Betas and Badasses!

      So this week is starting off on a weird foot. Daughter got sick over the weekend and had to stay home. This allowed me to do some catching up on gaming news and get some computer maintenance done that I have been neglecting. Ever since I got the new desk (See Imgur post: https://imgur.com/gallery/yQsqf) I have been able to manage my gaming space a lot easier. The new desk is so boss and absolutely love it. I honestly can't thank my coworker enough for helping with the project.

Them Betas!

      On Monday I was able to finally read more into the Overwatch new progression system and unlocks. While I must say I am intrigued, I am also not impressed.... mostly cause I don't have beta access. In some ways it feels like they are rehashing old progression systems and making them look new. At the same time, any opinions on game balance can't be derived from reading articles and patch notes. The new maps sound cool and hope they bring some more depth to the game, along with the new game mode. Once I get the chance to play I will have a more informed opinion.

      As of late that has become my mentality towards all games. Until I have had a chance to test or demo the game, I will reserve judgement and even hype. Lately, too many games have failed on their delivery in my opinion. Closest one to mind is Destiny. This game was overly hyped and it ended up just being a big let down. It improved by a slight margin when Taken King expansion came out. In the end, it felt like Destiny 1.0 was a beta.... a very long beta. Don't get me wrong, Destiny is fun when played with friends and other people. However, to me, Bungie did an extremely poor job of making the game social. You have to go outside the game in hopes of doing raid content or find teams for PvP. All of these coupled with a lacking story until the first major expansion.... hence, my recent stance to test or demo games first.

      Which bring me to the Division beta. I have been keeping a watchful eye on this game in hope that it will be good and be the nice blend between shooter and RPG I have been looking for. I was unable to get into the Closed Beta cause I didn't preorder. From the few streams I managed to watch during the Closed Beta, I did like what I saw, including the PvP. This will probably be one of those games where Harley won't play with me due to the style of the game. The one good thing though, with the open beta, I will get my chance to test both Xbox and PC. This will allow me to see if my current computer can keep buggering on and hold together just a little while longer. I hope Division lives up to the hype, but it is a matter of wait and see.

Time to be Badasses!

        So I am beginning Final Fantasy 13-2 and have to say it has some nice improvements from 13. While playing through the game, I am taking breaks and enjoying Season 5 of Diablo 3. This season, I decided to do something different and leveled up a wizard. I have to say, it is a nice class and the build I have for him is ok. However, I felt like I couldn't keep up with my friends. So, I went back and leveled up a Barbarian again. After several nights of shit loot drops, and being dragged through Torment 10 rifts, I finally managed to get some gear together for the Furious Charge build. Last night, I started off barely being able to hold my own. By the end of the night and five brand new pieces of gear... I am Badass! I managed to do a greater rift 45 in 3 minutes and change. I was so proud of myself! Now I need to refine my build a bit for survivability as greater rift 50 is whooping my ass.

        Hopefully tonight, Harley and I will be able to push beyond greater rift 50 and get higher on the leaderboards. She doesn't care much for that, but I like to be competitive. I honestly like the changes they made for Season 5, along with the new zones. I just hope Blizzard doesn't get too laxed and keeps pumping out the content.

 

Time to tap the brakes....

Ok so I finally got off my ass and dusted off this blog as I have some things to rant about. This is going to be short so no TL;DR. Some good, some bad..... 

So let's start with the good

So for 2016, I decided to do something different for gaming. Just after New Years, I realized that I had a lot of gaming that I either never played or never completed. I started right down a list of all those games and came across 32 total games. Seeing that list, I realized my mission for 2016: Game Completions! 

The first game right off the bat, was Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. Harley and I completed that one in no time and had a blast doing. The Borderlands games have always been a good source of enjoyment for us. It felt good to finally complete it as we barely played it when it first came out. Next game up on the list is the Final Fantasy XIII series. I owned all of them for my Xbox 360 but traded that and all of my games to help get Harley an Xbox One for Christmas. Time to finish what I started a while back. I will continue to update the blog with my status as I try to clear 32 games in a year. 

