Final Fantasy XIV (Guide in first post)

Mao

Trakanon Raider
599
1,454
Sorry to see Alphinaud go, but after the whole Crystal Braves thing we all knew his days were numbered. Nice of Estinien to put an end to it before it got worse. HIs being there to comfort Alisaie was a nice twist.

Speaking of getting worse, please tell me I can join the team against Wuk Lamat, or better yet drown her in a puddle at the first opportunity.
 
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Aazrael

Golden Baronet of the Realm
2,673
9,630
Damn, Black Mage feels great (at 90) now. Paradox being instacast and always Sharpcasting Fire III is great quality of life. Would be nice to have Paradox in Ice phase also but no big deal.
 

Merrith

Golden Baronet of the Realm
18,207
6,978
I've been enjoying MSQ. Through the 2nd dungeon. Leveling gathering/crafting still an absolute joke like in EW. I don't even see the point of having role quests for mining/botany when you introduce collectible nodes at 93 that give so much exp. To even get the level 95 turn ins for mining/botany role quest you need to be in the 4th zone apparently...but by then if you've hit the collectible node every chance you could you've already been level 100 long before that.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
24,149
35,450
Finished the first zone, did a bunch of the first dungeon to get WHM and RDM to 93.

Dungeons are great as usual. MSQ is worse than ARR and I hate it. I'm skipping most scenes, so somehow I've done 3 or 4 of the 7 mcguffins but not actually seen them happen because apparently they are in these boring scenes I skipped.

It's like... what if we did Heavensward again, but everyone was friends and loved the vibrant diversity of different cultures with a mild Disney level menance, instead of fucking hating each other and dying while evil ghosts plot the apocalyse?

Every location and character name is unpronounceable. This is coming from someone who has lived near Wales and visited it.
Uhh oh... If Chris thinks this i might be super fucked
 

Chris

Potato del Grande
18,569
-165
Uhh oh... If Chris thinks this i might be super fucked
Something interesting appears to be happening after the 3rd zone.

First three dungeons are good, more challenging mechanics than usual I feel. First trial was super hard, don't understand it yet.
 

Muligan

Trakanon Raider
3,222
900
I'm assuming you must have all the MSQ caught up before starting the Dawntrail MSQ. Just curious since this is the beginning of new storyline if they did something different than other expansions. I'll have to play through it but I believe this is the first that I know where a MMO has said, "let's go on a vacation" for an expansion. lol
 

Malakriss

Golden Baronet of the Realm
12,472
11,854
I would say that they typically do an A plot and a B plot but due to this being a fresh continent and going in without an impending disaster means both plots happen there. We're not stuck on the First with Meanwhile in Garlemald... or split between Ala Mhigo and the Far East.

Even the 93 Trial lets you run with Trust NPCs so you aren't limited by DPS queues.
 

sleevedraw

Revolver Ocelot
<Bronze Donator>
1,836
6,135
Something interesting appears to be happening after the 3rd zone.

First three dungeons are good, more challenging mechanics than usual I feel. First trial was super hard, don't understand it yet.

I feel like the x3 trial always tends to be rough. Titania and
Zodiark
both were. I have the world's biggest mental block on Astral Flow and Astral Eclipse.
 

Chris

Potato del Grande
18,569
-165
I feel like the x3 trial always tends to be rough. Titania and
Zodiark
both were. I have the world's biggest mental block on Astral Flow and Astral Eclipse.
Think my mistake was doing it with players, I guess the NPC version teaches it to you.
 

Chris

Potato del Grande
18,569
-165
No spoilers, just when the main plot starts:

Main plot starts at lv96 after the 4th zone FFS.

This is the total opposite of Endwalker where what we thought the game would be about was lv81-83 then it kept going and kept getting better.

The entire succession thing should have been 1 zone worth of content, maybe split between small parts of the 4 zones. Instead it's 3 boring zones. I don't even know what the 4th zone was about, skip, bandits, skip, trains, skip...
 

Mao

Trakanon Raider
599
1,454
I am not far into the story yet, so maybe something changes but...

Am I the only one bothered by how they keep asking me, "Are you serious about doing this, are you serious about supporting Wuk Lamat?" but they never give me the option to say no? I get it, I expect some bushy tailed, naïve coming of age story where we get to watch her personal growth and prolly some power of friendship resolution, but at the moment I can fathom no reason why I would want this clueless teenager to run a nation. I wish they leaned more into the other guy wanting to plunge the world into war and we need to stop it, and maybe they will but at the moment...

And to keep asking me, multiple times now, "You sure you want to do this?" No. No I am not, stop rubbing my face in it :)
 
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Magimaster

Trakanon Raider
545
1,348
I am not far into the story yet, so maybe something changes but...

Am I the only one bothered by how they keep asking me, "Are you serious about doing this, are you serious about supporting Wuk Lamat?" but they never give me the option to say no? I get it, I expect some bushy tailed, naïve coming of age story where we get to watch her personal growth and prolly some power of friendship resolution, but at the moment I can fathom no reason why I would want this clueless teenager to run a nation. I wish they leaned more into the other guy wanting to plunge the world into war and we need to stop it, and maybe they will but at the moment...

