#linkshell

[fleetingwxrds]

FFXVI RP・DYNAMIS - MARILITH・CWLS・FC

We are an FC・CWLS・RP Group focused on FFXVI and its characters. Our objective is simply to have fun doing FFXIV content while in character. Of course, it doesn't mean using the FFXIV world to set roleplay scenes is not in question. You can either use Etheirys as if it was Valisthea or RP as a crossover. Or neither. We only want to have fun while roleplaying our favorite FFXVI characters. Therefore, there is no restriction on how you want to roleplay in our group.

We also don't have restrictions for who is interested in joining and only recommend having finished the game because of spoilers.

If you have any questions feel free to send me an ask or contact me on Discord/Twitter (tairin_tai) 🙂

For more information, check our carrd

[riftdancing]

She's on her way to a 24 hour EXP party she has no idea will change the rest of her life...

[nabaath-areng]

No one ever seems to know what I'm talking about, and yet this is something I've observed on multiple servers... there is a specific type of FFXIV player who:

Mains crafter and gatherer

Whose character is a duskwight (of either gender)

Doesn't do combat and has one combat job only (often Black Mage specifically)

Rarely, if ever, change their glamours

[drachenlance]

"Does ... Ishgard celebrate this holiday? Like the rest of Eorzea?"

Alta felt a fool. Tataru had painted her face to appear coeurl-esque, whiskers plastered over her cheek scales and a silly headband perched atop her head. When she ran into Estinien - as she tended to only do during the most inopportune circumstances - she noted, with horror, that the man was not adorned. At all.

She never should have let Tataru convince her that it was normal for a woman of nearly thirty summers to dress like a kitten.

How easily he forgot the traditions of other lands, even despite his travails. It was often why he failed to participate entirely, though even when he did remember, he often chose not to partake in festivities such as these, which would require his everyday wear for some silly costume. Yet the decor around the Rising Stones serves to remind him just how out of place he is today, the Warrior of Light's appearance even moreso.

She seems to be decorated in the manner of some black coeurl or somesuch. The headband is cute, and unfortunately he does not help to preserve her dignity this day, as he fails to fight down his smile at the sight of it.

"Not to the same extent that the rest of Eorzea does. Ishgard is only just beginning to embrace festivities other than its own, but I surmise you won't see her decorated as much as the other city-states."

His eyebrow raises at her. "Did you pick this look up by yourself, or is our coinkeeper at fault?" If it's the latter, he'd best not linger long, or she'll rope him into something ridiculous next.

[mimiyamiya]

LMAO Merlwyb was so shocked to see us alive that her voice cracked??

[lalarose]

For the first time in years, I'm actually getting really involved in crafting and honestly loving it. It's rather....relaxing? I have a few classes at 50~51 range and 4 more classes that I want to get to 50 so I can complete everything at once since I just got into HW.

[wanderer-of-light]

G'raha for the WoL ask game?

tee hee UwU G'waha,,, <3 <3 <3

Vastha has a very good relationship with G'raha!! Nothing romantic, just very very close friends or QPPs? They love to nap together in weird positions (as cats do) and chat on and on and on with one another about all sorts of things. Anything, really. Vastha loves listening to G'raha talk about his passions and studies (even if he doesn't understand some of it) and likes cooking for him because G'raha always finished his plate lmao.

They became fast friends back in ARR when it really was just the "[spiderman pointing meme] catboy!! catboy!!" And it just went from there. We all know G'raha is a WoL #1 fan, but in Vastha's canon G'raha slowly worked on that and let that aspect of his fascination with Vastha go-- because being only seen as the WoL bothers them a LOT. Vastha HATES being only referred to by titles and things he's done for others-- even worse being called Azem-- so it actually strained their relationship a little upon re-meeting and G'raha only ever talking about them as The Warrior Of Light. The Hero. Title Title Title Deed Deed Deed Glorification Blind Awe Yadda Yadda. It took a bit, since Vastha is pretty good at hiding their emotions and being polite in public and around others as to not make scenes and what not. But, after SHB and time to settle back down, G'Raha started catching on and shifting his language and how he went about interacting with Vastha to make him feel more like a person again.

