Melkire

[Admin Hardhat] This discussion seems to have run its course and hit just about every point on the "these are questionable decisions Square-Enix has made for Heavensward" checklist, despite the original post only referring to the i90 requirement needed to enter Steps of Faith. For that reason, I'll be closing this thread. If there's a specific aspect to the Heavensward expansion that folks would like to discuss (the new jobs, the new areas, Au Ra, etc.), then I encourage them to open new threads for those topics. Less chance that way of people shouting over each other to be heard. I apologize in advance if this isn't a course of action that people like, but this thread is on its 28th page now. I'd be very surprised if we would've heard anything new here. [/Admin Hardhat]

I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. The vast majority of the MSQ is single player, what does any of what you said have to do with that? It will be even more annoying for them than it was for us, its true, but struggling through the 8 man thingies is only going to be a small portion of the overall effort they're required to undertake before they can see Ishgard or any of the new stuff. You mean less? Because new players are getting buffed experience, more gear from quests, and other perks that are meant to ease the trip through ARR, according to recent developer commentary... new players will have an easier time, not a harder one. Time commitment won't be any worse than it was for us, either.

"Would they know" is an interesting question. But "can they do anything about it other than throw a violent tantrum" appears to be largely answered by existing lore: no, they can't. I'm certainly open to being proven wrong, but if the Elementals can just flip a switch and turn off the Succor at will, and if existing White Mages can not bring more mages into the fold, it calls into question all of the history and actions taken in regard to the subject. Find myself agreeing with this, given my impressions of the portions of the WHM job quests I've experienced and from lore that folks have posted on these forums over the past year and more. Elementals, from what I understand, don't have ultimate control over Succor. Their "permission" to use it merely amounts to allowing the knowledge of how to access and how to use Succor to disseminate. If that wasn't the case, I don't see how or why they would have allowed to War of the Magi to go on as long as it did. The Padjal serve in a "middle-man" capacity, having been created to safeguard said knowledge while practicing White Magic when and where it is required.

Early Access Pre-order FINAL FANTASY XIV: Heavensward to play the game ahead of the official launch! * Early access is scheduled to start on Friday, June 19, 2015. Please note that there is a possibility of maintenance taking place during the early access period. * In order to enjoy the benefits of early access to Heavensward content, you need to be playing FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn and have made sufficient progress in the main scenario. As such, early access will not be available to new players who pre-order the FINAL FANTASY XIV Online all-in-one bundle and have yet to begin their adventures. * A FINAL FANTASY XIV service account is required to participate in early access. * Details will be made available when pre-order codes are distributed. http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/heavensward/#product_area

Pledged a couple weeks ago. Eagerly read every update email they send out (which is quite often!) and I'm on the edge of my seat. Can't wait to get my hands on my digital copy, so to speak. IGA IS BACK

[Admin Hardhat] But derailing a topic apparently is. Back on topic, please. [/Admin Hardhat]

Thank you so much for everything you've done, are doing, and will do for the community here, Wiz. :love: Now... *slams faceplate down and raises riot shield* ...come at me, y'all. :tonberry:

I'm a bit late for July house-cleaning, so here we go! If you are new and/or would like your character to go up on the Directory, please post as well!

There are also quite a few noticeable adoptions present in the Gold Saucer. Off the top of my head, there's at least one case of a Roegadyn father adopting Hyuran children.

Lovely thing to support! Wish you the best of luck! As far as RP via avenues other than in-game is concerned, there's at least one Skype Chat that I know of, and there's also the In-Character forum board here on RPC. The latter isn't restricted to any particular group, which makes it handy for folks to roleplay together cross-server. I imagine Skype can be used for the same, though I'm not sure how open the Balmung Skype Chat group is to such a thing, you'd have to ask them. Welcome to RPC! :moogle:

Looking forward to this! :moogle: Note to self, check out the stone's locale again.

Llorn detected, take coverrrrrrr!

