Backlog 2021

All other video games not related to the main farming series - Pokemon, Stardew Valley, My Time at Portia, and other indie-developed games.
User avatar
Bluie
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3262
Joined: Jun 29, 2005 11:02 am

Post  Posted:

And I'm back. I've finished the main story of Endwalker and I am both extremely satisfied with the conclusion, and sad that this 10 year in the making story is over. While I know there's going to be more expansions in the future, the main story is finished. I've only been playing the game for a little over a year now, but I am so attached to these characters that it feels like I'm saying goodbye to actual family. That probably sounds extremely cringe to most, but it's the truth.

While I'm not going into specifics of the plot, I will say that I cried several times, though I am generally very easy to move to tears. The game is a masterpiece of story telling, it quite honestly has everything and I don't think I'll ever be able to get over the ups and downs I've experienced with the Scions of the Seventh Dawn for my whole life. There was one instance in particular in Endwalker where I cried both for and with the characters because the pain that was there felt raw and real. I can't say much more than this even though I'd love to chat about all my favorite parts, but I will say that if any of you even remotely have a passing interest in FFXIV, it's worth every penny.

On the technical side of things, I too had to deal with the insane que and deluge of error codes. I'm fortunate that I was able to play during non peak hours for a few play sessions and then always keeping my que spot even with errors. The worst I had was on Saturday with a que of 7000+ people waiting and I also got disconnected in a cutscene that day too, but thankfully things had slowed down at that point and the cutscene reloaded once I got back into the game. I pulled an all nighter + played all day on Sunday/Monday, but the story is so much longer than the rest of the expansions that it took one more long play session yesterday to finish up. Seriously, the story just keeps going and going and going - not that I'm complaining! My brain just kept going 'oh, this will be finished soon' and then it went on for another day lol.

Now I'm doing quest clean up and leveling my other jobs for Role Quests. I don't know if I want to brave the que anymore just for little stuff like that, but I might. I want to keep playing, I want to squeeze every last bit of Endwalker into my timeslot, because it's my game of the year and I'm not ready to stop playing yet. Can't wait for the raid series that is most likely going to be FFIX themed next year. Eventually, when I don't have a backlog, I'll replay the entire game from start to finish again.
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

That sounds great, Bluie :) I'm glad it was a satisfying ending!

I've always been interested in FFXIV, personally, and I absolutely love these massive online game formats. I loved World of Warcraft...and Xenoblade Chronicles X, though NOT a multiplayer game, very much has a MMPORPG format, which I :heart: :heart: :heart: Except...other people.

For me, gaming is a solo experience. I don't want to share it with anybody, even loved ones, let alone strangers. It's not a matter of if they'd be nice to me or not (though of course I'd much rather they were nice, but I hear that's usually not a problem with FFXIV)...I just don't want to share my game experience with others. For me, gaming is a wonderful world where I have all the space in the universe, and I love that. (I've never been lonely in my entire life, lol. I don't really even entirely understand the idea behind the feeling as it would relate to me. I can never explain it, but I love silence. I love space. I love the bright freshness and expansiveness of being alone, it just feels so good. It's like...my heart feels decompressed, when I'm alone...like a tiger unfurling from a box so small you wouldn't have believed it could have fit in there. In summary, I REALLY like it, lol, and really do NOT like being with multiple other people at once unless know them very well, and it's for a short time.) I know you can solo a bunch of it, but you'd have to be really good to find a way to solo all of it, and I'm not.

I'll probably never get to FFXIV because it's multiplayer-required. Though I'm sure I'd love all the parts where I could rove about on my own without worrying about how to fit the needs of a group. BUT...most importantly...awesome that you've finished the story and it didn't disappoint you! :lala: :bunny: :lala:
User avatar
Panda Parfait
Ultimate Farming Fanatic
Ultimate Farming Fanatic
Posts: 1237
Joined: Sep 10, 2008 12:14 pm

Post  Posted:

I'm so jealous that you already finished Endwalker Bluie, and am glad to hear you enjoyed it so much! I hope I'll be able to join you in finishing it sometime soon, but well.. queues. I might start waking up early to play, I desperately want to see what happens and I'm scared of the internet spoiling me before I get there. I absolutely get what you mean about feeling attached to the characters, by the way. I'm literally getting emotional during random scenes because I'm like, "this feels like a death flag. Oh « Harvest Goddess », they're going to die, aren't they?" It's hard to not feel so attached when we've played through hundreds of hours of story with these characters.

