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I still click almost all of my buttons with my mouse. The only things I hit on my keyboard is my default combo which is always spread out on 1-6. I'll even click those if I'm moving. I have destroyed the left button of multiple mice.
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Nov 9, 2022 13:59
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XIV is directly responsible for my having gone through 5+ DS4 controllers (at least they each broke in slightly different ways). Even when I play on PC I still exclusively use a controller, despite having played MMOs for decades before XIV using only kbd+mouse. The controller support for this game is magical.
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Nov 9, 2022 15:32
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Kazy posted:I had this in my drawer for like 10 years before finally digging it out for XIV. Can't play without it now. I have one of those and they're amazing, but I'm afraid of becoming dependent on it because it would be so expensive to replace now.
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Nov 9, 2022 16:42
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I use gamepad myself, it's really easy to set combos to B X Y with utlitiy attacks (AOE, Cashing out on full Meditation Bar) on A with non attack skills on L-Trigger. I only wish I could use Double Cross Bar and the Secondary Bar with the other two pull styles, tho.
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Nov 9, 2022 18:27
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Ibblebibble posted:98% of the time when I am playing this game I have RMB held down so it would be extremely weird for me to go to a control scheme where that doesn't work lol I needed an alternative because I was worried about what this was doing to my poor mouse, a splurge on an overpriced Razer that's gone when it's gone. It just so happens that being just a little less heavy on RMB also made me maybe a little better at the game but definitely not worse. It's probably the most jarring control shift since I went to mouselook in Quake almost 25 years ago (holy crap) but the same "ahh how have I not been doing this the whole time" feeling set in after a few hours.
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Nov 9, 2022 20:32
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Hell yeah, I, too, play with a G13 like Yoship intended (he used to use one himself before replacing it with the one mentioned up thread). (setup slightly outdated)
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Nov 10, 2022 00:20
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Despite having a g13 for quite some time before selling it to a friend, I never actually made the jump. FF14, in particular, had the particular problem of my needing to make bad puns in party chat during duties. Black Mage cast times give you enough time to say something dumb, or if that's not enough time, you can just hit escape, pre-cast, then hit enter and start typing again. Having to reposition a hand off my mouse already leads to typos but both hands, as I've tried with controller before, never works out.
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Nov 10, 2022 09:51
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Galaga Galaxian posted:Hell yeah, I, too, play with a G13 like Yoship intended (he used to use one himself before replacing it with the one mentioned up thread). I play with both hands on the keyboard as Tanaka intended.
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Nov 10, 2022 14:20
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Just to update you all, my ability to write this week was somewhat compromised by the stress of following US Elections Stuff. I'm going to try and get the next chapter up in the next couple of days. The good news is I'm about to get a week off for Thanksgiving, so you can expect a couple of chapter rapidly after the next one since I have nothing much to do that week. 
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Nov 14, 2022 07:19
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All good, take your time. Stormblood deals in some territories that'd mix badly with politics anxiety so a breather's a good idea.
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Nov 14, 2022 10:31
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Chapter 26: Identity Based on my interactions with their Khans, I expected little nuance from the Oronir and Budugan tribes. Surely they'd be just like their respective leaders, the former arrogant and lordly and the latter sexist brutes. I should have expected by this point that the writers would not let any Xaela groups be stereotypes, not even the most antagonistic. A lifetime of genre fiction sets certain expectations, I suppose. Either way, some poking around Dawn Throne was enough to put those assumptions in their place. Even without speaking to anyone, we find the settlement filled with micro-vignettes, not unlike the Golden Saucer or the major cities. The two tribes living on the great stone bowl exercise, work, chat, and generally live their lives as if your presence doesn't matter one way or the other. A child complains that learning to read and write is useless, and his classmate tells him to shut up and pay attention. A warrior practices shooting a bow and then notes that he'd rather be doing spear practice. A pair of women share a cup of tea and gossip. Laborers discuss the logistical challenges of keeping themselves and their herds fed far above the grasslands and if the troubles are worth the security. A group of spectators cheers on a friendly round of bokh, traditional Mongolian wrestling. There's a distinct sense of normalcy I didn't expect when I was brought to the magical castle in the sky to serve Lizard Gilgamesh and his misogynist playmate. When I do start talking to people, this impression is reinforced by their attitudes. While the Oronir can be a bit on the haughty side, none are like their Eldest Brother (the tribe refers to each other as siblings, with the leader assuming seniority among the 'family'). Many are happy to have a visitor. They're a rarity due to the limited means to access the top of the fortress. Some marvel at the strength of the foreigner who tamed a yol and earned the gods' favor, challenging her to show her power by hunting beasts or completing trials. Of course, few among the Sun's Chosen are willing to concede that she might be better than they are just because she's good.   