Old FFXI Vs New FFXI

OLD FFXI WAS NOT CHALLENGING

LSs used a lot of people because they had a lot of people, not because they needed a lot of people. Was it impossible to kill Kirin/kings/99% of mobs in the game back at 75 with 6 or less? *** no. It simply wasn't done because every LS had so many people and no real way to divide them.

People need to distinguish between mobs needing people (a very small minority even in old XI, AV/PW/DL ... any others?) and simply there being more people around.

Can argue Dynamis: Dynamis was doable by much less, only really DL was hard with a low number. Can argue Einherjar: Admittedly ~12 was a good number, could go lower.

Here's the funny thing about elitist egos and and them lording gear over you and such. If you play this game for fun, why is your fun connected to your ability to have gear that rivals the best? If you truly do feel this is just a game then it shouldn't matter that some elitists have better gear than you.

If others having gear you can't get bothers you, then you care about gear. The only way you can actually be insulted by egos that lord superiority of gear over you is if you actually believe what they say (and this is ridiculous in and of itself because I don't remember the last time any "elitist" went around lording his Adaberk over random people he didn't know; most run-ins with "egos" are when people get butthurt and can't take the criticism when they apply to an HNMLS that says they aren't good enough).

Despite everything Abyssea lovers want to say about it being "just a game" -- they actually care about gear and want good gear. Instead of just playing the game their way, they can't accept other people have better gear than them. So they bitched (e.g. fanfest, every single *** year, with people complaining about Kings). So really the dividing line isn't caring too much about gear, it's about having the skills to get it or resorting to bitching to SE for a hand-out.

I have never once said that everyone has to strive for the best. My statements are conditional. "IF you want King gear, THEN do kings."

This argument boils down to "It's better for us to have just a basic set of gear everyone can attain so people don't feel bad for being unable to get the best gear" vs. "There should be a wide spectrum of rewards which players have the freedom to choose how high to aim and will be tested accordingly"

I see no reason for the first. It's basically analogous to a little league were everyone gets the trophy because you don't want there to be losers. If the elitism stings, it's only because they want the gear. If they want it, well obviously gear isn't just some afterthought to having fun then. IMO that means go get it, you aren't entitled to anything.



1. There was no gameshark potion, people who couldn't handle a mob lost it. That is preferable to letting someone grind cruor and get a potion that enables them to kill stuff far beyond their level.

2. I saw people wipe to Fafnir as recently as 2 months before the 80 cap. Shells that could zerg Bahamut v2 and Kirin were fully capable of taking an hr plus for Fafnir. You vastly underestimate fail. Moreover Ixion, Khimaira, Cerberus, Lambton Worm, and Tiamat were all a step above Ground Kings.

3. Meritocracy is good. People do not have a right to experience all content merely because they play, much less does everyone have a right to the best gear or even good gear. Everyone should get to play how they want, but that doesn't mean they are entitled to rewards from content they cannot or will not do nor should the game be changed to remove such content because the majority cannot/will not do it.

4. Zero-sum competition between the player base is good. It drives the player base to work harder to top each other, it increases the fun of the game, it increases the value of accomplishments. The claim system rewards he who brings the most people willing to actually pay attention. That sounds pretty fair imo.

5. Item rarity is good. Basic economics is supply and demand. In this game take demand as a function of the item's stats. An item is only worthwhile such that it is both good and rare.

6. Difficult and rare rewards are less exploitative than accessible rewards for everyone. A skinner box that is extremely painful but eventually survivable is rationally superior to a skinner box where you get rewards easily but they are constantly replaced and you are trapped forever. Think of it in terms of treadmills with carrots at the finish line. Old XI is a slow treadmill lined with broken glass; you will eventually get the carrot as long as you push through, but it is incredibly difficult. New XI is an anti-gravity treadmill which allows you to reach the carrot but as soon as you do it gets replaced with a better carrot and the treadmill restarts.

I send lots of feedback to SE to stop making these updates but I know I'll never get anything I asked. Making Abyssea was one thing. I understand that people want more from FFXI, but PLEASE SE DON'T MAKE SKILLUPS EASIER!!! Especially when everyone's complaining that they can't skillup on EP or DC, which everyone kills nowadays. The only reason why people give a damn about skill ups now is because only NOW do they want to have skills in other combat weapons to be able to proc weaknesses.