I've managed to get a little bit past the first trial, which was wild. My party almost timed out. Finally beat it with a few minutes left on the clock, and felt like I forged a lifelong bond with the people who actually stayed for the win lol.

I put off playing FFXIV for a very long time because I didn't want to play with other people either, but it's a game that is very friendly toward loners. Obviously you can't have a 100% solo experience, since it is an MMO, but the main story questline is largely a single player JRPG with the occasional multiplayer foray. For every dungeon or trial you have to do with other people, you've probably gone through hours and hours of solo content. Once you reach Shadowbringers, you don't even need people for dungeons, as the NPCs become actual party members. The MSQ is near the top of my absolute favorite video game experiences, and I think it's absolutely worth it even if you don't otherwise care for MMOs. I still have 0 interest in them, but FFXIV is a very unique case to me.

Of course, it's cool if you still don't want to give it a go Kikki, but these are just my thoughts as someone who has very little interest in the social aspects of the game, but adores it nonetheless.
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

If you're a talented player, you can often fudge MMO's into a solo experience by being great at all the right mechanics, and choosing a type of character who is best suited to solo-ing. Like a Paladin in WoW...they're good fighters with a wide array of abilities AND are good healers and have the infamous 'Lay on Hands' holy healing ability to instantly refuel the entire life force of a character (including themselves) which basically gives any Paladin two lives. (You could use it on yourself every two minutes, even with the Forbearance debuff that prevents you from spamming it on yourself.)

Though I have no idea which type of character would be best suited to maximizing a solo experience in FFXIV. I've looked at the races and my leaning is toward the ones called Elezen, though Au Ra might be okay, too, but that's based on looks, since I know nothing about stat differences...and stat differences are what would really matter for maxing out your ability to solo as much of the content as possible. Viera would be irresistible if they came in male, cuz something about a bunny man just makes me feel giggly and I think that'd be fun. NO interest in a bunny woman, though. Like...none. Really hate that idea. Perhaps because of Playboy. :/ Probably race isn't of major importance, though...class is probably more important.

Anyway, I've thought about it, obviously, and I love MMO format, but...my aversion to social interaction with strangers is just so strong. Thanks for the input/encouragement, Panda Parfait. It might be something I try a little bit of someday, just to see what it's like, but I ended up quitting WoW because of all the interaction (even though I love the game itself) so it's hard to picture myself sticking with it.
User avatar
Bluie
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3262
Joined: Jun 29, 2005 11:02 am

Post  Posted:

Panda Parfait wrote: I've managed to get a little bit past the first trial, which was wild. My party almost timed out. Finally beat it with a few minutes left on the clock, and felt like I forged a lifelong bond with the people who actually stayed for the win lol.
Spoiler:
ALL IN EXISTANCE BEND TO MY WILL!
Same! No one talked the entire time, but we were all DETERMINED to finish it! We were able to finish it with less than 10 min left. Not looking forward to inevitably doing it again via roulettes lol.
Kikki wrote:If you're a talented player, you can often fudge MMO's into a solo experience by being great at all the right mechanics, and choosing a type of character who is best suited to solo-ing. Like a Paladin in WoW...they're good fighters with a wide array of abilities AND are good healers and have the infamous 'Lay on Hands' holy healing ability to instantly refuel the entire life force of a character (including themselves) which basically gives any Paladin two lives. (You could use it on yourself every two minutes, even with the Forbearance debuff that prevents you from spamming it on yourself.)

