Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward – #29 – The Grand Melee



Oh hey, new fires to put out! That didn’t take long.

Support us on Patreon! ► http://patreon.com/playframe
___________

HEAVENSWARD series playlist! ► https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvFQJa1XAXzxn_u1C-6_3DX0yH-siBFoj

FULL SERIES playlist! ► https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvFQJa1XAXzzXrfl_cbsGvEl4AbTt5SMG
___________

0:00 – Introduction

0:24 – QUEST: “Choices”

18:52 – QUEST: “A Spectacle for the Ages”
___________

Want to join our Free Company? See the unofficial PlayFriends Discord for details! ► https://discord.gg/PlayFriends
___________

Check out the PlayFrame Store! ► https://store.dftba.com/collections/playframe

Dan’s Twitter (@DanFloydPlus) ► https://twitter.com/DanFloydPlus
Carrie’s Twitter (@CarrieFloyd) ► https://twitter.com/CarrieFloyd
PlayFrame Twitter (@PlayFramePlus) ► https://twitter.com/PlayFramePlus

To hear Dan talk MUCH more about game animation, check out New Frame Plus! ► http://www.youtube.com/c/newframeplus
___________

Edited by Daniel Floyd

♫ “Pray Return” by Chris Logsdon
https://lnkfi.re/pray-return

#PlayFrame #FFXIV #FinalFantasyXIV #Heavensward

source

27 thoughts on “Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward – #29 – The Grand Melee”

  1. The Grand Melee is not one of the PvP modes, it is only used for this event. The duel was the first time ever in game where I wished for a Savage mode of a solo duty, because I loved it.

    Reply
  2. I don't know if it ever was in the past (though I don't believe so), but the Grand Melee isn't currently a PvP mode. The closest would be Frontlines, which is…not really the same thing. I feel like they had to be trying it out as a PvP idea and it didn't quite work out but they left a single-player version in-game, possibly it was too late to change the duty even after they decided to cut the PvP idea.

    Reply
  3. Honestly, that bit from last episode where Thancred punches Emmanellain was really satisfying when I saw it. It's also around this juncture that Thancred starts becoming one of my favourite characters. And seriously. Of all the people you try to tell have no idea what its like to lose people or fail others… You pick the guy who spent half of ARR possessed by an Ascian and then loses the person he cared about most and promised to keep safe. Who then also found himself in the middle of nowhere after being hunted down as a fugitive. And on top of ALL OF THAT has lost all ability to channel his own aether. I condone Thancred's retaliation 100%. I feel it would've been easy for the writers to have him just respond in a calm, if not snarky manner and be done with it because he's one of the good guys.

    Reply
  4. The Victory emote is unique to each job class! With the exception of the crafting and gathering classes that all use Paladin’s animation, which I find incredibly amusing. Same goes for the Battle Ready emote. 😀

    My personal favorite is Red Mage’s but I might be a little biased there lmao.

    Reply
  5. Victory not only is a unique emote for every job; it also has a different animation between male and female characters. Though admittedly, I kind of wish both emotes per job were available for both genders but what can you do.

    Reply
  6. Not sure if the people on the other side of the Melee would be more worried about seeing Durmond show up on the other side due to their imminent thwacking, or glad because it means there will be some great snacks delivered afterward.

    Reply
  7. I commented last video about how I felt about Emmanellain, but I have something else to say here. I suggest going back and reading that comment if you can. Anyway, when Emmanellain was explaining that he didn't have control of his fate because of the position in society he was born into, it clicked for me. The reason he acts so aloof and unfocused is because he doesn't believe he can be anything better than that. But, why? Why does he have such low confidence in himself? Well, I think it's because his whole life he's been "less than" at best, and the butt of the joke at worst. He was born to house fortemps, and thus "had" to be something he never chose. He's constantly being measured by something he probably never wanted to be apart of, and was also probably not cut out for in the first place. He had an older brother who was probably praised more than he, and he probably internalized that. That small lack of confidence caused a mistake, which he would have been belittled for, which lead to even lesser confidence. He probably thought he was no good at anything, with constant reminders of his inadequacy. Faced with all this, it's no wonder he doesn't try. He goofs around and is carefree because he's been taught his entire life he will never be good enough and will mess up everything. I know I'm reading a lot into this character by only a few lines of dialogue, but the reason I see all this in him is because I know what it's like. Because of my autism I was always seen as the weirdo who couldn't do what everyone else could. Hell, I'm 18 and still can barely do basic multiplication, read social situations, or even hold a schedule or anything. I know what it's like for everyone to scorn me, so I hold no resentment for him, only sympathy, and for the most part, I don't think how he's been treated by people, in the game or outside of it, is right.
    I don't expect many people to agree with me, but maybe this is something you either understand or don't, and that's unfortunate.

