(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

So the Live Letter came out on the 8th. And subsequently, this happened:

we're talking real housewives kinda raaaaaaaaeg over this.

Ok so maybe the reaction was not as drastic, but let's be real here, peeps were pretty mayad. But whom really, and why they/we mad tho?

YOU LIARS!11!!1!
So it could be argued that overall it seemed that Squeenix basically pulled a basic, ye olden bait-n'-switch on its playerbase, betraying everything they could have ever believed the game (specifically level-capped content) should have been and into some version of the game that will apparently plunge the game into a spiral of failure and doom FFXIV forever. Uhhh... okayyy...so what are these complaints? And what's the issues really? And how is it a new player like myself, with experience doing hardcore levels of play (but not of FFXI 1.0) think aboot it?

I think one of the biggest issues right now is the disappointment most of FFXIV's beta playerbase so far  being extremely concerned over the first supposed end game dungeon, the Crystal Tower, and its links towards the utilization of Duty Finder for one. It is the prime example over the bigger overall picture or snapshot of the game at a whole, and the "Doomsday Clock" it supposedly will generate and tick away the literal seconds until FFXIV's complete and utter armageddon. Dramatic, no? Well this whole ordeal has been blown sky-high to those levels according to some of these reactions I've been reading over the forums I frequent.

Once again, Duty Finder comes under fire for being utilized for FFXIV's first raid experience. Yes, it makes finding a group easier, especially if you're the type of player that has a difficult time for whichever circumstances that prevent a player from joining a raiding team in an FC for example. Players who "play for fun" for example generally tend to roll DPS roles, which  often have been saturated in other MMO's. From what I've experienced in the beta, this game will be no exception. I mean yeah I am aware that numbers could be skewed, considering that most players do have to level a DPS role first to reach support classes, but nonetheless, queuing as DPS in Duty Finder is nowhere near as instant as queuing a Tank or Healer role. The positives over Duty Finder are eclipsed in lieu over the controversy over hosing down level-cap dungeons and raids when the game hasn't even released yet.

harrrumph!

Editor note: WHOOPS, forgot to paste this bit in:

So many points for the Hardcore vs. Casual argument were made, touching on free to play vs. having a subscription model, versus za waaarudo! It all boils down to the difficulty of the content, and the amount of achievement that most players crave.

I understand the need to want to challenge and ultimately wrestle down difficult content. I also understand (as a busy bee) the need to feel like I've accomplished something with the time I've allotted myself. But I'm gonna be real here for a second...

To me, there is nothing that compares to challenging what seems to be something impossibly difficult and pulling it off. Especially after being crushed by the encounter, that moment of absolute impeding inevitable victory to the moment of death animation and the subsequent collective cheers of our team is absolutely unmatched. There are many moments like these throughout my raiding career, from downing my last Promyvion with a B-Team, besting the failed stacked group, to completing Chains of Promathia, to completing my Tier 6 set in Warcraft not just once, but twice, and experiencing and progressing significantly through Sunwell at its original strength. I cannot deny the incredible highs that it has brought me, not to mention the memories it would establish for some of the people involved in these epic endeavors. It's something that is missing now (or has been missing) in most MMO's in order to cater to the common denominator, to provide this sense of accomplishment to everyone.

But to me it's just a heavily, heavily diluted version of receiving that sense of accomplishment. In fact, nowadays I don't even feel it at all. I would say most in my camp don't feel it either. And it's sorely missed.


FFXI-2: World of FFXIV-Craft
If you thought that FFXIV wouldn't ever be compared to FFXI's and World of Warcraft's overall game design model, you'd be sorely mistaken. I would say the three are constantly compared against each other all the time. There are many camps that have so many opinions regarding where the game should go, how the game should  be balanced, and to whom the game should overall cater to.  It's seemingly pointless to try to collectively argue for any side because from what I've seen, there's enough numbers in each camp to tout their collective *~*~unique snowflake~*~* opinions over how the game should be run. And of course, each camp goes to battle Braveheart style in words most prevalently in the beta and live forums over the "dumb downing" of the game, which is probably the biggest gripe of them all. But let's be realistic, those forums are just a mess of this instead:

Release the Hosebeast:
None of us can possibly predict what's in store for us, just like how still tedious it is that the FFXIV development team despite having a Live Letter about what they have revealed (in opposite to what I complained about in my last post over being so secretive about end game content), still have to deal with the collective shitstorm that ensued over the event. The dev team is punished for witholding information. The dev team gets punished for revealing it. So I can't blame them now for throwing their arms up in exasperation over the reaction, especially when there's the possibility of points made in the Live Letter that apparently got lost in translation.

