But thats the problem with every MMO, they release it early, its shit, it tanks. Ppl lvl quick regardless of systems in place, every MMO launches in the same state and die within the first month. Very few get second winds / chances, just look at every MMO released in the past year, warhammer, no end game content died within a month, Star Trek Online, no content at all nevermind endgame, felt like a single player game, died within the first month. They struggle on, but they have no hope of being anything but a niche or offering any improvement because they have killed any future interrest bar those that are enamoured with an already broken game. So they get stuck with a small dev team maintaining the game and not actually improving it. FFXI almost went the same way, but somehow managed to stagger on and grow again, but it damages the game hugely and is something they should try to avoid when launching an MMO.

Yes, bugs are to be expected, but not CRITICAL bugs. I mean if something of that magnatude (whatever it is) managed to go unnoticed until the day before open beta, it begs the question what else has gone unnoticed, or what has been deemed an acceptable bug up until now.

FFXI had crap tons of content when it was release in NA, had an expansion bundled with the game and 2 expansions in EU.

SE are pretty good at bringing content as and when needed, they also get a second wind in the form of the PS3 release in March next year, I won't be surprised to see a bundled expansion for the PS3 launch.

Open beta will be the first time they test Gridania and Ul'dah, so some glitches were going to happen, they recently updated the SE account page , so its hard to say wheather this critical bug is with the game or the registration process.

When they have had "critical" bugs in the past they have been delt with fairly swiftly, its not uncommon to see MMO's go to launch with critical bugs either, you remember how WoW went down for almost 4 days after it launched ?

But thats the point i'm making, you're accepting it as a matter of fact. When really, we should demand better, you don't goto a movie and get told that they haven't finished all the effects or that the projector is a bit tempermental and may not work, come back ina few weeks and the finished version will be showing.
I've been involved in so many betas in the past decade or more for pretty much every MMO there has been and they all toe the exact same path and they all fail in exactly the same way. WOW was a one off, an exception to the rule, but these issues are what are stopping another MMO from getting WOW numbers. They release them too early, with too little content and too many bugs, people use their first month as a judge of the game as a whole, if it's good they stay, if it isn't they end their sub. Too many games just aren't good enough in the first month.

It hurts the game in the long run, wouldn't you rather, 2 yrs into the game, have a nice busy server with tons of ppl to play with and lots to do. Rather than spending a couple of hours trying to get in a team to do the same thing you did the previous night.

Granted, SE are quick with expansions, but to me that is another failing, when you are banking all the content for future paid expansions rather than launching the game with the required content in the first place. It's what AoC did, they refused to balance anything or add anything decent to the game, you hit 80 and there was NOTHING to do, but if you bought the expansion...

Thats not how FF11 worked though, the original game which was launced in Japan had a lot of content added through patches, story missions, level cap raised, advanced job classes added, NM's added amongst other stuff.

The expansion added more story content and more jobs, increased the level cap again and more NM's and new area's to discover.

SE plan to add content by patches just as Blizzard did with WotLK and will most likely have some kind of expansion in the works by the time the PS3 version comes out.

Like I say its not so much accepting it as a matter of fact but more like knowing what to expect.

Of course neither of us know what the state of the game is guna be in at launch, so I guess we should just wait and see.

I don't know if it's because of translation difficulties or just a comprehension issue, but I find their site and the account page almost impossible to navigate correctly.
Their site is literally a maze and is locked down like it's Fort Knox, you aren't allowed to really change anything, god help you if you forget your password like I did. The instructions in the email I received for the beta are anything but helpful yet, they're supposed to be step by step instructions haha.

Is there some trick to finding where to get them to send the 3rd email that actually has the beta key to enter into the activation services?

The bit that says you won't beable to get the code until the site goes live may have the hint :P

I'll quote it for effect this has been postponed though

If you forget your password its easy, you just hit the forgot your password link at https://secure.square-enix.com and they will send you a new one after you answer a few security questions, like almost any other website.

You can't blame SE for simple reading comprehension or for losing your password.

Oh I'm not blaming them for that exactly, it's just that it's been so long since I logged in for ff online that I couldn't remember the security question (which is a catch-22), nor would it allow me to confirm the submitted password reset(?). Very strange.

This is what threw me off I guess, but I'll go on yours saying Sep 1st.The page is already accessible to me, though there is a new postponed notice. So one has to assume if I can get to the page, then it's opened. Either way I'll just wait it out and I guess cross my fingers that I won't need to give them a DNA sample to get a key.

EQ2 has fully voice over as does the free to play MMO Allods, so seems its not as big a deal as you might expect.

SE originally said the game would have full voice over, looks like its one of the things that got cut to get the game out faster, maybe they will surprise us all and the release version will have voice overs, there has been some voice over stuff found in the dats. (i suppose it would make sense not to have the VA audio in the beta to save download time)They are both the same time different time zones, neither of those times are correct now, we just have to wait until they sort the problems out at their end.

So now its September 2, lol.

This may be stupid but What is the point of an open beta only 22 days away from release?

How would this help them tweak the experience in such a short amount of time?

Server stress testing is what all open beta's are about.

You guys must not be in north america, notty, notty.That's 7 PST, 10pm EST today - let's hope it sticks!

I truly hope the English translation in game is not handled by the same translator from the site, because their grammar is awful, and vague. After all, I would like to know what is going on in the game with out it being some sort of meta-knowledge.

Hmmm Stop moaning :)

What do you mean translation most of it is still in Japanese.

Just tried the page..."Due to server congestion..." Knew this was gonna happen, why the hell do companies do this? Wait until the beta or whatever actually starts before they bring up the registration. Then it explodes in a massive fireball and wastes several days before they can fix it.

Yea the open beta start was a complete nightmare, I did manage to get a code and log on but didn't go smoothly at all.

Have played several hours, its much better than closed beta but still needs some work here and there, Gridania is really nice :)

Some screens whilst server is down:







And a Rar of the Gridania cutscene screens

Love that glow dungeon place, very nice.

I am trying to download the beta client but i keep getting error and that I should try again later.

What is this code about Jolli?

U need a code to actually activate the beta. Eventually got mine and played for a few mins. It looks pretty, but it just sorta throws you in at the deep end.
Been playin with a 360 controller....and it actually works....except for targeting, much easier doin that with a mouse.

Where do I get a code? :S

The instructions are in the email square sent you.

1.Access the following URL.
http://entry.ffxiv.com/
* The page will become accessible starting at 2:00 on Sep. 1, 2010.

2.Log in with your Square Enix account and have a registration code issued.
* Depending on the access status, we may temporarily suspend the issuance of registration code. If you cannot have registration code issued, we ask that you please wait a little while before trying again.

But I did log on from here https://secure.square-enix.com/ but I didnt get anything, unless I am doing something wrong.

U get it from the entry page, click on your region and it brings you to index.html, then click on the apply for beta button at the bottom.