Now for the bad...

Until I can replace my current computer, my days of streaming are over. Due to an aging computer with ongoing issues, and an internet stability issue that continues to linger, I am going to stop streaming until such a time that I feel confident to start streaming again. What highlights I have I will try to save before cleaning my channel off. This is something I am not doing lightly but necessary for me to focus on other things instead of beating my head up against a wall constantly. I want to thank all of those on Twitch and Twitter for the support and encouragement for the past two years. Even though I obtained a very small following, I can say without a doubt that they are good friends! I will continue to still lurk in some Twitch channels and support some fellow streamers. For now though, I must bid farewell to streaming.

I honestly have to say, I hate starting things and not following through. I felt like I have had to back out of some many projects the past couple of years. At the same time, I know that as of late, my priorities have had to change as I become a husband to Harley and step-dad to her kids. It will always be a struggle with me between my ideas and dreams versus reality.

As for my YouTube channel, I may try to work on that a bit more. I have to figure things out and see what I want to do with that. I'm not sure if I want to do a Let's Play or maybe a "Rants" commentary on the games I play. I don't know yet but I will keep everyone posted.

That's it for this post. I hope to have more by the end of the week but more than likely I will be back next week as I get my head together. 

Sun and video games don't mix

      It has been a week since the last blog, as I got entranced with getting my dragoon to level 60 in Final Fantasy 14. That and spending time with the girlfriend and kids over the Labor Day weekend. So without further ado, let's jump in. We took the kids to the zoo and nearby water park, where I relearned that my Irish heritage hates the sun. I came home to a bad sunburn Saturday night. Aloe Vera and cold showers have been my friend since then. I must remember to limit my sun exposure to a minimal or invest in some high quality sun block. In the meantime, as far as gaming goes, things are better than my sun burnt back.

The Road less grindy...NOT!

      So leveling has been OK so far. I managed to get Scholar & Summoner to lvl 52, and Dragoon to lvl 53. I have been taking some breaks in between to finish completing all lvl 50 dungeons (Yay! High level Roulette Queue unlocked) and completing my artifact weapon, Gae Bolg. Also been doing tanking some level 60 dungeons to keep the Tome of Law and Esoterics flowing.  I also stopped to work on the Armorsmith crafting class. I have to say, Square Enix knows how to make a crafting class that is unique and rage inducing at the same time.

      For those that don't play, you can control the quality of the gear during the crafting so as to make High Quality items. You do this by using abilities during the crafting process. As the Quality bar increases, so does the percentage of the "Chance" you create a quality item. Needless to say, I have seen several high percentage (65% and higher) quality item not become HQ.

 

     So needless to say, crafting is on a slow and limited grind to reduce grey hair production. This week I am planning to focus more on finishing Dragoon to start digging into endgame.

That Halo Legendary run

      Last week, Microsoft released the opening cinematic for Halo 5: Guardians. Just thinking about it is making my palms sweating of knowing the hours I will put into the game and of course, Legendary campaign mode. So far to date, I have completed every Halo game on legendary except for the Master Chief Collection (which is every Halo game minus Halo: Reach and Halo Wars.). With Halo 5 a little under two months away, I am getting a bit anxious. With Halo 4, it was the first time I ever completed Legendary Campaign solo. This time around the girlfriend will be joining me on this quest. I know she is skilled in FPS games with a controller so something tells me this will be a quick run.
          In the meantime, I have introduced our kids to Halo for the first time by having them play the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. Needless to say, Harley and I got some enjoyment watching them play the game as they worked together to complete campaign. We quickly noticed that one of the boys is rather skilled when he no scoped a few elites. I was rather impressed until he turned around and had that shit eating grin on his face like he was a total badass. I'll let him "practice" some more before I kick the ego in.

