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 What is Final Fantasy XIV? If you had asked me this in early 2013, I would have called it a massive disaster. Now, though? One of the most recent, biggest success stories in the games industry. Releasing in 2010, Final Fantasy XIV was an unfinished MMO. Before launch, players who participated in the beta warned Square about a number of issues, including one of the most stupid issues I've ever heard: handling everything server-side. That includes player inputs and movement. The world was empty, and the story just suddenly stopped in the middle of a storyline. Combat was clunky, and the environment just repeated itself. It absolutely flopped. Then, a miracle occurred. Square-Enix officially apologised for the game. Suddenly, there was a huge shift in the development team, and Hiromichi Tanaka (the producer) was removed from the team. Replacing him was Naoki Yoshida. Final Fantasy XIV started to improve, but that wouldn't be enough to fix the situation. On October in 2011, version 2.0 of Final Fantasy XIV was announced. Later to be called Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, 2.0 was going to fix all the issues. And it did. With over two million subscribers, it's more successful than Square-Enix' previous most profitable venture: Final Fantasy XI. It's also probably the only subscription-based MMO to see as much growth as this since World of Warcraft. Oh, and did I mention that a lot of 2.0's development happened while they continued to work on the original XIV, and that it only took two years to develop? So, is this a remake then? Yes and no. It's a continuation of the original Final Fantasy XIV (often referred to as 1.0 or Legacy). Almost everything has been changed, though. It's kind of more like a sequel, if anything.  So, what's the story? Final Fantasy XIV is set in the continent of Eorzea, one of three large continents in the world of Hydaelyn. This land has recently become the target of the growing Garlean Empire, which hails from the small, technologically advanced nation of Garlemald. They successfully captured the nation of Ala Mhigo; however, this invasion was interrupted when the empire awoke the slumbering guardian of Silvertear Lake, in the region of Mor Dhona. The guardian of the lake and king of dragons, Midgardsormr, was defeated, but not before taking down Garlemald's most powerful weapon--the airship Agrius. The subsequent crash of both entities into the lake broke a seal, unleashing a vast quantity of aether upon Eorzea and destroying Mor Dhona's landscape. Meanwhile, a small number of denizens from Eorzea started to discover the power of the echo, allowing them to communicate without knowing the language and view the memories of people they meet. Unfortunately, this power is also a sign that a catastrophic event is nearing. Five years ago, during 1.0, the Garlean Empire finally began to advance once more. However, Eorzea now faced greater dangers. Local beast tribes were becoming more hostile, and gathered large quantities of aether. Strangers known as Paragons were teaching these tribes how to summon their gods, known to Eorzeans as Primals. At the same time, Nael van Darnus of the Garlean Empire, known as the White Raven, started going mad and attempted to use technology created by the ancient Allagan people to summon Meteor on Eorzea. This meteor would take the form of the lesser moon, Dalamud. As his plan advanced, Darnus became more mad, enslaved by the lesser moon and referring to it as "He". A band of adventurers eventually managed to slay Darnus, but it was too late. In an attempt to postpone the apocalypse, the Eorzean Alliance sent their forces to the Carteneau Flats to finish Darnus' legion. I won't spoil the fun. You can watch what happens in this really awesome video. LP Rules - No spoilers. Consider anything not shown in the LP as a spoiler. - Please don't even post spoilers in spoiler tags. Sometimes giving the right context is tricky, so we don't want to ruin things for anyone. - Stories from your time in 1.0 is awesome. Please share some stuff about the game that's been lost to time, but avoid touching things that haven't been covered in the LP yet. Many of the story elements in 1.0 have been rehashed into the first part of the ARR storyline. - Voiced sequences and cutscenes that are animated (beyond using player emotes) will be in videos. - I'll be showing off all the classes and content. I'm going to be crazy and aim to do every piece of content, even if I'm focusing on progress on another character too. Expect this to take forever. - I'll try my best to show off all the tactics for bosses, including as many ways to break them as I can find. If you can find cool or silly things to do with those bosses after I've shown them then please go wild! Likewise, if I miss a reference or there's a missed bit of background from 1.0, be sure to share it for everyone else! - You can even help out in-game if you want, but please go to Excalibur if you really want to play this game otherwise. That's where everyone else is. Thread Rules - Be civil, please. - You can talk about other Final Fantasy games. There's a lot of references so conversation about that is a rad thing. - Let's not go on about which Final Fantasy is good or bad, even if someone says something silly like that Final Fantasy XIII is good. - There's a few Final Fantasy Let's Plays up right now, so if we're going to spoiler anything in them then please use the tags. Let's not ruin it for anyone reading both threads. - You can discuss FFXI and how similar some elements are as much as you like. Just be careful about spoiling things due to their connections. - I notice FFXIV players like to take screenshots of everything, so if you have anything cool that you want to share that we've covered, please do! (Remember to timg it though!) I've set up a Twitter account to announce things like when I use duty finder or post an update, which you can follow here. You can also check out the characters' progress on the lodestone here. Contents: Chapter 1: Weird Dreams and Waking Up to Weird Old Men Chapter 2: Oh, yeah! I forgot all about the Warriors of Light! Chapter 3: The Training Wheels are... still on. Bonus: Exploring and talking with the locals, also Chocobo travel that we can't use! Chapter 4: The Training Wheels are... still, still on. Chapter 5: A Fast Blade to the Coliseum (Gladiator quest) Bonus: Gotta check the mail, kupo! Chapter 6: Aldis running around is making me tired! (Gladiator quest) Chapter 7: Where we take crystal and have a bad trip. Chapter 8: A Fateful Detour Chapter 9: The End of My Silver Bazaar Vacation Seasonal: All Saints' Wake (Halloween 2013) Chapter 10: Fishing for More to Do Chapter 11: Time to get Cracking On Chapter 12: Echoing the Past CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 16:27 on Dec 20, 2014 |
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Aug 24, 2014 22:10
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Character Creation Lore Rather than bog down the SSLP with constant explanations of the race or who is what race, I figured it'd make sense to share some information on the five playable races of the game. I'm literally just going to snatch some screens from the game's character creation for this, because it provides a lot of really good detail. It saves having a full update on all the interesting things that the character creation screen provides. It'll also be handy for readers who want a reference for regular things in the LP. The Races of Eorzea:     In the original Final Fantasy XIV, players could only play female Miqo'te. Also, they had better butts or something, according to the official forums. Males are now playable.  Similarly to Miqo'te, Roegadyn were only playable in one gender too. Players could only play them as males. Females are now playable. Clans: Each race has two potential clans that the characters can belong to. The player's choice of clan can impact their starting attributes. The impact isn't completely severe, and most players claim it won't make a difference. In all honesty? It won't really, but the attributes can range enough to be the difference between an item level 100 and item level 110 accessory. Hyur Clans   Only male Highlanders were playable in the original Final Fantasy XIV. Females are now playable too. Elezen Clans   Lalafell Clans   Miqo'te Clans   Roegadyn Clans   The Twelve Eorzeans worship "The Twelve", who are twelve different deities that have been worshipped as far back as the earliest known civilisation. You can select a your own guardian deity. They don't give you anything special except elemental resistances. The order is Fire/Ice/Wind/Earth/Lightning/Water.             Classes The class that you pick determines your party role and home city state. Disciple of War  Gladiators start in Ul'dah and play a tanking role.  Pugilists start in Ul'dah and play a damage dealing role.  Marauders start in Limsa Lominsa and play a tanking role.  Lancers start in Gridania and play a damage dealing role.  Archers start in Gridania and play a ranged damage dealing role. Disciple of Magic  Conjurers start in Gridania and play a healing role.  Thaumaturges start in Ul'dah and play a damage dealing role.  Arcanists start in Limsa Lominsa and play a damage dealing role, but can also become healers later. City States Because of the backgrounds on the city states, it's kind of difficult to read. The images are nice, though, so I'll share them anyway and explain what it says below.  The bustling commercial hub of Ul'dah sits amid the desolate desert landscape of southern Aldernard. Ul'dahn culture is known for its affluence and the wealth of the nation comes in large part from its abundant mineral resources and clothcrafting industry. Though it is the sultana who claims sovereignty, true power is wielded by the Syndicate, a council sat by six of Ul'dah's most elite and influential. Nald'thal is the nation's patron deity, and two great halls devoted to His two aspects lie in the east and west of the city.  On the southern coast of the island of Vylbrand, under the shadow of ancient cliffs worn by the relentless onslaught of the Rhotano Sea, lies the thalassocracy of Limsa Lominsa. Its economy is driven primarily by shipping, but boasts lucrative shipbuilding, fishing, and smithing industries as well. To maintain the safety of its maritime routes, the city employs a formidable navy known as the Knights of the Barracuda. Even so, pirate bands run rampant in nearby waters, reaving and pillaging.  In the eastern reaches of the Aldenard landmass, home to vast, dense woodlands and coursing rivers, lies the forest nation of Gridania. The cityscape is a mosaic of labyrinthine waterways and great wooden structures, so gracefully constructed they seem a part of the surrounding environment. The favored goddess of the citizenry is Nophica, the Matron, but great faith is also placed in the wisdom of the Seedseers-young oracles who guide the nation based on the will of the forest's elementals. CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 11:11 on Aug 25, 2014 |
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Aug 24, 2014 22:10
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Chapter 1: Weird Dreams and Waking Up to Weird Old Men Before we begin, we're prompted to create our character and select the world we'll be playing on. For the sake of simplicity, I created a basic looking Hyur suffering from teenage angst like any new Final Fantasy character would. I forgot to give him different eye colours, but that's okay, I'm not sure they have contact lenses in Eorzea anyway. We'll name him Crash Screen, and send him off to Midgardsormr because we're silly like that. I'd recommend anyone wanting to play this game to play on Excalibur, though, because that's where all the nerds that can help you out will be hanging.  For the most part, the race and clan of your character won't matter. There are small stat differences, but they aren't huge enough to impact your play style. You can still play a Lalafell Paladin and soak up all the damage fine. Likewise, when selecting a Guardian Deity, players will receive elemental resistance bonuses. These also won't really impact your play style. For this character, we're going with Ul'dah's local guardian: Nald'thal. Nald'thal provides mostly fire resistance, and is a single entity that was once twins named Nald and Thal. We'll get more into them and the remaining eleven guardians later. I'll also start off as a Gladiator, but I'll be showing off all the other classes at some point.  Video: IntroductionUpon starting the game, players will be forced to watch a pre-rendered cutscene that introduces Eorzea. It explains that Eorzea is one of three continent in the world of Hydaelyn. Five years ago, it faced destruction as the second, smaller moon Dalamud unleashed Bahamut, which brought about The Calamity, ushering the Seventh Umbral Era. This was a great plot device to end the last game, and to explain all the huge changes that A Realm Reborn brought to the table. Unfortunately, I didn't have the privilege of having a legacy account or defeating the White Raven in the previous Final Fantasy XIV, so Crash Screen won't be one of those previous Warriors of Light that fought in the Carteneau Flats just before Bahamut was released. It is only after this introduction that we actually get to make our character. Video: A Giant Crystal and a Weird Masked ManAfter completing our character and selecting our world, another cutscene pops immediately. It won't make very much sense to us right now, which is funny considering most of the scene involves a giant crystal talking about our senses. We also get to see Crash Screen in a Paladin outfit, striking a masked and hooded guy with a light sword of some kind.  