[Brian]

Howdy everyone and welcome to another episode of the CrystalCore podcast.

What a crazy and wild week it has been. If you have been following the news you have the Surplus XP mistranslation that really set the hearts of the community on fire. It really does show how passionate we all are for gaming. Then that followed up with one of the best looking trailers for FFXIV. So this week Danny, and myself are joined by Anna to talk about all the news and even weigh in on Surplus XP and how we felt about it.

Here is the list of topics covered in this weeks podcast:

• Surplus XP
  
• Video Interview, Pre-Order #
  
• Currahee Gamescom Interview
  
• Eorzea - The Making of a Realm #5
  
• New FFXIV Trailer, Open Beta Date, Keep your B Name

Download/listen to the show here!

Or you can always subscribe on iTunes and/or the Zune Marketplace and listen right now.

FYI... We are looking to update our intro and break music to something a bit more Final Fantasy, if anyone out there likes to remix music please contact me. :)

[Kalanai]

Hey Brian,

My BF actually mixes old disco stuff...maybe ill ask him after work.

Brian, on 30 August 2010 - 08:32 AM, said:

Howdy everyone and welcome to another episode of the CrystalCore podcast.

What a crazy and wild week it has been. If you have been following the news you have the Surplus XP mistranslation that really set the hearts of the community on fire. It really does show how passionate we all are for gaming. Then that followed up with one of the best looking trailers for FFXIV. So this week Danny, and myself are joined by Anna to talk about all the news and even weigh in on Surplus XP and how we felt about it.

Here is the list of topics covered in this weeks podcast:

• Surplus XP
• Video Interview, Pre-Order #
• Currahee Gamescom Interview
• Eorzea - The Making of a Realm #5
• New FFXIV Trailer, Open Beta Date, Keep your B Name

Download/listen to the show here!

Or you can always subscribe on iTunes and/or the Zune Marketplace and listen right now.

FYI... We are looking to update our intro and break music to something a bit more Final Fantasy, if anyone out there likes to remix music please contact me. :)

[Brian]

spatulaqueen27, on 30 August 2010 - 08:38 AM, said:

Hey Brian,

My BF actually mixes old disco stuff...maybe ill ask him after work.

That would rock! I know I've received some items that were pre-mixed but none that stood out and said yes, this is what I want.

We would only need three mixes. The intro mix - 20 seconds or so, two break mixes (30s or so) then an exit mix which would be the intro mix just extended to 30s or more. :)

Thanks for checking. :)

[Kalanai]

Well let me know the tracks you want...its your show after all. He is not a HUGE FF fan (that is me) so he is not familiar with the music as much.

He also said he is out of practice so bear with him. :P

[TarmusXIV]

Have this downloaded, will hopefully listen at lunch.

I miss hearing Jake.

Also.... 1st post!

[StarGeezerTim]

Excellent show, folks! Was glad to hear Apricoth join you, she really classed up the joint!

As far as your intro, outro and bumps, are they short enough to perhaps use some of the game's music under Fair Use without SE having a conniption? I would think being a fansite that is generating a lot of buzz for their game, they might be pretty accommodating, especially since the podcast isn't really a revenue-generating vehicle. Just a thought.

Thanks again!

[Brian]

StarGeezerTim, on 30 August 2010 - 09:58 AM, said:

Excellent show, folks! Was glad to hear Apricoth join you, she really classed up the joint!

As far as your intro, outro and bumps, are they short enough to perhaps use some of the game's music under Fair Use without SE having a conniption? I would think being a fansite that is generating a lot of buzz for their game, they might be pretty accommodating, especially since the podcast isn't really a revenue-generating vehicle. Just a thought.

Thanks again!

Good thoughts, and I have even looked at some of the tracks, and while they are all good, I haven't found any that really fit that of a intro, exit, and break. I would like to take those's and mix them to make is something unique, but also ff :)

[LordStarwalker]

I fully agree with Danny and Brian's view point on the Surplus system. This game is not meant to be some marathon race that happens to occur in a fanatasy world. Enjoy the sights... enjoy the sounds. Plenty of time to level, craft, party and explore with the direction that the Surplus system provides.

