I uninstalled Slay the Spire and have free time again! Well, had. After going on a productive run and finishing a few games in January and February, I decided the MMO itch was too string and briefly journeyed back to 1999 on an emulated server for EverQuest. Despite having fun, that only got me wanting to play a MMO that “mattered” (see has a future) again. Obviously, the only good one still running is Final Fantasy XIV, so I have been playing that.
I have trouble wrapping my brain around the idea of playing an MMO casually. I am managing with Final Fantasy XIV, but only after a week off from working being sick and playing so much that I could play it an “hour or so” per day. Otherwise, I might have given up entirely.
With this return to Eorzea, I opted to create a new character rather than reroll the name and race of my old character. I wanted to do this to give the Main Story Quest (MSQ) a fair shake since back when I first played, the idea of a “good story” being written in an MMO was laughable to me. It still is, but I have enjoyed paying attention to the plot, so I am decidedly more neutral on the topic of MMO narratives than I once was.
Rather than Bard, Warrior, and White Mage, this time I have focused on the Paladin, Ninja, and Summoner. I really want a healer, but I am waiting to unlock Astrologian.
The Paladin is okay. I hated the Warrior years ago because he was a DPS-as-Tank. The Paladin is a tank-as-tank, which is my preference, but the rotation from 1-50 is too limited to really be enjoyable. Plus, the class story is bad. I saw somewhere that the class has a tournament arc in its story later, and that’s the main reason I decided to level it as my tank.
The Ninja is a lot of fun now that I have all my mudra unlocked. There is a weak twisting element to the class which I wish was more pronounced and a larger focus, but it is fun all the same. The story was better than Paladin, but nothing to get too excited about.
The Summoner and Scholar are both okay. I am leveling them last and haven’t done the latter portion of their stories or really unlocked their core gameplay.
I am far from the cutting edge, but it has been enjoyable logging on every day or every other day and getting things done. While games like Slay the Spire monopolized my time through focused gameplay loops, I only really log on to FFXIV to feel like I am accomplishing something. I did accept an invite to a random Free Company (i.e. guild) and they seem nice enough, but I haven’t yet reattached myself to any of the game’s social elements.
As far as the future is concerned, I preordered the latest expansion, but never bought Stormblood. I can get to level 60 if I keep at it, but I am forced to wait on Stormblood content until the newest expansion is available and my key retros me access to all past content. That being the case, I have slowed down tremendously and am maybe half-way done with the post A Realm Reborn content. Once I get to Heavensward, I will likely double-back to see if Astrologian is the healer for me and catch him up.
Until then, an hour here and there is plenty to scratch all my MMO itches. That both shames and enlivens me.
Murf Versus 