I miss Vana'diel. I'd like to go back. I haven't played the game in over a year and I don't know if I can make myself go back now. I've still got a few add on scenarios that I never did finish. I just hate to go back because Sylph was pretty bad when I left and I'm sure it's worse now. I'm too bad at the game, too. I never was any good at it even when I played every day. I can imagine how much worse I would be now. I'm listening to Rhapsodies of Vana'diel right now. I always mist up a bit when the player chorus starts.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
FFXI in 2017
- Thread starter encephalon
- Start date
demosthenes
Member
I played forever. I would LOVE a single player re-release or something. Best jobs and great story and great missions.
Valonquar
Member
You can do damn near everything in the game solo now with trust unit npcs.
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
Yeah, it's pretty crazy. They seem to all have A+ skill in everything relevant and have crazy strong unique skills too
Sparrowhawk
Member
Hmm, this is very tempting for $10. I've been playing XIV a ton recently, and I've always been curious about this game.
encephalon
Member
Is it not possible to use an item on another character (a trust)?
I went back year ago... game is completely different now. Nothing like what made me fall in love in the first place.
They just proper you through the level experience now via really awkward and janky menus and systems. It feels really cheap... like cheating pretty much.
I recall when they first introduced the field quest (or whatever they are called). They basically just added buffs you could buy that would make the solo play more seamless. It was neat... but now you just get everything via this system. No more interacting with people at all.
I wish there was a more "vanilla" server with maybe just 20% faster leveling (since there would most likely be a smaller population)..
The technical issues with this game really hurt now too. I can deal with older visuals but everything feels sluggish as hell. If I recall correctly almost nothing is done client side right?
They just proper you through the level experience now via really awkward and janky menus and systems. It feels really cheap... like cheating pretty much.
I recall when they first introduced the field quest (or whatever they are called). They basically just added buffs you could buy that would make the solo play more seamless. It was neat... but now you just get everything via this system. No more interacting with people at all.
I wish there was a more "vanilla" server with maybe just 20% faster leveling (since there would most likely be a smaller population)..
The technical issues with this game really hurt now too. I can deal with older visuals but everything feels sluggish as hell. If I recall correctly almost nothing is done client side right?
encephalon
Member
It does feel a bit like cheating, but it's probably to address a lack of playerbase to support a game where you needed other people to make any progress. Or where the bulk of players are doing high level content and there's no one there to support lower level players.
demosthenes
Member
How does equipment work?
You mean like food? There are some food items that affect the entire party, although IIRC those tend to be event-specific.
BTW, to my great surprise it seems like XI still has an advertising budget: http://www.morbolcafe.finalfantasyxi.jp/
zer0blivion
Member
Got the game downloaded and patched up, only took about 12 hours. Looking forward to jumping back in after work.
encephalon
Member
So I purchased the remaining expansions through my s-e account page, started up the game, and expected it to tell me that I was going to have to update the game and start installing the files (this payment method doesn't drop an install file on you). But nothing happened, I just started the game and they were highlighted.
Am I good to go?
I bought Promathia off of the S-E store after forgetting about this option and had an install file.
Am I good to go?
I bought Promathia off of the S-E store after forgetting about this option and had an install file.
Ploid 3.0
Member
Can't possibly be worse than mine. I tried it hoping to be instantly helpful for whatever thing people were doing, it was when I came back when everyone was doing abyssea. It was when I went into a pick up dynamis (after the daily dynamis thing so it was very casual) and I caused a full wipe because I was fumbling all over my tasks. RDM is so much easier. All of the status removals, cures, added on top of chaos was just too much for me.
Darn abyssea fast leveling. I was not prepared.
It sounds like you previously played it right before you bought the expansion. You download and install all of the updates and expansions regardless of which ones your account has access to. Buying the expansion and activating it to your account just unlocks the rest of the content for your avatars. You should be good.
zer0blivion
Member
I hopped on yesterday for my first time in years. My former endgame ls was still going strong. The shell leader gave me 3m gil to help out which is the most gil I've ever held, lol. He says it's just a drop in the bucket these days. Seems like all my gear is inadequate now. I guess I need to do RoE to get the spark gear as a starting point?
encephalon
Member
After acquiring more trusts through eminence and other mysterious means, I attempted progressing through the Promathia storyline again. My linkshell claims it's not going to disrupt the order of the story if I do some Promathia stuff, and given that I can tackle it as I level, I decided to give it a go.
