The Mog Log: Radio free aetheryte, part one
If you play Final Fantasy XIV, you probably already know about Eorzeapedia. If you play Final Fantasy XI, you probably know about Eorzeapedia via the normal osmosis of concepts, since much of the community organization spreads from older roots. On the off chance you aren't familiar with it, however, it's a site that melds several parts of the Final Fantasy XI community together into a single location, built from the ground up to serve as a community and player hub for the game. And not just in terms of data. No, it has a radio.
Aertheryte Radio is a labor of love, a network of several podcasts with the hope of giving you some piping hot Final Fantasy XIV news and opinions straight into your ear. (Let's ignore how painful that analogy sounds.) So for today's look at the community, I got the opportunity to ask some questions of the talent behind the shows. Instead of looking at the community as an aggregate, I spoke to some very vocal and dedicated members of the community, and it's worth shedding a light on all of the work they produce.
Massively: First of all, can you give us a brief introduction about who you are and what shows you take part in?
FusionX: I helped create Eorzeapedia with the team from FFXIclopedia. Initially I was in charge of news for the site. We knew at some point that we wanted to do a podcast as well. I talked to Aniero from Limit Break Radio one day, and he had asked about my plans for FFXIV. Long story short, he came onboard, and we started Aetheryte Radio. At the time, news for the game would come out in chunks. Sometimes we could go months without hearing anything. During that time, we started to plan out how we would do things once the game launched. The result of that planning is the Aetheryte Radio Network.
I currently co-host Aetheryte Radio News as well as our monthly show Aetheryte Radio for Final Fantasy XIV. I also co-host the FFXI podcast Pet Food Alpha.
Steak: My name is Steak, and I'm in charge of the Aetheryte Radio Community show! (I call it ARCOMM for short, but that hasn't caught on yet.) I've been podcasting since around the beginning of 2006, when I started with a little FFXI show called Mega Elixir. I then started Pet Food Alpha in June 2006, and we have done a weekly show ever since.
Xerumeru: My name is Xyle Harkyn, also known as Xerumeru, and I co-host two different podcasts. One of them is on Limit Break Radio Network for Final Fantasy XI and is titled Voices of Vana'diel. The second, [the planning stages for which are] just about complete, is Hails from Hydaelin, and it will be centered on Final Fantasy XIV.
Aniero: I'm Aniero, one of the producers and hosts of Aetheryte Radio, so the voice that's on all the intro pieces... that's me. I'm also the lead producer and host of the Aetheryte Radio: Topics show. For four years I have been and will continue to be the lead producer and host for Limit Break Radio as well. I have been making radio since the age of 15, went to school for broadcasting, and have worked at several different radio stations.
Viki: I am Viki! For a little more than a year I have been a co-host of Limit Break Radio, an FFXI podcast. I currently co-host another FFXI podcast, He Says, She Says, with the amazing TamTu! I've also recently joined up with Aetheryte as well, but I'm more of a free drifter when it comes to the network shows. When someone needs an extra body, I'm there!
Andrey: I am Andrey, and I am a roleplayer. *sits back down* Heh, I am one of the co-hosts of Remotely Plausible, a show in which we discuss roleplaying in FFXIV and cover in-game happenings. I'm a student in college, working on a degree in creative writing. Roleplaying is something I thought everyone in MMOs would do when I first picked up FFXI. This idea was probably influenced by .hack//SIGN. I enjoy creating stories with my characters and interacting with others IC. Doing this for six plus years, I can talk on and on about roleplay -- which I do on the podcast!
Xenedra: I'm Michelle or Xenedra of the roleplay show Remotely Plausible. I play Xenedra Ambreaus on the Besaid server... I also have a real life in which I'm a graphic designer, gasp!
Corinth: My name is Corinth, and I do Japanese translation for Eorzeapedia. I've been involved in community translation for the FF online community for a couple years now, and it's one of the most rewarding projects I've ever been a part of. For the Aetheryte Radio Network, I'm a co-host with Fusion for Aetheryte Radio News. I also pop up in other shows when there is news or discussion on what's going on in the Japanese FFXIV community.
