The Growing Light Soundtrack arrived safely two days ago and with it came the adorable (and big!) Hydaelyn Idol. Aikirees claimed the idol and we excitedly let it loose in HQ’s side-yard. We were surprised by the size of it, but it is a beautifully crafted minion and that glow is so pretty at night! The description for it is also pretty amusing, we see you developers~!
It might end up being Aikirees go-to minion in the future, but for now she’ll enjoy it on her island. The actual soundtrack is just as amazing as all of the previous ones too; the reminiscing while listening to some of the tracks has had a really strong emotional tug this time for certain.
We recently got around to seeing the Final Fantasy XIV x Final Fantasy XVI event, which does have arguable the best award for completing it in the game thus so far. Spoilers relating to this event follows!
The quest starts out in Ul’Dah, and is a level 50 quest, which I haven’t seen one of these start this high since the Final Fantasy XIV x Final Fantasy XV event and XI prior. Seeing as it does involve a pretty neat fight at the end, it does make sense though.
Maaayyybeeee~
One runs into this feller asking who one is, and thus begins the story with the Wandering Minstrel coming along for the ride based on one of his dreams. In his dream he mentions a scarlet star crossing paths with a bright white star and interprets it as someone or something is about to need us in some way.
This leads us to the Burning Wall in East Thanalan, and after a quick seek & find (that I took forever to do), we find our visitor from another star (but we don’t know that yet).
After a quick greeting between him, the Minstrel, and I, he introduces himself as Clive who has forgotten everything else about himself and how he got here. I realize they’ve used this as the basis for other crossover events in the past, but I don’t ever really mind it. I mean, if I or anyone else just magically appeared on another world, I’d probably feel this way in some way or another too.
Anyway, so we escort him back to Ul’Dah to make sure he’s alright, and we being to help him remember who he is. Not really ringing any bells with Ul’Dah’s surroundings, the two of us decide to embark to Gridania via airship since we found Clive kind of between the two city-states. The Minstrel decides to stay behind and ask the locales near the Burning wall to see if they know who Clive is. Before boarding the airship, it’s to Clive’s surprise that airships are a thing on Etheirys and are commonly used, and appears this will be his first time on one. I’ve not played Final Fantasy XVI, so I don’t know if they have airships there or not.
Upon arriving in Gridania, I take lead and show him around town hoping it’ll jostle something to help his memories. Aside from him liking Gridania, nothing really does until he hears ‘Garuda’ from the Adder’s Grand Company HQ. This ultimately leads us to a meeting with the Seedseer who talks about Garuda with both us and Clive, and ends with the Minstrel arriving to tell/confirm to us that Clive is in fact from another world since no one has recognized his description nor the tattoo on his face.
This ends up leading into how to get him back home, and it involves Ifrit and him having to come to terms with a ‘terrible truth’ that his memory keeps blocking. So the Minstrel meets us over at Apkallu falls, to then send us to the Bowl of Embers to meet with a copy of Ifrit that can still kick our tails.
Clive examines the Amalj’aa Ifrit, and acknowledges the similarities between the Ifrit he knows and ours, but are still rather different. This memory recollection transforms Eorzea’s Ifrit into the one Clive knows, and he gets big as seen as the header image.
The fight itself is neat, and I personally think a bit easier than the one from the Final Fantasy XV event, which is good. I never really liked that battle greatly since there was a couple of rough spots in it. The two abilities one gets to use during the battle are a lot of fun. The dodge/counter-attack skill is fun, but I had a hard time puling it off when it was not mandatory, but thankfully the dodge part always works when not on cool down and is not needed for the DPS check, but it would make that part a lot quicker.
At the end of the fight, he remembers he’s in fact Ifrit and then turns into Ifrit to finish off the Ifrit we’re fighting. Ifritception!
His memories come back, realizing he killed his younger brother as Ifrit, and goodest of boys Torgal appears.
Goodest of boys.
Torgal appears and is there to help get Clive back home, which is conveniently the same place we found him at. So one more hop across the land back to Thanalan later, we’re ready to follow Torgal to their departure place. This section is neat because if one has done the Coils of Bahamut, it makes this whole part about Phoenix a lot more filled in. However, even with not, it’s still a neat way it explains how Clive got here.
