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The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV and the housing mess, part 2
Wait, part 2? When was part 1 a thing? January, my friends. And while I had prayed for sun, I planned for rain, and that turned out to be a wise move. What happened in the end was unpleasant but entirely unsurprising, as Final Fantasy XIV's second implementation of housing went little better than the first. In the interests of full disclosure, yes, I am one of the vanishingly small number of people with an in-game house at the moment. I work at home and happened to have both the money and the time to grab myself a place to live in-game. That doesn't mean the system is anything remotely approaching good or even acceptable, which is why I want to spend this week talking about the mess that has been made and what, if anything, can be done to correct this fact. Housing in Final Fantasy XIV is a sore spot right now, and that's a problem, especially when it doesn't have to be.
Last Week on Massively: QueueAge
This post originally appeared on Massively from Editor-in-Chief Brianna Royce. At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. If you missed a big MMO story last week, you've come to the right post Let's not sugarcoat this: A startling number of gamers are willing to wait in some ridiculously long lines to fling sand in the ArcheAge sandbox. This week, ArcheAge's launch woes were inescapable as Trion struggled to add waves of new servers and deal with the fallout of queues and character creation embargoes that have kept both paying and freemium players from logging in, let alone claiming land. Massively's Jef Reahard chronicled his first six days in the game: Massively's ArcheAge launch diary: Day one - Introduction Massively's ArcheAge launch diary: Day two - Classes, skills, and combat Massively's ArcheAge launch diary: Day three - PvE, quests, and story Massively's ArcheAge launch diary: Day four - Trade runs, sea beasts, and pirates Massively's ArcheAge launch diary: Day five - Random knowledge Massively's ArcheAge launch diary: Day six - Pay-to-win and the early verdict Read on for a look at the rest of this week's top MMO stories.
Final Fantasy XIV shows off footage from the Tokyo Game Show
Final Fantasy XIV players were treated to a preview of the game's next major patch over the weekend as the Tokyo Game Show wrapped up. Producer and director Naoki Yoshida showed off the first trailer for the patch as well as a quick preview of the new dungeons, the upcoming Rogue and Ninja, and the arena where players will face off against Shiva. While all of the videos are in Japanese, most of them have very little narration, making them just as accessible if you don't speak the language. The trailer is embedded past the cut, but it's only one of the four videos. Shiva's arena features a central dais and a lower area connected by staircases, implying that players can be knocked off or may even choose to jump off at certain times. Sunken Temple of Qarn and Sastasha are receiving the hard mode makeovers for the patch, while Snowcloak takes the role of the new dungeon. A few more tidbits are also revealed by the Rogue/Ninja video, including a sneak peek at the class's stealth mechanics. Jump past the break for the trailer to get a taste of what's coming.
Working As Intended: Lessons from the history of MMO housing
Once upon a time, a subscription MMORPG sandbox had open-world housing, only there wasn't quite enough for everyone. Well, there was, but there wasn't enough of it in safe lands, so a lot of the people who wanted a place to live had to live in dangerous places they didn't like, places where they could be killed on their doorstep by other players. Even most of the plots in the safe lands were so remote or allowed for such small homes that they were undesirable. In fact, there were only a few housing plots on every server that afforded a strategic advantage in PvP or trade or storage, and if you didn't own one of those, you were at a distinct disadvantage. And when new lands opened up, scripters and gold farmers were first in line to grab the best plots and sell them on Ebay for hundreds (sometimes thousands!) of dollars. And legit players were pissed. I speak, of course, not of ArcheAge but of Ultima Online.
