Dev Tracker: Findings/Posts (NO DISCUSSION)

[Kincard]

Fishing Freeze (2/27)

Can we get a fix for freezes while fishing already?

We're sorry for the wait, we are working on a fix and ideally it will be implemented in the March update.

Etudes (2/27)

As part of the job adjustments In the March update, we will be adjusting the following etudes so that they will not decay with time.
Enchanting Etude/Spirited Etude/Learned Etude/Quick Etude/Vivacious Etude/Dextrous Etude/Sinewy Etude/Bewitching Etude/Logical Etude/Sage Etude/Swift Etude/Vital Etude/Uncanny Etude/Herculean Etude
Please wait a bit longer for the March update to hit. Look forward to info in the near future for other job adjustments planned for the update.

[Ansel]

Empyrean Armor Reforging 3/3 (Tuesday)

Empyrean Armor Reforging

The March update will allow Empyrean Armor to be reforged to item level 109 and then further to item level 119.

Upgrading these items to item level 119 will require items only obtainable through new battle content added to the March version update.

As with artifact and relic equipment upgrades, the items needed to upgrade Empyrean Armor differ based on the armor's current item level.
New armor for geomancers and rune fencers

New Empyrean-equivalent armor for geomancers and rune fencers will be added.

These new armor sets can be obtained through new quests for the applicable jobs.

As with empyrean armor, these new sets can be further enhanced with items earned through the new battle content.

Job Adjustments 3/4 (Wednesday)

The following jobs will undergo adjustments.

Red Mage

A new magic spell will be added.
Ardor (RDM Lv.64, affects a single ally)
Increases damage from the target's next skillchain based on the number of preceeding melee hits.

The following enfeebling spells will be adjusted.

The damage over time dealt by Poison and Poison II will be increased and spell duration tripled from thirty to ninety seconds.

The effects of Blind and Blind II will increase based on the difference between the caster and target's MND. Additionally, they will now have a fixed duration of 180 seconds rather than a variable duration.

Paralyze, Paralyze II, and Silence will now have a fixed duration of 180 seconds rather than a variable duration.

Dark Knight

The effects of the following dark magic spells will no longer have their effects decrease over time.
Absorb-STR / Absorb-DEX / Absorb-VIT / Absorb-AGI / Absorb-INT /
Absorb-MND / Absorb-CHR / Absorb-ACC

Bard

The following magic songs will no longer have their effects decrease over time.
Bewitching Etude / Logical Etude / Sage Etude / Swift Etude / Vital Etude /
Uncanny Etude / Herculean Etude

Ninja

The damage over time dealt by Dokumori: Ichi will be increased.

Summoner

New blood pacts will be added to the following avatars.

Diabolos
Blindside (SMN Lv.99, single target Blood Pact: Rage)
Deals physical damage.

Fenrir
Impact (SMN Lv.99, single target Blood Pact: Rage)
Deals dark damage that lowers an enemy's Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, Agility, Intelligence, Mind, and Charisma.

Cait Sith
Regal Gash (SMN Lv.99, single target Blood Pact: Rage)
Delivers a threefold attack.

The areas of effect of the following blood pacts will be increased.

Shining Ruby / Glittering Ruby / Healing Ruby II / Soothing Ruby /
Ecliptic Growl / Ecliptic Howl / Heavenward Howl / Crimson Howl /
Inferno Howl / Earthen Ward / Earthen Armor / Spring Water /
Soothing Current / Whispering Wind / Hastega / Aerial Armor / Fleet Wind /
Hastega II / Frost Armor / Crystal Blessing / Rolling Thunder /
Lightning Armor / Noctoshield / Dream Shroud

The duration of blood pacts whose effect durations are extended by the player's summoning magic skill will be increased.

The activation time of all blood pacts will be reduced.

The effects of Glittering Ruby will no longer decrease over time.

Puppetmaster

The following adjustments will be made to spells cast by automatons equipped with soothsayer heads.

The casting time for Protectra and Shellra will be reduced.
* This change will also apply to Protectra and Shellra spells cast by players.
The area of effect of Protectra and Shellra will be increased.
* This change will not apply to Protectra and Shellra cast by players.
The effect duration of maneuvers will increase based on the amount of time elapsed since using Deploy.
* This effect is removed whenever the automaton is knocked out or deactivated.
* This effect is maintained even if combat ends, whether by vanquishing monsters, retrieving the automaton, or other such means.


Vagary: All-new Battle Content 2/5 (Thursday)

What is Vagary?

Vagary is all-new content that pits Vana’diel’s bravest adventurers against the Xol Triumvirate, with victors receiving hitherto unforeseen spoils and rewards.
Winding passage found in the depths of Outer Ra'Kaznar lead adventurers to confrontations with all three members of the triumvirate: Balamor the Deathborne, Dhokmak the Brash, and Ashrakk the Duskbrood.

