tired of FFXII

[Renmiri]

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.

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 ?!?!?)

[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.

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 ?!?!?)

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.

[Zeromus_X]

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).

[Moon Rabbits]

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

Yep.

[the_sandman]

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.

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

[VengefulRonin]

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.

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

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

[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.

[LazarCotoron]

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.

Hail Guffman, fellow gamer!

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

[Timerk]

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'.

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

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?

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.

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.

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.

[LazarCotoron]

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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?

[Wolf Kanno]

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 ?!?!?)

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.

[Timerk]

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.

[LazarCotoron]

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.

[Timerk]

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

That explains a lot.

[LazarCotoron]

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.