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The Celestia Citizen (Two Hearts Edition)

February 5, 2022/0 Comments/in News /by Scarlette Valanorr

Hello, fellow Celestians! Welcome to yet another edition of the Celestia Citizen newsletter! This one comes red hot, as hot as love and as red as a beautiful heart! But what is better than one heart than TWO? Considering we’re entering into February, the month where we get to enjoy the most romantic day of the year (Valentine’s Day), it seems fitting that the theme for this month is love. Love for what, you may ask? Well, Phil Collins music is lovable. Which is why I have his upbeat classic “Two Hearts” posted here for your enjoyment. Credit goes to the Phil Collins channel on Youtube, Youtube itself, and of course the man himself, Phil Collins!

Before we get into the meat of this month’s newsletter, here’s some fun trivia: Phil Collins is a music legend in his own right, but he also has a famous daughter. Lily Collins has starred most recently in Emily in Paris on Netflix, but also has starred in some recent movies such as Mank, Extremely Wicked – Shockingly Evil and Vile, Okja, Rules Don’t Apply, and the film adaptation of the Mortal Instruments book series’ first volume (which turned instead into Shadowhunters, the TV series, starring instead Katherine McNamara).

Final Fantasy XIV News

First out the gate: Live Letter TIME!!!

On February 18th, the next Live Letter, “Letter from the Producer”, will air at 600pm PST. A couple of tidbits to expect will be the typical Endwalker Q&A, as well as the rough outline for the next 10 years of FFXIV. Links to the Youtube and Twitch channels are below:

Youtube ->: https://youtu.be/WRpdIL7_NII

Twitch ->: https://www.twitch.tv/finalfantasyxiv

Next, it’s been about a week since upload. But there is a latest patch for the game in version 6.08. Details are here: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/9325d2a5dae2ac34b9f970c803848e8fb1c3aaf7

There was also one patch released prior to this one during the same month, but it is also being covered here. Details on version 6.05, updated with 6.08 as latest patch, are here: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/674bcc0a4da4caba1ded710a7af99389094d52a8

Next, some big news regarding the Data Centers and upcoming plans to address the congestion issues in the near-future following Endwalker’s release:
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/9a6bed5c06ae511c363ece5ead0a98a3986554a2

That’s it for major news from this time.

Free Company Updates and Social Events

A new approach to covering Free Company content for Celestia is merging any and all FC specific updates and social event notices into its own block here.

Let’s start off with the first of our two social events that have transpired: The Lalaball Tournament (writeup below brought to you by our resident Officer, Simera Yeep).

On Sunday January 15, four intrepid players came to the Zee Zephos Sporting Arena to compete for glory at the Celestia Lalaball Tournament : Aminore Vespertine, Fred’a Iblis, Chitee Pa’town, and Faey Baali. Donning her black and white, the ball was played by Simera Yeep. Games were played to five points, and the series were played as a best of three.

The first series pitted Faey and Aminore against Fred’a and Chitee, and was won by the former 2 games to 1. All games were very close, but some strong defensive play by Aminore shut down the other team and was key in their game 3 victory giving them a series win.

Faey & Aminore after their game 3 win in the first series

Series 2 saw a reshuffling of teams, as Faey’s solid shooting skills made him a valuable free agent who was promptly scooped up in the off-season by Fred’a. That proved a wise investment, as the duo overcame a rough game 1 start and dominated game 2, 5-0, and winning the series 2-0.

With most participants winded by the hard-fought struggles of punting a lala up and down a lawn, Fred’a and Faey opted to play one more exhibition match, 1 on 1. Fred’a showed what he had learned from his Series 2 teammate and won this match.

Congratulations to all our players, and we look forward to sharing the fun with more CEL teams in the future!

The other social event that we had unfold occurred this prior weekend (January 29th), where our FC mates took to the glorious seas to appease Leviathan for generous bounties through Ocean Fishing.

As this was a casual event, there was no competitive awards to disclose or give out. Instead, this event allowed FC members to both level up their Fisherman job and to socialize with those they have not seen since the holidays.

Next, one upcoming social event is an annual tradition among many: The Officer Auction! Here’s the announcement per Blackhawk Slater, another of our resident Officers:

Hello, please join us on Saturday February 26th at 8PM EST, 5PM PST for our next FC event, Officer Auction! Every member who attends will be given a number of points to bet on winning an officer of their choice. The officers will provide the audience with the tasks they are willing to perform if you win them. The winner will then get to use that officer for some tasks for a designated amount of time. The officers are the prizes so no additional prizes will be handed out. Please let me know if you have any questions. Please sign up on the #social-event channel (on the Discord server) if you are going to attend.

In terms of any FC specific news, nothing on the grapevine as of yet. Be sure to sign up on the Discord server and look toward our #announcements channel for further major news.

Discord link to Free Company Server: https://discord.gg/celestiafc

Saint Valentine’s ~~Valentione’s~~ Day

Like McKayla Maroney, he is not impressed.

It isn’t often that I get to cover a holiday or extend definition and meaning behind it, but I figure with this new year, one thing we could try different is to share context behind many widely recognized holidays. And what could be among the earliest of these than the most romantic day of the year?