Of course, it's all a dream and just before the finishing blow is struck, we're woken up.   Our hero finds himself waking up on a carriage reeking of Chocobo, and travelling through the arid region of Thanalan on its journey to the city-state of Ul'dah. Thanalan is the most south-western region of Aldernard, the main landmass of the Eorzean continent. The city is known as the commercial hub of Eorzea, but is also famous for its entertainment. It is home to a coliseum and gambling halls. We'll be learning more about it once we reach the city, but for now we're stuck in a Chocobo carriage with a bunch of strangers in the blazing hot desert. Here, we're greeted by a British merchant.  He does have teeth. They just seemed to have disappeared occasionally during the recording of this scene.  "You were moanin' somethin' fierce for a while there." "You'll get used to it though, don't worry." The carriage continues to travel through Thanalan. Unfortunately, members of the Brass Blades often patrol trade routes to carry out inspections on the wares of travelling merchants. The Brass Blades are a military organisation from Ul'dah.     "What's all this about!?" The Brass Blade Captain unsheathes his sword, and his Chocobo looks menacing as hell here for some reason. It's really staring down that carriage driver. Maybe it smells the Gysahl Greens - a type of carrot that Chocobos love? Or maybe it's just one mean Chocobo?  "Inspection! Men, search the carriage!"  What is up with the Grizzled Passenger's face here? "I'm just an honest peddler, friend. So, er...don't be too disappointed if you don't find nothin', eh?" "Mind your tongue, old man, lest I cut it out!" Oh, dear. Looks like our honest peddler isn't so honest. Shocking, I know.  "Sir, look! Somnus!" "You're in a lot of trouble, old man. You'll rot in a dungeon till the end of your days...unless you can afford the fine." "Heh, business as usual..."Oh man, let's hope you're not guilty by association in Thanalan.  Suddenly, an arrow strikes! The surprise alone causes the Grizzled Passenger to lose yet more teeth.  What's also a common threat for travelling merchants in Thanalan is the Amalj'aa, a tribe of hostile lizardmen. Before The Calamity, the Amalj'aa were a little more friendly and actually traded with the five races. However, shortly before this catastrophic event, the beast tribe began to change. Members of their group started abducting innocent people, subjugating them to their god, Ifrit. They do this by bathing people in Ifrit's flames, leaving them tempered and under Ifrit's control. We'll get to all that later, though. Now, what do these beast men look like?  Well, uhh... I think I'll just leave them to the Brass Blades.  We flee the scene, leaving the Amalj'aa and Brass Blades to duke it out. What we didn't expect was that both sides were actually trying to get into that recent fad from Japan. You know? That one where they fake anime fight scenes.  The carriage manages to get away safely. There'll be no participation in outdated trends for Crash Screen.  The Grizzled Passenger also experience dangerous levels of excitement from cats playing pianos, dogs with a strange understanding of English, and obviously, reading the front page of Something Awful. "You be careful 'round them Brass Blades, lad. Bastards'll have the shirt off your back if they fancy it. Like common bandits, they are, only less honest." "Thank the gods for sendin' some beastmen to the rescue, eh!?" "Hey, seein' as we've still got a long ride ahead, you mind keepin' me company till we arrive?" "Them young'uns don't care for conversation, see."  Finally, we have a name. Unfortunately, this also costs him almost all of his remaining teeth. I can imagine that making transactions with Brendt would be quite an awkward experience.  drat it! I got this scar to avoid looking inexperienced, and he saw right through me.  "So long as you can avoid dyin', I mean. Ain't no secret that adventurin's a risky business-these days especially." "What was it that first attracted you to it?"We're given our first choice. It doesn't really change anything, though the dialogue that follows will be slightly different. Sadly, there's no "my parents died when I was five and I'm an orphan" option, so we had to make do.  I went with glory. I'm going to become a Gladiator after all, and there's nothing more than a Gladiator wants than glory. Or fortune. I probably should have went with fortune, I mean the only way to really live even remotely well in Ul'dah is to be rich. "Glory, eh? Well, if you're willin' to take on them tasks as other folk ain't, an adventurer such as yourself can win fame what coin can't buy."I'm pretty sure coin can buy fame in Ul'dah too. "When you arrive in town, you'll want to report to the Adventurer's Guild." "You can find out everythin' you need to know about the adventurin' business in there." "Just remember, though: there're more important things than fortune an' glory. Such as breathin'. Ain't no profit in bein' dead, an' that's a fact."The entire time Brendt talks, he makes a lot of hand gestures and moves around. He's very animated, and most characters in this game are, even though the screenshots don't really show that. Also, come to think of it, just how far away is Ul'dah? This trip is taking forever! By the by, is this your first trip to Ul'dah? We're given another choice. Like the last choice, this doesn't really impact much. Unlike the last one, the dialogue doesn't really change that much. Regardless of whether you choose yes or no, Brendt will give you a run down of Ul'dah and Thanalan anyway.  We'll just say yes. For Crash Screen, this is the first time, and it will also be the first time for many of you. As I said before, though, it doesn't actually really matter.  Brendt explains the situation in Ul'dah while we watch the Chocobo carriage travel off screen. "Ul'dah's ruled by the sultana in name, but as most folk know, the Syndicate holds all the real power." "Them and their Monetarist cronies would happily get rid of Her Majesty altogether, but that won't happen while she still commands the loyalty of the Royalists-an' the Royalists are nothin' if not loyal." "These factions have long fought over power, throwin' the weight of their wealth against each other, an' they show no sign of stoppin'." "'Course the lizardmen-that's the Amalj'aacouldn't care less about Ul'dahn politics. They have their own interests, see-an' they ain't afraid to use force to serve 'em."  "Ah, at long last." "Behold Ul'dah, jewel of Thanalan, where folk turn sand into gold!"Video: Visiting Ul'dahOur first view of Ul'dah. What's weird is that we approach it from the north, on a path known as the Royal Allagan Starway, which leads to the Gate of Nald entrance to Ul'dah. However, for some reason, we stop at the Gate of Thal, which is further south and more out of the way. I guess the carriage driver wanted to avoid our first good look at the city being too close to all the refugees forced to camp outside its gates? Well, actually, the real reason is that the Gate of Nald is large enough for two Chocobo carriages to pass through simultaneously, unlike the Gate of Thal. As a result, you can imagine that most transport would travel through here. Although, this carriage stops outside the gate before heading back the direction it came anyway.  "An' here's where we part ways, lad." "I'm off to the markets to deliver me wares, then it's on to the highroad for me."  We accept the gift. Whatever it was.  The Chocobo carriage starts moving away at this point, and will leave the screen whether you remain on this dialogue or not. Incidentally, it's possible to see a path leading to a giant tree amongst all the rock in the background (not the tree between Crash Screen and Brendt). That tree is the Sultantree. "Become the sort of storied personage I can brag about havin' met, an' I'll consider us square."Video: Entering Ul'dahAnd so, after a long journey, we have finally arrived at Ul'dah. The first building we see is that of The Quicksand. We'll be learning more about that very soon. The video stops when a stranger shouts on us.  So who is it that's calling on us? What dangers will we face in Ul'dah? Who knows, really? Our map progress: There's none for this update! We've just entered the gate, and not actually done any playing yet. In the next update, we'll be able to explore Ul'dah, so I'll show off where we've visited on a map then. Bonus: Video: Legacy Introduction for Ul'dahPlayers who defeated the final boss in 1.0 would receive this introduction to the game, rather than the one we received on Crash Screen. It's pretty cool, and ties in with the video linked in the OP. The player shown in the footage is a Hyur, much like Crash Screen. They're even the same class, as the observational readers will notice that he's wearing the same armour shown in the dream sequence.
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Aug 24, 2014 22:11
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Sir Shion posted:I liked it too - only I was playing as a GLAD. If it helps, it's currently free to play the game for the week. You could always try rolling on Excalibur and seeing if playing with some goons might help more. They'll definitely assist you if you have any issues, and give you tips on anything you're struggling with. DarkHamsterlord posted:I'll be following this LP so maybe I'll get to know the plot of this game I've played for over 800 hours! Part of me wishes that FFXIV had /playtime. The other part of me is afraid of what I might learn. Mega64 posted:Yesssss. I got suckered into this game a few months ago, and god drat did I love it. This game oozes more charm than anything else SE's released in the last ten years or so. This game does a ton of great things, and with a decent story to boot. It's really surprising, too. It's such a massive turnaround.
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Aug 25, 2014 00:40
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SSNeoman posted:If this part is against OP's rules, I'll remove it. Nah, it's vague enough. My main issue with that kind of mechanics talk is that it often tends to flow into dangerous territory, but that much was fine. Gladiator being a pain is one of the reasons I went with that first. It's the class a lot of new players tend to go for (they wanna fight with swords!), and it leads to a lot of people new to the genre struggling with their party role. I figured showing off one of the misunderstood classes would work well. Mazed posted:Speaking of that dialogue, CrashScreen, please do not hold back in showing off the stuff that random NPCs in this game say. I actually feel like I don't hold back enough. I've already written a few updates ahead, and I had to split one of them in two because I decided to show off some of the extra dialogue. I intend to dwell in certain places when we go there as part of the main scenario or side story. I might make mini-updates to show off some of the dialogue to try and keep a good pace. I'll keep that particular two-part update as it is, though, and see how it's received. Also, as for Fantasia, I already have two, so I'll probably use it way later on to have some fun.
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Aug 25, 2014 08:23
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I'm going to avoid mentioning things that haven't shown up yet, but even focusing on just Gladiator right now has been really smooth. I'm at the first level six main scenario quest, but I'm already just about to hit level ten and geared as such, even though I can't say I've fought very much. At the very least, getting to the point where you can play any class you want is pretty quick and painless.
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Aug 25, 2014 09:18
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Yeah. I wasn't there for it, but Square basically told everyone to go to a specific location in the game where a lot of imperial soldiers were. The game was pretty abruptly shut down, and that's when the video played before telling players that they were disconnected from the server. What's funny is that a lot of people put in effort to go to that location and got disconnected, unable to log back in. Square had to send them all links to the YouTube video so they could still see it. The song from the video also played moments before the servers shut down, but it had a pretty neat effect to it and it was all pretty eerie. If anyone wants to, they can take a look at what the closing minutes of the original looked like here.
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Aug 25, 2014 16:50
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My plan is to update this weekly, with the odd week where I'll post twice. Considering we've only really seen the opening cutscene, I'll be posting the next update either tomorrow or the day after.Materant posted:If you ever need a hand with dungeons and the like, I'm on Balmung, but I can queue in with any role you need. From what I hear, Midgardsormr is pretty drat empty. I've already got a light party prepared, since I needed footage to show off the other city storylines. Using duty finder for cross server parties also requires a bit of luck. Still, I appreciate that, and I might post ahead of time for those willing to give this a shot.
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Aug 26, 2014 00:56
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Mazed posted:Got a twitter? If so, something that might work is to do like streamers and put the word out for people to possibly hop in. That's a good idea. I've set one up here to save bogging people's feeds with my dumb personal Twitter, too.
