Mixed Feelings - HW, Lv 60, and Stuff

[LiveVoltage]

The MSQ is fine as is and I felt it was very fulfilling. It was just all the leveling and side questing that made it a bit depressing and took time from enjoying the MSQ.

[ProvaDiServo]

Played through the story, watched all the cutscenes, loved it.

 

Now I'm on the alex grind.

 

If anything, my hang ups are with all the scrubs in Alex who can't really handle simple mechs.

 

AND.....

 

The fact that I can't DF EX primals. that is a huge bother. as I'm fully 180 with 190 accessories and no B.I.S. weapon to give me that extra push.

[Gegenji]

Now I'm on the alex grind.

 

If anything, my hang ups are with all the scrubs in Alex who can't really handle simple mechs.

 

I put down the Alex grind for my own sanity for a bit. Then I immediately risked my sanity again yesterday trying to get Judge his Baldur Blade - ultimately successful, but only after 5-6 hours of Expert roulettes. After nonsense like that, I might wait a couple days before trying for my Alex4 item drop on Gogon.

 

Maybe I'll try to go through the earlier parts on Chach for the first-time bonus Law to speed up getting the last two Law pieces he needs (chest and legs). But I'll have to see how I feel about trying to tank that stuff (especially since Chach is a pure STRadin).

 

I ultimately want to just get to the point where I'm just doing daily Hunts on Chach to upgrade and then dye his gear... and then start on leveling BSM/ARM and lazily leveling, well, everything on Gogon.

 

And the RP. All the RP.

[Melodia]

Ha! I am way too casual. I logged in yesterday and finally unlocked Fractal. Did my mini-cactpot at the Gold Saucer. Sent just one of my three retainers on venture. Went afk a few times as I watched funny vids on YouTube. Helped my spouse and friend get through Research Facility. Located two or three wind currents in sea of clouds.

 

Logged off for the night.

 

And I am okay with this.  I have made peace with my inner mega casual. Likely to hit Alexander when I can DF it and Bismarck EX next expac. Maybe. I still haven't even cleared Ramuh Ex sooooo.......lol. :moogle:

[Kellach Woods]

Each time I read "WATCH THE VIDEOS" I'm like... nope. Too long - I could be doing something else entirely with my time.

Granted, I picked up mechanics relatively fast so far in HW so I don't feel like I'd be missing anything by not watching the video. Just telling me in advance what's the deal with the fight would be more efficient, but y'know how people do.

[Kage]

I watched 0 videos for Alexander. All I used was the tl;dr version. Done.

 

I have watched them for Bismarck Ex and Ravana Ex but that was an abridged version and I didn't actually get to watch them all because people said "yay let's do it"

[Kellach Woods]

I watched 0 videos for Alexander. All I used was the tl;dr version. Done.

 

I have watched them for Bismarck Ex and Ravana Ex but that was an abridged version and I didn't actually get to watch them all because people said "yay let's do it"

 

tl;dr versions / cliff notes of dungeons would be best for me. Mind pointing me towards those?

[Kage]

I watched 0 videos for Alexander. All I used was the tl;dr version. Done.

 

I have watched them for Bismarck Ex and Ravana Ex but that was an abridged version and I didn't actually get to watch them all because people said "yay let's do it"

 

tl;dr versions / cliff notes of dungeons would be best for me. Mind pointing me towards those?

 

Alexander here

Doesn't really address the trash. Floor 1: Everyone focuses the main while OT takes the rest and gets face eaten. There is a fucking enrage, which is why people talk about DPS.

[Arelian Solin]

Alexander tl;dr is here!

 

I only used this and I successfully main-tanked all of Alexander--so it's more than enough for the mechanics present there. The only one that takes a little bit of "seeing" would be floor 4, honestly.

 

edit: Oops, beaten. So let's add some more discussion!

