Lurker > Entity13

Map Night was nice, but I feel like it would have been a touch better if more people actually chatted in voice chat rather than being really silent. Ah well.

I miss the joy.

I'll probably resub this Friday to reset my housing timer, do the Valentione event, knock out a few more Manderville weapons' final step, do more runs of the third variant dungeon, and maybe catch a Map Night somewhere along the way. Who knows? Maybe I'll catch the next event, too, before the one month expires.

Then again, I'm starting to care less and less about the seasonal events, and might eventually pass one the ones that don't give something worthwhile, like this Vday event's emote. Crappy furnishings or glam pieces I won't ever use? No thank you. Achievements? I'm retired from that hunt. *shrugs*

Wow, more than two weeks since the last post. Umm... *pokes game* ...bbl again, I guess.

"Maybe I should run Alliance Raids and see if I get something that isn't CT or a stupidly long one before the evening Hunt Train."

(It's World of Darkness)

lol no thanks.

6.55 is in a few days. It is burdened with selling the start of a new journey. The gods bless.

In the time I have been resubbed, I have done one hunt train, which bored me almost to death, walked into my house one time to stop the timer, and the starlight event, which was... Well, it didn't do anything for someone as now-detached as I am. Like a made a list of predictions for the story of the event, and what we'd have to do, and ended up skipping cutscenes halfway into it, because it felt too generic and familiar. I still need to do the New Year event.

I also still need to cap my tomes before the relic upgrades, and do the third variant dungeon.

But I'm just so bored.

Because of the earthquake, JP centers' housing demolition was put on hold, was is nice for them, and the least SE could do. But I feel like without the demolitions still being active in NA, I would consider skipping the seasonal events between now and 7.0. The groups I used to play with are all gone, except for our fc, but even our fc seems quiet whenever I get on or say something on Discord. I don't like that this is where I am right now, you know?

I felt like it, like with Forbidden Land Eureka, had so much potential but fell so short in too many places, which simply did not help with the stagnating patch routine when it came to gearing up.

But at least Dawntrail will see us go somewhere the Allagans never touched, and... it's going to be tomestones again, isn't it? Damn it, it's always mother-flipping tomestones and dealing with Rowena's mismanaged brothel, and her drunkard, amnesiac husband, for casual level gear. If there's ever a time to break from the routine, it'll be Dawntrail, or the population for the game is going to take a noticeable decline, regardless of how many tens of millions of players SE will say the game has by then.

EchoBaz posted...

What's causing a large amount of people to leave?

Numerous factors. People are tiring of the formula FFXIV has stuck with since the first expansion, when it comes to content and gear, and may or may not come back when they're in the mood for it. The main story of the EW patches is only fine, and too many people took issue with it being just fine. Island Sanctuary, which was built up to be a big selling point for the expansion, turned out being wholly unpopular like the garrisons from Warlords of Draenor, when people were hoping for alternative housing or more Stardew Valley than what we got. People are also largely tired of the over-homogenization of the jobs. Also, the zones are needlessly vast and empty, with the quests, Hunts, gathering, and treasure hunting just not cutting it.

I can't speak for everyone else, but I also tire of the excessive rng, the game's love for making you grind something out or do chores for so many weeks or months (occasionally years) and alling it "content" (especially in achievements), and how the devs take suggestions from the community and twist a barebones resemblance of what is actually wanted into something that is lucky to be popular for a week or two but ultimately misses the point or flops. Lord of Verminion is a prime example of this I will always point towards; people wanted a pet battle system and got a laggy, often slow-paced castle defense... with pets.

EchoBaz posted...

Oh wow, the servers are so insanely packed that I figured that it really did have as many as that. Did they stop new people from joining as a marketing gimmick?

No. It's as I said. Packed servers with limited queues means maybe half a mil are online in your regional data center. Of those, there are RMTs and their gil-farming bots, congesting servers and inflating numbers; sure SE puts them down publicly, but they keep coming as if they were never gone. The 25 million number is closer to copies sold, which also does not count for players who have quit, who are taking breaks, or are under suspension for something stupid like third party tools or Performing a song from outside of the game in front of the wrong people. Also, dual-boxers are a thing.

