Morning in Vana'diel: The Enticement of the Treasure Chest.

Morning in Vana'diel is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! They flourish in abundance as the mythical wardens of hard earned treasure and reward, the treasure chest is an Icon of Final Fantasy events.


Everyone is familiar with the treasure chest, its a concept that has existed from the very first Final Fantasy game. The sophistication behind it has evolved a great deal since then of course. No longer is it a specific item only in 1 place, but a reel of choices that can spawn, a lottery of goodies to either engender delight or despair.

When FFXI first came out chests were fairly limited in where you would find them, at the center of BC's awaiting your touch to give you the sphene you've been waiting for so much, or that ever elusive vial of mercury you just couldn't quite find to finish the stack.

Then Chains of Promathia came out and mimics suddenly became a menace to everyone, not just the fumble-fingered thief who failed to pick a lock or a random BC that no-one wants to do. I don't know about you but Mimics are EVIL, I can't stand that floor in Limbus Apollyon with oodles of them scattered around grinning at you in that toothy, trampled-by-cows-fence look.

With the introduction of Fields of Valor (FoV), the treasure chest evolved yet again with the tempting blue and brown bound chests that now drop from the gullets of creatures slain in battle, although how a chest that side came out from a Tunnel Worm, I am intrigued to know. Putting logic aside for a moment, I find these chests an intrigue.

When the blue ones appear, its always worth a quick rummage through them to see if there is anything decent to store up while you are running around in those lower levels exping on your own or in a smallish party. The BROWN ones however are the devilment themselves. They spawn and look so innocent and cryptic. You can chose to ignore them, or you can spend 3 mins trying to unlock it.

I have discovered that if I fail to unlock it, I am always out by 1 digit, as if it plans the key as I fail in a smug kind of condescension that says nearly but no cigar. If you DO manage to break into these secretive vaults, it doesn't matter what is contained there within, you TAKE it, as if to say HA! Mine now!" Of course, you then drop it on the floor because its a piece of dross 9times out of 10, but STILL, its the satisfaction that you managed to get in for a change rather than being 1 digit out.

<strong>Morning in Vana'diel</strong> <em>is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! They flourish in abundance as the mythical wardens of hard earned treasure and reward, the treasure chest is an Icon of Final Fantasy events.</em><br /><br /><em></em><br /><a href="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/ffxi/images/thumb/4/42/Treasure_Chest_(Monster).jpg/180px-Treasure_Chest_(Monster).jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/ffxi/images/thumb/4/42/Treasure_Chest_(Monster).jpg/180px-Treasure_Chest_(Monster).jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 180px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 188px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> Everyone is familiar with the treasure chest, its a concept that has existed from the very first Final Fantasy game. The sophistication behind it has evolved a great deal since then of course. No longer is it a specific item only in 1 place, but a reel of choices that can spawn, a lottery of goodies to either engender delight or despair.<br /><br />When FFXI first came out chests were fairly limited in where you would find them, at the center of BC's awaiting your touch to give you the sphene you've been waiting for so much, or that ever elusive vial of mercury you just couldn't quite find to finish the stack.<br /><br />Then Chains of Promathia came out and mimics suddenly became a menace to everyone, not just the fumble-fingered thief who failed to pick a lock or a random BC that no-one wants to do. I don't know about you but Mimics are EVIL, I can't stand that floor in Limbus Apollyon with oodles of them scattered around grinning at you in that toothy, trampled-by-cows-fence look.<br /><br />With the introduction of Fields of Valor (FoV), the treasure chest evolved yet again with the tempting blue and brown bound chests that now drop from the gullets of creatures slain in battle, although how a chest that side came out from a Tunnel Worm, I am intrigued to know. Putting logic aside for a moment, I find these chests an intrigue.<br /><br />When the blue ones appear, its always worth a quick rummage through them to see if there is anything decent to store up while you are running around in those lower levels exping on your own or in a smallish party. The BROWN ones however are the devilment themselves. They spawn and look so innocent and cryptic. You can chose to ignore them, or you can spend 3 mins trying to unlock it.<br /><br />I have discovered that if I fail to unlock it, I am always out by 1 digit, as if it plans the key as I fail in a smug kind of condescension that says nearly but no cigar. If you DO manage to break into these secretive vaults, it doesn't matter what is contained there within, you TAKE it, as if to say HA! Mine now!" Of course, you then drop it on the floor because its a piece of dross 9times out of 10, but STILL, its the satisfaction that you managed to get in for a change rather than being 1 digit out.

