Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

[Freelancer]

Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

Several of the scheduled improvements mentioned in last week's letter from the producer are nearing completion. The following is a list of some of the most significant changes:
*An official patch release date will be announced shortly.

Content
Improvements to Log Usability

Changes to behavior of windows when moused over

The implementation of an automated log text show/hide feature

Revisions to text color


Improvements to Dialog Windows

Changes to increase the amount of on-screen data, reducing the need for multiple pages


Improvements to Combat Damage Display

The assignment of different font colors to player and enemy damage

Adjustments to prevent overlapping of combat text


Improvements to Map Usability

Increased data refresh rates allowing for more responsive maps


Improvements to Minimap Usability

The addition of a PC's field-of-view (camera direction)


Improvements to Guildleve-Related Information

The implementation of an in-game command which displays time remaining until the next leve renewal


Adjustments to Item Stack Sizes

A significant increase in stack sizes (from 12 to 99) for several existing items


Improvements to Gathering

Changes to the frame rates of action animations to speed up gathering activities


Improvements to the Item Search Feature

The addition of prices displayed together with search results


Addition of a Head Gear Display Feature

The addition of a feature allowing players to graphically toggle on/off their headgear (without physically removing the item)


Adjustments to Skill Points

Improvements to skill point acquisition for parties


Further details will be revealed in forthcoming Topics posts, as well as the post planned for release in conjunction with the patch.

FUN FACT:
As of today, game versions will be assigned alphanumeric values (eg. 1.15a). In addition, what for the past decade have been known to players of online FINAL FANTASY titles as "version updates" shall henceforth be referred to as "patches."

Yoshi-P attacks!

[DakAttack]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

Why can't we stick with Version Updates?

[Grizzlebeard]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

Patch is so WoW.

[Aksannyi]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

Patch is so WoW.

Took the words out of my mouth.

While I do think SE could stand to learn some stuff from Blizzard, they don't have to downright copy them. Just kind of made me laugh.

[Balfree]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

nothing changes:
"why doesnt anything ever change?"
stuff changes:
"why did stuff change?"

.. you people.

Why did we ever have unnumbered (to the naked eye) version updates?

That's the only question you should be asking.

While I do think SE could stand to learn some stuff from Blizzard, they don't have to downright copy them. Just kind of made me laugh.

The standart is to include a version number, this being 1 and minor changes after the first dot, and a letter to designate state. Stop assuming WoW invented everything since toasted bread.

[Aksannyi]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

The point I was trying to make here is that the change was completely unnecessary, and that by doing so, it does make them look like they're trying too hard to look like WoW. It seems silly. XI and XIV players know what a version update is. Anyone who doesn't is retarded. So yes, I'm going to bash them for this completely unnecessary change.

Or am I only allowed to have an opinion if I bow down and kiss the almighty ass of Square-Enix?

[Aeni]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

Adjustments to Skill Points

Improvements to skill point acquisition for parties

I'm sorely disappointed by this. Parties already have a myriad of options to race to Rank 50 (i.e., leve linking) If I can't get a party then I should at least reasonably grind my levels on my own. I do not need or want a Beastmaster class to do so.

---------- Post added at 10:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:22 AM ----------

Improvements to Guildleve-Related Information

The implementation of an in-game command which displays time remaining until the next leve renewal

On and this was a complete waste of their time. I've assumed that EVERYONE is on the SAME timer. Unless they are changing the way leve refreshes I think this is one of those things we can live without in light of the near hundreds of other things they could've worked on.





SE moves at the speed of turtle slug (tm).

[jenova_9]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

I think just because they are improving Guildleve related to party skill point aquisition doesn't mean they are making soloing receive less skill points over time, mew. Haven't read anywhere that soloers are getting less points.

Overall this party stuff is good news because it will encourage more to party instead of just being solo and antisocial. And it benefits people because that means less time to get more skill points.

[Aeni]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

I think just because they are improving Guildleve related to party skill point aquisition doesn't mean they are making soloing receive less skill points over time, mew. Haven't read anywhere that soloers are getting less points.

People who solo already are getting much less skill points than those in parties. They're increasing skill points for those in parties even more which makes no sense. I already outlined the issues in another topic and provided a "safe" way for SE to fix this problem and even emailed them but they don't seem to be interested in it at all. Right now, they're going back to the way FFXI was, the way it was when it first came out. These guys aren't just missing the mark -- they're swinging wildly in the wrong direction.

