The FINAL FANTASY XI Team Answers Your Questions! (02/04/2011)

[Priran]

What I hated about x was that the pieces were incredible marginal increases.

where x is any event introduced between sky and abyssea

[Guitarman]

hoping these changes are down the road, if any of the gear will make abyssea stuff obsolete. Having usukane body +1 beat tantra body+2 a mere 2 months after heroes released will piss me off to no end. I'm fine with gear changing, just not in such an incredibly short timespan. However, i'm more than happy to see if I get homam+1.

[Michelob]

Well, technically yes, but for both of these upgrades, completely new events were created in order to offer their drops, and they are not trial-related.

Where does it say that salvage upgrades will be trial-related? I believe the Q&A explicitly says some upgrades will be magian-trial related while others will not.

As it stands, any "newfound" interest in Salvage is going to be in the form of mindless "kill 100 Poroggo Madames" trials in an effort to upgrade individual pieces of Salvage gear that will still likely be cockblocked by a five-trial limit maximum, which won't really revitalize Salvage or Alexandrite availability.

As what stands? It is entirely just as likely that they add 4 new salvage zones that drop -1 pieces that you take to the same old salvage upgrade guy in order to make +1s. The idea is still brilliant (as was artifact and relic upgrades) because it still keeps the old content semi-relevant, you know, you would have to get the base item first.

My statement still stands, if you honestly thought that salvage upgrades weren't coming by 99 then you were simply being naive.

[Francisco]

if you honestly thought that salvage upgrades weren't coming by 99 then you were simply being naive.

Except if this announcement wasn't made, and level 99 was on the way - everyone would be saying:

if you honestly thought that salvage upgrades were coming then you were simply being naive

Pretty sure 90% of the population had written off Salvage gear as ever getting an upgrade prior to this announcement.

[SephYuyX]

I got myself an Armada Hauberk after putting alot of work just getting the abjuration. That was a week before the update setting the level cap for 80 and thats when i quit... hopefully this will give me a reason to come back.

No offense, but I dont think anyone cares about seeing that 7+ year gear around anymore. If it was only year old gear I could see about being pissed, hell I dont think people who got salavge gear have the right to be pissed, but when it's almost 8 years old no one is going to care about that gear. I dont rememeber the last time Ive heard the name or have seen a ridill, and I think everyone is fine with that.

[SephYuyX]

As an aside, anyone whose been working on acquiring or upgrading gear since the first level patch last year and two or maybe three patches after we get 99 is probably just wasting their time, effort, and gil. Will some of the AF3+2 peices be decent at 99? Probably. Will some of the other gear be good too? Probably. But a lot of it will just get replaced this coming update, and the ~5 other big patches this year. The 90 patch replaced a lot of the new 85 gear, etc. Obviously if FFXI is the only thing you do, and you have nothing else to do, knock yourself out; but for most people now a days who are more casual, and the few times a week they log in, theyre probably just wasting time.

Then again that all goes back to the "OMG I MUST BE THE BEST RIGHT NOW" mentality, and cant wait for things to settle down a bit after we hit 99.

[Michelob]

Pretty sure 90% of the population had written off Salvage gear as ever getting an upgrade prior to this announcement.

I highly doubt that 90% of the people did not think that salvage gear would ever be upgraded. I never doubted it, as well as many people that I know. It just makes sense from a business standpoint.

That, or they intentionally put it off because it serves to string us along with minimal additional content. We got boatloads of stuff to pursue out of relatively few zones with Abyssea, and now they can turn around and create a whole new thing to grind. If there were multiple paths to pick last year, we'd have done whatever had the best end result, skipping the rest. Great for players, not so great for developers trying to keep us paying our subscription fees.

Ding ding, we have a winner!

The only reason that we didn't hear about salvage gear upgrades prior to this is because they probably wouldn't have gotten $30 from every player when they found out that the gear they get from abyssea was going to become irrelevant by 99.I'd put my money on most (not all) of the abyssea gear being outdated (or possibly further upgraded) by 99 anyways. Do you really think that all the gear you'll be wearing at level 99 will be 80-90? I'm not trying to say that salvage gear will be the end-all be-all gear but I knew it was coming.

Edit: SephYuyX kinda beat me to it!

[Charismatic]

I think many people felt they would do it when they announced trials of the magian, figuring they'd extend it to old armor sets but since it had been so long with no word, many people probably gave up on the idea. Either way you thought of it, there was some sense behind it.

[ccf]

I think many people felt they would do it when they announced trials of the magian, figuring they'd extend it to old armor sets but since it had been so long with no word, many people probably gave up on the idea. Either way you thought of it, there was some sense behind it.

This sums it all.

