The Vent Tent - Poor PuGs and Other Terrible Tales

[Kage]

This emergency maintenance may actually mean our static doesn't run this week. Shiiiiiit.

[Enla]

I've an inkling because I work in vidja game QA so it's something I've seen before (obviously can't say where when and how).

 

* * *

 

anyhoo, DPS queues are annoying amirite?

 

I'm already dreading the queue pops while leveling up Thaumaturgy and the Arcanist skills for my White Mage. Healing queues have spoiled me completely I'm afraid... To the point where I'm honestly considering leveling any new characters as Conjurers until I can get them their chocobos, just to streamline the process.

[Gegenji]

I've an inkling because I work in vidja game QA so it's something I've seen before (obviously can't say where when and how).

 

* * *

 

anyhoo, DPS queues are annoying amirite?

 

I'm already dreading the queue pops while leveling up Thaumaturgy and the Arcanist skills for my White Mage. Healing queues have spoiled me completely I'm afraid... To the point where I'm honestly considering leveling any new characters as Conjurers until I can get them their chocobos, just to streamline the process.

 

I'm down to leveling BRD and NIN on Gogon to have all his combat classes at 50. I've basically been reduced to queuing up for a Guildhest and Low-Level Roulette while doing my dailies. If they pop, I go in. If they don't, then BRD just doesn't get any EXP that day before I hop over to Chachan.

 

Plus side, BRD is at 44, so it's almost there. Then it's just getting NIN up to speed (from level 20, whee). It makes me kinda wish the bonus you got from having a 50 was cumulative, rather than a one-time bonus kind of deal. I'd love it if, because I have eight other combat classes at 50, I got a much larger EXP bonus to wrap up capping the last couple.

 

... would be amazing for the crafting classes too. "Hey, you already capped BSM, ARM, ALC, and CUL... so here's a huge bonus EXP percentage to help you finish off the rest of 'em."

 

A man can dream.

[Kage]

Leveling THM/BLM back when the queues were 40min has made me appreciate every single almost instant queue I have ever had as a tank or healer.

 

Leveling melee after ninja *was released* has made me cry.

 

Especially because lancer is so godawful boring to level and right now my rotation is Heavy thrust > spam Impulse Drive until do Heavy Thrust again! Throw in mercy stroke, leg sweep when appropriate (and other off gcd)

[Sounsyy]

Ninja was an absolute pain to level. Of course, this is coming from someone who had all 50s in 1.0 and ACN done shortly after 2.0's release. I pretty much just mixed leves and fates and didn't even bother with dungeons unless a friend was also queueing for one. Though once I got to 40 Ninja, I just went to fate farm in Northern Thanalan and got 50 in two grind sessions. So that's definitely my 40+ recommendation.

 

As excited as I am for Heavensward... I am not looking forward to leveling three new jobs on top of capping all of my pre-existing jobs. That's literally 270 levels just for battle classes. That's not even counting crafters/gatherers. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh. Good thing all my combat classes are i100+, even though once Heavensward drops that probably won't matter at all. It'll be like 2.0 launch, where all of 1.0's best gear was suddenly useless, all over again.

[Warren Castille]

Ninja was an absolute pain to level. Of course, this is coming from someone who had all 50s in 1.0 and ACN done shortly after 2.0's release. I pretty much just mixed leves and fates and didn't even bother with dungeons unless a friend was also queueing for one. Though once I got to 40 Ninja, I just went to fate farm in Northern Thanalan and got 50 in two grind sessions. So that's definitely my 40+ recommendation.

 

As excited as I am for Heavensward... I am not looking forward to leveling three new jobs on top of capping all of my pre-existing jobs. That's literally 270 levels just for battle classes. That's not even counting crafters/gatherers. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh. Good thing all my combat classes are i100+, even though once Heavensward drops that probably won't matter at all. It'll be like 2.0 launch, where all of 1.0's best gear was suddenly useless, all over again.

 

Hey now, Darklight didn't get immediately turned to paste. Remember, Blue Garter was clearing Turn 1 before Early Access ended.

[Sounsyy]

Hey now, Darklight didn't get immediately turned to paste. Remember, Blue Garter was clearing Turn 1 before Early Access ended.

 

Yeah but in that instance level cap wasn't increased. I'm still trying to figure out how they're going to do that...

 

You think they're going to do what they did in FFXI and just leave lv50 gear at lv50? Or do you think they'll redistribute the lv50 gear between levels 50-59 based on item level gradient - leaving the new lv60 gear as being better than what we had in 2.0?

