• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood |OT| Y'all Need to Calm Down

M

mcw

Member
I picked up a quest this morning called "The Rise and Fall of Gentlemen"... there's probably some storyline I'm missing here, but as it is, this is the hardest I've laughed at anything in a game in a long time.
 
S

Squishy3

Member
mcw said:
Finally finished the ARR main scenario last night. That was simultaneously amazing and disappointing.

Disappointing? Well, some of it is because of the kind of game this is, and some of it is disappointment in myself.

I did some reading before starting the final two dungeons. The main recommendation was to watch the cutscenes on YouTube beforehand because most of the people with whom I would be paired are likely trying to farm it as fast as possible. That bummed me out-- the first time I watch these cutscenes, ideally, would be in the context of my game and character-- but I did it anyway, and it's a good thing I did because every other person in the group absolutely was speedrunning it. Folks just ran; no one fought anything unless it was absolutely required in order to proceed. Believe it or not, that was the first time I'd encountered this behavior so far in the game.

Which lead to the part where I'm disappointed in myself: During the second dungeon, everyone ran ahead, and at some point disappeared into a hole in the ground which I didn't see immediately. All the aggro they had pulled along the way ended up attacking me. After respawning at the beginning, I got lost... In total it was about ten minutes of me running around not knowing where to go. They were nice enough about it-- no one complained, really-- but that was frustrating, especially since I'm playing on PS4 and don't use a keyboard.

So yeah, none of that should have happened. More than that, though: Playing with a full party, it's a totally different game. There's so much I need to learn about how to be an effective healer with a full party. Is it truly the case that the only way I'm going to be able to practice it is by playing with parties that already know everything and want to blaze through as fast as possible? If so, that's what I'll do-- gotta get better somehow, and getting thrown in the deep end is one way-- but man, it's a real bad feeling knowing that you're slowing everyone down.

One thing about the ending:
After the credits roll, and you reappear in The Waking Sands, and everyone is there, and they applaud when you walk over to them?... yeah, that was a nice touch.

Also, I have a friend who is a voice actor, and was shocked when I got to the credits and saw that he was in this. I hadn't recognized him at all!
Click to expand...
That's pretty much the only dungeon where you can get lost to that degree, nothing else in the game is like that.
 
Zomba13

Zomba13

Member
mcw said:
Finally finished the ARR main scenario last night. That was simultaneously amazing and disappointing.

Disappointing? Well, some of it is because of the kind of game this is, and some of it is disappointment in myself.

I did some reading before starting the final two dungeons. The main recommendation was to watch the cutscenes on YouTube beforehand because most of the people with whom I would be paired are likely trying to farm it as fast as possible. That bummed me out-- the first time I watch these cutscenes, ideally, would be in the context of my game and character-- but I did it anyway, and it's a good thing I did because every other person in the group absolutely was speedrunning it. Folks just ran; no one fought anything unless it was absolutely required in order to proceed. Believe it or not, that was the first time I'd encountered this behavior so far in the game.

Which lead to the part where I'm disappointed in myself: During the second dungeon, everyone ran ahead, and at some point disappeared into a hole in the ground which I didn't see immediately. All the aggro they had pulled along the way ended up attacking me. After respawning at the beginning, I got lost... In total it was about ten minutes of me running around not knowing where to go. They were nice enough about it-- no one complained, really-- but that was frustrating, especially since I'm playing on PS4 and don't use a keyboard.

So yeah, none of that should have happened. More than that, though: Playing with a full party, it's a totally different game. There's so much I need to learn about how to be an effective healer with a full party. Is it truly the case that the only way I'm going to be able to practice it is by playing with parties that already know everything and want to blaze through as fast as possible? If so, that's what I'll do-- gotta get better somehow, and getting thrown in the deep end is one way-- but man, it's a real bad feeling knowing that you're slowing everyone down.

One thing about the ending:
After the credits roll, and you reappear in The Waking Sands, and everyone is there, and they applaud when you walk over to them?... yeah, that was a nice touch.

Also, I have a friend who is a voice actor, and was shocked when I got to the credits and saw that he was in this. I hadn't recognized him at all!
Click to expand...

They don't make that mistake again. Every other dungeon (apart from a single cutscene before a boss in the last HW story dungeon) has the important bits happen after you leave. Douchebags can rush the boss as you're watching the boss intro cutscene but they are usually very short.
 
P

Pyros_Eien

Member
Zomba13 said:
They don't make that mistake again. Every other dungeon (apart from a single cutscene before a boss in the last HW story dungeon) has the important bits happen after you leave. Douchebags can rush the boss as you're watching the boss intro cutscene but they are usually very short.
Click to expand...