Saint Valentine was a Roman who was also involved with the clergy under the Christian faith. He lived during the 3rd century, having lived from 226 AD to 269 AD (42/43 years old). He was martyred on February 14th, which became associated with being known as the Feast of Saint Valentine (a Christian Feast Day). Although it is not easy to trace the exact moment that this day became known as a day of romance and love, the earliest correlation of it as a day of romance originated from one of Geoffrey Chaucer’s stories, the Parliament of Fowls (published 1382). Other correlations have been attributed to the Roman Lupercalia (a February 15th holiday where a festival is held to promote fertility and health), and to the Charter of the Court of Love (issued by Charles VI of France in 1400 to declare it as an annual celebration of love).

The modern interpretation of Valentine’s Day involves many recent traditions having become commonplace: Chocolate exchanges were the product of Cadbury in 1868, when they designed the first ‘Fancy Boxes’ – Heart shaped boxes of chocolates. Flowers, specifically red roses, were associated during the 17th century to Valentine’s Day as a remembrance to Venus/Aphrodite (Roman/Greek). One of the goddess of love’s stories involves her lover, Adonis, becoming mortally wounded. Where his tears and blood mixed and fell, that is from where the first red roses bloomed. Her son, Eros, also had summoned roses across the land when he married his love. As for greeting cards, the earliest of these was in 1797 when paper valentines had originated with red lace, ribbons, and thoughtful sketches and poems set within.

That’s all I had to say on this particularly red holiday.

But what of Saint Valentione’s Day? Unfortunately, there is no news yet on when this year’s event is due to happen. However, if the timing is to be proper, expect that news will come within the next couple of weeks. Be sure to check the news on Lodestone, and within the Discord server for details!

Reminder: 2 Factor Authentication/Multi Factor Authentication

Don’t let the wrong person get the key to your heart…or your account.

This is being revisited in another newsletter. And it will be vital for us to keep beating our FC members over the head with this critical news, for it is for their security that this is being done.

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

I think that’s enough for us to discuss from this long start of the year. As we are a month into a new year, wondering what the next few months will bring us, please remember this. Know that not every single one of us has someone there. Whether it’s a loved one, or a dear friend who is supportive and equally lonely, or a pet that we keep for company, or just shunning this holiday out of pure choice, know that everyone will go into this month and this holiday with their own plans.

But do not let yourself be confined to the mundane and the safe. If you are on the lookout for love, start by going out and looking for it. Go to your favorite hangout spots, join a forum or a website or a server (on Discord), get out and meet people. And if you cannot find someone in time for this wonderful holiday, know that it’s just a day. The world will not end for you if love cannot be found on or before this day. Love is eternal, random, powerful, and universal in its application among every one of us. While we have Thanksgiving to be thankful, Christmas to be caring, New Year’s to be hopeful, we have Valentine’s Day to be loving. Because that…is the power of love. In closing here, enjoy Huey Lewis and the News’s classic (brought to you by their channel, Youtube, and the band itself…and Back to the Future, of course).

See you, space Warriors of Light. 🙂

The Celestia Citizen (The End is Walked Edition)

January 9, 2022/0 Comments/in News /by Scarlette Valanorr

Here we go again with another year of illness, being stuck at home, getting better, and stuck with some of the things that bring us joy in life, such as FFXIV.

Hello, fellow Celestians! Welcome to yet another edition of the Celestia Citizen newsletter! This one was running a tad later than usual due to the Christmas & New Year’s holidays, and my battling last minute illness the prior weekend. Normally, I aim to get this newsletter done within the first week of the month. Apologies for the lateness. On another note, here we are in another new year. We are already 1/5th thru the new decade and have many years to go before we hit the end of it. This year brings another year where we must hope for the better, pray for the best, and support each other in our most needful of times. Be sure to continue wishing your fellow man, woman, FC member, and whomever a ~~merry~~ happy new year!!! And with that out of the way, let’s press on with news!

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker News

What sorts of juicy details await in the cheeseburger of XIV news?

First off, all of the major congestion issues occurring through December with the holidays, the game launch, and the influx of players back to the world of Eorzea have been MASSIVELY improved. While there are still queues to contend with, many technical issues on the backend have been addressed. Continue to expect queue times and potential waits when jumping into the game, especially during peak hours. Idle timers are still in effect until further notice, so ensure you do not leave your game unattended for too long lest you be returned to the login screen.

Secondly, the game is enjoying a wonderful winter sale on its Optional Items page. This features numerous discounts on holiday-themed items (such as outfits from prior Heavensturn events, the festive equivalent to Christmas in Eorzea, mounts, decorations, etc). There is also the addition of the Snowman mount from a prior Heavensturn event. Details on the sale: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/10d609668ba906567bd68cf539ea6e483dbfec04

Third, the Heavensturn event is underway until January 16th! It is a very brief event that will allow you to get a couple of items, a house decoration, a food item, and celebratory items! Details on the event: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/special/2022/Heavensturn/22lsrul3tu

Fourth, the latest patch for the game, Patch 6.05, has been implemented. Major changes include: New treasure maps with a new area (Timeworn Kumbhiraskin Maps, and the Excitatron 6000 area), new Savage raids (Pandaemonium was added in with 6.01; Savage variant added in with this patch), new mounts, minions, items, and many other skill and bug fixes. Details on the patch here: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/674bcc0a4da4caba1ded710a7af99389094d52a8

Lastly, expect the next major patch, 6.1, to release in another couple of months. What could be in it? One expectation is the new housing system, which will change how new houses are acquired. This couples with Ishgard’s new housing zones, which will be available in this patch then (if you want to see what to expect, go to the Firmament in Ishgard).

