Tell Me Something I Didn't Know.

I suppose there is someone out there that didn't know the level cap was going to be raised to 80 in the next update, but I haven't met them. The update notes from today were nothing more than a rehash of everything that we have heard so far. At least it did include some specifics that will clear up a little bit of confusion.

I did find a few things that they said to be interesting not because of the information that was provided, but because of what they didn't say. There is a little bit of reading between the lines necessarily. It is time to bust out the SE-nese to English book of translations to see what they really meant.

What SE says:

Q: What inspired the decision to increase the level cap?
A: With the cap set at level 75 for quite some time now, a wide variety of monsters, equipment, and game content has been introduced over the years for players who had reached this limit. With such content having been fleshed out to the development team's satisfaction, it was deemed that the time was right to usher in the sort of new challenges that could only come with the ability to achieve higher levels.

The English translation:
Q: What took you so damn long to increase the level cap when you said you could never increase the level cap for so long?
A: Ok, we always knew that it was easy to increase the level cap. We got to a good point with level 75 and it was easier to make content for a stable level cap than working on adjusting mobs all the time for an increased level cap. We know that the last year of content sucked Vrtra balls and we decided we really needed to kick it up a notch to satisfy all the people that we pissed off with a year of shitty updates.

What SE says:

Q: What changes can we expect to see after the cap is lifted?
A: Beginning with the upcoming version update, the level cap will be gradually increased to an eventual maximum of 99, with new job abilities, magic spells, weapon skills, and equipment to be made available at these higher levels. These additions, as well as refinements to existing abilities and spells, will focus on preserving and strengthening the unique roles that each main job serves, while increasing the tactical options available to each support job. Needless to say, new game content will also be introduced that will demand every onz of adventurers' newfound might.

The English translation:
Q: Do you have any fucking clue about what you are going to do when you raise the level cap?
A: Hey, if we had a fully staffed development team we would have released this with a real expansion! Give us a break! We are going to give you new toys and since those are going to kick ass you aren't going to notice that it is going to take us a while to get everything adjusted. Sure, we didn't give a fuck about class balance for the last 5 years but we are going to do something about that now. This guy on the staff, Itsuki, just walked into the office one day and said "We are so stupid! Everyone spends their time doing end-game, but we don't really ever do anything about end-game, so lets do something about end-game!" and everyone in the office was like "Well fuck, that's a damn good idea!". But just so you don't get too much confidence in us, we are going to promise to increase the uniqueness of each job while at the same fucking time we are going to promise to give more jobs the ability to fill more roles. Yeah, noodle that one for a while!

What SE says:

Q: What specific changes will be implemented in the coming version update?
A: The level cap will be raised to 80, and new abilities, magic, weapon skills and equipment for players up to this level will be added. Level restrictions placed on certain areas will also be removed, creating additional high-level battlegrounds for players to explore. The level cap increase will also result in a number of existing skills becoming newly available to support jobs, with a few exceptions and adjustments to preserve balance and ensure that main jobs do not see their thunder stolen.

The English translation:
Q: You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?
A: We told you about the CoP zones already didn't we? Sure, they have a whole bunch of mobs that no one is going to want to fight, but they are still going to be there, and you are going to have to go there if you want to level up! Did we mention we are giving you new toys? Look over here! Bright shiny toys! And you will get new stuff from sub jobs, and since that stuff is already in the game we don't have to do anything new there! Score! Oh, but we aren't giving you the really cool stuff...

What SE says:

Unusable by Support Jobs
- The white magic job abilities "Afflatus: Misery" and "Afflatus: Solace", and the ninja job abilities Yonin and Innin will not be available to support jobs.
Usable by Support Jobs, with Altered Effects
- The ranger job ability Shadowbind will be subject to an accuracy check, with a miss generating no effect.
- The scholar job abilities Accession and Manifestation will triple (rather than double) recast time for the spells used.

The English translation:
- We know that the WHM and NIN stances aren't game breaking or anything, but since those are the least unique jobs anymore we have to give them something, right? We know that it won't unbalance anything to give Innin to WARs and THFs, and we know that PLD is already so overpowered that giving them Yonin isn't going to make a difference either. Why don't we take the negative accuracy off of Yonin and give NIN's tanking katanas? Don't ask questions that we don't have answers for!
- Ok, you guys have to admit that this one makes a little bit of sense right? COR can already solo a lot, even if it takes decades, but giving them a free Shadowbind is a bit too much right? It's not like COR has access to a lot of accuracy gear and food, right? Wait... don't answer that question!
- This one was just to kill any hope for mages to sub something besides RDM! We knew you weren't going to sub SCH anyway! HA!

And there you have it, a proper translation of what we heard today! It might have been a smidgen sarcastic and cynical, but I can't be happy go lucky everyday.

