In about four months, we will reach into a year Square-Enix has said they will release two of their highly anticipated games: Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIV. Already rumors have spread since June of beta testing starting as early as mid September, and that a private beta has begun as early as July-August. Even though there isn’t much to go on to believe that this is true, I decided to do some research into the likelihood of such a possibility of a September beta or how unlikely it may be.

Final Fantasy XI

Before we can even look at other MMORPGs, let us first take a look at FFXIV’s predecessor: Final Fantasy XI. It is said that the beta took place approximately four months NA side. At this time, they were doing a PC release only since the PS2 release would not take place until March 23, 2004 in North America. The short beta could probably be attributed to the fact that the game had already been in Japan since May 16, 2002 on the PS2 and November 7, 2002 for the PC. That is almost a year difference for the PC alone, and some issues would have already been pointed out on Japanese servers beforehand. The system specs of the time are also obviously dated and did not require as much horsepower as they do now. 30 FPS at the time was the norm, and the fact that the minimum requirement was a Pentium III also gives one to pause to think of when such a thing existed! Recommended requirements would most likely garner a chuckle nowadays with a Pentium 4 with 256 MB Memory, NVIDIA® GeForce FX™ series or GeForce 6 series, and Direct X 8.1 sound card!

Though I have no knowledge of how long the beta took for the JP PC release, I managed to find that the closed testing started in August of 2001 and ended with a public test in December of that same year for the PS2. If that were the case, that is approximately the same length of time as the NA test if they did no further testing in 2002.

MMOs After Final Fantasy XI

So what about after Final Fantasy XI? What about popular MMOs like WoW? Well, WoW’s closed beta time started on March 18 2004 and ended on October that same year. Open beta for WoW started at around November 4, 2004 with the game launching on the 23rd of that month. So in total the beta lasted 9 months total; 5 months longer than the beta for FFXI in 2003. The five extra months were probably especially crucial given that the system requirements are higher than FFXIs and it was not tested in another market beforehand. Another sample MMO I had taken was Warhammer Online. Although it currently admits to lower subscriber numbers than the 7-year-old Veteran that is FFXI, their beta period was for almost 16 months! Warhammer’s closed beta started on May 30, 2007 and lasted up until September 7, 2008 with a brief open beta period before the game’s release date.

Then there is Lord of the Rings Online. Released before Warhammer but after WoW in the year of 2007, it had a quaint closed beta testing period of six – seven months with about one month worth of open beta testing available. Aion Online, a game I am currently beta testing, had an even shorter closed beta test period but also followed suit with Final Fantasy XI and had already been released in other countries before making its debut on North American shores.

So what about Final Fantasy XIV?

Going by what Square-Enix has announced, they plan on having a longer beta testing period for XIV than they did for XI and that the game will be released in 2010. I will stress the fact that they said just 2010 because there are several quarters in which they could actually make their release, and that there is a chance they could very well release it at the very end of 2010 while still doing plenty of beta testing in that same year. Even if they were not, the one main reason I have doubts of a Sept. beta test is because of the date that TGS falls upon: September 24 to September 27. Seeing as this is the Japanese equivalent to E3, I have a feeling that they would want to leave something for their home turf unless they decide to announce something completely different since they have announced to make an appearance at GAMEScom next week on Aug 19 – 23.

More than likely, I am hedging on October at the least and January of 2010 at the latest so that nothing would be taken away from their presence at TGS and would still allow for testing for at least several months even if they were to release their game in the middle of 2010. Unless, of course, they want to have a beta test as long as Warhammer’s was, and I am actually hoping for something closer to a year or more to ensure that FFXIV is more polished than FFXI was when it was released. This is particularly ideal since WoW still seems to be dominating the MMO scene and FFXI’s main appeal at the moment is that it is different than many of the WoW replicas released to date.

Despite my reservations, I am still keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed for a mid Sept. start on beta testing. S-E does, after all, have many different games they could still talk about at either convention and one can imagine that their fans are going mad with hunger for the limited information we have been given thus far. Let’s just hope that GamesCom will harbor new and hopeful news on the sought after date for the beta!

