Lacking Diversity.

[Heartily]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

I started playing computer games when computer games got started.
I'm 60 now and I really enjoy all aspects of the game, especially since
I remember what they were like when RPG and action games started.
Everyone looked like the same and you had no choices in what you looked
like, or even what you did...you had to follow the one path from beginning to end
just like everyone else. To let a small diversion like how some people might
have the same armour ruin your gaming experience is pretty spoiled in my opinion.
I have no complaints with this game, I've been playing 2 years and still
get amazed by new scenery and new monsters and new things my caracter can
do. I went to Alt Urgan, it was like going on a vacation it was so much fun to see what unique architecture and ideas the designers developed. I had fun in a besieged even though I wandered in by accident as a 22 Thief. I think Blue mage is fun and original. If the players of today would all play Zelda 1 from beginning to end, just once, they would understand how exciting the gaming of today is
and enjoy the experience a lot more without bothering to look for flaws and defects.

[Tirjasdyn]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

Please don't confuse me for the original poster. I'm not complaining about diversity I was listing a reason for lack of diversity at lower lvls and defending my position when attacked.

I appreciate the info folks..I'll take it to heart.

For those that asked my job...there's this nifty feature in this forum...look under my avatar...click on character info..

[Theyaden]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

I usually NPC the stingers since it was 1k/stack last I checked and sells to close to that to NPC (I always have shy of a full stack.) The behive chips are good gill if someone starts undercutting them to 7k (happens at Bastok occasionally) put them up at 9 or 10k and when the morons supply depletes yours sell. (Rarely are mine returned to me when I do this). the honey is usually a steady 5k/stack. When running low on gill I take a day off from pting and crafting and just farm Ordello's caves fungars for Schrooms (10k/stack but don't move as quickly) Behive chips in Davoi when the subless ones aren't hunting there and behive chips on the hill north of Bastok when there is 1 or less farmers already there.

Level 8 is a little rough for the walk from Bastok to sandy to get an NPC which means you'll get soaked a little more than from an NPC if your shop doesn't have something usable. (Although 1st job through most of us will give a little slack on if your gear isn't top of the line ^^). Just make sure you have some type of gear for the dunes even if it isn't the best available. I'm more likely to shake my head at the rank7 guy using the trick staff in pt than the subless war with an onion sword. I have higher standards for characters that have resources and don't use them than a newbie starting out. Hope this helps.

[Icemage]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

The truth is that Final Fantasy XI doesn't really hit its stride until you're at least level 40 on a lot of jobs. Up until then, you're just sort of "training" to be higher level in a lot of cases.

A lot of jobs get some of their most potent abilities in the 37-45 level range. As such, you're going to end up with a lot of things that are similar - not just armor and weapons, but it's sort of indicative of where the energy for design was focused.

Once you hit artifact armor (50+) is when each job really starts to define itself visually, and by the time you hit 75 you'll have a large selection of looks available to you.


Icemage

[Omni]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

Actually the rank of your nation directly affects what armor, such as leather gear, that can be obtained in shops for the nation. Many times I've decided to lvl lower lvl jobs and tried to obtain an item at the shop only to find it not there due to low conquest ranking. Though yes there still is the AH, NPC shops are usually much cheaper by almost 60-80% many times. Though I can't say for sure what AH prices are like now for low lvl gear as I haven't bought any for a long time I do know that bloodstones have stayed at 1-2k for months, despite all other deflation. This may just be an isolated example however.

I know it affects who gets leather gear but you know.... someone has to be last. someone has to be first... so you're arguing for bastok then what do i tell the person in windy who is in last next week? Oh its not fair for them now?

THAT said, find ways to keep your income of gil flowing. which is why ive been saying farm. farm beehive chips and sell them. you can buy your leather on ah then resell it for almost same price later on.

Conquest should again totally stop you from getting armor. If you cannot scrape up the gil for a leather set on ah... and i am in no way being a prick when i say this... you just need to take time out and farm. I just dont think its that difficult.

Farm for 12 beehive chips, sell for 9-12k and you should have enough to get leather set. how long does it take to farm 12 chips? Im guessing 30-45min at killing those bees outside of gusta... you can also sell the honey and stingers too!

Also, Ive said before. How diverse do you want to be at lv. 8? Most of us know that theres only a few sets of armor melee and mages wear for the first oh... 30 something levels...

