The FINAL FANTASY XI Team Answers Your Questions! (01/28/2011)

[6souls]

The FINAL FANTASY XI community is ever abuzz with discussion on in-game content. The development and operations teams would like to take this opportunity to address some of our fans' most pressing questions and concerns.

Q: At present, there is a significant gap between experience point yield in Abyssea as compared to all other areas. Furthermore, skill growth often lags behind level gain. Will this imbalance be addressed?

A: Yes. The minor patch scheduled for mid-February will usher in an experience boost for non-Abyssea areas, as well as relaxed skill improvement conditions.

Q: It was previously announced that the drop rates for Wieldance Cards will be increased, but the rates for other items dropped by the NMs Apademak and Dragua also seem excessively low. Will these be addressed as well?

A: Yes. Along with addressing the issue that was causing low drop rates for Wieldance Cards, we will be implementing other balance adjustments in the February update. This will include increased drop rates for other items obtainable from the enemies mentioned above.

Q: Can you share any information on plans for new armor and equipment?

A: While we cannot reveal specific details or promise a specific implementation date at this time, we can say that we hope to respond to players' enthusiastic wishes for new subligaria at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Q: Are there any plans to adjust the method for obtaining Empyrean Armor upgrade items?

A: We have received a wide range of feedback regarding these items. In particular, we understand players' concerns that the random nature of acquisition makes it difficult to obtain one's desired seals, that seals for feet and certain jobs' body armor are harder to obtain than others, and so forth. While the potential game balance repercussions of this issue make it unfortunately impossible to make any promises at this time, rest assured that we will continue to listen closely to your feedback as we consider potential adjustments for the future.

Q: What exactly is the effect of the "Enhances Addendum: White/Black" bonuses granted by the Scholar armor "Savant Gown +1/+2"?

A: We hope players will figure this out for themselves by experimenting in game, but one hint we can give is that they will provide a bonus related in some way to enmity.

Q: I'm always running out of lines in my macros. Will this be addressed in any way?

A: While there currently no plans to increase the maximum number of macro lines, we will be implementing a change in the February mini-patch that will allow "/wait" to be placed on the same line as the previous command. This should allow for greater flexibility in macro creation.

Q: There have been no updates to the auto-translate dictionary recently. Can we expect any terms to be added in the future?

A: PlayStation 2 memory limitations have placed us in a difficult situation where the addition of new terms to the auto-translate dictionary would require the deletion of existing entries. Given this, there are no current plans to add new terms, and we ask for your patience and understanding as we consider all possibilities. In a related matter, we are looking into updating the glossary contained in the Play Guide available on the official web site.

Q: Has there been any progress in resolving the insufficient hard disk space issues that have caused errors for some PlayStation 2 users when installing version updates?

A: Up until now, the installation process has been conducted by downloading all the new files in one batch before the old files were deleted, requiring temporary HDD space equivalent to roughly two times the size of the patch itself. Starting from the February minor update, the installer program will be updated to download and delete files individually, significantly reducing the required space. This update will be applied to the Xbox 360 version as well.

http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...66/detail.html

[shepardG]

Gdi, abandon the ps2 already..

On the real, this stuff is awesome.

[seiji]

players' enthusiastic wishes for new subligaria"

? really?

[drwaffles]

Gdi, abandon the ps2 already..

On the real, this stuff is awesome.

I don't really see what's awesome, the positive stuff posted here we knew about anyway. They're not addressing the real issue regarding low-level exp, their response to questions about new equipment was "LOL SUBLIGARS", they basically said they're not doing jack shit about AF3 upgrades (not that anyone should care) and they're essentially acknowledging the fact that the PS2 is fast becoming the last nail in the coffin of development of genuinely new FFXI content. It's been almost a decade, I can't see them dropping the PS2 at this point.

[Taube]

FFXIV was their plan for getting rid of PS2. Didn't go so well now did it...

[Julian]

? really?

Since they only read the JP twitter, yeah, JPs are crazy for subligars.

[ringthree]

I don't really see what's awesome, the positive stuff posted here we knew about anyway. They're not addressing the real issue regarding low-level exp, their response to questions about new equipment was "LOL SUBLIGARS", they basically said they're not doing jack shit about AF3 upgrades (not that anyone should care) and they're essentially acknowledging the fact that the PS2 is fast becoming the last nail in the coffin of development of genuinely new FFXI content. It's been almost a decade, I can't see them dropping the PS2 at this point.

Holy shit, what the fuck are you talking about?

Yes, the positive things were posted on the Tweeter, but they weren't posted on the website. This is just another collection of the twitter questions, nothing more.

They specifically said they are dealing with exp outside of Abyssea, and way more importantly, skill ups.

While they did joke about Subligars, the twitter posts and the Q&A obviously show they know that people want more equipment.

Finally, your PS2 comment shows you aren't even reading past the first line. They said they are fixing the way the download happens, and that there really is a lot of space for the game on the HDD. If you are just bitching about PS2 limitations, then you are just whining at this point.

[Apelila]

If wanting galka panties is wrong I don't wanna be right.

[Trigun]

How many new users do you think SE would get if they offered downloads of FFXI on PS3 and 360 stores/markets?

[Not Kuno]

How about they add new translations and if a player on ps2 see it, it just translates into "buy a fucking computer".

[Acorn]

How about they add new translations and if a player on ps2 see it, it just translates into "buy a fucking computer".

I love this idea

[drwaffles]

They specifically said they are dealing with exp outside of Abyssea, and way more importantly, skill ups.

