Well, it's been a very long time since I blogged something. As someone with a tunnel focus, it's easy for me to get sucked into the momentum of things. Right now, I'm at the final stretch of the Stormblood MSQ where below is the place this music is played.
Without a doubt, FF14 has some very great tracks. For the Lochs daytime theme, it drives home the fact that I'm at the final stretch. At the same time, it also brought forth the emotional aspect of the Ala Mhigan dream. So how do I rate Stormblood in terms of storytelling?
A storm of emotions compared to the heavens' scales
The above title would be how I rate Stormblood's storytelling. I don't fault players for saying HW has the better plot. In Ishgard, we're dealing with something more character-driven. As a result, the darkness of human nature saw the light of day. Be they Dravanians or Ishgardians, no one was immune to bitterness and hate. In a real sense, Estinien was the symbolic character of the expansion. He represented an Ishgard consumed by hatred and an Ishgard never beyond redemption. As for the Dravanians, they became the mirror image of their enemies. In this sense, they were in Nidhogg's image. If there happened to be a real-life person associated with Heavensward, it would be Friedrich Nietzsche.
Heavensward was a story where the line separating humanity from monstrosity was blurred. But more than a tale of human darkness, it's also a story of redemption. Redemption not just for Ishgard but also for the Dravanians. So the next time you think a person is nothing short of an irredeemable monster, go play Heavensward.
For Stormblood, the plot was a straightforward epic story. Heavensward can be compared to the likes of G.R.R. "not J.R.R." Martin and Isayama "Hametsu no Hajime" Hajime. Stormblood would be likened to J.R.R Tolkien and C.S Lewis. If you expect another HW, be prepared to be disappointed. But if you're okay with the old-school approach, then SB should do well enough. That being said, modern Japanese storytelling is known to be very character-driven. As for what manner of a song is to be sung after SB, we know it was composed by the late Miura Kentaro. Well, sorta...
Copy and paste
Per the title, I've copied and pasted my posts about Lyse and the Dragoon job questline in SB.
Dun Scaith and Emiya Kiritsugu
Wouldn't it be great if you were Emiya Kiritsugu? In the epic fight between him and Kayneth, he unleashed the full glory of time manipulation. In real life, I find my brain can process time slower than in reality. Ever wondered why time seemed to slow down, that a thirty-second GCD felt like 60 seconds instead? Science has the answer in the form of neurology.
Something didn't seem normal since I shifted my hotbars to the right. In my recent Dun Scaith run, I didn't feel I was contributing since my brain was processing things with the speed of a Lonesome George. Imagine my surprise when I got a player commendation. While I did have player commendations for both Void Ark and the Weeping City of Mhach, Dun Scaith was another monster. Then I adjusted the camera zoom distance to 100.
It's funny when I think about it. Like how it took a player 6500 gaming hours to discover you can rent your own bird, I needed 500+ gaming hours to know how to adjust the camera zoom distance. With one problem solved, another said hi: The hotbars obstructed part of my character view. As a result, I had to shift the hotbars to the right. And this was how I got my first commendation for Dun Scaith.
Dun Scaith was an interesting raid to run with 23 other mina-sans. The good thing about playing on a Japanese server is that many Japanese players enjoy running group content. And that includes Alliance raids. The learning curve has been much better than I expected since the key is to read my teammates' movements. In my first two Dun Scaith raids, I had to be resurrected by a healer at least twice against the first boss. A massive flaw in my raiding game was a short camera distance due to the default setting. Once I stretched it to the max, my movement game became much better. In fact, I didn't die against the first boss and the only moment when I needed a rez was against the second boss (something happened, but I can't recall the cause). However, my rotation felt much slower. I thought I screwed it up, but getting a commendation as a DPS made me question my original stance. And this was how I obtained the relevant information.
Throughout the raid, my focus felt stretched. However, I recalled the same under the same situation in running the easy stuff via MSQ roulette. The only difference lies in the extent. Previously, I was more of a berserker. Now, I'm more of a tactician. This made me wonder how my brain functioned during those moments. Will I feel less stretched once I get used to my self-imposed change?
Speaking of slowing down...
It's good to have a job (gauge)
If there's an annoying thing about playing a Dragoon, it'd be getting the job gauge only at level 70. Before that, I was used to intensifying the pace of my focus. With the job gauge, however, I have to slow down for a reason: I need to visually process the hotkeys to pull off the Jump>Mirage Dive rotation twice in 30 seconds. The thing about Life of the Dragon isn't about whether Emilia "she's probably as tall as the Dragon of Oshu" Clarke should be playing the most British FF14 job. I can't use it for crowd clearing since 30 seconds are needed to trigger it. Without LotD, Geirskogul would have a cooldown of 30 seconds. Not cool. With LotD, Nastrond only has a 10-second cooldown. This makes it surprisingly good as a bridge between my DoT damage chain and the direct damage chain. Dragoons are easy to use for single-target. Two sets of rotations consisting of five GCDs each. I probably won't get envious looks for dealing damage. But Dragoons are good tactical DPS where a combination of consistent DoT damage and Battle Litany can make one a valuable member in any Alliance raid. Well, at least if you're playing on a Japanese server. Not as tactical as Dancers, but decent enough. Once I finish a rotation, I can straightaway pull off Nastrond since it's an OGCD.
This comes to the level 90 question: How will Wyrmwind Thrust figure in my build strategy? Possibly as another single-target rotation bridge with Nastrond/Geirskogul plus AoE rotation usage. Double usage instead of single.
P.S.: I need to thank Frontline Bro for playing this song in his car. It helped a lot in maintaining my focus.
