I thought I'd take this opportunity to post the other half of Thursday's promised topic, the news on the official FFXIV site.
The Disciplines of War were released, their names at least, five of them. Of these five, two were given descriptions, Archer and Lancer. Archer is a class we had seen coming since it was one of the characters available at the Gamescom alpha. Lancer, however, is a bit of a surprise although polearm enthusiasts (*cough Elebreth *cough*) have known it was coming since day one. Its most interesting feature is that the description lets Lancers thrust at things from great range and throw javelins at their target. Perhaps each class will be able to exploit this main/thrown weapon dichotomy?
The other significant update is an ostensible codex with a few mob names and pictures. From these a couple have full descriptions. They not only suggest natural behavioral patterns, they also foreshadow mob gameplay elements. I can visualize walking out from an Aetheryte outpost and spotting a group of antelope frolicking on the plain. Then, I have to be careful when the male wanders by me in case he wants to protect his herd from an intruder. If he attacks I might have to fend off the whole party of antelope. Otherwise, if I ambush a straggler in the herd, I may either have to pull it far away to prevent a party battle, or deal with a party of angry antelope regardless.
The release of possible drops from each new mob family they've released: Antelope, Aldgoat, Raptor; makes them doubly aware of how crucial it is to sell their idea of crafting-as-equal-weight gameplay option. Plus, to wonder what kinds of uses the Aldgoat horns may be put to makes me want to experiment with them right away. Beta, where are you?
The concept of Raptors doubling up on their prey is also exciting. I was wondering to what degree party v. party battles would become repetitious now that mobs could come in parties. The "flavor text" on the Raptors show that mob groups will not all be the same. In a battle, you might have to fight two Raptors back to back or have a second Raptor proc at random during an existing Raptor fight. The possibilities are endless.
If you haven't looked over at the new page, go ahead and do so now. Some of the other major fan sites have Japanese press news and other tidbits you should check out. Knock yourself out, then, on this month's trickle of information. ^^
~~~Reyathua
Monday, October 12, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Final Fantasy XIV Official Site Updated Pt. 1
Hey there fans! ^^ It has been a while since the last posts were put up, and I figured that it was high time something else was added to this blog. It is only fair (since we've told you about this site) that we fulfill our duty to the community by also filling out this blog. Plus, the main site was updated, and that's motivating me too.
The additions consist mainly of updated Class information (this post), though I also enjoyed the bestiary info and screenshots (next post).
Concerning the classes: Amazing! Square Enix has realized that one of their major hurdles for selling the game is their concept of crafting as an entire division of gameplay. It really is good to see them address this first: if this was tacked on at the end of their promotional materials then many people (who probably don't end up playing the game) would feel as though Square had been gimp about this option and swept it under the table.
I'm going to take a stab naming the Disciplines of the Hand (as released):
Alchemist
Blacksmith
Culinarian
Tanner
Weaver
Which of these do you find most attractive? I like the Alchemist option. In FFXI I'm leveling alchemy, and I've had fun with it in other games (Oblivion, anyone?). However, I am also closely drawn to anything that could make my life in Eorzea more bearable, so I'll probably also heavily level Weaver (for my mage jobs' cloth armor ^^).
The little vignette they posted about "A Day in the Life" of a Culinarian isn't terribly informative. But, it gets me excited, since I'm one of those players that would end up Crafting only for long periods of time before skilling up my fighting classes. It's good to see that I'll still be a part of the game when that happens. (And to obtain some equal progress in the game. One of the things that most bothered me about crafting in FFXI was that if I was crafting for a while, I wasn't progressing in the game. It looks like in FFXIV a person will be able to do a lot from just crafting their way through the game.)
Elebreth told me yesterday that he saw information that only crafters can retrieve materials from corpses. While I haven't seen this, it makes a lot of sense and provides incentive to fighting-only players to level their crafting jobs. Maybe high-quality or multiple-quantity drops will only be available to high-level crafters?
That's all I have time to post today, but I'll toss the rest of my reaction up tomorrow. If you haven't been to the site yet I want you to do one thing for me. Go to Media >> Screenshots >> the first screenshot. Look at it, internalize it, salivate over it, and carry it with you in your mind.
