[Logan Draconia]

1) Let players have the ability to fight storyline bosses again even if everyone in the team has completed that part in the story. I loved fighting some bosses in FFXI, but the only way I could fight them again is if there was someone in my party on that particular mission. It doesn't have to be an easily repeated event. Maybe once every 24 hours or by using some kind of items that are found, like beastmen seals from FFXI. I can't tell you how badly I just wanted to fight Shadow Lord on a whim, but I never could.

2) Boss difficulty adjustments. I know there are level caps on some bosses in FFXI, but there were other bosses, like Shadow Lord and Eald'narche, who were uncapped fights and yet were still designed for lower-leveled players (Shadow Lord could be beaten by a group of level 50 players. Eald'narche could be beaten by a team of 68's and could also be beaten by only two level 75 players). Promathia and Alexander are different as they were very challenging, but previous bosses from the original storyline and Rise of Zilart couldn't pose much threat to a decent throw-together group of level 75s.

3) Shops need to be used. I can honestly say that, except for cheap items for crafting, no one ever bought items or equipments at shops. NPC shops should exist to serve as the main shop, while players can sell their items in bazaars. If an item cannot be found in someone's bazaar, then unless it's a rare item, a weapon or armor shop should carry that item at full retail value. That way, common armors can be found and affordable by everyone rather than having to wait a day or two for a certain item to be placed on the auction house.

4) Speaking of shops, please have a good range of weapons and armor for most all levels and jobs of players. A starting city should have at least a set of armor and weapons for every job class through the "newbie" levels, and then when newer towns are found, add higher equipment to correspond to the levels of the enemies surrounding it. Think about the console style Final Fantasy games!

5) Potions need to play a bigger role, as do items in general. In FFXI, Hi-Potions were only used rarely. other potions were seldom ever seen because they were always too expensive and the healer of the party would be more than enough. Well I say that potions should be available more commonly and cheaply for the adventurer who doesn't bring a healer along. It only makes sense. You have the option to find a party member who can heal, or you can spend a little money on potions to keep yourself alive for a while. It shouldn't cost a fortune to buy a stack of normal potions that only heal for 50HP each. Same goes for other medicines in general, like ethers. To help keep a party's pace going without waiting for a mage to rest, why not make ethers more available and more affordable? They will cost a little money, but it won't break the bank for players and is a good trade-off. Do players want to spend a little money to refill their MP in a short break, or do players want to take a full rest that lasts several minutes to refill MP? Give us players the choice!

6) Phoenix Downs. Again, another item that gives us players choice. Do we spend money on a moderately expensive phoenix-down to help raise our fallen comrades, or do we wait and shout for help in hopes that a player with "Raise" can come by and lend a hand? Phoenix Downs would, again, help keep the pace of the game going smoothly. No one likes to die in a party in FFXI and have to wait forever for someone to come and cast a Raise spell in the early levels. Also, it's a big MP spell, so while a White Mage CAN spend a lot of MP raising someone, maybe it would be more efficient if the party continued to fight while the dead player gets fed a Phoenix Down quickly, saving the White Mage time and MP that could be used on other members of the group at the expense of 1,000 or so gil. Allow us to have this choice. It would greatly reduce the painful need to have healing mages without completely eliminating the need for them. It would allow players to be a lot more creative in their parties rather than sticking someone on Cure duty and Raise duty.

7) Gil needs to be more balanced. I noticed in FFXI that only certain enemies (beastmen) dropped gil. 14g, 20g, 30g per kill. However, items in FFXI's shops cost a real fortune. A potion cost 1,000g or so. You would need to kill 100 beastmen just to afford one single potion that would only heal you for 50HP. Sure, there were quests to earn gil, but many of them, no matter how difficult, would award maybe 5,000 gil or less. Please adjust the amount of gil dropped and the prices from NPC goods to make everything more balanced and to make stores useful again. It would help the economy a lot more too, I'm sure.

8) Make all rare Notorious monsters have an equivalent monster that has the very same treasures and drop rates, but make them significantly harder...bgutmore easily claimed. You did this in FFXI to an extent by making certain monsters appear by trading certain items to a "???" spot, or by having some rare items be available from a very rare NM or from a BCNM fight. However, I think that, once again, there should be an option. Does a player want to attempt to wait for a Notorious Monster that he could possibly defeat on his own, but risk the chance of losing itto someone else who finds it first, or does the player want to try and gather a full party or alliance of people to take on a much more powerful version of the same monster, but have the fight be at the player's leisure at the expense of another item? By giving us this option, it will greatly enhance a player's ability to play alone or with a group.

Choices, choices, choices. We need more choices so everyone can have an option.