Final Fantasy XI Then...

[Hohum]

Having had another quick think about it, I suspect Emp hairpin will turn rare/ex for the following reasons:

Emperor hairpin and Peacock charm: Not used in synths, therefore rare/ex works fine
Leaping boots and Archer's ring: both used in high level leathercrafting, therefore really need to be able to hold more than one for the crafter's benefit - hence ex only

What this could mean is that high level leathercrafters would have to camp the nm themselves if they wish to skillup from these items. This would more than likely mean sniper ring/winged boots prices go through the roof...

This is all purely guesswork though of course, I could be (and probably am) completely wrong But I sure as hell can't wait for the servers to come back up now to see exactly what has happened. All I can say is (That's too bad.) for the uber rich people if Peacock charm turns rare/ex...

[Daragon]

One thing to take note of is the fact that the rare/ex version of those highly desirable items can be dropped as alternatives. The original items themselves will probably still drop, but what I'm hoping is that the spawns will now be triggered by an item perhaps and this in itself will lower the AH prices to thousands rather than millions.

[Bayan]

I Doubt Currently Items Will "Turn" Rare/EX as They Have Already Stated That
"The way that the following items are acquired has been changed"
And That "In addition, players may receive an EX/Rare or EX item with the same
attributes from the monsters who previously dropped each of the above items"
So The NMs Will Maybe Drop New Items?

[Tsingtao]

Well here's my guess...

The current items will stay exactly as is but move into either BCNMs or ENMS. This means the supply is going to drop (remember astrals) and the prices will go through the roof for these items.

The new items dropped by Lizzie et al will be rare/ex to ensure they either have to be crafted or used by the NM camper. These will be different, jumping boots or something and I don't expect the stats to match the originals.

As for snipers, the monopoly now will move to high level leather workers and the price will be their own call. I see these going the way of the scoprion harness, my bet is if you have some gil to gamble with buy up an emp pin and leaping boots when you get on.

Big gamble though, I'm not going to be trying

[mikewl]

This all sounds so good, im looking forward to doing the NPC quest, maybe we could all do this when we get back on the game.

Im thinking with the NM Drops the main thing to consider is that your less likely to see the same person at the NM point all day and night getting each claim, they will have not have a reason to stay if its Rare/Ex after they get one, which means your likely to see more people actually going out trying to get one for themselves.

[C']

Way to go S-E.

These will be different, jumping boots or something and I don't expect the stats to match the originals.

Taken from the update notes:

In addition, players may receive an EX/Rare or EX item with the same attributes from the monsters who previously dropped each of the above items

When I first read this, I had the following thought.

This wouldn't affect prices at all. My feeling was that the same NMs would still drop the normal versions of these items (with the exact same droprate as previously) but that in occasions where the sellable item didn't drop, you would get the Rare/EX item. Taking into account what was said already, and thinking about it some more I am agreeing with Tsing. The items in question become BCNM drops and the NMs drop the identical Rare/EX items (not 100% droprate).

For anyone who has any of the above items, do not be concerned about them becoming Rare/EX, that won't happen. S-E acknowledge the use of mules in this game and imagine if you muled a Peacock Charm or some such prior to the update on for it to become untradable. S-E aren't stupid, nor do the want that kind of hassle. The above items will remain as they are. Just how to get them changes.

Whether this makes the items any easier to obtain and reduces prices I am going to go with a negative on this one and I feel we already have a precedent for this (presuming the items do become BCNM drops). Astral Rings. As soon as they became a BCNM drop the value went up even further (although the purpose of changing that was because it hindered AF hunts for specific jobs, rather than trying to combat inflation).

The reason for this is that whilst the number of NM spawns that a player can camp is infinite (barring the need for sleep etc) a player only has a finite number of Beastman Seals to play with (yes they can be farmed but it is slow and less than consistent) so will want to get as much value from their BCNM runs as possible. Prices may drop in in the initial period when lots of people hit the new BCNMs flooding the market but as people run out of seals the price will go back up and maybe past what it is now (again this has precedence with KS30 and Venomous Claws just before Christmas. When this first came out Scorpion Harness dropped to as little as 2m but went up again in time).

Obviously you could say that with the lack of financial reward their will be less competition at the camps to make it an easier claim. This could very well be true but compare with the Moldavite Earring. That too is Rare/EX with little financial value, but it offers stats that are highly desired and it is camped 99% of the time. I feel these NMs will be exactly the same.

End result - anyone who wants any of the above items is still going to have to work to obtain them, whether that be farming up high amounts of gil to buy BCNM (or whatever) drop or spend time camping the NM for the equivalent Rare/EX version. But these are high end items that should be reserved for the players willing to go the extra mile to improve their character, which is exactly as it should be.

Good work S-E.

As for gilsellers when in all honesty it doesn't affect them that much. They rarely (if ever) camp Lizzy, Emp Pin is camped exclusively by Kiss group but they have been off the boil lately (few if any Pins are sold by them and their claims are lower than ever) and Argus is much too unreliable for them to try with any regularity. The only way this affects them is Stroper Chyme which is good as it may hopefully mean players go back there.

[C']

I do find it funny though. All the changes in the update and this NM drop issue is the ONLY thing people will be talking about for the remainder of the maint period

[mikewl]

Thought this would be a good time to list the Mission's im on, if anyone needs the same we could team up, im up for helping others with missions as well if you want to list the ones your on.