Also, be sure to expect the following in the near future: additional duties, raids, more story mode content, and one major feature coming to FFXIV: Island Sanctuary. We received tidbits on this feature during Endwalker press events last year. It is to be a mode where the Warrior of Light will participate in a Stardew Valley/Harvest Moon type of mode. As to what specifics will be coming with it, it remains to be seen. But considering the success these ‘slice-of-life’ titles have for some gamers (offering simple stories, many things to do/craft/gather/harvest, and the opportunity to build up from nothing, and offer ease-of-access for someone who just wants to enjoy a casual game), having a fanbase of millions of players get to enjoy that approach in their favorite MMO is a welcome feature.

The true endgame: Retiring from world saving to farming Thavnairian Onions

Now, here’s some fun trivia: In FFXIV, there have been uses of some guest actors that have hailed from one of the largest fantasy properties to have come about in recent years: Game of Thrones, based on A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. Please note that there will be spoilers based on where one is in the overall FFXIV story.

Game Of Thrones Joe Dempsie — Joe Dempsie (Gendry from Game of Thrones) plays Ardbert.

Spoiler 4.? 5.x?] One of the best changes in voice actors. : r/ffxiv — Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton from Game of Thrones) plays Gaius van Baelsar.

And lastly, Gemma Whelan (Yara Greyjoy from Game of Thrones) voiced both Igeyorhm the Ascian, and returned for Endwalker to voice Ameliance (not pictured).

And here’s one more guest voice actor who isn’t Game of Thrones:

Toby Regbo (who appeared in the fictional shows Reign, The Last Kingdom, Medici: Masters of Florence, and most recently A Discovery of Witches) voiced Hythlodaeus (not pictured).

Social Events

We gonna party like it’s ~~1999~~ 2020!!!

First off, we must acknowledge our prior major event: The Holiday Party and Darts Event!

This event involved jumping from the high tower in Coerthas Central Highlands in a blind direction to land as close to the resident target for the event as possible.

The following members won the Darts event by being closest to our resident target:

Secondly, there was one other event held recently: The FC Room Decorating Contest, which focused on Christmas theme this year.

The following members took home the winning spots:

Elyn Softflame – 1st Place

Kitiara Kittiana – 2nd Place

Carletta Deremora and Urbosa Vah’naboris – Tied for 3rd and 4th Places

Also, here is an image from the Holiday Party, showing all of our fellow FC members (or as many as we could fit on screen at the time…)

Our next social event coming is on Saturday, January 29th, which is the Ocean Fishing Event! Be sure to jump to Discord and check the #social-event channel for specifics, or reach out to Blackhawk Slater for details!

Buff Schedule for FC

Sometimes, you just need to get a buff or few…

Beginning with Endwalker, the FC prioritized the usage of specific buffs in order to benefit its members for gaining experience through battle, crafting, and gathering. This change was implemented at the cost of teleportation fees (which saw a tremendous buff in cost with the new expansion due to developer changes). Where teleportation fees ranged as high as 999 gil prior to Endwalker, the fees are now as high as 1500 gil per teleport (this is all based on distance from place-to-place, as well as if you are visiting another world). To mitigate this, one of a couple of options could have been implemented: Aetheryte tickets, FC mitigation, setting preferred/home locations. With Endwalker, new players would have had great difficulty managing teleportation costs with low stockpiles of Gil. However, as of January 4th, the FC has returned to its regular Buff rotation.

On 1/4, Teleport 3 buffs (40% reduction in teleport cost) will be in effect for 2 weeks (until 1/18), then will return to Teleport 2 buffs (30% reduction in teleport cost).

On 1/4 and onward, until further notice, the following buff schedule is in effect as well:

Mon – Randomized (there is a weekly poll in the #announcements channel on the FC discord)

Tues – Food

Wed – Gathering

Thurs – Crafting

Fri – Battle (3 for a couple of weeks, then 2)

Sat – MGP (this benefits the weekly Cactpot draw)

Sun – Battle (3 for a couple of weeks, then 2)

It is recommended, but not required, to take advantage of these buffs for marginal gains on whichever task you may set yourself to. That extra boost, combined with food, manuals, Well-Rested bonus, job bonuses (if you have a combat, crafting, or gathering job at a higher level than others of the same type, they will also benefit from XP boosts until they are same level as your highest), and more will all help with the climb to 90.

There is one more note regarding proprietary buffs with the Aetherial Wheels. I will explain this in the best detail that I can (these notes were provided with explanation by our resident Aurora Lightsnow 🙂 ):

The big reason why there are far more frequent Tier 1 and 2 grade buffs than Tier 3 buffs is due to the amount of resources/time needed to create the higher tiers. While Tiers 1/2 are obtainable via crafting or using FC credits from the Grand Company vendor, Tier 3 is a different monster. It requires crafted components, gathering materials to make them, and the materials are not obtainable solely through gatherers. FC airships are implemented to collect some of these resources. The airships take time to travel and gather. Once the materials are gathered, they are crafted into raw “Wheels” when finished. These wheels are naturally expensive on the market board and are always in limited supply (therefore it’s more efficient for cost to gather and craft them).

