Because everything from 2004 to 2010 was sidegrades (except e.body :x)
It's kind of hard to compare considering how shitty most of the gear from vanilla through CoP was. TOAU was the first expansion that had a lot of (relatively) easily-accessible gear (Turban, assault) that actually had useful stats on it. Before then you had to spend millions and millions to get halfway decent stuff like SH or Haubergeon (Farming beehive chips as one of the prime options!).
Personally I have mixed feelings. While I don't really like having a power creep, I don't like flooding our inventory with more ***that you macro in for one action.
We're max level now, can't really expect new gear to be huge upgrades.
Everything new from now on will probably be sidegrades or slight upgrades.
hmm, not sure I agree with this. Why would us being at max level in any way prevent them from giving us better gear? I'd reverse the conjecture and say that, since we won't go past 99, they will probably make even stronger gear so that gear upgrades are somewhat equivalent to the stats that we'd get from raising the level cap (+ whatever else they have).
This seems necessary if they want to keep scaling up the difficulty of end-game content.
So the update for today was postponed because of a bug. Turns out the new SAM ability ( Yaegasumi ) wasn't working as intended. This is rare footage from the Test Server where we can see many players testing out the new ability.
It sure doesn't look like the description at all. "Evades all special attacks that deal physical or magic damage. Enhances the potency of your next weapon skill every time you evade a special attack."
Compared to how big a jump from 75 to AF3 and then to NNI was, Salvage gear wasn't even that amazing back at 75, aside from Usukane and Morrigan. Ares had one really good piece (Body) and the rest were macros, Morrigan required the whole set to be really good (aside from body), Skadi was actually mostly sidegrades and Marduk had a hard time making amazing pieces because it had to balance different stats for the jobs that wore it.
At the following time, we will be performing maintenance on FINAL FANTASY XI to accompany the version update which was postponed from the original schedule. During this period, FINAL FANTASY XI will be unavailable.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience.
* This maintenance will be accompanied by a version update. After maintenance is complete, the update will automatically begin after you press the "Play" button. After that, please follow the instructions on the screen.
* The World Transfer Service will be unavailable starting 30 minutes before the maintenance. Please wait until after the maintenance is completed before attempting to use this service.
* You may receive errors such as "POL-1160" or "POL-0010" during the download process due to heavy server traffic. If you are unable to access the update, we ask that you please wait a while and then try again.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding in making this a smooth version update.
Downloadable file sizes for the FINAL FANTASY XI version update are as follows.
[File size for clients with "Chains of Promathia," "Treasures of Aht Urhgan" and "Wings of the Goddess" installed.]
"PlayStation 2" Version
Downloadable file size: 36 MB
Windows Version
Downloadable file size: 55.6 MB
Xbox 360 Version
Downloadable file size: 55.4 MB
[File size for clients without "Chains of Promathia," "Treasures of Aht Urhgan" and "Wings of the Goddess" installed.]
"PlayStation 2" Version
Downloadable file size: 30 MB
Windows Version
Downloadable file size: 50.1 MB
Xbox 360 Version
Downloadable file size: 50.2 MB
* The details of the version update will be announced separately on Dec. 10, 2012.
[Date & Time]
Dec. 12, 2012 from 9:00 to 11:00 (PST)
* The completion time may be subject to change.
Good news!
Do we know what was the "critibal bug" yet?
I was under the impression that it was because you could sell used (ie worthless) limbus chips, and they had to change it so chips are consumed to prevent people from taking advantage of others.
They gave the impression they wern't planning on adding that this patch, but that would make the most sense. Some glitch that would be simply be a minor annoyance probably wouldn't cause them to postpone the patch completely.
Can't wait to hit F5 on the .dat mining thread for the update.
There will be much rejoicing or flipping of tables when we find out what the new loot is.
December Version Update Blasts into Vana'diel! (11/30/2012)
Get your shovels and subligar a-ready, because the next version update will soon be upon us! December will bring wonder into areas both subterranean and submarine, with expansions and adjustments to Meeble Burrows and Salvage Content, as well as a host of other battle- and system-related changes.
(*) Will not be in this update as it is still in testing
(#) Will only be partially implemented in the version update.
Dec. 10, 2012 00:35 [PST] From: FINAL FANTASY XI
All Worlds Maintenance Time Change (Dec. 10)
The all Worlds maintenance, which was scheduled to occur on Dec. 10, 2012 from 9:00 to 11:00 (PST), has been postponed until further notice due to the discovery of a critical bug. We will provide an update once the new maintenance time is confirmed.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience.
[Date & Time]
To be announced
[Affected Service]
- FINAL FANTASY XI
Dec. 11, 2012 01:00 [PST] From: FINAL FANTASY XI
All Worlds Maintenance (Dec. 12)
At the following time, we will be performing maintenance on FINAL FANTASY XI to accompany the version update which was postponed from the original schedule. During this period, FINAL FANTASY XI will be unavailable.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience.
* This maintenance will be accompanied by a version update. After maintenance is complete, the update will automatically begin after you press the "Play" button. After that, please follow the instructions on the screen.
* The World Transfer Service will be unavailable starting 30 minutes before the maintenance. Please wait until after the maintenance is completed before attempting to use this service.
* You may receive errors such as "POL-1160" or "POL-0010" during the download process due to heavy server traffic. If you are unable to access the update, we ask that you please wait a while and then try again.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding in making this a smooth version update.
Downloadable file sizes for the FINAL FANTASY XI version update are as follows.
[File size for clients with "Chains of Promathia," "Treasures of Aht Urhgan" and "Wings of the Goddess" installed.]
"PlayStation 2" Version
Downloadable file size: 36 MB
Windows Version
Downloadable file size: 55.6 MB
Xbox 360 Version
Downloadable file size: 55.4 MB
[File size for clients without "Chains of Promathia," "Treasures of Aht Urhgan" and "Wings of the Goddess" installed.]
"PlayStation 2" Version
Downloadable file size: 30 MB
Windows Version
Downloadable file size: 50.1 MB
Xbox 360 Version
Downloadable file size: 50.2 MB
* The details of the version update will be announced separately on Dec. 10, 2012.
[Date & Time]
Dec. 12, 2012 from 9:00 to 11:00 (PST)
* The completion time may be subject to change.