Not again…One trait that shines through with the Oronir is a sense of duty. They believe they have a divine right to rule due to their connection to Azim, the Sun God, but with that right comes obligation and compassion for those in their charge. Whether it's the guy who asks me to bring him furs to help baby sheep survive the winter or the warrior who sends me to light the oil lamps the tribe maintains for the benefit of all, their tasks show that they take their position seriously. The origin of this universal paternalist love is explained when Hien and Kheris find one of the tribe's elders. After helping him recover some lost lambs, we ask how the Oronir can claim to descend from the Sun when they are Xaela and thus born from the Moon Goddess. He answers that the version of the myth where only the Raen came from Azim is mostly correct, but it leaves out an important detail. After the Au Ra united in harmony, the gods that created them were inspired by their creations and cast aside their struggle for dominance. They became lovers for a time but knew they could not remain together lest all creation cease to exist in the absence of Day and Night. Their forced separation put Father Azim into despair. Then he resolved that if he could not live with his beloved, he would live among their children. He sent down a splinter of himself to become mortal, and in tribute to Mother Nhaama, he clad that avatar in the black scales of the Xaela.  It's a romantic little tale and a realistic example of how a society might embellish a shared cultural origin myth to give themselves singular importance. It also underscores the Oronir self-identity, the notion that they exist to protect the other tribes first and foremost. When Hien asks how they can fight in the Naadam if they hold this belief, it is framed as a necessary act of discipline against willful children.  The story comes with a cute capstone: when Nhaama looked down from the sky and saw the Sun's Avatar, she wept tears for her distant love. Each of these tears arose as a Daughter of the Moon, an Au Ra girl touched by the divine. Many tribes adopted them, and since that day, each Son of Azim has had their destiny bound to one. Each Oronir man spends his life seeking the one they were meant to be with, and in doing so, they allow some small part of the gods' love to exist again in this world. One would think that such a distinctly male-centric story and societal ethos might create some deeply rooted sexism among the Oronir, but that doesn't seem to be the case. In addition to the fact that the tribe's best wrestler is a woman and in charge of training all the others, we can point to one sidequest where one of these Moon-Blessed Wives sends me to deliver tools to her absent-minded husband. The guy is annoyed with himself for always needing to be bailed out by her. He's supposed to be the big strong protector. Ultimately, both take the incident in stride and accept that they're better together, even if neither of them fits the mold they're supposed to occupy. They know what the tribe expects but don't let it define them. Still, it's probable that the Oronir implicitly privileging the male in their beliefs is a big part of why the Buduga Tribe have allied with them. As I mentioned, when you speak to Khan Daidakul he's such a dedicated woman-hater he won't even talk to Kheris. However, the rest of his tribe does not follow the Men Only ethos with nearly that much zeal. Their most noteworthy sidequest involves wanting to see your battle prowess up close. This turns into an ambush. At first, I thought this cemented them as a villainous group. But once you win, they laugh it off like it was all in good fun. The one who started the fight is effusive in his praise and even laments that Kheris can't join his tribe because of her gender.  That said, they're not quite as open-minded as their hosts. We meet one of the victims they have kidnapped to replenish their ranks, and while he's adapted to his new life quite well, he still wants to pray for the souls of his lost family. The other Buduga mock him for this, so he asks Kheris to do so on his behalf. They may not be evil as individuals, but that doesn't change the fact that their beliefs demand they live as raiders, pillagers, and slavers. ~*~*~ Hien is satisfied with the knowledge we've gained from this venture, and when we return to Magnai's throne room, Gosetsu and Lyse have finally returned. The Khan seems pleased by all our work, but in exchange for the boon of freedom, The Eternal Sun would have us carry out one final task:  The Dotharl, the Undying Ones, are the tribe we saw confronting an Oronir Warrior at Reunion. Hien permits himself a sly smirk when he thinks nobody is looking. Another opportunity to scout for his future army is handed to him on a silver platter. The fact that only two of us get to go on this mission and the other two will be enslaved if we die doesn't even phase him. The Lord of Doma does have a bit of a Machiavellian streak to him, doesn't he? To further complicate things, Magnai declares that he will pick which two get to go (and, in turn, which of us will be more valuable slaves.) Unsurprisingly, Daidukul demands Hien as his hostage because he can't take a woman. Definitely not because he has a giant crush on 'the firewalker.' As for The Sun, he notes that men are useless to him, so he's happy to send Gosetsu off. He wonders aloud if one of us women might be the Moon he is destined to find, which confuses Lyse. Kheris got the history lesson; she knows what he's getting at. If this self-absorbed psycho thinks she's interested, he's got anoth-  …  Look, Kheris does NOT have a type, OKAY?! On the way out of Dawn Throne, I find that a Big Sidequest has unlocked. Esugen is a fellow Culinarian who needs help making the tribe's evening meal. While assisting him, it soon becomes clear that no one respects him because he's almost 40 years old and known widely as the weakest warrior of the tribe. Their treatment seems a little over the top just for that!  