I really hope SE think it through with these upgrades. Salvage in its current condition probably works , so does nyzul, but if they are going to make us go through limbus/einherjar/sea/sky, the repop on NMs + how far apart we can redo the event better be reduced.

Expectations have drastically change with abyssea and WoE being accessible at all times, while the old events all suffer from being a huge time sink and too little reward vs time spent to get them.

[Francisco]

I highly doubt that 90% of the people did not think that salvage gear would ever be upgraded. I never doubted it, as well as many people that I know. It just makes sense from a business standpoint.

Basically what Kuro said. When Magians first came out, I expected Salvage gear to be upgraded. By the time the level cap was 85, I was skeptical. With the most recent update - I kinda wrote it off as "it'll never happen" - but didn't care by that point... I think most people felt the same.

[Celebrindor]

As an aside, anyone whose been working on acquiring or upgrading gear since the first level patch last year and two or maybe three patches after we get 99 is probably just wasting their time, effort, and gil. Will some of the AF3+2 peices be decent at 99? Probably. Will some of the other gear be good too? Probably. But a lot of it will just get replaced this coming update, and the ~5 other big patches this year. The 90 patch replaced a lot of the new 85 gear, etc. Obviously if FFXI is the only thing you do, and you have nothing else to do, knock yourself out; but for most people now a days who are more casual, and the few times a week they log in, theyre probably just wasting time.

Then again that all goes back to the "OMG I MUST BE THE BEST RIGHT NOW" mentality, and cant wait for things to settle down a bit after we hit 99.

Man, if you'll always feel like you're wasting time doing gear/content because "something better will come along", I do feel bad for ya.

Not to mention after all the bitching that "Zilart Gear still is the best gear after how many years" that many people did, now people bitch about gear being topped on a regular basis? Can't have it both ways. Enjoy the content as its released. Not to mention I'm fairly confident that many of the slots will remain tops when it comes to the Empyrean Armor sets. As I stated before, and I still firmly believe it, the artifact sets were never the penultimate sets for their respective jobs, at least when it comes to multipurpose pieces. Good examples being that I still use my BLM af1 legs for dark magic considering you can't get more +dark skill in that slot. True, when I get portent pants I'll stop carrying them, but not because they're better for THAT purpose, they're inventory +1.

I would think people should just enjoy the content as its released, and if something better comes along, then it just gives you something new to do. Or maybe appreciate the fact that as we all get more endgame jobs that we have multiple options for gearing them instead of grinding the same content over and over to gear up all jobs with emp. +2's.

[Kalasin]

Man, if you'll always feel like you're wasting time doing gear/content because "something better will come along", I do feel bad for ya.

Not to mention after all the bitching that "Zilart Gear still is the best gear after how many years" that many people did, now people bitch about gear being topped on a regular basis? Can't have it both ways. Enjoy the content as its released. Not to mention I'm fairly confident that many of the slots will remain tops when it comes to the Empyrean Armor sets. As I stated before, and I still firmly believe it, the artifact sets were never the penultimate sets for their respective jobs, at least when it comes to multipurpose pieces. Good examples being that I still use my BLM af1 legs for dark magic considering you can't get more +dark skill in that slot. True, when I get portent pants I'll stop carrying them, but not because they're better for THAT purpose, they're inventory +1.

I would think people should just enjoy the content as its released, and if something better comes along, then it just gives you something new to do. Or maybe appreciate the fact that as we all get more endgame jobs that we have multiple options for gearing them instead of grinding the same content over and over to gear up all jobs with emp. +2's.

This so many times.

If you have fun playing the game (which should be the reason you play), then you are having fun to see new gear for your jobs, even if it makes your old gear "outdated" or less useful. It will not get useless, if it was good before, it's still good. Not the best anymore, but still good. Ebody for example has other options, but it's far from useless depending on set. Most people get a bit mad to see gear they worked hard for go from the top to just being another option to use, but you don't quit over that.
If you worked so hard for something that you quit cause of it when it becomes an option rather than "the best", you did something completely wrong.

Basically what I'm saying: If you get mad or upset over SE creating new gear that may beat old gear, you're on the wrong game or playing too much.

[orson]

I highly doubt that 90% of the people did not think that salvage gear would ever be upgraded. I never doubted it, as well as many people that I know. It just makes sense from a business standpoint.

I think at least 90% of players after Heroes release were so happy with the idea of non-stressful and relatively fast ways of acquiring gear they could care less whether or not Salvage gear could be upgraded. Most people like sporting new gear as opposed stuff that's 5-6 years old. Sure there's a lot of nostalgia attached to the gear but almost no one was complaining that new gear with new models were being released (even if they are reskins.) The only people who were pissed were people that felt like they had "completed" their job/character and most of these people were perfectly happy to see the game stagnate while they slowly worked to max out relics or mythics.

Ding ding, we have a winner!

