So far FFXIV is only grinding

Still no new weapons! In order to make myself a new axe, I need to become a better blacksmith. In order to become a better blacksmith, I need materials. In order to get materials, I need to mine. In order to mine I need to run around for hours and hours looking for mining nodes. Level 13 marauder and I still kick around with my level 1 waraxe of not-so-much doom!

See, it sucks so much I even got my pretty little behind kicked by a FLOWER! Yeah, that's right, a flower kicked my ass and it hurt bad!

So, to recap:

• My underwear is still broken, since I can't remove them and I haven't found any repair vendor yet.
• I still use my level 1 noob axe because crafting a new one is too hard and buying one is impossible since the market has no search function.
• I have trouble progressing with my crafting professions due to co-dependencies (simple recipies require materials from other professions, sometimes high-level stuff).
• Gathering materials is a chore since the yield is extremely random.
• I constantly need to run back to town to exchange items with my retainer since a) my inventory is too small to handle materials for multiple professions, b) there are no vendors at the quest camps that I can sell trash items to.

All in all, I am not terribly impressed with the game mechanics. The graphics is nice, and the world has a nice "feel" to it, and I love the look of the scenery and the characters... but sometimes the game simply feels too hard!

I have only played for a week, and instead of adventure this is about 99,9% grinding.

I must admit that I am somewhat disappointed. I had expected this to be more of a social adventure MMORPG and not so much mind-numbing grinding... yet, grinding seems to be the only way to progress. Even the quests are disappointing... almost the only kind of quest available are what the WoW-nerd would refer to as "dailies", ie repeatable quests that you can do over and over again.

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Oyasumi!

Today didn't quite go as planned... I couldn't find any kind of weapon upgrade or the parts needed to make one! I am a blacksmith / armorsmith / goldsmith... surely I should be able to make some sort of weapon or armor upgrade for myself?

Apparently not. Each recipe needs some part from some other profession, like some silly log of lumber from a carpenter or some cloth from the weavers. This would be fine and dandy if there only existed some kind of MARKETPLACE with a search function or cathegories or some kind of clue as to who might possibly sell the items I need to craft.

Sigh. Kitty is too upset. She must rest now. Miao. Oyasumi!


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Trading in Final Fantasy XIV

So I found this new city! It took a pretty long walk, but I got there. Upon arrival, I spent some time browsing the market ward, looking for nothing and everything. I found this nice turban and these cool boots! Good thing the turban has holes for my furry ears. ^^


Well, let me tell you about the market districts in Final Fantasy XIV! In what real market would you ever walk around and see a bunch of sellers just standing around without any commercials, without adressing you, and without any signal whatsoever as to what kind of goods they are selling? Well, some are called "Ivan's armory", but most are called stuff like "Bob" or "LegolAss". To find out what they are selling you have to physically poke them and ask: "HEY, LegolAss, what do you have for sale?"

"I have these lovely handfuls of moss," LegolAss replies. "And look, I have the dismembered paws of a squirrel. They cost only 600 gil a foot!"

Uhm, no thanks, LegolAss, I think I'll keep browsing.

About 20 vendors of assorted crap later, I stumble upon some Wind Crystals at the bargain price of 200 a piece. Lucky! I buy a dussin and go on to find a few pieces of bone that I can use to make rings.

In the vain hope that some lost traveller will buy something from me, I plant my retainer Verity in the "Second Gigiyom Ward" of the market district. This is like one of a dussin totally gay sub-instances where you can plant your retainer so that no one will ever find her.

Time to leave my journal and return to Eorsea! My goal for the evening is to obtain a sword. Most likely, I will only manage to obtain three quarters of the materials used to craft the ass end of a mediocre blade. If I am very lucky.

(And I shall also pray to the gods that there will one day be an Auction House in the cities of Eorsea).

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Singing in the rain

Finally I was able to get back out into the woods! Along with a friend I defeated some evil swarms of bees, some naked moles and firestarter imps. Very epic. *cough*

After all that smiting, it was a relief that it started raining. That way kitty can get clean without having to lick herself! Hmm, *cough*, sentient kittys are wierd. Anyway, I took this wonderful photo of Vivacia's moment in the rain. It will be my picture of the day. Enjoy!

Oh, and in other good news, I got a new belt today! Well, it's a rope, really... apparently it took a lot of crafting, but it's a... rope. A fucking rope. As belt. That took a lot of crafting. Uhm, well, okay, I'm down with that.

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Resting at the fire

Yawn.

Vivacia has been up all day, mining and working on her crafting skills. Mining is kindof fun, running around looking for veins to quarry. The Black Shroud might not be the most inspiring of areas and the scenery is quite monotunous, but sure, I get a good workout! Crafting is very tricky on the other hand. Making simple things requires many different parts from many different professions, and some make no sense. Like, why would I need a level 11 blacksmith to make components for a level 5 axe, when the finished product can be made by a level 4 blacksmith? Really?

Anyhow, I found Viv a nice new top from a merchant at Camp Emerald Moss. It fits her quite nicely, don't you think? Tomorrow she will kick ass in this getup. Well, if she can find someone to repair her broken undergarments... that, thankfully, she can now remove. What a relief!


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