Once everyone says their goodbyes, Clive and Torgal poof away back home.
Safe travels, and take care~!
The Minstrel makes an interesting 4th wall remark and heads on his way as well, but not before giving one a couple of Torgals: a minion and a mount. The mount version allows for indefinite petting of Torgal making it the best mount ever immediately.
Overall, I really did like this crossover event. It was just the right about of things along with a really great instance fight at the end. However, it really didn’t make me feel anything for Clive so I wish we were able to hang out with him a smidgen more even if it was just in dialog. Comparing that to meeting and hanging out with Noctis or even Iroha as those two gave me an emotional attachment.
That’s really the only thing I could say against it, else wise was a nice little with a fun fight. Afterwards, music scrolls from Final Fantasy XVI can be purchased from the Gold Saucer for MGP where the other music scrolls are bought from. I still haven’t gotten any yet, but due to a certain wonderful black cat, we have one of those gorgeous songs playing at HQ right now.
There’s just something so tranquil and relaxing to hear a storm gently come through on a small island out in the sea. The winds swaying the trees in the surrounding area, the rains coming down on the roof above and hitting the stone ground just outside. The wonderful smell emitted from the storm itself being complimented by hearing the waves far off into the distance.
While it was a less intensive evening on their Islands, the two cousins, after many moons toiling over their hideaways, have laid the land for the final landmark plot currently available. Laureine’s excitement cannot be contained as they await what will happen next once this last structure is finally complete!
Episode XXXIV! – This week’s report has us enjoying some lovely fall weather while utilizing our wonderfully warm sweaters for when the weather changes to crisp and cool.
Caught up with Aikirees after finalizing our last two Workshops to get them upgraded to level 3. It ended up being a rainy night on the island; so we just took a seat, had some tea & biscuits, and listened to the gentle raindrops hitting the roof of the cabin. It was a very wonderful way to end the night on.
Just have the one last landmark remaining to build (we’re being stubborn and are waiting on one material), which will fill all of the plots with something and that should unlock the first major quest on the island!
This past weekend, we achieved reaching Rank 10 on our Island Sanctuary! Overall it has been a really relaxing past time, especially since over the last two years all we’ve really been doing mainly is all the combat & story content. Don’t get me wrong, that’s the content I enjoy the most (this does not count extremes/savages/ultimates as I do not do those), but this been a very nice change of pace.
Home Sweet Hideaway & Cozy Cabin when starting out.
When we first got to the island, I wasn’t exactly sure what to do. The game does nudge one into a direction though to understand the basics of how to progress things on the island like the pasture, garden, making tools, building facilities to make/gather things, etc. So we really kind of just were led by the metaphorical string (carrot for me?) to get all the basics down. Upon doing all of that, one reaches about rank 4 and from there it becomes a free for all on what to work on and how to proceed.
We really mostly focused on the workshops, and making sure it had a full week of things to make and sell based on materials we either gathered personally, or had a granary assist with said gathering. Granary was unlocked a rank or so after 4, so at first it was just making sure the one Workshop was always busy.
The early ranks were a blur since they go kind of quick keeping the workshop(s) busy and building out landmarks as they become unlocked. As the ranks go by, one can make tools for the mammets to assist in making the Hideaway bigger with more plots to add additional workshops (up to 4 for these), landmarks, and granaries (up to 2 for these). Landmarks are just nice features to add to one’s island, but they also help speed workshop production up.
After a certain point, one can move around all of these things if one so wishes to. We took the ‘build it, and forget it’ approach, but might nudge around things eventually. It does cost a little bit and some time, but that’s really about it. The island itself has two currencies in seafarer or islander cowries. The seafarer cowries expand the hideway and are accrued from the workshops, meanwhile the islander cowries I believe are from exporting additional gathered goods and can be used to buy fun cosmetics. Seafarer ones can be used for buying goodies too, but we haven’t yet.
The Second Level Home Sweet Hideaway & Cozy Cabin.
