tired of FFXII

FFXII is a fun game but lately, i wasnt really into it. i used to play this game every single day for like...10 hours. now i dont really care. i just stopped. i dont know why. actually, i do. its too stressful. too much thinking and working. like the gambits. you gotta think of what spells or items to use for certain status...than arranging them in a priority order, and certain times, you gotta turn some of your gambits off. not only the gambits, but also the amount of different weapons. with all these weapons...theres way too much thinking. i have my penelo as a mage..and sometimes, its difficult for me to choose between a rod and a staff. i dont even know what a measure is. my vaan is stuck between ninja swords and daggers. and on certain times one is better than the other. than theres swords and greatswords, and its pretty hard to choose between strength and speed..shield or no shield. my fran used a bow and a katana. she would have her katana out, than i would see a flying creature mixed in with some wolves attacking me...which means i have to switch my frans katana to a bow..which gets aggravating. in the previous final fantasys...they had job classes, or each character had certain weapons used by only them. which just makes life much more relaxing and easy going. doesnt mean the games werent challanging.

weapons and gambits arent the only trouble. the size of every city is just...tiring. during the previous final fantasy games, i've always wanted the cities and towns to be bigger and have more people since i liked to explore. i never thought that this could be so much trouble. not just because getting from point A to point B is like a 10 minute walk, but for me...its more because of how many people there are. i have to talk to every single one of those civilians. in the previous final fantasys i've never ignored a person. its just one of those things that makes you uncomfortable for the whole day because you didnt do it. and rabanastre is a bigggg frikkin city. the shops are always crowded with people to talk to, and as the story goes on, these civilians have different lines to say...whcih means, i've got to talk to them all over again.

this game is just too stressful and too much things to worry about. who else agrees?

On the contrary, I really didn't worry about thinking about too much at all. I just built my characters the way I wanted to and set up effective gambits. Just don't worry about trying to set up so many options, the battle system is supposed to be more relaxed because of the gambit system.

Also, I never talked with every single townsperson to see what they have to say all the time. :p That's just time-consuming. I think if you just stopped overthinking everything and making it tedious for yourself, you'd enjoy the game a bit more.

If you think that's stressful, think about developing the game and thinking of things for people to say after every major plot twist.

Yea.

On a more related note, I didn't bother that much with too many specific gambits, weapons were easy to handle, and I only talked to about 1/2 of the non mandatory NPCs.

Yea i agree with the others, youre definitly overthinking it all. Just play and relax.

If you really want to talk to all NPCs then do it on an off time or something if you dont have much time to play, run around and see what they say.

Honestly as much as i love FFXII and if you think thats alot of reading, go play Oblivion and read the books and the lore in that game...trust me, that would make your head explode ;)

The one thing i do agree with though is the fact that everyone can be everything in this game and that is one thing that did stress me a bit. I prefer more restrictions on classes, i appreciate the gesture for them to make it customizable. But i also feel that some realism like my caster shouldnt be able to weild a greataxe or my tank shouldnt be able to cast high level magic etc...i just prefer more identifiable characters to that of open ended classes.

I reccomend equipping them based on their stats. Got areally fast char? Give them daggers, and light armor (faster, more HP).

Got a someone with high magic, give tehm a pole, and mystic armor (Mystic boosts magick, and poles deal damage based on magic stat).

Got a high attack char? Give them a greatsword and heavy armor (High attak+evasion, and armor raises strength). Instead of randomly assigning crap, build on their predetermined strengths.

I liked just what you disliked about XII... But I disliked a lot of things the game fans like, so I'm definitely out of "the norm".

The people above to have a point though: You are over thinking it.

See this list of good gambits I compiled from my experience and some forums, plus the simplest one works like a charm too:

Simplest Gambit for any char:
1) Ally HP>=50% (or any close %) / Cura (or Potion or High Potion)
2) Foe, targeting ally / Attack
3) Ally HP >= 30% / Phoenix Down (later switch to HP <10% when you get the 10% gambit)

Here's the list o favorite Gambits
http://forums.eyesonff.com/showthread.php?t=98220

I think I go tired of the constant leveling, and I also don't like how you have to grind to get some of the best weapons.

I am sure I will come back to it at some point, but I'm not in that much of a rush.

Grinding, in FFXII, is not grinding.