Joining the Fray

Players must meet the following requirements in order to participate.

Have the FINAL FANTASY XI: Seekers of Adoulin expansion installed.
Have registered the Seekers of Adoulin expansion content.
Have reached level 95 or higher.
Be a member of a party or alliance of between three and eighteen members.
The party leader must have reached a certain point in the Seekers of Adoulin missions and be in possession of a certain key item.*

* There is no requirement for the other members of the party but the encounters in Vagary may spoil parts of the story that unfolds in the Seekers of Adoulin missions.

Obtaining the Key Item

Obtain an item dropped by a certain monster and trade it with the Odyssean Passage in Leafallia to obtain the requisite key item.

The Gates to Vagary

There are three entrances to Vagary found in Outer Ra'Kaznar, each leading to different battles and monsters, and housing a particular member of the Xol Triumvirate.

* The key item required for entry is the same for each of the entrances.
Probing the Depths

Vagary has a time limit of forty-five minutes. Powerful rewards await those who survive the fight into the chambers' inner recesses and defeat the representative of the Xol Triumvirate.

Vagary Rewards

The final bosses will drop materials crucial for synergizing item level 119 and Superior 2 equipment, as well as items necessary for reforging Empyrean Armor to item level 119.

[Kincard]

Summary 2/27 (Friday)-3/5 (Thursday)

Mochizuki: Time for this week's summary.

Matsui: We have released the summary of the Freshly Picked Vana'Diel. It is an explanation of the content in the new patch from Matsui and Fujito, so please check it out.

Ito: This week began the teasers for the March update. The new content "Vagary" will be implemented, enhanced Empyrean armor will be coming, new weapons and job adjustments and more will be coming in March.

Fujito: There will also be the new lockstyle system which will persist through area changes and same-class weapon swaps. Please have fun with it! There will be adjustments to Mog Garden's monster raising, an option to discard the flotsam, and additional announcements to when your assistants' contracts will be up. There will also be a seconds option for the timestamp in the chat window and a window for checking emotes for the convenience of the players.

Matsui: We'll be publishing more teasers in the coming week, so pay close attention!

Mochizuki: Thanks! Alright, time for this week's summary.

★★★Announcements★★★

http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...3667/13667.jpg
Vagary: All-new Battle Content
Ito: Look forward to new battle content against the Xol Triumvirate. This new content will be quite challenging, so please look forward to it.

http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...3662/13662.jpg
Job Adjustments
Matsui: New magic spells and adjustments to magic spells is the focus this time.

http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...3650/13650.jpg
Empyrean Armor Reforging
Matsui: Finally players can improve their Empyrean Armor to ilevel status. Look forward to it!

http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...3647/13647.jpg
Announcing the Next Version Update!
Matsui: The next patch will be coming in late March.

★★★Combat/Jobs★★★

Etudes
Matsui: We're hoping to increase the situations where Etude will be useful.

Blue Mage Gift
Ito: You can go past the caps you normally have when obtaining Gifts that increase your Traits.

★★★System★★★

Fishing
Fujito: We'll be fixing the fishing glitch in the March update. We apologize for the inconvenience. Just wait a little longer.

Transport to Wanted Areas
Matsui: We'll be making the menu easier to interact with by reducing the number of choices per menu.

[Kincard]

Alluvion Skirmish (3/5)

Can you please explain why my Trusts and pets are getting aggro?

It is due to how we programmed these monsters. They were designed to prioritize ally NPCs such as pets. We had discussed whether it was possible to exempt pets from this rule, but we found that this was difficult to accomplish.
Thus, while we don't plan on adding something to stop these monsters from attacking your pets, we do want to add some kind of mechanism you can take advantage of when these situations occur.

Blue Mage Gifts (3/5)

You increased the trait level we can attain, does the trait-enhancing gift allow us to bypass this new cap?

The gift will increase your trait level by 1 regardless of these caps. For example, if you have the gift and you attain Attack Bonus IV, you will gain one extra level and obtain Attack Bonus V.

Complete /lockstyle System (3/6)

Can you make it so that swapping weapons will not turn it off if you don't engage and auto attack?

Unfortunately the lockstyle will be removed upon switching weapons, we cannot add a way around this. The data that comes with a weapon isn't just the graphic, but also the animation data, so even if you don't draw the weapon or use any abilities, reading this data is necessary when you swap weapons.