If you have the expectations to be unique before 30ish, well youre going to be disappointed.

[Ziero]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

well, conquest has nothing to do with lacking diversity. which is what this thread is about. at any rate, it was my mistake to assume you were around the same lvl as the op.
eticket answered your question pretty much. farm. you should have no trouble farming beehive chips and selling those. they are 12k on my server in bastok. 1 stack should give you enough to buy that armor you want for lvl. 8. again, conquest is not that big of a deal if you can get a form of income going.
taru edit: what eticket said again. conquest does not affect, or should not affect you from getting gear if you can raise gil for yourself. which you probably should begin doing.

Actually the rank of your nation directly affects what armor, such as leather gear, that can be obtained in shops for the nation. Many times I've decided to lvl lower lvl jobs and tried to obtain an item at the shop only to find it not there due to low conquest ranking. Though yes there still is the AH, NPC shops are usually much cheaper by almost 60-80% many times. Though I can't say for sure what AH prices are like now for low lvl gear as I haven't bought any for a long time I do know that bloodstones have stayed at 1-2k for months, despite all other deflation. This may just be an isolated example however.

Having said that, I do agree that trying to *look* different from others, especially at lower lvls, can be very difficult. My best suggestion is mix and match, avoid buying whole sets of gear if you can while not sacrificing stats. I know when I was a wee lil war I made sure to at least *look* a lil different from others buy using gear from different sets of armor. Leig Mitts, scale mail and pants, Ryl Ftm headband and Course boots helped keep me well equiped gear wise, while still looking different from other lvl 10 DDs. At higher lvls you can actually split your gear into a 'looks' set and a 'stats' set, wear one while in town and wear the other while in combat. As a War and Thf I'm used to numerous sets of gear for every situation so one more set just for looks isn't that big of a deal for me.

Though through out the game there will always be a few pieces that 'everyone' will be using. These are things that are so good for the jobs that can use them and have such a wide variety of jobs that can equip them, it will seem like everyone in the party has it. Examples of this are things like the Haubergeon, Jaridah Peti, Seer's gear and most common of all, the Brigidine. I have been in numerous pts where 4/6 of the members were wearing this item, as it's often the best item they can use. For pts this doesn't bother me, but everywhere else I made sure I had something else to wear, just to look good.

All in all, if you want to look 'good' and 'unique' in this game it's easily done by buying different armor. But unless that armor has good stats, you should also buy something that's good to fight in. Because being unique is all well and good, unless you start to suck at your job.

[eticket109]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

Ah, that makes a bit more sense. I never looked for the leather armor in stores as I always just bought it at the AH.

Nowadays though, with the market as it is. I have noticed a significant uptick in lower levelled gear. If one nation consistently controls 1st place then you may want to set up a mule in that city. As you get more gear or get into crafting later on, the extra space is almost a necessity.

As far as the leather... when you get that, you'll look like everyone else too unfortunately. Beyond the mnk/sam/nin - melee/rdm/blu - mage categories, there really isn't much difference in gear until around 50 or so. It gets better as time goes on, but there is a lot of overlap.

[Omni]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

What job are you? So I can give you a gear path for you to follow.

Having gear lower than you isnt necessarily bad.

At lv. 8 you shouldnt be going to konchatat highlands. you should stay around killing stuff quickly until 10-11. then you can just go past highlands and get your first party at valkrum. remember that quadavs aggro to sound, so stay a good distance from them. once you get to konchatat, theres enough room for you to run around things just take your time and you should be able to make it to valkrum no problem.

sometimes when you farm, you just have to kill for little to no exp. farm those bees. those bees should give you nice gil for stacks of beehive chips. They arent hard to kill and the drop rate isnt so bad. sell those crystals too. keep stuff on the ah, it should give you a steady income.

but really, at that level... thats really all there is to wear. leather, subligar, scalemail... etc. there just really isnt that much choice at this stage.

i dont think you are not good at the game, its just tough on new players. but in all honesty, once you get going its all worth it.

[neighbortaru]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

two points for you Tirjasdyn:

1. learn how to avoid enemies. you can move the camera pretty much everywhere so use that and stop running into things. also learn how enemies aggro (for instance quadavs aggro by sound).

