• About

Through Wolfy's Eyes

~ One gamer's view of the forest and the trees

Through Wolfy's Eyes

Tag Archives: xiv

Storytelling via Clothing

14 Saturday Aug 2021

Posted by wolfyseyes in MMO Things

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

character customization, character development, ffxiv, final fantasy xiv, MMO, mmo character customization, mmo cosmetics, mmorpg, mmorpg cosmetics, mmorpgs, mmos, no promises though, roleplay, roleplayers, rp, this will maybe be the last time i talk about this topic, xiv

This will probably be my last post about MMO outfits. Maybe.

Before I begin I should update you all on the personal goings-on of my Final Fantasy XIV character. She recently has had a couple of character breakthroughs involving an in-character fight with another member of my guild, some introspection about how good that fight felt, learning how to harness her combative strength and come to grips with it by learning how to use a gunblade on the sly, and slowly sinking deeper into a life of underground crime and debauchery as the person she fought with takes her under his wing to learn how to be a contraband smuggler.

All of this has been a delight for a number of reasons. It’s finally allowed my character to have some progression; it’s finally seen some character daggers actually get used by people; and as a writing exercise, it’s given me the opportunity to finally challenge myself by writing a character that can be soft, alluring, and loving as well as a badass without falling into edgelord traps. On top of that, though, it’s allowed me the chance to create new outfits.

Continue reading →

Style Matters in MMO Classes

11 Wednesday Aug 2021

Posted by wolfyseyes in MMO Things

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

city of heroes, class, classes, coh, doing it wrong, ffxiv, final fantasy xiv, MMO, mmo class, mmo classes, mmorpg, mmorpg class, mmorpg classes, mmorpgs, mmos, roleplay, tera, xiv

One of the Discords that I’m a part of featured a conversation among some players of Final Fantasy XIV who were discussing the different tank classes in the game. It was interesting to watch unfold, as the tete-a-tete mostly featured one person who was all about the DPS numbers and skill potency figures while the other was about how the class felt, and it’s not often I get to witness two disparate viewpoints discuss things (let alone in a rational matter).

It got me to thinking about my own experiences with classes in FFXIV, and then with other classes in other MMOs, and throughout the little bit of navel gazing, one common thread stood out: When it comes to MMO classes, style will always trump substance for me.

Continue reading →

I Love Sprouts

09 Monday Aug 2021

Posted by wolfyseyes in MMO Things

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

community, ffxiv, ffxiv community, final fantasy, final fantasy xiv, MMO, mmorpg, new arrival, new player, new players, sprout, welcome to eorzea, xiv, xiv community

Once again I’m going to talk about Final Fantasy XIV. And once again I’m going to stand on the shoulders of giants here — specifically, Eliot Lefebvre’s newest Wisdom of Nym column where he offers some advice to new players and veterans alike. That said, this topic was also on my mind pretty recently, both in terms of Discord chatting, Twitter scrolling, and the overall conversation topic of the FFXIV community:

Sprouts.

Continue reading →

When Home Games Become Fortresses

07 Saturday Aug 2021

Posted by wolfyseyes in MMO Things

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

community, ffxiv, final fantasy xiv, gatekeeping, MMO, mmo communities, mmo community, mmo games, mmorpg, mmorpgs, mmos, white knight, white knighting, xiv

I’m going to have to thank MOP’s editor in chief and my awesome boss Bree for this prompted post. We were talking in the work chat about how sad and dangerous it was when people wrap their entire identity around a single MMO or single game, and that got me thinking a lot about the topic.

If you’ve been even near gaming discourse on any platform or website, you pretty much know the type. They’re often referred to as “white knights” and usually charge headlong into keyboard battle to defend the honor of their favorite game and, by extension, their home. And while I can certainly appreciate the desire to battle back against misinformation or misconception, or even the need to argue online (in good faith, ideally), there’s also a point where it becomes clear that a home game — a place meant to escape to in comfort — turns into a fortress that must be protected against all comers.

