Upcoming Version Update Details (02/14/2007)

[Lordwafik]

rdm's specialty is endurance though, not melee battling with sheer strength. I'd like to see a BLU try solo what we can, and likewise, we cant solo what they can (efficiently).

[Ploid]

I think people mix up rdm's power with their ability to keep themselves from dying. Have to manage mp very well between converts, taking little dmg, curing yourself, enfeebling the opponent, etc. Other than soloing random mobs slowly, we're just refreshing, enfeebling hnms if they're able to be, putting phalanx2 on tanks, and curing when we can (unless whms aren't there to haste. Then we have the role of doing that too). Oh there's the occasional magic bursts for like 700 dmg or so if you can afford the mp.

One blu told me that they can't solo much outside imps (for solo exping. Imps are just ideal for blu, low hp, squishy, and good bubbly exp each.). They do have other great abilities though. Can cure well, sa cannonball is crazy, stoneskinga is neat, and have a good mp pool with /mage.

[epigram]

There has to be a point where you begin to feel guilty for PLD getting buffs when jobs like BST and PUP haven't gotten squat

SE does give beast a lot of stuff, but 99% of it's crap.

[Ploid]

Oh come on, gauge is like the most useful JA in the game. Am I right?

[epigram]

I would merit gauge recast before I would consider dropping another merit into group 2 bst...

[LD]

I don't believe that every job should be of equal weight in every single fight. If that were the case, you would want 1 of each job in an alliance and the makeup of jobs for each fight would be the same. That being said, I think every job should have some substantial role in at least 50% of HNMs, and no fight should require more than 2 people (out of 18 ) of a specific job (ideally by making more than 2 of any particular job wasteful / inefficient).

This is pretty much what I'm saying. The PLD thing was

A HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE TO ILLUSTRATE MY POINT.

...Good God people, get out of your own asses. Uch..like and entire page of that shit.
How can you get so Butt-hurt over such a small thing? (that's what she said....wait...)
Don't see anyone bitching about stone potentially being being worth a damn.

Anyway.
If there was more balance between the jobs in all fields, BLM wouldn't be nixed out of burns, lower DD wouldn't be nixed out of HNM, and you wouldn't see so many MNK, NINs, & WARs in exp and BLM & SMN in HNM.
Burning HNM requires such a perfect level of gear, it's seemingly rarely practiced, and even that favors one job type over another.
Being completely equal in all fields wouldn't be very interesting, but in the current system, there far too wide a discrepancy in functionality. (too different thar.)

[Synergy1]

http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics.../1424/1424.jpg

In the upcoming version update, we plan on introducing the next segment of the Treasures of Aht Urhgan missions, as well as a number of new features and improvements that will make your life in Vana'diel more enjoyable than ever before!
Check out today's Topics for a preview of some of the changes.

New Missions
In the next version update, we will be continuing the Treasures of Aht Urhgan missions where they left off in the October update. The next installment will include the appearance of new monsters, the four Mamool Ja overlords, the mysterious Dark Rider, and many other surprises you won't want to miss!

Merit Points
A new graphic effect will be added that will let surrounding players know when you have gained a merit point. Also, you will be able to switch between experience point mode and limit point mode in any area, not just your Mog House.
*You will not be able to switch modes while under a level restriction (such as in a battlefield or during an Assault mission), or when participating in Besieged.
*Allocation of merit points will still only be possible within your Mog House.

Item Storage and Card Cases
The NPC who stores certain equipment sets will begin accepting relic-level armor in the upcoming version update. Also, the arrow-bundling NPC has expanded her wares to include cases that allow you to carry 99 corsair cards as one item.

Map Marking
The next update will see the appearance of an NPC that will mark your magical maps to make it easier to find those special NPCs, such as the minstrel of melodies, and the item storage NPCs.

taken from: http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff ... etail.html

(yay i made a topic.. and omg chunli looks fierce!
merit/exp switch mode is made of win!)

Woot, Now when we go to run other people out of camps while xping, They can see how many merits we gain when we steal the xp! Will be nice to be able to switch over to merits from anywhere, sucks when you have to wait for people to run back to the mh to change from xp to merits when your at a camp already.

[Celeras]

And every time I hear someone bitch about RDM being overpowered I want to spork them. I have duoed VT Imps with Tonko on his Blue Mage, anyone who thinks that Red Mage is powerful after seeing that is hitting the crackpipe too hard.

Are you under the impression that almost any two jobs cant duo imps efficiently? Because youre sadly mistaken. If one of you has shadows, and the other can heal... you can duo imps.

[Sasarai]

BLU can solo VT Imps, quite easily. RDM can given time too I'm sure, but not soloing with chains 2-3.

[Priran]

Woot, Now when we go to run other people out of camps while xping, They can see how many merits we gain when we steal the xp! Will be nice to be able to switch over to merits from anywhere, sucks when you have to wait for people to run back to the mh to change from xp to merits when your at a camp already.