Morning in Vana'diel: The Most Interesting Man in the World.

Morning in Vana'diel is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! Izman doesn't always drink beer, but when he does he prefers Dos Equis.

Izman is the most interesting man in the world. When he talks, people listen. He once augmented a Iqgira Weskit just so that he could have multiple amazingly augmented pieces from FoV. Yes, the man that brought you such hits as Dusk Gloves, +2 STR and Amemet Mantle +1, +5 Accuracy is back again to bring you the next installment of the most awesome augments in the world. Yes, Izman, the man, the myth, the legend got +6 INT on his Weskit. That means basically that Izman rules the world of augments and FoV. If you are a melee, you want to be Iz. If you are a BLM, you want to be Iz.

Now don’t get me wrong, Iz deserves this stuff. After years of frustration with lots and no drops, this is Izman’s true come-uppance. This is karma actually finally coming around again as Iz has been screwed out of some stuff and some stuff has just taken forever to drop for him. Iz is pretty mild mannered about these things, but I know he does like FoV far more than most people especially myself who has gotten nothing but crap from it so far.

Iz is just one of those deserving people that when they get something really nice or get really lucky, you don’t get jealous, you are just pleased that favor shined on them that day. There are not that many people that are truly cool like Izman in the game. If there were there would be a lot less frustration out there in Vana’diel. The most interesting man in the world does not concern himself with the petty nature of scoundrels, for he is the most magnificent bastard in all the world.

<a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/IZ_lucky.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/IZ_lucky.png" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 373px; height: 381px;" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;">Morning in Vana'diel</span><span style="font-style:italic;"> is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! Izman doesn't always drink beer, but when he does he prefers Dos Equis.</span><br /><br />Izman is the most interesting man in the world. When he talks, people listen. He once augmented a Iqgira Weskit just so that he could have multiple amazingly augmented pieces from FoV. Yes, the man that brought you such hits as Dusk Gloves, +2 STR and Amemet Mantle +1, +5 Accuracy is back again to bring you the next installment of the most awesome augments in the world. Yes, Izman, the man, the myth, the legend got +6 INT on his Weskit. That means basically that Izman rules the world of augments and FoV. If you are a melee, you want to be Iz. If you are a BLM, you want to be Iz. <br /><br />Now don’t get me wrong, Iz deserves this stuff. After years of frustration with lots and no drops, this is Izman’s true come-uppance. This is karma actually finally coming around again as Iz has been screwed out of some stuff and some stuff has just taken forever to drop for him. Iz is pretty mild mannered about these things, but I know he does like FoV far more than most people especially myself who has gotten nothing but crap from it so far.<br /><br />Iz is just one of those deserving people that when they get something really nice or get really lucky, you don’t get jealous, you are just pleased that favor shined on them that day. There are not that many people that are truly cool like Izman in the game. If there were there would be a lot less frustration out there in Vana’diel. The most interesting man in the world does not concern himself with the petty nature of scoundrels, for he is the most magnificent bastard in all the world.

Grading the July Update.

Initial reactions are never a good grade of how good anything really is, and this update is no exception. Iceblazek went from hating the update as he was downloading it, to absolutely loving it when it appeared that we may have been killing the first Amphiptere on Odin and maybe even the whole game.

After an enjoyable night testing out new mobs and the new Union system even I have to admit I was much more pleased with this update than I thought I was going to be. To evaluate this update though, we need to look at other updates and juxtapose this one with those to get an idea of just how good it is. The last update was on-balance pretty disappointing, in fact, I didn't really remember what was added in the last update, so I had to check. There were some significant additions, but nothing really said "new" like we have had in the past. There were four significant additions in the April Update. 1) The new WHM JA's (and the RDM and SMN additions), 2) ANNM's and Augmented Items, 3) Gobbiebag expansion. There was definitely more and people will love pointing out the things I missed, I am sure.