That is all.
~~~Reyathua
The additions consist mainly of updated Class information (this post), though I also enjoyed the bestiary info and screenshots (next post).
Concerning the classes: Amazing! Square Enix has realized that one of their major hurdles for selling the game is their concept of crafting as an entire division of gameplay. It really is good to see them address this first: if this was tacked on at the end of their promotional materials then many people (who probably don't end up playing the game) would feel as though Square had been gimp about this option and swept it under the table.
I'm going to take a stab naming the Disciplines of the Hand (as released):
Alchemist
Blacksmith
Culinarian
Tanner
Weaver
Which of these do you find most attractive? I like the Alchemist option. In FFXI I'm leveling alchemy, and I've had fun with it in other games (Oblivion, anyone?). However, I am also closely drawn to anything that could make my life in Eorzea more bearable, so I'll probably also heavily level Weaver (for my mage jobs' cloth armor ^^).
The little vignette they posted about "A Day in the Life" of a Culinarian isn't terribly informative. But, it gets me excited, since I'm one of those players that would end up Crafting only for long periods of time before skilling up my fighting classes. It's good to see that I'll still be a part of the game when that happens. (And to obtain some equal progress in the game. One of the things that most bothered me about crafting in FFXI was that if I was crafting for a while, I wasn't progressing in the game. It looks like in FFXIV a person will be able to do a lot from just crafting their way through the game.)
Elebreth told me yesterday that he saw information that only crafters can retrieve materials from corpses. While I haven't seen this, it makes a lot of sense and provides incentive to fighting-only players to level their crafting jobs. Maybe high-quality or multiple-quantity drops will only be available to high-level crafters?
That's all I have time to post today, but I'll toss the rest of my reaction up tomorrow. If you haven't been to the site yet I want you to do one thing for me. Go to Media >> Screenshots >> the first screenshot. Look at it, internalize it, salivate over it, and carry it with you in your mind.
That is all.
~~~Reyathua
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Episode #1 - Titanic Fail
Our very first episode Titanic Fail in which we discuss the battle system as introduced in Cologne, Germany as well as some speculation pertaining to mob families. This being our first episode its a little rough around the edges, we rely on feedback in order to improve the quality of our pod casting. Please feel free to comment whether constructively or deconstructively. Hopefully we will be able to get the pod cast to go up on Itunes until then please check it out over at podomatic by following the link:http://eorzeaerrata.podomatic.com/
We look forward to further suggestions for discussion and speculation and hope to incorporate user input into further episodes.
Oh sorry if you don't like cheesecake but really then you just haven't eaten enough so I guess that's OK.
We look forward to further suggestions for discussion and speculation and hope to incorporate user input into further episodes.
Oh sorry if you don't like cheesecake but really then you just haven't eaten enough so I guess that's OK.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Welcome, Cheesecake Afficionados
Hello everyone. ^^
This is the blog for the new Final Fantasy XIV podcast, Eorzea Errata, brought to you by hosts Elebreth and Reyathua.
We are dedicated to bringing you quality entertainment, in the form of
---a rundown of the news,
---limited speculation, and
---round table discussion
We just recorded the first episode and we're looking to bring it to you before the Tokyo Game Show. It should be up later this week.
Stay tuned for this, our first entry in the podcasting world. You can provide feedback right here on the blog. Please leave us your comments, suggestions, complaints, and cheesecake recipes.
Plus, we're always on the watch for new discussion and speculation threads. Anything you want to hear us talk about, write to us, and we'll give it a shot.
~~~Reyathua
This is the blog for the new Final Fantasy XIV podcast, Eorzea Errata, brought to you by hosts Elebreth and Reyathua.
We are dedicated to bringing you quality entertainment, in the form of
---a rundown of the news,
---limited speculation, and
---round table discussion
We just recorded the first episode and we're looking to bring it to you before the Tokyo Game Show. It should be up later this week.
Stay tuned for this, our first entry in the podcasting world. You can provide feedback right here on the blog. Please leave us your comments, suggestions, complaints, and cheesecake recipes.
Plus, we're always on the watch for new discussion and speculation threads. Anything you want to hear us talk about, write to us, and we'll give it a shot.
~~~Reyathua
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