In other news:

Congrats Rob! LOL

I suppose there is someone out there that didn't know the level cap was going to be raised to 80 in the next update, but I haven't met them. The update notes from today were nothing more than a rehash of everything that we have heard so far. At least it did include some specifics that will clear up a little bit of confusion.<br /><br />I did find a few things that they said to be interesting not because of the information that was provided, but because of what they didn't say. There is a little bit of reading between the lines necessarily. It is time to bust out the SE-nese to English book of translations to see what they really meant.<br /><br />What SE says: <br /><blockquote>Q: What inspired the decision to increase the level cap?<br />A: With the cap set at level 75 for quite some time now, a wide variety of monsters, equipment, and game content has been introduced over the years for players who had reached this limit. With such content having been fleshed out to the development team's satisfaction, it was deemed that the time was right to usher in the sort of new challenges that could only come with the ability to achieve higher levels.</blockquote><br /><br />The English translation: <br />Q: What took you so damn long to increase the level cap when you said you could never increase the level cap for so long?<br />A: Ok, we always knew that it was easy to increase the level cap. We got to a good point with level 75 and it was easier to make content for a stable level cap than working on adjusting mobs all the time for an increased level cap. We know that the last year of content sucked Vrtra balls and we decided we really needed to kick it up a notch to satisfy all the people that we pissed off with a year of shitty updates.<br /><br />What SE says: <br /><blockquote>Q: What changes can we expect to see after the cap is lifted?<br />A: Beginning with the upcoming version update, the level cap will be gradually increased to an eventual maximum of 99, with new job abilities, magic spells, weapon skills, and equipment to be made available at these higher levels. These additions, as well as refinements to existing abilities and spells, will focus on preserving and strengthening the unique roles that each main job serves, while increasing the tactical options available to each support job. Needless to say, new game content will also be introduced that will demand every onz of adventurers' newfound might.</blockquote><br /><br />The English translation:<br />Q: Do you have any fucking clue about what you are going to do when you raise the level cap?<br />A: Hey, if we had a fully staffed development team we would have released this with a real expansion! Give us a break! We are going to give you new toys and since those are going to kick ass you aren't going to notice that it is going to take us a while to get everything adjusted. Sure, we didn't give a fuck about class balance for the last 5 years but we are going to do something about that now. This guy on the staff, Itsuki, just walked into the office one day and said "We are so stupid! Everyone spends their time doing end-game, but we don't really ever do anything about end-game, so lets do something about end-game!" and everyone in the office was like "Well fuck, that's a damn good idea!". But just so you don't get too much confidence in us, we are going to promise to increase the uniqueness of each job while at the same fucking time we are going to promise to give more jobs the ability to fill more roles. Yeah, noodle that one for a while!<br /><a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5540/5540_0.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5540/5540_0.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 454px; height: 170px;" /></a><br />What SE says: <br /><blockquote>Q: What specific changes will be implemented in the coming version update?<br />A: The level cap will be raised to 80, and new abilities, magic, weapon skills and equipment for players up to this level will be added. Level restrictions placed on certain areas will also be removed, creating additional high-level battlegrounds for players to explore. The level cap increase will also result in a number of existing skills becoming newly available to support jobs, with a few exceptions and adjustments to preserve balance and ensure that main jobs do not see their thunder stolen.</blockquote><br /><br />The English translation:<br />Q: You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?<br />A: We told you about the CoP zones already didn't we? Sure, they have a whole bunch of mobs that no one is going to want to fight, but they are still going to be there, and you are going to have to go there if you want to level up! Did we mention we are giving you new toys? Look over here! Bright shiny toys! And you will get new stuff from sub jobs, and since that stuff is already in the game we don't have to do anything new there! Score! Oh, but we aren't giving you the really cool stuff...<br /><br />What SE says:<br /><blockquote>Unusable by Support Jobs<br />- The white magic job abilities "Afflatus: Misery" and "Afflatus: Solace", and the ninja job abilities Yonin and Innin will not be available to support jobs.<br />Usable by Support Jobs, with Altered Effects<br />- The ranger job ability Shadowbind will be subject to an accuracy check, with a miss generating no effect.<br />- The scholar job abilities Accession and Manifestation will triple (rather than double) recast time for the spells used.</blockquote><br /><br />The English translation:<br />- We know that the WHM and NIN stances aren't game breaking or anything, but since those are the least unique jobs anymore we have to give them something, right? We know that it won't unbalance anything to give Innin to WARs and THFs, and we know that PLD is already so overpowered that giving them Yonin isn't going to make a difference either. Why don't we take the negative accuracy off of Yonin and give NIN's tanking katanas? Don't ask questions that we don't have answers for! <br />- Ok, you guys have to admit that this one makes a little bit of sense right? COR can already solo a lot, even if it takes decades, but giving them a free Shadowbind is a bit too much right? It's not like COR has access to a lot of accuracy gear and food, right? Wait... don't answer that question!<br />- This one was just to kill any hope for mages to sub something besides RDM! We knew you weren't going to sub SCH anyway! HA!<br /><br />And there you have it, a proper translation of what we heard today! It might have been a smidgen sarcastic and cynical, but I can't be happy go lucky everyday.<br /><br />In other news:<br /><a href="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080113231428/ffxi/images/3/38/FreyasJerkin.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080113231428/ffxi/images/3/38/FreyasJerkin.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 366px; height: 88px;" /></a><br />Congrats Rob! LOL

CoP Uncapped: More Thoughts.

