Bastok... Why so consistently bad?

[Max™]

I make a fuckin midget and run around upsetting people with my disturbingly perverse humor, duh.

[Tulun]

another kind of funny thing...

Did bastok get *any*extra quests, beyond the starting + 2 required for Mission 2?

They just hate this nation

[Gregorio]

I remember actually chosing Bastok because of the brady games guide. I remember reading about which race suited which job, and about how hume was the most balanced and would work well with any job. And because I was indifferent in which job I wanted to be I picked hume. And since humes were supposed to be based in Bastok, I chose that town to be my own.

[Daimen-G]

Modern nation with a republic like the United States, with a lot of advanced technology and human like characters that differ very little from real life, a few hundred years ago, expect with airships.

Dude, the other day, I was making a sandwich, and I almost tore it to shreds with my wind crystal by mistake.

And Bastok's more like some kind of Dwarven Mountain Mining Town minus the Dwarves. It's a lot more fantasy-ish than you put it there, it's built into a mountain and has a race of giant humanoids that make up a third of its population.

Not to mention the Ninjas and Sorcery.

I can't remember the last time the FBI got sent on a mission to assassinate a giant demon king

[shukuffxi]

I wasn't sure of which job, Humes were touted as balanced, so I picked that. Bastok was where Humes are from, so I chose Bastok. In retrospect, I would've made a Mithra or Elvaan if given the choice, simply due to the fact I hate how my toon looks (Oh god, getting my SJ was so hard, I don't wanna start all over again, it's too much work /wrists) but I still <3 Bastok.

The not being able to keep your OPs is the only reason I don't go back to Bastok. I moved to Windurst to get Master Caster's Bracelets, and have all the OPs I need, but hell if i'm moving and giving up months of gaining OPs I frequently use. SE knows this is an issue for a lot of people, and I have no clue why it hasn't been fixed yet.

[Ferien]

I, on the other hand, read all the guides stating what race/job/city combinations would be best, and created Ferien, the Elvaan BLM from Bastok.

[Epical]

Lol, even the Campaign Ops page on the wiki is indicative of Bastok generally sucking.

[evilpaul]

I like to think I'm personally responsible for Bastok being epic fail across all servers, but it's probably just a coincidence.

[Lordender]

Lol, even the Campaign Ops page on the wiki is indicative of Bastok generally sucking.

Which is why I think SE needs to finally step in and make bastok more attractive. On my server bastok has been in 3rd place 95% of the time in the last two years, finding multiple people to do the same bastokan campaign op's is gonna be a fuckin nightmare.

[yayajax]

Maybe people overlook many problems in Bastok and miss out all the advantages we have in hand.
Bastok and San d'Oria both are very convenience for hometown setup with all the OPs/Signet/ToAUWarp right around the corner. If anyone setting homepoint in front of Port Bastok MH like myself should also find it is easy to get to the Maw outside. It's really easy to traval everywhere, plus a Galka NPC in front of Mines for me to sell all the junks to NPC.

Bastok may not be the most interesting nation, but in Midgard it is very nice not because of the in-game settings physical condition. Friends in Bastok are more willing to help each others make it a warm family hardly can be found from San/Windy. I first heard the friendliness back when I started the game, and it is proven with my own experience Bastokan is friendly.

In Campaign, Bastok has some of the most powerful NPC generals, Elivira and Maxmilian are really the coolest two out of all. Instead of everyone jumping out in battlefield try to solo a Quad, it is easier to assist the NPCs.

Everything else people have already mentioned above, I also want to bring up Bastok unique CP items. Back in the day Republican Gold Medal was huge for that 50MP but it works only outside nation control, and the best items for leveling within certain levels that require "Inside of Nation Controlled Area" are not from Bastok. Part of the reason forcing Bastok being behind.

[megido]

Hm... I can't speak to why it's consistently bad. I love Bastok. I think I agree with a lot of people's take on Bastok just not described well enough during character creation.

Some key things that I do like about Bastok (many have been touched before).

1) Bastok Mines it the best laid out city zone. It has access to everything in a very nice and centralized area. I feel the services in other nations isn't as centralized as the way Bastok Mines is laid out.

2) Bastok has the best zone next to it to level from 15-20 (Dunes levels). Korroloka tunnel is the best place to XP at these levels. Dunes PTs are more often than not made of newbs.

3) We get a lot of benefit from our Conquest armor since we are usually in last place... well at least the armors that give us benefits when we're in a zone controlled by another nation.

4) We got turtles yo. Our mortal enemy. How cool is that.

5) One of the most useful subjobs is unlocked at Bastok, the Ninja.

6) It's not a hole in the middle of a swamp like Windy.

[BRP]

6) It's not a hole in the middle of a swamp like Windy.

Windurst is not so much of a swamp as it is a forested lake in the middle of a savanna. Compared to Bastok being in a desolated land where nothing but potatoes will grow.

[Kaslo]

6) It's not a hole in the middle of a swamp like Windy.

Windurst is not so much of a swamp as it is a forested lake in the middle of a savanna. Compared to Bastok being in a desolated land where nothing but potatoes will grow.

Hey! Potatoes are part of the reason I like Ireland... the other part is beer >.>

[Gunslinger]

San D is the typical castle/mideval type city. Based on swords, etc.
Windy is, like BRP said, a forested city (always seemed a bit like the shire to me...). Based on magic.
Bastok is, at least how I've always seen it, very much like the old west. Based on technology.

Seems to me like developers basically split their FF concepts into the 3 main cities, with Jueno being the commerce that links them all together.

Also, as a galka, I can say that bastok's story is awesome :D. Wouldn't change nations for anything. At least bastok gets easy access to Altep, San D gets easy access to Xarc. Windy always seemed kind of stranded to me, not to mention out of the way.