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Aug 26, 2014 11:06
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FFXI is a game that I wish I played more of. The more I remind myself of what's in it, the more It's funny how trivialized some of the content is compared to what it used to be though. I gave it another go during the free period in December and got to level 30 while solo'ing everything. I got stuck trying to unlock Paladin in it though. That dungeon in La Theine is really mean. CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 12:09 on Aug 26, 2014 |
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Aug 26, 2014 11:35
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Chapter 2: Oh, yeah! I forgot all about the Warriors of Light! We've finally reached our destination: Ul'dah. After stepping into the city for the first time, Crash Screen was shouted over by an unknown voice.  The voice belongs to this man. He points at us and smiles.  "Aye, I mean you." "Fresh off the carriage, by any chance? Eh? How can I tell? Heh!" Crash Screen is stunned to have yet again been seen through. That scar isn't fooling anyone.  "Now then, what if I was to offer you some invaluable advice by way of welcome to our fair city? Free of charge, even-just this once, like." Hooray! Finally, we've reached some actual gameplay. This is what the game looks like by default. We're given a compass that can tell us our position, the time of day, and the current weather. In the bottom right is, from bottom to top, is our current gil (the currency), menu options, and inventory. In the middle are combat parameters and our exp, which I'll get to soon, and to the left is our chat log. You'll notice that we've received a Ring of Fidelity. This happens to be the gift that Brendt gave us. We'll also a look at that when we discuss gear. It's worth noting that the UI can be customized a little. I will be going with a minimalistic UI for the LP. The tutorial first explains the controls to us, asking which scheme we'll use. This doesn't really matter, and players should just use what they prefer. The choice is between a mouse and keyboard, or a controller, and they'll be given a brief tutorial regarding that scheme. Both styles of control work perfectly fine. PlayStation 4 players will also be able to choose their control style.  Alright, let's go speak to Wymond then. Above his head is a quest marker, telling us that he has a quest for us. Not that we couldn't tell from how he shouted us over. Fresh off the carriage...  The game does go pretty mental on the tutorial front. Pretty much every single possible thing you can do will have some sort of tutorial. This will be the only one I share, though.  Our first quest is "Coming to Ul'dah". You'll notice that the quest marker looks like it's on fire. That signifies that it's a main scenario quest, and is part of the main storyline.  "If I let you go wanderin' off down the nearest dark alley, you're certain to get mugged or worse, an' I don't want that on my conscience."Actually, wait. Can we go back? I'd like to start over. Maybe I should start in the quiet, nature worshipping city of Gridania? "So before you do anythin' else, you'll want to head over to the Quicksand, an' speak with Momodi. She's the master of the Adventurer's Guild, an' can set you on the right path."  "...An' that's as much as you're gettin' for free. Good luck with the adventurin', adventurer." So there we have it. We've accepted our first quest. The objective is pretty simple. We've to walk up the steps we just saw and into the Quicksand to go find Momodi.  What's weird is that in the opening cutscene, we enter Ul'dah through the Gate of Thal. However, the entrance we saw Crash Screen enter Ul'dah through was the Gate of Nald. It's a strange continuity error, because we should be on the Sapphire Avenue Exchange, rather than Emerald Avenue, where we are now. Directly facing us is the Quicksand, home of the Adventurer's Guild and the Hourglass, the latter of which is an Inn.  Right next to the Gate of Nald is the Chocobo Stable. Here, players will be able to rent a Chocobo for faster travel. Currently, we're unable to do this, but it shouldn't be long until we can. But that's enough admiring the landmarks next to the Gate of Nald. It's time to enter the Quicksand and meet Momodi.  In the center of the Quicksand is the social area. This is where players can socialise. You can actually sit on those seats. Actually, you can sit on any seat in the game. Well, with one exception, but it will be a while before we see that one. Does it really matter? I mean I'm talking about being able to sit on chairs here.  And here she is, Momodi of the Adventurer's Guild. Above her head is a green quest marker, signifying that this is where the quest ends. Now let's claim our 103 gil.  We stumble upon Momodi having a good row with her log book. You can't see it in this screenshot, but she's shaking her finger up and down at the book. I suspect she's just not happy with the texture quality, but it's okay, those better textures are apparently being released alongside DirectX 11 support.  Momodi spots us walking over with that vacant look on our face and strikes a {/pose}.   The camera really likes getting different angles on our conversation with Momodi. She isn't just popular with the patrons of the Quicksand, but with the cameraman too!  Speaking of The Quicksand, it's also gotten eerily quiet all of a sudden. I could have sworn that there was more people around a second ago.  Oh, there's some people! That's good. I was beginning to worry that the smell of Chocobo had clung to my clothing. Chocobos are known to smell really bad in Final Fantasy XIV.  In the previous shots, you'll notice a severe lack of other players running around. This is because we're currently not actually online with other players. We're in a unique instance.   "Then there's the Garlean Empire. None can say for sure what they're plottin' these days, only that they are." It's a good thing Brendt isn't with us. I'm not sure his heart could take the excitement of cat girls doing the Gangnam Style dance.  "So much was lost in the blink of an eye. 'Twas like the end of the world had come at last." So anyway, about our instance. If we had tried to go elsewhere instead of the Quicksand, we'd have been told off and directed back to the Quicksand. Until you speak to Momodi, you can't progress.  Rather than the protagonist having amnesia, which would be rather silly given that the protagonists are actually players, Square has opted to instead give the entire cast amnesia. Well, it's certainly a twist on an old cliche.   The whole "amnesia causing NPCs to forget player characters" thing is a bit goofy, but it allows old players to return without too much of a rewrite of the story. Let's not forget that the adventurers were large in number (even if they were small in subscribers), and players didn't really stand out very much in the world until the Seventh Umbral Era was coming. It's not unusual that they'd be forgotten, but it's worth noting that there are exceptions later in the game.  "But even if we can't remember them, we'll not let 'em be forgotten, and so we call 'em the Warriors of Light." That's if we can actually remember what they actually did, beyond fighting valiantly and dying that is. Joining the guild to start earning money is that easy; however, that's because Crash Screen is fortunate enough to already be an adventurer. You'll notice that he already carries a sword. We already have status. There are many that don't, and we'll be seeing more of them later too.   "And a happy and prosperous Ul'dah means more business for the Quicksand, too!" "Go ahead and write your name in the register-neat as you can." A lot of items aren't rendered in game, often being simply pictures in the inventory. Consequently, when other characters hand Crash Screen items, they tend to just thrust their hand in his face.    Oh, no. Don't tell me that she realised I provided a fake name.   Sorry! I forgot to get rid of the speech bubble here. Anyway, we watch the Gullible Gambler get knocked over, and he cowers back.   "Be grateful you were given a fourth chance to offend. You two, attend to this scum."  "No, please! Mercy!" Momodi just shrugs off the scene like it's nothing. Seriously.   "'Course, I do enjoy hearin' tell of a gentleman's woes with the womenfolk from time to time..."It's worth noting that Momodi's dialogue is different when you're female. "'Course, I do enjoy hearin' a lady muse on the many manhoods of her acquaintance from time to time."   And there we go, finished with our first quest. We're rewarded with 50 exp and 103 gil.  After accepting the quest rewards, we're given a little fanfare. That's us finally finished the tutorial, and after a brief loading screen, we're now in the open world with other players. We're now clear to explore the world and meet other adventurers. Momodi now also has a few tasks for us to help us learn the city. We'll get to that next time, though.  It's also worth pointing out the Sanctuary symbol, next to the experience bar. This tells the player that they are in a sanctuary. When in a sanctuary, you'll obtain a rested bonus. Logging out also contributes to this bonus. A rested bonus provides 50% extra experience for battle, crafting, and gathering. The longer you build a rested bonus, the more experience that it will apply for. For example, it could provide 50% extra experience for up to 2000 experience points, or just up to 100 exp. Next time, we'll carry out Momodi's task and learn a little bit more about Ul'dah. We'll also explore the Quicksand a little bit, and learn about its function within the city. Progress: Now that we're out of our instance, we can finally start mapping our progress from the next part. At the moment, we've basically just taken a few steps forward. Bonus: So, we've learned about the Warriors of Light. On the last day of 1.0, players were told to visit a specific location in the region of Mor Dhona, where level 100 Imperials would spawn (the maximum player level was and still is 50). In the closing moments, a song called "Answers" played in a rather eerie way. The severs were shortly shut down, and players were shown the End of an Era video. You can watch the final closing moments here. It's really cool. As a reminder, players who beat the final boss were teleported in a bright flash during the opening cutscene of A Realm Reborn. This heavily implies that the player characters involved also fought on the Carteneau Flats during this sequence, and are the true Warriors of Light, while the players who hadn't beaten the final boss are not necessarily considered a part of that group. There's a line later in ARR that also references both groups distinctly, which I'll point out when we get there.  Also, here's a shot of Emerald Avenue, the street that the Quicksand and Gate of Nald are on. CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 10:16 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 26, 2014 13:36
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Also, if anyone has cool pictures of places that we're currently hanging out in the LP, feel free to share it (preferably with the timg tag). The game's really nice to look at, and I've seen people get some crazy good shots. I'm probably going to share similar images at the end of all the updates, but I imagine there'll be a few folk that play the game that can take better shots than I ever would. If I really like it, I'll probably add it in a later update if it's set in the same place (with credit, of course). e: New update on the first page for those jumping to this page and may miss it.
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Aug 26, 2014 13:40
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Smart Car posted:Well, since you're in Ul'dah right now I'd be missing out by not posting this picture of the city taken from a distance: drat, that's actually a pretty nice shot. It's way better than the night one I was preparing. Terper posted:I do have a couple shots of Ul'dah, but we haven't really come across the places yet, so I could post them then. If it's roundabout Emerald Avenue, it should be alright. The next quest will make me explore it a little. Even if I don't give it any focus, I'll be passing most of them anyway so that'll be okay. I'll be giving info on everything at some point, though, so it's up to you. quote:Momodi's great, anyone who started in another city missed out - in fact I'd definitely say Ul'dah is the best place to start in in terms of story. Momodi was also a factor in choosing to start in Ul'dah. You can probably assume the third big factor at this point, but I obviously can't give away any more on that for a long time. CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Aug 26, 2014 |
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Aug 26, 2014 16:13
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Ghostwoods posted:Seems fair enough. Nothing wrong with a reality being earthier than our modern world, so long as it's even-handed! The inclusion of cat-boys in ARR suggests they're at least trying to aim for "saucy" rather than "creepy". While it's not 1:1 in terms of being even handed, the game comes pretty drat close. I guess I'll have to show off something relevant to this when I get the chance. Shoopuf posted:Oh, cool. A friend and I were going to do an LP of this ourselves (and ran into technical issues for a long time), but it looks like you're saving us the trouble! If you'd like, we could at least put our efforts to use and record/post the Limsa Lominsa and Gridania storylines, or even other job quest lines. How about it? I've actually got somebody already recording Gridania's storyline for me, to save time. If you'd be willing to post the Limsa storyline, that'd be great though! They all share similar elements, so it'd be easy enough for you to gloss over. I plan to do the side quests when I reach there, but the main story would be a big help. Obviously, that's after the Ul'dah storyline is finished because of spoilers and all that, but yeah, that'd be pretty great! As for classes, I have a rough idea how I'll be approaching that. I'll be having the thread vote on what class storylines they want me to do first, so I should be fine on that front. The only thing that might be an issue is showing off the Lightning Returns event, since the finale is at a high level (level 45, I think). I have an idea on how to approach that and some of the previous seasonal events (and anyone familiar with XIV might be able to guess the gimmick), but that also depends heavily on my own screenshot archive. If there's any fresh footage that can be taken of that, then that would be really useful. Obviously, that's only if you've not done it already, because I can't expect you or anyone to level a new character to 45 for that.
