Final Fantasy XI Then...

[Kerushi]

That might tip the balance to get me back in the game - I have a 100mpbs connection and a brand new PC, and due to starting a new job in a high school I now have the free time too.. I've been looking at the game discs (which I took with me when I left the UK) and debating whether or not to install again. Actually I don't identify with anything that gets talked about on this thread anymore.. it's all new places, monsters, battles, abbreviations which mean nothing to me whatsoever... also the linkshells and players that are mentioned mean nothing to me at all. As a player who mostly saw linkshells as a necessary evil I'm certainly not going to go back into the game and find an opening with a bunch of random strangers. (I have way too many chips on my shoulder for that to ever be successful anyway!)

If I knew I was at least going back to the same social group it wouldn't matter if I wasn't involved in any of the same things. It's really a tough call though... when you leave an MMORPG you definitely get a new perspective on it - for me it's like leaving the town you grew up in - you love it and have so many fond memories, but if you went back to live there again nothing would be the same (and in some ways it would also be a backward step!)... know what I mean?

I'm 50/50 on whether it's better to keep the memories preserved as they are.

come back darwok! The /angry motion dance must return!

[C']

Edit that quick!!!

You called him dara :O

[Kerushi]

delete your post quick rare! he might see it ; ;

[Kerushi]

i also like how tobals avatar went from the chubby dude to the cute lil anime girl with a bow tie ... i guess its tobals inner lolly ...

[djtickle]

Very nice week this week. Hit 75 on BLM, and 9 Merits in the bag too.

LS was very nice and funded me my Sorc Ring for my blm and then on the same day I also picked up a Bahamuts Zaghnal GO GO DRK ZERG!

[C']

Another attempt to level RNG yesterday and another nightmare tanking story. This time a NIN. This guy was extremely badly geared (I’m not elitist, I don’t expect PT members to be pimped out in all HQ gear but I expect appropriate equip for the level). Aside for the odd piece of appropriate armour (Scorpion Harness, R.K. Mufflers, Life Belt) almost every slot was very poor.

Some choice cuts included a Cuir headband, Signal Pearl, Trimmer Earring (the Acc+5 lvl30 latent SJ earring that certainly doesn’t activate with /WAR), Anniversary Ring, Ram Mantle, Scorpion Subligar. Oh he also had some shuriken in his ranged slot (the low lvl16 ones) but certainly made no attempt to throw any.

Sure enough all it took was 2 shots (including the pull shot) and hate was firmly planted on myself until the second Provoke. However the BLM had the tenacity to cast a nuke (I had filters on but it didn’t look to be a massively damaging spell) and sure enough the Defoilator went after him next and the NIN just stood there gormlessly presumably waiting for Provoke to tick over again (it was too much expect a NIN of this calibre to have tools that aren’t shihei).

It was clear by this point the BLM was going to be pummelled before the NIN could do anything so I sucked it up, hit Barrage just to get hate off the BLM, followed up with Slug Shot then spammed ranged attacks for the remaining 10% of HP. I survived. Just.

BLM disconnected at this point (was also the leader) and after about 10 minutes of activity by the leader, I decided that even if things did move on I was bound to end up dieing far too much for it to be worthwhile and made my apoligies.

Upside to this was that I thought I may as well give Campaign a try and to my surprise found I can land hits on the mobs quite consistently and even got my first explanation of how the whole Campaign system works off Tobal which was far superior to the confusing mess of an explanation that the game throws up.

So that’s this week’s RNG story. I have to keep posting these to evidence I am actually attempting to level it and avoid incurring the Wrath of Tobal for only having 1 lvl75 job

[Tobal]

/hurray

Im just getting merits ready for patch, at 5 of 10 so far.. want to have Overwhlem done for day1.

Also Einherjar get an update, not an nerf in differculty but one make so the entry system is like Nyzul Isle and coinage like Limbus(1 person need to have all the feathers so people can miss a couple and still be able to help out on harder chambers) and new items which are bound to be nyzul isle weapon upgrades.