 

I'm one of those crazy people that rushed my first class to 60 so I could experience everything while it was shiny and new and--well, I dunno. I'm not gonna say it was necessary but it was fun. Now, though? Now everything I do, literally everything, is in the name of acquiring new RP clothes.

 

Have you seen some of the new stuff? Oh my god. Fashion is the true endgame.

[KitKat]

Each time I read "WATCH THE VIDEOS" I'm like... nope. Too long - I could be doing something else entirely with my time.

Granted, I picked up mechanics relatively fast so far in HW so I don't feel like I'd be missing anything by not watching the video. Just telling me in advance what's the deal with the fight would be more efficient, but y'know how people do.

 

Four of us queued up for Alexander 1 and 2 yesterday for the first time. Not one of us watched a video or read any strategy. Nobody in party chat explained anything. And we 2-shot A1 and 1-shot A2. It's very friendly to blind runs.

[Kellach Woods]

Right now I'm just leveling stuff to get all-60.

[Dravus]

  I dont give a shit about this games story either, I dont RP the WoL so it has no bearing on me.  I even skipped every cutscene so I could level my dragoon as fast as possible to unlock zones for my miner so I could vacuum up the early adopters of crafting gil.  It was a worthy trade off.

 

I've seen this posted by a handful of individuals and it's not something I really understand. If someone isn't role-playing the Warrior of Light they still get some excellent insight into what Eorzea is like. In Heavensward there's a wealth of information surrounding Ishgardian culture that people will miss if they choose to ignore the main scenario quests.

 

Personally I hold the firm belief that it is every role-player's responsibility to do their research and familiarise themselves with what makes their chosen setting live and breath. At least if they want to strive towards having a consistent, believable character.

 

That's just me though - each to their own! 

 

Overall I'm very satisfied with this expansion. The lore, atmosphere, music, PvE content...I find it all so incredibly intriguing and I can't wait to see what we get next - especially given the pretty awesome cliffhanger(s) encountered in the main scenario quests.

[Kellach Woods]

I have to admit to not raging half as much during HW MSQ as I expected when 2.55 ended.

 

Except that all that raging was essentially during the Ul'dah portions - the very same portions that had me rage in the 2.0 range.

[ArmachiA]

Since the storyline is one of the best ways to get lore, I'm not sure why anyone would skip it. Even beyond that, it's a really good story, miles above 2.0.

 

However, MMOs are treadmills. They always will be. You will never EVER be able to catch the carrot, ever. You get the best gear, it'll only be best for 4-6 months. If there's a new expansion, everything resets. Everything. Get used to it or get off the treadmill. I keep my sanity by remembering that even if someone is going 5.0 on the Treadmill and I'm going 2.0 - well eventually we'll all be right here. Restarting the treadmill. This is why I never get hardcore with raiding. It doesn't make sense to. Go at your own pace, be happy with the pace. Enjoy the people around you, stop trying to go faster on the treadmill.

[Sin]

Since the storyline is one of the best ways to get lore, I'm not sure why anyone would skip it. Even beyond that, it's a really good story, miles above 2.0.

 

However, MMOs are treadmills. They always will be. You will never EVER be able to catch the carrot, ever. You get the best gear, it'll only be best for 4-6 months. If there's a new expansion, everything resets. Everything. Get used to it or get off the treadmill. I keep my sanity by remembering that even if someone is going 5.0 on the Treadmill and I'm going 2.0 - well eventually we'll all be right here. Restarting the treadmill. This is why I never get hardcore with raiding. It doesn't make sense to. Go at your own pace, be happy with the pace. Enjoy the people around you, stop trying to go faster on the treadmill.

You don't get it? Like you don't understand it?

 

It's about the challenge. It's about being competitive and beating others to the finish line.

 

Like Nascar, yeah the others will eventually finish the race, but you did it first. It's an undeniably nice feeling to win in a competition. Hardcore raiders compete against each other and challenge themselves to beat content at breakneck speeds and this is very enjoyable to them.

