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The development team of Final Fantasy XI shares insights with players
If you asked Final Fantasy XI players to describe the usual nature of the development team, "taciturn" might be thrown around, as would "mute" and "uncommunicative" and "sadistic." Which makes the newest dispatch from the development team uncharacteristic in many ways, because it represents a heretofore uncommon level of transparency from the team. Addressing several topics that arose from the December version update, the full sessions of questions and answers includes a number of interesting tidbits for players. One of the stated goals within the dispatch is that the team wishes to have the widest variety of players able to access the widest variety of content, an attitude that hasn't always seemed to be at the forefront of Square-Enix's priorities. There's also a promise to make Pet Food Eta easier to create and a quick discussion of the numerous hard drive problems noted for PlayStation 2 players. Final Fantasy XI players should take a look at the full set of questions, hopefully heralding an upswing in communications.
The Mog Log: Stare too long into the Abyssea
The first of two December version updates has hit the community, and as a result I'm torn. On the one hand, this means that Final Fantasy XI has seen another major upheaval in the form of more levels and new content, which is really significant... if you're up at those levels. I am not, and consequently a lot of what I can say about those high levels is pretty darn speculative. Most of the concrete information I have heard about the update seems to concern problems with console installations rather than substantive information. But I do feel fairly confident in talking about Abyssea. The second trilogy of mini-expansions has come to an end, with a very different focus than the previous unconnected addons. I'd say that it's been both a good and a bad thing for the game as a whole, both in the way that leveling has become tied to the new areas and in what it might mean for the game in the future. So with the whole setup out of the way, let's talk about what's been done and what might be coming as a result.
Final Fantasy XI's December version update goes live
It's hard not to be overshadowed by the arrival of a certain expansion tomorrow, but Final Fantasy XI players are getting their own major update today. Aside from unlocking the content in the new mini-expansion Heroes of Abyssea, the update brings with it the long-awaited boost to level 90 and a host of new abilities, not to mention new job emotes, a new form of storage, and adjustments to high-end battlegrounds across the game, giving the update something new for players of nearly any level. Aside from the many larger changes, the patch also features several improvements to quality of life, such as dropping the price of Instant Reraise/Warp scrolls to almost trivial values. The stealth spells (Invisible, Sneak, and Deodorize) have also all been given a longer duration and less variation in their effect length, a boon to any players planning on sneaking from place to place. The full patch notes contain a piece or two of rather cryptic information, as always, but they should be enough to bring a smile to any Final Fantasy XI player.
Another bump to Final Fantasy XI's level cap brings more class boosts
The December version update for Final Fantasy XI is right around the corner, bringing with it a slew of enhancements to the game as a whole and players in particular. Needless to say, the biggest enhancement in many players' eyes is the boosting of the level cap to 90, which perforce requires a new set of job abilities and magic to fill the five levels between the current cap and the new ceiling. And it doesn't appear that the update will disappoint in that regard, as the most recent preview explains several of the abilities players can look forward to in the 85-90 band. Among the more interesting abilities are the Warrior's new buff to the critical hit rate of allies, the Dragoon's ability to command the wyvern to use certain breath attacks, and a variety of abilities in several classes to cripple enemies of given types (Paladins against undead, Dark Knights against arcana, et cetera). There's also the promise of new blue magic, although the details are not yet offered. Past updates have frequently included even more enhancements to each job, but Final Fantasy XI players will likely be happy even with just what's provided in the new preview.
Final Fantasy XI shows off job emotes in a new trailer
Final Fantasy XI's multiple jobs present a unique problem -- how do you convince the rest of your party that you're the experienced one with a level 85 Red Mage if you're grouped up as a level 16 Dragoon? If you said "by being patronizing," well, you knew the old route. But the brand-new job emotes coming in the December version update offer you another option for showing off your favorite job for anyone to see. It also gives players a new way to express themselves visually, but we're sure that part is secondary. Square-Enix has just released a trailer showing off the 20 emotes available for characters to wield, with each unlocked via a quest at level 30. While level 30 isn't the apex of power, each emote can be wielded regardless of a player's job at the time, making them fun little visual toys that are at least more flexible than the frequently mocked bell emotes. Take a look past the cut for the trailer detailing the individual expressions for each of Final Fantasy XI's numerous but distinct classes.