 That Destiny...2.0

           So I've been keeping an eye on Destiny from time to time as the game is fun, but way too grindy. So today they released their newest patch, 2.0, which begins the change of the original game before their newest expansion, The Taken King. Looking over the patch notes, I'm excited for some of the changes and am a bit anxious to pick the game up again, but one of my biggest problems is lack of friends on Xbox One to play Destiny. Plus with the fact that voice chat is hardly used, it make the game less social and more singular. More or less, it is just filling the void of Halo for the time being. However, when I see some of my friends, who play Destiny on PS4, have so much fun with the game it makes it that much harder to enjoy the game. Most of them tell me just get a PS4 to play with them. One major problem, cash flow is extremely tight while saving for already planned expenditures. So if I pick up The Taken King when it comes out will be a wait and see. In the mean time, it is all Halo and Final Fantasy 14 for now.

The Road So Far

     

      Sorry for the Supernatural reference, but I just got finished marathon watching 10 seasons of the show before next month. I can thank a few of the people I follow on twitter (namely William Shattner) for getting me curious about the show after the season 9 finale. So now I have an ever increasing list of TV shows that I marathon watch during the summer. This is why Netflix and Hulu are my source of TV rather than pay for cable. Next show on my list is either Agents of Shield or Arrow. I don't have enough tissues right now to go through all of Doctor Who.

Tanks.... learn 2 play!

       Anyways, back to gaming and other nonsense. I'm slowly making my way back to 60. I'm now level 47 dragoon. I hope to hit 50 in the next two nights. More and more, I find myself enjoying the game as dps rather than tanking. I would say less stressful, but then again now I have to deal with less than stellar tanks. Sunday night, Harley and I went into Stone Vigil for a dungeon run to get away from FATE Grinding. Needless to say, after a tank that dragged boss abilities on top of us and another tank that couldn't stay alive for one hit.... we vote abandoned and went back to FATE grinding. Harley actually thought she was the problem and I had to prove to her that wasn't the case. 

       As a former tank, I know how important it is to understand your class and perform to the fullest. A tank class is not something you can half ass. On the list of important jobs in a MMO, tanks are up there at the top. I had a good reminder of this when I ran an expert roulette and a few dungeons with some guildies to farm some Tome of Law and Esoterics. Even though I wasn't  as geared as the rest of the party, I was able to hold my own and run the dungeons with no problem. I knew my abilities and used them as needed, when needed. This made the run enjoyable for everyone and I was able to farm some dragoon gear. That is the only reason I tank end game dungeons, to get my gear ready for when I get my dragoon class to 60. So far I have the majority of dragoon gear drops from the end game dungeons. 

New hardware

     So, ten months ago, my Logitech G600 crapped out on me and I needed a replacement. Initially I thought to just by another one but the price caused hesitation. I searched throughout the web and by chance happened upon a cheap MMO mouse, Redragon Perdition MMO mouse. It looked nice, had plenty of side buttons,and the price was low. So I took a chance and bought it. When I got it, I immediately noticed that I would have to retrain my hand as far as holding the mouse to access the buttons. After using the mouse for the while I started liking it. Customizing the buttons was easy, weight system was nice, and software was easy to use. Over time however, I started to notice some my annoyances with the mouse. During a frantic boss fight, I could start to get hand cramps from holding it. Even with the weights, it was still too light, which caused the mouse to move every time I had to press a side button.

      So I put up with this for ten months before making the decision to purchase another Logitech G600, which came down in price. I got it in the mail yesterday, thanks to Amazon Prime. Needless to say, it was like riding a bike all over again. Button placement was good, weight of the mouse is nice, and I don't have to hammer the side buttons to get them to work. All feels right again at my gaming computer again. 

Sometimes, you just have to walk away...

     So, today has been like any other day today: work, a little twitter, and adult stuff (bleh). All was fine in my world until I received a rather nasty DM concerning my recent posting of Final Fantasy 14 stuff and that I am bad mouthing World of Warcraft. I actually took to time to explain my recent change in gaming and that my opinions are my own and should be taken as such. The response received back was that of an immature child. Since I have little time for drama, that was a quick unfollow and block for that jackass.

