June Version Update Notice (04/25/2008)

[Sekkite]

Damn. That has to be one of the most uninspiring blurbs ever.

I'm personally looking forward to it. There are many possibilities for this update.

Additions that expand the game adding a sense of freshness to the game. (Poor)

As opposed to WoW who gives a good content update once every 10 months (this is not an exaggeration)?

[#686578]

I'd like to see different types of armor(plated, cloth, chains etc) each giving piercing, slashing, blunt and magical defense bonus.

Plated Armor, Damage modifier: Piercing: 1.0 Slashing: 0.75 Blunt: 0.75 Magic: 1.0
Chain Armor, Damage modifier: Piercing: 0.75 Slashing: 0.75 Blunt: 1.0 Magic: 1.0
Cloth Armor, Damage modifier: Piercing: 1.0 Slashing: 1.0 Blunt: 1.0 Magic: 0.5

etc... /dream

I like sort of like this idea actually. I'm compelled to think I'm stupid because of it though.

[Yutuyu]

I don't think there are people in this game, at least not that many, who're looking for more solo content so that social play isn't mandatory. Social play is the cornerstone of FFXI, if you don't like forced social play, why aren't you playing one of the myriad of MMOs that caters to a more isolated playstyle?

The last thing they should do is remove what makes this game unique.

[#686578]

I don't think there are people in this game, at least not that many, who're looking for more solo content so that social play isn't mandatory. Social play is the cornerstone of FFXI, if you don't like forced social play, why aren't you playing one of the myriad of MMOs that caters to a more isolated playstyle?

The last thing they should do is remove what makes this game unique.

[orson]

Campaign really just fulfills a niche for a certain type of person who hates being beholden to parties for their progress and is very patient; which is not mainstream. The majoirty of us want to make as much progress as fast as we can even if it's irritating, I mean look at burn parties, they're NOT fun for most people.

I completely disagree. The people who hate being tied down to other people for progress is probably the majority, it's just this level of progress hasn't been possible for most of the player-base. If you look at other MMOs, PT play is much less common for anything other than very powerful monsters, even when they might get a better rate from being with at least one more person. In short, it isn't that people necessarily prefer party play so much as solo is just generally so much worse in this game as to force us into it. Before campaign, people PT'd mostly because there was no other real choice. While Campaign isn't the solo content we needed, it does what solo is supposed to do: Allow casual progress that's worth the time you put into it. The desire to only play or a little while or not idle in town doing nothing isn't exactly an uncommon sentiment. This is only a niche because the game has it that way, you can't get the most of it until at least the 60's and you have to go to the past to even access it.

Also, the idea that people will just merit even if its irritating as long as they get a good rate is ridiculous when you consider the number of people who purposefully avoid them when not with a close group of friends and the morons who bring stupid jobs or stupid people and say shit like "exp is exp." Both are more common than you think. If everyone really cared about exp or didn't care about how unfun it can be, I'm sure fewer people would be fucking around in Whitegate, because everyone hates boredom.


Just to reiterate, due to the various limitations of PT play, fully functional solo content will always be flocked to if it's readily available and any good. Depending on your luck or how much time your companions have, a full day of campaign will most likely get you more exp than even a good merit (which will mainly only last a few hours). Then there are those who wont get a PT or only have an hour to spare, the latter would probably rather not put someone through the trouble and possible disappointment of getting a replacement (not to mention the trouble of getting enough people in time), so goes to solo as a better use of everyone's time. Then there are the jaded assholes, such as myself, who when they're not harboring a seething loathing of the low grade players they're forced into contact with, and especially their flimsy grasp on the concept of 'self-improvement', are irritated to their breaking point even when with people they actually like. At which point their independent streak kicks in, forcing(/allowing) them to avoid the general screaming populous and actually just have fun with the game. Some people actually like the game for what it is, despite its confusing affinity towards PT play, and while they avoid people they don't know or like, as long as they're in the game, they can still communicate with the people they do like. Social interaction should be optional, not mandatory..

It's only a niche if that's what you make it.

I could not agree more with this.

I love 90% of everything in FFXI but the 3 things that are very flawed in the game are firstly the completely random terrible drop rates, generally SE being slow ass in doing anything (adding better gear, fixing HNMs/Endgame Events,) and finally the lack of any ability to efficiently solo exp.