Grinding 80 gold in Duskwood (in that WoW game) because the value per mob divided by time ratio is the best out of everything you can kill (which you've had enough time to actually CALCULATE because earning that amount of money is taking that long), you suddenly realize you've gained two levels (in a game where levels do not freely flow from every oriface) over the past 12-15 hours of killing the same monsters, which at this point, have stopped giving you xp altogether because you finally out leveled them that much.

THAT'S grinding.

Another example of grinding-Breath of Fire 3, leveling anything 55 (after 62 I was pretty much done)-that's grinding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grind_%28gaming%29

You are talking about farming, which is different.

I have grown tired of XII. I put 47 hours into it just from basic storyline and leveling, and i'm only about halfway through. I lvled a good bit too, because i could easily slaughter the enemies in one area, but soon as i hit the next i was the one being slaughtered because the lvl increase was so drastic.

But as for the gambits and weapons, those arent a problem. I dont even use gambits except for Attk Party Leader/Attk Nearest Foe and Ally 50% Cure/Potion. I'm so used to manually selecting everyone's moves that that's what i do.

Dont go so overboard with the class things either. I had Vaan use daggers until he had the LP for katanas and i switched to those. Balthier still uses guns, Fran uses a bow, and Ashe uses swords. However, i do make sure everyone ALSO doubles as a mage, because its extremely useful. Balthier's is a little weaker than everyone else's, and i think Vaan has the strongest magic attk for some reason.

And dont talk to everyone in town, i gave that up way early into the game. But I agree about the towns being too large. I always thought "man, i wish i could actually explore all of Lindblum" and whatnot, but it's just too damn confusing and time consuming to find places and now i actually have to memorize routes through the cities, i cant used to that.

No dearie, that's the very same thing-the only difference is the amount of it. You grind to gain access to content-in an MMO, grinding becomes farming because you are buying content for sale from other players who don't understand the core concept of 'fair trade'.

Is it unreasonable to say that you grind for new equipment and new spells when they become available? If so, could it not be argued that you are farming gil, which you then use to 'unlock' content that is in the game?

Let's get something straight. If there IS a legitimate distinction between farming and grinding, it's a very slippery slope and one that were I you I would not go galabanting around stating there's a difference when that difference is in the minutae of fine print and marginally different wordings.

i will agree that it is stressful, but what fun would the game be if it wasnt? if it was just all "la la la im having fun blah blah blah", than it is not a FF, its Ogre Battle from N64. which was fun dont get me wrong but it was easy as guff.

I got tired of it, but that's just because I've been playing it for over a month.

Yeah, I had like 14 hours into it then realized I was so horribly underlevel'd that I'd be easier to start over.

That has yet to happen. I'm playing FFV now, I don't really feel like starting over in FFXII anytime soon either. :(

I just think this game has way too many side quests (something like 37 pages worth), which I feel compelled to tackle them all (including all 144 hunts) despite it being my first playthough and having had barely any time to play it because of my job. But other than that, the main story isn't laggy at all. (Though I've been away from it forever with these side quests which I've only barely dented.)

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Originally Posted by VengefulRonin

I lvled a good bit too, because i could easily slaughter the enemies in one area, but soon as i hit the next i was the one being slaughtered because the lvl increase was so drastic.

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aye, I am always going WTF ?!?!? I was pwning everything and now this ?

I found a good rule of thumb is to always match your guest's level, i.e. get to level 13 at Lhusu when "Lamont" joins your party, level 28 at the Sandseas when Vossler joins you and so forth...

What sidequests ? I only saw the ship sisters and the hunts for now...

I am playing it - deliberately - without a walktrough or a guide though. I want to see how far I get before I get stuck. (had to "cheat" and read the FAQ at Stillshrine of Mirian, but I felt "justified", as the in game instructions were flawed - since when "face the blade" means turn your back to it ?!?!?)

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Originally Posted by Renmiri

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Originally Posted by VengefulRonin

I lvled a good bit too, because i could easily slaughter the enemies in one area, but soon as i hit the next i was the one being slaughtered because the lvl increase was so drastic.

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aye, I am always going WTF ?!?!? I was pwning everything and now this ?

I found a good rule of thumb is to always match your guest's level, i.e. get to level 13 at Lhusu when "Lamont" joins your party, level 28 at the Sandseas when Vossler joins you and so forth...

What sidequests ? I only saw the ship sisters and the hunts for now...

I am playing it - deliberately - without a walktrough or a guide though. I want to see how far I get before I get stuck. (had to "cheat" and read the FAQ at Stillshrine of Mirian, but I felt "justified", as the in game instructions were flawed - since when "face the blade" means turn your back to it ?!?!?)

