SE Gives More But Do We Really Need It?

Yes, of course they are beautiful new weapon skills. Yes, everyone loves new and shiny stuff. But the question I have to ask is this: Do we really need more WS?

We got new WS in the last update, and for the most part they kind of sucked. Some were interesting but most were complete busts. I am left wondering after years and years of wishing that SE would give us more meaningful updates and just more stuff if we have gotten to the point where we don't need a whole lot more stuff. What we need is refinement, and we got a lot of that in the Job Adjustments update notes, but outside of the absolute beauty of these new weaponskills, is there anything substantial to them? The question boils down to this: Is it going to beat the WS I use right now?

What SE needs to show is a little less flash and a little more finesse. What is compelling about these new WS? After looking at a couple WS worth of butterflies, I haven't used Tachi: Ageha outside of testing and goofing-off. The problem is that the level of commitment in testing and figuring things out just isn't as high as it used to be. If there are any little tricks to these new WS then most people aren't that willing to put a ton of work into finding them out. I would like for SE to look over old WS's to make sure they were all usable, even if just situationally.

So, I guess what I am saying is that we have matured past candy and sweets and what we really want is meat and potatoes level improvements. The move to increase the level cap was a meat and potatoes improvement. New Job Abilities (as long as they are useful) are meat and potatoes improvements. New WS are just sugar and spice and everything nice, but they won't sustain you. At this point, a lot of new WS are all flash and no substance. Keep giving us meat and potatoes improvements. Give better ways to move around, give us more storage, give us more JA's (that don't share timers), don't give us more pretty stuff we are never going to use.

I am getting too used to SE giving us good content. I feel like I am looking a gift horse in the mouth.

<a href="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100830113130/ffxi/images/0/05/More_Marvelous_Weapon_Skills_to_Wield%21_%2808-30-2010%29.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100830113130/ffxi/images/0/05/More_Marvelous_Weapon_Skills_to_Wield%21_%2808-30-2010%29.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 415px; height: 100px;" /></a>Yes, of course they are beautiful new weapon skills. Yes, everyone loves new and shiny stuff. But the question I have to ask is this: Do we really need more WS?<br /><br />We got new WS in the last update, and for the most part they kind of sucked. Some were interesting but most were complete busts. I am left wondering after years and years of wishing that SE would give us more meaningful updates and just more <span style="font-style:italic;">stuff</span> if we have gotten to the point where we don't need a whole lot more <span style="font-style:italic;">stuff</span>. What we need is refinement, and we got a lot of that in the Job Adjustments update notes, but outside of the absolute beauty of these new weaponskills, is there anything substantial to them? The question boils down to this: Is it going to beat the WS I use right now?<br /><br />What SE needs to show is a little less flash and a little more finesse. What is compelling about these new WS? After looking at a couple WS worth of butterflies, I haven't used Tachi: Ageha outside of testing and goofing-off. The problem is that the level of commitment in testing and figuring things out just isn't as high as it used to be. If there are any little tricks to these new WS then most people aren't that willing to put a ton of work into finding them out. I would like for SE to look over old WS's to make sure they were all usable, even if just situationally.<br /><br />So, I guess what I am saying is that we have matured past candy and sweets and what we really want is meat and potatoes level improvements. The move to increase the level cap was a meat and potatoes improvement. New Job Abilities (as long as they are useful) are meat and potatoes improvements. New WS are just sugar and spice and everything nice, but they won't sustain you. At this point, a lot of new WS are all flash and no substance. Keep giving us meat and potatoes improvements. Give better ways to move around, give us more storage, give us more JA's (that don't share timers), don't give us more pretty stuff we are never going to use.<br /><br />I am getting too used to SE giving us good content. I feel like I am looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Feast and Famine - The New Job Abilities.

The new update notes have all of the new Job Abilities, Spells and Job Traits that are coming in the update, and there are a ton of them. Way more than I think anyone expected. Some are amazing, some are interesting, some look useless and some leave me wondering what the fuck SE was thinking. So basically it is a standard update from SE. :)

I am going to try to go over everything today, but there is so much that I don't know if that will be possible. If I don't make it to everything then I will finish it up tomorrow. Ok, lets get down to it.

If you need a reference to follow along you can see the update notes here.

Restraint (WAR Lv.77 Ability Delay: 10 min. Effect Duration: 5 min.)
Enhances your weapon skill power with each normal attack you land, but prevents you from dealing critical hits.
Interesting name for a Warrior JA. The real questions for this is how much bonus it gives to WS damage and what effect the prevention of critical hits has. If the critical hit prevention applies to weaponskills then that means that Raging Rush is out and King's Justice is in. This one might initially be hard to judge because you have to consider the critical hit damage lost on regular melee swings, and the stacking effect of the swings before you use a WS. Finally, do the stacks reset when you use a WS or do they stay for the entire 5 min. duration?

Perfect Counter (MNK Lv.79 Ability Delay: 1 min. Effect Duration: 30 sec.)
Allows you to counter the next attack directed at you.
Very interesting but does the utility over come the fact that you have hit a macro and get the job ability delay every minute? Two factors to consider: First, you can use this before a fight when you know you are going to get hit for a bit of a damage boost. Second, can this be used to counter mob WS?

Mana Wall (BLM Lv.76 Ability Delay: 10 min. Effect Duration: 5 min.)
Allows you to take damage with MP.
Earlier today this mistakenly had the duration listed as 5 sec. but it has already been corrected to the appropriate 5 min duration. I know that some people probably have have mixed feelings about this bit I am convinced that this is a benefit to all BLM. The ability to take damage on BLM is very important, this can already be seen in the general adoption of the "standing" set with the goal of decreasing any potential incoming damage. It basically gives a BLM a second HP pool every 10 minutes for 5 minutes. I suspect that Tarus are going to to love this ability while Elvaan and Galka aren't going to care for it. Tarus have the MP to waste to save themselves, and Elvaan and Galka don't worry about HP as much but don't want to waste their precious MP.

Despoil (THF Lv.77 Ability delay: 5 min.)
Steals items from an enemy while inflicting a status ailment upon it.
Honestly, I have no clue how this is going to work. It sounds a lot like a reverse aura steal, but it gives a status ailment instead of stealing a buff. Where does this status ailment come from? Is it random? Given from the debuffs the THF already has on them? The best thing about this is that it is it's own ability and isn't just stacked on every steal like Aura Steal.

