Final Fantasy

Yes, Uber has set up shop in Eorzea. I'm just out to make some extra gil with my chocobo between adventures. With our free month of FFXIV about to end, Kasul and I had to make a difficult decision. Not about whether or not to continue playing the game – we’re both having a lot of fun with – but just who was going to recruit who for the recruit-a-friend program. See, in FFXIV, if you recruit someone, you get a bunch of cool rewards, like that two-seater chocobo in the picture. If you’re recruited, you get some lesser rewards. ...

Just you and me, kid. You and me and no three other people not in this picture. On our last story day, Kasul and I had thought we were just minutes away from meeting Titan, the Lord of the Crags, based on the urgency of the NPCs. We finished the night thinking that next time, we would be meeting the primal of the kobolds in our second Trial. No! That turned out not to be the case! Instead, we spent pretty much the entire night proving our worthiness by doing trivial jobs. Only by gladly crossing the planet doing fetch jobs, could we show the sort of spunk and willingness to follow orders given by strangers required to break through the rock-hard skin of Titan. ...

Fear the armor! With my faithful Chocobo, Yupa, I scare away all invaders with my overpowering black armor. They thought they were getting the white paladin, the kind that would bring them mercy. This is not the kind of paladin they are getting. Kasul and I met tonight to advance the story a little bit. Last time opened up Thousand Maws, an experience neither of us really enjoyed. And, since there were no gear upgrades in the dungeon, no reason to ever do it again (unless it comes up in a random low level dungeon at some point). Since we’ve well outleveled the story at this point, we were hoping that tonight’s questing would get us a dungeon nearer our levels (me: 31, Kasul: 32). But no luck. The chapter we did brought us to a hidden desert town full of exiles rousted out of the nearby city now inhabited by undead and level 45 beastmen. ...

I choose you, Chocobo! Back in FFXI, I was always kinda mad that I never managed to finish the super long chocobo quest before I gave up on the game in frustration (though not specifically over the chocobo quest). (It was because I could go days without getting a group). It was with some joy that I finished the REALLY EASY quest to get my chocobo license in FFXIV. All you need to do is run around and do a few fates, and boom! Enough seals to buy a chocobo license from the Grand Company we joined, the Order of the Flame. ...

The bigger they come... I wonder if everyone sees my butt like this at the end of a dungeon, or if they’re looking at their own character in some sort of heroic pose. It’s okay if it’s me they’re seeing, because I’m friggin Brienne of Tarth here. I look like a warrior. I love MMOs where it doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl, if you’re a warrior, you look badass. ...

Final Fantasy is such a different experience, that a bit more than a week in, I’m still not sure how I feel about it. I do LIKE it… but… wait, a little background. I’ve had this sudden insight lately that what I like best about MMOs is the leveling up. The max level grind doesn’t interest me at all. It used to, back in the EverQuest days. Back then, I loved seeing dungeons and raids again and again because each time, I’d be better at them. ...

After much discussion, Kasul and I decided to start Final Fantasy XIV in Ul’dur (I think that’s how it’s spelled), me as a Guardian, he as a Thaumaturge. Though I don’t think he’s created his character yet – he’s been fully pulled in to EverQuest, Ragefire style :) I wanted to get past the newbie quests, eventually ending up in an outdoor zone at level 8 with my second set of armor upgrades. Kasul said the guides said the first ten levels were pretty much solo-only, but I’m already bumping into these Fate events (public quests) and that really sounds like something that indicates I’ve moved out of the newbie solo stuff. ...

I absolutely would love to know how many people people are REALLY playing World of Warcraft vs Lord of the Rings Online vs Warhammer Online vs Total Global Annihilation (Online) and so on. Heaven knows its not in the interest of gaming companies to tell us. To me, it means they have something to hide. Every company is all so excited to reveal their numbers when they are trending up. When they are silent, that can only be bad news. ...

I suck at predictions, but everyone else is doing them. Luckily, I have a Magic 8 Ball. I’m just gonna list some games, and ask the Magic 8 Ball what it thinks of them. Question to the 8 Ball for all of these games: Will this game have a good year in 2011? Age of Conan: “Outlook Not So Good”. AoC released its first expansion, “Ride of the Godslayer”, last summer, and that’s pretty much the last I’ve heard of the game. I don’t think the Magic 8 Ball is correct; I think Funcom is content to support their current player base without feeling the need to go F2P. Their massively hyped launch should have helped them recoup their development costs years ago. ...

FFXIV opens with a fantastic character generator, shows you a wonderful cinematic that soon includes you and segues smoothly into the tutorial. You soon are dropped into a crowded inn with quest givers that you will come to know very well. They give out your “guildleves” – kill quests, and your “local leves” – crafting quests, and finally your “field leves” – harvesting quests. Your remaining days in FFXIV will consist of filling up on leves, going to the place they tell you to go, killing trash mobs, making items you won’t be able to keep, and whacking away at harvest nodes. ...