So the completed lockstyle will allow me to keep head, torso, hands, legs, and feet equipment, and blink if I switch weapons. If I change slots other than weapons, or change areas, I will not lose it?
Although, if I lose it when switching weapons, I'm not entirely sure you can call it a "complete" version

You will be able to sustain it through area changes. Blinking upon switching weapons or shields will vary depending on the circumstance.
Switching to the same class of weapon: All lockstyle is kept.
Switching to a different class of weapon: Lockstyle is lost on weapon, rest is kept.
Switching to a different class of weapon, relocking and switching to the same class of weapon: The weapon you locked in afterwards will be kept.
Switching shields: Regardless of type (Bucklers, Knight Shields etc), lockstyle will be kept.
We are planning other features. We will be introducing them to you when the version update comes.
-----
Hello, Fujito here. I talked a little bit about this in my other post today, but I'll copypaste it here as well. Grazsash already answered some questions for me, but I'll add onto what he said.

When Lockstyle Gets Disabled
There are many situations it can be disabled, but aside from the below they will all be removed:
Player types /lockstyle off (Same as using the menu toggle)
Player changes jobs
If monster uses abilities that remove equipment: I believe the visual cue is important for players, so this was done on purpose.

What About Ranged Items?
It was not the focus of the changes this time, but there have been changes. Before, swapping ranged weapons would remove lockstyle. Now, weapons and armor should not be affected.

Recast Timer
Unfortunately it is not all good news. Because lockstyle requires quite a bit of communication with the server, we have decided to add a relatively long cooldown time of about 10 seconds. However, since the cases of it being disabled will be reduced, I think the need to type it repeatedly will not exist as much. If you get any unexpected issues, please discuss them with us.

Tiamat (3/6)

Hello, we have an update on adjustments to Tiamat. Tiamat's drop will be changed to an equivalent rare/ex version. The existing Herald's Gaiter's item will be removed from the droplist and added as a battlefield reward.

[Kincard]

Food (3/9)

The Cehuetzi Ice Shard is obtained from Delve, so we wish to carefully consider before we make the item more widely available outside of special campaigns. We will, however, consider lowering the exchange rate for the item in order to increase the supply. We will also consider adjustments to the costs of Gabbrath Meat and Rockfin Fin alongside it.

Crystals (3/10)

Crystals are items that often exchange hands, so we think it is better to keep the stack size as 12. While it is technically possible to make them stack to 99, it would also require changing the auction house. Furthermore, clusters would still continue to only give 12 crystals when used.
We wish to gather the feedback of players who often buy and sell crystals before discussing it any further.

[Kincard]

Snapshot (3/12)

As players have mentioned, the cap on Snapshot is not easy to determine, so we asked the dev team.
The upper limit, including buffs from magic, abilities, and equipment, is 70. The trait Rapid Shot is counted separately.

Lancer's Plackart and Pet Food (3/12)

Items such as Kusamochi which affect your pets do not stack with the Lancer's Plackart effect. In these cases, the pet effect on the food will take precedence.

[Kincard]

March Job Adjustments (3/13)

Hail, adventurers! Matsui here with an update for you.
I would like to inform you that, based on your feedback, we have begun to consider balance adjustments for melee jobs, specifically the thief and samurai, in the March version update.

We are currently looking at adjusting balance in the following two ways:
The addition of a new spell known as “Ardor”
The adjustment of certain dagger weapon skills

I would like to share with you the thought process behind these adjustments.

The addition of Ardor
In our preview of job adjustments several days prior, we made mention of a new magic spell known as “Ardor.” We elected to add this spell in order to decrease the gaps in damage dealt between the various melee jobs.
As noted in that topic, Ardor increases skillchain damage based on the number of successful melee hits up until the time the weapon skill is activated.
Jobs that often go for long periods of time without using weapon skills will receive stronger bonuses, thereby decreasing the damage gap that currently exists.

The adjustment of certain dagger weapon skills
One topic keeps popping up where we hear players discussing the thief: skillchain damage when using weapon skills with Sneak Attack and Trick Attack.
These skills are particularly effective in content such as Wanted battles, where it‘s possible for thieves to accumulate TP in advance and when combat ends in a short period of time, but we believe that this is one of the job’s strengths.
Not all content enables players to accumulate TP in advance the way Wanted battles do, and other melee classes are competitive with thieves in extended combat scenarios.
As such, we wish to avoid adjusting Sneak Attack and Trick Attack, as doing so would be tantamount to destroying part of the thief job’s identity.
However, in its current state thief damage output is on par with or even surpasses that of other melee jobs even in long duration combat, and upon looking at melee jobs as a whole, we cannot deny that thieves are located at the top of the charts in a wide variety of content.
Ardor has an incredibly strong synergy with thieves, who autoattack quite frequently, and thus we expect that their skillchain damage would increase to numbers even higher than they currently are. As such, we believe it necessary to somewhat reduce the potency or certain dagger weaponskills in order to maintain balance with other jobs.
We are currently considering adjusting the following four weaponskills.
Shark Bite
Mercy Stroke
Mandalic Stab
Rudra’s Storm
These adjustments are meant to normalize damage between melee jobs, and there are some adjustments that can be viewed as nerfs when taken on the individual job level, so we wished to communicate these details to you in advance as we continue to thoroughly discuss this matter.