Vastha is very grateful, obviously! Hence him cooking for G'raha, almost exclusively calling him Raha, sharing a lot more about home and his family, and more personal stuff to really kind of make a point that he is just a person despite all the wild shit he's accomplished through sheer dumb luck and other's believing in him.

A lot of people are always surprised when they say they aren't dating, but then they see Vastha go and headbutt or flop/lean against someone else like he does with Raha and they go "Oh. He's just physically affectionate"; because he is. Thankfully, with how close the two are, there is no pressure to Date Or Not. Vastha respects and does admire G'raha a good bit, but he doesn't have any romantic feelings for him (unfortunately). Just someone they are incredibly comfortable to be around and one of few people they know see's them as more than The Warrior Of Light.

[eidingate]

The femroe community truly is the sweetest and most welcoming community 🥺

[avirael]

FFxivWrite 2023

Day 12 - Dowdy

Rael took a final glimpse at the mirror and adjusted their collar one last time before leaving their bedroom. They stepped across the corridor, knocked on A'viloh‘s door and waited.

"A'vi?", they loudly asked while knocking again but there was no answer. He couldn’t still be asleep at this hour, could he?

Slowly Rael opened the door to the Miqo'te‘s bedroom, hoping not to find him still undressed, but he was nowhere to be seen at all.

The Viera stepped back, furrowed their brow and then very loudly yelled: "A'viloh?!" Still no answer. Nervously they looked at their pocket watch. Could it be that he already had left? They doubted it but decided to check the kitchen table for a note he might have left…

Quickly Rael hurried down the stairs but stopped abruptly on the middle of the last flight from which they had a good view through the living room.

There A'viloh was, lazily sprawled on the sofa, headphones on, the fat neighbourhood cat on his belly and happily humming that annoying Pa-Paya tune. He looked like he just stepped out of bed, dressed entirely in his fat cat loungewear, hood on and a bunch of messy strands of his long red hair peaking out at the sides. Rael took another glance at their pocket watch and almost had a stroke.

"Please tell me you don’t plan to go like this?", they said trying their best to remain civil while they stepped in front of the sofa.

A'viloh startled and took the headphones off. "What?", he asked stupidly.

Rael sighed deeply, suppressed the urge to strangle or correct him and repeated their question.

The Miqo'te looked at them in confusion. "Go where?"

"The celebration at the sultana's palace?", Rael suggested with raised eyebrows.

"Was that today?"

"Yes.", the Viera grumbled. "And we are going to be late unless you can magically change with a snap of your fingers."

"Do I really have to go?", the Miqo'te retorted.

Rael impatiently crossed their arms in front of their chest. "You are aware that we are honorary guest?"

"I don’t think I did anything particularly honourable…", A'viloh shrugged. "Isn’t it enough if you go?"

"No, A'vi! Get up!"

"But look at Tubby.", he gestured at the fat cat sleeping on his stomach. "I can’t just wake her up! That would be cruel!"

"I don’t care about the stupid cat right now!", Rael exclaimed as they rudely grabbed said cat and dropped it on the ground.

"I cannot possible go like this, can I?", A'viloh asked unmotivated.

"Absolutely not!"

"But why not? If Urianger can go everywhere in his dowdy old nun‘s habit, I believe I can -"

Rael interrupted him and gestured to the stairs with and outstretched arm and a stern face. "Get dressed NOW!"

Without further protest the Miqo'te scurried away, while Rael added: "And please dress properly!"

"Yeah yeah…", A'viloh muttered.

"Remember!", the Viera called after him, using a mean trick to actually get him to pay attention to his wardrobe. "Thancred will be there too!"

The Miqo'te gave a loud sigh that ranged somewhere between annoyance and desperation.

"It’s not like he will care how I look as long as some cute girls will be there…"

Rael rolled their eyes. By now it was ridiculous how the two of them pretended not to care about each other. Not that Rael liked Thancred very much but the man didn’t seem to be able to decide wether he wanted to be overly nice towards A’viloh or ignore him. And A‘viloh? One day he behaved like a lovesick idiot and the next he claimed that he didn’t like Thancred at all, which would have served the Hyur right but Rael doubted it. Both of their disinterest seemed absurdly implausible considering how often they stared at each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking. It was annoying and, even if Rael absolutely didn’t want A’viloh to get hurt, they had to admit that this couldn’t go on like this forever.

