Letter from the Producer LVI ... and Sphere Scrolls?

Yep.  However, first off, I sincerely hope you all had a great Easter weekend... I quite enjoyed mine.

Yoshi just released the latest letter from the producer  and mentioned sphere scrolls as being one of the items needed for the next level of Relic weapon upgrade.  I'm skeptical of one thing though... does this mean we gradually abandon our runs for soldiery tomes and then begin a fresh focus on these "spheres of scrolls"?

Guess we shall see.  Speaking of runs, I've been doing the ol' Brayfox spam runs... (that goblin is still one of my favourite NPCs in the game by the way)... 

And I got round to snapping some images while finishing the books...

Of course, in between all the grind, I got my third piece of the truly atrocious Evenstar set... and I cannot stress enough how much I totally HATE the design... dunno what the Devs and artists were thinking...

...Which is precisely why I'm quite thankful for the Glamour system (I still think the term "mirage" sounded better)... and thus,  used my Allagan tunic of casting to cover the hideous Evenstar body.  Anyway, moving along, the Easter even just ended and these are just a few images from around the three starter cities...(I'll dig up the rest later)...

0Players who purchased the Collector's edition were also fortunate to have been given the fat chocobo and the moogle minion (finally!) to coincide with the early release for the PS4 version.  I thought it was awesome to realise that whenever I had my Moogle minon summoned and was idling near any other player also with Moogle minion, they would stary dancing together...

Now THAT's very clever programming on the Dev's part.  Bloody well done.  Speaking of mounts, I briefly ran into my first glimpse of the white warlion mount while in Mor Dhona a couple nights ago.... and almost didnt get a screenshot because the person dismounted seconds after I saw it.  

However, the player (Eureka) was kind enough to re-summon the mount so I could take a few images...

Looks wickedly spiffy, dunnit?  Well, now I'm inspired to get back to tanking.  In the meantime, I'll also put up some more random images... first up, battle effects from... from... hmmm... cant remember now...

And then found someone wearing the High Allagan Healling robe....

Thats all for today folks.  Will be updating more as I find time.  Until later, happy gaming and be well.

Relic Upgrades, Atmas...and PS4 Early Launch

Yeah... those bloody Atmas.

Thinking about them almost made me forget that the PS4 launch for the game was released today.  But you guys all know that already, so I shall swiftly cut to the chase and begin my rant of past frustrations with this Atma thingy.

Been such a busy week for me that I didn't have the time to update the blog since last weekend (when I actually managed to secure all 12 Atmas).   However, I honestly believe I developed a new respect for that word by the fourth day after 2.2 launched... the drop rates on these things are simply ridiculous.

Here was my problem with the Atma FATEs... I didnt mind the grind at all; I already learnt how to like grinding during my old FFXI days.    However, I was stuck at 11/12 from last week Thursday night until two days later (last Saturday).  And I was quite pissed.

What really peeved me off is that you actually put in an immense amount of effort to get the bloody Atma and still have nothing to show for it.   Allow me to explain:

·         You camp the zone for hours staring intently at your map

·         Fate pops... you race there

·         You manage to actually be the one to initiate the FATE

·         You hurriedly gather 30+ items to turn in to the NPC

·         Fate ends... you hold your breath...

·         ]And even though it gives you your 27th successful gold medal of the day, you still dont get an Atma

As you teleport back to camp (muttering colourful words at your screen) you begin to get even more frustrated because you have been making a a very involved and heroic contribution to the fates.  This is exactly where I felt was the root of the problem lies.

I think the AI should have been sophisticated enough to recognize that a player had been in a certain zone for four or five hours straight (or has been actively been involved in FATES in that area for the last two days).  Thus, what would be ideal is that it sequentially begins to gradually adjust based on time vested or active contribution and increase the drop rates for that player.

Honestly, another thing that would have been ideal is that the Atma-Fates were unique and directly related to some lore related to the Twelve... but that's another separate argument for another day.    

For now, I completely understand the idea for the FATEs to be one of the methods of getting the Atma... and it is completely understandable that the Devs are using this Atma-hunt to try and activate dormant or empty zones with players (afterall, no Developer likes to see areas that they spent months creating to be suddenly devoid of players within a few weeks).    

Anyway, the Atma drops are so random that I just HAD to begin a screenshot collection of all the little buggers once I obtained them...

Idid so many FATES that I even mnaged to notch up my 500,000 seals mark and got my Limsa shield (finally!).    Been trying to get it since the closing days of 1.0, so at least something good came outta of this FATEs marathon madness...

Once I had collected all my Atmas. I wandered back to the NPC, and got my first book...

And now I'm spamming Brayfox  (Hard) like mad.  Speaking of which, I actually enjoy the battle dynamics and story line of the new Brayfox and it really is hilarious...loved that machine...

In fact, I have to admit that all three of the new dungeons are very well done... the graphics, the battles, and the music (applauds Soken).  And seeing Diablos again since my ancient FFXI days was quite spiffy...

Managed to also really take my time and pace myself with the new main storyline and I enjoyed it although I felt more could have been achieved.  For instance, I was fervently hoping that an in-depth lore about the Trident race in Limsa would be touched on... but at least they gave us some solid stepping stones that would lead into the obvious new class.  (*Cough--Ninja--Ahem*)

I also found that I geniuely liked Yugiri's character... she is mysterious and yet well written into the general storyline and I would like to see more of her in later patches + expansions...

Ahhhhh... speaking of new quests and missions, I mustn't forget the new Hildbrant and Gilgamesh tales.  Those were simply EPIC... and I had a great chuckle on several parts of the cutscenes.  The battle with Gilgamesh is also spectacular and will have you grinning madly...

What else did I do?    Ahhh.... I also visited the Aesthetician several times to secure a new look (yet again)... and least I forget, I also took a gang of pics during the last doll event...

Finally settled the long hair style you see in the last one you see up there.   Well, that's enought yada yada for now folks.... tanks for the emails, comments, and of course, as requested by Amelia, I will try out the Scholar class more often...

Take care everyone and until later, be well.