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Under the Moonlight Coming May 22nd with Quality of Life Improvements - Final Fantasy XIV - MMORPG.
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Under the Moonlight Coming May 22nd with Quality of Life Improvements - Final Fantasy XIV - MMORPG.com
Final Fantasy XIV News - The Final Fantasy XIV Lodestone has been updated with a new developer blog to detail some of the quality of life improvements that players can expect when Under the Moonlight launches on May 22nd. Pets will have unique markers on the map as opposed to having the same ones as players. In addition, when logging in, players will see a list of achievements they're close to finishing and which can be completed in the area they're currently in. Lastly, an Improved Savage content warning is incoming!
Comments
I've had a theory on where one of the future expansions will take us. Pretty much since before Heavenswards. But it became stronger during such with the implementation of the Warriors of Darkness. With Iroha, Tenzen and Shanttoto showing up in recent times (and looking exactly like their FFXI counterparts), I'm still left to wonder if we won't have a FFXI theme expansion or set of raids similar to FFXII and Ivalice.
Given the story of Vana'diel and what happens to our characters in Rhapsodies... well, the light pretty much dominates that world since the darkness was so weakened to the point of what happened happened. Even a God of Light was born. Though I purposely try to leave out specifics to avoid spoilers, despite the game being old and most being unlikely to handle the old systems.
The significance of that when it comes to Eorzea is pretty grand if you think outside of the box. We've been shown that the universes are connected in various ways through character visits, and now an us being able to visit Ivalice. With the Warriors of Darkness formerly being Warriors of Light, but aligning to the darkness since the Light took over their world and turned it into a Light Void. If they take a little artistic freedom, that could easily translate to what happened in Rhapsodies. Especially who one of the big bads of Rhapsodies actually turned out to be.
Did you forget the whole point of Eureka was to simulate FFXI's systems?
That said, by the time Rhapsodies came along, you were able to pretty much solo just about anything in the game. Easily getting a merit point in seconds from killing VT / IT mobs by yourself (well, with your trusts). So Eureka is, from what I read in the past, more of a homage to how things used to be and not really a continuation of Vana'diels story.
no this is like the expansion's halfway point. Usually the finally patch of a FFXIV expansion is X.57 (i.e. 2.57/3.57/etc) and those types are just weekly cap increase patches etc. Final content related patches for expansions are usually X.55.
It has very good FF story and some voice over some are text and that the good part of the game, not just good but awesome. Gameplay and gear grind and ilevel is the ugly part of the game. Play the game before you judge it cause there’s tons of voice overs and great story.
I highly doubt that you have experienced 20% of the game, based on your comment. And if you have, you were not even paying attention.
i'm just over here thinking yea i probably have only experienced a good 20% of the game and yes i do think the story is horrible in this game,i think the community is pretty great tho. but why would anyone keep throwing money at a game if they dislike it so much just cause fans claim of the story getting better.
also for me i dont need VO i read plenty of graphic novels and play alot of crpgs a story can be good or bad without it being spoken to you. but like it's been said thats all subjective. these white knights are wild i tell ya!
NEW DUNGEONS! NEW PRIMALS! NEW RAID! NEW CURRENCIES TO GRIND FOR GEAR THAT WILL BE OUTDATED IN A MONTH!!!!
-Every FFXIV update ever.
NEW DUNGEONS! NEW PRIMALS! NEW RAID! NEW CURRENCIES TO GRIND FOR GEAR THAT WILL BE OUTDATED IN A MONTH!!!!
-Every FFXIV update ever."
I saw this patern before the first expansion and kept being re-assured it would be so different, yet its been doing the same few things to death at this point. I quit a few months into HW, poked in a few times but saw it wasnt ever going to change. I have many other issues with the game, but this was easily the biggest one.
I think there is a good reason they never say the sub numbers directly or let you see how many people are on at any given time like they did with XI because i'm sure its quite a bit lower than what some of the fans think, especially the month after a patch drops and it becomes a ghost town.
Every expansion with XI brought very different content and endgame, but for some baffeling reason this game can't seem to get away from spewing out the same few scripted to death instances. It really shows that SE is not what they once were and Yoshi-P is not some genius savior.
CoP introduced Promyvion
ToaU introduced Beseiged and Nyzul Isle
Wings of the Goddess introduced Campaign
HW introduced....QoL changes
Same for Stormblood
You can create a million dungeons and a million primals and half a million raids....but eventually doing the same thing with a different backdrop with slightly different mechanics gets old.
