FINAL FANTASY XI 2012 Roadmap Follow

Also, the idea of being the job that says "hey wow, my WAR ally is really taking a beating over there. I guess I'd better chuck an Erlenmeyer flask at his head to cure him and then jam the shards of potion and glass into his face to provide a regen effect" is pretty excellent.

Protip: doesn't work as well IRL.

I feel like Chemist can work for covering a wide variety of roles, but yes, the likely related gil expenses would need to be tolerable for people to even consider. COR didn't get it right there and it's not like people haven't been bitching at SE about consumable costs.

If NIN is a job that specializes in throwing, I'd hate to see a job that's only so-so at it. MNK with pebbles, maybe?

Kinda like RDMs and enfeebling magic, tbh.

/waits for it

I think that it's not what SE are doing which is the issue. It's what they're not doing.

These updates ARE getting thinner and thinner if you have played the game for most of its lifetime. If you've already experienced Zilart, CoP, ToAU, WoTG and Abyssea. If you've already done Sky, Sea, Einherjar, Salvage, Limbus, Assault, Nyzul Isle, Dynamis and so on... rehashes are not exciting.

Sure, they help to upgrade the gear. However there's absolutely no reason why upgrades to existing gear should come from the same events. Even the 'Neo' versions. Whose to say for example there aren't more entrances to Odin's realm? Who's to say that there aren't other places where Salvage gear drops from?

The point is, that having done every scrap of content except for the last update of Voidwatch (I quit in Jan) I really have been watching to see where this game is going. Of course its great that they're updating the UI but that's not really the heart of the matter. Without content, what you dress it in is worthless.

I think what's missing the most though, is story. The trailers for Abyssea hinted at so much. People were so happy when they saw Prishe. Lots of us were desperate for a great tale. We didn't get it. We got a very basic plot which didn't draw us in at all. We basically got some ideas which validated putting Abyssea in.

Final Fantasy games used to be about good stories. I love CoP, enjoyed ToAU, was really pleased with WoTG. The nation stories were great. But we've got nothing now. Even though there are openings in the lore for more story. We could go north, we could go to the far east. We could visit the Mithran homeland. Hell there could be all sorts of things tied into existing lore that SE are not exploring.

I notice that they make a reference to them hoping we will play the game for many years to come. The only way I can see this happening is if there is sizable investment into storyline and new areas. I want completely new areas not rehashed, reskinned places if I am to return.

I'm honestly hoping that as they've flagged up that they want FFXI to continue that they will release new content. It's not that updating content is bad, it's just that it feels cheap and unappreciative of the loyal fanbase this game has attracted.

Edited, May 5th 2012 12:50pm by eldelphia

Here I thought that the job ninja specialized in ninjitsu. Seeing as how no other job in the game gets to use it.

My bad.

Given that the individual that brought up the idea of a job that specialized in throwing (Catwho) specifically mentioned like a healing/support job that used throwing or disposable items, which was something that Ninja was never known for. They were always an enfeebler or a damage dealer with their throwing abilities, so they wouldn't fit with the whole curing/support idea she was saying.

If they added Chemist as a job and allowed for healing, enfeebling, and nuking properties using expendable items, it'd make for something unique from other jobs. Potions and such could have increased potency when Chemist uses them, they could have the ability to reverse the effects of items that remove status ailments when used on mobs (using an Echo Drop to inflict Silence on a mob, or Remedy to potentially inflict multiple ailments on a mob at once, etc), and they could always add items for the sake of dealing magic damage (like Red Fangs from earlier FF games dealing Fire damage, etc).

I'm not saying that they should necessarily add a new job since there are some balance issues with current jobs, but there is room for a new job being added that would still be unique from current jobs in the game.

They also said they wouldn't increase the level cap. Either way, getting past the whole throwing debate, COR also threw a bit of a monkey wrench into possible job identity by also being another Gun job with a side of Dagger. Maybe the whole "It's a craft already!" schtick was enough to lean them toward the whole gambler and pirate variant, but I'd still say there's enough concept to make something happen and theoretically make the Alchemy craft useful again, too.

Even though it's not magic in a literal sense (since the expendable items are based on such things as hooks, blinding powders, etc), no one is going to say that they're throwing tools, because you don't actually throw them. As far as Final Fantasy games go, Ninjutsu is still magic, in the same way that Bard songs are magic. Silence/mute prevents them from casting, they're affected by Fast Cast, Magic Attack Bonus, Magic Accuracy, etc, so they're magic. The tools are the equivalent of MP for the purpose of casting those spells. Though in a literal sense you're right, as far as the game is concerned, unless it's an item being thrown that is equipped in the throwing or ammo slot, it's not throwing.

I never said that they should go and make Chemist as a job, just that given the jobs that exist right now and their capabilities, having an item-based healer/support sort of job (possibly one that equips the items to their ammo slot, but just an items based one in general) might offer an interesting and unique approach to a job.

the game has bigger problems at this point than new Jobs... how about some new content first.

eldelphia how are you, I miss your blog.....

Exactly my feelings...
I dont feel like i am playing a rpg anymore but a game about collecting.
Everything is about trials.

I don't think anything significantly new is going to come to this game anymore, I think this is it and the game has run its coarse and it is a old game now. I think there are some people who know nothing else and they will continue to get trials and small adds to existing content just to give them something to do and keep them busy. I don't think SE will invest heavily into this game anymore. There will be just little updates to existing content and will eventually combine servers until they can not anymore.

Honestly they would have to drop the ps2 for anything major which again would shrink user base.

I hope I am wrong but I doubt it. I miss playing with new people. I miss my old friends but I crave some new content. I feel like its a chore to get on the game now. More like it is something I have to do rather than what I want to do and I am getting on less and less. This is the first time I thought about cancelling my account. If nothing is announced at Vana'diel Festival I probably will.

Maybe they will eventually drag FFXI out and come out with a whole new true squeal to FFXI, which is where I think this game is at. An announcement like that would draw back allot of the old users plus new users to the new game, plus that might bring back some players to the existing FFXI and keep some of the current players playing.







Edited, May 8th 2012 9:30am by Nashred

Is your question directed to actual facts in the real world or "Final Fantasy's version of the ninja"?

If the former, yes, I do. I practiced the art for years and researched it's beautiful tradition and history.

Also, we've had plenty of jobs that seemed quite redundant at the time but have proven to have niche and/or widespread popularity. The concept of yet another pet job when Puppetmaster was released caused many I know, including myself, to roll their eyes since there was job balance issues then. Similarly with Scholar, as yet another hybrid white-black magic user. Hell going back even further, did we really need Samurai after we already had Warrior and Monk?

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/23183-Feedback-on-F8-Key-Targeting?p=313435#post313435

I'm fine. I'm playing SWTOR which is enough to keep me distracted but isn't as engaging as FFXI was. Perhaps that's for the best. I'm just surprised they've said 'we want you to play for years' but haven't given us any reason to do so. We'll see, maybe Vanafest will throw something up.