My thoughts on Final Fantasy XIV Beta. [Archived]

Note: I am more of a Final Fantasy fan than a MMO fan, so my thoughts will be more compared to FFXI and other FFs in the series rather than competing MMOs in the market. Keep that in mind. My thoughts: I think Final Fantasy XIV has potential, I really do. I pre-ordered the Collector's edition and I have no intention of stopping it (mainly because I'm already leading a linkshell that's going to be there from launch). In any case, from what I've played it has some good points and it has some that should have had more time. Good: The character creation is pretty amazing. I really like how they have improved over Final Fantasy XI in terms of character creation and variety. I do wish they added some new options though. Maybe a male Mi'quote would have been nice... The idea of non-fixed classes. Well, they're fixed by name only, but you can mix and match abilities and I like that over Final Fantasy XI and brings in a sense of character customization akin to Final Fantasy V and the later FFs in the series. The return of Nobuo Uematsu! The music in Final Fantasy XI and XIII were awful compared to some of the vibrant tracks in the other games in the series and I'm happy that the original composer behind the Final Fantasy series makes his return. Seamless transitions between areas in the same region. I really like how I can leave Gridania and go into the forest without any fadeouts or long loading times. It is definitely an improvement from FFXI, and I think XIII had seamless transitions as well, so this seems like it was an improvement over that, which makes sense. The cutscenes. The opening cutscenes of all three nations are pretty epic. I'm really looking forward to later scenes in the storyline which act this way, after an important boss fight or what have you. I am hopeful for some signature characters to look forward to (similar to Shantotto in XI) Papalymo(sp?), perhaps? Improvements to the battle system as a whole. I'm sorry to all the people who like auto attack, but I like this method much better. I learned a crap ton of abilities within XIV so I felt very active in the game choosing all of the commands. Call me old fashioned, but I really disliked the auto-attack feature in XI and XII, battles seemed really boring to me. The first 10 minutes of Final Fantasy XIV were better than the first 23 hours of Final Fantasy XIII. Neutral: I don't think this really qualifies as good or bad, but other people have mentioned this and I have to agree. There are some features that I know people who have had backgrounds from other MMOs would really like included with XIV and S-E wants to refrain from doing this to keep a balance with console gamers. I guess in a way, I can understand it because the Final Fantasy series is primarily a console game franchise and they do not want to upset what can potentially be their core market due to the astounding price of a computer to run this game. This isn't means to justify their actions for doing this, though. I believe they could have taken some more time to have the option available incase they would like to include features PC players want that can also be added to PS3 and Xbox 360 players in the future. Bad: The UI needs improvement. It's really clunky and laggy. I hope we can get some Japanese input on how XI was on release, but I think S-E is probably aware of the problems and they usually fix bad errors like these pretty quickly. The development team needs to be more vocal. Just mentioning of the surplus system and no responses for quite a while means that the game already got some bad publicity. Hiromichi Tanaka's infamous tweet didn't help any of that either. They need to hire translators for other countries anytime they make a public statement about a MMO. None of this "you foreign players don't understand anything" sort of crap. If you want players to play worldwide, you don't alienate and confuse them. That's my opinion, anyway. Server latency. I believe the alpha and first phase beta tests should have been longer and more open. I should not have to press an action key 20 times and get "This action could not be processed" x20. Very frustrating. Having to open the menu for certain actions. In XI you could just tab over to the target. You can keep the options in the menu for the heck of it if you want, but if I target a player, I should have some kind of menu that pops up where it's easier to invite them. Awkward controls on the gamepad. VERY awkward controls. Easier to access inventory. or the first 20 minutes of the game, I literally could not find the menu to use a Potion, that really kinda made me angry, :/ Final Final Thoughts: I plan on playing Final Fantasy XIV and I am hopeful that it will have a good launch despite how many people complain. The game has issues, sure, but all MMOs do. There's no excuse for some of the server latency going on, but they should have invited more serious testers rather than random people who just attend their fan festivals and be more open to "foreign" feedback. With XI, I didn't know what I was getting into, but XIV I do know what I'm getting into. If I end up not liking it, I can just stop playing and go back to XI. I really doubt it'll be the case once the game gets a little smoother over the months. I stopped playing the beta for a couple of weeks, and I went back on Friday to show a friend and can already see clear improvement with less lag on the server. But that can also come from the fact that all of the servers are still three-chocobo overcrowded. In any case, I hope to see you all in Eorzea, I'm definitely giving the game a chance, even if others will not.

