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FFXI Update coming early October

[Final Fantasy XI] From the wise sages at SquareEnix:

The FINAL FANTASY XI development team is currently working on the next version update! Adventurers can expect additions to the Fellowship system, new areas, and several other changes. Details will be posted to the Topics section as soon as they are released, so keep checking back for more information! The version update will take place in early October.

More NPC quests, though not that appealing to me, seem to make the player base quite happy. The other changes so far seem to be only slight modifications. There is nothing that is standing out as any huge difference so far, but in the last patch they announced a radical changing of the ranger job just days before the update was released. So we shall see.

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Promyvions: The gateway to the expansion.

[Final Fantasy XI] The Promyvions (Promy’s for short) are the first set of quests to get through to open some of the new areas that were introduced in the Chains of Promathia expansion. An expansion that was introduced 9 months ago.

I would just like to know what has caused people to think that the promy’s are difficult? Last night, I led a group to beat Holla (my third successful run) which is thought to be the most difficult Promy. The party was war/nin, war/nin, sam/war, drg/war, blm/whm, whm/blm. This is a basic xp party for lvl 30. No smn, no rng. Oh, and we broke the server record for Holla.

The really sad thing to me was that of the people that I was taking through the promys one person had failed Holla 4 times, and one person had failed Mea 4 times and Dem 4 times… I mean, come on, Dem? The Dem bosses special attack is “Makes silly faces!”

Do people just not know that animas make the run incredibly easy? Do people not have strategies for the bosses? Do they not come prepared?

I mean the lack of understanding extends outside the bosses also, some people think that the mobs on the final level of the promys are some undefeatable foes, when in fact they are only T-IT mobs that you would be leveling on if you were in an xp party.

Any insight into this would be appreciated.

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Yes, I have gone off the deep end.

If you are a practioner of the nerdly arts (I just recent received the rank of Grand Poobah Nerd from my local lodge) then you will appreciate this: Ninja Radio.

The intermingling of anime, J-pop and video game themes is so beautifully cobbled together into a play list that I believe I experienced an autoerotic nerdgasm.

Initial D 4th Stage theme FTW!

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3.5 million subscribers can’t be wrong… can they?

[World of Warcraft] I pose a question to our readers. A simple question that I will use as the basis of my next post.

What is different about WoW that has caused it to get so many subscribers?

A plain question, but one that has many answers. 3.5 million subscribers is more than any MMO ever. What about WoW has caused this explosion? Is it sustainable? Was the MMO market truely such an untapped resource? Are we the new Korea (including the millions of players dying in front of their computers after 60 hour marthon sessions)?

Thanks ahead of time for you input, and I can’t wait to tell you how wrong you all are! ^^

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Cut scenes, cut scenes, cut scenes!

[Final Fantasy XI, World of Warcraft] This is my mantra. Yes, I am going on to bash World of Warcraft again. Well maybe not bash, but point out why it is not all what it is cracked up to be. Last night, I completed Rank Mission 5-2 in Final Fantasy XI. Rank Mission 5-2 was the last mission of the original release of Final Fantasy, and is the beginning of the first expansion. After completing the battle at the end of Rank Mission 5-2 I was treated to near a half hour of amazing cut scenes. I can’t really describe just how epic they make the game feel, and just how involved they make the player feel within the online world.

Sadly, WoW has none of this. There is nothing beside the scratching of a quill to make you feel involved in the world, to make you feel that you are not just a part of the world but also have some impact on the world. Now I have heard that Blizzard is working on cutscenes to be introduced in the expansion, but I dont understand why they are not in the original version. Another example of a rushed product that shouldn’t have been on the market for another 6 months to a year.

FFXI should have set the standard for MMO’s by using cutscenes. Truthfully, I do not know if another game used cutscenes before FFXI but the level of detail and writing involved in the cutscenes in FFXI are just amazing. They are so vivid and deep as to make you feel like you are actually playing a game in the Final Fantasy series rather than just a break off MMO that stole the name. Why other games, especially a game like WoW that was developed to eliminate the weak points and emulate the strong points of other MMO’s, didn’t pick up on this is beyond me. Maybe the cutscenes are too far into the FFXI for other developers to grasp the importance of them, maybe they were deemed unnecessary for a game built around the ADHD generation, but in the end WoW is less of a game for it.

So to Blizzard: get working on some cutscenes. From what I understand, Blizzard used them in most of the Warcraft games before this one. Why stop now? Why stop with your biggest creation yet?

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Why I dont play WoW… with any regularity.

[World of Warcraft] Well I have been busy. You know how it is, playing day in, day out. Well, just recently there was an 18 hour downtime for physical server maintence to the Final Fantasy XI servers. These happen about 3 times a year and since I knew it was coming I was planning to play WoW for a little while. I should have just read my new Harry Potter book…

In the time that I was playing, I would say about 3 hours, the game crashed out to the desktop two times, and the freaking server went down! Just my server… How often does crap like this happen? I mean the game crashes to the desktop with some regularity, so the software appears to be a little unstable. But how can just one server crash? Not all the servers but just one! If this is something that happens as often as I hear how do people play this game?

Maybe it was a bad day, but with Blizzard’s track record on “stability,” I dont think that is likely. Blizzard needs to stop giving empty promises of what is coming and get some people working on the “stability” thing. Every time they add something new the game becomes less stable. I mean have you ever stopped to read the patch notes for most items? Its not new things they are adding, its all fixes. Why release a game that has so many problems?

I understand that a company as big as Blizzard can have people working on content AND stability. This is not what I am talking about. I am talking about the stability of the new content. Any time new content is released the next three patches are fixes for the new content. If they had just kept the content for those three weeks and fixed it on the test servers then I would be a happy lad.

