New or Returning Players Discussion 2: SoA Homeless Veterans Edition

[SteveMc]

Windower4 keep crashing on SoA cutscenes and talking to NPCs locks me to them without being able to cancel, but they don't speak, I'm just stuck there.
Any fix or know what problem I'm having?

Edit: Also all of the NPCs in Adoulin are called stuff like NPC022

Edit2: fixed it, had to do a file check, I don't think SoA installed properly.

[Psylentcuda]

Just snagged the ultimate collection game, question though. I have a character on Quetzalcoatl (Psylentcuda) that I wont be able to access until Monday considering I can't remember all the passwords. I left off during the first Abyssea expansion so I've been gone for 2.5 years. Essentially my questions is this:
How hard is it to get access to the old content? You know the really annoying shit like getting your airship pass, doing limit breaks when your only job is 50/55/etc, completing RotZ/CoP/ToAU mission lines that used to be capped and required a massive alliance of nubs to run through, beating the dynamis cities to get access to the northlands and CoP zones...
Essentially I understand leveling is exceptionally easier, but what kind of time drag, grizzle-face grinding does it take to get a new character back to where my old one was outside of leveling.

[Kaisha]

You know the really annoying shit like getting your airship pass

Still annoying if you want it obtained prior to breaking past lvl50.

doing limit breaks when your only job is 50/55/etc,

Lvl50 cap quest has been made a joke by allowing you to get behind Garlaige gates solo with an easier obtained KI, and you don't have to kill any mobs for the items, they added 3 ???s per zone you can grab them from instead.

55-cap they nerfed the mobs down a bit. They were solo'able at lvl75, now they're just a complete joke. Grab a lvl75+ buddy and have them do it for you. The rest of the cap quests were untouched, but outside of Maat depending on job, nothing poses an annoyance.

completing RotZ/CoP/ToAU mission lines that used to be capped and required a massive alliance of nubs to run through,

Level caps were abolished. I solo'd the majority of RotZ/CoP for my 2box whm without him doing squat while I DD'd away on 90BLU (was the cap at the time). ToA I can't comment on, but I assume the majority of it is solo/duo'able depending on jobs also.

beating the dynamis cities to get access to the northlands and CoP zones...

CoP zones is just CoP story progress, which the point needed for CoP Dynamis is easy due to removed lvl-cap on CoP zone/missions.

Regular Dynamis some jobs can solo bosses at 99, and most can duo. Beaucedine/Xarc might need some more meat though. Can't recall if Angra uses CS-Death on his NQ form.

Essentially I understand leveling is exceptionally easier, but what kind of time drag, grizzle-face grinding does it take to get a new character back to where my old one was outside of leveling.

2 months I'd say if you're playing relatively steady hours a week with no LS assistance. The main cockblocks that'll waste time from the get go will be lack of unlocked transportation options (Airship, Voidwatch warps, Proto-Waypoint, Whitegate warp NPCs, Teleport points, BCNM warps, etc), and the level cap quests hindering XP growth in bookburn allies.

Also the sheer amount of running around for the CoP missions. God, that was not fun doing for my 2box. Would hope to find a casual/social LS with folks who are bored and like flying through old NMs.

[Psylentcuda]

So it seems like the nostalgic part of the game that I missed is all but gone. I enjoyed the social aspect of the game that I've yet to find anywhere else. Even though Land Kings, Dynamis, Limbus, etc were drags there was a type of bond that formed for me in the LS environment. Now it seems like almost everything is done on your own by dual boxing with the exception of 1-2 events that are half-assed anyway. Is that a fair assessment?

[Psylentcuda]

Nub Question #2: It seems like Kindred Seals are in high demand because of the move towards forced spawn land kings. Are they as hard to get as they used to be or is there a "streamlined" process that allows you to farm up 99 every day or so?

[Byrthnoth]

Nub Question #2: It seems like Kindred Seals are in high demand because of the move towards forced spawn land kings. Are they as hard to get as they used to be or is there a "streamlined" process that allows you to farm up 99 every day or so?

