Getting back on the Chocobo
Apr. 12th, 2022 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrSo some of you may remember that two years ago I played a bunch of the online multiplayer RPG Final Fantasy 14, before sadly deciding that while I enjoy most of the game, the compulsory dungeons involving other players were too much for my anxiety.
BUT THEN. TODAY. They introduced Duty Support, a way to do main quest dungeons with NPCs instead of real people!! So I signed back up and did the dungeon I got stalled on two years ago and it was GREAT. So now I can keep playing the game!
I haven't tried any other dungeons yet but as far as I can tell this should make it simple to play from the start through to the end of the first section and the first two expansions with no compulsory gameplay with other people whatsoever, and the later expansions will be added in time.
If you're now interested in playing, there's a free trial, it's pretty generous and you'll know by the end if the game feels worth your while.
I actually re-subscribed a few days ago because I misunderstood and thought the Duty Support feature was already implemented rather than just coming soon. But having a few days to get back into the swing of things meant I wasn't totally out of my depth when I finally did the dungeon. Youtube tutorials got me basically back up to speed, and while I know there's useful skills and tricks I've forgotten over the past two years, which is frustrating, if I learned them once I can learn them again.
The Duty Support NPCs had been well programmed to respond efficiently to this specific boss's attacks, and between us we brought it down after only two tries, even with me being incredibly rusty and also having keyboard trouble. I haven't done this specific battle with real people, but based on past experience I'd say the NPCs aren't as good as a competent crew of real people, but are better than an incompetent one. And they don't complain when I get them killed!
I don't know if I'll reach a point where the fights get too tough for me, but I'm doing ok so far. I'm about to start the level 46 quests, and the first section of the story, A Realm Reborn, ends at level 50. And after that is where the story apparently gets really good! I bought the first few expansions as part of a deal back when my initial free trial ran out, so now just need to pay 11EUR/$16AU a month to keep playing until I either get bored or hit an expansion I need to pay for. And right now I am not bored.
I watched up to the end of A Realm Reborn on Youtube so nothing is new to me thus far, it makes the main plot a little more boring but I've already noticed some minor things I missed the first time.
I was worried the servers would be overloaded so soon after a major update (which included a bunch of other features people were excited about) but it was only a short wait to get in, probably because it was like 8am US time. We'll see how I do tomorrow during the US evening, assuming I'm awake enough to play then anyway.
If you're wondering why I even bother playing an MMO if I don't want to fight alongside/against other people: idk, I enjoy seeing other people around doing their own thing, but don't like to feel too strongly Observed. And I have Issues with screwing things up for other people, which mean playing with friends would be worse than with strangers.
BUT THEN. TODAY. They introduced Duty Support, a way to do main quest dungeons with NPCs instead of real people!! So I signed back up and did the dungeon I got stalled on two years ago and it was GREAT. So now I can keep playing the game!
I haven't tried any other dungeons yet but as far as I can tell this should make it simple to play from the start through to the end of the first section and the first two expansions with no compulsory gameplay with other people whatsoever, and the later expansions will be added in time.
If you're now interested in playing, there's a free trial, it's pretty generous and you'll know by the end if the game feels worth your while.
I actually re-subscribed a few days ago because I misunderstood and thought the Duty Support feature was already implemented rather than just coming soon. But having a few days to get back into the swing of things meant I wasn't totally out of my depth when I finally did the dungeon. Youtube tutorials got me basically back up to speed, and while I know there's useful skills and tricks I've forgotten over the past two years, which is frustrating, if I learned them once I can learn them again.
The Duty Support NPCs had been well programmed to respond efficiently to this specific boss's attacks, and between us we brought it down after only two tries, even with me being incredibly rusty and also having keyboard trouble. I haven't done this specific battle with real people, but based on past experience I'd say the NPCs aren't as good as a competent crew of real people, but are better than an incompetent one. And they don't complain when I get them killed!
I don't know if I'll reach a point where the fights get too tough for me, but I'm doing ok so far. I'm about to start the level 46 quests, and the first section of the story, A Realm Reborn, ends at level 50. And after that is where the story apparently gets really good! I bought the first few expansions as part of a deal back when my initial free trial ran out, so now just need to pay 11EUR/$16AU a month to keep playing until I either get bored or hit an expansion I need to pay for. And right now I am not bored.
I watched up to the end of A Realm Reborn on Youtube so nothing is new to me thus far, it makes the main plot a little more boring but I've already noticed some minor things I missed the first time.
I was worried the servers would be overloaded so soon after a major update (which included a bunch of other features people were excited about) but it was only a short wait to get in, probably because it was like 8am US time. We'll see how I do tomorrow during the US evening, assuming I'm awake enough to play then anyway.
If you're wondering why I even bother playing an MMO if I don't want to fight alongside/against other people: idk, I enjoy seeing other people around doing their own thing, but don't like to feel too strongly Observed. And I have Issues with screwing things up for other people, which mean playing with friends would be worse than with strangers.
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Date: 2022-04-12 02:40 pm (UTC)Extremely relatable! That's actually one of the reasons I've never tried FFXIV, so... hmm. Sounds like a good development!
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Date: 2022-04-13 11:44 am (UTC)Yeah I have heard a few people say they would otherwise have tried it out. I guess they noticed they were losing potential customers!
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Date: 2022-04-12 06:31 pm (UTC)I do feel you tho, I have a healer friend who looks out for me while I just keep dying and being an embarrassement in dungeons. Everyone has their threshold! I can't play puzzle games, for example, it's just too frustrating for me to be fun, so I guess that's how it feels for you with coop play.
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Date: 2022-04-13 11:49 am (UTC)Well also I just get anxious around other people sometimes even when I'm not bad at things. But I am bad at the FFXIV combat, which doesn't help.
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Date: 2022-04-13 02:13 pm (UTC)what do you enjoy doing most?
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Date: 2022-04-18 01:33 am (UTC)heh. Technically, I've been playing a little longer than you and only just finished ARR ;)
I spent a while thinking about your question as I played the game, and I think what I enjoy most is the experience of doing the MSQ (eg being in the process of progressing an ongoing large plot) and ending up in some place I haven't explored much or at all, and exploring it and getting a feel for the place and people in and of themselves and as part of the larger plot, and also seeing other players around so I get a vibe of being in the midst of other people doing their own thing and being sort of...vaguely, benignly aware of me. .
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Date: 2022-04-19 08:32 pm (UTC)As for MSQ, my playstyle is quite different because I neglect plot over exploration every time. We resolved to pay more attention to plot markers going forward because going all out exploration and crafting and sidequesting in advance is harder than it has to be, e.g. trecking on foot when later on you unlock a new aethertie or are given a new mount or something. So, especially because we took much longer I have a much more disconnected experience wrt to MSQ. (for context, me and my best mate specifically choose FFXIV for socializing during the pandemic so we always do the main story beats & side quests together, only the "tangential" stuff is solo.)
Either way: fingers crossed the NPC dungeons for HW will be patced in soon!!
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Date: 2022-04-29 03:14 am (UTC)Well, one of my big motivations right now for continuing the MSQ is it will unlock new areas to explore :)
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Date: 2022-04-13 01:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-04-18 01:34 am (UTC)Yes, yes, and I'm good so far but thank you.
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Date: 2022-04-18 01:36 am (UTC)