2. make a mule in sandy and/or windy. that way you will have access to the stuff the NPCs sell and can, in turn, jack the prices up on the AH in bastok (like others are doing) so you can make extra gil.

[Celeal]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

AH is like a renting place.... you can sell back your gear via AH once you are done with them. It is not like consumable (food, ammo...) that once it is used, it is gone forever.

[Tirjasdyn]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

If you're having issues affording early newbie gear, I would recommend looking into Fishing. It's a solid and respectable way to make money without worrying about your level.


Icemage

I'm having issues affording it because the gear is no longer available in the market after losing conquest. The folks selling it in the AH caught on immediatly and rasied all the prices.

[Tirjasdyn]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

taru edit: what eticket said again. conquest does not affect, or should not affect you from getting gear if you can raise gil for yourself. which you probably should begin doing.

Perhaps I'm just not that good at the game but I have a fairly firm grasp of the English language. When you loose merchandise from the local stores because you are loosing conquest, i'd call that:

1. lack of diverse equipment since all you can buy are subligars and brass harness and robes.

2. lack of ability to buy equipment at the level it is needed for.

I farmed and got enough to buy a full set of lv 7 leather from the market place, which I price earlier that day. I head to the market and find it gone. I check around check conquest. Bastok is now third on Hades. Crap..so I head to AH. Oh look every piece is now 3000-4000 higher than market prices. Joy..so I farm....I'm almost 9th. by the time I hit 11th I'll have enough for 7th lv gear. I feel special.

I can't make it past Kondast highlands without dying. Seems like I miss the higher lv quadav just over that last hill every time. two blows dead. yeah me.

So lets review: Technically I will still get the gear...just four levels past where I could have used it. In mean time I look like everyone else because better gear is not to be had for what you can make at low levels.

I fully understand that's how this game is and actually how most final fantasy games are (feeling old now), I'm not the one who going stop playing (I could be playing WOW, where all dwarves are the same), but saying that conquest does not effect diversity of characters at low levels is plain wrong. It might just be a bump in the road for seasoned players with access to higher lvl stuff on their mules and other characters but it still affects diversity in how a character looks.

Is it the end all be all reason lack of diversity in the game? No. Just a lowly contributing factor. this isn't CoH where you can even manipulate the mesh of the model but at least it's not Wow.

Now back to my plea: Conquest for Bastok on Hades!

[Celeal]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

I had often seen many players have alternative set of outfits when they are walking in towns, just for fashion or looking cool. When they are in parties, they switch to another set of gear for partying...

With 5 visible slots for clothing (head, body, hands, legs, feet) and 2 visible slots for weapon (main hand, off hand), diversity is pretty good as your level moves up. Plus S-E often introduce new gears and weapons from time to time.

[Icemage]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

Hold the music here.

Yes, it's a pain in the butt being a new player. You don't have a lot of resources, you don't have a ton of friends, you don't have the ability to farm much.

This doesn't mean conquest is a problem. Here's a news flash: you earn more conquest points when your nation is behind in conquest. Your Signet lasts longer, and you earn extra conquest points when you win battles in zones that your nation does not control.

The only things that are annoying when your nation is behind in conquest are:

(a) There are some conquest point items that are unavailable unless your nation is 1st or 2nd.
(b) It costs you more to use Outpost Teleportion to places your nation does not control.
(c) It costs you more to change allegiances if the nation you're changing to is higher in conquest.

At level 8, none of these issues apply since you're not going to be high enough rank to see any of the conquest-restricted items, you can't do outpost Teleportion to anywhere, and you're hardly likely to want or need to change allegiances that soon.

If you're having issues affording early newbie gear, I would recommend looking into Fishing. It's a solid and respectable way to make money without worrying about your level.


Icemage

[Omni]

Re: Lacking Diversity.

well, conquest has nothing to do with lacking diversity. which is what this thread is about. at any rate, it was my mistake to assume you were around the same lvl as the op.

eticket answered your question pretty much. farm. you should have no trouble farming beehive chips and selling those. they are 12k on my server in bastok. 1 stack should give you enough to buy that armor you want for lvl. 8. again, conquest is not that big of a deal if you can get a form of income going.

taru edit: what eticket said again. conquest does not affect, or should not affect you from getting gear if you can raise gil for yourself. which you probably should begin doing.