Maximum of 1 every 5 minutes (can be reset by zoning, I think?). So basically no.

[Kaisha]

So it seems like the nostalgic part of the game that I missed is all but gone. I enjoyed the social aspect of the game that I've yet to find anywhere else. Even though Land Kings, Dynamis, Limbus, etc were drags there was a type of bond that formed for me in the LS environment. Now it seems like almost everything is done on your own by dual boxing with the exception of 1-2 events that are half-assed anyway. Is that a fair assessment?

Relatively fair assesment. Majority of old content is solo/duoable at lvl99, so naturally the playerbase wants to minmax everything and bring the bare minimum to maximize personal progress, which ends up just being them and their 2box, and a friend (if entry requirements involved, such as Salvage) for the most part.

The most you'll get for a typical 'oldschool' LS environment is an endgame group that rotates Einherjar v2, Legion, Provenance Watcher, and the new Delve content, since they're the only relevant content currently (ones which pugs still fail to clear reliably without my brain frying from user stupidity), while everything prior is just step-up gear (Dynamis AF2+2/Abyssea gear) to better allow you to participate in said content to get better gear.

Nub Question #2: It seems like Kindred Seals are in high demand because of the move towards forced spawn land kings. Are they as hard to get as they used to be or is there a "streamlined" process that allows you to farm up 99 every day or so?

Their drop rate is still locked to a 5min timer. You can exchange 3 of any type of seal (Beastmen Seal, Kindred Seal, Kindred Crest, High Kindred Crest) for one of your choice these days though.

[Fodder]

Nub Question #2: It seems like Kindred Seals are in high demand because of the move towards forced spawn land kings. Are they as hard to get as they used to be or is there a "streamlined" process that allows you to farm up 99 every day or so?

If I recall, you can set yourself up with an alliance with 1 char in each party and get 1 per party every 5 minutes. Unless that was nerfed, that was the max you can do.

[Cairthenn]

If I recall, you can set yourself up with an alliance with 1 char in each party and get 1 per party every 5 minutes. Unless that was nerfed, that was the max you can do.

This still works. 99 KS is really easy, tbh.

[achira]

So it seems like the nostalgic part of the game that I missed is all but gone. I enjoyed the social aspect of the game that I've yet to find anywhere else. Even though Land Kings, Dynamis, Limbus, etc were drags there was a type of bond that formed for me in the LS environment. Now it seems like almost everything is done on your own by dual boxing with the exception of 1-2 events that are half-assed anyway. Is that a fair assessment?

I can relate to this. Back in the first few years after NA release I knew my LS like family- quite literally the names of their kids, etc. I remember the day I had my son (who is now almost seven) they were the first people we called with the news. In comparison, I dual box most of my stuff these days. It is weird to see 1200+ people online at a time but feel like you don't know a single person. I am not sure that feeling goes away.

[Kyreth]

That's the price of content being changed over like it has. FFXI got stabbed in the gut hard by Abyssea being the "farewell" expansion, since apparently it was built to let minimal numbers of people be needed to experience the content.

Now we're in Adoulin and it feels like the current dev team is trying to "reset" the game to a different kind of experience again, lest we just have perpetual dualboxing and the tattered social networking dissolves completely into 1200 characters, 600 players, and zero communication.

[Tarage]

I looked at the guide but I didn't see anything about this, but I might be blind.

I took a break before SoA came out and now have no idea how these new guild things work. I have not a clue which one I should pick, nor what I need to do to help them.

Is there a guide for this? Or is it too new?

[Carraway]

I looked at the guide but I didn't see anything about this, but I might be blind.

I took a break before SoA came out and now have no idea how these new guild things work. I have not a clue which one I should pick, nor what I need to do to help them.

Is there a guide for this? Or is it too new?

https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Category:...on_Assignments

[Tarage]

https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Category:...on_Assignments

Oh. Thanks.

[Psylentcuda]

Several questions after setting back up.

I have my discs and activation codes; however my disc drive is broken (go figure). Is there somewhere I can download the expansions without paying for them again considering they're all still registered for my POL ID?

