FFXIV: catch all

jdzappa wrote:

So I realized that I couldn't join the company as a free player so I bought the ultimate bundle. I've submitted a request as Zappah Stormcaller. And yes I rolled a Viera.. don't judge me!

Zero judgement. Do you have any idea how many boy bunnies will be hopping around once Endwalker drops?

sometimesdee wrote:

Zero judgement. Do you have any idea how many boy bunnies will be hopping around once Endwalker drops?

This.

So for International GWJ Day some of us in the Free Company are trying to put together a day of group activities for anyone on the Aether data center. On October 23rd at 2 pm PST, we’re going to be hanging out in Discord and seeing what everyone is in the mood for. What we're able and willing to do will likely depend on how many folks show up and the highest level job you have, but there are a lot of potential options:

  • Extreme Trial mount farms
  • First time duty clears (Binding Coils, normal & alliance raids, extreme trials, optional dungeons, etc)
  • Treasure maps (buy or farm these ahead of time if you’re interested)
  • Min ilvl/no echo duty runs
  • Achievement FATEs
  • Palace of the Dead and/or Heaven on High
  • Anything else people are interested in

All that’s really required is Discord for voice chat and that your character is in the Aether data center. Within the #mmo channel is a thread for FF14 IGWJD, so you can pop in there and say hi as well. Since many group activities cap out at 8 people, if we get more than that we can probably break out into separate groups depending on what people are interested in. I’m sure folks will be coming and going as time permits. I’m hoping for a pretty laid back, chill event. Hope to see some of you there!

FINALLY slogged through the ARR stuff and ended up in Ishgard/Heavasnward. WOW, what a gorgeous city. Also what a gut punch to get there. Dang.

'Tis the season, did Halloween with the FC this past weekend, but I've had costumes prepared for a while.
IMAGE(https://i.ibb.co/yPVfx6K/Vaylen-Troubador-09-12-2021-13-40-59.jpg)
The aim here was Mass Effect's Miranda Lawson, I think it's both funny and effective.

Last month saw the long awaited and perhaps even forgotten release of the final Rebuild of Evangelion film, which in turn inspired 2 versions of perhaps one of animation's greatest creations, Captain Misato Katsuragi:
IMAGE(https://i.ibb.co/HT8q0mV/Vaylen-Troubador-09-12-2021-12-50-25.jpg)
The separate skirt (from the Lightning outfit I acquired when it was on sale recently) reflects her typical rebuild look, which is neat, but I prefer my second attempt, which tried to emulate her iconic minidress of the series:
IMAGE(https://i.ibb.co/2SDchVB/Vaylen-Troubador-09-12-2021-12-57-40.jpg)

My BFF and fellow Back-In-The-Day EVAHead laughed.

Having a lot of fun leveling in ARR but just learned about the leveling dead zones between expansions where you need to do a bunch of side quests to progress. Is that still the case? If so, can I still earn exp or will I be capped till I reach the next expansion?

jdzappa wrote:

Having a lot of fun leveling in ARR but just learned about the leveling dead zones between expansions where you need to do a bunch of side quests to progress. Is that still the case? If so, can I still earn exp or will I be capped till I reach the next expansion?

You'll still earn exp, but at a relatively slow rate compared to the next expansion. If you get +1 or +2 from the current expansion's cap, that might be a good time to play another class as you finish going through the patch content.

zeroKFE wrote:
jdzappa wrote:

Having a lot of fun leveling in ARR but just learned about the leveling dead zones between expansions where you need to do a bunch of side quests to progress. Is that still the case? If so, can I still earn exp or will I be capped till I reach the next expansion?

You'll still earn exp, but at a relatively slow rate compared to the next expansion. If you get +1 or +2 from the current expansion's cap, that might be a good time to play another class as you finish going through the patch content.

Thanks! Is the slowdown significant or just represent a few additional hours of play? I’m still trying to push hard so I can get into end game within the next few weeks.

The main story quests in the patch content give only a small amount of XP. They were level cap content at the time they were current (50, 60, or 70), so they used to not give any XP at all. However, any group content you do like dungeons and bosses will only require the level cap, so even if you're not gaining levels, you'll still be able to do all that content (provided you meet the gear requirements). Once you make it to a new expansion, the XP ramps up again, and you'll start the march to the next level cap.

