FFXIV New Quest Icon?

Gotta post it somewhere to put it in a forum post. Sigh…

So this arrow means that the NPC takes you somewhere to continue quest.

However. This NPC takes you to a room to see the Lord Commander and there is no Arrow.

So oddly inconsistent apparently. Oh, but this NPC has a confirm box before he takes you in to see the Lord Commander. Sigh…

Actually, no. This NPC has a confirm just like the one for Fortemps Manor. But no Arrow on the icon.

:ww

Payments – Secure and Traceable

Current Payment Methods

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a common payment infrastructure. What we have now with Check and even On-Line banking services is outdated and not secure. Checks were first used in the 17th century here in the US. Here are a list of problems that I’ve seen over the past few years with payment systems. I’m sure this is not a complete list:

  • Handwritten checks can be cashed by anyone who can convince a bank to do that.
  • Handwritten checks can be lost in the mail, so you need to pay postage and extra fees to have tracking numbers to assure they are delivered to the correct person / entity.
  • Online Banking services are not much better than handwritten checks. There are three means of delivery of payments by the services that I’ve seen. At least two banks in my area use the same online-banking service, so there aren’t choices that I can easily find. 1 – They take your money from your account, then they write a check on their account and mail that check, apparently with no tracking and there is no transparency so if the check is lost, you need to deal with it in a cumbersome way by visiting your bank, and contacting the payee. 2 – They take your money, then do a money transfer directly to the payee. You have no visibility that this has been done or that it worked. 3 For some payees, your money is taken from your account, then it’s bundled up with many other payments and a bulk money transfer is done. Again no transparancy or accountability is available on the online banking website to assure this worked and when.
  • Credit cards and debit cards sometimes work, depending on the Payee. But there is no security if the card number is passed to a website since if the website is hacked your card may be stolen.
  • Privacy.com is a website that creates virtual cards funded by a Debit card from your bank and provides additional security and accountability. Privacy cards can be created at will, with a limit, and are locked to the merchant the first time they are used. If the merchant is hacked, only that card need be replaced since all other merchants have a different card number. The payments are easily tracked on the Privacy website. But there are transactions that will not work with Privacy. Payments are limited to small amounts – a few hundred dollars – unless you pay for a paid plan. So Privacy can help with small and continuing payments made online, but only if the payee takes credit cards and only if the amounts are relatively small.

Let’s examine this problem in more detail and propose at least part of a modern solution to solve it:

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Modernizing Final Fantasy XIV

These are suggested modifications for FFXIV to make more in line with other modern MMOs like Elder Scrolls Online and Guild Wars 2. There are several areas that, in my view, should be upgraded to keep FFXIV more in line with a better user experience and to make the new user experience better. These three MMOS are all approximately the same age and yet ESO and GW2 have modernized, or were created in a modern way that prevented some problems that with its older design FFXIV now faces.

The Leveling Experience

FFXIV is facing a severe problem with regard to leveling. The static, vertical leveling model has gone way past a reasonable limit. The amount of work that a new player faces to catch up to the current “End Game” is too daunting to expect a casual player to invest that amount of time and effort. Also the current design of the game locks the new features – new Jobs, new Zones, new Allied Races, etc. – behind this long progression. To bring FFXIV more in line with the current state of other modern MMOs changes should be made. For years now we have heard that folks must just push through A Realm Reborn and the game will get better. Well it may get better after ARR, but you are just nearing the tree line of the huge mountain you must climb to get to that class you want to play or that dungeon you want to do or that story you want to experience. “I’d like to meet the Loporrits”. Well in a few weeks you can do that.

Many MMOs that are now, sadly deceased, have tried to address progression by making the game just much easier. And this appears to fail most often. None of the suggestions here are attempting to make the game “Easier” or “Progress Faster”. The total time to play the entirety of the FFXIV game should take about the same amount of time. After more than 10 years there is a huge mountain of game play and world out there. The suggestions here are intended to add choice not make things easier. Tera changed things to make things easier. Made the game all about End Game and then after a few years died. Anyway, after many years playing Tera that was my observation.

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As MMOs Age

I’m an MMO addict. Let’s forget about Wow and ones before that. Recently I play Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy XIV and Guild Wars 2. Recently I got bored and went back to Guild Wars [1], but let’s ignore that in this comparison.