Drop rates are terrible we need more point based systems such as Conquest, Assault, and Campaign and/or drop rates need to be improved so people aren't going 0/50 on their Relic armor. Like wtf some dude does a KS99 once gets a speed belt and someone who's been doing KS99s and KA for a yr hasn't gotten it yet? I could understand if SE had something incredibly game breaking thing that you could get through killing one king like HNM. Most endgame gear though gives marginal increases and only truly shines when stacked with other marginally better gear and merits.

SE takes forever to fix anything or to do what the vast majority of players want, need I say more?

Party exp is painful and seeking will leave you on many jobs waiting for 30 mins to never without an invite depending on level or job. Blm basically is forced to exp solo and really it's not a huge deal you're always going to have jobs that have a hard time getting parties because there will always be some jobs that are better at some things than others. Everyone should have the option to do solo exp though even if it's not quite as good as regular exp party. Why not let people who only have an hr to log on during some days actually get something accomplished?

In a game where people can level, gear up, max merit, etc. 20 jobs why make it a pain in the ass to get good gear or level. Making more major rewards like Maat's Cap, Relic Weapons, etc. you can maintain the reward vs. time spent (AKA grinding) aspect of FFXI as opposed to someone who may have spent an mth in a king LS to quit after pilfering their BB items. Imagine getting rewards like a staff that had all HQ Staves rolled into one for levelling all mage jobs (iono which they would be or how many but you get the idea.)

[Yutuyu]

Social interaction should be optional, not mandatory

I don't get the point of playing an online game with that attitude, and certainly not this one.

[Not Kuno]

Social interaction should be optional, not mandatory

I don't get the point of playing an online game with that attitude, and certainly not this one.

Having 5 retarded party members doesn't make for a great experience.

[Izzy]

MMORPG

If you want to play single player FFXI, go buy FFXII

[orson]

Making it mandatory for exp is stupid.

There are a bajillion other things people should be doing with others though in MMOs. Exp is such a small aspect of this game (or at least it should be imo.) Exp parties don't challenge you and they don't really teach you how to play well. As long as you make exp parties the best way to get exp you'll never destroy that aspect of the game.

[test123]

yeh but the way combat was designed makes activities such as Brenner reduced. WoW capture the flag is way more entertaining, you can play that 24/7.

[orson]

yeh but the way combat was designed makes activities such as Brenner reduced. WoW capture the flag is way more entertaining, you can play that 24/7.

Huh?

The reason no one does PVP is there is no reward, purpose, and doesn't force players to use team work thus making a huge chunk of jobs incredibly inferior in it. Not really sure if you were commenting on something way further back but I don't really see much correlation to PVP and exp.

[Karbuncle]

I Dont really know about the Social Interaction thing being optional/mandatory. the way i see it, Socialization is a huge part of a MMO, Without Socialization, you might as well be offline. However, No one should be forced to interact with Individuals of less then compitent intellegence. SE even agrees with this *See Blacklist*.

I enjoy the social interaction i have on FFXI, i've met some really great people in the time i've played this game, and i wouldn't change that for anything. However i also enjoy being able to go out by myself and accomplish something, rather it be farming, camping a NM, or Just doing a few campaign ops.

This game is about Social Interaction, true, the cornerstone of the "MMO" Title. It was meant as a means to have fun with other players in an online community. However, making some content solo-able is a step in the right direction. They should focus on the "MMO" Aspect of the game, without a doubt, but it'd be stupid to ignore the fact your players want something to do solo while waiting for friends to join, or if you dont have a large time to commit to a group activity, or just to do while you burn time waiting for an event.

Adding Solo content isnt a bad idea, in any way. Anyone who thinks an MMO Should be strictly Social interaction and Group activities would make a Shitacular MMO, A Game should be Enjoyable by yourself, as well as it is with a group of friends.

Just my Opinion, however, not a fact.

On a Side Note....
People seem to think Campaign is a single player thing, while its true, you can do Campaign solo, you can also do Besieged solo, however it doesnt change the fact they were intended as a group activity. Except, Unlike Besieged, SE Decided it would be a good idea to expand on the "Fun" Aspect of a Large battle system, being able to see what mob is killing you is a bonus.

Anyway, Im Excited for the Update, im hoping for a few things with NPCs

1) Level 70/75 Access
2) Useable in all Areas
3) Quests to upgrade your NPCs Attack/Atributes/Defense/MP etc.
4) Maybe Armor that enhances your NPC (Effective when summoned, and then you can dequip it...) Like. Attack Bonuses, Accuracy Bonuses, Something to make them a bit let useless when in Fierce Attacker mode.