Lucky Bancho puts out numbers from time to time. Active players beyond a certain high level on at least one job, who might account for 2/5 of active players, who in turn account for less than the total number of active subs, are counted. Even in hayday Endwalker, Lucky Bancho's numbers didn't reach five million, if I remember right? Doing the roughest of math, you're looking at a ballpark of 10 million accounts or less in early EW, which doesn't sound right, and the population has definitely calmed down since then. A lot of people are definitely walking away from the game, unhappy with a number of factors.

25 million active players is impossible.

> Cancel sub
SE: "Your sub wlll expire on December 1."
Me: "OK."

>Log into game to check retainers and walk into her house one more time.
Game: "You have 1 day of Sub time remaining."
Me: "It's only the 27th."
Game: "You have 1 day of Sub time remaining."
Me: "Even if you count down to 0 and use THAT as a day, that leaves out the 29th and 30th."
Game: "You have 1 day of--"

Yet another aggravating thing from SE/FFXIV. The sub time also doesn't tell you what time of day, leaving room to be disingenuous and cancel hours before you're supposed to run out. I've seen THAT happen a couple times over the past nine years.

Also, no, the game does not have over 25 million players, Squeenix. Just 25mil+ copies sold, and too many of those are the same RMT bots. -.-

I canceled my sub. It runs out on Dec 1.

I'll check in periodically for seasonal events, 6.55 story, to finally hit that third variant dungeon, and to wrap up the weapons over time. If 7.0 doesn't do it for me, I will need help putting together some footage and editing it for a series of videos I've been contemplating for the last several months.

No, it's not all doom and gloom, but there are issues I've had with the game since 2.57 that need to be addressed fairly. Since my retirement from the achievement hunt, and completion of the Island Sanctuary and Mentor grind, I've felt the need to play different games. Not necessarily better, though I'd welcome it, but different. No more "Wait x0 weeks or months to finish this thing," if I can help it, and as little "Kill z y00 times" as possible if the "y00" requires going out of my way. Also, I can do without FFXIV's rng, which might as well be the previous quotes in luck form.

I finally finished getting my TT cards from Mount Rokkon. The latest Masked Carnivale is on notice.

Also, if BLU doesn't get "Art of the Fluff" next expansion, I'm unsubbing.

papercup posted...

I'm actually mad at the community right now for buying up all the store mounts.

If they didn't, SE wouldn't keep putting said mounts on the store. An optimist might say then they'd put those mounts in the game to be earned normally, but... I dunno about that. May a couple, behind 10+ hours of rng or grinding per mount. The rest wouldn't even exist beyond some concept a dev may have.

I hate this way of life.

Blue Mage: Three spells left to collect, and I should do the new Masked Carnival soon to finish the story and get the umbrella.

(I wish some chest pieces dyed better, because I had an idea for Blu glam with that umbrella)

Variant Dungeon: 1-4 and 8-11 are done. I'll be doing the rest soon. Also, I got a Kogasa-- I mean the parasol from this dungeon. I just need the minions, cards, and remaining routes for mount. I might end up buying the minions if they don't drop for me; they're not priced too high on the mb.

Relics: Four of the combat ones are now upgraded, of nineteen. I'm disappointed tanks and healers can't get Direct Hit . . . again (dammit Yoshi). I'll do the crafting and gathering ones eventually, but I'm not sure if they're worth the effort at this point. The stats might be nice, but still.

papercup posted...

Got the variant dungeon mount plus one of the minions. Got all the cards.

I've got 3/4 of the Variant left to do.

Tonight I leveled Blu, geared it, grabbed a few spells, and melded my gear with the aide of this site: https://www.akhmorning.com/allagan-studies/stats/#player-stats-overview. At level 80, 2.42 casting time with a fair amount of Crit, Det, and DH before diminishing returns set in hard for them. I still need the new weapon and will put Crit on it, but otherwise, food will only help so much with damage, and will mostly be there for the health boost at this point. lol

lorekai posted...