The Tier 3 wheels, being in a raw state at this point, require about 72 Real Life Hours (3 days) to charge. This leads to a maximum of two Tier 3 buffs that can be implemented in a week.

To summarize it: Tier 3 takes about 3 days at least to charge a single buff for the FC to use. Behind the scenes, it is a lot of work. Please appreciate the amount of work, time, and money that our fellow officers go through to bring this to everyone.

Want More Final Fantasy to Play on PC?

Here’s a Final Fantasy related post. Aside from XIV, which Final Fantasy would you like to enjoy on PC? Well, here’s the good news: You will get to enjoy ALL of them!

Alright, not all of them in an official capacity. However, PC has the advantage of having ALL of the mainline entries available to enjoy.

This begins with the Final Fantasy “Pixel Remaster” project, whose goal is to bring some updates to the retro series of Final Fantasy games (encompassing the original thru to VI).

All 6 can be gotten through Steam (Final Fantasy VI is due for release February 2022).

Next, we have the 3D generation of Final Fantasy titles (encompassing VII thru XIII: Lightning Returns).

All of these can also be acquired through Steam.

Lastly, we have the modern generation of Final Fantasy titles: Final Fantasy XV, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Part 1), and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin.

Final Fantasy XV is available on Steam currently. Final Fantasy VII Remake (Part 1), while on PC, is currently available through Epic Games Store (this is expected to last anywhere from 6 months to a full year due to exclusivity deals between Square Enix and Epic Games). Once the exclusivity deal wears off, it will then be available on Steam. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins (which is a modern remake of the original Final Fantasy) is expected March 18, 2022. Details here: https://square-enix-games.com/sopffo/en-us/

Final Fantasy XVI is the next mainline entry into the series expected, alongside Final Fantasy VII Remake (Part 2). However, further news on these is due to come later this year.

Conclusion

Like Shadowbringers to Endwalker, it is always darkest just before the dawn…

Here we are. At the end of another year, another Final Fantasy XIV expansion…and the Final Fantasy XIV story itself, as told from 2010 with A Realm Reborn. Across a main game, and 4 expansions, we have experienced the telling of the story of Hydaelyn and Zodiark. We’ve traveled almost the entire world of Hydaelyn, and experienced a story spanning a long decade. We’ve witnessed the coming and going of many folks: players, NPCs, story characters. And despite the feels we’ve experienced along the way, none of them will hit as hard as what Endwalker has managed to do.

The reception to Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker has been met with universal acclaim. To date, Shadowbringers has a 90/100 on Metacritic with a 9.2 user rating. Endwalker currently sits at 91/100 with a 9.5 user rating. Despite the story reaching its end, it has managed to tie up things in a beautiful bow and has led to a finish line with 10+ years of payoff being rewarded. Now, we have the next 2 years to look forward to seeing what is to come for the next major story of Final Fantasy XIV.

As for the FC itself, I do wish to bring up a couple of talking points. For one, understand that despite this being the start of a new year, it is also winter time. This is where people will feel both at their best and their worst. We’ve had a long year, and there is another long year ahead. Things may not seem at their best right now, but they are not at their worst as of yet. Keep on hoping in the face of uncertainty.

We will get through this. I promise you.

Even if it’s just a fool’s hope.

Know that one of the greatest things we can have in the world right now is hope. It’s stronger than fear.

It’s deep inside of us all, where none can get to nor touch.

Despite all the terrible things that are happening, we always have to believe something good will come of it.

This is, after all, the season of perpetual hope. Just as winter comes, so will spring.

Anyways, this is turning into a wall of gifs and quotes, so I am going to cut it here. Just be sure to keep hope, and always strive to be excellent to each other. Look forward to the next newsletter, which will be expected during the first week of February. See you, space ~~cowboys~~ Warriors of Light.

The Celestia Citizen (Queue Hard Edition)

December 6, 2021/0 Comments/in News /by Scarlette Valanorr

(Serious question: Is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?)

Hello, fellow Celestians! We are here with another edition of our newer Celestia Citizen newsletter! I hope everyone is ready to be a Endwalker on two fronts! As we are walking toward the end of 2021, we are also walking to the end of the FFXIV story that began with A Realm Reborn over a decade ago! As for major holidays, Christmas is on Saturday, December 25th! But that’s just a start on what is sure to be a wonderfully filled out newsletter!

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker News

(Checking to see what new things have come to game)

To open things up on this joyous time of year, Final Fantasy XIV has begun its last transition into the newest expansion of the series: Endwalker! Early Access began early on Friday, December 3rd and is expected to continue on until the game’s official launch on Tuesday, December 7th. The journey to get a taste of the new expansion via Early Access, unfortunately, has been met with harsh challenges of both the community and the game itself.

The game runs smoothly enough once players are able to get in. However, challenges were met in finding ways to combat the AFK timers that would remove a player from game after 30 minutes of inactivity.

(Live re-enactment of player trying to avoid AFK timer at last second)

Thankfully, many of these challenges were addressed and combated successfully by the development team. However, this was just one issue addressed in response to a bigger one.