So last night, I finished Heavensward 3.3. In other words, I took down an angry Nidhogg, cleared the Firmament questline, helped Consulting Inspector Briardien de Manseauguel to restore order, and bought myself an apartment in the Empyreum. All in all an eventful Saturday.
[Note: This part was done on 23rd Oct]
The Japanese insist it's okay not to be okay
Japanese storytelling can be intriguing. Its society isn't the sharpest tool in the global shed in dealing with mental health. But in terms of fictional characters dealing with mental issues, chances are that no one does it like the Japanese. If there's a story that says it's okay not to be okay, Bungo Stray Dogs would be it.
Recently, my henjin self decided to act up again. I downloaded Bungo Stray Dogs: Tales of the Lost mobile game. And I have to say I'm impressed by what I'm dealing with. The gameplay is about thinking out of the box where you try to smash as many orbs as possible with a marble. It works like a pinball game minus the flippers for lack of a better way of putting it.
While I have information on the series and its characters via the fandom site, seeing the real deal resonated with me in a way no counsellor could. The good thing about this game is that you get to unlock vital scenes at various points of game progression. Because I couldn't jump all over the place like a Dragoon high on weed, I decided to focus on the main story. Before that, I already knew about Nakajima Atsushi's trauma. While it's a reflection of what I had to endure, going through the scenes made the impact very real.
In Atsushi, I saw myself. In the cruel words of the orphanage director, I saw the standard uttered by a toxic educational environment. Hence, I find Atsushi inspiring even though I disagreed with how he gauged his self-worth. Despite having gone through hell, he did not come back a demon. There are always two ways to live your life if you're a social reject demonised by others. You can be a supreme gentleman like Elliot Rodger or someone like Nakajima Atsushi. I looked at the former and knew this was what I could have been. I looked at the latter and knew where I now stand today.
The Final Steps of Faith: Have faith in your healer if you went down like Hraesvelgr
Final Steps of Faith was the most intensive trial I've done currently. Considering I've yet to reach Shadowbringers, it's not saying much. The fight was an eye-opener as in I got myself two one-shots. On the flip side, I got two commendations for that. Okay, it's probably a lie because respect beyond the basic level is something to be earned, loldrg or no loldrg.
As someone being a schoolyard meme from Henderson Primary School to Gan Eng Seng (Secondary) School and all the way to ITE Dover, I'm blessed with the ability to laugh at myself. If I got no issues in calling myself an incel and a henjin, laughing at Dragoon memes as a player maining a Dragoon is nothing.
My first attempt to swing the Balmung (i.e. the sword, not the server) threatened to become a trainwreck. The reason was that I got one-shotted despite no AoE warnings. The same went for the second time I got one-shotted. I thought there were invisible mechanics afoot. Then I realised that was not the case. It's weird because this was my first time getting the invisible treatment. I've already done a clean reinstallation of my NVIDIA driver, so let's see whether it works.
[Note: It's easy to do a clean install of your driver via Geforce Experience. Just click the lower three-dotted column. Then again, what ntall1 said in the Lodestone forum was likely what happened to me.]
Below is the video of the actual fight. No, this wasn't done by me because I wasn't there N years ago.
I had to go through the guide to see which attacks one-shotted me. I wasn't the only one at the receiving end of a healer's act of resuscitation. The first one-shot was Cauterise in phase 1. As for the second one-shot, it was Hot Wings during phase 3. The fight wasn't frantic since the remaining six members were good enough to hold their ground. But the pace was clearly so because it took the healers quite some time to revive the fallen. Personally, my only problem was these two moments. Phase 2 wasn't that hard because it was all about knowing where to move. Geirskogul happened to be the easiest to dodge. After getting this far (?), I already got used to the momentum.
At the same time, a vital tip for new players is this: When in doubt, please follow where your group is moving. Isolated movement isn't the best way to make your healer revive you. Just don't do it when everyone is marked individually. It's not going to work 100% of the time, but you get the drift.
If there's a reason behind getting two commendations even though most of those I got came from dungeons, it's likely due to phase 2. I believe half of phases 1 and 3 each were waiting for the healer to pull me up from the ground. Thankfully, my group members likely had an inkling of what was happening. Otherwise, I wouldn't get a single commendation, let alone 2.
Further proof that Heavensward is a parable to our current era (?)
I like the Briarden sidequest. I really do. It's the plot-driven counterpart to Hildibrand's questline. This is not to say Hildibrand's story wasn't good. It's interesting in its own way. More specifically, a combination of the inane and heartwarming since we're talking about Hildibrand Manderville. Briarden's questline was clearly darker. In this sense, it mirrored the nature of the Heavensward storyline stretching to Litany of Peace.
When I think about it, there's not much difference between Nidhogg and the Ishgardians. In today's world of identity politics, we always insist we're not like them. Needless to say, those on the other side would also insist they're not like us. But what if we're all wrong? Nidhogg believed himself to be different from the Ishgardians. The same went for vice versa. But Estinien knew otherwise when it came to himself. If someone like him wasn't that different from the monster he swore to kill, what did it say about the Ishgardians? This is why I see plenty of our world in Heavensward. Granted, it wasn't Yoshi-P's intent (after all, he's Japanese). But the parallels were too close to be dismissed.
Like Dravanians and Ishgardians demonising each other without realising the dark truth about themselves, the commoners vented their wrath on seminary students. Their only crime? Religion. Sounds like the Dravanian animosity towards the Ishgardians and vice versa? Definitely and literally.
Yet, there's something heartwarming about the Briarden questline. Instead of demonising others, it drew a clear line between right makes might and might makes right. Needless to say, right triumphed over might. All in all, it's a heartwarming experience I'd never have if I remained within the bubble defined by Mediacorp and Hollywood. It's a good questline and one I didn't regret doing even if it's to unwind from that frantic nuclear fight with an equally nuclear Nidhogg.