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I liked what IX did to let you know what lv you needed to be for the next area. (SPOILER)In Treno when you're in the weapons shop, the store owner always has a monster of the next major area you'll be in. If you can beat that (and you fight it solo too) then you know you're well prepared. There's none of that in XII, and you cant necessarily go by that "be same lv as your guest" thing either, cuz "lamont" gets his ass handed to him alot.

And seriously, what sidequests? o_O I havent seen evidence of any sidequests whatsoever besides the hunts and that "dont open this chest so later in the game it'll have a weapon in it" thing, if that even counts as a sidequest.

There are a very satisfactory amount of sidequests and other areas to explore later on in the game. It's enough to almost go 'What? Main story? Oh, that's right. Yeah. Let me get back to you on that." I honestly didn't mess with too many hunts or sideareas, as I felt that they were distracting me from the main story (I will agree that the story could've at least been better placed than 3 hours of dungeon->half an hour cutscene).

I was often at lower levels than my guests, and I still did well. I mean, I had to heal often, but...after the dungeon was cleared, I'd usually be a few levels or so higher than the guest (since they unfortunately don't level up, and die quite a bit).

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Originally Posted by Roto13

I got tired of it, but that's just because I've been playing it for over a month.

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Yep.

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i will agree that it is stressful, but what fun would the game be if it wasnt? if it was just all "la la la im having fun blah blah blah", than it is not a FF, its Ogre Battle from N64. which was fun dont get me wrong but it was easy as guff.

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the previous final fantasys werent stressful, they were still fun...and they were def still final fantasy

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Originally Posted by the_sandman

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i will agree that it is stressful, but what fun would the game be if it wasnt? if it was just all "la la la im having fun blah blah blah", than it is not a FF, its Ogre Battle from N64. which was fun dont get me wrong but it was easy as guff.

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the previous final fantasys werent stressful, they were still fun...and they were def still final fantasy

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Yep. Except for that fight with Yunalesca in X...that fight was a bitch.

maybe stressful is to tough a word, but you know when there is a hard battle and your palms are all sweaty and your just so close to beating the guy and your hearts all going real fast. thats what im talking about, and thats one of the main reasons i play video games.

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Originally Posted by guffman

maybe stressful is to tough a word, but you know when there is a hard battle and your palms are all sweaty and your just so close to beating the guy and your hearts all going real fast. thats what im talking about, and thats one of the main reasons i play video games.

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Hail Guffman, fellow gamer!

I was starting to wonder if I was one of fewer than I'd previously thought!

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Originally Posted by LazarCotoron

No dearie, that's the very same thing-the only difference is the amount of it. You grind to gain access to content-in an MMO, grinding becomes farming because you are buying content for sale from other players who don't understand the core concept of 'fair trade'.

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Read the Wiki entry I posted. It sounds like you get ripped off in WoW a lot, though :(.

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Is it unreasonable to say that you grind for new equipment and new spells when they become available? If so, could it not be argued that you are farming gil, which you then use to 'unlock' content that is in the game?

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The only way endgame weapons can be obtained (for the most part), is by grinding certain mobs until the drop loot you sell to the bazaar.

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Let's get something straight. If there IS a legitimate distinction between farming and grinding, it's a very slippery slope and one that were I you I would not go galabanting around stating there's a difference when that difference is in the minutae of fine print and marginally different wordings.

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Grinding is when you kill the same mobs over and over again to gain access to end game content. Farming is when you kill the same mob over and over again in order to participate in the game economy. Seems pretty clear to me.

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Read the Wiki entry I posted. It sounds like you get ripped off in WoW a lot, though :(.

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Yeah, you do. A lot, and very badly. And I DID read it. It's honestly the same thing.

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The only way endgame weapons can be obtained (for the most part), is by grinding certain mobs until the drop loot you sell to the bazaar.

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That's how late game WoW works, and we call that farming-it's farming because you're looking for a specific thing with a craptacular drop chance, as opposed to grinding which is a bit more general purpose. As I said, the terms are really quite interchangeable.

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Grinding is when you kill the same mobs over and over again to gain access to end game content. Farming is when you kill the same mob over and over again in order to participate in the game economy. Seems pretty clear to me.

