Welcome back my friends to the Fantasy that never ends... well there goes that name. There have been a few exciting events happen since last we talked. Ticket sales, ticket queues, DLC give away, and I discover another hidden gem. Let’s dive into it.
Fan Fest Tickets
This year’s North American Fan Festival is being held Friday October 14th, and Saturday October 15th at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. Tickets are $135 for both days. With that $135 you’ll get admission to the convention as well as a physical swag bag and in game goods. Those in games goods are a Rikku minion and a glamour outfit listed as a “secret” because they haven’t finished it yet. If you can’t attend that convention in person fret not. There will be a live stream that will also include the digital swag. Pricing has not been announced but they are selling this as a “premium” product. The stream was $20 in 2014 so if it was $30 this year I would not be surprised. Inflation.
It wouldn’t be a convention without out ticket queue shenanigans now would it? Whether it’s PAX or Final Fantasy Fan Festival. Demand will always outstrip supply and ticketing systems will run into bumps. It was rough for a while but in the end all the tickets for the event did sell out and towards the end the queue software was shut down and customers were able to purchase their tickets normally. I’ve seen conflicting reports on whether there will be general admission tickets put on sale on June 28th. The Website says GA tickets go on sale 6/28 then but at the same time it also says all tickets are sold out. Which is it?
Amazon DLC
Great news for the North American Final Fantasy XIV players. (I’m sorry rest of the world). Square Enix has teamed up with Amazon to give players free DLC for doing what they probably would have done anyway, and that’s buy games. This promotion started on June 14th and runs through June 27th, 2016.
Not to look a gift chocobo in the mouth but in perfect Square Enix account management style they take what seems to be a perfectly simple concept and add an extra 5 steps to it in an attempt to confuse people. If you spend $19.99 on a qualifying product you will receive a code that you can then redeem at another website that will give you six more codes that you can then redeem for in game items. Why this couldn’t be a one time only code issuance is beyond me. Regardless you’ll receive Butler Attire, Housemaid Attire, Crag Mask, Inferno Mask, Original Fat Chocobo (OFC) whistle/mount, and 99x Magicked Prism (Wings).
I’m sure there are a lot of players out there that will love to get the attire but personally all I care about is the Original Fat Chocobo. Though I’m not sure how I feel about the name. Do we really need to shame the guy/gal? It likes to eat, so what? Do we really need to lure it around with a green on a stick? Hell yes. I’ve included a side by side picture of my character on the Fat Chocobo and the Original Fat Chocobo. The OFC is white and has a crown. Legend has it that the Chocobo started off white. Apparently they were more regal too and ate bigger greens.
)
It’s the Little Things
While reacquainting myself with Ishgard the past few days I remembered why I enjoyed Final Fantasy so much the first time through. I also remember what drove me a little batty, but let's start off with the good.
I adore the Saint Endalim’s Scholasticate. I enjoy cathedrals, temples, minsters, and mosques in real life so it should come as no surprise to myself that I also enjoy them when they are well done in games too. The stained glass is colorful. The neatly lined tables with lamps and books being perused by diligent scholars is inviting. The row after row of bookshelves with tightly packed tomes is promising. However, the detail I love the most is the blackboard. Yes, the blackboard. The partially erased chalk has a sense of realism that could have been easily missed if the blackbaord was either blank, or had words written on it without any smudges.
)
I was also reminded by the mail system why I get annoyed by some of the small things in Final Fantasy. I apparently had received too many in game mails and could not receive my DLC items until I cleared out my box. Apparently 20 is the limit. 20....
Final Fantasy XV
Chances are if you play FFXIV you are going to try out FFXV so I think you’ll find this information relevant. According to a reply to a fan question at E3 game director Hajime Tabata said the main story “would be about 40-50 hours of gameplay.” He then went on to elaborate that with “side quests you are looking at over another 100 hours of gameplay. If you wanted to count everything together you are looking at 200 hours of gameplay.” To me it seems like that would be about 150 hours, but hey, who’s counting. It’s still a lot of game play. For me the sweet spot is about 40 hours to critical path the main story line. I look at the rest as bonus.
In one last bit of XV there will be an update about the ingame minigame Justice Monsters V that will also be available as a game on mobile devices. According to their twitter account on Monday June 27th producer Daisuke Motohashi will have major news about the release. I’m betting we will get a date that is sooner rather than later.
