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Guides • Crafting • Trusts • Apex Monsters |
The History of Final Fantasy XI/2005: Difference between revisions
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No expansion packs were released this year, but the conclusion of Chains of Promathia's main storyline was released, as well as significant new content added with version updates. |
No expansion packs were released this year, but the conclusion of Chains of Promathia's main storyline was released, as well as significant new content added with version updates. |
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| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Jan. 1st, 2005''' |
| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Jan. 1st, 2005''' |
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| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #f90}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> '''[[Image:Excalibur icon.png|25px|link=]] Birds of Happiness visit Vana'diel'''</font></div> |
| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #f90}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> '''[[Image:Excalibur icon.png|25px|link=]] Birds of Happiness visit Vana'diel'''</font></div> |
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**A Shield Block would now reduced the amount of damage taken. Before, every shield block would negate all damage. |
**A Shield Block would now reduced the amount of damage taken. Before, every shield block would negate all damage. |
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**The "Shield Size" system was introduced. Smaller shields would block more frequently but for less damage. Larger shields would block less frequently for more damage. |
**The "Shield Size" system was introduced. Smaller shields would block more frequently but for less damage. Larger shields would block less frequently for more damage. |
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**Shield usage will now be determined after any |
**Shield usage will now be determined after any evasion effects are considered. |
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*[[White Mage]] |
*[[White Mage]] |
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**[[Divine Veil]] added |
**[[Divine Veil]] added |
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| width=500px valign=top | '''Shield Update''' |
| width=500px valign=top | '''Shield Update''' |
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The shield update took a lot of getting used to for players. It was a major change, but eventually became a very welcome one. Before this change, shields rarely blocked and Paladins would often try out AGI builds. |
The shield update took a lot of getting used to for players. It was a major change, but eventually became a very welcome one. Before this change, shields rarely blocked and Paladins would often try out AGI builds or not even use a shield at all. [[Earth Staff|Earth Staves]] were in every Paladin's inventory. [[Warrior]] was the only subjob used for Paladin. An [[Aerial Armor]] rotation was a common strategy to negate damage from an onslaught of attacks, paired with out of alliance [[White Mage]]s to keep up curing. Before this update, [[Ninja]] was the tank of choice due to negating almost all damage. |
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This update was the first step of the evolution of [[Paladin]]. Shield Skill became high in demand. The [[Kaiser Schaller]], and later on after Limbus was released, the [[Boxer's Mantle]] became staples of any Paladin's equip sets. |
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'''Chat Filters Useful?''' |
'''Chat Filters Useful?''' |
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The chat filter change now |
The chat filter change now made filters actually useful. Players could specifically filter what they didn't want to see more effectively. |
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'''Fishing Change''' |
'''Fishing Change''' |
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Additionally, almost all remaining profit was slashed from selling fish to NPCs. |
Additionally, almost all remaining profit was slashed from selling fish to NPCs. |
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'''Load Fishing''' |
<span id=loadfishing>'''Load Fishing'''</span> |
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Since the introduction to Action Fishing in this update, the term "Load Fishing" came to be. The phenomenon was that the higher the spec PC being used, the higher the difficulty of successfully catching a fish. PS2 users easily caught [[Ryugu Titan]], but PC users had an incredibly difficult time landing their catch. In order to bridge the gap between players, PC fishermen came up with the "Load Fishing" method. By starting an application other than POL that has a high load on the PC processor, the capability of your PC is lowered. As a result, fish's physical strength suddenly increased or decreased depending on key strokes. |
Since the introduction to Action Fishing in this update, the term "Load Fishing" came to be. The phenomenon was that the higher the spec PC being used, the higher the difficulty of successfully catching a fish. PS2 users easily caught [[Ryugu Titan]], but PC users had an incredibly difficult time landing their catch. In order to bridge the gap between players, PC fishermen came up with the "Load Fishing" method. By starting an application other than POL that has a high load on the PC processor, the capability of your PC is lowered. As a result, fish's physical strength suddenly increased or decreased depending on key strokes. |
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**FFXI Trivia and Raffles |
**FFXI Trivia and Raffles |
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! Q&A Session Transcript |
! Q&A Session Transcript |
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Will there be any Throwing Weapon Skill added in the future? |
Will there be any Throwing Weapon Skill added in the future? |
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Though we can' |
Though we can't disclose any details, we will be adding new ways to obtain Weapon Skills and Spells for higher level players. |
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'''Audience Question:''' |
'''Audience Question:''' |
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*[[Flower Egg]] |
*[[Flower Egg]] |
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| colspan=2 | [[Image:Lamp_Egg.png| |
| colspan=2 | [[Image:Lamp_Egg.png|150px|Lamp Egg]][[Image:Wing_Egg.png|150px|Wing Egg]][[Image:Flower_Egg.png|150px|Flower Egg]] |
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| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Apr. 14th, 2005''' |
| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Apr. 14th, 2005''' |
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Players were surprised with the multiple currency types needed to upgrade the weapon. Speculation was that the final stage was a random [[Dynamis]] currency type for each player. After a few players reached this stage it was discovered that it is always an [[R. Goldpiece]]. |
Players were surprised with the multiple currency types needed to upgrade the weapon. Speculation was that the final stage was a random [[Dynamis]] currency type for each player. After a few players reached this stage it was discovered that it is always an [[R. Goldpiece]]. |
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'''Sea NMs Added''' |
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Upon release of the Al'Taieu region, the [[Sea NM System]] was also implemented. [[Absolute Virtue]] would soon after become a meme, as it was undefeatable due to how powerful it was. |
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| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | <span id=atlas>'''Apr. 22nd, 2005'''</span> |
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| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #b68540}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> '''[[Image:Counterfeit_Gil_icon.png|25px|link=]] The Bradygames Atlas'''</font></div> |
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| width=500px valign=top | Following the... wonderful guides Bradygames made in 2003 and 2004, they decided that they would actually step things up a bit by making an Atlas instead of a "full guide". The FFXI Atlas was much more useful than their "guides". The book contained custom graphics for their maps, which made them easier to comprehend than the in-game maps. With the large and expansive world that was [[Vana'diel]], players constantly referred to the Atlas book to help themselves and their friends navigate zones. |