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That's a different way of putting it, but my point is basically that you're arguing over terms that describe the same actions for usually the same but occaisionally different purposes. When we 'farm' a mob (usually a boss), it's to get the uber rare things that it drops, since it is the ONLY creature in the game to drop them. Now imagine you and 39 of the closest friends you never knew you had each *need* that one thing. On a REALLY good run, the big bad guy drops *2* of them. On a typical run, he doesn't drop that thing at all. The 40 of you have cooperated for four hours, relying on someone else to take hits for the squishies, to heal the hit takers, and to use devastating attacks-all this coordination to kill this ONE guy whom, as you put it, are 'grinding' to get this thing. You and your 39 buddies can only kill this one guy as often as once a week, and only at most two of you ever walk away with 'the prize'.

I know MMO's are different and thoroughly more obnoxious than console titles, but seriously. You guys don't really seem to know what grinding really is. Grinding in FFXII takes an hour or so out of your life to get the one thingy. I'm not saying you don't grind for it-I'm saying you're overreacting.

Besides... from your icon, I'm guessing you're an old school FF gamer. Remember grinding the Paladin Shield in FFVI?

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Originally Posted by Renmiri

What sidequests ? I only saw the ship sisters and the hunts for now...

I am playing it - deliberately - without a walktrough or a guide though. I want to see how far I get before I get stuck. (had to "cheat" and read the FAQ at Stillshrine of Mirian, but I felt "justified", as the in game instructions were flawed - since when "face the blade" means turn your back to it ?!?!?)

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First off, I have respect for you for not using a guide at all. I just finished the game so I'm whipping out the guide to do all the hunts and side quests I missed.

Anyway, there's a side quest in (SPOILER)
the Phon Coast (In the Hunter's camp, talk to the "Shifty-looking Bangaa group after you visit Archades for the first time.)

In the Giza plains, after the rains leave, you can do a world wide search for the missing Cockatrices.

A fishing mini-game can start after you talk to a man in Rabanastre and find him a fishing pole.

The Viera looking for her soulmate in Rabanastre.

The Viera trying to find her place in the city.

The Wyrm Philosopher's quest.

The Geologist's trying to explore the Dalamsca desert's Sandstorms.

and of course, tracking down the seven optional Espers.



There are a few more but this is all I can remember off the top of my head. I'm too lazy to go look in the guide and besides it's more fun this way.

I've only had to grind once in the game. If you do all the clan hunts when they become avaiable, you don't have to grind at all really. That and trying to buy everything at once is pretty silly and will lead to frustration so I try to plan out thing's ahead of time. I haven't gotten the final weapons but I probably won't bother until my second play thru.

But, I've clocked in over 125hrs. so I'm going to take a break from it.;)

Getting weapons in FFXII is the same as questing to get 12 Gnoll Paws so you can get a better staff in WoW. Nobody would say they were farming gnolls to get the quest item, nobody I know at least. Also, you have to grind up levels to even get the chance to kill the thing that might drop the loot you need to get the sword...ugh.

You basically have to grind in FFXII to kill the optional bosses, because while you can beat the last boss with a party in the 50's, you have to be 99 for the last hunt. No matter how you cut it, that adds up to hours of grinding just to build levels, which got boring for me. I have an entire party in the 70's, and I just don't feel like grinding for 20-something more levels.

On gear: I just made sure I had the best weapons and shields for everyone, and didn't worry too much about armor until pretty near the end of the storyline. I don't know if that was the best way, but keeping everybody in the best everything would have gotten too expensive.

Exactly-there's not really a difference, if ya look at it.

I always find that it's best to grind as many different things as possible at the same time. I count that I'm gaining XP, LP, lewtz, widgets, and seeing more of a well crafted world.

Then again, I'm only 35 hours in-ankle deep from what I keep hearing.

Still, I'm one of those Disgaea people as well. In a way, I'm disappointed I can't take my characters up to level 9999 eight times to be truly and unequivocally powerful enough to kill the likes of Uber Prinny Baal in a single shot. Go to item world as deep as I can hack it, equip all stolen and 'awarded' gear, rinse, repeat...

I dunno. I just can't believe FFXII could be much worse than that since the game half plays itself.

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Originally Posted by LazarCotoron

Then again, I'm only 35 hours in-ankle deep from what I keep hearing.

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That explains a lot.

Yeah, it probably does.

Still... All because content is there doesn't mean you have to kill yourself to experience it. Every FF has content I could care less about... I'd say FFVII is the worst in that regard. All the extra challenges in the game... the lightning jumping thing, chocobo breeding, and the extra weapons to name a few-are completely meaningless. Hell, I didn't even bother getting most of the final limit breaks becasuse there was no kind of need for them whatsoever-even against the weapons-I was killing Emerald just fine right up until he decided to take two consecutive turns in which he used that nasty blaster attack that hits the whole party twice in a row...

