[Old] ALL old topics created before the FULL release (Merged together!)

[Dome]

Whatever you want, Arch, I already explained you what I mean
Now, leave this topic alone, and use the chat if you want to tell us/me something else
P.s: Your post has been reported because made with an alt while being banned, as I warned you before

[ffzman]

1.3 has absolutely been a community effort. Granted, recent versions have all technical work attributed to Arch, but the changes he has made have been based off of feedback from the community. Hell, right now there's a discussion(BY THE COMMUNITY!!!) going on at ID about possibly completely reworking the charge skillset. While I'd agree that Arch sometimes has an attitude problem, to make it seem like he has completely ignored the community is asinine.

And as far as balance? The problem there is interpretation. "Balance" as far as FFT 1.3 is concerned was an attempt to keep the player from being able to "break" the game. This meant the JP scroll glitch was removed, as well as "broken" things like blade grasp, mp switch/move mp up, or more recently Golem.

All that being said, good luck with 1.4.

[Archael2]

^ This.

@ Dome: You can report me or ban me, you and everyone else on this site know full well I don't care about that anymore. People like you making threads as if they knew 5% about the history of 1.3 and FFH are one of this site's major problems, and the fact that people like you are taken seriously here is even worse, and is one of the reasons I am happy to hold no attachment to this place anymore.

It's not about "whatever you want Arch", it was about keeping people informed of 1.3's goals and making a distinction between those and the ones you're setting now for 1.4, which have zero relation to each-other.

You don't have to get angry just because I diffused your lame advertising strategy.

[FFMaster]

I've always said that Charge was complete shit and it finally gets worked on after like a year. lol

And yes, it was a community effort. I was there while the beta releases were around, and know that everyone was there helping 1.3.

[ffzman]

Yeah, better late than never, eh? Charge was made better than it was in vanilla, but it definitely needs a complete overhaul.

[Sterling LaVaughn]

If you think there are LOTSA of crap moves, you should list them, so we can try to improve, if it's possible

Guess I probably should've emphasized "mediocre," and also noting that you really don't need every single ability in the game to be a great unit (especially as things become outdated later on).

But I would say that stuff like the gear breaks (aside from Weapon), most of the movement abilities, and a good chunk of enfeebles are crap. I'd nominate Charge but you guys beat me to it.

4) I disagree with this - if the player wants to grind more to get better stuff they should be rewarded thusly.

The problem people have with random gear (for those that consider it a problem, of course) is that you can't use Steal at all if you don't want to break the first three chapters. Enemies are supposed to have better gear so that they'd have an advantage over you, but they lose that advantage quickly if you can capitalize on it. You end up with something that was IMO not much harder than vanilla FFT until the endgame. It's actually worse given how much time is spent on farming gear/crystals rather than just fighting to win.

[philsov]

is that you can't use Steal at all if you don't want to break the first three chapters

That's one of the impasses about Steal -- if all the enemies have your gear, then theres no point in stealing it.  If they outgear you, then you steal it, and they no longer outgear you, and that advantage is gone.  Randoms with set equips don't really seem like that bad of an idea -- its akin to most other games where the stuff around the starting areas are in fact easier.  It'd take a lot of micromanagement to setup but it'd nerf steal while keeping the game more balanced.  Thuuus, Steal can gain additional abilities to not be "only for stealing".  

Enemies are supposed to have better gear so that they'd have an advantage over you, but they lose that advantage quickly if you can capitalize on it.

Which is another conundrum.  Thus, we can use other avenues for advantage like advanced/custom/combined/etc skillsets, greater numbers, and/or higher levels.

[FFMaster]

The problem with giving set equipment for randoms/story battles is that you can power through with a team of monks. If I can do it at level 99 on Dorter 1 while they have crystal equips, anyone can do it while they have set equipment.

[philsov]

yes, but then how do we fix that?  Fix monks?

[Sterling LaVaughn]

is that you can't use Steal at all if you don't want to break the first three chapters

That's one of the impasses about Steal -- if all the enemies have your gear, then theres no point in stealing it.  If they outgear you, then you steal it, and they no longer outgear you, and that advantage is gone.  Randoms with set equips don't really seem like that bad of an idea -- its akin to most other games where the stuff around the starting areas are in fact easier.  It'd take a lot of micromanagement to setup but it'd nerf steal while keeping the game more balanced.  Thuuus, Steal can gain additional abilities to not be "only for stealing".  

Well I was more referring to the idea that to properly use Steal, you gain lots of experience from crowd controlling all the enemies. The next batch shows up with nicer gear, you steal that, level up a bunch, steal the next batch, etc. Technically you can do that in vanilla FFT with random battles.

