Final Fantasy XIV
149 entries. 105,163 words.
2013-10
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Red Alert.
2013-10-07.
No, not the game. I don’t know anything about Red Alert the game. I’m talking about Final Fantasy XIV, A Realm Reborn. It’s a relic of the past: A new subscription-based MMO. Although it’s apparently been out since 2010, it’s just that they recently re-released a version that actually works and that people might actually want to play.
Anyroad, it’s cheap so I got it and have been playing it, and it’s actually kind of fun and not terrible and most importantly, not boring.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV.
2013-10-09.
So I’ve been sucked into Final Fantasy XIV. It’s all the fault of Gamers With Jobs, just so you know. They generally liked it, and I usually like things that they like, so I had to try it. Especially since it was only $30 for the first month.
They’ve stolen one idea from me. In the MMO that I want to design and write but of course I never will, you could advance in three different areas: PvE, PvP, and crafting.
- MMORPG
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Things That Are Different In FFXIV.
2013-10-16.
I’ve played quite a few MMOs in my time, including a few that I thought were sort of JRPG-ish in nature (Aion and Tera come to mind), but I have to say, FFXIV in some ways is a brand new world to me.
It is freakishly weird how quiet the general chat is in this game. I can’t recall the last time I played in an MMO where the general chat wasn’t filled with a constant stream of random subhuman noise.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV Opening Movie.
2013-10-19.
I had to stick a link to this movie in my blog. I think it’s the best opening sequence for an MMORPG I can recall seeing, and also a really fantastic computer-generated short film in its own right. Even if you have no clue what an MMORPG is, you might like this.
Updated the link.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV Tab Targeting.
2013-10-24.
Can we talk about the tab targeting in FFXIV? And when I say “talk” I mean “rant” and when I say “we” I mean “me.”
The tab targeting in FFXIV is the worst I have ever seen. It makes absolutely no sense. When I hit tab to switch to the next target, I expect the “next” target to be somewhere in the same vicinity as the first target. But for some reason, when you hit tab, suddenly you’re targeting some monster a mile away from everyone else who isn’t even attacking.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV First Month Ending.
2013-10-30.
My first month of FFXIV ends on Nov. 1 so I need to decide whether to subscribe or not. I think I will, because it is definitely the “freshest” MMO I’m playing right now, although perhaps not right away. (I’ve also been on a weird WoW kick lately, but that’s another story.) There is an endless number of things to do in the game if you bounce between adventuring, gathering, and crafting, particularly since you can change classes at will.
- MMORPG
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Halloween in the MMO.
2013-10-31.
Autumn (aka. Halloween) celebrations are a staple of modern MMORPGs.
Ye gods what is that?
(I was going to put another picture captioned “It’s always Halloween in Kingsmouth!” but I couldn’t find my screenshot.)
- MMORPG
2013-11
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GW2 Tower of Nightmares and Story in MMOs.
2013-11-07.
I saw a lot of negative reactions around the blogosphere to the GW2 Tower of Nightmares update. Surprisingly, the main criticism seems to be that people aren’t interested in the new story. It isn’t engaging enough.
This is puzzling to me for a couple of reasons. First, I didn’t even realize there was a story in the new GW2 update, and second, I didn’t realize people judged new MMO content on the new storylines brought into the world.
- MMORPG
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MMO Pinball.
2013-11-13.
Just so you know, I have been a veritable pinball of MMO playing lately.
First FFXIV leveling an Archer/Bard to level 30. Then WoW leveling a Mage from around 17 to 50, and leveling some other characters. Then GW2 to check out the Tower of Nightmares. Then LoTRO leveling my hobbit Hunter from 38 to 45. Then Rift to check out the Song of Dreams patch. Even a little bit of Neverwinter and TERA and (gasp) Aion thrown in there between.
- MMORPG
- Progression Report
2013-12
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FFXIV Free Company Housing In 2.1.
2013-12-18.
Wow. I just read an article on Massively about the pricing for Final Fantasy XIV guild housing. It’s rather high, and it has enraged the FFXIV community. At least according to the article. For myself, I’m not into housing on a good day, but I’m definitely not into housing if it’s going to cost me a bazillion jillion gil for a starter house.
Before we get to the housing, I’ve got to say, Square Enix knows how to put out some friggin’ patch notes.
- MMORPG
2014-01
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FFXIV Followup On Guild Houses.
2014-01-13.
I’m all-in on FFXIV at the moment so get ready for wall-to-wall FFXIV posts this week!
Last time I wrote that Square Enix wouldn’t do much about their guild housing prices unless people didn’t buy them. After I wrote that, they backed off a bit on their ridiculous prices, but not by much. Out of curiosity, I snooped around the guild housing areas to see just how many of the plots had been bought up already, because I assumed people would buy them no matter how much they cost or how much mindless grinding they had to do.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV Heavensturm Event.
2014-01-14.
Like just about everything in Final Fantasy XIV, seasonal events are kind of weird. I’m not really sure they should be called “events” at all. They are more like, you know, regular quests.
In most games, a seasonal event is a big deal. There’s a big gathering of people. There are games and activities and daily event quests. There’s a special dungeon or a special boss to defeat. There are special mounts and costumes and occasionally some meaningful gear as rewards.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV ARC or BRD (Archive or Beard).
2014-01-15.
My main (and only, since you can play any class with the same character) in FFXIV is an Archer. (Or “ARC,” as they like to abbreviate class names to 3 letters for some reason - I still have trouble translating those - ARC looks like Archive to me - why is it hard to add three more letters to make “ARCHER?”) Archer is a straight-forward, low-stress ranged DPS class that’s fun to play.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV The Return of Adolescent Jerkiness.
2014-01-16.
When I first started playing FFXIV sometime around October 2013*, it was extremely quiet. Very few people made comments in the general chat. I’m sure we’re all used to a more-or-less constant scroll of adolescent jerkiness going on in MMO general chat, so it was weird and kind of nice that there was none of that in FFXIV. Most of what you saw, to be honest, was gold spam.
Now, however, I see a lot more activity in the general chat.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV Around Dragonhead.
2014-01-17.
If I’m to complete a full week of FFXIV posts, I need to think of one more topic to write about. I thought I would describe a typical play session. This one happened on a Thursday night.
I login with my Miqote Archer. I’m semi-embarassed that I’m still playing the adorable cat girl with the squirrel tail that I made on a lark back when I started, but I’m stuck with her now because I’m not going back to level up another character now.
- MMORPG
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How Long Should Dungeons Take?.
2014-01-21.
I’ve been trying to figure out the optimal length of a dungeon run. There’s a point beyond which the dungeon goes from “this is really fun” to “oh god I can’t escape and this is never going to end.” It’s usually a hard line, too. It’s never a gradual process. One minute things are great, and the next minute it’s a life-draining death march from which you can’t escape.
For me I think that mark is around 30-35 minutes.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV Miqo’tes at Studio 54.
2014-01-22.
My Miqo’te archer is closing in on 50. With the crazy ridiculous bonus experience gained from a Low-Level Duty Roulette, she should get there tonight, Friday the 17th. (I write most posts in advance, by the way.)
My archer has been going through some seriously odd fashion phases in the last ten levels. Everything was fine at first. She had a suitable outfit that reflected her spunky, squirrel-tailed, no-nonsense, tomboy attitude through most of her leveling.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Learning The Endgame.
2014-01-30.
I reached level 50 in Final Fantasy XIV and entered “the endgame,” that fabled zone where only the elites live. Now I can evaluate FFXIV’s version of what some vehemently insist is “the only real game.”
As with any MMO (except GW2), the FFXIV endgame is a gear grind. Your basic goal is to increase the “average item level” of your gear. This in turn allows you to unlock more and more difficult instances, in which you can acquire gear with higher item levels.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Endgame Life.
