Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

[hexx]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

We get it, you don't like endgame and elitists. It's really not as bad as you all make it out to be. Yeah perhaps the very fact that I can afk for 28 minutes in between windows is flawed in itself, but it isn't like I don't have 10 other characters to play in the meantime, or other games to play, or homework to do.

I enjoy camping and killing HNMs. I don't understand why that's so hard to believe.

Of course, don't knock it until you've tried it, which I'm rather certain you have not.

Oh I dont doubt that its fun, but it just depends on the person. Like BBQ said, being idle for that long and I feel like im wasting my time. As soon as I log in, I say hello to my LS, and then ask 1) If anyone needs help, 2) If any LS parties have started, 3) If anyone wants to go farm (yes we do group farming), 4) If anyone wants to go knock out some missions (ZM, CoP, Rank, ToAU, WotG)

Dont get me wrong, as a tank, I would LOVE to take on the full versions of the ground kings and ToAU kings, but I just dont have the time. Between work, school, social life, and daughter, I really cant be on call to run to Aery or some other pop zone to claim or kill an HNM. Sorry, but I like my sunshine very much =P

[ShadowHolyFlyingDragon]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

I think FFXI has a reputation for being one of those -not fly by night- types of MMOs that are out there these days. I mean, anything you do in FFXI actually has some substance to it, some challenge; and when you actually get an item that's really nice, it usually took alot of work to get it and you feel pretty rewarded for what you went thru. (Usually)

I think the highlights of my funnest moments in FFXI and the accomplishments I made were getting COP finished, leveling up 6 jobs to 75, getting ACP finished, and getting Joytoy. I still have yet to finish ToAU and WotG but I'm looking forward to it immensely.

I'll tell you though, I've played since the NA release and have been through 2 characters and have camped Charbydis for so many people and their ls, it ain't funny. That was almost 6 years ago. I actually didn't acquire one until about 2 weeks ago. It was on a Friday. It was strange too, because I just happened to have all my closest friends online all at the same time and told them of my intention to camp it that night and they agreed to help. (Lord knows I've done tons of crap for them lol.) I had actually tried camping it all week long with 1 or 2 different acquaintances and I had a few terrible losess. I even had one situation where ls members overcamped me and tried to muscle me and a friend out of camping it. That conclusion came out to be pretty ugly. Drama x_X. Anyway, once my friends gathered that night, we all started camping, spamming our macros and such because there was another group of JP players competing against us and so we wanted to bring our A game.

Well Charbys window didn't spawn within the normal 8 hour period. Me and my friends camped down there for about 4 hours straight, goofin off, making jokes, along with about 1-2 minute bouts of serious macro spammage and determination. It was a very memorable time, because we all had some cammaraderie going on and it was just plain enjoyable. I mean, sure in the back of my mind, it sukd ass having to stand there and camp a mob, but I dunno, we ended up making it a fun situation regardless anyway, so it didn't bother me as time went on.

So we camp and camp for several hours; goof off, get serious, compete with the JP players. etc etc.

Eventually the JP players gave up and all went afk at the door. Well, some of my friends left to go do other things about this time too, but one of my really best friends told me to stay and wait with him becuz I had given up as well and he wasn't convinced that Charby had spawned. We stayed there for roughly an hour, chatting, killing random mantas.... I think we killed the Sahagin NM and that one spear dropped. My friend got the spear and laughed that he had to level DRG now to use it (the spear sux imo.) Later, a DRG testy dropped and autolotted to him and we joked about how it was fate he had to play DRG next.

That moment while we were goofin off, fkn Charby pops right on top of him and we HAUL ASS lol. I go apeshyt pulling him as BRD and running around the circle for a moment while he's healing me and another friend comes from outside the door to voke (a NIN, he had been up trying to get Minstrel Robe) BAM we got him. It was roughly 5 hours or so after his window was open. I'm all nerves at this point, I'm wiggin out cuz we're only NIN RDM BRD and I'm thinking, surely we got this, but then doubt kicks in cuz I don't know how well the NIN plays (as NIN, he's great as WAR) and so IM all scared thinking we're gonna lose. But I get to work and buff and my RDM friends keeps him hasted/healed, etc etc. By this time, I'm calling my friends back and they race ass from Uggalepih and save the day. We kill charby in about 30 mins and bam sword drops.