"..."

One thing that can't be denied is that the playerbase for the most part wants this game to succeed. It's just that we've got opinions, man.

So ultimately my own opinions mean jack shit, and I am coming into this game pretty fresh, so I just want to play, reach endgame, and shoot from the hip.



Chix Dig the Ride:

mothefuckin' unicornsssssss!

I love mounts in games. I'm not even gonna lie about it one bit. The fact that I won't have access to the Gobbue mount evarrrr makes me a sad panda, mostly because it just looks so damn derp and I like that. But I'm not gonna stress over it, considering the amount of content that was revealed in the Live Letter, especially regarding mounts. I suppose I would have to level a CNJ to obtain that mount, and there's no guarantee I'll be able to use it when I'm not a Conjurer, but I'm willing to make that epic sacrifice into stupid healy land if I could re-enact the unicorn scene in Legend with Oriza, heeeeeeee.

hnnnnnngggghhhh....i need dis

big pimpin' spendin g's...

Set Phazu to 4:

Another bitchfest ensued over the beta start dates, and pre-order dates, and then the release. I know people planned shit to start sooner, but to be honest.... I think peeps just need to get over the dates. They're pretty much set now, and while yeah, there's a level cap of 20, it's still more than what most MMO's would have offered in the past. We're gonna be essentially trying the game for free. It is an Open Beta after all.

Fishing

*hand-jackoff-motion*

part of the sketch for the banner image and header for laters

Welp, that's about all I'll cover for now, but there's stuff to prepare for! I know I'm going to be busy balancing school, work, and playing this game, but when there's a will, there's definitely a way. As for now, I gotta put my sketch pen down and actually finish my homework for this week. BLARGH.

-Oriza

Character Creator Benchmark: Otherwise known as "The only methadone tablet you're gonna get for now until Phase 4."

The benchmark came out on the first.


Every time I think I go on there and I have to keep tweaking and messing around with Oriza's live look until I know I'm happy, but end up reverting back to the same settings as before. I think I should just be happy with how she looks because I think she's just lovely personally...

eeeeee so cuuuuuute

So as I had mentioned, Faiyt had also tinkered around with their live character and I decided to feature Faiyt in all her Paladiny Artifacty glory:

she'll kick ur butt, tenderly

Plus I wanna include this shot which I think is the tits:

faiyt ready to tackle some tentacles tbh

Speaking of tits, I also heard of people already breaking the CC and making giant tittayed characters. I wish I had screens of this on hand, but I assure you, they are as hilarious as they are soft and cushy looking.

I also messed around and made some other characters with the character creator simply because damnit, it's something, SOMETHING, til phase 4:

she kinda looks like sandra bullock a bit to me. also, wtb butt slider. admit it, you want it too.

sigh. if you only lived to see this.

yes i made a femroe too. I THINK SHE'S PRETTY.

Personally I love how everyone's been making everything. My friends are on the same boat as I am, still tweaking (still twerkin'), making final, final, final, decisions, then going back and making more final choices. 

We'll have to lock it in soon though.

Shots! Shots! Shots! Shots!

Here's some screenshots!

oriza's final look for live? WHO KNOWS.

i think i'll always be a fan of this hurrdo

one thing i wished for: screenshots during cutscenes

ginger kids!

welcome to choose-a-company

going through this part was muy interesting, i know literally nothing other than the game really lends itself on the onset. and this game sure loves to showcase these guys and their armor rather well. adds mystery for someone like me who was completely sheltered from 1.0 and most of the information from 2.0 on purpose

last day of beta, look at these pervos gettin all up on my battleshorts, homies can't get enuff

must explore dangerous areas!

femroes. yes. get uncomfortable.

viewing this screenshot and editing it was just as uncomfortable as first laying my eyes upon this nymph of a boy in a pool. i figured ya'll need to behold this too. he's a pretty special dude though.

boop biddy boop biddy boop boop boop

 like idek what this is all aboot

i cast da spells dat make da skirts fly up

there was a lot more of this than i thought there would be, but am i shocked? i wasn't.

oh dare i say you're thancredible. ghohohoho stawp it yew

full size glory (click iiiiiiit)

r.i.p. u glorious sex kitten

It's Enough to Make You Want to Rock Yourself Sitting on The Floor, Smacking Your Arm

when is release again?