Raptr shows MMOs and MOBAs dominating the top 20 in August
Raptr's tracking of play choices among the service's gamers in August paints a picture of a wide love for MMOs and MOBAs. World of Warcraft holds a respectable #2 spot, followed by Final Fantasy XIV (#10), Warframe (#11), Guild Wars 2 (#12), Star Wars: The Old Republic (#14), and Firefall (#20). However, former Raptr #6 holder, WildStar, has dropped out of Raptr's top 20 entirely. "With a late July release, Firefall made a 40-spot jump into the top 20 for August. Not too surprisingly, Firefall is converting more players from fellow F2P shooter Warframe than any other game, with Dota 2 coming in second," Raptr posted. Other online titles fleshed out the list, such as League of Legends (#1), Dota 2 (#3), SMITE (#5), and World of Tanks (#13). Card battler Hearthstone is still hanging onto the top 10 at #8.
Final Fantasy XIV introduces personal housing (badly) with patch 2.38
After more than half a year of waiting, Final Fantasy XIV players can finally purchase houses of their own. Provided, of course, that they have an exceptional amount of disposable gil and were on the servers early. Patch 2.38 introduces the option of purchasing land in the housing wards as an individual, but with prices starting at 4 million on the most populated servers for the smallest plot and with only two new wards introduced, many players who had been hopeful for a new house will find their hopes quickly dashed. Producer Naoki Yoshida took to the forums to apologize for the land shortage, promising that more wards will be introduced with or following the launch of patch 2.4, which should double the amount of available land. While the prices are equal for both personal and free company houses (being built on the same plots), these prices are significantly lower than those when housing was first introduced, even after adjustments to Legacy worlds. The update also contains other features, including new emotes, new Relic Weapon quests, and update loot in Syrcus Tower and the Second Turn of the Binding Coil.
The Mog Log: On the twilight of Final Fantasy XIV's story
As I write this, we don't yet have the patch notes for Final Fantasy XIV 2.38. Supposedly this is when we're getting personal housing, and people are abuzz with speculation about how that will be rolled out, what will work, what will be broken, and so forth. Alas, I can't yet address any of it -- not prices, not availability, not any of that. It's all just guesswork until the powers that be let us know what's going on, which will likely be in the evening after you read this. My guess is that there's going to be something to make people angry, but there usually is. So since I've nothing to offer regarding Final Fantasy XIV's mini-update other than speculation, it's best to turn to something that can be much more clearly seen. We're not at the end of the 2.0 update cycle just yet, but it seems pretty obvious that we're on the back nine, so to speak. So where are we going from here? What awaits? And what does all this mean from a storyline perspective? (If you'd like to avoid any potential spoilers, do look away now.)
Final Fantasy XIV Q&A teases future content and pacing
Final Fantasy XIV has been a little pokey in rolling out major new systems. Will this be the case going forward? Not so much, according to a new producer's letter Q&A, in which the team says that future updates should be coming more frequently. "Due to scheduling issues and circumstances surrounding implementation, we've been prioritizing the implementation of party-based challenges utilizing the duty finder whenever possible," the letter states. "As a result, we were a step behind in implementing systems that make use of the open world, or those that require time but can be completed at one's own pace. With the introduction of zodiac weapons followed shortly after by the Hunt, it may seem as though we're shifting focus toward time-consuming systems, but rest assured this is not the case, and we plan to strike a balance with party-based activities as we move forward." Other topics of discussion include the upcoming Rogue class and Ninja job, the approximate release window for Patch 2.38 (about a month), word of a new expansion release, and hints about the expansion and new race.
The Mog Log: Happy birthday, Final Fantasy XIV
Congratulations, Final Fantasy XIV! It's been a year and you're still going after the relaunch, much to the surprise and consternation of the many people who were hoping for the opposite outcome for... well, I'm not clear on that exit strategy. Bragging rights, I guess. The point is, you turned out to surprise pretty much everyone, you've been posting incredibly solid numbers for a while now, and you don't seem likely to go anywhere in the near future. You can take a load off, maybe take a nap. Now that I've gotten the congratulations out of the way, let's talk about Final Fantasy XIV and the many ways that the designers have screwed up so far. Sort of. I mean, over the past year I've been more than willing to fire with both barrels when a screwup was made, which has happened... about once every major patch. But here's the thing: I'm glad to see that happening, on some level. It gives me hope for the future.