Zaya Caverns / Dojo Adventure Postponement... again! [Archived]

I'm unfortunately going to have to postpone the release of Dojo Adventure... again. Reason being that I'm working on one of the dungeons that is just causing error after error and I'm going through the multitude of floors trying to clean up my design mess.

Anyway, for people who have played the game before in its current incarnation, when you get access to the Airship, you have an option to fly to the other two countries or the Zaya Caverns, but access to the cave is blocked. So this blog entry is going to explain what it is going to be!

First and foremost, exploration of the Zaya Caverns is not required to complete the main storyline. It is an extra area that one can use their characters for an extra quest within the main quest, so to say.

Zaya Caverns is a semi-randomized 25 floor "cavern" that explores random areas you may have visited in the real game. Despite its name, it does not encompass inside areas only, it can be both inside and outside areas. Most of these areas have an additional puzzle or some aesthetic changes that make the dungeon harder than its game counterpart.

How to participate:

From any airship dock, select "Fly to Zaya Caverns" from the menu. Once you arrive, head to the main area. The attendant will then ask you how long you would like entry into the cave. The time allowed inside is fixed and cannot be modified or changed once entered.





Once you enter, time will start counting down, the object of the mini-game is to try to climb down as many floors you can within the strict time limit. If the time limit hits 0:00, you will be evacuated out of the area and sent back into the lobby area where you can pay more coins to try again.






Contained within certain floors can be one of various things: Random Save Points (Time will be kept if you load data), Regenerating chests that contain magic shards, or if you're lucky, a piece of Cursed Armor. Cursed armor can be purified into extremely rare pieces of armor by talking to the Purifier on Zaya Island.

There are also many enemies of different levels that reside within Zaya Caverns, and time does continue to tick while in battle, so choose your battles wisely!





If one makes it all the way to the 25th floor with time remaining, a special surprise awaits!


Zaya Caverns is coming in the next version.

September Updates [Archived]

I haven't really taken the time to show my progress this summer, so I might as well get around to doing that.

School

I've been taking classes in the summer in order to minimize my severe load during the school year. I took Sociology and Literature which I got a B+ and B- in respectively, I am also taking Biology which I predict I'll get a B in as well. However, it's so hard to maintain focus in that class, so much so that I regularly fall asleep in lectures. I'm happy I have studying assistance to help do well with the course.

I'm also fighting tooth and nail to get into Calculus III and Digital Logic for the Fall, the efforts are both failing miserably, but I'm trying to substitute them with alternative courses, it's very stressful.

I am looking forward to fall quarter, though!

Dojo Adventure

The game project is going quite well, and I think I'll have the game finished by September 8th, assuming everything continues to go smooth. I'd post screenshots of progress, but with what I'm working on, it'd be a huge spoiler.

Final Fantasy XIV

A badass trailer came out the other day.







I know I'm probably annoying the hell out of my friends with this game, but I am so excited, and in this day and age it is really hard to get excited for games. lol I really hope I have a lot of fun in Eorzea, and if you (the reader) joins along, I know you will too! ^_^

I'm leading a group called Viva Eorzea, and we've created a Facebook group and a LS Website. So, please join us! :)

Gaming

I introduced a friend to the joys of the PlayStation 2 and she's currently playing through Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts. I also took her with me on one of my game hunts and she seemed to like it, but we were able to pick up a good AV cable, a controller, and some memory cards, and I was kinda bummed that I couldn't find a copy of Vagrant Story or Final Fantasy Origins (for a good price), but we did find a copy of Final Fantasy X-2 for five dollars, that was a pretty damn good deal if you ask me. I also lent her my copy of Final Fantasy IV for GBA.

As for future gaming projects, I do want to finish Final Fantasy 1 and 2, F-Zero GX, Pokemon SoulSilver, and Chrono Cross, which I'm still working on all of them. Progress on that is still to come.

Miscellaneous

I'm working on various scripts for future skits for FFS Entertainment while handling a lot of turmoil within the group. I won't post details here, as it's not needed, I just wish there would be a lot less drama and some people keep their true feelings about others to themselves. That's all I'll say there.

