Post by Zeli on Aug 29, 2013 10:15:12 GMT -5
FFXIV: Login Achieved
Posted on the blog on my adventures in store shopping for this game.
I wasn’t considering playing Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (FFXIV:ARR), but I kept hearing good things. My husband was in the beta and had a bit of a head-start due to preordering. According to him, it’s a group dependent game that is very holy trinity oriented. Both of those things appeal to me. I want to go to there.
Yesterday, with all the buzz I was reading on twitter and a couple of live feeds on twitch, I decided to cave and get the digital version… only to find that the game is so popular that sales of the digital version had been put on a temporary hold. Well, now I have to have it, right?
I check the list of retailers that are carrying the box version and decide to hit all the ones that were on my way home from work. I cannot remember the last time I bought a game in a store. This was already beginning to be a bit of a quest. Starting with the Walmart closest, I walked to the video game section only to find no copies. There was another patron there and he was looking for the same game and we noticed something. It wasn’t odd that they’d be sold out, but the odd part was that there was no space for them… no blank section on the shelf with the FFXIV:ARR label underneath. I was going to head to the next store, but he suggested we ask the clerks. There were two of them available and neither had any idea what we were talking about. I was wondering why they weren’t checking the computer for a confirmation on their inventory. He was tanking the conversation and I chimed in with supportive “Yes, it just launched, maybe it’s in the back?” comments. They kept shaking us off. Finally the gentleman patron I was now kind of with said that he had checked before he left home and the Walmart website said that they had the game in stock. Crit. One of the clerks walked away and the other decided to go over to the games area with us. At this point, I wanted to leave because I had already been over there and we were facing, at best, a no-loot win, but I’m not the type to ditch a PUG no matter how hopeless things seem. She starts unlocking the PS3 case. I sighed on the inside, in frustration, because we had clearly stated we wanted the PC version… at least, I hope I sighed on the inside… I tend to show everything on my face so I may have been rude. All I could think was, “I’m wasting time… I could be hitting the other stores,” but that’s single-player mentality. We were in the middle of this encounter, so it’s best to see it through.
Just then, patron-extraordinaire notices that the two FFXIV:ARR cases in the PS3 locked area were for PC. I didn’t believe it. There were only two. I checked twice and yes, PC version acquired! Personal rule confirmed: Never leave your group. Sometimes persistence pays off.
Of course, loading and creating was another challenge. I ended up on a Japanese Legendary server at first. My husband, however, has been through head-start and he’s a bit established already. I tried a few times before bed, but his server, Siren, was not accepting new characters. I decided to keep trying and I set my alarm for 5AM. Sure enough, Siren was available. I created a character on the same server as my husband. Persistence pays off yet again.
I wish I would have friended my PUGmate in Walmart. I’m feeling pretty accomplished. I can’t wait to get some game time in!
Posted on the blog on my adventures in store shopping for this game.
I wasn’t considering playing Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (FFXIV:ARR), but I kept hearing good things. My husband was in the beta and had a bit of a head-start due to preordering. According to him, it’s a group dependent game that is very holy trinity oriented. Both of those things appeal to me. I want to go to there.
Yesterday, with all the buzz I was reading on twitter and a couple of live feeds on twitch, I decided to cave and get the digital version… only to find that the game is so popular that sales of the digital version had been put on a temporary hold. Well, now I have to have it, right?
I check the list of retailers that are carrying the box version and decide to hit all the ones that were on my way home from work. I cannot remember the last time I bought a game in a store. This was already beginning to be a bit of a quest. Starting with the Walmart closest, I walked to the video game section only to find no copies. There was another patron there and he was looking for the same game and we noticed something. It wasn’t odd that they’d be sold out, but the odd part was that there was no space for them… no blank section on the shelf with the FFXIV:ARR label underneath. I was going to head to the next store, but he suggested we ask the clerks. There were two of them available and neither had any idea what we were talking about. I was wondering why they weren’t checking the computer for a confirmation on their inventory. He was tanking the conversation and I chimed in with supportive “Yes, it just launched, maybe it’s in the back?” comments. They kept shaking us off. Finally the gentleman patron I was now kind of with said that he had checked before he left home and the Walmart website said that they had the game in stock. Crit. One of the clerks walked away and the other decided to go over to the games area with us. At this point, I wanted to leave because I had already been over there and we were facing, at best, a no-loot win, but I’m not the type to ditch a PUG no matter how hopeless things seem. She starts unlocking the PS3 case. I sighed on the inside, in frustration, because we had clearly stated we wanted the PC version… at least, I hope I sighed on the inside… I tend to show everything on my face so I may have been rude. All I could think was, “I’m wasting time… I could be hitting the other stores,” but that’s single-player mentality. We were in the middle of this encounter, so it’s best to see it through.
Just then, patron-extraordinaire notices that the two FFXIV:ARR cases in the PS3 locked area were for PC. I didn’t believe it. There were only two. I checked twice and yes, PC version acquired! Personal rule confirmed: Never leave your group. Sometimes persistence pays off.
Of course, loading and creating was another challenge. I ended up on a Japanese Legendary server at first. My husband, however, has been through head-start and he’s a bit established already. I tried a few times before bed, but his server, Siren, was not accepting new characters. I decided to keep trying and I set my alarm for 5AM. Sure enough, Siren was available. I created a character on the same server as my husband. Persistence pays off yet again.
I wish I would have friended my PUGmate in Walmart. I’m feeling pretty accomplished. I can’t wait to get some game time in!