In case anyone is wondering, I am now playing Rift and tracking my experiences in a similar way to this blog at http://theriftjournal.blogspot.com/. Join me there, or join me in Rift! It is an awesome game and despite being launched only this week, it has a very polished feel about it.
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lördag 26 februari 2011
tisdag 2 november 2010
Kitty takes a time out
Final Fantasy XIV sucks.
Plain and simple.
I shall now spend some time in Real Life, and then I shall attempt to play Rift and/or Star Wars. If FFXIV shape up, I may rejoin the "fun" in the future.
Until then. Miao.
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om ffxiv, final fantasy xiv, review, sucks, bad, horrible
Plain and simple.
I shall now spend some time in Real Life, and then I shall attempt to play Rift and/or Star Wars. If FFXIV shape up, I may rejoin the "fun" in the future.
Until then. Miao.
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om ffxiv, final fantasy xiv, review, sucks, bad, horrible
tisdag 19 oktober 2010
This dodo is freaking me out
Is this freaky or what... this blob was just... looking at me!
Anyhow, so Square Enix decided to give everyone a free month so that they will stay and play this content-free unfinished mess of a game until a major patch in late november. /cheer.
Incidentally, the patch arrives just a few days AFTER everyone's free time is up... so if you want to try the patch, you gotta pay the monthly fee!
I think I'll wait for the reviews.
Yeah, cause, I'm just not dumb enough to pay any more money for this product before they fix it. I'll enjoy barely playing during my free month though!
Now, back to playing a slightly pirated (maybe) Settlers 7.
Oh come on, Settlers 7 was so fucked up by DRM, there is no way I'll pay for it!
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om final fantasy xiv, ffxiv, settlers 7, reveiw, sucks, patches, free month
Anyhow, so Square Enix decided to give everyone a free month so that they will stay and play this content-free unfinished mess of a game until a major patch in late november. /cheer.
Incidentally, the patch arrives just a few days AFTER everyone's free time is up... so if you want to try the patch, you gotta pay the monthly fee!
I think I'll wait for the reviews.
Yeah, cause, I'm just not dumb enough to pay any more money for this product before they fix it. I'll enjoy barely playing during my free month though!
Now, back to playing a slightly pirated (maybe) Settlers 7.
Oh come on, Settlers 7 was so fucked up by DRM, there is no way I'll pay for it!
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om final fantasy xiv, ffxiv, settlers 7, reveiw, sucks, patches, free month
söndag 10 oktober 2010
Review of Final Fantasy XIV after 2 weeks
I award this game....
2 / 10
The economy is completely stalled due to no market search function or auction house.
Crafting progress is stalled due to too many complex recipies for simple upgrades. I am all for a mixed crafting experience, but there is value to making at least ONE upgrade readily available without co-dependencies.
The UI leaves nothing but frustration on this side of the screen. There is no reason for all those sub-menus, even on a PS3. A lot of menus could be joined together without any loss whatsoever - for instance when you craft and you open up a list of things you can craft (1 screen), select one (2nd screen), confirm your selection and learn the crystal requriements (3rd screen) and only THEN you find out if you actually have the materials on you - if not, you have to click "back" three times through the 3 screen with each leaving a 5 second lag = a total of at least 30 seconds in order to get the respons "insufficient materials". This check should and could be moved to the first scrren, so that the game shows you a marker or icon in the inital list on the items you have crystals for.
This is just one of many examples of the dysfunctional UI - where too much priority information is hidden in sub-sub-sub menus.
The retainer system is simply useless. The only way to sell something is to plant your character in a crowded part of the cities, /sit it down and go to work or bed for 8 hours.
The lag and targetting system is insufferable in combat. I play a marauder and my boyfriend plays a healer. We sit in the same room and we are separated by about 3 seconds. We constantly die due to the server lag since he can't effectively heal me, and the targetting system suffers due to the lack of targetting frames for your party member.
You have to do macros for the most simple things. It's 2011, I shouldn't have to manually write a macro for battle targetting or switching gear! Manually switching gear using the user interface can easily take 5 minutes if you need to change several pieces of attire and weaponry - a macro does this in 5 seconds. Why are these basic functions missing from the game?!?
You cannot sort your inventory. Insufferable. I have 80 slots on me and 80 on my retainer that I CANNOT SORT. IN ANY WAY. Not even alphabetize it!!! This is a deal-breaker for me.
The chat and social functions are under-developed. Even the early MUDs had better chat- and social functions. The SMS-lenght chat messages that you can send after correctly typing in both the name and surname of your friend Ynymnminjh Zhvtcyth is unacceptable for a MMORPG and the area chats have the same range as an average piss radius. Without a functionig chat system, this is nothing other than a very dysfunctional and clunky one-player game. I get more in-game social interaction from Dragon Age, and that's a single player game.