It's time to play the waiting game. Tick tock, tick tock.

So apparently there's been a huge content leak. LET'S GAB ABOUT THAT IN A BIT. First off an explanation on an update delay:

Comic Con 2013:

Faiyt and I went to Comic Con this year. Anyone who knows me in my personal life know that I used to attend this schindig every year up until about a few years ago when it was Twilight-Con (why anyone is a fan of that series is beyond me) for a while. What a hot mess.

In any case we made a visit to Square Enix's booth and tried out the new Lightning game. It certainly looks cool, and the battle system is similar(ish) to that of FFXI-2's. But that's neither here nor there. I was hoping to glean some new information of FFXIV: ARR by the team that happened to man the booths at Square Enix, but honestly it seemed like their team consisted of slighly cringeworthy fanbois gone intern from the SE offices. Awkward didn't even begin to cover Team Squeenix Redshirt Brigade. It seemed doubtful they knew much if at all. The most I could really hope to get is information I hadn't heard already. But... there was a nice printed banner? And a rather large campaign to sign up for the last phase of beta? Yay.

Grab Yourself Some Depends or Taco Sauce:

either way you're gonna need a box o' these.

Yes. Tons of content was datamined and leaked. Though I haven't gauged the response from the development team, I would not be surprised if internally they are acting super shocked that this would happen. I would HOPE THEY ARE NOT though (it seems like no maybe, especially after reading a certain quip in this most recent iteration of LftP). Usually you could roll with leaks one of two routes, by either going nuclear or just letting it go and continuing. Secrecy is hard to maintain nowadays, especially with a smarter, older MMO crowd so I'd hope that some of them realized it would only be a matter of time and wear the shock better. I like to think that while they're upset they can't reveal it like how they wanted to, it just makes some of our FFXIV-starved audience hungry for more at this point really. 

PHAZU NO JUTSU:

Everyone is looking forward to learning exactly when Phase 4 will begin. There's been lots of speculation as to the exact date, and apparently it was enough for the JP development team to sort of respond by musing and chuckling about themselves about how we Americans are just so silly, taking words that they throw out there and somehow come up with a date and time of the actual start of P4. While I think it's ok to speculate, the response from the dev team over this imo wafted traces of dismissive amusement reminiscent of when I was back in the audience during the "QnA" (moar like Q n' gay amirite?) session of the FFXI Fan Fest. Maybe it's a Japanese thing and we just don't understand, but it's 2013, not 2003, and this kind of "Maybe if you believe in the heart of the cards it's true!" bullshit won't fly anymore. I'm hoping that the development team is in a position to ditch that mindset quickly if remnants of that attitude remain and keep an open transparent humbleness if they want to make FFXIV a successful MMO not just in Asia. Just super saiyan.

lemme work mah mighty prowers, plaes peoples, plaes

I foresee problems in the future with that attitude of the dev team knowing what's better, and in the end they just might be right. Only time can tell really at this point, but I'm just not convinced that this slow unearthing of reasoning really is the right answer at this point. Ultimately the MMO audience of 2003 doesn't exist anymore. I do believe FFXI only got as far as it did because as I had mentioned in a previous post, it was a lot of people's first times with lots of MMO's. Even the game itself was one of the first really populated MMO's out there, pre-dating World of Warcraft and like myself, only stuck around because we just didn't know any better. Today's audience is smarter, older, jaded, bitter, and most likely won't suffer "g'hohoho well aren't you amusing" giggle fests. Which brings me to another topic...

Bubble-Boy Vets versus Jaded Asshat Vets:

This to me has always been an interesting topic, especially regarding the players of FFXIV on a purely social level. Personally I could clearly tell some player types apart just by attitude who had stuck around 1.0 and/or FFXI, and those who ventured onward into other games, especially WoW.

this particular lalafel has managed the dismissive sneer to a precise science of fluid motion.