During the month of July, I had come to a realization that was a very hard pill to swallow: I had lost interest in FFXI. Its not that I hate the game (though I will admit to being incredibly frustrated with particular aspects), S-E, or wish I had regained all the time and money I had thrown into the game. The mere fact is this: my interest had started to dwindle with the announcement of FFXIV. I had kept on trucking regardless until my interest took a sharper turn downward when S-E had banned gardeners and labeled them RMT and that I had come to the acceptance that there are just some things I will never get to accomplish in the game that should be simple in theory but aren’t because of either in game mechanics or the simple fact of how I choose play the game and live my life.

Does that mean doink! will no longer be? No. I have decided recently that doink! will just be dedicated to gaming in general as was the original intent when I moved my blog from Livejournal to Vox and then onto my own personal domian. The primary focus of FFXI on doink! happened because that was where most of my attention was when I was free to play and because I knew that was how I would be able to attract and possibly retain viewers. I don’t care as much now, because I have found that writing in general makes me damned happy and if people read it- great! If not, then I’ll just be another droning voice on the internet. No big deal, since I at least I am paying droning voice on the net!

So what about FFXI and FFXIV? By the end of September, I will most likely cancel my accounts. I do not play as often anymore, and I don’t want to waste money playing a game I am not that interested in. I might return and I might change my mind, but for now it stands as a dead end for me unless something happens that will grip my attention without feeling forced to do it. With FFXIV, I am hoping to be added onto an already progressing blog project and contribute something useful in the community since it will be starting fresh. I already have plans and ideas formulating in my head, and I’m quite eager to be able to share these things. If it doesn’t work out, I will still continue what I do or create my own project.

In the mean time, I am going to be playing Aion (or WoW) and hope that when FFXIV beta testing starts that I will become accepted. I will also be writing about other gaming things such as Aion, Fat Princess, and maybe the messed up things I have been doing on Sims3 (its so bad that I’ve been called a jerk by several people). And if I do something note worthy in FFXI? Then you will definitely know of it! In the mean time, FFXI’ers, see-you-next-time!

Last month, at Seattle’s beautiful Benaroya Hall, there were three beautiful days of Final Fantasy music being played downtown with the concert being further graced with the appearances of Arnie Roth and Nobuo Uematsu. Although I was unable to pay the $100 to meet both conductor and composer, I did sit close enough to see Nobuo and have a great view of the orchestra. It was amazing it and of itself that Seattle was able to get three concerts total and that they were able to get both Arnie and Nobuo to attend all three!

Unlike Play! from last year, there were some notable differences:

– Arnie Roth was actually present! This man is AMAZING. The energy he produces on the stage is nothing short of spectacular. His command of the orchestra is simply superb and there was an obvious difference in how the orchestra played during the Distant Worlds concert series vs. the Play! series when he was not present.

– They replaced the Seattle BoyChoir and VocalPoint! Seattle with a more professional and mature group: the Seattle Choral Company. Important in and of itself, since Liberi Fatali and One Winged Angel no longer sounded like children were being put into hard labor.

– Many more raving and screaming Nobuo fans. I thought it was funny when they were screaming while mispronouncing his name or saying something that didn’t really sound like Nobuo at all. It was like “whut?”

– Angela Nlederloh did a WONDERFUL job singing Distand Worlds AND the FF6 Opera! I actually prefer her singing in comparison to the original singer for the same song.

Now for the program itself:

• Liberi Fatali
• To Zanarkand
• Don’t Be Afraid
• Aerith’s Theme
• Medley 2002
• Dear Friends
• Vamo’alla Flamenco
• Love Grows
• Ronafaure
• FF: Main Theme

Intermission

• Bombing Mission
• Fisherman’s Horizon
• Memoro de la Stono – Distant Worlds
• the Man with the Machine Gun
• Theme of Love
• Swind de Chocobo
• Opera – Maria and Draco
• Terra’s Theme
• SPECIAL: One Winged Angel with guest singer NOBUO UEMATSU!

The last piece was snuck in the last minute, I believe after Nobuo threw his fish at the crowd. Yes, fish. I thought it was funny considering that is what Pike Place Market is known for. Too bad Arnie’s fish ended up… smacking someone in the orchestra.

Now, for those in Canada: the Distant Worlds Concert will be coming up to Vancouver sometime in October. My sister and I are debating going up because the set there will be different than the set list being played down in the US. For one, there is word that the Black Mages will be performing and that Nobuo Uematsu himself will take a more active role within the orchestra. I don’t know how much is true or not, but its only a few hours away from me and I do love Vancouver, BC a ton and who could say no to listening to favorite FF tunes being played LIVE? It is a great experience that I encourage anyone to attend!