(The feels when your fellow player acknowledges your success getting in)

Throughout the course of the weekend, players have been meeting persistent login queues, full worlds, disconnect errors, and a sympathetic development team – Most notably, Naoki Yoshida aka Yoshi-P (the Director and Producer of Final Fantasy XIV).

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/news/detail/2d402ccbc4eb78427223ea9420fa3e81cf20dccf <-Initial acknowledgement of server congestion issues on December 3rd

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/news/detail/1c59de837cc84285ad1cdb4c9a9cad782363f25b <-Second acknowledgement of server congestion issues persisting as of December 5th

All of this traffic does come due to a series of things that were most unexpected: A delay of the game outside of its normal expansion release window by several months, COVID-19 shaping the world to change how some players spend time at home, World of Warcraft’s latest business moves driving much of its fanbase over to FFXIV, the promise of a story ending after a decade of being told across one game and 4 expansions, and so on.

Despite these problems, we must accept some truths. We must accept that despite all of these setbacks, none are more sympathetic to the community’s plight than Yoshi-P himself.

(A brief detraction from my Die Hard enthusiasm to acknowledge how amazing this guy is for everything he owns up to, and how far he is willing to go for apologizing to us)

The game will be playable, and we will be enjoying it in the days to come. Yet we must accept that it will take dedication, and it will take time. Support your fellow players, your fellow FC mates, and remember that we waited two years and more for this new story…a few more days will be worth it. Personally, I’m looking forward to Reaper.

(Nothing more festive than getting a deadly new weapon for the holidays, right?)

Social Events

(Yes, the FC can get that friendly around the holidays 🙂 )

Here it comes. Our lovely social event section. Firstly, this was NOT an official social event but a mere opportunity of the Free Company (FC). With the availability of the snowman as a usable mount , it led to numerous players deciding to put it to good use. Pictured below is a perfect usage of said mount:

Next, the next social event due to unfold for the Free Company is due to have a formal date announced very soon (It is subject to adjustment due to the current state of XIV)! We will be having our annual holiday party, which will include darts and giveaways of various goodies (minions, mounts, barding, weapons, etc) mixed in with some games!

(When you have an inventory full of stuff you never thought you’d get)

Be sure to RSVP via the FC Discord located in the respective link on the site here so you are aware of when it will occur!!!

That’s it for social events! Expect December to be quiet save for a new expansion to enjoy, and the holidays themselves!

Regarding Account Security in Final Fantasy XIV

(The last thing you want to see before something precious is stolen from you)

Note that this is just a re-up from the prior month’s newsletter but is quite serious enough to point out.

While this may seem a bit out of place to have on our monthly newsletter, it reflects a very important aspect of enjoying your online lifestyle: Account security.

Recently, I had made a goodwill post on the FC Discord regarding the recommendation and benefit of 2-step verification or multi-factor authentication.

Can you have your XIV account hacked? The answer is Yes, absolutely. You may have been enjoying a wonderful walk through one of the major cities, and all of a sudden, you see a tell or message come your way. Want lots of Gil for cheap real-world currency? Or are you being asked to advocate on a forum post at a link that looks ‘official’? Or is someone asking you to go to a specific page and vote for something? In any case, these direct messages to you are nothing special except to the ones who send it.

All these hackers need is to get your login username and password for your Square Enix account, and then they can jump in-game and kill your Gil and item storage. What’s worse is if you’re also in a Free Company and have access to some or all of the FC’s chests, these same hackers can hijack that content the same way and leave your fellow FC members reeling hard from loss.

How do I keep these sus hackers from getting my account accessed?

Good question. Fortunately, Square Enix offers THREE different ways to secure your account.

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)

Once you have picked one of these 3 options and successfully registered it to your account, you are all set! Just be sure to grab your Emergency Removal Password from your SQEX account page and store it somewhere, such as across any accessible emails you keep for your own use.

Look for ‘Token Usage Status’ section on your SQEX Account Page – This is where your SQEX ID, your Security Token state, and Emergency Removal Password will be.

What is an Emergency Removal Password?

To sum things up, we are in an era where MFA and 2FA will become paramount in securing not just your Final Fantasy XIV account, but any account online. I personally use an app like Authy for Reddit, Discord, Twitch, my Square Enix account, and so much more!

Consider this in closing for this section: Is a few extra seconds to login worth lowering your risk of account loss to nearly zero, or is losing your account worth more than giving up a few seconds of time for login?

(When the hackers peek at your inventory in-game…)

Holiday Movies – What to Watch?

Here is one more section I want to close out the newsletter with. With it being the holidays, I feel that I should share something that many of us will want to defer to. And that is: What to watch for the holidays (or for those long DPS queues)?

Thankfully, one movie that is worth watching around the holidays is Die Hard. It’s a masterful action movie that takes place around Christmas, and is perhaps one of the greatest movies imaginable (that is subject to debate of course 🙂 ). It is simply about a NYPD detective (Bruce Willis) who comes to California for his wife’s Christmas party at a major corporation’s LA division. In the process, the party is subjugated by a series of professionals led by the charismatic Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) to pursue a theft of $600 million USD. And the only one who stands in their way of success is none other than John McClane himself. Note that it is NOT a family friendly movie.

