Some History on the Physical Guildleve Plates

[Rane]

Thank you for the lore update, Bayohne. It's always nice to get insight into what's supposed to be going on in the world.

With that said, the way guildleves are worked into the overall logic of the game world is pretty awkward. Someone at the leve counter tells you to go kill 8 moles, but for some unexplainable reason you can't go and kill those 8 moles until you touch a card to a crystal.

So you touch a card to a crystal, and it "resonates", but what does that mean? Um...OK...best not to think about that...now, for whatever reason, the game will let me do what the NPC told me to do. So I kill 8 moles, at which time the leve plate decides to whip up an aetherial node, because....because it knows...um... Well, never mind. So then I get some items, even though there's no one around to actually give me items...

So guildleves are a gameplay element. That's what they are, and unfortunately they don't make total sense in terms of the internal logic of the world.

Ideally, gameplay systems in an MMO should avoid breaking the internal logic of the game world as much as possible. That's what helps make the world seem more "real". However, guildleves are what they are, and it's probably too late to change that now.

I would like to say that it seems that better care has been taken to ensure that new systems make sense within the game since Yoshida took over. Also, I think that the new story elements make much more sense and are much better explained than the original main and class quest storylines. It makes experiencing the seventh umbral era storyline a lot of fun, so thank you!

Overall, I think things are looking up for the future believability of the game world. I'll just try not to think about the guildleves.

[Davorok]

...So you touch a card to a crystal, and it "resonates", but what does that mean? Um...OK...best not to think about that...now, for whatever reason, the game will let me do what the NPC told me to do. So I kill 8 moles, at which time the leve plate decides to whip up an aetherial node, because....because it knows...um... Well, never mind. So then I get some items, even though there's no one around to actually give me items...

For me it's not so much that the Guildleves make no sense but rather it's the Aetherites and Aetherial Nodes that make no sense. If it was an NPC at the camp or in the field/cave that gave us the targets and the rewards, it wouldn't be so ethereal.

Simple solution: Teleport back to Camp/Field NPC 1st, then receive reward.

[Skies]

Thank you for the lore update, Bayohne. It's always nice to get insight into what's supposed to be going on in the world.

With that said, the way guildleves are worked into the overall logic of the game world is pretty awkward. Someone at the leve counter tells you to go kill 8 moles, but for some unexplainable reason you can't go and kill those 8 moles until you touch a card to a crystal.

So you touch a card to a crystal, and it "resonates", but what does that mean? Um...OK...best not to think about that...now, for whatever reason, the game will let me do what the NPC told me to do. So I kill 8 moles, at which time the leve plate decides to whip up an aetherial node, because....because it knows...um... Well, never mind. So then I get some items, even though there's no one around to actually give me items...

So guildleves are a gameplay element. That's what they are, and unfortunately they don't make total sense in terms of the internal logic of the world.

Ideally, gameplay systems in an MMO should avoid breaking the internal logic of the game world as much as possible. That's what helps make the world seem more "real". However, guildleves are what they are, and it's probably too late to change that now.

I would like to say that it seems that better care has been taken to ensure that new systems make sense within the game since Yoshida took over. Also, I think that the new story elements make much more sense and are much better explained than the original main and class quest storylines. It makes experiencing the seventh umbral era storyline a lot of fun, so thank you!

Overall, I think things are looking up for the future believability of the game world. I'll just try not to think about the guildleves.

First off, a little explanation of "Resonance". It's a property of anything that vibrates (that is, everything). If they're in the same frequency (or a multiple thereof) then they are resonating. RL crystals are, far as memory recalls, the solid material that resonates the easiest with human voice (as a curiosity). So the crystal-infused card and aetheryte resonating would mostly mean that the card has been 'registered' with the aetheryte.

Actually "Why can't I kill 8 moles before touching the card to the crystal", it's actually explained somewhere in-game or the flash site or somewhere else. Leves are 'permissions' (quite literally, a 'leve' is a very old word for permission) to do official work. Getting there and synching with the aetheryte is the equivalent of you going over to the officer there going "Bro, i'm here to do that job" and he says "Okay, go ahead" and you can do it officially.

Getting your rewards is, I presume, the function of the Aetherial Gate (which is... An extension of an Aetheryte far as I remember) that pops up. In function it looks like the leve card also serves as a 'homing point' for whatever arcane teleport spell that XIV uses.

And, well, that is how I understand it, at least.

[Biggs]

First off, a little explanation of "Resonance". It's a property of anything that vibrates (that is, everything). If they're in the same frequency (or a multiple thereof) then they are resonating. RL crystals are, far as memory recalls, the solid material that resonates the easiest with human voice (as a curiosity). So the crystal-infused card and aetheryte resonating would mostly mean that the card has been 'registered' with the aetheryte.

Actually "Why can't I kill 8 moles before touching the card to the crystal", it's actually explained somewhere in-game or the flash site or somewhere else. Leves are 'permissions' (quite literally, a 'leve' is a very old word for permission) to do official work. Getting there and synching with the aetheryte is the equivalent of you going over to the officer there going "Bro, i'm here to do that job" and he says "Okay, go ahead" and you can do it officially.

Getting your rewards is, I presume, the function of the Aetherial Gate (which is... An extension of an Aetheryte far as I remember) that pops up. In function it looks like the leve card also serves as a 'homing point' for whatever arcane teleport spell that XIV uses.

And, well, that is how I understand it, at least.

Wow, first let me just say that is an AWSOME explanation. The only problem I have is that it only brings up more questions. Where did the Aetherial Gates and Crystals at each of the camps come from? Were they made or were they always there and someone figured out how to use them? Can they be moved or are they tied to the land they came from? How do individuals use them? Do each of our characters have a little crystal in our pockets that attunes itself to the camp crystals, or do they each attune themselves to our bodies when we touch them? How are the smaller gates made?

And don't even get me started about all the questions I have about the echo.