"Pissin' buggers can come 'ere to Toll if they want t'celebrate. Shite, this is neutral ground, where better? Twelve Above. Tired o' haulin' arse t'Ul'dah every time they want a feast or a ceremony." Alternatively, "Oi, Alphinaud, somethin's rotten 'n' smells o' dead orobon with them Braves. Clean house, eh?"

Well, no, technically, they don't want what people who stuck with the game got. They want the new content, the stuff that we ain't got yet, either, because otherwise, they would have been back before, most likely. What we're telling them is "Hi, returning player! Yes, please, money first, no free ride for you... ah, there! Welcome to Heavensward! Did you SEE those dragons and griffins and cool new zone? Bet you can't wait for all that new content you just paid for. We'll see you in Ishgard in a couple of weeks, then... what? You want the new content now? Sorry, you were gone too long, and you're back in the "noob" category. Enjoy running around again... what? Why can't you just get the new class now? Sorry. Those are not for you yet. Have an Au Ra fantasia. Aren't those scales shiny? They might help you get over your disappointment for long enough for the catch-up slog." This is a biased perspective, yes, but at anytime you're advertising a new product with a new feature, and using it to stir interest, you cannot JUST dismiss this perspective as biased, because to do so cuts off the experiences of people who are willing to pay more money to play a game they already kinda had, but because they want the new stuff, not because the MSQ is just that darned good. As for gating, I've said all I care to say on that. Bolded is the problem. Designing and producing expansion content with returning players as the target audience does not make for a sustainable business model. These are the types of players who "MMO hop". They'll play through all of a game's content and then drop their subscription to go play a different MMORPG. They'll return in time for expansion content, pay a month or two's worth of subscription time in addition to the expansion price, and then they'll hop again, dropping their sub once more. Are profits off these players a desired boon? Yes. But I would think, from all that I've heard, that by now WoW has made it evident that you can release all the expacs you want and still bleed players by the thousands. If you want players to stay with you and stay subscribed, you have to take a different approach. That Heavensward content is gated screams to me that the expac has been designed for and intended for current subscribers. They are, first and foremost, the target audience, not returning players. New players - and returning - who intend to stick it out through ARR into HW and beyond may become new long-term subscribers, and that's where the potential growth lies. Not in the hopper/jumper/burnout crowd.

That's definitely "risen by" and not "risen to."

I... what. Is that Mulan?

GRIMWOLF! *ships aggressively* Looking forward to more doodles.

We've got these, I'm happy to say, or at least, we've got something similar. And they're dyeable! ^^ http://xivdb.com/?recipe/30882/Arachne-Field-Dressing-of-Striking http://xivdb.com/?item/9487/Arachne-Field-Dressing-of-Scouting Now if only I could harvest enough silks from T4. Grumble grumble.

[Moderator Hardhat] Bit of a grey area, but technically speaking this violates a couple of forum rules here on RPC. Notably this one: I'll have to lock this thread. Apologies. That said, seeing as how this appears mainly academic, I will be leaving it up for viewing unless another moderator decides against it. We'll have to, at some point, revisit the subject of surveys and whether they're okay on these boards. Alas, transitional period for the site. [/Moderator Hardhat]

Bummer. Always loved that helmet in XI. I don't have it myself, but I'm fairly certain that the Wootz helmet has a face covering. /visor, I think. Makes sense, seeing as how it's deliberately based on the XI set.

The only good thing to come out of Prince of Persia 2008 was this outfit.

Technically speaking, it's past an Amalj'aa camp, not through. Sneak time?

I like to think of it as comparing calendars. Year 1577 Sixth Astral Era is technically Year 5 Seventh Umbral Era, which then leads/led into Year 1 Seventh Astral Era.

The trouble is that we've only a definite date for the start of ARR, 1577, and we only have that as a result of the lore on the fall of Ala Mhigo, as Bryn mentioned. We don't know how long a timespan the events of 2.x take place over. To further complicate matters, they reset the year count by announcing the start of a new age at the end of 2.0 MSQ, so then it's Year 1* again of a new Astral Era. We won't know for sure until another lore drop specifically clues us in to the exact time lapse from 2.0 to 3.0. * Technically Cycle 1, but whatever.