It probably feels like it's past time for another Final Fantasy XIV letter from producer Naoki Yoshida, but the wait is finally over. In the latest installment of what's become a regular dispatch from the company to the fans, Yoshida discusses the upcoming changes and additions due for patch 1.18. But rather than waste space describing what the updates to the game's battle system will be like with the inclusion of auto-attack, Yoshida instead opts to show players with a short video demonstrating the system in action.
The one piece of bad news in the letter is that the patch is going to run a bit later due to the extra balance issues introduced, overshooting the previously stated window of mid to late June. Yoshida estimates a roughly two-week delay, putting the patch in early July. Still, Final Fantasy XIV players should be happy with the contents of the letter, especially the preview of auto-attack combat (embedded just past the break).
LOL. There is a reason this was absent from their E3 presence. It's an embarrassment. Congrats on showing everyone a video of your in-development and unfinished "AUTO ATTACK". A simple, entry level, MMO 101 feature that every game should come with that should never even be a discussion or an issue. That's like beating your chest over adding WALKING to a game. *sigh
I think the main reason they were absent from E3 is that they had little to no time to work on E3 content. You might not remember that 3 months ago their country suffered a huge earthquake followed by huge tsunamies, that sent their country in recovery mode for at least one month, and even then, they're still recovering.
I'd hardly say they're "beating their chest" about adding autoattack, unless notifying players that a frequently-requested feature that admittedly should have been in the game to begin with is somehow "beating your chest."
@Icemasta While your points may be true, the way you phrased them makes you look lesser than whom you are replying to. You can speak from your heart without including the f-word every few words.
I agree with the OP completely, SE is a embarrassment, and this game is a disaster. It's flawed at the structural level, and besides bandaid repairs it will never get the need fixes. The only reason their bothering is for the PS3 release, which will be attempt to scam more gamers.
@Icemasta - You misread what I wrote. I didnt say they were absent from E3, I said this GAME WAS. Square Enix had a MASSIVE PRESENCE at E3 where they showed off FFXIII-2 as well as several Eidos titles and their new portable 4 player RPG. So,um, yeah - I should know because I work in downtown LA and have been to every E3 since 2006, including this one. SE had massive presence in 2011, but there was NO MENTION OF 14. That was my point. Also, since you got emotional about the Earthquake and assume Im heartless - you're wrong. My best friend and his family live there, along with my dear family friends who live in Tochigi-Ken. Im flying to Japan next month. Before you speak and get emotional, READ, AND THEN PROCESS.
Have they made it so you don't have to stop... hit a button to pull out a weapon... stand still while the animation plays... then start combat, Finish combat... stop.... hit your button to put weapon away... wait for that animation... Run 10 feet, repeat?
That was the thing that kept me from playing for more than 5 mins on my friend's beta account. I am somewhat interested in the game, but they make it so hard to like...
At the start of the first fight in the video you can see the player pull out his sword while running towards the enemy. You still have to press a button to draw your weapon but they're removing the need to stop while doing so.
In all honesty, I think the game's better off *without* an auto attack. The nature of the game's combat means you WILL be spending quite a bit of time not taking *any* actions, and that's just terrible.
But of course, this is just one part of a larger overhaul... so I guess we'll see, eh?
I think I prefer auto attack like STO. Give the player the option. But if a person doesn't want to just watch their character auto-attack, they can turn it off and do it themselves.
I remember playing FFXI and thinking that I didn't like the auto attack. But I play RDM and you're so busy casting spells, it's nice for the computer to make a swing inbetween spells.
That is some really lame and slow combat. It is sad that this is a supposed improvement to the game. I hate to say it, but they just need to take the FF franchise out in the back and shoot it. It was good years ago, but damn this is pitiful.
Man this game still looks great, and I don't mind the slower combat. Just hitting numbers on the bar faster doesn't really help imo. I spend more time looking at the bar in some games than the actual combat. Slower and more tactical is what I generally prefer.
I also like how FFXI/XIV really use the backgrounds to give the world a huge sense of scale. Very few MMO's use that technique these days. GW2 picked up on it too. The maps aren't actually that big, but they really make you just want to stop and look around.
It's quite a shame how other aspects of the game turned out. The graphics is absolutely fantastic, even if you ignore the fact that it's an MMO. Even the basic armor models that they have available right now are highly detailed. You can always make new textures and reskin and stuff, it's the base models that are important. Animations are great, character models are also great, etc etc. And the system requirements reflect what is being shown on the screen.
It'll be ~3 more years before more high-end P2P MMO looks as good technically.
Lack of Auto-Attack wasn't the problem with the game, it was the fact the Stamina bar screwed you over if battles ran a little drawn out. Had they removed the stamina gauge the game would have been fine. All those preaching how it should be standard are the players who play WoW etc expect the computer to do everything for you every time. What's the point of playing it if the computer does everything?
I mean didn't enough people complain about that in XIII but here it is being said it should be doing it? D"
I can admit that the stamina bar was unbalanced for longer battles. Simply removing it would have just broken the combat. Being able to endlessly attack with normal attacks would deal way too much damage (Unless they dialed back the damage because of the increased amount of attacks, but if that's the case then what was the point to begin with) and would break my index finger. Auto-attack allows for strategy and balance in battle. Both things will be absolutely necessary for the upcoming dungeons.
That's easy to say about a game with no content. Trying to create content for a game with no balance is just creating a bigger issue.
I'd have been happy if they removed the attacks Stamina requirement, but that would lead to infinitely spammable attacks. That's not going to lead to a better experience.
At least with Auto-Attack, the devs know how much dmg a given class is capable of dealing in a set amount of time and can design around it.
If you don't like Auto-Attack, play a mage, which won't get the function. Or play one of the MANY games that use real-time battle methods and mostly suck for difference reasons.