Better storage en route to Final Fantasy XI
Inventory space is at a premium in Final Fantasy XI and always has been. When you first start playing, the bag space you have seems like a reasonable amount, but after a couple of hours of play you wind up with both an inventory and a Mog Safe stuffed to the brink. The December version update promises to bring the latest options for players to store items, however, allowing players access to two new item-storage methods -- the Mog Sack and the brand-new Porter Moogles scattered across the world. The Mog Sack is a cousin to the Mog Satchel, but where the latter requires the purchase of an authenticator linked to the player's account, the sack simply requires a quick purchase of just under 10,000 gil. It allows access to stored items from anywhere, and it expands concurrent with a character's normal inventory space, thus allowing players a maximum of 80 extra storage spots. Porter Moogles, meanwhile, will allow players to store high-end items in a manner similar to the event armor storage already in place. Take a look at the full preview for moogle locations, and get ready to kiss your Final Fantasy XI storage woes goodbye... for a couple of hours, anyway.
Heroes of Abyssea teaser site opens for Final Fantasy XI
The third and final portion of the Abyssea trilogy is poised to hit Final Fantasy XI along with the other components of the December version update. We've known that the update will bring the conclusion to the tale of Vana'diel's dark mirror, but very little beyond that was known until today. Square-Enix has pushed the teaser site for Heroes of Abyssea live, and it contains more of the mini-expansion's lore as well as tantalizing glimpses of the new areas mirrored in the other world. Although it's hard to be sure, it appears that at least one of the new areas will be in the frozen north, with a further hint being that Rise of the Zilaart and Wings of the Goddess are listed as the requisite expansions. Players can also peek at the completed Empyrean Armor sets, the third iteration of powerful class-based armor. Final Fantasy XI's last update of the year will have a lot to do all around, but Heroes of Abyssea should prove to be an interesting expansion to the popular series of leveling and gearing add-ons.
Final Fantasy XI previews the end of Wings of the Goddess
The December version update is kicking off the end of many things for Final Fantasy XI -- the end of the year, the end of the level cap from the last update, and perhaps most notably the end of Wings of the Goddess. After a very long and drawn-out storyline and series of missions, it's time for players to finish up their adventures in the past. But as can be expected, it's not going to be quite as simple as walking up to the Spitewardens and politely asking them to pack up shop. After a series of defeats, challenges, and the usual confusion regarding any time-travel storyline, it seems the final movement begins in Grauberg with a rather flustered Cait Sith and moves on to the Walk of Echoes. It's time to face off against the Spitewardens and Lillith, the main villains of the expansion's arc, if adventurers want to maintain any hope of a future controlled by the free people of Vana'diel instead of the beastmen. While the preview only gives us a small taste of what's coming, Final Fantasy XI players had best steel themselves in advance -- this promises to end with a bang.
Final Fantasy XI December update is on track
Rumors of the death of Final Fantasy XI have been greatly exaggerated. Even with the game having celebrated eight years of operation earlier this year, there's a lot of life left in the world of Vana'diel, and the update cycle is continuing apace. We knew we were due for another version update soon, and the most recent news from Square-Enix confirms that the December version update is on track for early next month. It's an end-of-year treat for the game's many devoted players. And it should be quite a treat, at that. Along with the next installment of level cap updates -- complete with improved and added job abilities -- the update will feature the conclusion to the storyline of Wings of the Goddess at long last. It will also likely include the last installment of the Abyssea expansions, and it will definitely feature the job-specific emotes that were advertised at the beginning of the year. Final Fantasy XI players should keep their eyes open for more reveals on the next update, as it seems to be just around the corner.
The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XI and the future
So, I had planned to go back to my soloing experiment from Final Fantasy XI this week, but two things got in the way. The first is named Final Fantasy XIV's open beta, and I'm not going to start talking about that because I won't stop. The second, however, is the September version update and the fast-approaching end of that timeline we saw back at VanaFest. While I'm not wholly qualified to talk about everything in the version update at the moment, I can certainly talk about what comes after. And here's why: This is a significant update for the game. It's the last update before the release of Final Fantasy XIV later this month, it's the second stage in the level cap increase, and it's the second-to-last additional content that we know we're getting. And what it's doing for Final Fantasy XI says volumes about what's going to happen in the game in the coming months, as well as what we can hope for.
