Pretty much subbed again to do Manderville and some other small bits and pieces, but more importantly drop some thoughts and hopes regarding Evercold, as things have gotten 'complicated', with the vibe-tide now starting to go back out again after recent assorted announcements.
Going back a few months though, the first thing that began the hope that FF XIV could be 'back', was the initial Evercold teaser at NA Fanfest. For a rather troubled game, it is the right theme to turn things around, based off of the imagery shown. We shouldn't assume everything in the trailer will be a visitable location in the expansion of course, like the woodland with wooden houses, windmills and fort. But here's hoping that we see certain things.
Any any case, the 'Nordic theme' (being the colloquial term thrown around) of Evercold is very important, as this is a major part of what drove the feeling like the game will recover from it's current state. I would advise to stay close to these themes in terms of what Evercold will deliver. And the reason I feel like bringing this up is due to the two raid series being taken up by non-XIV properties. The Evangelion Alliance Raid annoucement raised eyebrows, but was warmly accepted at the time- but now with the Normal Raids going to FF7, many have voiced disappointment about that, and I do also. However,
I figure that the FF7 partnership, though announced only recently, would already have too many wheels turning to change and that's fine. Yet as much as I want to say that the Evangelion AR could be changed to become a different piece of side-content- the current plan may actually just work out ok for XIV given these 2 particular IPs in this particular case. But I really hope that the disappointment is seen- as it's a flying-close-to-the-sun move to do be doing this. The 'I want XIV in my XIV' argument is quite valid.
I would draw comparison to comedy shows, both from known studios and also independents- these show series can start off hilarious, but then fall afoul of cramming in more and more pop culture references, until those references unintentionally become the backbone of the show, and it loses it's core identity and people walk away. So I feel that everything will be ok IF 8.0's other side-content is 'Evercold themed', as the playerbase will become very noisy if they realise this isn't happening.
I'm not a fan of variant dungeons (have done Aloalo though), so I hope to see a different concept replace it in Evercold. I was disappointed to hear that The Merchants Tale does not give a mount (let alone unique) for 'doing the 12 paths'- that was a good 'rule' at least (it's not too late to add in a mount alongside the eye mask item, I watched a video of a playthrough and any of the water-based enemies would be a good pick to turn into a mount). Thanks to the Evercold hope from 3 months ago, I am now interested in doing the first two variant dungeons- as it was the downward situation of the game over the last 4 or so years that had me increasingly hedging out my commitment to the game and not participating in stuff.
* I am hoping/expecting the Evangelion content to drop simple outfit pieces (as individual pieces, no onesie shenanigans) that are effectively newer/better versions of the late allagan maiming/scouting/striking outfits basically. No tricks, lights/glows, or weird forced chunky attachments on random parts of the gear. I've seen the Evangelions. We're gonna be ok right?
* For the FF7 Raids, I'm hoping to see midgar-scrapyard-steampunky stuff without lights/glow on it for two of the tiers, but who knows. I'm always happy to see more simple lighter armored stuff in the game. The 2 outfit sets and other rewards coming soon from the text battle game are very welcome of course.
* I do not hope to see another new deep dungeon in Evercold. Please stop at Pilgrim's Traverse. And again, whatever (hopefully, please) is delivered instead of new Varaint and Deep dungeon, is Nordic/Evercold themed. I think people are going to rage if they go through all of Evercold without seeing a single rune, longboat, windmill, scroll, dried fish, and so on.
* I hope the Khloe books are being replaced in Evercold with something else, I feel it's time. Given the game is going through some 'modernisation' for 8.0 (the new UI concept is nice to see), I'm pretty sure Wondrous Tails is being retired aswell, so I will give some early support for this (if it's happening). Or maybe an alternate choice objective-minigame each week instead of the WT book (player chooses). Something interactive that maybe could evem involve other players' new weekly minigame thingo.