Though I have no idea which type of character would be best suited to maximizing a solo experience in FFXIV. I've looked at the races and my leaning is toward the ones called Elezen, though Au Ra might be okay, too, but that's based on looks, since I know nothing about stat differences...and stat differences are what would really matter for maxing out your ability to solo as much of the content as possible. Viera would be irresistible if they came in male, cuz something about a bunny man just makes me feel giggly and I think that'd be fun. NO interest in a bunny woman, though. Like...none. Really hate that idea. Perhaps because of Playboy. :/ Probably race isn't of major importance, though...class is probably more important.
In regards to the stats of races, they really don't matter at all as everything basically equals out by leveling and your gear is going to be the most important part stat wise. Go completely for looks, be what you want to. Also, male Vieras exist now, they were added in Endwalker as selectable in the character creator, but only if you have said expansion. There are A LOT of bunny boys in the game atm.

In regards to what class to play for the solo experience, if you want a smooth que for dungeons/trials/ect and easy to grasp gameplay; White Mage. It's available in the free trial and it's my main class. Very easy, very fun, you just have to get used to healing, which is basically brain dead once you get the hang of it. If you want to do DPS though, Summoner is very accessible (and cute! you get pets!) and easy to master. If you outright bought the game though, I'd go for Red Mage or Dancer once you meet the level requirements because Red Mage is broken (heals+DPS) and Dancer is high damage and easy to play. Paladin is a very self sustaining class too, but I personally have anxiety when I tank and only do it for specific quests that require it. It's just not my thing, but you can heal yourself and soak a lot of damage as a paladin (and it's also in the free trial).

Also, among the things you do have to do with real people, there's an equal amount of instances and quests you do on your own (or with NPCs). FFXIV is truly a JRPG first before it's an MMO. I can understand not wanting to interact with people, but most people will either leave you be or just do their job in dungeons/trials/raids and you'd never have to even pay them any mind. I barely every use my keyboard when playing the game because I just, again, do my job and ignore everyone's chatting. You can even turn off the chat window if you think that'd help your immersion.

On topic: Walked into my FiL's office to give him the mail and I see he's playing FFXIV. He said he wasn't gonna, said it was too much on screen for him to handle, and here we are lmao. He's customized his screen layout to suit his needs and he's also in the boat of treating it as a solo experience and just doing his job to get through dungeons and such. I hope he enjoys it, literally everyone else in this house plays the game so It'd be really fun to have a full family party doing content together!
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

For now I'll be working on Grow a bit more. It's done, but I want to complete more seed worlds...and get the final region up to 100% happiness. (Which is quick to do.) I don't think there's any more content in the game beyond that now, though. I haven't yet reached full dating with the one character I want, but...I don't think it amounts to anything anyway. Just an 'I wuv you!' scene and then...nothing, afaik.

~

For what class...I've never fully figured that out. I am an all-out, up-close attack type. I tend to do more damage than any other character in the game with me, so I tend to naturally draw the enemy's aggro. I had to continually use Shadow Eye with Shulk to keep him from being the target, even if the other two in my party were Reyn and Dunban, lol. (Both tanks.)
Spoiler:
I don't like being a dedicated healer or magician, probably because I always want to be right up in the enemy's face and can never keep myself at a distance. Not sure whether that means I'm DPS, or tank. I always pull the aggro, which suggests tank, but I'm not SUPPOSED to, which should mean DPS. Maybe the tank AI in the games I've played just isn't that good? For all their aggro-drawing abilities, Reyn and Dunban never take as much of the aggro as Shulk does when I'm playing him. (Fortunately, Shulk's healing ability is decent.) I basically play by doing as much damage as I can, as fast as I can, and heal myself whenever the cooldown lets me and try to de-aggro myself as well, if the option comes up. I get frustrated if my damage is low, so I figure tanking isn't really my thing.

And I've always loved paladins, ever since Quest for Glory 2: Trial by Fire. (1990!) I'm the natural goody-two-shoes type anyway, so that 'hidden' class really suited me. (You can't choose to be a Paladin in that game when creating your character...you BECOME one if your honor accumulates so high that a Paladin character in the game notices you and takes you under his wing. Probably my all-time favourite childhood game.)

