10 Questions from JP Players

[pirahna1]

1 - I've had this happen many times. I'll grab all my equipment, pay a ton of gil to get a teleport, run across 3 zones and finally get to the party. Then when I join, they will immediately disband. Sometimes I'll sit there and wait till the person who invited me levels up, then watch the party disband in front of me without a single tell. In that case I write that player's name down and will never party or accept to party with them again.


2 - I've never heard of such a list.


3 - Japanese players usually have more skill in their job and will play them properly. I won't go out of my way to invite a Japanese player, but welcome them when they do join!


4 - The only thing I don't understand is the disagreement with /check. It's a feature that was placed into the game, which is why I do not understand why someone would be bothered by it, regardless of the translation.


5 - I like a mix of JP and NA in parties and missions. I know there is a language barrier, and I myself know no Japanese, but feel that tactics in this game are learned. Meaning, if you are good at your job, you should understand how things work in the game. So language isn't that big of a barrier to me. I play to the best of my abilities and expect the same of others, especially in dire circumstances like missions, bcnms, links.


6 - That person was a twat. I love all cultures and welcome them freely. I've been interested in Japanese culture since I was young.


7 - Most NA players how moved to WoW (so I've heard) and many people new to MMOs will seek out WoW. There has been a lot of negativity thrown at FFXI and thus I find it hard to believe there would be many new NA players. However, I am coming back from a year-long hiatus thanks to the September '08 update .


8 - I call them 'Elitist'. Normally this has a positive connotation, meaning someone of great value and experience. However when applied to FFXI it means someone who thinks they know everything about every job and that anything they say should be 'golden'. Nothing they do can be wrong. I find them despicable and make sure to never party with them again.


9 - RMT has ruined our game, plain and simple. If I know someone (a friend) who buys gil, I let them know how I feel about it and try to make them change their ways. In some strange way I understand why they do it - this game is hard to play if you only have a few hours a week to play. But otherwise I stay far away from these people, as they usually 'power-level' their jobs and have no idea how to properly play them.


10 - NA players love subligar and sashes. The sash trend I know came from www.foshata.com, but I think the NA FFXI sash trend came from the first defeat of AV and the Ninurta's Sash being given to a job that had no use using such a piece of gear.


As for your bonus question:
The banana would not be considered a snack. To me, it is a part of a healthy diet, and a great replacement for breakfast. A snack would be something like banana pudding, but a plain banana is not a snack. A banana would be the same as an apple, peach, pear, or a bunch of grapes to me.


Elmer, this is awesome. I hope we can keep this going. Maybe we can get some kind of agreement between our two cultures finally!

[Talint]

Have you ever had someone from your own country do something bad to you? For example, they invite you to replace someone, and when you get there, they just disband. Do you hold a grudge against the person who invited you in that case, or do you think “Oh well,” and just forget about it?

I hold a grudge like you wouldn't believe. I understand sometimes it's unavoidable, especially when you accept replacements in pickup parties, but it's really infuriating to deal with.

I heard that on foreign boards there is a list of useful Japanese players that will help people out. Do you really have such a list?

A list of players? I haven't heard of such a list.

I don’t go out of my way to invite NA players to my party, but NA players often invite Japanese players. What are the benefits and drawbacks of inviting a Japanese player to your party?

Sometimes its necessary to build an EXP party to invite people who don't speak the same language. Everybody wants EXP, and since EXPing is so methodical, the communication barrier isn't too much of an issue.

Has there been a time when a Japanese player has hurt or insulted you? Also, what are some actions that are normal for us that you find disagreeable? I’m interested to know and would like to hear your thoughts.

I read a search comment in an EXP party once that contained: 外人嫌い. I found it more amusing than being hurt though.

Lots of NA players exclusively use Auto-Translate when recruiting for Assault and other activities. Does this mean that you are targeting Japanese players as well? I’m fairly knowledgeable when it comes to Missions and Assault, but I barely know any English, and worry if I should even send a tell.

If you know what missions and assault they're doing, and you understand your role, then send a /tell. The more people that can accomplish a mission/assault, the better. Understanding what the assault/mission is goes a long way in breaking the communication barrier.

I’ve had a foreign player say to me, “I hate Japanese people.” But Final Fantasy is a Japanese game. If you hate us, why play?

Final Fantasy is a worldwide game, with Japanese origins. Welcome to the world stage. Unfortunately, not everybody is nice.

A lot of time has passed since service began in Japan, and you barely see any new subscribers coming in. Are there new NA players still joining?

Not that I know of. I think, at best, it's old players who have canceled their subscriptions in the past and want to come back.

In Japan, players that play long periods of time, have many Lvl 75 jobs, possess tons of high-level equipment, and who are usually filled with prejudice and contempt are called 廃人 <[ ( hai jin ) " High Level person but disable from living real life " ]>. Is there a similar name you use for NA players who are like that?

Well, I fit a few of those requirements, and I call myself a loser.

Is there opposition against the practice of RMT or the use of third party tools? What do you do if your friend or Linkshell uses them? How do you feel about RMT業者 (gyou sha) or gil farmers?

RMT kills the game. In terms of third party tools, there is a general acceptance of things like windower. I personally find botting and flee-hacking to be completely unacceptable. But I find more and more people seeing as a means to an end. It's kind of sad and pathetic.

In Japan, there are some people who are huge subligar fans. Are there any amongst foreign players, or is there another piece of equipment that is especially popular?

Friends don't let friends wear subligar.

[Kaiyoko]

1
Have you ever had someone from your own country do something bad to you? For example, they invite you to replace someone, and when you get there, they just disband. Do you hold a grudge against the person who invited you in that case, or do you think “Oh well,” and just forget about it?

I have had it happen a few times when I do seek. Most of the time I tend to lead a pt and make sure people want to merit/exp 2+ hours. When someone has to go unless everyone wants to keep going a lot longer I will just end the party when the first person has to go. I would not hold a grudge against someone unless it happened a 3 or more times with that person.

2
I heard that on foreign boards there is a list of useful Japanese players that will help people out. Do you really have such a list?

Never heard of it and if it does exist I think it's rather rude.

3
I don’t go out of my way to invite NA players to my party, but NA players often invite Japanese players. What are the benefits and drawbacks of inviting a Japanese player to your party?

I like inviting Japanese players because they for the most part stay in the party a long time and they are respectable players. I have a problem inviting NA players more because they are lazy and tend to afk and not pay attention. I try to invite people also that I have regularly good experiences with. The only draw back is the language barrier with Japanese players I think and I try my best to speak what Japanese I know.

4
Has there been a time when a Japanese player has hurt or insulted you? Also, what are some actions that are normal for us that you find disagreeable? I’m interested to know and would like to hear your thoughts.

I think the only thing that a Japanese player has done to insult me was they get mad when I was speaking Japanese saying I was rude for speaking another persons language >_>;. Only thing that JP players do that I find insulting is when they need one of my Jobs for the salvage they shout when I'm on and I can speak and understand Japanese enough to do it and they refuse still lol.