Divine Emblem (PLD Lv.78 Ability Delay: 10 min. Effect Duration: 1 min.)
Enhances the accuracy of your next divine magic spell and increases enmity.
Seriously, fuck PLD! LOL. I don't really hate PLD at all but they got good stuff and NIN gets nothing. I can't say that this is an amazing JA or anything but it is just one more boost to PLD enmity at the beginning of a fight or more importantly right after the PLD loses hate. With the number of hate resets and crazy nuking taru BLM, this is going to be a life-saver.

Nether Void (DRK Lv.78 Ability Delay: 5 min. Effect Duration: 1 min.)
Increases the absorption of your next dark magic spell.
LOL DRK. This is one of those JA's that we will have to see how much it adds before we judge it. Or I could just judge it now. :) Unless this modifies Drain 2, this it will probably be marginal. I suppose if Absorb-TP or Absorb-STR get a huge boost then it could be good but it will just add more time spent not swinging and thus not doing damage.

Double Shot (RNG Lv.79 Ability Delay: 3 min. Effect Duration: 90 sec.)
Occasionally uses two units of ammunition to deal double damage.
SE is paying RNG back for all those months of suffering after they nerfed it into the ground. It is almost like a double attack trait for RNG, which should work with my new OAT bow, but it won't give extra TP. The rpoblem it that RNG doesn't really need more damage right now, it need more enmity mitigation. I am not saying that I won't take it, but it just means that /DRG is now completely mandatory. There is no other option.

Sengikori (SAM Lv.77 Ability Delay: 3 min. Effect Duration: 1 min.)
Grants a bonus to skillchains and magic bursts initiated by your next weapon skill.
Skillchains may be a thing of the past but their are times when a SAM is either self-skillchaining with Sekkanoki or really are trying to make a skillchain with someone else. It is just more damage for SAM, and more e-peen for BLM at Fafnir. the recast on it is lower than Sekkanoki, so their might need to be some coordination if you want to use them together multiple times in a fight.

Futae (NIN Lv.77 Ability Delay: 3 min. Effect Duration: 1 min.)
Grants a bonus to your next elemental ninjutsu by expending two ninja tools.
SE hates NIN. There is no other explanation. Unless this turns elemental ninjutsu into a fully merited and geared BLM tier 4 nuke then no one is ever going to use this. NIN has to get another tier of DW in this update at the very least, or it is just going to fade into history.

Spirit Jump (DRG Lv.77 Ability Delay: 90 sec.)
Delivers a short jumping attack on a targeted enemy which suppresses enmity. Effect enhanced when wyvern is present.
My only question with this is if it does damage and if it does, how much does it do? It does say it is an attack so it almost definitely does damage. It is anotehr boost to DRG TP generation, something that they are not really lacking to begin with.

Blood Pact: Rage "Holy Mist" (SMN Lv.76)
Deals light elemental damage to an enemy.
Blood Pact: Rage "Lunar Bay" (SMN Lv.78)
Deals darkness damage to an enemy.
Blood Pact: Rage "Night Terror" (SMN Lv.80)
Deals darkness damage to an enemy. Looks like they are offensive blood pacts for Carby, Fenrir and Diabolos respectively. We can't know how good they are until they are tested.

Bolter's Roll (COR Lv.76)
Increases movement speed for party members within area of effect.
A mazurka roll for COR. Pretty simple.

Caster's Roll (COR Lv.79)
Enhances "Fast Cast" effect for party members within area of effect.
Fast Cast is nice but I can't see many places this would be useful for "casters" that might benefit from it because there are other more powerful rolls for them. The place this would be more useful is for tanks which can benefit from the decreased cast time as well as the decreased recast time on their spells.

Tactical Switch (PUP Lv.79 Ability Delay: 3 min.)
Swaps TP of master and automaton.
Who cares? Really. I don't even know if it is better for the PUP or the Automaton to have more TP.

Presto (DNC Lv.77 Ability Delay: 15 sec. Effect Duration: 30 sec.)
Enhances the effect of your next step and grants you an additional finishing move.
Super low delay and recast, this might help DNC to truly enfeeble end-game mobs. More finishing moves are never bad either because more finishing moves means at least more TP back with Reverse Flourish.

Divine Waltz II (DNC Lv.78 Ability Delay: 20 sec.)
Restores the HP of all party members within a small radius.
A bigger Curaga for DNC. It will probably be pretty weak but cost a ton of TP. Just like all Curaga style cures.

Climactic Flourish (DNC Lv.80 Ability Delay: 90 sec.)
Allows you to deal critical hits. Requires at least one finishing move.
The description of this finisher makes it sound like DNC can't crit without it. My guess is that it will guarantee a crit on the next hit kind of like Sneak Attack, but it won't guarantee that the hit will actually land. Just my guess.

Libra (SCH Lv.76 Ability Delay: 1 min.)
Examines the target's enmity level.
Might as well just call this Kaeko's Spell. Hopefully, it will be pretty accurate, but we have managed to live without any kind of enmity instruction for 8 years, this is not going to be a make or break ability now. If it just tells you the mob's target then you could just get the same information by just using /assist.

And that is everything that we are getting in the form of JA's for this update. Tomorrow we will go over everything else, including new Job Traits, spells, and BST jugs.