Last year, I remember doing CoP 4-2 as a BLU and having one heck of a time doing it. Our set up then (for those unfamiliar with my CoP adventures), was BLUx3, PLD, WHM, and BLM. Even though my brother was late, he was one of the reasons I was envious of him: he always managed to save the day with his nukes. Kind of like a super hero, but not as cool since he’s my younger brother.

Since an old friend has returned to the game, we decided to help him through CoP. Unfortunately, he was last on 4-2 and it was the same mission I remember panicking over before and during the mission. But then I remembered that my brother was awesome as BLM, Oro and I had BLM leveled, and proceeded to ask Mekare if we could take BLM instead of BLU this time around.

Now, I was pretty damn nervous. I had only played BLM (recently) just by AMing pets, and the last time I remember playing BLM with other people was… when I started Calaera? Yup. Eons ago. Couple that with some other things that were going on, and I was pretty much a mess going into this. In fact, I don’t even know what the hell got into me when I did this:

Sad, no? Anyway, Oro told me to do light nukes throughout and close up with AM. We talked the guy out of starting out with 2HR and then waltz in doing our job. Unlike last time, there were no deaths and I could actually see what was going on instead of blindly praying “PLEASE DIE ALREADY.” I even landed the killing blow, which was really awesome. Probably not in the same cool and wth’ish fashion my brother did it, but at least it went down by my own hand and not someone else’s.

After the kill shot on Ouryu. The damage on this one was a little over 500. My highest Freeze dmg was well over 800. Didn't think I would get more than 500 - 600...

Playing BLM is really satisfying in a way. Maybe because I’m actually seeing myself make some kind of dent on the mob in one huge chunk. I don’t know. Whatever. It was fun and omfg I can’t wait to finish up BLM and do more sexy things. Unfortunately, I won’t get much playtime on July due to real life things, but when I return hopefully I can pick up and finish BLM by the time summer ends. :3

As a former WHM, I was always so damn annoyed when more than half the party would announce that Protect just went down as though I couldn’t see the lines of text that just announced that Mr. or Ms. Melee-With-A-Stick-Up-Their-Damn-Ass just had their Protect wear off. Same goes for status effects which I was usually on top of when I was playing my best as a WHM. Sure, way back when (and even at present) there were some really horrible mages than needed to be told this, but when it came from players you partied with several times or even for a dozen of levels? It would drive me nuts! Had they been paying attention, they would have noticed I was actually on my game and not picking my nose going “dur… lets see this here purty mob go boom with a ball of this here light!” or that I had cast Finale or that Bar spell even when I was a BRD or… heaven forbid… just trust that I am actually doing my job.

I play my job how I play it, and I let people play their jobs how they see fit unless: a.) they ask me to critique them or b.) something bad is going on, and I’m totally spazzing out. And, no, I don’t mean bad as in you have Protect down for a few seconds but something like the mob smacking someone’s head around and the only person who has Provoke isn’t Provoking no matter how many times we ask them to.

I think that is why it really grates on my nerves to see when other mages are being treated like they are slaves to melee, since I see it (and your experiences may vary) happening more often than not. If you are demanding a Haste or a -na, then my answer to you is to go buy yourself another account, dual box it, and have your own personal healer that you can do with at your disposal instead of having the audacity to send a /tell to the person demanding a Haste because you did not have it RIGHT AT THAT VERY SECOND LIKE OMG. Even going “Haste?” in LS/Party chat is damn rude. If that’s the game people are going to play, then I claim the right to flood people’s /tell stream with PROVOKE PROVOKE PROVOKE when someone isn’t Provoking when they should.

My point? Be kind to people. Pay it forward. Mages don’t treat Melee like shit, and Melee don’t treat Mages like you are  the Goddess Alatana’s gift to the world. I don’t care how damn important you are at x, y, or z or if you do a, b, c, and maybe even z; there are people behind those screens and they aren’t your damn bots! /rant

I know I am late on the ball with this, but with a busier than normal schedule last week it was really hard to find time to really sit down and collect my thoughts without wanting to bang on head on something.