2014-01-31.
In another post I wrote about your basic objectives in FFXIV endgame and what there is to do, but in this post I’m going to talk more frankly about the more practical experience of what the endgame is like when you’re not in a big Free Company with lots of people available at your level.
It’s like sitting around waiting in a queue for a long time.
Again.
And again.
- MMORPG
2014-02
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FFXIV – Conjurer, Part 1.
2014-02-05.
During the time I’ve been waiting in FFXIV endgame queues for my Bard, I’ve leveled all my other adventuring classes to 15 through a combination of FATEs, levemetes, and hunting log completion. (You’d think leveling to 15 would be easy, but in reality the time it takes to get from level 10 to level 15 seems endless.)
My goal was to get all the classes to 15, then pick one to dive into and level the rest of the way to 50.
- MMORPG
- Healing
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FFXIV – Conjurer, Part 2.
2014-02-06.
With such slow casting times, you’d think that the optimal way to play a Conjurer would be to spam Cures on the tank so he’s always full. That’s what I did in Rift, more-or-less, with the Purifier class. (Prior to Storm Legion, at least.)
Welllllll, see, there’s this thing called ’threat.’ I may be completely wrong, but in my meager experience so far, I feel like healing generates a lot of threat in FFXIV.
- MMORPG
- Healing
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FFXIV – Titan Hard Mode, The Impossible PUG.
2014-02-12.
In FFXIV, one of your endgame tasks is to follow the Relic Reborn quest line in order to build your “relic weapon,” which is one of the better weapons in the game (but not the best, of course, because that would be too easy). I’ve been pretty lazy about it because statistically the Artimes Bow doesn’t seem that much better than the Garuda Bow I’m currently using. But anyway the final step of the Relic Reborn quest (at least I think it’s the last one) involves retrieving some primal materials by defeating the three Hard Mode Trials.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Thaumaturge Dirge.
2014-02-20.
When I was leveling the Archer/Bard, I often looked at Thaumaturges and Black Mages and wished I were them. They always seem to do more damage, and they just have cooler spells with their fire and ice and whatnot. And even more importantly, they actually have a useful Limit Break. (I would not wear the silly Gandalf hats, though.)
Then I actually played a THM through level 15, and quickly changed my mind.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – I Said It Couldn’t Be Done.
2014-02-25.
Amazingly, I completed Titan Hard Mode in a PUG! Finally. It took around three weeks of trying. I stubbornly refused to use the Party Finder because, since I had spent so much time attempting it in a PUG, I wanted to finish it in a PUG. I don’t know why. It doesn’t make much sense. :)
He's gooooone!! Yay!
So I finally got my Relic Weapon. And I upgraded it, too.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Ding! 50 White Mage.
2014-02-26.
Hrm, well, this is the first day I haven’t had a workday post scheduled in advance in a long time, and I can’t find anything among my Drafts that is both finished and interesting.
I can report the fascinating news that I reached White Mage level 50 in FFXIV last night. I had been buying Darklight Healing gear for a while, so I was able to quickly jump from around item level ~40 to item level ~60 in a span of moments.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV FATEs Versus GW2 Zergs.
2014-02-28.
This thought occurred to me one night while I was running around in a FATE group in FFXIV: Why am I enjoying this zerg but when I play in a GW2 zerg in Escape from Lion’s Arch I want to gouge my own eyes out?
When I’m in a FFXIV zerg (or Rift, or most any other), I have a feeling of control. I’m filling a specific role, and when I execute my part of the plan, the whole group experience is better.
- MMORPG
2014-03
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Landmark et al – Take My Money!.
2014-03-03.
Here’s my feedback to SOE regarding Landmark’s proposed monetization plans: Hey can I just pay you and not get spammed with advertising for potions and costumes? That would be super. Oh, and by the way I already paid you. Maybe factor that into your plans, too.
Also, are you ever planning to increase the percentage of your game that is finished? It’s been at 60% now for a month. (Okay, that probably wasn’t fair.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV Crafting.
2014-03-04.
Just once I would like to play an MMO where it is easier to level a crafting profession than it is to level your character. Often it seems pointless to level a crafting profession because the equipment you make lags so far behind the level of your character.
FFXIV is better than most games, but I’m experiencing it again. I wanted to meld my own materia for the level 50 Relic Reborn quest, but guess what?
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Teetering On The Edge Of Burnout.
2014-03-19.
I feel like I’m at a crossroads with FFXIV. I’m teetering on that line between “it’s fun to play” and “it’s work to play.” If I try to push myself much more I’m almost certainly going to burn out.
Right now, when I log in each night after work, I have a to-do list of things I want to accomplish: I want to level at least one gathering class. I want to level one crafting class (I often skip that in favor of gathering right now).
- MMORPG
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Claustrophobic Endgame.
2014-03-24.
I figured out what is missing from my daily FFXIV experience: Soloing.
I realized this when I logged into Rift and picked up my Dendrome quest line where I last left off months and months ago. There’s something fundamentally satisfying about toodling around by yourself, chipping away at quests and turning them in. You can stop at any time and fix yourself a drink, or make a sandwich, or whatever. You can get up and go to the store, leaving your character standing right out in the middle of nowhere.
- MMORPG
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Rift – Tempest For The Win.
2014-03-27.
I spent most of a whole weekend playing … Rift! Man that game is awesome. Have I mentioned that? It’s the best WoW-clone of all the WoW-clones. Definitely more better than WoW itself.
I leveled my Warrior from 53 to 57, using a combination of quests and Instant Adventures. Mostly IAs. I used up three 160% Experience potions that I had from some Trion gift or another, and then I got a 30-day Patron status so I could use the daily 40% Experience bonuses for the rest of the trip to 60, which will probably occur during the week.
- MMORPG
2014-04
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FFXIV – Two Point What Now?.
2014-04-16.
I never got a chance to write my impressions of Final Fantasy XIV’s 2.2 patch, so I will do so now. I only had about one day to look at it before ESO came out, so there are some gaps in my knowledge.
Like, for example, how I didn’t look at any of the new dungeons or trials.
I did get a chance to sort-of look into Glamours, but it appears that you need Tailor, Leatherworker, and/or Armorer classes to create those glamour crystals, and of course I do not have those beyond level 15.
- MMORPG
2014-05
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FFXIV – Trials, A Cheat-sheet For Ranged DPS.
2014-05-16.
(Resurrected from my Drafts folder.)
Trials in FFXIV are cool little instances that consist of a single boss in an arena-like setting. The normal ones require four players, and you queue for them just like a dungeon. (Or if you actually know real humans who play games, you can go in with a pre-made party I guess.) I find them quite fun.
This is an 8-man Titan Hard Mode trial, but you get the idea.
- Advice
- Dungeons
- MMORPG
2014-06
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WildStar – Those Attunements Again.
2014-06-12.
For some reason, the topic of WildStar raid attunements seems to be nearly as volatile as sexism in gaming, but hey, it’s something to write about, so here it is.
To summarize the story so far: Some elitist jerk guild made an infographic showing the 12 hardcore steps you need to complete before you can raid in WildStar, and various bloggers have commented on it, with viewpoints ranging anywhere from “That’s insane!
- MMORPG
- Responses
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WildStar – Dungeons Are Too Hard… For PUGs.
2014-06-18.
Quick status report: My mood improved a lot over the weekend, and I had a mostly-enjoyable time playing WildStar. As of this writing I have a 25 Esper, 15 Spellslinger, 15 Warrior, and 15 Engineer. I spent a fair amount of time leveling up three alts so I could experience adventures/dungeons with some other classes. (Getting from level 10 to 15 is pretty brutal the third and forth time.)
