The issues with FFXI that we don't often discuss

[Asmodai]

The Crafting system is a whole lot better than guildwars! No matter what people say there are no craft points no special sub titles for crafting.

As Far as EvE is concerned, there is alot more for lower lvl players to do In EvE. I bought the 2007 expansion and I don't think I have even touhced them yet. Still trying to lvl up to where I can hang out with the vets but it looks like its going to be a while. I haven't played enough except to just lvl.

I like Tabula Rasa's Monster attack on the city walls and everyone in the city runs out to fend the monsters off or you loose control of the city till a group comes to take it back. thats fun! alas I only played tabula rasa for a couple months. it totally lacked content. The idea was awesome for a short time. Now im here taking a break from EVE.

[KingOfZeal]

I know I can't be the only person who would prefer to see a guild system like it was shown in .hack//roots? A decent, multi-level room which can be furnished to great customizable details, ultimately depending on just how "rich" the guild is.

I think the idea mentioned earlier that after the shell gets to a certain size, MH's are more extensions to the shell's main gathering area. If something like this were actually put in, a linkshell bank would be easy to put in, comparatively.

Now, granted The World (R:2 in this case) is probably expanded and each guild has it's own building separate of each other, which would provide some of a problem in Vana'diel (perhaps, you could add another option when exiting to a specific area from your MH, which would send you to the gathering area of the shell that is currently equipped, and could only exit back into your room, much like the Chocobo Circuit works), but it's something that would be very nice to see.

[Pteryx]

One problem I have is actually a long-standing, but now quieter criticism of the game.

Lack of real guild structure.

SE decided that it would be best to let the players regulate thier linkshells as they saw fit. Which is to say, SE trusted players too much. I think each time a developer makes thier first online game, they imagine us to be perfect little angels. Well, we're not, and the complete absense of an established guild structure makes things a lot more political than they have to be. That's not to say an established system couldn't be abused - it totally can - but if things like point systems were done in-game instead of externally, there's a lot less room for abuse. Bad/corrupt leaders would be spotted easier.

IIRC, SE has stated that they didn't expect linkshells to turn into a guild system at all. They honestly expected them to just be used as a disposable communications device instead of the centerpiece of any sort of long-term social structures. Which says to me that they did worse than just think we'd be angels -- human nature never crossed their minds at all.

I think there's room for both casual systems like the linkshell (which could stand some polishing to reflect the long-term aspect) and more rigid structures like you propose. A linkshell-like system would be helpful because you can just pick it up and go, while a guild-like system would have more benefits at the cost of all kinds of annoying bureaucratic hoops. For endgame purposes and other Serious Business, the latter would likely be worth it, but why force that onto the average casual shell?

Another issue is that SE doesn't really update the older content that much. OK, so we can farm diorites from Aura Statues near the Nexus, there's a rage timer and NMs can build resistances over time. Still, this doesn't prevent us from using the same tactics over and over again.

SE said it themselves several times - they'd like to encourage different party setups and strategies. This works for the "small party" concept they have, but not terribly much for meritpo or endgame. Things need to be shaken up a little here.

Since the kings are now such familiar territory and have become such simple fights, I think its time they get a bit tougher with a bit more variety in thier tactics or even tactics that might vary by thier appearance.

Are you sure they meant that with respect to endgame content? I thought they were only talking about XP -- giving the grind more variety to make it less of, well, a grind. However, that's not likely to happen until they get a better understanding of how to balance risk/reward and effort/reward.

As someone who favors the newer jobs in the game, another that stands out to me is the failure to really include the ToA/WotG jobs in the reward scheme in RoZ/CoP endgame content. Really, CoP busts your balls, I want a little more to choose from than some earrings and neck pieces. BLU got BOTH sea sets and PUP and COR got jackshit. Its clear BLU was way ahead on the drawing board than the other two.

All the same, all ToA and WotG jobs should get a shot at AF+1 sets, too. Same goes for relics, which I'm a little more understanding about SE holding back on. Given how contemporary ToA/WotG AF is in contrast to RoZ AF, it probably is somewhat difficult to reinvent these sets, and I'll also concede that Relic for WotG jobs is probably premature since other endgame sets aren't really there outside of the standard crafted and Assault gear choices

But lets look at the facts:

PUP, DNC and SCH get no abjuration gear - COR and BLU had it from day one on ToA
WotG/ToA jobs get no AF+1, just Limbus accessories and other sea accesories.
WotG/ToA jobs don't have Relic armor.
PUP, COR and BLU do have Relic weapons, but we have no idea what to do with them yet.
SCH and DNC get nothing from Salvage.
Only BLU, PUP and COR have incentive to camp HNM, and not very compelling ones.

I gripe about this only because you can't expect everyone to have a dozen jobs at 75. Two or three jobs at 75 is pretty common now, anything beyond that is going into extreme cases. I'm sitting at three with #s 4, 5 and 6 soon to follow. I think I'm going to stop there, I don't know if I can stomach a seventh.

Anyway, there will be newer players wanting to do this old content and they may end up favoring ToA/WotG jobs. There should be something there for them in this content.

Cutting out your attack on endgame players, I can see your point, particularly with AF+1 (which are, as the name implies, direct upgrades) and Salvage gear (which cover broad categories of jobs and used to cover every job in the game between them). Relic armor does, indeed, seem trickier to do, particularly finding a method of delivery for the ToAU ones since they've painted themselves into a corner that way storywise; Limbus had odd jobs out anyway (and probably could stand some attention in general due to this); and as for the rest, I can't say I have any insights.

