#alas! there are other games. logs in to xiv.

[scionshtola]

my own fault for clicking on a spoiler but in my defense i kinda thought i didn’t care about veilguard anymore. but now i really don’t care lol

[aotopmha]

I'm having a blast with FFXIV about a week in.

So, FFXIV spoilers.

The advantage of having watched many playthroughs of the game because I fell in love with the story so much is that I get to skip anything I think that dragged on for too long.

I'm at lvl 34-35 MSQ, just defeated Titan and even with the skipping I really felt the drag of the Company of Heroes quests.

(The fight was good, but was way too little payoff for what you have to go through to get there.)

The big positive people always list with A Realm Reborn is that it lays the foundation for what comes after, but the Titan quest didn't even do that.

The Company of Heroes is a footnote that I think is barely given minor mentions after A Realm Reborn.

In comparison, the very first Ascian we see mentions creation magics, the Ala Mhigan fight for liberation is actually a really consistent plot thread throughout the entire story so far, even the Lambs of Dalamud at least get explored in a minor way down the line.

On the other hand, the plot thread that involves Gridania and the elementals kind of goes nowhere as well. Gridania is the most poorly handled of the three city states in my opinion, where Limsa and Ul'dah get some fantastic material to have them progress and grow past their racism.

It's unfortunate because I think aesthetically Gridania is the prettiest of the three. I've liked going through Gridania's environments the most - in that sense I don't regret starting with Lancer.

And of course, there is everything with the empire and that setup.

Laurentius, Riol and several characters at Little Ala Mhigo all become of some importance for the finale of the expansion and perhaps beyond.

Finally, while I get to skip what I don't care for, I also get to look at stuff playthroughs might skip out on, like the smalltalk between characters between quests.

I really like seeing Arenvald this early on, for example.

So yeah, even if it's not perfect, ARR absolutely lays some important foundations for what comes after.

All that aside, somehow, I don't know how, just hitting your main three damage buttons is incredibly satisfying for me.

Maybe it's that the better fights also have you dodge stuff, but I enjoy my three stabby buttons on Lancer.

Wish I had an AoE of some sort, but I do not expect any kind of satisfactory combat gameplay loop from MMOs to begin with.

My biggest experience with MMOs has been Runescape and I know that game has its own high skill ceiling, but it never did anything for me in its most base form when it comes to the actual combat gameplay.

I do not associate MMOs in general with good "gameplay" so to say, just as "second monitor" gaming, something to do while listening to a podcast or something you occasionally log in to see a number go up while running around aimlessly in a virtual sandbox.

And I think you can do that with XIV, too, but XIV very much feels like a "game", game to me.

You can technically spam your one button to get through everything, but engaging with the systems is much more fun (and quicker).

Aside from MSQ, I've dabbled in the Gold Saucer content, which is a collection of minigames and while I'm better at some vs others (Air Force One vs the Leap of Faith type of challenges or Fall Guys), they're a blast, too.

You absolutely can see the scuff in here at all points, but it's fun enough where it doesn't drag the game down for me.

I can't wait for the Heavensward stuff and getting Dark Knight unlocked.

(I really hope I like tanking because I'm unlocking it due to my love for the job story of the class. Tanking is supposedly fairly easy, at least, but I want it for the fancy armor and fantastic lore above all. Lancer/Dragoon is my fave out of the ARR starting classes because it just looks cool, too.)

All of my encounters with other players have been mostly neutral to positive, but I haven't gone out of my way to talk beyond thanking for dungeons and the like.

Conclusion: game fun, I recommend.

Btw, did you know that the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV has a free trial that includes the entirety of A Realm Reborn AND the award-winning Heavensward and Stormblood expansions up to level 70 with no restrictions on playtime?

[kyndaris]

Catch My  (MMO) Disease

Fascinated by the prospect of exploring a fantasy world, it should come as no surprise that I have often tried my hand at massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs), hoping to catch the bug that has infected millions world-wide. Yet, despite my best efforts, I always find that addiction just out of reach. No MMORPG has ever captured my imagination to the extent that I will sink hundreds upon hundreds of hours. The one that stayed with me the longest was Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, but even that failed to entice me for longer than a year.

For years I chased this elusive feeling of being in another world and seeing my actions have ramifications on the digital landscape around me. After watching Sword Art Online and Log Horizon, I was hit with the sudden impulse to delve headlong into an MMORPG on the scale represented in two different anime series. At the time, I thought Final Fantasy XIV would have been the perfect escape. Yet as each day passed, logging on felt more like busywork than an enjoyable hobby. Coupled with the subscription fee, it felt like a chore that I had to return to in order to receive my monies’ worth.