5
Lots of NA players exclusively use Auto-Translate when recruiting for Assault and other activities. Does this mean that you are targeting Japanese players as well? I’m fairly knowledgeable when it comes to Missions and Assault, but I barely know any English, and worry if I should even send a tell.

I use Auto-Translate only because I'm too lazy to type it out. I also wouldn't mind a Japanese player if I did shout for assault or a mission if they knew what was going on.

6
I’ve had a foreign player say to me, “I hate Japanese people.” But Final Fantasy is a Japanese game. If you hate us, why play?

If someone hated Japanese people they either should just not play or just avoid playing late at night or in the morning. Whoever would say that is also a dumb ass.

7
A lot of time has passed since service began in Japan, and you barely see any new subscribers coming in. Are there new NA players still joining?

I see some new NA once in awhile but not as much. A lot are friends of those that already play.

8
In Japan, players that play long periods of time, have many Lvl 75 jobs, possess tons of high-level equipment, and who are usually filled with prejudice and contempt are called 廃人 <[ ( hai jin ) " High Level person but disable from living real life " ]>. Is there a similar name you use for NA players who are like that?

Yes a lot of people that are not well geared and less skilled at this game believe this that are NA. There seems to be a prejudice that people think because you spend time at camps instead of sitting in whitegate doing nothing that you have no life. I think the skilled/well geared people in this game manage their time better and find things to do that will improve their character instead of standing in one place such as whitegate doing nothing. I think the difference between the two groups is how which group chooses to send their time playing. But elitest is the term I use.

9
Is there opposition against the practice of RMT or the use of third party tools? What do you do if your friend or Linkshell uses them? How do you feel about RMT業者 (gyou sha) or gil farmers?

I think most people use some kind of third party program like Windower or Apradar. I don't feel gil buying and botting is accepted, but people just have learned to deal with it. It's nothing that can be changed by the players that don't it's up to the GMs to catch them and we know how fail that is.

10
In Japan, there are some people who are huge subligar fans. Are there any amongst foreign players, or is there another piece of equipment that is especially popular?

I think subligar is one of them, but I think a lot of people just wanna show off their best gear they have being HNM/salvage or what ever else it could be.

Also-
I think if we could ask them some more question and them back question back weekly or monthly or something that would be cool after this little experiment lol.

[TheHeph]

1 - Yes, I have. Had players who later became friends for a long time. They ask to borrow something for a short time and then never want to give it back when asking for it. I became weary of lending anything out since. As for exp parties, I only get mad if they give me no warning about it or don't apologize. Otherwise it's okay, it happens sometimes.

2 - Not a general help list that I know of. Although, I do have a main list of crafters for my server (Ramuh) who are JP or NA. I don't list just anyone though, they have to submit themselves personally as I don't want to irritate anyone. My list is located at: http://www.insurrectionls.com/forums...ead.php?t=2863
Which I keep updated and is posted throughout other Ramuh communities.


3 - I tend to invite what I need, so if there's three jobs seeking and the one I need happens to be Japanese then I go with the Japanese. Most Japanese, from my experience, know what to do without me having to baby them.


4 - Only times I have been insulted is when trying to find experience point parties. I would get an invite or tell from a Japanese and as soon as they find out I don't speak Japanese they give me the (I'm sorry.) JP Only. It doesn't happen often but it's disheartening when it does. As for differences, the /check thing. I didn't understand why "Player examines you." was such a big deal. After hearing back Japanese responses in question to that shed some light but it's something we don't pay any regards to much.


5 - I use Auto-Translate in hopes of finding anyone who can help/join whether they are Japanese or not. I don't usually have a hard time explaining what the battle plan is.


6 - I can understand if some people say they hate Japanese because of the JP Only attitude that goes around, but, personally I understand the cultural difference and don't mind it at all.


7 - I'm not sure as I don't follow the subscription statistics but I have noticed several veteran players quitting for newer games.


8 - I don't think we have an exclusive word for it that I know of >.> We just technically say they have no life lol.


9 - RMT are the only thing I hate out of everything in the game. It has calmed down a lot when compared to a few years ago when they tried aggressively to get their stinky little hands on anything they could. Botters at HNMs comes in second but that's harder to track than an RMT. If I notice someone, including my linkshell members, of botting I do go out of my way to report them. It's something I don't condone.


10 - Yes, we have those too. Usually the summerfest top with a subligar. How painful it is to watch a male wearing that >.>


EDIT: Just saw the bonus question. My response: A banana should not be considered as part of the snack. It's a healthy portion of a meal and that's one thing we differ in. I don't think anyone here sets lunch limits students bring in from home themselves o.o

[Stiker]

1
Have you ever had someone from your own country do something bad to you? For example, they invite you to replace someone, and when you get there, they just disband. Do you hold a grudge against the person who invited you in that case, or do you think “Oh well,” and just forget about it?

Definitely, happens all the time. Our forums are full of such stories. As far as a grudge, it depends on what happened. For the most part, I don't pay too much attention to things that happen in random EXP parties, but say something happens in my linkshell that I feel is wrong, I will remember that.

2
I heard that on foreign boards there is a list of useful Japanese players that will help people out. Do you really have such a list?

I haven't seen an exact list, but names of helpful Japanese players will always get around.

3
I don’t go out of my way to invite NA players to my party, but NA players often invite Japanese players. What are the benefits and drawbacks of inviting a Japanese player to your party?

The biggest drawback is the language barrier. I have noticed that in general my parties last a lot longer with Japanese members, which I love. When I decide that I want to get EXP, I hate it when a party ends too soon.

4
Has there been a time when a Japanese player has hurt or insulted you? Also, what are some actions that are normal for us that you find disagreeable? I’m interested to know and would like to hear your thoughts.

Definitely. More often than not it comes in the form of a tell responding to a party invite. I've gotten things along the line of "NA {Too Weak} {No Thanks}" before. I've also seen a Japanese player leave a party simply because one member made a couple mistakes as well.

I have always been amazed that Japanese players are able to set and keep a full party for 3 hours or more. Especially at lower levels now, this seems almost impossible to me most times. The /check issue has always baffled me, most because it seems to be rather well known that SE did a horrible translation on the action. Personally, I am honored when someone wants to check what gear I have. I've worked hard for it, and it is nice to show it off to people that don't know me.

5
Lots of NA players exclusively use Auto-Translate when recruiting for Assault and other activities. Does this mean that you are targeting Japanese players as well? I’m fairly knowledgeable when it comes to Missions and Assault, but I barely know any English, and worry if I should even send a tell.

In my case, yes, I am trying to get Japanese players in my party/alliance as well. I remember one time when I was setting up a Bastok Mission run, the one in which you have to kill the Gigaplasm that continuously splits. I had a good mix of both NA and Japanese in my alliance. It was a little rough to auto-translate all the directions for the fight, including notes that the melee jobs should not attack and that the BLM should /assist a certain player for nukes. Overall though, it worked out well and was an easy win for us!