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Mob listings, quests, and other important tips were found in this book. Even though it was much more useful than the previous two guides, the same issue occurred - information became quickly outdated. Having a different focus, however, the information stayed relatively useful. |
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[[Image:Ffxiatlas.jpg|300px|link=]] |
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| width=500px valign=top | Soon to replace this book was ffxi-atlas.com - an interactive fan made website that was constantly updated for about a year and a half. It was much more useful than a wiki, as players could click on the map zones to easily see the next place to go. |
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It's popularity soon led to its demise, however. iFrames were a popular website building method back at this time, and as such exploits could be injected into website ads with little difficulty. The website lost it's maintenance staff, but stayed online. Without noscript for Firefox, players found themselves getting viruses from simply using the website and soon after getting their POL accounts compromised by RMT who would strip their character of valuables and sell whatever was left over. |
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[[Image:Ffxiatlas1.jpg|250px]] [[Image:Ffxiatlas2.jpg|250px]] |
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| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Apr. 28th, 2005''' |
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| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #f90}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> '''[[Image:Excalibur icon.png|25px|link=]] <span id=Sword2004>Feast of Swords</span>'''</font></div> |
| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #f90}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> '''[[Image:Excalibur icon.png|25px|link=]] <span id=Sword2004>Feast of Swords</span>'''</font></div> |
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| width=500px valign=top | The first ever Feast of Swords event took place, and became an annual Vana'diel event. |
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Players had to receive the [[Wooden Katana]] from a moogle, and be restricted to level 1. The goal was to attack the Samurai NPCs named [[Tatenashi Armor]], [[Tukukazazu Armor]], [[Ubuginu Armor]] and [[Hachryu Armor]]. They were placed around the three kingdoms. |
Players had to receive the [[Wooden Katana]] from a moogle, and be restricted to level 1. The goal was to attack the Samurai NPCs named [[Tatenashi Armor]], [[Tukukazazu Armor]], [[Ubuginu Armor]] and [[Hachryu Armor]]. They were placed around the three kingdoms. |
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If players kill one of the Samurais, they received the [[Hardwood Katana]]. |
If players kill one of the Samurais, they received the [[Hardwood Katana]]. |
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| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Apr. 28th, 2005''' |
| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Apr. 28th, 2005''' |
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| width=500px valign=top | An official announcement was made on the Playonline website regarding Ballista Royale. The event was a [[Ballista]] championship. There was both a North American and a Japanese championship held. |
| width=500px valign=top | An official announcement was made on the Playonline website regarding Ballista Royale. The event was a [[Ballista]] championship. There was both a North American and a Japanese championship held. |
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The event was sponsored by Enterbrain, Inc. (as they were known at the time). |
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| width=500px valign=top | [[Image:Ballistaroyale_announce_en.gif]] |
| width=500px valign=top | [[Image:Ballistaroyale_announce_en.gif]] |
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! Q&A Session Transcript |
! Q&A Session Transcript |
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(Aiba) |
(Aiba) |
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Vana'diel is such a vast world that being able to create something out of nothing and populating the |
Vana'diel is such a vast world that being able to create something out of nothing and populating the world with so much content was the most difficult task I had in graphics |
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'''(Allakhazam)''' Do they plan on adding any additional Avatars/Summons? |
'''(Allakhazam)''' Do they plan on adding any additional Avatars/Summons? |
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[[Image:Igames 2005 hi 1.jpg|225px]][[Image:Igames 2005 hi 2.jpg|225px]] |
[[Image:Igames 2005 hi 1.jpg|225px]][[Image:Igames 2005 hi 2.jpg|225px]] |
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<youtube>zeiBx-_DlgE</youtube> |
<youtube width=450>zeiBx-_DlgE</youtube> |
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| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''May 2005''' |
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| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #ac1717}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> '''[[Image:Historynews.gif|25px|link=]] First Maat's Cap Found</font></div> |
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| width=500px valign=top | The first acquirer of the [[Maat's Cap]] was spotted in early May 2005 on the Unicorn world. The method of acquiring the cap was found soon after. Everyone was incredibly surprised that this item existed, and that there was somebody who had the cap at this point in the game. This was an era that most people had 0-2 maximum Level 75 jobs, and veterans only had 3-5. It was unheard of to have every job at a high enough level to beat Maat on each one. |
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[http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/guide/development/vt2/08/index.html An article was written] in the [[Vana'diel Tribune II]] regarding this achievement for the June 2005 edition. |
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[[Image:Maat's Cap description.png|center]] |
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| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''May 8th, 2005''' |
| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''May 8th, 2005''' |
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| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #ac1717}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> '''[[Image:Historynews.gif|25px|link=]] 5th Vana'diel Census'''</font></div> |
| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #ac1717}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> '''[[Image:Historynews.gif|25px|link=]] 5th Vana'diel Census'''</font></div> |
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| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #ac1717}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> '''[[Image:Historynews.gif|25px|link=]] Final Fantasy XI for Xbox 360 announced at E3 2005'''</font></div> |
| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #ac1717}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> '''[[Image:Historynews.gif|25px|link=]] Final Fantasy XI for Xbox 360 announced at E3 2005'''</font></div> |
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| width=500px valign=top | During the Microsoft Press Conference at E3 2005, Final Fantasy XI was announced for Xbox 360. It would be Xbox's first MMORPG. |
| width=500px valign=top | During the Microsoft Press Conference at E3 2005, Final Fantasy XI was announced for Xbox 360. It would be Xbox's first MMORPG, as well as the first cross-platform game between Playstation and Xbox, not to mention PC. |
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The Xbox has never done as well with sales in Japan as it has in North America. The Xbox 360 version announcement was well received in North America. |
The Xbox has never done as well with sales in Japan as it has in North America. The Xbox 360 version announcement was well received in North America. |
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Players on PS2 were pretty awe-inspired by the graphics on Xbox 360 vs PS2. |
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| width=500px valign=top | <youtube width=450>Bb03kS90QHo</youtube> |
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| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Jun. 7th, 2005''' |
| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Jun. 7th, 2005''' |
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| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan= |
| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=3 align=center valign=top | '''Jul. 19th, 2005''' |