The discord group I ran it with was excellent, very clear callouts and explanations, enough so that I got through it on my first try without dying. It was on Crystal though.

I could have gone without dying, but again, people dropping aoes on me at the last split second when I'm trying to keep them, and myself, alive. For some reason I attract people who do this, and I'm not even a streamer. <_<

papercup posted...

Oh nice! I still need to do that >_<

Join the proper Discord server that does them regularly on Aether, choose the best time, prepare for it, and do it. Be ready to take two or three tries, just because things happen, such as other people killing you just before Ozma does its sucky sucky. *Eye twitches*

I'll work on that mount during the tome grind for weapon upgrades. Granted, I have also the variant dungeon content to do and some Blu stuff. It'll be a short while before I can touch the last... four and a half games on my backlog, not counting the upcoming full version of Touhou 19.

papercup posted...

6.45 is out next week :0

My tomes will be ready. I should be sure to grab some gear for my War this week so I can solo run the variant dungeon those 12-ish times or whatever it'll be; maybe grab the War relic upgrade first, as well. I'll level Blu to 80 and get those spells when time allows. Also, finally getting into this pvp series for the rank rewards.

papercup posted...

Cleared p11s \o/

grats.

Sometimes I wish the weekly tomestone cap was higher so we could equip more jobs faster toward the start of a patch, rather than having a good second or third job ready to go when most statics or PF parties are done with Savage content. <_<

Anywho. The Manderville weapons' third phase should be soon. I've mostly been either working or doing my gaming backlog until then, but also a few simple things in FFXIV to ready myself for the coming patches.

papercup posted...

So I did a Verminion Tournament yesterday. 14/15 victories. Got 110k MGP from it this morning. Got the lifetime 10,000,000 MGP achievement, and bought the Blackjack mount!

Congrats on being broke again! lol I kid. Good job on the mount.

I've been hitting the bi-weekly TT tournaments and stockpiling the resulting Platinum Cards in hopes that I can win a Firion card with enough of them, since the odds of me getting one of the top 3 in the rankings during a Dural Memorial week are probably even lower.

papercup posted...

Got the Zodiark kitty :3

Grats. And next week should be Hydaelyn I believe? I need that mount and card, and should be available.

I'm still sad I didn't make the E12s night when so many people actually got their mounts. ;-;

papercup posted...

Nobody told me there was a cool blue tiger from Eureka Orthos.
I neeeeeeeed it

...yes I did. lol

Edit: I wouldn't mind running with ya for a clear or two.

Last night I added a couple Starry Sky Phantascapes to my apartment. They look nice, except for the chandelier light shining through them like a lamp behind a sheet of paper. So now I'm looking at lighting furnishings I can use to illuminate the space and do away with the default light entirely.

I've finally put my Island crops on automatic care. I just have to make sure the seeds are well-stocked, which is easy enough. I wouldn't even bother, but by the time I get close to capped on a couple crops' inventory, it'll be time to prepare for 6.5 and possible next Island update. I'll gladly take the extra exp when it's time.

papercup posted...

The XIV subreddit is still in blackout mode. But I need Sewer-Rat to tell me how to set up my workshops. ;_;

The subreddit threads work off the bot found in Discord servers including our FC's. You could have gone into the Island Sanctuary channel and seen what to do.

I'm back over 199mil again. If I keep up the pace, I could reach where I was at prior to the latest gold mounts in about six months, seven tops. That's kind of a big "if," though.

I've done so little this past week, largely because I'm working on writing and revising a big story, and also playing some games in my backlog. Still, I intend to do the things listed above at some point, a fair amount of it before the half-patch... that will totally have more to do in it than the main patch? o_O

I'm a little bit disappointed in how limited the space is in where you can put your furniture in the Island Sanctuary. Like, seriously, why can I not put something that appears wall-mounted by design again a wall of one of the workshops? Why can't I put something a foot or two out into the grass? Why are the walkways a no-go for furniture glamours? Just let me do the thing, Square.