Rael shook their head and went back upstairs to make sure the Miqo'te looked presentable.

I‘ll be damned if I can’t make A'vi look so gorgeous that Thancred‘s stupid eyes will pop out of his head.

———

Update: Let me add some adorable pictures Khian took for this story.

[hinasaki]

been thinking of moving nemi to OCE because. ping. and given i'm an office drone with weekend commitments i haven't really been able to play with my eu/us friends in a loooooong time but then i think of leaving the fc and i'm like nooooooooooooo it makes me so sad

[deathandthesoul]

Steaking on Balmung

[zwei-rhunen]

UPPIES!

me, jumping uselessly up against the giant hill that i cannot reach, which houses the giant tunnel that cuts straight to the next town over that i also cannot reach because?? of??? map design reasons????

[snapscube]

please teach us about free teleports forever

oh it mainly just comes down to doing hunts!!! you can buy aetheryte tickets by getting involved in hunt trains, specifically stormblood or earlier hunts. you can find a bunch of discords and even in-game linkshells for hunt notifications. there aren’t many (if any at all) trains running for ARR/HW zones, but joining a stormblood train every so often will set you up with enough centurio seals to make teleportation essentially free for the rest of ur time playing the game. throw in some ARR s ranks whenever u see them pop up and you’re more than good to go.

[sebnoire]

New Year's Elezen Art Party on Zalera. My first time going to an event like this, which was timely considering I accidentally found 1/3 of the Elezen on Zalera in the past couple of weeks through a linkshell. :D Live gpose time with friends!

[drachenlance]

@aurouze asked: "... they itch, don't they?" She remembered what it was like to be a dozen summers old, her scale pattern beginning to grow alongside the rest of her body. They had appeared in dark, splotchy patches as the keratin began to push through the skin, the scale patches spreading and taking over. It had, in all likelihood, only happened a few times as she went through puberty, but the spurts of growth were agonizingly itchy. It was like a babe's milk teeth beginning to rupture through their gums, she had heard it compared once. Painful, fevery, with little to do for it all but be horrifically grouchy. The memories were not fond, but they were memories all the same. Her lips curled just so as she gazed upon him, before reaching for her medicine bag. "It will get worse," she lamented, "before it eases. And the first shed - ... is not comfortable." She dug through the pouches, feeling around blindly for a jar she had kept for nearly a decade. Finally, with a huff of triumph, she withdrew the palm-sized jar, full of a thick, fragrant balm. She held it out to him, tail swaying just so. "Take a hot bath," she encouraged. "As hot as you can stand. And then - put this on them. It's lanolin, and herbs. It should soothe the itch and any irritation." And then, belatedly, her healer voice turning back into her own: "... let me know if I can help. I'm happy to try a sleep spell, too - ... if it gets that bad."

'Twas the end of the Dragonsong War he'd planned for, not for what might have come after, and certainly not for the consequences that came with surviving his own recklessness.

Embracing relief too soon had been his mistake, and no sooner had his shoulders slackened than Nidhogg had wrested control in his weakness, transforming solace into terror. His consciousness had felt as if it'd crack under the weight of that terrible hatred, but he somehow clung to life even as he felt his soul rent in twain, as though the wyrm's own dread talons gouged into his being. He bore it until he felt a fracture in the hold, then clawed his way back into his own body even as agony crawled him, hot as magma.

"Kill me! It is the only way! Ending Nidhogg... will be my final duty!" He'd screamed, and then he'd felt as though he'd died... but then his vision returned, bleary and dim. The hells ought to have had more sulfur and screaming if he truly had passed, according to his beliefs; instead, there was only the clammy warmth of a heated room, the weight of a blanket over his body, and the relieved crying of Alphinaud over his ragged state.

So Estinien had survived after all. Mostly intact too, save for the blackened scarring that formed pits where the eyes once sat. He'd thought the deformities to be the end of it, but then he'd woken up one day with a terrible discomfort blooming from his shoulder and arm, and pulled back the fabric of his garb to reveal little shards of obsidian embedded in his flesh.

