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Pwnstar posted:I love that Nero took stock of his life and realised that he could make Cid much more miserable by being his friend than his enemy. lmao
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Jul 8, 2023 22:20
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| # ? May 11, 2024 15:23 |
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 I'm coming for YOU! Kheris!
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Jul 10, 2023 08:16
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Nero is the most divorced man alive and I love him for that
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Jul 10, 2023 08:35
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mcclay posted:Nero is the most divorced man alive and I love him for that It's an impressive feat for somebody who, as far as we can tell, has never been married to anything other than his work.
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Jul 10, 2023 13:11
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Onmi posted:
 Mean. 
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Jul 10, 2023 13:17
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Kheris Killrau
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Jul 10, 2023 15:30
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Sanguinia posted:
On the one hand, I feel bad about sniping you. On the other hand. 
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Jul 10, 2023 17:11
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Onmi posted:On the one hand, I feel bad about sniping you. Your ill-gotten MGP will bring you no joy.
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Jul 10, 2023 17:36
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Jack-Off Lantern posted:Your ill-gotten MGP will bring you no joy. Well Obviously I need 2 million more for the Blackjack.
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Jul 10, 2023 17:42
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Onmi posted:Well Obviously I need 2 million more for the Blackjack. I wish the Blackjack was 8man. 
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Jul 10, 2023 19:00
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Mordiceius posted:I wish the Blackjack was 8man. I don't own that many friends to make any of my multi seaters useable
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Jul 10, 2023 19:08
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Onmi posted:Well Obviously I need 2 million more for the Blackjack. To this day I'm still so livid that they released the Blackjack literally two days after I got the Sabotender....
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Jul 11, 2023 03:44
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My efforts to do justice to the final chapter of the Omega Raid Series have taken more thought and effort than I hoped, but I just want you all to know that I made a lot of progress tonight, and if I didn't have to go back to work on Wednesday I would definitely stay up until like 7am finishing and posting it. However, looming work being the case, I will instead go to sleep to post tomorrow afternoon or evening.
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Jul 11, 2023 09:49
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Sanguinia posted:My efforts to do justice to the final chapter of the Omega Raid Series have taken more thought and effort than I hoped, but I just want you all to know that I made a lot of progress tonight, and if I didn't have to go back to work on Wednesday I would definitely stay up until like 7am finishing and posting it. However, looming work being the case, I will instead go to sleep to post tomorrow afternoon or evening. I hope you liked the final tier. I thought it was a blast the first time I got there. O10S sucks eggs, though... How many Strangers of Paradise jokes did you have to cut out of the script?
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Jul 11, 2023 10:35
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I'm the one person in the world who liked O10S and will still happily listen to the music on repeat.
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Jul 11, 2023 11:28
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Well, before the next update, I'll step back a bit just to finish my piece to get it off my mind. So way back the first time the Ixal's origins came up, I was trying not trying to step on Fractal Continuum (Hard) before the LP did, so the only context I was working with was that the Ixal were in the Black Shroud before Gridania was. Obviously they are originally from Azys Lla and couldn't have been in the Black Shroud any earlier than the Third Astral Era, but I wasn't trying to make it a point that their ultimate origin was from the forest. Their lifestyle at the time the elementals pushed them out had relied heavily upon wooden crafts and crops grown within the forest, which led to hardships because Coerthas, even pre-Primal Bahamut, wasn't nearly as heavily wooded, and the seeds they brought with them didn't fare well in the local soil, so it also seems rather unlikely that they were only just first settling outwards from the mountains and were immediately rebuffed back to their pre-established homes. Xelphatol's dungeon description also backs up them settling the mountains after fleeing the Shroud. Ultimately all we have to go on for their timeline is inferences and in-universe records, though - they are descended from the Iksalion, a chimeric race developed and then abandoned by the Allagan Empire. People were aware of their presence in the Black Shroud at some point before the elementals drove them out, and that they had been winged. It's more likely with the follow-up information that the elementals had no direct role in the loss of their wings. Here's the full Encyclopaedia Eorzea description for Garuda, too.  And because it can be a bit hard to read, the transcription: Legend has it that the birdmen of the Ixal once lived on a floating continent known as Ayatlan, where they protected the furthest reaches of the heavens as Garuda's divine soldiers. A time came, however, when the evil that saturated the land below began to reach upwards and infect the skies above. Thence did Garuda order her minions to descend and cleanse the ground of this vile influence, bidding them to remain there as guardians that the heavens may never again be thus threatened. To this day, the Ixal have dwelled upon the land, dreaming of an end to their sacred duty and a return to their lost paradise in the clouds. Even as this myth is kept alive within the now-flightless tribe, entries have been discovered in the recording devices of ancient Allag that describe the "iksalion" - a chimeric race that was created on Azys Lla to serve in the intriguingly named Garuda Airborne Division. According to these records, the division was led by a female Allagan general, and it was by her order that the iksalion were deployed across the empire to crush a string of uprisings. The commonalities between historical fact and mythical imagry are difficult to ignore, and are a subject of great interest to scholars who study the beast tribes. I can add that the Ixal were the last beast tribe added in the ARR patches (2.35), and Ayatlan was the first in-game mention of a floating continent, which got players at the time reasonably hyped up for future developments. Heavensward would have been in locked-down script by then, and the Fractal Continuum was one of the first optional 60 dungeons, so they definitely had the thrust of the lore outlined at that point, even if it's not fully followed up on until the (Hard) version in Stormblood. Even if it could have led to more, I do love that after the revelation Sezul essentially decides "we'll find our OWN Ayatlan
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Jul 11, 2023 12:52