It's a bit confusing, because I bought Promathia off the S-E store and there was a download I had to install. So when I bought the others off of my acct page I expected an automatic update that didn't happen. I undertook a dancer quest to test if things were working okay. They seem to be.
So off I was to the Crag of Dem.
After defeating the boss, I appear before the mother crystal. (Or is it a mother crystal)? Nag'molada asks me how I feel in the presence of the crystal, which apparently grants all life. Then as he says he "can't allow people to harm it," he appears to prepare to attack me before the boy appears again and grants me a vision of characters talking about a fight that "cannot be avoided."
At the next crag, a party from Bastok appears when Wolfgang of Jeuno shows up. They question what each other are doing there, both investigating a massive wave of energy that has a teleport crystal. Wolfgang tries to dissuade cid and co from investigating and to leave it to Jeuno under the pretense that it's dangerous, but it seems like a bit more is going on.
Another crag, another boss. These weren't too much trouble this time around.
I yet again found myself at the mother crystal or a different one? I come to find the boy collapsed on the floor before being jolted into another vision. It's really not clear what has happened here. I can see Quifim island as a mysterious voice question whose dream it is that it's seeing. Then I see a mysterious purple haired girl before being sent back to the outside of the crag.
So off I went to the next crag.
Upon inspecting the shattered crystal and attempting to enter the next Promyvion I'm greeted by Nag'molada, who slaps me across the face and tells Wolfgang to strike me down. He appears to think that I am with the boy, but Wolfgang protests and claims I'm a mere adventurer. Unconvinced, Nag'molada goes on to berate Wolfgang, telling him that he had explained just what sort of place this is - and claims that they are "those who know secret(s)." The boy appears and he asks him how it is that he is able to call upon the same darkness that "that priestess called long ago," the "empty darkness" that has the power to "turn the world to nothingness." When the boy remains silent, Wolfgang strikes him down. But the boy does not die. He gets up and summons the darkness once again.
I defeat the third and final Promyvion boss and am greeted with another Nag'molada scene. This time before the crystal. It's really unclear how the characters are jumping around - it feels as if it's a continuation of a fight between the boy and Nag'molada that started at the entrance. Then a very confusing scene ensues where Nag'molada makes a number of cryptic statements about the emptiness being a "destroyer," "possessing a self yet not knowing its self," and it being "just as the priestesses who did not fear even god feared" - but I could be misinterpreting these. The boy appears to touch the crystal, the screen goes white, then another boy appears and says "you're not going to betray me, are you?" and something about how the will of the crystal is the will of the world. "That is to say, it has been split into five."　Then yet another vision occurs (maybe this boy itself is part of a vision?) where the same woman who claimed there was an unavoidable fight coming calls the people with her to "pray to god - and to the gods."
I'm then teleported to some island.
Three tarutaru find me, and decide to just leave me there.
So I make my way west.
I find myself at the Tavnazian Safehold. A group of people holed up in a cathedral after their kingdom had fallen to beastmen. It's there that i find Nag'molada. But he's apparently not going to try to kill me here. I'm asked by the people to help take care of a Minotaur problem in the waterways - a minotaur the three tarutaru were supposed to take care of. It's something to do while the other characters "wait for Prishe."
The waterways are full of "minotaur" like demons that appear to cast some sort death magic on my trust NPCs. Suddenly one of them will just straight up disappear. There were also creepy "fomor" NPCs that take on the role of jobs and seem to form parties. I took out the minotaur, referred to a guide and realized I wasn't finished yet. Nag'molada was "ahead" in the waterways. Apparently I needed to find a bronze key and open up a door. After fighting thieves and ninjas for some time I managed to find a bronze key and progress a little further where I met Nag'molada. He claimed there was something up ahead, but wouldn't say what. So I followed and proceeded to take the wrong door, fall down, and have to go through it again (I am referring to multiple guides, English and Japanese, at once in order to make sense of what it is that I'm supposed to be doing - I'm spending hours on tasks as it is).
