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Lord of the Hive

June 22, 2015 by Belghast

Fears for Launch

All in all it was a pretty great head start weekend, but there was one big problem that I fear is only going to get worse as we move forward to the official launch tomorrow. Right now the initial datacenter login procedure is having some major issues. What is happening is that several of the highest population servers are all on the Aether data center that I also happen to play on. When you attempt to connect to that data center, if it cannot find a slot the client times out… throws a nasty error and exits. This is like the worst possible way to handle this error, and my hope is that we see a patch soon at that at least takes you back to the start screen allowing you to attempt to connect again. Normally speaking it takes a half dozen tries to get past this screen before getting into the login server queue… at which point you have won and get to play the game. Last night I opted to switch machines and got stuck behind the login issues for roughly fifteen tries before being able to make it into the game. If we are running into these problems on a Sunday evening… I feel like life is going to be unbearable come Tuesday for the official launch of the game.

I love Square but sometimes they just make horrible design decisions when it comes to infrastructure. The way the client works is that you log in on the launcher, and then it launches the game passing in an encrypted token with your authentication information. As a result if anything goes wrong with the client, it essentially crashes back to desktop and to the launcher forcing you to log in again. If you have the mobile authenticator this means entering another one time password and beginning the entire process over again. If you remember the above image from the original launch of the game… and all the infrastructure issues we had to deal with. They all came from the fact that they launched the game without any form of a queue system. The positive is that they have fixed that issue and for the most part the game has been stable if you can get past the Data Center gates. I had some initial lag on the first day, but after that the game has been flawless… once you get logged into it. My hope is that with the launch of the game we see a small patch that changes how the client works, in that it no longer drops back to desktop on timeout errors, but instead allows you to attempt a reconnection.

Lord of the Hive

Yesterday was a big day of taking on new content, and potentially there will be some story spoilers here, so apologies ahead of time. When I wrote my last blog post I mentioned that I had unlocked the first trial and yesterday after dropping my wife off for her next trip I managed to attempt it. Ravana the Lord of the Hive appears pretty quickly through the story as being the primal associated with the Gnath, an insectoid beast tribe from the Dravinian Forelands. Instead of waiting around for a full guild group, I queued for it and managed to get a group relatively easily. In the group was a paladin tank that had apparently done the fight a few times, and helped us through the various pit falls. It was decided that I would end up tanking, since the Paladin was wearing mostly strength gear and since Ravana hits extremely hard. This fight like so many other primals has a hard wipe mechanic that if you do not dps down the adds fast enough a saber falls to the ground. Towards the end of the add phase he sucks the entire group up into a whirlwind and they take damage for each saber that is left on the ground in this fashion… in my experience more than one… maybe two is a full raid wipe.

Now with the Free Company I have, my point of view on dps is a bit skewed. Most of us rolled into this expansion in most of a full set of level 130 gear, and most of our dps do silly amounts of damage. We were flat out failing at the dps check mechanic, so I suggested that I go into my new deliverance stance and help with the adds. That seemed to make all the difference in the world as I was able to shred the adds pretty quickly in my new pseudo dps stance. We made it through the encounter, but took long enough to get a limit break three, and another limit break two… and the group was getting precariously close to a second “saber” phase. I didn’t realize our dps was that low, and honestly I walked out of the fight thinking it was just “that hard”. Later in the evening yesterday we walked into the encounter with seven of eight members of the group being from our free company. We did not manage to get a limit break three at all before he died, and during the add phase he didn’t even get a single saber to hit the ground. With that sort of dps… the fight was actually really easy, but I still am concerned about what the fight will be like on extreme mode.