One thing is it doesn’t necessarily mention when workshops/granaries/hideaway can be upgraded unless one looks at the plot that it was placed at. It could probably be examined in the hideaway management menu, but never tried that. This is something I wished was mentioned or had a better way to let us know, but I guess it’s not really a big issue. The neat thing with the hideaway upgrades specifically, is that the entire hideaway’s looks changes as well! From the base level to level 2, torches, and dirt pathways appear with wooden staircases where dirt ramps once were.
It’s a super nice touch that I began to enjoy seeing when I leveled up the hideaway itself. Each upgrade, no matter what it is minus landmarks, just required certain gathered materials and time for the granaries & workshops only. The hideaway is immediate. Just have to make sure it doesn’t affect the workshop’s materials otherwise it warns of it causing a deficit in the current crafting schedule. Messing up and adding a deficit once really bit me, so I had to make sure to not let that happen again.
Workshops are ran on an agenda schedule. One selects from a list of items that take 4, 6, or 8 hours to make, and it will automate the rest assuming the materials are gathered. It does a great job saying what materials are needed and when, so this makes gathering the materials a lot more streamlined.
Gathering is kind of similar to how it works normally, except each node is 1-2 materials per node. The good is there’s a bajillion nodes out in the island wilderness to be gathered. As the Ranks go up, more tools can be crafted to get more than one material off the node at a time and the secondary material is something different. So, say one hits a copper ore with the hammer – they’ll get one copper and one island rock. Both can be used to make things or used in the workshop.
The Third Level Home Sweet Hideaway & Cozy Cabin.
Also, leveling up the hideaway itself adds larger gardening and pasture land for more animals to be placed once captured. Kind of like a basic Pokemon game really. We only still have the tutorial’s sheep capture but eventually we’ll expand that out as well.
The pure gathering aspect is pretty relaxing and therapeutic as it is. After a couple of weeks of doing this, we reached Rank 10 which allows for flying across the island. Ground mounts run at flying speed, but flying does help getting around the terrain all the easier and makes inaccessible places available – like the top of the mountain for a bonkers set of nodes that make gathering those specific ones crazy fast. All gathering nodes give 10 experience per node in island experience, so it does help but would take an eternity to just rely on those for ranking up.
Building anything gives far more experience, and gathering from the garden gives 120 per item planted. Gathering things like wool off a sheep give experience as well, so far 50 per gathering attempt.
Granaries allow access to ‘rare’ materials that one cannot gather, and those are needed for upgrading workshops/granaries at certain levels. Even later landmarks need these items as well. Granaries cost seafarer cowries, but it’s really not that all expensive to max out a week per granary.
It may sound really overwhelming, but it’s really not and is meant to be taken at a more relaxed pace; just a nice little place to come relax between things, put on a favorite song in the hideaway’s orchestration, play with some minions, or just enjoy the simple island life when not trying to kick the tails out of yet another evil force threatening Etheirys.
I’m already excited to see what happens next and what the island will continue to evolve and look like over the next 10 ranks. Will be curious to experience certain quests that pop up once we’ve gotten certain criteria met in the near future as well!
Some screenshots were taken from the Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail official benchmark program!
Aikirees, tired after another day of adventuring and working on her island, retires to her top bunk bed within the lower floor of EOCA HQ. Tuckered out as she is, she almost immediately heads off into dreamland. For a time now, Aikirees has been planning a journey of self-reflecting, a journey to become stronger and to try and communicate more like her elder sisters. She wishes to be more helpful to her dear older sister who has protected her for so long now, and she wants to protect her back so badly…
Her dream starts off like any other, but with the thoughts of her impending journey on her mind, her dream skews towards those thoughts. Since she’s partially quantum and has lost two lives already, she can sense things in the Aetherical flow that extend beyond the boundaries of Etheirys, even without the assist of her beloved Carbuncles. The dream starts off like any other though, her disembarking from Ishgard to begin her journey.
