Looks like I'm going to be playing Final Fantasy XIV

[dorchadas]

sashagee used to be really into Final Fantasy XIV a few years ago, but until recently she hadn't played in almost two years, not since the middle of the Stormblood expansion. Before now she couldn't play at all because she and her roommates don't have home internet or wifi, instead opting for unlimited data plans on their phones. However, since I have wifi, she brought her PS4 over here, reactivated her FFXIV account, and bought the Shadowbringers expansion. I've been watching her play it and she brought up playing it together:

sashagee: "If we play it together I wonder what you’re going to play."
Me: "There are goth elves? I’m definitely playing one of those."
sashagee: "Oh my goodness 🙄"

...and based on that, I went and downloaded the Shadowbringers benchmark software to see what score it gave me, since my computer is four years old now. I ran the benchmark, it came back with a "Extremely High" (raw score of something like 12K), so there's no worries on that score. And then I noticed that there's a "Character Creation" function, I fiddled with it, and, well:

Originally I started with white hair, but I switched it to red. Have to have that long red hair. It's my signature.


I overwrote a character preset from 2013 there when I saved that. Apparently I thought about playing A Realm Reborn before but never pulled the trigger. Well, this may be the time--FFXIV's "must be done in order" structure means it's more like a traditional game than an MMO, and playing it with sashagee will be nice, especially if we all get thrown back into germ jail this winter.

This marks the third game she's talked about playing together, after Horizon Zero Dawn (playing through together, anyway) and Divinity: Original Sin 2. I wasn't a big fan of Divinity: Original Sin but while I'd be willing to give the sequel a try, I've heard amazing things about both HZD and FFXIV--that the latter is the best Final Fantasy game in the last fifteen years, even! My usual schedule is still disrupted, so looks like I'll be gaming with sashagee a bunch in the future!

Comments

[law]

even though i stopped playing i still think about this game. i guess i'm on an extended break instead of quitting forever like i said before. it's just overwhelming right now. hope you enjoy your adventure tho! a realm reborn is basically a fetch quest simulator but once the game opens up it hooks you. i wish i could go back and relive my time playing it for the first time. i'm excited for you!

[dorchadas]

Hooray! I keep hearing it's the best Final Fantasy game of the last 15 years...I guess I'll see!

I've heard they're going to redo parts of A Realm Reborn in the upcoming patch to reduce the grind and make it more interesting, so hopefully it'll be less "go here go there" when I get to it! It was supposed to be patched already, but the Plague Year delayed things, so maybe some time this month...

[law]

whoever told you that was right! the story is great and being able to be every class is so cool. i think a good rule of thumb is to def play with people you know. being in a good free company ( guild ) makes everything so much better.

& hmm i've heard things ab that patch for awhile. hope it comes soon. you're gonna have a lot of fun though. from your pic it looks like you're tanking? correct me if i'm wrong. braver than any marine ( despite it being fun haha )

[dorchadas]

Oh, I just picked a random armor set in the creator that looked cool Though maybe I should--I played ranged magical DPS and healer in World of Warcraft, so maybe I should try a change?

sashagee keeps telling that black mages suck when I mention playing one, but as a former balance druid, a class being terrible is no impediment to me playing it! And FFXIV's ability to be every class on one character (as you say!) means if something is garbage and I hate it, I can just do something else.

[law]

ah okay. well it does look cool!

and as someone who used to main black mage, your friend is correct. i honestly think it's one of the reasons i stopped playing. i loved that class for awhile b/c it fits my aesthetic / character but god. . .it's such a slog the longer you keep it up. the rotation is so overblown and ridiculous. you def need skill or someone to help you if you want it to not be a pain.

whenever i do go back i'm def changing classes. i was thinking ninja / NIN as long as it's not as confusing as it was the last time i tried it years ago. wishing you good luck tho! i'm sure you'll find something you like.

[dorchadas]

Magical DPS/Healing is almost always what I play in games, so I'm not sure if I should stick with that or take this as an opportunity to be different. But if I dislike black mages or white mages, at least there are plenty of other options!

[law]

yeah, same tbh. there's plenty to choose from. BLM is fun at first honestly. i think i started to burn out on it once i hit the end of arr / lvl 50 but feel free to try stuff! that's one of things that makes xiv so fun :)