Grats guys. Hope you enjoy the beta.

Condensed Live Letter VII

You'll love it once it gets to 3:30 in.

Yeah, 1.0 was trying to be too different from EVERYTHING out there. I think you'll find ARR to be a much more comfortable fit as it's a seamless molding of FFXI, WoW, Guild Wars 2 and Rift. It sounds eclectic but it all fits quite well. The outlandish itemization and needless complexity of the gameplay systems (mainly crafting) from 1.0 have been reworked to be much more streamlined and actually make sense. FFXI fans may have to be cautious because ARR won't be breaking bricks over their heads to accomplish goals ;p

1.0 was ambitious for the sake of being different but got mired in poor design choices, horrible UI and lag, button mashing combat (not the good kind) and was basically a pretty husk in a poorly optimized engine. The game improved dramatically over the two years since Yoshida took over, but there's only so much you can polish a disaster.  I will miss the old positional combo system and of course the world itself, but its new incarnation is leagues beyond 1.0 and is giving the game the true launch it deserved.

Can you add him to the FB group? I don't beleive I have him on my friend's list.

A really weak Elemental shaman :p. the Orbs are pretty much like totems; basically allow you to visualize BRD type buffs. Instead of it being based around where you cast them, you have 2 kinds, a stationary one that slowly ticks down and one that emenates from you.

D, what happened?

Sweet. We need to hook up as a group. Is Embryon playing too? I should add you guys to the FB group.

Not true. I know several people who never played got an invite this round. Legacy and alpha players got into phase 1 as well as random invites. Don't be discouraged, there's not a whole lot to play right now anyway. It's still level capped in only one major area.

In other related news, did you guys read the transcript from this morning's Live Letter. 16-18 instanced dungeons at launch. Crazy.

Beta Phase 2 begins this weekend and will see the integration of game pad controls. Another round of invites has gone out. Good luck!

Yeah the GEO orbs are incredibly annoying. I'm enjoying RUN but looking at its itemization and abilities list it seems like its going to be a decent DD class and a situational tank at best.  Looking at the limited abilities list it just screams unfinished job to me. I wish they'd at least have the AF and merits ready before they launch these jobs.

Can't say I find much originality in RUN. It's basically a GS DRK with tanking ability and RDM buff spells. It's fun to play but it just feels like a mash-up rather than a unique class. GEO is pretty interesting and really feels like the FFXI equivalent to WoWs Shaman. I love Aldouin as a setting, but haven't really gotten into the Rieves or Skirmish yet. I applaud SE for trying new things but there's such a polyglot of unused and/or broken systems I wish they'd focus on things people enjoy instead of trying to reinvent the wheel every expansion/major update. When was the last time anyone played Brenner? Off the top of my head we have Expeditionary Force, Garrison, BCNM, KSNM, Gods, Kings, Dynamis cities, Dynamis out lands, Dynamis Dreamlands, ENMs, Assault, Salvage, Nyzul, NNI, Einherjar, Limbus, Sea Gods, ZNMs, Beseiged, Voidwatch, Abyssea, Campaign, Campaign Ops, Legion, Fields of Valor, Grounds of Valor, Clamming, Synergy, Chocobo Digging, Pankration, Chocobo Raising, Chocobo Racing, Moblin Maze Mongers, Rieves, Skirmish, and I'm sure I've missed a couple more. I wish they'd move away from game concept du jour and focus more on some core systems rather than this constant rebranding and reinvention.

New Letter from the Producer is up but nothing terribly interesting. I did stumble upon a relatively new interview with Yoshida I hadn't seen before and thought I'd share.

Beta phase 2 will also be in late April :(

New dev blog is up.

Magitek armor mounts anyone?

This is not accurate. There have been no announcements as of yet. We are in week 3 of phase 1, each phase is supposed to be roughly 4 weeks with 1-2 weeks between each phase per the roadmap published late last year. They do reserve the right to change their testing schedule as needed and their stance is that the game will launch when it's good and ready. Realistically, do not expect a retail release until late summer at the earliest.

The latest live letter from the producer just went up.Here. No subtitles yet but it shows some great footage of Thanalan and Uldah and some port towns around Limsa Lominsa. I've stopped playing the beta until they have more consistent playtimes. Right now I'm not interested in burning out on content before actual release. Being limited to Gridania is bad enough but having to restart 4 times sucks. I will second Parn's assessment of the game. I'm a much bigger fan of action combat for MMOs but there's enough going on skills-wise endgame in 1.0, I'm sure ARR will be just as interesting. There's alot more mobility required for combat which is a good thing.