Also the boss intro cutscenes are all completely useless, while I watch and read everything, I pretty much always skip these. It's just the boss coming out of something or just dropping down or whatever and then acting menacing with the zoom back and you see your team, like you've seen it once you've seen them all. I only watch the primal ones.
 
G

Guess Who

Banned
mcw said:
I picked up a quest this morning called "The Rise and Fall of Gentlemen"... there's probably some storyline I'm missing here, but as it is, this is the hardest I've laughed at anything in a game in a long time.
Click to expand...

Ah, you've found the Hildibrand questline. You're in for... a ride.
 
K

Kenai

Member
mcw said:
I picked up a quest this morning called "The Rise and Fall of Gentlemen"... there's probably some storyline I'm missing here, but as it is, this is the hardest I've laughed at anything in a game in a long time.
Click to expand...

Prepare to enjoy some of the best of the best content in this (any) game.
 
M

Moaradin

Member
I still haven't done the Heavensward Hildebrand questline. I miss when they attached trials, emotes, and other weird stuff to it. Seems like the HW one was just for the story?
 
S

Squishy3

Member
Moaradin said:
I still haven't done the Heavensward Hildebrand questline. I miss when they attached trials, emotes, and other weird stuff to it. Seems like the HW one was just for the story?
Click to expand...
They didn't initially plan for Hildibrand to be in the HW patch cycle, so that'd be why.
 
V

VanillaCakeIsBurning

Member
Squishy3 said:
It also took a long time for them to get to this point in their storytelling: GW2's initial story had you getting sidelined for a character you'd never met if you didn't start as a Sylvari, and he actually accomplishes the penultimate goal of the base game. You also have a disappointing final fight against Zhaitan where he latched himself to a pillar (doesn't even fly off it to do anything else) you sit on an airship, shoot cannons at him, and kill adds that try to attack the cannons. Imagine Steps of Faith if it was just shooting cannons at the boss and killing the adds that try to attack the cannons instead of the Lao Shan-lite fight it is. (At least, when it wasn't nerfed and laughably overgeared like it is now)

Basically, GW2 tried to prop you up as "the god character" or whatever, but like WoW, sidelined you for other characters to actually do the plot-altering elements, but they've since changed their approach to that where you actively work with a small group. FFXIV handled this better initially, since despite the fetch quests and the like, at the end of ARR you're celebrated as the hero who did the thing instead of someone else, and that's pretty much persisted throughout. The actual characterization of your character's gotten better too, and people actually interact with you despite your character just speaking in nods, pained expressions and slamming your fist into an open palm.
Click to expand...

I played GW2 when it came out and am familiar with the faults in the base game's story.

What I'm talking about is simply the concept of having your character speak at all versus having them nod occassionally and telepathically inserting knowledge into other character's minds after the screen turns black.

There are characters that operate within the story and with other characters and then you have mute protagonists that don't.

Creating a demo character just to try Path of Fire and playing through the beginning 15-20 minute instance (I actually forgot GW2 voiced the protag at all since it had been a long time since I last played) I felt more connected to the character I was playing than pretty much the entirety of FFXIV's base game and two expansions. Just because my character expressed themself like every other character in the game.
 
G

Glendemonium

Member
Wow, BRD is fun again. Like, ARR fun. I can run and shoot things and not worry about being a turret. It even feels our damage had a large damage buff over the many patches. Haven't touched the class since before 3.1 and left it at 52. And it's actually easier (imo) to manage than machinist plus you feel satisfied with how much damage you can pump out at a fast rate.

Also the rotation is not as intimidating as so many videos make it out to be, I'm @61 and going to try to get it to 70 by next weekend and whore myself to raids. At this rate I can see me switching from MNK to BRD this expansion. Perhaps this way I can gear BRD and MCH at the same time.

I'm going to try again Sunday to get at least O1S and O2S clears on MNK at least for the books, if not oh well there's always next week. Already saving up Omega normal gears and farming Sus/Lax EX for the weapon/accs. Might end up getting the 330 weapon for BRD next reset so I'll wait and see.
 
F

Frumix

Suffering From Success
Give me back HW machinist
339009005038862339.png
 
Xux

Xux

Member
*loud gasp*

I want a drop from the Ivalice raid that just the Emperor's New Hat but it hides your character's nose.
 
S

Shandy

Member
Trying to level WHM (currently 52) so I have a pocket healer when I feel like being worshipped.