I finally got my apartment (i.e. not a private property costing at least 3 million)
Not so recently, I came across an article on Bloomberg. FF14 is so famous, even a Bloomberg journalist was playing it. Now I'm not going to doubt what the person said about obtaining private property. At the same time, I acknowledged the kind of notoriety FF14 has on the housing system. Out of all the MMOs I played, Everquest 2 had the best housing system since furnishing was easily accessible. You could buy a decent range of furniture without stressing yourself out in the crafting aspect. Events are a good source of crafting recipes, so you don't have to worry. For me, furnishing tier 2 New Halas housing wasn't hard despite New Halas' reputation for huge houses. For ESO, it's way harder on the furnishing end. But getting a house was easy. The Greymoor event gave players free housing in the form of the Antiquarian's Alpine Gallery. Upon a certain point in the Elsweyr storyline, you would get a Hall of the Lunar Champion. You can also purchase additional housing from the game store. Some of them look awesome (e.g. Forgemaster Falls and Hunter's Glade).
For FF14, there were issues. But we need to credit the developers for trying to address them. Unfortunately, it's like dealing with the British economy, PM Sunak or no PM Sunak. It's not about reversing the damage but mitigating it. In this aspect, FF14 and the British economy are in the same HMS. Yes, it's easier to get your dream private property. But how easier? The lottery system may be something Yoshi-P learnt from the HDB, but I doubt it unless he's friends with the PAP government. However, it merely gives players a higher chance of getting houses under a specific condition. And that is if there's an empty house up for sale. That's a very big IF because players have to either give it up or not logged in for 45 days in a row. If and when the developers decide to increase housing plots, you can be very sure of a land grab scenario. The circumstances still made it difficult for gamers to get their dream home. And this is not to mention that you need at least 3 million gil to qualify for the lottery. That being said, I prefer to use the term balloting because you don't lose your gil if you can't get a house.
This comes to another article arguing for the merits of getting an apartment. If you really want the private property, you have to decide whether to settle for an apartment first. Assuming you don't want the hassle, getting an apartment is a no-brainer. That is unless you're perfectly okay with an inn room. But there's a perk housing has but not an inn room: The option to port straight into your home. If you're to stick with an inn room, it's travelling back to the major city in question and moving accordingly. So far, Gridania has the best accessibility route between the inn and Grand Company base as the main aetheryte is between the two. Ul'dah comes second. Limsa Lominsa is at a distant third, but the flip side is that it has the best accessibility to the market boards.
For me, I chose Empyreum. The reason why is that Ishgard has grown on me. It's interesting because when I first arrived, I only saw the contrast between light and darkness in a city-state closest to the medieval setting. It could be due to going through the MSQ, but I grew to like Ishgard despite its flaws. Ever imagine what it is like to enter a relationship? My pastor once said that entering a relationship has to be done with the premise of marriage. Conservative, yes. But is that the relationship I'll like to commit myself to? Again, the answer is yes. Such is the analogy I'd give to Ishgard. One thing I realised only after coming to Ishgard was that there's actually an aesthetic in a city of stone and winter. My love affair with this manner of beauty started not from G.R.R "not J.R.R" Martin where Winterfell was concerned. It was Orsinium during my days in ESO. Ishgard isn't Orsinium, but it's closer to the city of the Orsimer rather than its more refined counterparts like Eastmarch and Solitude.
Now that I've gotten my apartment in the Empyreum, all that's left is furnishing it. By my estimation, the hard part lies in farming the materials to craft the furnishing. Thank the Twelve and Light alike for Mor Dhona due to the clusters. My top priority is the armoire, followed by the summoning bell. As for the chandelier, I'm gunning for a glade design. As for the interior wall, it's alpine. The bed would be the riveria canopy type, while the flooring is the manor design. Then there's the orchestrion as well. I'll need to get the crafter scrips ready. As for the glamour dresser, we're all waiting for news of the developers getting the relevant programming code right. After all, it'd be unfair to expect government intervention from Kono "not Jiro" Taro.
Before I end this, I'm going to up the titular source of my WoL's current title.
As stated above, it's quite fast that I'm doing a new post. The liberating thing about blogging but not being an influencer is that you're under no stress to do things in a certain way and within time constraints. Because I'm neither a streamer nor a social influencer, I'm able to enjoy playing FF14 while still having a job and an actual life at least once every Sunday.
Asmongold quits FF14(?)
If there's one bad thing about being a henjin, it'd be that I don't feel I belong to my country. But if there's one good thing about being a henjin, it'd be that I get to know things which my fellow Singaporeans wouldn't since my brain functions differently. Are these things frivolous? Yes. But the good part about knowing frivolous things is that they played a role in preventing me from entering despair. Not that I expect people to understand me though.
Let me point out the only reason why I know Asmongold exists is because YouTube has a list of recommended videos on its home page. The accuracy can be laughably inaccurate, but that didn't prevent me from clicking one of his videos dealing with Blizzard's woke culture. Then from Blizzard, he went to FF14. From FF14, he went back to Blizzard. Whether Blizzard has gone less woke, however, is a matter not of my interest. I can only handle this much cynicism before I quit like a French.
Because of my henjin curiosity, I decided to search Asmongold FF14 on Google. Long story short, there's acrimony involved. I'm not going to take sides here, but I'm going to say something (and hopefully not come across as scolding people).