I did a little pondering on how I thought the old/new/old CoP zones are going to turn out when their level cap is removed.

Starter Promyvions: All are pretty easy to get around in. All have tiers/level that could have mobs of increasing levels. These could be a good place to have some decent leveling areas. They have decreased the numbers of mobs and made navigation easier in these zones, and now they will probably have to undo that. Also, I believe these zones are considered "inside" zones and thus have the generally triple respawn timers which could be a big problem unless you plan on changing floors. Strays have major XP exploit potential.

Promyvion-Vahzl: If the starter promyvions are going to be leveling areas what is Vahzl going to be? Not only that but Vahzl is only accessed through another area that is having it's level cap removed, though the trip to Vahzl is not really far even if there are more mobs and the trip is more difficult. The areas are a bit bigger in Vahzl, and you can get to each level easily from the entrance to the zone. There are more of the mini-NM Empty mobs in this zone, so the going might be a little more rough. This might be one of the merit places at 80, if the other Promyvions are leveling areas. Oh, and remember when the "hall of death" was there, before they moved the mobs around to make it slightly less deathy? I wonder if they will be returning those mobs to their original position? That would be merit central if the levels are right.

Pso'Xja: This one is going to be interesting. This zone is already broken up over a wide area. Most of the zones are decently sized, but some are just fractional areas and probably will still be of limited use. The weird thing is that some of them are already uncapped, so will SE just leave these as they are? While it might be interesting to see what happens, I think these zones will still largely be under-utilized.

Phomiuna Aquaducts and Sacrarium: Here is an illustration of the problems with just opening up these CoP zones. What are we going to do with mobs that cast Doom? People want to XP on pretty pink and ultimately defenseless birds. They don't want to XP on mobs that could kill them if they don't turn away fast enough. Don't get me wrong. I like this zone. The maze is really cool, the rest of the area is great and well designed. Fomors aren't even that bad, but it's going to be hard to put together a bones party again. You just can't go back. Maybe you can if SE completely reinvents the entire zone, but I just don't see that happening.

Riverne - Site #B01 and Riverne - Site #A01: God I love these zones. They are gorgeous, bright and thrilling. You actually get the feeling you are high up in the sky. Problem is that no one wants to XP on Hippogryphs and Wyverns. Nihility Song and Fang Rush over Pecking Flurry and Feather Tickle is never going to cut it. Bombs? Marlboro? Even having to get the Wyvern scales is just going to be too annoying. I want these zones to work. I really, really, really do, but it's going to take some effort on SE's part.

<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5459/5459_7.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5459/5459_7.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 180px;" /></a>I did a little pondering on how I thought the old/new/old CoP zones are going to turn out when their level cap is removed.<br /><br />Starter Promyvions: All are pretty easy to get around in. All have tiers/level that could have mobs of increasing levels. These could be a good place to have some decent leveling areas. They have decreased the numbers of mobs and made navigation easier in these zones, and now they will probably have to undo that. Also, I believe these zones are considered "inside" zones and thus have the generally triple respawn timers which could be a big problem unless you plan on changing floors. Strays have major XP exploit potential. <br /><br />Promyvion-Vahzl: If the starter promyvions are going to be leveling areas what is Vahzl going to be? Not only that but Vahzl is only accessed through another area that is having it's level cap removed, though the trip to Vahzl is not really far even if there are more mobs and the trip is more difficult. The areas are a bit bigger in Vahzl, and you can get to each level easily from the entrance to the zone. There are more of the mini-NM Empty mobs in this zone, so the going might be a little more rough. This might be one of the merit places at 80, if the other Promyvions are leveling areas. Oh, and remember when the "hall of death" was there, before they moved the mobs around to make it slightly less deathy? I wonder if they will be returning those mobs to their original position? That would be merit central if the levels are right.<br /><br />Pso'Xja: This one is going to be interesting. This zone is already broken up over a wide area. Most of the zones are decently sized, but some are just fractional areas and probably will still be of limited use. The weird thing is that some of them are already uncapped, so will SE just leave these as they are? While it might be interesting to see what happens, I think these zones will still largely be under-utilized.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5459/5459_4.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5459/5459_4.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 180px;" /></a>Phomiuna Aquaducts and Sacrarium: Here is an illustration of the problems with just opening up these CoP zones. What are we going to do with mobs that cast Doom? People want to XP on pretty pink and ultimately defenseless birds. They don't want to XP on mobs that could kill them if they don't turn away fast enough. Don't get me wrong. I like this zone. The maze is really cool, the rest of the area is great and well designed. Fomors aren't even that bad, but it's going to be hard to put together a bones party again. You just can't go back. Maybe you can if SE completely reinvents the entire zone, but I just don't see that happening.<br /><br />Riverne - Site #B01 and Riverne - Site #A01: God I love these zones. They are gorgeous, bright and thrilling. You actually get the feeling you are high up in the sky. Problem is that no one wants to XP on Hippogryphs and Wyverns. Nihility Song and Fang Rush over Pecking Flurry and Feather Tickle is never going to cut it. Bombs? Marlboro? Even having to get the Wyvern scales is just going to be too annoying. I want these zones to work. I really, really, really do, but it's going to take some effort on SE's part.

