Final Fantasy XI - Online

FFXI gil scarce?

Many FFXI gil-buying players have been kvetching how their orders didn’t get filled until about after a week or so.

What is going on?

I haven’t purchased FFXI gil in quite a while so I don’t really know what’s going on, but if you’ve recently placed an order and would like to share your shopping experience, leave a comment. I’d like to know the latest scoop from the gil buyers themselves.

Thanks!

Accounts Banned (Aug. 26)

We would like to report the termination today of multiple accounts held by players involved in the usage of third-party tools or cheats, or engaged in RMT (Real Money Trading) activities.

Based on the results of our investigation, around 5760 PlayOnline accounts were terminated while around 420 accounts were temporarily suspended.

Additionally, we have increased the number of mass bannings against certain PlayOnline violations in order to prevent illegal acts.

The termination of these accounts has led to the removal of approximately 2.5 billion gil from circulation.

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnews/news14006.shtml

AAAAAARRRRRGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Certainly not me. I love FFXIbut the amount of time required to combat the Pandemonium Warden - can you say 18 hours without flinching? - is just insane.

Imagine the hailstorm of feedback this got - too difficult, too time-consuming, too everything. FFXI’s developer heard the frosty reception and released this sweet little memo…and I quote:

Regarding Specific Notorious Monsters

The past two weeks have seen considerable feedback from players regarding the amount of time required to combat the Pandemonium Warden, a recently implemented Notorious Monster (NM). Discussion has spread significantly throughout forums, and it has become apparent that this is indeed an issue of major unrest in the community.

We would like to assure players that the development and management teams place a high value on their feedback, and the issue has since been taken under serious consideration. Together with Absolute Virtue, it has been deemed that the combative techniques for weakening these NMs are too difficult. As a result, some players have engaged these enemies using unanticipated methods which led to extended battle times. It is by no means the desire of the development team to see players involved in encounters that require an excessive amount of time and effort to complete. It was for this reason that previous measures were put into practice which prohibited NMs from being held in battle for prolonged periods. In response to these events, we have determined that further alterations are required to prevent such battles from exceeding a certain predetermined length of time.

HALLELUJAH!

Should have posted this earlier. Anyway, here’s the latest tidbit from my ol’ faithful newshound: there’s what is described as a “grueling new enemy encounter” in FFXI and it ain’t gonna be pretty. No wusses allowed. In fact, Massively has dibs on what FFXI players may have to go through just to defeat Pandemonium Warden.

Hope it doesn’t involve selling one’s soul.

Anyway, think shapeshifts in multiple forms, more hours to devote to killing, and can you say…

A whole new level of FFXI addiction?

Perhaps. Here’s a quote from an FFXI community site, courtesy of Old’ Faithful Newshound, talking about their guild’s face-off against Pandemonium Warden:

“People were passing out and getting physically ill. We decided to end it before we risked turning into a horrible new story about how video games ruin people’s lives.”

Yikes!

Welcome to my blog site. This is for all you FFXI players, fans and nuts — both newbies and vets — whose free time (um, 20 out of 24 hours, I suppose?) is dedicated to the game. This is my first post which I would like to use as a springboard for newbies to get into the swim of things.

So here’s FFXI in a nutshell:

• Final Fantasy XI AKA FFXI is an MMORPG (that stands for massively multiplayer online role-playing game, folks!) published by Square Enix.
• Its PC version was released in 2003.
• The story is set in the fantasy world of Vana’diel
• All battles are real time (hooray!)
• The four main cities in Vana’diel are Bastok, San d’Oria, Windurst, and Jeuno.
• There are 5 races: Elvaan, Hume, Galka, Mithra, and Tarutaru
• These are the common monsters ready to kick you and your Aunt Fanny: Adamantoise, Ahriman, Behemoth, Bomb, Cactuar, Chimera, Cockatrice, Flan, Four Fiends, Garuda, Iron Giant, Malboro, Tonberry
• The Shadow Lord is Public Enemy Number One
• Players begin the game as residents of any one of the three main countries, San d’Oria, Bastok and Windurst
• Gameplay is comprised of two major components: missions and quests
• Each nation and expansion has its own set of missions and quests
• A player may choose from 20 different jobs — Warrior, Monk, White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage, Thief, Paladin, Dark Knight, Beastmaster, Ranger, Bard, Summoner, Samurai, Ninja, Dragoon, Blue Mage, Corsair, Puppetmaster, Dancer, and Scholar.
• FFXI players can participate in crafting and hobbies.
• FFXI has a largely player-based economy, with a heavy reliance on “Auction Houses”
• FFXI currency is called “gil“

So that’s the (cracked) nutshell version of what the game is basically about. Expect a lot of action and a lot of grinding. As for moi, to get away from the daily grind (hey, I have a life outside FFXI, ya know!), I invest in the occasional gil from sites like IGE.com. And no, I don’t a give a second thought about purchasing virtual currency. Life is too short to waste arguing about the EULA.

I’ll be back with another post soon.

Your friendly FFXI Nut