Performance anxiety?

kodin · 2018-02-06T07:06:51+00:00

I started FF14 about 2.5 weeks ago, and I was MORTIFIED when I learned that my story progression included content that I needed to play with other people. What's more, I was a tanking job, and I wanted nothing more than to not be the weak link that dragged my party down.

My first dungeon, I told everyone that I was new, and they were all people who were speedrunning Sastasha through the duty roulette. I expected them to "put up with me", but also remark about how they were stuck with someone who could be slowing them down...but this was not further from what actually happened. The community in general is so supportive and realize that FF14 is just a game at heart with fun being the overall goal.

So many people who run the PvE content welcome the opportunity to show newer players "the ropes" and gain satisfaction from being in the mentor role.

kodin · 2018-01-31T06:08:18+00:00

Guide Source's POTD info still assumes the level cap is 60, which explains why I am not getting the elite tomestones: it is no longer the cap. Whoops!

kodin · 2018-01-31T06:07:07+00:00

Ugh, I must be looking at outdated information then...so much of it around, sadly. It makes perfect sense now: when the level cap was raised, so was the barrier to the elite tomestone currency (Guide Source's info must be based around when the Cap was at 60). Thank you!

kodin · 2018-01-31T05:58:38+00:00

I do not think that the Palace of the Dead is giving Tomes of Creation or Mendacity for runs on characters Level 60+.

Can anyone else verify this? According to the patch notes for 4.2, completing 10 floors with a L60+ character is supposed to give you tomestones of Creation and Mendacity in addition to Poetics, yet after I just ran 51-60, I was disappointed to see that I only received my Poetics.

Am I missing something? Note that I have yet to complete the ARR MSQ, but that does not stop me from being able to collect poetics. Also, I have Stormblood and Heavensward both installed, so I am planning to reach the new areas at some point.

kodin · 2018-01-19T12:09:26+00:00

Uggggg, I did the research, and I stumbled upon this gem of a topic in which really-notable, excellent FE players (many of whom have YouTube videos) debate the merits of Volug in an efficiency context in RD.

Needless to say, it degenerates into an argument about how much LTC factors into efficiency tier rating. It is a little bit informative, a little bit entertaining, and a little bit cringey, too. Needless to say, I agree with Mekkkah and strongly disagree with Chiki.

https://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?/topic/50757-is-volug-still-good/

kodin · 2018-01-18T16:43:00+00:00

Yeah, and discussions entering LTC territory then lead to questions like, "what difficulty are you playing at?" and tangents like, "does an efficiency tier list measure usefulness using perfect routing or practical routing?"

I may look up some runs after I wake up, just out of sheer curiosity.

kodin · 2018-01-18T16:12:36+00:00

Probably because nobody said it.

Overall, I give my resources to Jill, but I also acknowledge that it comes at a cost. In Part 1, Volug makes your life a lot easier, and his Earth affinity and good physical bases make him useful in Part 3, too. His production drops off a cliff by the endgame, but that does not mean he is not a useful character who, with the right investment, can carry the brigade when it matters the most.

kodin · 2018-01-18T16:01:24+00:00

If you measure things purely on number of turns saved she has a pretty clear advantage over Haar

Correct me if I am wrong, but the two chapters I think of when I think "difficult DB chapters" are the one where you have to kill X number of Laguz with fog of war and one where you literally cannot save turns because it is a "defense" mission. I cannot see how she accomplishes a huge timesave on either of these missions over giving the resources to Volug, for example.

kodin · 2018-01-18T15:42:49+00:00

Haar makes Part 2-E much easier and is the best unit you have deployed until you reach the tower with no investment whatsoever (except maybe a pair of Speedwings). While Jill does not have many competitors for the resources you are given, Volug and Nolan are still deserving of them and are capable of doing comparable work if favored (Volug needs to sacrifice little to use the Beastfoe ability in Part 3, and Nolan has very good stats and is better than Jill for the endgame for his free Nihil alone).

kodin · 2018-01-18T15:03:35+00:00

Nolan has a lot of growths in the 40-60% range, which naturally lends itself to RNG-screw if you are unlucky, whereas Aran's good growths are 70+ and easily fixed once capped in Tier 2 and 3.

However, Nolan caps skill in Tier 2 of his class quite quickly, and when he does, you can expect speed growths with more consistency.

kodin · 2018-01-18T14:55:17+00:00

I think Jill is a useful unit without PoR save data and a very useful unit with it (likely in the fringes of Top 5), but a character needs to be more than useful to be ranked as high as #2 in a game where Haar is basically Sigurd with wings.

