The Fellowship Quest

[PetriW]

Sounds kinda neat, if nothing else it'll be new:

From http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/information/0711.html

Introducing the Fellowship Quest

The Fellowship Quest will be added in the next version update. After completing the quest, you will receive an item that will allow you to call an NPC to come to your aid!

Adventure together, defeat fearsome monsters together, and gain experience together! That's right--your NPC friend can also gain experience and level up alongside you! After you've fought a few battles together, your ally might show up wearing new gear the next time you call for it! This new feature will open up the excitement of Vana'diel like never before!

The next version update coming in mid-July is full of new adventures and features designed to maximize your enjoyment in Vana'diel. Keep your eyes peeled for more information!

[Pebbles]

Just noticed this myself - sounds like they're making solo play more viable: more xp for EP/DC and now a quested party member ^^.
Of course, this quest could be like the mannequin one: a pain in the ass - we'll see when they releas the patch (also, the item in question might be those beastman hats - that way S/E manages to report the same feature twice: 1) OOOOOH new hats! 2) OOOOH quested pets!).

[grunion]

omg this is HUGE.... i mean, if the NPC doesnt suck, this totally changes the whole game. it's like everyone will become their job, plus BST. and no XP penalty!

i can't wait to see the pets of some of the most well known players... and it will be crazy to watch people race to get their pet to 75 first

[Sadeira]

what if your pet npc is a bst?

anyway that sounds really cool.

first and foremost on my mind is how the npc is going to pick their job. can you pick it for them or will the be one job and stick with that job forever?

i guess we'll see soon enough

[kazuri]

Maybe depending on various quests of the Fellowship kind, you can choose what job your NPC ally would be~ it's nice to hear that they could pop up with new equipment and stuff too. This is perfect for people like me D;/

[PetriW]

and no XP penalty!

I think it's unlikely there won't be an exp penalty.

[grunion]

this could be really amazing or really bad...

if your buddy starts at level 1 and needs 800k xp to get to 75 (like you) thats pretty lame.

if you can have them help you while youre in a pt, cool (12 people?)

how will they heal/get cured/get mp? can you have a RDM buddy who casts refresh all the time? or will they all just be unskilled melee?

will they get agro like escort NPC's do?

how do you Raise them if they die?

if they are able to cast spells, are we going to have any influence over it or will it be totally AI, like LightSpirit for example? (haste and regen over and over? no thanks)

will they be controllable, i.e. if you sleep the monster can you make your buddy stop attacking?

my guess is, this is so complicated that S-E won't be able to get everything right and they will be useless in most situations.

[Jei]

i hope we don't have to kill HNM for rare/ex drop and need 100 craft skill to make couple pieces into something and use it as a trigger for a rediculously hard NM.

[vadrek]

i hope we don't have to kill HNM for rare/ex drop and need 100 craft skill to make couple pieces into something and use it as a trigger for a rediculously hard NM.

agree

[Sepukku]

Im just worried about the NPC's AI... The NPCs Ive PTed with (Garrison, M9-2) are pretty stupid.

[neighbortaru]

this would really rock for BSTs (SMNs and DRGs too). unless they actually do treat it as a pet.

however, i've got a sneaky suspicion that the AI behind these NPCs will be completely bollocks.

[Vinen]

this would really rock for BSTs (SMNs and DRGs too). unless they actually do treat it as a pet.

however, i've got a sneaky suspicion that the AI behind these NPCs will be completely bollocks.

10 Bucks say they use the AI of the NPC in Bastok m9-2 BC!

[Mai Ikari]

My guess is that they'll work sorta like Wryverns... Can't cast spells on them, gotta rest a lot, yada yada... Generally becoming a hinderance against anything with a heavy AoE due to rest times afterwards. Unless SE is doing something crazy, this will hardly make BST a less-powerful solo class compared to others, and bringing these guys to a party would cause more problems than good, especially with the wonderful AI that SE's demonstrated in Garrison.

Also, they'll probably be as hard to get as Manequins... We all remember how much people looked forward to those, and how few actually have them now.

[Pounce]

Well, the "problem" with mannequins is that they're largely useless other than..... "fun factor", for lack of a better term.

Implemented well, this update has the potential to greatly reduce some major complaints about the game - namely the ability to solo viably, and cases where 5 people are waiting in Jeuno for that one high-demand, low-supply job to pop.

NPC RDM or BRD? [Yes please.] Probably not going to happen, but one can still hope.

[neighbortaru]

ugh, i cringe at the thought of an NPC RDM/BRD. as if some of the morons playing the job are not bad enough, we will now have an automated moron... joy. :magdisgus

a critical job like RDM or BRD should definately be played by a person.