Anyway, FFXIV formerly known as Rapture is the hottest topic lately and I can’t help but get giddy with excitement with the thoughts and ideas of what could possible be with the new MMO. Firstly, I am incredibly thrilled that there will be no leveling up via experience points. I’m personally exhausted of this system, and it always seemed so daunting even in WoW when you would look to see your EXP would be… a lot. Sure its fast to level up, but its still kind of a pain in the butt to see how much further you have to get to in order to get to the next level. But now the bigger question is: what will we be striving towards? Orophen/Derrick informed me that a lot of talk has been going on in the forums of weapons having learnable skills/traits/spells, possibility of needing to increase weapon affinity to get ahead, or maybe the introduction of a sphere like grid system into the game like FFX and FFXII. I’m ok with the first two, but the later? Ugh… I know a lot of people like this sytem, but I for one am not very fond of it at ALL. It won’t be a deal breaker for me, but I will most definitely not be in strong favor of this unless it was changed to curb my tendency to be really OCD about these kind of charts.

But since its really late for me and I’m practically running on fumes, here are some hopes/wishes I have for the new MMO:

• Return the Mandragora and give us a “boss” style of him.
• Please give us a better “guild” system. As much as I like the Linkshell system and find it useful, I also want a more intuitive Guild system that really helps us know what is going on (attendance, guild banks, etc).
• Allow us to interact with the environment more. I always thought it was crazy that we couldn’t lay on our own beds or sit down on chairs. Even RO allowed people to sit on chairs! Which is even older than FFXI!
• Mini-map. Seriously. This would make my life easier if I can see I am near my marker instead of having to always do /map or whatever. I get lost easily. Let me see where I am going on a mini-map! That way I won’t have to go in the wrong direction for 2 minutes or lead my entire linkshell in the wrong direction only to go “oops!” And, yeah, the later has happened to me before… /blush
• Let us have more customizable features. I’m worried that this won’t be possible. The game so far looks really gorgeous, but I have no idea if the Crystal Tools will actually give us the capability to customize our character a little more than the pre-set designs given to us in FFXI. Though its convient, I sometimes wish I had different color hair and/or eyes.
• Get rid of the senseless time sinks. Mostly the pauses inbetween synths and stuff.

And that is all I have in mind for now. Need to sleep now before I start to go crazy dreaming about Gremlins again…

Of course, people who aren’t really familiar with Seattle would think “Where is the f’ing Space Needle or Pike’s Place Market?!” Well, this is also a very prominent feature in Seattle especially if you are like me and come in from the bay. This is the Seattle viaduct that you can see from the ferry as you come into Seattle and as you head into the heart of downtown either by car or by foot. Too bad its supposed to be going away soon because of the earthquakes, and will be replaced by some kind of underground tunnel. Ick.

The, uh, background is kind of being worked on at the moment (neither myself or Orophen are really happy with it), but… its finally done! I seriously hope that in FFXIV, they continue to bring in Mandragoras. I would hate to give up my epic fight with my arch nemesis…

You know what BLM solo leveling (ok, more like duoing) is like? Its like leveling a job in WoW but the difference? I get to stay in one camp and not run around foaming at the mouth trying to find the other mob I need to kill for the x requirement or drop. The horrible thing is, in WoW I hardly paid attention to numbers. They were always conveniently hidden behind my chat box never to really make an appearance. In FFXI? I practically get hyper competitive when Orophen practically lands two unresisted Freezes in a row on double ice weather. BACK TO BACK.

… You don’t even want to know how ridiculously competitive I can be with my own boyfriend. Others have seen it and have seen just how blood thirsty I could be in order to dole out the highest amount of damage or purposefully take as much hate as possible just so I can laugh at him. <.<;

But in all seriousness, I have been kind of flustered as to how to handle my BLM macros. I currently have two books set; one is for leveling with my offense line changing depending on the camp/situation and another book is set for… everyday occurrences. I don’t even want to say what that second book looks like because its… quite cumbersome and ugly.

Its strange to be so confused about how to best handle my BLM macros. For BLU, BRD, and WHM… my books for those jobs are actually very nice, compact and allow for me to best do my job as I see fit. For BLM… I don’t even know where to begin with it! I’ve changed things around so frequently, its actually mind numbing to think of how to rearrange it to be better and more intuitive. Even now my head hurts trying to hammer out something that will work for me and not have me be so flustered as to where the hell my macros are.

