I know I haven't posted here lately. Things have been busy, but mostly involved in stuff that I haven't been interested saying here. But today I do want to talk about the fact that a co-worker that I've worked with for a very long time got a new job somewhere else and is leaving today. I've worked with her for over 12 years now.
This is good news for her. She's just bought a new house. She's pickup up a 10 grand raise in the process. And she's away from the frustration and anxiousness that has been predominating this place for over 2 years now.
So I'm not one that really likes to talk about his feelings too much. But I'm going to miss her. And hope that we'll continue to see each other outside of this hell-hole of a job.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Final Fantasy XIII First Impressions
I have a confession to make. I am a HUGE Final Fantasy fan and have been since I was introduced to the series with the PC version of FFVII. In hindsight, I realize that seems strange...that PC import was by far the worst version of the game. I remember at the time that I really dug it because it reminded me of old Sierra adventure games, plus RPG elements and combat, and a real story (even if that story was rather confusing).
There are many things I like about Final Fantasy. I like the fact that each game is different, yet incorporates similar elements. I like the spectacle and the story, which is often more relatable to me than other JRPGs. I like the polish of the titles, a polish that other games rarely master. Its a combination that has become a bit rare in the current era--RPGs, especially RPGs aren't as common nowadays and they often don't do as well in sales. Those that do come out simply don't always gel very well. The last great JRPG I played was FFX12 (a game that I loved with a passion) and it's simply been way too long since a new FF has come out.
So, I think it's fair to say that 13 came on the scene with very high expectations. And though I know a little about the complaints leveled against the game, I started the game last night knowing very little about the game other than pictures of the characters.
My first impression was...man this is beautiful. I'm playing this on the PS3 (I hear the 360 version is significantly worse graphics-wise, but has a better frame rate...who knows if that's true or not b/c in side comparisons I could barely tell the difference). I think this was the first game I played where there was a scene that I actually had a hard time telling it was rendered, it was that good. Everything is very beautiful in this game, from the dark industrial look of Land's Edge (or whatever that first area is called), to the crystal sea after it. The use of color and grand vistas really gives the game an epic feel. Not only that, but the animation in the game is spectacular, well above that of other games and that really adds to the whole experience.
For the story, I don't know if I got enough of a glimpse at it to know what to think. I did not honestly like the introduction sequence for two reasons. The first was that it was very long, and it doesn't really do a good job of giving context at the start (the context shows up a bit later). I also didn't like the many character transitions which at one point had 3 different groups of characters doing different things in similar environments and were obviously designed to meet up at a central point. Not only that, the combat system really shows it's flaws at the beginning sections. And that gets into my next point.
The Combat System
So far I've heard a lot of people praise FFXIII's combat system, but I'm not convinced. Sure it's fast and frantic, but it's rather annoying simplistic especially at the beginning. I don't like the fact that you can only control 1 character; and they make the ATB guage fill so fast that it's hard to imput commands fast enough (even with the simplistic options available at the beginning). It's annoying to say the least. And while it does improve once Paradigm Shifts show up; I still don't see what they didn't just let you play all of the characters instead of having the other 2 CPU controlled.
I mean, FFXII did the same thing, but that battle system was complex enough that it didn't really matter. Movement and options really made that system work. But 13's happens in a static battlefield where you don't control the movement of the characters. It's certainly fast, but it's definitely not as interesting to me as 12's or 10's in regard to non-standard combat systems. The only bright spot is that I've heard that a lot more options open up later that expand on the system later, so maybe it will improve once there is more to do.
As for the leveling system...throughout the entire introduction (which lasts for about 2 hours) you don't have access to it. At all. But once you do, you find that the system is very similar to 10's Sphere Board. Except that it's harder to navigate and to see what your options are. I am curious how it's going to go as you can level up different paradigm, and as things go on you seem to get access to new ones which hopefully means some additional customization. That's usually been a problem with later FF's...most characters become virtually identical in the late game except for their special moves. Hopefully 13 will be different in that regard.