So dungeons.
- Dungeons
- MMORPG
- Status
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Mid-June MMO Status Report.
2014-06-20.
Not much to talk about, so here’s a non-WildStar MMO status report!
ArcheAge. I’ve only logged in to pay the taxes on my measely 8×8 farm, and occasionally grow aspen trees. I don’t expect to play this any more until after it launches.
The Secret World. I have logged in every few days to grind through a mission or two in the City of the Sun God zone. I’m attempting to collect AP and SP so I can fill out my skills better, which will better prepare me to go back to the Besieged Farmlands and continue the main story quest, which will then eventually allow me to get to Tokyo perhaps sometime in 2018.
- MMORPG
- Status
2014-08
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What’s The Best Subscription-Only MMO?.
2014-08-29.
What’s the best subscription-only MMO out there right now? If you could only pick one to maintain, which one would it be? (By the way, the possible answers are: WoW, EVE, WildStar, ESO, or FFXIV.)
This is pretty easy for me to answer, actually: Final Fantasy XIV. Hands down. No need to even talk about it. It’s beautiful, it’s fun, there’s a lot to do, it’s updated often, it does every MMO mechanic (that matters) exactly right, and it’s cheaper than the others at $12/month.
- Advice
- MMORPG
- Opinion
2014-09
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FFXIV – Okay There’s One Bad Thing.
2014-09-01.
To be fair, here’s one thing that FFXIV doesn’t get right:
I just re-installed it, subbed up, and jumped in again. (I went crazy and got a 3-month sub because I have some money coming in again heh.) I’m installing it on a different PC from when I last played it, so maybe you can guess what happened.
All of my settings, keybinds, and HUD configurations were gone. Even the character-specific configurations like my gear sets were gone.
- MMORPG
- Opinion
- Status
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FFXIV – Crafting My Way Back Into It.
2014-09-12.
I’m getting back into the swing of FFXIV with my slightly embarrassing, adorable Miqu’te that looks a bit like a porcelain doll in the game.
Rather than jumping back on the gear treadmill, I’ve spent most of my time on relaxing activities like gathering and crafting. Unlike most MMOs, those things are quite engaging in FFXIV and there are a whopping eight crafting and three gathering classes to level, so there is plenty to do.
- MMORPG
- Status
2014-10
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Ping-Ponging My Way To Nightmare Tide.
2014-10-23.
I took a little break from ArcheAge and it turned into an unintentional gaming ping-ping-a-thon. Don't worry, I still log into ArcheAge to gather the fruit from my trees a couple times a day. Also, I finally destroyed my Scarecrow Garden to make a Farmer's Workbench. I hated to do it, though. I wish I could rotate my house to face a different direction. FFXIV First I dropped back into Final Fantasy XIV again because I had an active subscription.
- MMORPG
- Status
2014-11
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A November Kitchen Sink Post.
2014-11-11.
Hi! You may remember that I used to write blog posts. At least occasionally. Unfortunately this month two things have happened: Rift Nightmare Tide and NaNoWriMo. Those two things, particularly the former, are way more interesting than writing blog posts. But I thought I would take a break and quickly write down some stuff about things.
Chatting with Arak near the end of Draumheim.
Overwatch. Blizzard is making a role-based shooter (cough Team Fortress cough).
- MMORPG
- Musings
- Status
2015-01
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Arbitrary Mid-January Status Update.
2015-01-19.
I’m in a “bouncing around between games” mode at the moment, now that I’m done with Elite: Dangerous. I’ve been logging into two or three or four different MMOs a day, looking for one to capture my imagination.
Level 100!
WoW. My WoW subscription runs out on the 20th, and I won’t be renewing. WoW is a fun game, but I always tire of it pretty quickly. I did manage to reach level 100 with my Hunter and upgrade my Garrison, though.
- MMORPG
- Status
2015-02
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Progression Report – February.
2015-02-28.
I think I’ll make this a “thing” and do a monthly progress report of all the MMOs I’m playing. I started running a time tracking program* called ManicTime so I can actually record precisely how much I’ve played every game now.
FFXIV (22 hrs)**. I unlocked most of the new 2.5 dungeons and World of Darkness, however I haven’t actually gone into any of them yet. (To this day I’ve only done one level 50 dungeon-Amdapor Keep for the Relic quest.
- MMORPG
- Progression Report
- Status
2015-04
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Progression Report – March.
2015-04-01.
March was definitely a low point in my 2015 MMORPG activity, but don’t panic. This is normal for me. There’s usually one or more months during the year when I end up watching television instead. Still, I accomplished a few things.
In Rift, I continued to log in every few days to collect Minion rewards and send them out again. My bank and inventory is bursting with useless junk.
In Final Fantasy XIV, I forgot to mention that I joined the cool blogger Free Company on Cactuar.
- MMORPG
- Progression Report
- Status
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FFXIV – Ramping Back Up.
2015-04-15.
I’m starting to get back into the swing of FFXIV. Over the weekend I played more than I have in ages. I finally got a chance to play a bit with the guild which was a lot of fun.
My first priority is finishing the Main Scenario, what with the expansion coming and all, so I picked that up again. I had stopped at Thornmarch (King Moggle Mog or whatever) because, given my last experience with PUGing Titan (Hard), I had no wish to enter another impossible Trial, so I kept putting it off.
- Dungeons
- MMORPG
- Status
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FFXIV – Where I Hate Dive Bombs.
2015-04-20.
It’s been a big week in FFXIV.
I finished out the 2.2 and 2.3 main scenario quests, getting through both the Leviathan and Ramuh trials with relative ease. Both PUGs beat them on the first try despite me not knowing what to do when Ramuh tethers you to someone else (hint: pick up 3 blue orbs like Pac-Man).
Over on the Dragoon class, I finished the first relic quest to get my Zenith Gae Bolg spear, and also picked up the Onion gear set from Labyrinth (well, all but the belt, but you can’t see that).
- MMORPG
- Status
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FFXIV – Ding, Ding.
2015-04-29.
Last Wednesday was a rough day at work* so I was too beat to try Turn 5 again, but Saturday the guild was kind enough to re-run it for me and we breezed through it like it was nothing. Thanks everyone! The previously-hated Dive Bombs were no sweat this time. Now I have the Second Coil of Bahamut unlocked for future escapades. (One of these days I’ll have to go back through Turns 1-4 just to see them.
- MMORPG
- Status
2015-05
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Progression Report – April.
2015-05-01.
Oh crap, I forgot to write one of these for April.
Well, it’s not hard to figure it out.
I started out playing mainly Star Trek Online and made it to, I don’t know, 30something I guess, and then I was bitten by the FFXIV bug again and spent the rest of the month there. Final tally: STO 34 hours, FFXIV 127 hours. (Though I’m sure at least 25% of those FFXIV hours were AFK time.
- MMORPG
- Progression Report
- Status
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FFXIV – Who Is Bogatyr Anyway?.
2015-05-17.
Experts Unlocked. With some help from the FC, I finished all three of the Expert dungeons so I can finally do the Daily Expert Roulette. Now the Poetics will really start rolling in!
Ironworks Magitek Bow. I had finished two books of the Animus relic upgrade quest but at the rate I was going it would be another ten years before I would be able to upgrade the Artemes bow again.
- MMORPG
- Status
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FFXIV – UI Wish List for Heavensward.
2015-05-27.
With the Final Fantasy XIV expansion Heavensward coming soon (June 23), I thought I would put together a list of all the nagging UI issues that I hope are addressed in 3.0. It’s a testament to how good the game already is that I have trouble coming up with any significant gameplay issues to complain about-only these nitpicky UI faults.
