The Celestia Citizen (“April Fools Edition”)

Hello, fellow Celestians! Welcome to another edition of the Celestia Citizen newsletter! This month’s newsletter will cover both the past month’s news and events, and set us up for the upcoming month. This month’s theme focuses simply on April Fool’s Day, a day where practical jokes, gags, hoaxes, and comedy erupts at the hands of tricksters. However, not every April Fool’s day is a day of comedy.

One fact: On April 1st, 1946, there was an earthquake that occurred in the Aleutian Islands near Alaska. This earthquake unfolded just off the coast east of Unalaska, and had triggered a tsunami that reached upwards of 55 feet (17 meters) high reaching as far as Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, and California. This tsunami had prompted the creation of the U.S. Seismic SeaWave Warning System in 1948, to serve as an early detection system for killer waves or tsunamis.

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Final Fantasy XIV News

On the FFXIV news front, we have the next upcoming patch scheduled for Tuesday, April 4th!

On Monday, April 3rd at 0300 AM PDT, maintenance will be occurring with a two-fold intent, running until the same time on the following day, Tuesday, April 4th.

Firstly, hardware for the North American Data Center will be undergoing upgrades & replacement during this maintenance period, per the linked article: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/b5669e60dafb4535df7aa6bcd0b07b3650f15d24

In addition to the above, this will coincide with the Patch 6.38 release occurring on Tuesday, April 4th.

The recent Letter from the Producer premiered on Friday, March 31st and also confirmed what to expect with the upcoming patch, as well as the next major patch 6.4.

On the Patch 6.38 front, this information has both been detailed & captured in our Discord server’s #ffxiv-updates channel, brought to you by both Harliqyn Mave and the Darkangel duo, Scura and Blessed!

Listed here are some major bullet points for reference:

-Pandaemonium: Abyssos (Savage) will have its weekly restriction removed

-PVP actions will be adjusted

-The next season of Crystalline Conflict will begin

-Patch 6.4 “The Dark Throne” is expected late May 2023. There have been details captured in the #ffxiv-updates channel on the FC’s Discord, and there were also details on it covered with the recent FC meeting that unfolded. Please note that this is just Part 1 of the Patch 6.4 coverage. Expect more information later in April or May.

The next seasonal event has also begun with Hatchingtide, scheduled to run from Monday, March 27th to Monday, April 10th. Link to the event is here: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/special/2023/Hatching_tide/gkonsy0g3l

There is also a double promotion going on for all prospective FFXIV players.

A Free Login campaign will be in effect from Monday, March 27th to Monday, May 8th. This is limited to a maximum of 96 hours of playtime beginning from the moment of log-in to the game. Details are here: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/special/freelogincampaign/

For owners of the Final Fantasy XIV Starter Edition, you can add Stormblood as a fully playable expansion to your game & account between Monday, March 27th to Monday, May 8th. This will require a paid subscription to enjoy, but appears to be exempt during the Free Login campaign’s 96 hour window. Details are here: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/cdb92d5c9805f1c50721f3c03a16d7ccef049f79

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Free Company Updates and Social Events

As advertised in our prior newsletters, we are still taking Officer applications at our respective Discord server for:

Raid Officer (24-Man Raid events every Tuesday)

Administration (documentation, such as meeting agendas/notes, spreadsheets, and announcements)

Primal Farming (Farming current expansion content for items)

General Officer (Helps for filling in at weekly FC events)

PvP (hosting PvP content, such as Rival Wings, The Feast, Crystalline Conflict, etc)

Applications may be accepted in the FC Discord server under the #officer-directory channel.

On Saturday, March 18th, the Free Company held its regular Bingo event! Many members turned out to enjoy the age old social event as was popularized during weekend outings by our parents and grand-parents. Across 3 rounds, a winner had succeeded in each round to win a magnificent prize.

The next social event is scheduled for Saturday, April 15th, focusing on our Dungeon Speed Run event! For details, please refer to the Discord’s #social-event channel!

