vanafest-2010
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The Mog Log: Experiment Rhio
A long time ago -- like, when I started this column -- I had an idea. Or more accurately, I had a tiny nub of an idea that seemed as if it would be very relevant later. I was still smarting over the VanaFest announcements and the whole idea that nothing would be done to help the lower levels... and an idea came to me. If I was so certain that there was no population to play these areas, why didn't I try soloing them to see how things worked out? Of course, at the time, I mostly wanted to point and enjoy the sour grapes of being proven right. But as xkcd so eloquently put it, you don't use science to prove yourself right, you use it to become right. (Alt text is your friend.) And so I logged in and put a hard theory to the test: what could a Final Fantasy XI character do without anything more involved than a subjob? No advanced jobs, no airship passes, no special access. Was leveling possible? Difficult? Easy? This was -- and is -- the Rhio experiment.
The Mog Log: Community (roundup)
The state of higher education in Vana'diel is, quite frankly, appalling. It's easy enough to see why -- all of the Scholars are out doing field work instead of staffing any sort of university. Oh, sure, Windurst has its facilities, but most of the professors are too busy chasing skirts or trying to take over the world to bother enlightening any of the students. Let's face it, the only real chance that anyone has of learning anything when it comes to Final Fantasy XI is the community. It's been a fairly quiet month in terms of big news bursts, but Final Fantasy XIV is still a hot subject of conversation for reasons we can't even begin to fathom. And we've been getting more information on the lore of the game, certainly. Meanwhile, we've got a new version update en route for Final Fantasy XI, so while there hasn't been a great deal new to chat over, there's certainly plenty of things to speculate on. Take a look at some of the community threads we've been pointed to or found after the break.
The Mog Log: Level 99 problems, of which a sub ain't one
Can you feel it? Do you wake up in the middle of the night, finding that you have scrawled the number 99 on your pillows and wall? Does each passing day grip you with a paralytic knowledge that soon, everything you know will be shattered? If so, you may want to see a doctor about that purple prose syndrome, but you're probably keenly aware that the level cap raise in Final Fantasy XI draws ever closer. With that comes chaos, madness, and the ruinous conclusion that you're going to need to do something about that there subjob. In theory, anyway. Consider: with 24 more levels on your main job, your sub will be also flying up twelve levels to 47 -- enough for new abilities even if said job is on the lighter side for that level band. The obvious thought process here is that it's going to change the face of job combinations significantly. But like much of the knee-jerk reaction to the Vanafest 2010 announcements, in a lot of cases not much is actually changing. That having been said... there are a few jobs that produce an interesting thought process.
Eight years of Final Fantasy XI, another round of Mog Bonanza
After one iteration at the start of the new year and another run that coincided with VanaFest 2010, you would think that Final Fantasy XI was done with the Mog Bonanza for a while. But you'd apparently be wrong, as the official site has just announced that it will be running once again. But it's kind of understandable when you realize it's to celebrate the momentous eight-year milestone the game is hitting. That's a fine reason for players to start up the number-guessing engine in their heads again, especially when the rewards are still more wonderful prizes for every adventurer. Most of the rules from prior offerings still apply here -- a maximum of ten marbles per character, with prizes handed out in ascending ranks. Getting just the last digit right nets some small but pleasing prizes, while getting all five brings huge piles of gil or rare equipment. While it's not on par with the Relic and Mythic weapons offered at VanaFest, they're still desirable for almost any player. So mark your calendar foor May 16th, when marbles go on sale, and enjoy a solid eight years of Final Fantasy XI.
March update comes to Final Fantasy XI
According to the old saying, March should be shuffling out meekly like a lamb at the moment, but the March version update to Final Fantasy XI has just come roaring on to the live servers. Usually we get a bit more warning from Square-Enix before a patch goes live, but with all of the information we'd heard about the contents of the update from VanaFest 2010 it came with no warning other than an early rumor. That means that trivia contest winners and attendees of the festival will gain access to their special hats, and it means that everyone gets a huge load of content added to the game. The latest patch's inclusion of Odin and Alexander as summons was well-known, as was the continuation of the Wings of the Goddess storyline as it nears its conclusion. Less sweeping but still significant is a number of boosts to Puppetmasters, including an upgrade in hand-to-hand skill to B+ level and the removal of range-based calculations from automaton ranged attacks. There are also new Notorious Monsters and new Campaign locations for players to enjoy, so if you're a Final Fantasy XI player you should probably get to downloading the update.
