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Sonomaa

A candid discussion with Elysium about World First, Life, Love, and Tacos.

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BG has been given the privileged and the giggles to conduct an interview with the Alexander world first Final Fantasy XIV free company Elysium! (current as of this interview on 4/7/16) Elysium is located on our home server of Gilgamesh and even sports several members of the BlueGartr forum community. You can find them at www.elysiumffxiv.com. We even have a few BFFs on twitter and in the BG Linkshell on Gilgamesh as well.


Please enjoy this awesome, irreverent, and semi-serious interview, in which we ask the real and tough questions, but also ask the questions that are super important. Like tacos, pizza, and Star Wars.

This interview hasnt been extensively edited for spelling, some answers are sort of duplicates and thats how theyve been portrayed. Some questions werent answered, I left those blank. We are also seeking an interview with Foldasaurous Rex, the most prestigious member of Elysium who is also a dinosaur.

The interview questions are first, including the person who asked the question (unmarked questions are mine or ones asked by multiple people). The answers are in the following order. Ive also tried to include their twitter handles but I dont know all of them, sorry. I will try to edit them in as I find them.

(NOW UPDATED WITH MORE CUPCAKE CORGIS)

Elysiums Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElysiumFFXIV

Layla Bell of Team Double or Nothing (https://twitter.com/LaylaFFXIV)
Team Dynamo
Sartigan Hawk of Tempus ( https://twitter.com/SartiganH )
Balana Rahl - Team Tempus Leader and Elysium Council Member ( https://twitter.com/BalanaRahl )
Cupcake Corgi of Tempus ( https://twitter.com/CheckMinus28 )
Victorious Secret
Team Kpop

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Snoctopus: How do they eliminate mistakes so quickly when working on progression? How much time is spent reviewing attempts, and how is that data presented to the group?

(Layla) My team has established an understanding that no team or player is perfect. Often is the case that a player's insecurities are the biggest snare toward achieving that. Even at the highest levels, mistakes occur more frequently than you might expect. My team operates under the mantra of "practice makes perfect." If a player or group of players are repeatedly failing a mechanic, it simply means they need more practice. Isolate the issue through open dialogue and video and then keep pulling.

Sartigan Hawk: It really depends of the mistake. If it happens too frequently, diagrams can be provided, being vocal during the part where mistakes occurs or looking @ footage/ACT for better will be done analysis

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Review is typically done during breaks or between pulls waiting for cooldown. Data is typically presented to the group as part of a discussion, there will be a "wtf was that?" moment, we'll check ACT logs and video replay to try and diagnose the issue and come to a conclusion as to how to resolve it.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus: "quickly", lol. act, footage, anecdotal evidence, and lots of grinding.

Victorious Secret: Quick pulls are key, with more in-depth discussions between pulls.
We sometimes get bogged down in talking about mechanics instead of just trying things.

Team Kpop: Mechanics wise, the goal for each pull is to test as many theories as possible. Stuff like positioning errors and player errors are generally reviewed after the wipe and adjusted either with images, or in-game markers, or simply talking about it. When someone dies for a reason we don’t understand or there’s a mechanic that’s hard to solve, we go to the footage or logs to try and unravel the mystery. These review sessions usually aren’t long (a couple of minutes) but they do add up. Also, when we take breaks, people are often online before the next raid begins and will use that time to update strategy.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Zetanio: My question would be: How much do fish and why is fishing the best thing in the game

(Layla) I am the best angler in Elysium. To my FC I am known as Layla 'Pipira Demon' Bell.

Dynamo: Two members of our static fish a lot, and they say it’s awful

Sartigan Hawk: Please go and die

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Not so much after getting Of Dragons Deep in the 2.4 -> 3.0 slump.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *Please go and die

Victorious Secret: Nepu loves fishing cause there's no real content and fishing is super extensive. True endgame.
Nepu's input: What do you call a mermaid on a roof? Aerial

Team Kpop: Lets just say we used many hundreds of Steamed Staff and they didn’t fish themselves.

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Resin: How much do you spend on liquor when youre pushing a new raid

(Layla) To this day, I still feel that Coldey played better inebriated than sober. I miss that goofy Canadian.

Dynamo: too many people underage – but real answer $0 rip

Sartigan Hawk: Liquor? Really? Everyone is responsible, if you are doing raid prog, you don't drink.