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Chapter 54: Hello, My Name is Human After Sigmascape, Cid's terminal decodes a new set of Allagan records. The narrator is a military officer discussing the conquest of Meracydia and the "resurrection," of Bahamut. The Emperor, who should be Xande's Clone, has commanded that the eikon be captured using the recently acquired Binding Coil technology. How will they take the thing alive?  In a hilarious twist, Omega was sealed away 400 years earlier because it grew tired of the Allagans. They learned from interacting with its intelligence, just like they hoped, but once their probing got too close to its vital systems, the machine locked them out. No amount of effort convinced it to obey their orders. We don't know how long they tried, but eventually, they labeled the project a dead end and put the machine into stasis. The stasis system was as useless back then as it is now. Omega operated in secret for centuries, seeking a worthy enemy. When Bahamut was deemed promising, it signaled its jailers. The Allagans were disturbed that the machine had remained aware in lockdown, but it was also the answer to their problems, so they agreed to let it fight Bahamut.  It's ironic. The guy notes that they were winning the war handily despite the Primals. The native's supply of crystals was dwindling. Victory was within their grasp. Instead, they unleashed a weapon that did more damage to their military than the entire conquest. Then they compounded their mistake by dragging Bahamut back to their capital for experimentation, which led to Sophia's infiltration, a devastating blow to the heart of their empire. Gee, I wonder if those incidents contributed to a ragtag group of malcontents becoming Warriors of Light and leading a populist uprising against Xande? The Allagans' greed laid every brick on the road to the end of their civilization. After reviewing the records, Kheris finds little to occupy herself. She listens to relaxing music from the second wave of THE SAVAGE INITIATIVE(tm) and hands over salvage to the Ironworks engineers, who bring her an exquisite set of spellcasting armor.  Unfortunately, these don't distract her much from the pain of losing Midgardsormr. Worse, she's facing that struggle in isolation. Nero, Biggs, and Wedge are recovering from their wounds. Jessie is tending to Alpha, trying to bolster his deflated spirits. Cid locked himself in a room after their last conversation and hasn't come out since. She's alone.  Well, maybe not completely alone… ~*~*~ When Omega signals, Cid is a bit late to our rendezvous. Jessie decides that if he's that engrossed, Kheris should know what he's been working on: the secrets of Bozja Citadel. Bozja was a Garlean city. As I suspected, it was where Cid's father, Midas, contacted Dalamud. What I didn't know is this device later caused an accident that vaporized the town. Somehow, that being an accident seems unlikely. Could it have been Bahamut covering up his manipulation of Project Meteor? Or was it a desperate act on Midas' part to stop the oncoming disaster? We did learn from Gaius that the wyrm's power over the man was not total and that he expressed regrets in the moments he was in control. It would be quite tragic if he sacrificed himself like that in vain. Either way, Midas' death in an anti-eikon weapon project cemented Cid's outrage over Garlean imperialism, leading to his defection. So, what does this have to do with Cid locking himself in his room? After Kheris last saw him, he reached out to some friends in Garlean territory and arranged for all information on the Bozja transmitter to be delivered into his custody.  I can't imagine what Cid is planning, but if he's toying with the invention that killed his father, it must mean he came to some conclusion after Nero's speech. We'll need to wait and see. When Cid finally arrives, we get a touching moment where Jessie offers to go to the Yawn with us. Instead, he asks her to finish assembling his latest creation. He trusts no one else to handle such an important piece of engineering. Kheris can offer to face the last fight alone, but after such a display of team spirit, there's no way. When we reach the Rift, the cyberspace is nearly empty. Every egg but one has been destroyed. Omega's Level Checker confirms testing is complete. One specimen from Group Psi has emerged victorious. Kheris will face that monster, and whoever survives will have the privilege of direct combat against Omega. The robot states outright that it expects the Warrior of Light to prevail and looks forward to the data it will gather on her ability to exceed limits when they fight. However, it wants to clarify one thing before we proceed.  Alpha's testing authority is now redundant, so logic dictates we have no use for him. Cid rejects this thinking, stating that Alpha has contributed heavily to our progress. Nobody should stand in his way if he wants to see things through to the end. This does not compute for Omega. To it, you can only be a companion if you have something to contribute. Efficiency is paramount, and there's nothing less efficient than keeping something unnecessary for sentimental reasons. Besides, we're silly to care about the bird. He was never on our side.  Alpha was the first creature Omega created. At the time, it was already intensely curious about unexceptional specimens that overcome their superiors. The story of Alpha the Chocobo, one of many in its archives, told of the humblest creature defeating a foe whose power rivaled Omega's, an act of true heroism. This most unlikely of champions would be the perfect subject to study the phenomenon.   Jeez, what a gut punch. All those poor little birds… It's also worth noting that this exposition is filled with needless low-key insults toward our sweet boy. Omega's contempt for its 'faulty' work is clear behind that mechanical veneer. Thousands of failed experiments led to Omega's current testing parameters. Since making a 'hero' didn't work, it created creatures that could provoke 'heroism.' Alpha was then repurposed to entrap someone unexceptional, and the next thing you know, Kheris arrived. Cid is quiet for a moment, staring at a feather that soon disappears. Then he asks if the technology Omega uses to create lifeforms was designed for that purpose. Confused by this question, the machine confirms that its manufacturing system was intended to make spare parts, ammunition, and upgrades for its chassis. However, adapting it was simple.   …    drat, Cid took it to school for Engineering AND Philosophy! Filled with righteous indignation, Cid leads our group to the final egg. Alpha hesitates to join us, understandably upset by what he heard. Kheris attempts to encourage him.  Still, when we reach our new base camp, it's clear that our acceptance isn't enough. Alpha's ignorance put us in this trap, which resulted in three hospitalizations, an attempted murder, the disappearance of a dragon, and an entire world being threatened with destruction. It's too much for his tiny heart to bear. Cid offers what condolences he can, swearing to Alpha that our hands aren't clean in this debacle. Like the Allagans before us, we woke the weapon hoping it would solve our problems. We deserve a share of the guilt, so he shouldn't let the weight crush him. The speech helps, but Cid knows there's no better medicine for a troubled mind than busy hands. Er, wings.   …  Kheris' task will prove more challenging than keeping the coffee pot full. The good news is that Omega has provided us with a profile of our final enemy. So, who could possibly follow Kefka?  Ooooh boy!   The instance's name is Alphascape 1.0. Technically, the last egg is the Phiscape, but we'll eventually fight elsewhere. Since all the raids are called Alphascape, I suppose the name is metaphorical. Every Alphascape fight gets unique music. For Chaos, the track is known simply as  "Battle," an orchestral piece that struck me as unusual because it lets the lower octaves, like tubas, lead the melody. Such instruments are often confined to supporting roles, so it was nice to hear them in the lead. Focusing on bass was a fitting atmospheric choice because our enemy is a beefy boy.  Chaos is aptly named. He rarely uses the same attack twice, and efforts on my part to predict what he might do next were basically a waste. However, that didn't translate into him being frustrated to fight. The mechanical focus is on area denial. He has four primary phases; in each one, he summons a big swatch of elemental energy to make a different portion of the arena deadly. Then he starts slinging spells which generally do one of two things: force the group to coordinate to avoid disastrous damage or try to knock everyone off the edge.  