Firstly, I went through the FF14 Reddit and the responses were understandably negative. There were exceptions where the statement would be more neutral. There's a post stating that purists do exist among the FF14 fanbase. I'm not going to dissect the dark side of FF14 fanbase psychology here. A major reason is that those who comment on the official Reddit channel are probably gamers outside Japan. As for me, I'm currently at Kujata and I've got no plans to migrate beyond the ocean, Balmung or no Balmung. My impression of Japanese gamers is that they tend to mind their own businesses. Interestingly, they often leave a greeting before any dungeon/raid/trial and say "Good Game" at the end. It's a very different culture from what I've experienced in other MMOs. While gamers do say, "gg tyfg" in ESO after dungeons and trials, the frequency isn't at the Japanese level. For your info, there are three Japanese servers catering to non-Japanese gamers (Tonberry and Kujata are excluded because they're more like a melting pot of Japanese and English-speaking non-Japanese gamers). Ramuh for Taeyeon's fellow South Koreans, Typhon for Tzuyu's fellow Taiwanese, and Masamune for Dita's fellow Indonesians.
Back to Asmongold's FF14ドラマ starring Yoshioka "confirmed unrelated to Seijuro" Riho as a Miqo'te. The way I see it is that it's a reaction versus reaction kind of thing. I've gone through the Reddit posts and I have a good idea of the situation minus the b-word. Of course, it's been months since the incident and I'm very sure it's not even 10% as severe as a certain kyodai kujira jiken way before I started playing FF14 (don't ask me what kind of kyodai kujira jiken because I can assure you it's not some kind of sexual innuendo).
My knowledge of streamers is a combination of random curiosity and the close relationship between ZOS and ESO streamers. The former is the reason why I know names like Pokimane and Josh Strife Hayes while the latter enabled me to know names ranging from Alcast to Niniskya. But if I say I knew Pokimane's latest stream, you all can call me a liar.
Hopefully, history won't repeat itself. But if so, then I say it's better for us to pay little heed and carry on with what we're doing. As a gamer, I do recognise the need to have a life from work to church. I don't have to be Dr Carl Jung Shin-ri to understand that when you move on from a certain episode, not turning back is 100% therapeutic. Easier said than done, but at least we can try. The drama wasn't for great watching. Hence, I'm not upping any links. But will I up a meme?
(Solo) Duty インポシブル?
Currently, I only manage to reach the end of the Ishgardian civil war involving Ser Aymeric and those from the south end of Ishgard if you get what I mean. It felt absurd to see my Dragoon hitting level 80 despite not even halfway through the post-Heavensward MSQ. Without the Road to 80 XP buff, things would probably be very different. It's an OP boon, but it's probably going to give me some shock once I reach Shadowbringers. That feels like a longshot distance to me, so my goal in FF14 has changed from getting my Temasek island to just enjoying the ride. It's possibly an attitude cultivated from my time playing ESO. So yeah, it works both ways. I'll have an easier time until the end of Stormblood. Then my brain will have to start sweating from Shadowbringers onward.
So far, it seems that I have my own fair share of solo Duties terribly hard to complete without a combination of Very Easy difficulty level and Echo activation. The Echo system is quite interesting as the developers are probably out to strike a balance between hardcore and casual for instanced solo fights. Most of them are doable from a casual perspective. Then you have a few that felt quite hardcore. I finished the level 40 Astrologian job quest involving an instanced duty synced at level 44. It wasn't pretty because the final phase was a literal brawl where I couldn't target the Ishgardian gentleman (not to be confused with a supreme gentleman) since everyone was jumping on him. Using Benefic and Aspected Benefic wasn't an option because my brain has a tendency to shut down once it has to process too many things (so much for being a Singaporean). The only Plan B was using Helios while keeping my fingers crossed (figuratively) that the Sharlayan lady can single-target heal the Ishgardian gentleman. The brawl was a disaster the first time around. The only reason I could think of was gear level. Running an instanced duty synced at level 44 was never a good idea if the gear level is around 30.
Of course, I didn't wait to craft better gear. Instead, I just chose Very Easy. With the Echo activated, it's weird to see my Astrologian downing the AI with two shots of Malefic. The brawling part was nerve-wracking in the sense that it's really as chaotic as a real-life free-for-all. Even if I was running with gear ranging from 39-41, I wouldn't be confident of keeping the Ishgardian gentleman alive in normal difficulty mode. That's how nutty the brawl was.
It's not just the level 44 Astrologian fight that murmured インポシブル. There were two more solo duties which made me feel the same way. The first was the second jailbreak since saving General Raubahn. The failure part was the inability to save the second last refugee (you save the last one only after helping Aymeric to take care of his fellow ser). The trick in getting this done lies in getting the direction right straightaway. If you have to waste precious seconds navigating the Vault, it's a certified duty failure because you wouldn't be able to reach the poor fellow in time. If you're running as a ranged DPS, you'd have an advantage due to Peloton. If you're running a melee class, I wouldn't be surprised if you have to deal with a major strategic handicap. Even running it with Very Easy and Echo switched on, I counted the fellow lucky to be saved. If I remember correctly, his HP was down by more than half. If I had to be honest with myself, I should have targeted the enemy behind instead of spamming AoE attacks.
The other one was the siege duty in the post-ARR MSQ where I had to take down a dragon before it took down an entire city. This was a DPS check against a flying Minas Tirith. Instead of seven layers of defence, however, I was dealing with a single layer of nigh-invulnerability. You can damage the boss. But that reptile can take so much damage, it's easier to take down Rome itself. This is the kind of fight you probably wouldn't win without food (I'd use HQ Apkallu Omelette) and potion buff. Apart from the insane durability, there wasn't anything of much worry since mechanics were effectively non-existent. At the same time, the duty is synced at item level 110. Even if you're geared with a full Augmented Ironworks set, you're still on the back foot. I'm not sure how well Potent Poisoning Potion would work, but I wouldn't be surprised if using Mega-Potion of Strength whenever engaging that flying Sauronsaurus would work better.