After catching up with him he was muttering something about a strange box being here of all places and the significance of it all. Then he suggested we go back and that was that.
After reporting back Prishe came back. Wait a minute, weren't you in one of my visions? Prishe, who uses highly masculine vocabulary to refer to herself, claims there are a bunch of monsters on the south coast and says we had better take them out. Okay, pretty straightforward. At least a coastline won't have me farming NPCs for keys. By the time all this was said and done I was level 50. The story is confusing, but it's beginning to get interesting even if I can't make sense of what is actually happening.
Somewhere along the way I fought Isonade for Magoroku only to find my attack power was exactly the same as my level 30 weapon. Huh.
It's a bit confusing, because I bought Promathia off the S-E store and there was a download I had to install. So when I bought the others off of my acct page I expected an automatic update that didn't happen. I undertook a dancer quest to test if things were working okay. They seem to be.
SilverArrow20XX
Walks in the Light of the Crystal
CoP does have some awkward minor out of order plot events that happen if you do them before Zilart. Mostly involving Aldo. Even the opening cutscene that automatically plays when you first zone into the Delkfutt Tower area is super awkward when it happens while going there for Zilart missions since they clearly take place after lol. Zilart is also very good and I'd recommend completing it first. It doesn;t matter too much though. You do unlock an epilogue mission for both storylines after clearing them both.
encephalon
Member
If the Zilart scenes take place after, then doesn't that mean that those who finished Zilart before starting Promathia for the first time experienced them out of order? Am I misunderstanding?
I'll have to go back and make sense of things later.
agreed. day one on a vanilla server
The right/canon order is Rank 6-->ZM-->CoP. It's also the one that gets you most of the lore/story. (I mean, you get everything either way, but CoP kinda spoils ZM's twists)
But FFXI was created so you could do most stories in any order, so some cut-scenes change depending where you are in the story, since some characters may be unavailable.
FFXI uses 3 variables to determine your damage output (there are several, but to keep things basic here)
There is a DMG rating and an attack stat, alongside with the STR stat.
STR is from your character level, you can see it in profile, and attack is associated with STR, the more STR you have, the higher attack. Attack can also be raised via gear and food.
STR raises the min/max potential damage you can get from a hit, and the attack stat helps you reach the higher end of your STR range more consistently. It's harder to run the numbers just from eyeballing but INT and magic attack on nukes is alot more noticeable.
The DMG is from your weapon stat, and in this case, your new weapon has a higher DMG than your level 30 sword. DMG is the best stat to raise your damage output. You want as high DMG as possible in a weapon, but delay is also factored for TP gained per hit but this isn't important at the moment.
Hope this makes sense for you.
bjornhelgoe
Neo Member
I played for a few weeks this year. Loved it for the nostalgia. Played to lvl 30 MNK 15 WAR. Got it to run smooth 60 fps by restricting it to one CPU core.
encephalon
Member
I'll try to get onto Zilart before I finish Promathia, but there seems to be a higher barrier for entry. Especially when I'm going to have to do a scary quest every 5 levels to raise my level cap.
How did anyone ever attempt soloing this game when it involved running dungeons with crazy strong monsters?
Thanks for taking the time to write all that up. It's the "attack" stat that didn't change for me, to be clear. I had assumed that my STR and DMG would combine to provide a more accurate number with the "attack" (or "attack power" for me) stat.
The missions weren't mean for solo. Back in the days we used to form alliances for stuff like Phomiuna Aqueducts and Promy were strictly 6 men business.
SilverArrow20XX
Walks in the Light of the Crystal
Other way around. The CoP intro scenes take place after the Delkfutt scenes from Zilart, however, if you have CoP installed, it is impossible to see them in chronological sequence. Like others have said though, it's very minor and doesn't matter much.
There are also a few cut lines from Aldo and Zeid talking about your previous adventures together in RotZ, however, they still have dialogue behaving as if you're old friends.
Sneaking. I played most of the dungeons as a stealth game basically. I did get stuck around halfway through both expansions before the i117 sparks gear came out though. I'm not a very good player though.
encephalon
Member
I can safely get rid of my evolith right? It seems like it takes a hell of a lot to make any use of it.