A new survey! [Archived]

A lighthearted blog post this time! SURVEY A - AVAILABLE : Sure! B - BIRTHDAY : October 12 C- CRUSHING ON : A girl who cannot be named here. lol (Ask me in private and maybe I will tell you.) D - DRINK YOU LAST HAD : Root Beer E - EASIEST PERSON TO TALK TO : There are only a handful of people. lol F - FAVORITE SONG AT THE MOMENT : Various. G - GUY/GIRL: I'm a guy. H - HOMETOWN : Highland I - IN LOVE WITH : No one, yet. (?) J - JUGGLE : Yep! K - KILLED SOMEONE : Not people. L - LONGEST CAR RIDE: I think Arizona or San Francisco. M- MILKSHAKE FLAVOR : Chocolate! N - NUMBER OF SIBLINGS : 1 O - ONE WISH: That people could be more honest with one another. P - PERSON YOU CALLED LAST : Dad? I only call one person and let two people call me. lol Q - QUIET PERSON: I am a VERY quiet person. R- REASON TO SMILE : Because life is pretty awesome. :) S - SONG YOU LAST HEARD : You Spin Me Round (Literal Version) T - TIME YOU WOKE UP: 10AM U - UNDERWEAR COLOR : Not your information! V - VEGETABLE(S) : Vegetables are awesome! W - WORST HABIT : I have a lot of habits: Stuttering, Skimming, Biting Nails, being overly nervous... X - X-RAYS YOU'VE HAD MOST RECENTLY: I've forgotten, it's been a while. Y - YOYOS ARE : Interesting. XD Z - ZODIAC SIGN : Libra RANDOM QUESTIONS ABOUT YOU Spell your name without vowels : Grvr Your favorite numbers : 1, 3, 5, 9, 13. What color(s) do you wear most : Black, Gray, White, Blue. Least favorite color : Red Are you happy with your life right now : I am very happy with life, it can only get better. Who is your best friend : I'd have to say Neil knows me best out of all my friends. Are you outgoing? : I'm very introverted and awkward. Favorite pair of shoes : Anything that doesn't hurt my feet. Can you dance : I've never been to a dance, I can't tell you. Can you tie a cherry stem with your mouth : Nope. Can you whistle : Yep. Write with both hands : Sorta! Cross your eyes : Yep. Walk with your toes curled : Nope. Do you believe there is life on other planets : Not in our solar system, but perhaps on others. Do you believe in miracles : People can create miracles for other people, if everything wasn't so streamlined and people actually had a heart. It's hard to notice that nowadays. Do you believe in magic : Nope. Love at first sight: Love takes time to build in my opinion. How are you going to love someone after a first glance? Take the time to know the person. Do you believe in Satan : No. Do you believe in Santa : Yes. That's the parent's job. ;) Do you know how to swim : Yep. Do you like roller coasters : Not the looping ones! Do you think you could handle the stuff they eat on those reality shows: ? Fear Factor has been long cancelled. lol Have you ever been on a plane : Nope. Have you ever been to the ocean : Yep. What is the temperature outside : Too hot. What radio station do you listen to : 92.3, 93.1, 95.5, 99.9, 100.3, 101.1 Sirius: 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 33. What was the last restaurant you ate at: Thai House Restaurant :D What was the last thing you bought : A Root Bear Float! What was the last thing on TV you watched : The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson Who was the last person you IM'd: Shadoe, I think. Who was the last person you took a picture of : Don't remember. Who was the last person you said I love you to : N/A HAPPY SECTION Are you a happy person: I am a very happy person. :) What is your current hair color: Black IN A BOY/GIRL Favorite eye color : Doesn't matter. Short or long hair : Doesn't matter. Different people go better with different hairstyles. Height : Doesn't matter! Miscellaneous Been in jail : no Laughed so hard, you cried : Yep. Cried in school : Nope. Thrown up in a store : Nope. Wanted to be a model: Nope. Seen a dead body : Yep. Been on drugs : Nope. THIS OR THAT McDonalds or Burger King : Burger King Single or Group Dates : Single Dates. lol Chocolate or Vanilla : Choc/Vanilla Swirl! Meat or Veggies : Vegetables TV or Movie : TV Guitar or Drums : Drums Adidas or Nike: Nike

A different blog entry [Archived]

I normally do not post details about my personal relationships online for all to see, but perhaps this deserves special merit. 

I also want to be discreet about who this person is. I really don't want to ruin existing cirumstances with this person and ruin a friendship because of it.

Anyways!

A couple of weeks ago I posted a blog on what attracts me to someone. What I listed more than anything else: Personality, looks, or even similar interests is mutual respect. This person actually takes the time to genuinely listen to what I have to say (and vice versa) and I really respect her for that, and in a ways, that gave me a serious crush on this person. This person in question is very caring and understanding, and I think that's what draws me to her. Okay, not think, I know. lol

While I do not believe in "leagues" so to say, I do know that this person is interested in someone else. I do not see myself being too upset about it (as it was well expected). But, if it's one thing that hurts, it's the issue of the unrequited affection behind it. That alone can tear even the toughest person to shreds.

