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Hours of gameplay, recorded and streamed live for an audience a few days ago by Pookypoo, an alpha tester was was subsequently banned for breaking NDA. Apparently, he said in an open letter that he doesn't regret doing what he did one bit. :p
Check out the stream here: [Updated] FFXIV Gameplay by Pookypoo | FFXIV Blog
I'm encouraged by this comment from the link:
Take the best aspects from those 3 very successful MMORPGs and you will have the ultimate game.Quote:
The verdict so far? Oh it’s amazing. It’s Diablo II + WoW + FFXI, merging the good stuff together!
The ego on that guy is amazing, but I honestly don't care that he leaked it. I just hate that people will make up their own conclusions about it based on it (it's alpha, not a stable beta - they're still in heavy development mode).
I "heard" that it's an amazing experience, but there are some problems still. Mainly with the way NPC dialogue is done and the controls aren't up to standard. As if they made it for a gamepad and slapped on the keyboard and mouse. So I had "heard" that the mouse is pretty much the same was FFXI's (i.e. unusable) and this disappoints me quite a bit because most people that aren't FFXI veterens have major trouble with accepting no mouse controls.
In fact, I'd prefer a decent mouse. It was great in Aion in that regard. I don't think the keyboard-only controls cut it in this age of MMORPG's.
Otherwise, pretty damn awesome.
I would agree that going to a more standard M&K setup which is used by most MMOs would be the best bet. You could never have the quick stuff that you have in a game like WoW with pure keyboard turns. That said, I've always been very comfortable with the FFXI control scheme using the Numpad for movement and arrow keys (with my thumb) for camera. From what I've "deduced" about the controls, they are the same-ish so I could pick it up easily, but it would certainly be unfriendly to non-vets.
Here's a youtuber's account who is posting up video from the EU Alpha: YouTube - TeKDeLorean's Channel
Why do I keep missing these?! Oh, that youtube link works... I'll watch that...
I wish this person would actually do something. FIGHT SOMETHING.
Oh nevermind then, I won't be getting FFXIV if the absolutely atrocious control scheme of FFXI has been brought back. It isn't difficult or unfriendly, it's simply badly designed. I know Rye didn't stick with FFXI and switched to WoW, even though she likes FFXI much more in literally every other respect, simply because the controls were that bad.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeargdribble
What's so bad about it? I never had any trouble.
Neither did I. o.o
It is one of the worst control systems I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. It is completely counternituitive and awful and it is far and away my biggest problem with the game. xD It is literally like they designed it with the express intent of making a bad control scheme.
Well, perhaps it's because I always used a Ps2 controller, but I never had a problem. :p
Trust me when I say I along with many others have voiced similar opinions as MILF has to the beta forums.
It IS a badly designed control scheme. Yet because a lot of the people in beta are FFXI veterans, they think it's absolutely fine. Most of them have never played another MMO and don't realise how backwards FFXI's controls are.
They are moving in the right direction though. We have a fully customisable and very clean looking GUI and we have the WASD and Mouse control scheme, it's just they haven't got the mouse input right at this stage (my guess is because I've seen so many voice their opinion on it on the forums, that SE should do something about it).
I always use the keyboard and WASD anyway, so this don't bother me at all.
When I'm on FFXI, moving over to the mouse always feels unnatural. :P