    Reply
  8. Sorry this is so late Playfriends! Someone released a Holocure video and had a Twitch stream today. Your spoiler free lore comment was waylaid!

    Aymeric's solution to heal class disparity, a millennium of war, and the schism between church and state? TOURNAMENT ARC! Okay, not an arc, but a Tourney none the less. I guess this is the closest Ishgard has to a national sport, so mock warfare it is! It won't solve everything, but it might take the edge off the current tensions. And Thancred is of course off to go chat up Hilda at the first suggestion.

    (If you like Final Fantasy Tactics like Dan and I do, I have good news! FFXIV does not neglect that game, even though it's not a main numbered entry in the series.)

    14:00 – "I lie to myself. Every morning, when I wake up, I say 'Everything is gonna be okay', but I'm LYING. And I don't know how much longer i can do it."- Kenneth Parcell, 30 Rock

    So Durmin's being asked to lead Ishgardian forces into the Melee… while his ostensible commanding officer, General Raubahn, leads the opposing force. The technique to make Durmin appear in House Fortemps uniform is nice, and it prevents players from entering the Grand Melee with full body chocobo suits. That may be a benefit, or a determent, depending on how you play.

    The Grand Melee is not indicative of PvP in FFXIV,. The closest analogue would be Frontlines, where the 3 Grand Companies face off,, 24 players per side. You gain points for downing enemies(and lose points for being downed), but there are also map specific mechanics for gaining points. The two sides of the Grand Melee might also emulate the old Feast mode, where 2 teams of 4 players fight for kills, but The Feast has been discontinued, and been replaced by Crystalline Conflict, which is a push the point style fight.

    30:12 – You cannot convince me that Thancred isn't showing off for Hilda here. Although, a big beastie, threatening a spectacle event, that's just how Thancred met Minfilia, and how Warburton, her father, died.

    And now we get to see the Bull of Ala Mhigo in action. He rose to the heights of the Syndicate with his winnings on the bloodsands of Ul'dah, so you know he's formidable. As Pipin notes, he's doing all of this with one arm, one sword.

    Reply
  9. – i was expecting everyone to team up & beat the random Cyclops, but Thancred managing to do a Shoryuken without any magic is pretty impressive
    – i man, yeah as insuferable Emmanellain has been & deserving getting punched by Thancred… is not entirely his fault that he's trapped in this feedback loop of Being put in the sidelines because his Brothers are better & "why do i even bother trying? I'm clearly unwanted" for years to the point it all crumbled into the airhead we see now

    Reply
  10. I do love that Raubahn can apparently cast Summon Thunderdome as a class feature – whatever that class happens to be, since I'm guessing Gladiators can't do that nonsense by default.

    Reply
  11. I love how the game is like "yeah, we had to nerf Raubahn so you could beat him" lol

    Emote tip: in the right corner, just under the 'X' to close the window, is a sort option. It will let one sort by emote ID (which isn't super helpful) or alphabetically (which is much more helpful).

    Reply
  12. Hello Dan, just wanted to thank you for this playthrough in particular. It's only very very recently I've decided to jump into XIV as my first FF and basically first MMO, and this playthrough is a nice companion piece to doing all the early stuff too, so im still on episode 2 of this series. So thanks again!

    Reply
  13. Ooooh, if we wrap 3.2 up next time, and Dan keeps to his 'scenic route' approach, then next week it might be time for [REDACTED]!!
    And having now played a fair bit more of the game, I would be very curious to see those quests again, to brush up on some lore if nothing else! Exciting 😀

    Reply
  14. 33:25 I can't help but notice that the Ishgardian point total has failed to increase by even a single point since the time Raubahn stepped in, whilst the Alliance total has been steadily climbing since that point. Was Durmin really carrying them all that hard?
    34:35 Aaaaaand the Alliance total has stalled at 90/100 as well. Curious.

    Reply

Leave a Comment