A Moogle Kupo d'Etat

One of the new experiments Square-Enix launched in 2009 was the release of three "add-on scenarios". Each one provides a compact story which offers a unique reward with customizable augments.

While released as the second of the three, the first one I've been able to complete is A Moogle Kupo d'Etat - Evil in Small Doses. While certainly nothing as epic as the true expansions, these missions feature a light-hearted take on our sometimes overlooked mog house pals.

This video includes all the missions from the mini-expansion, including:

• Drenched! It Began with a Raindrop
• Hasten! In a Jam in Jeuno?
• Welcome! To My Decrepit Domicile
• Curses! A Horrifically Harrowing Hex
• An Errand! The Professor's Price
• Shock! Arrant Abuse of Authority
• Lender Beware! Read the Fine Print
• Rescue! A Moogle's Labor of Love
• Roar! A Cat Burglar Bares Her Fangs
• Relief! A Triumphant Return
• Joy! Summoned to a Fabulous Fete
• A Challenge! You Could Be a Winner
• Smash! A Malevolent Menace

 

A note about this video: this is my first using the new hardware and software. I'm still trying to find the best balance between quality and file-size, so I'm especially interested in feedback along these lines.

Also, FYI, I haven't been able to finish the other two add-ons yet, so I don't know when I'll be able to post those.

Videos now on Veoh

All right, it took a month, but all of my videos are finally fully uploaded on Veoh now. A couple of notes about the new host:

1. For videos longer than 30 minutes, if you want to watch the full video rather than just a 5 minute preview, you need download/install the Veoh Web Player. There is a link over on the right side of my blog, or you can let the website prompt you.

2. Full-screen viewing using Veoh's built-in viewers will display in lower quality than the original movies. For best results, I recommend downloading the entire videos using the Web Player, then opening up the downloaded file using Windows Media Player, DivX Player, or some other viewer. Since the videos are all .divx files, you'll need the DivX codec. There is a link on the right of this page to download the codec if you don't already have it.

3. If you are trying to view the videos using the embedded viewer on this blog, and it won't work, there is a link directly below each video for where you can go to view/download directly on the Veoh website. I am not sure why the embedded viewers seem to work on some computers / browsers and not on others.

4. In the future (no definite ETA on this yet), I may be adding additional host sites where you can go to download the videos. I'll add these locations directly below the embedded players.

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As for new installments of the videos, I did start recording some new cutscenes. Unfortunately, I've discovered that my current editing software, DivX Author, will not work correctly on a 64-bit operating system. This means I will either have to use an older, less powerful machine to do my encoding/publishing, or I'm going to need to find a new program. Since part of the reason I just invested so much in my new computer (i7 processor, 6 GB RAM, GeForce GTS 250 gpu) was to speed up the editing/publishing of my videos, I don't want to resort to the first option. Right now I'm in the process of evaluating Pinnacle Studio 14, and I'm hopeful that will be the right solution. If anyone would like to suggest some other software that's not terribly expensive (preferably around $50, definitely not more than $100), please feel free to comment. As an FYI, Windows Movie maker severely restricts the output quality so that's not an option. Also, I tried using VirtualDub in the past and could never really figure it out :/

Until then, thank you everyone for your support. I'm hoping to bring you some new material soon.

Videos Temporarily Unavailable

Well, folks, it seems as though once again my publishing site of choice has abandoned me. First it was Stage6, which completely shut down in early 2008, which prompted me to create this blog in the first place. Now it's Vuze, which is no longer accepting user-generated content as of December 1, 2009. In fact, it appears that none of my videos are available from Vuze anymore, which is why all my links and embedded previews are now broken. I'm sorry it took me a while to figure out what was going on.

So now I must re-evaluate where I can host my videos. At this point, I may try to go back to Veoh, since a couple of my vids are already there. Or I may explore some other options like BlipTV. If other people know of some good sites that accept very long, HD videos (at least up to 3 hours and 4 GB in size), please leave a comment. One of the things I will miss about Vuze was the Peer-to-Peer aspect which allowed the videos to be downloaded quite rapidly compared to other sites.

I had planned to try to do some recording of new videos over the holidays, but I doubt that will happen now since I have to re-upload all the previous videos. Rest assured, I do plan to continue this project, at least through completion of WotG, even if it means hanging in there after FFXIV comes out. Thank you everyone for you patience and support through this disappointing time.

Oh, and thanks a lot, Vuze; you sure do know how to give people a Merry Christmas.....

Bastok Rank Missions

It's finally here: the video I personally never really wanted to take the time to do, but happens to be what many, many people have been asking for for quite some time. I've also always been a sucker for completeness... 

Even though I started out in Bastok when I first set foot in Vana'diel five years ago, I was largely disappointed with the story and characters overall, and it ended up being the last rank 10 I achieved. To me, it always felt somewhat disjointed, like a haphazard assortment of go here, kill this NM, retrieve that item. To this day I still don't really understand the last mission in relation to the rest of the story; I kind of think maybe it could have just ended after 9-1. In short, these missions lacked cohesion to me, and I guess that's why I never felt all that compelled to record the custscenes. But I will admit, now that it's done, that while I still remain unimpressed with the overall plot, there are some moments that are touching, and some I found quite humorous.

When I recorded the San d'Oria and Windurst missions, I largely omitted the parts having to do with the Shadow Lord and put that in a separate video. However, the Shadow Lord plays a much more integral relation to Galkan history, so I decided to include MOST (though not all) of those scenes in this video. I did still omit the portions of the Magicite missions having to do with Aldo, Verena, and Fickie, and I left out the one sceen with Ajido-Marujido in Castle Oztroja (which conversely was pretty integral to the Windurst plot). On the flip side, I took the liberty to add in a few scenes from the Dark Knight job quest and a small snippet from DRK AF, since these shed a little more light on Gumbah and Zeid.