Balana Rahl of Tempus: No booze before everythings dead, stock the liquor cabinet for after.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus none. i like winning.

Victorious Secret: Take a shot after every wipe, so basically can't do shit after a lockout.

Team Kpop: Drinking is a degenerate act that has no place in proper society.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Buthanya: Nanamo, Kan-e, Alisae - kill one, fuck one, marry one. Go.

(Layla) This is easy. Kill Alisae, Fuck Kan-e, Marry Nanamo.
Kill Alisae because she's annoying. Fuck Kan-e because who wouldn't? Marry Nanamo to marry into royalty.

Dynamo: Who are these people?

Sartigan Hawk: No Cat girl? Kill them all

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Kill Nanamo, fuck Alisae, marry Kan-e

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus excuse me, here in elysium, lewd behavior is strictly frowned upon. :^)

Victorious Secret: Marry Nanamo, Kill Alisae cause it's a trap (she really a girl?), Kan-e gets fucked.

Team Kpop: All of those suggestions are fine ladies and each deserve a fine courtship.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Zhok: What kind of RL job do the raiders have to do these world first?

(Layla) I'm a math tutor currently pursuing my teaching credential. My program starts this Fall! Most of our members work full-time jobs or are attending school while working part-time. We're fortunate that our employers do allow us vacation time to pursue our hobbies and interests.

Sartigan Hawk: From students to Doctors, you name it.

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Raiders going for world prog will typically do as much as they can to save up before a new tier comes out, then use their vacation time or take time off of work for the first week.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus idk. i help make video games though.

Victorious Secret: Consultant / Retail / Student / Drug dealer

Team Kpop: All sorts but I’d have to say, generally, office desk jobs are the most common. A fair amount of raiders are also doing school-related stuff as well.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Did you get your awesome name from the Matt Damon movie or did he get his movie name from you.

(Layla) It went to a vote. Other front-runners were "Almost Famous" and "Kupo d'etat." Let's just say I'm glad things worked out the way they did...

Dynamo: There’s a movie named after us?

Sartigan Hawk: We chose it because it was the least horrible name in the straw poll.

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Yes

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus ????? oh double or nothing

Victorious Secret: He definitely got the name from us. Aless suggested some godly related names back when the merge was being discussed, but he never though this one would stick.

Team Kpop: Elysium’s name actually comes from the popular Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Rate the currently released raids from 2.0 and 3.0, in order of awesome to suck, not difficulty level, but actual fun and function level. First Coil, Second Coil, Third Coild, Midas, The other one

(Layla) Strictly looking through the lens of fun, I'd rank them in the following order: Second Coil, Final Coil, Midas, Binding Coil, Gordias

Dynamo: Second Coil, Final Coil, Midas, “The other one”, First Coil

Sartigan Hawk: Final coil > Second coil > First Coil > Midas > Gordias

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Second Coil > Midas > Final Coil > First Coil > Gorditas Crunch

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus scob = midas > final > gordias 1-3 > first > gordias 4

Victorious Secret: Turn 3 was the most awesome, 'nuff said.

Team Kpop: A big part in the fun of raiding is the people you raid with so this list is gonna vary based on each member of the team's personal history. That being said - Final Coil > Midas > Second Coil Savage > Second Coil > Gordias > First Coil

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Do you feel that the laughable difficulty of the normal tier raids in 3.0 cheapened them as the entry level was so low for them compared to the high entry level of savage. You may go in depth on your answer and rant if you like.

(Layla) I think what they have done with Midas is ideal. The main difference between Midas and Midas (Savage) is the number of concurrent mechanics a player deals with at a given time. Teams will be familiar with most of a fight's mechanics from their time spent in Normal mode and must then discover how those mechanics interact with each other. This is the learning curve of Midas (Savage). I thought that was an excellent design choice and a breath of fresh air from Gordias.

Dynamo: It killed the story aspect that was so strong for the coil tiers, you already knew everything before you even phased in to kill the first boss in savage, you also had to kill each boss multiple times on the normal mode to have your gear to bolster your chances of clearing the savage version, so you’ve probably killed the normal mode ‘final boss’ in excess of 10 times before you even see the savage version (Imagine killing a glorified FATE version of Bahamut Prime 10+ times before actually facing him in Savage, it just demotivates you). Just really killed the medium core scene, as that was one of the big motivators for people to raid back in the Coils of Bahamut days.