 

Like I can't figure out if my lv50 gear is gonna be BiS all they way through my leveling process to 60 and then I'll get better stuff or if a fresh lv51 who just started the game will jump 80 item levels just by purchasing lv51 gear over lv50 gear.

[Warren Castille]

Hey now, Darklight didn't get immediately turned to paste. Remember, Blue Garter was clearing Turn 1 before Early Access ended.

 

Yeah but in that instance level cap wasn't increased. I'm still trying to figure out how they're going to do that...

 

You think they're going to do what they did in FFXI and just leave lv50 gear at lv50? Or do you think they'll redistribute the lv50 gear between levels 50-59 based on item level gradient - leaving the new lv60 gear as being better than what we had in 2.0?

 

Like I can't figure out if my lv50 gear is gonna be BiS all they way through my leveling process to 60 and then I'll get better stuff or if a fresh lv51 who just started the game will jump 80 item levels just by purchasing lv51 gear over lv50 gear.

 

Yoshi believes in vertical progression. I'm expecting (but could be wrong!) that if you're i130 going into 3.0, you're going to have replaced that gear by 55. Come character-level 60 I expect us to be in the i170~ range or something.

 

The sadist in me hopes the level cap is locked behind Maat's XIV equivalent. Farm your testimonies! FARM THEM!

[Kage]

I have Lancer and Rogue to get 50 before 3.0 T_T

 

Lancer is SO. FUCKING. BORING OMFG. HOW DO PEOPLE LEVEL THIS?! But I need invigorate and Blood for blood so I'm not a melee scrub. Heavy Thrust. Leg Sweep. Impulse Drive. Impulse drive. Is Heavy Thrust up? Yes? Impulse Drive again. Ok time to Heavy Thrust. Oh I can use some other things like mercy stroke and some other Lancer ability I don't remember. heavy Thrust is falling time for that.

 

And then Rogue... @_@ It's nice at least. Not boring like Lancer. How do you melee do this.

[Gegenji]

Lancer is SO. FUCKING. BORING OMFG. HOW DO PEOPLE LEVEL THIS?!

 

I leveled LNC/DRG as my first melee combat class for Gogon after finishing the caster classes. So, SCH/SMN>WHM>BLM>DRG. I don't remember any particular issues with it. Then again, I don't remember many issues with leveling any of the combat classes - I think I go into a Grind Zone mentality from years of WoW and don't even pay much attention to it.

[Sounsyy]

The sadist in me hopes the level cap is locked behind Maat's XIV equivalent. Farm your testimonies! FARM THEM!

 

FIGHT ME MAAT! FSH VS FSH!!! But oh god, I'd just not even bother with MNK, DRG, NIN, BLM, or SMN... They're all like i110 but I never play them. =o

 

Also, maybe I'm a sadist but I really hope the lv60 Relic Fishing Rod is Lu Shang's. And in order to get it, you have to turn in an HQ Big Fish from each region in the game and turn in your Luminary, your Ironworks, and your Halcyon Lucis fishing rods.

[Steel Wolf]

If Cliaux is to be a Ninja of any great worth, I'm gonna HAVE to get Blood for Blood, apparently...

 

...so...yea...I know this feel. Not looking forward to it.

[Telluride]

I have Lancer and Rogue to get 50 before 3.0 T_T

 

Lancer is SO. FUCKING. BORING OMFG. HOW DO PEOPLE LEVEL THIS?! But I need invigorate and Blood for blood so I'm not a melee scrub. Heavy Thrust. Leg Sweep. Impulse Drive. Impulse drive. Is Heavy Thrust up? Yes? Impulse Drive again. Ok time to Heavy Thrust. Oh I can use some other things like mercy stroke and some other Lancer ability I don't remember. heavy Thrust is falling time for that.

 

And then Rogue... @_@ It's nice at least. Not boring like Lancer. How do you melee do this.

 

Speaking as someone who is trying to gradually level Lancer right now (just hit 30), I'll say that it is so far considerably LESS painful to me than Gladiator (which I have at lvl26 on an alt). However, I might be biased, because my mains in several games past were positional melee DPS, so it's almost like coming home, in a weird sort of way.

 

So, to offer a counterpoint...

 

Lob Flashflashflash stab stab isrampartupyet flash flash whyismyfullyarmoredwarriorforcedtousebloodymanapoints flash lookslikeadiscoinhere stab finallyrampartisup stab.

