Monthly Archives: September 2010

Another set of changes for this blog?

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At first this blog was hosted on Livejournal, then briefly on Vox, then became doink! on my own domain. The very recently I found I didn’t like some of the other definitions of doink, moved to AstralCandy.com, and thought that would be that. AstralCandy was previously my short lived personal blog, but that had gone due to my neglect. However, Orophen and I are now in the process of creating a new joint project. We haven’t done this for a few years now and I’m hoping beyond hope he will take it seriously or that it will be some what successful.

So then comes the problem of… what am I going to do with this site? I’ve considered actually archiving old entries and restarting my character blog fresh since the game is still very new. I’ve already started to think about what I would want to write and how, and what Calaera Smith’s background would be like. Let’s hope it works out~

Welcome to the land of Eorzea!

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Now that the collector’s edition for Final Fantasy XIV has been out for a few days, I feel like I have gotten the initial rush out of my system and can safely blog about it without feeling hyper anxious about staying on the game for hours on end. Well, and it helps that my wrists are a tad sore and I am in dire need of doing other things at the moment. That said, I am incredibly excited for what is to come with this game in the coming months and beyond.

First of all, I was utterly floored when my best friend decided to take a break from the land of Azeroth and come check out the world of Hydaelyn. I have been keeping my WoW account active every so often so I can go on and chat with her when I can, but its been hard since I was not really into WoW. It was a great time waster, but nothing I could feel really invested or immersed in. That’s what I have been missing terribly since I’ve pulled away from Vana’diel; the whole immersion experience of feeling like you are in a living, breathing world instead of having to feel the intense pressure of going from one quest to another without wait. I don’t know how she feels about XIV so far; I know its buggy, I know it has its flaws, and I know it lags as hell on the Lindblum server. I do hope she is enjoying herself, but I am also keeping my WoW account active in case she doesn’t. I told her I’m ok with her leaving XIV; which is true. I would rather her be happier elsewhere than frustrated playing XIV.

Second, 8 hours leveling!? Who would have thought! I am usually not one to enjoy sitting down for long periods of time, but I found myself doing so the other night to team up with people from Save Point doing leves and behests. It was kind of insane, a lot of fun, and also really exhausting as it started to get to 2 a.m. and Naked Moles were hunting us down and knocking us down dead. Then I started to fall out of my chair, and well… lets just say I needed a serious break after that because it was the first time in a very long time I had sat down and just gamed so seriously. Will it happen again? Who knows. Maybe. Maybe not. I did have a lot of fun, and am looking forward to getting a chance to play with the people I’ve met from FFXIVblog and Save Point.

By the way, I seriously think either I’m very well liked or I am the sore butt of jokes with some of the guys on the LS. You guys know who you are!

Anyway, the only problem I have, really, is with the complainers. I guess its because after following this game so intently, working on FFXIVblog, doing the Orzcast, playing the beta, and what have you… it feels like XIV is in a way my child. Now this is a problem; when a parent really loves their child, it is easy to get annoyed and get into downright denial when someone says there is something wrong with your child. You come up with excuses, you defend remarks made against your child, and sometimes you just want to strangle the other person and tell them they are wrong. I’ve had to catch myself a few times, because it is SO easy to feel frustrated with some people when the things they are complaining about has already been mentioned to be future fixes. Then I have to remember… not everyone has been following the game as intensely as others and there is a disconnect of information and what not.

Eorzea has its rough sides right now. Its new, its shiny, and those who have been playing the other games right now tend to forget where their beloved games originally started out; which wasn’t always at a pretty place.

I do hope people give it a chance, and that people who are like me and getting impatient with the complainers remember that some of us are coming from different perspectives and might have a harder time seeing what a beautiful gem we see before our eyes. XIV is new and has the potential to build a great community like XI, and definitely better than the mess that is known on WoW forums and chat channels. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of what is to be offered us, and to be able to enjoy the journey with new and old friends alike for some time to come.

Wanted: New Friends in Hydaelyn

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So, opening day for Final Fantasy XIV is coming near and I can’t help but be excited. I remember the last game I was excited about was Aion, but it had quickly become such a bore for me that I didn’t really stay too long to get too high. The grinding, the idea of knowing I’d HAVE to do PvP, and the fact that RMT were spamming the areas left and right didn’t help any. Even if the problem was solved quickly enough, it was the culmination of issues that just left such a sour taste in my mouth that I worried I would never find another MMO to enjoy again after FFXI.

