Sunday, March 31, 2013

Short Review of Seekers of Adoulin: Wow.

I like the expansion -- as frustrating as it can be.

I mean, I REALLY like the expansion.

Why?

Because the storyline makes the current state of the expansion being abject balls-hard make sense.

It makes sense after Adoulin sealed the walls off for, what, 300-400 years?, that the monsters just outside the gates are starting off at T to 99 (levels 100-102).

The Reives make sense that they are hard.  And will someone actually learn how to deal with a fight that isn't:
  1. Run to the Objective.
  2. Zerg.
  3. ????
  4. Profit
Pros:
  • Square-Enix finally gets to set the terms on which any continuance of the game will be done.  The players no longer have fundamental control of the future of Final Fantasy XI.  If the players want to act as if "It's my $12.95, I can do what I want...", Seekers will die, FFXI right behind it.  Square-Enix has forced server cooperation (yes, this means that, though I don't believe him and he believes me to be a twit, Comeatmebro will have to cooperate for now to ensure that he gets the content he wants) as a condition of continuance.  We'll see how some servers do in that regard.
  • Even the new bayld armor shows Matsui's conviction on advancement through gear.  It appears as if my full-augmented BST AF2+2 set is going to be a Charm-macro set real good and quick.
  • Incompetent players will be pushed out of the game.  This should be obvious, on not only the social end, but that they truly will get nothing done at all.
  • A rich storyline with diversified options as far as how to go about getting a foothold in Adoulin.  Coalitions, Quests, Missions, straight XPing...
  • People actually have (and, in some cases, get) to play their jobs again!  Old-school BST fights!  /NIN being brought back.  Fighting from distance being a point of emphasis of Matsui here.
  • The new areas are just sick.  And the Reive mechanic is quite engaging.  We'll see how this holds up over time, though...
Cons:
  • If enough players either don't care or are too stupid to play this content, servers will eventually wilt off.  If you think you can Abyssea-zerg your way through this content, as the old song goes, "You've Got Another Think Coming".  And if enough people walk away or fail, servers will not see advancements in the mission storyline, nor the new gear, etc. and so forth.
  • It's going to take a while.  QUITE A WHILE.  Is the player-base going to be patient enough to actually *gasp!* WORK AT THINGS?
On balance, there are some very strong concerns.  An apathetic player-base kills a server, now -- kills the game outright, frankly.

And, given the story-line, that makes sense.  Early indications look decent.  We'll see where we are later in the spring and summer.

EDIT:  Large Reive Hint!   Beastmasters can Wide Scan for Reives within the range of their Wide Scan.

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