I'm all shaky and excited cuz I can't believe it, it's like frickin christmas and my friends are all cheering and its fun and I'm all happy and immediately go out and play with my new toy. Later, my friends tell me that was the best time they had in a long time and thought it was so uncanny that the mob popped when we had all given up. It was kind of exicting all around.

I mean.... this is what I got out of a camping situation on NMs and it was good times. I'm glad I decided to not give up and camp it one more time because there is so much competition daily on my server for that mob its hard to camp. I could've easily just given up cuz "damnit, its so hard and boring and ppl can easily steal the mob. blah blah" lol.

Have I failed before in camping this? You bet your ass. Have we lost claim or has someone lost connection and we all died, or someone camp all day only to be strongarmed by some retard with Flash? You bet your ass again.

I dunno maybe I'm a glutton for punishment... or maybe I just enjoy the thrill of a challenge. Or maybe its both. It does suck to camp NMs, but then, it doesn't suck. It can be a fulfilling, rewarding experience when you actually win. And suddenly all the work you did just seems worth it all. Have I lost on other situations and items and never won them due to some bs situation that was beyond my control? Yup. So how do I deal with it. Well, I don't. It is a fkn game after all lol. It's not meant to be taken so seriously. I love the experiences, both bad and good. (Well bad suck but you get over it.)

So to be perfectly honest, I've been thru enough to say that I don't complain I don't have x item because of bad game rules. I mean, there's things that could be improved. But it's not out right terrible. I really like the aspect that this game is challenging and that not everyone will have a rare/super weapon or item.... and when you want to level the playing field so much that everyone does... it really diminishes that aspect. Not saying anyone has those intentions, but if you're not careful, it can get that way.

Am I ever gonna own a Ridill? Big phat no. Maybe if I ever buckle down and want to do Kings again; I'll lot on it if someone DC's lol. I like partying more than camping; but when I do camp, its super fun sometimes. But just because I don't have a ridill, doesn't mean I'm depressed about it. I dunno, there's other funner stuff to get in the game. Would I want one? SURE! I'd like to be able to wipe my @$$ with Ridills and use them as coasters in my MOG lollerskates (feel free to quote xD, albeit negatively)

I wish SE would create instanced NMs and exping locations. I think instanced zones are a great idea. But to be perfectly honest, I don't want to play WOW or CoH on FFXI. lol The situation is just gratifying enough to me, when considering all fairness and challenge.

[Akashimo]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

2) Nobody mentioned anything about being able to relax 28 minutes out of 30, and I still wouldn't know which 28 minutes anyway. It was wearing being continuously 'up' to claim.

Windows for most hnms are 21-24 hours after do. Usually 30min windows where its up for 1 min(or 30secs forget which, usually play it safe and go for the full min) for a chance to pop.

Say you killed lolAdamantoise at 3:46:01 pm yesterday (tod when the mob starts to vanish). Next day first window are xx:46:01 and xx:16:01, starting at 1:46:01 pm

ToAU kings its just a 1 window ever 1 hour window starting 2 days after they were last killed going for 24 hours straight.

[Nuriko]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

I enjoy camping and killing HNMs. I don't understand why that's so hard to believe.

Of course, don't knock it until you've tried it, which I'm rather certain you have not.

I tried just regular NMs for a weekend, I decided I didn't care for it. Then again, there were 2 issues:

1) They seemed able to just go from one to the next, the WHOLE TIME! When would you have time to do anything else?

2) Nobody mentioned anything about being able to relax 28 minutes out of 30, and I still wouldn't know which 28 minutes anyway. It was wearing being continuously 'up' to claim.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

RDM with Flash

Flash. ^_^

It's not that I have anything against working for good gear, it's just that after 6 years of this game chasing a carrot on a stick has gotten old.