Snapshot (3/13)

Unlike Haste, there is no cap on individual categories of Snapshot such as equipment, magic, ability etc. There is only a simple overall cap of 70%.

Massacre Elegy (3/13)

In regards to Massacre Elegy, the team has been looking into this for quite some time, but after considering current battle balance and balance between support jobs they have decided not to implement it at this time.

Red Mage (3/13, 3/17)

Can you increase the DoT damage on Bio?

Bio has an attack down effect, so there are no plans to adjust at the moment. We want to make it so that poison is your spell of choice when you need DoT damage and Bio is when you need an attack down effect.

How was blind's effect calculated before? What about other spells?

It was affected by INT beforehand, but we wish to unify these spells to be affected by MND so that players don't have to carry as much equipment around.
-----
MND will be made so that it affects the potency of the listed spells. Sleep and bind are not affected by your stats and thus they will function as before, being determined by enfeebling skill and magic accuracy. Furthermore, the Black Mage spells such as Shock and Rasp, which are elemental spells, and Bio, which is a Dark Spell, will not have any changes and will still be affected by INT.
We apologize if there's any confusion in our explanations.
-----
After checking again, I can confirm that the accuracy of black magic enfeebles are indeed affected by INT and white magic enfeebles are affected by MND. Because the adjustment we were planning would have made it so that accuracy is affected by INT and potency by MND, we will need to postpone these adjustments.
I once again apologize deeply for providing players with incorrect information. Our original goal with these adjustments was to increase the situations in which enfeebling magic can be used by Red Mages. However, we have received quite a bit of feedback from Black Mages and Scholars saying that this would make things worse for them. If necessary, we are willing to consider cancelling this adjustment altogether, so please continue giving us your feedback.

Is the 180s duration fixed regardless of resists? How will this effect enemy spells?

Formerly blind and silence had somewhat randomized durations regardless of resists. We will be abolishing this randomized roll in the spells and made it so that only resists would affect the duration of the spell. This change will only be to player spells and enemy spells will function as they have in the past.

[Kincard]

Job Adjustments (3/18)

Matsui here. I wish to respond to some of the feedback and suggestions we have received.

Weapon Skills other than Rudra's Storm

Dagger weapon skills have large multiplication effects on them, causing them to be powerful when you use them at any TP from 1000-3000. One of our goals during the June and December updates to Weapon skills was to increase the uses of infrequently-used weapon skills, but in the end Damage-modded weapon skills were the most profoundly affected. We do want to maintain the ability to deal large amounts of damage if a player chooses to save their TP, but we feel that if we keep the current multipliers, it will be difficult to balance alongside other weapon types, so it needs to be lowered slightly.

How Bards and Dancers will be affected

A Bard's focus is on using their songs to support the party, and less so on their weapon skill damage. Currently we believe their party support abilities are quite adequate, so we don't have any plans to adjust their damage output.
Dancer is a job that is second only to Thief in weapon skill damage by using abilities such as Climatic Flourish and Skillchains. They also have versatility through the other abilities they have available, so we currently are not planning on adjusting Dancer's damage output.

Samurais can Self-Skillchain with Fudo, are they not overpowered?

The tests performed by the development team has shown us that Samurais are very powerful damage dealers who can in many cases exceed other jobs. However, the weapon skill Tachi: Fudo varies greatly in performance depending on the attack/defense ratio against the monster, carries certain risks with the need to stand in front of the monster for damage bonuses, etc, meaning Samurais wanting to push the weapon skill do its full potential will need lots of support from their parties. (Fudo is incredibly powerful against enemies lower level than the player, however our foremost goal is to balance high level content)
In concept, Samurai has very few abilities that can affect the whole party. We feel that if we were to weaken the Samurai's damage output too much, it will greatly limit its uses, so we are not planning adjustments as far as the March update is concerned. Moving forward we will take everyone's feedback into consideration as we try to balance the damage classes.

The Frequency of casting Ardor and the effect on two-handed jobs

Our testing of Ardor has shown us that it may not be properly balanced for two-handed weapons other than Great Katana, so we are currently reviewing its effects. We plan on making it so that the more players participate in a skillchain, the larger the bonus will be, so that it will encourage teamwork with other players.
The requirements to cast the spell will not change- it will be available for Lv.64 Red mages. It will be changed from a party-targeted spell to an enfeebling spell, so Red Mages will not need to worry about constantly recasting the spell on party members. However, these changes we have planned will mean we cannot add Ardor during the March update. We will be making the adjustments to weapon skills as planned, however.
With this, players may think we're doing a simple nerf with no compensatory buff first, and we will explain why in the next section.

