[CerGoltana]

Just to inform, this topic is basically about the speculation surrounding certain NMs. To be more specific, the ideas and confirmed information regarding certain Notorious Monsters. Wall of Text Beware!

THE Glory:

Usually while bored at work, i'll search through the internet looking for fun NMs to hunt and kill for notable (mostly useless, but exciting nonetheless) drops. The majority of the time, i'll come across NMs that have confirmed drops from players who have tried and tested certain methods for that specific NM.
For example, I still recall years ago when Megalobugard was first released; seeing players kill every single Bugard in the zone to get the NM to pop. Eventually, it came to realization that really only ONE (1) bugard needed to be killed to pop the NM. Yipeee!!>>>>>

My point thus far: it goes without saying that the player base is SOLELY responsible for discovering how the game works; how monsters are spawned and how/what they drop. How did we ever figure out what mobs like AV, Kirin, Omega, Fafnir etc drop/Spawn? We killed the damn things, over and over, or used the hints given in game which eventually lead to the discoveries (which, if I do say so myself, is just outstanding on our part as the players).
Eventually through word of mouth and the various internet sites, nearly ALL of the facts about FFXI creatures and beliefs are confirmed and have been tried & tested.
[Just think about it this way: a long time ago, when FFXI was first released, a few inspired players had to walk up into Dragon's Aery, get owned a few hundred times, and then pool together a team to eventually kill Fafnir, and then, after possibly days of doing this, witnessing its upgraded counterpart, which entailed even more dedication to defeating it. I mean, prior to this, this nigga Fafnir was prolly walking all over the place waiting for some tarus to own. In conclusion, its truly awesome when you can type in an NMs name on the internet and find countless information, therebeit true information, about the said NM and its revelations, and then gather a team to defeat the NM with satisfying results].

The downfalls:

However, upon searching for challenging new NMs, I occasionally find Notorious Monsters whose information is incomplete, or just flat out incorrect, and other monsters that seem to have no place in FFXI.
What Am I talking about?

Almighty Apkallu: What....the....fuck...?
Black Triple Stars: ........
Pandemonium Warden: New, so that's excused (but included for sake of argument)
Absolute Virtue: Still very much undetermined as regards its 'kill method'

Understandably, some NMs are harder and take more time to understand, while others are just not worth the time and effort to even bother hunting such.
But let me break down my thoughts for a second.
Black Triple Stars is a really, really gay NM. For those of you who do not know, this is an NM who spawns in rolanberry and doesnt drop anything but fang, wing, and blood, usually what other bats drop. Now before you jump up and say "BLACK TRIPLE STARS is used in a quest dude!!!", please understand that the other NMs involved in that quest drop something, although very very useless in most instances.
My opinion: Black Triple Stars is either an extremely useless NM (outside of the quest), or a very stingy NM. Theres nothing to say that he doesn't something extremely rare that nobody has had the time nor the patience to discover. Not that I disagree with the fact that he may very well drop nothing, im just more inclined to thinking that SE pulled a 'cryptic hint bullshit' on this NM.

Why Do I think that? Because if anyone can remember, roughly a year ago, the prevailing rumor was that Almighty Apkallu dropped the Sanguine Sword. People even went as far as saying that Birdman cape was dropped from Ravin Raven. I mean that shit was all messed up. Now, after SE's 'cryptic hints', we still dont know what the fuck is the deal with Almighty Apkallu. Some servers still haven't even seen the NM, nor the cape or the boots. I mean, when you ask SE to help you with this NM, you get "we don't know what it is and why it isn't popping..."

Warden: I mentioned him only because I wanted the baggy's he supposedly drops, but again, Since he hasnt been defeated enough times to see them drop, we currently dont know. Cant say too much about him, so lets move on.

Absolute Virtue: The video they released about him was absolute, utter garbage... I would have been more content with them just showing a picture of Absolute Virtue dying and showing a list of full drops. My problem with him is that we know what he drops, and we know he CAN be killed, but we just cant kill him. Despite SE's cryptic hints and video, the player base is still generally dumbfounded as regards to taking this NM down currently. Whether it be locking his 2hours, or a full pty of kclubs, or ebon panels (lol), this has become more or less a running joke yet to be put to rest.

[sigh] Overall, I personally appreciate every endeavor that the player base makes to post and reveal accurate information about things that aren't readily understandable at the time of release. It slightly disappoints me when clowns swear they discover something and then post it, which ultimately misleads everyone. Now i'm not going to dispute every single discovery of FFXI and test every single NMs truth down to the tee.
Nonetheless, understand that this thread isnt coming at anyone in particular or downgrading anything. Just an expression from a bored player at work, needing to kill time. Feel free to Hate on me, bash, encourage, enlighten, comment, respond and the like in regards to this thread.