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| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #1ca4bc}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> '''[[Image:Historyversionup.png|25px|link=]] The Game Changer'''</font></div> |
| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #1ca4bc}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> '''[[Image:Historyversionup.png|25px|link=]] The Game Changer'''</font></div> |
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*[[Mannequin Pumps]] and [[Minstrel's Dagger]] can now be reobtained if tossed from the same place it was attained (Quest giver). |
*[[Mannequin Pumps]] and [[Minstrel's Dagger]] can now be reobtained if tossed from the same place it was attained (Quest giver). |
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*Mythril Plate Armor could now be stored as a key item with the armor set storage npcs. |
*Mythril Plate Armor could now be stored as a key item with the armor set storage npcs. |
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*[[Experience Points]] can now be earned by defeating a wider level range array of monsters. Furthermore, Decent Challenge and |
*[[Experience Points]] can now be earned by defeating a wider level range array of monsters. Furthermore, Decent Challenge and Easy Prey now provided more Experience. |
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*[[Experience Points]] chain bonuses in level capped areas now granted experience at the capped level rather than a player's actual level. |
*[[Experience Points]] chain bonuses in level capped areas now granted experience at the capped level rather than a player's actual level. |
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*Almost all Chains of Promathia areas had monster locations adjusted. |
*Almost all Chains of Promathia areas had monster locations adjusted. |
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**Players could now join an unbalanced team in the middle of a match. |
**Players could now join an unbalanced team in the middle of a match. |
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**[[Ballista Earring]] and [[Ballista Band]] were now able to be borrowed for free from the [[Pursuivant]] in [[Ru'Lude Gardens]]. |
**[[Ballista Earring]] and [[Ballista Band]] were now able to be borrowed for free from the [[Pursuivant]] in [[Ru'Lude Gardens]]. |
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*The system of “Open Entry” for official matches, in which all adventurers were allowed to join the force with the smallest number of participants, has been done away with and replaced by a system called "Temporary Entry," in which players may join a force regardless of allegiance. However, the player's entry is temporary, and similar to Diorama Abdhaljs-Ghelsba's "Auto-Balance" feature, the players may be redistributed for balance when the match begins. |
**The system of “Open Entry” for official matches, in which all adventurers were allowed to join the force with the smallest number of participants, has been done away with and replaced by a system called "Temporary Entry," in which players may join a force regardless of allegiance. However, the player's entry is temporary, and similar to Diorama Abdhaljs-Ghelsba's "Auto-Balance" feature, the players may be redistributed for balance when the match begins. |
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*In [[Ru'Lude Gardens]], the player will be able to view [[Diorama Abdhaljs-Ghelsba]]s reservation status. Reservations for the next two days (Earth time) will be shown. |
*In [[Ru'Lude Gardens]], the player will be able to view [[Diorama Abdhaljs-Ghelsba]]s reservation status. Reservations for the next two days (Earth time) will be shown. |
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*The NPC Tillecoe will now inform the player of the match’s level restriction when a match at [[Diorama Abdhaljs-Ghelsba]] is set to allow general participation. |
*The NPC Tillecoe will now inform the player of the match’s level restriction when a match at [[Diorama Abdhaljs-Ghelsba]] is set to allow general participation. |
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To this day, North American/European players do not understand that Double Weakness only affects Ranged and Magical attacks. |
To this day, North American/European players do not understand that Double Weakness only affects Ranged and Magical attacks. |
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*{{color|red|OTHER JOBS ARE NOT AFFECTED, |
*{{color|red|OTHER JOBS ARE NOT AFFECTED, YOU ARE ONLY DOUBLE WEAK IF YOU ARE A RANGED ATTACK OR MAGICAL ATTACK JOB!}} |
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'''RMT Nerfs''' |
'''RMT Nerfs''' |
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Popular low level equipment was suddenly moved to BCNM fights. [[Leaping Lizzy]], [[Valkurm Emperor]], [[Stroper Chyme]] and [[Argus]] saw RMT disappear, and legit adventurers come in trying to claim their Rare/Ex equivalent armor pieces. Long gone were the days of RMT in Ordelle's Caves telling us to |
Popular low level equipment was suddenly moved to BCNM fights. [[Leaping Lizzy]], [[Valkurm Emperor]], [[Stroper Chyme]] and [[Argus]] saw RMT disappear, and legit adventurers come in trying to claim their Rare/Ex equivalent armor pieces. Long gone were the days of RMT in Ordelle's Caves telling us to "f*** our mothers". Unfortunately, this made the more competent RMT groups move to sky. |
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'''Ballista''' |
'''Ballista''' |
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This is why most people simply waited until 18:00 so that the balance distribution wouldn't ruin the match. It was open entry at this point and was easier to balance the teams. You could always count on a huge rush of players joining ballista between 18:00-22:00. -[http://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/51422/the-history-of-final-fantasy-xi/2/#3296850 Buukki@Asura] |
This is why most people simply waited until 18:00 so that the balance distribution wouldn't ruin the match. It was open entry at this point and was easier to balance the teams. You could always count on a huge rush of players joining ballista between 18:00-22:00. -[http://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/51422/the-history-of-final-fantasy-xi/2/#3296850 Buukki@Asura] |
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'''Adventuring Fellows''' |
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The Fellows were an amazing addition to the game. Having an NPC that can fight along side you (and even cure) aided adventurers in many quests, missions, and soloing some [[Experience Points]]. |
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On some servers, players even cooperated during the quest to obtain Fellows. Orderly lines were formed where players took turns with the quest fight. |
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[[Image:FellowLine.jpg|450px]] |
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| style="background: #fdd1a1; border-collapse: seperate; border-radius: 15px; color: #000000; padding: 10px;"| The following is a quote from [[Yaeko Sato]] regarding memories of creating the ending.<br />This quote was publicized on the [https://we-are-vanadiel.finalfantasyxi.com/history/?lang=en "WE ARE VANA'DIEL" official commemorative website] in 2021. |
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| style="background: #FFFFFF; border-collapse: seperate; border-radius: 15px; color: #000000; padding: 10px;" |[[Image:Yaeko Sato.jpg|right|200px]]"At the time, I was part of the FINAL FANTASY XII development team, but I frequently corresponded with FINAL FANTASY XI team member Yoshitsugu Saito to create the ideal ending. Creating the ending became an irreplaceable memorable for me. We spent countless hours poring over videotapes of the cutscene, well into the night. I remember being very surprised when I heard that "Distant Worlds" would be performed by an opera singer. The song and vocals were wonderful, and I can only say that I was in awe in how they were able to portray the world in its entirety." |
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-Yaeko Sato, Planner |
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| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Jul 21st, 2005''' |
| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Jul 21st, 2005''' |
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HQ sets were also implemented. Every time the event was done, you received one piece. In order to obtain the HQ pieces, you had to equip the outfit and repeat the event. Since every race/sex had two pieces, the event needed to be completed four times in four different areas to obtain the full set. |
HQ sets were also implemented. Every time the event was done, you received one piece. In order to obtain the HQ pieces, you had to equip the outfit and repeat the event. Since every race/sex had two pieces, the event needed to be completed four times in four different areas to obtain the full set. |