Leaving the Cap Off.

With SE's new vision of focusing almost exclusively on end-game (took them long enough), opening the CoP zones is a "free" way to add new content without much work. Tweak some mob levels and you get a whole series of zones that people are familiar with but no one ever uses. I think it's a good idea, and an easy way to cut some corners on development time and costs.

But with every good idea comes the complainers and most of the complainers this time are the old players that are bitter that everyone else is going to have it "easy" now. CoP missions were added back in the day, they were challenging, but not difficult. The problem really arouse when some players that did no work, no research and no preparation assumed that they should waltz right through the new content. FFXI was designed to be intensely challenging. It was too challenging for people that just wanted to brute force their way through the fights and not prepare for each fight with the necessary items. These were not fights you could just leech through, everyone had to do their part.

FFXI doesn't have any of the boss fight add-on's you would find in other games (though honestly, it wouldn't be that hard to make one I don't think) so it really punished those that didn't do their homework. People still whine about it to this day, but ultimately every fight had a gimmick item that could be used to nerf the mob you were fighting. A lot of people still believe that you had to have certain job set ups to do the fights, but those are the same people that never researched the fights to find out how easy they really were.

It may be the end of an era, but it is the beginning of a new one at the same time. FFXI was, is and never will be WoW. It is a more challenging game, and that is the reason it will never be as popular as WoW.

Was CoP cool and challenging back when we did it? Yes.

Is CoP now hard to get a group for because it is old content? Yes.

The funny thing is that these statements are not mutually exclusive. The only difference is when people think we should move on from old content. Many people think that SE should obsolete old content, but then complain when SE revives old content to make it relevant again. They don't really know what they want.

Uncapping the CoP zones is basically free new content for SE. No one uses those zones for much of anything now, so why not make them the new leveling areas and give them some use again? Sure, some small fraction of players won't get the challenge that we got years ago when they were harder, and we had worse equipment and fewer jobs leveled, and we walked to school in the snow, barefoot, uphill, both ways.

The complainers are acting like kids on the last day of high school, saying how much they loved everyone (even though they hated them), how much they will miss everyone (even though they will forget them within days of getting to college), and how this was the best time of their life (even though it sucked for the most part).

They need to sign their freaking year books, cry a little, give a few fist bumps, go to their year-end parties, or do whatever they need to do to move on.

Things are changing and change is good.

<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5459/5459.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5459/5459.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 415px; height: 100px;" /></a>With SE's new vision of focusing almost exclusively on end-game (took them long enough), opening the CoP zones is a "free" way to add new content without much work. Tweak some mob levels and you get a whole series of zones that people are familiar with but no one ever uses. I think it's a good idea, and an easy way to cut some corners on development time and costs.<br /><br />But with every good idea comes the complainers and most of the complainers this time are the old players that are bitter that everyone else is going to have it "easy" now. CoP missions were added back in the day, they were challenging, but not difficult. The problem really arouse when some players that did no work, no research and no preparation assumed that they should waltz right through the new content. FFXI was designed to be intensely challenging. It was too challenging for people that just wanted to brute force their way through the fights and not prepare for each fight with the necessary items. These were not fights you could just leech through, everyone had to do their part.<br /><br />FFXI doesn't have any of the boss fight add-on's you would find in other games (though honestly, it wouldn't be that hard to make one I don't think) so it really punished those that didn't do their homework. People still whine about it to this day, but ultimately every fight had a gimmick item that could be used to nerf the mob you were fighting. A lot of people still believe that you had to have certain job set ups to do the fights, but those are the same people that never researched the fights to find out how easy they really were.<br /><br />It may be the end of an era, but it is the beginning of a new one at the same time. FFXI was, is and never will be WoW. It is a more challenging game, and that is the reason it will never be as popular as WoW.<br /><br />Was CoP cool and challenging back when we did it? Yes.<br /><br />Is CoP now hard to get a group for because it is old content? Yes.<br /><br />The funny thing is that these statements are not mutually exclusive. The only difference is when people think we should move on from old content. Many people think that SE should obsolete old content, but then complain when SE revives old content to make it relevant again. They don't really know what they want.<br /><br />Uncapping the CoP zones is basically free new content for SE. No one uses those zones for much of anything now, so why not make them the new leveling areas and give them some use again? Sure, some small fraction of players won't get the challenge that we got years ago when they were harder, and we had worse equipment and fewer jobs leveled, and we walked to school in the snow, barefoot, uphill, both ways.<br /><br />The complainers are acting like kids on the last day of high school, saying how much they loved everyone (even though they hated them), how much they will miss everyone (even though they will forget them within days of getting to college), and how this was the best time of their life (even though it sucked for the most part).<br /><br />They need to sign their freaking year books, cry a little, give a few fist bumps, go to their year-end parties, or do whatever they need to do to move on.<br /><br />Things are changing and change is good.

