BLOG (PERSONAL) -- Getting Re-acquainted with Final Fantasy XIV

So... a few days ago, I started playing Final Fantasy XIV again (will refer to it as FFXIV from this point on). 

If you have been reading my monthly recap blogs for a while, you might think, 'But you have been playing FFXIV'. Well, yes, and no. I've re-subbed and logged on multiple times to do the limited seasonal events that happen every often. Aside from that, I barely did anything to progress my characters, nor the story / dungeons. That is because... aside from the lack of time (I have many things that can keep me busy), I felt a little alienated / intimidated by all the changes in the game.

To summarize my experience with FFXIV, I started playing it on February 1st, 2014. I instantly loved everything about it and went on to play it intensely for about the next 2 and a half years. For anybody curious, here is my first blog about FFXIV: https://ironixgirl.blogspot.com/2014/02/exposures-video-games-final-fantasy-xiv.html. 

During that time, I went through a mix of highs and lows. I've mentioned this before, but it really felt like living a lifetime in there. Also during that time other aspects in my real life got affected. I wasn't playing as many other video games nor watching as many movies / shows as I had wanted. My blog-writing also took a huge dive. I just wasn't able to balance my life and my FFXIV life... to a point where I eventually decided I had to take a break. There were other reasons, too, but... I don't want to get into them right now.

In the beginning it wasn't so bad. I'd re-sub or take advantage of a free 4-day login campaign to do limited events, and then spend the rest of my time leveling some of my classes. I had wanted to level them all to 60 (the max level at the time), but didn't want to run dungeons for all of them. If I was lucky, I'd also be online while the FC was doing some group-runs of old content and I'd join in sometimes.

Then came the 3rd expansion (Stormblood), and the next time I re-subbed I was surprised to see so many unusable skills in my hotbar for Bard. The skills for many classes changed. At that moment, I knew -- I was a noob all over again! I had been playing for 2.5 years -- Many of my war classes were level 60 -- and I didn't know how to play any of them properly anymore...

I familiarized myself enough to update my hotbar for my Bard, but wasn't 100% comfortable so if I ran anything, I'd run it by myself. I didn't want to be a deadweight for anybody. Fortunately none of the crafting skills changed so I was still able to do some crafting during that time.

Then when Shadowbringers was released (the most recent expansion)... the crafting and some of the gathering skills changed. I was devastated. All of a sudden, the crafting macro I had been using for years was useless, and I didn't have time to re-learn everything. I ended up playing less and less every time I re-subbed until a few days ago.

A friend from another server decided to try playing FFXIV again because his girlfriend started playing it and they transferred over to Masamune. To not be completely useless when running dungeons with them or if they had any questions, I looked up on some of the game changes. I also re-familiarized myself again with my Bard skills, so now I'm a bit more confident with playing that class.

Then yesterday, I spent almost a whole day logged into the game just... getting re-acquainted with everything again (please note that I start getting into FFXIV-specific lingo here). Here are some of the things I did / discovered: 

-I updated the hotbar for all my crafting classes. Updating the hotbar for 8 classes... hah...

-I did minor updates for the hotbar for my mining and botanist classes. I didn't look at my fishing class yet.

-I had read that there was no longer a max point cap for Desynthesis, and no failure rate for desynthing items, so I started desynthing high level gear I didn't need anymore. It used to be that Desynthesis had a max point cap that was shared amongst the crafting classes, so if you wanted to fully level Desynthesis for any class, you could only do it for 3 classes at most, and you had to make sure none of the other classes had any Desynthesis points in them. Desynthesis also failed in the past if your level was too low compared to the item you were trying to desynth.

-While I was desynthing gear, I noticed that some were 100% spiritbonded so I decided to turn it into materia. When I selected the gear and selected "Extract Materia", I was surprised to see my gear still in-tact... but just at 1%. So... extracting materia doesn't destroy the gear anymore??! My mind was blown. I can't count how many low level gear I crafted in the past just for the sake of spiritbonding and turning into materia.

-While I was extracting materia, I'd notice sometimes that the "Retrieve Materia" option would be highlighted. Curious, I selected that option for a piece of gear I didn't care much about. The materia that was melded into the gear was removed. I went O__O! All of a sudden, I thought, The market value for materia on the marketboard must be in the crapper now... In the past, Materia would be melded into the gear permanently.

-I changed to my Astrologian class for the first time in a long time, just to do a little bit of solo leveling. I was surprised that the card skills had changed a lot. Before, each card would do something slightly different, either raising attack, or giving a regen effect, or making skills a little faster. There was also a choice of applying that card to one person or using a skill to have the card be applied to the whole party (maybe that skill got moved to a later level), but now every card just raises attack, with some classes getting more attack % than others depending on the card. I guess there's less to think about, but I don't know... I think if all the cards are around raising attack, then have less cards (there are currently 6), or have just one skill that does that.