San d'Oria 6-1 AK Link

ZM13 - AK Link

CoP - 2 - 5 AK Link

I think it would be cool for us to all join forces especially for the CoP missions as they are mostly capped, meaning the experience wont be ruined by those of us which are higher levels than others.

[talizker]

CoP - 2 - 5 AK Link

I think it would be cool for us to all join forces especially for the CoP missions as they are mostly capped, meaning the experience wont be ruined by those of us which are higher levels than others.

You can count me in on this for sure. Been looking forward to tacking this since we did the Phomiuna Aqueducts one

[C']

Still haven't completed any CoP mission. (I'd love to do CoP as a LS but I'm waiting on Moot and Apa to be ready before I do Promyvion).

Mission 6-1 San d'Oria (want to do it with a group of people at, or around, level 60)

ZM4 - not interested in Zilart until I'm around level 65.

[Tsingtao]

Wedge if you don't mind waiting a few weeks for me to hit 60 I'll do sandy 6-1 with you. I'm basically 56 now so I need 4 levels, 3 AF pieces, Genkai 3 and sandy 5-3 to be ready to take it on.

As for CoP I need to take on the Minotaur at some point soon, I have a feeeling I may take some time off work soon and put in some levels and get the more anoying (the time sink ones like coffer hunts and alliance based jobs) quests cleared. As soon as I do that I'm happy to be one of the kites for the fight, I can either raise WAR to 40 and go WAR/NIN or kite as PLD. The final option would be to get RNG to 40 but mine is only 10 right now may take a month or so.

ZMs, yes but I'm miles behing - reckon I need 65 before I get anywhere near ZM13 more likely 70.

So in keeping with the mission theme, guys (Talizker and Darwock) what's your take on the shadowlord? Caladbolg was interested in joining us if we could take him which would give us RDM - RDM - BLM - PLD and we'd just need to bulk with DD if you think it would work. Anyone else need it that fits the bill, may need to do 5-1 for Caladbolg first if we take him but that's easy really?

[talizker]

So in keeping with the mission theme, guys (Talizker and Darwock) what's your take on the shadowlord? Caladbolg was interested in joining us if we could take him which would give us RDM - RDM - BLM - PLD and we'd just need to bulk with DD if you think it would work. Anyone else need it that fits the bill, may need to do 5-1 for Caladbolg first if we take him but that's easy really?

Tonight I hit the Gil/Exp trail which will hopefully see me get my 1M Gil and Level 55 at some point in the not too distant future which is the when we said we would attempt Shadowlord. I have my AF Gloves and Boots to do in the 52-54 level range also, Gloves is all but complete but Boots looks a little more tricky^^

I also need to complete 5-1 and at this point I don't know too much about the SL fight and whether 2 x RDM will be a suitable setup.

[mikewl]

Tsing, I don't mind waiting at all for you guys to do the Shadow Lord, are you sandoria though, im not sure if the missions vary again between countrys.

As for ZM me and Tobal really just pushed to get through them for Sky and I think they are more suited to when you need to do them, I would be willing to help if needed as some ZM's are quite entertaining.

The CoP missions,im thinking we should wait for Apathye to get CoP and Moot, to level to 30 and get them Rare and Vanicent through the Promyvions, then do the Minotour with as a LS mostly and also get any subligars while there.

[Darwock]

So in keeping with the mission theme, guys (Talizker and Darwock) what's your take on the shadowlord? Caladbolg was interested in joining us if we could take him which would give us RDM - RDM - BLM - PLD and we'd just need to bulk with DD if you think it would work. Anyone else need it that fits the bill, may need to do 5-1 for Caladbolg first if we take him but that's easy really?

Don't let me hold you back, go on and get it done if you need to. The thing is I don't want to be level 55 and not have any spells or gear above level 51.. and I'm going to need 500K just for one scroll at level 52 ><

I was hoping to get rid of all my beastman seals in the BCNM50 before I resumed levelling... that way even if I fail to get the gauntlets I might still end up with some extra gil. If I'm lucky.

That's down to you guys of course ^^ Perhaps we could go back next week?

[C']

Funny you should mention that Wedge as I had a Promyvion post typed out yesterday and then didn?t submit it as it seemed pointless when people weren?t fully ready but I?ll go over the gist of it.

Apa needs CoP, however I think the order for this will be sorted at some point this week so he should have it soon. He plans to do CoP as BLM/whm so he requires no jobs levelling and I believe he has appropriate equipment already.

Moot plans to do CoP as WAR with thf or nin sub as appropriate. This means he needs to get THF from 27 to 30 to be able to unlock NIN. He then plans to level NIN to 15 (and obtain Tonko and Utsusemi scrolls) and finally take his WAR to 30 where he will be ready for Promyvion. It may sound like a lot to do but Moot has a nice stash of gil (which always helps quick levelling) and has done the levelling to 30 many times before. He?s also incredibly adept at making his own PTs (much better than me ;_ so doesn?t waste time LFG.

I think the planned group for Promyvions is as follows:

Apathye (BLM/whm)
Cassius (WHM/blm)
Moot (WAR/nin)
Rarehero (NIN/war)
Tobal (SAM/rng)
Vanicent (WAR/thf)

Not a conventional Promy group by any means but I think it?s balanced and strong enough to be able to tackle them all.

All my Promyvion gear is bought now (a few pieces are lent out but getting them back is no issue) so personally I am ready to go whenver. I plan to do some crafting tonight but I was speaking to Vanicent last night and hopefully the 2 of us will be going into Promyvion-Holla at around 9pm to farm anima (or whatever is used to create anima).