patch-features
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Camelot Unchained moves on to its third pre-alpha test
The bad news of the most recent Camelot Unchained update is placed front and center of the latest development update: Some of the features once slated for inclusion in the second pre-alpha test have been kicked back to the third pre-alpha test. This also counts as good news, though; because of the small number of features remaining on that particular checklist and the progress already made on the third checklist, the team decided to just go ahead and shift the items to the new checklist whilst moving on to the third test. Got all that? Good. Pre-alpha test #3 will contain the first pass of the game's building system, among other updates. While it has yet to be fully fleshed out, the core building blocks are working. So if you're a big enough backer to take part in these initial rounds of testing, you'll have the chance to start trying your hand at making new things when the test dates roll around.
The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's Hunts are broken
It's been nearly two weeks since Final Fantasy XIV's patch went live, and I'm at once surprised and not surprised that we haven't seen anything really addressing the problem with Hunts. I'm not surprised because Square has a bad history of reacting to broken elements about as quickly as a narcoleptic sloth with poor motivation, and I'm surprised because players have been screaming about it for... about two weeks now? Yes, that sounds right. And not just screaming in the usual disorganized fashion. This is pretty targeted and logical screaming, helped substantially by the fact that Hunts are currently very, very broken and need fixing. So let's explain the mess that the game has made for itself and the numerous simple solutions that can be implemented really any time now. Not that I'm saying they're all easy, just simple. Straightforward. And no, increasing mark HP is not one of those solutions.
Final Fantasy XIV posts preliminary notes for patch 2.3
While it's a long weekend in the US, fans of Final Fantasy XIV will have to wait until next Tuesday to enjoy all of the content added in patch 2.3. But you can get a head start of sorts by checking out the preliminary patch notes. Sure, the notes list all of the features that everyone knows about by now, like Frontline and new dungeons, but there are some gems in there for players that we hadn't expected. Players will soon be able to augment artifact armor and the upgraded form of said armor so that the equipment may be colored as desired. Inn rooms will include a new toy chest for playing minigames, starting with the Parley minigame last seen in 1.0. There's also a wide-scale revamp of Gladiator/Paladin weapons; knives and daggers have been removed from those classes and will be available to Rogues/Ninjas in the future. Check out the full patch notes on the official site. [Thanks to Kythas for the tip!]
The Mog Log: Giving a shotgun to a bear
Final Fantasy XI was my first MMORPG, and as such it's shaped a lot of my attitudes toward the genre as a whole. The problem was that inasmuch as one could be a typical player of the game, I was not. The details aren't relevant; what is relevant is that I would frequently look at patch notes, sort of squint a bit, and assume that any number of the features were aimed at the audience that I was not a part of. After all, there was no way the developers would add in a feature if literally no one in the game's community wanted it, right? Time has made it clear that this was most definitely not the case. Maybe it's due to the difference between American and Japanese audiences, maybe it's something lost in the translation, or maybe it's just Square's periodic bursts of insanity manifesting itself, but Final Fantasy XIV carries on in the proud decision of listening to players and taking entirely the wrong message away. I'm incredibly impressed by the vast majority of Naoki Yoshida's work, but there are a lot of features that have been added or are being added that seem to have completely missed the point of player requests.