Because the FF MMO's heavily relied on community to get anything done in this game, it was imperative to retain a certain reputation within your server. This was exceptionally true of FFXI, at least from what I could remember, and it had always been that way since I played up until I quit in '06. If you were a complete peehole, you could expect to become an outcast of your server or forced to join other peeholes in their Peehole Linkshell until it imploded and re-collect into another Peehole Linkshell until that would eventually self destruct later or shuffle on despite their collective peeholeness (I am liking this word too much right now). Some of these Linkshells ran on their collective being hated on, working out simply just to spite their haters. It was a sad state of affairs when it didn't work out for the most part, but it strengthened the amount of reputation maintenance every player felt obligated to maintain if they had hoped to attempt greater milestones within their FFXI careers.

It made those who made the move to WoW from FFXI a bit of a jarring experience because as one would expect, "they all" were peeholes. While in the past the community may have existed more or less in WoW back then, it most certainly became a non issue when LFR/D went live, thus seemingly aggrivating the problem. Players from FFXI realized very early on that their ignore list would fill up rather fast, and when that option ran out, either stuck it out earning their thick skin, or peacing out. Sticking it out would change some though, I know I've seen it happen to myself and other friends who made the jump to Warcraft. It becomes that much more apparent when you're put back in an MMO where these FF only MMO players seem on a hairtrigger snootfest when/if you do something by mistake or don't act polite enough... I've seen it during the beta a lot. Like, what? It's easy to want to be as dismissive as they percieve to be, but of course one will always think they are more right than the other. You get boogers, and YOU get boogers, and YOU get boogers! 

Honestly though it's probably going to be a good idea to just accept the fact that there will Always be Peeholes. Anywhere. Here's some pics!

Faiyt and I decided to go through the character creator one last couple of times. Inebriating substances (not really?) may or may not have been involved in choices and reasoning behind why we chose the things we did. Pervy cat girls gotta keep pervyin'. Ain't even mayad.

Edit: Eugh, Blogger's photo uploading service is being a dink right now, I'll put up more screenshots later on tonight. Mayhaps a drawing too!

ohhhhh kimochiiii~~~

so yeah that happened.

This go around, I managed to get way more in depth with the main storyquests. I will admit that I began this beta sort of breezing through the initial storyquests because I was antsy to get out there and level. Not to mention that I still had the WoW mentality of "omg no time to read text must get xp and experience the game". But then I realized... the story is experiencing the game. In the deep seeded habit to rush through I had overlooked that this is Final Fantasy, and story is pretty emphasized and integral to the overall gameplay experience. Pay some fuckin' attention, said me to er... myself.

I hit 15 Archer and essentially was forced to clear the starter dungeons one after the other. I will admit that by no means does this keep you from leveling, but it does keep you from leveling optimally.... you really kinda have to do this to continue your character's progress. Thankfully by the time I reached this point, the Duty Finder was active. Before this in the previous P3 beta session I recall seeing large groups of people in front of Satasha, /shout-ing and assembling groups the old fashioned way.

Duty Finder
Touchy issue. Let's get into it.
I personally cannot argue against it's inherent convenience, especially for healers and tanks (sorry DPS classes, we still gotta wait it out longer than those two types). To be able to join in an automatically assembled party and essentially bypass the stress and work of assembling one yourself is pretty neat. It's pretty awesome for me tbh, as I tend to get plagued by bad luck trying to round up people for myself (especially in my early FFXI days), either in not being able to find an available tank/healer and groups just breaking up as a result of too much waiting around for that one guy. Being able to draw from such a massive pool helps its functionality and ease of its intended use. However, like it's originator's counterpart, it's not without its consequences by its very nature.

Doody Finder
One of the first arguments raised against Duty Finder is the consequences of dealing with every type of player through recruiting from such an expansive roster. "Massive pool = massive tools" becomes held in the conciousness of most of the current playerbase, especially when the frequency of dealing with complete assbuckets and douchenozzles increases enormously. Those who are experienced in the game aren't immune to this label either as it's just as easy to label an inexperienced player a complete imbecile turdmuncher for not knowing what the fuck. Suddenly a new player to the game has his or her experience marred because of elitist snobbery from more seasoned players. This sort of immediately divides (as if the beta crowd wasn't divided enough already over other various issues) those against and for DF, but definitely not as much as its perceived overall social consequences.