Sartigan Hawk: yes

Balana Rahl of Tempus: I feel like the ease of access to normal tier is a detriment to the savage raiding scene as it removes story as an incentive for people to do these raids. One of the "rewards" for progressing through the binding coil was getting hit with that awesome cutscene after clearing T12. Things like that can't exist in this new Normal/Savage setup.


Cupcake Corgi of Tempus entry level to savage is not high.

Victorious Secret: No.

Team Kpop: No, not really. The bulk of this game’s content needs to appeal to the masses since only about a single digit percentage really gets into raiding. Having the easy-mode raid lets people see the new bosses/experience the story, which is what a lot of the playerbase cares about.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Did you skip the cutscenes for the MSQ to level up faster.

(Layla) I originally planned to level casually but once I saw all my friends having fun in Dravanian Forelands while I was slumming in Coerthas West, I started to skip everything. My teammates and I didn't sleep until 60. I can't say I'll do that kind of leveling ever again and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to others. My body hated me.

Dynamo: Yes.

Sartigan Hawk: Only if necessary, but I end up watching all the cutscenes anyway using my alt.

Balana Rahl of Tempus: I did not! But most people who wanted to get into endgame content ASAP did.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus yes

Victorious Secret: We skip all the ones that don't have Nanamo in them.

Team Kpop: Yes but then when leveling alts we watch all of them. Can’t miss out on the lore.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Do you run mains + alts or just straight single character mains.

(Layla) We clear with both mains and alts.

Dynamo: Used to do mains and alts but it took too much time of our week. And since this tier isn’t as gear gated as the last, it’s going to be fine not split progging.

Sartigan Hawk: Main+alt

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Mains and Alts for loot stacking.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus main + alt

Victorious Secret: Depends on the scenario and time constraints, we try to do alts.

Team Kpop: When first starting a tier we generally take our most flexible/geared character (usually mains) but then we quickly switch to a 4/4 main/alt group to double the drops and item upgrade reagents. This lets us have more geared characters for the latter turns.

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If applicable, compare your thoughts on end game FFXI (back when it was hard), WoW, TERA, etc to end game FFXIV in its current state. Which do you think was more difficult and why.

(Layla) I can only speak to the endgame of WoW as it is the only one from that list I played extensively outside of FFXIV. WoW is notorious for releasing a large number of bosses in its raid tiers (granted, many are pushovers even on the hardest difficulty). Concurrent with this, WoW is not afraid to release multiple raids in the same tier. This is something SE "slightly" experimented with in the Patch 3.2 raid tier by releasing Midas (Savage) and Sephirot (Extreme) together. For teams that were racing for world first, it forced them to decide on their best route of progression as it is no longer linear. Personally, I want to see them experiment more with this as I find it healthy for the game. Difficulty is a topic I try to stay away from as both games are difficult in their own way. At the highest levels in both environments, team management remains the top importance. I have learned a lot about how to successfully manage a team during progression from famous WoW organizations like Method.

Dynamo: WoW had probably the hardest raids – Heroic back in the day, today’s Mythic. Half of our roster really didn’t play other MMOs. But those that did liked the content cycle + accessibility for all levels of skill + more content per raid tier.

Sartigan Hawk: FFXIV is my first MMORPG with raid tier (played games like Lineage II, Mu Online, Diablo)

Balana Rahl of Tempus: I feel like FFXIV is much more difficult than WoW in its heyday. The hardest part of WoW raids IMO was coordinating 40/25 people. In FFXIV you have much smaller teams and personal responsibility is way higher than it ever was in WoW. I can't comment on the other MMO's as I was never hardcore into the raid scene there.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *I’ve played WoW, Tera, Aion, and other no-name KMMORPGs for a countless amount of time, and FF14 is definitely the hardest mechanically. Most WoW bosses were pushovers, and all of the harder content only seemed hard when doing 25 mans due to the scaling of the difficulty in question / getting 24 other non-braindead people for the length of a raid. Tera seemed more difficult because of it’s targeting / first-person omniscient perspective, but generally was limited to dodging due to the nature of its gameplay.

Victorious Secret: Mechanically XIV is apparently more complex.

