Somebody just gave me 20k gil??? Out of nowhere??? Shoutout to that person. I've unlocked travel to other cities and have been running around Limsa Lominsa leveling Rogue. It's a super cool place! Once I hit level 10 Rogue I might dip my toes into some other classes. Or get on with the main quest some more. Or craft things? I dig the crafting in this game. Many possibilities.
Spoiler: about Haurchefant, minor spoilers for his family situation Idk if I mentioned it back then but if you switch your cutscene language to Japanese, the dialogue bubbles will still be the English, but he'll have the animations to go with the Japanese dialogue and you'll see...how much they changed it...the first time he gets a voiced scene... He's such a dramatic weirdo. Cannot contain his thirst. It's hilarious and I love it. Every few MSQ if you talk to him between quests, his NPC dialogue changes. If you talk to him before you officially "meet" him in MSQ (I've done this on alts) he's still very friendly and hospitable and says something about making sure to rest when you're adventuring, offering his hearth. At some point he says that his mother had a poor constitution and was ill very often, and that's why he admires people with great physical strength. (Especially adventurers.) Though if you play a caster, that makes his obsession with the WoL sort of extra funny. It's hinted at through his dialogue and other NPCS that he's one of the only Ishgardians with some amount of power that accepts outsiders and other houses/nobles shun him for it, though it seems he ignores it because he was always treated differently being illegitimate and all.
Spoiler: jp haurchefant Emphasis on the weirdo part. I know when I went back to rewatch the JP cutscenes with him (after already knowing what the dialogue is meant to be like for that version) I was like... the crazy eyes are a bit too much, my dude. Maybe wait until I've left the room before you start imagining what we would look like doing the horizontal tango, and maybe avoid circling me like some sort of hungry vulture (I'd probably be terrified during that cutscene if I was a Lala. Risk of popoto vore: High). He's great.
Where is Haurchefant's first voiced scene? A friend told me about his, uh, enthusiasm for the PC and to watch out for that, but as far as I can remember I haven't had any voiced scenes with him yet at all, and his regular dialogue is the same as it ever was. I'm post-main game but still pre-HW (just fucked up Leviathan, going to see the sylphs about a god).
@Mercury I can't exactly remember, but the majority of his voiced scenes are in the 2.4 (and after) questline... Leviathan is 2.2, iirc. You miiiiight see the first one in the 2.3 questline.
I think one my favorite scenes is the one where he's sort of wiggling his eyebrows at you metaphorically thru dialogue and then Alphinaud comes in, makes it VERY CLEAR that he knows there was flirting happening and he wants it to stop, and Haurchefant changes the subject abruptly. It makes me giggle every time. Relevant (careful browsing this blog tho, it's full of spoilers) It's weird because usually I'm sort of unsettled by male video game characters hitting on my (female) PC (this is why i disliked Thancred at first, but at least he knocked that off after a bit) but for some reason when Haurchefant does it I just find it funny. Idk if it's because it's so over the top or because he's completely equal-opportunity.
Wait, DID Alphinaud know there was flirting going on? I thought it was ambiguous and could go either way. My assumption was that he was clueless and cold, tbh.
I went to check and I think you're right that's it's more ambiguous than I remembered even in the JP version ( http://haillenarte.tumblr.com/post/104876756580/coming-to-terms ) ...now that I think about it both scenarios are pretty funny in their own way. I kind of enjoy when we get reminders that Alphinaud is really still a kid even though he likes to think of himself an adult.
I am looking forward to getting hit on by a dude for once. This game can be kind of painfully heterosexual. On another note, my FC people informed me Thancred is supposed to be in his late 30s. I thought he was 25 at most, and that's being generous!
Age fuckery in this game is unfortunately common. You're either the most elderly looking fucker ever who looks like they've got one foot in the grave while technically not being that old, or you're in your 30s but look fresh out of your high school modeling gig, complete with fabulously prepared hair (I'm looking at you, Aymeric). Will never get over Haurchefant being the younger of those two, fucking ridiculous. Do you think the weeb hair thing is genetic, or do you think everyone in this game keeps buckets of hair gel on hand to meticulously prepare their hair out in the wilderness? I feel like genetic pompadours are the more logical option. That, or the gel they use is so rock solid that anything that tries to knock a hair out of place basically hits a brick wall.
Elezen actually canonically have longer childhoods and live about 20 years longer than members of other races; observing various NPC ages leads me to believe they hit puberty between 16-20. (This sort of explains the twins, though they're still way shorter than they should be at 16 so I think they're just. Naturally tiny.) So at 32 Aymeric is sorta the equivalent of mid-20s, I'd say? He also just flat out has a baby face compared to other Elezen. There's definitely age fuckery going on with the Scions, though we only have confirmation for one of them so far. Spoiler: major 3.5* spoilers that being Yda/Lyse. No magic there, only sadness. it's fan speculation that they've all stopped aging for some reason and that's why they look the same as in 1.0 but we just don't know yet. Also...this is Final Fantasy. The franchise that gave us Seymour. Pompadours are tame in comparison. :p (though judging by the fact that you obtain strange potions from the Alchemist guild for Jandelaine in that quest, I'm assuming someone has invented hair gel.) Interestingly, I stumbled across something once that said Roegadyn hair sort of naturally stays in weird shapes because it's stiffer than you'd expect. So it is, in fact, a genetic thing in that case. (It was a question someone asked the lore guy at a Fanfest I think.) ...I should put a warning on this thread that I'm prone to lore dump about really obscure shit when excited.