WARNING!
The second part of this post involves events spanning from Heavensward to post-Heavensward. Unless you've progressed to Stormblood or don't mind having your curiosity nuked, please stop here.
Don't look at me, look at Thordan
Recently, a fellow Singaporean got himself into trouble and possibly accolades from human rights activists. Long story short, his name was Ken "not Lim" Kwek of the Sex.Violence.FamilyValues fame and his latest work happened to be #LookAtMe starring Adrian "not The Hunter" Pang as Pastor Josiah Long Island Iced Tee. Again long story short, it got banned. Truth to be spoken, I'm not going to watch it. The reason why is that I've already learnt how to appreciate works like Vinland Saga and Tokyo Ghoul. Then we have Heavensward.
The interesting thing about the Heavensward storyline is that it may well be the most misunderstood plot in FF14. Why I say this is due to the darkness of the storytelling having nothing to do with religion. Because I'm more into Japanese dark fiction than its Hollywood counterpart, I'm actually likelier to be sympathetic towards the villains. Two good examples of this are Askeladd of Vinland Saga and Washuu Kichimura of Tokyo Ghoul. Then we have Elidibus.
Moral of the story: There are clearly things the Japanese are good at and I'm not referring to the oppai.
Was Thordan a sympathetic villain? It depends on which one we're talking about. Thordan VII was a man with the noble goal of establishing a utopia for his people. But there's a problem: His methodology was nothing short of cynical. This is why I see him as a sympathetic villain. His actions were not driven by religion but by a faithless heart beneath the facade of faith. As for Thordan I, I hold no love for him. Imagine Teledji Adeledji as a crown-wearing Elezen and you'd get the picture.
Based on a true story in FF14.
The evils of the Ishgardian theocracy beg forth two questions:
1. Is religion a product of humanity?
2. If so, then does that mean the evils of religion came from humanity instead of religious faith?
We must understand that FF14 is made in Japan. This includes storytelling and the Japanese are known for their no-holds-barred approach. If you expect political preaching, you're really going to be sorely disappointed. While the nationalist lobby does command a strong influence in the political circle, the folks on the ground don't care for games of musical thrones. There are things they're capable of being angry at. Then there are things they couldn't be bothered with. As a result, you don't get to see woke themes in their works. This gives the Japanese brand of creativity a unique identity which the Cool Japan initiative failed to utilise.
Hence, it'd make more sense to see the darkness of Heavensward as the darkness of human nature. The cause of the Dragonsong War was never religion. It's down to one thing both clergy and atheists are capable of. That is greed. What Thordan I and his followers coveted was that which the Garleans would have sought as well. One side was religious while the other was atheistic, but both were nevertheless a pack of power-hungry dogs. The lies Aymeric was out to expose were never caused by religion but by human greed. But what if you realised your righteousness was defined by liars instead of the truth? It's never about "them" but "us". Frame it from an objective perspective and you realise not everyone on both sides has the courage to ask the same damning question. There's something harrowing about the priest's visage when he decided to murder a child (if you're pro-life, be glad that Vidofnir was around to save the day). It wasn't the face of religion but the dark side of human nature.
So why is Heavensward happened to be such a misunderstood story? I believe the reason is that we're so indoctrinated by the us-versus-them narrative that we failed to see Heavensward for what it is: A story told by the Japanese instead of Hollywood. Hence, we shouldn't see it as anti-religion or pro-left because that's never the intention of the developers.
If you need definite proof of what I've said, refer to what Matoya said in response to Alphinaud's anguish concerning justice after you finished The Antitower dungeon in the post-Heavensward MSQ. So what did she say?
"There's no such thing as cosmic justice."
If you're an atheistic romanticist, you're going to be sorely disappointed by the context of her words. As a Christian, I chose to view the gravity of her words not as a form of blasphemy but something else.
As stated, my Samsung HDMI cable died some time ago. The signs were already there when there were moments my PC couldn't revert from screensaver/hibernation mode. In short, the comatose mode was a warning sign I should have noted. Thankfully, I got myself a new HDMI cable.
In other news, 10th October has passed. For the ignorant, 10th October was World Mental Health Day. So why did I mention World Mental Health Day? This was due to me stumbling across a few articles reminding me of the fact that every society is a closet containing fine clothes and skeletons alike.
I'll be brutally honest here. I've forgiven the sinners who did what is evil and those who did not do what is good. But the memory is still fresh as ever. Would things have changed for the better if my form teacher told my parents the truth during Secondary 2 instead of pointing out my lacking academic results? I don't know about the rest, but two teachers in 1996 knew my situation. One didn't act while the other (i.e. my form teacher) didn't pursue the matter all the way. As a result, my future is ruined. Thankfully, my church ensured that I wouldn't become another Fa Zheng. Incidentally, my church is a Reformed church. Those who know John Calvin's theology on human nature will know what I'm talking about.
This comes to the question of why I can call myself an incel and henjin even though these are unwanted labels (i.e. Wilde Versus Peterson and the fact that the LDP didn't like Koizumi Junichiro). On one hand, I believe in accepting what is factual. On the other hand, I don't believe superficial facts should dictate how I live my life. At the same time, there's always this urge to strike back at the sins of the sinners. It could have been worse because there's always the option of striking the sinners instead of their sins. This is why I'd rather be an ungentlemanly Singaporean instead of a supreme gentleman. Or Vash the Stampede instead of Million Knives if I want to make it sound better.
This comes to my ありがとうございました note to Soken "he doesn't own SoftBank" Masayoshi. Otherwise known as the FF14 version of Uematsu "the OG of FF music" Nobuo, he actually composed a few songs which I'd call the unofficial anthems of 10th October. I'm not joking here because Soken-san accidentally did something good that many of my fellow Singaporeans failed to do. There's something about the songs that spoke to my inner self.
