Sumasu Sisters Gaming Podcast Episode 4

Sumasu Sisters · Sumasu Sisters Gaming Podcast Episode 4

Sumasu Sisters Gaming Podcast - Episode 3

Sumasu Sisters · Sumasu Sisters Gaming Podcast Episode 3

Sumasu Sisters Gaming Podcast - Episode 2

Sumasu Sisters · Sumasu Sisters Gaming Podcast - Episode 2

Sumasu Sisters Gaming Podcast - Episode 1

Here we go! This episode we discussed Animal Crossing: New Horizons (much less than last time), The Sims 4 Eco Living Expansion Pack, Minecraft Dungeons, and more!

Sumasu Sisters · Sumasu Sisters Gaming Podcast - Episode 1

Sumasu Sisters Gaming Podcast - Episode Test!

So we did a thing! We made a video game podcast! Give it a listen and let us know what you think! Warning: This was a test episode; there are many kinks in the system being worked out. Enjoy!

Sumasu Sisters · Sumasu Sisters Video Game Podcast - Episode Test

Minecraft Shipwrecked Challenge

We finally did it! We posted our Shipwrecked Challenge for Minecraft! You can check it out here: https://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/minecraft-java-edition/survival-mode/2931700-yelta-and-khariis-shipwrecked-challenge

Here are some pictures from when we were play-testing!

Sumasu Dreams of Ice

Main Scenario Quests

Started out with "OMG someone stole teh crystals!" and ended with a tea party. They are definitely prepping us for Heavensward and Ishgard. Lots of political stuff  that I enjoyed.

Yeah, it became clear pretty quickly why they announced Heavensward before 2.4 came out. It's seriously moving us in the direction of Ishgard. I thought it was a good addition to our existing storyline, and I enjoyed the political angle as well. 

He just needs a hug?

I do hope they don't go this direction for overall shoulder armor designs...

Very reminiscent of the ridiculousness of WoW. I'm not a fan. 

Cash Shop: Debacle or Delight?

With the addition of the cash shop in FFXIV, it's been a hotly debated topic on the forums. We definitely have some strong opinions on this. First, let's limit our discussion to subscription based games only. We consider cash shops in free to play (F2P) games a little bit differently, as well as some hybrid models. F2P games need to make their money somewhere.

We are fundamentally opposed to cash shops in subscription based games. There are multiple reasons and yes, some cash shops are more palatable than others, but we are definitely against it in general. 

Yelta and Kariri Do All Saints' Wake

All Saints' Wake was back, and it was another spooktacular adventure!

Nophica's Bosom or Bust!

Our new coil static is having a grand old time! We've been weedkillers for quite some time, and are currently working on turn 7. The best part is that all the members now belong to our FC, and everyone is being embraced by the bosom. We couldn't be happier! Well, actually, that's not entirely true. We could, and will, be happier when we finally succeed in beating the rest of coil

Our coil static consists of:

Rubi - Milli - Rainy - Cinna - Balor

Yelta - Kariri - Radiant

We've added another raid night since we want some faster progress and we have a maximum of 2.5 hours a night to work on coil. We should have turn 7 down very soon!

We're also still enjoying a close-knit community of small free companies that play together, mostly under the umbrella of the Derp Squad linkshell. It's great to have our small group for coil and a larger group for running dungeons, doing Frontlines, having full alliances for CT, or anything else we can think of! Of course, our free company is the breast. :D

Twin Win

Not much to say really except that after a total of ~10-12 hours the new static murdered a dragon. Some had never seen the inside of turn 5 before joining the static and a few of us had seen snakes a few times. 

We are really proud of our group and excited to start working on turn 6 next!

Mistress Abs and Lady Emo Tutu Celebrate

The Dragon Dispatchers

Let Me Explain... No, There is Too Much. Let Me Sum Up

It has been a very busy time for us since 2.2 came out.

Yelta and Kariri (along with our good friend Rubicon) decided that our current Coil team was no longer making weekly progress so we bowed out.

Yelta and Kariri (along with our good friend Rubicon) decided that our current FC was not meeting our needs so we bowed out.

We hung out homeless and without a static for a week or so and weighed our options. Join a FC of a friend? Seek out a recruiting FC that might fit us?

Through the Maelstrom: Too Busy...Can't Talk Now.

We're staying super busy with the new patch, and we're having a blast. Instead of blabbering about it, today we've just got some pictures for you. Enjoy!

Not 2.2 related but pretty nonetheless

Who is Nophica?