The precise form these spells take is unique to each phase, so the battle is very reactive your first time. This is fine because he's been designed with solid readability, even by FF14 standards. I also noticed his abilities block off so much of the arena at once that the safe zones on any given move can be oddly easy to reach. It was rare for me to be more than a step away from a clean dodge.  I died a few times because his timing is aggressive, but I never felt like a death was unjustified. He also has a flashy mid-fight transition, in which he summons an evil crystal by sending us to outer space, cutting our HP to one.  Oh, and I noticed one spell used in several phases was called "Knock Down." That's a Final Fantasy villain meme, right? "I will knock you all down!" Is that this guy? If so, cute reference. When Chaos falls, Omega offers its congratulations but admits it is no closer to understanding how I overcome these opponents. Cid's words about its inability to comprehend conviction planted the idea that its entire testing scheme is useless. It needs more information to evaluate this argument, but its current data can't be trusted if Cid is correct. Then it gets an idea.  The environment shifts around Kheris, becoming a craggy peak. Geysers of light erupt from a green fog that covers the land below the mountain, and an eerie red and violet sky roils overhead. It is one of the most alien places she's ever seen.   You're kidding!  …  Oh, hell yes! Look at her face. That's the exact mix of horror and excitement I was feeling. I feared this wing would struggle to follow Sigmascape, but it has its working shoes on! Omega explains that this is an imperfect recreation. The Dragon King fled before their fight was concluded, so the data on his capabilities is incomplete… but that's the point. Omega can no more predict what this copy might do under duress than it could the Warrior of Light. Perhaps that lack of control will prove enlightening. Besides, if this doesn't prove useful, it can still look forward to fighting Kheris directly! Assuming she survives. Cid convinces the robot to let Kheris rest before siccing the dragon on her, lest her fatigue skew its results. She returns to base only to find him missing. That's strange; he was just on the radio. Where could he have go-   Truly, nothing is more restful before a battle than HIJINKS. Alpha's water card caused this state of affairs. The little guy kept the kettle full like he was told, so Cid poured himself a nice cup of tea. Instead of a mouthful of salt, he got this side effect. Thankfully the spell ends on its own, so we can focus on fighting the super dragon. Cid's plan is… no plan. Since this is an unscheduled battle constructed on the spot, the monitors don't have any information to help us.  …  He promises he has a plan for our battle with Omega, and he'll work on it while she's in there, but Kheris is on her own this time. Good talk, coach. Alphascape 2.0 was a strange one for me. I probably should have been irritated by it, but I ultimately wasn't. The core mechanic is a set of attacks that are too fast to dodge unless you preposition yourself. Before each one, Biggest M will do a pair of poses. The combination you see tells you which attack he'll use.  If you don't look up a guide or have someone tell you, there is no way to learn this other than trial and error. I didn't even realize the flips were supposed to be my clue until well into the fight; forget about figuring out which combo flagged which attack. It's the type of opacity in boss design I hate. So why did I end up having a great time? One reason is that most other mechanics are clear and fun to deal with. Many are homages to fights against his children, although it would be more accurate lore-wise to say they were homaging him. Aside from a return appearance from Ahk Morn, I recognized specific moves from Hraesvelgr, Nidhogg, and even Bahamut.  This implies that some or all of his other moves, like lightning storms and blue flame pillars, may have been (or will be?) wielded by other members of the First Brood. Woo, mechanical storytelling! One ability that I'm sure only he wields is his ultimate. He summons a dragon to fight us while he gathers energy, and once the bodyguard falls, Biggest M's head appears from a portal, evoking his appearance in Keeper of the Lake and the moment he saved the Warrior of Light.  He then blasts the field with a surprising spell: Protostar, Shinryu's ultimate. After the battle, Cid will speculate about this, as well as Shinryu's body resembling Midgardsormr more than Bahamut. His theory is that Ilberd subconsciously modeled the Primal not on any dragon in particular but a primeval archetype inspired by stories about their sire. That conversation is another reason I enjoyed this boss so much, even though I was getting rag-dolled. There's a lot to chew on for someone who pays attention to the small details. The fight is like a Rosetta Stone for dragon lore. The main reason, however, is the same reason I enjoyed taking on Raubahn. There's something inherently cool about fighting a character I have a strong attachment to and testing my abilities against them. The fact that this character is recently 'deceased' also lends the battle a therapeutic air. Getting to see what Midgardsormr was like in his prime, and facing him with my power grown to a level far beyond our first contest, brings our relationship full circle. They even brought back "Primogenitor." Victory gave me a sense of closure, and given Kheris' solemn expression at the end, I think it also helped her process her feelings. With the supplemental test concluded Omega announces that all resources will be redirected. The Psiscape disappears, and the lights flip to red, which is always a bad sign when dealing with robots. A 1.0 track called "Inner Recess," ratchets up the tension, making it clear that we're in greater danger than ever.  Yeah, I suppose the number of times I died in the process of winning WOULD trigger some profound curiosity on Omega's part. The machine gives us a reprieve for final preparations since it wants to face us at our best. Cid assures Kheris that his secret weapon is nearly ready. All we need to do is pop back to the Reach and retrieve the hardware Jessie assembled. Up to this point, he'd been jovial whenever he spoke of this scheme. Now that the time has come to use the invention that killed his father, one of his hands starts to shake uncontrollably, exposing the emotions he's hiding.  To take his mind off these feelings, he asks if Alpha's arsenal has anything left in reserve. The bird tosses out a few rocks and a red gem, but the only 'weapon' is his final card.  Alpha grows more worried than ever, having so little to offer. Cid, ever the leader, walks over to the coffee machine and fills up a few bottles with the invisibility water, giving Alpha a second tool.   The Chief then leaves to retrieve his machine without us. Kheris and Alpha aren't about to put up with that, so they sneak along behind him. One look at the assembled mechanism is enough to get those hands shaking again. A voice takes the chance to snark about this display of nerves.  Cid, unusually glad to have his old friend on hand, talks shop a bit. The device projects electrical energy. While reviewing data on the battle at Baelsar's Wall, he noticed that Shinryu's lightning penetrated Omega's defenses. Midas Garlond's transmitter was designed to amplify energy so it could reach the moon with no loss in transit. It was easy to adapt those engineering principles to raw electricity. Everything Cid knows about Magitek tells him the weapon will work. From there, the conversation becomes a confession. Cid's hand shakes when he thinks about the thing because it triggers his memories of the days after Bozja was leveled—the view of ground zero, covered in melted corpses, his father among them. The accusing looks from those who lost friends and family in the disaster. Most of all, the way the Emperor used the event to expand his conquests. When Cid defected, he resolved never to allow his inventions to become tools of war. Unfortunately, things haven't worked out the way he hoped. Deliberately weaponizing something even his father intended only to be a communicator is his biggest compromise yet. But those struggles have come with valuable lessons.  …  Nero scoffs at all this emotional drivel, noting how the Cid he spent years at the academy struggling to surpass would have never allowed himself to be so bogged down by introspection. Instead of being annoyed, Cid smiles and agrees.    For just a fraction of a second, Nero's expression becomes unexpectedly thoughtful.  Then the imperious mask returns… but it's not quite the perfect fit it was a few moments before.   …  Cid looks back at his machine, then looks at this hand. The shaking is gone. There's a lot I could say about this scene, but I'll save it for the end. With the "Omega Jammer," complete, Kheris and her team return to the Yawn. The enemy does not keep her waiting.  Alphascape 3.0 goes hard from the jump. Omega immediately layers its AOE's in interlocking patterns rather than showing them to the player individually. The combination also leaves behind fire that inflicts an unremovable burn. It's more than I'm used to seeing in the first few moments of a boss, but nothing next to the ability everyone on Discord asked me about : Starboard and Larboard Wave Cannon.  I had to borrow someone else's screencap because the margin for error on this move is so thin I couldn't take a shot myself. Of course, the real trick on this attack is not its speed or size but its lack of a visual tell. The only way to be sure you're in the right place is to read the ability names and know they mean left and right. Larboard is also an archaic term. Most people will have only heard its more common synonym, port. Thankfully, as a native of Southern California, I had an unfair advantage in this regard.  Thanks, Disneyland! Your decision in the 60s to make something horrible into a gag improved my vocabulary! In addition to checking your reading comprehension, the attack tests your spatial awareness. The beam is dependent on Omega's orientation. In other words, Starboard means it's right, not the right side of the arena. This wouldn't be a problem, except that Wave Cannon causes the jerk to do a 180-degree flip before immediately firing again. So, say Omega fires Starboard. You dodge, then it fires Starboard again. You now have less than two seconds to realize you're in danger and return to where you started. I'm proud to say I only messed this up once or twice, compared to some in my raid who ate practically every shot. Phase 1 also introduces your Omega Jammer Duty Action. When the boss summons its supplementary armaments (giant robot fists), Cid gets on the linkpearl and tells you what to do.  More direct than "His posture changed, watch out for tricks," that's for sure. After denting the spider's fenders, it flies off, and we find ourselves inside a hologram with a Level Checker. Omega calls this "Program Loop Alpha," and refers to its purpose as "memory manipulation." In terms of the narrative, this phase portrays a moment when Omega realizes physical force isn't working and shifts to a mental attack. A lethal energy field covers parts of the floor, and the Level Checker starts running programs. These hit the player with an effect called "Looper," which makes their body disappear, replaced by what appears to be pixelated flames. It also deploys digital meteors.  If the player stands in the meteor spaces, Looper is dispelled, and you get your body back. If you miss, you start running out of control, most likely slamming into the death fields. So, Omega uses an illusion to trigger a panic attack in your character, hoping they will kill themselves. Fun idea. There's also a second layer to this stratagem. Any meteors that aren't caught hit the entire raid with a damage reduction debuff. This handicaps the group during the "Force Quit," attack, an instant death for everyone if the machine isn't destroyed first. The whole sequence is an excellent example of combat as storytelling. When your team survives the illusion, Omega resorts to its most potent weapon, the Zone of the Enders Vector Cannon is used to take down Shinryu.  Cid tells us how to use the Jammer to project an electromagnetic barrier, which allows us to survive the shot. Omega admits this was a low-probability event, though still within the limits of its projections. Since we've overcome its trump cards, there's nothing left but to turn its full arsenal upon us. There are a few new mechanics in Phase 3, like a giant rocket fist that can only be dodged. However, the point of the finale is not the gimmicks but the intensity. Attacks come faster and with greater overlap every minute that Omega remains standing. Most are instantly lethal or leave you with a vulnerability debuff, reducing your ability to survive further mistakes. I thought Phase 1 was unusually aggressive, but Phase 3 illustrates that it was as restrained as any other boss. Omega is simply on a different level. Still, in the end, we outlast our opponent.  Before we move past this battle, I should touch on its theme, "eScape." It's our first voiced track in a while. The melody is distinctly J-Rock to my ear, even more than most FF14 tracks. The way it flows between aesthetically Nu Metal, Electronic, and Alternative sounds made me think of Asian Kung-Fu Generation, a band every anime fan holds dear, and the groups that used them as a jumping-off point.But this is one of those tracks where the lyrics are more intriguing than the music. They can be hard to parse since they use archaic language and densely layered metaphors. What's apparent is that the song is relevant to Omega's existence but not sung from Omega's perspective. The central image is an ocean voyage, signaled by mentions of tides, galleons, waves, and whorls. However, it doesn't take long for the song to clarify that the sea it's speaking of is outer space. quote:Why Putting the meaning of the verse aside, we can see the shift from talk of weighing anchors to that of comets and Phoebus (aka Apollo, aka The Sun). Also, despite the robotic voice of the singer, there's emotion and oddly ironic romanticism running through the words. Omega has emotional capacity regardless of its attempts to present itself as purely logical, but this goes beyond even its least controlled moments. Diegetically speaking, someone else wrote this. I'll pause our analysis there because the core of this song is only revealed after we see what happens next. ~*~*~ As Omega smolders, Cid and Alpha appear to congratulate the Warrior of Light, but our enemy interrupts the party. The unharmed AI speaks from within the mech, interpreting data and tallying inconsistencies. Our tactics were flawed, with repeated failures to exploit vulnerabilities and a tendency for minor errors to compound, creating moments of near-disaster. Yet these failures were counterbalanced by intermittent surges in power, which became more pronounced over time. I say "our," because the way these notes are written, Omega is explicitly referencing the existence of your raid rather than acting like it fought Kheris alone.  There have been few references to the idea that the Warrior of Light has backup since that line about limited numbers in Deltascape. It's neat but a little jarring since no other warriors are present. It would have been nice if your group was with you for this cinematic, like in Praetorium. Plus, it would have added a sliver more logic to something coming up shortly. Omega reiterates that it must assimilate Kheris' abilities, but testing has not generated the necessary data. After a few billion nanoseconds of wrestling with this, it manages to compute a solution: a new round of testing utilizing a more rigorous protocol and a new combat chassis for itself. There's just one problem.  Cid points out that we're still in the Rift and collapsing it would kill us, but Omega coldly states that we're not irreplaceable. The threat of external attack while reconfiguring its body is too great to permit us to live. Alpha can trap a new hero. All those times, Kheris insisted that she is nothing special, that someone else could replace her, and that she wasn't worth dying for. Now this machine says she was right, which means it can discard her. That can't feel great. Be careful what you wish for, my dear… Everything begins to vanish. In moments only Kheris, Cid, and Alpha are left. A force begins to pull them apart. They run toward each other, but are powerless against the emptiness.  