However… soon thereafter, she see’s flashes of a red-haired figure. “T-Terrestia zee Sissy?!” She thinks to herself in the dream. But it doesn’t add up as this figure doesn’t seem to have long Vieran ears, or she can’t make them out. All she can vaguely see are flashes of fiery green eyes from within the figure. A gush of wind, and a flash of red & white, the land goes black for a moment, but the faintness of the Aetherical Sea can be seen around her.
She looks down at her hand, and her eyes widen. Something is off, but she can’t understand why this is…
Aikirees appears to not quite be herself. “Dish has to be’sies zee dream’sies trying’sies tew trick’sies mi’s.” She ponders and comes to that conclusion. Aikirees begins to walk through this Aetherial Sea; the red figure flickers in front of her once again.
“Zee Tess Sissy’sies…?” She shouts out, her voice is not the same as it echoes through the sea. The figure doesn’t say anything, but it begins to mover closer towards Aikirees aggressively.
Aikirees readies her newly discovered claws to defend herself only for the red figure to rush clean through her body revealing vivid visions.
One vision shows her off in a faraway land, on chocobo’s back instead of her beloved shadow wolf. Hearing things growl and howl off into the distance. Her ears far keener on hearing such sounds much farther away almost as well as her sisters can with their Vieran ears! Another vision flashes before her fighting with comrades against incredibly ferocious foes! She sees faraway lands not familiar to her, but some familiar faces alongside for the journey. Her dear elder Sister with her as well, fighting side by side nearly equal in strength and power!
In the final visions, she is back in familiar lands: The Black Shroud, very close to Gridania to be exact. All tired out, even in a dream, she slowly makes her way back to the City-State in preparations to return to Ishgard…
Aikirees stirs from her slumber for a spell. Looks at herself, grasps her tail, ears, and feels her face. “Dat wash’sies some zee dream’sies…” She says in a whisper outloud, and wonders who or what the red figure was with the fiery green eyes. Could it have been Terrestia, or someone far worse..?
What will her journey of reflection behold? Is her Seventh Life in danger? Is Terrestia really and truly the one out to get her now that the protection barrier has been broken? Only time will tell what’s in store for the Little One, and that time draws all the ever closer…
I really can’t believe I’ve hit this threshold. When I decided to take my hiatus from Mastodon nearly six months ago, and soon thereafter started up this blog, would not I have thought I’d have kept up with it as frequent as I have. I remember some bloggers I follow over on Mastodon, one being Belghast, mentioning posting something at least once a day whether it was something small or more grandeur. I understand why they all had recommended that as it does become easier over time to sit down and write something out on the regular.
I do know some of them are just slice of life screenshots of our adventures across Eorzea, but evolving even those into little small tales has been so much fun to do! Alongside that, being able to sit down and write out longer thoughts and stories has really been a wonderful treat too as I have really missed writing altogether. It has been a rather long time since I had written anything really; the last thing I wrote was my manuscript back in 2011(ish), and I do eventually plan on getting back to that. That’s a whole different topic though, and it does need a few more look overs before the eventual self-publish then off to work on the sequel story.
Here’s to the next 100, 500, 1,000 posts about whatever comes to mind really; whether it’s directly related to Final Fantasy XIV or another game entirely, looking forward to sharing the tales with everyone who comes across my little corner of a colossal world.
We’ve been incredibly busy these past couple of weeks getting our ranks up for Island Sanctuary and recently hit Rank 10! I absolutely love these super comfy hanging basket seats that the Level 3 Hideway has with them! Spent a little time with Aikirees sharing one while just watching the starry night sky pass on by.
I’m going to go ahead and post this since I’ve been continuously seeing, at least on Discord (as of right now, I have still not returned to Mastodon), ‘Very High’ and ‘Extremely High’ scores. My current PC is an Intel i7-4770K CPU with a nVidia GTX980 GPU. The hard drive is still a mechanic so that’s why the load times are very high.
The reason I wanted to share this is when they announced the new requirements, I was absolutely terrified that I was dead in the water until I could get a new system built and running. This just shows that if anyone out there is concerned their current set up might not be able to run Dawntrail to give the Benchmark a go and see how their system fairs. Hopefully it will ease any major concerns about not being able to play at launch even if the score isn’t where they want it to be.