More on Final Fantasy XI's VanaFest prize and March update
Although VanaFest 2010 is moving into the memories (fond or otherwise) of Final Fantasy XI fans everywhere, there are still bits and pieces that remained unanswered questions. For instance, what exactly are the prized Chocobo Berets going to do when players get their hands on them? Thanks to Corinth on the popular fan translation site JP Button, we finally have our answer: they turn players into chocobos. Using the hat turns everyone in the party into an egg which, when hatched (by removing the buff), will temporarily turn a player into an adolescent chocobo that improves their movement speed somewhat. High time to start making friends with attendees or trivia contest winners for that. The translated information also points to the hats being available with the March version update, which looks to be going live on March 23rd. The VanaFest site has a full breakdown of what's due with the update, but in short it's set to include the penultimate parts of the Wings of the Goddess storyline, job adjustments, and the long-awaited Odin and Alexander summon spells. It's also introducing the new "Trial of the Magians" quests. so the end of the month promises to be very busy for Final Fantasy XI -- even if you're not waiting to hatch from a hat-induced egg.
The Mog Log: Not the happy fanboy
Imagine, if you will, that a nice man comes up to you and tells you about a fantastic room. He leads you to this room, and at the far end of the room from the door is a cake. That cake is clearly delicious, and you're told as much. Unfortunately, in order to reach said cake, you have to walk barefoot across an entire room full of rusty nails, broken glass, and scorpions with a serious hate-on for human beings. But then another nice man runs up to you. He says that he has excellent news for you about this cake, that it will make you very happy. "So I don't have to walk through all this broken glass and stuff?" you ask. "Oh, no, you still have to," replies the man. "But we've made the cake at the end taste even better. Isn't that awesome!" And at this point, anyone in the world would turn around and walk away. I don't care how much you like cake, that cake just isn't worth the trouble. That, in a nutshell, is how I felt while looking at the announcements for VanaFest 2010. Because they're going to make that endgame cake taste ever better, and that's great. But that's all the way over there.
Final Fantasy XIV closed beta goes live March 11
If you're anything like us (or our partners over at Massively), you were hurriedly clicking refresh on the official VanaFest 2010 website for news about the now eight-year-old Final Fantasy XI MMO last night. If you were, then you might've caught the momentary mention that the first wave of (closed) beta testing for the next Final Fantasy MMO (that's number 14, for those of you playing along at home) will be going live on March 11. Square also assuaged fears of missing out on the closed beta by saying that "Those who were not selected in this drawing, fear not, for there will be other opportunities to come," adding that interested parties should "Be sure to stay tuned!" We figure if we're not invited, you know, all the more time to play that other Final Fantasy release, right? %Gallery-64870%[Via Massively]
The breakdown of Final Fantasy XI's VanaFest 2010 announcements
After a month of heavy anticipation from the fans, VanaFest 2010 finally has come and given us all the information that we could want about where the game is heading from here. And the show did stay focused upon Final Fantasy XI -- the only mention of Final Fantasy XIV was the announcement that its first wave of beta testing will start on March 11th with a limited number of participants. That left quite a bit of show left to detail all of the changes coming to the game. And there was certainly a lot of news to be shared. An increase in level cap, new add-on zones, job reviews, conclusions to existing content, server merges, new seasonal gear -- there was no shortage of surprising announcements. Continue on past the cut for the short version of what came out during the show and what players can expect.
Rumor: Final Fantasy XI's March update may be the last for the game
It looks like we're getting another version update to Final Fantasy XI in March. The update's existence was broken by the official site today, promising more information when VanaFest rolls around in only five days. All we know at the moment is that it will feature expanded missions and improvements across the board, which is more or less standard fare for the game's large updates. Of course, that means the update certainly isn't the big news that's promised at the upcoming fan festival. But there's a rumor flying around that we might want to enjoy this update a lot. Square-Enix, it's hinted, won't have the game slowly bleed out as Final Fantasy XIV comes into its own -- they're going to outright shut the game down. An employee posted and then retracted a statement implying that the venerable game would shut its doors to make way for Final Fantasy XIV. Confirmed? Not by a long shot. Square has stated they've got more in store for the game, and more than a few players are hoping that a new expansion is the big secret to be revealed at the fan festival. Still, we'll find out soon enough what the future holds for Final Fantasy XI... and perhaps we'd best treasure our time with it now, just in case.