The Story
Not sure what to say about the story at this point. It seems pretty simple enough on the surface, but the datalinks really help flesh out the story and what is actually happening. It seems like a pretty dark beginning for a FF--they normally get dark later but this one starts out pretty dark right from the start. This one seems like likely candidate for a very bleak ending. The only problems I have is that the story doesn't really make sense at this point unless you read the data links; and the terminology is somewhat confusing i'Cie, fal'Cie, etc. Not that it's hard to figure out, but there isn't a lot of context to it in the start. Once the flashbacks start, things start to improve though. Characters stop being quite so 1-dimensional and interesting (even though the flashbacks are actually pretty short). I have a feeling that 13 might have one of the most character-driven FF stories every, and I see that as a good thing.
Still, I'm WAY early in the game, so at this point its hard to speculate where everything is going.
The Characters
So far I'm very interested in the characters. They all seem interesting, especially once the flashbacks start and some context is given for some of the character's motivations and attitudes.
Sasz is awesome during the start of the game. He's older, more experienced, and more 'normal' and as a result helps ground the cast more. So far he's my favorite.
Lightning, well I didn't really like her at the start. But it doesn't take long to understand her situation and mentality. She's broody and angry for a reason and the game also makes it clear that she isn't always like that. But, put her sister in danger with a strong sense of being inadequet and betrayed and she makes perfect sense. As a result, she quickly started becoming awesome.
Vanille I'm not so sure about. I don't get her accent. She's too bubbly. But she is damned cute and I love redheads so she gets a pass.
Hope...emo kid who like Lightning has a good reason for being sullen and pissed off. Not as bad as he could be, but very 1 dimensional at this point.
Snow...I like the fact that most of the cast have pointedly brought out his rather obvious character flaws. It makes me think that there may be more to his story and his progression from the douche he is at the start of the story and what he ends up being by the end. So I have hope for him.
There are many things I like about Final Fantasy. I like the fact that each game is different, yet incorporates similar elements. I like the spectacle and the story, which is often more relatable to me than other JRPGs. I like the polish of the titles, a polish that other games rarely master. Its a combination that has become a bit rare in the current era--RPGs, especially RPGs aren't as common nowadays and they often don't do as well in sales. Those that do come out simply don't always gel very well. The last great JRPG I played was FFX12 (a game that I loved with a passion) and it's simply been way too long since a new FF has come out.
So, I think it's fair to say that 13 came on the scene with very high expectations. And though I know a little about the complaints leveled against the game, I started the game last night knowing very little about the game other than pictures of the characters.
My first impression was...man this is beautiful. I'm playing this on the PS3 (I hear the 360 version is significantly worse graphics-wise, but has a better frame rate...who knows if that's true or not b/c in side comparisons I could barely tell the difference). I think this was the first game I played where there was a scene that I actually had a hard time telling it was rendered, it was that good. Everything is very beautiful in this game, from the dark industrial look of Land's Edge (or whatever that first area is called), to the crystal sea after it. The use of color and grand vistas really gives the game an epic feel. Not only that, but the animation in the game is spectacular, well above that of other games and that really adds to the whole experience.
For the story, I don't know if I got enough of a glimpse at it to know what to think. I did not honestly like the introduction sequence for two reasons. The first was that it was very long, and it doesn't really do a good job of giving context at the start (the context shows up a bit later). I also didn't like the many character transitions which at one point had 3 different groups of characters doing different things in similar environments and were obviously designed to meet up at a central point. Not only that, the combat system really shows it's flaws at the beginning sections. And that gets into my next point.
The Combat System
So far I've heard a lot of people praise FFXIII's combat system, but I'm not convinced. Sure it's fast and frantic, but it's rather annoying simplistic especially at the beginning. I don't like the fact that you can only control 1 character; and they make the ATB guage fill so fast that it's hard to imput commands fast enough (even with the simplistic options available at the beginning). It's annoying to say the least. And while it does improve once Paradigm Shifts show up; I still don't see what they didn't just let you play all of the characters instead of having the other 2 CPU controlled.
I mean, FFXII did the same thing, but that battle system was complex enough that it didn't really matter. Movement and options really made that system work. But 13's happens in a static battlefield where you don't control the movement of the characters. It's certainly fast, but it's definitely not as interesting to me as 12's or 10's in regard to non-standard combat systems. The only bright spot is that I've heard that a lot more options open up later that expand on the system later, so maybe it will improve once there is more to do.