6
I’ve had a foreign player say to me, “I hate Japanese people.” But Final Fantasy is a Japanese game. If you hate us, why play?

I definitely do not hate Japanese people at all. Hating someone based on their culture is flat out dumb and ignorant. Just as I cannot stand Japanese people that do not like or hate NA/foreign players, I cannot stand NA/foreign players with this attitude and they often find their way on my blacklist.

7
A lot of time has passed since service began in Japan, and you barely see any new subscribers coming in. Are there new NA players still joining?

I've seen a few here and there. Everytime I go level a new job in the Dunes or Qufim, I meet a new player or two it seems.

8
In Japan, players that play long periods of time, have many Lvl 75 jobs, possess tons of high-level equipment, and who are usually filled with prejudice and contempt are called 廃人 <[ ( hai jin ) " High Level person but disable from living real life " ]>. Is there a similar name you use for NA players who are like that?

We don't have a specific term that I can think of. "Elitest" might be the closest I can think of, although that can be used for a player with even a single 75 job. We are definitely aware of such people, and I think your term and translation is probably better than anything we can come up with.

9
Is there opposition against the practice of RMT or the use of third party tools? What do you do if your friend or Linkshell uses them? How do you feel about RMT業者 (gyou sha) or gil farmers?

I personally think RMT and some third party tools can flat out run this game. RMT have had a very negative effect on the game's economy and third party tools such as bots are the reason my Linkshell refuses to camp the "Land Kings" like Fafnir. Our Linkshell has a strict no botting policy although there are several LS that will either openly claim-bot or secretly do so.

It should be noted though, that most NA PC players use a third-party tool called "Windower". There is a minority of NA players that consider this tool cheating, but the majority of NA have accepted this as a useful tool to enchance FFXI. It contains the ability to have things like longer macros for full gear swaps and also things like "DrawDistance" which enhances the game's graphics. The creators of this tool are also against botting as they simply only wish to enhance FFXI and give us things that we feel SE left out or should look into implementing.

10
In Japan, there are some people who are huge subligar fans. Are there any amongst foreign players, or is there another piece of equipment that is especially popular?

Subligar is a great joke piece of armor amongst NA players, especially for those that play Galka and Elvaan male characters. The bathing suit pieces have also been used in this way too in our Linkshell. The beastman head pieces are also fun items to have.

Bonus Question:

Hmm...for me, the banana is a fruit and a part of the lunch. However, place this in pudding and you have a snack/dessert!

Additional Comment:

I'm happy to see communication like this from both NA and Japanese players. It is especially funny to see the joke questions as well (hence why we REALLY wanted to ask you the color of the Adaman Harberk!). One of my biggest complaints about this game was that SE seemed to slap together their auto-translation tool and that has shot down most chances of effecitely communicating with each other without the knowledge of Japanese (or English in your case). I hope that with these questions we can dispel any false perceptions about each other and understand each other better, even if it is in little ways.

[Amok]

1
There are very few Dutch players on my server so I "no" no Dutch player has ever done something negative towards me. However, I do get treated rudely in parties sometimes by all kinds of people. I try to make sure a party is going to keep going before I move out to replace someone.

2
I've never seen one.

3
The drawback is that they're usually reaching the end of their playtime and often they leave with little warning. The benefit is that on average they are more efficient in parties than non-japanese players.

4
I don't know enough about japan to know what is normal or not. One time I got what I THINK was a party invite written in Japanese. I replied using auto translate, but they just answered with {Good bye.}. I tried asking if he wanted to invite me but he kept answering with {Good bye}. I felt pretty offended.


5
In short: yes. I'm trying to reach as many people as possible often because very few people still want to do missions and Assault is still not as popular as I want it to be.


6
Well I'd like to defend the thought that you SHOULDN'T have to leave a place or a game just because other people are ruining it for you. On the other hand, people that hate japanese people just for being japanese SHOULD leave. I wish they would.

7
I don't see many of them. The last time I met one was about 2 months ago when he asked (begged) me to help him get to Jeuno. I think the amount of work it takes to catch up to everyone else is too much, and it's scaring new players away.


8
I think they're usually called elitists. They go around saying things like lol[job] (nowadays mostly PUP) and make fun of people who have NQ gear in combination with a relic weapon.


9
I hate NM monopolization. And I also hate people that buy gil. I have become indifferent about people who bot HNM's because I've stopped caring about those HNM's. I become depressed when I hear people admit they use fishing bots and others say they dont'care that they do. Sometimes I feel like I'm some kind of relic when I actually fish the legitimate way.

10
Vir subligars on male characters always get a giggle from me. Now with /dance emotes it's going too far!

Banana:
The banana should be included and free of charge.

General comment:
I'm totally amazed by the whole idea of anonymous posting. I can see the positives, but on the other hand I really like/need the recognition for my contribution to any discussion. I know it's egotistical, but that's what I'm used to.

[Delekii]

1
Have you ever had someone from your own country do something bad to you? For example, they invite you to replace someone, and when you get there, they just disband. Do you hold a grudge against the person who invited you in that case, or do you think “Oh well,” and just forget about it?
Absolutely. If people don't know they all have time to continue a party they should not be replacing people. If people invite me and then disband straight away, unless there are extraneous circumstances, I blacklist the leader.


2
I heard that on foreign boards there is a list of useful Japanese players that will help people out. Do you really have such a list?
Never heard of that, although frequently there are comments saying this person is awesome because they helped me do this. There isn't a specific list of people who are helpful that I know of though..

3
I don’t go out of my way to invite NA players to my party, but NA players often invite Japanese players. What are the benefits and drawbacks of inviting a Japanese player to your party?
I get to practice Japanese, haha. I find that like the previous answer given by a lot of Japanese people, crossing the language barrier is actually kind of interesting. Makes what is otherwise a very monotonous experience (ie. gaining experience points) a little less monotonous.

4
Has there been a time when a Japanese player has hurt or insulted you? Also, what are some actions that are normal for us that you find disagreeable? I’m interested to know and would like to hear your thoughts.
Nothing that Japanese players as a whole do that I can think of, though I really hate when I respond in either English OR Japanese (Romaji) and people don't respond at all. I found this more with Japanese people than with English people.

5
Lots of NA players exclusively use Auto-Translate when recruiting for Assault and other activities. Does this mean that you are targeting Japanese players as well? I’m fairly knowledgeable when it comes to Missions and Assault, but I barely know any English, and worry if I should even send a tell.
I don't tend to use shout at all, so it doesn't really apply to me. I think there are two types of people who use full auto-translate shouts - a. the morons who are too lazy to write messages and spam shout for everything they need, and b. as you said, the people who don't mind Japanese people coming along as well. Personally I think there are very few English speaking people who would send a shout asking for people and turn down a Japanese person who responded, while the opposite may not be true.

6
I’ve had a foreign player say to me, “I hate Japanese people.” But Final Fantasy is a Japanese game. If you hate us, why play?
Final Fantasy is not a Japanese game, it is a multilingual game that started in Japan. I think maybe this idea of Japanese ownership of FFXI is maybe one of the biggest peeves of English speaking people.. there are a lot of games that start in English speaking countries and go to Japan as well, but we don't call them Not-Japanese games.