Seriously? How did this guy tame a Yol? He asks Kheris to help him cook for an upcoming feast so he has time to practice. A forthcoming contest will rank all the Oronir Warriors before the Naadam, and if he avoids last place, it might earn him some respect. The Warrior of Light is always happy to help a fellow chef, but the situation seems hopeless. Esugen's melancholy over his impending humiliation is evident. The good news is that he has a cheerleader, a young orphan named Jelme. He respects Esugen regardless of his combat skills because he takes care of all the neediest members of the tribe with his food. The boy's well-wishes for the tourney give Esugen the motivation to keep trying, but when his older brother appears and tells the lad to stop spending time with that loser, that confidence disappears.   Esugen takes being chastised by the boy to heart. He resolves to stick up for himself, but first, he gives his young friend an apology in the form of a hand-made dessert. Jelme appreciates the effort but isn't in the mood for treats because his big brother has fallen ill. At first, Esugen considers this a blessing from Azim because that brother is his first-round opponent. If he's sick, avoiding an embarrassing defeat is assured! Kheris slaps him down for this, reminding him that Jelme admires him for his kindness and wouldn't like hearing that kind of talk from him. He knows that she's right. Instead of training, the chef cooks a medicinal stew to help his opponent fight off the infection. Jelme doesn't understand why, but he's grateful nonetheless. As for Esugen, he's just happy he stayed true to himself. Remaining a laughing stock is a small price for one's self-respect.  ~*~*~ Gosetsu leads Kheris south toward the home of the Dotharl. They've made their camp on the edge of an enormous desert which stretches as far south as the grasslands stretch north beyond Reunion. This setup is analogous to real-life Asian geography, where the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts divide Mongolia from northern China. We pass a great stone head similar to the one at Dawn Throne called the Dusk Mother. No doubt it's meant to depict Nhaama, though it has long since fallen to ruin for some unexplained reason. From there, we see a pair of Au Ra being assaulted by animals and rush to their aid. By the time we slay the beasts, it's too late for one hunter. The survivor is grateful, though he laments that this was no way for a Dotharl to die. Moments later, another would-be rescuer appears, and she begins demanding to know who we are and why we're in her territory. Gosetsu isn't one for subterfuge and explains we are Mol Tribe planning to fight in the Naadam, though he leaves out that we came on Magnai's orders. Oddly, the woman seems pleased by this news.   Well, that was a fortunate omission. Sadu offers to meet with us back at her camp and orders the wounded man to dispose of the corpse. This callous attitude does not sit well with Gosetsu, and he rushes after her to inquire why she treats the fallen warrior with such disdain. In the village, contempt for the fallen warrior seems far from anyone's mind. The girl we find Sadu speaking to argues that they may need to adjust their strategy for the Naadam because they've lost him. The only thing not getting respect is the corpse itself. As far as she's concerned, it's nothing but an empty shell. It can be discarded because even without it, the warrior will return. The Dotharl are known as the Undying and have no fear of battle because they believe in reincarnation. Sadu explains that the souls of those fearless in war burn brighter. At the moment of their deaths, that soul ignites into a white-hot flame as it escapes the body, marking their worthiness to be reborn. The elders inspect every Dotharl child; their eyes are searched for the one who was lost. When they are recognized, they are given the name of their past self and raised to take up the same role in the community. That's why the other hunter was so concerned about the manner of his partner's death; he feared it might be a death too unworthy to merit a return. Sadu seems to think he was a warrior of sufficient stature that an unimpressive end will not bar him from this honor, though this might be mere words to comfort her people. She is the Khan, after all. It's an interesting belief system. Of course, based on what we know about the lifestream and aether, it shouldn't be possible. Souls that return to their source are dissipated, and new souls are made from the raw energy. But on the other hand, the fact that Primals don't seem to follow those rules is just one of the many mysteries surrounding them. Then there's Y'shtola and Thancred, whose souls survived a prolonged period in the lifestream without bodies. That bit about souls burning bright at the moment of death is also interesting because we know it's true, even if they think it means something different than a release of magical energy. Who's to say there isn't as much truth to the Dotharl's beliefs as the Sharlayan's studies? From Kheris' perspective, neither hypothesis has all the facts. Gosetsu's reaction is less intellectually curious.  Smooth.  Sadu warns him to be more respectful, and everyone continues their business, but Gosetsu is still bothered. He's abashed at his faux pas, but something about the soul living past death to enjoy rebirth profoundly disturbs him. A clue as to what's bothering him comes when we split up to seek knowledge that will satisfy Magnai. He asks a leading question of one of the Undying: does a return from death render it essentially meaningless? We'll come back to that later. For her part, Kheris learns that one of many enemies the Dotharl have slain is oppressive gender norms.   