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{| width= |
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|+ '''Normal Quality Pieces''' |
|+ '''Normal Quality Pieces''' |
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! Race/Sex |
! Race/Sex |
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| [[Galka Trunks]] |
| [[Galka Trunks]] |
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{| width= |
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|+ '''High-Quality Pieces''' |
|+ '''High-Quality Pieces''' |
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! Race/Sex |
! Race/Sex |
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Although the video below is from 2006, it gives a taste on how crazy HNMs became after being held for too long. |
Although the video below is from 2006, it gives a taste on how crazy HNMs became after being held for too long. |
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<youtube>aK5pVFqCtzs</youtube> |
<youtube width=450>aK5pVFqCtzs</youtube> |
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'''Claim Delay''' |
'''Claim Delay''' |
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**Prizes included cordless controllers, surround sound systems, and even a custom Promathia PC |
**Prizes included cordless controllers, surround sound systems, and even a custom Promathia PC |
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[[Image:Arena51.jpg| |
[[Image:Arena51.jpg|400px|center]] |
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! Q&A Session Transcript |
! Q&A Session Transcript |
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| valign=top | The Nippon Youth Center is located in Tokyo's Meiji Jingu Gaien district. In order to be used for a site for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, it was dismantled and totally remodeled into a hotel with |
| valign=top colspan=2 | The Nippon Youth Center is located in Tokyo's Meiji Jingu Gaien district. In order to be used for a site for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, it was dismantled and totally remodeled into a hotel with 220 rooms and 1250 seats. The grand opening was on August 1st, 2017. |
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[[Image:Nihon_Seinenkan.jpg|265px]] |
[[Image:Nihon_Seinenkan.jpg|265px]] |
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| width=500px valign=top | [[Image:TOAU_Banner.gif|center]] |
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The third expansion for Final Fantasy XI, [[Treasures of Aht Urhgan]], was announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2005. |
The third expansion for Final Fantasy XI, [[Treasures of Aht Urhgan]], was announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2005. The trailer you might remember was not shown at this event, that was released later on. It is embedded later on in this project. |
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TGS 2005 took place from September 16th thru September 18th. Final Fantasy XI had a section set up within the Microsoft area. The game drew the most attention in the booth. In addition, a playable demonstration of the Xbox 360 version was on show. A chocobo competition event took place among visitors. |
TGS 2005 took place from September 16th thru September 18th. Final Fantasy XI had a section set up within the Microsoft area. The game drew the most attention in the booth. In addition, a playable demonstration of the Xbox 360 version was on show. A chocobo competition event took place among visitors. |
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*The number of dolls that can be summoned by a member of the [[Spheroid]] family now has a limit. |
*The number of dolls that can be summoned by a member of the [[Spheroid]] family now has a limit. |
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**This limit was placed on a spawn-by-spawn basis. Killing the monster and waiting for a new spawn has a fresh timer. |
**This limit was placed on a spawn-by-spawn basis. Killing the monster and waiting for a new spawn has a fresh timer. |
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*The number of elementals that can be summoned by a member of the [[ |
*The number of elementals that can be summoned by a member of the [[Aern]] family now has a limit. |
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**This limit was placed on a spawn-by-spawn basis. Killing the monster and waiting for a new spawn has a fresh timer. |
**This limit was placed on a spawn-by-spawn basis. Killing the monster and waiting for a new spawn has a fresh timer. |
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*An issue wherein players not participating in an [[Expeditionary Force]] mission were able to attack the pets of the expeditionary force monsters has been addressed. |
*An issue wherein players not participating in an [[Expeditionary Force]] mission were able to attack the pets of the expeditionary force monsters has been addressed. |
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| width=500px valign=top |'''Limbus''' |
| width=500px valign=top |'''Limbus''' |
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Limbus was a fun event for causal players to get into and farm [[Ancient Beastcoin]]s for good profit. Many endgame linkshells wanted to participate, but few had enough players with sea access to effectively add it to their schedules. |
Limbus was a fun event for causal players to get into and farm [[Ancient Beastcoin]]s for good profit. Many endgame linkshells wanted to participate, but few had enough players with sea access to effectively add it to their schedules. Because of this, dedicated Limbus-only linkshells popped up around this time. Due to the event being on a 3-day lockout, it was not the only linkshell players had. Players also had Dynamis shells, HNM shells, and general Chat shells. Some linkshells tried tackling all events, and would frown upon players who had mutiple linkshells. |
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Since the maximum number of people who can enter Limbus was 18, only a full alliance could enter. It was common for Limbus shells to to have two parties of 12, and tackle a different floors or even Temenos and Apollyon sequentially. |
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'''Experience Points Bands''' |
'''Experience Points Bands''' |
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Before this update, it was common for players to [[Sleep]] monsters with high defense, use a weapon with 1 damage, hit it for 0, and obtain a skill up. The monster would remain slept. Particularly, the [[Treat Staff]] was used with this method for [[Black Mage]]s to skill up. As such, the staff was nicknamed "Sleep Treat". |
Before this update, it was common for players to [[Sleep]] monsters with high defense, use a weapon with 1 damage, hit it for 0, and obtain a skill up. The monster would remain slept. Particularly, the [[Treat Staff]] was used with this method for [[Black Mage]]s to skill up. As such, the staff was nicknamed "Sleep Treat". |
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'''Chocobo Digging Fix''' |
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In this update, a fixed wait time was introduced to countermeasure the so-called "Change of Clothes Digging". This allowed players to change equipment while a chocobo was pecking the ground with the dig animation, effectively shortening the wait time required to re-dig. Implementing this fixed wait time prevented this method of digging. |
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| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Oct. 12th, 2005''' |
| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Oct. 12th, 2005''' |
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'''For more info, see the [https://www.bluegartr.com/threads/34934-iGames-FFXI-Tour-College-Station-TX-2005-Report-amp-Pictu BG Forums Thread]''' |
'''For more info, see the [https://www.bluegartr.com/threads/34934-iGames-FFXI-Tour-College-Station-TX-2005-Report-amp-Pictu BG Forums Thread]''' |
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! Q&A Panel Transcript |
! Q&A Panel Transcript |
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Matt Hilton: The answer that we received from the development team about this question had a big smile at the end of it. We're considering various things like this and that's all we can say for now! They're really having fun with summoners! |
Matt Hilton: The answer that we received from the development team about this question had a big smile at the end of it. We're considering various things like this and that's all we can say for now! They're really having fun with summoners! |
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! Private BlueGartr Interview with Sage Sundi |