If you’re looking for more festive holiday movies that conform closer to the idea of Christmas, here’s a list:

-Scrooged: Bill Murray stars in this 80s style take on A Christmas Carol. It’s modernized by 1980s standards, and gives us Bill Murray to enjoy as a take on Ebenezer Scrooge. Not family friendly.

-Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Macaulay Culkin gave a double whammy of Christmas movies where he gets left alone to fend for himself away from his family. In the course of doing so, he encounters a pair of thieves who seek to commit large style burglaries around the holidays. Who can stop them save this young man?

-The Santa Clause: Tim Allen shows us what happens when being Santa Claus is not so much a person but more a symbol, a character, an idea of Christmas. Note there are two other movies but they are decent compared to the original.

-Bad Santa: This is NOT a family friendly film. Come into it expecting to see Billy Bob Thornton pursuing vices galore as a small time safe cracker who uses the holidays to pursue shopping mall burglaries, and begins to question his lifestyle with the introduction of certain elements.

-A Christmas Carol: Where to start with this general story? There’s one starring George C Scott that is pretty definitive, but there’s also a Hallmark style one where Patrick Stewart stars and is pretty good. There’s also alternate takes on it such as the Muppet variant, Scrooged (which I mentioned above), and the Disney take with Jim Carrey voicing Scrooge. Anyways, it’s a story about an old miser named Scrooge who gets an intervention from a long-dead friend of his who entreats with Scrooge an opportunity to change his life for the better. This comes through three spirits that haunt Scrooge through his past, his present, and his possible future.

-Elf: Will Farrell stars as a human-raised-elf who goes hunting for his biological father in New York City. Simple premise, but the movie is so much more meaningful than that, and worth a watch.

-National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: Chevy Chase brings Clark Griswold back for another Vacation movie, set around the Christmas holidays. Again, this is NOT a family friendly film.

-A Christmas Story: Seriously, who hasn’t seen this enough times already with the 24 hour marathon on TV every Christmas? A young boy pines for a Red Ryder BB gun for his wanted Christmas gift. Watch how he tries to persuade his parents into getting one.

-Dr Seuss’s ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’: There’s two. The classic cartoon starring Boris Karloff as the voice, and the live-action with Jim Carrey. Watch both. In the land of Whoville, a strange creature known as the Grinch enacts a plan to deprive the Who’s of their Christmas joy.

-Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: It’s a Halloween AND a Christmas movie. In Halloweentown, the resident Jack Skellington feels downtrodden and bored. He decides to pursue a different venue and puts his own take on another holiday, even going so far as to substitute in for Santa ‘Sandy Claws’ Claus.

-Jingle All the Way: Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as a dad who hunts for a highly desired action figure for his son. This movie will hit many of us in the feels, particularly if one had to deal with hunting down hot toys in the 1990s such as the Tickle Me Elmo.

-The Polar Express: This was originally a children’s book. Then, it got adapted to a pretty good animated feature. It is about a boy who has doubts about Santa Claus, and gets whisked into an adventure where everything he doubts is tested against to find belief in the man in red.

-Miracle on 34th Street: Santa Claus visits New York City, gets a job at Macy’s to proxy in as Santa, and somehow becomes an overnight sensation in the retail world. However, his identity is soon challenged from a place of mental insanity by the laws of men as he is put on trial to prove that not only does Santa Claus exist but that he is also Santa Claus. There’s two versions: The 1940s version, and the 1990s version.

-It’s a Wonderful Life: A man contemplating suicide around the holidays is given a divine intervention by an angel-to-be, and is shown what the world would be like if he did not exist.

-Love, Actually: This is more a romance movie set with Christmas as a backdrop. It features numerous characters in an all-star cast, each having their own interactions which lead to many merry pairings.

-Die Hard 2: The sequel to the original. It is yet another movie set around Christmastime, and features Bruce Willis as John McClane again who has to stop a group of ex-military personnel from holding an airport hostage. Not family friendly.

-Trading Places: Another movie set around Christmastime. A lowly hustler and a white collar businessman are unknowingly engaged in an experiment by two bored stockbrokers to see if success is hereditary or not. Not family friendly.

-Lethal Weapon: And yet another Christmastime movie. A detective contemplating suicide is regarded as on the verge of insanity. When a murder case partners him up with a 50 year old detective, both overcome their difficulties with one another to resolve the case as it digs deeper than either expect. Not family friendly.

Conclusion

(Don’t the holidays always feel like more than you expect them to be?)

Well, that’s everything for this month. I hope everyone remains in good health, high spirits, and with great enthusiasm that this year will end on a positive note and will lead into next year on a more positive note. Be sure to go through the days and weeks ahead heralding all of the fundamental things that make the holidays worth celebrating: Peace on Earth, good will toward men (along with everyone else), a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!

Until next time. ~~See you, space cowboys~~ Yippie ki yay, Santa Gruber!

The Celestia Citizen (The Gobbler Edition)

November 6, 2021/0 Comments/in News /by Scarlette Valanorr

Hello, fellow Celestians! Welcome back to another edition of the new Celestia Citizen! We’ve got a jam-packed edition here, brought to you first by our generous sponsor dancing for your enjoyment! He’s just getting his groove on for the upcoming turkey day here in the States! Yes, Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 25th! Expect copious amounts of culinary sides, drinks, and all the dark-and-white meat the groovy gobbler above will bring to your tables in a couple of weeks!

