Some reminders as we approach Heavensward...

[Garlyle]

Just a list of a few things of relevance. Heavensward is coming up, afterall - it's less than a week away now! - but here's some thoughts to have.

1. For the love of Hydaelyn be mindful of spoilers, especially in FC/LS chat. Don’t be the jerk who ends up spoiling some awesome twist or emotional moment or amazing boss fight. To which end…
2. People are going to want to run things blind. If someone asks to, and you’re already at the point of revisiting content, please respect that. Let people enjoy fresh content, let them fail or succeed on their own surprises. There are not many chances in XIV people have to do exactly that. Let them.
3. The servers are going to suck. It’s common with every major MMORPG, both at launch and at expansions; and if an MMORPG doesn't have launch day issues, it's frankly not a good sign for the game's future. Generally, more people are going to be playing immediately following a release/expansion than at any other time in an MMORPG’s lifespan. Prepare yourself for that reality. You will probably get more lag than usual due to massive network activity. You will probably get login queues. You will probably get 90k’d (or people you’re doing dungeons with will). Brace yourself now.
4. There will be bugs. All the beta testing a dedicated QA team can do is nothing compared to the amount of playtime the game will get when it goes live. Be ready for the possibility of some really strange things happening, both good and bad.
5. Going to make an Au Ra (or any) alt? Make them NOW. Before EA starts. Why? Because player volume is going to soar. And the character creation lockouts on servers are (at least theorized to be) based on active population, so you’re probably not going to be able to make a new character on the server you want. If you’ve been around for a while, you should get that first Veteran reward Fantasia right away - you can use that to swap into an Au Ra once it’s enabled. But make the character now, because I can almost guarantee you that if you’re trying to get on almost any heavily active server, you’re going to be SoL (Especially Balmung or Gilgamesh)
6. There will probably be an Emergency Maintenance at least once in the first couple weeks. This is simply inevitable, for hotfixes, server maintenance, etc. If this happens during the time you’re able to play, sorry. Remember that when they have to do it, it’s going to suck for someone - a different time just means a different group that gets angry.
7. You don’t have to do it all immediately. The developpers have already confirmed that, while Soldiery and Poetics will be phased out, the new Tomestones for endgame content will be staggered out over the first few weeks after launch. This also includes the new endgame raid, Alexander (and even later than that, Alexander (Savage)). You don’t need to be running the final dungeon today. You can take your time. Remember this when servers are unstable or maintenance is going on.
8. People are going to suck at the game again. Sure, many players out there are fantastic. But let's be real - after months of being able to massively outgear the content we're tackling, a lot of people have gotten used to letting their iLvl carry them. That discrepency is going to fall off, and there are people who are going to have a hard time breaking bad habits they've gotten away with. Others will also be trying to get used to new techniques/classes and make mistakes because of it. Have patience.
9. The things you worked so hard to get aren’t going to be worth as much anymore. That max melded Forager’s gear? That crafting Lucis? That Zeta weapon? Those Dreadwyrm pieces? Be ready for the fact it’s not going to be the best anymore. Expect the costs and efforts involved in even making those from now on to sink as well. You should be somewhat used to this from patches as is, but the gap’s going to be even more notable. Get over this now, and remember you still have these cool things, and that you did it.
10. Rested Experience is a thing. It's that bonus EXP you accumulate when you log out in Sanctuaries. While the exact return/amount of time is something I've had trouble finding, if you want to ease up the initial levelling in Heavensward, you may wish to stop levelling low-levelled classes for a couple days prior to release. Regardless of if you're heading straight from 50 to 60, or going to start right away on one of the new classes, it's a leg up.

If there's others people can think of, feel free to add them!

[Zfz]

If I see anyone in-game demanding others to read up strategies in the first month of Heavensward, I'm going to /slap them.

Also:

• Make space in your retainers. You will accumulate new items and materials during your adventure and you will not know what to do with them. With the desire to push ahead to level 60, you will need that storage space for those drops to either sell later or use to level your own crafting.
• Some of the Level 50 dungeons will not give EXP. This is because many people will find it easier to speed run Lv 50 dungeons for EXP than to run new dungeons. So it was revealed in an interview at when 3.0 is released, at first these originally end-game Lv 50 dungeons will not give EXP.
• Don't neglect the daily roulette bonuses. Combined with rested bonus, the daily low-level roulette was one of the key tools for me getting all jobs to 50. We don't know yet exactly what will happen to the roulettes, but it is something you should check out and use to your advantage if possible.
• Don't neglect the weekly challenge log. Each item is either 5% or 10% EXP of your level.
• Stock up on cheap vendor food. Even if it's only 3% EXP bonus, it adds up, especially for those who are going to do dungeon crawl where the vast majority of your EXP are eligible for the bonus.

[Pomelo]

Totally agree with 1 and 2
Everyone is really exicted and excitement is easily ruined with spoilers.

[Musashidon]

1 forums are going to explode with 10000000000000000 different QQ reasons be ready don't need to be rude when it happens.

[AckersFury]

I'd be surprised if there wasn't emergency maintenance within the first 48hrs of HW going live, nevermind over a few weeks

but anyway, good list (Y)

[Selli]

• You don’t have to do it all immediately.

Yes I do! This is exactly what coffee was made for!

• Make space in your retainers.

Oh, honey. I have 4 inventory chests full of i100-i110 things that can't be turned in yet (and I'm sure I'm not the only one). :x Both my retainers are stuffed at 175/175 and I have another 25 items sitting in my own inventory. If I could make space, I gladly would. D:

THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS, SQUARE.

[Niqote]

Yes I do! This is exactly what coffee was made for!



If I could make space, I gladly would. D:

THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS, SQUARE.

Accurate representation! (Also Dawwwwww /cute) I wonder how much Green Tea I will need to drink to be equivalent to a cup of coffee...

And I hear you about the retainers, personally I have like 30 Shiva, Ramuh, Levi weapons ready for trade in. (I am hoping for new GC ranks to blow all my points on)

Oh! Personally, I made a 'FC only' Channel and I flip to it for a few days after patch when I am in the 'Spoiler danger zone'
Basically, it turns off ALL my Linkshells so that I am more secure.

[Whocareswhatmynameis]

1 forums are going to explode with 10000000000000000 different QQ reasons be ready don't need to be rude when it happens.

I don't really care if people complain. Everyone has their own opinion. But if people start crying about the game being too hard because they can't steamroll through on their first attempt, I'm going to reach through my monitor and....

[Neri]

For those with Fantasia and would like to change to AuRa, you can use the Fantasia now. On the day before maintenance, do not forget to strip your character naked so when the server goes live, you can change to AuRa immediately.

[XgungraveX]

remember to eat and drink, take breaks walk around for like 5 mins