[Megathread] Final Fantasy XIV

[Swnem]

@Poppincaps @Val the Moofia Boss

I dont like Bellular because:

"as a game designer myself i know this is true"
"Thats just a fact"
"This is what Blizzard needs to do"
"This is better and thats just a fact"
"This is worse and thats just a fact"

He is like this all the time, acting all knowing and superior to Blizzard developers when he has no experience whatsoever and still calls himself a "game designer"
He is completely and utterly...dishonest, clickbait, wrong and is noticeable 100% he knows all of this and just doesnt care

Sure, he may act superior but the WoW devs are no authorities in game design as they have been failing at it for many expansions now.
Also, sorry to say but they are incompetent. The way they design the game doesn't take into account what they want players to do.

For example, RP text in the spires dungeon. Knowing full well that players would have to run the dungeons hundreads of times, they gave no thought to it.

Oribos flythroughs... knowing full well that players will have to go throut it thousands of times between zones, they made the unecessary step mandatory.

Covenant choices, which they wanted to be a thematic choice, they tied to player power despite being warned it wouldn't work. They got proven wrong.
Theres many more of these examples... maw, torghast, etc.

So, no, if i'm honest i think i would prefer bellular designing the game atm, cause the current team clearly are not designing an mmorpg. They launch some crap they try to band-aid later before saying they learned lessons and then finding a way to forget what sort of game they are making in a closed room completely ignoring player feedback.
The complete opposite of current FFXIV. Actually it reminds me of the vanilla XIV release.

[Tenjen]

People calling ZeplaQ "Cringy" seem to base that solely on all the brainless idiots in Asmon's chat and youtube comments spaming cringe over and over and over without meaning or purpose like an echo chamber whenever she or FFXIV comes up. They're like a drop of static in an ocean of the same.

You can see how weary of it Asmon is because it drowns out all the other discussion being attempted.

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I saw most of the video and i must say she has very valid opinions...i would even say i agree.
The only cringy thing on the video is when she became emotional and did a wombo combo of laughing and crying.

But i understand and know people who feel emotional about videogames...so i didnt find it cringe.

Dont base your opinions on chat spam people.

Actually wanted to play the game MORE after watching the video (>_<) but im kinda weirdly hyped about it

you're missing some injoke stuff/context here but she refers to a one limited time event based on Yokai Watch, which was SUPER FARMY to the point of being mind breaking the first time it came around. She says the subject of the video is not AS BAD as that, but still pretty damn close. Thus the hesterics.

its like every time AVGN loses his shit when LJN rears its head.

[Granyala]

• Nonsense? Hm... well I don't think any of them are super trashy.

I can understand watching YT videos that discuss raid bosses and strategy but the rest seem redundant to me.
Though I guess videos are more in tune for the younger generation than forum discussions.

A streamer that interviews DEVs and gets some, otherwise unobtainable background info/peeks behind the curtain, that might be interesting as well.

[draugril]

• Nonsense? Hm... well I don't think any of them are super trashy.

• Work to Game has 60k subscribers, uploads at least one video a day (mostly guides for new players, regurgitating info, etc), gets at least 1-2k views per average video. Sometimes their videos get upwards of 50k views. If you've been playing FFXIV for a year there is no reason to sub to him.

• Meoni has 80k subscribers, uploads multiple videos a week regurgitating the smallest bit of news, be it a new store mount or a new screenshot being posted on a patch website, or something Yoshida off handedly said in an interview, or whatever. His average video gets between 5k and 20k views, gets 50k views more often than Work to Game. Stay subbed only if you just want a news feed of everything FFXIV so you don't miss anything.

• Mr. Happy has 180k subscribers. He leans towards raid guides and hour long podcast discussions with other streamers (namely Ethys and SlyTheFox). Gets 5k views for his raid guilds and 10k to 20k for his other stuff like news and podcasts. Has a habit of dominating the conversation in the podcasts. Maybe sub if you're a raider.