At the same time, I discovered there's something admirable about Azem and the Warrior of Light. Without spoiling it for those yet to play Shadowbringers (or FF14 as well for that matter), allow me to point out: 1. Azem is the first and currently the only character I admired like Emiya Shirou admiring Kiritsugu. No other characters from Japan to Hollywood come close to Azem.
2. The Warrior of Light isn't defined by his/her light and darkness when it comes to moral identity.
This meme could have been funny if not for...
Do you know the thing about FF14 memes? Some of them are actually as funny as the Gentleman of Light. In fact, this meme would have been funny if I didn't do the dumbest thing ever.
I really have to say sorry to the Dark Knight tank in my first healer dungeon run here. The reason why was that I assumed one thing I should never have assumed: To target a group mate, you have to click on him/her. As a result, I had trouble alternating between DPS and healing (i.e. FF14 functions like ESO as in tanks and healers need to pull their own weight on the damage-dealing department).
It was a nightmare run where I felt I did a massive hard-done disservice to the tank. It was a travesty of justice that I got a commendation just because the only thing I did right in healing was to spam Helios to keep everyone alive while staying close to the tank (i.e. refer to what I said above).
Those who played Astrologian should know what is Helios. Yes, this was me astroturfing as an Astrologian. Then I went online. Google is your good friend for a reason: This. That's where I went terribly wrong. If I had clicked on the tank via the group list UI, I'd have saved myself and the rest plenty of trouble. Granted I did say I was learning the ropes (it didn't help that my first and current healer job is an astroturfing Astrologian instead of a White Mage), but I believed I'd have been scolded if I was playing another MMO. The fact that Square Enix believed insulting people and cancel culture are never part of its Human Rights Charter clearly helped a lot.
Truth be told, I'd have a much easier time had I known this trick. To all my fellow newbies out to try a healer, please don't follow my dumb mistake. Right now, I have this heavy feeling of failure. Scarily, the only way for me to exorcise the demon of failure is to try again. That's likely going to take me a few days to recover from the keyboard headbanging. Hopefully, I don't mistake Esuna for Essential Dignity again. It's not a joke, that actually happened and it cost the tank a respawn since I key-bound the two next to each other.
Thankfully, the trainwreck of a dungeon run was Tam-Tara Deepcroft at level 15. If I did a Haukke Manor instead, I shudder to imagine what's going to happen.
Some things I thought about as an (astroturfing) Astrologian
Apart from the dumb mistake of not doing what I should do, astroturfing as an Astrologian did throw up some interesting questions for me. One of them is how much mobility I need. The trick I see in using Astrologian is weaving the Arcanum mechanic into the spell casting. This requires me to slow down, pick a card, and play it. Think of it as a holding midfielder with the ball at his feet and thinking where to pass. It's not an understatement to say that Astrologians need to process at least two things at a time per 30 seconds. For me, there's no way I can try doing that while moving.
This means I need to rely on higher raw healing (i.e. Savage Aim and Savage Might instead of attempting Quicktongue melds). Helios is good for phalanx tactics (and it worked decently well in that first run of mine), but that's not a given for every fight. For the tank, it's Benefic and Essential Dignity (note that I'm NOT going beyond level 30). Right now, I need to decide whether the Benefic II-Benefic I rotation should be used or just Benefic II with Essential Dignity. I should have an easier time once I unlock Aspected Benefic (and Aspected Helios as well for that matter) since I don't see any point in sticking with Benefic I beyond this point.
As for the card buffing, I find recalling the different cards to be surprisingly easy. It's like testing something for the first time only for it to be imprinted inside the head. I still need some testing to see whether this feeling is legit or not, but I have to say it's the first time I felt decently confident at something I shouldn't be in the first place. Either way, I'd probably be aiming to master a two-symbol Astrodyne usage.
But before that, I really need to learn the ropes by running specific dungeons instead of doing a Duty Roulette to settle myself into a healer's pace. Otherwise, the only thing I'd be confident in is causing a wipe.
For the damage dealing, I find it easier to spam Malefic with casting Combust in between. This is the opposite of my Black Mage approach where I'd first apply the DoT. The reason is that as a healer, I need to switch between damage and heal while playing a DPS means I can floor the accelerator and feed off the momentum. In short, I need to quit my habit(s) as a DPS player if I want to be good at being a healer, let alone an actual Astrologian. In mob fights, it's harder for me to process things. Against bosses, it should be easier since my focus function like a sniper's scope instead of a machine gun. Wait, that came out wrong.
Haiyo! Dark Forces!
When it comes to resonating with myself, it's not just Shadowbringers. When we talk about mental resilience, it's never my fellow Singaporeansbut Guts of the Berserk fame. In fact, I'd say Guts was the OG of the dark Japanese fiction protagonist archetype. I doubt it's a coincidence that characters like Emiya Kiritsuguand Vash the Stampede arrived after Miura Kentaro's OG. My liking for great characters instead of merely strong ones is clearly connected to the dark side of Japanese storytelling.
So why Guts instead of my fellow Singaporeans? Originally, I had no intent to alt a tank job, let alone a healer. Then it happened after I defeated Thordan in the final Heavensward trial. Long story short, Thordan and Ramuh had something in common apart from being geezers. Both ah-kongs saw something in the Warrior of Light. Ah-kong Ramuh was composed while ah-kong Thordan was seized by terror. The source of this terror? Guts.
Okay, that's a lie. Guts merely inspired the Dark Knight job. Something is inspiring about the Dark Knight job backstory. And that is the lonely road of righteousness where warriors of darkness fought for the greater good without being noticed, let alone appreciated. If you need any proof that FF14 isn't something you'd expect from Mediacorp, look no further than the Dark Knights. Needless to say, I blame my urge instead of Miura-san for trying out the Dark Knight instead of Warrior class.