[Kage]

Lancer is SO. FUCKING. BORING OMFG. HOW DO PEOPLE LEVEL THIS?!

 

I leveled LNC/DRG as my first melee combat class for Gogon after finishing the caster classes. So, SCH/SMN>WHM>BLM>DRG. I don't remember any particular issues with it. Then again, I don't remember many issues with leveling any of the combat classes - I think I go into a Grind Zone mentality from years of WoW and don't even pay much attention to it.

At least you have movement and stacks with PGL/MNK. Rogue just looks flashy.

LNC so far is spam 2 buttons ; ; It's just incredibly boring so far. The only positional I have right now is Heavy Thrust for moar powah!

 

Edit: And the other DoWs: Tanks tank things and look good doing it too. The right pulls. The right movement to give melee their room. BRD... .... sing? DoTs? @_@

 

BLM>PLD>SCH/SMN>WAR>WHM>BRD>MNK

Just... got... two... melee... left. T_T

[Gegenji]

BLM>PLD>SCH/SMN>WAR>WHM>BRD>MNK

Just... got... two... melee... left. T_T

 

I think my final order was SCH/SMN>WHM>BLM>DRG>MNK (until NIN patch hit)>PLD>WAR>Finished MNK>Currently 44 BRD. After that NIN and then done until Heavensward. I actually expect to make it despite the lazy way I'm going about it, leaving me free to - as Sounsyy pointed out... do it all over again with three new classes and the new level caps.

 

ONLY with Gogon though. He's my "do everything" character. Chachan will continue to only have PLD and NIN capped, and maybe a healing class at SOME point just to round out his usefulness if such a thing is needed (which may not be at all if I do break down and bring his older brother over come the expansion, in which case if people need a hole filled, I'd probably use him). I'm not going to bother trying all-50ing another character unless I've already finished it with Gogon and find myself bored enough to start working on a second.

[Melkire]

I have Lancer and Rogue to get 50 before 3.0 T_T

 

Lancer is SO. FUCKING. BORING OMFG. HOW DO PEOPLE LEVEL THIS?! But I need invigorate and Blood for blood so I'm not a melee scrub. Heavy Thrust. Leg Sweep. Impulse Drive. Impulse drive. Is Heavy Thrust up? Yes? Impulse Drive again. Ok time to Heavy Thrust. Oh I can use some other things like mercy stroke and some other Lancer ability I don't remember. heavy Thrust is falling time for that.

 

And then Rogue... @_@ It's nice at least. Not boring like Lancer. How do you melee do this.

 

LNC/DRG is this weird case where you don't get the skills that make the class flow until you reach the 40s in level. It's similar in that regard to how PLD doesn't get its tank stance until 40, compared to WAR at 30. You won't really feel that DRG has come into its own until you have access to Disembowel, and even then you'll lack the Chaos Thrust combo until level 50.

 

Monk and Ninja are the jigsaw puzzles with which the Square-Enix child has chosen to start with one corner and progress from there. Each piece adds to and builds upon what came before, leading to a single, clear, cohesive picture from the get-go.

 

Dragoon is the jigsaw puzzle with which the Square-Enix child has chosen to put together many disparate pieces, resulting in multiple smaller sections of the puzzle that don't fit together yet. They won't mesh and you won't get that single, clear, cohesive picture until you're almost done with the jigsaw.

 

Even then, it's dreadfully boring, imo, since optimal play requires a long rotation from which any deviation will result in massive DPS loss. MNK and NIN are a little more flexible in this regard, since both of those feature alternative weaponskill paths in their combos.

[Dimona]

Very brief and generic rant incoming:

 

I get that maybe your last DPS were made of derp.  I've seen them too...

 

BUT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD... IF YOU ARE A TANK OR A HEALER AND DEMANDING THAT I USE THE LIMIT BREAK, GIVE ME A SECOND OR TWO TO MAKE SURE I'M CLEAR OF AOE SHIT FIRST!!

 

Trust me when I say I want it dead as much as you do, bubba...

 

This is a sin on par with those jackasses who sit behind you at the traffic light and beep at you the exact moment the light turns green.  Wait a few seconds FFS... and if the DPS haven't limit breaked by then, feel free to nudge them.

 

I don't tell healers when to cast spells or tanks how to do their thing... not unsolicited, and not unless there is some very solid reason for doing so (protect would be nice, do you know what Overpower is, etc.)  Shut up and let me do my job.

 

(I had a very annoying scholar in my roulette before).