The only reason that we didn't hear about salvage gear upgrades prior to this is because they probably wouldn't have gotten $30 from every player when they found out that the gear they get from abyssea was going to become irrelevant by 99.I'd put my money on most (not all) of the abyssea gear being outdated (or possibly further upgraded) by 99 anyways. Do you really think that all the gear you'll be wearing at level 99 will be 80-90? I'm not trying to say that salvage gear will be the end-all be-all gear but I knew it was coming.

Edit: SephYuyX kinda beat me to it!

I some how doubt that Salvage armor is going to be significantly better than current +2 AF3 especially since they'll probably add additional upgrades to AF3. Again most people like new models of gear if SE is going to hamstring progression again by making old model gear the best again it's just stupid. Mostly though you're stupid if you think saying "we'll be upgrading salvage gear," would have stopped people from buying Abyssea. The content in Abyssea is a blast, being able to get on the game and at your own leisure go get something done with a small group is exactly what the majority of players have wanted for years.

If you don't like the fact that your gear will eventually be replaced you just shouldn't play MMOs.

[LinktheDeme]

As an aside, anyone whose been working on acquiring or upgrading gear since the first level patch last year and two or maybe three patches after we get 99 is probably just wasting their time, effort, and gil. Will some of the AF3+2 peices be decent at 99? Probably. Will some of the other gear be good too? Probably. But a lot of it will just get replaced this coming update, and the ~5 other big patches this year. The 90 patch replaced a lot of the new 85 gear, etc. Obviously if FFXI is the only thing you do, and you have nothing else to do, knock yourself out; but for most people now a days who are more casual, and the few times a week they log in, theyre probably just wasting time.

Then again that all goes back to the "OMG I MUST BE THE BEST RIGHT NOW" mentality, and cant wait for things to settle down a bit after we hit 99.

Every video game is a "waste of time", its whether or not you are having fun in the moment and enjoy the rewards. Or you can take the elitest approach and need to be the only one(or first one) with the best of everything at each patch ;o

[ringthree]

Just posting to say that I'm quite enjoying these "Answer your Questions" snips, hope this is a permanent trend for both XI/XIV and not just a 'for the time being' thing. I'm actually starting to like what they're planning for the MMO now (revisiting older content and making it more approachable).

Tell me about it. Too bad it took them fucking up a multi million dollar project (FFXIV) for them to finally realize that communicating with their player base is incredibly vital to their game development.

[Hyan]

Yeah, last year as so shitty when they didn't communicate the way they do now. Hopefully they've learned from the travesty that is Abyssea that fluff like this is crucial.

(Actually, more like fluff like this is crucial when they need to lower the budget and keep the playerbase in check somehow. Would have been a good idea to have for 2008-2009).

[ringthree]

Then again that all goes back to the "OMG I MUST BE THE BEST RIGHT NOW" mentality, and cant wait for things to settle down a bit after we hit 99.

You mean like the motivation of most end-game players? You are basically saying that everyone should just unsub until the 99 cap. Which by your logic is dumb because new gear will come after that too...

[ringthree]

Yeah, last year as so shitty when they didn't communicate the way they do now. Hopefully they've learned from the travesty that is Abyssea that fluff like this is crucial.

(Actually, more like fluff like this is crucial when they need to lower the budget and keep the playerbase in check somehow. Would have been a good idea to have for 2008-2009).

Actually, I believe the player response to 2008-2009 was unsubbing and bitching. Yes, Abyssea came without much communication, but the players were talking to SE in other ways. SE just wasn't responding until last April.

[Hyan]

Which is why the game needed some communicashun during that time. The effort vs. reward for doing that sort of thing would have been amazing when most of your budget is going towards the successor but you don't want the playerbase to unsub. For this round they seem to have learned the value of the fluff.

Abyssea on the other hand didn't really need that sort of thing. Enough substantial updates were released to keep the players happy.. that's all they needed to do. "Incredibly vital"? Only when they don't have what it takes to release enough updates.

[Taruking]

I'm curious about the actual size of current FFXI playerbase. Haven't checked this site for a while but there seems to be a sharp drop in number of BG posts.

I don't really see abyssea expansion as a complete success. It has failed to prevent players from leaving the game or to bring back those who left. Significant number of players left for FFXIV when it's first launched yet they are not returing to FFXI even after XIV flopped dismally.

Making old gear/events obsolete works if you are targeting a big group of casual players with constant influx of new subscriptions. Contents that offer better reward for less time/effort get boring fast, and need to be replaced on regular basis. I'm not surprised SE is trying to revive old events, seeing that the game is not attracting any new blood and existing subscriptions are not going to meet the cost of developing new expansion. Their best bet now is to try to prevent old players from leaving the game and to bring back those who quit the game before abyssea expansions.