Real Housewives Rage Didn't Even Hold a Candle...

If you thought the rage over the Live Letter was bad, this invoked something worse.

Errors 3102/90000:

During the Open Beta (Phase 4!), a lot of the servers were undergoing a tremendous amount of traffic. I would like to think that SE was horribly underestimating the amount of people willing to give FFXIV another chance, especially those who had gone through the earlier beta phases. Also, the story of FFXIV itself is quite interesting, I mean let's be real here, they shut down the first iteration of this game. A live MMO was shut down and rebuilt from the ground up in order to surpass and exceed the abysmal quality of its previous existence. Who DOES that? Well, nobody did, until Square Enix went along and decided "Ya know what? We need to fix this."

The NA/EU servers were put through the wringer. I didn't manage to wake up in time to make my character thinking that I would have plenty of time later to do it, but I quickly learned that it was a mistake. Within minutes of my logging in, I was locked from creating a character on the server of my choice. I'm not gonna lie, I was quite pissed, since I had ended up being essentially locked out most of the day thereafter. I mucked around playing on another server until I would be notified via SE's twitter, but the thing about it was that it "shut off" in the evening and resumed in the morning. Meanwhile the player base is anxious for updates because suddenly Errors 3102 and 90000 happened. There was already frustrations running at an all-time high over being locked out of populated servers, and now this. I knew immediately what this would turn into:

People were disconnecting from the server, but not fully. The server still counted these disconnects as still being on the server so essentially once you were kicked out from one of these errors, one's avatar still was flagged as being online, stuck in limbo, and locked out from being able to be logged in again. People began to lose their collective shitballs, and well, the Train to Server-Wreck City began gaining steam as more and more people became affected by it.

Two distinct crowds once again made their appearance known.

"Why Won't SE RESPOND?!"/"Stop Being Such Entitled Crybabies, DIS IS BETA."

I completely get the reasonings behind why any of these crowds of collective opinions get their logic, but isn't anyone else besides me getting tired of running into this merry-go-round? Both camps have their points, but let's be real here. One side does tend to act a bit entitled at their worst, while on the other hand, the attitude on the worser side told the rest of us to suck it up, we're there to test the game and endure the bugs. I'm sure most of those latter responses were happily click clacking away in the game though, dodging the errors that kept affecting more and more people as the day progressed.

A thread on the beta forums had begun a while ago by the official staff, asking anyone who was affected by these errors to post their character and server name, and nothing else.  This thread began to pile on and on as the day progressed, and eventually I knew that the servers would have to come down at some point.

Meanwhile back at Mystery Bug Camp 3k, the frustration at SE's lack of response grew and grew. And like I had pointed out on previous posts, the MMO audience of 2003 doesn't exist, as they kept making their frustration increasingly known on the beta forums. Most of the banter between these camps once again turned into another episode of FXIV Beta Forum Wars. This episode, Battle at Facepalm Valley indeed kept up to its location's namesake.

I can't defend the entitled worser aspects of the camp that demands satisfaction at every turn. It's sadlarious to see a chunk of the player base make themselves clearly known by how epically whiny they are, and how loud they tend to get on the forums. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that maybe it's the residual effects from such rampant behavior on other MMO's but most of these people were so predictable it was easy to tune them out from those who had valid posts and concerns. Despite those valid concerns and posts, most didn't get the attention they needed, as they were constantly de-railed by interludes back to the fray that was Facepalm Valley from either party.

Now on the other hand, I can't imagine those who never ventured outside of FFXI or FFXIV 1.0 to be not shocked at this kind of "savage" behavior. Then again I can't help but think that this is what most of this camp has been used to, being isolated from other toxic gaming communities. Suddenly the feeling of their game mixing with the "unwashed masses" begins to collectively form in their mind. And you know, I can't really hate on that because it happened to me too. Maybe in another game and in a different way, but I can understand that feeling akin to the idea of walking into your favorite restaurant and suddenly a flood of whiny brats stroll on in by themselves, complaining about everything, making mountains of molehills, exploding at the earliest inconvenience. And you can't do anything about it except keep sipping your coffee sitting across from your friend as you stare at each other, with the idea dawning on both your minds over the harsh reality that this is how it's going to be for a while. A long while. Some of these from this particular camp are very quick to defend the game and its rash decisions, but I like to think it's a direct result of being indoctrinated by the usual treatment from Square Enix's customer service. Or lack thereof, let's be honest here.

u tellem, blanche-dave!

Dang, Finally:

1AM came and the realm I wanted to roll on finally unlocked. I made Oriza and began my journey... FINALLY.

Was I pissed that I couldn't go on the server of my choice initially? Of course. But I did suck it up and waited. I knew I had lost a day of time, but so had a lot of other people. I just would have to make do with the time that I would get. I was happy though, to finally get started.

eeee so cute

Once again I was whipped up into the story fairly easily. I began in the city of Gridania, and unfortunately, it meant that my storyline cutscenes would be with these two chuckle-heads insead of the heart-throb Thancred:

princess cameltoe and dude with glasses.

yea those glasses are goofy, sorry 'bout it

But onward I went. I began Archer this time, because I had expressed earlier intentions of becoming a Bard later on down the road. I know that will change depending, but for now, I think it would do well for me to level something useful.

sparkly thangs!

ha!

rofl. yep. managed to get one snap before he got away.

some rando qtpai

Yeah evenually I did have to level Conjurer. Balls.