Compare that to this update and we can see that this update is probably a little better overall. We got two new zones, which is something we really haven't gotten in almost a year and a half. Included in those zones are three new mobs and several potential melee and BLM XP areas. We got new JA's for NIN, which I believe was sorely in need of some kind of improvement to balance them with PLD. Now, I still believe that those improvements don't fix what is really needed for NIN, which is a bit more survivability.

The Union system is definitely interesting and rewards doing Campaign even if you have to be lucky to get those rewards. It definitely spices up Campaign a bit. We got the long awaited Campaign bodies which were about as good as I expected, the tanking body is great but the rest of them are pretty mediocre. Finally, we have a little bit of a surprise in the large number of Wings missions that were added. There are other things that still need to be determined, like the quality of the Fairy weapon quests and if this FoV stuff is even worth it.

Overall, I would have given the last update about a C- and this update was a little better than the last, that being said, and even considering the positive things I have said so far, this update doesn't really have that much going for it either. New zones are nice, but you need to have a reason to be in those zones besides just doing Campaign. New JA's are good too, but why do they share a recast and have diminishing effects? Union is decent, but the rewards are pretty weak and will soon flood the market and crush the cost of all of the items, except for the ancient currency which don't drop very much at all. One of the Campaign bodies is good, the rest are in line with the "mehness" of the other parts of the set.

I am holding out hope for the Fairy weapons, the packs of mobs you have to fight to get the rewards looks pretty difficult. I am thinking it will take more than a party to handle these and it looks like at least some of them resist sleep. The additional effects for these looked pretty good in the preview, but so did the FoV ones and we all know how they turned out.

So far I am giving this update a C+, but I still have my pen out and I am willing to improve the grade if things turn out to be better with the Fairy weapons. This update still has the problems that I had discussed before. It is tiny, it is uninspiring, it is flawed and it feels like there isn't anyone at SE that is motivating the forward momentum of the game right now. I can't wait until this cycle of crappy scenarios is over, but we still have at least one more coming before we get a regular update without all of this fluff. We can only really judge the direction of the game at that point.

<a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Beau_Distance.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Beau_Distance.png" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 172px;" /></a>Initial reactions are never a good grade of how good anything really is, and this update is no exception. Iceblazek went from hating the update as he was downloading it, to absolutely loving it when it appeared that we may have been killing the first Amphiptere on Odin and maybe even the whole game. <br /><br />After an enjoyable night testing out new mobs and the new Union system even I have to admit I was much more pleased with this update than I thought I was going to be. To evaluate this update though, we need to look at other updates and juxtapose this one with those to get an idea of just how good it is. The last update was on-balance pretty disappointing, in fact, I didn't really remember what was added in the last update, so I had to check. There were some significant additions, but nothing really said "new" like we have had in the past. There were four significant additions in the April Update. 1) The new WHM JA's (and the RDM and SMN additions), 2) ANNM's and Augmented Items, 3) Gobbiebag expansion. There was definitely more and people will love pointing out the things I missed, I am sure. <br /><br />Compare that to this update and we can see that this update is probably a little better overall. We got two new zones, which is something we really haven't gotten in almost a year and a half. Included in those zones are three new mobs and several potential melee and BLM XP areas. We got new JA's for NIN, which I believe was sorely in need of some kind of improvement to balance them with PLD. Now, I still believe that those improvements don't fix what is really needed for NIN, which is a bit more survivability. <br /><span class="fullpost"><br />The Union system is definitely interesting and rewards doing Campaign even if you have to be lucky to get those rewards. It definitely spices up Campaign a bit. We got the long awaited Campaign bodies which were about as good as I expected, the tanking body is great but the rest of them are pretty mediocre. Finally, we have a little bit of a surprise in the large number of Wings missions that were added. There are other things that still need to be determined, like the quality of the Fairy weapon quests and if this FoV stuff is even worth it. <br /><br />Overall, I would have given the last update about a C- and this update was a little better than the last, that being said, and even considering the positive things I have said so far, this update doesn't really have that much going for it either. New zones are nice, but you need to have a reason to be in those zones besides just doing Campaign. New JA's are good too, but why do they share a recast and have diminishing effects? Union is decent, but the rewards are pretty weak and will soon flood the market and crush the cost of all of the items, except for the ancient currency which don't drop very much at all. One of the Campaign bodies is good, the rest are in line with the "mehness" of the other parts of the set.<br /><br />I am holding out hope for the Fairy weapons, the packs of mobs you have to fight to get the rewards looks pretty difficult. I am thinking it will take more than a party to handle these and it looks like at least some of them resist sleep. The additional effects for these looked pretty good in the preview, but so did the FoV ones and we all know how they turned out.<br /><br />So far I am giving this update a C+, but I still have my pen out and I am willing to improve the grade if things turn out to be better with the Fairy weapons. This update still has the problems that I had discussed before. It is tiny, it is uninspiring, it is flawed and it feels like there isn't anyone at SE that is motivating the forward momentum of the game right now. I can't wait until this cycle of crappy scenarios is over, but we still have at least one more coming before we get a regular update without all of this fluff. We can only really judge the direction of the game at that point.</span>