As for the leveling system...throughout the entire introduction (which lasts for about 2 hours) you don't have access to it. At all. But once you do, you find that the system is very similar to 10's Sphere Board. Except that it's harder to navigate and to see what your options are. I am curious how it's going to go as you can level up different paradigm, and as things go on you seem to get access to new ones which hopefully means some additional customization. That's usually been a problem with later FF's...most characters become virtually identical in the late game except for their special moves. Hopefully 13 will be different in that regard.
The Story
Not sure what to say about the story at this point. It seems pretty simple enough on the surface, but the datalinks really help flesh out the story and what is actually happening. It seems like a pretty dark beginning for a FF--they normally get dark later but this one starts out pretty dark right from the start. This one seems like likely candidate for a very bleak ending. The only problems I have is that the story doesn't really make sense at this point unless you read the data links; and the terminology is somewhat confusing i'Cie, fal'Cie, etc. Not that it's hard to figure out, but there isn't a lot of context to it in the start. Once the flashbacks start, things start to improve though. Characters stop being quite so 1-dimensional and interesting (even though the flashbacks are actually pretty short). I have a feeling that 13 might have one of the most character-driven FF stories every, and I see that as a good thing.
Still, I'm WAY early in the game, so at this point its hard to speculate where everything is going.
The Characters
So far I'm very interested in the characters. They all seem interesting, especially once the flashbacks start and some context is given for some of the character's motivations and attitudes.
Sasz is awesome during the start of the game. He's older, more experienced, and more 'normal' and as a result helps ground the cast more. So far he's my favorite.
Lightning, well I didn't really like her at the start. But it doesn't take long to understand her situation and mentality. She's broody and angry for a reason and the game also makes it clear that she isn't always like that. But, put her sister in danger with a strong sense of being inadequet and betrayed and she makes perfect sense. As a result, she quickly started becoming awesome.
Vanille I'm not so sure about. I don't get her accent. She's too bubbly. But she is damned cute and I love redheads so she gets a pass.
Hope...emo kid who like Lightning has a good reason for being sullen and pissed off. Not as bad as he could be, but very 1 dimensional at this point.
Snow...I like the fact that most of the cast have pointedly brought out his rather obvious character flaws. It makes me think that there may be more to his story and his progression from the douche he is at the start of the story and what he ends up being by the end. So I have hope for him.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
The Badge Grind
Now that I have my main over on ER, I've had a more relaxed experience. Earthen Ring is much more active than Malygos. On average, I would guess that there is usually about twice the number of active players on ER and there is a lot more activity at all levels of the game.
This has been helpful, as pickup groups and pugs have been pretty easy to get into (at least they were last week). But is also results in some very wierd and unstable auction-house pricing, and more competition than I'm used to.
Since I haven't been pushing myself to level anything in particular, this also means that I ran out of stuff to do last week. On my mage I ended up doing: VOA-10, VOA-25, TOC-25, Uldaur-10, ICC-25, TOGC-25. Essentially I only missed Ony (not really a loss there), and ICC-10.
I also started looking into guilds, making contacts with people that I could. I didn't seem to make much progress until this week though, when tuesday I was flooded with people returning my messages. I got into a TOGC-25 group as a 'trial run' which didn't go well. Their requirements were for a mage that can hold 8.5k DPS (I can only hold 6.5k under normal conditions with my gear). In the end, I ended up being lower than normal (holding about 5.5k), dying twice during the twins (the way they did it was just to clump together and ignore the balls; my health was just too low for that I guess). And I was pretty much ignored after that. As a raid they seemed like good enough folks; but obviously I'm not at the gear level they need. I thanked them for the invite and decided not to even bother apping.
So right now I still have two other prospects. I got a trial run with another guild in ICC-25 last night which I preformed much better in even on the bosses I had not seen before yesterday. My average for the night was around 7.5k DPS, and I had 2 deaths (one on Marrowgar, due to his whirlwind), and one on Lady Deathwhisper at the very end due to a frostbolt literally right as she died. I was much more comfortable with that performance even if I did end up around 11th place in the DPS chart. And the group seemed pretty nice and friendly. And I got 24 Frost Badges in the process.