Personally, I think this is going to lead to a more rich and balanced game community. Hell, just think what its going to mean for the game economy alone!

[Cildar]

Good Podcast. Can you guys point me in the right direction to learn more about what you meant by the lack of an auction house/how you find gear on vendors? I am having a hard time trying to wrap my head around no gear dropping from mobs and yet no auction house or other easy means of finding and delivering equipment.

[Ralsu]

Cildar, on 30 August 2010 - 10:57 AM, said:

Can you guys point me in the right direction to learn more about what you meant by the lack of an auction house/how you find gear on vendors?

The lack of auction houses is addressed in the JeuxOnline interview. Square Enix literally wants us to bounce around from Retainer to Retainer checking what's for sale and who has the best price.

In that same interview, the young woman asks about gear drops and the answer comes back that gear won't drop. It will be materials to make gear that you will have to use with a crafting class or take to a player who can craft for you.

[TarmusXIV]

Ralsu, on 30 August 2010 - 11:13 AM, said:

The lack of auction houses is addressed in the JeuxOnline interview. Square Enix literally wants us to bounce around from Retainer to Retainer checking what's for sale and who has the best price.

In that same interview, the young woman asks about gear drops and the answer comes back that gear won't drop. It will be materials to make gear that you will have to use with a crafting class or take to a player who can craft for you.

I don't like the sound of that, LOL.

[StarGeezerTim]

Brian, on 30 August 2010 - 10:37 AM, said:

Good thoughts, and I have even looked at some of the tracks, and while they are all good, I haven't found any that really fit that of a intro, exit, and break. I would like to take those's and mix them to make is something unique, but also ff :)

Hey, ya can't go wrong with the Chocobo Theme! Chocos FTW!

[Brian]

TarmusXIV, on 30 August 2010 - 12:02 PM, said:

I don't like the sound of that, LOL.

Ya, I feel its going to take some time getting use to and take some adjustments. But in the end I'm sure they will add a search feature that will make this simple and streamlined. :)

As for when that will be (I'm guessing launch window. aka between pc and ps3 launch) only Square knows for sure.

[Cildar]

Ralsu, on 30 August 2010 - 11:13 AM, said:

The lack of auction houses is addressed in the JeuxOnline interview. Square Enix literally wants us to bounce around from Retainer to Retainer checking what's for sale and who has the best price.

In that same interview, the young woman asks about gear drops and the answer comes back that gear won't drop. It will be materials to make gear that you will have to use with a crafting class or take to a player who can craft for you.

Thank you very much. It sounds like they will go with the original implementation of Everquest's Bazaar system without having a search UI overlay? One puts up a "retainer" shop and other players have to run from retainer to retainer to find the items that they need or to check the price?

Sounds like a step back to me but as with all of this stuff, perhaps something was lost in translation or they will be giving us something down the line. Is there any Auction House type search engine in place now?

[Brian]

Cildar, on 30 August 2010 - 01:16 PM, said:

Sounds like a step back to me but as with all of this stuff, perhaps something was lost in translation or they will be giving us something down the line. Is there any Auction House type search engine in place now?

I can say that in beta 3 there wasn't or I wasn't able to find one. We'll see what goes down with open beta (beta 4?) starting tomorrow evening. I hope there is something, but it might not be until launch, or until sometime after.

[Wagram123]

Great podcast.

I noticed though that you forgot the Pre-Order #s. It isn't like it matters though since the new numbers are out already and I have contacted Zyuu about it. They will be on the front page shortly.

I wanted to give my thoughts on Surplus as well. At first like you all. I was caught up in the mis-translation that I would only be able to level my character for 8 hours in the week and then I would have been screwed. But after the official translation came out it didn't seem so bad, and I actually have started to like it. It to me just seems like a new experience curve, and honestly I really kind if get tired of grinding on one class for days on end. After awhile it seems more like a second job rather than fun, and in the end that's what Final Fantasy XIV is about.