Hehe, im looking forward to the missions too :>
However, the New katana is exciting, but not on the top of my list o-o

Edit: IN the time it took me to Type this post. The topic of Discussion has already changed.

[BRP]

If NPCs were able to fulfill the spot of a player I'd be happy. Being able to fill the role of healer, tank, and attack(maybe nuker, bard, etc) would really nice for getting a 6-man party. I'm talking about a lot more control, stronger AI, more options, and stronger NPCs in general. They take a party member slot, so I think they should be a lot stronger than your typical pet.

Anyway, solo content isn't a bad thing. There is already tons of solo content, just not stuff that rewards exp. Personally, a good set of weekly repeatable quests that reward exp, but not enough to obsolete partying wouldn't do any harm. You are not going to catch up to exp partys that easily, but for someone who might be short on time on a specific day or two of the week they would really appreciate it.

More importantly, I'd like to see more ways to get exp as a group than killing monsters over and over again. ENMs and the such had it right. Up the the exp rewards on quests/tasks with only exp rewards and add exp rewards to things with no exp reward(EFs) come to mind. Though if they add any of this, it would be nice if they made seeking for party useful for more than one thing.

[Karbuncle]

Hehe, I agree with the NPC thing. It would be nice if you could set your NPCs to diffrent jobs, more specificly.

like being able to set it to NIN, (Would randomly cast Ichi/Ni Spells, And use Throwing stars) Like NIN Yagudo

BRD: Cast songs randomly, Up to MinuetIV, March, Mandrigal, Elegy, Etudes, etc. again, like NIN yagudo.
RNG: Attacks in close range, uses Ranged attacks (You can give them Bow/Gun/Xbow) and they use Ranged WS Often. (Still having access to their main weapons weaponskills.)

Obviously more complex jobs would be excluded, but come on, our NPCs cant even Nuke... a BLM Type job would be enjoyable :>
Being able to set your NPCs job to some extent greater then "Healer, DD, or tank, hurry up and buy" would be nice.

They could do so much with NPCs, they really could :<
Please SE. Let us Choose our NPC's jobs to a greater extent, at leas the jobs Beastmen have access too, you'd already have the NPC/Enemy commands in the game.

[Yutuyu]

I honestly wish they'd just remove fellowship NPCs entirely; then I wouldn't have to deal with so many retards who level them in popular XP spots. And if you think soloers are a problem now, make soloing a viable way to xp, then see if any camp is really safe from being destroyed by random self pricks.

[Dense]

Maybe Kama will be D&D style for MNK: Weapons that use your Martial Arts traits but have their own effects

HA

Sorry that I'm a few pages late, but no one seemed to discuss this at all. SE has been trying to add a way for MNKs to deal more DMG/hit (so that they becoe more useful on HNMs and such) by offering ideas like a JA that would give kicks more often, and harder, bla bla bla. Does anyone else think it reasonable to postulate that the assumed NIN galka could really be a MNK, and the kama weapons are a Hand-to-Hand weapon that add more delay but a much higher dmg rating?
From the wiki:

The kama has also been used in Chinese martial arts from which the original Okinawan martial art Te(hand) and later Karate(empty hand) styles were influenced by and arguably developed out of.

Seems like it might have relevance to all of the SE-led talk about helping MNK actually have uses on HNMs...

[Jkun]

If SE make Fellows smarter and much more powerful than automatons, I really will question the development team's idea of balance, and what still purpose the job serves as it is. In before QQing, even though I welcome Fellow buffs with open arms.

[Hyan]

I don't think galkas fighting pose with H2H is the same as in pic. As much as I wish as a monk that SE would give us a weapon that isn't blunt type, it'd have to be completely new weapon class and I don't see that happening

[Maxxthepenguin]

I don't think galkas fighting pose with H2H is the same as in pic. As much as I wish as a monk that SE would give us a weapon that isn't blunt type, it'd have to be completely new weapon class and I don't see that happening

Vampiric Claws

[Karbuncle]

If SE make Fellows smarter and much more powerful than automatons, I really will question the development team's idea of balance, and what still purpose the job serves as it is. In before QQing, even though I welcome Fellow buffs with open arms.

Nah, im sure they'd still cast Enchanted Etude on you and such, while your BLM or something.
Logical Etude on your THF etc.

Though, I Agree... I dont want them to be so much smarter as a bit more usefull, right now they're just pretty to look at and can CureV a few times :> (Plus they cant complain like PC's )

Adding at least an option to give them ranged attack would be nice :O. Though im with you on not making their AI More intellegent, just expanding usefullness, they;re smart enough o-o