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Aug 26, 2014 22:15
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Xenoveritas posted:You are correct, it's level 45 for the final Lightning Returns event. If you want someone to go around and grab footage of all the FATEs as they happen, I can do that. As for the cutscenes related to it, it sounds like you've got that covered if I know what you're talking about. Yeah, that'd certainly be appreciated. I should be able to get the FATEs myself with my actual character, but if you're in the neighbourhood when one pops then I'd definitely appreciate it if you decide to capture it. Sadly, there'll be no Snow cosplay for the LP character. As tempted as I am to level just to try and get that, I don't think I have the storage capacity for all the footage leading to that point. I ended up buying a new hard drive just for this. That loving Sned posted:The PS4 version is brilliant as well, especially due to the controls, although every version can use either a controller or a mouse and keyboard. Being able to use the touchpad to click on elements of the hud is something I couldn't live without, although if you're on the PS3 then you could probably combine a wireless mouse with the controller. Yeah, the mouse works pretty well with the PS3 version as well. Keyboard and mouse can work almost exactly like it does on PC/PS4 on the PS3, but the hotbar functions are missing. I'm pretty sure that's all, though. Also, since we're on the subject, it's neat on the Vita too. I certainly wouldn't run some of the more demanding content later in the game, but it's pretty cool for the solo stuff. Doing it away from home can be a bit difficult at times though. There's a good few choices on how to play the game. It's rather cool. CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Aug 27, 2014 |
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Aug 27, 2014 00:21
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Schwartzcough posted:So does this game have the "classic" Final Fantasy jobs, or do you just have to use some imagination, where "pugilist" = Monk, "conjurer" = White Mage, "thaumaturge" = Black Mage, etc? A lot of the classes are designed to match the lore of the world, rather than be exactly the old jobs. The jobs were eventually brought back in, which led to changes in the class system. I'll be discussing some of those changes in the LP, but just wait and see. All of the jobs have cool lore stuff too. I don't plan to hide that they exist, though. We'll be seeing plenty of black mages, summoners and so on throughout the game, even before we start unlocking them.
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Aug 27, 2014 09:02
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At the very least,I believe that someone in the game refers to adventurers frequently registering to the adventurers guild using nicknames. I'll need to recheck that though, but given how self aware the game usually is, I wouldn't be surprised. I do really like what they've done with the names though. It really is a shame that it goes unnoticed a lot. I ended up using it a little for my character back at launch because of how cool that effort was. CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 09:52 on Aug 27, 2014 |
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Aug 27, 2014 09:36
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I managed to sneak in and get the FFXI crossover event recorded before it disappears, but I'll be showing it off a little further down the line. It won't be accessible after today, so anyone who is playing might want to do that before it's gone. Showing it off shouldn't be too far down the line, either. Terper posted:I suppose I could post a couple. All of these are about a year old at this point. The game's texture quality isn't particularly great, and it's already been discussed in this thread as to why (change in focus). All the same, the game somehow looks fantastic whether you're on a low or high resolution. I've been playing it since the phase 3 beta in June, and I still find myself regularly taking snapshots of things I've passed through several thousand times.
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Aug 27, 2014 23:04
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Given that it's also relevant to the update, I figured I might as well share the stuff about the end of 1.0 in the LP. CrashScreen posted:Bonus: CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 10:58 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 10:45
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Chapter 3: The Training Wheels are... still on. Last time, we met the proprietress of the Quicksand and registered with the Adventurer's Guild under the name of Crash Screen. They've not realised it's a pseudo name, and I'm hoping it stays that way. We got a little run down of Ul'dah, but we haven't actually explored it yet. Fortunately, Momodi has a task for us that will also help get us familiar with the city.  As pointed out before, the quest marker with the flame effect signifies that it's a main scenario quest. Without this, we can't progress the story.    "If it weren't for aetherytes, travelin' around Eorzea would be a drat sight more troublesome than it is. 'Course, you still need to attune with 'em before you can use 'em, so be sure to do that with the one in the plaza. You ever attuned with an aetheryte before, Crash? If not, just lay your hand on the thing and you'll see what I mean."More troublesome, indeed. Aetherytes are probably the most frequently used mode of travel for Eorzean adventurers, and it existed in 1.0 too. However, because of the requirements to use it, players were often forced to run around to travel between places anyway. This was before players could use Chocobos or other similar modes of transport.  "Assumin' that sword ain't just for show, you might consider trainin' there." "And finally, I want you to visit the Sapphire Avenue Exchange, over on the Steps of Thal."Ul'dah is split into two different maps. The map we're currently on is the Steps of Nald, which explains why the entrace was named the Gate of Nald. The south side of Ul'dah is known as the Steps of Thal. The main street for the Steps of Thal is the Sapphire Avenue Exchange. "Goods from all across Eorzea and beyond turn up there every day. You'll have no trouble findin' armor, weapons, or anythin' else a fledglin' adventurer like yourself might need." "You might say that everythin's for sale here in Ul'dah-as long as you've got the gil." "Just make sure as you don't pay more than you ought, Crash." "There's plenty as won't scruple to swindle unsuspectin' foreigners like yourself, 'specially if they think no one's lookin' out for their best interests." "Which is why I'm givin' you this letter. When you visit the exchange, find a gentleman named Seseroga and give it to him. He'll be happy to tell you about the markets once he's read it."Momodi then raises her hand out towards Crash Screen, offering an invisible item as before. This item is a key item, and won't take up any of the one hundred inventory slots that a player is provided.  "Oh, but before you go, a word of advice: while there're more than a few unsavory characters out there who'll try to take advantage of you, there are also some with honest-to-goodness problems who you should consider offerin' a helpin' hand to." "A lot of folk are lured to this city by the promise of wealth and power. What many of 'em fail to realize is that instead of chasin' after gil the moment they get here, they ought to be makin' friends." "Let it be known that you're willin' to give as much as you get, and opportunities will come your way."If you haven't figured by now, the protagonists of Final Fantasy XIV are silent protagonists. They won't ever say a word.  Before we go off and learn about aetheryte travel, the market, and the Gladiator Guild, let's talk with the patrons of the Quicksand and learn a little bit more about the place first, and who better to start with than Momodi herself?  "With the chaos left in the wake of the Calamity, the townsfolk'll be needin' the help of my patrons more than ever."Unfortunately, despite being on a quest for her, Momodi offers a very stock response. Characters in this game do remember you and your achievements, but those instances are few at the moment. With each major patch, this is expanded upon.  Next, we'll speak to the Innkeep to the left of Momodi, Otopa Pottopa. You'll notice that there is a player to his left named Ninagi Kiryuin. There's actually a decent amount of information we can learn about the player from this image, but we'll talk about those later. Let's speak to Otopa for now.   "Pardon me, what was your name again? Crash Screen? Hmmm...I've heard nothing from Mistress Momodi about this. Alas, without her express permission, I cannot permit you to stay."That's right, you need permission to stay at the Hourglass. Currently, that pretty much means we're bums. We can't even stay at the Inn!  We're presented with a choice. Let's ask a little more about the Hourglass. "The Hourglass is only the most famous inn on the Merchant Strip."I think he's mixing famous with infamous. What kind of Inn turns down travellers until they get special word from a guild? "We have accomodations to satisfy every client's tastes, from lavish suites to simple rooms." "Were circumstances different, I would gladly invite you to make use of our facilities. However, we have had to enact certain policies in the wake of the Calamity and the unpleasantness that followed. Only those who have proven themselves trustworthy are permitted to stay." "Should Mistress Momodi deem you one such individual, you may enjoy our hospitality at will."I should point out that he means that the Hourglass is free to stay in. When we're finally provided entry, it won't cost us a gil to stay there. The Quicksand is also located right next to Pearl Lane, which is a home to a number of refugees. It's a run down street, and many of these refugees sleep in the streets. I wonder if they have anything to do with these policies?  Before we progress with the quest, let's learn a little bit more about the Quicksand.  Over here is a Lalafell named Papasu. She's a waitress here.  Similarly to Otopa, we have a choice of questions to ask Papasu. Except, this time, we actually have a choice. We'll ask about what they do here, first.  I think that Miqo'te just exploded!  "I also help out in the kitchens on occasion. No one makes buttered crumpets as buttery as I do, you know. Next time I whip up a batch, be sure to try one!" "Of course, you ought to try all of our dishes-everything we serve is excellent. Why not have a bite to eat and rest a spell? I promise you won't regret it!"Alright. Let's ask why it's called "The Quicksand" now. "Have a look around you-all manner of folk get caught in the lure of the Quicksand! They gather here to meet and mingle with one another." "'Course, you adventurers are less like to linger long. Aye, your kind is not unlike sand itself-the more tightly we try to hold on to you, the easier it is for you to slip through our fingers..." Jesus Christ.  One neat thing in this game is that if you approach characters that are already engaged in conversation, you'll be able to overhear it.  These conversations aren't usually very informative, but they can be entertaining and bring more life to the game.  Behind Papasu is a desk with many storage units. These contain leves, which are quests that can be repeated. They're more generic and lack a narrative, but their descriptions also provide a little bit more background information in their areas. Like most of the game's content right now, it's yet to be unlocked.  This kind Elezen Conjurer informs us that there's an Alchemist's Guild here. The Alchemist Guild is known as Frondale's Phrontistery, and it serves as Ul'dah's hospital, as well as taking contracts for produce.  After talking with the other NPCs, there isn't really any other new information. They're either drunk or moaning about being unable to trust anyone and how annoying the sand is. I think it's time to leave the Quicksand and carry on with our quest. We head west along Emerald Avenue, towards the Ul'dah Aetheryte Plaza. I have some conversations along the way, but I'll save some of those for a mini-update. For now, I'm going to focus on the Aetheryte Plaza.  And here it is, Ul'dah's aetheryte!  We attune to it, as Momodi suggested. It only takes a couple of seconds to attune. This prompts another cutscene.   Momodi warned us of this. I barely have more than 100 gil! Bloody Ul'dah!   Oh.   "Perchance you have heard of Return and Teleport? Well, these transportation spells make direct use of the aetherytes and their connection to the flow of aether." "But even if you have no intention of wandering beyond the sultante's borders, it would be prudent for you to attune yourself to any aetherytes you encounter from now on."  With the Return spell, I'll now be able to return to the Ul'dah Aetheryte Plaza whenever I lose in combat. It's also a cost-free teleport to whatever aetheryte is set to my home point (which is the Ul'dah Aetheryte Plaza). We can also now teleport to any aetheryte we attune to, which is how they are used as transport. There's a fee for using them; however. How is there a fee? And how do they actually work? Well... Let's go speak to Nenebaru about it! Warning. This is going to get pretty text heavy, so apologies in advance.   As with the last two NPCs with choices, we'll start off with the top question. What is aetherial travel? "In order to understand the workings of aetherial travel, one must first understand the nature of aether itself." "Aether is an invisible, intangible substance that exists all around us." "It flows through every living being, including you and me. It is what sustains us, and without it we would perish." "Once the spirit departs the body due to death, our remains are reduced to aether and returned to the aetherial river known as the Lifestream." "However, it was long ago discovered that, with sufficient control of one's spiritual energies, a man could deliberately reduce his physical form to aether without severing body and soul. And so the spells known as Return and Teleport were born."So, aether is basically just the lifestream of Final Fantasy VII, although there's a little bit more to it in this game. It's our soul, and anything living has aether. It's possible to travel through the Lifestream. It's also consumable, and as such, a very important part of Final Fantasy XIV's story. We'll get to that when the time comes, though. What are aetherytes? "These crystalline agglomerations of aether, which are a common sight throughout Eorzea, are vital to aetherial travel." "By touching an aetheryte, you can attune your body's aether with the crystal." "Should you fall in battle and your body be reduced to aether, you may awaken back at the aetheryte with which you have the strongest resonance-your 'home point.'" "With the proper training, however, you can resist the pull of your home point and travel to a different aetheryte." "This is the technique commonly referred to as 'Teleportation.'" "But know that you can only travel to an aetheryte with which you have previously attuned. When visiting an unfamiliar area, you will do well to seek out the nearest aetheryte before engaging in any activities." "In essence, aetherytes act as lodestones, which allow us to move contrary to the natural flow of the Lifestream. But be fairly warned: to attempt aetherial travel without these lodestones is akin to suicide."I've already mentioned that aetherial travel was less frequently used in 1.0. This is because of how taxing it is on the player character. A consumable known as "anima" was used when teleporting. There was a fixed total that a player could have, and it would regenerate very gradually. It was far too easy to blow it all at once. Now, you may be wondering why anyone even bothers with Chocobo travel when they have aetherial transportation. Anima is exactly why it's infrequent for NPCs to use aetherytes. Nenebaru will explain. What is the difference between Return and Teleport? "Compared to Teleport, Return is less taxing on our spiritual energies, as we are naturally drawn towards our "home point"-the aetheryte with which we have the strongest resonance." "The spell can be cast quite quickly, making it ideal for emergencies." "By way of drawback, you cannot select your destination at will-Return can only send you back to your home point." "Teleport offers greater versatility, in that you can travel to any aetheryte with which you have previously attuned." "However, it requires a great deal of spiritual energy known as "anima" to safely guide one's body and soul to the weaker aetherial beacon. Do not worry, though-many adventurers recover quickly and are more than capable of frequent travel. That is, assuming they can afford the costs involved." "You see, in the Calamity, many of the aetheryte camps across Eorzea were completely destroyed. Rebuilding these camps came at a great expense, and the money which made this possible was lent by certain wealthy individuals." "This debt is being repaid to this day, and it is for this reason that we must levy a fee upon those who use the Teleport spell."There's actually another possible reason for adventurers having pretty much unlimited anima, but we'd be getting ahead of ourselves there. It's worth noting that the appearance of aetheryte crystals has changed a lot since the calamity.  The aetheryte, itself, used to be a lot smaller. The technology is slightly different, as it was Sharlayan in nature. Sharlayan is the name of two city states in Final Fantasy XIV; although, the city located in Aldenard (the mass of land of which Ul'dah is on) is now abandoned. It's quite clear that the Sharlayans were more advanced in aetherial science. Littered around the city states are smaller aetherytes, for inter-city travel. They're a quick way to get around, but they really emphasise a problem with aetheryte travel in this game. It just makes the world feel so very small, and it makes it so easy to miss interesting things or to not learn the map. I recommend just running about instead of relying too heavily on aetherial transportation. It's worth it!  Next time, we're going to finish this quest. Because I want to pace this so that I'm not overwhelming everyone with exposition, but I still want to hurry along a bit so we can begin with the story, I'll be releasing the next update earlier than usual. Consider them part of the same chapter. Bonus Xenoveritas posted:it's perfectly possible to leave the city before you attune to the Aetheryte, engage in combat, and die. What happens if you do this before you learn Return and before you've attuned to the Aetheryte?  Here's a view of the Gate of Thal from Spineless Basin in central Thanalan.  And here's a view of Ul'dah at night, from western Thanalan. Credit goes to Smart Car for this pretty cool shot. CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Aug 31, 2014 |
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Aug 30, 2014 01:25
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Momodi is one of my favourite designs for that very reason. As for maturity, well...