7
A lot of time has passed since service began in Japan, and you barely see any new subscribers coming in. Are there new NA players still joining?
The statistics pretty much say no, theyve been constant or dropping for a while now right?


8
In Japan, players that play long periods of time, have many Lvl 75 jobs, possess tons of high-level equipment, and who are usually filled with prejudice and contempt are called 廃人 <[ ( hai jin ) " High Level person but disable from living real life " ]>. Is there a similar name you use for NA players who are like that?
Yes, Idiots.

9
Is there opposition against the practice of RMT or the use of third party tools? What do you do if your friend or Linkshell uses them? How do you feel about RMT業者 (gyou sha) or gil farmers?
This is an interesting point about third party tools - how do JP players feel about windower and windower plugins? I would venture a guess that the vast majority of pc players these days use Windower and its plugins, is there a Japanese equivalent and is it as wide spread? The vast majority of English players would not classify windower and say claim bots in the same category (aside from a few idiots), but how do JPs feel about this? Certainly third party claim bots are looked at with disdain though.. As for RMT, they ruin the game and can go DIAF.

10
In Japan, there are some people who are huge subligar fans. Are there any amongst foreign players, or is there another piece of equipment that is especially popular?
I hate subligar! Ugly!

[ismarc]

1 - I make my own parties at all levels because I've had this happen entirely too often. I hold a grudge for about a week, at which point I can't even remember the person's name anymore and go on.

2 - Years ago there were attempts at just generic lists of helpful people (regardless of nationality/language) which failed miserably because people played to have fun, not hold every new persons hand for 2-8 hours a day

3 - I prefer to invite players who are seeking (or have jobs set in comment) that will round out the party well. If it is going to be a mix of languages, I try to make sure there is at least 2 people who speak each language so no one feels left out or like they can't communicate.

5 - I use Auto-Translate a lot because there are 4 languages represented in players in the game, and I only know 2 of the languages. I can understand enough of each language to get by, but I'm not as comfortable speaking all of them. It may take a little bit longer to explain what strategy will be used, but if each person is actually trying, it's better than people who speak the same language as you and are too hardheaded to communicate.

9 - There are a lot of people who claim to be against RMT and third party tools. I personally am against them completely, including the use of Windower (Every time it's brought up here even, arguments amongst players erupts on whether it is "bad" to use or not). I personally see Windower as playing the game how it wasn't intended, the same as all other tools, cheats, hacks and RMT (you were not intended to be able to buy gil).

10 - My character model is a Galka. I absolutely love running around in my RSE (which includes a subligar) and doing dance4/dance3 motions. While it's not necessarily amusement for me watching it, it's amusing seeing everyone else be afraid of the Galka.

BONUS QUESTION - The banana is included in the snack limit only if the kid wants to eat it.

[Arcana]

1
Have you ever had someone from your own country do something bad to you? For example, they invite you to replace someone, and when you get there, they just disband. Do you hold a grudge against the person who invited you in that case, or do you think “Oh well,” and just forget about it?

Generally disgruntled for a little while, but i just eventually forget about it after a while, no sense in brooding over spilt milk.

2
I heard that on foreign boards there is a list of useful Japanese players that will help people out. Do you really have such a list?

Maybe, wouldn't you like to know.

3
I don’t go out of my way to invite NA players to my party, but NA players often invite Japanese players. What are the benefits and drawbacks of inviting a Japanese player to your party?

It fills up those 6 party slots quicker. If im looking to EXP im looking to set up a party as quickly as possible which is both efficient and skilled to gain the most ammount of EXP per hour that i can play.

4
Has there been a time when a Japanese player has hurt or insulted you? Also, what are some actions that are normal for us that you find disagreeable? I’m interested to know and would like to hear your thoughts.

I wouldn't really know, i know i HAVE been insulted by japanese players, but i can alternativly just mock them to my linkshell or any other English speaking players in the party in tell.

5
Lots of NA players exclusively use Auto-Translate when recruiting for Assault and other activities. Does this mean that you are targeting Japanese players as well? I’m fairly knowledgeable when it comes to Missions and Assault, but I barely know any English, and worry if I should even send a tell.

The use of Auto-Translate is used to target as many people as possible, but it is also quicker than often typing out long place names such as Mamool Ja Staging Point. Missions/Assaults or any other shout events that take a form of "strategy" have long been researched by other people and have been posted on the internet, so if you know HOW your job is supposed to operate in the situation, language shouldn't be the issue.

6
I’ve had a foreign player say to me, “I hate Japanese people.” But Final Fantasy is a Japanese game. If you hate us, why play?

Final Fantasy isn't a japanese game, its an international game. Many people have hates of other people, like some people dislike black people, this is generally from a lack of trust steming from hurtful actions, or some people are just plain racist.

7
A lot of time has passed since service began in Japan, and you barely see any new subscribers coming in. Are there new NA players still joining?

There is still foreigners joining, some old players still return too.

8
In Japan, players that play long periods of time, have many Lvl 75 jobs, possess tons of high-level equipment, and who are usually filled with prejudice and contempt are called 廃人 <[ ( hai jin ) " High Level person but disable from living real life " ]>. Is there a similar name you use for NA players who are like that?

Nerds.

9
Is there opposition against the practice of RMT or the use of third party tools? What do you do if your friend or Linkshell uses them? How do you feel about RMT業者 (gyou sha) or gil farmers?

Some people whine about it, some people Buy gil, most people use a form of third party tools (in the form of windower & plugins). English players generally dislike Gil Farmers, but will still buy gil anyway, we are hypocritical that way.

10
In Japan, there are some people who are huge subligar fans. Are there any amongst foreign players, or is there another piece of equipment that is especially popular?

Some players enjoy wearing items like Subligar or even the summerfest Yukuta's since they differ from their traditional gear used in EXP & Events.

[Qlash]

Have you ever had someone from your own country do something bad to you? For example, they invite you to replace someone, and when you get there, they just disband. Do you hold a grudge against the person who invited you in that case, or do you think “Oh well,” and just forget about it?

I am Swedish, so no not from my own Country But from other Non-JP countries have happened many times, I usually don't hold a grudge unless they are rude or show no regret about wasting other peoples time. Also don't blame the leader if someone just says he gotta leave right away without any warning, but it's frustrating when it happens.

I heard that on foreign boards there is a list of useful Japanese players that will help people out. Do you really have such a list?

I've never heard of one But I know ppl in the game when I was new often told me about certain people that was helpful when I was struggling with genkais/af etc =P

I don’t go out of my way to invite NA players to my party, but NA players often invite Japanese players. What are the benefits and drawbacks of inviting a Japanese player to your party?

I always choose players that I've PTed with before, at lower lvls when you assume they are new to the game I might choose a JP over an NA due to they often understand the game mechanics better and listen, if able to communicate ^^

Has there been a time when a Japanese player has hurt or insulted you? Also, what are some actions that are normal for us that you find disagreeable? I’m interested to know and would like to hear your thoughts.