I have to admit, I was hoping for this exact thing once the subject of reincarnation came up. World of Warcraft did something similar in the Shadowlands expansion, using the setting of the afterlife to establish a metaphysical disconnect between the true gender identity of the soul and the superficial one of the body. I thought it was a lovely way to use the fantasy setting to tackle trans issues and representation without needing to get into gritty medical things. They've taken a slightly different tact here in Stormblood. By Dotharl reckoning, the soul is entirely non-gendered, its identity recognized primarily by the talents in confers. Talking around town, you hear children discuss how they're trying to "remember," their past lives abilities with bow and spear. They all accept being identified by the gender of their current container, but it's entirely superficial. The presumed gender of their names and any expectations that might come with it is only an artifact of Xaela heritage and holds no meaning for them. Only the legacy attached to it matters. There are a lot of Buddhist elements going into this, naturally, but I think anyone who wants to read an LGBTQ+ allegory into it would be well within their rights. Unfortunately, nothing we've learned will be relevant to Magnai. Even the fact that their numbers are far inferior to the Oronai will fall under the heading 'things he already knows.' Our only hope is to uncover their strategy for the Naadam and pass it along. Gosetsu offers a novel espionage technique to get this intel:  Kheris would have laughed in disbelief and exasperation, but Sadu beat her to the punch. The truth is there was no secret plan. The Dotharl don't play those sorts of games when it comes to fighting. They'll run into the fray and fight and die. Win or lose, they know no other way. Gosetsu can appreciate this level of reckless courage, but he can't help but question it, given the size of the tribe. Why are they so few if they are such great warriors that they need no particular plan for the battle? This question dents Sadu's bravado. She explains that they are so few because even the worthiest dead cannot be reborn if there is no vessel for them to inhabit. In recent years, too many warriors have died before they can sire or bear new children. This has had an unfortunate cascading effect on their numbers. While they were once a proud and numerous tribe, it only took a few bad results to cull them significantly. And yet, the Dotharl refuse to give in to despair even as their fortunes ebb.   Gosetsu is taken aback by these words. His interpretation that this tribe views death as meaningless couldn't have been further from the mark. On the contrary, they value every life among them because if one ever fails to return due to circumstances beyond their control, an incalculably precious thing is lost forever. They see death as glorious, but their duty to the tribe and the names they bear demands that they keep it at bay. After this revelation, Gosetsu requests to see the fallen warrior's body and pay respects in his way. Sado thinks this is silly but isn't about to dump on his beliefs after scolding him for doing the same. We make our way to the desert and find where the body has been left for the vultures. It still seems wrong to him, but the old general now understands that to the Dotharl, the sight of a body returning to the earth is a comfort. Comfort in the face of death and loss is something Gosetsu can understand.   When we first heard about this reincarnation thing, Gosetsu seemed fixated on the word 'retribution.' It made me think he was obsessing over his past, disturbed by the idea that the king and comrades he failed or the innocents he slew as an Imperial soldier might return to haunt him in new flesh. Indeed, that still might be part of why the notion bothers him. But his need for death to have meaning is what really made him balk. Unlike those from Hingashi, being a Samurai in Doma seems predicated on religion to a large degree. Gosetsu epitomizes this. He believes that the hands of the kami are at work in his life, that they have empowered him for the sake of a grand design. His will to fight is inexorably linked to his belief that he serves a greater purpose. It gave him the strength to cross the world in a rowboat and drove him to stain his honor forever by leading the Garleans to conquer others. In his heart, he believes that one day he will die for that purpose. Ironically that's the only reason he's been able to keep going. Despite the hardship of guerilla warfare, despite failing to protect his king, despite the fear oven Hien's fate and the shame of what he did to get back to his student's side, despite Yotsuyu digging her claws into the gaping wounds in his heart, Gosetsu endures. When so many other Domans broke, Gosetsu found solace in the unshakable belief that when he died, it would be for some worthy end. His steadfastness would be rewarded with a peace that he was never meant to have in life. It's sad, in a way, to know that he believes only death can relieve his pain. But there's a kind of beauty in it as well. Who can help but feel some shred of envy for a man who believes so completely that nothing in this life is too heavy to carry? Of course, it would be easy to misinterpret this speech as Gosetsu being suicidal. He demonstrates that this is not the case.   With her companion's troubles soothed, Kheris prepares to return to Dawn Throne. The camera cuts back to Lyse and Hien. They've been locked in a holding cell and have spent the time we've been gone trying to escape. Well, Lyse was trying; Hien just leaned back with that smug look on his face the whole time. You can't fault his confidence. With nothing else to do, Lyse decides this is her chance to speak with Hien. She'd mentioned that she wanted to understand why Hien was willing to fight even though he'd never known anything but Imperial rule, hoping it might help her understand Fordola's decision to collaborate. When she asks the question, Hien pontificates that the nature of Mankind of pragmatism. Hope is a fragile thing in his mind, easily broken by hardship. People are wont to surrender dreams and quick to normalize suffering because that's an easier path to alleviating pain when the odds aren't in your favor. It's a bleak sentiment, far darker than I'd ever thought to hear come out of Hien's mouth. But despite this dire perspective on the human condition, Hien does not believe we're beyond saving. On the contrary, he thinks it is nearly impossible to completely erase hope regardless of how easy it is to shatter. The broken pieces linger, and if even one person who understands the suffering that broke it is willing to raise their voice, the masses can be convinced to reforge those pieces and dream again.  …   With her memories of Papalymo's guidance putting a smile on her face, Lyse plops down next to Hien and comments that he's just like the Warrior of Light. When Hien implies that she's of that same breed, she laughs it off… but she also swears an oath to herself:  ~*~*~ As expected, as soon as the story gives me a good reason to leave the Dotharl town, all the sidequests hoping to keep me there unlock. At least Stormblood is consistent. Most of the quests on offer are quick and uninteresting, although one girl who sends me off to kill the critters that killed her brother makes me grin when she promises to teach him to be less stupid in his next life. There's another new quest type, asking the player to move and fight only a strictly designated area. You fail if you put a toe outside the lines.  The one that sticks out the most from the initial offering sees a girl request an escort up a mountain road. She wants to commune with the Moon Goddess, and the best place to do that is a mysterious glowing thing known as the House of the Crooked Coin.  It appears to be some sort of machine. Another remnant of the ancient civilization that built the Dawn Throne? An Allagan artifact? Regardless of its origins, the Xaela believe it to be a fragment of Nhaama. The young woman wants to pray for her family, who were slain by the Oronir a few weeks earlier. It's a less-than-savory request since that prayer includes a wish for bloody revenge, but Kheris can see no reason not to help her. The passes are full of giant elephant people.  Once the way is clear, the girl asks Kheris to deliver a letter to a friend back in the village. Once this letter is opened and read, the Warrior of Light discovers the truth: the girl committed suicide by casting herself into the machine. The Dotharl believe that this piece of Nhaama has the power to break the cycle of reincarnation. Losing her family robbed the girl of her desire for another life. She needed an escort because she couldn't risk being killed before she reached the crystal. While their faith teaches that the tribe should be happy when troubled souls find eternal rest, the one who got the letter laments this outcome. Kheris, having been used to facilitate this tragedy, agrees wholeheartedly. One of the Dotharl sidequests is a breadcrumb to a whole other tribe. A young warrior who needs help delivering sacks of food explains that the elders did not recognize his past life when he was born. This is thought to mean that a warrior from another tribe was great enough to be reborn into the Dotharl. A bit of sleuthing led the young man to believe he was part of the Uyagir tribe and died saving the life of a Dotharl warrior. He's since decided to reconnect with his past life's still-living mother. I'm sure many people would find this kind of disturbing, but the old lady takes it in stride.   The Uyagir reside in a cave called The Hundred-and-One Revelations. Not because the place is especially hospitable but because, in the distant past, they were covetous jerks who tried to subjugate the entire Steppe. Not long after embarking on their mission of conquest, their territory was struck by a plague of gigantic beetles, which ruined the ecosystem and left them homeless and destitute. Deciding this was an omen, the tribe embraced a life of fasting and repentance for their greed. These days the Uyagir believe they've earned some degree of forgiveness because living in the cave has blessed them with divine visions. Their Khan, Ibakha, even purports to have the ability to see the future, just like her counterpart among the Mol. I think this might have more to do with the diet of cave mushrooms several tribe members mention in passing. Regardless, they do not believe they have fully repented and thus continue their self-imposed deprivation. How bad is this deprivation, you ask?  "We will only eat meat if it is several days old, and only the crap parts of the animal nobody wanted," is pretty harsh, even for people who are into hardcore flagellation. If that doesn't seem bad enough, another lady thinks it would be too greedy to replace her damaged flute. This wouldn't be so bad, except she wants the new flute to pass down a folk song to her son for the sake of the tribe's cultural tradition! Now that's what I call self-loathing. These two somewhat lackluster quest clusters set the stage for something more engaging: the Dotharl's Big Sidequest. A gentleman named Mauci of the Seven and Seven Swords needs the Warrior of Light's help. He is the reincarnation of the greatest swordsman his tribe has ever seen. There's just one problem: he sucks with swords. It's bad enough that he's starting to believe the elders got it wrong when they looked into his eyes, and he might be someone else. We investigate this hypothesis, but everyone in the tribe dismisses the idea that this could be a case of mistaken identity. Even if the elders were wrong, which everyone considers a stretch, no other children were born the year Mauci died. It was implied in other quests that those who don't return in short order usually never do. They think this guy has to be the genuine article because the last Mauci was such a fantastic warrior he couldn't have been denied rebirth. Resigning himself to the idea that he must be the Legendary Swordsman, Mauci asks Kheris how she got so good. She answers without hesitation:  Technically she had many teachers, but the sentiment stands. She agrees to help the poor sap Study The Blade, and after a few rounds of observing her kill monsters, he feels prepared for a sparring tournament. It doesn't go well. Perhaps this failure will convince his community that they were wrong.  