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Aug 30, 2014 11:50
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Basically, you used to only get a rested bonus in the city states when resting at an Inn. It was the sanctuary bonus I mentioned in the second update that provides 50% exp up to a certain amount. In 2.1, which was last November, the city states also became sanctuaries, so there wasn't as much need for an Inn any more. Now, though, you can use the Inn to call an aesthetician or play mini-games. It's really the only benefit to it at the moment. Currently, there's also only two mini-games, but it'll be a while before I get to either (and the second one is unlockable as part of a seasonal event, so it's available for a limited time).
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Aug 30, 2014 17:23
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I've made the character's lodestone page settings completely public, just in case it might interest anyone to see how progress is coming along outside of what has been posted. I'm also probably going to make a small update just to show off all of the dialogue in the Quicksand. There's still a few more NPCs, and it's nice flavour, but it's also a completely optional read in the grand scheme of things. I'll be doing the same for every new area we get to. It should be posted early tomorrow. CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 04:00 on Aug 31, 2014 |
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Aug 31, 2014 03:47
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Chapter 3.1: Exploring and talking with the locals, also Chocobo travel that we can't use! We're back with a mild distraction. I'm taking a quick break from the quest to quickly show off some of the NPCs in the areas we've wandered so far. This won't be a major update, but I wanted to show off how much attention is going on into the background.  We're in the Quicksand right now, but we've already spoken to both Momodi and Otopa. You'll notice the arms mender to our left, so let's quickly take a look at that before we continue.  Unfortunately, Zuzutyro doesn't have any dialogue at all, but he does provide a service. As you use gear in combat, it will degrade. Speaking to an arms mender will allow you to repair that gear for a fee. Later on we'll also have the option to repair our own gear. The outfit we're wearing is a Hyuran set, and it's (obviously) the default gear that you start the game with as a Hyur. Again, we'll be looking at this stuff a bit later. If you can't tell by it's condition value, I've already used it in a fight. This was all recorded a bit later after the current quest.  Behind Zuzutyro is the entrance to the Hourglass. We won't actually be using these steps, as talking to Otopa will allow you to transition immediately inside your inn room.  To Momodi's left is a lone Lalafell. I wonder what brings him?  "Somehow the ale tastes sweeter when drunk in her presence..."  Hanging around close to the Quickand entrance from Ruby Road Exchange is Botulf. "Three reasons for that-too many trends, too many rivals, and too many lies." Basically, Ul'dah can be pretty treacherous for merchants too. It's hard to too match what's currently in demand, and there are many hired groups that will take out the competition. Hell, even Ul'dah's own policing force, the Brass Blades, are trouble. In the background, we can see a player named Tiger Fox. To the left of their name is an icon, like a film. This tells us that they're in a cutscene right now. They also have a name between arrows, just like Zuzutyro. It's a little different, but it also tells us what group they belong to.  Behind Botulf is Kekezani, dozing off on a barrel. Seems like he's having a nice dream.  Marteire is offering some friendly advice, which is uncharacteristic of someone from Ul'dah. I'm guessing he's not from around here. "Even nature conspires against us here. The heat is unbearable, and the sand-gods, the sand! It finds its way into every crack and crevasse in your body!"  Sitting together across from Momodi is a group of adventurers. There are a few ruins in Thanalan, so it's hard to tell exactly where they're referring to. This could easily be a joke about farming dungeons for loot, though, so that could be a reference to the Sunken Temple of Qarn located in southern Thanalan.  #adventuringlife  This board doesn't serve any gameplay function, but there's a couple of them about in the Quicksand.  Let's take a quick look outside, and check out what's going on in Emerald Avenue. It doesn't show in screenshots very well, but doors and gates will open automatically for the player as they approach it.  It's more populated than it was before, but that was because we were in an instance. Instances don't just purge your world of other players-they also usually remove NPCs from the scene too. Just at the steps is a sellsword and his client. The dude looks tough.  Another adventurer named Emelin is enjoying the water feature outside the Quicksand. He seems pretty unsure about whether to accept a quest. It's worth noting that you can accept up to 30 quests at a time, so players shouldn't have to worry about being in his situation. However, only 5 quests will display in the duty list, which is a list of objectives for each quest that is located under the radar-at least, by default. You'll be able to see this in the previous and next update. Furthermore, the radar will show you any nearby quests that you can accept, but will only show quest objectives for the quests in your duty list. If you open up your journal, you can toggle an option next to the quest's name to give it priority.  Next to the Gate of Nald is Mimigun, the Chocokeep. Mimigun can rent chocobos to players once they've hit level 10. Much like in any other Final Fantasy game, chocobos are giant yellow birds that players can mount. They're a common element in all the Final Fantasy games. Just in case it's not clear: Mimigun is a Lalafell in a chocobo costume. That mask is actually in the game as a level 35 equipment for your head, but it's not currently available to obtain in the game. It was originally an award for an achievement in 1.0, and they're also untradeable, so only player characters from the Sixth Astral Era will be able to equip them currently. It's a shame, because it's got surprisingly really good stats for its level.  We've got two real choices here, so let's learn a bit about both. Chocobo Porter  "If you came looking to hire a chocobo porter, I'm afraid I must disappoint you. Our birds are very fickle creatures and tend to become agitated around those with a certain lack of demeanor. Return once you have proven you can handle yourself, and I will personally see that you are assigned our best bird."The game kindly informs us that we won't be able to mount a chocobo until we're level 10. Let's try renting a chocobo. Rent a Chocobo "You must forgive me, but I am afraid my superiors would deem it inappropriate if I granted someone so obviously and painfully new to adventuring leave to take the stable's bird out beyond the city walls without proper supervision."Anyway, that's enough about a feature we can't yet use.   To the left of the Quicksand is an aethernet shard. By this point, I had found all the aethernet shards in Ul'dah, which unlocked a teleport to just outside the three gates.  The Brass Blade guarding the Gate of Nald has some sound advice for us.  We've also got a merchant getting a little bit of a telling off beside the gate, too.  There's a festival currently going on across the former Eorzean Alliance. Gridania, Limsa Lominsa, and Ul'dah have decorations in celebration of the Moonfire Faire. At night time, there are fire works. The locked quest visible on Ruby Road Exchange is the quest for the Moonfire Faire, but I'll need to be level 15 to unlock it. I'll be showing it off later.  The Ruby Road Exchange is a market place, but it's not one that player's will frequent. We can buy the default gear for any race and gender here, but only the male Hyur gear can be equipped. There are also linkshells and minions, but I'll cover those in the next mini-update. Okay, so at the size of this post so far, it's not really a mini update.  "Those night-blooms are for us, for the living. Shall we scan the sky anxious as smallholders, cringing at every strange light? Or shall we remember what it was to stand tall and breathe deep?" This off-duty officer is part of the current seasonal event. Coinciding with the game's anniversary, and running in tandem with the Moonfire Faire is The Rising. Both the Moonfire Faire and The Rising will end on September 8th, 2014.  There are no fireworks right now, but that's because it's daylight. While we're looking in that direction, though, do you see that gate? In 1.0, that area was accessible. Conversely, the Gate of Nald and Gate of Thal were locked. 1.0 had no separate zones. Instead, it had loading corridors, and there was an entrance just beside the two gates that would lead to this gate and other similar gates. Those corridors are now all sealed off in A Realm Reborn, and a Brass Blade patrols this particular one.  Although rare, there are children for some of the races in this game. It's an interesting way to see how the races develop over time. Lalafells, in particular, don't seem to change very much from when they were children.  Our buddy Wymond is chilling next to his buddy. The steps to the right of the screen lead to the aetheryte. Let's see what Wymond says.  "Keeping that coinpurse bulging, are we? They say the streets of Ul'dah are made o'gold, but it's piles o'gil what pave your way." Hooray!  This is Sunsilk Tapestries, which is run by the Weaver's Guild. Their items are often in high demand, and they export all across the world. Players will be able to purchase equipment crafted by weavers here.  I don't think this offer is available for player characters.  This is pretty absurd, if you think about it. A towering Roegadyn can equip what a tiny Lalafell also equips, and it'll fit fine. Obviously, this is because it's gameplay. This is a nice little reference to that, at least. Also, you'll notice that Rianne bows whenever you approach.  The available equipment isn't very expensive, but it's all between level 20 and 35. We won't be able to equip any of it in a long time.  Lastly, we'll end our little exploration adventure here with a brand new NPC to Ul'dah. The Skywatcher. Introduced in patch 2.35, the Skywatcher serves to predict the weather for players. There is content in the game that relies on specific weather conditions, so this lets players plan ahead. The time is based on Eorzean Time, as displayed in the top right corner of the screen.  Why, yes! Yes, I would!  When you talk to a Skywatcher, this menu pops up on screen. Selecting an area will give you a more in depth description. "In Ul'dah it is currently clear. The forecast calls for continued clear skies, followed by fair. Tomorrow at this time, the area should be rainy." So there we go. This was certainly a lot larger than I was expecting, but we got to check out a couple of new things at least! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm away to enjoy the last day of good weather. Bonus  I waited until night to get a shot of the fireworks, but it's kind of difficult to get a good view in Ul'dah. I also made some dumb video using a dance unlocked through the Moonfire Faire quests while watching the fireworks.
