[Cactuar]

The FINAL FANTASY XI community is ever abuzz with discussion on in-game content. Today, the development and operations teams return to address some of our fans' most pressing questions and concerns in FAQ format.

Read on for the details!

[Cactuar]

Q: I've been hearing a lot about the February minor version update lately, but when will it take place exactly?

A: If all goes according to schedule, the version update will go live on Monday, February 14 (PST). We thank you for your patience.

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Q: I really want to see some items added to the Mog Bonanza prize list—it'd make participating in the event so much more exciting for me!

A: The Mog Bonanza has grown to become a much-loved event in Vana'diel since its inception, and nothing would give us more pleasure than to add to the richness of players' bonanza experience. As such, we have decided to accept adventurer nominations for new prize items to be added to the event. As a follower of the official FINAL FANTASY XI Twitter account, simply tweet up to three items of your heart's desire and include the hashtag "#mogbonanza". Nominations will be accepted until Sunday, February 13, at 10pm (PST).

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Q: Are there any plans to make notorious monsters more accessible, and battling them more rewarding?

A: We have received many requests concerning notorious monsters, some of the most popular being the alleviation of pop conditions, reduced repop times, and improved treasure drop rates. We are working to address these concerns over multiple patches, starting with the next major version update. Details will be revealed as soon as the pertinent particulars are ironed out, so stay tuned!

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Q: Oh, the Twilight God strike me down! Had I only known that a glorious day such as the February minor version update would come when Artifact Armor could be entrusted to Porter Moogles—the Goddess bless their gentle hearts—I never would have dreamed of casting aside my hard-won set! Will my beloved equipment be lost to me forever? *Sniff*

A: We understand all too well the pain of being parted with one's preciouses, and are considering ways to allow adventurers to reunite with their hard-earned Artifact Armor. Although we are unable to apprise you of a time frame right now, we can say that miracles come to those who possess patience and faith in equal amounts.

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Q: My bags and cupboards are near to bursting with Kindred's crests and other like baubles! Won't a kindly and trustworthy soul appear who would take on the burden of their safekeeping in my stead?

A: Many a grievance has been forwarded to us regarding storage woes, requesting that items such as Kindred's crests, Empyrean Armor upgrade seals, and Walk of Echoes coins be made storable with NPCs. We are currently exploring ways outside of traditional equipment storage NPCs to help adventurers clear up their inventory space, and expect to be able to make an announcement regarding this in the near future, so keep watching this space!

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Q: Whenever my visitant status expires and I get kicked out of Abyssea, I find myself dispossessed of certain temporary items such as the Primeval Brew. Does this sound right to you?

A: An issue has been confirmed wherein players would lose some of their temporary items upon being evicted from Abyssea. This issue will be rectified in the minor version update scheduled for Monday, February 14 (PST).

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Q: The Trial Log refuses to appear when I use my Magian Spectacles while in Abyssea – Uleguerand! Help!

A: An issue has been confirmed wherein the Trial Log would not appear in Heroes of Abyssea areas. This issue will be rectified in the minor version update scheduled for Monday, February 14 (PST).

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Q: Performing text command searches for people in Abyssea – Uleguerand and Abyssea – Grauberg never results in any hits. What's the big idea?

A: An issue has been confirmed wherein the areas Abyssea - Uleguerand and Abyssea – Grauberg were not being covered by text command searches. This issue will be rectified in the minor version update scheduled for Monday, February 14 (PST).

[DaEvilOne]

Isn't this the first time they mentioned "minor update"? Like they aren't going to do that much?

[Nanako]

I think they stated somewhere that they plan on doing more frequent updates and alternating doing large updates and small updates so they can resolve issues with the game faster. So we can probably expect to see 3-4 large updates in a year, and about 3-4 smaller updates as well. Which I think is good for the game, because it was really starting to feel abandoned when we heard nothing from SE for 3 months at a time. Of course, actually communicating with us has helped that a lot too.

[Corrderio]

Wonder what NMs they'll be adjusting. Since I can't really think of anything worth going after outside of Abyssea any more.

[Logan Draconia]

Where does one even go to ask these questions? I'd like to go and ask about what they're going to do to revive partying outside of Abyssea since finding equipment below level 60 is near impossible now.

[.Sotek.]

Corrderio, on 10 February 2011 - 02:16 PM, said:

Wonder what NMs they'll be adjusting. Since I can't really think of anything worth going after outside of Abyssea any more.

They're adding Trials and something else for old gear. Old NMs probably getting new drops to upgrade gear or whatever.

[Nanako]

Corrderio, on 10 February 2011 - 02:16 PM, said:

Wonder what NMs they'll be adjusting. Since I can't really think of anything worth going after outside of Abyssea any more.

A lot of things that were camped to hell before Abyssea are still camped to hell. It's sad to see how much boting is still going on at those spawns.

[Corrderio]

.Sotek., on 10 February 2011 - 04:19 PM, said:

They're adding Trials and something else for old gear. Old NMs probably getting new drops to upgrade gear or whatever.

Good point.

[Banter]

Logan Draconia, on 10 February 2011 - 03:24 PM, said:

Where does one even go to ask these questions? I'd like to go and ask about what they're going to do to revive partying outside of Abyssea since finding equipment below level 60 is near impossible now.

If they make leveling outside abyssea before 75 useful, more gear will be made for it.

