FFXIV Benchmark

[aamesxdavid]

Let the FFXIV benchmark app tell you how inadequate your computer is:

http://www.finalfantasyxiv.com/media/benchmark/na/

My desktop is far from top of the line, but it can hold it's own. It took a new video card to boost me over 1800. Totally worth it though. Can't wait for September 22nd.

[hurstshifter]

Are you in the beta? I am!

If anyone is in the FFXIV beta right now I have characters on Kefka and Golbez. Let me know if you want to meet up when the next window opens.

[aamesxdavid]

Are you in the beta? I am!

If anyone is in the FFXIV beta right now I have characters on Kefka and Golbez. Let me know if you want to meet up when the next window opens.

Ahh, you son of a bitch! How is it?

[hurstshifter]

Are you in the beta? I am!

If anyone is in the FFXIV beta right now I have characters on Kefka and Golbez. Let me know if you want to meet up when the next window opens.

Ahh, you son of a bitch! How is it?

Haha, have you applied for the beta? Make sure you do. A lot more invites have been going out recently and they plan on really increasing the load on the servers with more players with each beta window that opens so your chances of getting in now are better than ever.

As for the game...there is so much to say already. I have a friend who has also been in the alpha test phase for a couple of months (that bastard!) and from what he tells me the game has exponentially improved since then. It still has its issues but a lot of them are due to unoptimized graphics and server performance. All of that is being tweaked and its getting better and better. One thing I have really liked so far compared to FFXI is the way they throw you into the main storyline. FFXI was a bit soft on the story until you got to level 30+ imho but in XIV it gets intense right away. Lots of great cutscenes.

As for the classes, I have played pugilist and gladiator so far, but I hope to try each one for a bit. My guild from XI is already getting together (almost all of us are on beta) to decide who is going to play what role from the getgo to have a nice balanced setup. The addition of the actionbar at the bottom for your combat has made controls infinitely easier during battle. Its also worth noting that switching from class to class is literally as easy as equipping a different weapon (i.e- you equip a sword, you're a gladiator. you equip a lance, lancer. axe, marauder. etc...) And once you learn the abilities from one class you can use them when playing as any class. I didn't like the sound of this idea at first but it really makes for an interesting experience where you can REALLY customize your character. I have not tried the disciplines of the land or hand yet such as mining, fishing, alchemy, etc... but I plan on jumping into those as soon as I can.

The bottom line so far: lots and lots of improvements are being made on the framework they already have and the devs are really listening to the beta players. I feel like every time I read the update notes they are addressing all the main points being made in the beta forums. Assuming this trend continues for the next couple months I think we should have ourselves an excellent game come September. There are still some aspects that will feel a bit odd to players of MMO's such as World of Warcraft, but to players of FFXI you will feel right at home. I think enough changes have been made that it will definitely attract a new fanbase on top of the FFXI players. I'll try to get into more specifics as the beta goes on and I hope everyone applies and gets to give it a try before release.

[xiphirx]

Ran the benchmark with FF (6 Tabs) and WMP running.

EDIT: Fucking McAfee has been scanning in the background as well D: I think I'll bench again a bit later...

[aamesxdavid]

Awesome, thanks for sharing! Yeah, I applied right when the applications went up. Still got my fingers crossed, but I actually thought the beta would have started earlier than it did. So if I have to wait another two months to play it, that's not that bad.

I think the action bar is the thing I'm most hesitant about. One thing I loved about FFXI that no (I think) other MMOs do is have a battle menu, so you could play the game with a controller. And it felt more organized. Maybe I'm alone in that, but I think a bar with all of your abilities strewn across it is just lazy design. But as I understand it, you can play FFXIV with a controller (at least in its final form), so I'm guessing they're not just copying WoW-like controls. Is the action bar on top of some other form of control, or is it the sole way to activate abilities?

Overall, that just made me even more excited for this game. Thanks again for posting!

[hurstshifter]

Awesome, thanks for sharing! Yeah, I applied right when the applications went up. Still got my fingers crossed, but I actually thought the beta would have started earlier than it did. So if I have to wait another two months to play it, that's not that bad.

I think the action bar is the thing I'm most hesitant about. One thing I loved about FFXI that no (I think) other MMOs do is have a battle menu, so you could play the game with a controller. And it felt more organized. Maybe I'm alone in that, but I think a bar with all of your abilities strewn across it is just lazy design. But as I understand it, you can play FFXIV with a controller (at least in its final form), so I'm guessing they're not just copying WoW-like controls. Is the action bar on top of some other form of control, or is it the sole way to activate abilities?