 

Simply by nature, we're a very competitive animal.

 

Nothing wrong with enjoying the game that way if that's your thing, or enjoying the game at your own pace either.

 

On the oither hand, skipping cutscenes, or at the very least not rewatching them is pretty inexcusable for those who want to ground themselves in the lore of the game. No, we don't play the Warrior of Light, but we do play in this world and sometimes the MSQ has world-shaking implications that whatever character you roleplay will feel.

[ArmachiA]

Oh no, I GET it, I just don't get into it. I'm a raider, I kept up with all the current content in 2.0 and plan to do so in 3.0, but I'm not "hardcore". I've seen how bad hardcore raiding can get, I've seen it ruin friendship and stress people out to the point of breakdown. If you're competitive, that's fine, but don't let the treadmill destroy you if you're one of the people who can't, or don't want to, keep up.

[Caspar]

I don't mind the story. It has nothing to do with my character, but I don't mind. I think I'm more willing to forgive the writing than a lot of people because I try to be aware of the limitations of MMO as a storytelling medium. It's not perfect, but I enjoy the experience. As for progression, I feel that my mindset allows me to push on. I want to do everything... Even when I run our of content, I set goals for myself to achieve. I cannot force myself into a limited, narrow experience of any kind. It has less to do with being competitive and more to do with getting my money's worth. I see being satisfied with my level of play as a sign that I've lost interest, so I will only stop progressing when I feel satisfied, and so far that hasn't happened yet.

[Magellan]

 

 

On the oither hand, skipping cutscenes, or at the very least not rewatching them is pretty inexcusable for those who want to ground themselves in the lore of the game. No, we don't play the Warrior of Light, but we do play in this world and sometimes the MSQ has world-shaking implications that whatever character you roleplay will feel.

Eh. I don't  really subscribe to this. We are all at different points of the msq, so it doesn't make sense to me to include it in rp unless you've agreed to specifically build a story around it.

 

Nor have I ever once encountered a situation where someone tries to rp msq elements with me. 

 

On second thought, someone did mention the recent troubles in Coerthas to my Raen,  and filled her in icly.

[-no longer matters-]

I don't get, getting upset at people who skip cut-scenes, people play how they want. Depending on what type of character they play they might be unaware of a lot of it IC anyways.

 

Now mind you I watch every cut scene and enjoy the hell out of them, but that's me and everyone else is not me. To each their own I say.

[Aduu Avagnar]

I do use the current events of the MSQ in my RP, for instance, the events of 2.55 have happened, and they will be refered to, most likely by the majority of players. I tend to give it a little bit of a grace period before I do however, to allow those slower than myself to catch up.

 

The reason being is that the MSQ, even if the events themselves don't directly happen to your character can have knock on effects that would affect them. For instance, 2.55 and anyone that RP's around Ul'dah. It also provides more information about the lore of the world we play in, for instance the cutscene about the Ascians and the Void provided us with more lore regarding how Aether moves.

[-no longer matters-]

I do use the current events of the MSQ in my RP, for instance, the events of 2.55 have happened, and they will be refered to, most likely by the majority of players. I tend to give it a little bit of a grace period before I do however, to allow those slower than myself to catch up.

 

The reason being is that the MSQ, even if the events themselves don't directly happen to your character can have knock on effects that would affect them. For instance, 2.55 and anyone that RP's around Ul'dah. It also provides more information about the lore of the world we play in, for instance the cutscene about the Ascians and the Void provided us with more lore regarding how Aether moves.

Since I'm RPing a Sellsword, I just assume my Character was one of the Adventurers the WoL assembled for the bigger group stuff. So I too, do RP along with the events of the MSQ as happened.

[Dravus]

As an actor I feel like it's fair to compare role-play to acting since they're similar in many ways. I'd be met with doubt - and rightly so - if I received a role and didn't do any research into the more intricate aspects surrounding it. Could I improvise? Sure - but then I still wouldn't be doing as well as I would if I were to put some genuine effort into the entire affair.