Evolith augments might be the worst system ever introduced into the game. Luckily, there is no use for them.
You can trade them to outpost guards for some gil, at least.
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
Having trouble figuring out how to gear up from 70-75. Even though I'm on one of the most populated servers our auction house is dead and Eminence gear at that range is pretty butt.
Relic gear?
For your first job
You pretty much have to slum it up to lv 99 using RoE gear
After that there will be plenty to choose from:
Relics
Assault
Sky
Limbus
Salvage <=========== you can get a couple pieces of this using login points, right now, I think
Etc
encephalon
Member
Edit: I thought something was failing to appear for me in attempting to undertake the dancer subquest, but I was failing to notice the (S) next to Jugner Forest ... meaning I have to make use of my Altana expansion that apparently lets me ... travel back in time!?
Well, okay. I was going to try and take up a support job, but maybe that'll just have to make it warrior or something for the time being.
Well, okay. I was going to try and take up a support job, but maybe that'll just have to make it warrior or something for the time being.
SilverArrow20XX
Walks in the Light of the Crystal
It's not bad. You just gotta do the very first opening scene of WotG when you open the first Maw, then just make your way to Jugner. The quest just involves talking to an NPC there if I recall. I went ahead and opened all the Maws while I was at it. Only took a couple hours.
encephalon
Member
I don't know, I'm sort of wary of starting nearly every expansion at once.
You can start most at any time, it's a bigger deal reaching a point where you can finish them.
SilverArrow20XX
Walks in the Light of the Crystal
Yeah. I was the same way. I wanted to strictly do one at a time. It really is just the opening scene though, and all it does is establish the setting. It doesn't even introduce any main characters.
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
can you get relic gear solo?
I thought about trading login points for salvage pieces but it didn't seem worth it
Hit 80 on THF pretty fast and with Trust it doesn't even really seem like an issue, but I would like some options for level limit stuff and for other jobs.
I'm a bit fuzzy on the levels at which one can safely tackle Dynamis with Trusts (at least for San d'Oria there are are 2 major level ranges in different parts of the city, those closer to the entrance being easier), but drop rates for relic gear have increased considerably in recent years, but yeah, it's essentially doable solo - on a few occasions I went to farm currency and found myself having to drop several relic pieces I already had in order to make room in my inventory.
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
oh wow, nice!
I've been leveling so fast with Trusts that RoE gear has been sufficient, but definitely want to get some of those pieces for macros if nothing else.
SilverArrow20XX
Walks in the Light of the Crystal
I went into Dynamis only once. This was before Trusts, but I figured my level difference with the mobs there would make it easy. I was not expecting such a huge quantity of enemies. Couldn't kill them fast enough before the first ones I killed respawned and attacked again. Turns out infinity Quadavs can still take you out pretty easily.
Never tried again.
Never tried again.
encephalon
Member
If I can't get past this Yagudo High Priest after coming this far ...
Edit: Good god, this limit break quest is a nightmare. Sadistic, even. I managed to get past the Yagudo, but I don't know if I can survive some of these Quadav in Beadeaux.
Edit: Good god, this limit break quest is a nightmare. Sadistic, even. I managed to get past the Yagudo, but I don't know if I can survive some of these Quadav in Beadeaux.
Do the mount quest. It solves many problems.
Do the mount quest. It solves many problems.
IIRC that's deep in Castle Oztroja, can't use mounts in dungeons - and the the deeper locations where beastman leaders pop, them and their placeholders tend to have True Sight so it's not a option to use Sneak/Invisible to avoid them.
Speaking of Castle Oztroja :
I know it was kind of stupid to camp them in this day and age since leveling goes so fast....
But I decided to play my old mule while I wait for my brother to come back to the game with, and since I don't want to go too far from the new character he will create I decided to stop at not doing any level break & or story quest ( I didn't even do the subjob or chocobo / mount quest ). Not having much to do because of that, I choose to try to get some of the item I never got when I played.
And I quickly realised something about camping NM. While I hated it back in the days, it's actually pretty fun now because :
- you can do it solo ( and even xp at the same time, got my thf from lvl 45 to 50 doing those 2 drop ) thanks to Trust ( even if I have only 3 ).