The user interface is what we actually USE to play the game. If the UI isn't working, the game isn't working.
Now, I don't need everything to be just like WoW, because I hated the way that WoW developed over the years, but one thing that WoW DID excel at was a customizable user-friendly interface that was easy to use and understand and let you do multiple things at once, such as checking out your ínventory or organizing your bags while you were crafting, inspecting a fellow player while running, and chatting while doing ANYTHING.
I have hoped for FFXIV, but let's be honest, except for pretty graphics and animations, this game blows so far. Big time.
I will be returning to the game in the future if the UI, the social, and the trade are fixed, but in the mean time, I am not paying for this. The game is, at best, in an alpha developement state and the PC launch seems to be only an attempt to finance the PS3-launch in 6 months.
In short, I will NOT be playing past my free 30 days at this time. The game is way too unfinished. And yes, while WoW and other games also had rough starts, they were nowhere near as unfinished as this product. This is, by far, the LEAST finished MMORPG I have ever seen launched.
Sorry, SE, I am NOT paying a monthly fee for access to a game in Alpha state. No f*cking way.
I will play casually for about 2 more weeks until my free 30 days run out, and keep updating the blog. After that, I'll take a looooong kitty nap and play some games that are actually finished before I give FFXIV more of my time.
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om ffxiv, final fantasy xiv, review, sucks
2 / 10
The economy is completely stalled due to no market search function or auction house.
Crafting progress is stalled due to too many complex recipies for simple upgrades. I am all for a mixed crafting experience, but there is value to making at least ONE upgrade readily available without co-dependencies.
The UI leaves nothing but frustration on this side of the screen. There is no reason for all those sub-menus, even on a PS3. A lot of menus could be joined together without any loss whatsoever - for instance when you craft and you open up a list of things you can craft (1 screen), select one (2nd screen), confirm your selection and learn the crystal requriements (3rd screen) and only THEN you find out if you actually have the materials on you - if not, you have to click "back" three times through the 3 screen with each leaving a 5 second lag = a total of at least 30 seconds in order to get the respons "insufficient materials". This check should and could be moved to the first scrren, so that the game shows you a marker or icon in the inital list on the items you have crystals for.
This is just one of many examples of the dysfunctional UI - where too much priority information is hidden in sub-sub-sub menus.
The retainer system is simply useless. The only way to sell something is to plant your character in a crowded part of the cities, /sit it down and go to work or bed for 8 hours.
The lag and targetting system is insufferable in combat. I play a marauder and my boyfriend plays a healer. We sit in the same room and we are separated by about 3 seconds. We constantly die due to the server lag since he can't effectively heal me, and the targetting system suffers due to the lack of targetting frames for your party member.
You have to do macros for the most simple things. It's 2011, I shouldn't have to manually write a macro for battle targetting or switching gear! Manually switching gear using the user interface can easily take 5 minutes if you need to change several pieces of attire and weaponry - a macro does this in 5 seconds. Why are these basic functions missing from the game?!?
You cannot sort your inventory. Insufferable. I have 80 slots on me and 80 on my retainer that I CANNOT SORT. IN ANY WAY. Not even alphabetize it!!! This is a deal-breaker for me.
The chat and social functions are under-developed. Even the early MUDs had better chat- and social functions. The SMS-lenght chat messages that you can send after correctly typing in both the name and surname of your friend Ynymnminjh Zhvtcyth is unacceptable for a MMORPG and the area chats have the same range as an average piss radius. Without a functionig chat system, this is nothing other than a very dysfunctional and clunky one-player game. I get more in-game social interaction from Dragon Age, and that's a single player game.
The user interface is what we actually USE to play the game. If the UI isn't working, the game isn't working.
Now, I don't need everything to be just like WoW, because I hated the way that WoW developed over the years, but one thing that WoW DID excel at was a customizable user-friendly interface that was easy to use and understand and let you do multiple things at once, such as checking out your ínventory or organizing your bags while you were crafting, inspecting a fellow player while running, and chatting while doing ANYTHING.
I have hoped for FFXIV, but let's be honest, except for pretty graphics and animations, this game blows so far. Big time.
I will be returning to the game in the future if the UI, the social, and the trade are fixed, but in the mean time, I am not paying for this. The game is, at best, in an alpha developement state and the PC launch seems to be only an attempt to finance the PS3-launch in 6 months.
In short, I will NOT be playing past my free 30 days at this time. The game is way too unfinished. And yes, while WoW and other games also had rough starts, they were nowhere near as unfinished as this product. This is, by far, the LEAST finished MMORPG I have ever seen launched.
Sorry, SE, I am NOT paying a monthly fee for access to a game in Alpha state. No f*cking way.