(Knowing how good Square Enix is at patch notes, I could probably go somewhere and find a detailed list of exactly what’s going to be in Heavensward, but let’s just assume there’s still some doubt about the feature set.
- MMORPG
- Musings
- Pre-Release
- Wish List
2015-06
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Progression Report – May 2015.
2015-06-01.
With the exception of a few interminable days at a work conference, I spent the entire month of May playing nothing but FFXIV. That clocks in at 180 hours or an average of 6 hours a day, which is pretty much the maximum amount that I can play any game in a month. (Many of those hours were spent AFK, in case you’re wondering-I tend to leave FFXIV online because it’s a pain to log in with the security token.
- MMORPG
- Progression Report
- Status
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Finding Heavensward.
2015-06-19.
Normally everything related to FFXIV is an absolute pleasure to deal with, but getting into the Heavensward pre-order early access has been quite an unexpected challenge.
FFXIV was down all day Thursday for the big 3.0 patch which I downloaded Thursday night. I had absolutely no idea that I would have to do anything special to see Heavensward. I just assumed the patcher would know I had ordered it, it would download it, and it would magically appear the next time I ran the game after the servers came up.
- MMORPG
- Pre-Release
2015-07
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Progression Report – June 2015.
2015-07-04.
There were only two games I played any significant amount in June: Final Fantasy XIV (28 hours) and The Witcher 3 (18 hours). The latter is not an MMORPG, but since it feels exactly like an MMORPG I’m going to count it in my progression report.
In FFXIV I started in on Heavensward, but to be honest I’m still a bit burned out from all the catching up I did in May, so I haven’t played that much into the expansion.
- MMORPG
- Progression Report
- Single-Player
- Status
2015-08
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Progression Report – July 2015.
2015-08-02.
Blaugust Day 2
July was a quiet gaming month for me. Work continues to be hectic, and I’ve also gotten it into my head that I might try to take a Microsoft exam so I spent a lot of time reading and studying.
It was around the end of July last year that I lost my job-not from anything I did, but from a contract changing hands to a different company.
- MMORPG
- Progression Report
- Status
2015-10
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Progression Report – September 2015.
2015-10-03.
September’s report is again pretty easy: No MMORPG progression, however quite a lot of Dark Souls progression. I started Dark Souls II on roughly the 5th and as of this writing, I’ve completed the main storyline and have moved on to the post-launch DLC content on my first character. I’ve been posting a video series of my play-through on YouTube for those who might be inclined to watch.
I’m starting to get a little tired of the Dark Souls rabbit hole (the Dark Souls II DLC content is getting pretty frustrating), so I might finally get back to some MMORPGs soon.
- MMORPG
- Progression Report
- RPG
- Single-Player
2015-12
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Getting Back Into MMORPGs.
2015-12-16.
I’m having a hard time getting back into some MMORPGs I used to play.
FFXIV. First of course is FFXIV, the game that I have an active subscription for that’s draining my money while I avoid logging in. Every time I try to get back into it, I keep running into this roadblock-Heavensward is hard. Well, maybe hard isn’t the right word. More like tedious. I’m mired at level 53 in the Dravanian Forelands where it takes an hour to run from one side to the other for quests since I don’t have flying unlocked there yet.
- MMORPG
- Status
2016-09
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FFXIV – Importing Settings From Another Computer.
2016-09-13.
Documenting this with better search keywords so it’s easier for me to find next time.
I re-installed FFXIV on my new PC and of course all of my settings were gone. I dimly remembered running into this before, but it took a while to dig it up.
To copy your FFXIV settings from one machine to another, copy Documents\My Games\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn to the other machine. I left out the “screenshots” and “downloads” folders.
- Advice
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Sohm Al Completed At Last.
2016-09-14.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss Legion already. There is something very comforting and familiar about playing WoW, even though I don’t have any of the nostalgia that most people have. You run around colorful scenery, click on things, and watch impressive numbers fly around the screen. It’s almost hypnotic.
To head off the withdrawal symptoms, I thought I’d try to get back into FFXIV and get something going there.
- MMORPG
- Status
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Bonding With Characters.
2016-09-15.
It’s only been two days and I already regret changing my main FFXIV character’s gender. Who is this total stranger running around in Eozera now? What happened to the free-spirited girl who rode to Gridania in search of fame and fortune, and ended up conquering titans and dragons? This new guy is an imposter. He hasn’t earned the right to be there.
Imposter! You don’t deserve to be in that grand company!
- MMORPG
- Musings
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FFXIV – New Abilities and The Aery.
2016-09-21.
I switched Tya back to her true form, and changed her hair again. She looks a little older and wiser now, maybe even a bit world-weary after all of her trials and tribulations. I changed her voice too, but the new “hiyah” when she’s firing arrows isn’t much better than the old one. (It would be nice if you could preview that when you’re selecting the voices.)
Halfway through level 54, it finally dawned on me that I was due for a new Bard ability, so I went searching for the Bard quest giver.
- MMORPG
- Status
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The Vault, The Whale, and Some GW2.
2016-09-28.
I’ve slowed down a bit, but I’m still making progress in Heavensward. I made it to level 57 and got through The Vault after putting it off for half a week. The last boss with all the chess pieces (or robot horse-men as I call them) was actually kind of fun. The post-dungeon cut scenes were less fun.
Sad kitty is sad.
After The Vault I was sent back to another part of the Sea of Clouds, and shortly thereafter I was asked to fight a big whale in The Limitless Blue.
- MMORPG
- Status
2016-10
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FFXIV – Palace of the Dead Discovered.
2016-10-03.
Most of my gaming over the weekend was preempted by other media consumption. First it was Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves, which I could not put down between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon, until I reached the third part of the book and had to have a break. (It’s a convenient stopping point, the reasons for which should be fairly obvious upon reading the table of contents.)
And then Sunday night I noticed that Deadpool was on HBO prior to Westworld, which I hadn’t yet seen.
- MMORPG
- Status
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Audiobooks, NaNoWriMo, and other Miscellany.
2016-10-18.
This is one of those rambling posts about everything and nothing, because I don’t have much to say. Just writing for the sake of writing because I was bored at work.
I’ve been listening to audiobooks again, trying to use up my credits. I recently finished Stephen King’s 11.22.63, which was beautifully read by Craig Wasson. He’s the actor who played the lead in that weird 80s movie Body Double. Now I’m listening to Stephen King’s End of Watch, which is beautifully read by Will Patton.
- MMORPG
- Status
2017-01
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FFXIV – Unexpectedly Hard Dungeon.
2017-01-04.
Last night I only had time to play one game, so I decided to play some FFXIV again, as part of my as-yet unannounced goal of catching up with the Main Scenario before the expansion arrives. I was stuck at a point in the Main Scenario where the next quest requires level 58, but I was only at about 57.8. So I thought I would do a few quests to start getting a feel for my character again.
- MMORPG
- Status
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FFXIV – The Level 58 Slump.
2017-01-11.
I’m a little miffed that I’ve run out of level 58 quests in the Dravanian Hinterlands only about halfway to level 59. Alphinaud and [redacted] stopped talking to me about the Main Scenario almost immediately after I ascended to level 58 and entered Idyllshire, which is apparently the new Mor Dhona. They now want nothing to do with me until I get to level 59.
So I did every level 58 quest I could find around Idyllshire and the Hinterlands, mostly involving the gobbies’ loony adventures building their city government.
- MMORPG
- Status
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FFXIV – Finally 60.
2017-01-17.
It was a weekend of big achievements in Final Fantasy XIV. When last we left our intrepid Warrior of Light, she had run out of level 58 quests halfway to level 59.