Team Kpop: Different eras really. Early FFXI and WoW raids generally didn’t have a great deal of mechanics but they were a new experience to a lot of people. As the MMO genre has grown, the overall playerbase has generally gotten better so while those older raids seemed harder, they really weren’t. That being said, the FFXIV raid design team has shown they have the chops to make brutally hard fights, even for a fairly dedicated MMO playing crowd.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

If you were given power to adjust the raids, in as few a words as possible, what would you fix.

(Layla) We would like to see a stronger emphasis on and requirement of doing mechanics properly instead of bypassing them via suiciding players.

Dynamo: Net code and Server ticks

Sartigan Hawk: Add more bosses

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Get rid of normal. Keep going with the Midas path of making fights more mechanics-focused instead of Gear checks.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *Fix server ticks, fix mechanic “cheese”, increase content amount.

Victorious Secret: Fix people's connections / Fucking CDs / Retarded mechanics

Team Kpop: Double the amount of raid content each patch, start the difficulty curve lower and climb steadily up through each turn.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

How do you feel about the job rebalancing, turning bard stationary, machinist copypasta, Astrologian being bad, not as bad, and sort of decent now in the communities eyes.

(Layla) I think what they did to BRD was uninteresting. AST is doing better these days. There are a few instances in A8S where it shines bright.

Dynamo: Minuet seemed to be trying to keep up with Gauss Barrel, not the other way around, but the balance of the game is actually in a pretty decent spot right now due to the community speaking out about changes, and them using data pretty decently to make smart changes.

Sartigan Hawk: they did a nice job listening to the community, but I feel like bards and mch are way too smilar. MCH and/or bard should be able to move.

Balana Rahl of Tempus: I feel like changing bard's entire playstyle was a bad move on SE. MCH copypasta is an unfortunate conclusion of how essential bards had become to the raiding scene.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *Bard in concept is boring, but it’s gameplay can be sorta fun. Machinist is really fun. AST was never bad, just not very conducive to productive progression time. PLD is great though. As much as I love DRK, PLD just has too much invaluable utility during progression.

Victorious Secret: Yoship, pls nerf between the fucking eyes.

Team Kpop: They’ve done alright since the beginning of Heavensward. All the classes are in pretty good spots right now, the only two that might need a small boost are AST and PLD.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Now that Paladin has been made not terrible, what is the order of awesome on the tanks in a broad style scale (not a raid specific tank choice but in general).

(Layla) PLD is back! In 3.0, WAR was the clear all-around winner due to low CD Equilibrium and damage potential. With the attack power nerfs to tanks in 3.2, however, Equilibrium is strong but no longer gamebreaking unless Berserk is active. The balance of power between DRK and PLD is in a fantastic state. They are equally strong in different scenarios. We chose to utilize both DRK and PLD in this recent progression tier and found great success. PLD's Divine Veil is very strong. WAR is still the king of progression due to its flexibility, however. My rankings of overall performance: WAR > PLD > DRK (fight and DPS dependent). Note: each tank is strong in different areas so take this list with a grain of salt. If interested, contact me for further discussion!

Dynamo: Warrior, PLD, DRK.

Sartigan Hawk: WAR>PLD>DRK

Balana Rahl of Tempus: You'll still always want a WAR, then a PLD/DRK in the other slot

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *WAR>PLD>DRK

Victorious Secret: WAR>DRK>PLD

Team Kpop: Warrior is still a must-have in any group content and is incredibly strong for solo play. Dark Knight is likely the next best option

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Favorite moment of the Coil raids

(Layla) Easy - the first time we saw Bahamut Prime cast Teraflare. We collectively stopped focusing on the pull and watched in awe.

Dynamo: Teraflare as #1. Heavensfall as a close second.

Sartigan Hawk: FINAL COIL'S BOSS + CUTSCENES

Balana Rahl of Tempus: One of my raid members singing along with "Answers" while doing divebombs in T13 then immediately getting yelled at to shut up by the entire raid.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *Server 2nd / World top 10 clears with Awaken FC on Ultros. Bridges may be currently burned, but that doesn’t change the fact that a lot of my experience was positive and foundationally built upon those times. / Or finally getting through Golems in T9 for the first time…. and then getting dumpstered by Heavensfall for the first time. Funny stuff.