<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5561/5561.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5561/5561.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 415px; height: 100px;" /></a><br />The new update notes have all of the new Job Abilities, Spells and Job Traits that are coming in the update, and there are a ton of them. Way more than I think anyone expected. Some are amazing, some are interesting, some look useless and some leave me wondering what the fuck SE was thinking. So basically it is a standard update from SE. :)<br /><br />I am going to try to go over everything today, but there is so much that I don't know if that will be possible. If I don't make it to everything then I will finish it up tomorrow. Ok, lets get down to it.<br /><br />If you need a reference to follow along you can see the update notes <a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5561/detail.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Restraint (WAR Lv.77 Ability Delay: 10 min. Effect Duration: 5 min.) <br />Enhances your weapon skill power with each normal attack you land, but prevents you from dealing critical hits.</span><br />Interesting name for a Warrior JA. The real questions for this is how much bonus it gives to WS damage and what effect the prevention of critical hits has. If the critical hit prevention applies to weaponskills then that means that Raging Rush is out and King's Justice is in. This one might initially be hard to judge because you have to consider the critical hit damage lost on regular melee swings, and the stacking effect of the swings before you use a WS. Finally, do the stacks reset when you use a WS or do they stay for the entire 5 min. duration?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Perfect Counter (MNK Lv.79 Ability Delay: 1 min. Effect Duration: 30 sec.) <br />Allows you to counter the next attack directed at you.</span><br />Very interesting but does the utility over come the fact that you have hit a macro and get the job ability delay every minute? Two factors to consider: First, you can use this before a fight when you know you are going to get hit for a bit of a damage boost. Second, can this be used to counter mob WS?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Mana Wall (BLM Lv.76 Ability Delay: 10 min. Effect Duration: 5 min.)<br />Allows you to take damage with MP.</span><br />Earlier today this mistakenly had the duration listed as 5 sec. but it has already been corrected to the appropriate 5 min duration. I know that some people probably have have mixed feelings about this bit I am convinced that this is a benefit to all BLM. The ability to take damage on BLM is very important, this can already be seen in the general adoption of the "standing" set with the goal of decreasing any potential incoming damage. It basically gives a BLM a second HP pool every 10 minutes for 5 minutes. I suspect that Tarus are going to to love this ability while Elvaan and Galka aren't going to care for it. Tarus have the MP to waste to save themselves, and Elvaan and Galka don't worry about HP as much but don't want to waste their precious MP.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Despoil (THF Lv.77 Ability delay: 5 min.)<br />Steals items from an enemy while inflicting a status ailment upon it.</span><br />Honestly, I have no clue how this is going to work. It sounds a lot like a reverse aura steal, but it gives a status ailment instead of stealing a buff. Where does this status ailment come from? Is it random? Given from the debuffs the THF already has on them? The best thing about this is that it is it's own ability and isn't just stacked on every steal like Aura Steal.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Divine Emblem (PLD Lv.78 Ability Delay: 10 min. Effect Duration: 1 min.)<br />Enhances the accuracy of your next divine magic spell and increases enmity.</span><br />Seriously, fuck PLD! LOL. I don't really hate PLD at all but they got good stuff and NIN gets nothing. I can't say that this is an amazing JA or anything but it is just one more boost to PLD enmity at the beginning of a fight or more importantly right after the PLD loses hate. With the number of hate resets and crazy nuking taru BLM, this is going to be a life-saver.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Nether Void (DRK Lv.78 Ability Delay: 5 min. Effect Duration: 1 min.)<br />Increases the absorption of your next dark magic spell.</span><br />LOL DRK. This is one of those JA's that we will have to see how much it adds before we judge it. Or I could just judge it now. :) Unless this modifies Drain 2, this it will probably be marginal. I suppose if Absorb-TP or Absorb-STR get a huge boost then it could be good but it will just add more time spent not swinging and thus not doing damage.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Double Shot (RNG Lv.79 Ability Delay: 3 min. Effect Duration: 90 sec.)<br />Occasionally uses two units of ammunition to deal double damage.</span> <br />SE is paying RNG back for all those months of suffering after they nerfed it into the ground. It is almost like a double attack trait for RNG, which should work with my new OAT bow, but it won't give extra TP. The rpoblem it that RNG doesn't really need more damage right now, it need more enmity mitigation. I am not saying that I won't take it, but it just means that /DRG is now completely mandatory. There is no other option.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Sengikori (SAM Lv.77 Ability Delay: 3 min. Effect Duration: 1 min.)<br />Grants a bonus to skillchains and magic bursts initiated by your next weapon skill.</span><br />Skillchains may be a thing of the past but their are times when a SAM is either self-skillchaining with Sekkanoki or really are trying to make a skillchain with someone else. It is just more damage for SAM, and more e-peen for BLM at Fafnir. the recast on it is lower than Sekkanoki, so their might need to be some coordination if you want to use them together multiple times in a fight.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5561/5561_3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/5561/5561_3.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 454px; height: 170px;" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;">Futae (NIN Lv.77 Ability Delay: 3 min. Effect Duration: 1 min.)<br />Grants a bonus to your next elemental ninjutsu by expending two ninja tools.</span><br />SE hates NIN. There is no other explanation. Unless this turns elemental ninjutsu into a fully merited and geared BLM tier 4 nuke then no one is ever going to use this. NIN has to get another tier of DW in this update at the very least, or it is just going to fade into history.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Spirit Jump (DRG Lv.77 Ability Delay: 90 sec.)<br />Delivers a short jumping attack on a targeted enemy which suppresses enmity. Effect enhanced when wyvern is present.</span><br />My only question with this is if it does damage and if it does, how much does it do? It does say it is an attack so it almost definitely does damage. It is anotehr boost to DRG TP generation, something that they are not really lacking to begin with.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Blood Pact: Rage "Holy Mist" (SMN Lv.76)<br />Deals light elemental damage to an enemy.<br />Blood Pact: Rage "Lunar Bay" (SMN Lv.78)<br />Deals darkness damage to an enemy.<br />Blood Pact: Rage "Night Terror" (SMN Lv.80)<br />Deals darkness damage to an enemy.</span> Looks like they are offensive blood pacts for Carby, Fenrir and Diabolos respectively. We can't know how good they are until they are tested. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Bolter's Roll (COR Lv.76)<br />Increases movement speed for party members within area of effect.</span><br />A mazurka roll for COR. Pretty simple.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Caster's Roll (COR Lv.79)<br />Enhances "Fast Cast" effect for party members within area of effect.</span><br />Fast Cast is nice but I can't see many places this would be useful for "casters" that might benefit from it because there are other more powerful rolls for them. The place this would be more useful is for tanks which can benefit from the decreased cast time as well as the decreased recast time on their spells.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Tactical Switch (PUP Lv.79 Ability Delay: 3 min.)<br />Swaps TP of master and automaton.</span><br />Who cares? Really. I don't even know if it is better for the PUP or the Automaton to have more TP.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Presto (DNC Lv.77 Ability Delay: 15 sec. Effect Duration: 30 sec.)<br />Enhances the effect of your next step and grants you an additional finishing move.</span><br />Super low delay and recast, this might help DNC to truly enfeeble end-game mobs. More finishing moves are never bad either because more finishing moves means at least more TP back with Reverse Flourish.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Divine Waltz II (DNC Lv.78 Ability Delay: 20 sec.)<br />Restores the HP of all party members within a small radius.</span><br />A bigger Curaga for DNC. It will probably be pretty weak but cost a ton of TP. Just like all Curaga style cures.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Climactic Flourish (DNC Lv.80 Ability Delay: 90 sec.)<br />Allows you to deal critical hits. Requires at least one finishing move.</span><br />The description of this finisher makes it sound like DNC can't crit without it. My guess is that it will guarantee a crit on the next hit kind of like Sneak Attack, but it won't guarantee that the hit will actually land. Just my guess.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Libra (SCH Lv.76 Ability Delay: 1 min.)<br />Examines the target's enmity level.</span><br />Might as well just call this Kaeko's Spell. Hopefully, it will be pretty accurate, but we have managed to live without any kind of enmity instruction for 8 years, this is not going to be a make or break ability now. If it just tells you the mob's target then you could just get the same information by just using /assist.<br /><br />And that is everything that we are getting in the form of JA's for this update. Tomorrow we will go over everything else, including new Job Traits, spells, and BST jugs.