The "<Dood> obtains a merit point! (Total: x)" message might have had the same effect previously. Especially since as far as I know it was unfilterable.

[Spira]

I think 1 great point to make is that people mistake balance to mean being equal, but they aren't the same thing..

Balance in the case of jobs would be that each job can excel to a certain degree at the various aspects of the game.. and if these things are placed on somewhat of a numeric value and added up.. it'd kinda be on par with the next job.

Most jobs excel in 1 area and then you'll realise they are mediocre in most everything else. But RDM is quite different because i'd say it excels in having high surviveability, enfeebling power and the ability to economize its mp, and this is b4 considering it's subjob. It doesn't have to be a great DD to be strong, and yet RDM can be geared to deal pretty decent damage, as well as do whatever it specializes in. Because SE doesnt allow RDMs to push that DD limit, I'd say that is what balances RDM as it is... RDM is probably one of the most powerful balanced jobs in the game already. Also NIN, BLM, BRD.

[fantasticdan]

you do know that the right ninja can compete with a warrior right?

Yes, but if the ninja is TANKING, IE holding hate and constantly recasting shadows, they aren't keeping up with competent warriors. I am just comparing a party with a nin tank to a party with a pld tank, there is a big imbalance espicially at 55-75 range.

And as for saying blu is a powerful soloing job like rdm, they are really the opposite. Yes, blu can zerg low defense, low hp mobs for good exp, but blu is not a good endurance fighter at all, and you will never see blu soloing half the nms/hnms that a good rdm can. Access to phalanx, self refresh, tons of fast cast, convert, reliable debuffs, potent stoneskin, and the ability to cast at range put rdm in a completely different league. But in that regard, you will never see a rdm able to solo an exp rate like a blu can either.

[Kaylia]

I think 1 great point to make is that people mistake balance to mean being equal, but they aren't the same thing..

Balance in the case of jobs would be that each job can excel to a certain degree at the various aspects of the game.. and if these things are placed on somewhat of a numeric value and added up.. it'd kinda be on par with the next job.

Most jobs excel in 1 area and then you'll realise they are mediocre in most everything else. But RDM is quite different because i'd say it excels in having high surviveability, enfeebling power and the ability to economize its mp, and this is b4 considering it's subjob. It doesn't have to be a great DD to be strong, and yet RDM can be geared to deal pretty decent damage, as well as do whatever it specializes in. Because SE doesnt allow RDMs to push that DD limit, I'd say that is what balances RDM as it is... RDM is probably one of the most powerful balanced jobs in the game already. Also NIN, BLM, BRD.

Rdm has high survivability, but seriously, it doesn't give them the ability to do a lot more than other jobs. Most of the event in FFXI are timed, and you can't do good without a good dmg output and a balanced PT. Yeah, they can solo a few NM, but how often are you killing those NM, and how fun is it to fight it for 5h?

[Lordender]

The balance problem lies in the melee jobs. We all know 2handed weapons are broke and have always been broken. Here is a perfect example, i'm going to use DRK.

- 4 attack up traits at 10,30,50,70 (we should be doing the most damage per hit otherwise why give us these attack ups?)

Current system: axe/axe war hits exp mob for 90, 78, total damage: 168
DRK hits with scythe: 130 damage.

New System: axe/axe war hits exp mob for 90, 78, total damage: 168
DRK hits with scythe: 210 damage.

Either give us a working scythe boost or make last resort like berserk and all the drk's would be happy campers.

[happydude]

and then they stack last resort + berserk?

[Quicklet]

and then they stack last resort + berserk?

Don't forget souleater!

[Khamsin]

and then they stack last resort + berserk?

Don't forget souleater!

And Kraken Club!

[Sho]

I think people mix up rdm's power with their ability to keep themselves from dying. Have to manage mp very well between converts, taking little dmg, curing yourself, enfeebling the opponent, etc. Other than soloing random mobs slowly, we're just refreshing, enfeebling hnms if they're able to be, putting phalanx2 on tanks, and curing when we can (unless whms aren't there to haste. Then we have the role of doing that too). Oh there's the occasional magic bursts for like 700 dmg or so if you can afford the mp.

One blu told me that they can't solo much outside imps (for solo exping. Imps are just ideal for blu, low hp, squishy, and good bubbly exp each.). They do have other great abilities though. Can cure well, sa cannonball is crazy, stoneskinga is neat, and have a good mp pool with /mage.

I've solo'd everything from Greater Colibri, to Deco Weapons, to Imps, to Mage Mamool Ja. Imps are just easier, but a smart BLU can solo alot of T and VT mobs.