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker News

We are now in the homestretch for another 2 years of juicy MSQ, boss fights, gear, and ~~dancing catgirls in Limsa Lominsa~~ more!!! For those who have pre-ordered Endwalker, Early Access will be available on Friday, ~~November 19th~~ December 3rd (Please note that as of the Live Letter event on Friday, November 5th, 12/3 is the new Early Access date). This taste of what is to come will be available until the ensuing maintenance arrives a couple of days later. After that, Tuesday, ~~November 23rd~~ December 7th will be the Official launch of Endwalker!

Why the last minute delay?!

To put it simply, a game like this has been one of Square Enix’s big moneymakers of the prior decade. Normally, a quality project of this making would have had a fixed schedule for every couple of years. This expansion, it is trending closer to nearly 2 and a half years between expansions. With COVID-19 having caused the world to adjust itself for the sake of business in 2020 and 2021, it is expected that any prior standard held for the production of a FFXIV expansion will also have to adjust.

During the Live Letter presented from the Producer, Naoki Yoshida (aka Yoshi-P), he had expressed deep regret for the 2 week delay of the game’s new expansion. While this may inconvenience some folks who took time off for Thanksgiving week to enjoy Endwalker, it demonstrates the sheer quality that Yoshi-P has envisioned for the game since A Realm Reborn (ARR).

Thoughts on waiting 2 more weeks for new FFXIV expansion?

The next 2 weeks of delay is being implemented for QA (quality assurance), testing, launch preparations to ensure a minimum of traffic problems, and to guarantee that the game will release with that quality that Yoshi-P has kept continuous since ARR. And ultimately, it is to give the development team some breathing room to ensure the game meets what they had envisioned over the last couple of years.

The linked Live Letter announcement here has more detail:

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/78fc5efd11286b91080f60cbb55ce5b1eab136ee

Remember that ‘a delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad’ – Shigeru Miyamoto.

Use this time to enjoy current events, such as the Moogle Tomestones event, and to get another 2 weeks of enjoying legacy content out of the way. For any who may have felt that the game releasing soon would eat into their plans to be ready, you now have 2 extra weeks to prepare. Use it wisely!!!

Be sure to get lots of Gil saved, lots of tomestones saved, as much end-gear as you can possibly manage to jump right into the story, and all sorts of other things you may need for quick and easy XP come patch day.

Here’s a hint: The two new jobs, Reaper and Sage, will use the Maiming (Dragoon/Lancer) kits and general Healer kits, respectively. Go to Rhalgr’s Reach over the next couple of weeks, and stockpile Lv70/i400 armor and accessories for these two jobs. BUT NO BELTS! (Belts are going to be gone with the new expansion. You won’t be able to equip them, but you can sell them, desynth them, or just keep them for nostalgia)

And above all else, be thankful for the man Yoshi-P ensuring that we will all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with an amazing FFXIV expansion!

Social Events

First, let us cover the last month’s events for October!

The first of these events involved our murderous and mysterious Murder Mystery! This year, the downfallen special guest for our annual episode was the esteemed Harliqyn Mave! Riddled with tense moments and commercial breaks (especially for our resident Lalafellen), this culminated into a conclusion more juicy than a roasted turkey! In the end, the wonderous whodunit was solved by our own Z’atannia Tsu!

Secondly, our other major event of the month was our Halloween Contest! Who dared to bring as much innovation to their choice of XIV-wear as could be humanly possible?

The boldest of the lot was our own Jethra Vess, who proved that anything could be a monster capture game with enough effort!

There was also the niche theme of this year’s contest: The Ugliest Costume!

The most imaginative of the lot was Urbosa Vah’naboris, who had shown off how courtly a jester can be.

The next upcoming event will be the Free Company Room Decorating Contest, which is due to end by November 5th at Midnight PDT! Be sure to sign up on the Discord channel under #Social-Event for this and any other upcoming events you wish to participate in! Expect the winning results to be published in the next Celestia Citizen! And please commend our winners this month for their amazing efforts! Understand that in the coming weeks, future newsletters will also reflect winners of not just FC social events, but also other contests and giveaways (such as our Nitro-exclusive giveaways, our donation-exclusive giveaways, and special ones privately hosted by contributive members of our FC at their own cost and contribution to a lovely FC!).

Regarding Account Security in Final Fantasy XIV

While this may seem a bit out of place to have on our monthly newsletter, it reflects a very important aspect of enjoying your online lifestyle: Account security.

Recently, I had made a goodwill post on the FC Discord regarding the recommendation and benefit of 2-step verification or multi-factor authentication.

Can you have your XIV account hacked? The answer is Yes, absolutely. You may have been enjoying a wonderful walk through one of the major cities, and all of a sudden, you see a tell or message come your way. Want lots of Gil for cheap real-world currency? Or are you being asked to advocate on a forum post at a link that looks ‘official’? Or is someone asking you to go to a specific page and vote for something? In any case, these direct messages to you are nothing special except to the ones who send it.