[Kerushi]

the expression on your cute lil girly face says it all you cute galka you Mt. T you

[Rep]

A Word from the Development Team

NM battles have been one of the most popular elements of FFXI since its launch. Nothing stirs the adventurer's soul quite the same way as cooperating with dependable comrades to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds, with rare equipment drops being the very tasty icing on the cake.

Thus far, however, getting the chance to battle NMs has been almost as difficult a task as fighting the creatures themselves. One often needed a lot of time and plenty more luck to successfully arrange an encounter with the creatures. In light of the ever-increasing number of fan requests for more opportunities to do battle against powerful monsters and reap the rewards, the development team has decided to implement some changes to make the excitement of NMs—even those of the same caliber as particularly infamous varieties inhabiting Tu'Lia and Al'Taieu—more accessible to all.

Overview of the New System

Carrying out requests from a certain NPC will earn you points which, when accumulated, can be exchanged for NM trigger items. The cost of these triggers will fluctuate based on the corresponding NM's difficulty level and popularity among adventurers. A limit will also be imposed on the number of points that can be earned in one Vana'dielian day (one Earth hour).
Even with the above conditions in place, obtaining triggers under this new system should be relatively pain-free, especially when compared to fulfilling the elaborate requirements of some existing NM battles.
*Please note that this point system is applicable only to select new NMs scheduled to appear from the June version update.

In order to maximize flexibility in participant numbers, in most cases the target to which you trade triggers in order to gain entry into battlefields will be located in field areas.

Nice new system that i'm all in favour of, be nice if this works and can be implemented into existing NMs/HNMs.

[Kerushi]

Now if only SE could invent Sliced bread .... on second thoughts ...

[Daragon]

The first paragraph and the second paragraph make no sense when read together. How can they talk about existing NMs and only put the measures in place for new ones that have yet to be implemented?

Edit: Unless these "New" NMs are exactly that, but drop existing items?

[C']

Yup, it’s a badly worded update.

I don’t really see what the big deal with this is? Just sounds like we’re getting a belated ToAU pop NM system (i.e. sky and sea) but instead of spending hours in sky/sea to get necessary triggers, we now have to do a repeatable quest ad nauseum.

Hardly earth shattering stuff.

[Daragon]

Just had a look on the POL website and the images of the NMs in question don't look soloable to me

Excellent, that means more drops going to the same people week after week in PiC

I really should stop getting excited at update announcements, most of the planned features don't apply to me 9 out of 10 times

Edit: One picture at least shows a DRG using a sword "attempting" to solo a troll NM, looks like it might not be a completely wasted endeavour afterall, unless of course the quest required to obtain the points for the triggers isn't soloable, but then there'd be absolutely no point in it.

[Tobal]

So much moaning, this is nothing but win. A third endgame gods area is the final piece Toau needed, and at least it trying to offer different trigger methods (as Sea is different to Sky, why shouldn't Toau be to both) and dara if you expecting to solo Sky/Sea level NM's then you're a complete idiot (and before you reply, yes i know well geared and skilled players can solo 'some' NM's), 50 new items on top of the Nyzul weapons and new WOTG AN items, this patch could easily be the best ever.

[Daragon]

I was wrong, this content IS geared at soloing as one of the images proves (and no need for the sarcastic(?) "idiot" comment either...). If this content were not soloable, then the whole exercise is a wasted endeavour, we have way too many examples of non-solo content currently (and comparatively little to no solo content), so how would this be any different?

Also, I wasn't aware there were any soloable NMs in sea, I thought they were all jailers, which most certainly are not.

And one more thing, I personally believe that moaning about updates that don't make enough sense to you is the best way to go, that way the only way you can be surprised is pleasantly, whereas if you go into something believing it will offer you the world on a silver plate then ultimately you get disappointed.