[Dark Vincent]

Yeah because PLD is too weak and useless in this game. They need more buffs This reminds me of ZAM. Wtf do you smoke? Why everytime someone talks about "balance" they mention Merit Party TP Burns as the prime example? Are Merit Parties your endgame?
I would hardly say PLD needs more adjustments, it's the TP Burn system that is not friendly to the job, and there is nowhere else where you can get comparable exp and would be friendly to them, you see BLMs and SMNs have good soloability and their own types of "burn" parties which balances things out since they are rejected off TP burn(not sure on SMN to be honest, just heard about it but never seen one). Hardly the Job's problem, more the monsters' designing.
I agree on DRG, PUP and a few others getting shafted, since they *are* supposed to be part of the tp burning crowd jobs.

EDIT: Zilong, funny you say that about Sylph's Besieged. Yesterday we lost the Astral Candy for the first time in almost 5 months, and it was JP time.

Why is it so absurd that paladins would want a boost for exp and merit parties? For endgame tanking, sure pld/nin is working great, but a pld TANK shouldn't be a dead weight to any 60+ exp/merit party. Other non-TP burn jobs or just less wanted jobs have other options; blm can solo or manaburn, blu/smn/bst/drg can solo or make their own type of "burn" parties, while pld in comparision is really left shafted out in the cold.

That's what I'm saying, it isn't the job's problem, it's the way the best exp zones were designed that's wrong. Make an area with equivalent exp/rate, but where the mob's dmg is magical and bypasses shadows, even more, make it so that it can change mode to become invulnerable to magic or physical dmg (that would bring back the classic parties where people *gasp* Skillchain and Magic Burst for maximum effectiveness). The mob would have somewhat low hp but would give a real lot of exp, since it would most likely take longer to kill than the ToAU mobs (something around 1-1:30min, but the exp would be double or so). There, Paladin keeps its role/design the way it is now, gets merit/exp and people quit bitching about WARx4 RDM BRD-only parties. I dont think it's wrong for Paladins to ask a boost in merit/exp, I just think the way people want said boost is wrong. If they gave PLDs better dmg capability, people wouldnt eat defense food or gear for tanking, they would maximize the dmg capability and use /NIN the same way we do now. And Paladin tanking in exp/merit would still be an unresolved issue.. But hey it's like Tekki said, we can bitch some and hope SE gives us Ultima or something.

[Koyangi]

[quote=Dark Vincent]

Yeah because PLD is too weak and useless in this game. They need more buffs This reminds me of ZAM. Wtf do you smoke? Why everytime someone talks about "balance" they mention Merit Party TP Burns as the prime example? Are Merit Parties your endgame?
I would hardly say PLD needs more adjustments, it's the TP Burn system that is not friendly to the job, and there is nowhere else where you can get comparable exp and would be friendly to them, you see BLMs and SMNs have good soloability and their own types of "burn" parties which balances things out since they are rejected off TP burn(not sure on SMN to be honest, just heard about it but never seen one). Hardly the Job's problem, more the monsters' designing.
I agree on DRG, PUP and a few others getting shafted, since they *are* supposed to be part of the tp burning crowd jobs.And people wouldn't exp on those mobs, just like camps are empty and everyone goes to the "easiest" places.

EDIT: Zilong, funny you say that about Sylph's Besieged. Yesterday we lost the Astral Candy for the first time in almost 5 months, and it was JP time.

Why is it so absurd that paladins would want a boost for exp and merit parties? For endgame tanking, sure pld/nin is working great, but a pld TANK shouldn't be a dead weight to any 60+ exp/merit party. Other non-TP burn jobs or just less wanted jobs have other options; blm can solo or manaburn, blu/smn/bst/drg can solo or make their own type of "burn" parties, while pld in comparision is really left shafted out in the cold.

That's what I'm saying, it isn't the job's problem, it's the way the best exp zones were designed that's wrong. Make an area with equivalent exp/rate, but where the mob's dmg is magical and bypasses shadows, even more, make it so that it can change mode to become invulnerable to magic or physical dmg (that would bring back the classic parties where people *gasp* Skillchain and Magic Burst for maximum effectiveness). The mob would have somewhat low hp but would give a real lot of exp, since it would most likely take longer to kill than the ToAU mobs (something around 1-1:30min, but the exp would be double or so). There, Paladin keeps its role/design the way it is now, gets merit/exp and people quit bitching about WARx4 RDM BRD-only parties. I dont think it's wrong for Paladins to ask a boost in merit/exp, I just think the way people want said boost is wrong. If they gave PLDs better dmg capability, people wouldnt eat defense food or gear for tanking, they would maximize the dmg capability and use /NIN the same way we do now. And Paladin tanking in exp/merit would still be an unresolved issue.. But hey it's like Tekki said, we can bitch some and hope SE gives us Ultima or something.[/quote:007ff]People just wouldn't exp there, they'd go to the easiest camp... that wouldn't fix anything.