The thing about being a tank is that trusting your back to the healer is a major part of your job. Self-heal can only take you this far unless you're a Warrior.
For Dark Knight, my current best bet for self-heal is Souleater. Actually, that's every Dark Knight's only bet. The fun part of using Dark Knight is that it has some nice MP recovery options. When it comes to MP usage, it's synonymous with one word: Darkside. There's a reason why Dark Arts is legit. I actually went through the Dark Knight official guide and what I see is an interesting balance between resource usage and resource-free usage. In other words, the hard part is waiting for me on the other side. There's no way I can plan beforehand how to make things work until I reach... well, the other side.
Running Dark Knight is far more straightforward than astroturfing an Astrologian just like how it's more straightforward running a Warrior compared to a White Mage. Just get in there, trust your healer, and get the job done. And don't forget to commend the healer before saying bye unless you're a Warrior. In this case, it's your call.
I ran two dungeons on Duty Roulette: Tam-Tara Deepcroft and Haukke Manor. In the former, I actually ran with Grit against mobs and switched off Grit in favour of Provoke against the last boss. If I didn't realise better, I'd think that's the way to get things done in striking a balance between aggro management and surviving a boss fight. Thanks to a kindhearted fellow DPS player in Haukke Manor, I realised I got it wrong. His/her advice was simple: Just turn on your Grit. If there's anything good in being a newbie, it'd be that I have no reason to be arrogant. Humility is a virtue even if others see it as an obscenity once you look at the world long enough. This is also why playing video games can be a positive distraction so long as no one calls Dr Carl Jung Shin-ri. For me, I'm lucky because I have a life at least once every Sunday. In a real sense, church to me is what Godo was to Guts and Rem to Vash. It's really a good thing that the FF14 community is far removed from the people who scarred me emotionally in school.
Unlike my astroturfing Astrologian, I'm much more confident in doing Duty Roulette with my Dark Knight. The only catch? I'm nearing my 50K Grand Company seals cap.
It's been a very intense August. For the world because of 15th August and Yasukuni Shrine. For Singapore because of 9th August, atomic bomb or no atomic bomb. Then there's me going through Final Fantasy 14 like half the Japanese madman Sakaguchi "not Ango" Hironobu was. FF14 is a game where my mental faculties have to be 100% functional. Otherwise, I might as well quit it. So how intense is the game so far? I've just finished A Realm Reborn storyline (but not the aftermath storyline, let alone Heavensward). It took me just one try to defeat Lahabrea, but I couldn't recall what I did right half of the time at least. The only thing screaming in my mind was never to get myself into an AoE overlap. Beyond that, I was moving around less like Conan the Japanese and more like Conan the Cimmerian. It's so insane, I felt more like an Ainu than a Singaporean. The fact that I saw parallels between Gridania and Ainu-Mosir (i.e. Hokkaido before the Yamato called it so) didn't help.
So how does Final Fantasy 14 fare in my report book? Originally, I decided on a 30-day subscription. Now, I upgraded it to 180 days. It's that good. However, I'd say it's not for everybody. FF14 is a game demanding quite a lot of your gaming time. Once you enter Eorzea, it'd be difficult for you to go elsewhere. Effectively, it's the antithesis of ESO in terms of how demanding it is. At the same time, it's very easy to take the omotenashi culture in the FF14 community for granted. That's until I realised there are rules to ensure your freedom is never an excuse for irresponsibility. But before people start crying hell, high murder, and Izanami's wrath, let me point out that for all its flaws, Square Enix has no intent to infringe on anyone's human rights.
Note: This is NOT to say the community fear punishment. My recent MSQ duty roulette involved my teammates waiting for me because I was slow to catch up with them. There was even one of them using the cheerleading emote. The Praetorium can be a bit mind-boggling if you're not used to the layout while quite mind-boggling to navigate the first time around. Also, I need to learn to remember commending my fellow players after getting too used to playing MMOs made in the West. There are still moments when my brain tripped.
The Road to 80=Road to the Final Victory?
Those born in my era may know about the Garou Densetsu series, otherwise known as Fatal Fury. From Terry Bogard to Rock Howard, the characters have dominated the youth of many a gamer. (just don't ask me about Shiranui Mai). There's this particular instalment entitled Road to the Final Victory. Hence, the second part of the title. So what is The Road to 80 all about?
Simply put, it's a free pass for you to reach as high as 59-60 before you enter the final quest of ARR. Which by the way consists of a triple threat (i.e. Praetorium, Porta Decumana, and the Lahabrea solo boss fight). It's not a joke when I say it's a free pass to power levelling. While it's a good thing I have a job and a life at least once every Sunday, I still recognise the challenge posed forth by the intensity of my tunnel focus. If there are things I have to do first, I need to discipline myself to do them. No one is going to do it for me, so I have to be independent in this area of my life.
The good thing about Road to 80 XP buff is that it alleviates the negative impact my focus can have on my daily life. I don't know how things were in the past, but the Road to 80 buff is something a person in my situation needs. Granted I've reached Heavensward's version of end-game level (i.e. 60) without even stepping through the gates of Ishgard, but the level syncing system would mean I should have plenty of chances to unleash my inner Cimmerian once again. And more than just once again.
[Spoiler: Comparing Estinien with Foulques is like seeing my ungentlemanly self with a so-called supreme gentleman.]
Gaius van Baelsar is an interesting guy, I have to give him that. When we talk about the portrayal of dictators, we all can expect certain traits from megalomania to outright homicidal. After all, both Hitler and Stalin were dictators. But is Gaius such a... well, guy?