Minding this score, I have over many months now been in the process of building a new couple of systems for the Dawntrail launch since a 4th gen Intel is a rather aged CPU, but I’m just relieved that I do have a back up plan/system in lieu of anything go astray before and/or during the initial said launch.
Episode XXXIII! – The Report for this week has led us into two very different predicaments. Aikirees route has taken her into looking like an adorable local news or paper girl. Meanwhile, I’m stuck with what I can only describe as ‘Drafty & Fringy.’ I believe Aikirees is the clear winner between the two of us again for this week’s report in any case.
Upon returning to HQ, Laureine heard something faint but familiar coming from downstairs.
“Let the revel begin!”
“Susano!?” She thought with a quickly flashing moment of panic, but she knew that couldn’t be as he was dispatched many summers ago while traveling through the Ruby Sea. She paused and gathered her thoughts for a moment as to how this could logically be possible.
“The seas part for we alone!”
The Susano-like voice could be heard faintly echoing across HQ once again. Laureine snapped to her senses, and rushed downstairs to see what it could have been, ready to summon one of her weapons to assist in stopping the Primal once again if necessary…
…Only to be bemused upon discovering Lizicus knocked out from a teeny-tiny version of the Lord of Revel. Recalling a gift she had acquired from Missus Sirena a few moons ago, Laureine wouldn’t have thought that her cousin would actually attempt to spar with the innocent looking wind-up figurine and be completely knocked out by it’s finely crafted replica of Susnao’s famous sword.
Laureine let out a sigh of disbelieve and relief, covered her cousin with a blanket, turned off her miniature Susano to not cause anymore unintentional havoc, and went to bed. She knew once her cousin awoke she would stumble into the bunk eventually, as it’s not like Lizicus to miss out on sleep when she can.
I’m fairly certain after the last Cardassian Struggle mission, I spring-boarded right into the next one. This one stood out a lot as it had quite the couple of unique locations for it: Jabberwocky. Since I had already done all of the Terran Gambit, hearing that I would be seeing the Mirror Universe again in this mission got me really intrigued (and I also wanted to see if this would introduce some characters from the Terran Gambit as well).
It starts off heading to Bajor to place the Orb of Possibilities recovered in the previous mission, so we headed on out from Deep Space Nine to make the trip there!
It’s so beautiful!
The place was absolutely gorgeous! I took in the scenery for a little bit and explored here before continuing on with the mission itself. The area was kind of limited, but there’s just so much detail packed into it, that it felt much larger than it was letting on.
After exploring and relaxing for a bit, I headed to where I was needing to go, and it was where the Orb of Possibilities was to be placed: on an altar of sorts, which apparently wasn’t the right altar for it to go.
THIS IS FINE!
So, apparently this version of the Orb belongs in the Mirror Universe and was brought to the Prime universe some eons ago. We’re tasked to take it to Mirror Bajor and place it where it’s supposed to go, and that leads us into the Badlands again to find the rift to take us there!
Returning to the Badlands, there’s some resistance from the Cardassians, but we do eventually find the rift that we’re needing to head into and blast the critter with Tachyon Radiation, because that’s always a good idea to do.
Is this even good to be flying through so much…?
Once the Tachyon Radiation is delivered, the rift to the Mirror Universe opens and we’re able to hop on through. One thing that did crack me up was the interface to enter said rift literally said “Press ‘F’ to enter rift,” and I got a good laugh out of it.
Upon entering the rift, we were now in the Mirror Universe as well as their version of the Badlands. This version traded out all the orange for a lovely ‘Blegh Green.’ Only moments upon entering this Badlands, we’re greeted with the welcoming party and a metric ton of phaser fire! This fight was kind of rough, part of which was due to said ambush and having to orient where they were versus myself. I think they might have been stronger ships, but that’s speculation comparing to the previous missions.
Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.
Once recovered from nearly being blown out of the stars, we headed to Mirror Bajor. It’s a quick warp from the Badlands to Mirror Bajor, not really a large galaxy map to fly through, so getting there was just a simple click.