- there is no competition for those NM anymore, competing for the claim is what I really hated about it when I played the game
That being said 15 years later Valkurm emperor still doesn't want to drop that hairpin, I was 0/13 on him when I stop the game years ago, and I now must be 0/4 on my mule.
0/1 on leaping lizzy but I already have the Bounding Boots on my old main character so I don't know if I'll really spend too much time trying again for a ~7% drop rate.
Might try to see how far I can get in the purple/brown/black belt quest thought.
I know it was kind of stupid to camp them in this day and age since leveling goes so fast....
But I decided to play my old mule while I wait for my brother to come back to the game with, and since I don't want to go too far from the new character he will create I decided to stop at not doing any level break & or story quest ( I didn't even do the subjob or chocobo / mount quest ). Not having much to do because of that, I choose to try to get some of the item I never got when I played.
And I quickly realised something about camping NM. While I hated it back in the days, it's actually pretty fun now because :
- you can do it solo ( and even xp at the same time, got my thf from lvl 45 to 50 doing those 2 drop ) thanks to Trust ( even if I have only 3 ).
- there is no competition for those NM anymore, competing for the claim is what I really hated about it when I played the game
That being said 15 years later Valkurm emperor still doesn't want to drop that hairpin, I was 0/13 on him when I stop the game years ago, and I now must be 0/4 on my mule.
0/1 on leaping lizzy but I already have the Bounding Boots on my old main character so I don't know if I'll really spend too much time trying again for a ~7% drop rate.
Might try to see how far I can get in the purple/brown/black belt quest thought.
encephalon
Member
So quite a bit has happened since I last made a post.
Anyways, at this point I am fully invested in FFXI and well into the Rise of the Zilart. I'm enjoying the game quite a bit. As it turns out, Chains of Promathia appears to have been carefully written so that it can be enjoyed in this order and I think it's working out for me. As of now I'm focusing on finishing Zilart before I move back to Promathia, which I'm guessing will involve increasing my level cap even further. There's a lot to love in FFXI, but I've put in an ungodly amount of time into it even with all the shortcuts now available. I can't imagine the way the game originally had to be played, especially when it's full of very vague hints as to where to go. I can only imagine my song pilgrimage being crowd sourced as people scoured maps to find the headstones. And I still think some of the design decisions are really questionable. Like sticking a necessary ??? spot right under a true sight level 80 enemy that doesn't really have the freedom to move away from it for a leveling quest. Or the ??? spots in general. If I hadn't been following a guide, would I just be endlessly scouring maps for ??? spots with no visible clues for many quests and missions? It's really the story that's kept me going through the game. I've hit some hiccups as a solo player - Temple of Uggalepih required help from a linkshell member after I died due to a bomb and it became apparent that the torches would probably time out before I managed to get them all lit anyways. But I want to try to complete at least Promathia.
This might be my last post in this thread, as interest appears to have died down a bit. But I hope a people enjoyed reading about my journey.
Early on I started my first limit break quest in order to be able to tackle the later content. Each limit break quest was an uphill battle. After this picture was taken about 3 "very strong" skeleton enemies spawned and I nearly died. I ultimately managed to bump my level cap to 75, but it was no small feat. Very dangerous enemies faced me at every turn. I did learn a fe things while at it. For example, I mistakenly believed I couldn't use sneak and invisible at the same time. That getting past the Quadavs was simply a matter of having mute cast on myself. Today I managed to beat Maat, after initially dying early into the first fight. The second time I was luckier with shingan and managed to avoid almost all of his dangerous moves. I didn't even have to use meikyou or konzenittai. I completed the fight with about 750 HP left.
After bumping my limit up to 60 or so, I started on Promathia content again. I wanted the story my character experienced to have some sort of a structure, so I decided to keep at it until it made sense to return the to the main story missions and I think this paid off. My return to this storyline was met with reports that a large dragon had been spotted. If I recall, the game claimed it was the same one that appeared after the Delkfutt Tower event and featured in the painting above. This dragon was of course bahamut.