Also, I did get that 33k achievement. So now, aside from occasionally adding furnishings if or when I come up with something to do in the NEEDLESSLY LIMITED SPACE, or feeding my animals just to run the supply of food, I am basically done with my Island Sanctuary until it is time to prepare for the next patch.

That leaves:
some ocean fishing
trying to find a group for the new Extreme so I can get the card and a couple weapons to last to July
finally clearing and farming the second extreme for the card and mount
stockpiling platinum cards from Triple Triad tournaments so I may attempt to get the Firion card via numbers alone
trying to solo Eureka Orthos as far as I can
finishing my Heaven on High solo run
and maybe making another 54+ million gil before expansion, just to be back to where I was before the 6.3 gold mounts.

I'd actually consider the Pterodactyl mount grind, but good gods the Min and Btn score parts of the whole thing are eye-gougingly terrible at this point. Fishing is doable with mediocre rng or luck, and expert crafting for lv80 is a joke now. Btn and Min to 500k point achievements each? I would rather do pvp for the rest of my days, and I'm sure we all know how much I just enjoy that content in any game. <_<

EchoBaz posted...

Wow, having to spend a day in the game farming just for 2 gear pieces? Really?

Endgame tomestones are capped per week. At 450 a week, Paper probably capped last week and this week, and managed to pick up an accessory and a head/hand/foot piece of armor.

My Island Sanctuary is finally starting to feel like my own place, after nine months of doing chores there. There might still be some space to work with, as far as furnishing glams go--because we couldn't just put furniture down, because reasons--but the hideaway is looking very much mine now.

The crappy windmill? Replaced with an otter fountain. The mammets outside my cabin? Two are hidden with a couple items so I can pretend they're not even there, and the third is working a lemonade stand. The walkway that looked like someone lined it with linoleum with the Cozy Cabin IV upgrade? Swapped out with the III tier stones. The vista that opened with rank 15? I created a small den up there with a telescope, benches, table, and a gazebo.

The only way this could be better is if I had a space with which to create a hedge maze. Also if I could paint the roof of my cabin, but... heh.

Tuesday morning I see if I managed to get the 33k seafarer achievement, or if I just missed it due to the timing on my fourth workshop. If the latter, I guess I'll be doing one more week of workshop stuff and then stopping that again until the last couple weeks before 6.5.

I made some i640 gear this evening, which I'm in the process of melding and equipping. It's that time of year I start switching to the summer glam for my jobs and classes, so yay for that. My Whm is 635 and ready to do whatever at this point.

This early afternoon I also hit rank 16 on my Island and got the buffalo mount from it. I have a couple minor ideas of how to decorate my Island now, but first I need the otter fountain; and for the fountain I need a couple resin that are too pricey on the mb and too expert crafty to bother making, myself.

Now I just need to clear Pandae 12 normal four more times to finish that achievement and walk away from the normal raids for a good while. Also, maybe the new extreme trial (not to mention ex2) for the card and maybe a weapon to last a few weeks or so.

papercup posted...

Woops I lost my house since I had been unsubbed for a few months. I thought they halted the housing timer, guess not. Oh well.

They halted it for Europe, iirc. You should have received an email about your plot's impending doom.

Rank 14 didn't take long with everything I had ready, a little bit of gathering, and the cabin upgrade. The other buildings are upgrading now.

I finished the patch's msq too, picked up a couple orchestrion rolls from the achievement certificate npc, and wrote down which gear pieces I'll be aiming for this patch. Also: the other half of the mandragora court are available as mounts through the Island, as anticipated, which I now have as well. I've more work to do when I get home from, well, work. lol

So the new Island Sanctuary rank is 16. I had expected it to be 15. My exp boost right off the bat will get me about halfway between 13 and 14. So yay, more mindless grinding when I have other things to do, like writing and revising a massive doujin story. <_<

Just a few more days to the patch. Who's ready?