Sure, I played and sometimes still do play WoW but it was mostly a way for me to keep in contact with a friend and to pass time with. Final Fantasy XIV, on the other hand… lets just say that if it isn’t apparent how excited I am then maybe you aren’t the one looking at me foaming at the mouth in anxious anticipation.

The only part that I’m truly sad about is the fact I would not be able to play with two friends. I knew that one would be iffy and the other would be unable to join until the PS3 launch. I know its not THAT bad, but I guess I was just so focused on continuing the adventures from Vana’diel to Hydaelyn that I forgot that not everyone can make the trip. I should and most likely will make new friends, but… most will be male and hardly the female friend I’ve managed to keep over the years. Which seems so strange; the idea of being so worked up over a person whom I have never met, never really exchanged e-mails with, and only know through a digital avatar via experiences in a virtual world. It has made me wonder about the meaning of friendships and such… and how I should probably try to branch out more even if I detest the idea of it.

But I realize that in the end, my friendships I build really have helped in whether I stay in a MMO or not. After all, it is a rather social game whether people want to admit it or not. When you get to the end of things, even if you are as much of a hermit as I can be at times… teaming up with people is what will really help you get through the hurdles that are placed in the game that are just a virtual representation of hurdles that one might face in real life. Sure, losing a job and needing moral support from friends isn’t the same as needing a team of people to help you get a shiny piece of equipment… but in the end, you still need someone to watch your back, right? Right.

Final Fantasy XIV Open Beta

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As some may know, I have been in the Final Fantasy XIV Closed Beta since the tail end of Alpha. It has been amazing to see the game grow and change since its alpha testing stages to the current stage it is at right now in open beta. Yeah, sure, there are bugs, but what MMORPG isn’t buggy upon release? And that hasn’t even been in another country for a year to work out those said bugs? I think its fine. Sure, people are complaining about this and that but I’m not particularly worried that it will affect my enjoyment of the game. Even in its current state, I find myself having fun with what I am able to play with. Others may not feel the same way, which if fine. In the Western MMO market there are other options (both free and pay to play) people are able to choose from that doesn’t have to be FFXIV.

Though I have to admit, after not having really played Final Fantasy XI actively for a year, it was a little hard getting used to the pace of enjoying the journey vs. getting to the destination (though, from my current understanding of the XI environment, getting to the destination quickly seems to be made easy due in part of the Abyssea expansion). The hand holding experience of WoW and Aion almost had me fumbling over Final Fantasy XIV, but it was quick and easy to get back into the groove of things and settle into the rhythm Hydaelyn had to offer. The environments itself made me remember why Final Fantasy XI was such a special gem and why I felt that magical return to me for Final Fantasy XIV; it was so easy to feel so immersed in the world itself and not feel that it was a game where I needed to quickly hit enter to get to the next thing. Even though finding an NPC can sometimes be like finding a needle in a haystack, it is in successfully finding those NPCs or learning something how to craft that just tickles me with delight and wonder at what else I can learn and accomplish.

Crafting, by the way, is the most fun I had ever had in any sort of crafting system I have tried to date. Granted there are still some aspects I feel could use tweaking (I’ve never been a fan of having to individually select my items to craft with), but in general I’ve found myself wanting to craft. Yes, that’s right. I WANT TO CRAFT. Not often does that happen or that I’m not just willing but excited to do something like crafting.Stranger still? Me like a hand-to-hand job. Yes, that’s right, a hand-to-hand job. Hard to believe, yeah? But here I am! Playing a hand-to-hand job and loving every moment of it!

I’m actually trying very hard not to play too much because I don’t want to ruin how things will be when the game finally comes out for its retail version. There is so much I want to do and try out, even though I know that in two weeks time all that data will be wiped clean. ( ;^;) Still… I’m really excited to play Final Fantasy XIV and to be more full immersed in its community than before. The people I’ve met and talked to have been generally great and supportive of not just the game but of each other. Even better is being able to reconnect with friends from Final Fantasy XI whom I have missed during my absence. ♥ I definitely feel at home in this game compared to WoW and Aion, and am eagerly looking forward to seeing how the game will develop from here on out.