! Private BlueGartr Interview with Sage Sundi |
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[[Image:iGames2005_Texas_13.jpg|225px]][[Image:iGames2005_Texas_14.jpg|225px]] |
[[Image:iGames2005_Texas_13.jpg|225px]][[Image:iGames2005_Texas_14.jpg|225px]] |
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| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Dec. |
| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Dec. 7th, 2005''' |
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| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #ac1717}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> '''[[Image:Historynews.gif|25px|link=]] Vrtra found at Spook's location on Lakshmi'''</font></div> |
| width=1050px colspan=2 | <div style="{{linear-gradient|right|#FFFFFF, #ac1717}}"><font color=#FFFFFF> <span id=vrtraspook>'''[[Image:Historynews.gif|25px|link=]] Vrtra found at Spook's location on Lakshmi'''</span></font></div> |
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| width=500px valign=top | On the Lakshmi world, [[Vrtra]] |
| width=500px valign=top | On the Lakshmi world, [[Vrtra]] was found idle near the [[Spook]] location. |
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It is said that an unknown player may have aggro'd him, and used third party tools to teleport himself back to [[Spook]]. [[Vrtra]] somehow followed him back and stayed in the area after the player either warped or was killed and returned to their Home Point. It is not known if this was done on purpose by this player, or occurred as an accident. |
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[[Image:VrtraSpook7.jpg|450px]] |
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[[Image:VrtraSpook1.jpg|225px]][[Image:VrtraSpook2.jpg|225px]] |
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[[Image:VrtraSpook3.jpg|225px]][[Image:VrtraSpook4.jpg|225px]] |
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[[Image:VrtraSpook5.jpg|225px]][[Image:VrtraSpook6.jpg|225px]] |
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We do not have any pictures of this event, but there are many first hand accounts. If you have any pictures, please upload them. |
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| width=500px valign=top | |
| width=500px valign=top | Here is a first hand account of the event: |
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"I got an odd AIM message from a friend of mine Armageddon (a Taru PLD). He was complaining that someone trained Vrtra to the spook camp and it was killing people. Well right away considering the distance, the number of mobs in-between and the fact that mobs go back to their spawn point when they lose all aggro (and most people would die very fast to Vrtra aggro) I thought he was totally BSing me so I did the obvious thing which was to ask for pics. |
"I got an odd AIM message from a friend of mine Armageddon (a Taru PLD). He was complaining that someone trained Vrtra to the spook camp and it was killing people. Well right away considering the distance, the number of mobs in-between and the fact that mobs go back to their spawn point when they lose all aggro (and most people would die very fast to Vrtra aggro) I thought he was totally BSing me so I did the obvious thing which was to ask for pics. |
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*It is now possible to see if a [[Limbus]] area is occupied. |
*It is now possible to see if a [[Limbus]] area is occupied. |
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*Anti-MPK Update: |
*Anti-MPK Update: |
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**This update made non-NM monsters |
**This update made non-NM monsters disappear if they somehow exited their normal radius. |
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**Binding a monster next to a player without aggro will no longer force the monster to attack them. |
**Binding a monster next to a player without aggro will no longer force the monster to attack them. |
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*[[Merit Point]] System: |
*[[Merit Point]] System: |
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**The maximum number of usable merit points has been increased in all categories |
**The maximum number of usable merit points has been increased in all categories below: |
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***Combo total and sub-categories: |
***Combo total and sub-categories: |
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****HP/MP |
****HP/MP |
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Many of the Accessories were best in slot for jobs, and highly coveted. Many linkshells dropped their Dynamis - Xarcabard/Beaucidine/City farming in hopes of learning more about the new dream dynamis zones. |
Many of the Accessories were best in slot for jobs, and highly coveted. Many linkshells dropped their Dynamis - Xarcabard/Beaucidine/City farming in hopes of learning more about the new dream dynamis zones. |
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'''Delay Fix''' |
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The delay fix mentioned in this update is when a player with a two handed weapon would swing and then disengage. Re-engaging right away would allow another swing immediately. Although this was a ridiculous way to circumvent game mechanics (not to mention dealing with the clunky windows) it would indeed increase DPS if the player was dedicated enough. |
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'''Equipment Icon Changes''' |
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Various pieces of equipment had their icons updated to a totally different look. Naturally, complaints ensued about this drastic change. Some players compared the black cloak to "an overweight DRK in a black cloak". |
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[[Image:Cloak Icon Changes.gif]] |
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'''Bahmut Fight''' |
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This fight was pretty challenging, and the tactic used was usually [[Dark Knight]] [[Souleater]] zerg. This BCNM (along with the mission version [[Storms of Fate]]) was the first time the spells [[Protect V]] and [[Shell V]] debuted, used by Bahamut. |
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| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Dec. 16th, 2005''' |
| bgcolor=#d2cac0 width=125px rowspan=2 align=center valign=top | '''Dec. 16th, 2005''' |
Latest revision as of 12:59, 8 December 2022
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Header Key
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2005 - Xbox 360 Version Announced, Conclusion of Chains of Promathia
In 2005 it was announced at E3 that the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XI was under development. The Xbox 360 Beta test of Final Fantasy XI started in December, the same month the console was released.
No expansion packs were released this year, but the conclusion of Chains of Promathia's main storyline was released, as well as significant new content added with version updates.
Jan. 1st, 2005 | Birds of Happiness visit Vana'diel
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A family of six birds - Bird of Wonder, Bird of Peace, and four Birdlings were released on Vana'diel. This event was much like the year before, where trading items to the birds granted temporary buffs. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jan. 19th, 2005 | Al'Taieu's first appearance!
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During an Intel-sponsored corporate presentation touting Intel's Centrino chipset, Square Enix staffers, demonstrating the microprocessor's ability to handle heavy applications, brought out Final Fantasy XI highlighting a new area called Al'Taieu.
At this point, this area was highly discussed in the Chains of Promathia storyline. This confirmed that players would be able to travel to the celestial capital. |
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Feb. 11th, 2005 | Valentione's Day 2005
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The first official Valentine's Day event, dubbed "Valentione's Day" in Vana'diel, took place starting on February 11th.
Character's created before February 4th, 2005 were delivered a Inferno Crystal to their mailboxes. This was done in order to use in synthesis to create signed Love Chocolates/Truelove Chocolates for that special someone. |
Mistake Delivery?
As this was the first time that people received campaign/event items from "==MHMU==", many thought it was a mistake from an unknown person and returned the items. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Feb. 14th, 2005 | First Largescale Banhammer
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Over 800 accounts which repeatedly violated the PlayOnline Member Agreement were permanently banned from PlayOnline.