Yes, one of the most rude players I've ever met from playing for 5 years was JP, won't say his name but it was when I lvld bst58 and he was in the same area, told me things like "FF is a JP game NA should stop playing and get out, and all NA are RMT" etc, in a much more rude manner. Felt offended since I've played all FF games since I was a kid, and never done or approved of RMT in any way, or been rude to anyone in game that I know of ^^

Lots of NA players exclusively use Auto-Translate when recruiting for Assault and other activities. Does this mean that you are targeting Japanese players as well? I’m fairly knowledgeable when it comes to Missions and Assault, but I barely know any English, and worry if I should even send a tell.

When I shout for missions/assault etc, I'd love to get a respond from anyone who could contribute. And I feel the same when seeing JP shouts about mission/assaults I wanna do, worry if they'll have me since I'm not JP mainlanguage and worry if they'll understand me, I believe I'll understand the battlestrategy and all rather easy from experience.

I’ve had a foreign player say to me, “I hate Japanese people.” But Final Fantasy is a Japanese game. If you hate us, why play?

I cannot relate to this since I've always loved the FF series, and lots of JP culture things, like anime for example ^_^


Gah, running late for work, see if I can answer others later =P

[wunjo_on_ramuh]

>>1. Have you ever had someone from your own country do something bad to you?
1a) RE: Short Time Replacement Invite
These are always a gamble. I started refusing most of them a while ago. While I usually don't hold a grudge against the person who invited me, I keep a list of people that do this. Basically, it's inconsiderate.
If you are considering an invite from a party that is already at camp, you should ask for [Time Remaining]. If the person is not the party leader, just go ahead and decline.

1b) RE: Unannounced Disband for Level Up Only
Grudge = yes, personal Shit List = yes, Black List = yes

2. Although I maintain my own personal lists, I have never seen a public list like this.

4. Every so often, a JP player will invite me to party, find out that I am NA, and then rescind the invitation. I have my LFP flag up with only the "E" beside my name. I do not have any kana, kanji, or romaji in my comment. Why invite me in the first place? lol
It's funny though. I can read hiragana, katakana, and about 200 kanji simply from doing events with Japanese groups. I have received tells written entirely in hiragana asking me to party even though it is obvious that I am NA. When I respond with romaji, the person that invited me almost always rescinds the invite.
Having said this, however, in my experience, the overwhelming majority of the players regardless of nationality that I have encountered usually are pleasant and cheerful.

10. I don't like it when Elvaan dance. It scares the hell out of me whenever I see it. Also, Elvaan Male and Subligar is a match made in hell.

[wyred]

1) Many times. When it happened while I was levelling my very first job to 75, I get pretty irritated. But now when it happens while I level my other jobs, I just shrug it off and go back to seeking and doing other stuff while waiting for an invite.

3) Most JP players play their job well.

4) Yes.

5) I think some players use auto-translate because they are simply too lazy to type.

7) There are new players coming in, but not a lot. Based on my recent levelling experience in the dunes, I noticed some new players are actually Japanese players levelling their second account.

9) I think the majority of people are against RMT and usage of 3rd party tools. If someone I know uses them, first I try to tell them why it's wrong. If they ignore my advice, I ignore them as well. As for how I feel about gil farmers, I hope they die IRL.

10) The Adaman Hauberk. People MPK, steal claim, ninja-lot, start huge discussions about it's color because of it. :d

Bananas should not be considered a snack! Bananas are healthy but snacks are not!

[Tsutsumiko]

1
Have you ever had someone from your own country do something bad to you? For example, they invite you to replace someone, and when you get there, they just disband. Do you hold a grudge against the person who invited you in that case, or do you think “Oh well,” and just forget about it?

All the time at work, people are rude to me. However, I don't hold it against them. Instead I feel sorry for their lack of manners. They take for granted the things they have and look down upon me as a "cashier" but have they ever stopped to realize I have a family or that I'm going to college to have a successful career?

2
I heard that on foreign boards there is a list of useful Japanese players that will help people out. Do you really have such a list?

On Carbuncle, as far as I know, there is no such list. However, as a group, our linkshell will make a note as to which players are helpful and we will try to return the favor in anyway possible. There are some Japanese players who have helped us many times and as such we are inclined to help them whenever possible, including team ups and split drops amongst long time JP allies. We would rather be kinda to helpful players than rude ones, regardless of JP, EU, or NA.


3
I don’t go out of my way to invite NA players to my party, but NA players often invite Japanese players. What are the benefits and drawbacks of inviting a Japanese player to your party?

To be blunt, JP players on average are much better equipped and skilled than the average NA player. I feel a good 2/3rds of NA players are bad. 90% of all JP players I've partied with are very good. As long as you have basic communication skills, I see no drawbacks. Only benefits.

4
Has there been a time when a Japanese player has hurt or insulted you? Also, what are some actions that are normal for us that you find disagreeable? I’m interested to know and would like to hear your thoughts.

"JP Onry" hurts. Granted, my name sounds Japanese and I know a little, so I can get into some of these parties, although I am embarrassed by the fact that I contribute so little to conversations. The only other two things I find "disagreeable"

1. JP players never seem to sleep and are always at ever HNM camp (at least on my server). Why is this? Regardless of how many members our LS has, we can never meet their numbers, especially at 3 or 4 AM.

2. I can understand why most JP don't like NA getting replacements for their party, but sometimes the average American can only play for 1 or 2 hours at a time. We feel that being able to play a little is better than not playing at all. I personally try my best to find suitable replacements when I must leave, so that the experience for JP players remains unchanged, or better than when I was there.

5
Lots of NA players exclusively use Auto-Translate when recruiting for Assault and other activities. Does this mean that you are targeting Japanese players as well? I’m fairly knowledgeable when it comes to Missions and Assault, but I barely know any English, and worry if I should even send a tell.

This comes from the fact that a long time ago, JP wouldn't even acknowledge a message that had even a hint of English. Because of this, most NA players learned a long time ago to make everything Auto Translate if possible, regardless of whether or not it is necessary. It seems to be the polite thing to do.

6
I’ve had a foreign player say to me, “I hate Japanese people.” But Final Fantasy is a Japanese game. If you hate us, why play?

We enjoy the game that we play, regardless of who makes it. I don't think that NA players hate Japanese people (Nihonjin) so much as some of the Japanese players who are rude to them. Just like we have people who are rude to you, you have people who are rude to us. That's why I guess we are reluctant to trust each other.


7
A lot of time has passed since service began in Japan, and you barely see any new subscribers coming in. Are there new NA players still joining?

The only people I see coming in are those who have recently purchased an XBox360, since it is one of the few RPGs on the system.

Not many PC players because of World of Warcraft.

Anyone else who joins, it's usually because a boyfriend/girlfriend told them to join.


