FFXIV To Impose Game Play Time Limit!?

Speaking of that new Star Wars MMO. It's not looking good at all.

It's on rails >.> WTH

On the rails in an MMO what does that even mean?

OP is very vague Doesn't say combat time so if its 8hrs any time does that mean ery 1 will using another job besides there main job to run around in cause it will eat up the 8hrs if they do other thing besides exp on there mian

this was addressed some time ago >.> scroll back the front page posts on beta site to before open beta started..

here's the post.



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

Lol, Kote, I'm surprised at you. It's not *** pathetic, it's good business sense. See this:

Jaerik's voice of ultimate reason and rationality strikes again.

Not laying for a couple of days due to a bill for some reason =/= anywhere near what I am talking about. Casual gamers don't play for a couple of days every time their electric bill isn't paid. They play because they work, go out, or do other things. People who play more should be rewarded more, period.

I know one thing, If I was a casual I would never play XI. I'd play XIV though because I know it would be possible to keep up.

Who said anything about this not being an incredible market strategy? It would be pathetic of you to think that's what I'm implying. Of course it's what they're aiming for. I'm speaking as someone who used to play this game for 80-90 hrs a week, it's stupid. Of course casual gamers are going to like it. I don't need anyone telling me this is a good market strat.. that is obvious.

Exactly. SE knows what they're doing, they always do. 90% of the retards who bash this game continue to pay monthly to play it so SE has them on a leash as well.

I should also point out that I don't care about it even being a hardcore, because levelling sub-jobs is such a necessity in XIV, even more than XI.

Also levelling up those subjobs is an incredibly good source of gil with Leves and just farming.

I know I'll be much richer in XIV than I ever was in in XI.

Why defensive, Kote?

Something can't really be stupid and pathetic, and yet simultaneously incredible and brilliant, right?

Things don't have to be "stupid" and "pathetic" just because you dislike or disagree.
Why can't you just say: "I don't like the idea of casual gamers being able to keep up with hardcore gamers."

Well, because, as Jaerik pointed out, a purely linear relationship between time invested and game advancement is a dated and defunct concept in MMO development.

I didn't encounter the fatigue system at all the entire time i played the open beta. It's not nearly as bad as ppl make it out to be. You have to literally be engaged against a mob for a full 8 hours straight pretty much. When you arent fighting it goes down.

8 hours a day!

if your eyes glued to a tv longer than 8 hours a day theres something wrong with you.

8 hours should be ample time

sarcasm obviously

I hit it once, when i was on a 12 hour playing binge, but to remedy it, all i did was start crafting. It's a system that encourages you to try new things and that is never a bad thing.

Dunno how much of this is true to be honest..

But If people want to spend a day off work catching up on their levelling.. why the F gimp them because some others dont like to play much?

That's the thing no one is being gimped. Crafting raises your physical level, everything you do raises your level, it's just a matter of changing the method every 8 hours or so. It's not any inconvienance as far as i had seen and im a hardcore gamer.

It doesn't matter time limitations S.E. "Screw Everyone" Corporation puts on. This you can be sure of... Hardcore players will play all jobs, will craft, will farm, etc.

The eight hour limit is NOT a restriction.

Those the wanna be on the FF14 top 100 will have to level all their jobs, crafts, missions, etc. Not necesarily being the highest job take you there.

This game is not designed to reward vertical advancement, but Horizontal achievements. It is S.E. "Screw Everyone" Corporation way, to please casual player base in being competitive, whilst having hardcore players grind all jobs to reach the top of the ladder. And the more time they keep casual and harcore players = more business.

I c wut u did thur.


I didn't see it either. Even if I had experienced character fatigue at some point though, I don't think it would have been a big deal. There's so much to do in this game and pretty much all of it is enjoyable. I felt that way in the beta and lord knows the game will only grow and get even better from release onward. Really the only people I see this system having a profound effect on will be the people who only want to level one class, and that really isn't the way I think the game is meant to be played anyway.

***! SE actually learnt something from their mistakes !

Yeah, can't stress this enough: there aren't any posts where people have actually encountered the fatigue system.

I think an important thing here is that if you want to level only one job and excel at only one thing and you have massive amounts of time to throw at such a task then this game may not be for you.

Then again, if you were looking to do such a thing, wouldn't you also take pride in being well-rounded and having access to the other job abilities that come from having additonal classes leveled? An easy example (for those who aren't familiar with the job system) would be this:

Player 1: "I only level Marauder - and because I only focus on that job, I'm the best at it. Look around the server - people know me and know how badass I am."