To be clear, you're not forced to do "side quests" to progress, you just keep playing through the story like you have been. If you're still working through the ARR post-game, at some point it will stop you to make you do the Crystal Tower raids since they are relevant to the main story later. You can do those at your leisure, or just wait til it forces you to.

Thanks! Is the slowdown significant or just represent a few additional hours of play? I’m still trying to push hard so I can get into end game within the next few weeks.

Honestly, you really don't need to worry about it. At least up to the point I've reached (early 70s moving through the patch content before Shadowbringers), if you fall behind a level or two in a class you want to play all it takes is a few runs of duty roulette (particularly the one that will give you the long final dungeons from ARR), and you'll catch up fast. After level 70, I'm told that you can level super fast through the special Bozja area where the Shadowbringers relic weapon system happens.

beanman101283 wrote:

The main story quests in the patch content give only a small amount of XP. They were level cap content at the time they were current (50, 60, or 70), so they used to not give any XP at all. However, any group content you do like dungeons and bosses will only require the level cap, so even if you're not gaining levels, you'll still be able to do all that content (provided you meet the gear requirements). Once you make it to a new expansion, the XP ramps up again, and you'll start the march to the next level cap.

Sounds good. A little different from other games I’ve played but I’m sure I will adjust. I’m enjoying the story so hopefully that continues.

I just realized you are asking about what kind of slowdown the patches are in terms of play time rather than leveling.

There is significant story content in the patches (often just as good or better than in the main expansion content!), and I recommend you just enjoy it at whatever pace appeals to you. If you just finished ARR, though, I don't think you'll make it all the way to the end of Shadowbringers before Endwalker comes out, unless you are doing nothing else with your time. (Hell, I'm not even sure I will, and I'm two expansions ahead of you!)

I really just recommend taking your time and enjoying it. Unlike most other MMOs, my understanding is that the journey to the level cap is just as much or more a draw as the endgame experience, and you really only get to do it for the first time once. This totally aligns with my own experience so far, and even though I might have a little bit of FOMO if I don't make it through Shadowbringers in the next few weeks, I'm not going to worry about it too much, because so far this has been the Final Fantasy narrative experience I've been waiting for since Final Fantasy 10.

(As literally everyone tells you, it only gets better post ARR, and for me that even included during the patch content between ARR and Heavensward).

Two weeks until Endwalker early access by the way!

In my New Game Plus replay, I'm nearing the final stretch of the Shadowbringers base story, and it really confirms for me just how good the expansion's storytelling is. The new characters are memorable, the pacing and structure is tight and episodic, and the story beats and revelations hit hard. Long running lore and plot threads are paid off well, but perhaps more importantly they manage to make you care about new side characters and plots much more effectively than they managed in Stormblood. I'm not sure what the difference is beyond just better writing, but it really stands out.

I should be able to finish replaying the 5.x story by the time EW is out. I had hoped to replay the Eden story and Role Quests too, but I might have to put those off.

2 weeks?! That snuck up on me.

I need to finish levelling my red mage (73 right now), though I'm fairly certain I'll be playing the new Sage job. Bit of a bummer it doesn't start at 80, but I assume I'll be able to start going through the new MSQ on it?

I've never actually been an active player for an expansion release, so I'm very excited!

Sage (and Reaper) will start at 70, but you'll need to get it to 80 before you can go through the MSQ with it.

I guess that makes sense.

Now it's harder to choose between continuing red mage or picking up sage! Maybe I'll do a lil' bit of both~

Yeah, I’ve seen guides out already for how to power level from 70 to 71 so you can hop into Bozja or dungeons right away to get further leveling as quickly as possible. It seems to be a mix of priming a Wondrous Tails turn-in, weekly challenge logs, and PVP roulette. There is probably more to it that I’m forgetting, but the info is out there on YouTube and the like.

I took advantage of the level up sales and bought RDM, MNK, WAR, and AST. Haven’t used them yet, but I’m frustrated at only having BRD at a high level, but also haven’t had the patience to level anything else up. So I picked one job from each of the categories that I’m NOT likely to work on, if that makes sense. I’m currently working on marauder, dragoon, and conjurer.

I thought maybe I could get Paladin to 80 before Endwalker but I’m starting to think that won’t happen. It’s sitting at 66 right now but with how much MSQ I have left in NG+, I probably won’t be able to fit both in.