8
In Japan, players that play long periods of time, have many Lvl 75 jobs, possess tons of high-level equipment, and who are usually filled with prejudice and contempt are called 廃人 <[ ( hai jin ) " High Level person but disable from living real life " ]>. Is there a similar name you use for NA players who are like that?

We simply say they have "No life." All they do is sit on FFXI all day and monopolize HNMs so that no one else can reap the rewards. Most likely these same people are also greedy and believe that everything should be theirs first, regardless of how much work the rest of the group has done.


9
Is there opposition against the practice of RMT or the use of third party tools? What do you do if your friend or Linkshell uses them? How do you feel about RMT業者 (gyou sha) or gil farmers?


We do not like RMT practices of any kind. I feel it ruins the game for those who try hard to play legitimately. We honestly treat RMT as the lowest form of life that plays this game. We play for fun. They play to make a profit off of our fun.

For third party tools, I feel that as long as they do not hinder others ability to play fairly (such as programs to claim NMs before others can) they are OK. A program that keeps track of how many shadows you have left on Utsusemi is very useful considering the small chat log makes it very difficult to follow and tank effectively at the same time.

If a LS member uses third party tools, again, I don't mind as long as they don't effect myself or anyone else's ability to play fair. I look down upon LS members who try to cheat.

10
In Japan, there are some people who are huge subligar fans. Are there any amongst foreign players, or is there another piece of equipment that is especially popular?

There are men in my linkshell who like to wear subligar and swimsuits, so their character is wearing as little as possible. They think this makes them look cool or sexy I suppose. However, a lot of us feel it just looks ridiculous and funny. At least they are trying to be different.

The one piece of gear though that stands out as especially popular is the Hachiman Domaru. It has reached almost legendary/cult status at this point. We associate it with SAMs who are uneducated and/or terrible. We feel that there are many other better options to use at level 70+ such as the Haubergeon. It isn't good for fighting with or using during WS, so why do people insist on using it? The only thing that will happen if you wear this is people will laugh at you and scream "DOMARUUUUUUUUUUUUU"

[miokomioko]

Bonus Question: Banana is should not count towards your limit of snacks since a banana, as a fruit, has some significant nutritional value regardless of its sweetness, unlike most candies.

[Kaelen]

1: Yes, I'll be annoyed for a while and just forget about it. But if the person is generally a bad player, I'll either ignore them for /blacklist them.

2: I have never seen such a list. And I've been playing since NA release.

3: When I invite a Japanese player, it's either to fill up the party or because the English speakers currently seeking are bad players.

4: I have never been insulted by a Japanese player, and they really don't do anything that bothers me.

5: I've started shouting in English only just as Japanese players shout in only Japanese. In most Assaults, I need to be able to communicate with my party. If it is something simple, I'll try my best to explain it in English, Japanese, or using Auto-Translate.

6: Oh, those kind of people? I'll either ignore them or make fun of them.

7: I see new players every now and then. Some are friends of a friend, others are just random people that I'll run in to in town or low levels.

8: I don't think we have a real term for those people. Some people will say they just have no life. I'll call them a hikkikomori, we have plenty of those kinds of people too, just no real term for them.

9: We hate RMT. We hate the kinds of 3rd party tools like claim bots, fish bots, flee tools, pos hacks. However, we do love our Windower. Many of Windower's plugins are very convenient and take a lot of the hassle out of some things in the game, making it more fun. So I guess it depends on what it does, so it's a gray area to me.

10: Yes, we have our Elvaan males that will only wear a JSE subligar and dance around.

Bonus: If it can fit in the bento, or be stuck to the bento, it's part of the bento, right? Else it would just be a snack!

Big thanks to Elmer for doing this. And another big big thanks to our friends from across the pond for wanting to participate in this. It's very interesting and fun!

[ghanima]

1
I hate replacing party members and hate to be a replacement. I'll only join or hang around that kind of party if I'm desperate for xp on a job.


2
Never heard of this or anything similar.


3
If it comes down to a random NA without a search comment or a JP with one that's all in Japanese, I'll ask the JP every time. Chances are the JP actually knows what they're doing and isn't going to have awful gear.

4
There was a pretty famous (infamous maybe) JP player on my former server. He would invite me to his party while I was on PLD and then say NA No Thanks and JP Only to me when he found out I was NA. This same JP one day invited me on my BRD to his party, and at the same time he invited my NIN friend. While he told my NIN friend JP Only NA No Thanks, he asked me again to party using the autotranslate. I thought it was incredibly rude that it was acceptable to invite me on BRD but not my friend on NIN (or a previous time when I was PLD).

The only way to describe it is that it made me feel like a "second class citizen." I wasn't good enough to play with him unless I was a rare job. I've never had anyone be so rude to me.

I don't hate all JP for that though. It would be wrong to hate everyone based on the actions of one person.


5
Autotranslate is a great shortcut, that's why I like it so much. While a phrase in JP might be relatively short, English phrases have to be typed out with every letter. TAB autotranslate is probably my favorite thing in the game, I wish WOW had it just to make typing things out faster.


6
A lot of people say stupid things. One person does not equal every person. My counter to this would be why do you like MMORPGs if you don't like Americans, since MMORPGs were invented by Americans.


7
Not unless they are a friend of someone who plays.


8
NLP (No Life Player).


9
I hate RMTs and gilfarming/gilselling. Everyone I know hates them too.


10
The "is E Body blue or purple" is always a pretty huge joke topic, but I don't know of anything like the subligar thing.

[onigami]

1
Have you ever had someone from your own country do something bad to you? For example, they invite you to replace someone, and when you get there, they just disband. Do you hold a grudge against the person who invited you in that case, or do you think “Oh well,” and just forget about it?

I usually hold a grudge against that individual, yes.


2
I heard that on foreign boards there is a list of useful Japanese players that will help people out. Do you really have such a list?

Nothing official. Rarely there's a thread of "most helpful people" but it rarely extends to JP players.

3
I don’t go out of my way to invite NA players to my party, but NA players often invite Japanese players. What are the benefits and drawbacks of inviting a Japanese player to your party?

I speak Japanese and English fluently. One benefit is that JP players conform to standard play styles most of the time. On drawback is that JP players are hard to convince to play unorthodox or rare play styles.


4
Has there been a time when a Japanese player has hurt or insulted you? Also, what are some actions that are normal for us that you find disagreeable? I’m interested to know and would like to hear your thoughts.

I don't believe people insult me on purpose. I try to think its a misunderstanding. I find it disagreeable when a Japanese person is stubborn and wont give me a chance play with him even if he knows I speak Japanese after he finds out I'm American.

5
Lots of NA players exclusively use Auto-Translate when recruiting for Assault and other activities. Does this mean that you are targeting Japanese players as well? I’m fairly knowledgeable when it comes to Missions and Assault, but I barely know any English, and worry if I should even send a tell.

I think NA players use the Auto-translate in shouts because the extra colors catch the eye. Its rare for me to get people to notice my shouts in English unless I use the tab-chat.

6
I’ve had a foreign player say to me, “I hate Japanese people.” But Final Fantasy is a Japanese game. If you hate us, why play?