The Timing of Weapon Skill Adjustments

The March update will bring with it the new high-difficulty content, Vagary. If we were to add the weapon skill adjustments after the release of Vagary, players would find the content more challenging than how it was when it was first released. We do not wish to make it so that players challenging the content first will have an advantage in this regard, and thus we want to release both Vagary and the weapon skill adjustments at the same time.

Warrior, Dark Knight, Black Mage

We believe the two-handed damage jobs Warrior and Dark Knight and the magic damage job Black Mage (which cannot take advantage of the effects of Ardor) are in need of some adjustments.
We believe Warrior needs some adjustments to its existing abilities, whereas for Dark Knight we are considering adding new ones.
In regards to magic, we will be increasing Magic Burst damage in March and we are discussing adding a new damage-centered ability for Black Mages. For adjustments outside of Magic Bursts, we will need to discuss it further before we can give any plans, and we will inform you on the forum as soon as we are ready.

We thank the players for giving us their thoughts and we wish for you to continue giving us your feedback.

[6souls]

Conference Overview

Rhapsodies of Vana'diel: FINAL FANTASY XI's Ultimate Scenario Content

The first chapter in FINAL FANTASY XI's final main scenario, Rhapsodies of Vana'diel, will be implemented in the May 2015 version update.
This scenario will serve to tie together fourteen years of FINAL FANTASY XI, and we aim for it serve as the ultimate compilation of all we have accomplished to date, with major characters from throughout the game's history making appearances--a feat that only a game as storied as FINAL FANTASY XI can offer.

The scenario will consist of three separate chapters, debuting in the May, August, and November version updates, respectively.
Coming along with the scenario are exciting new battle content, never-before-seen rewards, and a variety of other additions to engage players of all different stripes.
We plan for this to be a grand conclusion to the FINAL FANTASY series' first MMORPG--and indeed, the first console MMORPG--in a way that will be recorded in the annals of the genre's history.

FINAL FANTASY XI's major version updates will conclude with the implementation of the final chapter of Rhapsodies of Vana'diel, but there will continue to be minor version updates that address bugs and contain various balance adjustments.

Further, PlayStation®2 and Xbox 360® service will cease in March 2016. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to those who have enjoyed FINAL FANTASY XI on these platforms and to those who have assisted us in bringing Vana'diel to you.

Going forward, the team will renew its focus on providing an enjoyable FINAL FANTASY XI experience on the Windows platform.

We have also decided to hold a new event known as The Goddess's Gala as a show of appreciation for those who have loved Vana'diel throughout the years.

The Goddess's Gala is a series of various campaigns that have been held previously to great acclaim and can be enjoyed by both regular players and returnees alike.

These campaigns are not limited to in-game events, as we are also considering a welcome back campaign as well as a variety of anniversary events. We will work our utmost to bring everyone who has ever enjoyed Vana'diel an event to remember and hope that players both new and old will take this chance to visit our humble land and her people once more.

The staff is working tirelessly day and night to make Rhapsodies of Vana'diel the most spectacular event for FINAL FANTASY XI, but we also recognize that adjustments to currently existing content are equally as critical. Please continue submitting your feedback and making your voices heard on the official forums.

The development and operations teams alone could not have brought Vana'diel this far; it is because of all of you that adventures in Vana'diel have come to life. The world that you have created together with us is what FINAL FANTASY XI truly is, and nothing can ever change that.

We earnestly look forward to continue working with you in the future.

FINAL FANTASY GRANDMASTERS: A New Online RPG for Smartphones Set in the World of Vana'diel

FINAL FANTASY GRANDMASTERS is a full-scale online RPG for smartphones that shares the characters and world setting of FINAL FANTASY XI.
Players are able to freely combine their favorite jobs and dazzling equipment to create, strengthen, and power up their characters. Chat and communicate with those you meet, engage in real time cooperative battles, and make new friends as you vanquish foes and assist allies.

Keep your eye on this new generation of FINAL FANTASY scheduled for release in 2015, brought to you in all its glory in collaboration with Crooz Inc., creators of numerous smash hit social games such as The Knights of Avalon.
* At present, the game is scheduled for release in Japan only.

A Native App Project Providing A Full-Fledged FINAL FANTASY XI Experience on the Mobile Platform

Going forward, FINAL FANTASY XI will aim to transform into a completely new format on the mobile environment so that players can easily experience Vana'diel whenever and wherever they want.
Battles optimized for touch-screen interfaces will feature further improvements to basic FINAL FANTASY XI systems such as jobs and skill chains, providing a speedier and more user-friendly experience, and features such as improved partying systems and solo activities enable players to find a playstyle that suits them.