Mirror Bajor was something else. Upon arriving there, it felt like something way out of place for even the Star Trek universe. Then again, this is the Mirror Universe so I suppose it works quite well since it’s the complete opposite of everything the Prime Universe stands for. The place was gloomy, rainy, rather suggestive neon signs everywhere, and really felt like a scene out of some cyberpunk universe.
Gloomy Mirror Bajor is Gloomy
There was a bit of Mirror Universe fighters here that we had to contend with to go and acquire the Orb, for in which most were dispatched with fairly easily. The ‘boss’ of the area turned out to pack a bit more of a punch, but we were able to succeed without any major setbacks.
The altar here was similar to that on the Prime Bajor’s, except instead of it being surrounded by beautiful buildings, it was tucked away in one of the skyscraper-like buildings and felt more like any other alleyway. Finally the orb was ours to take back to our universe! One more vision upon picking up the orb and it was finally time to head back to the Badlands to return back to Prime Bajor!
THIS IS ALSO FINE!
A couple of hops, warps, and jumps later, we’re back in the Prime Universe and on Bajor to deliver the news. I can’t recall from here if we brought the Prime Orb of Possibilities back or not with us on this mission, that part of the mission itself I can’t exactly recall. I know once it was returned in the Mirror Universe, the altar on Bajor Prime had one as well. Perhaps it materialized there once we took it back to the Mirror Universe or something like that.
All’s well that… end’s well…?
I loved this mission; it was so much fun! I’ll probably have to revisit it eventually for some equipment in the Mission Replay options to help where I am nudge in the right direction to continue more of the missions. However for now, it was a really fun mission that had us delve into the Mirror Universe and see other aspects of it!
April 7th 2019 is Churning Mists Day, the day Aikirees first made it to this gorgeous area. It’s an important day for her and it happened well before my arrival in Eorzea…
Up on the floating peak of Sohm Al on a clear crisp day, Aikirees while wearing similar attire as she did the first time she arrived here, looks off into the vast sea of clouds that make up the Churning Mists. Far off into the distance she looks upon Zenith’s magnificently colossal structure jetting far up into the heavens. She simply stands there gazing with a smile, while enjoying the cool winds on her ears, and gently moving the grass and puff bolls around her. Aikirees closes her eyes and lets in a deep breath, and just like that time seems to stand still in this tranquil moment.
“Oh, you’re already here!”
Aikirees’ ear flips towards the direction of the voice, and she turns to see that I’ve finally arrived at the summit to meet her. She smiles and goes back to gazing off into the distance, while I approach to join her.
“Ish zee fifth’sies zee year’sies nao, zee Sissy… Five’sies zee year’sies since I furrrrrsteded visited here…”
Aikirees says, not looking away from Zenith. I smile while doing the same, and joining her in just gazing outwards. After what felt like an eternity, I spoke up.
“It has been quite the adventure; I still remember when you left Kugane that faithful day. All full of excitement ready to seek out new horizons. There’s that part within you that just yearned for travel, and I still haven’t quite figured that part out.”
I glance at her and see the smile on her face still there strong as ever.
“…And you certainly found it. Saved Eorzea, ended the Dragonsong War, and even helped take back Ala Mhigo. All before I finally was able to catch up with you. You’ve grown so strong, Little One.”
Aikirees breaks away from gazing off into the distance and looks up at me with grin, and I return the gesture in kind.
“Sew zee has yew, zee Big Sissy! Yew were alway’sies zee stronk’sies one’sies doe!”
I chuckled lightheartedly back at her.
“I appreciate the notion!”
She simply smiled as not a care in the world, even after everything we had seen and done whether together or apart, she always has and continues to see the best and brightest in everyone around her.
“Thank you for always letting me come with you on this day to reflect; I know it’s important to you, as you reminisce about the past.”
Aikirees nods an acknowledging nod back.
“Ish zee nice’sies to has zee company’sies. I’sies know yew zee worrrries’sies about zee mi’s lot’sies, but yew’sies dun has tew. Even’sies with zee upcoming’sies jourrrrney’sies, I’ll be zee fine’sies! We’sies gone’sies tew zee edge’sies of dish existens’sies togethurrrr’sies after zee all’sies!”