They don't actually hate Japanese people. They're just frustrated with a language barrier and their addiction to FFXI. People that really hate foreigners should quit in the first month once they find out there are only mixed servers.

7
A lot of time has passed since service began in Japan, and you barely see any new subscribers coming in. Are there new NA players still joining?

No. I blame SE's lack of promotion in the US though.

8
In Japan, players that play long periods of time, have many Lvl 75 jobs, possess tons of high-level equipment, and who are usually filled with prejudice and contempt are called 廃人 <[ ( hai jin ) " High Level person but disable from living real life " ]>. Is there a similar name you use for NA players who are like that?

Not that I'm aware of.

9
Is there opposition against the practice of RMT or the use of third party tools? What do you do if your friend or Linkshell uses them? How do you feel about RMT業者 (gyou sha) or gil farmers?

People will use 3rd party tools no matter what. People that had strong opposition to their usage couldn't compete so they either quit or changed their mind about 3rd party tools. I don't mind RMT players, they will be here no matter what, but I'm happy SE tries to make it hard for them.

10
In Japan, there are some people who are huge subligar fans. Are there any amongst foreign players, or is there another piece of equipment that is especially popular?[/QUOTE]

Yes the subligaria were/are popular among certain perverted individuals, I think its cute/funny sometimes.

[Tubbers]

Feel free to put my name on this if you choose to use any of my responses.

1-
This is really annoying. I don't like to be a replacement because this happens a lot. If it does I usually avoid that person.

2-
I've never heard of a list like this.

3-
I don't go out of my way to invite people from any particular country. I just check job and level, and sometimes I ask how long they have to PT. Some benefits of JP PT members are they usually can PT for a long time and are more likely to have adequate gear. The drawbacks are the language barrier, and usually I am ignored or they say no.

4-
Yes, I've been MPK'd and had NMs stolen before. I also saw the same person MPK and steal NMs from other Japanese players though, so I think it was just him. The only thing I've found odd is free lot Salvage and other events (Fafnir/Nidhogg).

5-
Generally when we shout with auto-translate we are trying to target anyone who wants to participate. Some people use it because it is faster or to spell-check, too. In Linux OS words files and commands have TAB-completion where the word is filled in for you if you hit tab, people treat the auto-translate the same way. If you see a shout like this you should feel free to send a tell if you want to go.

6-
This person does not represent all NA people. I frown upon any statements of hatred like this. It is very rude and very stupid. I like Japanese people, and I play FFXI because it is fun.

7-
There are some new people, but not many.

8-
We say those people have "no life" a lot, but we don't have a specific name.

9-
Most people I know are very against RMT and using tools to cheat or claim NMs, but the windower is seen as acceptable because it gives the game simple things that it should have had anyways. Gil farmers really annoy me, but not as much as the RMT hacking accounts with viruses. Many of my friends have been hacked and it makes me really mad.

10-
Hume F RSE pants, Mithra RSE pants, and L.50 JSE Subligar (on Male characters) are all popular for people to wear. There are also infamous items like Hachiman Domaru, Sarashi, Tiger Ring -- which we think are bad gear choices.

[Ringoko]

1
Have you ever had someone from your own country do something bad to you? For example, they invite you to replace someone, and when you get there, they just disband. Do you hold a grudge against the person who invited you in that case, or do you think “Oh well,” and just forget about it?

Certainly, as there are mean and insensitive people everywhere, Japan included. To use the example in this question, I got so tired of being burned when asked to replace someone in a group only to see it disband shortly after I get there. I don't hold any grudges, but now I refuse invites from people who want me to replace them, which saves a good deal of frustration. In other cases, the nature of the offense of course determines what course of action I take. Fortunately nobody has ever stolen items or gil from me, but people who are real jerks end up on my blacklist and ignored.
Short answer: Yes but I let bad experiences roll off my back and move on.


2
I heard that on foreign boards there is a list of useful Japanese players that will help people out. Do you really have such a list?
Such a list doesn't exist, but I know some NA players have been curious to know if Japanese players have a similar list. Maybe something like this existed many years ago when NAs were still new to the game, but I don't know for sure.


3
I don’t go out of my way to invite NA players to my party, but NA players often invite Japanese players. What are the benefits and drawbacks of inviting a Japanese player to your party?
It's hard for me to answer this objectively as I'm in the process of learning Japanese myself and enjoy opportunities to practice it. Many Japanese players honestly can't tell that I'm an NA until I outright say アメリカ人です or something like that. Of course communication can still be a problem, since I don't possess anything approaching a native command of the language, but I know that being able to bridge the language barrier puts Japanese players in a mostly-NA party at great ease. NA players too appreciate my presence in a mixed group, but at times they can be demanding of me to translate random JP chatter, which I don't appreciate.
Short answer: I invite anyone because I can use Japanese and my presence in a mixed group helps smooth the communication barrier.


4
Has there been a time when a Japanese player has hurt or insulted you? Also, what are some actions that are normal for us that you find disagreeable? I’m interested to know and would like to hear your thoughts.
I can't remember anything specific; after all this is a game and it's not meant to be taken too seriously. Cue NA-shell fighting PW for 18 hours, but I digress. I think some NAs take offense when they get the (English)(too weak) autotranslate reply to an invite. The problem here lies in the nature of the AT, as the word (English) in Japanese (英語) refers only to the language, whereas in the English language the word 'English' can refer to the language, or the person themself (even though most of us are American and not British). So when you use this response it comes across as insulting; we don't realize that you're trying to convey that you feel your English ability is not sufficient enough and that you'd rather party with someone you can communicate with. This is of course a linguistic issue (surprise, surprise) and the fault of SE (again, surprise surprise). Apologies for the obtuse and lengthy answer here.
Short answer: Again, I believe in forgive and forget, otherwise use the blacklist. I can't summarize succinctly the nature of miscommunication when using the AT, so I'll just sum that up by saying it sucks.

5
Lots of NA players exclusively use Auto-Translate when recruiting for Assault and other activities. Does this mean that you are targeting Japanese players as well? I’m fairly knowledgeable when it comes to Missions and Assault, but I barely know any English, and worry if I should even send a tell.
In general when we shout for an activity we want to do it right away, where as I notice many Japanese shouts specifying an appointed time in the future when the event will occur. Therefore we want to make our intentions and wishes known to all and if strategy is not critical we will gladly take on Japanese-speaking players. However NAs seem to be fond of using the AT in general and use the AT phrases out of habit more than actually wanting to deal with a potential communication barrier. I honestly never get JP replies to shouts unless I actually type in Japanese so it seems most JP don't want to deal with that barrier either when an event requires strategy and communication.
Short answer: Many of us use the AT out of habit but for the most part we're willing to take anyone who wants to help out. I've never gotten a JP reply to a shout filled with AT-only, so I insert Japanese whenever I want JPs to participate.