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

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!

Morning in Vana'diel: Is Ninja a Legitimate Tank Again?

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! Today, Ring takes a good look at what whether Yonin can make Ninja a good tank again.

NIN is my neglected friend. I loved NIN for so long, but it gradually had more an more problems and got left behind for other more suitable jobs as our PLDs got stronger and stronger. Before the most recent update NIN was in the same basic place it was since it started moving up the tanking food chain. But it never evolved to keep up with the changes that PLD has experienced. And then came Yonin.

Yonin, as you might already know, is a JA that increases enmity and Ninja Tool Expertise (which is glitched at the moment), while decreasing Accuracy. It also improves Evasion and decreases Enemy Critical Hit Rate when in front of the target (which is really all that matters, because there are only a few mobs where you would care about the Evasion and Enemy Critical Hit when you are behind it). Kaeko's testing shows that the enmity gain is +30 at the start and then degrades to +10 over time. This is a big bonus to enmity for NIN, but it still doesn't get them up to where PLD can get on most gear. An additional nice benefit of Yonin is that it provides a decent amount of hate just from using the JA.

Does Yonin get NIN to where PLD is now? No, it doesn't. NIN still has a myriad of other issues before they get back to where PLD is now. They are missing a good amount of damage mitigation compared to PLD, and sub job selection has a much great effect on damage mitigation vs. hate generation than PLD. NIN/DRK is great at building and maintaining hate, but it is much more dependent on support and has little to protect it when shadows are down. This doesn't matter as much in large groups or with a settled mob, but PLDs are able to do all aspects of tanking from holding to doing damage (and how strange is that?). In a higher damage/damage mitigation situation, NIN falls behind because they have to give up their Katanas, and even if they did not they don't have a WS that is as viable as Atonement for maintaining good WS damage. I will expand on this further in another post on how to fix NIN, but for now I think that Yonin is a great start, but isn't enough to even get NIN back to equal with PLD.

What do you think about NIN tanks? Is Yonin going to encourage you to bring a NIN out of retirement? Do you think NIN even needed a boost? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

<a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/NIN_Yonin.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/NIN_Yonin.png" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 219px; height: 250px;" /></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! Today, Ring takes a good look at what whether Yonin can make Ninja a good tank again.</span><br /><br />NIN is my neglected friend. I loved NIN for so long, but it gradually had more an more problems and got left behind for other more suitable jobs as our PLDs got stronger and stronger. Before the most recent update NIN was in the same basic place it was since it started moving up the tanking food chain. But it never evolved to keep up with the changes that PLD has experienced. And then came Yonin.<br /><br />Yonin, as you might already know, is a JA that increases enmity and Ninja Tool Expertise (which is glitched at the moment), while decreasing Accuracy. It also improves Evasion and decreases Enemy Critical Hit Rate when in front of the target (which is really all that matters, because there are only a few mobs where you would care about the Evasion and Enemy Critical Hit when you are behind it). Kaeko's testing shows that the enmity gain is +30 at the start and then degrades to +10 over time. This is a big bonus to enmity for NIN, but it still doesn't get them up to where PLD can get on most gear. An additional nice benefit of Yonin is that it provides a decent amount of hate just from using the JA.<br /><br />Does Yonin get NIN to where PLD is now? No, it doesn't. NIN still has a myriad of other issues before they get back to where PLD is now. They are missing a good amount of damage mitigation compared to PLD, and sub job selection has a much great effect on damage mitigation vs. hate generation than PLD. NIN/DRK is great at building and maintaining hate, but it is much more dependent on support and has little to protect it when shadows are down. This doesn't matter as much in large groups or with a settled mob, but PLDs are able to do all aspects of tanking from holding to doing damage (and how strange is that?). In a higher damage/damage mitigation situation, NIN falls behind because they have to give up their Katanas, and even if they did not they don't have a WS that is as viable as Atonement for maintaining good WS damage. I will expand on this further in another post on how to fix NIN, but for now I think that Yonin is a great start, but isn't enough to even get NIN back to equal with PLD.<br /><br />What do you think about NIN tanks? Is Yonin going to encourage you to bring a NIN out of retirement? Do you think NIN even needed a boost? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

POL News: What You See Is What You Get.

The Update Notes are out and there really isn't anything more than what they have told us about already.

The Union System is in there, but there are still no details on what it entails and what it means. It looks like you just join an alliance, then join the Union and then lot on the rewards when things drop. This does look like it could be abused a lot though. Will people try to Ninja lot things? Is this supposed to be something you only do with people you trust? Do the items drop from Campaign mobs? Are people to pull and hide mobs all the time? I am guessing they considered all of these factors, and we still have no idea what it is going to look like. Here's hoping it's good, but honestly it sounds convoluted and rife for abuse.