Now someone may be reading this and wonder: "Why the hell is he posting this?" No person is exactly perfect and everyone has their flaws. In the case of myself, it's pretty much pointless to try and pursue anything out of it from existing circumstances and it is best to keep things where they are. The more complaining or yearning one may do may not get the results one desires.

/end rant

Dear, Square-Enix: My rant on FINAL FANTASY XIV [Archived]

Updated: 8/26:

Once again, we would like to thank you all for your participation and support during the Closed Beta. We will continue to take your valuable feedback into consideration as we develop the game during Open Beta and even beyond the official release.

Now I would like to take a moment to respond to the many questions and opinions regarding the manner in and rates at which experience and skill points are obtained in Beta 3.

Firstly, the concept for FINAL FANTASY XIV was to design a system of character progression that offers meaningful advancement for those with limited time to dedicate to playing. We did not want to create a game that forced people to play for hours on end to see their efforts rewarded. To that end, in addition to the Guardian's Aspect and guildleve systems, we introduced a means of apportioning swifter advancement to shorter periods of play.

In order to achieve this balance, we calculated a value for the amount of skill or experience points that could be earned in a one-hour period. This theoretical value represents an hour spent engaged solely in combat, levequests, or any other activities that earn skill or experience points, and sets a threshold delimiting how many of these points can be earned in a period of play.

Based on this, we have implemented a “threshold value” concept. These thresholds are regulated by a one-week timer that begins counting down the instant you earn skill/experience points. After a week has passed, the thresholds will reset, and the moment skill/experience points are earned again, the timer begins counting down anew.

For the first eight thresholds during this week-long period, players will receive skill/experience points at the maximum rate possible. The actual amount of time spent reaching these thresholds is not significant. That is to say, a player who exceeds eight hours of gameplay will still be rewarded the maximum amount of skill/experience points, so long as the total amount earned is below the eighth threshold value. For the subsequent seven thresholds, players will earn skill/experience points at a gradually decreasing rate, eventually reaching a rate of zero.

It is worth noting, however, that the reduced rate will also gradually recover while players are engaged in activities that do not yield skill/experience points. In this manner, it is possible for the threshold value to reset completely, even before the completion of the one-week timer.

Any skill points earned in excess of the threshold maximum—that is, at a rate of zero—will be stored as "bonus skill points." These are specific to each class, so players limited to earning bonus skill points still have the freedom to change classes and begin earning skill points again at the maximum rate, allowing their reduced skill rates to recover in the meantime.

The experience point threshold, however, is unrelated to class, and switching classes will have no effect on the decreasing rate of earnable experience.

This is how the progression system currently works.

This system was not introduced in Beta 3, but has been in place since the beginning of beta testing. There are several reasons why many people believe that these features were only recently implemented:

- Leading into Beta 3, operation hours were extended, making it possible to play more often during the span of a week.
- To encourage players to form guidleve parties in Beta 3, skill and experience point rewards for guildleves were significantly increased.
- The process that reduced the amount of skill/experience points awarded for weak enemies attacking in groups was unintentionally removed at the start of Beta 3. (This issue has been addressed.)

That last reason in particular was the biggest cause for players running up against the threshold penalty, with characters earning far more skill/experience points than we anticipated. We also faced an issue where we were simultaneously unable to adjust the amount earned for guildleves as well as the effects of crossing each threshold.

We sincerely apologize for the lack of explanation and our failure to make the necessary adjustments in the game.

The threshold values are being reexamined, and we plan to further adjust the different rates of earnable points based on feedback from our testers. One of the top issues we are looking at right now is fixing the excessively rapid drop after crossing the eighth threshold. We also plan to improve experience point reduction rates, even more so than for skill points, considering the threshold is unaffected when changing class.

At the very least, we can promise that players won't be running into the threshold penalty in the same short time span as they did in the beginning of Beta 3.

We would like to take this opportunity to also explain the following issues.

The diminishing results experienced during gathering are a function related to that class alone, and have no connection to this progression system. We are in the process of adjusting this system, and plan to make changes based on tester feedback.

We are currently in the process of considering the means in which bonus skill points can be used. There have been suggestions for various types of incentives, but as encouraging people to play with that in mind defeats the purpose of this threshold system, we will be examining this issue very carefully.