I know that there is a new Glamour system in place (the Glamour plates and Glamour dresser), but even after reading about it online, I still don't fully understand how it works in conjunction with the old Glamour method. I have also read mixed things about using the new Glamour system, so I think I will stick to the old system for now.

I haven't really familiarized with skills for my other classes, but I'm sure I will eventually. Aside from joining my friend and his girlfriend on dungeon runs and such, I'd like to get more caught up with the story. Let's see if I can get at least that done before my subscription expires (in exactly two months).


That's it for this blog! I'm surprised at how much I wrote, hahaha.

I'll do my best to keep a balance this time -- between playing FFXIV and doing other things. 

Take care, stay safe, and until next time! :)

EXPOSURES (VIDEO GAMES) -- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (PS3)

So, I didn't blog last week. The reason? Well, it was Lunar New Year -- I am entitled to take a break that weekend. The real reason? I started playing Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. I actually mentioned in my monthly recap blog that I might not blog that weekend, anticipating this outcome.

I bought this digitally months ago when the Collector's Edition was on sale for $15 for Playstation Plus Subscribers. Knowing how crazy-busy I was at work and knowing that logging into the game for the first time would start the free month trial, I put off playing it until now.

This is my first dive into a paid MMORPG (I think I will blog in the future about the pros and cons of paid vs. free-to-play MMOs) and I am pleasantly enjoying it!

NOTE: For the rest of this blog, I will refer to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn as just Final Fantasy XIV.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

Playtime Length (so far): 30-ish hours
Platform Played on: PS3
Language: English
Type of Game: MMORPG
Pricing Model:
-$12.99 USD for 30 days for 1 character per server
-$12.99-$14.99 USD for 30 days for 8 characters per server (pricing depends on the length of a fixed subscription)
Game-specific Details: I'm currently leveling an Archer class, Botanist class, and Weaver class. If at all possible, I want to level up as many of the crafting and gathering classes, especially Botanist and Culinarian (they just sound cool!). As of this writing, I am not part of a Free Company.

My Impressions

Well, I've been playing it every chance I get -- I think that means I am enjoying the game. The main story isn't grabbing me so far, but it makes up for it with pretty much everything else. There's just so much you can do! You've got: Main quests, sidequests, class guild quests, levequests, guildhests, dungeon-runs, Fates, job / class-levelings... I know there's more, but I just haven't unlocked them yet.

Of the various quest types, I currently enjoy doing Fates the most. Fates are timed events that pop up every now and then on the world map (in specific areas). They usually either involve taking out a bunch of specific foes or one big foe. If you run into the area and if you are within level, you are automatically in the Fate and can participate. If you are over-leveled, you have the option to "level sync", which would lower your level so you can participate. The thing I like about Fates is that it is generally quick (max 15 minutes long) and anybody is free to join in. You don't ever have to wonder, Would this person be pissed off if I attacked the same thing he's attacking? You know that any help is welcome.

One thing that I really like is, besides the guildhests and dungeon-runs, partying up not a must. In fact, a lot of the main story quests that I've come across so far can only be done solo. This works for me because I tend to like doing my own thing, at my own pace.

With that said, doing dungeon-runs where you have to party up (and with a specific number of players and class types) are just okay so far. It is not my favourite thing to do at this time, but it is definitely fun when I am running them with friends. You know... when I see a dungeon, I just get the urge to explore everywhere and Leeroy Jenkins the place. But since I currently have no interest at all in playing a Tank character type, I know that for the sake of my party, I shouldn't. :(

I should also mention that partying up with random players for dungeon-runs is a pretty smooth process.

Another thing that I really like are the various jobs / classes my character can be. From my impression of MMORPGs in general (please correct me if I'm wrong), one character can only be one job / class type. With Final Fantasy XIV, that idea is thrown out the window! Yes, in the beginning, you will be stuck to one job / class type. After clearing a specific job / class guild quest (around level 15 or so), you'll be given free rein to be whatever you want. One single character is capable of being every job / class type available. The really nice thing is that each job / class carries its own stats and abilities. Progression for one job / class doesn't affect the other. It is really like playing a new character each time.

One thing to note is that sidequests and story quests can only be done once for a character. If you anticipate playing multiple jobs / classes, leave some sidequests for your other jobs / classes to complete. Otherwise, you might end up needing to grind the other jobs / classes.

I also have to say: the graphics are very beautiful. Just look at my pretty character (and the pretty background!):

My pretty character in her Archer outfit. 

In case you're wondering, I set her eye colours that way.

Okay, I think I blabbed enough about Final Fantasy XIV. One thing that I should mention again is that this is my first dive into a paid MMORPG -- I have no other experience to compare it to. I don't know if everything I've listed is unique or standard fare. One thing that I do know is that I am enjoying Final Fantasy XIV -- I already know that I will spend some money on this and subscribe :)


Thanks for reading my blog! Feel free to comment on anything. :)

Next week is Valentine's Day weekend. If I feel up to it, I might blog about something personal. Have a good week!