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Aug 31, 2014 19:52
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Xenoveritas posted:Might as well mention this since I actually tested it out once (during the PS4 beta): it's perfectly possible to leave the city before you attune to the Aetheryte, engage in combat, and die. What happens if you do this before you learn Return and before you've attuned to the Aetheryte? Y'know, for some reason it never crossed my mind to try that. It makes sense (albeit, not in terms of lore). I quoted your post in that update. It's an interesting little detail.
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Aug 31, 2014 20:00
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It's just a pun, because it's the Moonfire Faire dance. The whole theme for the seasonal event originally was adventurers fighting bombards. The dance itself was also from 1.0.
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Aug 31, 2014 23:50
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Arcade Rabbit posted:So I know we haven't even seen combat yet, but what made you pick Gladiator for the LP? I was really looking forward to seeing a Thaumaturge in action. I'll be showing off Thaumaturge too. Once I reach level 30, I'll be letting the thread vote the next combat class to show off, while I progress the main scenario as the Gladiator. I chose Gladiator for Ul'dah, but out of the Ul'dah classes I selected it because it was the one I'm most familiar with, and because it's a popular class for new players to use, but very misunderstood. I also think tank classes get the best view of combat, and make everything the bosses do a lot more relevant, so it's a good way to show off bosses too. It also lets me eat a lot of dumb attacks so I can show them off and their effect as well.
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Sep 1, 2014 13:06
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Torrannor posted:I paid much more attention to everything around me as a tank than as a damage dealer in WoW. As a tank you position bosses correctly, look out for additional spawning monsters and take especially great care not to stand in things that one-shot you, because losing a tank is nearly always a wipe. On the other hand, racing with others to be first on the damage meters makes you a bit less attentive to you surroundings. Yup. Currently in my recording, I've just unlocked the armory system. It shouldn't be very far from where we are. It'll be a few updates away, but if I can keep a decent pace I'll be able to show exactly how it works reasonably soon. Basically, though, your attributes are based on your class. My character can be whatever he wishes.
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Sep 1, 2014 14:07
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Yeah, I definitely at least plan to properly show off each class. Specifically post-50, the plan is to eventually use both tanking classes interchangeably. I really love the quests for the other, so it's definitely getting some spotlight. Whatever the thread favours will come first, though. At level ten, I'll be taking votes for crafting and gathering, too. CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Sep 2, 2014 |
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Sep 2, 2014 20:26
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Chapter 4: The Training Wheels are... still, still on. We've been introduced to the Aetheryte-a crystal that players can teleport to by travelling through the aether. With that off of Momodi's task list, we're off to go visit the Gladiators' Guild.  We begin wi-, oh. It appears someone is whispering to us. One thing to note is that new players attract a lot of attention from Free Companies. What are Free Companies? They're basically just player groups. We'll be talking about them later, so I'm not interested in joining this one and reject them. This person was very polite about it, but most Free Companies will just send an automated invite in the form of a notification with a timer. They won't talk to you, and won't explain their group. Having a larger number of players makes accruing a type of score much easier, so these groups tend to treat you as a number.  We reach outside of the Gladiators' Guild, but there seems to be some commotion outside. The dialogue is read right to left in this instance, but the order varies depending on who starts talking first. We can't really interact with them, since they're kind of busy, but there's an onlooker that we can speak to.  Something tells me that her beloved Fran is the blonde haired one. Anyway, let's head inside.  The Coliseum seems rather popular. Just outside are two characters looking to recruit new members to the guild. I guess they're after people like me. Beside them is what looks like a couple reading tonight's billing. Georg Galleongut doesn't sound like a Roegadyn name, so it looks like they have at least a couple of matches lined up  "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Tonight's main event: the prince of the bloodsands and pride of Ul'dah, the suave southern dandy-Franz the Fair!" Remember when I said that Ul'dah is split into two? Here is what the zone line looks like. Passing through here will lead us into the next map. The Coliseum and Gladiators' Guild are through here, in the Steps of Thal.  In the middle of the Coliseum is the arena. Spectators can watch from the ground floor, elevated above the action. There is also a higher view, though that's out of our reach. Surrounding the room is a number of gladiators and spectators.   These Gridanians aren't impressed.  I feel sorry for this guy. He doesn't know how right he is. Anyway, to his left is the entrance to the Gladiator's Guild.  And there she is: our objective and guild receptionist, Lulutsu.   "Tell me, are you new to the thrills of mortal combat? Well, whether you are or not, you are new to us!" "If you would take your place in these hallowed halls, you must be willing and ready to undergo the most rigorous training. You must endure cuts and bruises beyond counting, and like as not far worse." "A daunting prospect, I concede-but there is no other way if you mean to take to the bloodsands one day. And why wouldn't you? The Coliseum is only the most celebrated place of public entertainment in all of Ul'dah!"Actually, you can't fight in the bloodsands.  It's a feature that isn't in this game. Interestingly, it was available in 1.0, although as part of the original gladiator quests. I suppose, Lulutsu does state you may fight on it "one day", so it may get implemented in a future patch. "Where else could a poor man amass a fortune so vast as to one day allow him to claim a seat on the Syndicate?"This is actually a reference to a character we'll be meeting later on, named Raubahn. Final Fantasy XI players may recognise the name, but there aren't too many similarities there. "Ahhh...there's not an Ul'dahn alive who isn't inspired by the rise of the self-made man." "And there is no truer embodiment of this than the gladiator who wins riches and fame with his sword." "Throughout its long and storied history, this guild has nurtured countless champions." "Our training methods are second to none, and our members ever strive to develop new techniques." "If you desire true glory-to fight and triumph, 'midst the roar of ten thousand voices-then this is where you belong, adventurer." "...Think of it. Think of your legacy. And if your soul stirs...join us." And that's us done with the Gladiators' Guild for now. We're now free to join the guild, but we won't for now. I'll save that for the next update, and we can talk more about classes and such then too. That's when we'll actually get our first piece of combat. For now, we have one last objective to do before we return to Momodi. The next objective is also in the Steps of Thal, so we won't need to change map, but it's certainly not in the Coliseum.  On the way out of the Coliseum, I find an aethernet shard. If you notice, it's much smaller than the aethernet we last saw. This is because these shards only allow you to travel within the city. They'll teleport you to other shards, but will not teleport you anywhere outside the city. You may use them by simply interacting with them, rather than using the teleport menu.  We travel past the Gold Court...  ... through Pearl's Lane...  ... and into the Sapphire Avenue Exchange, where our next objective, Seseroga, is.   "Ah, you would have me teach you the ways of the marketplace? Very wise. As for my fee... What? You expect me to do it for free!? Surely you jest."Haha, good one! We've already had that done to us before, though. "My dear adventurer, when you ask an Ul'dahn for a favor, you should at least try to make it worth his while. Judging by your garb, I rather doubt you could afford my services, but the fact you offer nothing is laughable."He wasn't joking!   This is when the game introduces us to handing items over to NPCs. It's pretty simple really. The tutorial explains that you drag and drop the item onto it's icon in the Item Request window, but frankly, there's no point. Save yourself the hassle and just right click the item icon, and it will bring up the item for you. I didn't capture that here, because I was too busy mashing the 0 key on the number pad (which is like X on the PS3/PS4 controller). That also does the trick, except that you may still need to browse your inventory for it if it's not a key item or you have many key items. You'll probably see the right click method in another screenshot. This key item was also what Momodi gave us. Do you see the greyed out icon at the top right of that window? That brings us back to our usual inventory, which is a similar grid. In the inventory, there will be an icon to swap over to key items as well.  Handing Seseroga the item will result in another small cutscene.  "I shall be brief, and you shall be attentive."He doesn't seem very happy that he isn't profiting out of this. I guess this is an Ul'dahn for you.  "Being advantageously situated in relation to the other city-states, Ul'dah's markets have ever served as botht he literal and figurative centers of Eorzean commerce."This is actually quite true. In 1.0, Ul'dah was the most populated city-state because of how conveniently located it is. It resulted in a lot of server strain and crashing, and Square-Enix had to add the Quicksand's entrance in Pearl's Lane in order to try and reduce that strain a little. This isn't quite so true in A Realm Reborn, as a result of the virtually unrestricted teleporting. Still, it's rare to see Ul'dah empty, even despite that. There is now a more popular city, but it's a long way away yet. "All the great overland trade routes lead to our city, and the majority of maritime trade between Vylbrand and Aldernard passes through our ports."As a reminder, Aldenard is the name of the largest landmass of the Eorzean continent, whereas Vylbrand is the name of an island just off of Aldenard's shore. The only city state on Vylbrand is Limsa Lominsa, the pirate state. Thanalan is located on the south-west of Aldernard, which is directly across from Vylbrand. Besides Airship, the only other way to reach Limsa Lominsa is by taking a ship located at a Thanalan port. "Because of this, countless companies and consortia have chosen Ul'dah as their base of operations. They see to it that this marketplace is awash with merchants and moneylenders, day and night." "Surely there's something you seek, adventurer? A deadlier sword, perhaps, or a shinier trinket? Whatever it is you want, the exchange will have it."We're currently standing in the middle of the avenue, and Seseroga explains the layout of the market.  "To the north, you will find merchants peddling armor and accessories, curatives and crafting materials." "And to the south, you will find weapons, tools, and an assortment of other useful items for sale."  "My regards to Momodi. Now, off with you!" And that's us done with the objective. I can still interact with Seseroga, so let's quickly have a look at what he has to say. "Try not to become too engrossed in shopping, adventurer. While you haggle over some overpriced curiosity, a cutpurse might be eyeing you."Well, I'm certainly glad he didn't charge us for that extra advice. Anyway, it's time to go hand in our objective.  It's certainly a lot busier than the cutscene makes it look. There's a surprising lack of Final Fantasy character names here, but rest assured, there are many players lacking creativity around. Not that I'm really one to talk.  We return to Momodi to finish up our quest. "Aye, well, Ul'dah's a big place with lots to see and do-but wanderin' around aimlessly don't pay the bills. If you're serious about makin' a livin' here, you'll need to remember where things are." "So when you go explorin', explore like you've got a purpose, eh?"  And we're done! With that, we're almost done with the introduction. Next up is comba-... !  Well, I suppose this is as good of a place as any to end the update. Bonus  Ul'dah at night with the remaining moon and symbol of Menphina, the Lover. Before the Calamity, the moon was once seen with a companion-a smaller moon known as Dalamud that was also white in appearance. At least, until the Seventh Umbral Era dawn closer. Progress  Unfortunately, city-state maps will always automatically be completed. Therefore, I can't show you exclusively where I've been. This is a map of the Steps of Nald, in Ul'dah. Any sections of the map that fade are sections that lead into other maps. We've still to see Ruby Road Exchange and anything south of The Rudius. If you click the map, it will reveal the map with all of the icons and text.  This is a map of the Steps of Thal. We've still to actually explore any of it properly, but we've seen the Coliseum and Sapphire Avenue Exchange. Clicking the map will reveal all the names of places. So far, we've just looked at the very edges of both west and east sides. There is also an upper level known as Hustings Strip, but it should be a little while before we get to see it. CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 12:00 on Sep 4, 2014 |
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Sep 3, 2014 10:27
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So, a quick question. I've already posted five different updates. I'm trying to get through the early introduction quickly so we can really get to the game (even if it's still in a tutorial), but I still want to make sure it's good and enjoyable to read. How has it been so far? I also posted an update focusing mostly on exploring where we've been and looking at all the dialogue. Was that interesting, or not really worth it? Some feedback on how it's been so far would be great. I'll be throwing up one of those minor updates for the market place and coliseum, but I'm also sitting on the update with the next quest and some combat. The combat update will likely either be at the start of next week, or the very end of this week. After that, depending on the response to this, I may either continue to do the exploration type post, or skip it and do it how I have without them.