A meeting with Prishe touched upon her amulet. Why do I have the same one as her? When she tried to give it back to me, there was some sort of distortion. Like the laws of time and space had been betrayed. I have a feeling time travel is involved. I was then sent to go find Ulmia and eventually came to a spot on the coast where shew as singing a song about Vanadiel. Nag'molada appeared and apparently knew later verses. One verse was apparently "for the gods to sing."
Before long both the Tarutaru and Nag'molada disappeared. I was sent to find them a the rock masses of Riverne, where some sort of spacial distortion was occurring.
I found Nag'molada who was conversing with Bahamut. Bahamut seemed to have some sort of "contract" with Nag'molada, and it's revealed that Nag'molada is a "Kuryuu" person. It says that this is "Kuluu" in English, but I wonder if the fact that "dragon" appears to be in the Japanese pronunciation is intentional. I unfortunately can't remember the conversation that took place during this scene all too well. It's been a while.
Suddenly an airship appears and a bunch of mysterious fighters descend upon Bahamut. They manage to trap Bahamut in some sort of web. It's revealed that these are the Zilart. After a fight with three robot-like beings, future cutscenes reveal a more complicated scenario with Nag'molada. The Zilart appear to be the keepers of the crystal and on the surface this is what Nag'molada is supposed to be. But his actions are questioned, he defends his loyalty, and it's revealed that the kuluu are somehow at odds with the Zilart.
After this scene I was thrown to Bastook with Prishe. Or Bastok. In Japanese it's actually pronounced Bastook! This is where I decided it was a good time to go back to the main story. Kam'lanaut, the leader of Jeuno, requests that I investigate what the beastmen are doing and I recover three crystals. In searching for three crystals, a bit of the past is revealed where the treacherous actions of Ulrich result in the death of Cornelia, who dies in the stead of Raogrimm. At this point I had already met Zeid for a dark knight quest, as luck would have it (for now, dark knight is my sub job), and begin to suspect that Zeid was Raogrimm. I think this was an intentional red herring.
This is where I fast forward quite a bit. At Castle Svahl Raogrimm is resurrected as the Lord of Darkness. A fight with him involves a weird moment where there's a weird jump in the scene. This is later filled in by Lion at the beginning of the Rise of the Zilart. Which is sort of a weird title. Why is it not "The Spectre of the Zilart" or something like that? That's what the Japanese title is and it appears to be a bit more appropriate. Anyways, Kam'lanaut and Eald'narche appear and reveal themselves to be villains attempting to open a door to paradise. This is where the game starts to become heavily reminscent of some of the lore for FFXIII and Type-0. Kam'lanaut claims that the world is a graveyard for the gods and we are nothing but the maggots that squirm about its corpse. Then the two of them summon crystal warriors, which attack the party. This is where I went to look and see who wrote the scenario and it was none other than Masato Katou, holy shit.
Anyways, at this point I am fully invested in FFXI and well into the Rise of the Zilart. I'm enjoying the game quite a bit. As it turns out, Chains of Promathia appears to have been carefully written so that it can be enjoyed in this order and I think it's working out for me. As of now I'm focusing on finishing Zilart before I move back to Promathia, which I'm guessing will involve increasing my level cap even further. There's a lot to love in FFXI, but I've put in an ungodly amount of time into it even with all the shortcuts now available. I can't imagine the way the game originally had to be played, especially when it's full of very vague hints as to where to go. I can only imagine my song pilgrimage being crowd sourced as people scoured maps to find the headstones. And I still think some of the design decisions are really questionable. Like sticking a necessary ??? spot right under a true sight level 80 enemy that doesn't really have the freedom to move away from it for a leveling quest. Or the ??? spots in general. If I hadn't been following a guide, would I just be endlessly scouring maps for ??? spots with no visible clues for many quests and missions? It's really the story that's kept me going through the game. I've hit some hiccups as a solo player - Temple of Uggalepih required help from a linkshell member after I died due to a bomb and it became apparent that the torches would probably time out before I managed to get them all lit anyways. But I want to try to complete at least Promathia.
This might be my last post in this thread, as interest appears to have died down a bit. But I hope a people enjoyed reading about my journey.
demosthenes
Member
I did and wish you would keep going. The nostolgia for me is awesome.
zer0blivion
Member
I've been following this thread and enjoying your write-ups. I do hope you'll continue.