And, yeah, Malacite has a point. o_O

[Malacite]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

Also, I don't identify with HNM camping as fun because its 28 minutes of dead time within the game. Part of me even tolerating idle time like that is having something on hand. Shouldn't that aspect of the game be just a little more interesting than me having to boot up Castlevania on my DS, watch stuff on YouTube or TV?

And this a big part of why I hate NMs in general. Camping is not fun. I don't mind farming for a pop item as much (given the drop rate is decent~high) since I'm at least doing something. I can only play on my PS3 or Xbox for so long before I get sick of waiting for something to pop, only to lose claim for the billionth time to a fucking RDM with Flash or Stun. More ENM-like systems and/or raising the drop rate on EX NM drops would go a long way towards relieving this.

Don't even get me started on trying to get people to camp KA or Simmy... - _ -'

It's not that I have anything against working for good gear, it's just that after 6 years of this game chasing a carrot on a stick has gotten old.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

Zoneless NMS were fun in EQ... hell, any mob was fun because the trains could end up being extremely epic in how far they spanned. A Gnole is just trying to go home and comes by Qeynos and starts slaughtering everyone he sees, then goes on his merry way or some NPC guard shows up to kill him.

NPC racism in that game was also kind of amusing. But that related to a faction system FFXI would never have. Humans in Qeynos don't much care for Dark Elves. One day a met a friendly low level dark elf who was out exploring the world and had settled on looking for a binding point, so she stopped to talk to me.

Guard sees her from the nearby watchtower and comes down to kill her.

Its a reaaaaaaallllly long way back to Freeport from Qeynos.

I was an enchanter, so I could briefly pretend to be of another race with my spells. It did suck when the illusions wore in the thick of people that hate hated high elves, though.

[Feba]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

I think the simpler fix would be to make poptimes more random. Not just remove windows, but expand time ranges. Instead of 21-24, make it 16-38 or something. Although I'd be more supportive of making mobs more common, but with lower drop rates. Quadruple spawns, but cut the drop rate to quarters.

Even better, combine that with something like Leaping Lizzy-- it would 'tend' to spawn around 4-6 hours, but it could pop anywhere from a few minutes after the last one to a day. Just to make camping less predictable.

Also, BBQ, I am fully in support of more cross-zone NMs. Especially after hearing about the chaos caused in some zoneless MMOs (I think I heard about this happening in EQ, and possibly WoW) where someone would drag an extremely powerful mob back to the noob town. Not just Behemoth wandering around Qufim, but also imagine Aspi wandering into the secret beach. Or Vrtra going for a stroll through Ronfaure, or one of the beastman HNMs wandering outside their respective zones.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

I think this is why BBQ suggested an ENM-like system.

Bingo, there would be a five day spread between one quested fight for you and the next. Everyone has to get the ENM items to enter. Unless you have more than one alliance to go in, you're done for five days.

Also, I don't identify with HNM camping as fun because its 28 minutes of dead time within the game. Part of me even tolerating idle time like that is having something on hand. Shouldn't that aspect of the game be just a little more interesting than me having to boot up Castlevania on my DS, watch stuff on YouTube or TV?

Isn't it just a little sad that people rush to these camps after an update? Job adjustments, new missions and quests and first thing on people's minds is "let's just go do the same old shit!"

This is why I like Ixion. At least there's some resemblance of a hunt going on here. His spawn areas might be known, but where he shows up is anywhere in WotG Zones. Shouldn't beats fo such great power just go wherever they feel like? I understand the placement of some of them in regards to the spirit of their lore, but I don't see why some of them are so restricted. Set the behemoths free!!! I want to see lowbies get squished in Qufim!

[Aksannyi]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

Ok, seriously, why does my mind keep on giving you enough credibility to start reading your posts? It filters out Malacite just fine. <_<

We get it, you don't like endgame and elitists. It's really not as bad as you all make it out to be. Yeah perhaps the very fact that I can afk for 28 minutes in between windows is flawed in itself, but it isn't like I don't have 10 other characters to play in the meantime, or other games to play, or homework to do.

I enjoy camping and killing HNMs. I don't understand why that's so hard to believe.

Of course, don't knock it until you've tried it, which I'm rather certain you have not.