Perhaps not. The bullying is stopped by the arrival of Khulan, a girl who's known Mauci since they were children and wants to protect him from the misery he's constantly feeling. She also thinks that the elders must have erred when they saw the Seven and Seven Swordsman in that baby's eyes and that his lack of martial ability is not his fault. Fresh off his humiliation, Mauci doesn't take kindly to this suggestion and takes off into the desert. Since he rushed off in a huff, he isn't armed. When Kheris catches up to him, she agrees to escort him to his favorite thinking spot, an Oronir oil lamp overlooking a vast plane of grass. Along the way, he comments that he "feels so light," without his sword. This feeling carries forward when we reach the lamp.    It's not the failure to succeed at swordsmanship that's hurting him; it's the weight of expectation. He wants to contribute to his community because they believe so strongly in their own superiority, and he wants to be part of that. But the community emphasizes not only being a warrior but being the same warrior you were in your past life. On that score, he can't measure up. If only he could find some other way... OH NO, SURPRISE YETI ATTACK!   ...  Discovering this incredible talent with barehand fighting leaves Mauci bursting with joy. He rushes off to practice further while Kheris takes the news to Khulan, who is now more convinced than ever that he must have been misnamed. She suggests we seek out the Uyagir Khan and ask if she's eaten enough shrooms today to know Mauci's true identity. When we find Khan Ibakha in the cave, she knows which one of us needs help and what is troubling him! We ask if our friend is Mauci of the Seven and Seven Swords born again. If she's this knowledgeable, maybe she has seen a vision!  Can we get a refund? This psychic helpline sucks. Her excuse is that the gods only show her tribe visions of the present and future, never the past. Because of this, she does know that Mauci will become a warrior of legend. He should forget his worries concerning his past life and focus on this one. Taking the advice to heart, Mauci resolves to return to the village and tell everyone that he is not who they think he is. He will never train with a sword again, and if that means banishment for defying the elders, then so be it. Good for him!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag1o3koTLWM To be honest, the ending to this questline was a real letdown. The story had been a feel-good tale of overcoming societal expectations until the very last moment. Having the whole episode shrugged off with a joke didn't sit well with me. Admittedly, part of that is that I was still somewhat fixated on the idea of fantasy reincarnation as trans allegory in the moment. If we used that lens, this story would be pretty appalling. The person who went through all those struggles because they felt a disconnect between the identity assigned at birth and their life is ultimately told that they were struggling for no reason and the assignment was always proper. Ew. But even without applying that particular lens to the story, the ending still bothers me a little. I was rooting for Mauci to find a way out of his depression and throw off the expectations he never asked for at every stage of this quest. The plot ending on the reveal that those expectations were only a problem in his head and not objectively kind of soured the whole thing for me. If they wanted to do a gag ending in the same vein, it should have been everyone saying "Oh, so you're not Mauci after all. That makes sense. I guess the elders really did make a mistake. No biggie. I guess you need a new name." It would have the same overall effect, telling us that Mauci was stressing himself out more than he needed to. But it would have said it in a way that validated the protagonist's journey rather than dismissing it and showcased one of the Dotharl's most essential traits: their accepting and supportive nature. On that slightly negative note, we'll set off for Dawn Throne. Next time, the long-awaited Naadam begins!
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Nov 21, 2022 01:19
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Sadu is the best NPC in the game.
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Nov 21, 2022 01:37
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Rap Game Goku posted:Sadu is the best NPC in the game. 
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Nov 21, 2022 01:54
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Sadu. I made an alt on the roleplaying server that is a Dotharl entirely because Sadu. God I love Sadu so much. Rap Game Goku posted:Sadu is the best NPC in the game.
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Nov 21, 2022 02:00
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Rap Game Goku posted:Sadu is the best NPC in the game.
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Nov 21, 2022 02:15
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Sadu rules unbelievably hard. I do have to say I enjoyed a lot of the sidequests from this part personally, as I thought they were pretty interesting! There was a recent question going around Twitter about peoples' favorite minor sidequest characters and while I'm not going to link it because it covers ShB and EW as well, people remember Koko, Esugen, and Mauci pretty fondly. The discussion on the soul stuff is neat I think because of the clash between what the Dotharl believe and what we've been lead to believe about how souls work via Sharlayan scholars' theories of how death works. I feel like there is a pretty decent sense that even if Sharlayans are a bunch of really advanced academics there's still a lot they don't know, which makes the world feel more real than if they did have literally everything figured out. Can souls be reincarnated as directly as the Dotharl believe and do certain qualities remain between different lives, or is the soul just kind of melted down into an aetherial slurry and it's a blank slate every time? If certain qualities do carry over to your next life, what determines what those qualities are?  , and I think that's neat!
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Nov 21, 2022 02:37
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Rap Game Goku posted:Sadu is the best NPC in the game. I mean she's up there, but at this point that title is claimed by Nero.