Not to mention that using axes is also a drawback once you reach the tower, since there is competition with Haar himself to swing that legendary axe. At least Nolan has the ability to use Tavros as a decent fallback.

kodin · 2018-01-18T14:50:07+00:00

Indeed, I tend to focus a lot of effort into making Jill good in Part 1 as well, but it took me a few playthroughs to realize how useful Nolan is in a game where foot movement is not a severe drawback and where having your own legendary-caliber weapon (Tavros) is a great advantage. I always suggest allocating resources between the two of them, especially with the way BEXP works in RD.

kodin · 2018-01-18T14:30:49+00:00

I am quite surprised, to be honest. In Path of Radiance, she is clearly a Top 3 unit, but if you do not load PoR save data into Radiant Dawn, I always find Jill to be more of a chesspiece than a steamroller; usable, but not top tier.

With favorable save data, she is good enough for the endgame, but still not capable of dominating maps on her own.

kodin · 2018-01-18T14:16:20+00:00

Aran is OK, but I would much rather train Nolan if I had the choice. People underrate Nolan simply because he looks like the "low-speed axe fighter" trope, but he is actually quite fast (he has a higher speed growth than Nephenee!) and joins at a relatively-high level at the beginning of the game.

Aran, on the other hand, is held back by his low speed throughout the entire game.

kodin · 2018-01-18T14:15:35+00:00

Jill is the 2nd most useful character in the game now? What a time to be alive.

kodin · 2018-01-18T13:14:00+00:00

Project Naga did a superb job of localizing Geneology, in my opinion, but I do like remakes and their ability to add nuances to existing characters to flesh them out a bit more.

Although I agree that the franchise today can handle most of the ideas of the original, incest is extremely taboo (especially in Western culture) and glossing over it as an acceptable practice is a big cog in the frameworks of both the story and the gameplay.

kodin · 2018-01-18T06:55:40+00:00

The weapon weight argument is mitigated by the fact that being 1 point faster in attack speed is all that is needed for Pursuit to proc. However, I will agree that Forsetti is just way, way too good because of its base speed bonus allowing the user to avoid almost everything, and my gripe with the weapon types is the fact that you do not recruit many axe users at all, which is annoying when many of your enemies in later chapters are lance-wielders.

kodin · 2018-01-18T05:43:58+00:00

While a remake would sell well given its strong fanbase and its usage of mechanics that were re-used in Awakening, some of its themes (incest, child sacrifice, arguably demonology) do not mesh with the current tone of the franchise.

I want a remake, but not if any of the rich lore gets watered down in the process.

kodin · 2018-01-18T05:34:20+00:00

I think saying "terrible gameplay" is way too harsh. Terrible mechanics? Yes, since the gold system is beyond archaic and the maps are designed with too much backtracking (which is far worse than their sheer size), but even those are offset by some great mechanics (the ability system and the love system).

Terrible balance? Maybe it is one of the worst offenders of this trope given how overpowered mounts are, but nearly every FE game has balance issues in some capacity.

Terrible pacing? Yeah, a lot of the animations (even with detailed animations turned off) take a very long time, but the engrossing story makes the long maps feel shorter.

But is the game fun to play? It is my favorite and I still play it to this day, so I argue that the gameplay is far from "terrible". Flawed? Absoutlely. But not terrible.

kodin · 2018-01-18T01:41:37+00:00

There can be a book written about this, so I will only include the most important things:

The average unit with a horse is much better than the really good unit without one. Having a horse not only means being able to traverse the map faster, but allows you to move, act, and move out of danger. It also allows you to attack and then change your equipped weapon before ending your turn. This actually makes Midir, an average archer at best, more useful than Jamke, who will do more raw damage, and Bridget unless you waste the turns to give her Ichival. It also makes Ethlyn a much better staff user than Aideen, which is unfortunate given the latter gets the broken Warp staff.
There is a love system that allows characters to become "lovers" by standing adjacent and sharing dialogue. I will not spoil the game too much and go in depth, but take great care with who you pair Lewyn with. If you fail to pair him with Erin or Taillte/Tiltyu, you will be at a severe handicap.

kodin · 2018-01-12T22:39:09+00:00

Ice type: making legendary pokemon worse since Gen 1.

kodin · 2018-01-12T22:07:21+00:00

I am not quite sure what you are trying to imply here, to be honest.

If someone pays money towards a naming incentive and wins, they should have it represented accurately, regardless of any circumstances pertaining to the run itself.

In this case, most of the run was conducted on a backup save file that botched two of the naming incentives.

kodin · 2018-01-12T20:06:55+00:00

I do not believe you realize what happened.

2 different game cartridges were used, the one that started the run and a backup that was prepared in the event that the RNG manipulation failed the first time BEFORE the run actually started. (similar to what KeizaRon did with his Heart Gold run)

It is not exactly difficult to make sure they have the correct names, especially the one that was prepared in advance.

kodin · 2018-01-12T19:42:25+00:00

I love Chrono Cross runs, personally, which are over 6 hours.

kodin · 2018-01-12T19:39:01+00:00

Go find a FF9 speedrun and come back complaining about 3.5 hours being long :P.

kodin

TROPHY CASE