I’m not a white knight I don’t even play ffxiv anymore I actually still play FFXI and lotro now but when I did play found story line great and everyone else who played it thinks the same. I’m a day one FFXI player and still play to this day.
Wrong quote ment it for the guy who called me white knight.
The Warriors of Darkness Arc is / was an interesting concept -- most of the complaints I've heard about it is that it ended abruptly. Though since it took a main character along with it to "a new world", it's very likely it will be visited again, and they're just planting the seeds of a new story. Kind of like what they did / have been doing since 2.0, and with 2.0 taking old stuff from 1.0 and expanding on it.
Story progression is presented in the same way as previous expansions, yes. In fact, it essentially the same way FFXI did things. They're all connected and stuff from the last expansions -- especially in the patches -- tend to show up again and are expanded on.
As for new playstyles, this is also the case. Though it tends to be implemented in patches rather than launch. Most of the new playstyles relate to leveling alts or your first class -- such as the new PvP system / changes and the experience thereof (and new types). As well as PotD being implemented back in Heavensward to replace or add onto FATE trains. With then Squadrons being added in Stormblood and replacing / adding onto PotD for specific levels (being vastly superior for 20-50 leveling if you level your squadron up to +60% damage buffs). The new chances to the Stormblood Deep Dungeons look interesting as well. Though I haven't played Eureka yet to see how it is, despite them trying to bring back a more FFXI feel for it and a new way to acquire gear for your alternate classes that you want.
This is followed by new things like Diadem, Eureka, Wondrous tails, Treasure Hunts (and treasury portals), new types of roulettes... as well as a host of other things that are constantly updated rather than abandoned (with new rewards being put in, or other things to promote participation). The game also has an intricate meta in various portions of the game -- my favorite being crafting and harvesting, as there's always new things to learn with each patch or new implementations or ways to acquire things with each expansion. That is to speak nothing for the other activities that are just meant to be fun... Chief among them Triple Triad, Housing, Gold Saucer, Chocobo Raising (and combat / leveling / racing) and so on and so forth. In addition to frequent updates to new hairstyles and emotes, that just file under adding depth and not forgetting about the little things. Though honestly, that's just touching the surface of patches, and not even going into the mainstream stuff and the rewards thereof. In essence, it's a hyper themepark, but a themepark all the same. It just has more intricate and complex things than the average one in a lot of systems.
It's a game that updates pretty much everything, while adding new stuff and new systems to expand on the entirety of the game through patches. Some may not like the supposed lack of focus on one thing to make that "truly great" while ignoring others, and prefer they just work on what "they like"... but I'm sure there are games out there that have a singular focus. For me, it's almost like my birthday each time a new patch is out, as nearly every feature is expanded upon in some way. Even small things like new features for housing and apartments and hosts of new furniture and the like.
What they really need to do is update the 1-50 base game, as well as the patched content for it. They mentioned wanting to axe much of the patched content of the original, but it's up in the air if that alone will really improve the new player experience to the point where they'll be hooked so early in the game. The voice acting has improved a lot, and they should go back and represent such in the base game. As well as improving the overall flow of quests. Especially that first quest for the class specific questing. It just sets a bad taste in the mouth. Placing attack dummies in the guilds to learn how to attack would be more suiting than having people run around and get lost immediately. Though the game's story gets mildly okay at level 35ish, then plummets at 45-50 (being non-existant is more like it), followed by a horrible patch 2.1-2.3.5 experience of having too many quests without major story elements. But picks up to being "great" after a plot twist, then "good" with Heavensward, followed by "great" again with the start of Stormblood.
It is especially good for Role Play, though... with them constantly added new features for it with each patch (player requested features), along with things that naturally fulfill that need. The only problem being housing and the RP servers being closed due to always being full and having queues to get in.
Honestly even 1-60 needs an entire overhaul. It's so painful is ridiculous.
I thought about leveling a second character so I can raid on two but it's just so horrible and feels disgusting to even slog through 1-60 I just stopped and scrapped the idea.
Not going to buy boosts for an alt either.
HW already made jobs even worst 1-50. SB gutted more abilities and now some are horrible 1-60
I'd say 50-60 is definitely superior to 1-50 on the whole. At the very least more subject to a subjective preference for the player. That is, if there was only resources for one, HW is "good" enough to stand on its own objectively or by comparison.
