A Realm Reborn - The Limit Break

        This weekend, I spent a lot of time playing the Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn beta test. All in all, I've really been enjoying the game. In addition to playing, I've got a boatload of notes to talk about in the upcoming days/weeks, and hopefully will be able to swing together some more updates in the upcoming weeks. For now though, I wanted to talk about a feature that really got me excited. The Limit Breaks.

        I was lucky enough to get to level 20 and the ability to jump into dungeons. This also means that I was able to get to use the limit break system. Anyone who's familiar with the final fantasy name has an idea about what the limit break system is, but for those of you who don't it's a system that builds up energy as you participate in combat, and eventually gives you access to a large and powerful ability, essentially releasing that stored energy. This has seen many different interpretations over the FF series, but is often seen as a fan favorite.

        With FFXIV being an MMO game, they've moved the limit break system to a group activity, which has some pretty exciting potential. Here are some quick details on the Limit Break system.

• About the new Limit Break System
• The new party battle system. When the gauge shared by the party fills, any of the party members can invoke it. Afterwards, the gauge becomes empty.
• The gauge is filled by hitting enemies with standard attacks, but will accumulate faster with "Fine Play," well-timed healing or blocks, which is judged by the system.
• The more you accumulate in your gauge, the Limit Breaks have several phases. If you remember back to the Limit Breaks of Final Fantasy VII.
• The same Limit Breaks have different effects depending on the player's job.
• You will be able to use a Limit Break to some extent even if your character level is low. A high level Limit Break can not be invoked if your character's level isn't high. The feature will be linked to their growth.

And a quick trailer courtesy of youtube if you want to SEE it :

        When first hearing about this system, I was really excited after having played FFXI and experiencing the Skillchain system. (Skillchain increased in power as people participated in sequential order. "player1 go now! -> player2 next!" etc.) While the skillchain definitely had it's faults, it allowed for a group to feel very cohesive and powerful. A group that time and execute a skill chain was given a huge boost in power and thus became a more effective group. I still remember the feeling of seeing a perfect skill chain carve out 75% of an extremely tough monster's health with a single hit, and feeling pride that it couldn't have happened without me. Was it required for the average player to use? Not really. Was it in your best interests to use? You betcha.

        So, naturally with FFXIV:ARR, this system is going to be improved on and made more awesome! Only not really. >< There are problems with the system as it sits now. Of course, this is BETA still, and being only level 20 I can't comment on the "high level limit break" point listed above, but based on what I've experienced of the system so far, I am quite let down.

1. My main concern with this is that the usage of a limit by any one player consumes the whole meter. Thus stripping away the whole "group" aspect of the system when it's used. Each role has a different potential break (healers do a big heal, damage does big damage, etc) which gives the system some flexibility in usage, but the problem is that everyone puts into this pool and only 1 person gets to take out. I believe the intent here was that it would be a tool of versatility, used by adventurers to cater to whatever situation they are currently facing. "Oh crap, heals are falling behind, limit break!" or similar reactiveness. It sounds great on paper, but it also limits that feeling of elation from skillchaining to a single player. Any time you put in something big, flashy, and powerful like this into a game, players are naturally going want to get to use it. And who can blame them?! "Here's this big awesome flashy ability! But only so-and-so should touch it." In one of the dungeons I participated in, We assigned the healer to limit break whenever they felt we needed it. Which, as a DPS, wasn't exciting at all. In other, everyone just started spamming the button when the gauge almost filled, and whoever got it off did their thing. In another, we never used it at all because nobody wanted to step on anyone else's toes. In all three scenarios, the system failed. 


2. Second is less of a problem, as much as something that I just think could be done better. The whole "it fills faster with Fine Play" aspect. Rewarding "fine play" is a good thing. This also has the potential to make the usage of the limit breaks less predictable, unlike a cooldown. You aren't guaranteed that it's going to be available at the same time every encounter. This is somewhat of a double edged sword, I worry that groups may count on this to get through certain phases of an encounter, or to deal with certain mechanics. While there's nothing directly wrong with this, it runs the risk of becoming a requirement instead of a bonus. While I think the core concept here (play better, get bonuses) is spot on, I want to know how it works. As a player, I want to see my enhanced contribution, games have become very proficient at giving negative feedback to players, but this is a perfect opportunity for positive feedback! We often shroud player success and reward in so much mystery, yet rub player failure and punishment in their faces, why not try to let the player know that they did something great, and are getting some reward for it? Heck, you could even combine this with the first point and let the biggest contributing player pull the trigger, though that definitely doesn't solve the first problem at all, it just blames the problem on the players. (don't do that)


3. Third is the usage and implementation of the ability. Let's picture you're a new player, and in your first dungeon. You've got this glowing bar in the upper left of the corner flashing at you, and not the foggiest on what to do with it. This ability requires you to take an ability out of your spell book and place it on your action bar, not too terrible, but the ability is only useful in groups and dungeons. So if you're not group you are just adding to interface clutter (something I hate). This is one of my personal favorite things that wow solved by giving you a contextual button on your screen that pops up. The limit system feels like the perfect place for the same type of resolution. How enticing is that button when it pops up? 

        Now, it's very possible that these may change moving forward. Even the bullet points above talk about higher level versions of limit breaks, it's quite possible that higher level breaks have different rules or functions at this time, I can't say for sure. But as they sit, I was a bit let down. 

        So what do you think? Any of you get a chance to try out the beta? Or maybe the Limit Break system? If not, that's fine, what do you think about it based on just the descriptions above? I'd love to know. 

I'll probably be doing some more FFXIV posts in the near future, as I've really been enjoying the game a ton in beta.