In these games I have many characters:

Each game has lots of choices for classes and races and so there are lots of combinations to try. Some I don’t find that interesting – Cat People [Khajiit] in ESO for example just aren’t that interesting to me personally. All the races in ESO are just head changes on basically the same body with or without fur. And new classes appear with new expansions. We just got Arcanist with the Necrom expansion recently.

For FFXIV, all classes [ jobs ] are available to all races and in every character. So you don’t have to make a new character to try a new job. So there aren’t so much as “Combinations” as just all the race choices. And more races and jobs with each expansion.

For Guild Wars 2, all races can play one of any of the classes [Professions] and each expansion brings along new “Specializations” for the classes.

So what happens as a game ages. All these game are more than or almost 10 years old at this point. What happens to the games over time and what does that mean for new players.

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ESO Easy Public Dungeon Event

Each day when I do Endeavors in ESO, I use this short cut page to find the easiest way to do them. However, when there is a Public Dungeon Event, I need to find the Easy Public Dungeon that I know about in Deshaan. So this page is an easy way to find that Easy Public Dungeon. I keep forgetting the name of the Dungeon here.

The name of the dungeon is Forgotten Crypts in Western Deshaan. Unlike many Public Dungeons in ESO, this one can be easily solo’d. The Group Event, which is the one required for an Endeavor, is in the Southern chamber.

The Kwama insects spawn quickly in this chamber. To the right and left are groups of lower level Kwama that must be killed, and after they are all killed, three larger Kwama spawn in the lighted area in the center of the chamber. When these are killed the event concludes. The event spawns again in about 5 minutes, so if the daily or weekly Endeavor requires multiple Public Dungeon events, just hang out and finish things here. Another interesting thing is that the gathering nodes spawn very quickly in this chamber.

Lighted Area where “Bosses” Spawn

Enjoy,
:ww

Tarisland – Wow Reflection from China

I recall reading that Tarisland is being built by a team in China after they kicked World of Warcraft out of the country. And it’s apparently coming to the West soon.

Here are some articles so you can catch up if you have not heard of Tarisland.

Here’s a summary:

Ten classes – pretty much the standard ones you’d expect based on Wow and other popular MMOs.

Classes follow the Holy Trinity. Healer, Tank and DPS, as you would expect.

The Art style is reminiscent of Everquest Next.

The game seems to check all the boxes for gameplay types. But lacks any rich character customization and the classes are gender and race locked, which is odd for a game in this decade.

I’ve made a short video of the website and character creation here:

Video of Website, gameplay trailer and char creation

Enjoy,
:ww

Colored Floating Orbs

In Elder Scrolls Online, there are three Gear Set Buffs, that I know of, that provide a colorful signal around your character that you are carrying the buff. These buffs provide a wide area buff to many of the group members around you.

Notice the buff that is listed when Five items from that set are equipped.

What the note does not say is that each buff is signaled by three colored orbs floating around you. Red for Ebon Armor, Blue for Worm Cult and Green for Hircine’s Veneer.

Each of these sets are dropped in a different dungeon. Check out these pages for a description of the items and where to get them:

You can combine two sets for more orbs:

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HarvestMap Add On

Update: Use Keen Eye to see nodes more clearly

Harvesting in Elder Scrolls Online is a pain without help from a plug-in. There are a few problems.

  • There is no way to see the nodes until you are on top of them. You literately have to be within a meter of the node and pointing at it with your cursor to see it. The Keen Eye passives from crafting skills mitigate this problem somewhat.
  • There is no Mini-Map built into the game, and if you use a mini-map AddOn, it does not show nodes either. Unless you use another Add On.

So HarvestMap Add On to the rescue. And it’s great, but it’s confusing to get started which is why I wrote this post. You can find the HarvestMap Add On here. I’m assuming that you know how to install Add Ons in ESO. If not there are lots of folks that will show you how.

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Show Some Leg

In all other MMO games I’ve played, glamour allows many options to “Show Some Leg”, but in ESO, it’s not an easy option. I’ve played for a while now and there are no glamour options for short-shorts. There are whole costumes, for example, the Nordic Bather’s Towel, but that is of limited usefulness. There are some other outfits, but none that look like Armor. Here’s one outfit from the Crown Store – Still no Leg really.

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