Trying hard and trying harder.

So, I am back from the Fan Fest. It was definitely great, and I had much more fun than last year, but I do have to say it was much smaller and had much less information. A quick run down on the events.

1. The Swarm - This was fun, and it could even be turned into a decent in game event, if they wanted to. There were 6 characters, WAR/NIN with Conqueror, MNK/WAR with Glanzfaust, THF/NIN with Vajra and Kraken Club, RDM/BLM (I think BLM was the sub, didn't get to use RDM) with Murgleis, BLM/WHM with Laevateinn and WHM/NIN with Yagrush and Kraken Club. I got to play both the MNK and WHM, and I did some Aftermath testing with Glanzfaust (I couldn't do much testing with Yagrush because with off-hand Kraken it would have no discernible increase in attacks because of the eight attack per round limit). With a few tests at 100-300 TP with Glanzfaust, it looks like even the Occasionally Attacks Twice amount was TP dependent also. MNK was subbing WAR so it's hard to say exactly, and I don't want to speculate too much, but at 100TP it seemed pretty low though noticeable, but at 300TP it seemed that I would get a extra attack almost every round. 300TP Ascetic's Fury usually let me get off 2-3 more WS before it the aftermath wore. Couldn't exactly figure out what the addition effect on Focus or Dodge was, and I didn't check on accuracy or attack because I was more concerned about the attacks twice procs. Though I have to say that I didn't ever notice a fourth hand-to-hand round, meaning, I don't know if it automatically limits the additional attack to 1, making it different than the Faith Bags.

I also used WHM, but it was subbing NIN with a Kraken so no results from the occ. attacks twice could be determined from this.

The mobs we fought varied wildly in defense, evasion, etc. But my personal impression with no other factual basis is that after the mythic WS these are really strong weapons, even at 100TP. They are amazing after 300TP, and Ascetic's Fury itself was always 1500+ at 300TP.

Well, that spiraled out of control. LOL The event itself is very fun and you are required to kill all sorts of mobs to get points, some mobs are worth more or less dependent on their type. The largest being a Genbu style mob, and worth the most points. Both times I went as MNK I was the highest scorer, but we never even got close to the total high score.

2. Moblin Maze Mongers - I don't know how borked this was at the time it was available at the Fan Fest, but even the demonstration was having difficulty, and the only time we did it, there was only one mob when we zoned in. I do know that the eye-patch is one of the rewards available from the event. You do get XP from kills and you also get Moblin marbles which can be used to purchase the eye-patch and presumably other items. Also the mobs can appear as NM's because we got a rabbit named Nimble Nathan, and they also drop chests at the end of the event. Other neat things include the ability to adjust the music and the huge number of variables that can be introduced. I don't really know what the final form of this event is going to look like because I think they still had some work they need to finish, because they were rather obtuse about answering questions like "What are the rewards for this?" and "Why was there only one mob to fight?". I think it was probably a good idea to hold off on this, it looked like it needed some polishing.

3. Dev Panel - Mostly just repeats of things we already heard about from Japan, with the addition of a few interesting things. The merits were explained for Dancer and I think that Dancer definitely got the better set of merits. The new AF+1 and AF2 looks pretty good for both jobs, stat-wise. There was mention of new missions and Jeuno flag being available at the end of the Wings storyline, several of the cut scenes were teased and they looked pretty interesting. Other odds and ends of little relevence were also mentioned, but the most important thing to me was that they mentioned that the drop rate for Bhaflau and SSR were going to be increased, but they mentioned that as a future update not the current one. Which means that Iz and NF might have to wait for March for the increased drop rate. :(

4. The concert - I liked it but not really game related.

The disappointment for me was that there were pretty much nothing new in real information, no surprises, nothing for me to drool over. It's sad because the last couple of updates since the Wings expansion have left me kind of very meh. Maybe it is the fact that they are tipping their hand too much in the preview notes, but I feel more like it is because there are more and more things being added to fix the game than to add to new content. Like still no outlands access in the past, still no Walk of Echoes, still no use of those very HNM looking areas in the new zones of the Wings areas. It's not like the game isn't a ton better now, but I just think that these improvements should go hand in hand with more end-game content.

Also, it's time for them to give up on Absolute Virtue and Pandemonium Warden. They are just ridiculous riddles that no one is ever going to figure out. At this point they are not something to take pride in as a developer, they are something to shame a developer. The problem is that they are not difficult monsters to defeat, it is that in their current form without some new direction from the development staff, they will never be defeated without some kind of gimmick or glitch. This is not good game design, it is in fact quite the opposite. It is very poor game design. The mob is not just difficult, and it is not just a gimmick fight, it is both at the same time. Straight up, without multiple two-hours, Absolute Virtue would be a total bitch to fight. The way it is now it is just retarded.

So how did I feel after the Fan Fest? I had a great time, and got to see friends in real life. I got to drink a lot on SE's dime and I got all sorts of neat trinkets. And I was left feeling pretty disappointed in the event and in the update and in the game. :(