I am a hardcore player, but I always actually planned on leveling multiple classes. and recently I have picked up on a class that I thought I would never level and that is Archer. It actually looks really fun. Many people just need to take a step back and like Brian said if this is a game-breaker for you: Do not play, we do not need you. But we would rather you stayed and see how it turns out. Because we could have some really good times.

Also if I can't go to Ultimecia I am blaming Apricoth. Sorry but it's her fault >.^

Brian makes a great point on the /search feature for the Auction House as well. Maybe they could implement a way to show you what the average sale cost for that item is from the retainers. Don't show us what the lowest/highest sale was, just the average. or even a way where I could jump in do a /search and find out what retainer has my item and in what ward it is in.

Anyways great show. Look forward to next weeks!

This post has been edited by Wagram123: 30 August 2010 - 03:38 PM

[pfeidan]

TarmusXIV, on 30 August 2010 - 12:02 PM, said:

I don't like the sound of that, LOL.

I tend to agree. What happened to the idea of Rare/Ex drops?



I had this straight in my head about my feelings towards the Retainer-only sales thing as I was listening to the podcast this morning while working, so I hope it's still coherent.

One thing that allowed the economy to get screwy in FFXI was that shoppers only saw the recent purchase history, but NOT what the items were put up for. This allowed sellers to put up items for 1 gil and if the going trend was 1,000 then it sold for 1,000. This allowed people (usually RMT) to buy out the the history selling to themselves (via aliases) and change how much things were expected to go for by jacking the price up so people have to now over-pay, thus controlling the economy. In a Bazaar you saw the exact price for an item and knew what to spend, which is like what the Retainers sound like, but I don't want to run all over creation checking every one I see just to find some helmet I need that may or may not be available; or the last one sold an hour ago while I started my search on the opposite side of the area. I shopped the Black Market in FFXI and it was not fun trying to find something, especially if you didn't even know if anyone was selling what you were after.

Why not just have a different style of Auction House where people can put items up for sale in one central location, and the names of the sellers are listed next to the particular item they are selling and the asking price is listed also. No guessing at the price, and if someone is a known RMT (you eventually learn who they are, lots of /random consonants in their names with no vowels) and avoid buying from them. It's not a perfect system, but I'm not sold on the Retainer-only idea yet.

I had that better explained in my head earlier today, but it's been a long day and doesn't look as clear-cut as it did, lol.

This post has been edited by pfeidan: 30 August 2010 - 04:36 PM

[TarmusXIV]

pfeidan, on 30 August 2010 - 04:33 PM, said:

In a Bazaar you saw the exact price for an item and knew what to spend, which is like what the Retainers sound like, but I don't want to run all over creation checking every one I see just to find some helmet I need that may or may not be available; or the last one sold an hour ago while I started my search on the opposite side of the area. I shopped the Black Market in FFXI and it was not fun trying to find something, especially if you didn't even know if anyone was selling what you were after.

This.

Why can't they just have a centralized Auction House like FFXI (or a in-game means of "searching the want ads"), so you could search for a particular item or browse types of items, see what they are exactly listed for, and who's selling it at that price?

Doesn't seem like such a difficult thing to implement.

Problem is, if they wait until "down the road" to implement such a system, the economy will already have established/accepted pricing for many items already ingrained in the minds and wallets of vendors. So by the time PS3 players get online, the economy will already be established. For better or worse.

[Kalanai]

Hi Guys!

Loved the cast as usual. It is nice to see some positive talk about the surplus. As a casual gamer with an outside life, I probably won't see it implemented on my character.

I love when you have Apricoth on. It is nice to have a female perspective on things. As much as I like Jake, I want to see more Anna. :)

I probably will have more later, but I am at work.

PS Brian, give any thought on what tracks you want? I am trying to talk my BF into doing a Disco Chocobo theme or Crystal Theme.

[Zolkowski]

Really enjoy the podcasts. Thanks guys :) This one has really made me feel better about the surplus XP system. It just requires you to think in a different light so to speak. Keep it up!