Player 2: "Awesome! You got all the gear, and your basestats are totally sweet! Hey, you're low on HP - you should use "Second Wind" real quick so you don't die."

Player 1: "I didn't level Pugilist - I'm stricly Marauder."

Game Message: "Player 1 was defeated by the Dodo."

Player 2: "Good poop. Oh snap - now your gear is damaged and weaker. You want some of my crafting materials for repairs?"

Player 1: "I don't craft - I'm just stricty Marauder. If it weren't for this fatigue system I would've been higher level and not died."

Player 2: "Good poop."

From the above-dialogue, hopefully you can discern that playing in a vertical fashion is not really a possibility at all - there is too much of an emphasis on being well-rounded. With that said, yes, you could probably just pay people/NPCs to repair gear, but where will all that gil come from? Selling the base materials for synths? That will take forever.

I hope that you're seeing the trend: vertical players will face more challanges. This isn't a question of "Hardcore vs. Casual" - this is a question of "Veritcal vs. Horizontal" gameplay. If you want a game that focuses stricty on one aspect then FFXIV is not for you.

Yves:
Funny and very relevant ^_^

I think the crying in this thread is coming from the FFXI players that expected FFXIV to just be a redux of FFXI with prettier graphics. A stupid assumption, really, when one looks at the history of Final Fantasy (Final Fantasy IX wasn't anything like Final Fantasy VIII, for example) and takes Jaerik's information into account about the current/future climate of MMO development.

Not sure if it was said but SE is doing the fatigue system to appeal to both hardcore and casual gamers. hardcore gamers are still at an advantage due to more combinations of abilities and likely much more overall money because you can craft harvest mine etc while your exp resets.

Yup, absolute truth there. However, the physical level will be somewhat close due to fatigue. From what I understand, its EXP (exp = physical level, Rank Points = rank/job level) that is affected by the fatigue system.

But honestly, I can see how the fatigue system *should* cause people to branch out. Dare I say it, but we may actually see an online FF game where it's not "sam or GTFO." Is that really a bad thing? Because no matter how badass your Marauder is in this game, without the support abilities of the other classes, you won't compete.

At the same time, this system might even prevent the "lol(job)" problem that FFXI has. Yeah, I'm more about efficiency in my parties and alliances in FFXI - no, I don't want your level 71 PUP in my Abby exp run - but it's weak that people struggle to play how/what they like in FFXI. I'm not guilty of the "lol(job" thing but I am guilty of excluding certain jobs to make a run smoother. To me, that's good management but a weak experience for the excluded person. If this solves that by forcing people to branch out, gain new abilities, and create cool and new combinations then sweet.

Player 1: "Should I grab this archer for what we're doing?"

Player 2: "lolARC. No way!"

Player 1: "Nobody else is seeking. Imma grab them."

Player 2: "Fine. /facepalm @ lolarc."

10 mintues later...

Player 1: "***...we're gonna wipe..."

Player 2: "Yup."

Player 1: "HOLY ***! Our lolarc just did XYZ stacked with ABC and it pwned! I had no idea that stacked."

Player 2: "Dammit...now i have to level lolarc and lolpgl..."

Player 3 (formerly lolarc): "Good poop."

See what I mean? People may actually get to play how they like and experience a game that is both inviting and exciting. Those crazy japs at SE and their ridiculous ideas! HOW DARE THEY!

I am not exactly clear on how the system works, so I guess this should be taken more of a series of questions than an opinion. That said, is the cool down time/fatigue (or whatever you want to call it) that much different than needing stones for Abyssea, or fatigue from fishing? By that I mean that the stones for Abyssea and fishing fatigue don't really restrict people to a major extent (at least for most of the people I play with).

I do understand that the comparison is different in that basic leveling of a job in FFXI is not the same as spending time in Abyssea, or fishing (though there are some people who ONLY fish).

I mainly wonder because there are limitations in FFXI on certain things that may be someone's favorite thing to do. Does the fatigue really hinder "playing the game" that much after a certain point?

This is the best explanation I've seen so far in terms of understanding the Fatigue System in FFXIV.

Wow - that is literally the best explanation out there. I've been trying to convey that same explanation for a few weeks now but couldn't quite sum it up so neatly. Very nice!

But yeah, that's it in a nutshell.

BTW, everyone for the most part seems cool on this post. Hope to see you all on the Trabia server at launch!

Kashuan, a lot of people on my XI server are going there. :x