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Nov 21, 2022 02:39
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While I will echo the praise of Sadu, I at least appreciate the slightly more nuanced take on Magnai. I'm not going to call him the character that most gets characterized wrong for the sake of a meme or because of Other WeirdnessTM, but he's definitely up there and has at least some stuff going on that's worth exploring.
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Nov 21, 2022 02:41
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Rap Game Goku posted:Sadu is the best NPC in the game.
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Nov 21, 2022 03:13
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Rap Game Goku posted:Sadu is the best NPC in the game. Sadu is THE best NPC in the game.
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Nov 21, 2022 03:45
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I'll be honest, I decided to get flirty with Magnai just because I thought it was hilarious.
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Nov 21, 2022 03:45
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Fun fact, a number of years ago SE released a semi-joking video of the WoL going on dates with several NPCs per gender for the year's Rising event. Among the NPCs were recurring characters like the twins, Y'shtola, Yugiri, Ayemric, and Hien... and also Magnai and Sadu.
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Nov 21, 2022 03:48
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Sadu is a thaumaturge and my favorite one even over the brothers in ARR. I love all the Xaela they have such interesting stories. There's all kinds of interesting tribal rules and strengths and weaknesses.
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Nov 21, 2022 03:54
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I also love Sadu. Magnai and the Oronir always put a bad taste in my mouth. I’m not sure if it’s the arrogance, or the paternalism that always seemed to veer into condescension to me, but I could never really enjoy their characters.
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Nov 21, 2022 04:06
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Sadu is great, but Gosetsu is better.
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Nov 21, 2022 04:10
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Kheldarn posted:Sadu is great, but Gosetsu is better. Gosetsu's bit in this chapter gave me some serious feels.
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Nov 21, 2022 04:21
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Sadu shares the same face and horns as my WoL and when I was playing this part, the same hairstyle as well. Since she's Xaela and I was Raen with darker hair and lighter skin it was like hanging out with my negative clone.
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Nov 21, 2022 04:23
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Sanguinia posted:Chapter 26: Identity I am really awful at cleaning out quests and only recently got around to the Steppe. This quest made me really mad. I knew something was up was soon as I got a letter to take to the friend back in the village. I even checked out the cave before heading back to deliver it. I feel like my WoL would have known something was up and instead I just have to facilitate this suicide.
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Nov 21, 2022 04:30
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If player Au Ra's had more of Sadu's sense of swagger in them, I'd have played one. That said I won't lie that I spend the part of the MSQ going around her camp thinking that this has all the markings of a cult, particularly due to the suggestion of people being told they're the reincarnation of someone who was great a thing they have no talent for, and set on that road that they're not comfortable with.
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Nov 21, 2022 04:31
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Kazy posted:I feel like my WoL would have known something was up and instead I just have to facilitate this suicide. I certainly wouldn't blame anybody who was upset by it. That said, it didn't bother me too much. For one thing, it's hardly the biggest idiot ball the WoL has been handed and the NPC did a decent job of hiding her intention. After all, she was there to pray for revenge, one wouldn't think that someone praying for revenge didn't plan to be around to see it. I also can't help but give props to the writing trick where you only realize after the fact that she needed someone to take her to her death so she didn't die before she got there. That's a clever twist. More importantly though, I didn't feel like suicide was being included here thoughtlessly or for Edge Points. The detail that some souls might tire of the cycle of reincarnation and that there is an out for them if that is the case is a worthwhile one in terms of fleshing out the Dotharl's belief system, especially given how it's obviously been partially inspired by Buddhism. More importantly, establishing that their faith tells them that this is an OK thing but also that those left behind aren't always going to buy into that is a good bit of humanization. As Crap said, it would be easy to view the Dotharl religion is somewhat cultish. By showing that there are those in the group that doubt its tenants and or who don't fit the mold their cosmology describes, and how the group copes with those problems, the whole enterprise gains the same level of realism and legitimacy the rest of the Steppe tribes have enjoyed.
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Nov 21, 2022 05:07
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Honestly I'm impressed by anyone who can play as a woman through this stretch and still make themselves see nuance in Magnai, I played as a man and I still wanted to strangle him every time he opened his mouth. Definitely a contributor in why I do not care for the Oronir as a whole even if Esugen is my favorite rando NPC in StB. Their leader is just incredibly unpleasant to deal with. At least the Buduga don't dance around their bullshit and try to pretty it up even if they're also pretty clearly custom-built to be antagonistic. Anyway, Sadu rules and I adore her and the Dotharl.
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Nov 21, 2022 05:56
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Sadu really is one of the best characters in the game. People should be asking "Where is Sadu?" whenever she isn't on screen.