Ran Dusk Vigil for exp/gear and single-handedly killed three of us on the first boss (he was being mean and targeting me for his stun bs and I was like "You know what we need? Medica 2" instead of healing myself). Things started going smoother when I remembered I had Holy. And Largesse. If I can remember I have Eye for an Eye, I might just reach mediore status!

(And I got two comms for my failures. Try not to be jealous, Astral. :p)
 
A

Astral

Member
Shandy said:
Trying to level WHM (currently 52) so I have a pocket healer when I feel like being worshipped.

Ran Dusk Vigil for exp/gear and single-handedly killed three of us on the first boss (he was being mean and targeting me for his stun bs and I was like "You know what we need? Medica 2" instead of healing myself). Things started going smoother when I remembered I had Holy. And Largesse. If I can remember I have Eye for an Eye, I might just reach mediore status!

(And I got two comms for my failures. Try not to be jealous, Astral. :p)
Click to expand...

I swear ever since I've stopped keeping Medica II up at all times during boss fights I've been getting less commendations lol. It could just be my imagination though. It's better this way. I saw a guy using Medica II every single time we got hit and I was just shaking my head.
 
L

Lunafreya Nox Fleuret

Member
It's actually amazing how everyone can brag about over 4k dps yesterday on O3S but cant do mechanics for crap. Mechanics > DPS ego. I'll never get why people brag but still wipe the party, tbh.
 
D

Dougieflesh

Member
Lunafreya Nox Fleuret said:
It's actually amazing how everyone can brag about over 4k dps yesterday on O3S but cant do mechanics for crap. Mechanics > DPS ego. I'll never get why people brag but still wipe the party, tbh.
Click to expand...

It's so dumb. People will get themselves killed while trying to squeeze out an extra GCD. Then they'll have weakness on and cry about their numbers.
 
R

Repgnar

Member
Wife and I played this for the first time yesterday for most of the day. Really enjoying the trial and unless anything changes before we hit 35 we're planning on picking it up. Made a Lalafell Lancer on Ultros and actually saw a random guy with the GAF tag.

Any estimation on how long it takes to get 60/70? Not looking to speed level. Did the main story line and whatever side quests were in the zone yesterday and I'm like 17/18 right now.
 
A

aceface

Member
Repgnar said:
Wife and I played this for the first time yesterday for most of the day. Really enjoying the trial and unless anything changes before we hit 35 we're planning on picking it up. Made a Lalafell Lancer on Ultros and actually saw a random guy with the GAF tag.
Click to expand...

Welcome brother!

Any estimation on how long it takes to get 60/70? Not looking to speed level. Did the main story line and whatever side quests were in the zone yesterday and I'm like 17/18 right now.
Click to expand...

Well, if your goal was to power level as rapidly as possible you could do it pretty quickly. But finishing the MSQ to the end of Stormblood is going to take you dozens of hours. We're talking hundreds of story quests here. One benefit though if you're not in a hurry is that the exp from your story quests alone should get you to max level on your main job. There's generally no reason to do side quests on your main job for experience.
 
M

mcw

Member
Now that my WHM is level 50, I'm doing the sensible thing... uh... yeah, I'm going through the Relic Reborn quests.

At the end of this I know that I'm going to end up with a weapon that will be inferior to the very first thing I find in HW. But I feel like this is part of the experience, if that makes any sense.
 
Kudo

Kudo

Member
Repgnar said:
Wife and I played this for the first time yesterday for most of the day. Really enjoying the trial and unless anything changes before we hit 35 we're planning on picking it up. Made a Lalafell Lancer on Ultros and actually saw a random guy with the GAF tag.

Any estimation on how long it takes to get 60/70? Not looking to speed level. Did the main story line and whatever side quests were in the zone yesterday and I'm like 17/18 right now.
Click to expand...

You chose the best race, good job.
Leveling can take some time as the story is long, so just think of it as playing a RPG and at the end of it you'll be max level.
Can't give you any hour estimate but I'd say it's better not to stress about leveling unless you're in a hurry.
 
R

Repgnar

Member
aceface said:
Well, if your goal was to power level as rapidly as possible you could do it pretty quickly. But finishing the MSQ to the end of Stormblood is going to take you dozens of hours. We're talking hundreds of story quests here. One benefit though if you're not in a hurry is that the exp from your story quests alone should get you to max level on your main job. There's generally no reason to do side quests on your main job for experience.
Click to expand...