When Shadowbringers came out I only had a couple jobs leveled up. Now I have 11 combat jobs at max level, along with all the gathering and crafting jobs. Not bad after a couple years.

I'm currently sitting at right before the level 67 dungeon in Stormblood. My group had a discussion and we are definitely not trying to push to reach end of MSQ by Endwalker release. I am likely to at least pick up the new classes once I hit Shadowbringers (boyfriend, as a Gundam fan, is particularly keen on trying Sage).

I've been taking the time to level everything? It's been fascinating to see which classes I enjoy when they open up a bit more (samurai, black mage, red mage) and which I don't find myself particularly interested in yet (ninja, monk). By contrast, the tanks and healers still feel pretty similar, though differences are finally starting to emerge in Stormblood (though White Mage feels unfair in terms of just sheer healing output in oGCDs right now). Struggling with Scholar, though, largely because it feels like I don't quite have as powerful a toolset yet, or don't know how to use it most effectively?

Aeazel wrote:

I'm currently sitting at right before the level 67 dungeon in Stormblood. My group had a discussion and we are definitely not trying to push to reach end of MSQ by Endwalker release.

Oh! I'm not too far behind you - I just unlocked the L65 dungeon. I'm ignoring almost all of the side quests (except for the Aether Currents or other interesting unlocks) for now, and just focusing on the MSQ. Even still, I can't imagine I'll get to the end of Shadowbringers before Endwalker releases, but I'm at least enjoying my time with what's here.

Launch trailer.

Also, Endwalker is delayed two weeks. Early access is Dec 3, and regular access starts Dec 7.

Time to change my PTO (and maybe I'll get PLD to 80 after all!).

That screenshot looks like the Warrior of Light is planting an American flag on the moon.

Saves a few bucks:

Final Fantasy XIV Online: 60 Day Time Card $24.99 via Newegg w/ Code: EMCHHEX26

http://ow.ly/Cy5B30rZEmN

It's nice, but also disorienting, seeing that, outside of people who are a bit disappointed about vacation time and PTOs and stuff, reactions to the delay have mostly been "Oh, sweet! More time to get a bunch of the stuff I want to do done!"

SpacePProtean wrote:

It's nice, but also disorienting, seeing that, outside of people who are a bit disappointed about vacation time and PTOs and stuff, reactions to the delay have mostly been "Oh, sweet! More time to get a bunch of the stuff I want to do done!"

I didn't see anyone complaining in the YT chat last night about this delay. Just about all of the comments were along the lines of "take the time to get it done right", "don't beat yourself up about it", "I hope the dev team will get time off at the end of the year", etc. If the delay was going to be longer than 2 weeks, I wonder if the story would have been the same. I do think this should have been announced earlier (and Yoshi-P acknowledged that it was a very late call), but as a dev manager, I understand that sh*t can pop up at any point, and I respect that he made this call now rather than risk huge negative backlash.

There was a lot of silly complaints on Twitter. I do understand the frustration, but...Gamers will be gamers, I guess.

Very pleased to see that the overwhelming response was one of understanding and patience, though.

I'd rather they take the time than abuse the workers and do a half-assed rush job.

The last group event went well so we're going to be having another!

This Saturday, November 13 at 12pm Pacific, we'll be running folks through The Binding Coil of Bahamut raid series. This came out before the now-standard Normal/Savage delineation in difficulty levels, so running them at level 50 is actually quite difficult. Because of that, they are not included in the normal raid roulette, making it next to impossible to run them normally through the duty finder.

So! We'll be running them unsynced with whoever needs them completed. There will be first-time Poetics bonuses, and if you've never watched the story there, it's pretty damn good.

Requirements:

  • Your character is on the Aether data center
  • You've completed the ARR 2.0 story
  • You've completed the Hard (not Extreme) versions of Ifrit, Garuda, and Titan

Also, the higher your level and item level, the better.

The quest that unlocks it is called Primal Awakening. Pray return to the Waking Sands and speak to Urianger if you haven't picked it up yet.

We'll be using Discord for voice shenanigans. Under the #mmo channel, check out the FF14 Group Antics thread.

Someone created an easy banner template from the scions gallery bit in the latest trailer:
IMAGE(https://i.ibb.co/0BZDp10/Banner.png)