I ended up doing some Clan Hunts, some Battle Levemetes (a word which I still do not think is a real word), and thanks to suggestions from Aywren, a handful of Beast Tribe quests for the Vath and Vanu.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – 3.0 Main Scenario Complete.
2017-01-20.
A while back I said I was playing ESO again.. welllll, I sort of lost interest. (I think it’s because I find the quests very depressing, and it also seems like everywhere you go and everything you do is basically the same as what you did before.) So it’s mostly FFXIV and an occasionally foray into LotRO for me these days.
I finished the Aetherial Research Facility. I got a nice group with a very “professional” tank, who explained the mechanics concisely and non-judgmentally.
- MMORPG
- Status
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FFXIV – The Road To Void Ark.
2017-01-24.
Thanks to a bunch of tips, I learned that what I should have been looking for as a Crystal Tower-replacement is called Void Ark, not Alexander. It took me a little time to figure out how to unlock it, because the quest that takes you to it starts out in Foundation with some random guy on the street who doesn’t look like he would ever lead to anything good. I found him from the 3.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Void Ark and Weeping City.
2017-01-31.
First there was Void Ark. I watched a guide on YouTube but I didn’t understand much of it, so I just jumped in. (It’s easier to learn mechanics first-hand.) It turned out to be fairly straightforward to get carried through there. Just like the Labyrinth of the Ancients raid at 50, everyone is so over-leveled that you hardly even see the mechanics, and mostly all you have to do is follow along, avoid AOEs, and pick up the loot.
- MMORPG
- Status
2017-06
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Stormblood’s a’Comin.
2017-06-08.
FFXIV’s Stormblood expansion is arriving on June 16 for head start players, so I figure it might be a good time to talk about it. I pre-ordered it a long time ago, but I haven’t commented much about it. I did at one point write a post about some of the early feature announcements, but naturally, I never got around to publishing it, and it’s super obsolete now.
When last we left our intrepid main character back in January, she was sitting at ilvl 224, having just geared up with ilvl 230 items from The Weeping City.
- MMORPG
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Stormblood Very First Impressions.
2017-06-17.
Glad I got the memo about the dress code here. It’s here! Well, if you pre-ordered.
Upon first logging into Stormblood, I was greeted by this very prominent window explaining the new Song Gauge for the Bard job.
“Here we go,” I thought, sighing heavily. This was exactly what I was afraid of: Huge changes to my class that will require mental energy and work to learn. The FFXIV equivalent of a talent point respec.
- MMORPG
- Reviews
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FFXIV – Finding Fun Without Instances.
2017-06-19.
You’ve probably heard that there were one or two significant technical issues with FFXIV’s Stormblood early access over the weekend. Aywren summed it up pretty well. Even outside of the Stormblood content gate where I am, most times I tried to venture into an instance of any kind (dungeon, job duty, anything except PotD for some reason), I was disconnected from the server and couldn’t log back in with that character for up to an hour because of the dreaded Error 90002.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Antitower and 3.2 Finished.
2017-06-20.
Sunday afternoon I finally completed something I’ve been putting off for about six months now: The Antitower.
I wasn’t planning to, it just sort of happened. I had just gotten back from the grocery store Sunday afternoon. I sat down to figure out what to do for the rest of the day. My mood was better than usual for the waning hours of a weekend, and I was wondering if instances were still broken (I had heard they weren’t but I suspected they might go bad again as server congestion ramped up), so as an experiment I queued up for my nemesis The Antitower.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Sohr Khai and Palace of the Dead.
2017-06-21.
I started Monday evening with what I thought would be a quick trip through the level 54 job duty for the Samurai. I failed it three times. Apparently I haven’t learned nearly as much about playing the Samurai as I thought I had.
The instance first has you fighting a lot of opponents simultaneously. They hit you for a lot of damage, too. Of course our fearless samurai trainer from the East just stands there and watches while you struggle.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Stormblood Launch Day PvP.
2017-06-22.
I was dragging most of the day Tuesday so when I got home I stuck to simple, low energy tasks on Stormblood’s official launch day.
Being launch day, I first had to enter a code on my account page to activate the game again. Square Enix somehow continues to have one of the worst systems for activating your game account in the history of the universe. You have to enter a code to get into the early access (two of them, in fact), then you have to enter another code to get in on launch day.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Heavensward, What Happened?.
2017-06-23.
Still bumping around doing miscellaneous tasks of little import in Stormblood. But lately I’ve been thinking about Heavensward, the previous FFXIV expansion. I pre-ordered it early and was in there on early access launch day, but looking back on it two years later, I didn’t play it very much at all. (Yet for some weird reason, I remained subscribed the whole time.)
In FFXIV ARR (2.x), I leveled all of the following jobs to 50: Bard, White Mage, Dragoon, Black Mage, Miner, Botanist, Carpenter, Weaver, Alchemist, and Leatherworker.
- Blog
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Heavensward Completed.
2017-06-29.
I’m going to squish my entire FFXIV weekend into one post. The short version is that I finished all of the Heavensward Main Scenario Quests so I can begin the Stormblood expansion. This required completing all of these instances:
Final Steps of Faith. A mostly-FC group got me through this trial pretty easily, except for one flashy lightning thing that zapped me dead in the second half.
I’m not sure but I think Aymeric was hitting on the Warrior of Light.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Stormblood Begins!.
2017-06-30.
I officially started the Stormblood Expansion on Monday night, by which I mean that I’ve finally started into the Stormblood Main Scenario Quest.
I’m trying something I’ve never done before: I’m recording my MSQ adventures. I very rarely record MMORPGs, because frankly I find MMORPGs are among the least interesting kinds of games to watch. I constantly wonder why people stream them. (Most of what you see on the screen is just the UI.
- MMORPG
2017-07
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FFXIV – Stormblood In Pictures.
2017-07-04.
Too busy playing to write anything. As of now I’m about 3/4 of the way to level 65, plugging away at the Main Scenario Quest in Yanxia. (See YouTube for excruciating detail.) Here are some screenshots.
This anonymous lalafel photobombed my shot of the Kugane market. Arriving in the underwater village of the Kojin (I call them ninja turtles). The underwater palace Shisui of the Violet Tide. A little haunted forest in The Fringes called Dimworld.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – More Stormblood In Pictures.
2017-07-05.
Still too busy playing to write anything. I’ve reached the Azim Steppes and level 65. Here’s some more screenshots. :)
The picturesque part of The Fringes. Not sure if floating or crucified. There is a very tall stack of rocks in The Ruby Sea. UFO sighting in Yanxia. You can’t go to that zone yet. :) Gasp! Foreshadowing! The Azim Steppes, exactly where I am in the story as of Tuesday night, and yet another lalafel photobomb.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Stormblood Snippets.
2017-07-07.
I won’t try to summarize the entire Main Scenario-I’ll just say that I’m completely hooked and invested in the story as of level 66 in the Azim Steppe. The hokiness and stiltedness of the FFXIV-style cut scenes that most people complain about are completely unseen by me. If canned emotes and stoic nods-essentially the 3D equivalent of a puppet show-is what they have to do to deliver quality storytelling at a consistent pace, I’m fine with it.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Responding To Criticisms.
2017-07-10.
I see a lot of people on Twitter and at least one person on a certain MassivelyOP podcast mention that they keep trying to play FFXIV but they just can’t get into it. I consider myself a pretty jaded MMORPG player, and I can certainly understand the reasons people don’t like FFXIV. But I thought I would try to document here how I personally overcame the biggest criticisms people have with the game.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Even More Stormblood In Pictures.
2017-07-11.
