Can't Blog... Too Busy Playing...

So at some point in the week following the game's official release, I was able to reliably login and play.

And play I did.

I plowed through the main scenario. My opinion of it as a whole is that the story was solid enough but the fetch quests littered throughout were pretty bogus time wasters.

I finished my Paladin class and job quests first. I really enjoyed the storyline and battles for it. I found them fairly easy to complete. The AF looks great and is a decent enough starting point prior to grinding for proper endgame equipment.

Following the completion of the main scenario, I began working on my first relic, Curtana and Holy Shield. As of this writing, I need to defeat Garuda Hard Mode. I decided that prior to attempting this, I would upgrade my gear for Paladin. I'm to the point where I need to grind Tomes of Philosophy for just my Darklight body and legs pieces now.

So my tank job is coming together. I felt I should work on a DPS class next. I examined what was available and decided on Dragoon as my next class. I finished the quests for it but haven't properly started working on it's gear just yet. At least now I can use it to help friends with Duties.

I thought the final battle for the Dragoon job class was pretty tough, actually! It might have been because I've played mostly Paladin so far and I wasn't really used to playing Lancer/Dragoon in 2.0 that much yet. However, a friend told me it also took him multiple attempts.

I began leveling Arcanist as well, to gradually work on developing Scholar for a healer. It appears there's more than enough White Mages around, so I'll put my level 35 Conjurer on the back burner for now. So far, it seems pretty decent. I still don't know why ACN/SMNs in duties have such issues controlling their pets. I guess we'll see once I start taking it to Duties!

In my battle class downtime, I worked on properly gearing my Blacksmith 50. I've got my AF, some good HQ accessories, and my new level 50 class weapon. Crafting in 2.0 is crazy simple once you get used to it. I love it.

In the past two nights, I started messing around with gathering. I've worked my Botanist up from 18 to 21. Again, this feels like another game system that's improved greatly from 1.Tanaka. I still have yet to try out Mining (which I have at 22) and Fishing (which I'm at 50).

So, so far, the game's been wonderful. I've really enjoyed it, aside from some miserable experiences in duty finder ques waiting on an instance to open up, and players who need to learn how to play the game still. We'll see how both of these issues develop as the game grows older!

I will write again soon.

So How About That Early Access?

No, seriously, because I haven't been able to get in at all...

Killing Time

So, I've been drinking more lately. Then sleeping. Then working. This cycle seems to keep things feeling like they're going by pretty fast. How's everyone else been doing during this waiting period?

No Samson? DENIED!

This week has been really crazy (but profitable) at work, so my time with XIV has been a lot more limited than I originally intended. Also compounding the issue is the desire to not burn myself out on doing the same things in the game in just a few short weeks when Beta Phase 4 goes live. I find myself logging in and chatting with my friends, but not really doing anything productive. It's definitely not a lack of interest in the game, though. I'm so eager for Phase 4 to start so I can make progress on Ernie.

So I tried to make my Uldah Gal-- er, Roegadyn earlier this week. However, I ran into a snag after designing him: I couldn't get the name I wanted. I tried all of the bearable alternatives, but no dice! I guess we'll have to wait till Phase 4 to see if Brock Samson will get some action then. Until then, Swedish Murder Machine, sleep... Sleep...

Somewhere in Time

Greetings, good groovers, Earth People … 14 voices out there in the darkness - tis I, your voice of the night, Ernie Keebler. Today, the last test of Beta Phase 3 began. I decided to spend it slightly differently.

A friend and I are planning on making alts once things slow down in XIV and doing the other nation's storylines. I decided I'll begin Ernie in Limsa and then make a Miqote in Gridana and a Roe in Uldah. Today, I designed and saved my Male Miqote. I introduce to you: Mister Whiskers!

Most of my friends seemed to not really be on today, so not much was going on otherwise. I'm probably work on my Roe over the course of the next day or so.

Beta Phase 3 - Final Test!

 Some Good News arrived today!

Beta Test Phase 3 Schedule (07/08/2013)
Thank you for your participation in the beta test for FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn.

The testing schedule is detailed below.

Dates and Times
July 10, 2013 (Wednesday), 2:00 a.m. to July 15 (Monday), 2:00 a.m. (PDT)
July 10, 2013 (Wednesday), 9:00 a.m. to July 15 (Monday), 9:00 a.m. (GMT)
* Beta test phase 3 will conclude on Monday, July 15th. The beta test phase 4 schedule will be announced at a later time.
* Testing of the new Lodestone will conclude on Wednesday, July 17th at 2:00 a.m. (PDT) / 9:00 a.m.(GMT). Please note that the new Lodestone will be inaccessible when testing has ended.

-Source (Beta Test Forums)

Hell yeah, five days of beta testing! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of the random dungeons and quests I end up partaking in. This will be the first time a lot of NA players will be able to play the game for more than 2 evenings, since the previous Beta tests ended on Sunday mornings in NA.

Some Random 1.X Memories

My early XIV leveling crew: Lotus Solvine and Keith Dragoon, whom I both met in FFXI years prior.

Seasonal costumes and decorations in 1.0 were pretty fun. Pictured in the last capture is one of the first two friends I made in XIV: Garrett Little (the other being Hoolie Who).

I probably made a great impression on Garrett early on.

And Mr. Who as well. Here, you can just picture him thinking "DAT ASS."

Our linkshell had a default hang out in Uldah. We were pretty territorial. Often, shenanigans happened here!

It was fun hunting down the open spawn NMs and taking them down with the group.

The raids on the beastmen strongholds were so much fun! They took all the man and firepower you could muster and made for a great all-inclusive linkshell event. It was such a rush to push through to the bosses and then knock them out for the chance at some sweet, sweet loot.

When my linkshell started attempting Dzemael Darkhold again after I joined, it was such a pleasure to be the first tank to bring the team through it. The dungeon's bosses were fun, but I remember thinking the popular strategy of running like pansies through the dungeon till nq mobs despawn was a bummer.

The Ifrit Hard battle was so much fun to tank as a Marauder. My linkshell was rather awesome and we made sure that everyone got a chance to get the win and, if they stuck around and weren't a douche, they got the weapon(s) of their choice.

Everyone Starts Everything Somehow

Welcome to Ernie Keebler's new blog. I'm a Lalafell adventurer from the Hyperion server. I've been playing Final Fantasy XIV for a while, having established this character originally on the Trabia server before he was forced to seek refuge on Hyperion. On Trabia, Ernie had experienced all of the content that was available up until Jobs were introduced. Things were fun with his linkshell Tempest, but waiting for patches for stuff to do is never fun, and his eye wandered back to FFXI.

During this sabbatical, Ernie completed all of the goals he could ever dream to accomplish in XI land and things grew stale there as well.

As we look into the near future, XIV's official launch is fast approaching. I'm rather ecstatic to continue making progress on Ernie's goals and see what all lies in store for Eorzea. This blog will be the chronicle of his journeys.

End of terrible introduction post!