Victorious Secret: Beating T7 in i110 / Beating T13

Team Kpop: Gotta be the countdown to Teraflare, seeing that for the first time is pretty amazing.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Favorite moment of the Alexander raids

(Layla) For me, nothing comes close to killing the Manipulator in A4S. Five weeks of grueling progression culminating in our first major victory over our rivals in Lucrezia is very hard to top.

Dynamo: When we unsubbed.

Sartigan Hawk: Lol? Alex raid? Fun?

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Being done with Gordias

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *No real “favorite” moment thus far, but the most memorable times will be my raid time in traps along with the “CK” linkshell. I didn’t have a solid static moving forward during Gordias due to some RL hindrances, so any time spent raiding with friends was always fun.

Victorious Secret: Killing A fucking 4 after like 5 fucking weeks of pain

Team Kpop: Unpopular opinion but 2nd intermission of Brute Justice is pretty exciting so….that.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Do you think SE has wasted our time by not giving us an official parser

(Layla) SE has shown that they are dedicated to their player base and I fully expect them to do what is in our interest when they are able.

Dynamo: No, because ACT OP

Sartigan Hawk: Yes

Balana Rahl of Tempus: No, official parsers are tricky business and people will see it as an entitlement to berate anyone underperforming in content where maximizing your class's potential isn't necessary.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *No. From a game developer standpoint, making a parser would take 2 hours tops, with a couple more hours for polish and bug work. It has nothing to do with the workload but the consequences in provisioning (community, witch hunting, berating, etc.)

Victorious Secret: Who cares

Team Kpop: SE has good reasons for not including a parser in the game -

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Raid night drink of choice

(Layla) Mountain Dew Baja Blast

Dynamo: Water, because half of our roster is under the legal drinking age.

Sartigan Hawk: Water, Stay hydrated

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Water!

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *Water or Hint water! Delicious 0 cal 0 carbs! / Or coffee if sleep just isn’t your thing. Like me.

Victorious Secret: Tequila shots

Team Kpop: Hope

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Who is going to fanfest and wants to get drunk with some BG people

(Layla) Make it KBBQ and I believe you'll draw quite a crowd!

Sartigan Hawk: No thx

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Me! If I can get tickets this year

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *I’ll be going, but I don’t really drink… I can be the best DD though <3

Victorious Secret: Who has time for that

Team Kpop: If they ever put fanfest tickets up for sale.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Biggest inspiration for raiding

(Layla) Self improvement, mostly. I play this game to be a better player than I was the day before. I also find a lot of enjoyment in raiding with my friends.

Dynamo: To play video games with friends

Sartigan Hawk: To have fun and kill internet monsters

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Gouka!

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *Competitive drive and self-improvement. To be competitive, one must be willing to always improve. This is the one game I choose to invest heavy amounts of time on, so I better be really damn good at it.

Victorious Secret: A. Mister Happy is my idol
B. Post-raid BG interviews

Team Kpop: Iskhander of Macedonia

__________________________________________________ _____________________

How do you balance a strenuous raiding and practice schedule with spending time with family, friends, staying in shape, etc. Or is it all just fuck it were doing it live

(Layla) There is a lot of preparation that goes into a progression raiding schedule. It is certainly important to keep track of all of your life's responsibilities and address them responsibly. We try to frontload a lot of our work in the week or two before a raid tier is released so that we can safely distance ourselves during progression. I would recommend spending a little extra time with your family and significant others in the week before a patch is released.

Dynamo: Lose the friends, family, staying in shape, and even the etc, then you’re doing alright.

Sartigan Hawk: There are a lot of preparation, you let your family and friends know what you are doing and they cheer you up on the side. For staying healthy, Everyone has their own way of doing it. Staying hydrated is very important and eating healthy is another one too.

Balana Rahl of Tempus: For the first week at least you have to live and breathe the game you're going for World Progression in. After that things open up more and real life activities are more accessible.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *It’s all about responsibilities and time management. If one or two weeks of heavy raiding is a detriment to your everyday life, then world progression raiding is just not an option. I used about a week’s worth of PTO, so I was solid, still had time for sleep, food, and family time in between. Do I regret it? Only when I wake up in the morning, am lazy as hell, and don’t have the PTO to support a lazy day. But that comes back in time. All comes down to whether or not personal time management is part of your inherent skillset. Otherwise….. plan a head. Way ahead.