• Ethys is more into the lore of the game. I suppose he's a little bit like the Nobbel of FFXIV but doesn't put together as well produced videos. I guess maybe sub if you want to here a FFXIV lore nerd speculate about the game.

• SlyTheFox is probably the most interesting guy to listen to out of all of them. Astute observations of stuff, and he's pretty honest. Doesn't hold his tongue or anything about how he feels, doesn't rage, etc. Wish he had a Youtube channel.

• And ofcourse there is Zepla who has 160k subscribers. Is pleasant to listen to. I stay subbed to her because she doesn't clog up my subscriptions with useless videos and they're usually straight to the point, explain what the thing she is talking about is, and breaks down her feelings on it. If she has a video it's usually worthwhile.

On a related note, if you're really into story and game design, I'd recommend checking out the Lorerunner (Final Fantasy and Warcraft supernerd). He goes into detail about the people who made a game and the history behind its development and interviews. He has a let's play of Shadowbringers and the patch content up to 5.3 (he's saving 5.4 and 5.5 for when he does Endwalker) and his breakdowns are pretty insightful.

Did you witness Mithrie crash and burn, too?

That was painful....

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Did you witness Mithrie crash and burn, too?

That was painful....

Never heard of him until now.

[Xilurm]

I doubt it will fix the writing problems associated with Ishikawa's tenure (lack of stakes, bad guys being forgiven/victimized, consequences being swept under the rug, preachiness and moral grandstanding, etc).

No, it won't because these "problems" are what made Ascians go from Sunday morning cartoon villains to actual good, interesting characters. Considering Ishikawa is being treated as the holy grail of the FFXIV writing and arguably the best thing to happen to it, none of that is going to change, infact, you can expect way more of that.

[Echo of Soul]

I can understand watching YT videos that discuss raid bosses and strategy but the rest seem redundant to me.
Though I guess videos are more in tune for the younger generation than forum discussions.

A streamer that interviews DEVs and gets some, otherwise unobtainable background info/peeks behind the curtain, that might be interesting as well.

Depends on the creator really. There certainly are those that just create meme content but a lot of them just collect information that's available from a lot of different sources and report on them. It's not entirely different from watching the news.
Most people don't scan the Internet for all that information, they just want a single source where they can get all their news. If it's a personality they also like then that's great.

[bloodwulf]

It really shocks me people are wanting to compare Bellular as if he should be taken as a industry standard. The dude used to be great, but now is terrible. He obviously spun into a company far earlier than they should of cause of how often he makes a 15 minute video on "Rumor from guy who knows a guy that works as a custodian at the burger king across from Blizzard campus", or how much he plugs his Pins as if they are a desirable collectible at all. He then plays the victim anytime someone is critical of his work. His videos used to be level headed and well thought out, but now he has to have X videos get Y views every time because of how much money he has tied up in his "company" and "game development". And o god, how he thinks he has some inside industry knowledge because he is now in "game development"......

As a person who is new to the FF14 streaming community, only getting into watching videos\streams recently, my irrelevant opinions of the ones I watched are as follows:

MrHappy - Videos are good, Streams are terrible. He spends all time the time cussing not getting a card in triple triad or other stupid things.
Zephla - Videos are interesting to me as she is a former WOW player, and I am still active in both so I can easily relate to her references. Her mannerisms are a bit leaning to cutesy but not enough to impact the videos. Never watched her streams.
There was another that i watched for bossguides for bosses i have never done. Female speaker, on youtube but for the life of me cant remember the name. Well spoken videos but know nothing else about her.
There is also an economy player whose youtube account starts with a D, not professionally made in any sense, but has some useful stuff if you are new to Retainers and Market hopping.

I have yet to find a streamer i really enjoy to watch.

[draugril]

Never heard of him until now.

Used to be one of the "go to" channels for anything related to crafting. But then he started using his videos as an outlet for a lot of personal issues that he should have spoken to a professional about, and now his videos are lucky to get a dozen views. Which is a real shame, since I found his content to be very well-structured, brief, professional and to the point previously. He was on the cusp of that big break out that would have allowed him to get into YouTube full time, but then it all crumbled.