The violators were not RMT, but instead they were actual players who would form groups to monopolize the hunting spots of NMs. They also repeatedly performed harassment and MPK actions against other players. |
The official announcement for this ban used the term "Grief Tactics". This caused players who thought that others were monopolizing their experience monsters or NMs to begin calling GMs more frequently and on a whim. Some of these calls were warranted, but many were unnecessary and petty. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Feb. 24th, 2005 | Opening of Al'Taieu & Fishing Changes
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Shield Update
The shield update took a lot of getting used to for players. It was a major change, but eventually became a very welcome one. Before this change, shields rarely blocked and Paladins would often try out AGI builds or not even use a shield at all. Earth Staves were in every Paladin's inventory. Warrior was the only subjob used for Paladin. An Aerial Armor rotation was a common strategy to negate damage from an onslaught of attacks, paired with out of alliance White Mages to keep up curing. Before this update, Ninja was the tank of choice due to negating almost all damage. This update was the first step of the evolution of Paladin. Shield Skill became high in demand. The Kaiser Schaller, and later on after Limbus was released, the Boxer's Mantle became staples of any Paladin's equip sets. Chat Filters Useful? The chat filter change now made filters actually useful. Players could specifically filter what they didn't want to see more effectively. Fishing Change Against player's wishes, the fishing system was changed in hopes of fighting fishbots. The new system worked for awhile, but of course new bots were introduced that could be used with the new system. Additionally, almost all remaining profit was slashed from selling fish to NPCs. Load Fishing Since the introduction to Action Fishing in this update, the term "Load Fishing" came to be. The phenomenon was that the higher the spec PC being used, the higher the difficulty of successfully catching a fish. PS2 users easily caught Ryugu Titan, but PC users had an incredibly difficult time landing their catch. In order to bridge the gap between players, PC fishermen came up with the "Load Fishing" method. By starting an application other than POL that has a high load on the PC processor, the capability of your PC is lowered. As a result, fish's physical strength suddenly increased or decreased depending on key strokes. There was controversy on anonymous bulletin boards, such as 2chan, whether or not this technique was a hack. At the time, the official windower did not yet exist. It was impossible to Load Fish while playing without using an external tool. However, even if you do not use a tool, Load Fishing could be done before the POL startup. Unfortunately, it would affect all actions other than Fishing. It was a problem that could be avoided by repeated login/logout. The version upgrade on Jul. 19th, 2005 somewhat fixed this phenomenon. "Irregular increases or decreases in the HP of a fishing target when the server is experiencing heavy traffic". This was, of course, a mis-translation. It was meant to read "When a player's PC" not the server. Differences in client-platform difficulty remained. An additional countermeasure was taken in the Dec. 13th, 2005 upgrade. "An issue where the difficulty level of fishing varied depending on the client used has been addressed." Further changes to this issue were made in the Feb. 21, 2006 update. "Further adjustments were made to compensate for the inconsistency in fishing difficulty experienced by different clients." The phenomena continued, but not as much as before. When fishing in areas such as Al Zahbi before Besieged, it was possible to witness a simulated experience. In the Jul. 24, 2012 upgrade, due to client-dependent measures, it became a state where load was forcibly applied by setting an upper limit on the number of frames during the action fishing feature. However, this resulted in prey which became easy to fish and prey which became hard to fish. It solved nothing. Finally, the Mar. 18th, 2014 update, the specification of action fishing was reexamined drastically. This made the difficulty of fishing completely dependent on the processing speed of the client. It was almost impossible to Load Fish after this. Artifact Armor Storage The new storage system was very much appreciated by players, even though it was extremely limited. A whole set must be stored, so players could not only store "useless" artifact without also storing useful ones. Players often only used this system when changing jobs in order to free up precious space. It also cost 1,000 Gil when claiming your armor. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mar. 1st, 2005 | The Doll Festival 2005
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The event was held from March 1st thru March 14th. The stages and decorations returned.
New this year were the costume rice cakes. Eating them turned players into little girls of the same race. Hume Rice Cake, Elvaan Rice Cake, Tarutaru Rice Cake, and Mithran Rice Cake. |
Depending on party setups that were in the zones, players could recieve Sweet Rice Cakes from moogles.
Sexism in FFXI? This was the first year that the costumes were added. This is an event based on the Japanese holiday "Hinamatsuri" (often called "Japanese Doll Festival" or "Girls' Day"). English players were very confused and didn't understand why there were little girl costumes, but no little boy costumes. A couple months later, the "Sword Festival" would take place revolved around males, and little boy costumes were added. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mar. 3rd, 2005 | Final Fantasy Entry Disk 2005 Released in Japan
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This disk included the base game and the Rise of the Zilart expansion. The PS2 version sold for 4,800 Yen (Tax Excluded) and the Windows version's price varied.
This was the first FFXI Windows disk that was in DVD-ROM format. DVD-ROMs were rare at the time, and not many people had a DVD player for their computers yet. |
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Mar. 6th, 2005 | iGames Tour 2005 Gardena, CA
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Final Fantasy XI joined in the iGames Tour 2005, and the first stop was at Gardena, California in the shop "Internet PC Cafe". The address was 1451 W. Artesia Blvd. #3
Gardena, CA 90248. The business has since closed.
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Mar. 26th, 2005 | Egg Hunt Egg-stravaganza 2005
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Following the previous year, the Easter Egg Hunt event was held from March 25th to April 4th.
The event itself was the same as 2004, except that three new Furnishings were added: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Apr. 14th, 2005 | Part I:The First Return Home to Vana'diel Campaign
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The first ever Return to Vana'diel campaign was held from April 14th thru July 13th. This first campaign allowed players whos characters were deleted to be recovered. Furthermore, a new registration code could be obtained during this campaign.
Nowadays, characters are not deleted unless physically done so within the game. |
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Apr. 14th, 2005 | The First DDoS Attack
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The same day that the Return to Vana'diel campaign took place, the first ever DDoS attack was executed against Playonline's servers. Countermeasures were taken, but this attack still made it difficult to log in to Playonline for several hours. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Apr. 21st, 2005 | EXP TNLs Standardized & ENM Expansion
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Relic Shield
The Aegis and the related relic quest were added in this update. Naturally, they used the expansion pack area Lufaise Meadows for the Amaltheia fight. When the other relic weapons were released, only Rise of the Zilart was out. Players were surprised with the multiple currency types needed to upgrade the weapon. Speculation was that the final stage was a random Dynamis currency type for each player. After a few players reached this stage it was discovered that it is always an R. Goldpiece. Sea NMs Added Upon release of the Al'Taieu region, the Sea NM System was also implemented. Absolute Virtue would soon after become a meme, as it was undefeatable due to how powerful it was. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Apr. 22nd, 2005 | The Bradygames Atlas
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Following the... wonderful guides Bradygames made in 2003 and 2004, they decided that they would actually step things up a bit by making an Atlas instead of a "full guide". The FFXI Atlas was much more useful than their "guides". The book contained custom graphics for their maps, which made them easier to comprehend than the in-game maps. With the large and expansive world that was Vana'diel, players constantly referred to the Atlas book to help themselves and their friends navigate zones.