New missions, new quests, new synths, new BLU spells. We don't have any specifics about these except for the fact that the new BLU spells will probably come from the two new mobs that they have added to the new past Northlands areas.

Personally, I think the new "evil Walrus" looks way better than the Gargoyle, but that's just me. The new MMM stuff is in there, and so is the FoV stuff, but there is no mention of these new synths for weapons that you trade with the Fairies. I wouldn't be surprised if that got cut from the update, which I believe will be the first time they had a major announcement about something then cut it from my recollection. The Circle abilities look decent, but if they are still on a 10 minute recast with a 30 second duration then they are still just about as useless as they were before just with better buffs. They even mentioned that the main problem was the duration, but mention notion about changing the duration in the update notes.

The new Ninja JA's are in there, but we already knew everything about it. I think this is probably the only solid known improvement in the entire update.

They will definitely be useful for NIN, but the shared timer on a 5 minute recast can make it even more difficult for NIN that need to switch between DD and tanking quickly. There is also no mentioned of the diminishing effect over time, so hopefully they got rid of that part of it. Also, the Mijin Gakure change is nice, but like so many things that SE does, it should have happened from the beginning if not a long time ago.

Dragoon got a tiny buff to Empathy in that they can now wake up their Wyvern with Spirit Link. Again, should have happened a long time ago. There was mention that the effect of the rage timers for some HNM was changed but in standard SE fashion, they don't tell us how at all.

Finally, they mention that there are some new furnishing from Campaign and the Campaign bodies are now available. A new item called the Pendant Compass was introduced that will give you your coordinates, [i]when you wear it[/i] and it will be used for some event that has nothing to do with the game, like many of the things that SE has been adding lately.

Ok, I am done. This update has nothing new, no surprises, no avatars, nothing interesting. Just like the last update, it just feels like that slapped some things together, tossed in a new JA and called it an update. I, for one, am not pleased at all.

Click here for a full list of the update notes.

<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4746/4746.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4746/4746.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 415px; height: 100px;" /></a><br />The Update Notes are out and there really isn't anything more than what they have told us about already. <br /><br />The Union System is in there, but there are still no details on what it entails and what it means. It looks like you just join an alliance, then join the Union and then lot on the rewards when things drop. This does look like it could be abused a lot though. Will people try to Ninja lot things? Is this supposed to be something you only do with people you trust? Do the items drop from Campaign mobs? Are people to pull and hide mobs all the time? I am guessing they considered all of these factors, and we still have no idea what it is going to look like. Here's hoping it's good, but honestly it sounds convoluted and rife for abuse. <br /><a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/verup/ff11us/detail/4742/4742_6.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/verup/ff11us/detail/4742/4742_6.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 454px; height: 170px;" /></a><br /><span class="fullpost"><br />New missions, new quests, new synths, new BLU spells. We don't have any specifics about these except for the fact that the new BLU spells will probably come from the two new mobs that they have added to the new past Northlands areas.<br /><a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/verup/ff11us/detail/4742/4742_20.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/verup/ff11us/detail/4742/4742_20.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 454px; height: 170px;" /></a><br />Personally, I think the new "evil Walrus" looks way better than the Gargoyle, but that's just me. The new MMM stuff is in there, and so is the FoV stuff, but there is no mention of these new synths for weapons that you trade with the Fairies. I wouldn't be surprised if that got cut from the update, which I believe will be the first time they had a major announcement about something then cut it from my recollection. The Circle abilities look decent, but if they are still on a 10 minute recast with a 30 second duration then they are still just about as useless as they were before just with better buffs. They even mentioned that the main problem was the duration, but mention notion about changing the duration in the update notes.<br /><br />The new Ninja JA's are in there, but we already knew everything about it. I think this is probably the only solid known improvement in the entire update. <br /><a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/verup/ff11us/detail/4742/4742_26.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/verup/ff11us/detail/4742/4742_26.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 454px; height: 170px;" /></a><br />They will definitely be useful for NIN, but the shared timer on a 5 minute recast can make it even more difficult for NIN that need to switch between DD and tanking quickly. There is also no mentioned of the diminishing effect over time, so hopefully they got rid of that part of it. Also, the Mijin Gakure change is nice, but like so many things that SE does, it should have happened from the beginning if not a long time ago.<br /><br />Dragoon got a tiny buff to Empathy in that they can now wake up their Wyvern with Spirit Link. Again, should have happened a long time ago. There was mention that the effect of the rage timers for some HNM was changed but in standard SE fashion, they don't tell us how at all.<br /><br />Finally, they mention that there are some new furnishing from Campaign and the Campaign bodies are now available. A new item called the Pendant Compass was introduced that will give you your coordinates, [i]when you wear it[/i] and it will be used for some event that has nothing to do with the game, like many of the things that SE has been adding lately.<br /><br />Ok, I am done. This update has nothing new, no surprises, no avatars, nothing interesting. Just like the last update, it just feels like that slapped some things together, tossed in a new JA and called it an update. I, for one, am not pleased at all.<br /><br />Click <a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/verup/ff11us/detail/4742/detail.html">here</a> for a full list of the update notes.</span>

Morning In Vana'diel: A Delicate Balance

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! Today, Ring considers current game imbalance and if there is any chance it can ever be fixed.

PLD's get another buff. Is it a big buff? We don't really know yet, and won't know until the update it look like. But I can tell you this, I had my NIN out the other day and while I can still keep up with hate against a PLD (though it does take a little longer to build and it's harder to get back) I just don't have the survivability of that other tank. I didn't die at all, but I did take more damage, and I required more attention from buffers and healers than our PLD need. And why shouldn't they? We get one more shadow which is nice, except for any shadow-wiping ability which is like any important mob TP move, but PLD get's better gear, better situational gear, better JA, a shield and now with Atonement they can even do damage. NIN can do damage too, somewhat, depending on what you are fighting, and Durado Sushi can help with that, but in the end they aren't going to get the consistent hate of Joyuese and Atonement, and they are going to have to give up a good chunk of damage reduction to do any damage. And they don't even get access to things like this.