Guild Wars 2, World of Warcraft, Archeage, Black Desert Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Elder Scrolls Online – the list goes on. I’ve tried them all. Hoping that one of these days, an MMORPG will click with my finicky sensibilities and I could drown forevermore into a world different from our own and be able to chart my own way, through crafting or having my own housing.

Suffice it to say, it’s been a tricky slope juggling an MMORPG with my other gaming commitments. In the end, grinding for gear, completing repetitive quests begin to their sheen and I, inevitably, delete it from my computer hard drives or simply stop. There’s simply a lack of incentives as the game barrels towards the conclusion of the story.

Worse still, seems to be my inability to interact socially with others online. Not much of a social butterfly in the realm of reality, I also struggle with crippling shyness when I post a comment on Youtube or update my Facebook. There’s a certain anxiety behind the madness, one fuelled by my own self-doubt and non-existent confidence.

Such was the case when it came to Final Fantasy XIV that I actively had to encourage myself to be the first to say ‘hi’ in a group setting and join a guild. It’s not enough to send an invite. A full experience means putting yourself out there, whether it’s touting the latest items at bargain prices or offering your services as a fisherman.

Alas, it seems the MMO life may not be for me. But that won’t stop me from seeking them out, hoping that the next world might be the one.

[sara-bateson]

Sara’s Thoughts on Stormblood

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Well, it’s been a week since the official release of Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood.  Time to give my thoughts on this expansion. The issues:  Like most MMOs there are bound to be bugs and hiccups that can happen.  As usual with a new expansion there was a lot of server congestion with quite lengthy queues in order to get into the game depending on what server you were on.  Speaking as someone on Siren the highest queue I’ve experienced was being over 200th person in queue to log in while hearing that some servers like Balmung where the queues went as high as over 1000.  Taking part in the early access for Stormblood we ran into a lot issues at the beginning.  One of the most famous of these being the main quest instance Best Served with Cold Steel near the beginning of the main scenario.  Due to server congestion and later discovered DDoS attacks a lot of players could not progress due to everyone trying to due the instance at once thus stressing the servers.  This was eventually fixed by around June 18th as many people were able to progress abound that time.  There were also issues with other instances and one of the primal trials where people were getting disconnected and unable to log back on which were also eventually fixed.  There was also an issue with the delivery with the physical copies of the Collector’s Edition but I won’t get into that as I’m sure people don’t want to hear me rant about that.  Anyway, moving along. Story: Don’t worry, no spoilers in this post.  For Stormblood we go from helping end a 1000-year war in Heavensward to helping liberate Ala Mhigo and Doma from Garlean occupation.  Of course “helping” means your character will be doing a lot of the work as well as helping various people on the side, but it’s nothing we’re not use to at this point.  There were a lot high points and low points in the plot.  Parts that will make you happy, sad, angry, cheer in victory, vow you’re gonna make a villain regret their actions, and surprises at the end which will be elaborated in future patches. Locations: Stormblood opens up 2 new regions in Final Fantasy XIV; Gyr Abania and Othard.  Gyr Abania contains the city Rhalgr’s Reach, home for the Ala Mihgan resistance, as well as the regions The Peaks, The Fringes, and The Lochs.  Othard brings the Ruby Sea, Yanxia, where Doma lies, and the Azim Steppe, the ancestral home of the Au Ra.  Another city introduced is Kugane, a port town of Hingashi.  I personally really like the Eastern feel they are going for in this expansion.  Kugane, Azim Steppe and Sui-no-Sato being some of my favorite places to go to.

Features: Many new goodies were added to entice new and old players alike.  The level cap has been increased to 70, which with 15 combat jobs, 8 crafting classes, and 3 gathering classes it should keep players busy for a while.  Speaking of jobs Stormblood introduces 2 new dps jobs, Samurai and Red Mage, which means dps queues for dungeons will be hectic until the hype dies down.  Swimming and diving is introduced to help get around the new areas and screenshot opportunities. Two new beast tribes, the Ananta and the Kojin, are introduced along with their corresponding primals Lakshmi and Susano.  There will also be other new things added in future patches such as housing in Kugane called Shirogane, a new 8-man raid involving Omega, and the new 24-man raid Return to Ivalice where we might end up going to said land. Despite Stormblood’s rocky start I am having a lot of fun with all the new content.  I look forward to what they will add in future patches and will be hoping that the plot won’t punch us in the feels too hard.