These are not the only adjustments we have planned for Open Beta. As mentioned previously, we are looking into increasing the amount of skill points earned when fighting in a party, and we look forward to seeing your input on these changes.

Last of all, I would like to apologize for the delay in releasing a developer's comment due to my recent attendance to Gamescom. The article based on my interview during that trip, coupled with conjecture, outdated information, and some misunderstandings on overseas websites, only added to the confusion. In the future, I hope to avoid similar problems by responding directly through official developer's comments as often as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

See you in the Open Beta Testing!

FINAL FANTASY XIV Director
Nobuaki Komoto
Updated: 8/25:
Square-Enix and Hiromichi Tanaka have recently responded to the worldwide outrage at this system that was introduced and they posted on their JP site explaining what the Surplus system is: This is what I got out of it. (Beware: Translation errors may cause this information to be misrepresented)

For the first eight hours of levelling a week, you get a bonus 100% (or double) the experience you get from killing a monster. After eight hours, the bonus drops to 0% over the course of seven hours after that leaving you with 100% of your base experience. The counter is reset if you change classes encouraging (but not forcing) players to explore and level other classes. So basically it's a free EXP ring from XI but it happens automatically.

Original Blog Post:

As you all know, I've been tweeting, posting, endorsing this game to every last breath, I really want this game to succeed. It has one of the most breathtaking FF atmosphere since probably IX.

Just check out the TGS/E3 trailers if you don't believe me.












I am very passionate about this game and I'd defend it to no end. But Square-Enix is going down the COMPLETE wrong path with development on this game.

I've played Final Fantasy XI for seven years and incurred over 779 days of playtime. I was very hardcore gamer in my earlier years, and when I heard this next Final Fantasy themed MMO was going to be much more casual, I jumped in joy. I don't have as much time to dedicate to this game as I used to. Despite me being a video game design student at a university, I don't have much time to actually play games during the week. I look forward to the weekend to play games and kick back.

But Square-Enix is coming up with this SILLY idea that is going to ruin the game before it even launches.

This idea is universally hated and I can't think of any sane person that likes it. People are cancelling pre-orders over it and Square-Enix doesn't seem to be doing a damn thing about it.

The issue:

At around level 15-20 if you continue levelling the same class, you get what is known as "surplus points" after defeating a monster. (Aka, while grinding, so to say.) And eventually the surplus points start taking a percentage of your EXP until you don't get any at all. The surplus goes away after you change classes and EXP on different monsters. (Or change to a crafting class)

Beta testers have been saying that this is a deal breaker. Not only does the surplus not wear off for an EXTREMELY long time, it almost forces you to level other classes. That's very unfair. If I feel like levelling a Gladiator for a weekend, I should be able to get significant progress without being hindered or slowed down because the game feels that I should be doing something I don't like doing.

Now I love this game, I played the beta and I am really looking forward to it, I want my friends to play as well. But what am I going to tell them if Square-Enix keeps this crap up? This isn't encouraging casual play, this is encouraging torturous, mind-numbing, class-changing nonsense! If I want to level other classes and abilities, I should do it when I damn well please.

Square-Enix, I really hope you're reading this. I tagged this blog post on my Twitter account and I really hope someone gets their head out of their ass and removes/edits this Surplus system to encourage rewarding the casual player rather than punishing the hardcore player. Please, do something.

I'm not threatening to cancel my pre-order of XIV, I'm not cancelling any subscription. But for a game I really hope succeeds in the harsh WoW-dominated MMO market, what you are doing to try and sustain a sufficient amount of subscribers is not going to fare well with the shyt you're pulling.

Sincerely,

Grover Eyeveen
FFXIV - Kefka Server

What is Dojo Adventure? : Inspirations behind it. [Archived]

I get asked this question a lot. Well, more than I would want to be asked at least. A lot of people are curious and ask me all kinds of questions about it. What kind of game is it? When will it be done? What's with the weird names?

Well, Dojo Adventure is a Puzzle Role-Playing Game. At least I'd like to consider it one. It's the first real video game project that I really wanted to design. I came up with many storyboards and characters when I was in middle school due to my reclusive nature. (Yay, bullying! We'll save that for another blog post.) Anyway, I compiled all of my character and story creations and mixed them into one huge game. Well, the one's that fit the continuity of my vision.

Story Progression

Dojo is only a slang term of sorts. That's what the people in the game call the "dungeon" or "puzzle" that the Sealbearer "trains" or "resides" in. The concept of Dojos were largely inspired by two specific games.

1) The Puzzles in the Lufia series for Super Nintendo.