Additionally, dynamic events that spawn under a variety of conditions help build the world in a way that only a mobile game can.
We are pleased to welcome as our partner NEXON, Co., Ltd., a company that boasts a variety of experiences and a world class track record in both developing and operating MMORPGs on mobile platforms.
We plan to extend service to Japan, Korea, and North America, as well as Europe and the rest of Asia, with an eye toward release in 2016. Be on the lookout for a renewed FINAL FANTASY XI as a massive multiplayer mobile role playing game combining MMOs with mobile devices.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/46414
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/46416

Adventurers of Vana’diel, I have an announcement to make.

In a short time we will be commencing a new series of content known as “The Vana’diel Project,” which aims to expand the scope of Vana’diel as we head into the future.

As part of this tremendous initiative, we have announced new scenario content known as “Rhapsodies of Vana’diel.” This scenario will bring fresh story content and weave together the tales we have told across thirteen years of Vana’diel. Both the development and operations teams are working harder than ever before to deliver this package to you.

We have also announced FINAL FANTASY GRANDMASTERS, a new creation set in Vana’diel, and a native app project based on the MMM (Massive Multiplayer Mobile) concept. Keep your eye on these projects as they revolutionize the way players experience FINAL FANTASY XI.

FINAL FANTASY XI’s major version updates will conclude with the November 2015 iteration, when Rhapsodies of Vana’diel is scheduled to reach its thrilling climax. We will, however, continue implementing ordinary version updates that focus on balance adjustments and bug fixes.

Additionally, service for the PlayStation® 2 and Xbox 360® versions will end on or around March 2016, and we will focus our efforts on the Windows® version. Feedback posted on the forums and obtained through other avenues will inform quality of life improvements and balance adjustments, so do not hesitate to tell us your thoughts and opinions.

Take the opportunity to see, hear, and feel Vana’diel as it exists today—a Vana’diel created not just by the developers, but by each and every one of you.

We eagerly await you in the land of Mithra and moogles.

March 19, 2015
Akihiko Matsui, Producer, FINAL FANTASY XI

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/vanaproj/vanaproj.html

[Sechs]

March 2015 announcement and patch details
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...300#post545300

[Kincard]

Nyzul Isle Investigation (4/13)

In the May update, we will be adjusting some Nyzul Isle objectives, as well as some assaults, to be easier with a small amount of players. For details, please wait for the version update.

Corsair (4/13)

Gifts seem to be focused on ranged abilities, how about some for rolls or quick draw?

We decided that since Job Point enhance the Phantom Rolls of Corsair, Gifts would enhance their ranged attack abilities. As for Quick Draw, we do plan on adding more gifts in the future, so please look forward to it!

Any news on a Rune Fencer or Geomancer Roll?

We are planning on adding Phantom Rolls representing these jobs in May. Please look forward to this as well.

Enmity Adjustments (4/15)

Players have many questions about the enmity changes we made in the March update, and we'll try to answer some of them here.

Reason for Adjustment

As item level increases, so does the damage output of players, and they will more quickly reach the enmity cap. With this, enmity is harder to control. For this reason, we made the adjustments to the enmity cap and to damage-to-enmity conversion.

Back Line Jobs Draw Hate More Often Now

While we significantly changed damage-related enmity, we made no big adjustments to abilities or curing, and it is harder than before to maintain hate. With this, the ratio of enmity from abilities versus damage has increased. For jobs with many job abilities such as Warrior, Paladin, or Rune Fencer, this helps their abilities in holding hate. (In this regard, we feel the Ninja is lacking in abilities to maintain hate, and we may try to adjust this in future updates)

Beforehand, damage was so central to enmity control there was little reason to ever invite jobs designed around trying to control enmity as you could simply focus on dealing damage. We wish to increase the importance of enmity control through abilities and equipment and help make each jobs' role more well-defined.

If you feel your party has a need to protect backline jobs, we believe players should try taking advantage of various enmity increasing equipment, abilities, and support jobs.

Backline Type Trusts Draw Hate More Often Now

We are aware that this exists as well, and since Trusts are designed to act according to the personality of the Trust, it may be more difficult to do fine adjustments on enmity control. For this reason, we may adjust the enmity generated by tank and recovery/support type Trusts.

Merit Points (4/16)

Any chance of a removal of caps on Merit Points?

Job-specific Merit Points were designed with the intent to force the player to choose aspects of their character to strengthen, which is why there is a limit in place. We have no plans to adjust it at this time.

[Kincard]

Gifts (4/17)

We will be adding new Gift categories in the May Update. For details please wait for the day of the update.

Assault (4/17)

We have some info on the adjustments planned for Assaults.
Currently, we are looking into changing the gimmicks and difficulty level of the following assaults:
Lebros Supplies
Evade and Escape
Azure Ailments
Imperial Agent Rescue
In regards to Nyzul Isle Uncharted Area Survey, we are planning on increasing the time allowed for lamps to be lit at the same time.
If we do not run into any issues, we will carry out these adjustments in the May update.