NIN isn't the only place that imbalance occurs, but it is one of the best examples. RNG is another that I mentioned yesterday, and even though the two-handers are now pretty close that is because they just do a ton of damage more than anyone else. What happened to MNK? SE has tried to balance back WHM against the abilities of RDM and I believe they have done so rather well, but what about BLM against SCH? What about BST? BLU and COR both have their occasional niches, but should SE build jobs around niches? Or should they think about fixing things that cause these disparities in the first place? There are a couple of places that SE could look to re-balance things.

1. Stop buffing JA's and Magic independently of each other. When you buff a JA or a spell or just about anything in the game, don't just think about how it effects that job, but think about what other jobs need to be buffed to compensate for the new, stronger JA.

2. Rethink the damage for two-hander versus dual-wielders. If you are going to increase the strength of two-handers that is great, but give something to the dual-wielders to let them keep up too. More haste? Equalized stat bonuses?

3. Be ready to admit you made a mistake or have gone too far. This is SE's major problem. They have no idea how to fix things they tried to fix in the past. Although people complain like nothing else when servers go down after updates to fix problems, I much prefer that they do that than leave these broken. Fix problems, fix them fast and get things balanced.

This is definitely not a comprehensive list of ways that SE can re-balance issues in the game, but it is definitely a start. I would prefer they were much less cautious with changes if they were willing to roll them back if they were too much. It took many months for SE to finally fix the RNG nerf, when the problem was obvious from the first day the patch came out.

Is it a sense of entitlement they have? Do they think they really know how to make the players enjoy the game more than the players do? I am not saying they should give the players everything they want, but there is a difference between whining and legitimate criticism. SE just has a problem figuring out the difference.

Do you think PLD is overpowered? What about SAM? Do they need more buffs? Does everyone need more buffs? Is it even possible to balance this game with so many jobs? Do we really even need balance? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

<a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Ninja_Cry.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Ninja_Cry.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 167px; height: 250px;" /></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! Today, Ring considers current game imbalance and if there is any chance it can ever be fixed.</span><br /><br />PLD's get another buff. Is it a big buff? We don't really know yet, and won't know until the update it look like. But I can tell you this, I had my NIN out the other day and while I can still keep up with hate against a PLD (though it does take a little longer to build and it's harder to get back) I just don't have the survivability of that other tank. I didn't die at all, but I did take more damage, and I required more attention from buffers and healers than our PLD need. And why shouldn't they? We get one more shadow which is nice, except for any shadow-wiping ability which is like any important mob TP move, but PLD get's better gear, better situational gear, better JA, a shield and now with Atonement they can even do damage. NIN can do damage too, somewhat, depending on what you are fighting, and Durado Sushi can help with that, but in the end they aren't going to get the consistent hate of Joyuese and Atonement, and they are going to have to give up a good chunk of damage reduction to do any damage. And they don't even get access to things like <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ram_Lance">this</a>.<br /><br />NIN isn't the only place that imbalance occurs, but it is one of the best examples. RNG is another that I mentioned yesterday, and even though the two-handers are now pretty close that is because they just do a ton of damage more than anyone else. What happened to MNK? SE has tried to balance back WHM against the abilities of RDM and I believe they have done so rather well, but what about BLM against SCH? What about BST? BLU and COR both have their occasional niches, but should SE build jobs around niches? Or should they think about fixing things that cause these disparities in the first place? There are a couple of places that SE could look to re-balance things.<br /><br />1. Stop buffing JA's and Magic independently of each other. When you buff a JA or a spell or just about anything in the game, don't just think about how it effects that job, but think about what other jobs need to be buffed to compensate for the new, stronger JA.<br /><br />2. Rethink the damage for two-hander versus dual-wielders. If you are going to increase the strength of two-handers that is great, but give something to the dual-wielders to let them keep up too. More haste? Equalized stat bonuses? <br /><br />3. Be ready to admit you made a mistake or have gone too far. This is SE's major problem. They have no idea how to fix things they tried to fix in the past. Although people complain like nothing else when servers go down after updates to fix problems, I much prefer that they do that than leave these broken. Fix problems, fix them fast and get things balanced.<br /><br />This is definitely not a comprehensive list of ways that SE can re-balance issues in the game, but it is definitely a start. I would prefer they were much less cautious with changes if they were willing to roll them back if they were too much. It took many months for SE to finally fix the RNG nerf, when the problem was obvious from the first day the patch came out.<br /><br />Is it a sense of entitlement they have? Do they think they really know how to make the players enjoy the game more than the players do? I am not saying they should give the players everything they want, but there is a difference between whining and legitimate criticism. SE just has a problem figuring out the difference.<br /><br />Do you think PLD is overpowered? What about SAM? Do they need more buffs? Does everyone need more buffs? Is it even possible to balance this game with so many jobs? Do we really even need balance? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

POL News: Circles and Spells.

New Job update thing on POL. I don't know what else to call it really, I supposed there are job ability adjustments here but there is really nothing "new" except for two new BLU spells. I certainly hope this is not the last installment of job adjustment for this update because this is really next to nothing. I am hopeful, but there is nothing in this update note to indicate that there might be more on the way.

The first thing that was mentioned was the fact that skill ups for low and middle levels has been improved. This was because Level Sync parties and Campaign was limiting the opportunities that players had to get skill ups appropriate for their levels. Now, there could be an issue with this. If it is only for low or middle levels of the job then this is next to useless, because you will still be leveling under Level Sync or Campaign. I assume that they mean low and middle levels of the skills, so if your skills really lag behind you will get more skill ups, but once you get to the cap and you are not understand Level Sync as much because you are doing normal XP or Merit parties, then the skill ups will normalize. This is just another one of those cases where SE is pretty unclear and they will never clear things up, we will just have to find out for ourselves. And I will have to wonder when I will finally get that last level of Parry skill up on SAM or NIN. :(

Circle JA's are getting a boost too. We have no idea what kind of boost they are getting though. SE again is very vague here. Just stating that they know that the Circle JA's are pretty useless compared to their delay, and that they are going to get a big buff. This is going to effect PLD, SAM, DRG, DRG and BST's merit circle ability. Like with many changes, I have to wonder how much SE worries about game balance between the jobs. Instead of looking at the jobs themselves, they are looking at the ability types to get people to use them more often. But does PLD really need another buff? Does SAM? DRG? DRK? BST does definitely, but they are just buffing a merit ability, and not something that effects all BST and more importantly BST that have already handed over their merits for other abilities that might have to now switch them if this JA is really good.

