Click to visit the beta application page
After a brief delay, the FFXIV open beta is back on. I’m usually steer clear of betas, but I’ve been following this game too long not to try it out. It’d be like having to look at a new toy for three weeks before playing with it. So, around ten o’clock last night, I started paying close attention to their beta site. I missed it before going to bed, but it looks like they opened overnight and promptly crashed due to server load.
The problems thus far haven’t been unexpected, but, like always, I have to wonder why Square-Enix didn’t plan for the attention. I mean, this type of thing always seems to happen and they know that tons of people will be hitting the servers. It seems like a lot of unnecessary frustration.
Anyways, I woke up this morning and started right off trying to get a key. After a few timeouts, the following message popped up:
Applications for the FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test have been temporarily suspended. Please wait until we are ready to accept new applications and then try again.
From what I’ve found on the various forums, it looks like they’re opening and closing the giveaway page pretty randomly. The best advice people can give is to keep trying. Darkfall’s release honed my refresh-fu but Squares is a little bit more of a pain since you have to re-login after every refresh.
All that being said, I’m going to keep trying. I know that there are a lot of things people are concerned about and, honestly, I share some of them. The fatigue system isn’t as bad as people are making it out to be, but it’s still an weekly limit nonetheless; I’m just hoping it won’t effect me. I’ve also heard that there’s a lack of quests when guildleves run out. I’m planning on having to grind, which I don’t really mind as long as the gameplay and story are good.
Am I the only one who’s skeptical of their “let’s only test 20% of the game” philosophy? I hope they crammed all the important stuff into that first 20%. It makes me wonder how they’re so sure of the other 80% of their guildleves and leveling content.
Anyways, all of that is won over by the things I’m excited about. I LOVE that I can be any class. I love that there are two sets of levels and dozens of things to work on. It also seems like Square-Enix stays a lot more true to the designers design philosophy than other companies. They seem to listen to player’s concerns without giving up on what they believe to be core fundamentals (ala fatigue). I like that. FFXIV won’t be for everybody, but, like FFXI, it should make for a great main game for its target audience.
I’ll keep you posted on if I make it in. I’ve already pre-ordered, so I’ll be in before the Sept. 30th street date either way.
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