Mob listings, quests, and other important tips were found in this book. Even though it was much more useful than the previous two guides, the same issue occurred - information became quickly outdated. Having a different focus, however, the information stayed relatively useful.
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Soon to replace this book was ffxi-atlas.com - an interactive fan made website that was constantly updated for about a year and a half. It was much more useful than a wiki, as players could click on the map zones to easily see the next place to go.
It's popularity soon led to its demise, however. iFrames were a popular website building method back at this time, and as such exploits could be injected into website ads with little difficulty. The website lost it's maintenance staff, but stayed online. Without noscript for Firefox, players found themselves getting viruses from simply using the website and soon after getting their POL accounts compromised by RMT who would strip their character of valuables and sell whatever was left over. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Apr. 28th, 2005 | Feast of Swords
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The first ever Feast of Swords event took place, and became an annual Vana'diel event.
Players had to receive the Wooden Katana from a moogle, and be restricted to level 1. The goal was to attack the Samurai NPCs named Tatenashi Armor, Tukukazazu Armor, Ubuginu Armor and Hachryu Armor. They were placed around the three kingdoms. After attacking them to a certain extent, you had to report back to the moogle. Rewards included: If players kill one of the Samurais, they received the Hardwood Katana. |
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Apr. 28th, 2005 | Ballista Royale
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An official announcement was made on the Playonline website regarding Ballista Royale. The event was a Ballista championship. There was both a North American and a Japanese championship held.
The event was sponsored by Enterbrain, Inc. (as they were known at the time). |
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Apr. 30th, 2005 | iGames Tour 2005 Oahu, Hawaii
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The next stop on the iGames Tour 2005 was at "PC Gamerz" in Hawaii on the island of Oahu. The address was 99-082 Kauhale St, Suite D-2, Aiea, HI 96701.
PC Gamerz in Aiea, Hawaii was the first battleground for the live FINAL FANTASY XI event, the Boss Battle Bash! This event was the perfect opportunity for friends and linkshells to meet up and demonstrate their elite skills in front of a live audience. A victory against one of the brutal bosses earned teams fame and fortune, while a defeat will force you to refine your tactics and try again another day. The rules of the event were as follows:
Note: This event took place on a private server with premade characters. Participants must have been in attendance at the local event to participate. Limited race availability and no duplicate jobs in a team were allowed.
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May 2005 | First Maat's Cap Found
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The first acquirer of the Maat's Cap was spotted in early May 2005 on the Unicorn world. The method of acquiring the cap was found soon after. Everyone was incredibly surprised that this item existed, and that there was somebody who had the cap at this point in the game. This was an era that most people had 0-2 maximum Level 75 jobs, and veterans only had 3-5. It was unheard of to have every job at a high enough level to beat Maat on each one.
An article was written in the Vana'diel Tribune II regarding this achievement for the June 2005 edition. |
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May 8th, 2005 | 5th Vana'diel Census
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In addition to the regular points of interest, items with high auction rates as well as Synthesis Skill distribution were listed. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
May 11th, 2005 | Adventurer Recruitment Program
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The Gold World Pass was introduced. This pass allowed players to join the world of the player who provided the pass, and rewarded the special items Guide Beret and Sprout Beret to the recruiter and friend. | The Guide Beret and Sprout Beret used to have different stats. After the implementation of Level Sync, they both became quite useless.
Enchantment: Restrict level to match Sprout (Sprout must be level 50 or less) <1/1 0:30/[30:00, 0:30]> Enchantment: Remove level restriction on Guide <1/1 0:30/[10:00, 0:30]> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
May 13th, 2005 | Third Annual Aventurer's Appreciation Campaign
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The campaign was held from May 13th thru May 30th. Speaking to Moogles in the three nations would once again display character statistics.
New this year were the Homing Ring and Return Ring. |
Due to popular demand, these rings were later added to the Adventurer Recruitment Program in July of 2005. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
May 17th, 2005 | Final Fantasy XI for Xbox 360 announced at E3 2005
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During the Microsoft Press Conference at E3 2005, Final Fantasy XI was announced for Xbox 360. It would be Xbox's first MMORPG, as well as the first cross-platform game between Playstation and Xbox, not to mention PC.
The Xbox has never done as well with sales in Japan as it has in North America. The Xbox 360 version announcement was well received in North America. Players on PS2 were pretty awe-inspired by the graphics on Xbox 360 vs PS2. |
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Jun. 7th, 2005 | Part II: The First Return Home to Vana'diel Campaign
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Part II allowed players who dectivated their Playonline IDs but not terminated their Playonline membership account an opportunity to return to Final Fantasy XI. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jun. 7th, 2005 | World Emigration Application
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Due to the overpopulation of certain Worlds, the opportunity was given for certain high population worlds to emigrate free of charge to other less populated worlds. The worlds eligibe were as follows:
Applicable Worlds for emigration to Midgardsormr: Shiva, Valefor, Caitsith, Sylph, Ragnarok Applicable Worlds for emigration to Remora: Bahamut, Odin, Siren, Unicorn, Gilgamesh, Asura Applicable Worlds for emigration to Hades: Phoenix, Carbuncle, Fenrir, Ifrit, Diabolos, Fairy |
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Jul. 19th, 2005 | The Game Changer
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Epic Chains of Promathia Conclusion
Ranger Nerf After this change, Kirin (which was normally Ranger burned) suddenly took hours to complete. The overall balance of the game suddenly changed, and tactics needed to be recreated from scratch. Many players thought they logged into a different game. Before this update, Rangers were one of the main sources of damage for a lot of content. This ranged from Sky Gods to Chains of Promathia Missions and even Ranger burn merit parties. The job went from OMGRNG to LOLDRG status overnight. The distance change implemented in this update took players way off guard. No longer could they be close range and melee for TP (Kraken club was a popular item for Rangers) and unleash weapon skills. Ranged Attacks and Weapon Skills would often miss if performed in melee range. This combined with the double weakness change caused many players to quit and never return. Ranger would soon see its return later on, however. -Inuyushi@Asura Ninja Tanking Even though Ninja Tools could be bagged, the change made to enmity regarding Utsusemi made it extremely difficult to Ninja tank HNMs. Ninja relied on not taking damage and keeping enmity over time. Provoke was usually no longer enough to hold the hate required, so Ninja had much more difficulty tanking. Double Weakened To add insult to injury, Ranger was also nerfed in the aspect of double weakness. Deaths were very common at this stage of the game. Rangers and Black Mages would often brush off a death and continue their damage. This was no longer possible. Many strategies had to be refined with the change to Ranger distance and Double Weakness. Dynamis also was much more dangerous with Black Mages before almost always being in a weakened state. To this day, North American/European players do not understand that Double Weakness only affects Ranged and Magical attacks.