Hmm, i'll have to look into it. We finished the starting zones for our respective classes and met up in Limsa but just realized we can't party up with the starter account so we now own the game. While it updates i'll read into leveling then. Wife hasn't played an MMO before so I was planning on just taking our time and going through zones so she can explore but if the story alone is going to take a while we may just focus on that with FATEs/Instances/etc when we're underleveled.

When do I start not using leather/cloth as a lancer? My dude looks goofy as hell right now hahaha.
 
P

Pyros_Eien

Member
Repgnar said:
Hmm, i'll have to look into it. We finished the starting zones for our respective classes and met up in Limsa but just realized we can't party up with the starter account so we now own the game. While it updates i'll read into leveling then. Wife hasn't played an MMO before so I was planning on just taking our time and going through zones so she can explore but if the story alone is going to take a while we may just focus on that with FATEs/Instances/etc when we're underleveled.

When do I start not using leather/cloth as a lancer? My dude looks goofy as hell right now hahaha.
Click to expand...

I think around 30 the gear starts specializing more? I forgot since it's been a while but at some point there's Lancer/tank armor, and eventually lancer/dragoon armor is its own type of armor only for the class. You'll look like a clown for most of the leveling time though until you reach 50 and get full sets of gear, or if you decide to grind a dungeon long enough for drops(not really recommended as a first char).
 
H

hosannainexcelsis

Member
Just got around to doing the Kugane Castle dungeon and that last boss was hilarious.
Wasn't expecting to have to run around and pick up gold payments to a mercenary before he himself could get them.
 
H

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
hosannainexcelsis said:
Just got around to doing the Kugane Castle dungeon and that last boss was hilarious.
Wasn't expecting to have to run around and pick up gold payments to a mercenary before he himself could get them.
Click to expand...
I hope he shows up some more, one of the best bosses in the game.
 
M

mcw

Member
This is the farthest I've ever gotten in a MMO. I've never been in a raid before. It's going to be awhile before that changes, but even so, I'm thinking about it-- and with that in mind I've got some questions...

1. If I don't have any friends that are playing this, should I still consider doing a raid? Normally I'd think you could just use PF to find some folks, but a 24-man team needs more coordination than that, right?
2. At this point in the game's life, should I still pursue Labyrinth of the Ancients as my first raid?
3. Bigger is not always better, but still... is it true that the raids are the most enjoyable content in the game?
4. About how much time must I commit to a raid?
 
G

Glendemonium

Member
mcw said:
This is the farthest I've ever gotten in a MMO. I've never been in a raid before. It's going to be awhile before that changes, but even so, I'm thinking about it-- and with that in mind I've got some questions...

1. If I don't have any friends that are playing this, should I still consider doing a raid? Normally I'd think you could just use PF to find some folks, but a 24-man team needs more coordination than that, right?
2. At this point in the game's life, should I still pursue Labyrinth of the Ancients as my first raid?
3. Bigger is not always better, but still... is it true that the raids are the most enjoyable content in the game?
4. About how much time must I commit to a raid?
Click to expand...

1. Yes, Party Finder will have your back. Try to get into a few learning parties before content gets stale, they'll dwindle over time. I rarely see Sus/Lak EX learning parties now.

2. Wait until 4.1 for the raid finder for the 24 mans. Unless you want to get into the story content, but in a few weeks it'll be part of the whole roulette shebang.

3. Far from it. Raids are just a part of the over all experience. You use the normal to gear yourself so you can do Savage raids. You have the 24 mans, Treasure Hunts, regular Hunts, Dungeons (tome grinding for gear), Gold Saucer attractions (Triple Triad and Chocobo Racing) EX primals (weapon, accessories, mount farms), Palace of the Dead, Crafting, Gathering, glamouring your characters, in game weddings, some servers actually do server wide events though I think it's mainly Balmung because they're into that sort of thing.

Crazy thing is, everything I just mentioned has a storyline attached to it. This game throws so much lore at you.

4. Depends on you and your static. Some statics can go a couple hours, some may take all day. Expect people to come and go lots, and even some salt along the way. I'm getting a bit too old to be in a group of young adults/teens squabbling over wiping so right now it's the PUG life unless my FC or people in my LS need a member... which is why I'm leveling up BRD (and because SB made it great again!).
 
K

Kenai

Member
mcw said:
This is the farthest I've ever gotten in a MMO. I've never been in a raid before. It's going to be awhile before that changes, but even so, I'm thinking about it-- and with that in mind I've got some questions...

