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The Mog Log: Love potion number 1.19
I've had another week to digest the enormous patch that we got last week, and I have to say that... I'm still not done. Really. I'm no longer in the stage of absolute baffled disbelief, but I haven't yet gotten a firm grip on all the changes. Heck, I haven't had time to explore all of them to my satisfaction. I've been questing and riding a chocobo hither and yon and noticing how repairs now cost me essentially pocket change. But I promised more talk about the patch this time around, and I've got more. I just want to emphasize how enormous this patch really is, bigger than any of its predecessors -- and considering how big several of Final Fantasy XIV's previous updates were, I'd say that's saying something. So let's talk about experience chains and powerleveling, class balance, and of course materia just past the break. Or rather, I'll talk. You know what I mean.
Chocobos, airships, and materia somehow weren't in Final Fantasy 14 yet
A series staple is being added to Final Fantasy XIV: Chocobos. A year after release, players can now purchase and rent the birds for the purpose of traveling across Eorzea. Three Chocobo stables have opened up in-world, in which you can get your very own Chocobo whistle. If that's not efficient enough, or Final Fantasy-y enough, you can also now take an airship ride between any of three ports. "Departure and arrival cutscenes will accompany each flight," Square Enix said. "The voyage itself, however, will be over in a matter of seconds." Now that's Final Fantasy. A later update will allow players to roam the decks and view the scenery. Even materia is returning to the series in the latest update, as a resource crafted from old, well-used equipment. It's as if Square is desperately trading on nostalgia to attract FF7 players to its MMO.
Materia system detailed for Final Fantasy XIV
Characters always wind up acquiring old and beloved pieces of equipment, ranging from a valuable dropped weapon to just a particularly nicely itemized ring. But with time, equipment grows obsolete or just no longer serves your needs. Normally, that means a trip to the nearest vendor, but Final Fantasy XIV is introducing a new system that turns your old gear into boosts for your new gear. The Materia system is coming with patch 1.19, and a detailed preview has been added to the official site. When the patch goes live, all equipment will have a "Spiritbond" value that rises from zero to 100% as you make use of the item. Once the value is at 100%, the item can be converted to materia that is subsequently attached to a new item, giving enhanced values to the new item. The system makes full use of combat, gathering, and crafting professions, and from the looks of the overview it will enable all three to make some significant gains in power.
The Daily Grind: Which Final Fantasy would you prefer in MMO form?
Square-Enix is known for making each of their Final Fantasy games in a brand new world or at least mostly new. While that's fine and dandy, let us suppose that the next MMO to come out of Square-Enix is in fact a recreation of one of their previous Final Fantasy games in MMO form. Which game would you like to see get the treatment? Midgar and it's band of rebel miscreants from Final Fantasy VII or perhaps Final Fantasy XII with its dashing sureshot Balthier? Or something else entirely? We're curious to know which of these many, many worlds and famous characters you'd most love to experience.It's a tough call for us, but we're somewhere in-between the two aforementioned games for both their worlds and characters. On one hand you've got an interesting game mechanic where classes could utilize materia, but on the other hand you've got a world where some kind of magical mist can drive its denizens to crazed outbursts of rage. Although we may have to go with the twelfth game due to its bunny girls. Then again, if they were to make the sixth game into an MMO we could probably create Moogle characters for a change.