Sohm Al

The second bit of content that I got to experience new yesterday was the dungeon of Sohm Al. You reach it very shortly after finishing the first trial encounter, and it happens to act as a gate keeper for your final Aether Current that you get upon completing the quest. Thankfully as soon as I got there in the content I had healers and dps ready to go with me, so I was able to get a full guild group for my first experience in there. I have to say I am really liking the dungeon design so far, in that they are extremely fun experiences to go through. They remind me very much of the last set of dungeons that they released as far as difficulty level. Additionally so far they seem to be dropping some interesting looking gear, that I hope to collect a full set of. The tanky set that comes from Sohm Al looks like the armor that the Lucia wears, so it might be my next appearance set that I wear for a bit. The new crafted gear that you get from quests however appears to be influenced from the Varlet set that comes from the previous 2.55 expert dungeons. I’ve expanded the number of retainers that I have once more, and now I am feeling less constrained about the awesome things that I am collecting.

When the game released originally I did what I always do in MMOs and tried to complete every single quest objective that it places in front of me. The problem being that in Final Fantasy XIV there are a fixed number of quests available for ALL of your jobs. This meant that after my very first job… I was forced to grind them up using FATEs and dungeons with zero quest support. This time around they seem to be flooding us with quests, but I am tackling them in a very methodical method. Essentially I am following the main storyline until I reach a level gate, meaning that I have to have progressed another level to get the next step. At this point I go back and start working my way through the side quests looking for any that unlock Aether Currents, and after I have completed those, I start doing a bare minimum needed to get to the next level threshold. The goal is that I save plenty of side quests for when I start working on my dragoon, and hopefully that eases that process at least a little bit. Last night I hit another level gate in the story content, but thankfully I have maybe an eighth of a level to go before hitting 55 and progressing again. I am not sure if we are going to raid tonight or not, but in any case my hope is to push through to the next level and continue the story, because it is getting really damned good.

Learning to Fly

June 20, 2015 by Belghast

Coerthas Distractions

All I really wanted yesterday was to sit in one spot and play Final Fantasy XIV all day long. While that did not happen as I had originally envisioned I did still manage to get a fair amount of play time. The biggest interruption came early on when I was trying to work on my blog post, and the air conditioning company called to tell me they were on their way over. Firstly I had completely forgotten that I had scheduled our twice a year maintenance for Friday thinking I would be off from work anyways. Secondly… the guy who came over seemed relatively new and manage to take an hour and a half doing what normally takes the guy fifteen minutes to finish. So that was ultimately why I ended up posting so late. By the time that finished we needed to run a few errands, and I spent until roughly two doing that. Finally when I got home however I had a solid block of play time and also a mission set out in front of me.

Tam had apparently been playing since quite literally the servers went life at 2 am pst. As a result he was anxiously waiting on us to catch up so that he could run the very first dungeon. While Dusk Vigil is not entirely gated by the main story, it does require you to have gotten far enough into the story to unlock a specific camp of NPCs. Previously I was getting easily distracted by every single FATE I came across… which was pretty much an endless feedback loop since at any given moment there are a dozen different FATEs up in Western Coerthas. Instead I had to shift to being laser focused on completing the quests. This batch of storyline however deserves some time to slow down and savor it a bit as you quest through it. They have done something that no other MMO has done… picked up the storyline moments after the last quest of the previous expansion. Over the course of “A Realm Reborn” they learned how to extremely effectively tell compelling story, and this expansion just continues that trend. I feel like I am only a little ways in and they have already dropped several big bombshells on me.

Dusk Vigil

Normally I would have told them to go with another tank to Dusk Vigil… even though I love the act of clearing a dungeon that very first time. Problem being at the moment I am the highest progressed tank in the guild and likely the only one who has unlocked it. Around 8:30 last night my wife and I decided to go for a walk down to the local shaved ice place, and I told them that I would run the dungeon when I got back. Upon coming back the new renters across the street were out in the yard and it felt awkward not to go over and say hello. People think it is strange that we don’t really know anyone in our neighborhood… but I have to say this is 0 for 2 when it comes to introducing ourselves to new people. This new one is just as insane seeming and clingy as the last one… now the positive is that there was an Xbox 360 set up on the living room floor with Lord of the Rings movies and Dragon Age Inquisition scattered around it. So maybe just maybe they are going to be cool people? After making them wait half the night we eventually go away from the neighbor and I went upstairs to fight the login boss and get back in game.

