Yes, we all know it’s Ala Mhigo, but we have to pretend we don’t for another couple of weeks.
However, right now we’re not talking about the future beyond Tuesday, and boy, there is a lot of stuff to dissect for the patch! As so frequently happens, I am beyond excited. So let’s go through this, step by step, in small doses, and I… you know what? We’ve done this format many times by now. I think you can suss out how it works.
The penultimate dungeons and the ultimate Alexander
I had held out some slight hopes that Great Gubal would be a story dungeon, but no, it is indeed a side dungeon as always. Certainly that fits with established precedent, but it does leave me wondering when we’re getting hard modes for all of the other as-yet-unenhanced dungeons; I already did a column on that, so I’ll not be going into depth on the topic again, but it does break with our existing patterns.
As long as I’m nitpicking, I also don’t like that the dungeon is just called “Xelphatol” when it’s actually a very small portion of the Xelphatol region.
All that having been said, between the dungeons and the end of Alexander, a lot of things are taking place far from Ishgardian lands. There’s a strong sense that these challenges are tied to parts of Coerthas we’ve generally ignored (Ixal) or regions on the outskirts that Ishgard doesn’t directly interact with (Alexander, the Library), and I think it’s a clever way of moving things along in the story. I also quite like that we’re going to see at least one boss summoning Garuda in Xelphatol, since it would have seemed odd not to at least touch upon her.
Is it too much to hope that clearing out the Ixal beast tribe quests will have an impact on any of that story? Probably, yes, but I’ll still be hoping.
Grand Company acknowledgement
All right, so we’re not really seeing a lot of focus on the Grand Companies. We’re seeing some, and that’s enough for me. There’s another rank to be earned and new equipment to get, and – I cannot stress this enough – that new equipment does not require an entirely different currency. I’ve been stocking up a solid supply of seals for years now, and I’m happy to see that they’ll be useful for at least a quick purchase or two.
More importantly, the Squadron system is coming, and it will offer us… well, that’s kind of ambiguous, isn’t it? In the future, we’ll be able to bring Squadron members with us to perform various duties, but the patch notes don’t seem to offer any information about rewards for the player for managing a squadron. Sure, success or failure at a mission affects the squadron, but nothing in that section mentions the stuff your actual character can obtain from the content. I’m curious to see whether that’s an oversight or an intentional omission; it would be odd for the system to launch with no actual rewards at the moment, although it makes sense as a foundation.
What I’m hoping for, perhaps futilely, is that the missions could serve as a useful currency exchange in a fashion: send your squadron on missions for seals, get a different sort of currency back for success. Considering how easily company seals are obtained, this would make a certain amount of sense.
Regardless, I’m happy for all of this, even just for the fact that we’ve gone through several patches without anything of note from the Grand Companies other than a vague set of additional items for sale here and there. If we’re really going to Ala Mhigo next, one would expect the companies to be at the forefront, although I fully expect some hideous sucker punch before the end of the expansion leading into the next.
Housing is back again
We still haven’t seen the inside of an apartment, to the best of my knowledge. That worries me. We also still have limited slots for this, which bothers the hell out of me. I recognize that the game is committed to this whole open-world thing, but still, another 7,000 slots alone for housing isn’t nearly enough… especially when we still don’t know the size of these apartments or what they’ll look like once you step inside. If they’re just the size of free company chambers, that’s just plain unpleasant.
It’s a shame because every other thing going on with housing is awesome. Aquariums! Playlists! New furnishings! It’s a great housing system in every way except for being a pain to actually get a house, and competing with other players is not my idea of a good time. Not that I’m going to be directly competing myself, of course (I already have a house, and I’m not taking an apartment away from people who don’t have one), but the principle is the same.
My hope, though, is that this is the start of alternative housing systems. I’m hoping that apartments are the first iteration of what will be many alternatives to having a house in the housing wards, and I’m really hoping one of those alternatives is an instanced lot bought outside of the wards. Which would make Ishgardian apartments and houses more possible… but now I’m just speculating.
Miscellany
Sadly, we’ve already finished up the beast tribes, it seems. This is not without precedent – we got three waves of beast tribe quests before, and we got three waves this time – but it does feel like the offerings are a bit less diverse. Then again, the Gnath are a blessing, so perhaps I’m being unnecessarily contrary.
The fact that the Diadem is being updated in such a way that removes all use of gatherers makes me kind of angry. I’ve been critical of the way exploratory missions have been handled, but I feel like making it into even more of an ersatz open dungeon isn’t exactly fixing those issues; it just removes an aspect of gameplay for gatherers. I’ve been pretty disappointed with this side of the game since its inception, and I’m sad to see that it’s not getting particularly better.
Wondrous Tails looks pretty great, though; it’s like a puzzle game and challenge log rolled together, which is pretty awesome. It’s a chance to further incentivize content people might not otherwise do, and it’s a more efficient way of encouraging people to branch out. I’m looking forward to it, maybe even more than I’m looking forward to the upcoming additions like more Deep Dungeon floors. It’s so elegant, and I like filling in stuff while taking care of other stuff.
Feedback, as always, is welcome in the comments below or via mail to eliot@massivelyop.com. Next time around? Oh, you know it’s going to be patch impressions. Let’s not be silly.
The Nymian civilization hosted an immense amount of knowledge and learning, but so much of it has been lost to the people of Eorzea. That doesn’t stop Eliot Lefebvre from scrutinizing Final Fantasy XIV each week in Wisdom of Nym, hosting guides, discussion, and opinions without so much as a trace of rancor.
