Thanks, SE, I didn't need to sniffle before work

[thistlechaser]

It's strange when something happens that makes issues that previously seemed big vanish.

The whole thing about my feelings towards WotLK vs other expansions? Like so much dust underfoot.

I'm still on the FFXI mailing list, and today I got an email about an upcoming concert. WoW is down, so hey, I watched the attached video. Seeing the FFXI cities and starter zones, hearing the music, my eyes teared right up. It was like having glimpses of your beloved home after being away for years and years.

Blizz has spoiled me in a number of ways (and I forgot things about SE). That none of the game people they interviewed spoke English surprised me for a long moment. More than that, the quality of the video (SO BAD) surprised me, too. It sounded like it was recorded in a public bathroom, the voices all echoed and were really hard to understand. (Would a video they were sending out to the Japanese part of their playerbase have such poor quality?)

But mostly the emotional punch surprised me. What I feel for WotLK is less than nothing compared to what a 30 second clip from the FFXI game can make me feel. It's been more than three years since I quit (June 16th, 2009 was the day I canceled), how in the world do I still feel so strongly about the game?

I can't go back. The game is (was?) brutal, and I can't start at level 1 again. More than that, there's the lack of in-game RP -- I would rather spend my time on a game that has it.

I wish it could be different, FFXI. I wish we could still be together. I wish it could have worked out. You were, by far, the hardest game I ever played, but you were also one of the most emotional experiences I've gone through in any book, TV, or game. I hope you never shut down.

Love,
Thistle

Comments

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

Mmmm new XI expansion, can't wait!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Another one? Woot! What's the theme of it?

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

We are heading west this time. SE was saying the theme is "exploration", we only have a teaser right now.

Greatest Vana'diel pronunciation ever! (http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/adoulin/)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Wow, that trailer was pretty... not good. But I think the MoP was still worse!

Odd choice for a voice over artist. Exciting to see a new city though! And new jobs! :D

[quistie.livejournal.com]

The trailer was pretty bad... So to answer your question, yes, a video to the JP player base can be just as bad. I don't think it's a matter of catering to different audiences. Maybe it's the budget, or whoever is involved with FFXI just isn't good at making videos.

On some level, I wish these trailers would feature at least some gameplay footage—and no, showing a geomancer running through an empty city doesn't count. Can you imagine how awesome a ToAU trailer featuring Besieged could be? It's such a simple concept, yet Blizzard/SE seem unwilling to do so. Why?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, true, that does answer that question.

and no, showing a geomancer running through an empty city doesn't count

That amused me. I did like seeing the city, but a few of the zones looked close to previous zones (I thought she was running through the Dunes at one point, and at another I thought she was on that path to Al Zahbi, where the sides are high on either side of you?). I would have thought they'd be sure to include only totally new looking things.

[quistie.livejournal.com]

I suspect SE would *like* to include totally new stuff, but obviously they've only semi-finished a few zones. Some of the totally new stuff discovered by the data miners sound cool, but most of them are probably still skeletons.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah, true...

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you can compare the two. I mean, one is for an expansion that is still like a year or more away (can't remember what quarter they were saying for release) and the other is coming out in about a month. But ya, it still looks like it was thrown together in Windows Movie Maker.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, wow, that is a big difference. Good point!

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

As has happened multiple times, I miss it enough to have given it a few more shots. The old game isn't there anymore...but making friends of the people, especially since cooperation was so pivotal, is something I've missed. And I keep trying MMOs, hoping to recapture that.

No luck so far. My GuildWars2 CE is preordered, and should be shipping soon.

If that doesn't pan out, I'll be in FFXIV for the 2.0 attempt. I've heard many good things about the work they've done on XIV, so maybe, if I'm lucky...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

GuildWars2 looks really nice. I wish I wasn't so tied to WoW, I'd really like to try other games. (It's not even that I like the game, it's just that I know it and I've made so much progress there, plus know people/RP.)

I'll be curious to know how FFXIV is!

especially since cooperation was so pivotal, is something I've missed. And I keep trying MMOs, hoping to recapture that.

