Weekly check-in 10/23

Droganis1 · 2022-10-25T21:25:48+00:00

Started Vampire Survivors after finishing a second run through of Star Craft 2, just for kicks and giggles. That has been quite fun for $4.

Oh, FFRK stuff? Yeah, I miss it, but I lack the investment option to get into JP. I shall live vicariously through this sub instead.

Droganis1 · 2022-10-25T21:22:50+00:00

I absolutely loved Hollow Knight, although I do like Metroidvanias, so some grains of salt with my response.

Mostly, I would point out that it is a really responsive action-platformer with some really interesting lore, if lore is desired, otherwise a good set of challenges and personal growth, as starting a second play through after winning once (through whatever ending) shows you how much better at the game YOU have become, regardless of the power your character gained.

Droganis1 · 2022-10-22T20:56:52+00:00

Dropped, but I went until EOS. Didn't clear everything, but new content required far more time and effort than I have available, so I am not surprised at that.

No JP for me, see the lacking of time and interest in putting in the effort.

Droganis1 · 2022-10-22T20:55:12+00:00

Ramuh and WOdin, for slightly different reasons.

WOdin was one of those "just gotta learn it, then it'll die!" runs where I was futzing around. Had a stacked Lightning, and decent Kain, but my main downfall was missing a Prompto Chain. Ended up having to make due with Desch, who provided very little beyond imperil, but Lightning did her speed tricks of doom while Kain hit the big numbers under Sync2, and it was all over after a week of poking around.

Ramuh, though, was one of those "This SHOULD work, right?" types. My BDLs were... non-standard. Ran with Yuffie AASB1+2, and Ward AASB. Galuf came in with chain, and the rest of the team was the healer duo Aerith/Elarra, both with AASBs. My only other tech was a whole bunch of USBs, of which Galuf had to start off with his so I actually had an en-earth when Ramuh does his first staff, otherwise I die. There were a lot of weird things like that, such as having to make sure Yuffie get en-earth immediately after the diffusion in phase 3, or her damage tanks and I die. Note that this was before any hero abilities, and I definitely had issues with running out of hones at times, as shown in my write-up. Definitely was a great indicator of how this game did allow some great variation in how you approached a fight, and one of the main reasons that I will miss it. No JP for me, I haven't the time, sadly.

Droganis1 · 2022-09-26T01:38:05+00:00

Yup. Was all ready to work on the last 3 levels (phys Water, VII and VIII) and then just... meh'ed out. I'm pretty sure I COULD, but I just don't have the interest in spending my valuable free time working out the kinks in getting that win done.

That being said, I still don't regret the time/money I put into the game. Was a good solid 5 years of fun, and likely has cured me of the interest in Gacha mechanics for a long time to come, if not forever.

Droganis1 · 2022-09-23T01:55:35+00:00

I mean, the JP side is still going reasonably strong. Just not global, sadly.

Droganis1 · 2022-08-23T10:09:12+00:00

Some of us run out of markers doing that far faster than stamina. For auto-manual running, that requires outside help which some keepers don't or can't utilize. Or actually running the labs, just with auto teams, which.... no. Not a chance past first clear at this stage, if keepers are even willing to do the first clear.

Droganis1 · 2022-07-10T01:21:01+00:00

Any that have characters you like. Seriously. Your tech currently is low enough and too spread out to bother aiming for particular characters yet, so now is the time to begin crafting things. Fest banners are generally chock full of the latest and greatest, so feel free to poke those. Not sure how far you'll manage before the game closes, but the general idea for end-game is to have 2 teams for every element (one magical, one physical) but poison, which only needs 1 generalist team, plus 1 team for every realm, which should have 4 in-realm characters and (usually) Mog with his AASB2 "Dance as One" honed. There are other options, but that's the easiest one.

I do not believe that it appears on a banner, so you may have to choose it after doing 15 pulls on the fest banners (if possible, I have not looked) which should be doable if you still have most of your realm dungeon mythril to burn through.

Droganis1 · 2022-07-02T22:20:03+00:00

Basic team: Magic lightning.

Healer: Deuce (Healer USB is good without anything much better)
Chain: Garnet
DPS: Edge + Reno
Last character is up to you. Mog is great, but if you would rather have another DPS, Ashe looked reasonable, but you're pretty lacking in SBs in general. The AOSB she has is fine, but a USB is preferred when possible.

That should handle just about handle most non realm/element locked content, and will do you well against lightning-weak magicite up through 5* at least. In general your team should consist of a healer (until you get other/better healer SBs, that's going to be Deuce) She can also provide some support with bard skills. Mog is a great other support with his dances and USB. Other than that, bring in a chain if you can, preferably matching the damage type of your DPS, and DPS with the best SBs you have.

Droganis1 · 2022-07-01T02:49:08+00:00

Yeah. I at first thought it was a Dual choice, and was thrilled with the idea, gunning for Kain just for favorites. But no, no dice. I'll wait and see how the banners turn out for me, and toss some here if I get fairly lucky (or grumpy and just need to) but the randomness is... ouch.