1. If I don't have any friends that are playing this, should I still consider doing a raid? Normally I'd think you could just use PF to find some folks, but a 24-man team needs more coordination than that, right?
2. At this point in the game's life, should I still pursue Labyrinth of the Ancients as my first raid?
3. Bigger is not always better, but still... is it true that the raids are the most enjoyable content in the game?
4. About how much time must I commit to a raid?
Click to expand...

1) You can PF for the 24 man, which is a solid entry for first timers. The "current" 24 man won't be until 4.1, but usually has much less punishing mechanics than the harder 8 man raids. if you get 70 before it launches in 4.1, normal Omega 8 man content is also fine. I recommend against Savage 8 mans until learning the ropes from easier stuff, especially since Savage is harder versions of the same fight (with more mechanics).

2)I wouldn't expect much from LoA since it's severely outdated and a lot of people who do join those just mess around and aren't being serious. You can go in, but I wouldn't call it your first actual raid designed for current classes at this point. You won't learn much (anything) from it outside of perhaps story stuff and getting old gear you won't use.

3) My most enjoyable content in the game isn't raiding, but raiding is fun. It's up to you what is and is not the most enjoyable stuff, but there's a lot to do that you *might* find interesting, especially for a first serious MMO attempt. It eases you into a lot of stuff.

4) 24 mans have a 90? min lockout period, but most won't take that long. If you ever get a static for harder 8 man content it will vary. Those lockouts are 60 min but you can obviously go back in after if desired. My static is casual and does 2-4 lockouts (so 2-4 hours) a week, with skipping some weeks during the summer and holidays like now depending on our schedules, and we are currently to Apanda on OS3 (of 4). A lot will do more, again it varies on how much your group wants to meet/progress.
 
O

Omni

Member
Had a look at one of my v3s logs tonight. I 'main heal' on AST so I guess my dps is expected to be a little lower, but ugh. I need to figure out how to fix this.

pj3qstV.png


Finished at 1230dps. I think I've more or less 'optimised' the first half of the fight kinda in regards to healing... just the final 50% I'm not nearly pushing out as many malefics as should I be doing

Gotta be more consistent with earthly stars I suppose. I hate the mechanic randomness -____-
 
Kudo

Kudo

Member
mcw said:
This is the farthest I've ever gotten in a MMO. I've never been in a raid before. It's going to be awhile before that changes, but even so, I'm thinking about it-- and with that in mind I've got some questions...

1. If I don't have any friends that are playing this, should I still consider doing a raid? Normally I'd think you could just use PF to find some folks, but a 24-man team needs more coordination than that, right?
2. At this point in the game's life, should I still pursue Labyrinth of the Ancients as my first raid?
3. Bigger is not always better, but still... is it true that the raids are the most enjoyable content in the game?
4. About how much time must I commit to a raid?
Click to expand...

There's no 24-man "hardcore" raids in the game at the moment, hardest contest in the game is made for 8-man groups.

24-man raids are part of the fun experience, but for me personally not the most enjoyable content. The secret end-game is glamours.
If you want to find static group for 8-man Savage raiding the time you must commit depends entirely on the effort the group wants to put in, progress gets easier each week with better gear etc.
You can clear all the content with not much dedication if you just find good group of friends or static that has the will to do it, I haven't had the pleasure of trying to PF for Savage but I can imagine it's not much fun with people fighting over the loot and learning mechanics where one mistake dooms the whole attempt.
 
Q

Qvoth

Member
the 8 man "hardcore" raid content in this game is designed to be clearable even by a bunch of randoms (the term is pugs)
the difference is just how quick you'll be able to clear them, generally having a static means faster clearance, but that totally depends on the skills of your other static member as well so it doesn't mean much
 
A

Astral

Member
I can't with these last 3 or 4 jumps on the tower. It's dark as shit, it looks too far. Fuck. This is this game's Pitios Ruins.

EDIT: I DID IT! After two in game days and 2 hours it's finally over. I can take a nice screenshot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Final Fantasy XIV on Xbox introduces "FFXIV Coins" microtransactions so that Microsoft can get a cut
46
5K
kikii replied
Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood Expansion Free* For A Limited Time - Ends May 8th
Deals
12
1K
NecrosaroIII replied
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail - Review Thread
Analysis Review
5
1K
Celcius replied
LTTP/Ongoing: Final Fantasy XiV: Stormblood - I will catch up to the end game one day!
27
1K
SCB3 replied
Xbox's automated 'moderation' systems need to be scrapped. Microsoft has fired thousands of customer service employees, and replaced them with AI
Opinion News Drama 2
93
9K
StereoVsn replied
Top Bottom