[Kincard]

Erilaz Galea (4/20)

The Vivacious Pulse enhancement on this item will randomly cure one status effect if it is worn while used. It will heal one status effect of those removable by poisona, paralyna etc. Please note that this enhancement will have no effect on some status effects that are removed by Erase.

Displaying Number of Dispensed Items (4/20)

Can you guys make it so some other pouch-like items function like the Alexandrite ones where it displays the amount recieved?

Alexandrite purses use special mechanics so we cannot directly apply it to other items. We'll look into applying this onto other items, but it may be difficult to accomplish immediately.

[Kincard]

Beastmaster Pets (4/22)

Can you make the Fight command have a shorter recast? With the current pace of battle the cooldown's a bit outdated.

Not limited to just the Fight command, we originally set cooldowns for various pet commands so that they would have some amount of limitation on the player's control over their pets. With the changing speed of combat, we'll consider changing these cooldowns. However, we do need to consider how certain tactics may change depending on how we adjust them, so please give us some time to look into it.

Trusts (4/22)

How about a pet-friendly Trust, like Rongo-Nango? Let him increase the stats of party members' pets, and he'll use Reward on party pets at certain HP.

Thank you for your feedback. We'll have to see if such a Trust is technically possible, but we'll consider your idea when creating unique Trusts in the future.

Furthermore, in the May update, we'll be increasing the following stats on Trusts participating in battle:
Accuracy/Ranged Accuracy/Magic Accuracy/Evasion/Magic Evasion/Defense
This, along with some enmity adjustments we have mentioned in a previous post, we hope to further increase the ease of using Trusts.

We'll go into details on the day of the update, so please wait just a bit longer.

Assaults (4/22)

The assaults we are adjusting this patch are centered on assaults that are difficult to complete because of associated gimmicks.

Lost and Found, Orichalcum Survey, and Building Bridges, while easier to complete with larger parties, are still possible to complete even while solo, so we have no plans to adjust them at this time. The same applies to certain objectives associated with Nyzul Isle Investigation.

Trusts in High Level Battlefields (4/22)

We are planning on expanding the ability to call Trusts to some of the High Level Mission Phantom Gem battlefields.

[Kincard]

What's the Point of Superior Items? (4/23)

Hello, I wish to answer some of the questions players have about the concept behind Superior gear.

Superior equipment was added to let crafters get use out of their skills and as lateral options for equipment. As all of you know, Adoulin's concept was to level up characters through their equipment, and higher level content would drop higher level gear, but we received feedback that some players enjoy strengthening their characters through means other than participating in endgame content. To that end, we added an option for players to strengthen themselves through the use of item synthesis and the auction house.

However, if we had implemented these options without some kind of restriction, players would be able to simply repeat low level content until they had enough money to increase their item level. To us, this is contradictory to the idea that players are becoming stronger by completing appropriate challenges to their character. Therefore, by gaining job points, it becomes similar to traditional leveling.

Superior 1 is designed as item level 119 gear, and Superior 2 is designed as high-performance gear. They are aimed towards players who may not necessarily want to participate in endgame content, but still want to strengthen their characters.

Ninja Tools (4/23)

We have no plans on adding synthesis recipes for Inoshishinofuda, Shikanofuda and Chonofuda at the moment, as it can greatly impact the economy of all ninja tools. For this same reason we must also carefully consider any adjustments to the NPC price of the tools as well. However, we are considering expanding the vendors where you can purchase them.

As for detection of Ninja Tools in the Mog Sack and Mog Satchel, it would require extensive system changing, and would be very time-consuming.

[Ligray]

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/46881
http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...3807/13807.jpg

[dev1264] Alter Ego Adjustments

Alter egos will be able to be called forth in high-tier mission battlefields and Voidwatch.

All alter egos will have the following attributes increased:
Accuracy / Magic Accuracy / Ranged Accuracy / Evasion / Magic Evasion / Defense

The following alter egos will enjoy increased enmity generation:
Curilla / Volker / Trion / Valaineral / Gessho / Mnejing / Rahal / Rughadjeen / Amchuchu

The following alter egos will enjoy decreased enmity generation:
Kupipi / Mihli Aliapoh / Cherukiki / Karaha-Baruha / Ferreous Coffin / Joachim /
Ulmia / Koru-Moru

The skillchain attributes for Naja Salaheem's weapon skill Peacebreaker will undergo the following adjustments.
Pre-Update Attributes   Post-Update Attributes
Fragmentation / Compression → Distortion / Reverberation

Players will be able to call forth alter egos in the following quest battles by progressing through the
Rhapsodies of Vana'diel missions:
Shattering Stars / The Beast Within / Breaking the Bonds of Fate /
Achieving True Power / A Furious Finale / Survival of the Wisest

The following alter egos will be made obtainable by progressing through the Rhapsodies of Vana'diel missions:
Semih Lafihna / Halver / Zeid II / Lion II

Progressing through the Rhapsodies of Vana'diel missions will enable players to call forth up to four alter egos simultaneously.
* This limit is scheduled to be increased further in subsequent version updates.