Overall, that just made me even more excited for this game. Thanks again for posting!

You can actually use a gamepad already in beta. It's how I play. Definitely more comfortable than keyboard for me. And currently it does appear to be the only way to activate abilities.

[aamesxdavid]

You can actually use a gamepad already in beta. It's how I play. Definitely more comfortable than keyboard for me. And currently it does appear to be the only way to activate abilities.

Interesting, I guess you just scroll through them on the gamepad? I'm okay with that, for whatever reason I hate using 1-9 on the keyboard. But pretty much anything on the gamepad I'll be happy with. I don't know who decided that MMOs can't play like console games.

Sorry to bother with more questions, but what about macros? They were quite popular, so I can't imagine Square completely doing away with them. It would be awesome if they had either the same macro system, or you could set something similar to the action bar, that did more than one ability.

[hurstshifter]

You can actually use a gamepad already in beta. It's how I play. Definitely more comfortable than keyboard for me. And currently it does appear to be the only way to activate abilities.

Interesting, I guess you just scroll through them on the gamepad? I'm okay with that, for whatever reason I hate using 1-9 on the keyboard. But pretty much anything on the gamepad I'll be happy with. I don't know who decided that MMOs can't play like console games.

Sorry to bother with more questions, but what about macros? They were quite popular, so I can't imagine Square completely doing away with them. It would be awesome if they had either the same macro system, or you could set something similar to the action bar, that did more than one ability.

No bother at all. This game is pretty much all I want to talk about until it comes out. Then moreso afterwards.

Macros are not currently implemented but they are on the planned changes notes. I'm hoping they will be available in the next update and I'll let you know how it works compared to XI.

[xiphirx]

I got 2812 this time, not that much of an improvement :P

[aamesxdavid]

Just got a beta key from a friend.. the day after phase 2 ended! DOH!

Next phase is scheduled for "mid August". Macros and other fun functions are scheduled to be added for it.

Can't fucking wait.

Oh, and I got into the Lord of the Rings online beta also this week. My MMO accounts are getting out of hand.

[hurstshifter]

Just got a beta key from a friend.. the day after phase 2 ended! DOH!

Next phase is scheduled for "mid August". Macros and other fun functions are scheduled to be added for it.

Can't fucking wait.

Oh, and I got into the Lord of the Rings online beta also this week. My MMO accounts are getting out of hand.

Phase 3 begins tonight at 10pm Eastern. Release notes are up on the beta site, looks like a lot of needed improvements have been made. Macros are ready to go, mouse controls have been greatly tweaked, combat interface has been overhauled, and general tweaks to leveling/questing. Also linkshells are finally available!

[aamesxdavid]

Phase 3 begins tonight at 10pm Eastern. Release notes are up on the beta site, looks like a lot of needed improvements have been made. Macros are ready to go, mouse controls have been greatly tweaked, combat interface has been overhauled, and general tweaks to leveling/questing. Also linkshells are finally available!

I saw that macros and linkshells were added, this is amazing. Can't wait to see combat stuffs. I left my FFXIV client updating when I left for work. I will have an alarm set for 10 PM, and may not sleep at all tonight.

[hurstshifter]

Phase 3 begins tonight at 10pm Eastern. Release notes are up on the beta site, looks like a lot of needed improvements have been made. Macros are ready to go, mouse controls have been greatly tweaked, combat interface has been overhauled, and general tweaks to leveling/questing. Also linkshells are finally available!

I saw that macros and linkshells were added, this is amazing. Can't wait to see combat stuffs. I left my FFXIV client updating when I left for work. I will have an alarm set for 10 PM, and may not sleep at all tonight.

Characters were also wiped from phase 2 which I honestly don't care about. I'm going to focus on using the land/hand disciplines this time as I didn't put much focus into them in phase 2. I will likely be on the Golbez server if they still allow you to choose during character creation.

[aamesxdavid]

Characters were also wiped from phase 2 which I honestly don't care about. I'm going to focus on using the land/hand disciplines this time as I didn't put much focus into them in phase 2. I will likely be on the Golbez server if they still allow you to choose during character creation.

I want to rock out the Gladiator for a while, but I've gotten into crafting in other MMOs since FFXI (when I did absolutely none, because I hated it). I'll try to get on Golbez, so if you see David Aames, or some such name around (unfortunately, Citizen Dildo is often caught by a filter), that will almost certainly be me.