Surprisingly I managed to log in immediately and get straight into the server, and got my group invite and we were up and running. The big take away from the dungeon is that much like the overworld… the mobs hit extremely hard. I am an ilevel 128 Warrior, and that first trash pack I pulled was a bit of a wakeup call. The coolest thing about the dungeon however were the bosses which were in essence a remix of mechanics we have seen in some of the raids, but assembled in a manner that felt fresh. I imagine at some point we will have a gear level where we can ignore the mechanics but for the time being… folks have to pay attention. The layout of the dungeon was extremely cool as well and had both a Coerthas flavor and a stone vigil flavor the deeper you got into it. The background music and boss music were both amazing as well… with the zone music sounding like a remix of the Heavensward theme with Snowcloak. The dungeon also dropped some really nice level 110 items that had unique graphics, so I hope to pop back in and try and collect more of it.

Learning to Fly

I have no clue how far a Yalm is, but over the course of yesterday I think I travelled thousands of them hunting down Aether Currents. For the uninitiated Final Fantasy XIV gives you a brand new Black Chocobo just a few quests into the Heavensward Storyline. Also for the uninitiated Black Chocobos old a special place in the Final Fantasy pantheon of being the only breed of Chocobo that can actually fly, and while they often look more purple than black… the one you get in Heavensward is officially a jet black chocobo with pretty cool barding. When you get yours you also get this device called an Aether Compass. In order to fly in a zone you need to track down a certain number of the Aether Currents, and in Western Coerthas this is 10 scattered throughout the zone and 5 that you get from doing quests. If you have ever played a game that has a tracking system the compass works pretty much like this. You click the item and it tells you the direction and distance away the next Aether Current is located. This appears in your quest items tab, but I highly suggest moving it to a hotbar because you will be clicking this thing constantly.

As a result you have to not only try and figure out how to traverse a zone that is extremely difficult to traverse do to some extreme elevation changes, you have to do this while interpreting messages like “381 Yalms to the South East”. Most of the Aether Currents are found as a result of some jumping puzzles, that can either be extremely difficult to get to… or relatively simply if you figure out the path they intended you to take. The worst feeling is jumping down off something and seeing an Aether Current on the way down… that you could have gotten if only you know it was there ahead of time. Once you have gathered up all of the currents you can fly around the zone on your Black Chocobo… and I have to say it feels amazing to finally be able to do this. Sure the whole Aether Current thing is frustrating, but it did an amazing job of teaching me the layout of the zone and it is really the sort of thing that I did not finish until I was already MOSTLY finished with a zone. This is a great compromise for allowing players to fly, but not feeling like you are somehow cheapening the content in the process. Other games should really take note of this system going forward, because it feels like you are really earning your ability to fly each time.

It’s Finally Here!

June 19, 2015 by Belghast

Birthdays are Weird

Having a birthday and being an active member of social media… is a strange thing. Yesterday I was completely overwhelmed by the number of birthday wishes that came flooding through. I tried to respond to all of them and thank each person individually… but I am almost certain I missed a few people in the furious scroll. I have to say how special all of you guys made me feel yesterday, and more importantly how loved. It made an otherwise stressful day seem more manageable. I had taken the day off from work, but also my wife was to be flying in mid day. I talked about this a bit yesterday but she was off grading AP exams again, and we were both concerned that she would get delayed by the weather. Technically this did happen but she was lucky enough to make the connecting flight in Dallas and got home on time. However about the time I picked her up is when the worst of the weather starting hitting. I am not used to this whole gale force winds and pouring rain thing, so I have a whole new appreciation for the folks that are used to riding out tropical storms.