But by your description, it sounds like Red Mage or summoner would be good, though they're ranged, but MMO combat isn't like standard console JRPG combat anyway. I always take forever to create new characters in these games, lol, trying to figure out what works for the stupid way I play. (I play melee when I should play ranged.)
~

But for now...back to Grow to mop up what bits I still want to do after having finished the story. I also feel like picking my replay of sos1 back up.

EDIT: Okay, all regions at 100%, and I created the 6 perfect world seeds, too, and finished the (rather pitiful) romance quest with my chosen character. At least he has a 'face' now, I guess, even though he never talks to me again after this, lol. (Once your romance quests are done, the characters in question never have anything in particular to say to you again...it's really shoddily done, in this aspect. They might as well have left romance out entirely, imo...this feature feels less than half-baked.)

I can fiddle around completing these world seeds, but I don't really have anything left to do. It took me about 30 hours to complete the plot, so it's a fairly respectable length.
User avatar
Mikodesu
Huggy Chickens
Huggy Chickens
Posts: 313
Joined: Apr 07, 2016 7:45 pm

Post  Posted:

Hi all! It's been a minute. :) Still recovering from a fungal sinus infection, but I'm back to work, at least. The Murphy's Law double whammy is that my work laptop died yesterday. I at least have my new computer to work on while I wait on a replacement, but I hate using over-powerful machines for lightweight work - waste of electricity.

Good to see everyone (who's able to queue anyway) is enjoying FFXIV. I've had an outsider's interest in the game since watching the NoClip doc on it. Can't help but respect everyone who was willing to be interviewed for that (YoshiP included!). Really, really neat story. Happy for you all as players, too. Really lovely community. Everyone always seems very kind and respectful - so much more than most places on the internet, anyhow.

Not sure if I'll start another game this year, honestly. Got a couple more games (Prime Gaming is giving away Frostpunk and Journey to the Savage Planet until early next year!) but I just don't feel like starting anything. I go back and forth between the days of piddling in Animal Crossing and Genshin. Just wrapped up their big new Albedo event. Very enjoyable, and a little lore I found genuinely interesting. They'd never do this (probably even as a paid thing) but I'd love to see some way to change character's kits from one element to another. I'd be more likely to wish on that than a weapon banner.

Fun little Switch tidbit...apparently the eShop has a feature to sort by 'most played' in the last 2 weeks, and among the top 10 are Grow AND Garden Paws! Pretty neat. (Also Dragon Quest Builders 2, apparently. Would be nice if publishers paid attention to that.)
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

Glad you're better, Mikodesu :)

I was looking for the 'most played' feature a day or two ago when I saw the news, but I couldn't find it. And the eshop was down then, too...well, all online services were down or unreliable for a day, there, so maybe that's why. I haven't seen the feature yet, anyway. It wasn't on there when I last checked, yesterday or the day before, even though I saw someone else (on Twitter, I think) posting about it.

I knew I couldn't be the only one who loves building/growing/decorating sims more during winter than at any other time. DQB2 is old, now, so if it's in the top most-played, either it's being played constantly, or people are diving back into thriving worlds more now that our literal world has gone dormant. I wonder why they added this feature, though. It's hard to imagine that Nintendo or other devs would care about how many hours are being logged into a game...I can only see them caring how many copies are purchased, since it doesn't make them any money to have someone play for a long time. Unless they're trying to get more into DLC and want to know what games are played the most heavily in order to add more to them? But that's a bit far-fetched.

Maybe they're just adding one more feature to encourage a wider array of sales, I dunno. But as a feature, I like 'most-played' more than 'most purchased'. Purchased means you only needed to be interested for a day but could easily have ended up disappointed by after getting a way into it, but most-played means the ones people are really enjoying.