Ultimately most people reference WoW's Looking for Dungeon/Raid tool as the very thing that eroded and eventually destroyed the last remnants of what player community remained in World of Warcraft. I wouldn't wholly agree with that statement 100% but I do agree it made the raiding and party experience very impersonal, despite its intentions. I also admit it's made WoW a social unsociable game, and it's made LFR/D something to endure rather than enjoy, all in the collective pursuit for gear and loot. I admit I have stirred some shit in LFR simply because I could, being bored carrying a raid full of bads with my veiny epeen of DPS. It makes it too easy to become jaded and slide into this mindset. Why care, no one else does, right?

:

Perceived worry and concern (or more like rabid frothyness) that FFXIV's Duty Finder will do the same for this game's community as Looking for Raid/Dungeon did for Warcraft's player community (what's left of it, anyway).

Dungeons

Dang, I went on aboot that for a bit eh?

I flipped on the DF and set about to playing each dungeon one by one. Queues, despite them being longer for DPS classes passed by after nailing down a few mobs and doing a few well timed Levequests. Average time for queues never displayed for me, I wonder if it didn't for anyone else.

I'd have to say that surprisingly, the overall experience was actually pleasant and mostly painless. I like to think I was very lucky in getting groups of people that were seemingly rational and quick to learn even if it was apparent it was some of our first times through each place. The fights weren't insanely hard but roles still had to be fulfilled (Like tanking maybe? Thanks random marauder), otherwise some boss mechanics could quickly overrun a group.

i kill with my heart

Archer plays really well in a group. So long as one maintains Venomous Bite on bosses and high HP targets, Archers can haul in some threat pulling damage. Holding back for hate to get established first benefited me in the long run. If you had a sucky tank though, it could turn into a game of HP attrition between myself and whatever mob(s) had focus on me at the time. 

By this time I finally got my first frontal cone AoE damage shot (I really ought to remember these skill names). The particle effect on them I think is pretty cool. However it's gotta be used wisely as spamming it will quickly drain your HP, and at current speed, it's not worth the damage output by doing so.

Continuing the Story

I won't spoil what happens, only that by the time I was through completing all 3 initial dungeons, I was fully hooked by the events. Off I went and quickly completed one quest after the other, despite numerous outside interruptions. Whenever I left I couldn't wait to be able to get back down to my computer and continue. I wanted to see what happens next. I knew a battle was brewing, and I was really anxious and eager to get to it so I could get down to it. I couldn't help but want to hurry, as I had been hearing lots of positive responses to the conclusive battle.

oh nothin, just thinkin 'bout burnin stuffs.

Ultimately I can see why they saved this for last. Like I said, I won't get too into the details of the fight, but the details of it all came together beautifully, despite the hangups I have of the game's graphics (and my Radeon card, and lack of Dx 11support).

i'mma hang dis off a gold chain mhm gorl

Graphics

I am divided. I'm running out of time before the next phase begins so I want to get this out of the way quickly. I had mentioned in an earlier post that FFXIV has a tendency to do shiny and glossy a little too well. I had also mentioned in an even earlier post that perhaps the initial shaders's glossiness and/or specular maps could be tinkered with to matte out some of the overboard reflectivity and shininess of certain materials. Metal has no problem looking like metal, however it's when things that aren't metal begin to look like it is where I usually start to get squirmy about it. 

MEHHHHHHH.

I'm not joking when I say rocks are hard. As someone who is practicing 3D modeling whole environments, one of the first things I realized about making scenes outdoors is that my first time pass, my rocks looked like deformed baby poo. Sadder part still is that was my very teacher telling me this. Something seemingly simple can look awful or mediocre with lazy texturing and that's some of what I see on certain parts of the world. Especially outside. On rocks. I also have to remember that this is the beta, and ya know, I'm also just gonna have to accept it. It's doubtful at this point that replacing textures on some random wall is top notch priority Defcon 5 level shit.

if i turned something like this in i'd get raked tbqh.

Here's a few more parting screens before I get ready to begin this session of the beta. The good news is I don't have to be up early either, weeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~~~

-Riza

Until next time.