Puffy sheep with rat tails! Wait I thought there weren't supposed to be any horses in Eorzea? Wait is Eorzea a continent or a planet? I don't know this game very well apparently. \*scratches head, looking puzzled\* Slight diversion to see the Binding Coil raids:
I’ve always wondered who the twins’ parents are. They never talk about them. Wonder twin powers, activate! (I’m sure I’m not the first to make that joke.
- MMORPG
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Solving Long DPS Queues.
2017-07-13.
I saw someone somewhere (FC chat maybe?) mention that they wished FFXIV would make their dungeons 5-man instead of 4-man so that DPS queues would go faster. (Belghast also recently lamented over the problems of leveling DPS.)
It’s an interesting idea but I don’t think going to 5-man would significantly help the problem of slow DPS queues. I’m quite sure the ratio of DPS to tanks and healers in any given MMORPG is probably something like 25 to 1, if not 100 to 1.
- MMORPG
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Ranking My Play Personalities.
2017-07-21.
Thinking Play had a very interesting post recently about Play Personalities, something I had never heard of before. I recommend reading it. It’s a bit like a Meyers-Briggs test for how you spend your leisure time, or the Bartle Test. Here’s my self-assessment of how I fit the different play personalities:
The Joker. Nope. Well, maybe a little. Sometimes I do like to poke fun at things that other people find deadly serious, much to my own detriment on Twitter.
- Discussion
- Musings
- Responses
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FFXIV – Collectables Grokked.
2017-07-24.
I’m going to try to document here what I’ve figured out about gathering collectables in FFXIV, because there is almost a 100% chance that I will forget this someday and a future version of me will need to re-learn it.
Collectables are similar to the Grand Company Provisioning missions you can do once per day, which look like this:
Collectables are a bit better, though, because you can hand in a lot more every day.
- MMORPG
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Shelf-Life of an MMORPG.
2017-07-25.
“Remember when we used to talk about Three-Monthers? Ah, those were the days!” -Bhagpuss
That quote from Inventory Full made me chuckle, because I had recently been thinking that it took me precisely three weeks to play through the Stormblood expansion story. And that was going slow, recording everything, talking to everyone around the quest givers, and reading all of the unvoiced text out loud for the video. I could not possibly have done it any slower.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Bard 4.0 Thoughts.
2017-07-28.
I posted a comment on Aywren’s blog that made me think I should write a short post about what I’ve learned about the Stormblood Bard job. Then I wrote a way too long post about it, because that’s what happens when I’m bored for long periods of time.
I’ve leveled a Samurai from 50 to 55, but other than that, I’ve been playing the Bard almost exclusively in Stormblood. I’ll admit the new abilities were a bit tough to grasp at first, but fortunately it wasn’t an impediment to playing through the content.
- MMORPG
2017-08
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FFXIV – Latest Adventures.
2017-08-02.
To make a long story short, I left my old job and will be home all this week before starting a new part-time job Tuesday. (Technically it’s in the same building.) Being home is weird. I’m not quite sure what to do with myself. I haven’t had a full week off of work since the last time I changed jobs, which was in July 2014.
That means I’m writing this post on Tuesday morning on my gaming PC, which is a very strange situation for me.
- MMORPG
- Healing
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FFXIV – Thoughts On 1.0.
2017-08-03.
I mentioned a Let’s Play series showing Final Fantasy XIV 1.0 in my last post:
Out of intense curiosity, I’ve been watching this series for a while, trying to take some notes about what I like and dislike about 1.0. The YouTuber showers praise on the game while he plays, more than it deserves-to the point where I wonder if Square Enix actually paid the guy-but he’s at least enthusiastic. He is more of a talented radio-voice-guy than a talented gamer though.
- MMORPG
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Random Friday Tidbits.
2017-08-18.
Another brief post just to post something today.
GW2. I did in fact retry Chapter 16, “Hearts and Minds,” and beat it after two more attempts Thursday night, which took another hour. If you leave the instance for any reason, by the way, you have to start all over. So take my advice: Don’t rage quit if you die to the last boss. :) I’ll probably start Living Story Season 3 this weekend although I’m kind of burned out on GW2 already.
- MMORPG
- Musings
- Progression Report
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FFXIV – Stormblood Story Deep Dive.
2017-08-24.
Here’s another post I wrote a long time ago but never published because I forgot that I wrote it.
Previously I gave a high-level summary of the Stormblood story, but now I want to dive deeper into more detail. There will be huge, massive, unbelievable, mind-shattering spoilers here that go far beyond anything that was in the previous post, so you’ve been warned.
The biggest plot problem I remember: There was one point in the story when our heroes had to watch while Yotsuyu terrorized some villagers.
- MMORPG
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Comfort MMORPGs.
2017-08-25.
Here’s another post based on a MassivelyOP’s Daily Grind:
What’s Your Comfort MMO?
I find this to be a somewhat odd question, because I generally like to have a constantly-changing game experience, as opposed to an experience that is always the same. I am the kind of person who likes to learn and try new things all the time (within the boundaries of crippling anxieties, of course). This is why I try out most new MMORPGs if I can.
- MMORPG
- Responses
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FFXIV – The Rising Event.
2017-08-27.
Hard to believe it’s been four years since The Calamity.
I don’t normally care that much about these anniversary or holiday events, but when I saw the wind-up Gosetsu I knew that I had to have him. Not that I ever take out minions in the game or anything. It’s just the principle of the thing.
I had it in my head that The Rising wouldn’t be starting until after the Tuesday patch, but this morning (Sunday) I logged in and everybody was talking about it, so I went to Ul’dah and sure enough there was the NPC.
- MMORPG
2017-09
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FFXIV – Yo-kai Grinding.
2017-09-06.
I’ve had a Yo-kai Watch in my inventory for a while, but I never knew what it was for or where I got it. I remember finding it in my inventory, and I kept looking at it, thinking, “What the heck is this thing for?”
Well it turns out that I must have accidentally done the Yo-kai Event quest in 2016. I have no memory of that, but when I went to find the Yo-kai quest-giver in Ul’dah the other day, he/she/it was nowhere to be found.
- MMORPG
2017-10
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FFXIV – 4.1, The Legend Returns.
2017-10-19.
I dragged myself away from Guild Wars 2 for a little while to play through the FFXIV 4.1 Main Scenario Quest, “The Legend Returns.” I’m so happy to be caught up with FFXIV and be in a position to play these patches when they come out, instead of rushing to catch up later. I didn’t even have to get any new gear. This is probably the first time I’ve ever been so caught up in any game.
- MMORPG
- Reviews
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FFXIV – 4.1 Features.
2017-10-21.
Last time I only talked about the story, but this time I want to talk about some of the new features in Patch 4.1.
Royal City of Rabanastre The new Rabanastre Raid is typical for an alliance raid. Lots of mechanics and most of them try to kill you. By now I’ve learned that it’s pointless to try to watch a guide beforehand for these things, so I just jumped in totally blind.
- MMORPG
- Reviews
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FFXIV – Raids ‘n’ Things.
2017-10-24.
That's the World of Darkness minion. I started to write this as a comment on Aywren’s post about Alliance Raids, but it was getting too long.
I agree completely about using the Alliance Raids to level from 50. My testing shows you get 200-250k experience per run (tested at level 58 and 59), not counting rested experience, and Roulette bonuses, which add that much more. That’s a crazy high amount of experience-per-instance, bested only by dungeons, which usually take longer to get into and finish.
- MMORPG
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FFXIV – Loot Window Screed.
2017-10-27.
I’ve been doing a lot of Alliance Raids in Final Fantasy XIV since 4.1, so I’ve seen the loot window a whole lot lately. This is a 3000-word screed on everything that’s wrong with the UI in this window.
This is probably not unique to FFXIV, by the way. But it’s the one I personally see most often.
