The Celestia Citizen (“Patch My Game” Edition – Part 2: Top Gear…or is it Top Gun?)
Hello, fellow Celestians! Welcome to another edition of the Celestia Citizen newsletter! We are nearly two thirds of the way through the summer season, with fall slated for late September. But before we get to that point, we still have places to go, people to see, and patches to download!
Speaking of patches to download, we are entering the home stretch for the release of the long-waited Patch 6.2. Yes, that great big patch that people thirsted for with the prior Live Letters from the Producer. A patch that would bring the next main story content, as well as a wealth of new things to try. Before we get into that, we need to cover the theme for this month’s newsletter.
The previous newsletter had focused on the famous Pimp My Ride show, which focused on taking junkers, beater, or old cars and giving them a hot, fresh, and stylish take. However, how many car repair shows are out there for us to discuss? Instead, I focused on another type of car show. One that has been well established for decades, focuses more on the presentation and practical meaning of having stylish, powerful cars, and has a much bigger following. I am speaking, of course, of Top Gear.
Top Gear is a show that began in 1977, presented by Jeremy Clarkson and Andy Wilman on BBC. Based on a motor vehicle magazine, the original show ran to 2001, but was cancelled due to a dated format and a diminishing of presenters that guested on the show. The show was revived in 2002, and saw Clarkson return to present while Wilman was a executive producer. New members Richard Hammond, Jason Dawe, and James May all transitioned in to cover the series for 14 years until 2015. At that point, Clarkson was outed for a non-renewal of his contract, and Clarkson, May, and Wilman left the program to create a new show, The Grand Tour. After that, the series underwent a rough patch for 4 years with a mixture of presenters and hosts, including guest presenter Matt LeBlanc (aka Joey from Friends). In 2019, the show cast Chris Harris, Andrew Flintoff, and Paddy McGuinness for the hosts of the show, and recovered to continue on since then.
With that, out of the way, let us do as the Dwarves do.
Final Fantasy XIV News
For Final Fantasy XIV news, the biggest announcement is the obvious one. So we are going to lead with that.
Patch 6.2. Yes, that heavily anticipated patch, teased for months and given hints on what is to come mere weeks ago, is finally due for August 23rd.
The summary of what is to come is available via the Lodestone here: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/endwalker/patch_6_2/
For more extensive details following the Live Letter’s premiere on Friday, August 12th, please refer to the #ffxiv-updates channel on the Celestia Discord! This detailed callback to the particulars of Patch 6.2 was brought to you by Harliqyn Mave, and by the Free Company leaders, Blessed and Scura Darkangel! Celestia Discord Server invite link here: https://discord.gg/eZf4XhsQsM
Next, after so many years, an official Starter Guide series has been produced & premiered for the FFXIV Community via Youtube. Details on the series, and invite links to the Youtube channel, can be found here: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/0e2444737b198eb24aaa2d55d58e378837376f07
The annual Moonfire Faire has also made its appearance. The event runs currently from August 10th to August 26th. Details on the event are here: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/special/2022/Moonfire_Faire/0vfxyiytu0
Next, with the meteoric rise of Crystalline Conflict, a 5v5 PvP mode that premiered with Patch 6.1, an official exhibition event has been created and will premiere on September 1st and September 2nd: The Crystalline Conflict Community Cup (North America). Details on the event, including links to the Twitch channel to stream said Cup is available here: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/88da49c37af7d49ca2ac858fc6e664fb5b646fcb
NOTE: Our resident PvP officers, Jerilith Alrin and Rekilic Renatus, are putting together teams for Celestia to participate in the Community Cup. All interested parties please reach out to these members via in-game tell OR Discord (preferably Discord).
We are also down to the last few days of the Moogle Treasure Trove event, The Hunt for Verity. With Patch 6.2 confirmed for August 23rd, this means there is over one week to end of event! For any folks intending to do a hard grind in the next few days for those prizes offered with the event, here are details on the event: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/special/mogmog-collection/202207/ujz24q0uim?utm_source=lodestone&utm_medium=pc_banner&utm_campaign=na_mogmog-collection
That is all for major news!
Free Company Updates and Social Events
July was a rather quiet month for events. However, we have a couple of things to still discuss.
Firstly, the Community update.
As of July 8th, the Free Company’s Discord Server switched to a Community format. A couple of benefits therein:
- Channels are moderated automatically – If a channel is created, certain settings (including name of channel) will be restricted normally
- To make adjustments via moderation, this now requires 2FA/MFA enabling on your Discord account.
Because of this moderation change, the emphasis is being made for our FC members to please avoid any channel names that are suggestive, sexual, crude, lewd, offensive, or outright unsociable. Usernames are exempt from this due to the controls in place to utilize a player’s in-game name as their username on the Celestia Discord server.
The focus of the Free Company is to conduct itself in both a professional and formal manner first. Conversations, messages, content should ideally be moderated with respect & understanding from those who are engaging in it before an Officer gets involved. If you have any questions or concerns, please create a ticket on the Discord server via the #?help channel.
The next item is the promotion of our FC member, Sol Aldrin, to the Artisan position! 🙂 Please make Sol welcome!…before crafting requests are submitted, of course.