POL News: June Update Teaser Finally Arrives!

It's coming! The June 2010 Update has finally been announced and it looks like SE is going to come through with all their major plans. The first stage of the level cap increase and a ton of equipment and weapons to go along with it. The nation quest are finally finishing up, and along with that we will be getting access to the Walk of Echoes. How we get into the Walk of Echoes still remains a mystery, but I am sure we will find out soon enough. Also, more Magian trials are on their way. Are they going to include more weapon upgrades because of the increased level cap? Are we just going to get gear upgrades? How will gear upgrades work? Am I going to have to camp Ho Majoo the Wooblededoo 800 more times again? This is all before we even start talking about job adjustments and the changes that are going to happen to sub jobs. I am guessing we are mostly going to see nerfs for sub jobs but we might see a buff or two here and there.

And all this is great stuff is coming even before you consider that the first Abyssea update hasn't even been mentioned yet! End game galore! I love it!

For SE's full announcement check below the cut!
We are pleased to announce that our development team is hard at work putting the finishing touches on the upcoming FINAL FANTASY XI version update, which is currently on track for a mid-June release.

This update promises to be a momentous one, with the first level cap increase in over six and a half years, and a veritable slew of new equipment and weapon skills to accompany it.

But that's not all! Adventurers across Vana'diel can look forward to experiencing the climactic conclusions of the popular Wings of the Goddess nation quest storylines, braving the eerie environs of the new Walk of Echoes area, taking up the gauntlet with new Trial of the Magians trials, and much more! With a host of job adjustments and other refinements on the way as well, this update is sure to offer something for players of all stripes.

As always, detailed previews will be forthcoming right here in the Topics section, so keep watching this space!

<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5427/5427.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5427/5427.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 415px; height: 100px;" /></a>It's coming! The June 2010 Update has finally been announced and it looks like SE is going to come through with all their major plans. The first stage of the level cap increase and a ton of equipment and weapons to go along with it. The nation quest are finally finishing up, and along with that we will be getting access to the Walk of Echoes. How we get into the Walk of Echoes still remains a mystery, but I am sure we will find out soon enough. Also, more Magian trials are on their way. Are they going to include more weapon upgrades because of the increased level cap? Are we just going to get gear upgrades? How will gear upgrades work? Am I going to have to camp Ho Majoo the Wooblededoo 800 more times again? This is all before we even start talking about job adjustments and the changes that are going to happen to sub jobs. I am guessing we are mostly going to see nerfs for sub jobs but we might see a buff or two here and there.<br /><br />And all this is great stuff is coming even before you consider that the first Abyssea update hasn't even been mentioned yet! End game galore! I love it!<br /><br />For SE's full announcement check below the cut!<br /><span class="fullpost">We are pleased to announce that our development team is hard at work putting the finishing touches on the upcoming FINAL FANTASY XI version update, which is currently on track for a mid-June release.<br /><br />This update promises to be a momentous one, with the first level cap increase in over six and a half years, and a veritable slew of new equipment and weapon skills to accompany it.<br /><br />But that's not all! Adventurers across Vana'diel can look forward to experiencing the climactic conclusions of the popular Wings of the Goddess nation quest storylines, braving the eerie environs of the new Walk of Echoes area, taking up the gauntlet with new Trial of the Magians trials, and much more! With a host of job adjustments and other refinements on the way as well, this update is sure to offer something for players of all stripes.<br /><br />As always, detailed previews will be forthcoming right here in the Topics section, so keep watching this space!</span>

Sub-Routine: Ninja

The level cap increase is coming! Are you prepared? This is the first in a series of articles that are going to look at all the potential sub jobs and the benefits that are going to come out of them as the level cap increases. Now, you might be wondering why I am going to go over sub jobs instead of main jobs, and there are a couple of answers. First, sub jobs have been generally designed around the level 75 cap for about 5 years now. SE has been adding abilities just above the level cap for sub jobs that are now going to become available. Second, we don't really know what is coming for main jobs. We do have SE's traditionally vague pronouncement of changes, but outside of SAM having Sekkanoki being bumped down to be available for sub jobs there really isn't much to go on for direct information. Third, while you know what you are generally getting out of a main job, sub jobs can alter, sometimes radically you play style for that job, so it is a good idea to know what is coming so you can maximize the potential of your main job.

Let's start with Ninja. Why? Well, because I think it is something that everyone is going to level anyway for the shadows so we might as well find out what else we are getting out of it.

1. Tier 2 Elemental Ninjutsu @ 40.
No. Just no. You don't have the skill, you don't have the MAB, you don't have the inventory space. Yes, there is going to be that random BLM out there that is going to try this out on a level 40 crab and they are going to say "it totally works" and then they will be attacked by a hundred psychopathic monkeys with nothing by terrorism and murder by anal rape on their minds... or maybe that is just what I hope happens to them.