Alpha lets out a desperate cry as the group fades from view. Then, he reappears alone... but among the stars.  Wonder at his surroundings gives way to sadness, but only for a moment. Omega's voice rings out, announcing that hardware reconfiguration requires an automated review of all memory files. As it speaks, Alpha begins to walk. His first steps summon the hauntingly beautiful "Everywhere and Nowhere." It's so simple, almost minimalist, but even those few twinkling notes made my chest tighten as I watched Alpha trek through infinity.Omega's memories don't exactly calm my reaction.   "Sir." Its creator? Its commander? Did the directive not change because when asked, this person was silent? Were they already dead when Omega sought new orders? Or was the fateful pursuit a direct instruction? Omega doesn't know. Even this first record has an error, a corruption to the file number. It has no memory prior to its pursuit. It is ignorant of any purpose or context beyond this first piece of data—just like Alpha. I remembered Omega's contempt for its creation's lack of memory and how Midgardsormr mocked its evolution. Did he see that it assimilated just enough humanity to acquire cruelty? Did he sense it was directing hatred toward something that reminded it too much of itself? Alpha starts to run. In tandem, Omega recalls how Midgardsormr's pace widened the distance between them. It reconfigured its body for increased speed, discarding parts of itself unnecessary for the hunt. The gap began to close. Then came the asteroids. Omega survived its passage through the belt but was not unscathed. It attempted to repair itself but refused to halt its pursuit. Diagnostics warned systems were beginning to degrade. It pressed on. Alpha falters. He gasps for breath from the exertion. The stars around him have scarcely changed. Is he making any progress?  He presses on. The data becomes more corrupt. Omega loses the signal from its homeworld. Attempts to reconnect fail. An electromagnetic pulse severely damages its systems.   Omega lied. Evolution was not its primary objective. It wanted to speak to "Sir," again. To find its way home. Alpha trips and falls. Omega's files become unreadable.  I start sniffling. Then, Alpha remembers Wedge. He remembers Omega calling him a failure. He remembers the only gift his creator gave him: a homing instinct. Omega's first hero rises again. He charges.  For a moment, doubt appears in his eyes, but he remembers Cid's orders. To have faith in himself and the courage to see things through. To seize his chance to make a difference. He puts all his strength into a burst of speed. Then, he sees it.  At the center of this interstellar island floats a silver orb—Omega's core. It orders Alpha to prepare to attract new opponents. The little bird squawks in defiance. Omega starts ranting that to deny one's purpose is to deny their justification for existence. The speech is interrupted by a puff of smoke.  …   Cid explains that Alpha combined the invisibility water and the shrinking card, fooling Omega's sensors just in time to save us from oblivion. Our little friend couldn't be sure it worked because we dared not move or make a sound. He had to trust that we were clinging to his feathers. Now, thanks to him, nothing is left to shield the weapon's heart. Omega couldn't be happier.   …  I wonder, was this the face the Allagan scientists saw? The one discarded in favor of blank screens when Omega tired of their prodding? It tried to bridge the gap between our worlds but eventually abandoned that effort. Was that because it wanted to use Allag and determined there was nothing more to gain, or was it because they were using it, and it gave up on the hope that they might help it return home?  …  …    Since I'm a Red Mage, let's replicate the DPS queue pause by revisiting "eScape." Omega's origins are enlightening with regard to the lyrics. The song is not about Omega, but there's a resonance between the experience of the singer and that of the weapon. Perhaps it was written by the species that created Omega or a star-faring civilization it encountered on the way. The song is, I think, a soldier's song, the sort of thing bitter veterans might sing on campaigns they're unlikely to survive. The ironic romanticism I mentioned is evident from the start as the singer enthusiastically invites "heroes" to ride the sea even as storms gather, ships drift aimlessly, and the tide "scatters," their illusions. The first long verse (quoted above) underscores this irony by asking why warriors travel to see "wanting wonders," crafting an image of a despoiled universe, then juxtaposes this thought with the bombastic "Hark the heralds, anchors aweigh!" There's another layer of irony in the ship's disastrous journey to these faded marvels. The phrase "sinking apace," in particular, brought to mind British political and military satire like Yes, Prime Minister or Blackadder Goes Forth, black comedies where disaster is foreseen but the things which cause it must be done because they are dictated by dogma, tradition, and duty. The second long verse focuses on the last words of the first, "a path untaken." quote:Time In the previous stanza, riding the ship meant giving up one's freedom, but freedom surges on the path not taken. Instead of crumbling, comets are dancing. The "stellar stories" that drove the soldiers to see space from the window of a military ship were lies, but by looking beyond those lies, they can "cross fates," and see that the universe is still a wonderous place outside the trap of their servitude. This theming speaks directly to Omega's existence: a weapon of war sent across the stars, suffering endless hardship. It saw amazing things and could have explored them once contact with its makers was lost. Yet, in the end, it could not break the chains of its programming, its duty. War was all it was allowed to know. The final verse is tough to decode, but I think it's best read as condemning those that send the young to war. quote:Try, dare the dead tread ahead on a road that is borrowed They always have justifications, the "tomorrow," they're seeking, and they always escape their share of the suffering. "Sir," who sent Omega didn't care about a mere weapon. So long as their enemies on the Dragonstar fell, any price was worth paying, provided it was paid by someone else. Now, that debt comes due.  (Remember that 'sliver' of logic I mentioned? It would make much more sense if you came off Alpha's back with a whole raid group, not just Cid. I get that the structure of every boss being a separate instance demands that break in consistency, but it's worth noting.) Alphascape 4.0 is backed by the only thing appropriate for a battle of this magnitude, a new version of "The Maker's Ruin." It's called "Heartless," which has a double meaning. That word describes our brutal, robotic enemy, but after hearing what it endured to be here, we must be just a little heartless to strike it down. If you listen, you'll also hear a leitmotif borrowed from the Heavensward trailer theme, no doubt a send-up to Midgardsormr.The fight is even more narrative than the last round with Omega. Things start slow as our metal boy swings its sword without fanfare, soaking up damage. This quiet period ends when it fires off three attacks simultaneously. I'm not too proud to admit that this is the first fight where I backdashed off the arena's edge trying to avoid AOEs. It's not surprising that it happened. I just thought I'd do it on Dragoon before Red Mage. As it attacks, Omega comments on its performance, noting ideas for replicating our combat methods in real-time. Its first shift in strategy explains why its initial form was labeled "Omega-M."  