So. Yeah. Final Fantasy XIV, then.

[EricKei]

Regarding using Skills from other classes -- I know that every Class can benefit from having CNJ's Cure/Protect or PUG's healing ability equipped as a secondary...I can see THM's Blizzard being useful to CNJ, ARC/SMN/SCH, and BRD (songs cost MP in this game, including Ballad) -- not so much for damage, but as a dirt-cheap pulling spell and for the increased mana recovery. SureCast, if it's transferrable, too (I was running a SureCast =>Cure <me> macro as THM), along with CNJ Aero as an additional DoT. (I didn't have CNJ high enough to carry Raise over)

What other "crossover" Skills feel the most useful to you guys? I know some of the "Only one Craft gets this" Crafter ones can prove immensely useful on other crafts.

[Geek King]

Then again, watching Carbuncle headbutt things repeatedly was always entertaining.

Carbie-chu! I choose you!



I will second that they did a hell of a lot better on the reboot. The original XIV was like they had learned nothing after ten years of MMO evolution. Maybe even stepped backwards. This reboot is more what I expected when I got FFXIV originally.

I'm rolling Leviathan right now. Look for Mune Starlost as my prime, or any Starlost there is likely me.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Oh.my.god.

I hope they DON'T bring back BST. I hated that class with a burning passion - from what it was to the reason they brought it into the game in the first place. I pray they do not put any effort, money, or time into trying to redevelop that for FF14.

Also, they probably branched off Arcanist first because Arcanist is the first base class that was designed after the whole Job system was implemented. (All the other ones were designed prior to them creating and bringing in the "Advanced Job" system - which is where we get all our iconic classes.)

It makes sense to me that it would be designed, from the ground up, to be able to branch out into multiple Advanced Jobs already.

[EricKei]

I think they should take another look at one or two of the Jobs, too -- specifically, Bard. Make that a second Job for Conjurer, and let the Archers become what they pretty much are already - freakin' RANGERS!

[EricKei]

Live letter (in Japanese) podcast today. I'm sure the "gaming pundits" will have translations up by tonight. Based on what they have to say, we'll find out if b4 begins tomorrow or not, among other things.

----------

Finally got me new vidcard - a looooong-overdue upgrade . ^_^ Old benchmark scores (geforce 240): 2500-3000ish on high quality (slightly above minimum spec) and 4K on low quality (which still looks pretty nice). new card (gtx660): 9-9500 on maxed out settings and nearly 11k on low o_O (10k range = no worries) --- PS if you make a toon in the benchmark, you can carry that appearance over to b4, early access, and the real game (pc only)

PS Thanks again to people on here who confirmed for me that this card would work on my rig! Went smooth as silk.

[Etna]

Beta Test phase 4 will run from August 17-19. Those who participated in the Beta Test phase 3 will be able to participate from August 16th. Early access will run from August 24th until the 26th with official service begins on August 27th, but the servers won't go down after Early Access, so you'll be able to play non-stop from August 24th.

EDIT: For completeness.

[EricKei]

Thanks!

Note that early access codes will not be usable before the 20th unless you live in Japan.

googledoc of an unofficial liveletter translation here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...eview?sle=true


video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW75Gz1nPQE

Oddities from the liveletter , if they're not a mistranslation-- Level CNJ for a unicorn mount (Mars needs women healers!); pre-pay 30~90 days to get free pets and a mount (more time = more goodies)

===============

edit -- beta client download is now available. You just can't login until the beta actually begins. Same client will work for early access/full game

http://forum.square-enix.com/ARR-Test/threads/7065

[KhirasHY]

IGN reported that characters from P4 will carry over to live as well, with a lvl 20 cap. So that's nice.

I've already been committed to playing on the Adamantoise server with my partner and some friends, but if anyone drops in there, feel free to say hi Will be a Miqo'te Conjurer most likely named Watcher Rat, just like in the beta

[EricKei]

I'll be running THM as my main -- which will benefit from CNJ's cross-skills (can't believe it took me so long to level CNJ just for Cure 1 in b3...) amazing for solo. Melees can do the same with PUG's self-heal) ^_^ And that's just as well, I can't wait to unlock that unicorn mount and call it "Lady Amalthea"

[Aethian]

I want to play.... *whines*

[EricKei]

Well...open beta (b4) starts in a week...if yer still worried about if yer laptop can handle it, download the free benchmark. Scores over 2000 are quite playable.

[Aethian]

It can't play it at all.

[EricKei]

Awwwwwww. That sux >_<

[Lady Legira]

Score:13155
Average Framerate:122.010
Performance:Extremely High
-Easily capable of running the game on the highest settings.

Think I might be okay...

[KhirasHY]

I scored a 14k+ on highest settings on my home compy, my laptop just scored just under 12k on high settings as well, so I'm happy.

For those who don't know, you can download the new benchmark software to pre-make your character in advance, and save the design. That way you can simply import the data to your account and hop right in after naming the character, which is neat. Fun fact that I didn't notice right away, if you make a character before running the benchmark, it will substitute your character design for the default one, and you can watch your character fight Thought that was kinda cool that they did that.

NEED. BETA. NAO!!! My sexy little Miqo'te needs to run wild