starting-cities
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Aventurine tweaking Darkfall's newbie experience
Darkfall can be pretty intimidating for newbs, and that's before they're killed and stripped of all their meager belongings. The game's learning curve is considerable, whether it's the unconventional UI or the vast world of Agon and the lack of themepark-style direction from one area to the next. Aventurine's latest activity report indicates that the dev team is hard at work on improving the new user experience. Over half of the game's quests (yes, it does have them, even though it's a sandbox) have been rewritten, and many new training quests are being added. Starting areas will also be seeing some changes in the upcoming relaunch campaign. New characters will no longer choose from three starting towns; instead, they'll begin in a single racial capital city. Additionally, NPC racial vendors will offer the same services regardless of whether they're located in the capital or the outlying faction towns. The activity report also drops a few hints about new art assets (including the infernal image above) as well as the new armor specialization system that is currently under development. Check out the Darkfall Epic Blog for further details.
Final Fantasy XIV releases new Gridania assets
With only a few days left until release, Final Fantasy XIV has lifted the shroud surrounding the third of the starting city-states for new characters. Gridania, nestled in the Black Shroud, is a city built into the very structure of the wood around it, filled with reverence for the spirits and creatures that dwell in the environment. The newest pictures have been put together in a gallery showing off the environment of the city -- as well as a hint of the Garlean Empire. A city of warm earth tones and expansive wooden buildings, Gridania manages to carry its own distinct feel from its sister cities, especially with the stained-glass architecture that dominates the adventurer's guild. While the preview images lack the callbacks that the recent Ul'dah reveal carried, they still show off an environment that is both engaging and alien. Take a look at the full gallery, and keep your eyes open to see if Final Fantasy XIV has any more secrets to reveal prior to next week's launch. %Gallery-102406%
A peek at Gridania and Ul'dah in Final Fantasy XIV
Square-Enix has been as good as their word when it comes to obfuscating the details of Final Fantasy XIV, even through testing. Testers have been confined to the port city of Limsa Lominsa all through the beta phases, but last week Square gave a small hands-on to a handful of sites showing off the other two cities. FFXIVCore happened to be among them, and offers an extensive rundown of the experience in both Ul'dah and Gridania -- both of which are very different from the thoroughly-tested pirate-themed opening. Gridania's opening takes place within the dense forests surrounding the city, with a crashed airship and a rather unexpected encounter with wolves. Ul'dah, on the other hand, features a great deal of pageantry being disrupted by the untimely freedom of a goobue. Both include certain common elements from the Limsa Lominsa opening, most notably the meteor shower and the disembodied voice, but the rundown indicates that players starting in different settings will have a memorable start to their adventures as well. That's good news for Final Fantasy XIV's future players, although perhaps a bitter pill for the testers not yet able to play these cities.