Personally, I have several legacy accounts and a non-legacy account that I only keep up for specific things such as adding more rooms to my FCs for an immersion factor. So I've probably leveled about 25 or more characters up to about level 60 with maybe 15 of them at 70 at present (idly working on the 16th as just doing a quick roulette each day really levels you over time). The biggest issue that you notice after leveling that much is the 2.0 patch content as well as the 45-50 gap that is just horrible. I've long suggested them gutting 2.1-2.35 and then lowering level 50 quests to level 45 so that the remaining old patch content is able to be played from 46 to 50 so that there is visible progression along with the story they saved.
In Stormblood, I've not done any of the patch content yet as I focus on leveling characters and working on crafting / gathering quite a bit. In fact, every character on my legacy accounts are all omni crafters to some extent. With only one really having every item available to craft, along with full melded gear for the expensive items.
As for Heavensward making the combat at lower levels feel even worse... I agree with you on that. They improved all the crap they did to Jobs in Heavensward as far as level 54-70 is concerned, but they made the lower levels less interesting as a whole. This was noticeable with Rogue / Ninja and Dragoon in particular when I was leveling new characters during Stormblood and not using old characters that I had already got to 50 / 60 in previous expansions.
It's become somewhat habit to speed run 1-50 in particular and it's a pain. So maybe I'm just more tired of that and feel almost "free" by the time I get to Heavensward. Though with new characters I sometimes make every item in the game for the class I tend for them to be, as well as give them several stacks of every material in case I want to level crafting or just sell them on whatever new server I'm transferring them to. The 10,000,000 gil limit with transfers is pretty useless since you can just bring hundreds of millions of items to sell (albeit a normal person wouldn't have the means and I admit I'm crazy when it comes to making money in games -- it also still takes weeks of work to prepare a new character like this, not to mention months to find buyers at my new location). But I mainly do that if I want to help a friend that plays elsewhere or plans to play on a different server.
It sounds more insane than it is (but it still is as a whole), since I oft abandon those characters and don't do much with what is transferred. They typically don't make it up to Heavensward patches. Mainly a "you have billions so why not" sort of thing to establish myself on new servers in case I ever want to switch or a friend wants to play in it. The speed running itself also involves just spending millions on other people to level with them while having the best of everything, even penta melded leveling attire.
The only thing we know is that they:
1) Keep on increasing their team size
2) Added servers to Europe after Stormblood
3) Tripled Stormblood's Budget over Heavensward
4) Went to the expense of moving their servers to locations with better tech and space
5) Still have three fan festivals both celebrating FFXIV and revealing the new expansions. Seems excessive to have three just for one reveal, but at least it includes Japan, Europe and the States. Blizzcon says their expenses outweigh ticket sales and viewership and that they only hold it in California since it's cheaper due to being in driving distance to Irvine. So I'd imagine it's costly for FFXIV to bring their stuff all over three times.
That's to say nothing of their mog station and people going insane over "cute stuff" in it. In addition to the super cute plushes that keep on getting sold out, as well as the Lore Book that was incredibly hard to get a hold of for a long time.
Given that FFXI is still up and in maintenance mode with a subscription means that people will pay for Square Items and that they keep up their flagship franchise. FFXIV is probably one of the most secure games in terms of the unlikelihood of being brought down, alongside WoW.
Though some of the above could just mean they have confidence in their product and that investing more will bring even more in. Still, said confidence along with money to back it up is an attractive thing to customers as a whole -- along with a beloved franchise.
-Eureka is the same
-WT is just more dailies running the same type of content. There's nothing new there, you're just rewarded more for doing the same shit, same goes for treasure hunts (which nobody does unless they are desperate for gear currency).
None of these things add anything to the game, they just reward you more for doing the same thing you've been doing since day 1.
- The only GOOD new content type they've added is palace of the dead, and THAT I will give them credit for.
Diadem was a failure however Eureka has been out for a while and just like Palace of the dead stays full and busy so have to disagree. To tell the truth I don't think it's that great personaly.
Its too bad most of those thinks were always intended to be side events or give mid way gear that gets made useless by even most token gear which is easy enough to get. Aside from Palace being a solid leveling tool (and a watered down FFXI event)