If you don't think it's worth seeing, don't go after it. You'll wind up playing yourself to death just for something that may feel didn't enhance your experience 'enough' for playing through another 45 hours.

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Originally Posted by Renmiri

I am playing it - deliberately - without a walktrough or a guide though. I want to see how far I get before I get stuck. (had to "cheat" and read the FAQ at Stillshrine of Mirian, but I felt "justified", as the in game instructions were flawed - since when "face the blade" means turn your back to it ?!?!?)

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What flaw? I faced the statues towards the blade and it worked for me.

I am about to go there to do this awesome leveling up trick and I will take a look at the map which is what I think screwed you up. I.E. you took a 2D map that should have been 3D literally and it screwed you up.

Unless I am thinking of a different part.

EDIT: Yeah. You looked at the map instead of what is infront your face. The game is correct and you are wrong.

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Originally Posted by edczxcvbnm

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Originally Posted by Renmiri

the in game instructions were flawed - since when "face the blade" means turn your back to it ?!?!?)

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EDIT: Yeah. You looked at the map instead of what is infront your face. The game is correct and you are wrong.

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:confused: How so ? Look below, the blade is the blue joystick like thingie. The arrows are the guardians. Not one of them faces "the blade" or even the statue of Mirian :confused:

http://ffproject.net/forumwiki/images/Mirguardians.jpg

PS: More maps like this at my Wiki :D

Read what I said. You made the mistake of looking at the map instead looking at your surroundings. If the map was at all accurate then that blue arrow would be directly under the other blue arrow and that whole section of the map would be facing the other way.

Yeah. I made the same mistake too, mostly because the way the map was laid out made me think there were TWO giant statues with a sword to look at.

Then I started to really think though, and as I went to each statue, I looked around in their rooms. Each statue has a direct line of sight to the big statue in the first room. It was my 'aha!' moment. Course, after having covered the entire place top to bottom three times, I was beginning to get sick of random encounters.

It should really be a 3D map.

I havent touched XII in a few weeks and decided to give it another chance last night, so i tried to tackle the stillshrine of miriam.

....

I am now officially tired of XII. I freaking HATE the stillshrine. Almost the entire time i was running for my life. Stillshrine my ass, friggin statues and faces come to life >_< So now i'm gone back to Prince of Persia 3 and FF IX.

Final Fantasy XII is a very challenging game. Beating the next boss and dungeon requires grinding, CHALLENGING!! I like these type of game! I'm a training freak, btw. :)

Yeah, even after the 100th try of getting the Zodiac Spear in Henne Mines failed, I still want to get it!

This game requires patience and strategy, that's all. I was surprised that my friend couldn't survive Hell Wyrm at level 70+, but I managed to beat it around 63. Maybe, he lacks strategy and so I ask him to come out with new strategy.

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Originally Posted by edczxcvbnm

Read what I said. You made the mistake of looking at the map instead looking at your surroundings. If the map was at all accurate then that blue arrow would be directly under the other blue arrow and that whole section of the map would be facing the other way.

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Ohhhhhh! DOH! :p

You are correct :rolleyes2

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Originally Posted by VengefulRonin

.. last night, ...i tried to tackle the stillshrine of miriam.

I am now officially tired of XII. I freaking HATE the stillshrine. Almost the entire time i was running for my life. Stillshrine my ass, friggin statues and faces come to life >_< ....

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You may need to level up and/or get better armor.

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Originally Posted by Dell

Final Fantasy XII is a very challenging game. Beating the next boss and dungeon requires grinding, CHALLENGING!! I like these type of game! I'm a training freak, btw. :)

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Armor and weapons make a big difference XII. Just leveling up is pretty useless if you don't do the hunts that enable you to buy better stuff for your players.

I don't know if anyone else's answers solved your problem but here's my thoughts on the matter. Being involved with anything for as long a period of time as 10 hours a day for several days in a row is bound to leave you with a burnt out feeling sooner or later. I would say if you are like me and enjoy immersing yourself with the little things like chatting with the NPC's and making sure your character's are equipped and performing to your preferences...things like that; take a break from the game and devote your thoughts and energy to something different for a while. Then come back to the game after a time. I too will sometimes get carried away with daily play-times and for me, this is what cures that stale taste that can sometimes emerge.