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Sep 3, 2014 22:34
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Thanks for the feedback everyone. A couple of points:SSNeoman posted:You also might wanna save the tiny details for the main quest. This game likes to give you quests just to waste your time and padding those updates out with content about tiny detail would be a good way to stop people from being bored. I've already took those into consideration. At the moment, those quests will be taking me to places that we've not really been in Ul'dah. It's a fair point, though, and I'll definitely be doing it this way. Digital Jello posted:For example, the locales are gorgeous in this game, so you could screenshot yourself at various areas of Ul'dah, and then just write a quick narrative below. That's what I was thinking I might do instead. I might still do the odd exploration thing, but I'll reserve that for much further down the line. Going forward, I'll just leave most of the dialogue from NPC's out unless I can work it into the narrative of the LP or actually use it, rather than just show it off. In the future, I might just do an exploration thing or two for those who found it interesting, like Torrannor suggested, but I'll push on for now. The next update will involve our first class quest. I have a bonus update also planned to follow up immediately with, but it won't be about exploring or talking to all the NPCs. It's a pretty small thing, and it's relevant to the mail that I'm sure people have noticed. I'll take feedback on that as well. I've also still got a little bit of dialogue in the next update, so I'd like everyone to share their opinions on how I've approached it.
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Sep 4, 2014 10:52
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Okay, so as far as recording goes, I'm now at the first group content (guildhests). Would the people who play the game still be interested in joining in and seeing just how terrible at the game I am? If so, I've created a twitter account to announce things, and I'll probably call out for players this weekend if you're interested. I've added the account to the OP. This is for players specifically on the Aether data center. Now, the method of working together, outside of the Midgardsormr world, requires a bit of luck. It's easy to fix the odds in our favour though, by setting our language as German and using the duty finder to search for German parties. It will likely work. Let me know if you're interested! CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Sep 4, 2014 |
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Sep 4, 2014 22:40
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Chapter 5: A Fast Blade to the Coliseum With our introduction to Ul'dah out of the way, we're finally ready to go off and slay ourselves some pesky giant rats. Except, not really. We'll be signing up to the Gladiators' Guild today, and getting our first taste of combat, and it doesn't involve giant rats. No, like any good Final Fantasy, one of the first type of enemies we'll be fighting is a giant wasp.  Oh yes, we're looking to smell the action with this update.  Signing up to the Gladiators' Guild is also a quest. You're going to see this a lot. Basically every feature or new type of content is unlocked through a quest.  This time, we won't be getting any gold. Instead, though, we'll be getting five Marmot Steaks. Food in Final Fantasy XIV provide a bonus to experience obtained, as well as your stats.  The Marmot Steak provides a couple of useful bonuses. Each Vitality provides extra HP depending on your current level, which means eating this food will bring us over the 100 HP milestone. The Skill Speed bonus provides an extra 8% to my current Skill Speed, but will only provide a maximum of 2 additional points, meaning if that 8% is valued at 3 or more, it will be capped at 2. There's also some nice description about the food here. I'll not be sharing every item description here, but I'll probably share them at the end of the updates, whenever new items are obtained.  Lulutsu starts the conversation right where we left off.  Actually, I'm not sure if I want to any more. I mean, it would be dangerous, right? No "Oh, so it's to be death in obscurity..." "Well, should you come to your senses, you may speak with me at any time to proceed with the enrollment process."Okay, okay. Let me join then. Yes "A decision you shan't regret. One moment-make way for Crash Screen! Fresh meat coming through!" "Now then, before your enrollment can be considered complete, you must present yourself to First Sword Mylla. Seek her out and obtain her approval."Interestingly, prior to The Calamity, you wouldn't have to go and meet the guildmaster. At the time, Lulutsu was more frantically recruiting folk to fight on the Bloodsands. As a result of a match gone wrong, the Gladiators' Guild lost two of their most important fighters. The original quests involved the loss of those two Gladiators, and the lack of having any names to draw the crowds. Because of that situation, the very first quest puts the player in the Bloodsands to fight.  This is Mylla, the guildmaster of the Gladiators' Guild. Let's say hello!  Not the most flattering angle, camera. Let's try again.  "On behalf of the Gladiators' Guild, allow me to welcome you. I am Mylla, guildmaster here." "A sword is a simple weapon. But to wield a blade well is anything but simple." "For every Coliseum champion to emerge from our ranks, there have been countless disappointments who failed to achieve greatness." "Bear that in mind before you answer me, Crash, for I do not ask this question lightly: have you strength to live by sword and-if it be your fate-die by it?" I forgot to second guess myself, and chose yes right away.  "Let's not waste time, shall we? I would gauge your aptitude for the sword." "A simple task, but essential to your training nonetheless. Now, go." And with that done, she turns her back on us. It's worth noting that the quest will end here for players who did not select Gladiator as their starting class. The reward will be the weapon we currently have equipped, and the next quest has Mylla then demand that we fight a bunch of monsters outside of Ul'dah. This is because of how the class system works. Essentially, players assume the class appropriate to the weapon on hand. To be a Gladiator, players must simply wield a sword. To be a Miner, they must wield a pickaxe. Each class also has its own level (for example, you can be a level 50 Gladiator, but a level 3 Archer). At one point in the original Final Fantasy XIV, players would level their character alongside increasing the rank of the class, rather than the level. Levelling up a character would let the player select attributes, while increasing the rank of the class unlocked more abilities. This has all been rolled into one thing for each class, which came about somewhere during the original game's run.  I headed out of the coliseum and into the Steps of Nald. Directly across from the Coliseum entrance is the Gate of the Sultana, erected after the Calamity. To the left of it is Rudius, a small shop. We'll check the contents later. Right now, we're off to kill some pesky critters and learn about combat!  Our first steps outside of the city! This is western Thanalan, and we're on The Eighty Sins of Sasamo. It is here that we'll find one of our objectives, represented as yellow blips on the map, as well as a tutorial on battle. Screw the tutorial though, let's learn how it works with experience! Outside the gate are a couple of Adventurers, and a small group of merchants, all of whom are arguing amongst themselves.  We're going to go neither. Below the Eighty Sins of Sasamo is Scorpion Crossing, which is located between three paths: a path to central Thanalan, a path to the settlement called Horizon, and a path to the smaller settlement called the Silver Bazaar. While our other targets are in central Thanalan, it's better to stick closer to Ul'dah right now. The furthest we'll need to bother with is the steps. If it weren't foggy, we'd be able to see Horizon from up here.  The Star Marmots are what we're after. Killing three of them will complete one of our three objectives, as well as doing a nice service to the Chocobo caravans that pass through on their way to Ul'dah. They like to leave a lot of holes everywhere, and the poor Chocobos often injure themselves on them. They're docile unless attacked, so we won't have to worry about accidentally being targeted by multiple Marmots. The icon above them indicates that they're a quest target.  Combat is simple enough, especially at this level. We only have one attack: Fast Blade. You'll notice that it's refilling in a clockwise circle. That's the cooldown, which is set at 2.5 seconds for Fast Blade. It has a potency of 150, of which the highest attack potency in the game is 300. This puts it in the middle range for damage. It costs 70 TP to use, and the maximum TP a player has is 1000 TP. It's not as severe as it sounds. Roughly every three seconds about 60 TP will restore. For long battles, this might become an issue, but we won't be seeing any of those at this level. The Fast Blade did about 8 damage, but you should notice that there's another number below it. That's the auto-attack damage. Auto-attack's potency is strictly based on the weapon, and will strike even if you're in the middle of an attack.  Like any RPG, it's possible to miss or get a critical hit. Critical hits provide a 1.5 damage multiplier. The Marmots don't have anything special going for it, and don't really hurt, so players that roll as a caster won't have anything to worry about. I'll note that it's possible to miss spells or dodge them. Position also plays a roll in accuracy. Attacking from the side is easier, but attacking from behind requires the least accuracy. It's kind of hard to do that when fighting solo though.  The only notable thing about the Marmot is its Somersault Slash, but that barely provides any more damage than its auto-attack, which it will rely on the most. There's a couple more things on screen right now, but we'll ignore them for the moment. The only other thing I need to point out right now is that the target's name is now red. This means that I was the one to "tag" it, guaranteeing me the exp. I could also attack a Marmot that someone else is targeting, which labels them in purple. That wouldn't guarantee any experience, but if I contribute enough to the fight then I'd get the full experience reward too.  At level 1, Marmots give us 75 experience. It takes 300 to level up, so you can expect that we'll finally level up during this quest. The flash also tells us that we've began spiritbonding with our equipment. This won't mean much yet, but I won't be able to sell or trade this gear to any other players from this point on.  I levelled up on the last Marmot, and even got myself a bit of Marmot meat. It's raw, so we won't be able to use that. We can learn to cook it later too. Interestingly, the item drop showing up as flying text was introduced as recently as the 2.28 update in May. You can also probably guess that Marmot meat is used to produce Marmot Steak.  Hitting level 2 unlocked Rampart, our first buff. It's actually a really powerful buff, even during the end-game. It provides 10% damage mitigation. That's not a defence increase like some players believe, it's the damage received after defence calculations that's reduced by 10%. That may not sound like a lot, but it gets enhanced later on to a solid 20%. It only lasts 20 seconds, and has a 90 second cool down. The animation also fits nicely between any of your attacks, so it's best placed in between attack cooldowns. That's enough to last a full fight at the moment. Still, we won't need it for anything we'll be fighting for this quest.  With that, we're done with western Thanalan. It's back into Ul'dah and straight through the Gate of Nald, where we got our first bit of gameplay.  Oh yeah, did I say that you can jump in this game? This actually caused a small upset. You couldn't jump in 1.0, and many players felt that it ruined the immersion to have so many players hopping about everywhere. I jump over about everything I see, so I think it's silly, but I guess these kind of things matter to some people?  This is central Thanalan. The river ahead is called Soot Creek, and we can just slightly see Black Brush Station ahead of us. We won't be travelling that far though. This is just a taste of what's to come.  Those unfortunate enough to not even be able to stay in Pearl's Lane live in the tents at Stonesthrow, just outside the Gate of Nald. This area is comprised of mostly just refugees. Before the Calamity, many of these people were from the city-state of Ala Mhigo, but now those whose lives were ruined by the Calamity also lurk outside. I'll be touching more on, as they're quite heavily linked to many of the goings on of Ul'dah.  It is a pretty depressing state though. There's a couple of stalls, but nothing can be purchased because they hold no value. This Lalafell has even given up.  Let's cheer up by smashing up three Huge Hornets. Also, you should notice that there are Star Marmots here, so you can skip even bothering with western Thanalan. I just wanted to show it off a little. It's a shame that it happened to be foggy, but oh well. Like the Marmot, it relies mostly on auto-attack. It can use Sharp Sting, which only hits me for 4 damage too. There's no real danger with these enemies, and it's really just to teach you to press the 1 key. Still, it drops honey, yet again used for cooking, and supplies 75 exp, in part thanks to the sanctuary bonus I got when I logged out. As a reminder, the more time spent in the sanctuary means a longer 50% exp bonus.  So, after helping with Stonethrow's Giant Hornet problem, I followed the path east to find our last prey.  Snapping Shrews can be found around the Royal Plantations, where they're also a bit of a pest problem. They're the highest level enemies we've fought yet, but they shouldn't be too difficult regardless of your class.  With a quick swipe, I engaged it in combat. It hits a bit more heavily, doing about six or seven damage. It's still not dangerous, but about a third of my HP is gone after the fight. To make a point of the TP, the leftover TP from the fight is as high as 850.  