Thanks!

[.Sotek.]

According to the recent summit interview, AV is a 18 hour fight (10 hours if you're lucky) and the answer is defenitly in the video somewhere.
I'm hanging on the fact that certain people use multipul jobs throughout the video. Something like "using all your lv75 jobs 2Hrs" probably hasn't been tried, but the majority of people will swear to god it has because they don't want to try it.

Then again, if it's a 18 hour fight, I really don't want to try it anyway. >__>

[CerGoltana]

lol man
you see, im not complaining, im just sitting here at my desk bangin my head agiainst the wall because AV's defeat is still nigh. I mean, What have we not tried yet....?

[.Sotek.]

Quite clearly the answer is to trade him some San d'Orian Tea and deal with our differences like gentalmen.

I hope they make a version of Black Triple Stars in the past rolanberry. Or add him to the Sandworm zone...
And I honestly think the sole reason Almighty Apkallu hasn't been seen on some servers, is because people don't spend all their time on that boat. Honestly, he probably has spawned loads on every server, just when no on is on the boat >.>

[CerGoltana]

SE said he "doesnt like to be left alone". This verys statement doesnt tell if its referring to players or NPCs (other mobs, apkallu). retardedly enough, i rode the boat back and forth for about a week and realized how stupid of an idea that was, since everyone else usually warps to and from nashmau to whitegate. So he's almost always alone, giving him reason to not spawn.

[Corrderio]

Heh, never thought I'd see Black Triple Star's name again.

[Deo2]

About that quest you inferred, but didn't really explain:
http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/The_Miraculous_Dale

Among others on that list are:
Blubbery Bulge (Only drops slime oil)
Drooling Daisy (Dodge headband is also dropped by normal Ochus in the area)
Trickster Kinetix (Tabar can be crafted)

I never noticed the quest on there before, but it looks like it was recently added to wiki.

[CerGoltana]

yea Deo, my poiint is, the quest was added long after these NMs were introduced to the zilart areas (you have to be 75 to even undertake the quest.). These NMs, as 'quest-specific' as they may seem, spawn under normal FFXI lottery conditions, and can be killed at any given time, whether or not the quest is active in your log.
You telling me SE invented NMs that were absolutely useless until 3 years later where they made them part of a quest where they still drop nothing?

[Prothescar]

Deo2 :
About that quest you inferred, but didn't really explain:
http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/The_Miraculous_Dale

Among others on that list are:
Blubbery Bulge (Only drops slime oil)
Drooling Daisy (Dodge headband is also dropped by normal Ochus in the area)
Trickster Kinetix (Tabar can be crafted)

I never noticed the quest on there before, but it looks like it was recently added to wiki.

I'm just about positive that this quest is fake. >.>;

[Drucifer]

if it is you'll know when u talk to the npc.

[Satimasu]

It's real.

[CerGoltana]

well to think of the amount of time it takes for each of these NMs to pop (lets say with true lottery, 1h tops per NM, not including the boreals) You're looking to spend over 7-10 hours killing all of these monsters, for 56k gil reward. Lol

[Satimasu]

I'm still going to do it because it seems like it would be interesting. My wife's DRG will destroy them all anyway.

It seems like this quest is there to actually give you a reason to kill them. Plus, it kinda' pokes fun at those NM's I guess as well.

[Prothescar]

Wow, that's surprising. o_0

Now i've got something to do other than campaign while waiting for raids.

[CerGoltana]

so how many Skanda Boots have been found across all the servers? Or is this still the rarest item in FFXI, lol

[Garota]

And all this time I thought Igquira/Huaraches were hella rare...

[KonoiMidgard]

Even if they were out for three years prior to the Quest, you're assuming that all NMs need a specific, original drop, or role in some storyline.

It could just be notorious for being stronger than the placeholders.

[CerGoltana]

I'm a jerk <_<

hOWEVER, I like to give SE credit for things they implement into the game. I like to think that everything they implement is for a reason, even if in our eyes seems pointless.
But if you're suggesting that SE purposed these NMs to be just a cheap thrill, after long hours of camping, then ugh... Thats sick on their part. Either they are evil, or they drop something EXTREMELY RARE. lol

[.Sotek.]

so how many Skanda Boots have been found across all the servers? Or is this still the rarest item in FFXI, lol

Spelunker's Hat is the rarest item in the game. Well, it's atleast the best item in the game.

[Nephlite]

Needslessmaintenence. Time to test some stuff out.