EDIT: Jeepers, just a MENTION of DQB2 and I need to start playing it again...
User avatar
greensara
Carrots... yum
Carrots... yum
Posts: 486
Joined: Jul 28, 2016 12:10 pm

Post  Posted:

I've mostly been messing around with Tetris Effect and post game stuff in Shining Pearl when I have felt like playing here lately, but I have tried to play a little more in Xenoblade Chronicles too. I think I have a pretty good feel for the mapping and camera now, and though many aspects of the battle system mechanics mystify me still, I think my comprehension is starting to come along. I was having some trouble trying to keep an eye on available actions, enemies, and everyone's HP all at once, but after getting killed off a few times, a prompt suggesting Casual mode came up. Apparently it can be turned on and off at will. Casual mode is so much less frustrating! I feel like I am less rushed and frustrated about what to do in the battles now, so I'm slowly starting to get a feel for them I think. No idea if I will ever switch it back to normal or whatever, lol. I also do have a question: Is it needful/worth it to grind for the equipment and gems in Time Attack mode? I last saved after discovering it. I don't know if I want to check it out just yet, I was more curious if it is something worthwhile to come back to or if it's just like a bonus perk kind of a thing?
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

I never used Time Attack...it didn't exist in the original and I never thought about it, except I think I might have gotten to claim a rare material from it with points won there? You could have to grind on collectible points for HOURs to get rare collectibles like the black liver bean or the ice cabbage...or kill a load of annoying ether enemies to get, say, a snow element.

The gems you can make yourself as you go along and gather materials...I never traded for even one gem. The armour is mainly cosmetic, so I didn't consider that worthwhile, either. But you may find it less grindy to wrack up some points via Time Attack to get those rare monster drops or collectibles for quests or especially for building up...the place you can build, a little later on. It's a wonderful addition for that, imo. I will never desperately hunt collectible points three million times each, trying to write two pitiful little black liver beans out of B.I. again! :)
User avatar
Bluie
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3262
Joined: Jun 29, 2005 11:02 am

Post  Posted:

WB Miko! Glad you're on the mend!

Welp, it took 2 hours to get into FFXIV last night and I was dead tired from work once I was finally in. I do want to keep playing, but it might just be a good idea to cool it for awhile until every one else finishes the MSQ. It's not going anywhere, and even though I do really, really want to keep soaking up the Endwalker vibes, Ima have to wait unless I happen to be up at non peak hours, which does happen on occasion. For the time being I took some pictures of the outfit I finished the game in (that I'm very attached to) and I'll be commissioning a good friend and brilliant artist to draw my Warrior of Light. That'll tide me over for awhile, hopefully.

On a completely different note, I was fiddling around with my Switch while getting caught up with my Youtube subs and I beat Brilliant Diamond. Yes, after that big dumb tantrum I had, I tried to fight her again and wasn't even paying full attention to the battle, but I have defeated Cynthia and her Garchomp. So I guess I'm playing this again??? Looks like I only need a very select few more Pokemon to fill the Pokedex (lake trio, Driftloon, and Wooper? lol) so I may as well. Still going to play Shinning Pearl once Pokemon Home integration is out and bring all my shiny powerhouses into it, but for now I'm cool with doing some post game.
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

I don't anticipate trying it any time *soon*, but for possible future reference...I'm inclined to choose British English when given a language choice since we Canadians mostly use that spelling still, of words like colour and so on, which would put me in an EU server in FFXIV. Is there any problem with that? Being that I'm in North America, do I have to choose 'American' for things to work properly? Also...when are peak hours?

Currently chipping away at a half-finished file of DQB2, lol. Can't help myself, but then...I wasn't actually aiming for any more completions this year anyway.
User avatar
Bluie
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 3262
Joined: Jun 29, 2005 11:02 am

Post  Posted:

Peak hours are when most people are online playing the game. It varies from country and server, but on average it starts getting busy in the early afternoon and continues until the middle of the night. People start dropping off in early morning in droves (sleep, work, ect) so it's easiest to get on the game atm at the « Mr.Gourmet's hat » crack of dawn, more or less. It's not always like this as even when there was big patch updates this year the que was no more than 60 people waiting in line any time of the day. But we just had a whole expansion drop and everyone wants in asap to get the big conclusion that's been building up for literally 10 years. North America's data centers are very nocturnal, a lot of activity during the night while during the day it can sometimes feel like you're the only one around, especially in older areas.

