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Airships, cutscenes and dungeons... Oh my!Follow

#1 Jun 21 2013 at 2:37 PM Rating: Excellent
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I was able to play a bunch earlier today and I am happy to say I absolutely loved it. The morning started out rough with me losing several times to the level 15 storyline quest in Uldah. That is a tough little quest if you don't pay really close attention to your status (and get a little bit lucky). I decided to get pug to 16 and try again and was able to one shot it. I felt that sense of accomplishment I've been waiting for in an memo, and it happened at 15! Pretty great!

After I was finally able to ride an airship for the first time. While the ship itself was nothing special, I was treated to one of the coolest cutscenes I've ever seen in an mmo. I won't give anything away, all ill say is that it was epic and made me drool in anticipation for the story.

So I continued doing the storyline and soon enough had unlocked my first dungeon, sastasha(sp) near LL. I was able to join a group with 3 fellow zam members to try it out. Unfortunately we had no healer but we figured what the hell, let's give it a shot. Just for reference, I'd recommend not doing this. We had a gla with cure as our heals and it was very challenging. However, the dungeon itself was fantastic. It's the first I've done in arr and I enjoyed it. It was a tad linear, but had some really fun battles.

We made it to the last boss, and that's where it got real tough. Without a healer it seemed hopeless. But after about 5 full wipes we developed a kiting strategy and with excellent teamwork were able to beat the boss! It felt great, and even better to do it with zam ls mates. I didn't get any gear for my pug, but I don't care. I had more fun than I've had in an mmo since ffxi.

That's my day so far. I can't wait to play more and tell my next story.

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#2 Jun 21 2013 at 2:43 PM Rating: Good
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1,218 posts
Wonderful story. Compelling and rich.
#3 Jun 21 2013 at 2:46 PM Rating: Good
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Yeah, I've not been playing p3 because I want to avoid spoiling anything for release, but you guys are making it hard with stuff like this. Really liking the Zam LS idea btw.
#4 Jun 21 2013 at 2:46 PM Rating: Good
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Yeah, a lot of it really comes together in the dungeons. And yes, they seem a tad bit easy to me too, especially with a good group. But then again I have to remind myself that these are pretty much designed to be 'mini' raids to train exp parties how to do full ones at level 50, and then I realize 'wait, this is mini?' And it raises my expectations for endgame. (Hope not to be let down.)

I'm having a lot of fun, and am really anxious to get out of work and hop back into it. Seriously grabbing some energy drinks tonight.
#5 Jun 21 2013 at 2:57 PM Rating: Good
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I still think the copperbell dungeon is something to work for. The other two you can pretty much go in blind and enjoy them, find out how to play, but the Copperbell one, if you are not ready you will meet ALOT of death. Needless to say, my first run through I was not ready. We ran with a thm healer (which worked by the way, it was our lack of strat, and failure to properly understand what was happening in two of the fights right away).
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#6 Jun 21 2013 at 3:03 PM Rating: Good
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Sounds like a great morning! I cant wait to make my gear so i can try some of these dungeons!
#7 Jun 21 2013 at 4:11 PM Rating: Excellent
I got to run Halatali and that was a lot of fun, played with battling chocobos, sitting at 24 now and we're looking for a tank for Toto Rak atm.

This guy is a PAIN IN THE *** if you don't know the trick.

Screenshot
#8 Jun 21 2013 at 8:02 PM Rating: Good
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Hyrist wrote:
Yeah, a lot of it really comes together in the dungeons. And yes, they seem a tad bit easy to me too, especially with a good group. But then again I have to remind myself that these are pretty much designed to be 'mini' raids to train exp parties how to do full ones at level 50, and then I realize 'wait, this is mini?' And it raises my expectations for endgame. (Hope not to be let down.)

I'm having a lot of fun, and am really anxious to get out of work and hop back into it. Seriously grabbing some energy drinks tonight.