All these hackers need is to get your login username and password for your Square Enix account, and then they can jump in-game and kill your Gil and item storage. What’s worse is if you’re also in a Free Company and have access to some or all of the FC’s chests, these same hackers can hijack that content the same way and leave your fellow FC members reeling hard from loss.

How do I keep these sus hackers from getting my account accessed?

Good question. Fortunately, Square Enix offers THREE different ways to secure your account.

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)

Once you have picked one of these 3 options and successfully registered it to your account, you are all set! Just be sure to grab your Emergency Removal Password from your SQEX account page and store it somewhere, such as across any accessible emails you keep for your own use.

Look for ‘Token Usage Status’ section on your SQEX Account Page – This is where your SQEX ID, your Security Token state, and Emergency Removal Password will be.

What is an Emergency Removal Password?

To sum things up, we are in an era where MFA and 2FA will become paramount in securing not just your Final Fantasy XIV account, but any account online. I personally use an app like Authy for Reddit, Discord, Twitch, my Square Enix account, and so much more!

Consider this in closing for this section: Is a few extra seconds to login worth lowering your risk of account loss to nearly zero, or is losing your account worth more than giving up a few seconds of time for login?

Conclusion

Well, here we are. Just 4 weeks from the first taste of Endwalker and then a few days after that to the next 2 years of our Eorzean lives! This is also the time of year where we’ll be on the lookout for Christmas movie marathons, freshly baked goods, frigid weather, and the end of a very long year.

It is very important during this month to have a general idea of one single factor: Gratitude

As we go into November and get closer to Thanksgiving, we are given to think of what we are thankful for. Be sure to look deep inside of yourself and fish for what you are grateful for in this year. Is it to be healthy, safe, and alive? Is it well wishing a friend or family member? Is it finally having a new XIV expansion? Whatever it is, acknowledge it, and use that to serve as your mark of gratitude for 2021. As much as I could wax poetic about gratitude, I’ll instead leave it to this nifty URL that presents 50 thankful quotes to remind us that gratitude must exist for the sake of being good:

https://parade.com/937289/parade/thankful-quotes

Until next time. See you space ~~cowboys~~ Warriors of Light.

The Celestia Citizen (Re-Launch Edition)

October 3, 2021/0 Comments/in News /by Scarlette Valanorr

Hello, fellow Celestians! And welcome to the official launch of the Celestia Citizen (Part Deux: The Search for More Electric Boogaloo on Judgment Day)

Last month, we had announced a return to form for our official newsletter. I can now officially say we are here and now with that return, and we have much to discuss!

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker & Upcoming In-Game Events

For anyone who has been out of the loop for Endwalker news, here’s some general information to tide you over.

The release date is scheduled for Tuesday, November 23rd, 2021. For those who pre-order it, there is currently a couple of incentives as well (one is a minion, another is Menphina Earring, an earring with +30% combat XP boost that will get you through to max Level 80 on all combat jobs so you can begin your Endwalker journey at release). In addition, early access will be available on Friday, November 19th, for those who have pre-ordered. That will put the game to release during Thanksgiving week here in the States. I highly recommend anyone who wants to enjoy it as much as possible during launch week to get in your time off now 🙂 .

There will be a slew of re-works coming to all jobs/classes, as well as two new jobs (Reaper – DPS, and Sage – Healer). Be prepared to address all of the changes and re-tweak your hotbars!

Here is the current schedule for all Endwalker related information due to occur over the next month:

FFXIV Endwalker Media Tour – October 13th

FFXIV “A Nocturne for Heroes” Event – Final Fantasy XIV and XV Collaboration – Ongoing from start of month to October 18th

FFXIV “Breaking Brick Mountains” Event – Final Fantasy XIV and Dragon Quest/Warrior Collaboration – October 19th to November 11th

Note: The All Saints Wake event, which is normally set around Halloween, has been delayed to November. Info on it is expected to be shared in the next newsletter.

Social Events

First off, let’s go ahead and cover the events that occurred over the course of September!

The Free Company had hosted its annual Trivia night, which saw a wonderful turnout and such participation (which was indeed the intention 😛 ).

Thanks to everyone who turned out and enjoyed themselves! Please continue to participate in each of our fun social events, such as what is slated for October (below).

The first social event for October is our resident Murder Mystery, due for Saturday, October 9th. Be firsthand in investigating the Ultimate End of a fellow FC officer and getting answers to this whodunit!

The other social event due for October is the annual Costume Party, due for Saturday, October 30th! There will be three themes at play for this, and it will be hosted at the FC house! Look to the Social-Event channel on Discord for details.

Contest – Lalafell Photo!

Credit goes to Simera Yeep for management over this event centered around the most innocent (but not really) race in FFXIV! The focus of this content was to showcase the best in Lala-themed snappies for our ~~amusement~~ review.

Conclusion

That’s everything I have for right now. I am planning to expand awareness of some real nice art, image capture, and the like into a Gallery section for the next and future newsletters. If anyone has art, images, screenshots, of any kind that are for FFXIV, the FC, or both then reach out to me and share it for the next newsletter.

If you made it this far, then congratulations! Our first newsletter of the revival has gotten off to a (hopefully) adequate start. There will be plenty of room for growth, expansion, and room for new content to share.

As always, be sure to ~~toss a coin to your Witcher~~ tip your editor!

See ya, space Warriors (of Light).

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