2. Yonin/Innin @ 40.
Ok, so I have heard people say that SE is going to change this and move them up out of sub job range, but I have seen absolutely no evidence of this. First of all, if SE doesn't give this at sub job level then there is going to almost no reason to use NIN as a sub (ok, so there really isn't a whole lot of reasons besides shadows right now either). Other jobs are going to be handing out some pretty nice buffs as the level cap increases, why can't NIN? Second, Yonin and Innin aren't god-like abilities. I mean freaking /WAR is going to get Aggressor... I think /NIN is ok giving THF a little more accuracy and crit hit rate (which THF doesn't really need a huge boost in anyway) from behind.

Yonin is going to give more enmity production, save people a few Shihei, improve evasion which isn't going to matter to anyone besides THF and decrease incoming crits which is definitely nice. More specifically Yonin will continue to make PLD the only tanking job in the game. I suppose that maybe some of the concern for giving these abilities through the sub job is that it will just make PLD stronger. NEWS FLASH: PLD is the only tank in the game right now! Everything else is just a DD/NIN. NIN can hold hate really well, but in the end, they are nowhere close to PLD even when they have exclusive access to Yonin. There are only three tanking situations in FFXI; you need a real tank and you bring a PLD, you don't need a real tank and you sub NIN or SAM, you are fighting Tiamat. Tank imbalance in FFXI doesn't really matter because so many people have PLD leveled.

Innin is what I think most people are going to care about because it is an offensive boost for DD jobs. Evasion doesn't mean anything really to jobs that are used to wearing Haubs or pinning hate on someone else. The enmity reduction is going to be very nice for some jobs like RNG, who already have major hate issues and finding it very easy to quickly move up the hate list. It is also pretty good for keeping yourself alive in a Dynamis type situation where you want to share hate more than you keep it. SAM's are still going to hate /NIN because all the real offensive bonuses are going to come from being behind the mob, and that is a no-no for SAM damage production. On the other end of the spectrum THF is going to love Innin, since they already stand behind mobs a good portion of the time. That is going to be a good boost in accuracy for a dual wield job like THF as well as the previously mentioned and perhaps not all that relevant boost to critical hit rate. MNK might also benefit from this boost, but it might take some adjusting to get used to standing behind mobs on MNK.

3. Dual Wield III @ 45.
Here is the make or break for the future of /NIN. THFs are already going to be drooling over subbing NIN but this might cause the return of WAR/NIN if you have the gear to support it. Right now a really well geared and well played WAR/NIN can still beat out a Great Axe WAR/SAM, but it is much easier for the WAR/NIN to go /SAM and do better too. The really important aspect of this is that this is a pretty big step up in swing speed as Dual Wield III is a 10% decrease in weapon delay. The question then becomes is 10% swing speed improvement and Innin enough to beat out /SAM which as I will cover later isn't really getting a whole lot more with the increase in the level cap? I am thinking that it just might be what be needed to see a return of WAR/NIN. And the new Magian weapons might add another factor into the equation. I am not sure, but I am holding out hope.

4. Subtle Blow III @ 45.
Another nice bonus, but I don't think that it is going to be a real consideration for picking a subjob. Less TP given almost always means less damage taken, but that is what we have healers for.

Overall, I give the Ninja sub job at least a B+ when it comes to the improvements the sub job is going to get as the level cap increases. It will still have shadows, but it will finally have the offensive potential that is needed to help it even be considered with /SAM. It has at least two different jobs that might be able to greatly benefit from the improvements (THF and WAR) and there are always hidden benefits that we might not even know about right now. I would say the future looks really bright for Ninja as a sub job.