We have created a new Free Company on Excalibur with our good friend Rubicon Vale. We've named the group Nophica's Bosom. We are hoping to start a static group to run a couple times a week doing coil and all new end-game content. If you are interested, please come stop by and let us know at http://nb.guildwork.com/.

As I mentioned, we've named the free company after the ample bosom of Nophica, but it's possible that some may not know who she is. Here is some information I've found in game and online about our patron deity.

 "Nophica, tender of soils and harvests and goddess of abundance, is the guardian deity of Gridania. She commands the element of earth and is associated with the eleventh moon of the Eorzean calendar. Nophica is the daughter of Azeyma, and the younger sister of Llymlaen. She is most often depicted as a jubilant farmer holding a scythe of steel. Her symbol is the spring leaf."

From residents of Eorzea:

"The Twelveswood is a vast forest set aside just for the elementals by the Matron, Nophica. It was here long before we came, and will remain long after we are gone."

"Just as Nophica's bounty helps Her children to grow, so too does the blessing of experience help young men and women grow into noble servants of the land."

"Do you not know that hymn of Nophica? It's an old favorite among farmers and harvesters.

Sun's sweet smile and wind's cool breath♪

Both of these I send thee♪

To ripe thy fruit and spread thy seed♪

And nourish those that tend thee.♪"

In short, Nophica is a mother-figure associated with bountiful harvests, fertility, and nature…hence the tendency for artists to incorporate these themes into her appearance and…er, physique.

(Taken from http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/25284-Mistake-on-Twin-Adder-Poster?p=386119&viewfull=1#post386119)

Symbol of Nophica

There is a large rock here; it is smashed into the stump of a tree, under which adventurers pass to get to Stillglade Fane. This rock now bears the mark of Nophica, part of a seemingly divine act that recently put the marks of the twelve on stones all over Eorzea.

http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Nophica's_Altar

In the middle of the clearing is a metal basin with 6 lamps around it. It is used in ceremonies and festivals to appease the Elementals, give them thanks, and beg for forgiveness. It is said there were once ceremonies to anger the Elementals, but for obvious reasons this practice has long ended.

~ Khuja Zhwan

http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Nophica's_Altar

If you want to see more of Nophica, Google her name and look at the images. Many people have drawn her…abundant features…in all their glory.

Again, if you are interested in joining us, stop by http://nb.guildwork.com/. We'd be happy to have you!

2.1 Impressions

With 2.2 rapidly approaching we thought it might be good to give an overall impression of our experiences in 2.1.

Main scenario quests have been added.

I enjoyed the continuation of the storyline and it made me curious as to what is going to happen next.
I was happy with a little progress on the storyline. I also liked that our headquarters is moved to a location that makes more sense.

Good King Moggle Mog XII

A comeback from 1.0 and the source of the most moogletastic weapons in the game. Not the hardest fight in the game but definitely the cutest!
It still makes me sad to kill moogles in any form, although they are bloodthirsty little things. I agree it is the cutest fight in the game. It also contains one of my favorite songs!

Extreme Primal Battles

We didn't get to learn these nearly as well as we would have liked. Partially our fault for not wanting to run things with strangers. Our FC Smokin' Aces got pretty good at selling them to fund our house and pad the guild bank for whatever comes next.

Hildibrand

So much fun! He is and hopefully always will be a much needed source of comic relief.

I missed out on Hildibrand the first time around, and after seeing how ridiculously entertaining he is, it is one of my only regrets about quitting 1.0. A great silly quest line!

Pharos Sirius

I was impressed that a party made up by 4 pretty darn good players managed to not even finish the first time through (we timed out) but by paying attention and figuring things out we queued up and cleared it immediately after.

This one was  a challenge! I did this right away, solo, with the duty finder, and it took me three tries to get a party together that could beat it. Figuring out the mechanics was enjoyable.

Haukke Manor (Hard)

Honestly I think I like it better than the first time through. I don't know if its just having better gear or what but it didn't really feel any harder.
I didn't think it was terribly challenging, but I'm still a fan of the haunted house dungeon!

Copperbell Mines (Hard)

Oh crud, I don't think I ever did this O.o
That's just sad, sis.This one is fun! ^^ It actually feels like an entirely different dungeon. Almost nothing carries over from the original dungeon. Try it! You might like it!

Crystal Tower: Labyrinth of the Ancients

Once they make it so you can pre build your parties I might go back. It can be a lot of fun or it can be incredibly aggravating. The fights are fun and the gear that drops looks awesome and I might use some pieces for 2.2's vanity system.
I went once on my monk, just to see it. My paladin and warrior jobs don't need any gear from here, so I have absolutely no motivation to set foot in there. As Yelta mentioned, I might go back with a full ls or fc alliance, but otherwise...meh.

