Date of SoA Revealed: 3/27/13

[Spira]

my tier list. (not including solo battle / dungeon)

outdoor battles:

WotG
ToAU
Abyssea
CoP
Original
RotZ

dungeons:

ToAU
CoP
RotZ
Original
WotG

bcnms:

RotZ
WotG
Original
CoP
ToAU

final bosses:

CoP (Dusk and Dawn/A Realm Of Emptiness)
Original (Awakening)
Voidwatch (Provenance Watcher)
WotG (Goddess Divine)
Abyssea (Shinryu)
ACP (Echoes of Creation)
ToAU (Ragnarok)
RotZ (Eald'narche/Belief)
ASA (Feast of the Ladies)
AMK (Luck of the Mog)

[Trigun]

Is anyone planning on getting their hands on a copy early and look through the files?

[TummieGaruda]

Is anyone planning on getting their hands on a copy early and look through the files?

Well the game will be available for download midnight on Tuesday and the expansion gets turned on Wednesday at a time TBA, but if it is anything like how I remember ToAU, the game sent out a server message around 6pm PST stating the content was online. This seems to be different from the past where the game was released on the day where the game went live. I know that CoP was delayed 1-2 weeks for some US customers due to a hurricane so this day early release is most likely to have time to deal with any unforeseen issues that may occur during delivery/download of the expansion. I know that I have that day off so I will be doing some mining.

[Draylo]

Any new info soon?

[Tarage]

If you don't rank Ragnarok highest you are doing it wrong.

[Charismatic]

my tier list. (not including solo battle / dungeon)

outdoor battles:

WotG
ToAU
Abyssea
CoP
Original
RotZ

dungeons:

ToAU
CoP
RotZ
Original
WotG

bcnms:

RotZ
WotG
Original
CoP
ToAU

final bosses:

CoP (Dusk and Dawn/A Realm Of Emptiness)
Original (Awakening)
Voidwatch (Provenance Watcher)
WotG (Goddess Divine)
Abyssea (Shinryu)
ACP (Echoes of Creation)
ToAU (Ragnarok)
RotZ (Eald'narche/Belief)
ASA (Feast of the Ladies)
AMK (Luck of the Mog)

Belief that low on your tier list? Confirmed for horrible taste.

[Spira]

this will be the first time that an expansion will be available at launch by digital download.. which to me means that no more shipping delays at getting friends access to new areas..

the game has traditionally implemented expansions within 1 day of (japanese) retail date apart from CoP so this isn't much different.

I'll likely do some mining for monster models, weapon/eq and music.. since others will likely cover the other stuff

[Obsidian]

No love for the ACP final battle music, eh?

[Slycer]

I checked on JP Amazon and other sites taking preorders on the CD hoping to find a track list. No such luck, but I'll keep checking in case one does pop up.

CoP final boss is totally the best boss music btw. Of course, my opinion is probably swayed by the fact that the first (and only) time I fought Promathia, my group finished buffing and readying up for the last part of the battle right as the music picks up and it was an overall sublime experience to finally finish CoP.

[Sho]

I fully believe "Fighters of the Crystal" (Divine Might BCNM) is the coolest FFXI music I have ever happened upon in my 8+ years of playing.

Also mining the main ROM instead of ROM9 should prove to be more fruitful for everyone, since it will (should) have all of the basic data & dialogue.

[Spira]

CoP final boss is totally the best boss music btw. Of course, my opinion is probably swayed by the fact that the first (and only) time I fought Promathia, my group finished buffing and readying up for the last part of the battle right as the music picks up and it was an overall sublime experience to finally finish CoP.

i think most people share this sentiment. completing CoP back in the day really felt like you accomplished something. it did have a fairly convoluted story, but for its time, it had great delivery and the pacing was good and released every 2-3 months. when you got to the end of it, you really felt like you finished a separate game within FFXI. it had that impact on me at least, which is why that final battle felt so special.

A Realm of Emptiness also happens to be really good. Dissidia 012 people apparently love it to bits

[Dotsudoku]

Honestly not a huge fan of most RotZ music. Most of CoP and virtually all of ToAU to present has been phenomenal, even if I can't stand to listen to most of the standard battle music anymore

Some things I'll never get tired of, though. Alexander fight for ToAU44, for instance, will never get old

[ronin sparthos]

No love for the ACP final battle music, eh?

I like to think i paid 10 for that track alone.

RoZ had amazing ambiance tracks like zitah, kazham, ruavitau, altepa and sky.

[Kyreth]

All we know for sure is RDM will still be a useless job that fills no possible niche.

Ah RDM, how you've fallen to the realm of PUP for mages.

I came back a few months ago and figured I'd start RDM again.

Everyone I knew told me "Level a THF, it's more useful."

How low has the prince fallen, that even TH whoring is more well regarded.

[Slycer]

Honestly not a huge fan of most RotZ music.

Zi'Tah? Blasphemy. That and Heavens Tower are probably my favorite tracks in the game.

Actually I quite like a lot of the music on the Zilart OST though I can say I'm not personally a huge fan of Fighters of the Crystal. Going back and listening now I'm struck by this "Grav'iton" one which must be from some cutscene I vaguely remember.

[Moridam]

the zilart OST has the fewest tracks i'm inclined to skip over, so i'd say that's probably my favorite. lots of outstanding stuff on the original/CoP/ToAU as well of course, but they tend to be more heavy on filler tracks or stuff that got ruined from overexposure.

[Slycer]

FYI I just found a bit more info about the SoA OST - it's only 11 tracks: 10 new tracks and one "bonus track" which will probably either be something arranged or previously unreleased like they've done with the past bonus tracks. Kind of a disappointing number of tracks, but hopefully we get a few good ones. For reference, that's less than half as many tracks as the WotG OST which had 22 new tracks and 3 previously unreleased from ToAU.

[drwaffles]

I honestly never understood the pants-jizzing over the Zi'Tah theme that's been around since time immemorial. I find it pretty bland, especially after hearing it on an almost daily basis for so many years. The Lufaise/Misareaux theme is similar in style and far superior, in my opinion. Overall I'd say CoP had my favourite soundtrack, although that's due in large part to nostalgia for the storyline and such.

[Damane]

I have to say CoP, but moreso ToAU and Wotg had very good soundtracks compared to the original / Zilart themes.

Bustle of the Capital (Whitegate theme) alone never gets olde for me.

[Dotsudoku]

I honestly never understood the pants-jizzing over the Zi'Tah theme that's been around since time immemorial. I find it pretty bland, especially after hearing it on an almost daily basis for so many years. The Lufaise/Misareaux theme is similar in style and far superior, in my opinion. Overall I'd say CoP had my favourite soundtrack, although that's due in large part to nostalgia for the storyline and such.

Agreed completely, with particular regard to Tavnazian surroundings.

Also agreed about Heaven's Tower, Slycer. Probably one of my favorite places in the game.

I pitty da fool who don't Windurst in general. Windurst has a monopoly on 'coolest areas/music/storylines'