<a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Subway_ninja.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Subway_ninja.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 261px;" /></a>The level cap increase is coming! Are you prepared? This is the first in a series of articles that are going to look at all the potential sub jobs and the benefits that are going to come out of them as the level cap increases. Now, you might be wondering why I am going to go over sub jobs instead of main jobs, and there are a couple of answers. First, sub jobs have been generally designed around the level 75 cap for about 5 years now. SE has been adding abilities just above the level cap for sub jobs that are now going to become available. Second, we don't really know what is coming for main jobs. We do have SE's traditionally vague pronouncement of changes, but outside of SAM having Sekkanoki being bumped down to be available for sub jobs there really isn't much to go on for direct information. Third, while you know what you are generally getting out of a main job, sub jobs can alter, sometimes radically you play style for that job, so it is a good idea to know what is coming so you can maximize the potential of your main job.<br /><br />Let's start with Ninja. Why? Well, because I think it is something that everyone is going to level anyway for the shadows so we might as well find out what else we are getting out of it. <br /><br />1. Tier 2 Elemental Ninjutsu @ 40.<br />No. Just no. You don't have the skill, you don't have the MAB, you don't have the inventory space. Yes, there is going to be that random BLM out there that is going to try this out on a level 40 crab and they are going to say "it totally works" and then they will be attacked by a hundred psychopathic monkeys with nothing by terrorism and murder by anal rape on their minds... or maybe that is just what I hope happens to them.<br /><br />2. Yonin/Innin @ 40.<br />Ok, so I have heard people say that SE is going to change this and move them up out of sub job range, but I have seen absolutely no evidence of this. First of all, if SE doesn't give this at sub job level then there is going to almost no reason to use NIN as a sub (ok, so there really isn't a whole lot of reasons besides shadows right now either). Other jobs are going to be handing out some pretty nice buffs as the level cap increases, why can't NIN? Second, Yonin and Innin aren't god-like abilities. I mean freaking /WAR is going to get Aggressor... I think /NIN is ok giving THF a little more accuracy and crit hit rate (which THF doesn't really need a huge boost in anyway) from behind.<br /><br />Yonin is going to give more enmity production, save people a few Shihei, improve evasion which isn't going to matter to anyone besides THF and decrease incoming crits which is definitely nice. More specifically Yonin will continue to make PLD the only tanking job in the game. I suppose that maybe some of the concern for giving these abilities through the sub job is that it will just make PLD stronger. NEWS FLASH: PLD is the only tank in the game right now! Everything else is just a DD/NIN. NIN can hold hate really well, but in the end, they are nowhere close to PLD <span style="font-style:italic;">even when they have exclusive access to Yonin</span>. There are only three tanking situations in FFXI; you need a real tank and you bring a PLD, you don't need a real tank and you sub NIN or SAM, you are fighting Tiamat. Tank imbalance in FFXI doesn't really matter because so many people have PLD leveled.<br /><br />Innin is what I think most people are going to care about because it is an offensive boost for DD jobs. Evasion doesn't mean anything really to jobs that are used to wearing Haubs or pinning hate on someone else. The enmity reduction is going to be very nice for some jobs like RNG, who already have major hate issues and finding it very easy to quickly move up the hate list. It is also pretty good for keeping yourself alive in a Dynamis type situation where you want to share hate more than you keep it. SAM's are still going to hate /NIN because all the real offensive bonuses are going to come from being behind the mob, and that is a no-no for SAM damage production. On the other end of the spectrum THF is going to love Innin, since they already stand behind mobs a good portion of the time. That is going to be a good boost in accuracy for a dual wield job like THF as well as the previously mentioned and perhaps not all that relevant boost to critical hit rate. MNK might also benefit from this boost, but it might take some adjusting to get used to standing behind mobs on MNK.<br /><br />3. Dual Wield III @ 45.<br />Here is the make or break for the future of /NIN. THFs are already going to be drooling over subbing NIN but this might cause the return of WAR/NIN if you have the gear to support it. Right now a really well geared and well played WAR/NIN can still beat out a Great Axe WAR/SAM, but it is much easier for the WAR/NIN to go /SAM and do better too. The really important aspect of this is that this is a pretty big step up in swing speed as Dual Wield III is a 10% decrease in weapon delay. The question then becomes is 10% swing speed improvement and Innin enough to beat out /SAM which as I will cover later isn't really getting a whole lot more with the increase in the level cap? I am thinking that it just might be what be needed to see a return of WAR/NIN. And the new Magian weapons might add another factor into the equation. I am not sure, but I am holding out hope.<br /><br />4. Subtle Blow III @ 45.<br />Another nice bonus, but I don't think that it is going to be a real consideration for picking a subjob. Less TP given almost always means less damage taken, but that is what we have healers for.<br /><br />Overall, I give the Ninja sub job at least a B+ when it comes to the improvements the sub job is going to get as the level cap increases. It will still have shadows, but it will finally have the offensive potential that is needed to help it even be considered with /SAM. It has at least two different jobs that might be able to greatly benefit from the improvements (THF and WAR) and there are always hidden benefits that we might not even know about right now. I would say the future looks really bright for Ninja as a sub job.

Vana'fest! It keeps going... and going... and going...

I don't know how I missed this, but a couple of days ago, SE stealth added even more content to the Vana'fest website. It isn't any amazingly earth-shattering information, but it is at least a better English translation of what we have heard so far. The first thing to check out are the video reviews of Vana'fest. The first two videos are of the NA Community Team doing a review of the event, and the rest of the videos are very high quality versions of the event itself. They are all definitely worth the view time.

The second thing that has been added is a listing of the potential changes that are coming to all 20 jobs in the next year. These are insanely vague, as SE hates making promises before they can deliver, like they did with the whole new Summons debacle. You can't point to anything in the discussion that makes you say, "Oh, we are getting that new ability". In fact, I don't know if any of this is going to equate into specific job abilities themselves. It is more of an explanation of the design philosophy for all of the jobs moving forward.