Continue reading →

A Shortlist of Long-Term Gaming Goals

06 Friday Aug 2021

Posted by wolfyseyes in MMO Things

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

dauntless, elite, elite dangerous, elite dangerous odyssey, ffxiv, final fantasy xiv, gaming, gaming goal, gaming goals, goal, MMO, mmorpg, mmorpgs, multiplayer, multiplayer gaming, xiv

Yep, I’m pretty much ripping off other bloggers’ post ideas for today’s posting. In my defense, I don’t make this a regular feature on my blog, so I think that gives me a free pass. Also, like, it’s Blaugust 2021, y’all. Sometimes post ideas are hard to drudge up.

Whining notwithstanding, I actually am beginning to find that putting down some long-reaching gaming goals is pretty helpful for keeping motivated in multiplayer and MMO titles. So with that in mind, I felt that I should share a few of the things I’m reaching for in my favorite titles.

Continue reading →

Latent Friendship is Magic

01 Sunday Aug 2021

Posted by wolfyseyes in MMO Things

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

community, ffxiv, ffxiv community, final fantasy, final fantasy 14, final fantasy xiv, friendship, MMO, mmo community, mmorpg, roleplay, roleplayer, roleplaying, xiv

Recently I’ve gotten back into Final Fantasy XIV a lot more than I had previously. This wasn’t kicked off by recent awful events, by the way, and it wasn’t necessarily spurred on by the larger Endwalker expansion reveals (though that did have a small part to play in things). Mostly, my return was fueled by friends. Friends that I sometimes play with and people that I’m not necessarily friends with.

Allow me to explain

Continue reading →

Stormblood Squee Week Extra: Holy Crap, Live Letter!

23 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by wolfyseyes in MMO Things

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

ffxiv, final fantasy xiv, final fantasy xiv stormblood, letter from the producer live, letter from the producer live 36, letter from the producer live xxxvi, live letter, livestream, MMO, mmorpg, stormblood, stormblood squee week, stormblood squee week extra, xiv

Yep, because nobody asked for it but because it’s very much fresh on my mind, I’m revisiting Stormblood Squee Week for the second time! Monday the 22nd had an absolutely humongous Live Letter from producer Naoki Yoshida and I have a great many thoughts about what was presented.

So for the first Squee Week Part Deux post, I wanted to cover all of the big reveals in general and offer my opinion on them.

ffxiv-paladin-shiny-wings

Starting with this gorgeous ability HOLY CRAP LOOK AT IT.

Continue reading →

Stormblood Squee Week: A Recap of Bold, Stupid Predictions for Final Fantasy XIV

19 Sunday Feb 2017

Posted by wolfyseyes in MMO Things

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

expansion, ffxiv, final fantasy, final fantasy xiv, final fantasy xiv stormblood, MMO, mmorpg, stormblood, stormblood squee week, xiv

SPOILER ALERT: The following post is going to touch on topics associated with the MSQ of patch 3.5, which is recent as of this post’s creation, Feb 19th. If you’ve not finished that content, you might not want to read on.

So back in June of last year, I made a blog post offering up my thoughts on what would be coming for the next expansion of Final Fantasy XIV. We now stand near the end of the final Fanfest, and I thought it’d be fun to run back to that post and see where I went horribly wrong while salvaging the thoughts that were nearly close to the mark.

xiv-lala-archer

Like a Lalafell Archer, my aim is a bit short.

Continue reading →

Blaugust Day 27 – Side Dishes

27 Thursday Aug 2015

Posted by wolfyseyes in MMO Things

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

main quest, pve, questing, side dish, side quest, story, swtor, themepark, xiv, xp

This post was prompted by Syp’s excellent post about SWTOR, but I was otherwise diverted from posting this by other, shinier topics that came to mind.