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And o god, how he thinks he has some inside industry knowledge because he is now in "game development"......

There is a word that I can use very rarely that perfectly encapsulates him: Dilettante. It is, generally, someone who is pretending to be an expert at something, but they don't have any true experience with the subject matter and are simply attempting to garner some form of authority or prestige. Honestly, anyone who put in a few hours on RPG Maker in their youth has as much clout as a "game developer" as he does.

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There is also an economy player whose youtube account starts with a D, not professionally made in any sense, but has some useful stuff if you are new to Retainers and Market hopping.

Yeah, there's lot of Eastern European crafter/economy videos out there. Those guys know how to turn a profit.

[Maljinwo]

.But if you are there because you want to defend Eorzea then the ability to buy miqo'te hookers is just a fringe benefit. And the promise of more hookers is not enough to persuade you to betray your boss.
.

Where are these benefits and how do I acquire them. I assume ive earned some of that

[draugril]

Where are these benefits and how do I acquire them. I assume ive earned some of that

Minor spoilers, but there's a cutscene where a certain character summons help against a certain boss for your character. My brother's cutscene? He had a harem of scantily-clad bunny and cat girls summoned in for him. "That's canon!" he yelled.

[Maljinwo]

Minor spoilers, but there's a cutscene where a certain character summons help against a certain boss for your character. My brother's cutscene? He had a harem of scantily-clad bunny and cat girls summoned in for him. "That's canon!" he yelled.

So performing as bard in Limsa was fruitless?

I feel betrayed

[draugril]

So performing as bard in Limsa was fruitless?

I feel betrayed

A single Bard doesn't cut it. You need to multibox an entire band to attract your own groupies.

[Maljinwo]

A single Bard doesn't cut it. You need to multibox an entire band to attract your own groupies.

B-But I swear there were at least 2 people listening!

[Wangming]

Where are these benefits and how do I acquire them. I assume ive earned some of that

It's the money you get. I mean it's not like you buy the girls directly from Tataru. I have a special arrangement with Lolorito but some prefer the staff at the Saucer.

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B-But I swear there were at least 2 people listening!

You also need aether. You know, aether and wishes.

[Maljinwo]

It's the money you get. I mean it's not like you buy the girls directly from Tataru. I have a special arrangement with Lolorito but some prefer the staff at the Saucer.

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You also need aether. You know, aether and wishes.

Honestly, Tataru dealing with miqo'te... Mistresses could honestly help the Scions balance their economy

[Wangming]

Honestly, Tataru dealing with miqo'te... Mistresses could honestly help the Scions balance their economy

To counterbalance Alphinaud buying Gosetsu's sword. XD

I really liked that detail. This is exactly what a sheltered rich twerp would do. Absolutely no sense of finances cause he never had to care.

[bloodwulf]

To counterbalance Alphinaud buying Gosetsu's sword. XD

I really liked that detail. This is exactly what a sheltered rich twerp would do. Absolutely no sense of finances cause he never had to care.

Does Alphinaud ever becoming likeable? Im playing through 5.1 for the first now, and him and his sister are my most unlikable characters in the game. I know we are supposed to watch them grow but for crying out loud I am at 5.1 and all he does is self-doubt and pose as a righteous hero when he rarely does anything. His sister is just a boring edgier version (albeit 4th grade emo edgy) of the brother and I still don't have a single memorable line from her.

[Dakhath]

If you don't like them by now, you probably never will.

[RampageBW1]

If you don't like them by now, you probably never will.

This.

2.x, Alphinaud was an insufferable brat. I never really dealt with Alisae much since I didn't do the Coils of Bahamut raid series
3.x and onward, Alphinaud became a much better character after he reached his lowest point and realized how much an ass he was.

Alisae however, I seem to enjoy being in her company more than Alphinaud. But yeah, if you are in Shadowbringers content and still do not like the twins, you probably never will.