The Bastok missions cover a wide variety of subjects, but if I had to pick an underlying theme, it would be about the legend of the Talkekeeper, set against a backdrop of racial tension between Humes and Galka.

 

Wings of the Goddess

I am still making my way through FFXI's last full expansion, but the story essentially gives us a glimpse into the history of Crystal War, with a twist.  Things aren't happening the way they're supposed to, and somehow a mysterious cat figures into things.  What is the link between Atomos, emptiness, creation, and the Champions of the Dawn?

Part 1 of the WotG Missions include:
1 - Cavernous Maws
2 - Back to the Beginning
3 - Cait Sith
4 - The Queen of the Dance
5 - While the Cat is Away
6 - A Timeswept Butterfly
7 - Purple, The New Black
8 - In the Name of the Father

Part 2 of the WotG Missions include:
9 - Dancers in Distress
10 - Daughter of a Knight
11 - A Spoonful of Sugar
12 - Affairs of State
13 - Borne by the Wind
14 - A Nation on the Brink
15 - Crossroads of Time

Part 3 of the WotG Missions include:
16 - Sandswept Memories
17 - Northland Exposure
18 - Traitor in the Midst
19 - Betrayal at Beaucedine
20 - On Thin Ice
21 - Proof of Valor
22 - A Sanguinary Prelude
23 - Dungeons and Dancers
24 - Distorter of Time
25 - The Will of the World
26 - Fate in Haze

Part 4 of the WotG Missions will include
27 - The Scent of Battle
28 - Another World
29 - A Hawk in Repose
30 - The Battle of Xarcabard
31 - Prelude to a Storm
32 - Storm's Crescendo
33 - Into the Beast's Maw
34 - The Hunter Ensnared
35 - Flight of the Lion
36 - Fall of the Hawk
37 - Darkness Descends
38 - Adieu, Lilisette
(missions completed; not yet recorded)

Part 5 of the WotG Missions will include
39 - By the Fading Light
40 - Edge of Existence
41 - Her Memories
42 - Forget Me Not
43 - Pillar of Hope
44 - Glimmer of Life
45 - Time Slips Away
46 - When Wills Collide
47 - Whispers of Dawn
48 - A Dreamy Interlude
49 - Cait in the Woods
50 - Fork in the Road
51 - Maiden of the Dusk
52 - Where It All Began
53 - A Token of Troth
54 - Lest We Forget
(missions completed; not yet recorded)


WoTG Quests:

In addition to the mainline missions, each nation has it's own independent storyline, which I have recorded separately.

Bastok

Political strife between the Galka and Humes are at an all time high, and now the murder of an official only aggravates matters.  See the relationship between friends Werei and Gumbah, and the rivalry between Volker and Zeid.

Part 1: Quests in this video include
1 - The Fighting Fourth
2 - Better Part of Valor
3 - Fires of Discontent
4 - Light in the Darkness
5 - Burden of Suspicion

Part 2: Quests in this video include
6 - Storm on the Horizon
7 - Fire in the Hole

Part 3: Quests in this video include
8 - Quelling the Storm
9 - Honor Under Fire

Part 4: Quests in this video will include
10 - Beneath the Mask
11 - What Price Loyalty
(quests completed; not yet recorded)

Part 5: Quests in this video will include
12 - The Truth Lies Hid
13 - Bonds of Mythril
(quests completed; not yet recorded)


San d'Oria

This story features the adventures of the Young Giffons, a group of rambunctious kids unsatisfied with the way adults handle affairs of war. What does the future hold for Excenmille and Rahal?

Part 1: Quests in this video include
1 - Steamed Rams
2 - Gifts of the Griffon
3 - Claws of the Griffon
4 - Boy and the Beast
5 - Wrath of the Griffon

Part 2: Quests in this video include
6 - Perils of the Griffon
7 - In a Haze of Glory

Part 3: Quests in this video include
8 - The Price of Valor
9 - Bonds That Never Die

Part 4: Quests in this video include
10 - Songbirds in a Snowstorm
11 - Blood of Heroes

Part 5: Quests in this video will include
12 - Chasing Shadows
13 - Face of the Future
(quests completed; not yet recorded)

Also, by special request, here is a short clip featuring Excenmille's Dynamic Entry from Wrath of the Griffon:

 Windurst

The Yagudo will stop at nothing to destroy the  Tarutaru, but all efforts to prevent disaster are being lead by the Warlock Warlord, with the help of the Ministers,  Mithra Mercenaries, a young Ajido-Marujido, and... a Mithra male?!?

Part 1: Quests in this video include
1 - Snake on the Plains
2 - The Tigress Stirs
3 - The Tigress Strikes
4 - Knot Quite There
5 - A Manifest Problem

Part 2: Quests in this video include
6 - When One Man is Not Enough
7 - A Feast for Gnats

Part 3: Quests in this video include
8 - The Long March North
9 - The Forbidden Path

Part 4: Quests in this video will include
10 - Sins of the Mothers
11 - Howl from the Heavens

Part 5: Quests in this video will include
12 - Manifest Destiny
13 - At Journey's End
(quests completed; not yet recorded)


For ease of reference and to keep them all in one location, as new missions and quests are released, I will edit this post and add them here, but I'll make sure to make an update post as well.