First let’s go over how it works in case you haven’t experienced it.
- MMORPG
- Opinion
2017-12
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Endgame Viable Awards 2017.
2017-12-29.
It’s time once against for the prestigious Endgame Viable Awards for 2017, posted a bit early because the 31st is a Sunday. Hopefully I won’t play any new games over the weekend to skew these results.
2016 Awards
2015 Awards
I give out three awards: Game of the Year, MMORPG of the Year, and MMORPG Expansion of the Year. In my warped worldview “Game of the Year” sort of implies Steam game of the year and excludes traditional MMORPGs.
- MMORPG
- Reviews
2018-01
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Single-Player Holidays.
2018-01-08.
The last thing I mentioned playing was Divinity: Original Sin. I sort of gave up on it. It’s a great game and all, but it’s just too exhausting. I went through two boss fights in a row (SparkMaster 5000 and Radagoth) and both times, luck was the determining factor for success. That’s just not fun. I don’t know how all the people who play tabletop games do it. :)
- MMORPG
- RPG
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MMO News Roundup.
2018-01-19.
I’m trying an experiment here: A list of MMO news that I found noteworthy during the week. I’m trying this slightly retro blogging format because, to be brutally honest, for most MMO topics, I have a lot of trouble summoning up more than a few sentences of commentary, which results in a glut of unfinished blog drafts and a paucity of published posts (ha!). The challenge here will be finding a picture to use.
- MMORPG
- Roundup
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MMO News Roundup 2.
2018-01-26.
I found this Moonshade Highlands library in Rift for, I think, the very first time this week. Weirdly I got to it from Sanctum. I have no idea what it's for, except to give me a little bit more experience as I level up. Final Fantasy XIV 4.2 releases January 30. Yay! The nostalgia part of this patch means nothing to me, as I’ve never played any other Final Fantasy game.
- MMORPG
- Roundup
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FFXIV – 4.2 Rise of a New Sun Patch Notes.
2018-01-29.
They aren't too concerned about spoiling things from the previous patch, are they? Roughly 75% of the 4.2 patch doesn’t interest me, but there’s a few cool things in there.
This cracked me up: You won’t be able to skip the cut scenes in Castrum Meridianum and the Praetorium anymore. If I were a new player, I’d be glad about that, because I’d hate to miss them (I honestly don’t remember if I watched them the first time or not, or if I ever have).
- MMORPG
2018-02
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FFXIV – 4.2 Rise of a New Sun Completed (Spoilers).
2018-02-19.
I put off FFXIV for a couple of weeks while I finished my Fallout 4 obsession, then I jumped in and completed the Main Scenario Quest for the 4.2 Patch. It took two whole days, maybe three total hours. I’m glad to have finished it. I had basically zero interest in playing it, to be honest, but I know from experience that no matter how much one doesn’t feel like playing the MSQ, it’s far better to stay up-to-date than to have to catch back up later.
- MMORPG
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Kitchen Sink Post #6.
2018-02-23.
_I’m still tinkering with the formula for this weekly “bullet post” thing. Now I feel like I should include news items and any interesting progress I’ve made on games I’m playing.
_
ESO… always seems better in screenshots. I started the week playing some FFXIV, trying to work on improving my gear with Rabanastre runs and Omega 4.0 runs.
Then I started playing ESO, trying to find what it was that everyone keeps saying that they love about that game.
- MMORPG
- Roundup
2018-03
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MMO Roundup #9.
2018-03-16.
A weekly diary of MMO news and observations.
The Bane Bard 330 outfit, mostly. The boots don't match! It’s been a very unusual multi-game bonanza lately. Normally I stick with one game at a time, but I’ve been all over the place. This is not a good thing. It means that none of the games I’m currently playing are all that interesting to me, and I’m in that mood where I’m searching for The Next Big Thing.
- MMORPG
- Roundup
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MMO Roundup #11.
2018-03-30.
_These post titles are killing me. I hate titles that don’t mean anything. I don’t know about anyone else, but I almost never click through to read an article if the title doesn’t interest me (my feed reader also shows the first sentence, so that is also a factor). I assume everyone else is the same. But here I am, doing the exact thing I hate. “Generic Post #11.” I might as well call it, “Don’t bother reading this one.
- MMORPG
- Roundup
2018-04
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FFXIV – End Of Life?.
2018-04-16.
I haven’t logged into Final Fantasy XIV for a couple of months now. I hadn’t logged in for a couple of months before that, too. Most times I try to log in, I stare at the screen for a few minutes, then log out. What’s up with that?
To be honest, I think I’ve reached the point I get to in every MMORPG’s lifetime when I’ve consumed all of the endgame content that I’m interested in.
- MMORPG
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Weeklies – ESO, SWL.
2018-04-20.
Yikes, April is almost over already.
I finished Secret World Legends’ Red Sun, Black Sand and left Egypt behind. I’m taking a break for a while.
This past weekend I decided to try to play through the Morrowind content in ESO. It took four tries, but I finally got past the first meeting with Vivec and into the rest of the story. (I had a hard time finding a character I wanted to play.
- MMORPG
- Roundup
2018-05
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Week End – Summerset, FFXIV 4.3.
2018-05-26.
News and observations from the past week.
Fort Frolic from BioShock Remastered. In The News Steam is (allegedly) cracking down on sexytime cartoon games. I say “allegedly” only because I personally couldn’t confirm any official communications from Valve, I only read the second-hand reports from potentially affected developers. This caused a bit of an uproar in the Twitterverse. My only two cents is that this is an example of one of the many universal truths in life: You can choose to make an artistic statement or you can choose to make money, but very rarely can you choose both.
- MMORPG
- Roundup
2018-06
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Week End – Steam Flood.
2018-06-09.
News and observations from the past week.
I keep thinking I should write real posts about stuff, but I’m having a hard time finding anything that interests me enough to write more than a few sentences.
Dark Souls Remastered. It bugs me but also amuses me that the featured image I put in these posts doesn't match the title. In The News Star Wars Galaxies creator Raph Koster to release postmortem book on MMORPGs.
- MMORPG
- Steam
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E3 – Square Enix, Ubisoft, Sony.
2018-06-13.
I watched the Square Enix showcase but it left little impression on me. Unlike seemingly everyone else, though, I liked that it was just a series of trailers and videos, and not one of those awkward live presentations in front of a confused audience. I just feel like in the year 2018, we should have evolved beyond the 90s-Steve Jobs-cult-of-personality-walking-around-on-stage phase of our lives.
Although the guy from Bethesda talking about Fallout 76 actually was pretty entertaining.
- Consoles
- Musings
2018-08
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Those WoW Cinematics – Blaugust 4.
2018-08-04.
From Legion, Helheim Normally each Saturday I post a summary of interesting gaming news and events from my week. But this week, I haven’t seen any gaming stories of interest, and I’ve already posted a number of things about myself for Blaugust.
Instead, this morning I thought I would write about these wacky World of Warcraft cinematics all the kids are talking about. Specifically, Warbringer Jaina, Warbringer Sylvanas, and Old Soldier.
- MMORPG
2018-11
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November in Review.
2018-11-28.
I don’t normally do month-in-review posts, but since I was largely absent this month, I figured I should do one for a change.
I’ve spent most of November trying to recover from back pain. The first day of the month it got really bad, then it got better, then it got really bad again, and now it’s getting better again. I’ve been taking a muscle relaxant called baclofen every day this month, and last week I started going to physical therapy to try to loosen things up.
- MMO
- Musings
2019-06
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Passing on Shadowbringers.
2019-06-20.
I probably won’t play Final Fantasy XIV’s Shadowbringers expansion. I’ve had a lot of fun in Final Fantasy XIV but it occurred to me that the game isn’t made for me anymore.