The Minstrel’s Ballad:Ultima’s Bane

Hehe, took a bit to figure out but is now one of my favorite fights! 
Tanking this is a treat. I actually like the switch tanking in this fight, mechanics of taking on explosions from the orb thingies and airships flying overhead trying to blow you up. With a competent group, this is a great fight!

Daily Beast Tribe Quests

I really enjoyed having some reason to log on every day and do something fairly simple. I'm liking the mounts and minions I got from these.
I haven't done nearly as much of this as I should have, as I really enjoy this kind of content. I don't have any of the mounts or minions yet, so I'm kind of sad. I might just switch to the new quests right away when they come out, and go back to these after I get the new ones. Hmmm...

The weekly limit for Allagan tomestones of mythology has been increased from 300 to 450.

This didn't really affect me but might be nice for those still working on myth gear.
I'm excited by this as I actually still have jobs to level up, and they will eventually need gear. My bard will be pimped immediately on reaching 50! ^.^

The Wolves' Den PvP arena has been added.

Went once with FC, don't see the draw but I generally don't like PVP anyway.
Haven't set foot in there. Probably won't. No interest whatsoever.

Treasure Hunt has been added.

Love treasure hunting. I like gathering the maps I like doing them solo and really like doing them in 8 man parties when everyone brings 2 maps each. Its fun and you get mats and make some Gil. It's not Extreme Primal selling Gil but more than pays for weekly repair, food and teleport costs.
I really need to get my gathering jobs up to 50...I cannot gather maps at all, but I love doing map parties! The gil, the mats, the fun! It's great to do something with a full party that's lighthearted and lends well to goofing off and just enjoying each other without needing to take things so seriously.

Free company housing has been added.

Smokin' Aces got a big ass house and it's awesome. As if that wasn't enough, they bought a small house next to it and made it into a bar. We made up a shared room in the basement and decorated it Gridanian style!

Overall I am very pleased with the options to customize and furnish the houses. They are still way too expensive...  Yup yup. These prices are just...irrational.

I simply can not wait for personal housing! I should be absolutely, astonishingly excited, but, alas, I will never be able to afford a home. I spent money faster than I earn it. If you give me money, it'll be gone in a day. I cannot manage money in an MMO. It doesn't matter which one; I just can't. Pffft.

The aesthetician has been added.

The quest was funny as heck and well worth the traveling around. I did change my hair once. I'm looking forward to new options.
I agree; it was another silly quest, which I enjoy. I played with the haircuts, but it's physically impossible to make my character any more adorable, so I didn't use mine yet.

Duty Roulette has been added to the Duty Finder.

I dislike DF in general but love the ability to queue up as what is needed and help people clear content.
I really like the duty finder for many reasons. I have reservations about certain aspects of it, like not requiring you to go to the dungeon location to enter, and the fact that it is, in some ways, rewarding people for not playing with their friends, ls, or fc, but it truly has its uses. I'm enjoying the hell out of roulette. I leveled up my warrior solely using roulette and, when I was high enough level, beastmen dailies. Between the low level dungeon and the guildhests, I got a level a day until the last couple levels; then it was every other day. I'd much rather level in dungeons than in fate parties, but that's a whole other debate.

The player commendation system has been added.

I like the ability to reward a decent player. People must hate me since I never get the commendations but oh well! The rewards for getting lots of commendations are cool enough to matter but not epic enough to feel bad you don't have them.
I like this too! The idea that we're practically paying people to not be assholes is kind of absurd but it's working, so I'm not knocking it. I find it odd that Yelta doesn't get the commendations, as she's one of the most helpful players I've ever met, but I get a ton, and I'm a selfish bitch. Then again, I'm a tank, and she's usually running on her black mage, so I'm betting that has a ton to do with it.

The Vote Dismiss function has been added.

We've never used it and never been kicked, but we hope it is being used responsibly.

The Party Finder has been added.

Love, love love this! Where I hate DF I love the ability to search for and start up parties on your own server. I have many times joined relic clear parties just for the heck of it and also recruited for EX leaning parties.

The ability to set up categories and type out freeform comments describing what your party is for is really nice to match up people with the same goals.

I have never actually used this on my own. I've been in groups that have advertised using the party finder, but I've never tried it personally. That being said, it's a really great idea, and should help prevent parties that are at odds due to having differing goals, ie. I don't end up in a speed run group on my freshly level 50 undergeared job in WP.  Or I don't end up with people who are practicing in my garuda extreme farming party or vice versa.