[Telluride]

Very brief and generic rant incoming:

 

I get that maybe your last DPS were made of derp.  I've seen them too...

 

BUT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD... IF YOU ARE A TANK OR A HEALER AND DEMANDING THAT I USE THE LIMIT BREAK, GIVE ME A SECOND OR TWO TO MAKE SURE I'M CLEAR OF AOE SHIT FIRST!!

 

 

 

Limit breaks are a weird thing with bards.

 

999 times out of a 1000, it's "No, save it for the other DPS"

 

But that one time, that one time, it actually could be used and useful, it is suddenly entirely the bard's fault if they don't think, "Oh, wait, you WANT me to use it now?" And read the minds of the rest of the party...

 

...which is getting wiped because they didn't do their own parts, and the healer missed his own chance to use it, but it's not HIS fault, of course....

 

But that .1% time, you get mad at the bard because we don't have the LB hotkey on an instant super-macro with custom text and , when 99.9% of the time, you'd have a @$@# fit if we DID have the nerve to try an LB...

 

-ahem- Yeah, I have it on a sidebar, now, but in 8 months of playing this game, I've only ever had that one time when I could have really used it to effect without someone getting mad that I popped it.

 

Cut us some slack, because if your bard ever does need to use the LB, it's probably YOUR FAULT.

[Perth]

This is a sin on par with those jackasses who sit behind you at the traffic light and beep at you the exact moment the light turns green.  Wait a few seconds FFS... and if the DPS haven't limit breaked by then, feel free to nudge them.

 

I don't tell healers when to cast spells or tanks how to do their thing... not unsolicited, and not unless there is some very solid reason for doing so (protect would be nice, do you know what Overpower is, etc.)  Shut up and let me do my job.

 

I can understand the frustration, but I always prefer being told when to LB just in case. You never know when they think the group's going to fail and you need the tank/healer limit break, and since it's across the ENTIRE party, the communication can be beyond crucial in PUGs. I've seen a tank limit break save an entire raid from dying, had I used the limit break when I wanted to willy nilly I would've wiped us.

[Gegenji]

You never know when they think the group's going to fail and you need the tank/healer limit break, and since it's across the ENTIRE party, the communication can be beyond crucial in PUGs. I've seen a tank limit break save an entire raid from dying, had I used the limit break when I wanted to willy nilly I would've wiped us.

 

I had this very thing happen this week on Chachan. Did WoD, PuGmates let a LOT of clouds get through. One of my Coral buddies I was running with told me to use the tank LB3. Did, and we survived the blast to kill the boss.

[Sounsyy]

You never know when they think the group's going to fail and you need the tank/healer limit break, and since it's across the ENTIRE party, the communication can be beyond crucial in PUGs. I've seen a tank limit break save an entire raid from dying, had I used the limit break when I wanted to willy nilly I would've wiped us.

 

I had this very thing happen this week on Chachan. Did WoD, PuGmates let a LOT of clouds get through. One of my Coral buddies I was running with told me to use the tank LB3. Did, and we survived the blast to kill the boss.

 

This exact thing happened in my WoD today. <_< Peeps let meteors go through and most of the party got murdered. Weren't enough people to block all clouds, so clouds got through. Our tank LB3'd instinctively and our party survived, while the other two wiped. The other healer and I were able to get the alliance back up afterwards for a win.

 

Honestly... that WoD run though... Ugh. We almost wiped at the end of every single boss fight. I'm talking like folks just eating dirt at 1-3% mark like mechanics don't matter anymore.

[Kellach Woods]

...am ...am I the only one who doesn't want XIV to be XI redux?

[Unnamed Mercenary]

...am ...am I the only one who doesn't want XIV to be XI redux?

 

Never played XI. ...but from what I've heard about it, don't want it. I like not having to depend on what direction I'm facing to craft, and a faster battle system is nice. 

 

Plus, lalafells > tarus; miqo'te > mythra; roes > galka.

 

I found the design aesthetics in XIV much nicer than XI. XI with super-pretty graphics woulda been a completely different game.

[FreelanceWizard]

...am ...am I the only one who doesn't want XIV to be XI redux?

 

I played enough of XI to know that I don't want it.

 

I did my "fire and brimstone" time in EQ. I'm not really interested in doing that again.

[Enteris]

I played XI and enjoyed it. However, I don't want to submit myself or anyone else to that hell again.

 

"Don't have a particular piece of gear? Pfft, get the hell out of my party!" Yeah, no thanks.