I pause not really sure what to say, she is right, and it just shows how much she really has grown. Instead of saying anything to contest, I simply smile warmly at her my dear little sister.
“You’re right, Little One. Just, promise me you won’t lose anymore lives.”
I chuckle back, mostly in warmth but with a hint of precaution hoping she doesn’t sense it. The rest of this special day, that Aikirees has simply named ‘Churning Mists Day’ we go and visit places she remembers very fondly during her first time here all those years ago now, making sure to visit with both the dragons and moogles, see some of the beautiful views, and ultimately with it ending in a peculiar spot where she shared a warm fire with some dear friends – one of which whom sacrificed herself to help end the Dragonsong War.
Episode XXXII! – Hitting study hall extremely hard for this weeks’ Fashion Report. Looking over books about quantum physics and the reflections. Meanwhile, I’m pretty certain Aikirees is examining notes on the various types of Carbuncles that exist. Somehow some of these books even include notes and essays on an unsundered one that we tangoed with not too long ago…
After many, many, moons, Lizicus finally managed to get a bathhouse going close to the shore of her Island Hideaway. With that all being taken care of, she invited her cousin over to enjoy a gorgeous sunset while getting some much needed relax in the nice rejuvenating hot spring waters.
This might have been the absolute best April 1st event I’ve ever done in any MMO. Star Trek Online is(was) doing something pretty comical for April Fools. Most of the sound effects for practically everything were replaced with Artisanal Audio from the developers making the sounds themselves. Everything from ‘Pew pew!’ for phasors and weapons, all the way to things exploding and hearing all sorts of sounds from fart noises, ‘booms,’ and literally one person saying the word ‘explosions!’
Going to warp had someone bellow out ‘WARP!’ and using slipstream one time had one of the developers simply saying ‘Yaaaay~!’ That one did change though, so each time it was something just as comical. Just… so many really hilarious sound effects that were just pure bonkers and for fun!
It was such a hoot! To do missions or just sit near Deep Space Nine and see other ships shoot off fireworks, or do whatever effects they had at their disposal and hear all of these absurd sound effects was great fun. Even the menu sounds were all made up. Doors would do ‘swish’ sounds and nearly every NPC at both Deep Space Nine and Earth Space Dock was playing an accordion!
This was great.
I wasn’t on very long, but that whole session was so great and memorable. Will have to make time next year for the next April 1st just to hear all of these sounds make a return while doing whatever Mission I’ll be on at that time. I kind of wish other games/MMO’s would do this as well. Just think… back in Eorzea we could just repurpose all of Hildibrand Manderville’s sound effects for April 1st.
The sky crackled with lightning, and the fierce battle between Nidhogg and us two was beginning to show just how treacherous this was about to become. He narrowed his eyes, gazed upon our souls about to let loose a fiery attack, while sending out his horde to protect him in the process.
Once the horde was dealt with, he let our an ear piercing roar of sheer rage before lifting off the ground with his majestically massive wings. The sky crackled once again before turning a hue of red. Looking around to see where he might strike next with all of the rage he had been building up, I paced back a few steps signaling to Sirena to get close.
The ground shook with red symbols forming, and once I noticed what was about to beholden the two of us, I thrust my blood sword into the ground for anchoring and channeled what aether I could muster into my trusty Allagan Shield that has served me well for more summers than I can recall.
As the sky grew blood red and the symbols on the ground around us began to glow even brighter, I knew the time was nigh. Using the aether channeled into my shield, I released it into protective wings to keep the both of us from feeling the full wrath of Nidhogg’s mighty blow.
“You will not hurt, Sirena; you will not hurt Aikirees, Juli, my daughter, nor the cousins. You will NEVER hurt anyone I care about ever again. As long as I have this shield, I will continue to protect those I hold dear. You, Nidhogg, you time is nigh… you will never hurt anyone again!”
With that, the mighty wyrm descended with such force the ground beneath us quaked and shivered for a moment. The sky continued to stay red and when the dust settled, Nidhogg had returned to the air just floating there, possessing Estinien’s body, and looking down at us beckoning to finish this battle once and for all…
