Final Fantasy XI - Journal!

[Ramza]

I'm still playing this game instead of playing FFXIV because I'm dumb/weird.

AF armor upgraded to ilvl119. For WHM and SMN.

working on doing the same with relic armor.

Up to date on Adoulin story, which is WAY more involved and interesting than WotG. And they're rolling it out faster.

[Hathen]

Hm, guess I missed your post until now. Don't feel too lonely, I still play, heh. I pretty much exclusively play NIN nowadays. Got most of my AF/Relic upgraded and I'm mostly just trying to stock up on JP for whatever they're adding next.

I'm up-to-date on the story and personally, I think it's a lot more slow-moving than WOTG to say the least. Most of the cutscenes are just people talking with the occasional concept art being shown on-screen. I appreciate all the effort despite what's clearly a small team at this point.

On the gameplay side of things they've just been pumping out tons of stuff though. Pretty impressed as far as that goes.

[Ramza]

They just announced Atomos avatar (FINALLY, with new Lilisette-centric quest), and some new "Shuriken" thing for Ninjas.

This is very tempting to go back... but I'm-a wait until they reach a proper conclusion for Adoulin to reactivate my account (which I suspended back in April). I'll let the good content build so I'll have some fun when I return. :)

[Hathen]

Atomos isn't very good, but it does have its uses at least, which is more than I can say for Cait Sith.

The shuriken thing is a really nice addition for Ninja, with one problem: They added a bunch of new shuriken and they all have really bad base damage (less than daggers, the level 106 or whatever shuriken actually has less damage than the level 80 one, because back before level cap they were still making shurikens with really high base damage).

I think the best thing that's happened to XI in the last year and a half or so is that the game is more "playable" than ever, with summonable NPC partners and lots of old content that can be solo'd or low-manned that still retain some relevance. It isn't like those really early days where people will sit in town waiting for a party, there will pretty much always be something to do if you look for it. They also added a lot of incredibly long-desired conveniences like armor sets that can be macro'd, locking your appearance, checking your accuracy, and home points in many popular areas that you can warp between.

The main complaint from long-time players is the lack of large-scale content for groups, but since I don't really tend to do that sort of thing it doesn't bother me as much. I've always been more of the 3-8 players or so sort of guy with this game.

The story has been ramping up somewhat, but given how long it takes for them to release a story patch I'm guessing there's still going to be like half a year or something before they finish it. Seems like according to the latest announcements from Matsui, the Adoulin Missions will reach their conclusion in November. Looks like you'll be playing again sooner than I thought, Ramza.

[Ramza]

Oh wow, November eh? They did a much better job with Adoulin than with WotG. WotG was seriously like a 3-year wait to get a story conclusion.

I can't wait to witness the end of Adoulin. That final area they added, west of the ice area, is really neat.

[Ramza]

SUPER RESURRECTION!!

So, in the last week, I finished up Seekers of Adoulin and Rhapsodies of Vana'diel.

I'd like to exhibit the following four images:


There's me and my endgame crew taking on the final-final-final boss, who is also (strangely) the final boss of FFIII. They were basically going for a "The Nothing" {Neverending Story} kind of villain/entity.



Lots and lots of great concept art came into Adoulin and RoV. This is the final image they show. The character "Iroha" was definitely something special.



They insert your name during the Rhapsodies of Vana'diel end credits to sincerely say "a winner is you." The adventure is FINALLY over! :P



If you watch the Rhapsodies of Vana'diel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVZgBk7_jTM music video, they list all of the "chorus contributors" there. You can see me (Tonelico) and Kincard. Hurray for Leviathan server!

[Alisha]

i hope iroha appears again in eorzea sunce shes stuck there and dang cloud of darkness sure gets around.

[Ramza]

i hope iroha appears again in eorzea sunce shes stuck there and dang cloud of darkness sure gets around.

Since they got multiple worlds all over the place (Shadow Realm, Tartarus, etc, some of it being swallowed by Cloud of Darkness) and other FF properties have suggested the same idea (FFIV After Years) -- I say, the more Vana'diel -> Eorzea they can crossover, the better. In my mind, it would make sense that Shantotto, Iroha, and possibly Cait Sith (and Lilisette with?) could get in as some side content.

[Hathen]

That final boss music was something. Unique for an final boss not just in XI, but in the entirety of FF.

Still sad we'll never see Olzhirya, Eastern Aht Urhgan or anything from the Far East other than a tiny island, but when I think of other large video game fantasy worlds that just ended abruptly like Suikoden or Breath of Fire, it's nice to have a proper ending for once.

[Elladan]

I envy your journal Kincard. I have been reminiscing about my FFXI time over the past few days and I wish I had something more to look back at. Memories have blurred together now and I have been trying to piece finer details back together through old posts from other people on the server. I haven't found much, but the little bit I do find brings back a rush of emotion.

After my first 75 I had found a decent sky/endgame LS, but they disbanded without much warning. I didn't really know where to go at that point. A friend (Smellysock) I had leveled with frequently with 60+ said I could join the LS he was in. It turned out to be tarutaru spirits. I couldn't speak a word of Japanese, but they took me in with open arms. It took a little bit to build some rapport with most of the shell, but once they realized I was a competent player they included me in a lot of events. Eventually Smellysock quit and I was the lone english player in the shell. It wasn't always pretty, but communication always seemed to work out. I can't speak highly enough about Boshe, Dypa, Alloy and almost all of the members. I spent a lot of my prime time in FFXI in that shell and I wouldn't change it at all. I wish I could still communicate with them to thank them for taking me in.

Kincard I remember you joined towards my later days in the shell. A small favor to ask - if you could share any pictures still from my time in the LS it would be greatly appreciated, or even pictures from the LS without me that haven't been posted on your journal. 

Either way thank your for your journal, it gave me a small window to look back at some fun times.

Sorry for the bump and random post.

Elladan

[Hathen]

I tried seeing if I had some screenshots of you hidden in my old photobuckets, but to no avail. Unfortunately, over the years I've gone through several hard drive failures (and one almost killed a bunch of screenshots I took for my journal here), plus I was never one to upload tons of random screenshots of things outside story cutscenes. Sorry. However, I do still play and I'm in contact and play with one of the long-time members of TarutaruSpirits (Daigorou).

Glad to hear you enjoyed flipping through the Journal though.

[Elladan]

Sorry for the delayed response. Thanks for looking, I really do appreciate it. I think most people are in the same boat with their FFXI pictures. Youtube videos don't really exist from the early years of the game either. How things have changed!

It is pretty cool to see a few people from the LS still going. Please say hello for me, and if there is any contact with any of the other members pass on the same message.

All the best!