Morning in Vana'diel: Is Crafting Worth It?

Morning in Vana'diel is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! This morning Ring reconsiders the crafting benefits of Augments and whether it's worth it at all.

Here is the thing, can you make money on crafting? Yes, you can. Is it worth it to try? That's the real question. I made the argument yesterday that the new Augment system was good because it basically consumed the crafted items that people are going to Augment increasing demand. The problem that I have read about is not with the randomness of the event which I still think is somewhat necessary for it's benefit to crafting, but rather that those that craft will drive down the price, either by those skilling up and trying to sell off the extra items quickly or by those just trying to undercut everyone else. The real benefit will go to the farmers or the middle men, or so the argument goes. I generally agree that there are negative pressures on the pricing of all items, and it is definitely true that a low supply increases prices more than high demand, but I do not think that higher demand is bad for the prices of items. Remember, this is not a situation like after an update where everyone needs an item for a quest. This is a continual demand situation, where people are going to need many of the same item over and over, and this demand may cause an increase in supply too, but over time it should work to increase prices and for crafters, increase profits.

The problem is that is it worth it for the crafter over the farmer? The farmer, if they find the right items to farm will be able to set the prices on the raw materials and get the largest chunk of "pure" profit. Increase demand for them will directly increase profits, and the only risk of will come in the form of undercutting. The crafter is then further at the whim of the farmer for creating these items if they choose not to farm the raw materials. It's a rather complicated scenario, and in the end I still think it will be net beneficial for crafters, but it definitely is not as clear cut as I thought it was yesterday. One can still hope that the market could be more rational this time because of the constant stagnation it has been in since the large majority of RMT were killed off several years ago. But I doubt it. I have seen players do too many strange and silly things to destroy the price of items for no reason for too long to think that we can really predict what is going to happen.

Do you think the new high-level Augments will be good for the economy? Will they be bad? Do you think things will stay pretty much the same? Are you looking forward to this as a crafter? What about as a farmer? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

<a href="http://static.ffxiah.com/images/FFXIAH_top.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://static.ffxiah.com/images/FFXIAH_top.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 343px; height: 85px;" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;">Morning in Vana'diel</span><span style="font-style:italic;"> is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! This morning Ring reconsiders the crafting benefits of Augments and whether it's worth it at all.</span><br /><br />Here is the thing, can you make money on crafting? Yes, you can. Is it worth it to try? That's the real question. I made the argument yesterday that the new Augment system was good because it basically consumed the crafted items that people are going to Augment increasing demand. The problem that I have read about is not with the randomness of the event which I still think is somewhat necessary for it's benefit to crafting, but rather that those that craft will drive down the price, either by those skilling up and trying to sell off the extra items quickly or by those just trying to undercut everyone else. The real benefit will go to the farmers or the middle men, or so the argument goes. I generally agree that there are negative pressures on the pricing of all items, and it is definitely true that a low supply increases prices more than high demand, but I do not think that higher demand is bad for the prices of items. Remember, this is not a situation like after an update where everyone needs an item for a quest. This is a continual demand situation, where people are going to need many of the same item over and over, and this demand may cause an increase in supply too, but over time it should work to increase prices and for crafters, increase profits.<br /><br />The problem is that is it worth it for the crafter over the farmer? The farmer, if they find the right items to farm will be able to set the prices on the raw materials and get the largest chunk of "pure" profit. Increase demand for them will directly increase profits, and the only risk of will come in the form of undercutting. The crafter is then further at the whim of the farmer for creating these items if they choose not to farm the raw materials. It's a rather complicated scenario, and in the end I still think it will be net beneficial for crafters, but it definitely is not as clear cut as I thought it was yesterday. One can still hope that the market could be more rational this time because of the constant stagnation it has been in since the large majority of RMT were killed off several years ago. But I doubt it. I have seen players do too many strange and silly things to destroy the price of items for no reason for too long to think that we can really predict what is going to happen.<br /><br />Do you think the new high-level Augments will be good for the economy? Will they be bad? Do you think things will stay pretty much the same? Are you looking forward to this as a crafter? What about as a farmer? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

