems to concern problems with console installations rather than substantive information. But I do feel fairly confident in talking about Abyssea. The second trilogy of mini-expansions has come to an end, with a very different focus than the previous unconnected addons. I'd say that it's been both a good and a bad thing for the game as a whole, both in the way that leveling has become tied to the new areas and in what it might mean for the game in the future. So with the whole setup out of the way, let's talk about what's been done and what might be coming as a result.
Party like a rock star in Final Fantasy XIV
There are players out there who might be dreading parties in Final Fantasy XIV. Well, not precisely; they might well be dreading that the mechanics will be similar to the parties from Final Fantasy XI, where some classes could seemingly wait for ages without a trace of a group. Mercifully, the fine bilingual team at FFXIVCore has continued its apparent tradition of translating information to coincide with the new beta testing, with the newest translation being a guide to getting a working group in the game. Guildleves are the game's core leveling mechanics, but new ones can only be accepted every so often, and they can be hard to complete on higher settings alone. By grouping up, players gain access to more guildleves from other players and more support in tackling the game's bigger challenges. The full translation has information on everything from the interface to form a party to the game's battle regiments, the equivalent of Final Fantasy XI's skillchains. (We're guessing they meant regimens, but that's the challenge of translation.) Final Fantasy XIV fans are advised to take a look at the article to start gearing up for the game's release in two months.
Our tour through Final Fantasy XI's June update and Visions of Abyssea
One of the weaknesses that players have always associated with Final Fantasy XI is the nature of combat within the game. Not that any fan will avoid telling you how fun it is -- but even the most ardent defender can't avoid pointing out that it does tend to be a bit slow. The actual battles run slower, abilities take longer to recharge, and the process of getting into the combat takes a great deal longer than it does in other games. You can't just jump into the game and expect to be off and fighting within a few minutes. At least, that was the case before the June Version Update. Three of the biggest additions to the game were designed to take that notion and throw it out the window, not only encouraging players to jump into violence but outright pushing you toward faster and more active combat. We had a chance to take a walk through the game's additions, and they were everything that was promised and more, enough to make any Final Fantasy XI player very happy indeed with the changing face of the endgame. %Gallery-97942%