I take my time leveling up, I cap as many or all my skills as possible, regardless of whether or not people call them "useless" (i.e. hand-to-hand, archery, and club on THF). It's fun in my opinion. It was difficult, and time consuming, but every +0.1 gained felt great.

But now I'm seeing this in the official website:

Q: The recent update supposedly made it easier to increase skills, but I'm not noticing much of a difference. What exactly has changed?

A: The minimum enemy rating for raising skills to their caps has been lowered from "even match" to "decent challenge," providing more frequent opportunities for skill increase and greater values accompanying each increase. However, as the calculations are adjusted based upon your current skill level and your target's strength, the difference will be more noticeable at lower skill levels. We intend to monitor game balance with the new settings for the time being, but will consider future adjustments for skills such as parry and guard that are triggered less frequently.


SE makes it easier to skill up and people still complain. SE, please, PLEASE don't make parrying and guarding skill ups easier to get. I work for them day in and out and I want it to stay that way.

If winning was easy, it wouldn't be fun.

WHAT HAPPENED TO FFXI WHEN YOU NEEDED PARTIES TO LEVEL UP ON INCREDIBLY TOUGH MONSTERS?!
I really want to tell SE to stop making these updates that are making the game less challenging, especially this latest one allowing players to skillup on DC. Train on EM and above instead of continuously grinding on EP and DC. Why remove the day restriction on FoV? It takes nearly the whole Vana'day to take down a regiment of T+ mobs anyway. People train on that right? oh .. wait.. no.. they don't.

If I could skillup on COR/NIN (on PARRYING) against T+, then so can anyone else on just about any other job. SE PLEASE DO NOT MAKE PARRYING AND GUARDING EASIER TO GET!!! YOU'RE MAKING THIS GAME TOO EASY. I remember when people cherished every single level they got from waiting around for parties. Now everyone and their mothers has fifteen level 90 jobs and care little to nothing about them. Half of them don't even know how to play their job. A DRG90 shouldn't ask his pt how to proc healing breath; EVER!

Then again this is just my opinion. SE will not listen to me. Go ahead and rate this message down or whatever. I shouldn't say how people should play. I just wish SE would stop making updates that would make me want to quit even more.

I wish people would give a damn about ToAU again.

So was this like a giant *** NASA immigrant shell that recruited any and all scrubs that could get them another person on their claim order? Would make all the gear-butthurt understandable.

as an added point, see way too many DNCs these days in full Aurore... its good, but its not that good -.-;

as an added point, see way too many DNCs these days in full Aurore... its good, but its not that good -.-; Yeah there is some variety in gear these days, but im seeing more and more everyday people all wearing the same gear on specific jobs... its starting to look like a Communist Army, everyone in the same attire... it does need more variety sadly, and thats where old-school FFXI came into play, you had the 'elitists' the average joe, and then the inexperienced people not knowing what they were doing. Course that didn't mean anything 'skill-wise'. But at least there was variety back then.

There are people wearing different things. Using DNC as an example.

Idiots: Full Aurore, Denali Bonnets, Lavas/Kushas, random things my imagination can't even create, AF1/AF2 full-timed.

Average Joe: Some Aurore, NQ Dusk/Ocelot gloves, AF3+1, misc gear like Turbans, Rajas Ring, Ballerines, etc.

Elitists: AF3+2, Dusk+1, Epona's rings, Roundel Earring, other things that are shiny and a bit out of reach for normal players. For other jobs they'd probably have an Empyrean... though Twashtar isn't really worth it for DNC etc.

I'm still waiting for the day some idiot gets an empyrean and posts screenshot like most people do on FFXIAH ... and it's like a MNK with full aurore and Verethragna!

Minus the trolls, of course.

Especially for Nini~

GL with your petition, if I had a penny for how many of those I have seen over the years I have played, I would have a dollar or more!

No *** way will I sign any petition. Including yours.

Enough people complain about it, it will change. Just like it changed for the people who wanted easy mode.

if content was created that required 12+ elite players, you'd be up ***creek without a paddle. idk why you're dragging this bone of yours across threads and various forums, even bg...

k, one more for Nini.