As for the British English things, I'm not 100% if the translation is fully changed to represent data centers or not, but, if you wanted to play on an EU server, you can, but keep in mind that said servers are a lot further away than the US ones, so you may not have the most stable connection. I do have a friend who plays on a Japanese server with an alt and hasn't had too many problems, but I don't fully know the ins and outs of it all. I will point out that most of the English voice actors are from the UK. The dub is very 'English', just like Xenoblade.
User avatar
Mikodesu
Huggy Chickens
Huggy Chickens
Posts: 313
Joined: Apr 07, 2016 7:45 pm

Post  Posted:

Thanks Kikki, Bluie! :) I appreciate it. <3

Game Awards night is always something, isn't it? Makes me happiest when no one game or company wins everything. So this is a pretty good year. But Doug Bowser's corporate acceptance speech just made me sad. I miss Reggie.

Went out to dinner with my mom and a good friend of hers who's in town for work. She brought a couple of work friends, and they're all in the medical field and kept giving me WHAT ARE YOU DOING looks about my eye. :lol: My mom's friend though, is like the living definition of a sweet southern lady. Told me several times over dinner she wanted to bandage me up.

Just a little more Animal Crossing today... I think I need to pick something short to get me back into new games. Something like 80 Days would be ideal, but not just yet. Too much reading.
User avatar
Kikki
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
UNoT Extreme Mooomber
Posts: 4252
Joined: Apr 14, 2015 6:01 am

Post  Posted:

Thanks, Bluie :) Hmm, hard to decide, then. I largely play at non-peak hours anyway, it seems, so I might be better served to actually use an American server...I'll have to figure out when EU peak times are and see how they mesh. Uh, math, math...let's say 5 PM to 2 AM? If that were UTC (London) For me, that'd be noon to 9PM, I think. Well, I'll have to think about it. It's a ways off, so no sense wracking my brain NOW, as you can bet I'll forget anything I figure out by then, lol.

~

I do like when the Game Awards are not swept by one game, though in general, I'm not a fan. It feels too much like a handful of industry experts are just showcasing their personal favourites. The only category I like is the one decided ENTIRELY by voters, as it's interesting to see what's currently moving the gaming masses. Not that I think the masses have better taste or anything, but to know that 90% of the vote is decided by a chosen panel of critics (etc) just ruins it for me. I'm not sure what rules an award show would have to run on, to get me really excited to see the results, but I'd like to see a better split between 'experts' and player votes, and I'd also like to know how many people voting actually played all or even most of the games in the category they're voting on.

I'm disappointed thought hat Nintendo announced nothing and didn't even give any new updates. :( Well...unless they announce a delay, we'll have a Direct (whether dedicated or general) containing BotW 2 sometime in 2022, but...I kind of hoped they'd drop the (apparently somehow spoilery) title at the show, even if nothing else.

~

I'll be fiddling with my half-finished DQB2 file for the foreseeable future, I think. Though maybe I'll switch back to my replay of sos1 (sorry about no capital s'es, even though it looks confusing...my s key is non-functional again and I can only type it with ctrl+V...no capitalization available unless I get one out of the character map and copy it and paste it, then RE copy the lowercase s for the rest of the time, lol.) I had about 1.5 seasons left before Kamil would arrive in Oak Tree Town, and it'd be nice to finally see his path.

EDIT: Need to go back into ACNH, over to Lottie's, because the last shop I did needs redone.
Spoiler:
I hadn't realized at the time that clothing on the forms would change each dady and actually be purchasable. I put them in to look nice, but I didn't arrange the place in such a way as to make it easy to get to them for ME, the player character. A layout change is in order.
Locked