Other gaming stuff? I am totally addicted to Pictobits. Sadly, you will need a DSi in order to play this little gem but it is quite fun if you have it and the points to burn. Basically its a puzzle game that forces you to think in advance and really plan out what you are going to do… fast. There are little blocks called bits that you can pick up with your stylus that you can then place anywhere you want to, but the object is to connect them with the larger colored blocks falling from above. As you clear the blocks, the clears fly up to the top window to reveal the hidden picture from retro Nintendo games! Its a lot of fun in short bursts, but I’ve sat and played it for a long time trying to get a higher score, lower my clear times, or get higher chains. Even the music is really cool and  even better? You can listen to the music (after you bought it with coins you won from clearing stages) with your DSi closed! Cheap puzzle game ($5) + Retro Nintendo = One Happy Girl. If they made this game into a multiplayer, I would totally pay the higher price! Sadly its only a single player but its still worth the 500 pts I spent on the game.

I was about to rant and rave about my expectations on other players in end game since this is my third time rewriting this entry, but… then I figured, maybe they are too high. Maybe it is too much to expect a panel of 4 – 5 leaders to actually take their own rules seriously and take care of the problematic people whom they themselves are aware about, to think that refreshing a single BLM is not too much trouble, that BLMs and anyone who has MP should be subbing /SCH so that the RDM doesn’t have to Refresh them, that WHMs should be meleeing in Dynamis, that it IS ok to dual box in Dynamis despite rules stating otherwise, and that people shouldn’t be getting hurt at all in Dynamis because the RDM doesn’t want to be burdened with having to always Cure people.

I think instead of me chasing down mages from now on to give them Ballads, I am going to sit on my fat cream puff’ed ass and just wait for THEM to get to ME. -_-;  /sarcasm

Anyway, I wanted badly to get that rant off my chest. I will probably write something later on about my BLM exploits~

Here are my answeres to the questions posted on JP Button.

1. Do foreign players have a lot of interest in joining social Japanese Linkshells? (Especially ones with only JP members) I ask because when I recruit for my shell in Japanese, I get a lot of tells from foreigners looking to join. Personally, I feel like even if they could understand my /shout, it still would be hard to keep up with regular conversation. They wouldn’t understand pop-culture references to old TV shows, for instance.

I personally wouldn’t want to be in a JP only shell. The language barrier is too great to want to join a social shell in which I would be unable to understand most of what is going on.

2. Parties that cycle in replacement members seem to be popular amongst foreigners, but a lot of times the party will just disband once the replacement arrives. Of course, there are times when the replacement is contacted before they get all the way there, but there are many instances when no one says anything. There are also many cases where inappropriate jobs are invited and the party can no longer function well.

To me, this is a big reason behind some of the negative images Japanese players have about foreign players. What do you think about this?

I am kind of 50/50 on the whole replacement thing. There are benefits to this, such as continuing to be able to get exp without having to stop after a short time because someone needed to leave. On the other hand, I feel that sometimes it can be quite disrespectful to the replacement if the party abruptly decides to disband after they reach camp. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does happen it feels better to have just disbanded than to have sought someone to replace the person who has to leave.

3. Why does it seem like many foreign players don’t bother to bring medicines and potions to Missions and BCs? Many Japanese players make sure to have Vile Elixirs, Hi-Potions and/or Reraise Earrings.

Personally, I like carrying a lot more medicines on me than I really need. I like making sure my bases are covered just for the sake of making sure I’m prepared in case things start to get bad. Doing otherwise feels as though I am just playing half-assed, and despite not being the best at anything… the idea still really bugs me.

4. Sometimes I see foreign pick-up parties recruiting for members using Auto-Translate, but then when I join the party, all the conversation and battle planning is in English. I’ll ask for them to {Please use the Auto-Translate function.} but nobody ever does. If you are going to /shout for help with the Auto-Translator, why not use it in the party? It feels like I was tricked.

If I am in a party and this happens, I try to use the Auto-Translate for the person who is unable to understand. I can understand the frustrations of not knowing what is going on, since this has also happened to me when I was in a Japanese party and they would not tell me what was going on despite requesting several times to use Auto-Translate.

5. How many NA and EU players do Campaign? Any thoughts about the recent nerf to Fortifications?

I do not know how many NA/EU players do Campaign, but I know that the recent nerf to the Fortifications were really frustrating to some of the people I did know. I, myself, am not willing to spend time at Fortifications battles for little to no reward. I have and continue to do Campaign for Allied Notes and EXP, but not getting these as a reward for Fortification battles makes me less inclined to do Campaign.