Final Fantasy XIV celebrates a year since its relaunch
As of today, Final Fantasy XIV has made it a full year since its successful relaunch. Producer Naoki Yoshida took the time to celebrate with a special letter from the producer, looking back at the past year of operation, both the pitfalls and the highlights. He also thanks the fans and especially the Legacy players for having stood by the game from a rocky inception to the present, and looks forward to upcoming patches, the pending Fan Fest, and the as-yet-unrevealed expansion. Today also marks the start of a seasonal event to celebrate the anniversary, featuring new minipets, a new emote, and new items for players to enjoy. The event will run until September 8th, giving everyone time to complete the sequence if they so choose. So here's to a year of the resurrected game, and let's hope for many more to come.
Last Week on Massively: At home in a galaxy far, far away
This post originally appeared on Massively from Editor-in-Chief Brianna Royce. At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. If you missed a big MMO story last week, you've come to the right post. You may not be able to play Uncle Owen on your very own moisture farm in Star Wars: The Old Republic, but you can come pretty darn close in the Galactic Strongholds expansion, which added housing to the game when it launched for subscribers earlier this week. Read on for a look at the rest of this week's top MMO stories, including more of our SOE Live coverage.
Final Fantasy XIV throws free week for its first anniversary
Here's a good way to round out your August: by returning to Final Fantasy XIV for a free week courtesy of Square Enix. The studio is celebrating the first anniversary of the game's relaunch (no, there never was a game before A Realm Reborn. You must forget... forget...) by giving a week of free game time to former subscribers. Anyone who previously played FFXIV can enjoy the title from Friday, August 22nd, through Monday, September 1st. Final Fantasy XIV recently released Patch 2.35 with hunting and crafting improvements.
Final Fantasy XIV launches birds and hunt balances in patch 2.35
Another wave of beast tribe daily quests has flown in to Final Fantasy XIV, and this time around players will need to get crafty. Patch 2.35 ushers in Ixali daily quests, but these quests are focused on crafting items and turning in crafted pieces for benefits rather than simply hacking through enemy legions. The new quests also make use of special crafting facilities and help level your crafting classes faster, an excellent boost to adventurers who haven't picked up a craft beforehand. The patch also introduces major revisions to the game's hunt mechanics. All hunt bills have had their rewards increased significantly, while B-rank marks have been given a dramatically shortened respawn timer and no inherent rewards for killing them. This is balanced by the addition of extra rewards to unique weekly bills, which are now assigned to players individually rather than server-wide. Check the patch notes for the full details; the patch also makes minor Frontline adjustments and Chocobo Stable improvements.
The Mog Log: Expectations for Final Fantasy XIV 2.35
I realize it's kind of silly, but I'm still annoyed at Final Fantasy XIV's methods for numbering interquel patches. I get the schema, I really do, but "2.35" to me says a patch that's preceded by 34 others. "2.3.5." would indicate a patch partway through the 2.3 patch cycle. Could we get another dot in there? Please? No, evidently not. And yes, I know we'll probably have an expansion long before we'd be that far through 2.x, it's the principle of the thing. As I write this, we still don't have a preliminary set of patch notes or anything on 2.35, but while it's a "minor" patch it's still adding a fair amount of stuff into the game. This is one of the great parts about playing the game, that however bad some parts of it might be when it comes to balance, it pumps out content as minor patches that makes other studios look painfully lazy. Specifics are left to the audience for speculation. So what am I expecting from this week's little patch, the known and the unknown?