* I hope to see more clean long hairstyles, no bows, flowers etc. Accepting that a couple of knots/braids styles are likely to turn up in 8.0 of course.
Continue reading...
Going back a few months though, the first thing that began the hope that FF XIV could be 'back', was the initial Evercold teaser at NA Fanfest. For a rather troubled game, it is the right theme to turn things around, based off of the imagery shown. We shouldn't assume everything in the trailer will be a visitable location in the expansion of course, like the woodland with wooden houses, windmills and fort. But here's hoping that we see certain things.
Any any case, the 'Nordic theme' (being the colloquial term thrown around) of Evercold is very important, as this is a major part of what drove the feeling like the game will recover from it's current state. I would advise to stay close to these themes in terms of what Evercold will deliver. And the reason I feel like bringing this up is due to the two raid series being taken up by non-XIV properties. The Evangelion Alliance Raid annoucement raised eyebrows, but was warmly accepted at the time- but now with the Normal Raids going to FF7, many have voiced disappointment about that, and I do also. However,
I figure that the FF7 partnership, though announced only recently, would already have too many wheels turning to change and that's fine. Yet as much as I want to say that the Evangelion AR could be changed to become a different piece of side-content- the current plan may actually just work out ok for XIV given these 2 particular IPs in this particular case. But I really hope that the disappointment is seen- as it's a flying-close-to-the-sun move to do be doing this. The 'I want XIV in my XIV' argument is quite valid.
I would draw comparison to comedy shows, both from known studios and also independents- these show series can start off hilarious, but then fall afoul of cramming in more and more pop culture references, until those references unintentionally become the backbone of the show, and it loses it's core identity and people walk away. So I feel that everything will be ok IF 8.0's other side-content is 'Evercold themed', as the playerbase will become very noisy if they realise this isn't happening.
I'm not a fan of variant dungeons (have done Aloalo though), so I hope to see a different concept replace it in Evercold. I was disappointed to hear that The Merchants Tale does not give a mount (let alone unique) for 'doing the 12 paths'- that was a good 'rule' at least (it's not too late to add in a mount alongside the eye mask item, I watched a video of a playthrough and any of the water-based enemies would be a good pick to turn into a mount). Thanks to the Evercold hope from 3 months ago, I am now interested in doing the first two variant dungeons- as it was the downward situation of the game over the last 4 or so years that had me increasingly hedging out my commitment to the game and not participating in stuff.
* I am hoping/expecting the Evangelion content to drop simple outfit pieces (as individual pieces, no onesie shenanigans) that are effectively newer/better versions of the late allagan maiming/scouting/striking outfits basically. No tricks, lights/glows, or weird forced chunky attachments on random parts of the gear. I've seen the Evangelions. We're gonna be ok right?
* For the FF7 Raids, I'm hoping to see midgar-scrapyard-steampunky stuff without lights/glow on it for two of the tiers, but who knows. I'm always happy to see more simple lighter armored stuff in the game. The 2 outfit sets and other rewards coming soon from the text battle game are very welcome of course.
* I do not hope to see another new deep dungeon in Evercold. Please stop at Pilgrim's Traverse. And again, whatever (hopefully, please) is delivered instead of new Varaint and Deep dungeon, is Nordic/Evercold themed. I think people are going to rage if they go through all of Evercold without seeing a single rune, longboat, windmill, scroll, dried fish, and so on.
* I hope the Khloe books are being replaced in Evercold with something else, I feel it's time. Given the game is going through some 'modernisation' for 8.0 (the new UI concept is nice to see), I'm pretty sure Wondrous Tails is being retired aswell, so I will give some early support for this (if it's happening). Or maybe an alternate choice objective-minigame each week instead of the WT book (player chooses). Something interactive that maybe could evem involve other players' new weekly minigame thingo.
* I hope to see more clean long hairstyles, no bows, flowers etc. Accepting that a couple of knots/braids styles are likely to turn up in 8.0 of course.
Continue reading...