Finally - and this is just because it really annoys me for some reason - those fucking /BRD and Barspell bots in campaign. Seriously, nerf the recast on BRD and WHM self buffs when Allied tags are applied or make it so you can only get so much EXP from Campaign. No one should be able to level up thier character by singing and not doing shit on the battlefield nor sould anyone get credit for these buffs unless they're hitting other active players. I've already made it a point to introduce Muu Buxu the Elusive to these guys a few times.

The trouble with doing that for BRD is that, as you should know, BRD buffs are almost exclusively self-targetted. The nerf you suggest would screw them over in normal, legitimate combat in Campaign. I can see making sure that you don't get credit for AoE buffs that only hit yourself, though.

And, er, there already are caps on the XP you can get from Campaign.


On the subject of storage, my own thought is this: If they want to give us more Mog House space but can't because of PS2 limitations as they say, there's an indirect way they could do it: make a seperate, home-MH-only storage space that can hold only furniiture, and allows us to deploy it in our house with the same benefits as if it were deployed from our safe. That not only frees up space in our Mog Safe, but it encourages players to make use of the Storage function (and to get "fun" furniture).

Beyond that, why is all non-event armor storage by set? For the rare/ex pieces especially, this is awkward and frustrating. Thus, I'd love to see individual rare/ex storage too -- though unlike Dranzia, I've noticed that their hard limit for a displayable storage area is 80 (not that 80 rare/ex-only slots wouldn't be awesome, mind you). For that matter, I'd love to have storage just for elemental staves; they get in the way on low jobs and non-mage jobs.

The one also sort of ties in with jobs: what's the big deal on the lack of hybrid gear S-E? Oh, and the TOTAL ABSENCE of hybrid foods (Ambrosia obviously doesn't count: it's an uber-food). Hybrid jobs can't work if you don't give them hybrid gear.

Total agreement here, especially on the foods. Just what is a BLU supposed to eat besides souls anyway? Some sweet 'n sour dhalmel for Attack plus MP would be nice. They may be starting to realize the problem, though, given the recent release of Rabbit Pie.

Another food issue that comes to mind is the lack of variety in mage foods. You have INT, you have MND, you have MP, and you have hMP. Where's the elemental MAB food? Or the MAcc food? Or heck, the hybrid MDB/Def and MDB/Eva food for tanking spell-happy mobs, or at least the elemental resist food?

Speaking of Eva, we could stand to have more Eva food too. Like, something significant that's actually stackable. -- Pteryx

[Feba]

SE has stated that they didn't expect linkshells to turn into a guild system at all. They honestly expected them to just be used as a disposable communications device instead of the centerpiece of any sort of long-term social structures.

please. please, no, not even SE can't be that stupid.


They simply cannot have meant for it to be like that. Right? Right?

[Mhurron]

please. please, no, not even SE can't be that stupid.


They simply cannot have meant for it to be like that. Right? Right?

It would be a far better game environment if they had been right.

[Feba]

Yeah, no, sorry, FFXI sucks without social groups.

I spent probably half my time in FFXI wandering around without an LS; even being in one full of annoying twits is better than not having one sometimes.

[Murphie]

I go back and forth. I joined an LS recently to keep from being lonely, but my god are they a bunch of mouth breathers.

[Feba]

I breathe through my mouth

It is big and can intake enough oxygen to keep my giant brain going

[Murphie]

I am making my not surprised face right now.

[Feba]

well, yeah. I mean, my head is the size of a watermelon. There has to be something taking up all that space.

[Telera]

Yeah, no, sorry, FFXI sucks without social groups.

I spent probably half my time in FFXI wandering around without an LS; even being in one full of annoying twits is better than not having one sometimes.

Isn't that the truth? The silence becomes rather boring after a while, and you'd welcome even the idiot in the shell always announcing whenever he's drunk/stoned/horny.

...of course, you'd not be missing him long. Soon you'd wish you could MPK his ass. But at least it isn't silent anymore. And then you get pissed and toss the shell and start the cycle all over again. I lost count of how many linkshells I went through trying to find a mature one. Like BBQ said, if I could've found one where the rules were 21+ or turned away, I'd have joined it right off.

[Murphie]

Isn't that the truth? The silence becomes rather boring after a while, and you'd welcome even the idiot in the shell always announcing whenever he's drunk/stoned/horny.

...of course, you'd not be missing him long. Soon you'd wish you could MPK his ass. But at least it isn't silent anymore. And then you get pissed and toss the shell and start the cycle all over again. I lost count of how many linkshells I went through trying to find a mature one.

It's like you're in my head.

[MrMageo]

I like the idea for a "LS community hall" a gathering area where you can jut chill. Possibly include some reps from craftin guilds so you you can craft in the hall and make it a more guild type feel.

Of course LS's are used solely to keep in touch over distances as per the manual so you never know.

I personally would like to see a over haul on PVP. I would love for them to offer up some type of reward system other than braging rights. Some non rare/ex items, maybe gil. Personally I love PVP and many other I know do as well. (We acctually have a PVP shell which runs a 10K/person tournament on weekends which is kind of fun. But I would much rather it being open on a large scale, and possibly a Cross server tourney once a month for some big prizes.

[Feba]

It's like you're in my head.

Except the 21+ part, pretty much. Measuring maturity in years doesn't work. Measuring it by kicking idiots out on their asses is rather effective.

[Murphie]

Agreed. You'll notice I didn't quote that part.