We made it home safely however and eventually changed into dry clothing. We grabbed a whataburger on the way home, and almost immediately after eating my wife was conked out on the sofa snuggling with all three cats. I put Venture Brothers on Hulu and broadcast it to the television via chromecast and continued my leveling in ArcheAge. The more I delve into this game the more it reminds me of older games. I absolutely found a Kithicor Forest last night, and for those who are not familiar with that name… it was a forest in Everquest where during the day relatively harmless and non-aggressive mobs spawned, but at night large amounts of max level undead spawned and roamed. In this case in ArcheAge I happened to find a rice paddy that by day had some crocodiles but nothing major, however when the sun sets, a whole slew of skeletons spawned in. While they were not max level they were however damned near instant spawn making it extremely easy to get overwhelmed. I am still very much enjoying this game and even though Heavensward is happening I still plan on poking my head back in every now and then.

Sleep Won

I had all the intention in the world to get up this morning at 4 am and begin playing Final Fantasy XIV Heavensward as soon as the servers came online. However when it came around to last night, and heading to sleep around 9 pm, I opted that I should just sleep in. Systems are always glitchy when they first come online, and instead I got up around 6:30 and after getting out and getting breakfast started streaming around 7 am. I have to say so far everything has been going pretty smoothly all things considering. I had to fight the login boss about five times, but eventually I got to the character load screen and managed to do the introduction quests that got me into Ishgard and house Fortempts. I have to say the new city is gorgeous, but confusing as hell to navigate. This one has tons of ups and downs and it seems like the quest you need to get to is always on the wrong level of the zone.

With this said it is going to take a significant amount of time before I can navigate it near as well as I can any of the existing cities. However I would put it along the lines of Limsa Lominsa as far as frustration taken to learn the layout. I had similar issues rolling a Marauder and starting there originally. As far as the expansion it seems to have completely cured the DPS queues, with everyone rolling Dark Knights. Apparently folks are reveling in the fact that they can now instantly queue as any dps class, and I have to admit it is giving me pause and making me want to level my ninja a bit. Instead I am forged ahead with my plan to level the warrior first. I have to say I am impressed with the difficulty of the mobs. The early quests in Ishgard reward level 115 gear and I am rolling into the expansion with 127 combined ilevel. Things hit hard, and take a long time to take down… so I cannot imagine coming straight to Ishgard after leveling through the original storyline. I guess in a way this might be why they are forcing people to defeat 2.55, because in order to do that… you have to have gotten your ilevel up significantly.

It’s Finally Here!

Right now in Coerthas Western Highlands, the fates are rolling nonstop, and I have to admit a big part of me wants to take advantage of this while I can. As a warrior I can pretty much cheese my contribution and get gold rating almost 100% of the time. Earlier on the stream I rolled up on a FATE that was 90% complete and managed to generate enough threat to get to gold before it despawned. Right now it feels amazing to see that experience bar moving again and so far I am really happy with my choice. As far as what the future will bring… I just want to play the game 🙂 I am not in a massive rush to get to 60, but I also want to be able to experience the dungeons with my friends. Here is hoping that I can unlock the first dungeon before too much long and check it out before the end of the day. In the mean time I am going to cut this blog post short and wish you all a great day… I know I will be having one as I explore Heavensward.

Splashy Pony Brothers

June 18, 2015 by Belghast

Thanks to my Friends

This morning I had every intention to sleep in, but I guess my body the way that I have trained it over the years conspired against me. I woke up moments after the alarm would have gone off normally, and then stayed in a sort of half sleep half awake state until I finally gave up around 6:30. Now an hour later… I am finally pulling myself away from my insanely scrolling twitter feed to attempt to write a blog post. I guess I had forgotten just how overwhelming being on twitter can be on your Birthday. I love each and every one of you, and maybe this year more than most… which is something I will elaborate on shortly. June is the travel season for my wife, and each year she has a series of conventions and other events that she travels to. This has been a thing for several years, but no matter how often it happens… you never quite get used to it. During the month of June she will be gone for a week, home a few days, gone another week etcetera. So the best Birthday present I could possibly get right now is her flying home today… and I am really hoping that her plane is not delayed by the remnants of the Hurricane.