To think his combining with Nidhogg warped him so. At least the memories of the wyrm did no more than burden his mind; the itch of these new scales were intolerable and nowhere as easy to subdue. Even newly formed, they felt hard as armor, and his feeble nails could do nothing to penetrate to the prickling. He'd thought he might tear them out of his skin with the force of his clawing before Alta came to see him, an explanation on her lips and understanding in her eyes.

"The first shed," Estinien had echoed after her incredulously. The recovery process must have slowed his brain, for it was only then that reality clicked into place, and he hardly felt the weight of the jar deposited in his hand as he reeled with understanding. Nidhogg had hewn more than claw marks in his soul that day; he'd transformed his very aether into something draconic, branding the magicks he'd called forth from the eye into his being.

His appearance would soon become entwined with that of his mortal enemy's. His former self might have flayed the scales from his skin in defiance of the wyrm's claim, but now, he feels no such urges, instead closing his eyes in acceptance.

"Hmph. I only hope this torment ends sooner rather than later." He grouses. A hand runs over the tips digging outwards from his skin, something like pebbles under his touch, and though he fights the urge to scratch, something else purrs within him. To know that he'd soon feel jagged plate rather than skin here somehow feels familiar, feels right.

"Oh, and Alta? Thank you." A genuine smile touches his lips, though it quickly turns wry. "I was ready to gouge these scales from my flesh ere you came. Seems you may have done the chirugeons of Ishgard a great service by sparing them that sight."

[koyoriin]

So I have once again chosen to obtain this Series Pass reward through Frontlines, and I have some more thoughts on the matter!

tl;dr: The issues that existed before have only been made worse this time around, largely due to huge groups of players that game the system and openly mock others for not doing it.

I have some thoughts on “precons” and a postmortem on the whole situation, and will talk more about it through the cut!

Just as a disclaimer, I’m also vividly aware that Frontlines (FL) is one of the most side pieces of side content imaginable in this game; even I only really engage in PvP for FOMO rewards (which bothers me, but that’s a whole other thing), but my main focus is generally the story and raiding. So all of this primarily bothers me as a community issue as well as a game design issue.

Anyhow! So this pass contains the third armour set glamour since the PvP overhaul, Crystalline Conflict (CC), and Series Pass launched. I’ve once again avoided doing CC for it because of my poor experiences with it in the past (see previous post if you’re curious!), but I only do the Series Pass if there’s an armour or emote reward.

Since last time, here are the changes:

The Pros:

- A daily Series XP boost means that it’s now more feasible to get through it with FL only, and not having to grind CC if you’re not in a rush

The Cons:

- Pretty much everything else

So one big “phenomenon” this time that people have brought up elsewhere, are “precons”; groups of people who queue together, both within the 4 person per party limit…and then some. They coordinate in a linkshell or Discord, queue with enough people to fill multiple full parties (up to a full faction at times), and they have set roles of the most frustrating combos that SQEX hasn’t patched out yet (DRK + DRG + SMN are their bread and butter).

This was always a thing since the PvP overhaul and has never been addressed, but it’s only gotten worse. A single “precon”? Well, usually it’s feasible to deal with; I’ve seen them try very hard but still lose. The current trend of “precons” where it means multiple parties of people queuing at the same time, enough for a whole faction or at least close? Well…throw in more than one precon into a faction and it becomes exponentially more difficult to deal with for each one.

As of the last season pass, I noticed a large group of people gathering to run FL together, and I saw them queue back to back all day, daily or at least on Seal Rock days. I assumed this was to get the Seal Rock coat glamour, and I assumed correctly as a large number of them did obtain it after that and left. The fact that Seal Rock has a notoriously difficult 100 win requirement, and SQEX gave people the opportunity to play in the most irritating and broken way possible pretty much goes hand in hand.

In part, I would also blame SQEX for not altering the achievement in some way or even changing the reward structure as it not only incentivizes but rewards this kind of behaviour. In any case, I didn’t play much of last pass so I paid them little mind, and I consider the Seal Rock coat out of my means to obtain anyhow.