No more empty promises. Test your crap before you release it! Know what the issues are before you dump them on the players base. Everything with Blizzard is “rush it to the public, it doesn’t matter if it works, the hype machine solves all ills!”

Oh and my guess is that you are not going to see an expansion anytime soon OR you are going to get an expansion but you wont want it… neither of these are good options.

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Oh come on…

[Final Fantasy XI] Ok, seriously, I am still holding back all comments, and its not like this is some major change, but COME ON, I DONT NEED TO KNOW EVERY LITTLE DETAIL HANDED OUT LIKE CHRUMBS TO A BEGGER! Ummm… yeah, deep breath time.

Just release the update information already.

Ticket to Japan: $1000
Two nights in seedy Japanese motel: $2
Enough Saki to kill the pain: $5
Killing the teasing idiot that writes these update updates: Priceless

Simpler Title Selection and a New NPC Fortuneteller!

The next version update will introduce changes to the character title selection system and reveal a new NPC fortuneteller.

New Character Title Selection System
-Currently, when using the services of an NPC bard to change your title, you must pay gil to receive a list of earned titles that you can select from. However, in the next version update, you may see your list of titles without paying. It will still cost gil to change your title, but the price will be lowered.

-After altering your character’s title, the surrounding adventurers will be notified by a /say message announcing the change.

-Players will now have the option to have one of their titles selected randomly for free once each day (Earth time).

New NPC Fortuneteller
-A new NPC will tell the player’s fortune regarding character titles and other “elements.”

Keep checking this site for the newest information regarding the version update in mid-July!

Ripped from the dead cold grip of some idiot SE programmer at the FINAL FANTASY XI Development Team webpage.

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What?

[Final Fantasy XI]

Introducing the Fellowship Quest

The Fellowship Quest will be added in the next version update. After completing the quest, you will receive an item that will allow you to call an NPC to come to your aid!

Adventure together, defeat fearsome monsters together, and gain experience together! That’s right–your NPC friend can also gain experience and level up alongside you! After you’ve fought a few battles together, your ally might show up wearing new gear the next time you call for it! This new feature will open up the excitement of Vana’diel like never before!

The next version update coming in mid-July is full of new adventures and features designed to maximize your enjoyment in Vana’diel. Keep your eyes peeled for more information!

FINAL FANTASY XI Development Team (7/11/2005)

Wow, I dont know what to make of all these changes…

Are they trying to make the game like Guild Wars? Hired NPC’s? I find this troubling as it could radically unbalance the party system…

Plundered from the FINAL FANTASY XI Development Team webpage.

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So release the update already…

[Final Fantasy XI] So more update information, this time it deals with tweaks to experience in level capped areas and the experience you get from lower conning mobs. I am not even going to go into this stuff until the update is released…

Changes to Experience Acquisition

The next version update will bring the following changes:

-Chain Bonuses in Level-Restricted Areas
Currently, when fighting in level-restricted Chains of Promathia areas, EXP chain bonuses are determined by a player’s actual level. However, after the version update, bonuses will be determined by the player’s level within the area. This means adventurers will soon be able to earn extra EXP by defeating multiple enemies that are “even match” or higher, just as if the player was fighting in a regular area.

-Slight Adjustments in Experience Acquisition
The player will soon be able to earn experience from monsters of a slightly wider level range than previously possible. As a result, experience points earned by defeating “decent challenge” and “easy prey” monsters will slightly increase.

Check the FINAL FANTASY XI main page for more information as it is released!

FINAL FANTASY XI Development Team (7/7/2005)

Rogued from the FINAL FANTASY XI Development Team webpage.

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FFXI PvP News.

[Final Fantasy XI] In a move to placate, well, I have no idea who they are placating with this one, Square Enix is further revamping Ballista for Final Fantasy XI. This along with the rest of the news so far seems to indicate that there is alot coming in the next update. I am going to reserve comment on the update until all of the information is released (not because I am wholistic or anything, just basically because I am lazy).

Here is the info:

Upcoming Changes to Ballista Rules

In mid-July, Ballista will undergo a series of rule alterations and additions.

-If one side of an official match is low on members, entry into that force will be possible even if a match is already underway. In this case, experience may still be gained if certain conditions are met, just as if the player had entered the match from the start.

-In the past, special rules have been adapted for Ballista matches. These include a special rule that adjusts the location of the two camps when the number of participants in a match is less than 40, and reduces the number of Rooks to two when there is a significant difference in the number of players on each side. Another rule allows each player to receive experience points for participating in an official match. Following the version update, these two methods of play will lose their status as special rules and become the norm for Ballista matches.

-The current system of “Open Entry” for official matches, in which all adventurers are allowed to join the force with the smallest number of participants, will be done away with and replaced by a system called “Temporary Entry,” in which players may join a force regardless of allegiance. However, the player’s entry will be temporary, and similar to Diorama Abdhaljs-Ghelsba’s “Auto-Balance” feature, the players may be redistributed for balance when the match begins.

-In Ru’Lude Gardens, the player will be able to view Diorama Abdhaljs-Ghelsba’s reservation status.

-The player will no longer be able to adjust Petra selection settings in Diorama Abdhaljs-Ghelsba, but when in possession of the new key item “Ballista Band,” the player will be given the option of what to do with the first Petra quarried in Diorama Abdhaljs-Ghelsba and official Ballista matches. *The Ballista Band may not be used during Ballista Royale.

The FINAL FANTASY XI main page is frequently updated with news regarding mid-July’s version update. Please check often for more exciting information!

FINAL FANTASY XI Development Team (7/4/2005)

Illgottenly gained from the FINAL FANTASY XI Development Team webpage.

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