So. Yeah. Final Fantasy XIV, then.

[Kagato]

Yeah, I'm not holding my breath over it. I was reading one of the forum threads (apparently the SE forums are getting hammered too, I keep timing out) and some people had the error for up to 24 hours and only got back in because of the maintenance forcing a restart.

[EricKei]

Ul'dah - Alchemist, Goldsmith, Weaver, Mining (all around the "ring" area west of the markets) -- Most or all of these have an Aetheryte nearby -_- Why couldn't the other towns do that?!

Gridania - Carpenter, Leatherworker, Botany

Limsa Lominsa - Culinarian, Blacksmith, Armorer (right next to one another), Forestry/lumberjack/whatever it's called

In a correction to something I posted earlier -- it's not the number of Steps that increase your EXP bonus for crafting, it's the Quality level. If you have Durability to spare, dump those CP into Quality increases; the difference in EXP can be quite dramatic.

[Aethian]

I have carpentry? Where?!? *mumbles* stupid game not letting me log in... I should make Wilson die in amusing ways for that.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Side note;

Bonus experience for crafting is not based on how many steps you have done in the crafting attempt.

It's based on what % of chance to high quality your item had when you completed the craft.

I just tested it out to make sure, since I was confused when I read Eric's post about it. I had a lot of steps and only 4% chance to high quality and got +63% bonus exp, had few steps and a 15% chance to high quality and got around 223% bonus exp.

[EricKei]

Summary of the good news:

3 new servers

New record: 325k concurrent users

AFK timer coming soon

Server transfers coming soon (so you can all come to sarg and we can steamroll the bosses)

The upgrades and patch caused some issues that were quickly squashed

Online players per world raised from 5k to 7.5~7.8k (would allow 413k concurrent users in total)

full article here:

http://www.dualshockers.com/2013/09/...timer-planned/

[Kagato]

Sorry, I'm nicely settled on Malboro server and have people coming to join me here, will be starting my FC in the next day or so. I am not holding off until the server transfers either, because I am getting spammed left right and center with unsolicited FC invites without so much as a "hello", if I put up with them too much longer, I'm going to go nuts. I've already reported 2 FC's to the admins but am not holding my breath over any action.

[EricKei]

Yeah, they'd probably just tell you to blacklist them ^_^ I already had a FC to join when I began, so I didn't have to worry about it.

Today's ProTip: Once you're at the "start" screen, hit zero on the numberpad 2x to go to character select, then hit it twice more to automatically select and login with the first character in your list. The same button also serves as "target nearest NPC/object", or as the right-mouse button ("use/talk") once something is selected.

[Kagato]

Been having fun smacking around Ifrit today, went in a few times and helped some other groups that were having trouble getting a healer, got to the point where if I got to explain, we did it first time. If the tank rushed in, we wiped 2-3 times.

[EricKei]

Yeah. All primal fights, even on "normal" difficulty, need to be explained first ^^ ditto many of the end bosses, even satasha seagrout's (the first dungeon)

[Kagato]

Hmmm, I actually didn't have too much trouble with Sastasha - then again I first did it at level 17, a couple of levels ahead of the recommended level, I got a little preoccupied doing guildhests and other things, ended up falling a bit behind on the main storyline =p

[Aethian]

Not one party and I've managed to make it to 17...I feel slow and am a bit bored.

[LuvianBlue]

Ooooh, just found this thread. I need to pop into the general chat more often.

I'm playing with some friends. My main is on Leviathan, she's a Tarutaru/Lalafell, planning on mainly playing Summoner and White Mage.

I also have an alt I made when I couldn't get on to leviathan, a Hyur Highlander lancer. I dunno how much Ill play her though.

I'm not very far along on either character. Only level 17.

[Kaylyn]

I just made one of my go-to characters on Leviathan last night, and got him to level 10 just a few minutes ago. Named after the main character of my NaNo novel from 2 years ago, Dominic Ambrosi, a Hyur conjurer at the moment to be leveled into a Scholar.

[Kaylyn]

Hoooo-ly crap, I just did my first couple of guildhests. I think I gained 3/4 of a level in 2 guildhests. And I really enjoy healing in this game, except that healers get WAAAAY too much attention from enemies compared to other games. Or it could be tanks not being able to properly hold threat at level 10. My second one went much smoother than the intro/tutorial one with a slightly better tank.

[EricKei]

Once you hit dungeons (lv15), it shouldn't be so bad. At that point, they HAVE to tank properly, or you simply won't make it through. Helps if the tanks Mark the targets, as well (1 = kill this first, other numbers = Sleep/Bind them (or have an ACN with Topaz tank it for a bit), if possible, X or whatever else = leave the target alone, if possible).

One thing that may help -- Ever notice those little numbers (and the 'A') just to the left of your class icons in the party member list? Those are aggro indicators. Whoever has 'A' currently has the most aggro, and 1~3/7/etc are the rest. The fuller the bar is, the closer that person is to jumping up a level. Natch, the tank should be 'A' as often as possible.

If you're drawing aggro too often, adjust what you're doing. If you normally toss Stone/Aero/Thunder when the tank is full, stop using Stone. The damage from Stone helps a little, but not THAT much. If you still draw aggro, stop using the DoTs, too. And, of course, don't use Cleric Stance at all -- the heal penalty means more frequent casts, means more aggro. Remember to hang back from mobs that have not been attacked (and from mobs in general), too, so that the tank has a chance to grab them if they go after you.

Guildhests : Yup. Massive EXP bonus for first-time completion on all of them, moreso if they get done quickly and with no deaths. Same goes for combat Levequests - speed and taking a higher Difficulty help, there.