an ffxiv mini-rant.

FFXIV is a double-edged sword for me. I love playing with other people and enjoying social aspects of the game, but, as a new-ish player, everything is just that -- new! I enjoy the excitement of a new boss or mission. However, there are always those in the party who have done said boss or mission multiple times previously, thereby granting them wisdom I simply do not yet possess.

For example, tonight I entered my first Titan battle. A friend I've made on the server offered to help as healer, so we got into the duty fairly quickly. However, I promptly fell off the edge after the second Titan jump. I had no idea one could fall! I felt, predictably, very foolish. Our second wipe was due to us not attacking the heart (I definitely was, so I am not sure if that was actually my fault). The third was because I didn't attack the gaol -- a stone encasement that randomly wraps around a player. It wrapped around our healer (the helpful friend I'd dragged into the fight, yeah). After that one, one of the other party members stepped in to offer some "critiques." At that point, I fully understood what to do, and we did not wipe again -- I just needed a couple of trial runs to make sure I understood it. Honestly, I am not sure how else I am supposed to learn, but I am expected to enter the battle as a new player with utter omniscience.

Many players I know read up on the battles or watch YouTube videos of how to do each fight. To me that seems a bit like cheating and definitely wasteful of my off-game time, plus doesn't it suck some of the fun and surprise out of it? It only took us ~20 mins to complete the Titan fight, even with three wipes. I just don't think it's a huge deal to let new players play through without making them feel silly. Perhaps this game would be a bit more lighthearted with a group of friends who were just messing around and having fun together. /shrug

At any rate, I do have a couple of new friends I've been playing with in-game and I am thankful for that. Hopefully, I will continue to build something of a community and, eventually, I will just reach a level where fun is the only option. Haha -- totally kidding, I know it only gets worse in end-game.

Sprout Begone.

I had the opportunity to spend all of Veteran's Day on my couch playing FFXIV. I did rise for boba tea, fish tacos and a very moderate amount of apartment tidying. I am pleased to announce that I am now a Level 27 PUG and thoroughly ensconced in the MSQ (though I am blocked from continuation until I reach 28). I also discovered, through my FC, that I am actually paying for teleports -- that's not MP expenditure indicated on the tele screen, that's a price! I mean okay, so maybe I wasn't paying close attention and maybe I was wondering where all my quest money was going. But I have tele-ed SO MUCH. I felt like too much of a noob to mention it to my FC people -- all I can say is, it's highly fortuitous that I joined Maelstrom and obtained my company chocobo through copious FATE participation (I named him Torimond, he's amazing) because I am going to have to cut down on the teles.

The point of this post is not to draw attention to my obvious noobishness, but to rejoice in the fact that my noob sprout has been removed in-game. Huzzah! That means I have put at least 40 hours into Osiria at this point.

No more.

FFXIV: the preface.

My love for MMOs began in junior high with Ultima Online, and then Diablo. I picked up FFXI in college because, well, I suppose I had too much time on my hands. I spent many a night leveling in the doonz and crawler’s nest until I had a 45 drk. My problematic experience with FFXI came from the fact that I relied too heavily on my irl friends to power level me and assist me in-game. Therefore, I never really got a feel for it on my own. I never really learned the maps, quests, characters, etc. Eventually, I quit completely to pursue my degree with increased vigor (I graduated in 4 years in case you were wondering… which I suspect you weren’t).

When FFXIV was announced at E3, I knew it would outweigh my current gaming obsessions (Luna Online & Plants vs Zombies). I pre-ordered the game and settled in for the grind. Ugh, the grind. My problem is, I am a casual gamer (I work full time, have an active social life and attend grad school) so I was ecstatic when FFXIV was purported to be perfect for my type of player. Finally!

After navigating the unnecessarily confusing login screen, rife with things I didn’t quite understand, I finally managed to create an account. I played an Elven female in XI, so I opted for the catlike Miqo’te this time around, Moon variety. I hadn’t read much about classes, crafting or character choice at this point, so I decided to start out as an Archer. Miqo’te and Elezen were described as excellent Archers and I was all, “okay sounds good!” Plus I like the look of Archer, Robin Hood style. I chose Figaro as my server (for no other reason than that was the castle I always got stuck at in FFIII), Gridania as a starting point and began the MSQ (main story quest) which was interesting enough.

The graphics were beautiful. I was very impressed with the opening cutscene (and the Pudgy Moogles). I met Miounne, obtained her NPC linkpearl and got to work.