So yeah, played a lot of this during the weekend, and I’m really enjoying it. The best part is its sense of place, of living in a different world. It’s very final-fantasy-ish too, which I guess is the point, but I welcome it.
Also really enjoying playing as tank (Gladiator level 25 at this point). I have tried a few of the other classes but Gladiator is probably the most solo-friendly at this point. Since there’s an XP bonus to other jobs/classes proportional to the difference to your highest level class, I guess I’ll postpone leveling other classes until I’m well into Paladin, I guess. ;)
I’m also impressed by how user-friendly nearly everything is, and by how well it plays with either keyboard, keyboard&mouse, or gamepad. Really impressive UX design everywhere.
So yeah, I can see myself playing a LOT more of this. Might even sub for the first time ever in my life. We’ll see.
So - this thread got me started again. I started over completely, with an archer this time around.
Here is my question - do you guys level tradeskills as well? Or wait until you are higher level? I’ve always done so previously, and its one of the things that tends to bog me down and make me lose interest I think.
I haven’t tried any of the crafting jobs yet. I see they have their own quests, and since crafting in many MMOs (specially you, ESO!!!) tends to be very “heavy” on inventory space - which in my case, since I’m in Trial mode, is somewhat limited - I am postponing for a different time, once I see how much inventory limitations could be or not a problem. So far, it’s not a problem, but you never know.
I have leveled crafting to the mid-50s, but it’s very much a separate thing from the rest of the game, in my mind. I had dreams of making my own gear and, while that’s certainly possible, it’s not very practical without a big commitment.
For those thinking of leveling crafting, finishing Heavensward unlocks the Ishgard Restoration, which is a much, much faster way to do so. Unless you really like crafting or just want another thing to do in the game, if recommend waiting.
130 or so of my 160 inventory slots are taken up by various crafting materials. Most of which I could probably sell and only stock up when the need arises but, what if?!?
In fairness, though, not that much else competes for those slots really. You want some buffer for collectibles that drop (which you can then use to add to your collection) or gear that your armory’s full on (before you make some room) or whatever, but inventory’s mainly for crafting materials.
Yeah, I began playing on Friday and I’m a level 28 Gladiator now, with 5 or so levels in 4 other classes. Not bad for just a few days playing, though levels are coming slower now. It could be that I’m mostly doing MSQ now and I’m overleveled for them, apparently.
Yesterday I just made it into the Gold Saucer. What a fun diversion that is. ;)
I am essentially done with Shadowbringers. I finished the last of the patch group duties last night. I was worried about getting those done after early access hits so I crammed through it. I have some general thoughts.
If the community wasn’t as amazing as it is, I’d have quit. The forced duties are something I am still not a fan of, but after running all of them I have yet to run into a bad pug, at least by WoW standards. I ran my group through the wringer on Amarot, and they were all “this is how you learn. It’s all good.”
Stormblood wasn’t that good an expansion, but Shadowbringers was fantastic. I felt engaged in the story right from the get go.
It is also apparent the devs actually give a shit. Little things like easy unlock for flying, not getting dismounted if you get attacked, not having to worry about drowning, etc. pretty much eliminates a lot of the frustration I have with WoW.
Despite having played basically since launch, I remain a filthy casual…
I’m actually caught up to the current expansion for the first time since Heavensward. Previously, I’ve been about a year behind everything, probably due to my insistance on finishing a relic weapon before starting the next expansion. (This inevitably results in burning out and delays everything by 6 months.) I just finished a Resistance relic weapon this weekend though, so I’m ready for Endwalker.
In the meantime, I’m finishing the Heavensward Extreme trials for birds. It’s 5 years late, but it’s still fun to bumble through unsynced with a couple friends.
One of my friends put off completing the final solo duty of 5.x until tonight. Turns out he wasn’t the only one, because he had to wait almost 45 minutes before it popped. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a queue for a solo duty and probably doesn’t bode well for the state of the servers come Friday…