Now this is the story....

     Now, except for a few close friends, I have never really stated why I left World of Warcraft for Final Fantasy 14. Time to tell the story of drama and bullshit. Since my return to Azeroth in late 2013, I played on the Zul'jin server, horde side. I play with my girlfriend, Harley, and we had a blast. I was quick to get back into raiding again and enjoyed tanking on my Paladin. We bounced around a few guilds trying to find a fit until we joined one that was run by a friend of Harley. It was a fun bunch that raided with some casual members. At times this made raiding a bit difficult but still manageable. We raided Siege of Orgrimmar and  managed to down Garrosh after some raid team adjustments. We stuck together for Warlords of Draenor expansion, managed to get some raiding going and then things changed.

Raid check: Yourself

    When Blackrock Foundry came out, we hit a major wall in trying to do Heroic mode. Some of the casual players that we raided with just weren't willing to do what was needed to help down bosses. This put major pressure on the "elite" raiders to carry them. After a crap ton of tries, the raid team broke apart. Not one to fade into nothing, I began looking for a new raid team/guild. In the next 3 months I changed from tanking to healing, bounced from three different guilds across two servers and factions. Yes...I one point I even went alliance....*shudders*.

     I finally found a guild that wanted me to join their raid team as a healer. At first things were going good. I was still getting used to healing, but was pulling my weight. We started doing Mythic Blackrock Foundry and things got stressful. We were wiping on bosses and it seemed that I was letting the team down. So I kept pushing myself, digging through the numbers, theorycrafting, developing UI setups, performed lucky dances, and even had my own pair of lucky boxers. This last for about a month before I started to stress out badly. It was at this point that I began thinking of canceling WoW all together. I avoided raid for two weeks before finally telling my raid leader that I was taking a hiatus. He immediately responded with "Ok. We kicked you out cause you sucked anyways."

    I almost destroyed one of my computer monitors that night.

Time for change.

      At this point, I wanted something different, something new, with less toxic assholes. I began looking through my huge list of MMO accounts. I finally came to Final Fantasy XIV and remembered how much I enjoyed it but couldn't sustain it and WoW at the same time. So I dusted the game off and resumed playing on my paladin on Siren. I started leveling again, enjoying the story, while trying to remember what all happened. One night, Harley stopped by my house and saw me playing it. Her curiosity was peeked and she wanted to know more.

     After explaining the game and some of the systems, as soon as I showed her how one toon could play all classes... she was sold. Then began our fourth month long journey of leveling in FFXIV. (See previous post for that bit)

       In all, I don't have any major beef with World of Warcraft....maybe minor annoyances *coughs* lore *coughs* but don't we all. Personally, the change to FFXIV meant a fresh start, new story, and a so far amazing community. I have encountered a few asshats, but so far very few. I feel like I have finally found a great guild again...sorry, I meant Free Company. Will there be a point I try WoW again?...who knows. I'm still uncertain of how I feel about the next expac, Legions.

Same toon, different class

      Over the past few weeks as I have progressed further with my paladin, I began to notice more and more that there seemed to be an over abundance of tanks in FFXIV. This seemed odd as in most MMOs, healers and tanks are the most needed players in groups and raids. Last night was a bit of an eye opener when Harley and I tried to do dungeons with the Free Company we play with on Cactuar, only to find out that a lot of people were tanks, with no damage dealing classes available. While we could have easily grabbed pugs to run the dungeons we needed, we both saw the problem....a problem we have never ran across before.

     For the first time since playing MMOs, I felt completely useless. I felt as if I couldn't contribute like I normally do playing a tank class. This quite literally bummed me out to the point where I almost logged out for the night.

      "Why don't you just level another class?"

      If I had a dollar for every time my girlfriend would bring me to my senses with simple logic, let's just say money would never be an issue. This was something that never seemed to cross my mind as I have always felt that tanking in my niche in MMOs. So for the first time last night, I began to make the change to a damage dealing class as my main class. I've always played a damage dealer as an offspec or alternate toon. Never have I ever created a damage dealer as a main. This was both exciting and a bit nerve wracking as this was a first for me.