Second, as far as purchasing the new content that's been released since I quit. Will the activation codes only work for one POL ID or has the implementation of the Square Enix ID eased the pain by making the content usable on all POL ID's tied to the account? Knowing SE, I'd assume you have to get a copy for every POL ID.

[Shep]

You'll need to purchase codes for each separate POL ID.

[Psylentcuda]

I've been playing for a few days again and I have a list of questions already:

1) Before I left there was a map pack in windower that showed all the pertenant information on in game maps (i.e. what zones connected). Does this still exist? I believe it came from FFXI Atlas.

2) Along the third party tools... I remember a handy tool called wizbot. When I searched the forums for what may have happened to that and it seems like it got hacked or started viruses. Is there a way to essentially auto-pl anymore? It had a curebot feature that would have made leveling WHM in abyssea crazy easy.

3) I see several people on the server with Lik/Gugrusaurus/Matasya for sale. Is that just people who can't let go of the past or is fishing still turning out the steady gil it used to when I left fishing for Black Sole, etc.? (I do have an Ebisu)

4) Admittedly, I'm dumb on how to attain pretty much anything over level 75. It seems like the BG Wiki and other sites are fairly vague as well. How do you go about getting the abyseea AF in general?

5) I've burned a couple jobs up from the low depths to ~75+ but now they're not capped on any skills. I read that skill-ups were easier to get in the "welcome back here's what's changed" link on the first page. My question is what's the easiest way to skill up magic, weapon skills, and defensive skills?

That'll be all for now, tons of more questions just don't want to have a epic long post.

[Cairthenn]

1) Not sure about map packs; all current radars seem to be using the same one, which I believe is sourced to the age-old JP program.

2) Wizbit or w/e started stealing his user's accounts. The program scene is much less under-wraps now, but I'll let you take to google for that.

3) Fishing is profitable to an extent. Most people park themselves in Beaucedine to do so, though.

4) https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Empyrean_Armor

5) The easiest skillup methods involve using regen atmas in Abyssea, and auto-swinging or running something such as a script through spellcast to cast for you.

[Kohan]

4) https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Empyrean_Armor

To backtrack a little bit: https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Abyssea_Guide

Cair's link is definitely specifically about the armor, but I presume you're just getting started with Abyssea in general, so you can start there.

Beyond that, there's Voidwatch: https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Voidwatch_Guide

And for those jobs that you took from low to high levels recently, this still works: http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/91296-Free-Skill-Ups.

After that AFK skilling caps out, you can do what Cair mentioned regarding Abyssea.

[Apelila]

1

I've been playing for a few days again and I have a list of questions already:

1) http://forums.windower.net/topic/182...maps-03312013/

2) FF EVO

3) See what Psy said regarding #2.

4) See Kohan's post.

5) I'm in the middle of getting ranger to higher skills, so here's some info I've learned from that. I prefer parties to beating on an statue, because you get to learn how to play the job that way.

For combat skills:
Cap out anything below 100 in Valkrum Dunes, then move to Jugner and start mowing through stuff. After that look for level sync parties in the following area's:
Crawlers nest book caps at skill lvl 150 (
Bostaunieux Oubliette leeches cap around 220-230
Zerhun Mines has mobs that are all EP at 99 and will cap in the 300's. The gold box there drops the Prousse Ring, which increases all combat skill ups and is hella useful if you have more than one weapon you need to raise.

For offensive Magic skills:
Elemental/Blue/Geo/SMN: See the previous level caps as guides for the range you're working with. Once you hit 200+ on any offensive magic go to abyssea, it will be faster than anything else

For healing/Defensive spells:
The skill up formula has made these much less of a pain in the ass to skill up, just join a level sync party and spam them. It works even better if you're in a party with someone a higher level than you. You can also join a besieged and just spam low level enhancing/curing magic on a general for skill ups. In an undead beseiged, you can spam cure 1 on the Qutrubs. Chainspell + cure 1 + revitalizers = many levels.