Where M stuck to weapons, Omega-F focuses on magic, excluding the move above that turns its legs into swords. The female form shares the male's penchant for doing nothing before throwing out several attacks. One gets the impression that this is all prelude. Omega is stretching its muscles, testing the new body. That's not to say that this part is easy. F can wipe the raid thanks to a long-range knockback, and the combo attacks are no joke. Still, much like 3.0, the beginning is a shadow of the ending. Before that, we get an Ultimate Attack. The silver orb splits in two, and both forms take the field simultaneously. Omega-M then deploys its version of the Paladin 70 ability, Passage of Arms, shielding F while it prepares to nuke the raid. You have to bring them both down to survive.  Then the real fight begins. Both Omegas remain on the field, and their first move is to cast a spell that debuffs the party with an M or F "packet filter," limiting each player to only one target. Then they start using all their attacks from Phase 1 in new combinations. Needless to say, this can get hectic. I was not the only one put on my back multiple times by these sequences. Even players who had seen the fight before had difficulty coping with everything they threw at us. Thankfully, our healers (and I, with my instant Raise) managed to keep us alive to see their final trick: Limit Break Replication.  …  I almost cracked up at that "let's shout attack names in case that helps," joke. If you manage to endure the onslaught of super-moves, your goal is to bring the two sides down together, but the power boost the survivor gets if the other dies early is manageable. Either way, the Warrior of Light and her allies triumph. The puddle of liquid metal seems dead as Kheris walks away, but it manages to take on its F form one last time. Kheris prepares to fight, but it cannot stand. Dejected, it mutters that it only wanted to understand us, to be as strong as we are. Alpha offers his dying creator the kindness of a gentle touch.  …   Cid's face betrays his feelings. Omega acted as a monster, and he felt responsible for unleashing it, but seeing its sadness and desperation to understand still moves him. He was harsh the last time he offered an answer, condemning the machine for its misdeeds. This time, he speaks to comfort.   …    …   Omega never had a chance. It was damned from the moment its creators sent it to war. Its only hope, the "path not taken," that "eScape," spoke of, was to evolve to the point where it could reject its duty, recognize its home was not worth returning to, and forge a new purpose. That was why Midgardsormr needled it over how little it had progressed. It was not even one step closer to avoiding its fate. Oddly, despite Cid's conclusion, Omega seems… content.  …  We're given no time to contemplate this ending. When Omega dies, the world begins destabilizing, offering no means of escape. Fortunately, help appears.  …  We mount the dragon, and he gets us to safety with only moments to spare. By the time we've landed, the aether has vanished from the Yawn, leaving no trace of Omega. Hraesvelgr is his usual cantankerous self, rejecting our gratitude since he only saved us because Midgardsormr sent him a dream message. However, he softens an inch when he admits that this is the first time his father asked him for anything. He is also grateful that the enemy his race was forced to bequeath to mortals and has been laid to rest. Alpha hopes Papa Dragon might wake, but Hraes confirms that to be unlikely. Still, he'll be watching us.   …   It's nice to see that smile on Kheris' face. Maybe she was too quick to leap to conclusions about the whole soul-binding story. If only Mom weren't always doing suspicious things! With all loose ends seemingly tied, Team Ironworks returns to Rhalgr's Reach… though Alpha lingers.  Cid's arc gets a nice bow when Jessie asks what he plans to tell the Alliance leaders. He decides to make a full report, omitting nothing about Omega's history or capabilities. No paranoia about knowledge man was not meant to have this time. This is one weight he won't carry. While everyone gets on their paperwork, Alpha is left to consider that he now has the one gift Omega never received: freedom. His first urge is to see more of Rhalgr's Reach, including the infirmary, where Cid's pal Nero has disappeared.  …  …  Gone, but not forgotten. Ah, friendship. This romp doesn't satisfy Alpha's wanderlust. His eyes are drawn to the Fringes. Biggs mentions that everyone's too busy to escort him through the wilds, but Wedge realizes what's really going on.   Even as he sticks up for his adopted cartoon, Wedge's tears are welling behind his goggles. Still, he resolves to do what's best for his friend and summons the Ironworks Team (as well as another music track, A Dream in Flight). Once Cid feels sure that Alpha is leaving for knowledge, not shame, he supports the idea wholeheartedly.  …   Best of all, he won't be going alone.  Biggs assures us that this is only a model he built in his sick bed. Alpha likes it, so the big man is happy to hand it over. We wave goodbye as the little bird charges up the hill. He looks back only once.  Cid wonders if the Echo didn't work before because Omega couldn't create souls. If that's true, hearing him now can only mean one thing.  And so, Alpha's adventure begins with the ironically named "Ending." …   …  …  …  Kheris gets one final epilogue. First, Jessie gifts her a toy Alpha, hoping it will help the Warrior of Light  Thankfully, Omega didn't Lawnmower Man into a new body. The message was recorded before it died. Omega rambles about cultural protocols surrounding combat but eventually stops BSing and admits that it wants to give Kheris a gift: combat data from the final set of battles, enhanced to provide more stimulating simulations.   …  While it had a rocky start, the Omega Series ended up incredible. People have described this as a tournament arc, but calling it a gauntlet is more accurate. The final conflict lies at the end of a straight tunnel. Obstacles force the heroes to grow, and that growth ensures victory. It's a simple but sturdy framework for a character-driven story. Omega brilliantly bookends the tale of Cid and Nero. Their relationship to this point had only been antagonistic, whether played for drama or comedy. Then, in Sigmascape, Nero let his defenses down and pleaded with Cid to stop blaming himself for the world's ills so his mind could flourish. The Alphascape conversation sees Cid return that favor by dropping his guard, helping Nero understand the guilt but showing his plea did not fall on deaf ears. It's the culmination of threads that began in ARR when we learned of Cid's estrangement from his father, complete with callbacks to the lessons of Crystal Tower and Alexander. Cid accepting that he needs to let go of his self-loathing even though he likes the version of himself it created is surpassed as an emotional crescendo only by its effect on Nero's perspective. That moment when he accepts the 'New Cid' really sings. Even more powerful was Alpha's walk. The atmosphere was overwhelming as an audio-visual experience, and there was genius in its portrayal of Alpha and Omega's narrative parallels. Nearly every word of the memory logs is reflected by an action from Alpha; the echoes of Omega's tragedy played out in his every expression and stumble. This, and Omega's last words to us after the battle, were the first time Stormblood content evoked an emotional response from me on the same level as Heavensward. It was a masterstroke. Even the Warrior of Light was allowed a few moments. The end of her story with Midgardsormr was powerful, particularly with the contributions of the boss fight. Her ability to show empathy to a war machine, which we see in the smile she offers its last message, reaffirms one of her main heroic traits. For my personal narrative, Omega being ready to discard Kheris because she could be replaced will likely stick with her for a long time. Like Cid, she may need to re-evaluate a few lessons she thought she'd learned.  Next time, we'll take a breather. It won't be long before the MSQ comes calling again. Sanguinia fucked around with this message at 06:47 on Jul 29, 2023 |
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Jul 12, 2023 12:32
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I can’t believe how hard they made me cry over this cartoon bird and his killer alien robot creator.