      So began the brainstorming: Ranged vs Melee? Cloth vs Armor? Light beer vs. Dark?

Ranged vs. Melee

     The age old question: Attack from afar or get in close? Playing FFXIV has provided me a chance to taste all classes while Harley was in classes some night. I even manged to level up Summoner and Scholar to level 50. While healing as a Scholar seems fun and Summoner seems kinda like a Warlock from World of Warcraft, they just didn't seem.....right. So I messed around some more, trying our Rogue, Pugilist, and Archer. I finally came to the lancer. After playing for a bit, it was like dropping a big fat nuke on a town of zombies while walking away from the explosion..... total badass! I get to poke monters, bad guys, bosses, etc with a pointy stick....a BIG pointy stick....of death!

Light Beer vs. Dark?

       Sorry, dark beer every time. Gotta keep those Irish ancestors happy :p

A New Chapter...

       So I've put the sword and shield down for now and have picked up the lance as I begin the leveling process.....again. I managed to get to level 25 before going to bed.Thankfully, Harley will be right by my side.... leveling another healer class :p

Final Fantasy XIV Story Completed….QUEUE VICTORY MUSIC

This weekend was a mad dash of sorts for both Harley and I, as we set out to finish something we have been working on for four months: Finishing the Final Fantasy XIV Main Story and Heavensward. For those reading this and wondering “Why the fuck did it take you so long?” Well, when two adults love each other, one has kids and school while the other has a busy job….game time is limited. Plus for those not versed in Final Fantasy XIV, the story line is long….I mean long! Let’s break it down:

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

2.0 – 50 levels for Main class, 15 for side class, 7 Dungeons, (more if you do the side quest for them), 3 Trials, (mini-dungeon w 1 Boss) 2 Raids
2.1 – 18 Quests, 1 Trial
2.2 – 20 Quests, 1 Trial
2.3 – 19 Quests, 1 Trial
2.4 – 19 Quests, 1 Dungeon, 1 Trial
2.5 – 8 Quests, 1 Dungeon, 1 Trial
2.55 – 16 Quests, 1 Trial

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward

3.0 – 94 Quests, 6 Dungeons, & 3 Trials

              So as you can see, that is a lot of content to burn through to get to the current end game for a brand new player. So this took us a while, even with taking a minor break from the MSQ to level other classes. In the end, it was worth it! The story was amazing from the beginning. Some points lagged a bit, but no story is without lag points. The game itself is a breath of fresh air from some of the other MMOs in town. Square Enix stuck to their guns and told an amazing story, all the while delivering an amazing class system that allows one toon to play any class. This is a big plus to me since I tend to try other classes and don’t like having to log onto another toon every time I want to play something different.

              Another one of my many enjoyments from FF14 is that they make all content relevant. Meaning once you are done with a dungeon, you can still go back and do it with friends, regardless of your level. This allows for more social interactions and a better community. Plus SE puts out incentives for endgame players to run a “leveling dungeon” via a roulette system. This helps out new players by lessening the queue times and bringing in experienced players to help.

 

Along with the story, these features have made the game worth playing and to continue paying for my sub. When I went back to World of Warcraft in 2013, I had hoped it had changed from the days of Burning Crusade and Wraith of the Lich King. Sadly, it had not. I stuck with it and the toxic community that it has created in order to play with my girlfriend. Don’t get me wrong, there are some amazing people who play WoW and are the best people I have come to know in life. How do I know these people? Cause I follow them on Twitter! That’s right you sexy people, stay classy!

After experiencing Warlords of Draenor, three guild changes, two server transfers, and a bunch of stress… I had to make a change. So needless to say I have left Azeroth behind for good and my new home is on Eorzea! If you wish to hit me up, look for me on the Cactaur server as Angelus Ironshield (Big tanky looking dude) in the Free Company, GreySky Armada.

In the meantime, peace out people!