Leveling Arcanist right now and it's p cool! The Math Wizard Sacred Geometries trope is a particular weakness of mine. Also I discovered the Gold Saucer yesterday and tbh half the fun of it was running around picturing my character being super gay @ all the bunny girls. (Triple Triad is hard but fun) Also ran some dungeons yesterday! Sastasha and Tam-Tara Deepcroft. I even got a cool hat from the Deepcroft! It's interesting that you can't roll Need for gear that you can't equip. On one hand, yeah it makes sense. On the other hand, I Need Gear. I guess all this class-hopping is just me procrastinating wildly on running more MSQ dungeons, but still. Those first 10 levels go by p quick and you're always getting new things!
Stormblood Benchmark! (throws glitter) http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/benchmark/ What this is is basically a program to test how well your computer can run the expansion. You can also play with the character creator. You can pick from your saved data or make a new character and they'll be put in the place of the generic WoL from the trailer. You can also try on a bunch of different sets of gear. I tried the new hair on one of my alts and...goddamn. http://enzelffxiv.tumblr.com/post/160126496442/i-wasnt-gonna-post-benchmark-screenshots-but-then
She looks great! :O I ran the benchmark but didn't think to look for new hair when I imported my WoL... I'll have to re-check.
New hairstyles for the curious: Spoiler 90% sure they're just what the Monk and Samurai were sporting in the original Stormblood trailer. I guess they'll be implemented when the expansion goes live.
Spoiler: story arc leading up to The Aery Estinien: Okay, we'll try it your way, with talking, but if it doesn't work I am going right back to Plan Stabby. Moggles: *are cute* Ysayle: I summoned the spirit of Saint Shiva! Hraeslvelgr: You made a new primal is what you did. Look at it. It hungers for crystals. Estinien: Right, Plan Stabby it is. Cid: Tuning up this new tiny airship will take some time. About the length of resolving a secondary plot-thread, I should say. *To Ul'Dah!* General McAwesomeFace: I am going to glare at this camera from way up close until I get my Tiny Sultana back. Lord Trololorito: blah blah blah politics blah Alphinaud: "Just give yourself a military title and spout exposition confidently, everyone will praise you and it'll be great!" That's the last time I listen to Traherne. Alphinaud: *needs all of the hair-scufflings. and maybe a hug.* Remaining... five Crystal Braves: *show of loyalty!* Alphinaud: *will be over there. ...strategizing.* Cid's flyer completed right on schedule. Estinien: Should we report to Ser Aym- Meagen: YES definitely let's go right now, wait let me fix my hair, okay! Alphinaud: Excuse my lateness. I stopped by the manufactury. The engineers assure me the Manacutter is ready. Meagen: I could've told you that. Except, y'know, I can't talk in a voiced cutscene. Oh, Jennifer Hale, where art thou... Estinien: ...and so, we didn't manage to get much done with the talky plan, but all's well that ends in stabbing dragons. Aymerick: I want to help stab the dragon! Let me get into one of those and- Lady Aide: No. Estinien: I don't try to run the city defenses, don't try to do my job. Alphinaud: *opens mouth* Estinien: Also no. Leave this to the professionals. Estinien: *calls me "aibou" in the Japanese voice track* Meagen: *hums a song she heard somewhere: *
Hi. Just got pointed at this thread by Meagen, which is only fair since I'm kind of the one who got her playing this. Anyway, hello. Main's on Balmung, Kyrie Meryve. (Gear is from the Void Ark and slightly outdated. I'll post more recent screenshots when I get home). I've been slightly distracted the past few days with other games, but can usually be found online evenings Central European time and am usually up to help out when someone needs a dungeon or trial cleared or wants to run roulettes (currently on the Umbrite phase of an anime weapon, so need all of the tomestones...) Edit: New images below the spoiler tag. Spoiler: Images ahoy
It's been made significantly easier lately -- tomestone cost per umbrite has been reduced to 150 from 300, and Ulan gives twice as much sand as she used to for the same stuff -- but it's still a slog. (EDIT: Also, I saw mention of a Kintsugi linkshell for Balmung. Anyone on that can invite?)
I finished the MSQ quests up through patch 2.55 a couple of days ago and *ENDLESS SCREAMING* It gave me a legit emotions hangover. Guh. I've been puttering around since to recover (and level THM since one of my FC mates fussed at me to get Swiftcast after I had to hard raise our tank. Look, buddy, 1. I'm working on it and 2. I managed to keep all of you up and hard raise her so please shush.)