[hexx]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

I like camping mobs too just fine Aks, its the ones with ridiculous pop times that get on my nerves. The game tells you before you fully log in to not forget your friends, family, and life outside the game, yet makes some of the coolest items unreachable to someone who wants to both play, AND maintain an active social life.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

To be honest, I like camping mobs.

Ok, seriously, why does my mind keep on giving you enough credibility to start reading your posts? It filters out Malacite just fine. <_<

[Armando]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

Now imagine if you needed a pop item to go kill Fafnir. We'd schedule seven or eight a night, and the drop would probably be rare enough that you'd go every few months or so (same frequency we do Ouryu). Seven or eight Fafnirs in two months is less than we get to fight now, even with claiming competition. And I'm not sure I'd really want to do a bunch of Tiamats back to back, or Khimairas. Especially if we were one of those linkshells that takes three hours per Tiamat. X.X You'd be exhausted after one, let alone three or four. Would you HAVE to schedule it that way? No, of course not, but how many times a week do you want to run to the Chasm? Or Aery? If you didn't have to, daily, for a pop I mean.

I think this is why BBQ suggested an ENM-like system.

[Aksannyi]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

To be honest, I like camping mobs. Think of it like this. You get your Cloud Evokers from doing ENM. Cloud Evokers are used to enter the Ouryu battlefield. We get some within the ls, and we also pop evokers for outside people and give them most of the drops (we keep the Monarch's Orb with which to pop Bv2). People are okay with this, as most of the time if they are using us for their evoker, they don't have a group to do Bv2 with either.

Now, when we go to do Ouryu, we'll often have six - nine of them lined up. Each Ouryu fight takes a bit to deal with, in that we have to get ourselves in and get buffed, kill it, exit, sort drops, decide who is popping the next orb, etc. Six Ouryus takes roughly about 2 and half hours, possibly more. And we're not going to go do two or three per day, we're gonna bulk schedule them so that we don't have to worry about the travel time involved. By the time you get to that last Ouryu, you're fucking wiped out. People start to get lazy, people leave early thus making it harder on all involved, etc.

Now imagine if you needed a pop item to go kill Fafnir. We'd schedule seven or eight a night, and the drop would probably be rare enough that you'd go every few months or so (same frequency we do Ouryu). Seven or eight Fafnirs in two months is less than we get to fight now, even with claiming competition. And I'm not sure I'd really want to do a bunch of Tiamats back to back, or Khimairas. Especially if we were one of those linkshells that takes three hours per Tiamat. X.X You'd be exhausted after one, let alone three or four. Would you HAVE to schedule it that way? No, of course not, but how many times a week do you want to run to the Chasm? Or Aery? If you didn't have to, daily, for a pop I mean.

And let's be honest, part of the fun of camping HNMs is that one claim where only four people are there and you have to fight to hold it. Those test your mettle as a player. Do you know that I held Khim once with another WHM and two RDM/NIN for twenty minutes until our support got there? I don't remember that HNM fight we had a full alliance and an outside party for, I remember the ones with less than seven people. The party is changing constantly, the fights are always different. I remember the Fafnir that I claimed (yes, I claimed, it was hitting me!), but I wouldn't remember one that I force popped.

I don't think it would be that fun. Do I get up at all hours of the night for NMs? Sometimes, if I'm desperately needed, other times I never get a phone call. I'll admit it takes a lot of patience because losing claim after claim after claim is frustrating, but it's a lot more rewarding when you do get it and you see someone get something they've wanted for a long time. I just don't think it would quite be the same if it were any other way.

And also, I don't want to fight seven Tiamats in one night. XD

[Raydeus]

Re: Now Square-Enix wants customers to be happy. how will FFXI make us happy now?

I tried to imagine everyone having L. boots and Emp. Hairpin and...

Z O M G ! I couldn't sleep afterwards. Just imagining items in the game not being one of a kind really messed with my e-feelings of uniqueness leetness and e-superiority. I didn't feel special anymore either, which will probably require years of therapy to heal.

Why SE, why?!











...what? <_<;

Ok, ok, I know.