Image courtesy dreamstime

“Dooood….”

In it, he discussed his feelings on the planetary missions of SWTOR and how the 12x Experience Boost for current subscribers rendered all of that work obsolete.  Is that such a bad thing, though?  In my mind, it isn’t.  And SWTOR isn’t the only one that could benefit from this design idea.

Continue reading →

Final Fantasy XIV Through Wolfy’s Eyes

20 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by wolfyseyes in MMO Things

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

a realm reborn, dungeons, endgame, final fantasy xiv, MMO, xiv

I adore PvE, but abhor grouping content.  At least, the way grouping content has worked recently.  I hate how you can’t have access to new content without forcing yourself on that treadmill.  I hate how people form up based on numbers and metrics.  I hate how this stuff creates gates and limits the idea of adventure.

I hate everything that Final Fantasy XIV does…and yet…

It's a trap!!

It’s a trap!!

I had walked away from this game in frustration at the ever-piling gear treadmill endgame and unceasing nonsense of it all shortly after patch 2.1.  I was justified in my decision at the time–things were not that much fun at the time, and the choices of things to do were not plentiful…and that made it all the easier for the Superstar E-Leet to lock down what little there was to do behind metric walls.

Now over a year later, that argument doesn’t hold quite the same amount of water anymore.

Let’s be clear–every patch that has come since 2.1 has followed the same sort of path.  New dungeons, new Primals, new steps in raids or new tiers of raids, with subsequent new piles of gear and new currencies required to purchase said gear.  It is, verbatim, everything that I find wrong with the PvE endgame system…but holy crap, when I was able to shelve myself long enough, I found these damn dungeons to be…well…FUN!

Either that or I'm easily amused by exploding colors.

Either that or I’m easily amused by exploding colors.

The way I play this game now, which I returned to shortly after patch 2.4, is very much like everyone else, I suspect–you just sort of join up on a bunch of random Duty Roulettes, which plucks from a list of dungeons you’ve already unlocked and cleared once, offering a daily bonus depending upon the sort of Roulette you pick, either Low Level, High Level, Trial, Main Scenario, etc.  The reward for re-visiting this already beaten content are Tomestones–this game’s funny money which lets you purchase the hottest kit at cap.

On paper, every single letter of that paragraph sounds terrible.  But in practice…I dunno…there’s something awesome about having a reason to go back to old stuff and make it rewarding.  Not only will you likely end up helping out any new players with the clears they need, but you’re getting useful stuff for your time.  And it’s not like your gear makes it faceroll easy–you’re synced down to the appropriate level of the encounter.  It’s taking a useful system of RNG–the random chance–and applying it to completed content to make it worthwhile.

"Only three more days until I can buy a ring!"

“Only three more days until I can buy a ring!”

Further incentive is offered by way of the First Timer’s Bonus.  If you’re in a party with someone who’s never touched the dungeon you’re at, guess what?  You get a bonus on a successful clear.  Just a successful clear!  Not a timed run or a gold medal run or a no-death run.  Just make it through to the end, and you get more funny money.

It’s so clever…so simple it hurts.  And it’s shockingly effective.

Another part of what’s helped ease me into this whole nonsense is the fact that the people I run with are just absolutely wonderful.  Being a Warrior–a tanking class–and away from the game for almost a year, I was beyond nervous.  I had built up this whole thing into a monster of nightmares and assumptions.  It froze me in place.

But then I finally looked at the meat of the matter.  This game.  Demands.  That teams form.  You do not get anywhere in the endgame by yourself.  Not really. There were the Hunts that were added on, which provided their own funny money.  Content you could do solo and get precisely the same exact reward.  But the time it took to earn it was beyond any grind I think I’ve ever had the displeasure of knowing.  So, with the help of some good friends and some excellent support, I ran at that amalgam of terror I had built.

And I slaughtered it.