It's hard to explain this to someone who hasn't played the game yet and gone beyond Rank 20. I already see this problem Rank 30+ The mob that you fought at Rank 10 that gave you 240 skill points, that same "difficulty" mob at Rank 20 gives you 120 skill points and at Rank 30 gives you only 60 skill points. Now, I can understand that this is also a problem with group grinding, because now you have to fight mobs that are 10+ ranks above your own and even if you have party members that are within 2 ranks of each other, the skill points gained, once split, isn't that hot either (there is no bonus for "exp chaining" in this game and Guardian Aspect does not work on non-leve spawned mobs) However, parties get this cool thing called leve-linking, and currently in the game it's so powerful that players are ranking up practically everyday (+ a couple of behests) I rank up at the rate of 4 days per rank which I'm okay with but this is getting longer and longer to do after 30. In order to keep going at this same rate at one rank every 4 days, I would need to devote 100% of my leves to one class AND use GA on every single one (which is not possible because you only receive 10 pts of GA refresh everyday on a timer and you have to spend 10 pts PER leve) and also do at least 3 behests a night which is stretching it a bit. If I had the opportunity to receive the same amount of skill points per mob kill at about Rank 16 or so then I would be satisfied.

The problem with the game is that there is little incentive to party up and even less incentive for the members to stick around after they do a leve. Most people will leave and go back to what they were doing earlier and/or log out for the night. This could partly be a symptom of the state of the game and people not having fun so they only log on to do leves ... this could also be a symptom of an anti-social atmosphere. In WoW, they had the instance queueing and that was awesome. I could just get one other friend and queue up and we'd have a group. Even if the groups were filled with unpleasant players about 1/3 of the time, it was still better than trying to find people on your own server to do stuff with. If SE could do something similar to have an unbiased and anonymous way of grouping then it might work out. Also, part of the culture, at least from where I sit, lies in this annoyingly persistent form of "elitism" amongst players and they tend to ONLY want to group with other from their own LS or their own clique. Not so much NA players but this is so prevalent amongst EU and JP players. I'm starting to think that language is the least of what is driving this issue ... it's a form of discrimination ... call it nationalism if you like. The people that do behest are those that are more than willing to group up with strangers and most players that avoid doing behest seem to just not want to mingle with anyone that isn't from their own country of origin or outside of their social network.

I can go on and on but yeah ... they need to do something about soloing at least in the near future while they address the larger social aspects of the game (Yoshie-P already mentioned about the social issue)

[jenova_9]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

ya. Yoshida seems to get the point a little better but still is missing a lot of the real solutions. Ya that is the trouble with companies, too much growth weakens development. But if they kind of make it a little more like FFXI, that might be better than FFXIV ver. 1.0

[Aeni]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

But if they kind of make it a little more like FFXI, that might be better than FFXIV ver. 1.0

I would rather they model the game closer to WoW than FFXI because of the way this game was built from the ground up. This game was clearly suppose to be the antithesis to FFXI. It doesn't work well because it's new! So as with all new things, it will take a while to get right. But how the company handles the complaints and suggestions from their OWN customers speaks volume on the direction of the game development. To dismiss one class of players for another is problematic. They dismissed a few FFXI players initially. Now they're bending over backwards for them while slapping the rest of us with a wet fish. I think there's a nice middle they should walk in terms of development but more importantly they could learn A LOT from their competitors.

---------- Post added at 12:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:11 PM ----------

Patch is so WoW.

Most companies adopt this actually. Hardware manufactures were the first (i.e., ATI/Nvidia) so if anyone is copying someone then Blizzard would've copied them.

[Raydeus]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

/ja "Port-XI-already samba" <me>

~(^^~) (~^^)~ \(^-^)/

[Aeni]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

/ja "Port-XI-already samba" <me>

~(^^~) (~^^)~ \(^-^)/

If this was an FFXI clone from the start I wouldn't have pre-ordered this game in the first place.

[Raydeus]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

If this was the XI update they had promised you wouldn't even have needed to buy the game again in the first place, just remain subscribed.

And then buy the Lolz of Eorzea expansion afterwards, of course.

[Aeni]

Re: Patch 1.15a Outline (01/27/2011)

If this was the XI update they had promised you wouldn't even have needed to buy the game again in the first place, just remain subscribed.

And then buy the Lolz of Eorzea expansion afterwards, of course.

No, I wouldn't have come back to FFXI at all. Remember, I left that game, because I grew weary of fighting it. Since there were plenty of options available (i.e., Yes, there are other games besides WoW) it wasn't as if I had nowhere to go to. The only reason I reactivated FFXI was to get the Hermes Boots in FFXIV.