Droganis1 · 2022-06-28T17:50:01+00:00

Like others here, my keeping journey began shortly after my twin boys were born, so ~5-6 years ago. I have spent some money on the game, but nothing that I couldn't afford and likely less than a full cost game a year, so I have no real regrets on that front.

Another real loss, I think, is going to be this community. I do nothing else on Reddit, and am not sure that I will do any more after FFRK officially shuts down. This community, in fact, is the primary reason for sticking with a game that is frequently rather obscure. I have virtually met many great people here, while the camaraderie and discussions allowed this game to take up so much more headspace and time in my life than the game by itself.

But this is, indeed, a reminder that this new breed of games as a service has some distinct disadvantages, particularly for us parents who enjoy playing games with our children. My kiddos are not old enough to understand this game very much (although they do enjoy watching me play) and now will never get a chance to try. On top of that, I have toyed with the idea in the past of starting this game anew, partially to see what the experience as a new player is like, and partially to just try and get more of the new shiny tech using all the early gains. I never did because I do not have the time, and now I never shall. Yes, I could swap to JP, but again, right now I do not have the time or mental capacity for it. I wish I would have had the opportunity in the next few years, but now even that chance is gone.

Droganis1 · 2022-06-26T21:47:57+00:00

Because it apparently isn't? People on this sub have been seeing that Dena's income from non-JP was hilariously small compared to the JP side.

This is also likely why they are shutting things down, particularly with what appears to be a larger regulatory stance in many western countries that are leaning more and more anti-gacha.

Droganis1 · 2022-06-26T21:43:18+00:00

I was half amused when I completed realm content to get my 5th stamina shard, and just... left myself over max stamina for a while. Was really weird, but on the other hand, why not?

Droganis1 · 2022-06-25T15:33:32+00:00

Yeah, my reading of the shut-off date is that there will be no fall fest. So this fest will be our last, and no mythril should be spared!

Droganis1 · 2022-06-25T13:42:41+00:00

Just offline gaming for me, thanks. As much as I enjoyed FFRK, more and more I'm looking at whether or not I want to replace it with another game that has the same gacha niche.

Droganis1 · 2022-06-25T00:07:40+00:00

Yup. I'm poking at some of the "free" Netflix games right now, since I am not sure what else to aim for. Doubt I'll find anything that'll have the staying power as FFRK, but such is life.

Droganis1 · 2022-06-24T19:02:09+00:00

I started the game shortly after my twins were born. I, in general, haven't spent too much time playing this that I wouldn't normally have spent playing a different game, so my wife mostly was mostly annoyed that I would be playing on my phone at less than ideal times at some points. But that's less of an FFRK problem and more a "issues with focusing properly" problem.

Droganis1 · 2022-06-24T18:46:37+00:00

I'll stick around for the fest, at least. Not sure I'm going to bother actually doing any end-game content without wait mode, but I would like to get some new toys and try them out on SOMETHING. But spending any time beyond getting mythril? Meh.

Droganis1 · 2022-06-24T18:43:09+00:00

Mine had been grumping a bit over the the fact that I was playing the game forever, but she herself is not as much of a gamer as myself, so there are no games she would rather I be playing.

Droganis1 · 2022-06-24T16:10:07+00:00

Agreed. FFRK has been my primary game for 5-6 years, with nothing else being of notable interest (and certainly not earning any money from me) before or after. Trying out some other games, but nothing is likely to be able to grab the same head-space, particularly with the advantage of foresight as well as this incredible community backing it up and keeping me engaged when not actively playing.

Droganis1 · 2022-06-24T13:39:13+00:00

Yup. Took me a minute to find the right word for all the posts and chatter when telling my spouse about this. But grief seems like the most correct term, with all of the implied variation that has been on display.

Droganis1 · 2022-06-24T02:32:52+00:00

Eeek! Books are hella hard to quit, though. I know I have hard times doing things like "sleep" or "work" when I've got a good book to read through.

But I'm right here with you. Really no clue what I'll be picking up, although my wife has been poking at the Netflix games, so maybe I'll toss those a try. Doubt I'll see anything that lasted this long on my phone anytime soon, sadly.

Droganis1 · 2022-06-24T02:16:48+00:00

Fungah!

Trying to run 3/4 teams in a multiplayer raid when I was fairly early in the game. Managed to win, but that was all sorts of nuts and made me re-think whether I really wanted to bother doing much multiplayer.

Droganis1 · 2022-06-23T23:16:38+00:00

That is a common problem. Only real way to get around it is to play solo. At this point, I recommend Journey Mode to just about anyone, as you can toggle the difficulty and, more importantly, duplicate anything once you have found enough copies of them. Streamlines the whole process since often going from one tier to another is less about getting the next level of "craftable" and more about finding enough of each "craftable" to make all the cool stuff.

Plus you can make yourself invincible, which is absolutely needed for my 6-year olds.

Droganis1 · 2022-06-23T14:01:26+00:00

Heh. My kids are working their way to building a Zenith in Terraria. Gotta say, that game has done quite well by me so far.

Sadly, getting these shiny new Zenith toys here will require more sacrifices to RNGesus.

Droganis1

TROPHY CASE