One event that unfolded during July was the Lalaball event on July 23rd. Disclaimer: All Lalafells participating have participated of their own volition and consent, and were not harmed beyond professional and sportsmanly level violence. 🙂 Below are some screenshots from the tournament:
Through all of the cries and the screams of competitive Lala-punting, many competitors brought their A-game. Yet the team that would make it to the very end was no other than Ivy Leaf and Gwyn Cinder’sol. The runner up team was Orianne Starshroud and Rynarra Ashton. Third place was Jin Theaceae and Spicy Lady. Please give congratulations to our astute movers of Lalafells! 🙂
Another event that unfolded was the Top Gun PvP Tournament on July 30th. Here, we got to witness our most combative members beat and bash themselves silly for some serious challenge and prizes. Screenshots are below:
Giving us the most glorious of gashings, the sorts of fights that would measure a cinder on the face of Eorzea, many participants have fought their way to the very top of the charts. The winner of the tournament was Kami Kam, with our runner up being Rosalina Hyral. Third place is Zee Zephos. Please congratulate them for their violent tendencies and their hard fought wins! (Wait, which way is it again?)
No upcoming social events for August.
Beyond the Light
So here we are, folks. As promised, we finally have the launch of the Beyond the Light interview section of our Free Company newsletter. The objective in this will be to post one random FC member’s interview for reading in each newsletter that is released. This is purely a means of allowing our FC members to tell the FC about themselves, and moreso their love for Final Fantasy XIV by answering some interview questions.
Below is our first ever interview, brought to you all by our FC member Bugsy Soso.
What is your in-game character’s name? Bugsy Soso.
What race are you currently in-game? Viera.
What drew you into your current choice of race? It was a new race at the time.
When did you first start playing FFXIV? June 2017.
What drew you to pick up and play FFXIV? I just got away from my mmo at the time Lineage 2 and found this appealing with the whole Final fantasy universe.
How far have you gotten into the MSQ (Main Story Questline) of FFXIV? Up to current content.
What was your first (job? class? role?) when you started? Gladiator. (And we don’t mean the movie 🙂 )
What motivated you to pick that first (job? class? role?)? I never pick tank as my first mmo class and wanted a change.
To date, what favorite jobs/roles/classes do you have? Summoner/Dark Knight.
What kind of content do you enjoy? MSQ, Savage Raids, Duties such as dungeons, trials, raids, and expert content; Glamour Collecting, and Collectible getting such as mounts, minions, and housing items.
What would you say is your favorite content type from above to do? And why? Glamour collecting, I just find it calming and fulfilling to make my character look amazing while doing content.
What is one thing you like about FFXIV that distinguishes them from other MMOs? Having one character and belong solely invested in one character.
If you could make at least 1 change to FFXIV based on personal preference, what would you pick and why? Have a better way for casual players to find savage raid player finders.
Tell us about a story of yours from your FFXIV experiences that would make for a fun tale.There was a dungeon back in stormblood when it first came out, I remember playing with two of my friends and we just kept wiping and we did not see it until about 40 minutes of wiping in which I did not repair my gear and they were all broken.
Do you have any favorite visuals of your character you want to share with the FC for the newsletter? None shared.
When did you join Celestia? July 2022.
What drew you to join Celestia? The camaraderie of the FC to help newer players with content but also help older player join savage content.
What do you like about Celestia as a Free Company? Pretty much what drew me in.
What is your favorite weekly event to participate in with Celestia? I have not participated in any weekly events so far but am willing to join soon.
This is a work-in-progress and is subject to continued refinement to become a better interview means. If anyone wants to participate, and provide feedback, ideas, suggestions…please submit with the respective form linked herein: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfNy26Yyf-ejPBWBid01QlgFvtZSZhBxMkTxctWi1u4dTAyMw/viewform
2 Factor Authentication/Multi Factor Authentication
Please ensure that you safeguard your Final Fantasy XIV account, and your Discord account. Below is a copy-and-paste of my prior announcement made on our Discord server:
I am making a general awareness announcement to the FC in regards to security and safety for both your FFXIV accounts and your Discord accounts. With all of the rampant account hijackings occurring in the Discord world, you may have seen other servers stressing to avoid clicking on ‘sus’ (suspicious) links and downloads, especially from fellow server-mates. We are encouraging the same behavior in Discord so nobody has their Discord accounts hijacked and endangers others. If a member from the FC here does provide suspicious links or downloads directly to you, please reach out to one of our Magistrates ASAP. But what of the FFXIV front?
It turns out that ‘Yes’, you CAN have your FFXIV account get hacked. If a hacker gets your SQEX login that has a XIV account and sub attached to it, they could log in and give you a bad day. Do your diligence and safeguard yourself through the glory of 2-Factor Authentication in both Discord AND in FFXIV.
In Discord: Follow the safe link listed here for how to setup 2FA for your Discord account (this will just require you to download a free authenticator such as Google Authenticator, or Authy): https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/219576828-Setting-up-Two-Factor-Authentication
In FFXIV: Go to your Mog Station page (where you can manage your licenses, go to the shop for buying stuff, etc) > Square Enix Account Settings > “One-Time Password” > Select your choice of “token” or authenticator (per the image attached):
Security Token (key ring type, physical token): Retails for $14.99, no software on phone to juggle
Software Token (smartphone app): No cost, and uses Square Enix’s official Software Token app
Software Authenticator (smartphone app): No cost, offers flexibility on choice of authenticator app (Google, Microsoft, IBM, Authy, etc)
As always, be safe and keep yourselves secure for full enjoyment of these wonderful services, everyone!
Conclusion
Yes, we did do a thing. We made it nearly to the end of summer, and we are nearly 3/4ths of the way to the end of Year 1 for Endwalker content. Patch 6.2 is due in a few days, with all of the succeeding 6.2x content due in the coming weeks afterward. There’s going to a tremendous amount of stuff to do, giving us our remaining summer and all of fall outlined for stuff to do. Personally, I am looking forward to the Island Sanctuary content to see what we’re in for. If there is one farming simulator I am going to try to get into, it is certainly going to be FFXIV’s farming simulator.
The next newsletter is slated to appear around this time in September. Until then, see you Space Cowboys Warriors of Light!!!
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