Final Fantasy XIV reveals more anniversary lore and events
The Final Fantasy XIV anniversary celebration continues to speed onward; players have already started to enjoy the Moonfire Faire festivities, but there's more just around the bend. The game's anniversary page has updated with details about the three returning cross-promotion events from Final Fantasy XI, Dragon Quest X, and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, allowing players who missed out the first time to get their minipets and vanity gear during the repeat engagements. But there's also a new event coming to the game starting on the date of the relaunch: The Rising. Participants in this event will just need to swing by Limsa Lominsa to unlock the "Huzzah" emote. There will also be new minipets and fireworks available for players to buy and use. The site has also posted the first of its lore pieces bridging the gap between the Calamity and the start of the game's storyline, tracking Maelstrom leader Merlwyb's path from the Battle of Carteneau to the rebuilding of Limsa Lominsa. Keep your eyes peeled for more reveals as the celebration continues onward.
Last Week on Massively: Blizzard goes all-in on WoW nostalgia
This post originally appeared on Massively from Editor-in-Chief Brianna Royce. At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. If you missed a big MMO story last week, you've come to the right post. World of Warcraft stole the pre-Gamescom show this week by both dropping 800k subscriptions over the past quarter and promising to reveal on August 14th the Warlords of Draenor expansion's intended release date. Taking into account Blizzard's announcement of nostalgia-laced anniversary content, the Massively staffers and readers speculated on just when Draenor's launch might be. Read on for a look at the rest of this week's top MMO stories.
One Shots: There's no bear in panda
As much fun as it is to be corrected by know-it-alls who like to huff things like, "You can't call them panda bears; they're not bears, you know!" it's even more fun to say, "Yuh-huh they're bears! And your face also has a ursine visage, especially around the snout." I don't even know why I brought that up. It certainly has nothing to do with our opening screenshot from reader JohnD, who writes, "While starting off with my new Pandaren Monk in World of Warcraft, I came across these delightful Pandaren children, who seemed more than happy to just chat with me and occasionally wave. After a few minutes they quickly ran off -- but not before making my adventures a little more fun!" But they're not bears. Or are they? Yes. No. I don't know.
Final Fantasy XIV gearing up for its first anniversary
In one sense, Final Fantasy XIV is approaching its fourth anniversary, since its original incarnation launched in September of 2010. But in another, more immediate sense, the relaunch was just about one year ago. That's what the development team is celebrating now and through most of August, with plenty of in-game events including the Moonfire Festival and several new contests for players to show off their creativity and affection for the game. The anniversary page is now live, and while it's not displaying everything just yet, there's plenty to be excited about. Aside from another round of the Moonfire Festival, players can look forward to the return of all three major cross-promotional events as well as a special event called The Rising. There will also be a special 14-hour livestream event starting on August 22nd, a one-year anniversary login campaign, and real-life events at PAX Prime, Gamescom, and the Tokyo Game Show. Check the official anniversary site for more details, and get ready to celebrate a full year of a reborn Eorzea!
The Mog Log: Exploring Final Fantasy XIV's 2.3 dungeons
It's been just about a month since 2.3 went live in Final Fantasy XIV, and while we're still waiting for the arrival of our full personal housing and the addressing of the hot mess that is the Hunt, we do still have new dungeons. More than that, we have three really good dungeons. Since everyone knows I am an absolute glutton for dungeons, it's almost shocking that I haven't talked about these yet. Unlike the first two sets of added dungeons, this set doesn't really have a loser in the lot; even the worst dungeon is just kind of meh alongside its contemporaries, not actively bad. So whether you've just been waiting for me to talk about them or you've been Hunt-spamming for weeks and haven't even thought about any other form of content, let's talk about Stone Vigil, Tam-Tara, and Hullbreaker Isle long after I would normally yammer on about them.
Square offers 14-day Final Fantasy XIV trial
Square is looking to spread the gospel of Final Fantasy XIV via a newly announced 14-day free trial. The fantasy MMORPG normally features a client fee and a monthly subscription, but you can get a taste of what Eorzea has to offer by downloading the trial software and giving it a whirl. There are a few restrictions to be aware of including a level 20 cap, a currency cap of 20,000 gil, and the inability to join guilds, trade, or use the market. A full list of terms is available on the official Square support website.