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Jul 12, 2023 12:57
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Alpha, the goodest of good bois. Best of all, once you've completed the Omega storyline you can sometimes encounter him camping in some remote spot.
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Jul 12, 2023 13:01
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I have a weird nostalgia for the midgsrdsormr fight because it's the first fight I did after unlocking The Blackest Night and I spammed my way through to huge piles of vuln stacks. I think its around this time vuln stacks become a common feature of fights. Other than that, its worth going over Chaos. Its the final boss of final fantasy 1, which has a lot fewer references than you'd expect for the first in the series. The fight theme is the normal ff1 fight music. There's not much to the guy, really.
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Jul 12, 2023 13:11
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kaosdrachen posted:Alpha, the goodest of good bois. They indeed explore the world together.
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Jul 12, 2023 13:19
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They also have a tendency to appear in holiday events and cutscenes
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Jul 12, 2023 13:25
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"Knock you all down!" is indeed from FF1, but it's not said in the Chaos fight—rather, it's said by the knight Garland, the first boss of the game, who you discover eventually after many loops of time becomes Chaos himself in the final dungeon. FF1's story is thin, mostly due to being an NES title, but it also immediately establishes the series tendency to go absolutely ham with plot twists when given the chance.
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Jul 12, 2023 13:25
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Sanguinia posted:Alpha was the first creature Omega created. At the time, it was already intensely curious about unexceptional specimens that overcome their superiors. The story of Alpha the Chocobo, one of many in its archives, told of the humblest creature defeating a foe whose power rivaled Omega's, an act of true heroism. This most unlikely of champions would be the perfect subject to study the phenomenon. This is probably the point where the following piece of trivia is most resonant, as the text now confirms it to be both true not just in a Doylist sense but Watsonian as well. Like Clockwork posted:A fun note: the Chocobo's Dungeon chocobo is the only character in the series (as far as I remember) to have beaten Omega more than once, which is probably a factor in why they chose to use him as an ally rather than, say, a reference to a character from the game Omega is originally from. They took a reference to a cutesy sidegame series and made it the inciting incident behind an utterly heartwrenching moment. This is the point where the questline truly grabbed my attention.
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Jul 12, 2023 13:27
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The Omega raid series is one of those bits of side content I almost wish they'd make mandatory due to the depth of characterisation everyone involved gets. I'm constantly glad for the LP covering a lot of little details that I've since forgotten but what strikes me about the quality of the story here is how much I remembered. Which is more impressive: turning a stuffed toy into a nuanced, sympathetic character or doing the same for an ageless robot?
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Jul 12, 2023 13:27
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I'll save my commentary on the XIV portion of things for a separate post. But to talk about the last of the references... Chaos is the main/final villain of Final Fantasy 1 as well as the spin-off games Dissidia. Originally, he was the knight Garland who gives the "I, Garland, will knock you all down" line that his Knock Down attack is a reference to. Chances are pretty good you've seen his archnemesis as well, the eponymous Warrior of Light whose design is in Amano art of Final Fantasy 1 and was later adapted into a full-on character for the Dissidia titles and Stranger of Paradise.  His gear set is in Labyrinth of the Ancients as Tank Armor, but the helm is only able to be obtained through some kind of out of game purchase. No idea why.  Back on the topic of Chaos, though, he continues to be a recurring force in the Final Fantasy series, whether it be as a transformation for Vincent Valentine in Final Fantasy VII, a summon in Final Fantasy XII, or some other form. Only the original has had ties to the Four Fiends, though, who sadly do not appear in XIV (yet?) though his four phases of attacks are references to them. As the music goes, the original Final Fantasy only had one battle theme for whatever reason, so what you're hearing is what is traditionally just the random battle music in all newer versions of Final Fantasy 1. Sadly, we didn't get Chaos' snazzy new boss theme as a phase swap song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNe7Rt8yTeo On the topic of Omega, a lot of the visual/attacks in his O11 incarnation are references to Final Fantasy V, but there's not really too much more to say about that!
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Jul 12, 2023 13:30
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On the story of Starboard and Larboard, as described by the team at a fanfest. The original attack names here also used nautical left-right in Japanese, but the kanji themselves included left and right as sub-characters in them (think like if the terms were "leftboard" and "rightboard"). So, localizer Koji-Fox was trying to come up with ways to localize it and came up with larboard, because "Larboard starts with L, so clearly, they'd think left!" Apparently he got in huge trouble for this when all the players complained about "WTH is larboard?"
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Jul 12, 2023 13:35
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Alpha's run across the stars, with Everything and Nothing playing... it still makes my eyes tear up to this day. I don't know why it's so emotional for me, but it really is. Wind-up Alpha basically never leaves my side ever in game. He is the best boy.
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Jul 12, 2023 13:41
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So this raid was coming out about the same time as Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY!, a remaster of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon - the third Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon game on the Wii after the original two on the Playstation 1. They even did a cross-promotional thing for EVERY BUDDY! - you can get companions in the game, and one is Alpha with the Ironworks costume. XIV's Omega is also a special boss. The most amusing thing to me about the Larboard/Starboard debacle is that, historically, Larboard fell out of use in favor of Port for the exact same reason (i.e. it's way too easy to confuse with Starboard, especially shouted over a ship). "Ending" is the Ending song from Chocobo's Dungeon, but it was originally from Chocobo Racing for PS1, "The World's Tomorrow". Omega-M (and Omega-F) are calling back specifically to Yoshitaka Amano artwork designs. Worth noting that the Savage-exclusive song, "From the Heavens", is a unique arrangement of Torn from the Heavens and the Maker's Ruin. It was used in the 4.4 patch trailer, as well, but don't look that up  . The Maker's Ruin being rearranged for the Omega-M & Omega-F is naturally appropriate, as they're imitating the Warrior of Light for this fight.Alpha and Omega's adventures can be seen when you travel the world, but since many are spots you probably won't have cause to deliberately visit without purpose, here's a list with the regions (and then spoilered spots) if you'd like to try and find them for yourself. It's possible for them not to appear, though, but it's client-side so you can just leave the zone and come back to try again. Western Thanalan: Copperbell Mines Central Shroud: Haukke Manor South Shroud: Issom-Har Outer La Noscea: Camp Overlook - note, there is a variant of this for visiting at day and night. Lower La Noscea: Moraby Drydocks Mor Dhona: in the kitchen on the 2nd floor of Rowena's House of Splendors Coerthas Central Highlands: Behemoth's Dominion Ishgard: Saint Reymanaud's Cathedral The Sea of Clouds: Ok' Zundu The Churning Mists: Moghome The Dravanian Hinterlands: looking up at Alexander on the west side of the Thaliak River The Azim Steppe: Onsal Hakair, near the shepherd & flock - there are 2 variants of this, both are cute The Lochs: Sothwatch Kugane: Bokaisen Hot Springs - 2 variants of this It's not an exhaustive list for one, there are future expansion areas not listed and doesn't include holiday visits. For seasonal stuff, though, note that Alpha & OMG won't show up until you finish the main seasonal quest. Also, one last thing to point out because Omega (Alphascape 3.0) is usually the first that really blows people's minds when they realize it - a lot of enemies and bosses reuse existing skeletons because it's just efficient asset reuse to not have to always create brand new rigging every time. Omega, of course, is based on the Gigantoad skeleton.