And to keep asking me, multiple times now, "You sure you want to do this?" No. No I am not, stop rubbing my face in it :)

Thus far I'm only up to level 92/93 stage and the last time it came up was Erenvale asking you when they were about to start the Succession challenges. And alot of that is coming from his perspective and hang ups on being back in his homeland; he hasd alot of baggage about home and I think he felt guilty because he didn't want us to get dragged into something we didn't want to on his behalf. Wuk Lamat is obviously naive and has some major self-esteem issues from trying to compare herself to her brothers, but she has her own strengths and she needs to realize she doesn't have to do it alone. Which is funny because her dad had a whole party with him as well but he gets all the credit during the saga! Course, the old man is an absolute unit himself, so I don't blame them for putting him on a pedestal.

Honestly, for me the biggest unknown right now is Zoraal Ja. He claims he wants go war conquering because the people have become complacent and need to be reminded of the horrors of war and that he will just keep crushing any rebellions until the people get sick of dying, yet he himself wouldn't have experienced any war himself, having been born after Gulool Ja Ja already united Tural. So where did he get this idea from and what is his true motivation? Plus his advisor is total suspicious as fuck, so im waiting for that shoe to drop as well.

Personally, I also am getting a kick out of the fact that none of the Scions have bothered to ask Gulool Ja Ja or any of the kids why he is called the Dawnservant, since that title implies he is serving someone and who that person would be? Course, given that Krile did try to ask about Galuf and got " Ha, if I told you about him that would give the whole story away" I suspect he wouldnt answer, but at least they would get props from trying and making the connection!
 
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Mao

Trakanon Raider
599
1,454
Thus far I'm only up to level 92/93 stage and the last time it came up was Erenvale asking you when they were about to start the Succession challenges. And alot of that is coming from his perspective and hang ups on being back in his homeland; he hasd alot of baggage about home and I think he felt guilty because he didn't want us to get dragged into something we didn't want to on his behalf. Wuk Lamat is obviously naive and has some major self-esteem issues from trying to compare herself to her brothers, but she has her own strengths and she needs to realize she doesn't have to do it alone. Which is funny because her dad had a whole party with him as well but he gets all the credit during the saga! Course, the old man is an absolute unit himself, so I don't blame them for putting him on a pedestal.

Honestly, for me the biggest unknown right now is Zoraal Ja. He claims he wants go war conquering because the people have become complacent and need to be reminded of the horrors of war and that he will just keep crushing any rebellions until the people get sick of dying, yet he himself wouldn't have experienced any war himself, having been born after Gulool Ja Ja already united Tural. So where did he get this idea from and what is his true motivation? Plus his advisor is total suspicious as fuck, so im waiting for that shoe to drop as well.

Personally, I also am getting a kick out of the fact that none of the Scions have bothered to ask Gulool Ja Ja or any of the kids why he is called the Dawnservant, since that title implies he is serving someone and who that person would be? Course, given that Krile did try to ask about Galuf and got " Ha, if I told you about him that would give the whole story away" I suspect he wouldnt answer, but at least they would get props from trying and making the connection!
I get all that, and I am generally having faith that Yoshi will do a decent job tying it all together and this falls more into a pet peeve of mine. Why keep pretending to give me a choice when you actually aren't giving me one. Give me some answer that lets me dissent but move on, "I don't know about Wuk Lamat, but we need to keep Ghoully Ya Ya from starting a world war." is a simple easy way to keep the story moving but give the player a feeling of choice. They've done a good job of this in the past, which is what makes it seem so absent now.

Wuk Lamat is obviously gonna grow as we go along, but they are hammering the hell out of her to make her look unqualified to almost a comical extreme while on the other hand asking me "You're okay with this right?" my responces being a choice between... Yes, and Yeah. No option options. Its the old DnD trope of we have no reason to do this quest, but hey its what the DM has prepared so lets go :)

I have faith enough in the FF story team to give them the pass, but it keeps grating like nails on a chalkboard. Lets hope all the story hooks you mention develop more, especially as the patch is called "DawnTrail'. Likely the Dawnservant part does become important at some point.

Sneak back in to edit that we are still missing 1 of the royal children and we have a companion who is a childhood friend of Wuk who is suspiciously lacking parentage. Curious if that goes anywhere.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
24,149
35,450
lmao this story is terrible so far

black rabbit doesn't know the name of his father LOL
airships and interdimensional spaceship... but still have to take a boat?
the annoying cat lady wants to be in charge and everyone treats her like someone they've known for 30 years?
black rabbit asks if its been smooth sailing so far... on the boat he's on?
sailor looks like 14 and sounds like 50 year old pirate
storm sequence everyone says they think cat lady will be a good leader for... being seasick?

wow this is uhhh not starting out so hot.
 
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Daidraco

Golden Baronet of the Realm
9,477
9,616
I havent heard good things so far - I mean Im not surprised that the story could be better. I feel like theyre probably in some kind of weird limbo/transition era. But.. is there anything actually good to say? :/