POL News: Augment the Size of Your Weapon!

There are just too many good jokes to be made about the Augment system, but I will leave that for another day. Today the news on POL is that the next update will feature further (final?) expansion of the Augment system to top-level (useful?) gear. I understand the nature of things like this being rolled out over time. SE wants to test it out first, see if it works, if there are problems or whatever, but I don't understand why after they know it works they would still want to piece it out over time. Anyway, there are two different parts of the Augment announcement, the first deals with Fields of Valor. SE is adding new "elite" training regiments to the Zilart-era "high level" areas:

Cape Teriggan / Eastern Altepa Desert / The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah / Ro'Maeve / Yuhtunga Jungle / Yhoator Jungle / Western Altepa Desert / Valley of Sorrows / Ru'Aun Gardens

The only really important thing to note about this is that you will be able to hand in high-level gear. Not only will this let you actually get some gear that you might use out of Fields of Valor, but it might be a huge boon for crafters. I am not into the economics of crafting like some people but my thoughts are that if you take something, make it so that you can't sell it again, you are going to need more of those things. Which is what Fields of Valor should do for some of this gear.

The second thing of note from POL is that there something to do with Augments and Pixies, and it gets kind of convoluted from there. All I know is that I will get to hear Omoikitte squeal like a school-girl about the "fairies" in her best British accent. This is what I can glean from the situation so far: there will be new craftable weapons, that will be commissioned by the Pixies, you will fight a monster with your friends, that will give you a random Augment, that you can change up to five times, and other people can get it too, or they can get another reward. I think I covered everything with that run on sentence.

Check below the cut for the full update notes.

Hear ye, mighty champions of Vana'diel!
Have you gazed longingly at the augmented apparel donned by your lower-level peers, wondering when similar equipment would be introduced for those of powers puissant?
Consider your wait over! A host of new augmented items designed especially for high-level characters will be one of the many exciting additions in the upcoming version update.

Further Fields of Valor!
Elite training regimes will be added to the following areas:
Cape Teriggan / Eastern Altepa Desert / The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah / Ro'Maeve / Yuhtunga Jungle / Yhoator Jungle / Western Altepa Desert / Valley of Sorrows / Ru'Aun Gardens

Thus far, Elite training regimes have yielded augmented items intended for players level 50 and below. Those who demonstrate their valor by completing the new regimes in the fields above, however, will be rewarded with a new selection of augmented items suited for levels above 50.

A New Challenge Awaits!
The greatest heroes and heroines of Vana'diel—those who have achieved the pinnacles of their respective professions—can also look forward to a new quest that will test the limits of their prodigious powers, and promise rich rewards in kind.
With hordes of fell beasts threatening their ancestral homelands, the pixies would entreat your aid. By entering into a pact with the fey folk to slay one of their notorious foes, high level players will have the opportunity to obtain an augmented item to add to their arsenal.
While Fields of Valor and the elite training regimes offer quick, straightforward objectives that can be enjoyed by lone wolves, this new quest is intended to provide a significant challenge to full parties of up to six veteran adventurers.

To participate in this quest, players must first craft a suitable weapon via a set of new recipes that will be introduced in the coming version update. Entrust one such weapon to the new quest-giving NPC and successfully complete the assigned task, and your weapon will be retuned, freshly endowed with an augment of impressive potency. Should the initial enchantment not be to your liking, you will also have the opportunity to slay a different foe—up to a maximum of five times—to receive a new augment that may better suit your needs.

This quest will offer something for everyone, as each member of the victorious party who has accepted the quest will be eligible to reap the augmented reward. Even players who have not accepted the augmentation quest will be compensated for assisting fellow adventurers with a bounty of their own.