Now in the past I have struggled with this existence of being alone for the better part of a month. This has generally been the time of the year when my depression flares up the most, since I am generally speaking sitting alone in a house with my thoughts and a menagerie of animals. This year however has been different, and I think it is thanks to all of you out there that relentlessly check in on me. I feel like I am surrounded by so many awesome people that seem to love me that I am never really completely alone. There is always a message waiting on my response somewhere, or someone looping me into a conversation. The AggroChat crew especially has become this second family that hunts me down if they don’t hear from me in a few days, because they know my tendencies to cocoon when the depression starts. I want to thank all of you for essentially keeping me from dropping into my normal yearly funk. My friends and my free company have been this offsetting force of amazing in my life and as a result have kind of made every day my wife has been away more tolerable.

Splashy Pony Brothers

I spent my final night in FFXIV before the downtime the same way I have spent many nights, hanging out on Teamspeak and helping folks do content. It seems so strange that last night was the end of one era of Final Fantasy and tomorrow morning will begin another. In a way I kind of like the fact that we have this entire day outage, because I guess in some way it makes the whole process seem more real. In some games I have literally logged out of one client and back into a brand new one over the course of thirty minutes, and it always felt strange. I am sure there are people out there that are frustrated by being locked out of the game for this period of time, but I guess for me it makes the experience more meaningful. I am just hoping that I can get to sleep early tonight and that the excitement won’t be too overwhelming, because in many ways it feels a bit like Christmas Eve and I am five years old.

Last night we managed to down Odin with a batch of new people, and in the process met a really nice White Mage on Cactuar, that I have subsequently friended. I am consistently surprised by just how nice people generally are when we find them through the server party finder system. In fact this one gets bonus credit because we screwed up and originally thought we needed another dps. Upon explaining our screw up she was cool and said that she also could heal the fight. Moments later we were making attempts on Odin and shockingly I think it only took us three tries before we defeated him. After that we attempted to sort out what we were doing next, with many people mentioning Titan… but in the end we wound up going to do Leviathan Extreme instead. This is one of my favorite fights, but this time they needed me to be a Paladin and do the stun lock thing. I am just not comfortable tanking as a paladin and the whole experience felt frustrating, as compared to my warrior. However I managed to do a decent enough job that we pushed through and got the defeat. To make things even cooler a pony whistle dropped and now Mor and I can be splashy pony brothers!

A Strange Birthday

So now that I am wrapping up my blog post I need to hurry around like mad. I need to be at the airport to pick up my wife around 1:30, and in the meantime I need to attempt to pick up the house. While it is not exactly in bad shape, because really I haven’t done anything that crazy since she has been gone… it needs a round of sprucing up so she has a nice place to come home to. Additionally I need to gather up the information I need to get my car tag, since she mentioned maybe doing that on the way home today so that we don’t have to get out of the house and do it tomorrow. So while I would love to hang out in my pajamas and play video games all day… I suppose I will have to go off and be and adult. It is going to be awesome to have my wife home again, but it is also a strange experience getting used to not being the only person in the room. Unfortunately it will be a short lived experience because if I remember correctly she is heading back out again on Sunday, but this time for a much shorter trip.

In the meantime my Final Fantasy XIV client is patched, and I am floored that it was only 4.3 gig. From what I am hearing this morning however they have apparently been patching in assets for months. Supposedly half of the zones that we will be exploring have been in since the launch of A Realm Reborn. I hope this all means that tomorrow is going to be an extremely smooth launch, but I still need to get my laptop started patching as well. I am sure there will be some sort of a final patch when the servers come back up from the downtime that lets the client know it is time to be Heavensward, but I am hoping it is a small one. I guess in theory this game is scaled to work well over consoles, so it makes complete sense that it would have really tight patches. So far I am impressed and I am hoping that feeling continues through the launch. This game had an exceptionally rocky start with the relaunch in August 2013, and I am hoping they have learned their lessons.