Good to see this attitude. Not that I'm in beta (curses!), but what I think gets lost is that most/all of the people running around atm would be "relatively" experienced MMO players. Yes, FFXI/FFXIV are slightly different, but aggro, positioning, resource management etc. are not that foreign a concept(s) - hopefully! Working as a specific role within a group is second nature. It is to be expected that these "introductory" dungeons will be fairly straightforward for a good group - as you say. Think about 4 people who have never played an MMO before, with no cross-class skills (they are just following the story), running in there. How would they go? THESE are the people Yoshi is targetting with these particular experiences. If they can fail a few times but feel that they are learning from their mistakes, and with some helpful nudging clear the dungeon, imagine the feeling of satisfaction that they get from that! Both players AND devs.

It is the same argument for the initial leveling experience (at least 1-10, if not 15), but combat is slightly different - you do need to grab all people, with different hooks. People coming from WoW/Rift/ToR/GW2 etc. will have different experiences & preconceptions. People new to MMOs will need to be taught about range, HP/MP/TP management, aggro radii etc. These people are going to need their training wheels on. BUT, for the hard-bitten group, you still need evidence of a deeper combat system that can develop out of what they see in those first 10-15 levels, else they will go back to what they know. Whilst it may be foolish to judge a game based on what you see in that timeframe, a) it is already happening in beta, and b) it will happen at launch. This is the key balancing point - and not just for FFXIV, but any MMO with grand aspirations.

And my $0.02 from personal experience. My taru was born into Windurst as a WHM. It took about ... 20 minutes to figure out how to move using the keyboard! I then spend around 45 minutes just running around, taking in the city - and finding my way around. Fortunate that, as I found the AH, spell vendors, mog house etc. completely on my own. Given I only started playing late-2005, it was an intimidating experience for a new player - one that wouldn't fly in today's environment. I'm glad they are seemingly creating a gentler introduction - provided they can ramp up a learner's skill throughout their journey.
#9 Jun 21 2013 at 9:04 PM Rating: Good
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What I have seen thus far of the main scenario and even the individual class quests really has me anxious to see more. The cutscenes are awesome, the story is fluid and Yoshi... He deserves a medal.

Edited, Jun 21st 2013 11:06pm by kainsilv
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#10 Jun 21 2013 at 9:25 PM Rating: Decent
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I also got stuck at that mission and had to wait a lvl to complete it I have yet to make it to the airships but looking forward to it great story
#11 Jun 21 2013 at 9:29 PM Rating: Good
I'm also finding that if you attempt to do a fight and lose, it's best to wait until you've got another level under your belt and try again.

Funny what difference one level makes, but since a lot of the failed "duties" are a result of a KO... (Level 10 GLA quest my NPC died twice, then I died, then I finally beat it on the fourth attempt.)
#12 Jun 22 2013 at 3:40 AM Rating: Excellent
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I must have attempted my level 15 main Scenario quest a dozen times. I finally watched the cutscene again and read the dialogue. The dialogue gave me the hint I needed to win. You have to actually read what the story says?!!! *gasp*
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#13 Jun 22 2013 at 1:31 PM Rating: Decent
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Catwho wrote:
I'm also finding that if you attempt to do a fight and lose, it's best to wait until you've got another level under your belt and try again.

Funny what difference one level makes, but since a lot of the failed "duties" are a result of a KO... (Level 10 GLA quest my NPC died twice, then I died, then I finally beat it on the fourth attempt.)

One level always makes the world of difference. You either grow or you stagnate.

You can't win all the time without hardship.The average fail once or twice and throw in the towel. The great fail and get up again and again, they never say I give up.

If SE took the former path, Final Fantasy would not be here today. Smiley: grin
#14 Jun 22 2013 at 7:07 PM Rating: Good
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FOOD helps. Bubble choclate for mages, boiled eggs for war classes. And of course, there's armor too.

Didn't help me when I tried to solo and big mother giant monster. Ouch and death.
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