However, as of this pass, the “precons” are still running daily, and are now present in every format other than Seal Rock too. The idea is pretty simple; get a group of people together in a community who can coordinate their DRK/DRG/SMN (and AST/RPR/DNC if you want to get fancy) LBs and movements, and you can easily steamroll the other factions, get an easy win. Everyone (cough) has fun, you get the maximum payout of XP/points/whatever. It sounds pretty innocuous and everyone moves on with their day, for better or for worse. Right?

Well, it’s unfortunately grown a bit beyond that at this point. Even if it began as a group of people who gathered together to make getting the Seal Rock coat "easy", it’s become a group of people who exploit the system and then openly mock the people who complain about them; an exercise in punching down on people who aren’t in the clique and sabotaging people who aren’t in on it. Making people miserable has grown beyond just steamrolling them in FL, and occasionally include arguments and mockery.

Essentially, what goes on is:

- The group gathers on a specific DC; locals, Wanderers, and even Travellers, and they queue at the same time. I’ve seen up to 24 and beyond queuing at the same time, enough for a full faction and then some

- They gather in multiple parties of 4 (the current maximum per party) and queue at the same time to get matched in the same game

- If they don’t get into the main group/faction, they intentionally feed the biggest one; I’ve witnessed multiple cases of people just running into combat and not hitting a single skill, repeatedly, just to feed kills and Battle High for an entire match

- The group with the most people will follow one of the group’s shot callers and use their DRK/DRG/SMN LB exploit, with multiple of each back to back to make it impossible to shut them down effectively, since control abilities don’t work that way and are easily cancelled out

- They steamroll the other factions and win with a huge lead because no one else has nearly two dozen people coordinated in that manner, and are just in randomly assigned groups and playing other classes

- Then they gather and queue again; and if they’re called out on it, they begin to mock and argue with the people who called them out, quoting inane things like the “spirit of the solo queue” to imitate people who aren’t in their group, while ridiculing people for losing or not playing DRK/DRG/SMN like they do.

It’s awful. I don’t care about PvP as I only really do it out of FOMO on the rewards so my engagement is not for personal enjoyment—but it’s beyond a chore when a large group of people have fostered a community that’s actively gaming a system SQEX has failed to balance and then openly encouraging unmitigated contempt within their group towards people who aren’t in with them. I love this game, so it especially hurts to see it happen, when the rest of the community has been great.

> Can anything be done about this? Well, probably not unless matchmaking is adjusted, or instances are intentionally staggered for people who queue in the same window, or SQEX finally decides to adjust FL separately from CC. The only times I had matches that were at least somewhat more fair, was when I queued intentionally when these people were not around.

A similar issue existed years ago when PvP used to be based on your Grand Company; Maelstrom was the go-to for PvP, and if you were not in Maelstrom you would essentially expect to lose. Then they made the Freelancer system (joining a random faction when queuing) and it almost dissolved that aspect of it. But even back then, there weren’t unbalanced combos that exist now where you can annihilate an entire faction with your light party in 4 seconds. In addition, the group I witnessed doing it is a mix of people from other data centres. Freedom to queue for PvP wherever you’re visiting has also enabled this kind of behaviour.

The most baffling thing is; there are no leaderboards. It’s not a competitive thing where you get ranked (unlike CC), and by now they have cleared the Series Pass and then some—so I can only assume the group does it for their ego and the joy of ridiculing others, and it’s really so disappointing to see and experience.

Unlike last time when I wrote about the Series Pass, I have no solutions to propose beyond the typical “DRK/DRG/SMN/AST need to be re-balanced”, and FL as a whole needs to be re-balanced separately from competitive CC. “Precons” in general make the experience awful for everyone who isn’t in one, and the even larger ones are just miserable.

And if you’re reading this and my description of that large group sounds like you, I’m sorry you’ve become this way and that this is somehow a point of pride for you. I hope you can find some other way to be have fun that doesn’t involve ruining others’ experiences.

tl;dr: FOMO continues to make people feel like they need to do PvP, and extra large "precons" are ruining the experience for everyone due to a drastic imbalance in specific class combos such as DRK/DRG/SMN/AST, some even going as far as mocking people in public chats.