[CerGoltana]

Wait until after Tuesday. If they enhance FoV and EXP from Zilart/WoTG/CoP zones, you gonna see some insane partying going on pre-75. Assuming that EXP for an EM is going to be doubled, and possibly tripled from an IT, EXPing in an Aht Urghan Region WITH astral candescence EXP bonus & Ring could yield as much as 600-800 EXP/kill, or at least that's what I'm hoping. For zilart outdoor zones, FoV being repeatable and EXP being enhanced, get ready for low level zones/camps getting flooded like the old days. Better buy your leveling gear now before nearly everything (if anything) thats available now is gone. Just my thoughts...

[pathwriter]

Your thoughts are based on the idea that people still have lots of jobs that want to level.

[Xairos]

Yeah, we shall see how things pan out this upcoming week.

It's hard for me to make any kind of assumption for how leveling will change following this next patch. When I last logged in, a few of my ls mates hadn't even known about the xp/skill up increase that is on the way. My guess is that people might start being more curious about which jobs they want to level. For example, if the increase is noteworthy, then I'm leveling blm, drg, rdm, possibly bst, mnk, sam, nin, pld, and dnc. That is tons more hours of playtime SE just awarded me. Or maybe I awarded them, lol.

But for someone who has that all done, they'll just wait till 99 update to be excited.

This post has been edited by Xairos: 11 February 2011 - 01:39 PM

[.Sotek.]

CerGoltana, on 11 February 2011 - 12:31 PM, said:

Wait until after Tuesday. If they enhance FoV and EXP from Zilart/WoTG/CoP zones, you gonna see some insane partying going on pre-75. Assuming that EXP for an EM is going to be doubled, and possibly tripled from an IT, EXPing in an Aht Urghan Region WITH astral candescence EXP bonus & Ring could yield as much as 600-800 EXP/kill, or at least that's what I'm hoping. For zilart outdoor zones, FoV being repeatable and EXP being enhanced, get ready for low level zones/camps getting flooded like the old days. Better buy your leveling gear now before nearly everything (if anything) thats available now is gone. Just my thoughts...

Why waste time gearing jobs?
If all EXP pre-Abyssea is being at least doubled, everyone is just going to go back to Astral Flow Burns.

The reason people leech EXP isn't because it's good EXP, it's just because they wont have to spend anything gearing worthless levels.

It really is quite amazing to see how quickly people forgot about AFB/Qufim simply because Abyssea was better though. I'm truly amazed that not a single person has for a second considered that those will go back to being the norm when pre-Abyssea EXP is increased.

[CerGoltana]

pathwriter, on 11 February 2011 - 01:25 PM, said:

Your thoughts are based on the idea that people still have lots of jobs that want to level.

Well I'm more or less talking from my own experience, a former player who retired from ffxi a while ago, picked up 14, was hugely disappointed, then returned to ffxi. Maybe every person has all jobs leveled and I'm the only one who doesn't. If so, then the EXP adjustment would be meaningless anyways. But still excited to see how things change in the next few days.

Also, I wasn't talking about buying/gearnig your characters from lv1-30 via bronze harnesses and rusty subligars. I'm talking about gear that could actually be useful to your job/role in a party setting. Maybe you personally don't see the point in gearing up jobs accordingly for "pointless levels", but I don't think that can be said of everyone. SMN burn parties were very much used once upon a time, but not nearly as many people as you think actually used those methods. Most people still just leveled normally.

Idk, but I'm really not in any super hurry to hit 90~ with all of my jobs. I personally just enjoy the levelling experience and teaming up for now; the EXP adjustment is just going to speed that process up a bit. I've already had my share of endgame once upon a time, so I'm just enjoying al the new things that SE dishes out now. I'm speaking solely from my own personal experience, but im sure there are others who may feel the same. Not everyone is interested in the same leech methods that others are. I just play the game. At this point, couldn't care less about hitting 70+ with all of my jobs. But thats just me speaking about my own situation.

[rambus]

there is only 2 pieces of gear to worry about when leveling was done without abyseea and without astral flow parties.

a level 20 great axe, xbow with acid bolts , and a 37 great axe.

substitute other weapons for the weaker low level burn jobs.

crafting has been dead for a long time and when i saw the ah for gear under 70 it was real sad to look at.

[Logan Draconia]

Sadly, there's just too many people in the game that think powerleveling to 90 is going to make them good at their job. And before some of you jump in and say something stupid like "dur hur every job is easy to learn and use effectively," that's not what I'm talking about. A guy could powerlevel Red Mage from 30 to 90, but that red mage isn't going to land any enfeeble spells anytime soon. He'll be stuck at a skill level of 90-120 enfeebling magic and unable to skill it up quickly because his Gravity keeps getting resisted. Or how about the PUP who's Puppet can't land any attacks, or a COR or RNG that can't land a single ranged shot, or a DRK that constantly misses even after the current set-ups for them and after eating a Pizza.

There's a big difference between knowing what you're doing and actually doing it. Maybe SOME jobs can get away with it, but that's only assuming your skills for the weapons used are already capped or if you can skill-up on your own body.

This post has been edited by Logan Draconia: 13 February 2011 - 10:49 AM

[pathwriter]

So much rage captured in pointless red herring objections, Logan.

Since you're not going to get it, though... people actually participate in killing things from, oh, about 65 onward. Unless you're particularly stupid, it's not difficult to get sufficiently caught up that food and Atma won't carry you the rest of the way whilst getting capped for weapon skill. Elemental magic is rather easy and anyone doing something other than Dia spam to level Enfeebling when they're in 100% resist territory is an idiot to start with.

[Banter]

You can be skilling enfeebling and elemental from the time you start leeching XP. Even a brain dead moron should have at least 200 skill in enfeebling by the time they get 75 or so.