A sort function has been added to character inventory, retainer inventory, and the Armoury Chest.

A bit confusing to set up initially it is really nice to be able to sort your items as you wish. I believe we will see a UI in place of the text commands which should make it a bit more convenient.
Hmm. Now I'm curious about this. I haven't done anything except the generic right click sort so far. I haven't changed or set up anything yet. I might have to mess with that a little bit soon.

Hmm, might be time for another little guide. People in mumble chat this weekend never even knew it existed. Read the patch notes people!

 Our overall impression 2.1 was an excellent first patch, filled with lots of new quests, dungeons, tools and features. If all the patches contain a similar amount of content, we should be happy little Lalafells! We cannot wait to see what they have in store for us in 2.2. What are you looking forward to most in Through the Maelstrom?

Why Yelta and Kariri Cannot Be Trusted with Fantasia Potions

Just as a reminder to everyone, normally Yelta and I are the very definition of adorable. If you look up the term in the dictionary, there is simply the following definition:

So imagine the shock we caused when we decided to...live large for a while.

These are actually the appearence of characters that we rolled up on a Japanese server while Yelta was locked out of the game on both her characters due to 90k and 3102 errors right after 2.0 was released. We used them mostly to  test boob physics...

for science. 

We've basically been having a blast confusing our poor free company companions. I almost got yelled at once for running in before "the tank", because they were looking for the Lalafell version of me! Hehehe!

We've been taking pictures in tons of stuff ranging from Valentione's clothing...

to the downright bizarre, but highly amusing...

It was an incredibly fun little experiment, and our coil group even got in on the action! Fun was had by all, but Yelta and I are back in our own skin again. As amusing as it was to be enormous and well endowed, it's good to be a Lalafell. It was like coming home. 

Sumasu Sisters' Commandments of FFXIV

There was a request in the official forums by a player to fill out a FFXIV Research Survey. We found the the question "If you were to come up with a few rules (like a Ten Commandments) for gameplay, what would they be?" very interesting so we each wrote up our "Ten Commandments" and thought we would share them with you.

We suggest you fill out the survey yourself before reading our answers.

Questing in the Age of the Giant Stampeding Punctuation Marks

Can I touch it?

Quests! We like quests. We like finding that NPC that desperately needs us to deliver items to 5 other NPCs or hates bats with a passion and will reward us handsomely for slaughtering an arbitrary number of them and returning with 10 teeth. We like rewards of exp and items. We like the stories they tell and the lore they convey. They can give us a personal connection with our starting city, and later, the world. After all, we are heroes and items need fetching and mobs need killing.

Duty Finder

The duty finder has been heavily discussed since ARR was released, and with good reason. Dungeons are a massive part of any MMORPG, and Final Fantasy XIV is no exception. Here are our top likes and dislikes of the duty finder system, and where we think they should go from here.

One of the main reasons for the existence of the duty finder is to allow for easier grouping for dungeons and other group content. Not everyone has a kick ass endgame free company. Even for those who do, not everyone is on the same dungeon or needs the same thing from the same places at the same time. It's good practice to ask your FC/LS if they want to run, but DF is a nice option when everyone busy or offline.

Right now the system works very well for healers and especially well for tanks. If you heal or tank, you are almost assured an instant queue. If you are a damage dealer, expect a much longer wait. We are very lucky, as we run almost everything together as pld/whm. If we were mnk/blm, our experience would likely be very different.

Another example of where this can be great is when your linkshell or free company is clearing some content together, but you're short a dd. You can do it with your group, but fill in that last spot with the duty finder. This often works very well. Of course, like with most other things with the duty finder, this can also be a nightmare, depending on who you end up with. Hilarity can ensue when the 8th and only pugged member tries to boss you all around ;)

One of the things we enjoy most about the duty finder is the ability to meet new people. There are hundreds of thousands of people playing this game, and the duty finder allows us to interact with people we would not have met otherwise in our gaming experiences. We've met some amazing people in our dungeon runs; helpful people, hilarious people, chatty people, and any combination of the three. Of course, this is also an enormous downside to the duty finder; you could find the best 8-man group you've ever run. Everyone can be getting along, laughing and chatting and completely decimating the content in record time...and you could be from four different servers and never get to play together again. We have had this happen several times already, and it's always a little sad to find out someone is from a different server when you work so well together and have so much fun. Sadly in all the dungeon runs I have done I have added 2 people to my friendlist afterwards. Same here; added two friends out of all of my runs, and I've run with some excellent people from other servers.