How long have you been involved with the online part of the Final Fantasy series?
FusionX: I started playing FFXI just before the launch of Chains of Promathia. I then helped launch the weekly Final Fantasy XI podcast Pet Food Alpha in 2006 with Steak (who is also part of ARN). We're currently in the middle of our fourth year for PFA. Even though we're working on ARN, we're still continuing to do Pet Food Alpha. I've been playing FFXIV since alpha testing.
Steak: I've been playing FFXI since October 28, 2003 (NA release).
Xerumeru: I started playing Final Fantasy XI back in 2004. I still play it today alongside Final Fantasy XIV.
Aniero: Since the North American release for Final Fantasy XI. I still play Final Fantasy XI on a pretty regular basis.
Viki: I've been playing FFXI since April of 2004 and FFXIV since a couple weeks after release.
Andrey: Six or more years.
Xenedra: Probably six months after the NA release for XI I lost my soul to -- I mean started playing. I played that up until very recently, now I'm just coasting along in XIV.
Corinth: I first became interested in FFXI when I saw it frequently mentioned in Real Life Comics. After some encouragement from my friends, I bought the PS2 version when it came out over six years ago. I've been playing it off and on ever since mostly on the PS2. Now I'm spending time in FFXIV focusing on crafting and gathering.
What's your favorite part of the game at the moment?
FusionX: I've always loved the stories told in Final Fantasy games, and FFXIV is no exception to that. I love the inclusion of voice overs in the cutscenes; I just wish I could rank up quicker so I can do the next mission.
Steak: I love how pretty the game is, and I love the storyline.
Xerumeru: It has to be the storyline. I really love where [Square-Enix is] pushing Ul'dah's plot, and I'm looking forward to seeing the next chapter once I get my rank up.
Aniero: I would definitely say the ability to mix/match abilities and spells in between jobs. It makes for a very flexible character development system that will make endgame very interesting.
Viki: It's fairly easy to solo. Monsters aren't too tough, and leves make it enjoyable, even if I only log on for a short amount of time.
Andrey: Roleplaying mostly. I've just started a new character, playing Gladiator and doing goldsmithing, also pretty interesting.
Xenedra: Definitely the community. Overall I'm finding the population to be way more friendly than in XI, though I'm attributing that to the cutthroat nature of XI. At the top of the "community" list is, of course, the roleplaying crowd. I think I'm probably a lot less disappointed with the game than the average player just because I've been enjoying the roleplaying so much.
Corinth: I love the storyline so far. Every time I finish a quest, I want to find out what is going to happen next. While I'm not interested in every class in the game, I could see myself leveling a lot of them just to experience the storylines associated with them.
What's your least favorite part of the game at the moment?
FusionX: For me it's definitely the UI. The lag especially. The UI is the heart of the game; if there are problems with that, it can affect everything else. I'm looking forward to the upcoming updates, especially the mouse/keyboard specific interface to see how things improve with the UI. That, and the the sounds a Lalafell makes when using emotes.
Steak: Community bashing is my least favorite aspect of the game right now.
Xerumeru: The UI lag and general UI layout itself. The basic concept makes sense to a console user, but it is horribly executed on the PC side. Looks like the upcoming November patch will make some creative changes though.
Aniero: All the haters hating on it. And level 20 cactuars that can do 1000 Needles.
Viki: The UI lag. I can't stand it. I can often count upwards of 8 seconds after clicking on a menu option before anything even pops up.
Andrey: Lack of detailed lore. More emotes would be nice, too.
Xenedra: Ummmmm, the targeting system is driving me a little crazy. You better believe I miss the function F8 used to have in XI (target nearest enemy). Also toggling spells from single target to AoE is awesome... except when you don't notice you're in AoE mode and you catch 500 other targets alongside the one you were trying to kill. Painful.
Corinth: UI/Server lag adds a lot of stress when I'm cooking or mining. It's especially noticeable when you need Guild Cookery and a recipe has a lot of ingredients. Between loading items and running away from the guild to escape some of the lag, you can only get a few items made per enhancement. It takes some of the fun out of crafting.