It drops some Animal Sinew, which some crafting can use to make lovely things like new armour. As expected of a higher level, it provides more exp than the last two monsters.  Killing the remaining Snapping Shrews results in another level up, which will probably be a good time to quickly take a look at the stats. For the most part, they should all explain themselves. The attributes aren't quite clear, but the green coloured attributes are for melee classes. For Gladiator, Strength influences melee damage and how much damage is blocked with a shield. Dexterity influences the chances of blocking damage with a shield. Vitality, as mentioned previously, increases HP by 20 per point. In offensive properties is determination, which also provides further increased damage. It's effectiveness is shared across all the classes, as opposed to the limited attributes whether it be healing or dealing damage. For ranged classes, Dexterity also increases damage. Intelligence increases magical damage, and Mind increases healing effectiveness. Piety increases your MP. In the original Final Fantasy XIV, the attributes influenced more, but they've been simplified in A Realm Reborn to improve balance and reduce confusion.  It's time to turn in the quest, so I went back to the Coliseum.  "Rest assured there will be far greater challenges to come. If you wish to master the sword, you must test yourself against a wide variety of foes. To this end, I present to you this hunting log." "It contains information on creatures ideal for a gladiator in training. You will doubtless gain valuable experience should you seek out and slay them. It is only with such practice that you will recognize and eliminate the deficiencies in your technique." "Your training under me shall continue once the haft sits so snugly in your hand that you cannot imagine holding aught else. Until then, Crash."And we're done!  Completing the quest gives us the hunting log, and two tutorials. The first tutorial explains how to use items, and the second explains the hunting log. In Final Fantasy XIV, items also have a cool down period. It varies depending on the item, but healing potions share a cooldown. This means using a Potion will prevent you from using another Potion or Ether for the duration specified. Items like Antidote, for curing poison, are on a different cooldown timer, though. If nothing is targeted, the player will use it on themselves; however, you can use it on other players if you target them. Food has no cooldown. Lastly, the hunting log is another method of providing experience. For our first class, we won't really be paying too much attention to this right away. The amount of experience obtained is absurd. To put it simply, as I write this I'm already doing the level 5 main scenario quests. Despite that, simply doing quests has brought Crash Screen to level 9. The hunting log is split into different ranks, supplying enemies for each level. After killing enough of a certain type of enemy, players will be rewarded with experience. Completing all entries in a page will unlock the next page, giving players more targets for the next ten levels. Players may sometimes be expected to also kill different enemies for the same level. Hunting targets will have a special icon above their head, which we'll be seeing in the near future.  Before I wrap up, remember that item I received from the merchant on the Chocobo carriage in the first update? He handed us this Ring of Fidelity, which provides an additional point to defence and magic defence. It also provides a bonus to Vitality, giving Crash Screen 8 more HP, bringing him to 127. I think that'll do us for this week. There's a lot of information here, and there's still plenty more to talk about. Next week we'll explore more of Ul'dah and get ourselves some new equipment. Bonus  This is the view from the top of the Eighty Sins of Sasamo. I'm pretty sure you can see Vylbrand, the island which is home to the city-state of Limsa Lominsa, from here. Items Here's some stuff that we got.  The Weathered Shortsword is our primary weapon. It makes us a Gladiator, but it kinda sucks. Most of the stats should be self-explanatory. There will be a couple of things, but I'll talk about that later.  The Hyuran Tunic is the default body piece for male Hyurs. The silly arm warmer on Crash Screen is actually from the Hyuran Tunic and not the gloves.     
CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Sep 7, 2014 |
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Sep 7, 2014 01:10
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Awesome. Thanks for the responses. I'll likely be running the first two guildhests tomorrow, and I'll announce on Twitter approximately an hour before and when I start. The thread might be a decent place to arrange classes and stuff, but if you have Twitter then that works pretty well too.Xenoveritas posted:Although if anyone reading this LP wants to play, I'd still highly recommend joining Excalibur. A ton of goons play on that server and they will be willing to help you with just about anything if you ask. Absolutely this. I'm only on Midgardsormr because that's where my personal character is (which is because I have friends there). It makes it easier to do a few things, and also gives me an excuse for how I'll approach lost content (like previous seasonal events). If anyone is wanting to play the game, then they should absolutely join Excalibur. quote:Edit: Oh, and I did it, I recorded all four Lightning FATEs. Not sure what I'm going to do with that, but I recorded them. Awesome, thanks. A friend who hadn't done the quests let me use his account, so I have the quests too. It'll be definitely good to check out the footage from this to make sure nothing is missed. It'll be a while before I reach most of it in the LP, but if you drop me a PM we can discuss this so that you won't have to sit with those files taking up space forever. CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 11:06 on Sep 9, 2014 |
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Sep 7, 2014 01:16
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You're spot on, as far as the LP has gotten so far. I will say pre-emptively (to avoid someone coming into the thread and saying it's wrong) that there are two meanings for Warrior of Light, though. In the context that Momodi used the term, those who disappeared at Carteneau during the cutscene are the Warriors of Light. As for the second definition, which applies to every 1.0 character, I'll be getting to that later.
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Sep 7, 2014 09:52
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I forgot to post this bonus update last night because of how tired I was, but here's that bonus update. Also, Mazed, thanks for the advice. I've stopped splitting the dialogue by text boxes. Bonus: Gotta check the mail, kupo! Observational readers may have noticed that I had 17 unread mail the very moment gameplay started. This is actually mail from Square-Enix, for varying reasons. I'll show off a new thing every update.  In Eorzea, Moogles have taken up mail delivery as they did in Final Fantasy IX. There's actually a fair bit of lore surrounding the Moogle race, but I'll chat about them when we get to their native land. They're usually invisible, but we're special and able to see them. I'll let the Moogle explain.  "Oh, I know what you're thinking. 'Moogles are supposed to hide in trees and avoid contact with outsiders! Why ever would they agree to carry about letters?' 'Why' indeed! If I had my way, I'd be curled up under the canopy of a nice oak dreaming about some beautiful mooglette with a rainbow-colored pom-pom, kupo! But no, the moon had to go and drop from the sky, causing all of that terrible commotion! Aetherytes were shattered and linkpearls rendered useless. For moons, the poor, wingless people of Eorzea had no way of communicating with each other...beyond screaming at the top of their lungs, which no one really approved of, kupo."Linkpearls was a feature in both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV. It's a tool used to communicate with players and, in 1.0, NPCs. I'll show it off later. "That is, until the little horned ones asked us to assist them by delivering messages. At first we were wary of showing ourselves, worried that one of you might catch us and skin us, like you do every other forest furry. But once we saw how much we were appreciated, we knew we'd found our new calling!"Like most of the information about moogles, I'll be save talking about the "little horned ones" until we visit their home country. "And I personally promise to try and not read any along the way, kupo! Look what we have here! 17 new letters have arrived, just for you, kupo!" And yeah, I've got lots of mail alright. The numbers at the bottom are for unread mail/total mail/maximum capacity, so we can only have up to 130 mail before we can't receive any more. Let's take a look at a couple.  The Fantasia is an item that players who played 1.0 are rewarded with. In 1.0, players were unable to play as male Miqo'te and female Roegadyns. Furthermore, the change to the graphics meant that some characters would look different. This item was handed out so that players could change the appearance of their character to take advantage of the changes, or to fix a character that now isn't what they want to play.  In another mail, I got the moogle cap. This item provides similar defence and magic defence to the other items that I've equipped, but is for the head slot. It gives an additional point bonus to Dexterity and Intelligence, which is, frankly, useless for Crash Screen. However! The moogle cap is an item with a very rare effect. It increases experience obtained, excluding from quests and the hunting log, by 20%. The effect only lasts until level 10, though. This item was a pre-order bonus for A Realm Reborn.  Lastly, I'll reveal the contents of this mail: our first minion. Minions are basically just collectable pets. They can be obtained through a variety of ways, and will follow you around or do stuff whenever you call them. This minion is the Cait Sith doll, which you get for pre-ordering A Realm Reborn.  Let's take a look at the doll before we go. Using the minion item will provide us with the ability to summon it.  Since it's our first minion, it also unlocks the minion guide. This guide was added in version 2.3, which was released just in July. The Obedient behaviour means it follows you wherever you go, and stays behind you.  Hovering your mouse over the image will bring up a quote with some relevance to the minion. This quote was from Cait Sith in Final Fantasy VII, when calling Barret out for doing something horrible. If you want the context and haven't played the game out yet, you should check out Elentor's SSLP of it.  Before the minion guide, the only lore you could read about minions in game was from hovering the mouse over the action to summon them. You can still view this in the minion guide by doing the same thing. You can also drag and drop them on to your hotbar.  And here we are with our new clockwork minion...  ... who likes to dance whenever we're not doing anything! So that's what we got in the mail this week. From this point on, I'll probably add a small addition to updates where I'll look at a single mail item, unless the update itself is too long. Items   
CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 10:35 on Sep 7, 2014 |
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Sep 7, 2014 10:27
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Dr. Video Games 0156 posted:For one, Fast Blade is 150 potency, not 170. Whoops, I was pretty sure I looked at the game when I wrote that too. That changes a few things. There are also a fair few weaker attacks, but yeah, it's not too great. There's still plenty of attacks weaker than it or just as good as it, though, but that's only without any enhancements or combos. Fast Blade becomes rather weak with that context, but we've not really seen anything like that in the LP just yet. Fister Roboto posted:It's worth noting that there are indeed 80 steps on the 80 Sins of Sassamo. Someone on the official forums claimed it was only 76, so I kept away from giving a number. I was meaning to actually count it myself, but I forgot. Thanks for the confirmation!
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Sep 7, 2014 19:13
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I would have liked to have included the soundtrack, but I was pretty sure that came under  since it's purchasable from their official online store. I was planning on using stuff like Mining as an excuse to capture it, since Square gave it the okay to do that.If you want to share some of the tracks we would have heard already ahead of time, then go for it. The soundtrack is pretty great, so everyone should really give some of it a listen to.
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Sep 9, 2014 07:58
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Schwartzcough posted:Is this right? It seems... backwards (since healing is usually associated religion or reverence, while MP or magic reserves is usually associated with mental strenth or what-have-you). I forgot to respond to this, but basically both healing and damage dealing magic is related to religion in the game. Piety ties them both together. It kind of also works with how the magic is used in the game, too, but I'll get to that. Magic in this game is quite interesting, and how they work is kind of plot relevant--not just to their own class quests. Fister Roboto posted:I'd also like to note that the transitions between the night time and day time tracks, in all cities, are amazing. Rather than what I previously did to explore Ul'dah, I could just post a video of me running around and checking out the incidental dialogue. Anyone that's interested could take a look at that and see the place explored, while everyone else can use it to listen to what the soundtrack is like. Descriptions of places can be left for when I actually reach there in the LP, so I guess that would work? I don't know. It's a thought.
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Sep 9, 2014 11:15
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