[Ligray]

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/46889

http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...3811/13811.jpg

[dev1265] Unity Concord

Alter egos for Unity Concord leaders will be added.
These alter egos are special in that they can only be called forth under certain conditions.

Players are unable to acquire them using the same means as ordinary alter egos, but instead will temporarily gain the ability to call them forth when their personal evaluation in their Unity has reached a certain level.

There is no limit to how often these alter egos may be summoned, but switching Unities or entering a new Unity ranking tabulation period will deactivate them. The alter egos may be called forth again once the player has re-received the appropriate level of evaluation.

The following alter egos may be called forth.
Pieuje (UC) / Ayame (UC) / I. Shield (UC) / Apururu (UC) / Maat (UC) /
Aldo (UC) / Jakoh (UC) / Naja (UC) / Flaviria (UC)
* Players may only call forth an alter ego of their Unity leader.

The amount of accolades required to undertake Wanted objectives will be lowered.

Content Level	Pre-adjustment		Post-adjustment
75	                  300	    →	200
99	                  500	    →	400
119	                  2000	    →	1500
122	                  2500	    →	1800
125	                  3000	    →	2100
128	                  3500	    →	2400

[Ligray]

http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...3814/13814.jpg

Announcing the Next Version Update! (04/30/2015)

Another major update is on its way, scheduled to be released in mid-May!

The May update will introduce the first chapter of the Rhapsodies of Vana'diel missions, along with a brand new area and battle content. To top it off, mog houses will also be getting a second floor expansion and a second mog safe.

If that's not enough, the update will increase monster rearing to rank 4, add new alter egos, introduce job adjustments such as new spells, and bring about a plethora of other additions and tweaks.

Don't miss this feature-packed update!

[Kincard]

Erilaz Galea (4/30)

Because of the limitation of help text, it's difficult to display on the actual item, but we will list the ailments it can cure below, please put it to use!

Status Ailments Removed when using Vivacious Pulse:
Poison/Paralyze/Blind/Silence/Mute/Curse/Bane/Doom/Virus/Plague/Petrification

[Ligray]

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/46947

http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...3826/13826.jpg

[dev1266] Mog House and Mog Garden Adjustments

A second floor will be added to Mog Houses.

About the Second Floor
A second floor will be added to Mog Houses, enabling players to place more furnishings than ever before. However, there are several differences between the first and second floors as given below.

Size
The second floor is slightly bigger than the first floor.

Moogles
As there is no moogle on the second floor, players will be able to change the layout in the center of the floor as well.

Wall Layout
Furnishing may be affixed to walls in more spaces at a total of four height levels.

Remodeling
Room style may be freely switched between San d'Orian, Batsokan, and Windurstian themes.
* Only the second floor's style may be changed.
* Potted plants may not be cultivated on the second floor.
* Furnishings place on the second floor will not grant moghancement effects.

Constructing the Second Floor
Moogles located in the player's Mog House will give the player some details about the second floor, which will be constructed when players complete the following quests and then re-enter their Mog House.
Growing Flowers
A Lady's Heart
Flower Child.
* Players who have already completed the above quests will need to first speak to the moogle about the second floor, leave their house, and then re-enter and speak with the moogle about second floor construction once more.

Heading to the Second Floor
Players will be able to go to the second floor from the entrance of their Mog House.
* Players who have been invited to another's Mog House will not be able to switch floors. To access the second floor, invitees must first leave the Mog House and be invited again once the inviter is on the second floor.

Mog Safe II
Players with a second floor in the Mog House will be able to access a secondary Mog Safe. The Mog Safe II is identical to the original Mog Safe, and the number of items that can be stored within increases in line with the number of items storable in the Mog Safe.

During layout, spaces currently occupied by a furnishing but can have another furnishing placed on top of the existing one will now display in green.

It will be made easier to distinguish which section of space you have selected while laying out your Mog House.

Players will be able to choose between two different methods of moving the cursor when placing furniture.

A new option to disable furniture camera collision will be added.

Mog Gardens will undergo the following adjustments.
Monster Rearing will have a new maximum rank of four, with three new creature types added.
Additionally, players will be able to have up to two creatures join their garden per Vana'diel day.

New Chacharoon Cheer effects will be added.

A New vendor NPC will be added to the Rearing Grounds.