Finally, BLU gets some more spells. This is nice for BLU I suppose, but with very many things in this game these spells will either be awesome and used all the time or they will suck and will never be used. This is especially true of BLU that usually has a limited store of spells they can use and it is already full. I understand that when they put new mobs into the game they will want to add new spells, but a lot of the spells overlap because the TP moves of the mobs overlap. This is fine for the mobs because they still have unique combination of TP moves decided by the developers. But most players are going to just pick the strongest spells, and SE wants people to use new spells they are going to have to provide something strong and unique that BLU's don't already get. Again, I have to wonder if they are just creating to be creative or if they are considering game balance and player choice in any of their development decisions.
Here is the full text of the update notes:

As a follow up to last week's article on new ninja job abilities, it is with pleasure that we introduce other job-related additions and adjustments scheduled for the fast-approaching July version update.

Rate of Gain for Combat and Magic Skills
The introduction of in-game systems such as Level Sync and Fields of Valor, while expediting job level increases in the low and middle level ranges, has caused gains made in combat and magic skills to lag behind.

To address this issue, the rate at which combat and magic skills increase during low and middle job levels is set to be given a boost.

Circle-type Abilities
Up until now, the benefits granted by Circle-type abilities have been lackluster relative to their ability delay. The July version update will see these abilities imbued with additional effects for greatly enhanced usability.

The following abilities will benefit from the above adjustment:
Holy Circle / Arcane Circle / Warding Circle / Ancient Circle / Killer Instinct

Blue Magic
Two new blue magic spells are scheduled to be added in the coming version update.

<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4692/4692.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4692/4692.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 415px; height: 100px;" /></a>New Job update thing on POL. I don't know what else to call it really, I supposed there are job ability adjustments here but there is really nothing "new" except for two new BLU spells. I certainly hope this is not the last installment of job adjustment for this update because this is really next to nothing. I am hopeful, but there is nothing in this update note to indicate that there might be more on the way. <br /><br />The first thing that was mentioned was the fact that skill ups for low and middle levels has been improved. This was because Level Sync parties and Campaign was limiting the opportunities that players had to get skill ups appropriate for their levels. Now, there could be an issue with this. If it is only for low or middle levels of the <span style="font-style:italic;">job</span> then this is next to useless, because you will still be leveling under Level Sync or Campaign. I assume that they mean low and middle levels of the skills, so if your skills really lag behind you will get more skill ups, but once you get to the cap and you are not understand Level Sync as much because you are doing normal XP or Merit parties, then the skill ups will normalize. This is just another one of those cases where SE is pretty unclear and they will never clear things up, we will just have to find out for ourselves. And I will have to wonder when I will finally get that last level of Parry skill up on SAM or NIN. :(<br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4692/4692_6.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4692/4692_6.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 180px;" /></a>Circle JA's are getting a boost too. We have no idea what kind of boost they are getting though. SE again is very vague here. Just stating that they know that the Circle JA's are pretty useless compared to their delay, and that they are going to get a big buff. This is going to effect PLD, SAM, DRG, DRG and BST's merit circle ability. Like with many changes, I have to wonder how much SE worries about game balance between the jobs. Instead of looking at the jobs themselves, they are looking at the ability types to get people to use them more often. But does PLD really need another buff? Does SAM? DRG? DRK? BST does definitely, but they are just buffing a merit ability, and not something that effects all BST and more importantly BST that have already handed over their merits for other abilities that might have to now switch them if this JA is really good.<br /><br />Finally, BLU gets some more spells. This is nice for BLU I suppose, but with very many things in this game these spells will either be awesome and used all the time or they will suck and will never be used. This is especially true of BLU that usually has a limited store of spells they can use and it is already full. I understand that when they put new mobs into the game they will want to add new spells, but a lot of the spells overlap because the TP moves of the mobs overlap. This is fine for the mobs because they still have unique <span style="font-style:italic;">combination</span> of TP moves decided by the developers. But most players are going to just pick the strongest spells, and SE wants people to use new spells they are going to have to provide something strong and unique that BLU's don't already get. Again, I have to wonder if they are just creating to be creative or if they are considering game balance and player choice in any of their development decisions.<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4692/4692_9.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4692/4692_9.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 454px; height: 170px;" /></a><br />Here is the full text of the update notes: <br /><br />As a follow up to last week's article on new ninja job abilities, it is with pleasure that we introduce other job-related additions and adjustments scheduled for the fast-approaching July version update.<br /><br />Rate of Gain for Combat and Magic Skills<br />The introduction of in-game systems such as Level Sync and Fields of Valor, while expediting job level increases in the low and middle level ranges, has caused gains made in combat and magic skills to lag behind.<br /><br />To address this issue, the rate at which combat and magic skills increase during low and middle job levels is set to be given a boost.<br /><br />Circle-type Abilities<br />Up until now, the benefits granted by Circle-type abilities have been lackluster relative to their ability delay. The July version update will see these abilities imbued with additional effects for greatly enhanced usability.<br /><br />The following abilities will benefit from the above adjustment:<br />Holy Circle / Arcane Circle / Warding Circle / Ancient Circle / Killer Instinct<br /><br />Blue Magic<br />Two new blue magic spells are scheduled to be added in the coming version update.<br /></span>

Our Comprehensive Guide to the July 2009 Update.

The July 2009 Update is just around the corner so we have put together this guide to all the information we have about the coming update, including information about missions, job changes, events, equipment and even the Moogle Kupo d'Etat scenario! Stay tuned for any new information!

The July 2009 Update for FFXI is looking to be a decently balanced update with additional zones that we have been promised for a while. The much anticipated Campaign body pieces will become available after getting the new Campaign ranks. The two new zones - Beaucidine and Xarcabard - look to be very Campaign oriented and if the development team fulfills their promise, they will be oriented to high-level players. The "Union" system is being introduced to Campaign and the rewards look to be potentially pretty damn sweet. New Wings missions are being added, but it doesn't look to be too many. Moblin Maze Mongers is getting an NPC-style addition. Finally, there are currently unannounced Job Adjustments.