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Nov 21, 2022 06:37
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Sang, if you have an FC, linkshells, or other means of summoning a bunch of people to help you, I highly recommend taking a few hours to go through The Dataqi Chronicles (link is to the list of FATE names and locations on the wiki, it shouldn't otherwise be spoilery), which is a giant 13-part FATE chain with a whole lot of lore and character interactions attached to it that takes you around the entire Azim Steppe meeting a few more tribes you otherwise wouldn't encounter. It starts with The Dataqi Chronicles: Departures at coordinates (X27.8 Y30.2). Needless to say FFXIV has never done a 13-part FATE chain again, though there's sort of a precursor with the Darkscale FATEs in the Churning Mists, which I don't remember if you did, and a bit more experimentation in the next expansion as well. It's honestly not an entirely successful means of storytelling, not least because most players will never concertedly sit down and try to experience the story, which makes it interesting. jalapeno_dude fucked around with this message at 07:15 on Nov 21, 2022 |
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Nov 21, 2022 07:11
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jalapeno_dude posted:Sang, if you have an FC, linkshells, or other means of summoning a bunch of people to help you, I highly recommend taking a few hours to go through The Dataqi Chronicles (link is to the list of FATE names and locations on the wiki, it shouldn't otherwise be spoilery), which is a giant 13-part FATE chain with a whole lot of lore and character interactions attached to it that takes you around the entire Azim Steppe meeting a few more tribes you otherwise wouldn't encounter. It starts with The Dataqi Chronicles: Departures at coordinates (X27.8 Y30.2). That's the only achivement FATE I'm still missing for Stormblood, so hopefully I can get in a team like this, or solo it. Also, Rap Game Goku posted:Sadu is the best NPC in the game.
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Nov 21, 2022 07:31
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Rap Game Goku posted:Sadu is the best NPC in the game.
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Nov 21, 2022 08:33
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We've met the Dotharl in-depth now, but they haven't really mentioned one of the things they were known for back from the elucidation on Xaela naming conventions back in Heavensward namely, they were the ones that massacred the Hotgo, Mide's tribe. There's a minor reference to it from one of the NPCs - they say they died in fierce battle with them. The exploration of various spiritualities that runs through Stormblood is really on full display with the Azim Steppe, and Gosetsu is a fine character to help look at some extra aspects on the theme.
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Nov 21, 2022 10:03
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Rap Game Goku posted:Sadu is the best NPC in the game.
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Nov 21, 2022 10:38
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This segment single-handedly got me to Fantasia and name change, because the Dotharl (and, yes, Sadu in particular) are just that good. I’m really glad that I did, both because you get a lot of fun little incidental RP when you run across other Dotharl and Oronir players, but also because they have a very distinct viewpoint from pretty much any other characters in the game, and it’s a really interesting lens to view the story through. While realistically, I think someone would have taken Mauci aside years ago to explain his past lives beyond the most recent, I think what it’s demonstrating is that there’s a degree of flexibility that the Dotharl afford themselves. Who you were does not have to be who you are, and that’s true within a life as well as between them. Because Past Mauci was so distinct, Current Mauci does have expectations placed upon him, but that’s not coming from the actual Elders, who do point out that swords are not Mauci’s defining feature throughout his lives, it’s his dedication to the tribe, which current Mauci does display. Yes, it should’ve already been resolved, but then there wouldn’t be a quest. Also, I think it’s worth pointing out, in connection with their views, Dotharl garb is the same across genders.
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Nov 21, 2022 11:02
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The suicide quest got me too, I felt bad around the time she sent me back with the letter. I think the Mauci ending works if you assume that at least some of the Dotharl elders or culture have elements of self fulfilling prophecy and a touch of pragmatism. If you look a kid in the eyes, tell them they're the return of the greatest archer, then make them train with the bow for a decade then surprise, you'll likely get a good archer. To go with your observations about the Dotharl and gender norms I think some NPC/sidequest lines mention the previous Sadus were men. As the best and most powerful lizard I could believe the elders saw Sadu's up and coming talent and said "oh yeah, you're our best guy" and continued that line. Edit: Well it seems they make these judgements within a year of birth, but still it strains a bit like with Mauci at times. But given the nature of the setting I'm sure some of their belief is true too and I do like the breaking of gender norms and the trans friendly representation. And speaking of best characters, Gosetsu rules. Magnai is... ok. He's easy to dislike but he's an exemplar of his people and it's easy to see that as being a jackass since it's a bit of a jackass culture at times. Everybody loves Sadu but she doesn't exactly hide the similar chips on her shoulder. Tribes defeated, tribes wiped out, don't like it, don't lose! Kinder tribes like the Mol get by by practically hiding from the aggro ones. Speaking of seeing past gender norms I like that for au ri npcs nobody in game ever discounts an au ri gals strength, even if they're half the size. Doomykins fucked around with this message at 14:30 on Nov 21, 2022 |
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Nov 21, 2022 13:21
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Personally, I just put up a PF to do Darkscale and Dataqi Chronicles, mentioning there was an achievement tied to it. I think there's also a 30 minute break about halfway between Dataqi Chronicles, too.
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Nov 21, 2022 13:56
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