Due to the manner of my life, I have the capability (?) to see myself and the world in fictional works. Storytelling transcends the boundary separating C.S Lewis and Lee Kuan Yew. I'm not denigrating the founding Prime Minister of my country nor am I elevating the author of The Chronicles of Narnia Instead, this is my philosophical understanding of storytelling. So why did I mention this?
Gaius reminded me of my country's educational system. Despite his despotic Garlean self, Gaius is a meritocrat. Not only does that make him more of an Oda Nobunaga, but it also makes him more of a Singaporean. But therein comes the problem: Pastor Lee once said that the best ideology is one which becomes better the further you push it. So is meritocracy good? Yes. Is it the best? No. Push meritocracy to the max and you get social Darwinism. Meritocracy has to be tampered with by compassion and grace. Otherwise, everyone will become an intelligent neanderthal.
Is Gaius advocating the devolution of humanity? Firstly, Gaius is an atheist. He doesn't believe in gods. Sure the primals are real, but he doesn't see them as gods. Secondly, Gaius believes in the glorification of man. After all, he's an atheist. So no, he's not an advocate for devolving humanity. When he decried the gods of Eorzea as false, we need to understand he's using the atheistic language instead of the Judeo-Christian language.
Since he only believes in the merit of humanity, this means he believes in the merit of strength. However, he's not someone out to invade and destroy for fun. Instead, he believes in the strong shepherding the weak. The strong have the moral obligation to protect the weak. That's his point. Instead of might makes right, Gaius' belief is more about right justified by might. Philosophically, it'll be hard to argue against his logic. If we're to see it in terms of the just war theory, we'd realise a just war can only be effective if the correct side emerges as the victor. How do we remember the Unionists waging a just war against the Confederates? Abraham Lincoln. Ultimately, there has to be a greater power involved. Lincoln called that power God instead of William Sherman. Gaius called it man. Unlike Lincoln, however, Gaius' philosophy was never the just war theory but a just conquest theory.
Morally, I don't agree with Gaius. Philosophy-wise, that's where the line separating right makes might and might makes right gets blurred. So is Gaius right? On one hand, you have the refugees of Ala Mhigo proving Gaius wrong. But when you get to fight Rhitahtyn sas Arvina, that's where the Ala Mhigo logic is challenged. While the Ala Mhigans view Gaius as a brutal oppressor, Rhitahtyn saw Gaius as the reason why his people finally stopped killing each other. This creates a contradictory aspect of Gaius' character. Is he a man of bloodshed or a man of peace? Can the end justify the means due to helplessness?
This is why I don't hate Gaius. I disagree with him, but I don't hate him. I can't call Rhitahtyn a liar, but I also can't ignore the Ala Mhigans' suffering. This is why I see my country's educational system in Gaius. It ruined me, but it also gave many others a future. If I want to be factual, I cannot ignore the testimony of many just because I can never have their manner of life. It's a very weird situation to be in especially given how I used to be more impetuous towards the system. Do I resent my lot in life? Let's just put things this way: I still see myself in Estinien and Cid Garlond like how I see my church in Ser Alberic Bale, Father Iliud, and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.
Crafting like a Japanese madman (i.e. Muramasa)
As a casual gamer, am I as mad as Muramasa in saying crafting in FF14 is an essential must? In case you don't know who was Muramasa, he's a swordsmith of legendary status alongside Masamune (not to be confused with Date Masamune). In Japanese pop culture, the weapons he forged are known to be demonic. Although I can't say whether Muramasa was insane, it's true local Japanese folklore associates weapons crafted by him with homicidal acts of literal insanity.
If there's anything I learned in playing ESO, it'd be crafting is vital. If there's anything I learned in playing FF14, it'd be crafting is a must if you want to manage your finances properly.
Unlike ESO where crafted gear can last you for 70-80% of the game content (seriously, Hunding's Rage and Law of Julianos are still good unless ZOS did something unforgivable), crafting in FF14 is more of a necessity. Can you get away with little to no crafting? I don't know, but I've seen the benefits of level-capping your tradecraft professions (i.e. 50 for A Realm Reborn, 60 for Heavensward, and so on). It allows my character to have better gear while spending less on whatever inferior stuff from the NPC vendors. Case in point: HQ gear is always a good thing to have, be it selling or keeping. At the same time, I use alchemist tradecraft to craft HQ elixir for my character and equally HQ Raptor Stew for that much-needed punch in DPS when necessary. The culinarian tradecraft is a very fun source of minor roleplaying since you can craft low-level food and drink for that very purpose.
For those adverse to grinding for tradecraft XP, you have the levequests. The only tricky part lies in getting the materials for high-level stuff. This is where your fieldcraft professions come in. Fieldcraft professions are the easiest to level up, so I strongly recommend capping them. Fisher fieldcraft can be trickier because it takes quite some time to catch the fish you need, but botanist and miner professions should be very easy to level up.
But if you want to level up your tradecraft professions, it's advisable to level up all of them. At the same time, you have the market board for a reason in case you need something for your... well, something. The reason why I say that is because high-level craftable items would need components which only another tradecraft profession can provide. That is unless you want to buy stuff from the market board. I prefer prudent financial management even though it's only a game. When it comes to levelling up every tradecraft profession, I recommend setting a mark. Once you reach that mark (e.g. level 30), then move on to another profession. Once you've done it for all professions, then rinse and repeat until you level-cap all of them.
This requires much more effort. However, it's also a choice between going fast but spending more and going slow but being self-sufficient. If you have the patience of Tokugawa Ieyasu, see crafting as a top priority. After all, it was patience enabling Ieyasu to unify Japan under one single mon. The cuckoo did sing after all.