The new one, presumably. Some of us in the community joked that the devs were done with this coming patch and recent maintenance already so they could play TotK, and here's Yoshi walking into the live letter with a Switch. lol

So the weekly reset has come, and I'm waiting until tomorrow to put in the two weeks' worth of Workshop agendas. Gods, what a chore and drain the Island Sanctuary turned out being. I'm about ready to call it the worst piece of content to come out during this expansion's patch cycle. There's a lot it could have been and wasn't, and some things it shouldn't have been and is. It doesn't even feel like our islands, but pieces of land owned by one of my least favorite characters in the entire game. Am I burnt out? Maybe. But I'm not enjoying this thing.

Just a few more days until I put together a couple weeks' worth of Island workshop crafts, and let that sit until the 23rd. The exp boost for my Island rank will be sweet, between that and all of the food and traps I'll be making right away.

I should get at least one more EO clear in the next couple weeks, as well as do the second EW extreme.

Also, it would appear I may have to stockpile the platinum card "packs" so I can play the numbers game and hope to finally get my Firion card that way. The coming patch may add more cards, meaning I'll get the recent unique cards achievement, but I want to claim that silver card finally and compete with our fc lead for who has the most cards. lol

EchoBaz posted...

Oh wow, I was hoping that at least one person here was gonna congratulate me for finally reaching The first expansion, been trying to off and on for years to get to Heavensward, and I finally was able to focus enough to do it!

My apologies. I thought somebody here had done so. Grats on beating the most sluggish stretch of quests in the whole game, and entering the first of the well-renowned expansions.

Less than two weeks to go until the time-gated achievements from Island Sanctuary are complete.

I plan, soon, to finally clear the second Extreme from Endwalker and farm it for one of my last TT cards and my second lynx mount. I also still need the crab mount from Orphos' gold sacks and two more aetherpool grips to pop a couple weapon achievements. Now if only rng would let me get the Firion card, not that it'll matter too much in three weeks when more cards come out anyways, but still. It would be nice to have a full collection of cards.

I like how Alliance Raids Roulette likes to remind me why I generally like to avoid running roulettes. No, thank you, I do not wish to run Labyrinth or WoD. Maybe not even Void Ark. Everything after VA would be fine. Oh, it is one of the first four alliance raids again... Back to doing something else with my life, I guess. <_<

I think the closest we've had to confirmation is during the Rank 12 quest in Island Sanctuary when you are visited by one of the shipped couples in the game, and even then only a blink-and-you'll-miss-it line from one of them if you pick the right question. The second closest is with another couple at the end of one of the 8-man raid series. It sounds like you haven't progressed far enough in the msq for me to say whom in either case, but yeah...

EchoBaz posted...

Any comments on the story for it itself?

"Cute story."

Also, while I hadn't quite done so during Praetorium, this story made me ship Cid and Nero, back when most people were like "lol no they're not a thing." NOW PEOPLE SHIP THEM ON END.

Now to see if more people will soon ship Reimu and Miyoi from Touhou Project. <_<

EchoBaz posted...

Finally played some more, currently doing the Crystal Tower Questline. Anyone remember it?

Yep. I remember doing it my first time back when it was optional, and a second time post 5.3 on an alt character when they changed that requirement. Cute story. Some of the fights used to be fun but are now mostly mindless or faceroll easy.

Four Manderville weapons left to upgrade, plus the Crystarium tools for Ltw, Wvr, Min, and Fsh. Then I'm once again caught up on relics until the next mid patch.

I have cleared EO floor 100 now. I need at least four more clears so I'll have collected everything, including a framer's kit I probably won't use, as well as get the mount from the gold sacks and a solo run to at least 50.

I also have a HoH solo run in progress still. If I can get the clear to 100 in there, I'll be even happier. xD

In other not-really-news, I'm more than halfway done with my Manderville weapon upgrades, and am getting mats together for my third and fourth Crystarium crafting relics.

I have a good macro for the latter, though a poorly timed Excellent proc or sudden lag can still ruin a craft, particularly on the second step. That is why I'm doing hq mats for that step, just to be on the safe side, though it won't help me if lag causes a vital step to fail, leading to more steps not even happening. Ah well. The mats are easy enough as it is, so I'm not worried.

It's too bad the current completed steps of the tools are kinda meh on stats, but future patches will tell us what to expect. And please, Yoshi, no Expert crafts on this. @_@