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Beyond the Light

For our next Beyond the Light interview, our winner of this month’s draw is Kaladin Stormblessed! Before we go any further, please participate in our Beyond the Light interview and tell us about yourselves so you have a chance at being featured here for the Free Company newsletter! Details are on the Discord server and in our #announcements channel (or you may message me directly at Scarlette Valanorr in the FC Discord for a copy)!

What is your in-game character’s name?: Kaladin Stormblessed

What race are you currently in-game?: Miqo’te

What drew you into your current choice of race?: Love me some cat-girls. Cat-boys get the most cat-girls.

When did you first start playing FFXIV?: August 2010

What drew you to pick up and play FFXIV?: Big final fantasy fan, so was excited to try the 1.0 beta

How far have you gotten into the MSQ (Main Story Questline) of FFXIV?: All done

What was your first (job? class? role?) when you started?: Black Mage.

What motivated you to pick that first (job? class? role?)?: Played Black Mage and Dark Knight in FFXI, and Dark Knight didn’t exist yet in FFXIV

To date, what favorite jobs/roles/classes do you have?: Reaper, Dark Knight, Black Mage

What kind of content do you enjoy?: MSQ, Savage Raids, Duty Content, Side Quests, Casual Content, Collectible Gathering

What would you say is your favorite content type from above to do? And why?: Hildebrand quests, always looking forward to when more comes out, and so far this patch its been amazing.

What is one thing you like about FFXIV that distinguishes them from other MMOs?: The community and the ability to play the game without treating it like a job. In general the community is mostly non-toxic, and I don’t feel like I have to spend 6+ hours/day in the game like I did in FFXI. I just don’t have the ability to spend that much time on a single game every day anymore.

If you could make at least 1 change to FFXIV based on personal preference, what would you pick and why?: I would love large open-world FC end game content exactly like FFXI’s Sky and Sea.

What is your most memorable/favorite moment in FFXIV?: Hmm, I’d have to say FanFest. The first one, we were in line for 4 hours trying to pick up our badge and stuff, my daughter was crying cause she was bored in the line (she was 3 or 4 at the time) and Yoshi-P was walking down the hallway and stopped to talk to my daughter a little bit and cheered her up.

Do you have any favorite visuals of your character you want to share with the FC for the newsletter?: None

When did you join Celestia?: June 2014

What drew you to join Celestia? Was it a person, an advertisement, etc?: Blessed invited my wife cause he needed more people to do BCOB Turn 1-4

What do you like about Celestia as a Free Company?: I can bully Blessed and get away with it cause I know where he lives.

What is your favorite weekly event to participate in with Celestia?: I enjoyed Primal Farming, but my schedule has made it so I can’t make it to that anymore.

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Z’attania’s House Tours

Here is our newest section of the newsletter, as begun in the previous newsletter. This features our resident House decorating aficionado, Z’attania Tsu!

NOOK AND CRANNY

A House Tour with Z (featuring a new member’s design every month!)

Kazuo Akagi’s House

Address: Shiro ward 30, plot 32

This is a house that stays true to a theme, and that theme is Hingan! From the delightful cherry tree and bamboo strewn yard, to the Kugane windowed sleeping area in the basement, everything in this house transports you to the Far East. There is a beautiful walk-out basement with waterfalls and a moonlit sky, and the feeling that a family of Domans has just recently left every room.

What the homeowner is proudest of: The basement! Kazuo really wanted the house to look lived-in and not pristine, and he achieved it! There is just the right amount of useful clutter that gives a feeling of coziness.

What Z especially liked: The mood! Kazuo used dim lights in his house to give an appearance of evening, which really fits with the moonlit sky and Kugane window in the basement. To keep the house from being too dark, he’s placed a lot of ambient lights (lanterns, candles, etc) all over the house. This gives a nice warm glow and adds to the homey atmosphere.

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Conclusion

And here we are at the end of another newsletter. As we go into April, to enjoy Easter, the blossoms of spring, and the hope for cold temperatures getting warmer, we must look to the hope that things will continue to get better. We still have several months ahead before a return to colder temperatures, the holidays, and the end of another long year. Please take stock in family, friends, loved ones, and appreciate them for every day they are here in the world with you.

Look for the next newsletter around this time come May. See you, Space Warriors of Light. 🙂