Our complete and comprehensive coverage of the July Update is listed after the break!

Update Information

Wings of the Goddess Missions

→ Two new missions added.
*"A Traitor in Our Midst!" and "The World Will Choose..." both listed as titles in the update notes.

New Areas

→ Beaucedine Glacier (S) and Xarcabard (S) will be opened.

Job Adjustments

→ Ninja
*Two new Job Abilities are being added: Yonin and Innin.
*Mijin Gakure will now not cause weakness after being raised. Ninja's that use Mijin Gakure will be at 50% health after being raised.

Campaign

→ Beaucedine Glacier (S) and Xarcabard (S) are available for Campaign conflicts.
→ Two new Campaign medals will be available.
→ New equipment - including Campaign body pieces - will become available via purchase with Allied Notes with requisite Campaign medal.
→ "Union" system introduced.
*The Union system is an open, campaign-based battle system.
*Success under the Union system will yield rewards including Dynamis currency, synthesis materials, and spoils of the Beastman Confederate. Treasure will be distributed via caskets after each battle.
*Participation is required, and rewards will only be awards based on a minimum level of participation.

Moblin Maze Mongers

→ A new Maze Voucher and Goblin companion added.
*Goblin companions will be able to level up and specialize similar to NPCs.
*Goblins initial start as the "All-Rounder" then other job options include "Walloper" melee, "Barrager" ranged attacker and "Spellslinger" mage.
*Each Goblin job will have unique special abilities.
*Maze Runes that enhance your Goblin companion added.
→ New augmented gear unique to MMM added.

Site Coverage

*POL News: A Warm Day in Xarcabard.
*Morning in Vana'diel: Questing Missions and Missing Quests.
*POL News: On the Campaign Trail.
*POL News: Wings takes flight.
*POL News: Moblins Take Up Heart Surgery
*POL News: Ninja Booty!

Square Enix POL Announcements

*Campaign Gets Reinforcements!
*Winds of the Goddess Missions!
*Moblin Maze Mongers Delve Deeper Into Your Heart!
*Job Adjustments and Additions Part I

<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4578/4578.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4578/4578.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 415px; height: 100px;" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">July 2009 Update</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> is just around the corner so we have put together this guide to all the information we have about the coming update, including information about missions, job changes, events, equipment and even the Moogle Kupo d'Etat scenario! Stay tuned for any new information!</span><br /><br />The July 2009 Update for FFXI is looking to be a decently balanced update with additional zones that we have been promised for a while. The much anticipated Campaign body pieces will become available after getting the new Campaign ranks. The two new zones - Beaucidine and Xarcabard - look to be very Campaign oriented and if the development team fulfills their promise, they will be oriented to high-level players. The "Union" system is being introduced to Campaign and the rewards look to be potentially pretty damn sweet. New Wings missions are being added, but it doesn't look to be too many. Moblin Maze Mongers is getting an NPC-style addition. Finally, there are currently unannounced Job Adjustments.<br /><br />Our complete and comprehensive coverage of the July Update is listed after the break! <br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><u>Update Information</u><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wings of the Goddess Missions</span><br /><br />→ Two new missions added.<br />*"A Traitor in Our Midst!" and "The World Will Choose..." both listed as titles in the update notes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New Areas</span><br /><br />→ Beaucedine Glacier (S) and Xarcabard (S) will be opened. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Job Adjustments</span><br /><br />→ Ninja<br />*Two new Job Abilities are being added: Yonin and Innin.<br />*Mijin Gakure will now not cause weakness after being raised. Ninja's that use Mijin Gakure will be at 50% health after being raised. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Campaign</span><br /><br />→ Beaucedine Glacier (S) and Xarcabard (S) are available for Campaign conflicts.<br />→ Two new Campaign medals will be available.<br />→ New equipment - including Campaign body pieces - will become available via purchase with Allied Notes with requisite Campaign medal.<br />→ "Union" system introduced.<br />*The Union system is an open, campaign-based battle system.<br />*Success under the Union system will yield rewards including Dynamis currency, synthesis materials, and spoils of the Beastman Confederate. Treasure will be distributed via caskets after each battle.<br />*Participation is required, and rewards will only be awards based on a minimum level of participation.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Moblin Maze Mongers</span><br /><br />→ A new Maze Voucher and Goblin companion added.<br />*Goblin companions will be able to level up and specialize similar to NPCs.<br />*Goblins initial start as the "All-Rounder" then other job options include "Walloper" melee, "Barrager" ranged attacker and "Spellslinger" mage.<br />*Each Goblin job will have unique special abilities.<br />*Maze Runes that enhance your Goblin companion added.<br />→ New augmented gear unique to MMM added.<br /><br /><u>Site Coverage</u><br /><br />*<a href="http://ringthree.blogspot.com/2009/06/pol-news-warm-day-in-xarcabard.html">POL News: A Warm Day in Xarcabard.</a><br />*<a href="http://ringthree.blogspot.com/2009/06/morning-in-vanadiel-questing-missions.html">Morning in Vana'diel: Questing Missions and Missing Quests.</a><br />*<a href="http://ringthree.blogspot.com/2009/06/pol-news-on-campaign-trail.html">POL News: On the Campaign Trail.</a><br />*<a href="http://ringthree.blogspot.com/2009/06/pol-news-wings-takes-flight.html">POL News: Wings takes flight.</a><br />*<a href="http://ringthree.blogspot.com/2009/06/pol-news-moblins-take-up-heart-surgery.html">POL News: Moblins Take Up Heart Surgery</a><br />*<a href="http://ringthree.blogspot.com/2009/07/pol-news-ninja-booty.html">POL News: Ninja Booty!</a><br /><br /><u>Square Enix POL Announcements</u><br /><br />*<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4593/detail.html">Campaign Gets Reinforcements!</a><br />*<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4636/detail.html">Winds of the Goddess Missions!</a><br />*<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4646/detail.html">Moblin Maze Mongers Delve Deeper Into Your Heart!</a></span><br />*<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4666/detail.html">Job Adjustments and Additions Part I</a>