Victorious Secret: There is no balance, only raid

Team Kpop: Before the raid tier ever begins each member takes care of any outstanding social obligations that need to be addressed while also making it clear to the people in their lives that they’re gonna be mostly MIA for about a week or so. This is one of the biggest planning parts for raiders since time available is one of the key factors in hardcore raiding.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Boxers, briefs, thongs, tangas, boyshorts, etc.

(Layla) Boxer-briefs.

Dynamo: (gottarun)

Sartigan Hawk: Jeans-Tshirt

Balana Rahl of Tempus: BoxerBriefs

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *Boxers or boxer-briefs

Victorious Secret: Straight up naked, what are you talking about?

Team Kpop: Wearing any clothes at all reduces your aerodynamics

__________________________________________________ _____________________

If you could delay your clear videos by a week or longer just to make Arthars cry, would you, or do you keep to your schedule.

(Layla) The topic of videos is a controversial one lately. As a community, we need to decide which direction we want FFXIV raiding to go. Do we want to be a community that fosters competition or do we want to be a community that fosters communication? While we have always pursued competition, I don't think it's right for us to decide this on our own right now.

Dynamo: We kindly delay our videos 2 to 3 months behind the actual world first clear out of consideration.

Sartigan Hawk: who's Arthars?

Balana Rahl of Tempus: We try to keep to our schedule out of respect for the world pression scene. If anyone decides to release a video outside of the typical schedule, that's their perogative and I harbor no ill will towards them.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *Erm. Look at reddit and search for that one screenshot I posted and the associated comments. Enough said ;_; / Tl;dr I would and will delay my clear videos in the event that they are still relevant to the world prog race.

Victorious Secret: Don't care.

Team Kpop: We try as best we can to keep up with the two week or five kill rule but, if a video gets released beforehand, like it has for the past two tiers, then we release our video’s early

__________________________________________________ _____________________

What voice comms do you use.

(Layla) TS3.

Dynamo: Ventrilo

Sartigan Hawk: TeamSpeak

Balana Rahl of Tempus: We used to use Mumble but now are on Teamspeak3. Both work equally well.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *TeamSpeak

Victorious Secret: TS

Team Kpop: Teamspeak

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Toppings on your ideal pizza.

(Layla) Always Hawaiian.

Sartigan Hawk: pepperoni/cheese/bacon

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Pineapple, Ham, Jalepeno

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *Hawaiian.

Victorious Secret: More tequila

Team Kpop: Varies on mood, whenever pizza gets ordered I always think there’s mushroom for improvement. But if you have a group, olive you can decide on the toppings together. Then again some people don’t like pizzas, they’re just weirdoughs.

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Where do you go from here.

(Layla) Tree of S-- I mean Disneyworld! EM will continue to help push the western raiding community in the direction it decides to go.

Sartigan Hawk: There

Balana Rahl of Tempus: We'll be building our teams for the next tier over the next several months to hopefully take the world first title again.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *I don’t know, but this is likely my last tier of world progression raiding. Maybe I’ll continue as a casual / mid-core, but who knows?

Victorious Secret: To sleep

Team Kpop: PvP, chocobo racing, alt raids, fflogs cheese parse, pick-up groups, crafting, gathering. Dark Souls III.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

What has being bleeding edge world first raiders brought you individually and as a whole, do you feel its worth it for the fame or do you do it for the challenge.

(Layla) I can't speak on behalf for everyone involved. I can only speak for myself. As mentioned in an earlier question, I enjoy bettering myself as an individual. One of the best ways I can do that is by constantly challenging myself through raiding the hardest content as soon as it is released.

Dynamo: Chicks dig elo, man.

Sartigan Hawk: We play to have fun and for the challenge. If we wouldn't have fun we wouldn't do it.

Balana Rahl of Tempus: I do it for the challenge personally. A new raid is most fun in my opinion when it's still largely unknown, when there's no guides to read or videos to watch. Going in, exploring the unknown, and coming up with novel solutions to puzzles presented by a raid are the most exciting parts of MMOs to me.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *I don’t care about the fame. Sure, it’s nice to have recognition. But the game is fun, challenges are fun, and self-betterment / improvement in any aspect of my life is just a goal. There’s no point doing anything if it isn’t something desired to begin with.

Victorious Secret: It's never worth it and you never want to do it again, but people are counting on you, so you do.