That's such a double-edged sword. On one hand, it's great to cooperate! Feels great, leads to more fun! On the other, you have to find other people who you can work with and who work well together... The WoW playerbase has made me so skittish about that. Most of them I'd gleefully set on fire rather than try to make them work together as a group.

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

That was actually what turned me off WoW so much. The ability to play the game solo means I'm not forced to interact with people, so I won't. 40-some odd levels into a character, I realize I'm playing a crappy single-player game where outsiders sometimes jump into my game to shout obscenities and kill me.

If I'm going to play a single player game, there are much better ones out there. So I went to play Fallout3, Elder Scrolls series, and now Mass Effect. These scratched an itch I didn't realize I was having - my childhood having been littered with single player RPGs, the Final Fantasy series featuring prominently therein, and yet I had played MMORPGs exclusively for years. Singleplayer RPGs don't scratch my progression itch the same way, but suddenly I get well crafted story, a much shorter progression curve, good voice acting (to its credit, SW:TOR did this amazingly), etc.

I'm too shy to go into WoW and force myself to interact. Such a thing is too contrary to my nature. IRL, I require a wife who forces me into social situations, otherwise I'd just sit at home and game, build things, fix things, cook things, etc.

FWIW, I gave WoW many shots. Played on one of your servers for a bit too. But I always ended up thinking how crappy the graphics were, how what little interaction with the community at large was always such crap, how rarely I got tidbits of story, how I'd work hours to progress only for the enemies to do the same (therefore feeling like I didn't progress at all). I know I missed the point of WOW, and I sometimes wonder if I didn't miss something great, but alas...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

But I always ended up thinking how crappy the graphics were, how what little interaction with the community at large was always such crap, how rarely I got tidbits of story, how I'd work hours to progress only for the enemies to do the same (therefore feeling like I didn't progress at all). I know I missed the point of WOW, and I sometimes wonder if I didn't miss something great, but alas...

Agreed on all of that. Even after years of playing, the WoW graphics still make me so sad.

I don't think you missed the point of it. The "point" is just doing the same thing over and over (and hoping for a different result? heh). Expansion drops, replace previous gear with new quest greens, dungeon for blues, upgrade to purples... then when next expansion comes, replace them with quest greens.

Sometimes I wonder why people still play it. Often times I wonder why I still do. I say it's for the RP and the people, but I've RPed once in the last two weeks and most of the people I know have quit or are playing other games until the expansion drops.

It fills my free time, that's about the most I can say for it. (Which, again, is kind of sad.)

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

Surely there will be good RP in GW2. I mean, they're not sticking to generic fantasy races. There are plant-people! And lion-people with horns!

And no monthly fee! *nudge nudge wink wink*

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the lion and plant people look really cool! I'll think about it. ;)

[lokyst.livejournal.com]

A couple of things:
-GW2 is not a subscription game. You just pay for the box. so no guilt about not playing.
-For the altoholics, each race has its own zone and at character creation each race makes two pivotal choices which shape that character's personal story quest.
-There is a quest line about a gay* couple sylvari couple. (Just in case that piques your interest)
-Crafting involves discovering recipes.

* Technically they're plants,

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

A gay plant people couple did tickle me. :)

I wish GW2 and MoP weren't releasing on the same day (which I'm sure was done on purpose). Hopefully once WoW settles back down, I'll give GW2 a spin.

[lokyst.livejournal.com]

Omg my post was full of typos. :P

The guild wars head start for pre-purchasers is this weekend and the official release is next Tuesday, August 28th. As far as I recall, MoP only releases a month from now on September 25th.

No more excuses ;)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

The MoP opening events start on Tuesday the 28th, too. But more important than that (to me at least), very soon (Tuesday, hopefully!) the AH will come back to life. I've been gathering mats and building stock to sell for many months now. All my attention will be on sales and such.

After that hopefully!

[lokyst.livejournal.com]

Ah, my bad. I am not as aware of the inner workings of WoW these days.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

No worries at all! WoW set their date after GW2 announced theirs, which is kind of suspicious.