As for keeping Steal as a good skillset, I like the suggestion of usually having an enemy with a nice item to steal in each fight. Otherwise though, I'd say it'd be fine as is, but if people want more, then that's fine.

Enemies are supposed to have better gear so that they'd have an advantage over you, but they lose that advantage quickly if you can capitalize on it.

Which is another conundrum.  Thus, we can use other avenues for advantage like advanced/custom/combined/etc skillsets, greater numbers, and/or higher levels.

Remember that we can still use <random> gear, just gotta limit it to Maintenance/Immortal characters outside of Chapter 4ish. It means promoting some enemies to "miniboss," but that shouldn't be an issue. The only downside seems to be that those characters are forced to use Maintenance, but there shouldn't be too much trouble in making them unique somehow.

The problem with giving set equipment for randoms/story battles is that you can power through with a team of monks. If I can do it at level 99 on Dorter 1 while they have crystal equips, anyone can do it while they have set equipment.

The abilities you gain through leveling to 99 do more to break the game than just having Monk with high attack power, even with <random> gear (since you can catch up immediately with Steal).

Which reminds me: people make kind of a big deal about gaining 20+ levels for Dorter, but how many people actually do this? There's something about this one fight that I think automatically scares people in some way or another, even if it's not particularly notable after your first time playing.

[FFMaster]

You really don't need many abilities to power through the game. Chakra, Revive/PD, and Stigma Magic/Esuna. Everything else is a luxury. You can replace monks with any class really. I just used monks because they were the most powerful. A team of Squires at high level could beat Chapter 1 with the enemies having set gear, even if they are 1-2 steps above. The problem is that the weapons are restricting them from doing any meaningful damage later on. Beware the Knights at level 60 with Long Swords!

So I suggest this. At least keep weapons to scale with party level.

[philsov]

but how many people actually do this?

Decent chunk.  mostly newbies who think they need ninja for dorter only to find out that the enemy leveled up with them.  There's a handful of regulars that are 99 in chapter 1 woot woot style but I'm pretty sure the majority are there at a reasonable level.

Also its the first major battle with humans after having the ability to level up, so it's kinda a milestone?  idk.

Remember that we can still use <random> gear, just gotta limit it to Maintenance/Immortal characters outside of Chapter 4ish.

A unit with def up and normal gear is usually harder to kill than a unit with mainenance and an advanced piece of gear.  Immortal flag aside, of course.

imo steal is a killer opener -- it deals real, permanent (unhealable) damage provided the unit is a max health.  There are uses of it beyond just trying to acquire better gear.  But that's me.

[FFMaster]

imo steal is a killer opener -- it deals real, permanent (unhealable) damage provided the unit is a max health. There are uses of it beyond just trying to acquire better gear. But that's me.

Yeah, I agree. But I use Battle Skill Chemist for that =p

Leveling to 99 makes the game easier. That's about it. I've played level 99, level 1 and normal. Normal is by far the hardest type of playthrough overall, level 1 is hard once you hit end chapter 3, and level 99 is a cakewalk until chapter 4, where it would basically be the same as a normal playthrough.

And leveling before Dorter 1 doesn't have any significant meaning. It's just the spot where all challenges start normally. At least, that is what I see.

[Sterling LaVaughn]

Ah, I always assumed people only did it when they were too afraid of Dorter after their first time.

Well the only other suggestion I'd make then is some sort of automatic level cap for different parts of the game, but I'm guessing that's been discussed before since no one seems to bring it up.

[Dome]

yes, but then how do we fix that?  Fix monks?

Monks are bronken...maybe we should remove Martial arts as an innate, or reduce their multipliers?

But I would say that stuff like the gear breaks (aside from Weapon), most of the movement abilities, and a good chunk of enfeebles are crap. I'd nominate Charge but you guys beat me to it

Yeah, usually Steal>Break
Same in-battle effect, better reward
Maybe we should improve the "break" skills accuracy to counter this?

The problem with giving set equipment for randoms/story battles is that you can power through with a team of monks. If I can do it at level 99 on Dorter 1 while they have crystal equips, anyone can do it while they have set equipment.

Veterans/skilled players will always be able to smash the game no matter what
That's why there are hard battles scattered all around the map and into the DD
Anyway...you are suggesting to give enemies that rely on weapons <random> weapon?
That might work

[Dome]

Added point 26

[philsov]

that hack sucks - allows for equipment duping.

[Dome]

that hack sucks - allows for equipment duping.

How?

[FFMaster]

I'm not too sure, but if you break your own stuff maybe? I know there was a problem with being able to steal your own equipment.

[Dome]

I'm not too sure, but if you break your own stuff maybe? I know there was a problem with being able to steal your own equipment.

IIRC steal does not work on your units...