6. What equipment do you think has great stats but horrible looks?
What equipment do you think has the best graphics?

Assault Jerkin would be great if it did not make my Tarutaru look like a giant walking Pumpkin. On the other hand, I think that BLU AF/Relic is really awesome because it really makes the player look mysterious and intimidating!

7. Outside of your normal party gear, is there any equipment that you go out of your way to get strictly for looks? What are your favorite pieces of casual equipment?

I have a Gala Corsage because it gives my Tarutaru a touch of feminity that is otherwise lacking with other hats she wears. I also leveled up BLU primarily because I wanted to wear the AF, lol. Otherwise I keep around many hats (beastmen, Adventurer Recruitment rewards, event, etc) to wear whenever I feel like it.

8. I’m a Mithra, and I find that a lot of foreigners seem to be into Mithra fashion. They examine me and ask where I got my equipment and such. Do you think male players enjoy dressing up their Mithra in cute outfits?

I think that both male and female players enjoy dressing their Mithra up in cute outfits. If I had a Mithra, I would dress mine up in cute outfits, too!

9. I wonder if you calculate the XP/hr of parties, and if so, do you think that Skillchain/Magic Burst or Weaponskill spam produces the best results? Before parsing became widespread, Japanese players used to think Skillchain/Magic Burst was the best.

I cannot really say since I had leveled BRD, and didn’t really pay attention to the damage (too busy supporting my party) and when I leveled BLU it was with other BLU, too. Right now, I just like skillchain/magic burst because it looks pretty!

10. How come it seems like so many people don’t utilize Search Comments properly? Why don’t they write their camp location for others to see? Also, it’s strange to see so many people seeking without basic information written like available jobs and where they can access. Don’t you want an invite?

When I seek, I usually write out all my basic information because I feel that information is important to the party leaders to know when putting together a party. So it really frustrates me when a.) other people don’t do it when I am putting together a party and b.) when the party leader does not read my search comment and asks me questions that should have already been answered.

11. If you know you are going to be busy, how come you don’t alert people at the beginning of the party instead of surprising everyone at the last minute?

If I know I am going to be busy, then I will give advance warning at the start. I do not like surprises, and I expect to be treated the same way. That doesn’t always happen, but I will continue to try.

12. Honestly, the largest difference in thinking between Japanse and foreign players exists in the Merit party. You often say 5 DDs and a RDM is so good, but having a single, solitary healer is hard on the RDM. Japanese realize that healers can be in short supply, so we make sacrifices to lighten their burden, like subbing a mage job, or using Utsusemi. I feel like many people don’t show proper respect to healers.

When we say JP ONLY, it isn’t always an issue of language, but the fact that we feel there are other dangers and demerits associated with a non-JP party, stemming from our different play-styles, that we wish to avoid.

This key difference in thinking, more than any race or language issue, is what really sets us apart as players. They are just looking to sit back, relax and earn some decent XP.

Please feel free to provide your own insight and thoughts.

I think that its not just a JP, NA, or EU thing; I think it is a matter of personal preference as a human being and not of people from different ethnic/cultural backgrounds.  Personally, I would rather not be in a party with 5 DDs and a healer. As a WHM and BRD, I just find that while it is fun and challenging at times, it is also just exhausting to do this many times. I often end up taking a nap from such parties because I become so worn out and tired! My thinking on parties is that they should be fun and relaxing, because there are other times and places to be focused on maximum output potential (i.e. end game events) and I don’t feel that exp or merit parties is one of them. Haha, which is probably why it took me so long to get BRD to 75…

☆ボーナスQuestion☆

Since tackling that last question would leave anyone tired and hungry, here’s one more question, just for fun:

「あなたの好きな寿司ネタは?」

What type of sushi do you like best?

The question asks what ネタ (ne-ta) you like, which is the term for what is placed on top of nigiri-style sushi rice. Sushi overseas is very different than in Japan in that more often than eating a slab of seafood on top a bed of rice, patrons can select for an extensive variety of rolls. When mentioning your favorite, it may help to list the ingredients as well!

I like Nigirizushi, Makizushi, and Inarizushi. Though my favorite is kappamaki… /blush