 

Furthermore role-playing is a group activity for the most part. There's a certain amount of responsibility for people to put in a minimal amount of effort for their character to make sense for when other role-players interact with them. Are people free to do what they want? Yeah - but that still doesn't change the fact that quite a lot of role-players will be skeptical if someone's character isn't aware of something that they realistically should know about.

 

I feel like this is even more important when one creates a character that is influential. I'd imagine that if I were to create a character that claimed to brush shoulders with Ul'dah's elite (as a rough example) then being familiar with Ul'dah's ongoing state of affairs would be important even if I didn't touch upon it directly.

 

In short? I doubt very much that anyone is getting 'upset' over what other role-players choose to do in their approach to role-play. It doesn't mean that people can't be skeptical over potentially damaging/limiting role-playing practices though.

[Aaron]

To be fair I've skipped basically every cutscene pre 2.55 and never had any lore issues because I always learned about it IC surprisingly. Whether it was me loitering around QS or even out by Ala Mhigo it was shocking how much people discussed events in game. 

 

Seen all dem 3.0 scenes though. Was not disappointed.

[Magellan]

1. As an actor I feel like it's fair to compare role-play to acting since they're similar in many ways. I'd be met with doubt - and rightly so - if I received a role and didn't do any research into the more intricate aspects surrounding it. Could I improvise? Sure - but then I still wouldn't be doing as well as I would if I were to put some genuine effort into the entire affair.

 

2. I feel like this is even more important when one creates a character that is influential. I'd imagine that if I were to create a character that claimed to brush shoulders with Ul'dah's elite (as a rough example) then being familiar with Ul'dah's ongoing state of affairs would be important even if I didn't touch upon it directly.

 

3. In short? I doubt very much that anyone is getting 'upset' over what other role-players choose to do in their approach to role-play. It doesn't mean that people can't be skeptical over potentially damaging/limiting role-playing practices though.

1. You get paid to act (in theory). You don't get paid to roleplay. If I was getting paid to roleplay then hell yeah I would soak up every bit of lore there was. As it is, with RL being what it is, and FFXIV not being the only game I play, sometimes I only get in an hour per night. That's like... watching one cutscene sometimes. No thanks. I'd rather be more productive with my gaming time and read the abridged notes.

 

2. Agreed. If you are going to play someone who SHOULD know about Ul'dah politics, then yes, you should be keenly aware of current events. If you are playing a baker from a small town who isn't even aware there's a group called monetarists... then what does it matter?

 

RL example: I know who the president of the United states is, and the governor of my state. That's about it. I don't know who the mayor of my town is, nor the speaker of the house, nor my state senators.  Why? I care little about politics. I could find out pretty easily, but I think we take for granted because we are educated and have information at our fingertips (aka the internet) that the same holds true in Eorzea. 

 

There is no evidence of this. The mass populous would probably be uneducated, and key information would be long to those who wish to wield power over others. 80% of what we learn in the MSQ is because our character is a WoL who schlums with the Scions, a group who trades in information and secrets. This is not stuff that's gonna be known to every tom, dick and Jane in the streets.

 

3. I think it can be equally limiting to take all your cues from the MSQ rather than try to forge your own story and imprint on the world.

[Lilia Lia]

I feel like this expansion is really going to come alive for me once I start RPing in the new areas / the new content.  I have an upcoming IC dungeon run in a new area that I'm looking forward to.  And the gorgeous scenery of the ruins makes for so much "long-term adventure" style RP.  Sadly I don't have a character really suited to that sort of excursion, unless she brought a bodyguard.  And the fact that our FC now has an airship makes a long hike hard to justify.

 

Still getting my imagination all fired up with the old-style RPG plots.  What if our airship crashes and we have to send a search party?  That sort of thing.