Speaking of meeting new people, this can be a positive in another way. The duty finder can have a sense of anonymity due to playing with people from other servers. It's a great way to practice skills and learn rotations without embarrassing yourself in front of your linkshell or free company. Yet again, this anonymity can also be a negative. Because players believe they might never see you again because you are on a different server, haters and trolls are much more common. I recently ran AK, and lost aggro on the third group of trash mobs for a moment, as someone was hitting a mob other than the marked target. No one died, and I picked it up immediately, but one of the players started hating on me, and a spirited discussion ensued. -_- 

I had a bad pug experience doing Halitali for my GC hunting log. I'm on whm and we get to the fire sprite boss with absolutely no trouble and the tank is tanking, the blm is nuking and the bard is killing adds. Right as the boss has a sliver of life left I ran over to heal the bard quick just as the tank took an unusual amount of damage and suddenly died. We finish the boss and I raise & rebuff the tank and figure we would be on our way to the next area and the tank gets all bitchy and finally says "If I die again I'm not going to participate" he was seriously going to just /afk there until the timer ran out if he died again. I just typed "Have fun" and left the party. Yeah it was probably my fault he died but there is no reason to lose your mind about it. Now he can wait for another healer and I will go chop down trees for 15 minutes and hope I get a better party next time*.

We've seen far too much of this type of behaviour and much worse. Jerks are aplenty in DF parties for content at all levels. There is a lot of bullying and harassment. Comments like "This must be your first MMO!" or "You suck!" are not going to help the party succeed. Even if it was someones first MMO you shouldn't treat people that way. Hell especially if it WAS their first MMO you shouldn't act like that.

People need to have a touch of patience. Especially if someone is new or the screw up is minor. Failure at a boss should be considered a possibility, especially in a pug. Doubly so for a new person. I can have a fight explained to me all day but I cannot really process this information until I experience it first hand. If the party fails it's much better to figure out what went wrong and have another try at it. No, I will not wipe over and over at a boss if we aren't getting any better at it. I will wipe a couple times if we are learning and getting better. Hell, we occasionally get unlucky in premades and wipe on something we have done together 100 times before and we laugh it off and go again.

Public Service Reminder from the Drunken Lalafell Morality Squad: We just want to remind everyone that regardless of server, each character you group up with has a human being attached outside of pixel space. Try to remember that before you turn into a giant douche.

There are a couple of issues in game that absolutely need to be fixed as soon as possible. The ability to vote to kick someone from a party is crucial. If you have someone that AFK's in the beginning of the dungeon, you are left with no choice but to take your fifteen minute penalty. Often, people receive error messages and cannot get back on, but we cannot remove and replace them. Instead, we have to leave the dungeon ourselves and deal with 15 minute penalties for leaving the instance. We think 3/4 or 5/8 to remove someone from a group would be sufficient and fair for everyone. We know that there is the possibility of this tool being used for evil, but honestly believe it will resolve more issues than it causes, especially if implemented properly.

Speakking of evil, a blacklist that works for all servers within a duty finder group would be nice to filter out the truly vile people you never want to see again. Completely removing the chance of ending up in duty finder with anyone on that list would be amazing, especially when dealing with people actually griefing your dungeon runs.

Another item that is a major issue is the lack of instance servers. With the Tomestone of Mythology cap resetting on Monday mornings, some people are having to wait up to, or even more than, an hour to get into an AK instance early each week. Partially, this will be alleviated when more options for earning Mythology are implemented, but right now, we're just hosed. Hopefully, the instance servers that will be added mid-October should eliminate this problem.

As you can see, we like quite a few things about the duty finder. When utilized correctly by competent and decent human beings, it's an excellent tool for grouping players together. There's still some work to be done, but we are glad it's available.

*I did, it was awesome.

Back in the Saddle

It's finally here! Tuesday was the official release of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, and the response has been overwhelming. The sheer volume of players has caused Square Enix to suspend sales of the digital copy of the game. It has also made it necessary for SE to add more servers to handle the load. So what have we been up to since release day? Absolutely everything! ^^

Pally quest rocking!

Twin Adder, Baby!

Dungeons and questing and cut scenes, oh my!

Collecting minions! MWAHAHAHA!

Oh yeah, and finishing the main storyline quests. ^^

So we've been very busy Lalafells. What kind of mischief have you gotten into since launch?

See? Pithy and picturesque! ^^