FF 14-Gil, Final Fantasy XIV-Leveling … and the anything else you might need
Here is a commercial break for you so you’ll know where to get your Final Fantasy XIV Gil, FF 14 Power Leveling, your FF XIV CD-Key and everything else that you can think of that has to do with Final Fantasy 14. The fact that we’ll be ready and waiting for the release with FFXIV Gil for the best prices is to be expected, absolute security and discretion will also be on the menu. The best service will be guaranteed, but in addition to that, the fact that we’re the fastest Gil agent isn’t unknown to RandyRun customers. Without boring you with further details of Final Fantasy Gil, Leveling, and co., here’s a commercial-free preview! ;-)
Final Fantasy XIV – A Preview
Did you know that the “Final Fantasy” series existed as early as 1987? Since then, it’s been a permanent success, not only in Japan, but also in the USA and Europe. We can hardly imagine this game not being in the charts of console games. “FF” proves to be a game quite capable of adapting, always switching back and forth between classic “pure fantasy”, and “fantasy with science fiction elements”, constantly setting standards for the RPG genre. An early peak was with Final Fantasy VII where they sold over 10 million copies world-wide. The first of the series to arrive in an MMORPG robe was Final Fantasy XI. Number XIV will also be an MMORPG and be connected to FFXI in many ways. This game may, as to be expected, become competition for World of Warcraft.
First Impressions of Eorzea – Background story and Trailer
The city-states of Eorzea have always waged war against one another. 15 years ago when the Garlean Empire attacked from the east and destroyed the city-state, Ala Mhigo, the denizens of Eorzea united to face the invaders. Further attacks didn’t occur, however, leading to peace in Eorzea once again. Many soldiers and mercenaries are now without their lords or kings. They are now forming guilds to try their luck as adventurers.
That’s approximately how the back story goes according to what little sources can be found. Admittedly, that doesn’t sound very exciting when compared to other MMORPGs (WoW, Aion, Age of Conan, or Diablo) and actually says very little about the game. Since Final Fantasy fans are usually spoiled by in-depth stories, this raises the question of whether more on the subject will be made public. The trailer piques your interest a bit more:
So what’s to be seen? A detailed, realistic world with amazons-flair, not as spacey as with their predecessors, the bizarreness of which had become the Fantasy MMORPG norm. A rather cute creature and race mix is also added in with a touch of anime-style. The really promising aspects of the game are, however, elsewhere, but more to that later.
The Races of Eorzea
There’s the Elezen, a race that resembles elves, portrayed as the original denizens of Eorzea. Their motto is “Live and let live” and their highly sensitive ears can hear a field mouse sneeze at a distance of up to several malms. This doesn’t seem to add anything to the creativity level of the Elezen in comparison to the elf. The Elezen are divided up into the forest loving Wildwood Elezen (archers with the eye of a hawk) and the sneaky Duskwight Elezen (talented thieves and melee fighters with highly developed ears).
Then there’s the Hyur, the first immigrated race in Eorzea; they represent the obligatory human race. Lovers of freedom, these people were the driving force behind the rapid cultural revolution of Eorzea (whatever that means). The majority of this race is made up of Midland Hyur, which have tendencies toward cities, guilds, and education. The Highland Hyur are a raw, muscle-bound mountain folk, who, unfortunately, don’t have enough women. Looks like they'll have to braid their own corn-rolls.
The sexy, cute Miqo’te were taken right out of an anime world, graceful with haired cat ears, she was destined for the hunt thanks to her strong legs and superb olfactory senses. The strong legs are, of course, also very long – and between those legs is a cute little cat tail. Thankfully, this race only consists of females. This race is divided up into the Seekers of the Sun (they stand out due to their interesting pupils), who are active during the day, and Keepers of the Moon (with war paint that shines mysteriously in the moonlight), who prowl about at night. I wonder who’ll be able to identify themselves with these interesting creatures. ;-)
The Roegadyn are, on first glance, somewhere between a Neanderthal and a yeti and are only available as males. Due to their muscles and foolhardiness, they make great sailors / pirates (when choosing one of the Sea Wolves) or mercenaries / bodyguards (when choosing a reddish-brown Hellsguard). Make war, not love is the obvious motto of the Roegadyn.
Last, but not least, things get childish with the Lalafell: at least to the eye of a gamer used to western games, it’ll seem like a mix (that takes some getting used to) of Halflings and (die-hard FF fans, please excuse the comparison) teletubbies. Quick, resourceful, serenely confident, and good-hearted, they’re more suited for farming than fighting. The Plainsfolk are the streetwise merchants, whereas the more secretive Dunefolk were once a type of Bedouin that were carried through the desert by large beasts of burden.
Disciplines instead of Classes – Where FF14 Really Promises Excitement and Variety
Though the producers of the game admit that Final Fantasy 14 leans towards games like World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, Warhammer and co, yet the game play style shows refreshing new additions and positive deviation from known MMORPGs. Races and classes, those are the primal ingredients to any RPG, that’s the way it always was. To try something else here is the big challenge, and it is in this challenge that FFXIV shines with a simple, yet impressive idea: Most RPG gamers don’t like to play the same character all the time. Who, after all, likes doing the same thing over and over?
In FFXIV, you can switch back and forth between four main classes (among many sub-classes) according to your mood that day! You can experience a warrior (i.e. as a gladiator) in the mornings, you can terrorize the region as a mage, (either Conjurer or Thaumaturge) in the afternoons – and every now and then you can shine as a miner, fisher, botanist (gatherer) or as an alchemist, cook, skinner, weaver, goldsmith or blacksmith. But how is that supposed to work?
Simple: If you want to test your skills as a fisher, equip the fishing rod, to switch to a gladiator, marauder, pugilist, lancer, archer, or musketeer, simply equip the appropriate weapon. As for your magical conquest, such as with a Thaumaturge, you’ll need sacred wood, that is, a mistletoe. Depending on the “tool” you equip, you’ll change roles. Nowhere in FFXIV is there any talk of static classes, but rather of disciplines. How serious you take your role or whether you’re a bumbler or an expert of your class all depends on how much experience you gather in that role. If you prefer static classes, simply stick to one role – and you’ll gain power faster than the so-called “switcher”. Since FFXIV emphasizes team play, a bit of flexibility would be a plus.
According to Square Enix, groups of 3 are a minimum for quests. Solo gaming is possible, yet very difficult. The whole active mode (mostly for fighting) and passive mode (mainly for traveling) is supposed to allow you to choose whether you want to get to your destination quickly or are trekking through the lands, specifically looking for adventure. The Aetheryte are mysterious stones that are used as a rather original teleportation system. This works by transforming your physical body into aetheric mass and transporting the soul to the destination, the aetheric mass then reforms upon arrival – strange side effects included.
Conclusion
All in all, we can expect a game that will bring new life into the MMORPG scene. This life will not bloom as much for the race design as for the basic game structure, but this doesn’t speak against Final Fantasy XIV. To take a “sanctum” like the traditional class system and revolutionize it will breathe more life into the MMORPG scene than some bizarre races and their fudged history. Who even wants to ask the pointless question of whether this is supposed to be a competitive attack on WoW? That doesn’t matter – the game is supposed to be fun; that’s the only thing that will decide whether this game is successful.