My point was that trying to address that issue by focusing on the exp outside as opposed to the exp inside is completely fruitless. People aren't going to start exping outside instead of leeching just because they upped exp/mob and removed the FoV cooldown. They'll only opt for it if it's equal to or better than leeching, which would require massive overhauls of the outside exp system; can you think of a practical fix that would allow people to exp from 30 to 90 in two days outside of Abyssea? No. The only way to get people to stop leeching is by nerfing leeching itself, or raising the level cap to enter Abyssea to 75.

Let me make it clear that I have absolutely no kind of moral objection to Abyssea leeching (I've done it numerous times myself), but that doesn't mean I don't wish that it and, by extension, SMN burning (which I also spent a lot of my time doing) had never been part of the game.

Finally, your PS2 comment shows you aren't even reading past the first line. They said they are fixing the way the download happens, and that there really is a lot of space for the game on the HDD. If you are just bitching about PS2 limitations, then you are just whining at this point.

They never said there was a lot of space. The fact that they're having to change the way patches download because the HDD doesn't have enough room to temporarily store the new data whilst the old data is deleted is clearly indicative of there not being a lot of space left, I don't know how you can possibly argue the reverse.

[Divinius]

How about they add new translations and if a player on ps2 see it, it just translates into "buy a fucking computer".

I support this idea!

Seriously, many of the ideas in the past that have been shot down due to "PS2 limitations" could have been introduced anyway, just for the PC version (and higher level consoles) only. But SE refuses to do that because of the perception of "unfairness" to PS2 users. I think they are just shooting themselves in the foot with this mentality. If SE starts to take the stance that "we'll still support the PS2, but you aren't going to get all the features that PC users do", that accomplishes a dual goal of getting PC users the features they want, and adding another incentive for PS2 users to move away from their long obsolete platform.

[ringthree]

My point was that trying to address that issue by focusing on the exp outside as opposed to the exp inside is completely fruitless. People aren't going to start exping outside instead of leeching just because they upped exp/mob and removed the FoV cooldown. They'll only opt for it if it's equal to or better than leeching, which would require massive overhauls of the outside exp system; can you think of a practical fix that would allow people to exp from 30 to 90 in two days outside of Abyssea? No. The only way to get people to stop leeching is by nerfing leeching itself, or raising the level cap to enter Abyssea to 75.

Let me make it clear that I have absolutely no kind of moral objection to Abyssea leeching (I've done it numerous times myself), but that doesn't mean I don't wish that it and, by extension, SMN burning (which I also spent a lot of my time doing) had never been part of the game.

Oh, you are one of those people. Look, everyone but a vocal few realize that the Abyssea XP system is about a million times better than grinding for weeks in the "real world". The game has changed. We needed long, grinding XP sessions back when that was actually part of the end-game. It isn't anymore, that day is gone by and 99% of people are glad to see it go.

They never said there was a lot of space. The fact that they're having to change the way patches download because the HDD doesn't have enough room to temporarily store the new data whilst the old data is deleted is clearly indicative of there not being a lot of space left, I don't know how you can possibly argue the reverse.

Again, I ask if you actually read what they said... They were downloading essentially double of the entire patch. I don't know much about computers and such, but that seems really inefficient to me. I do think that the PS2 is holding back FFXI, but the download question seemed to have a simple answer and you were crying about the sky falling.

[Byrthnoth]

I'm pretty sure he read what they actually said, because he simplified and repeated it.

[Tsuko_Asura]

Speaking of reading, Ring, you should at least try to take in some of what he's saying if you're going to continue to respond to him. I mean, your Abyssea EXP response literally had nothing to do with what he said.

To clear things up,

Waffles: Boosting EXP outside of Abyssea isn't going to do much of anything, as long as leeching is much more effective.

Ring: Bro, game's changing, deal with Abyssea leeching.

[Gwynplaine]

IMO non-abyssea exp doesn't need to (and shouldn't) be at an equal or higher rate. It just needs to be reasonably better than it is now to make you feel like your getting somewhere with your time.

[Charismatic]

IMO non-abyssea exp doesn't need to (and shouldn't) be at an equal or higher rate. It just needs to be reasonably better than it is now to make you feel like your getting somewhere with your time.

For me this is true, for some people... mostly the drwaffles and tsukos of the world, it probably won't be enough.
I don't care if I'm getting things done the fastest, I just care about enjoying myself. Leeching isn't enjoyable, getting slow-as-fuck exp isn't enjoyable either... a middle ground would be just fine.

[dannyl]

Okay, seriously now, what is the population of PC and PS2 users in this game. Has that been mentioned ever ? The PS2 community must be big for something so simple as 'memory limitations' to get in the way of adding new auto-translate words. FFS! ! ! !

[Gergall]

Again, I ask if you actually read what they said... They were downloading essentially double of the entire patch. I don't know much about computers and such, but that seems really inefficient to me.

It's only temporarily inefficient. The extra wasted space was being cleaned up afterwards. SE is simply being more clever about the way it downloads patches in order to squeeze every last drop out the remaining hard drive space.

Here is a silly but fairly good analogy. Suppose you have a room that is almost completely full, wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling with hundreds of red boxes. It is your job to replace some of those red boxes with a newly arrived shipment of blue boxes. It would be physically impossible for you to bring all of the blue boxes into the room first and then remove the red ones. However, you are able to solve the problem by removing red boxes and replacing them with blue ones, one at a time.

Up until recently, there was enough space on the PS2 hard drive for SE to bring all of those blue boxes in first and then remove the red ones. Now, space is so tight that they boxes must be replaced one at a time. The fact that this event has occurred is an indication that hard drive space is becoming very limited.