I will play casually for about 2 more weeks until my free 30 days run out, and keep updating the blog. After that, I'll take a looooong kitty nap and play some games that are actually finished before I give FFXIV more of my time.
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om ffxiv, final fantasy xiv, review, sucks
lördag 9 oktober 2010
The best starting area of FFXIV
Okay, so I got some questions about what the best starting area is, so let's discuss that!
As for me, I started in Gridania. I had no idea about the options, so I just thought "fuck it" and picked one. I ended up in the woods.
By now, I have visited all three cities. They differ in some significant ways, primarily in that each city houses different guilds and merchants. For instance, Gridania seems to lack a weapons merchant, meaning that if you start there, you'll have a really hard time changing your class.
I don't really know why that is. I mean, one would think that all types of shops would develope in each city in a marketable location. Like, hello? Stupid. Of course Gridanians want to buy weapons too!
For this reason, above all else, I would recommend Limsa Lominsa as the starting city. It has a weapon shop that's easy to find. Yeah, that's right. Cool. If you start the game as a fisherman and figure out just how gay this is, and that you actually want a weapon, this is by far most accesible in Limsa.
Aside from that, my personal favorite is actually Ul'dah. I think that Ul'dah has the nicest and most logical layout and it seems to have developed a natural player-based marketplace near the front gate, which is pretty nice. It just has these open areas and feels more like a city and less like a labyrinth (like Gridania and Limsa does - parts of these cities are just labyrinths of paths!). Ul'dah has this "wheel" feeling on the layout reminiscent of the World of Warcraft alliance cities like Ironforge, which is very nice and accesible.
So, I would advice you to pick Limsa Lominsa in first hand (for the accesible and easy to find weapon shop) or, in second hand, Ul'dah for a better and more logical layout of the city, which will make it easier to find the things that are there. Also, another thing that speaks for Limsa is that the mobs in the starting area seems to drop somewhat more useful items for low-level crafting, like rat pelts that are used in making animal glue (essential!).
As the picture of the day, enjoy this screenshot of me (Vivacia Yuuki) with my real-life fiancée, Hikkhammer Yuuki. If you see me in the game, he will often be around to... err... heal me when I run head-first into huge mobs and get us both killed.
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om final fantasy xiv, ffxiv, hikkhammer, trade, limsa lominsa, ul'dah, gridania, best starting city
As for me, I started in Gridania. I had no idea about the options, so I just thought "fuck it" and picked one. I ended up in the woods.
By now, I have visited all three cities. They differ in some significant ways, primarily in that each city houses different guilds and merchants. For instance, Gridania seems to lack a weapons merchant, meaning that if you start there, you'll have a really hard time changing your class.
I don't really know why that is. I mean, one would think that all types of shops would develope in each city in a marketable location. Like, hello? Stupid. Of course Gridanians want to buy weapons too!
For this reason, above all else, I would recommend Limsa Lominsa as the starting city. It has a weapon shop that's easy to find. Yeah, that's right. Cool. If you start the game as a fisherman and figure out just how gay this is, and that you actually want a weapon, this is by far most accesible in Limsa.
Aside from that, my personal favorite is actually Ul'dah. I think that Ul'dah has the nicest and most logical layout and it seems to have developed a natural player-based marketplace near the front gate, which is pretty nice. It just has these open areas and feels more like a city and less like a labyrinth (like Gridania and Limsa does - parts of these cities are just labyrinths of paths!). Ul'dah has this "wheel" feeling on the layout reminiscent of the World of Warcraft alliance cities like Ironforge, which is very nice and accesible.
So, I would advice you to pick Limsa Lominsa in first hand (for the accesible and easy to find weapon shop) or, in second hand, Ul'dah for a better and more logical layout of the city, which will make it easier to find the things that are there. Also, another thing that speaks for Limsa is that the mobs in the starting area seems to drop somewhat more useful items for low-level crafting, like rat pelts that are used in making animal glue (essential!).
As the picture of the day, enjoy this screenshot of me (Vivacia Yuuki) with my real-life fiancée, Hikkhammer Yuuki. If you see me in the game, he will often be around to... err... heal me when I run head-first into huge mobs and get us both killed.
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om final fantasy xiv, ffxiv, hikkhammer, trade, limsa lominsa, ul'dah, gridania, best starting city
Travel in Final Fantasy XIV
Now for a note on travel.
I started out in Gridania and ran all the way to Ul'dah. That was a seriously long run, but not so bad. I mean, the trip between Ironforge and Darnassus was way worse before they added the Wetlands - Aubergine ship route, so you had to run across the entire continent...
