Aywren's Nook - Gaming and Geek Blog

FFXIV: Introverted Eorzea – My New YouTube Channel

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 22:51:15 +0000

I’ve never been much of a video creator. I’ve always said that I’d stick to blogging, mostly because that’s where my strengths lie and what I’m most comfortable doing. Despite all that, I launched my first real YouTube channel yesterday with a focus on reaching out to help introverted, shy, and socially anxious people who play MMOs (specifically FFXIV).

Nintendo Switch – Wren’s Tomodatchi Life Review

Wed, 20 May 2026 01:25:05 +0000

Tomodatchi Life: Living the Dream was a rather impulsive purchase for me. I didn’t own the original Tomodatchi Life game, but I did have a ton of fun with MiiTopia (which I know isn’t the same, but is slightly related). So, I told myself, if Tomodatchi Life was similar to MiiTopia, I’d probably have a great time with it.

I’m Glad I Stood by FFXIV Through the Down-Trail

Fri, 15 May 2026 20:33:19 +0000

While I’m cautiously optimistic about the future of FFXIV, it’s been a tough time to be a dedicated FFXIV player during the Dawntrail era. I didn’t write a whole lot about my feelings during this past expansion because I don’t like to pile negativity on top of what was already out there. But given the recent change of tone, I feel like now is the right time to come clean.

FFXIV: Patch 7.5 Biggest Quality of Life Features – Opening Up Inventory Space!

Thu, 14 May 2026 23:54:49 +0000

I’ve been playing through FFXIV Patch 7.5 on all my up-to-date characters, as I do. While the newest story is a big move in the right direction, and the latest Fan Fest has ramped up general hype for the game, I wanted to talk about one of the most important perks of this patch, IMHO.

FFXIV: Evercold Announcements, My Thoughts on the Future

Sat, 09 May 2026 18:45:00 +0000

I was present at the 2026 FFXIV NA Fanfestival, so I got to be a part of the crowd that welcomed the announcement of the upcoming changes coming in the next expansion. Overall, I felt like welcomed is a good word for it – there was much folks were excited about and there is much going to change.

FFXIV: Return from FFXIV Fanfest 2026

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 02:19:06 +0000

I just returned from the 2026 FFXIV NA Fanfest that was held in Anaheim last week, and boy was there a LOT revealed there! I won’t get too much into the content of the announcements – I’d rather talk about that in a different post. But I did want to talk a little about the event itself.

FFXIV: Getting Ready for Fanfest 2026!

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 20:19:28 +0000

This time next week, I plan to be out in California and soon heading into the events at the FFXIV Fanfest 2026! Weirdly enough, the last time I went to a FFXIV Fanfest was back in 2016 – I still have the swag bag from it, so that’s how I know. That was almost a decade ago!

Netflix Prices Went Up Again – I Bought a DVD Player Instead

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:26:33 +0000

As of this month, Netflix prices are going up again. The lowest price plan – the one that subjects you to ads – will now be $8.99 plus taxes/fees a month. This probably works out to be 10-ish dollars. Don’t know because I don’t plan on sticking around to find out.

FFXIV: Project Temu Green

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 18:41:06 +0000

Last week, I talked about my new Kip bun character and how I chose not to make my second-best character slot on my account another NPC. That doesn’t mean I’ve completely given up on the idea of having a Dancing Green character, however!

FFXIV: Space Bun Adventures

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 19:21:37 +0000

While I’ve been busy ocean fishing on Amon, I’ve finally come to a conclusion on what to do with his alt character slot that I moved back to Mateus last month. I’ve been very indecisive about it because I’ve been trying to find a personality that fits the feel of the character slot and all that it owns – this is my second-most developed character on my FFXIV account, after all.

FFXIV: Master of the Sea

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 23:05:38 +0000

The Mog Tome event started in FFXIV yesterday and I have been in deep with Ocean Fishing. My goal was to not only earn the tomes I needed for the emerald gwiber mount, but to also reel in some fish in my ocean fishing log and hopefully finish the 1 million point achievement for the minion.

FFXIV: Final Alt of Dawntrail

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 22:57:23 +0000

Today, I made the final push that brought my last Dawntrail-ready alt all the way through FFXIV patch 7.4. This makes the 6th character I’ve completed this run on, and thankfully, I have no other alts that are anywhere near starting Dawntrail. I’m fairly much mentally done re-running this content.

Wayrift – 24 Years of Webcomics

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 21:16:36 +0000

Today is the celebration of the 24th anniversary of Wayrift, our ongoing webcomic. Ten years ago, I wrote a post very much like this on this blog, which you can find here. On that post, I created an image that compared the older art to the art of 14. So, today, I’ve taken that image and created an updated image that adds 2026 next to that.

Update on Quest Calendar 2026: The Souls of Saraku

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 23:33:58 +0000

Back in January, I wrote about playing the solo, DM-less RPG quest calendar for 2026. The theme for this year was an iffy one for me, but after taking a break from the quest calendar in 2025, I decided to back the Kickstarter for this one anyhow. What do I think about it so far?