Bye bye spunky porcelain-faced Miqo'te in the Bain mask.
That became really clear when I watched the Square Enix event for E3. At the end of the event, Twitter exploded with excitement over a bombshell surprise reveal. I watched the entire E3 event.
- MMORPG
2019-07
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Games Played – June 2019.
2019-07-01.
Another super easy month to figure out. It was Bloodborne on the PS4. I basically only play one game at a time anymore, and have little interest in anything else until I finish with it.
Bloodborne (PS4), ~50-60 hours. Time estimated by looking at how long I ran OBS Studio on my PC, which was 50 hours. However when I finished the game and entered New Game+ last night, the total save game time was 68 hours, but that extends a little bit into May as well.
- MMORPG
- Roundup
- RPG
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Can I Trust The Trust System?.
2019-07-11.
I’ve heard about a thing in Final Fantasy XIV called the “Trust System.” I didn’t pay any attention to it. Why would I? It’s called a “trust system.” Typical of most things in Final Fantasy, there is nothing within the words of that name that even remotely implies what it actually *is*.
If they had called it what it is, which is apparently “AI Party Members For Completing Main Scenario Quest Dungeons Solo,” then boy would my ears have pricked up fast.
- MMORPG
2021-07
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Another FFXIV Free Login.
2021-07-12.
There’s a lot of buzz about Final Fantasy XIV’s Endwalker expansion, and now I see it’s that time again when Square Enix is letting lapsed Final Fantasy XIV accounts login free for a couple of weeks.
- Gaming
- MMORPG
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FFXIV - The Unending Journey.
2021-07-15.
I played Final Fantasy XIV last night. Sort of.
- Gaming
- MMORPG
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FFXIV - Shadowbringers.
2021-07-18.
I didn’t really intend to play Shadowbringers. I thought I was done with Final Fantasy XIV forever, actually. But a few things combined to get me back in this game.
- Gaming
- MMORPG
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FFXIV - Shadowbringers Update.
2021-07-28.
We now bring you a brief Shadowbringers update.
- Gaming
- MMORPG
2021-08
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FFXIV - What's Still Holding It Back?.
2021-08-01.
Final Fantasy XIV is enjoying a massive surge in popularity this summer, but there are still a few things preventing it from reigning supreme in the MMORPG space.
- Gaming
- MMORPG
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Final Fantasy Status Update.
2021-08-09.
It’s time for a brief Final Fantasy update.
- Gaming
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FFXIV's Gandalf Moment.
2021-08-14.
The Stupid Face Boss in Final Fantasy XIII and The Gandalf Moment in Final Fantasy XIV.
- Gaming
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Pantheon Of Best Shadowbringers Moments So Far.
2021-08-15.
Yesterday I flippantly remarked, “Not exactly a deep meditation on the human condition,” about the Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers story so far. But there was a conversation that my mind keeps returning to: A conversation between the Crystal Exarch and Lord Vauthry.
- Gaming
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FFXIV - How To Abandon A Main Scenario Quest, Kind Of.
2021-08-16.
I ran into a problem with Final Fantasy XIV and I thought I’d share the solution I came up with, because you certainly won’t find it anywhere on Reddit.
- Gaming
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Level Curves And Story Pacing.
2021-08-17.
I wish the arbitrary geometric leveling curve didn’t mess up story pacing.
- Gaming
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MMORPG Character Switcharoos.
2021-08-18.
Sometimes MMORPGs make you play a different character for narrative purposes and I don’t like it very much.
- Gaming
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FFXIV - Oracle of Light.
2021-08-19.
I spent last night in Final Fantasy XIV standing at the Neverending Storybook (not the actual name) refreshing my memory on story events from the very end of A Realm Reborn and the post-Heavensward stuff with The Word Of The Mother and the Warriors of Darkness.
- Gaming
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Friday Screenshots - FFXIV.
2021-08-20.
I was going to pull out one of seemingly hundreds of half-written posts to finish them, but then I realized I hate all of them! And now it’s evening. So here’s some screenshots. It’s from that game I’ve been playing. You know the one I mean.
- Gaming
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Saturday Screenshots - FFXIV.
2021-08-21.
Hey, writing blog posts every day isn’t that fun sometimes. Here’s some screenshots. From that same game again. Because they’re the only screenshots I took yesterday.
- Gaming
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Sunday Screenshots - FFXIV.
2021-08-22.
I didn’t even rename the screenshot files this time.
- Gaming
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FFXIV Needs A Limit Break.
2021-08-24.
I’m waking up to this news that Final Fantasy XIV has closed off all the North American Aether servers to new players indefinitely because they can’t handle the strain anymore.
- Gaming
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Shadowbringers Done, Part 1.
2021-08-26.
I finished the first ending of Shadowbringers. The one before the long series of post-expansion patches.
- Gaming
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Nuts To The Post-Shadowbringers Blues.
2021-08-28.
I started into the post-Shadowbringers Main Scenario Quest last night and got a whole two quests in before the game slammed a massive brick wall down in front of me.
- Gaming
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The Endgame Grind Decision Point.
2021-08-29.
Should I dive headlong into the vortex of Final Fantasy XIV endgame possibilities or should I detox and play something else?
- Gaming
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FFXIV - New Game Plus.
2021-08-30.
I recently learned about New Game+ in Final Fantasy XIV, some time earlier in Blaugust, in the Blaugust Discord. I didn’t think it would work very well, but it actually does.
- Gaming
2021-09
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FFXIV - Contemporary Shadowbringers Reviews [+audio].
2021-09-14.
Out of curiosity, I went looking to find some contemporary accounts of why Shadowbringers was The Greatest Final Fantasy Story Ever. Because it wasn’t clear to me.
- Gaming
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FFXIV - Shadowbringers Story Summary [+audio].
2021-09-21.
Similar to what I did with Stormblood, I wanted to write a brief high-level overview of the events of the Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers expansion story, so I’ll remember it later.
- Gaming
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FFXIV - Shadowbringers 5.1, Vows of Virtue, Deeds of Cruelty.
2021-09-24.
Notes on the Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers Patch 5.1 Content, Vows of Virtue, Deeds of Cruelty.
- Gaming
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New World Three-Day Saga.
2021-09-30.
The worm turns quickly for New World.
- Gaming
2021-10
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Now What?.
2021-10-06.
Searching for the next game to play, and also apparently listing every game I’ve looked at recently.
- Gaming
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FFXIV - Shadowbringers 5.2, Echoes of a Fallen Star.
2021-10-12.
Notes on the Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers Patch 5.2 Content, Echoes of a Fallen Star.
- Gaming
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FFXIV - Shadowbringers 5.3, Reflections in Crystal.
2021-10-30.
Notes on the Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers Patch 5.3 Content, Reflections in Crystal, which I finished well over a month ago at the time of this publication.
- Gaming
2021-12
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FFXIV - Shadowbringers 5.4, Futures Rewritten.
2021-12-01.
Notes on the Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers Patch 5.4 Content, Futures Rewritten, which I finished well over two months ago at the time of this publication.
- Gaming
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FFXIV - Shadowbringers 5.5/5, Death Unto Dawn.
2021-12-09.
Notes on the Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers Patch 5.5 and 5.55 Content, Death Unto Dawn, which I finished more than two months ago at the time of this publication.
- Gaming
2022-01
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Elden Ring: Prepare Ye the Way.
2022-01-26.
Some thoughts on Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, and the upcoming Elden Ring.
- Gaming
2023-07
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The Imminent Blaugust - July 2023.
2023-07-31.
Blaugust 2023, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, blog site updates and microblogging, a nutritional reset, and more, in the summer heat.
- Blog