Early Thoughts on 1.18 - THANK YOU Yoshida-san! :)

[Chezen]

I really love the music in the Black Shroud.

[Kiara]

I'm happy that you can actually get SP outside of leves/behests now! Sidequests, guild tasks, raids, and party grinding are all good ways to get SP now, and I'm really thankful for it as I actually have stuff to do between behests...even though there's a cooldown on doing a behest, it's fine because I can go do other things anyways.

Hi Suzaku,

Yes! It's nice to pick up Side Quests or Company Quests and get an extra 3,000 SP here or there, in addition to enjoying the storyline.

The Crafting Leves and Gathering Leves are really nice as well (far more SP than we used to get). Great job SE!

[Kiara]

Hi All,

An update after a couple days with Patch 1.18...

We just beat the Ogre Mid-Boss for Dzemael Darkhold and...YES! YES! YES!!!

My LS mates and I were all filled with the feeling ofutter elation and joy... the feeling of a major accomplishment (and it's only the Mid-Boss)!

Words can't describe how happy we are, and how much FUN we had!

*THIS* is the feeling I've been looking for in Final Fantasy XIV... and Yoshida-san and team delivered it in spades!

I can't wait to beat Dzemael Darkhold's Final Boss soon, but I had to report back on how it felt to just beat the Ogre NM Mid-Boss.

It had the same feeling as completing some of the best accomplishments in FF XI!

I can't wait to see what's next. Thank you Yoshida-san!

[Rowyne]

Things I noticed right away:

Improved camera speed
I LOVE this! Finally, the camera pans at an acceptable speed! It was frustratingly slow before.

UI Or Server Improvements?
Hard to place my finger on it, but it seems like a lot of things just feel more responsive. The above-mentioned camera adjustments help contribute to this feeling, I'm sure. But I was impressed that on patch day, while my server was busy and active, the game just felt smoother than it ever has before.

Action bar improvements
Not only is it great that my action bar shows all the time, but it's visually more appealing! The icons are crisp and clear, and the cooldowns are easy to read.

New music in The Black Shroud
I love it! It sort of feels like a cross between FFXI's Ronfaure and Sanctuary of Zi'tah themes, but more... reverent. It helps reinforce that for the Gridanians, this is the Twelveswood.

New Configuration Menu
I love that the configuration menu is better organized and expanded. I like seeing a comprehensive visual display of options all in one place.

New repair materials
Changing all repair materials to dark matter will certainly be easier on everyone's inventory (carrying a max of five repair mats as opposed to all sorts of random items). But I do now wonder if I can do anything with the stacks of hempen and cotton fent I own.

Mage changes
As a Conjurer, I recognize the fact that mages needed reworking. It was necessary given the fact they made no adjustments after giving us passive mode MP regen. It feels like SE swung the nerf bat since the changes were pretty drastic, but let's face it, mages were OP. Now we need to make more meaningful choices, and make use of abilities like Spiritbind and Tranquility. I'm hopeful that SE will closely monitor the changes, and make adjustments if necessary.

I haven't had a chance to do any questing or run the new instanced dungeons, but I can't wait to dive in and I'm thrilled that quests give SP now. I'm loving the changes so far! The future looks good!

[Chezen]

I haven't been able to play more than a couple of hours at a time, but so far I've done 3 leves, all 3 opening Company quests, the second Gridania Company quest, and 4 or 5 normal quests. I've been having so much fun on my conjurer I haven't even bothered to try other classes to date. I use only conjurer skills when I play conjurer, I've leveled once, and haven't died at all (yet ).

When it comes to solo play, I'm truly not understanding what the trouble is, but I'm sorry for those having a hard time (Maybe it's because I'm not 50 yet?). As for party play, try to bear in mind that jobs have not been released, and they could be addressing some of the issues people are having.

Other things I am enjoying...

There does seem to be a better response time, which is nice. I also really like the bar changes and the icons. They look really nice. The new camps are nice too. I've found one quest related to them, but it wasn't much more than information... yet. That's fine with me, I like lore. ^^

All these changes really make me wish I had my chocobo! (still waiting about as patiently as a 5-year-old for her ice cream cone )

[Kiara]

Things I noticed right away:

Improved camera speed
I LOVE this! Finally, the camera pans at an acceptable speed! It was frustratingly slow before.

UI Or Server Improvements?
Hard to place my finger on it, but it seems like a lot of things just feel more responsive. The above-mentioned camera adjustments help contribute to this feeling, I'm sure. But I was impressed that on patch day, while my server was busy and active, the game just felt smoother than it ever has before.

Action bar improvements
Not only is it great that my action bar shows all the time, but it's visually more appealing! The icons are crisp and clear, and the cooldowns are easy to read.

New music in The Black Shroud
I love it! It sort of feels like a cross between FFXI's Ronfaure and Sanctuary of Zi'tah themes, but more... reverent. It helps reinforce that for the Gridanians, this is the Twelveswood.

New Configuration Menu
I love that the configuration menu is better organized and expanded. I like seeing a comprehensive visual display of options all in one place.

New repair materials
Changing all repair materials to dark matter will certainly be easier on everyone's inventory (carrying a max of five repair mats as opposed to all sorts of random items). But I do now wonder if I can do anything with the stacks of hempen and cotton fent I own.

Mage changes
As a Conjurer, I recognize the fact that mages needed reworking. It was necessary given the fact they made no adjustments after giving us passive mode MP regen. It feels like SE swung the nerf bat since the changes were pretty drastic, but let's face it, mages were OP. Now we need to make more meaningful choices, and make use of abilities like Spiritbind and Tranquility. I'm hopeful that SE will closely monitor the changes, and make adjustments if necessary.

I haven't had a chance to do any questing or run the new instanced dungeons, but I can't wait to dive in and I'm thrilled that quests give SP now. I'm loving the changes so far! The future looks good!

Hi Rowyne,

Thanks for your thoughts. I agree... I think part of the reason it feels better is the removal of the Stamina Bar. I can go in and activate skills and they execute back-to-back without waiting on Stamina to fill and slow things down in that sense (just the cooldown timer after).

I love the Action Bar / Icons as well! Very clear and you can see what the Icons actually are now. I also like how it lights up and also fills up when it counts down back to full. These are small touches, but they make FF 14 *feel* polished and... like an enjoyable experience for the player.

Let me know if you end up trying the new Raids. I'm still having a blast at Dzemael.

[Malakhim]

So I just linked up with my old Linkshell on Fabul an hour ago to do a dungeon run over at Totorak, and I gotta say, it was a total blast. Had some serious fun, and even the intro, boss, and ending cutscenes seemed really great.

Of course I've also done other Grand Company quests and sidequests in general, and I enjoyed those a great deal as well, and adding a durability loss really heightened my aversion to dying, but not enough to the point of rage quiting like one might do in the case of experience loss. Auto-attack still feels a bit wonky, but I enjoy it. The aggro meter also feels pretty useful.

Overall, great base patch. Looking forward to 1.19 and beyond.

[Ana]

I think most of us is enjoying ffxiv more since 1.18 is up. I see more people returning and the dungeon is always full of people with at least 3 group of people doing it at any given time. Finally~~~~~ we have an aim in ffxiv instead of mindless grinding ^^

[Karbine]

Completely agree with OP. I love tue new battle system and dungeons are polished and have great cutscenes. Presentation is unbelievable.

[Pulseczar]

I really love the music in the Black Shroud.

Me too. I think just because of that, it's my new favorite zone—and I used to hate it. It reminds me of music from Secret of Mana I.