After that I replaced 3 pieces: I got the next level of the Ashen Verdict Ring; I went ahead and purchased T9.5 legs with a trophy I got from that TOGC run Monday; and I went ahead and purchased T10 chest for 95 Frost Badges. This upped my SP by about 50, my haste by about 30, and my crit by about 20. Overall, I nice upgrade and one that I hope reflects on my DPS the next time I get to run something.
This has been helpful, as pickup groups and pugs have been pretty easy to get into (at least they were last week). But is also results in some very wierd and unstable auction-house pricing, and more competition than I'm used to.
Since I haven't been pushing myself to level anything in particular, this also means that I ran out of stuff to do last week. On my mage I ended up doing: VOA-10, VOA-25, TOC-25, Uldaur-10, ICC-25, TOGC-25. Essentially I only missed Ony (not really a loss there), and ICC-10.
I also started looking into guilds, making contacts with people that I could. I didn't seem to make much progress until this week though, when tuesday I was flooded with people returning my messages. I got into a TOGC-25 group as a 'trial run' which didn't go well. Their requirements were for a mage that can hold 8.5k DPS (I can only hold 6.5k under normal conditions with my gear). In the end, I ended up being lower than normal (holding about 5.5k), dying twice during the twins (the way they did it was just to clump together and ignore the balls; my health was just too low for that I guess). And I was pretty much ignored after that. As a raid they seemed like good enough folks; but obviously I'm not at the gear level they need. I thanked them for the invite and decided not to even bother apping.
So right now I still have two other prospects. I got a trial run with another guild in ICC-25 last night which I preformed much better in even on the bosses I had not seen before yesterday. My average for the night was around 7.5k DPS, and I had 2 deaths (one on Marrowgar, due to his whirlwind), and one on Lady Deathwhisper at the very end due to a frostbolt literally right as she died. I was much more comfortable with that performance even if I did end up around 11th place in the DPS chart. And the group seemed pretty nice and friendly. And I got 24 Frost Badges in the process.
After that I replaced 3 pieces: I got the next level of the Ashen Verdict Ring; I went ahead and purchased T9.5 legs with a trophy I got from that TOGC run Monday; and I went ahead and purchased T10 chest for 95 Frost Badges. This upped my SP by about 50, my haste by about 30, and my crit by about 20. Overall, I nice upgrade and one that I hope reflects on my DPS the next time I get to run something.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
For the Horde!
Well, it's been a few weeks. I got my horde mage to 71...and then generally hit the brick wall that is WOTLK grinding. It's certainly not pretty...or worth it. So I decided to go ahead and move my main mage over. I had to do a name change, but now I know a way to switch things back relatively quickly so that's the plan for this point for me.
I'm still not entirely sure about the guild. But the large number of people certainly seems to suggest that there will be more opportunities to get into pickup groups. I've also started looking into joining one of the 25 man groups in the guild...we'll see how that goes too.
Since I've been out of it a while, I'm started to do a bit more research into gear for Arcane. I find myself in an awkward position--I'm heavily specced for Crit when I think I should be haste. My base crit rating is over 50% with my main spells, which is way too high. My haste rating is still OK (around 600), but my goal is to get haste to around 900. My SP is also too low, I'd like to get it over 3K if I can.
Of course, I really don't have much ICC gear. I have 51 frost badges, and hopefully now a better chance of getting them. There are several off-set pieces that look well worth purchasing, but I'm leaning against doing that and instead saving badges until I can buy 2 T10 pieces. However, if I can get into a consistant 10 man group I can certainly make some serious headway there and the badges become less of an issue. To be honest, I'd love to get the belt, or the back piece.
I'm still not entirely sure about the guild. But the large number of people certainly seems to suggest that there will be more opportunities to get into pickup groups. I've also started looking into joining one of the 25 man groups in the guild...we'll see how that goes too.
Since I've been out of it a while, I'm started to do a bit more research into gear for Arcane. I find myself in an awkward position--I'm heavily specced for Crit when I think I should be haste. My base crit rating is over 50% with my main spells, which is way too high. My haste rating is still OK (around 600), but my goal is to get haste to around 900. My SP is also too low, I'd like to get it over 3K if I can.