Team Kpop: One of the biggest goals for us was to finish the tier as fast as possible so we could go back to simply playing casually.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

How do your significant others (if applicable) feel about new raids being released.

(Layla) My girlfriend plays FFXIV as well and understands the hobby as a result. So long as I am responsible about it, she has been willing to support it. I believe this is usually the case when it comes to relationships and gaming.

Dynamo: Non-applicable, we’re all single losers.

Sartigan Hawk: Puff is always there for me

Balana Rahl of Tempus: tfw no gf

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *I have a significant other? L

Victorious Secret: Everyone hates us

Team Kpop: We try to make it clear to anyone important in our lives what’s going on and what time we need to poopsock - most loved ones understand, to a degree.

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Back in the prime of BG FFXI days we would often skip big new games being released because we wanted to/had to play XI more than those games (barring Kingdom hearts and FF games). What games that have come out recently have you skipped to play more XIV and kinda wish you hadnt. Same question for movies.

(Layla) Street Fighter V released right in the middle of Midas (Savage)! I haven't been able to play as much as I would have liked. Now that progression is over, I hope to get back into it. Fold was logged into Blade & Soul during A8S progression so I don't think he missed much...

Dynamo: to quote one of the greats “yo hots?” – YoDa 2015

Sartigan Hawk: None

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Stardew Valley and Superhot are two games I've wanted to check out but haven't gotten around to playing yet. They're not going anywhere tho so I don't feel like I'm missing out.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *None

Victorious Secret: DS3, but it's already been ruined / Employer simulator XIV (ie recruitment)

Team Kpop: A lot of us wanted to try stuff like Blade and Soul but couldn’t because of raid. I’m just thankful I’ve got time for Dark Souls III now.

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What did you think of the new Star Wars movie because Im sure nobody skipped that.

(Layla) I thought it was really entertaining and worth the price of admission (many movies today aren't). It felt a bit like a 2015 version of 'A New Hope' but why would I complain about that? Two thumbs up from me - eagerly awaiting the next one.

Dynamo: its aight

Sartigan Hawk: it was fine, nothing too spectacular

Balana Rahl of Tempus: I loved it! They played it really safe with the plot but I'm excited to see where they take the franchise in the upcoming sequels and spin-offs.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *I really liked it. I got to watch it on the Disney Fantasy Cruise during Star Wars night, so that shit was a nerdgasm. Everyone in costume, cheering, the spirits were high… Great memory. Good foundation to the trilogy too.

Victorious Secret: Rehash with new effects, ggwp / New hope remake

Team Kpop: Lacking in depth and heart. A cold-cash grab for a new millennium. Doesn’t teach strong ethical and moral principles like anime does.

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Ragns:
- Taco or pizza?

(Layla) Taco.

Dynamo: Pizza

Sartigan Hawk of Tempus: Taco

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Taco

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus: Taco

Victorious Secret: Pizza duh

Team Kpop: Pizza, tacos are an inefficient energy delivery platform since half the nutrients inside spill out onto the plate and are left to mold.

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- How many hours do you play per week and/or day

(Layla) During progression, it's around 16-18h/day. After progression, it can sink as low as 1 day/week.

Dynamo: 16 hours a week

Sartigan Hawk: a lot

Balana Rahl of Tempus: Outside of raid I typically put a couple hours in each day, probably around 10-15 a week. During prog it gets pretty crazy and almost all my free time is devoted to raiding or FC affairs.

Cupcake Corgi of Tempus *During the work week after prog, 3-5 hours a day. During world prog? 16 hours a day.

Victorious Secret: 69

Team Kpop:

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A special thank you to Layla, who left these lovely words and was very awesome <3
A special apology to Arthars, we do love you <3
A special thank you to Gouka who helped get this out to the Elysium people <3

(Layla) Thanks for conducting the interview! These questions were fun to answer.

Updated 2016-04-07 at 16:10 by Sonomaa

Comments

  1. Zetanio -
    Zetanio's Avatar
    I am disappoint with the fishing answer.
  2. Sonomaa -
    Sonomaa's Avatar
    Interview updated with more cupcakes and corgis
  3. Sho -
    Sho's Avatar
    When I read the fishing question, I was like "fucking Zetanio" IRL.
  4. Zetanio -
    Zetanio's Avatar
    You think I'd let an opportunity like this roll by?