6
I’ve had a foreign player say to me, “I hate Japanese people.” But Final Fantasy is a Japanese game. If you hate us, why play?
I apologize for what that player said to you; whether he is truly racist or simply said it out of frustration I do not know, but it's still inexcusable. I sympathize a good deal and understand a lot of where the JP players come from (learning the language and culture gives a good deal of insight) but in my opinion is Final Fantasy is regarded an international game series because of the great resources SE devotes to translating them for markets outside Japan. I'd venture to say many people don't even realize the origin of these games when they play them, and FF11 shouldn't be an exception. Anyway, the thing to realize here is that collectively, "we" don't hate "you". Likewise most of "us" don't hate "you". I put those words into quotations because honestly, aside from trivial linguistic and cultural differences, we're all human beings and should reach out to one another regardless of what the ignorant few want us to believe.
Short answer: Most of us don't think of the game as Japanese; SE certainly doesn't market it that way. Truly, most of us love you guys and it sucks that linguistic differences is the only thing that really separates us.


7
A lot of time has passed since service began in Japan, and you barely see any new subscribers coming in. Are there new NA players still joining?
There are, but there aren't very many. FF11 has always been a bit of a joke in the gaming press, especially after World of Warcraft was released. This was only amplified by the recent mainstream media coverage of the 18 hour long PW fight, and I think the basic notion people have of FF11 is that the learning curve is steep and that it requires too much of a time investment to see any gain. Hence potential subscribers flock to WoW. I think the fact that SE has been opening up more to the players and actively trying to stamp out RMT is a result of needing to keep those of us who still play around, because there's been a definite lack of newcomers.

8
In Japan, players that play long periods of time, have many Lvl 75 jobs, possess tons of high-level equipment, and who are usually filled with prejudice and contempt are called 廃人 <[ ( hai jin ) " High Level person but disable from living real life " ]>. Is there a similar name you use for NA players who are like that?
Many NAs use the actual Japanese word here, much like we adopted words like 限界 and D2. There isn't a universal word we use though, and often we joke about what aspects of real life a Maat's Cap owner had to sacrifice to obtain it. Maat's Cap owners need to get laid, go outside and get a tan, eat something besides pizza and hamburgers, that sort of thing. In general, I think "loser" sums it up nicely, but that's pretty harsh.


9
Is there opposition against the practice of RMT or the use of third party tools? What do you do if your friend or Linkshell uses them? How do you feel about RMT業者 (gyou sha) or gil farmers?
I've been fairly genial up to now, but I have no sympathy at all for RMT. Part of me still thinks the MPK (see mobs despawning) patch was done to protect them, because it sure was a lot easier to kill their stupid asses before then. And yes, most RMT are completely fucking stupid. The ones who like to farm the Goobbues in Boyahda are especially so, and I often use my secret ninja BST powers to bring the Ancient Goobbue NM up to play with them. Please note that I do not officially condone the MPKing of suspected RMTers; I'm only helping them out by giving them a chance to kill an NM drops a decent chunk of gil and a rather valuable GKT! Anyway, third party tools I similarly loathe, but there's a lot more grey area here. A simple windower could very well be considered a third party tool by some, others argue that this is a functionality that should have been implemented from day one (SE does have their own windowed mode now but unfortunately it sucks). Claim bots and fleehacking is absolutely wrong though and those who use them deserve the bans that are coming to them.
Short answer: RMT is nearly universally-loathed by the NA crowd and most of us don't look fondly upon third-party tool users either. But, third party tools constitute a far more gray area than the fairly black-and-white RMT issue.

10
In Japan, there are some people who are huge subligar fans. Are there any amongst foreign players, or is there another piece of equipment that is especially popular?
Subligars are disturbing, especially on Elvaan or Galka. I suppose Mithra are okay, but there's still a bit of a creep factor there for Manthra players out there. I just don't get the attraction. NAs enjoy all the various event items, and the Christmas and Halloween ones seem to be especially popular. One thing I've noticed amongst NAs is in-game lovers carrying signed Love Chocolates in their bazaars for 99,999,999 gil. It's cute, and though from a practical sense this is to keep someone from buying it by mistake, it unintentionally also implies that said love is "priceless".

最後の質問は日本語で答えてみましょう。僕の意見なんですが、果物はスナックではないと思うから、健康がいいバナナもスナックではない。昼ご飯の種類ものです。下手な日本語の答えなんですけど、理解できる希望を持っています。

Feel free to chop up stuff as you see fit Elmer, but if you can present most of what I wrote in its entirety I'd appreciate it. I certainly appreciate your efforts here, and I only wish my Japanese was good enough to ask them directly.

[Bakthi]

1. Of course; everywhere is a mix of good and bad. I get angry for a while, but eventually I forget about it (unless they keep doing bad things over and over to me or my friends). Holding grudges for a long time is too much work, and it usually hurts you more than it hurts your target. I have better things to do. Sometimes I blacklist a person, but periodically I'll look at my blacklist and realize I don't remember why any of those names are on there; I clear them all off.

2. I've never heard of such a list.

3. The advantage of JP players is that they are LFG when most NA players are not. Sorry if that sounds like a non-serious answer, but that's really it for me. I've seen the whole spectrum of good-to-bad players from everywhere. The disadvantage is, of course, the communication issues, but we can usually work around them well enough to get good exp. Sometimes I feel bad that the lone JP in a party with 5 NA players feels left out of casual conversation, but most of the time I'm with 4-5 of my LS mates, so even players with good English don't really understand what we're saying.

4. The one bothersome thing that I can recall is that typically, when an NA player needs to/wants to leave a party, it's considered polite to give advance notice. Of course, not everyone does! But I've encountered a high percentage of JP players who will party for a few hours and then suddenly announce that they are leaving. It seems a bit abrupt. This doesn't mortally offend me, but it is inconvenient and I don't understand it.

5. I don't shout often these days for events, but when I did, auto-translate was an attempt to also target JP players, yes. Sometimes the language barrier might be a problem if a complex strategy needs to be followed, but some events are not much more complicated than exp, especially for certain jobs. Healers still heal, tanks still tank. Also, using auto-translate lets me hit [tab] to avoid having to type certain things, like "Bostaunieux Oubliette".

6. I don't hate you, so I can't answer this question. I don't understand this type of hatred at all.

7. Just when I think it doesn't happen anymore, I manage to meet an actual new player. It has certainly slowed down significantly, and it's hard for new players to get started these days (so much to catch up on), but I see it happen still

8. I don't really know of a term that isn't fairly generic (like "loser" or "nerd"). I don't think we have something quite that specific.

9. We hate RMT a lot. There are still people that do it, but they are shamed pretty thoroughly if discovered. Claim bot use seems rampant among shells that camp HNMs, though. My shell largely avoids that scene entirely; I personally feel that the gear isn't worth the current state of things.

10. I'm not sure there's anything widespread. Many people seem to like idling in Boneworking or Goldsmithing shades, some people like their swimsuits, and yes, some really seem to like fomor subligars.

I think a banana, or any other fruit, is just a good part of a meal. I wouldn't consider something a snack unless it was more processed.