Catch the VanaFest bug with Final Fantasy XI trivia
With a little over a week left until VanaFest 2010 commences, long-time fans of Final Fantasy XI might well be taking the opportunity to think back on the memories the game has produced. If those memories happen to include some obscure facts, you might be in luck with the VanaFest 2010 trivia contest, yet another chance for fans not in attendance to enjoy some of the spirit of the event. And just to prove that Squre-Enix is an old dog fully capable of learning new tricks, the contest is on the now-ubiquitous Twitter! Running from the 23rd to the 27th of this month, the contest will have an official question asked on the official feed. The first five players to answer the question correctly will get to take away something very special: the Chocobo Beret! Yes, the same hat given away to attendees, a celebration of Final Fantasy XI's long tradition of hats that look like things. Read the full rules on the official VanaFest site, and get ready to start tweeting some serious trivia. After all, even if you don't win you'll be getting up-to-the-minute information on all the big news, and isn't that prize enough?
VanaFest 2010 playing host to more Final Fantasy XI number games
The Mog Bonanza has come to an end, and whether you won or lost your chance at the valuables has passed... or has it? Final Fantasy XI's upcoming fan festival, VanaFest 2010, has a chance for players to redeem their luck or go for a repeat success. The Nomad Mog Bonanza will be a special live repeat of the celebrated event at the convention, with more wonderful in-game prizes for players to win -- and this time, you don't have to drop one red gil to get in on the fun. All players with a PlayOnline ID linked to a Square-Enix ID can pick one set of five numbers as their entry. As with the in-game event, the prizes depend on how many numbers you got right from the last digit upward. There's a one-in-ten chance of at least getting the lowest-ranked prize, in other words. The numbers will be drawn and announced on the 28th, the day of the event, and will be likely shared by the official Twitter and Facebook feeds soon thereafter. Entries end on the 21st, so get on over, read the official conditions, and hope you can beat those one-in-one-hundred-thousand odds for some of the best prizes in Final Fantasy XI!
The Mog Log: The worrying future of Final Fantasy XI
There's a growing unease in the Final Fantasy XI community. It's one of those subtle things that no one is willing to outright talk about, but it's still there, just beneath the surface of a surprising number of discussions. And it's a bit unusual for an MMO, because it's not fear or anxiousness about something being broken from the last update or an upcoming update. No, it's more about the question of whether the upcoming updates will be the last, or if there will even be any changes that could break something. There is an elephant in the room with a big number fourteen on its side, and while few fans of the game are upset that Final Fantasy XIV is coming... well, it raises no shortage of questions about the future of the game we're already playing. And it's not new. People were saying as far back as the leadup to the July update that something was rotten in the state of Jeuno. But when coupled with the promise that Final Fantasy XI isn't over... well, there's an excellent article that almost every fan needs to read on Allakhazam, summarizing what no small number of fans have been thinking. Where are we actually going to be when the dust clears?
Square-Enix announces VanaFest 2010
With Final Fantasy XI entering its eighth year of operation and Final Fantasy XIV just around the corner, fans of Square-Enix have plenty to be excited about. But there's even more good news -- the company has just announced VanaFest 2010, the official fan gathering for the game, on February 28th in Tokyo. The official announcement, mirrored on Pet Food Alpha, makes a strong point that there will be a great deal of information about upcoming job changes and game updates coming for Final Fantasy XI. It seems that even with its big brother on the horizon, Square is still committed to its older game, a welcome sight for many fans. There's also an undisclosed "special announcement" rumored to be coming at the convention. Pet Food Alpha also has a few additional pieces of information. The tickets for the event will be free of charge, but will only be available to players with an active Japanese POL ID since December 2008. Attendees will be lucky enough to receive the pictured chocobo cap, while those unable to attend will have to be content with the new information coming out of the convention. With any luck, a similar event will be held for American and European players, but even just knowing that new facts are incoming for the game should be enough to get fans worked up.