Starting Again:

Yeah, sure, Archer is easy DPS. As long as you can cycle your globals/buffs efficiently as well as keep the DoT up, you could do some real decent damage. Sometimes beneficial procs of certain self buffs would kick in at inconvenient times, right after spamming some other ability. But for the most part, as long as you had your cooldowns in check and timed them efficiently together, the damage could stack very quickly. I had to stop at 12 to level Conjurer. I figured I may as well. Blegh. I got CNJ til about 8 until I couldn't stay awake, and I knew that if I slept now the beta would be over before I woke up.

Oh well. Off to sleep I went anyway, grateful I made some progress.

Finally, I leave you with this:

he's too sexy for his er... hat?

(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

PANCHIRA! PANCHIRA! PANCHIRA!1!

Howdy!

After some self speculation and some brief time in beta phase 1 of Final Fantasy XIV, I decided to begin a blog about my general experiences playing said game. I personally want to tackle it not only as a player, but as someone who is eager and curious behind the design and mechanical development of this iteration of the series.

faiyt please, dis only da beta and u already in pantyflash mode

Whooo ok. Awesome. I'm not playing alone though, as Oriza has a super friend in Faiyt, another Mi'quote out to tank the world of Ezorea. His contributions will be featured in this blog from time to time.



FFXI:
I began XI right when it launched in North America. I was a complete fan of the FF series in general and I was willing to follow this foray into the MMO world for the first time. I'd have heard of other MMO's but had not desired to play one until I figured now I had to because I was eager to follow the series and give it a shot.

I spent three years of my time on there. I managed to reach an end game linkshell in a non popular class. The journey to level cap wasn't easy (and not much else of the game was either to be frank), but since it was my first MMO, I just went along with it, being reluctant to level a job that would have made it easier on me.

Because that game was so dependent on reputation and keeping good standing, a sort of unspoken code of conduct developed as the NA populace began to keep up with the JP counterparts on the server in terms of progress. It was an interesting MMO, but also incredibly frustrating.

Part of FFXI's many reasons for its failures in my eyes was the complete lack of communication and outright disregard for their NA community and many of our valid issues. To be fair though, from my understanding, the JP community managed to penetrate (heheheh) those extremely valid issues/concerns once in a great while to FFXI's dev team who would in turn fix the issue(s) about 3 patches later.

The whole community > developer relationship was non-existent back then. Well it did... sort of. I attended XI's very first Fan Festival in 2006 and I clearly remember the development Q&A was a waste and a joke. Good questions to the panel were rare and mostly met with with non-answers ("If you believe it's true then could be, maybe! BELIEVE!").''

"oh man elvaan f pantyshots are the best" said no one in ffxi ever

Yikes.

WoW:
My 628th Salvage trip through Treasures of Aht Urghan I decided I had enough. I made the jump fulltime into World of Warcraft. I had began it a few months earlier and I found myself logging on to FFXI less and less. When I first began WoW, and finally got into the swing of things, it was a very liberating experience, especially in terms of what WoW did great and what it didn't do in comparison to XI. I didn't lose experience when I die? I can resurrect at my body? I just have to walk there? Sweet! Not to mention the community was being actively engaged regularly by the development team and coming from a game where that didn't exist was pretty damn amazing.

I reached a good pinnacle of my raiding time in The Burning Crusade, managed to get full T6 twice, and reached a decent clear of Sunwell (up to M'uru) before it was hosed to the ground. After that expansion as far as I was concerned WoW began a steady decline for me personally. I could go on into the reasoning but I'll touch on it if/when necessary.

It's now 2013, and in the midst of Mists of Pandaria. I couldn't say that WoW holds my interest so much as before, I know Faiyt and I have become restless over Warcraft, even devoting some time into Diablo III (which warrants its own fail tribute... but tis another can of worms). I think we had both reached a point where nothing at Blizzard held our interest, not to mention the MMO's that came and went during WoW's stronghold grip over the market. 

FFXIV 1.0's Shutdown:

I took everyone's advice and avoided the game like the plague after its initial launch. I have no regrets, especially when my FFXI pals constantly lambasted it. 

When I heard the announcement that FFXIV's staff would be shitcanned I was in a bit of a shock. After thinking about it though, I shouldn't have been so surprised. It would only be a matter of time before this archaic stonewall and lack of utter communication towards the people that actually paid to play your game would ultimately catch up to them. The consensus was that Square Enix would rather not have a tarnished Final Fantasy game and understandably so. After all, there are so many devoted fans of the series. And SE apparently did not want a black mark on their record. 

I had not paid any attention to most of what was going on at this point because I had no reason to believe that they would learn from their mistakes in trying to re-boot the game. 

Until I read Letters from the Developer.

Could it be? Could Yoshi be the one man to pick up the pieces and make something awesome out of something blegh? It sure sounded like it the more of these letters I read. Every installment would be absolutely refreshing to read and I realized that if this ideal he had been building in his head could be pulled off in live... sparkle unicorns... everywhere.

Two weeks ago Faiyt and I received the first emails for the start of the beta phase. Thus began the first trip into the new world of Ezorea.