At least in FFXIV, you can just teleport if you have enough anima, as long as you have been somewhere before. But anima is limited and it regenerated slowly, so it encourages you to plan your game sessions and your travels. I think I like this aspect. If you dart around on the teleport you'll soon run out of anime so that you have to run... but if you plan your travels and use the teleport only once in a while, you'll have anima left for when you want it.
From Ul'dah it was a fairly short run to the Limsa Lominsa ferry. A few notes on this:
When you board the ferry, you will be placed on board a ship for about 10 minutes. There is nothing to do on this ship, except fishing, trading with your fellow travellers, and possibly crafting. But beware! If the ship docks while you're crafting, you'll automatically botch the synthesis! I would recommend that you stick to fishing or go get a cup of whatever real life brew you're into. In my case, coffe.
For travelling in the wilds, you can either run or teleport between the crystal gates without using up anima. That's pretty neat - especially since the teleport gates are not right at the camp, so you still have to travel a little bit. Again, you need to plan your travels to make them efficent. I like the realism of that.
Finally, there is the classic "death teleport". I used this a lot when I played Anarchy Online. There, you "saved" your character in a computer bank in one of the cities and went off to the Temple of the Three Winds to grind bosses for wierd scifi tech components, and when you were done you got yourself killed and reloaded at the city. This was convenient since the Temple was in the middle of fricking nowhere, about 30 minutes run from anything else, and had no save point of its own.
Final Fantasy has the same possibility, unlike World of Warcraft where you had to run back to your corpse. In FFXIV, you are "saved" at the latest crystal that you touch and if you die, you respawn at the crystal. This is useful if you want to go out farming metals or plants and want a quick teleport back to town: simply touch the crystal in the city, teleport out to the farming area and when you are done, strip naked and aggro the biggest monster you see. You'll respawn in the city!
All in all, I'm fairly happy with the systems for travel. I especially like that the map is semi-transparent, so that you can look at the map while keeping an eye on your character.
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om final fantasy xiv, ffxiv, travel, limsa lominsa, ul'dah, gridania, teleport
I started out in Gridania and ran all the way to Ul'dah. That was a seriously long run, but not so bad. I mean, the trip between Ironforge and Darnassus was way worse before they added the Wetlands - Aubergine ship route, so you had to run across the entire continent...
At least in FFXIV, you can just teleport if you have enough anima, as long as you have been somewhere before. But anima is limited and it regenerated slowly, so it encourages you to plan your game sessions and your travels. I think I like this aspect. If you dart around on the teleport you'll soon run out of anime so that you have to run... but if you plan your travels and use the teleport only once in a while, you'll have anima left for when you want it.
From Ul'dah it was a fairly short run to the Limsa Lominsa ferry. A few notes on this:
When you board the ferry, you will be placed on board a ship for about 10 minutes. There is nothing to do on this ship, except fishing, trading with your fellow travellers, and possibly crafting. But beware! If the ship docks while you're crafting, you'll automatically botch the synthesis! I would recommend that you stick to fishing or go get a cup of whatever real life brew you're into. In my case, coffe.
For travelling in the wilds, you can either run or teleport between the crystal gates without using up anima. That's pretty neat - especially since the teleport gates are not right at the camp, so you still have to travel a little bit. Again, you need to plan your travels to make them efficent. I like the realism of that.
Finally, there is the classic "death teleport". I used this a lot when I played Anarchy Online. There, you "saved" your character in a computer bank in one of the cities and went off to the Temple of the Three Winds to grind bosses for wierd scifi tech components, and when you were done you got yourself killed and reloaded at the city. This was convenient since the Temple was in the middle of fricking nowhere, about 30 minutes run from anything else, and had no save point of its own.
Final Fantasy has the same possibility, unlike World of Warcraft where you had to run back to your corpse. In FFXIV, you are "saved" at the latest crystal that you touch and if you die, you respawn at the crystal. This is useful if you want to go out farming metals or plants and want a quick teleport back to town: simply touch the crystal in the city, teleport out to the farming area and when you are done, strip naked and aggro the biggest monster you see. You'll respawn in the city!
All in all, I'm fairly happy with the systems for travel. I especially like that the map is semi-transparent, so that you can look at the map while keeping an eye on your character.
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om final fantasy xiv, ffxiv, travel, limsa lominsa, ul'dah, gridania, teleport
torsdag 7 oktober 2010
The scenery of FFXIV
One thing that's really cool about this game is that a lot of effort has been given to the scenery. There are some drab areas, yes, but there are also a lot of places that just seem to be made for you to stand and gaze out into the distance. And I've only seen the beginner areas so far! I appreciate that kind of attention to detail. Once the creators figure out the user interface and gameplay problems, I think that it is moments such as this that will really make the game worth playing and will eventually make it feel like a real and inhabitable world.
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Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om final fantasy xiv, ffxiv, scenery, ul'dah, gameplay, graphics
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