Perhaps that’s what this game meant all along.  Yes, you do Roulettes and can PUG it up exclusively…and you’re left to the absolute mercy of whatever tosser decided to get put into your team.  But in between those runs with the randoms, you get friends along.  You socialize.  You get out there and make yourself aware of who’s around and make others aware that you are.  You collaborate.  Chat.  Talk.

You form a party.

There's lots of options.  Be choosy.

There’s lots of options. Be choosy.

Convenience is…well…it’s convenient.  But to truly, absolutely allow yourself to experience XIV at cap?  You have GOT to be sociable.  And for a nerdy turtle like myself, that was not easy.  That said, the solution was even simpler than the problem.  Cliche as it sounds…you just go for it.  You peck and you look and you find folks who are fun and just enjoy.

And when you find those people and get to know them a bit and have them know you a bit, a strange thing happens.  You keep just…running.  I dunno.  Something just takes a hold and you just want more and you see yourself offering help or finding more complete strangers to make friends with so you can all get those clears and it all just sort of continues and snowballs from there, and then before you know it?  You’re getting those endgame shinies that you thought were beyond your grasp before.

Incredibly important stuff.

Incredibly important stuff.

And these dungeons?  These things you’re running over and over?  They are enjoyable as hell.  The dungeons here are as I always wanted them to be–a setpiece.  They’re thematic and engrossing and enjoyable and have some cool fights and fun creatures and occasionally give you neat rewards out of treasure chests.  They keep you on your toes without stressing you out too terribly much.  They provide great engagements, unique characters and stories to tell later.

This game’s dungeoneering is some of the best I have ever had the pleasure of playing.  Hell, even the raid tier stuff is fun!  I’ve had runs in the Crystal Tower content on several occasions, and have thoroughly enjoyed each one.  It took a couple of runs to understand the flow and what to do, but despite that, I had a great time.  Because you’re sharing an experience with others.

This is the kind of stuff I love about the MMO dungeon run.  And XIV does it better than pretty much anybody else.

Running for your life whilst turned into a frog = an experience.

Running for your life whilst turned into a frog = an experience.

Despite all of this analysis and internal gazing, I’m still not sure what it is about this endgame that makes me want more in spite of its glaringly obvious designs that I have personally said are the worst thing to happen to MMOs.  Yes, these are really fun things, but it still is a grind of content in order to get the highest numbers possible on stats.  It’s insane.

But I also have said that I don’t mind looking out the window at the same view if the window dressing is interesting…and these fights are definitely interesting.

I imagine there will be some later level of burnout that I’ll experience.  It’s why I roleplay and play on one of the largest RP communities in this game right now.  But right now? I’m nowhere near burned out.  In fact, this very post is being written on a Monday night in order for me to fully experience all of the new dungeons and trials and raids that are coming with patch 2.5.

Got places to be, folks!

Got places to be, folks!

Forced grouping has forced me to rethink what an endgame can be…and while seeking compatible people like I was trying to get things arranged for a job interview is not a perfect solution, I can’t deny how that extra bit of legwork has helped weed out the very aspects of grouping I don’t like.  There’s machinery grinding just beneath the skin of this whole thing.  Finely timed and crafted machinery that locks in to each other part and makes you just….want.  And if you’re able to find those folks who can enhance that want, then everything just pulls together.

XIV has been relaunched from the ashes of a completely unplayable MMO to one of the finest themeparks in existence.  If World of Warcraft is the Disneyland, then XIV is like Orlando Studios–a themepark by any other name, but with a whole different paradigm and set of characters it draws from to make itself a unique experience in spite of archaic design.  Or, perhaps, because of it, in places.

From 90 to 93 in about three hours of helping folks do stuff. Not bad.

From 90 to 93 in about three hours of helping folks do stuff. Not bad.

  • View @wolfyseyes’s profile on Twitter

RSS Feed

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Through Wolfy's Eyes
    • Join 145 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Through Wolfy's Eyes
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...