Of course, I really don't have much ICC gear. I have 51 frost badges, and hopefully now a better chance of getting them. There are several off-set pieces that look well worth purchasing, but I'm leaning against doing that and instead saving badges until I can buy 2 T10 pieces. However, if I can get into a consistant 10 man group I can certainly make some serious headway there and the badges become less of an issue. To be honest, I'd love to get the belt, or the back piece.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Mage Part 2: The Sequel
It seems wierd writing this post. I've spent a lot of time in WOW, but lately there hasn't been much to do since my old guild stopped raiding. Well, they didn't really stop raiding I guess...but they pretty much have stopped raiding with me. I decided to stay with the guild because their plan was to continue with casual 10 man groups, etc...but in practice there were too many people interested and I am not in that close circle of friends and so I find myself completely left out. The only thing worse than not raiding is to spend your time online hoping you might get an invite sometime.
My other RL friend in the guild is also not in that group and has gotten pretty ticked about it (he takes these things more seriously than I do). And he convinced me to check out this other 'tent pole' guild on another server. It happens to be horde and is apparently comprised of over 2,000 active members with over 20 active raiding groups.
'm not used to this sort of guild, and honestly I'm pretty leery of it. So I decided to create a new character on that server to check it out. So I created a new Mage as a Blood Elf. The guild's level requirements are low (level 10, lol), and they suggest creating a low-level alt to join with just so you can get a feel for the guild before you transfer. So that's what I did.
By origional plan was to just create a character, get to level 20 or so, going the guild and hang out there for a while. However, that was before I discovered that this guild only recruits during the first week of every month so I ended up having more time on my hands. And I ended up spending quite a bit more time with this character than I'd origionally intended.
So now, my Blood Elf Mage is level 45 and has about 700g to her name. She's a level 255 Enchanter, and level 275 Jewelcrafter. I had done the blood elf quests before, but otherwise I hadn't really leveled a horde character before. I don't think I'd call it 'fun' but it has been interesting to see the differences. Horde questlines are not as tight as the alliance side--there's much more moving around and they are more scattered. In that regard its more frustrating to level horde. It gets much better after level 30, though.
Mage leveling isn't much different than it used to be. It's still one of the slowest classes to level, IMO, with too much time required for eating and drinking. I've spent some time with both fire and frost leveling. When I originally leveled Mage I did it as fire. And I started with fire on this character, but I've now switched to frost and am finding that it is better in many ways. It requires more spell casts than Fire, but uses slightly less mana even though you cast more spells and is certainly more survivable. By the time 50 rolls around, Frost is clearly better than fire while leveling (especially now that you can have your water elemental up at all times with a glyph).
My other RL friend in the guild is also not in that group and has gotten pretty ticked about it (he takes these things more seriously than I do). And he convinced me to check out this other 'tent pole' guild on another server. It happens to be horde and is apparently comprised of over 2,000 active members with over 20 active raiding groups.
'm not used to this sort of guild, and honestly I'm pretty leery of it. So I decided to create a new character on that server to check it out. So I created a new Mage as a Blood Elf. The guild's level requirements are low (level 10, lol), and they suggest creating a low-level alt to join with just so you can get a feel for the guild before you transfer. So that's what I did.
By origional plan was to just create a character, get to level 20 or so, going the guild and hang out there for a while. However, that was before I discovered that this guild only recruits during the first week of every month so I ended up having more time on my hands. And I ended up spending quite a bit more time with this character than I'd origionally intended.
So now, my Blood Elf Mage is level 45 and has about 700g to her name. She's a level 255 Enchanter, and level 275 Jewelcrafter. I had done the blood elf quests before, but otherwise I hadn't really leveled a horde character before. I don't think I'd call it 'fun' but it has been interesting to see the differences. Horde questlines are not as tight as the alliance side--there's much more moving around and they are more scattered. In that regard its more frustrating to level horde. It gets much better after level 30, though.
Mage leveling isn't much different than it used to be. It's still one of the slowest classes to level, IMO, with too much time required for eating and drinking. I've spent some time with both fire and frost leveling. When I originally leveled Mage I did it as fire. And I started with fire on this character, but I've now switched to frost and am finding that it is better in many ways. It requires more spell casts than Fire, but uses slightly less mana even though you cast more spells and is certainly more survivable. By the time 50 rolls around, Frost is clearly better than fire while leveling (especially now that you can have your water elemental up at all times with a glyph).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)