Honestly, I am at a loss as to how SE is going to handle the level cap increase for everyone. Are we going to get more JA's and spells as the levels rise? I don't think there are any jobs that truly get new JA's at level cap. For the most part JA's are pretty much finished by level 60. So while, I, and probably everyone else, is hoping that we end up getting a huge number of new JA's, I just don't see it happening. That said, if they are going to give us some new JA's, then level 80 would be a nice round number to give us those new abilities. Spells on the other hand are going to need to come more often just because that is how they are designed. Most spell casters get at least one new spell every level, and raising the level cap without more spells just doesn't seem to do very much. At the very least, healers are going to need a new tier of spells because as levels rise so will HP pools, and so will damage from higher level mobs. To deal with this with the current tier of spells would quickly drain almost all healers. But then again, maybe that is why all healers are going to have access to Refresh and Convert.

I don't know if this is how SE is going to feed us information regarding the announcements made at Vana'fest but I will keep an eye out and see if anything new pops up!

<a href="http://www.playonline.com/ff11/event/vanafes2010/reportimg/7a_6984.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/ff11/event/vanafes2010/reportimg/7a_6984.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 252px; height: 182px;" /></a>I don't know how I missed this, but a couple of days ago, SE stealth added even more content to the Vana'fest website. It isn't any amazingly earth-shattering information, but it is at least a better English translation of what we have heard so far. The first thing to check out are the <a href="http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/event/vanafes2010/index.html">video reviews of Vana'fest</a>. The first two videos are of the NA Community Team doing a review of the event, and the rest of the videos are very high quality versions of the event itself. They are all definitely worth the view time. <br /><br />The second thing that has been added is a listing of the potential changes that are coming to <a href="http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/event/vanafes2010/index.html?page=5">all 20 jobs</a> in the next year. These are insanely vague, as SE hates making promises before they can deliver, like they did with the whole new Summons debacle. You can't point to anything in the discussion that makes you say, "Oh, we are getting <span style="font-style:italic;">that</span> new ability". In fact, I don't know if any of this is going to equate into specific job abilities themselves. It is more of an explanation of the design philosophy for all of the jobs moving forward.<br /><br />Honestly, I am at a loss as to how SE is going to handle the level cap increase for everyone. Are we going to get more JA's and spells as the levels rise? I don't think there are any jobs that truly get new JA's at level cap. For the most part JA's are pretty much finished by level 60. So while, I, and probably everyone else, is hoping that we end up getting a huge number of new JA's, I just don't see it happening. That said, if they are going to give us some new JA's, then level 80 would be a nice round number to give us those new abilities. Spells on the other hand are going to need to come more often just because that is how they are designed. Most spell casters get at least one new spell every level, and raising the level cap without more spells just doesn't seem to do very much. At the very least, healers are going to need a new tier of spells because as levels rise so will HP pools, and so will damage from higher level mobs. To deal with this with the current tier of spells would quickly drain almost all healers. But then again, maybe that is why all healers are going to have access to Refresh and Convert.<br /><br />I don't know if this is how SE is going to feed us information regarding the announcements made at Vana'fest but I will keep an eye out and see if anything new pops up!

Ready or not, here it comes.

You know it's coming but are you doing anything about it?

SE is going to massively inject life into the leveling aspect of the game as soon as they raise the level cap. There will be tons of people crowding camps everywhere so they can get to level 80 (the assumption for the new level cap after the June update). Since most people already have several jobs at the current level cap they will need to do this several times so there should be quite a few people to make parties with.

The real question is if there will be a large number of people leveling up their sub jobs. Most people hate leveling sub jobs (basically everyone except for Omoi), so some people may delay it until it is an absolute necessity. Some people may do it ahead of time but only on a limited basis, 40 at first, 45 after the first update, and then finally 49 before the last update. Some people (like me and a few friends) have just decided to get in a few levels here and a few levels there to make sure we are ready before it's too late. Right now, my DRK, the first sub I am leveling, is already level 40. I picked DRK first because even though I don't use NIN that much anymore, I figure that one of the most needed jobs after the level cap rise will be a tank so I want to have that ready just in case Iz is the only other person with a tank job that has an appropriate subjob.

What sub jobs are you going to level? Are you going to do it ahead of time?

<a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/99_prep.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/99_prep.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 410px;" /></a><br />You know it's coming but are you doing anything about it? <br /><br />SE is going to massively inject life into the leveling aspect of the game as soon as they raise the level cap. There will be tons of people crowding camps everywhere so they can get to level 80 (the assumption for the new level cap after the June update). Since most people already have several jobs at the current level cap they will need to do this several times so there should be quite a few people to make parties with. <br /><br />The real question is if there will be a large number of people leveling up their sub jobs. Most people hate leveling sub jobs (basically everyone except for Omoi), so some people may delay it until it is an absolute necessity. Some people may do it ahead of time but only on a limited basis, 40 at first, 45 after the first update, and then finally 49 before the last update. Some people (like me and a few friends) have just decided to get in a few levels here and a few levels there to make sure we are ready before it's too late. Right now, my DRK, the first sub I am leveling, is already level 40. I picked DRK first because even though I don't use NIN that much anymore, I figure that one of the most needed jobs after the level cap rise will be a tank so I want to have that ready just in case Iz is the only other person with a tank job that has an appropriate subjob.<br /><br />What sub jobs are you going to level? Are you going to do it ahead of time?