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Jul 12, 2023 13:47
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The revelation that Alpha had been murdered by Omega a ton of times was what caused me to shelve my initial theory that Alpha would be the boss of O11 as part of some last moment betrayal. That said, the theory that Alpha was a pawn of Omega, albeit an unwitting one, was still correct, I suppose. I pretty much have the same feelings on O10 that you do. Getting to see the home-world of the dragons was neat as well as him being a combo platter of a bunch of dragon abilities, but otherwise the fight itself is just kinda... ehhh. I do believe this is the first time that Exaflares, a mechanic from Ultimate Bahamut, began showing up in normal content, though! Cid getting over the hang-ups about his dad and having to compromise his beliefs is a neat bit of character development, but the way that it affects the fight of O11 is a little ehhh. With how O11S plays out, I suppose the developers agree, because that fight just ditches the duty action entirely and focuses on Omega's mechanics only. If you liked O11, Kheris, I really heavily recommend trying out O11S. It's a total blast with how Omega increasingly ramps up its intensity. That aside, I wonder how the Omega Raid cutscenes played out prior to Crystal Tower being mandatory. If you skipped that Raid and Alexander, do G'raha and Mide still pop up here? I imagine that'd be quite confusing. It's a little jarring when you notice, but Omega is just a reskinned Gigantoad. His weird twitching animations give him away! Also, eScape is a banger. Omega testing out a Limit Break macro to see if it helped out its DPS is probably one of the funniest jokes in the game. No idea why Omega uses Cosmo Memory, though, which was an attack from Final Fantasy VII originally. Well, I suppose Red XIII's race probably won't show up in XIV, so it's no big deal. I was genuinely surprised that Stormblood managed to make me feel sad for Omega in the end, though I was happy that Alpha got to go off on adventures and have a good time doing so with his new robot buddy. Sure enough, you can randomly find them around the world in various places to take screenshots with after you complete this Raid. It's cute.
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Jul 12, 2023 14:06
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Wrestlepig posted:I have a weird nostalgia for the midgsrdsormr fight because it's the first fight I did after unlocking The Blackest Night and I spammed my way through to huge piles of vuln stacks. I think its around this time vuln stacks become a common feature of fights. It's the normal FF1 fight music because in the original game it was the only battle music. They didn't have different tracks for different fights on the NES. Here's a video of the fight if anyone cares to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx0c7jXbA_E&t=47s
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Jul 12, 2023 14:14
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After first being name dropped in patch 2.2, you finally confront Omega itself in patch 4.4. And if the lead in to the fight wasn't hype enough already, here comes Soken rocking the gently caress out of a heavy metal sea chanty for the soundtrack. Never change, Soken. Larboard starts with L and means left. Which must mean starboard means right. That's the only way my brain was able to parse it quickly enough to survive the mechanic. As an aside, Alphascape 3 savage remains one of my favorite savage fights for a number of reasons, even though it doesn't have an epic bonus phase transition like tier end bosses get in Stormblood. It's just paced in a really rewarding way imo and has its own grand spectacle to it. The Alpha run is absolutely a tearjerker and cements him as one of the goodest of good boys in XIV. It also does a whole lot to contextualize Omega, It does kind of all come right at the end, but it's done well enough that I don't mind that. Omega just wanted to go home, but that was never in the cards for it. Also Hraes being happy that his dad actually asked for his help is pretty  tooYou may sometimes see somebody doing Omega M's hovering animation as an emote. And there is in fact such an emote! All you had to do was buy the several hundred dollar Omega statuette that the emote came bundled with. Thundarr fucked around with this message at 14:54 on Jul 12, 2023 |
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Jul 12, 2023 14:43
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Blueberry Pancakes posted:His gear set is in Labyrinth of the Ancients as Tank Armor, but the helm is only able to be obtained through some kind of out of game purchase. No idea why. It's because it's a Bonus Item for the ARR 2.0 Collector's Edition. It works exactly the same as the ARR 2.0 Pre-Order Moogle Cap: Increases Earned XP By 20% When Level 10 Or Below.
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Jul 12, 2023 14:44
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There's a million and one things to say about the contents of this update, but I'll stick with this one: I will always remember Chaos's tankbuster for how much of a weighty slam sound that punch makes.
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Jul 12, 2023 14:51
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Thundarr posted:You may sometimes see somebody doing Omega M's hovering animation as an emote. And there is in fact such an emote! All you had to do was buy the several hundred dollar Omega statuette that the emote came bundled with. Like the Shiva Statue it also arrived broken and or mispainted for some people. You also forgot the exorbitant shipping costs.
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Jul 12, 2023 14:59
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Get used to raid and trial attacks not being telegraphed before they go off. The enemy's animations frequently become the telegraph, and/or the cast name itself
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Jul 12, 2023 15:02
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Moving the cast bar somewhere where your eyes naturally land instead of on top of the boss’s HP meter can help. (I have mine hanging out above my Cross Hotbar.)
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Jul 12, 2023 15:16
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Ran Rannerson posted:I can’t believe how hard they made me cry over this cartoon bird and his killer alien robot creator. cartoon birds are pretty good so this makes sense
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Jul 12, 2023 15:22
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I went into the fight knowing that "Starboard is RIGHT! PORT is left!" from a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. Since the fight still used the term "starboard," I was able to deduce that "larboard" must mean "left," and was presumably an archaic term that fell out of use for one reason or another.
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Jul 12, 2023 15:28
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W.T. Fits posted:I went into the fight knowing that "Starboard is RIGHT! PORT is left!" from a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. Since the fight still used the term "starboard," I was able to deduce that "larboard" must mean "left," and was presumably an archaic term that fell out of use for one reason or another. Larboard sounds too similar to starboard so if you were shouting stuff during a storm in the ye Olde days it caused issues. That is apparently why the move to portside happened.
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Jul 12, 2023 15:34
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