<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4726/4726.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4726/4726.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 415px; height: 100px;" /></a>There are just too many good jokes to be made about the Augment system, but I will leave that for another day. Today the news on POL is that the next update will feature further (final?) expansion of the Augment system to top-level (useful?) gear. I understand the nature of things like this being rolled out over time. SE wants to test it out first, see if it works, if there are problems or whatever, but I don't understand why after they know it works they would still want to piece it out over time. Anyway, there are two different parts of the Augment announcement, the first deals with Fields of Valor. SE is adding new "elite" training regiments to the Zilart-era "high level" areas: <blockquote>Cape Teriggan / Eastern Altepa Desert / The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah / Ro'Maeve / Yuhtunga Jungle / Yhoator Jungle / Western Altepa Desert / Valley of Sorrows / Ru'Aun Gardens</blockquote> <a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4726/4726_5.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4726/4726_5.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 89px;" /></a>The only really important thing to note about this is that you will be able to hand in high-level gear. Not only will this let you actually get some gear that you might use out of Fields of Valor, but it might be a huge boon for crafters. I am not into the economics of crafting like <a href="http://ringthree.blogspot.com/search/label/Qtipus">some people</a> but my thoughts are that if you take something, make it so that you can't sell it again, you are going to need more of those things. Which is what Fields of Valor should do for some of this gear.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4726/4726_9.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4726/4726_9.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 79px;" /></a>The second thing of note from POL is that there something to do with Augments and Pixies, and it gets kind of convoluted from there. All I know is that I will get to hear <a href="http://ringthree.blogspot.com/search/label/Omoikitte">Omoikitte</a> squeal like a school-girl about the "fairies" in her best British accent. This is what I can glean from the situation so far: there will be new craftable weapons, that will be commissioned by the Pixies, you will fight a monster with your friends, that will give you a random Augment, that you can change up to five times, and other people can get it too, or they can get another reward. I think I covered everything with that run on sentence.<br /><br />Check below the cut for the full update notes. <br /><span class="fullpost"><br />Hear ye, mighty champions of Vana'diel! <br />Have you gazed longingly at the augmented apparel donned by your lower-level peers, wondering when similar equipment would be introduced for those of powers puissant?<br />Consider your wait over! A host of new augmented items designed especially for high-level characters will be one of the many exciting additions in the upcoming version update.<br /><br />Further Fields of Valor!<br />Elite training regimes will be added to the following areas:<br />Cape Teriggan / Eastern Altepa Desert / The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah / Ro'Maeve / Yuhtunga Jungle / Yhoator Jungle / Western Altepa Desert / Valley of Sorrows / Ru'Aun Gardens<br /><br />Thus far, Elite training regimes have yielded augmented items intended for players level 50 and below. Those who demonstrate their valor by completing the new regimes in the fields above, however, will be rewarded with a new selection of augmented items suited for levels above 50.<br /><br />A New Challenge Awaits!<br />The greatest heroes and heroines of Vana'diel—those who have achieved the pinnacles of their respective professions—can also look forward to a new quest that will test the limits of their prodigious powers, and promise rich rewards in kind.<br />With hordes of fell beasts threatening their ancestral homelands, the pixies would entreat your aid. By entering into a pact with the fey folk to slay one of their notorious foes, high level players will have the opportunity to obtain an augmented item to add to their arsenal.<br />While Fields of Valor and the elite training regimes offer quick, straightforward objectives that can be enjoyed by lone wolves, this new quest is intended to provide a significant challenge to full parties of up to six veteran adventurers.<br /><br />To participate in this quest, players must first craft a suitable weapon via a set of new recipes that will be introduced in the coming version update. Entrust one such weapon to the new quest-giving NPC and successfully complete the assigned task, and your weapon will be retuned, freshly endowed with an augment of impressive potency. Should the initial enchantment not be to your liking, you will also have the opportunity to slay a different foe—up to a maximum of five times—to receive a new augment that may better suit your needs.<br /><br />This quest will offer something for everyone, as each member of the victorious party who has accepted the quest will be eligible to reap the augmented reward. Even players who have not accepted the augmentation quest will be compensated for assisting fellow adventurers with a bounty of their own.<br /></span>