RMT Nerfs Popular low level equipment was suddenly moved to BCNM fights. Leaping Lizzy, Valkurm Emperor, Stroper Chyme and Argus saw RMT disappear, and legit adventurers come in trying to claim their Rare/Ex equivalent armor pieces. Long gone were the days of RMT in Ordelle's Caves telling us to "f*** our mothers". Unfortunately, this made the more competent RMT groups move to sky. Ballista The "Temporary Entry" feature was only until 18:00 game time. After this, it went back to an Open Entry style where players from any nation could join any team. Many players, especially Japanese players, strongly disliked the Temporary Entry system, and would wait until 18:00 before signing up for a Ballista match. The auto-balance redistribution was an absolutely horrible system and it didn't consider players jobs. So in a standard 10v10 match it was entirely possible for one side to have all of the mages, or all of the melee. Also, players who were of the participating nations during the time of the match always were locked into their nation before 18:00. This means that 3 Bastok Black mages and 3 Sandy THF would all be locked on their teams and not redistributed, making the balance extremely unfair. This is why most people simply waited until 18:00 so that the balance distribution wouldn't ruin the match. It was open entry at this point and was easier to balance the teams. You could always count on a huge rush of players joining ballista between 18:00-22:00. -Buukki@Asura Adventuring Fellows The Fellows were an amazing addition to the game. Having an NPC that can fight along side you (and even cure) aided adventurers in many quests, missions, and soloing some Experience Points. On some servers, players even cooperated during the quest to obtain Fellows. Orderly lines were formed where players took turns with the quest fight. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Jul 21st, 2005 | Sunbreeze Festival 2005
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Instead of being called Summerfest, the summer event now adopted the permanent name of the Sunbreeze Festival. The event was held from July 21st thru August 22nd.
Swimsuit outfits and the Goldfish Bowl were added as main prizes for the event. |
This year's summer celebration revolved around the "Azimuth Circle" event. Players had to team up with another adventurer and work together by examining Check Points and following the direction it says to go. At the end, players would obtain the Hopipi Doll and Pumimi Doll. These were traded to the other adventurer and then to the moogle to obtain the new swim suit outfits. HQ sets were also implemented. Every time the event was done, you received one piece. In order to obtain the HQ pieces, you had to equip the outfit and repeat the event. Since every race/sex had two pieces, the event needed to be completed four times in four different areas to obtain the full set.
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Jul. 30th, 2005 | Square Enix Party 2005
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The event was held on July 30th and 31st at the Nippon Convention Center (Makuhari Messe) in Chiba, Japan. Visitors were able to play a lineup of 12 games, which included the major two that were absent from E3 the month before: Final Fantasy XII and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (both for the PlayStation 2). The entry fee was 1,000 Yen ($9.15 at the time).
The event was focused on all Square Enix games, and Final Fantasy XII had the spotlight. FFXI did have a few things going on but no major announcements were made. The battlefield Heroes Combat was able to be challenged for the first time. Players found themselves face to face with Trion, Volker and Ajido-Marujido. On the concert stage, "The Republic of Bastok" was performed. |
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Aug. 2nd, 2005 | Bug Fixes and RAGE!
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Raged HNMs
HNMs now went into "Rage" or "Hyper" mode after a certain amount of time (usually 30 minutes or 1 hour) if they have not been defeated. After that amount of time, its stats gradually rose over the course of 5 mintues before becoming fully raged. It became nearly impossible to deal any damage, and the monsters would eventually one-shot any tank. This change was very welcoming for English and Japanese players alike. Linkshells were now required to come with a larger force ready to kill quickly. Before, they would often come with a small force that either took a long time to kill it, or even held it for hours on purpose to change the time of death to be more convenient for their timezone. Although the video below is from 2006, it gives a taste on how crazy HNMs became after being held for too long. Claim Delay Before this change, HNMs would often pop claimed for many North American players due to lag. This changed evened the playing field a bit, but not totally. The claim delay also gave birth to many new FFXI Claim Bots. Some even had the functionality to connect to other linkshell members. If done properly, it would then setup automatic staggered claim timer delays for each member which gave the best chances at claiming HNMs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aug. 13th, 2005 | iGames Tour 2005 Rochester, New York
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This was one of the only East Coast Final Fantasy XI events. It took place at Arena 51, a local shop that hosted multiplayer gaming, lock-ins, and many other events. The address was 376 Jefferson Road, Rochester, NY 14623. The business has since closed down.
iGames Tour 2005 Rochester, New York
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Aug. 16th, 2005 | Final Fantasy XI Vana'diel Collection 2005
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This disk included the base game as well as the Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promathia expansions. The MSRP was $29.99.
Again, this disk was in DVD-ROM format. Many players had to bootleg the files from the internet and use the CD keys that came with the game, because they didn't have a DVD-ROM Drive. The package included a Vana’diel Buddy Pass which allowed a friend to create an account and play the basic FINAL FANTASY XI game free for 30 days. Also included is an iTunes Collector's Card for a free music download from the FINAL FANTASY XI Collection. |
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Aug. 24th, 2005 | The Star Onions Debut Album Released
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The album was named "Music from the Other Side of Vana'diel". 10 songs were on the CD, and the price was 2,500 Yen (Tax Included). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aug. 26th, 2005 | Blitz Buffalo 2005
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The first incarnation of the annual Buffalo event took place. The days it was held was from August 26th thru September 5th.
Buffalo NMs named Toro appeared in the areas around Jeuno and Tavnazian Safehold. The idea of the event was to defeat the NMs. If too much damage was inflicted, players were blown back to town or their Home Points. After defeating the NM, a ??? would appear. When examined, players would be awarded with the Red Sash. Occasionally, a rare version of the NM named Miura would spawn instead. Defeating this one would reward the HQ version of the sash Dash Sash. |
Rare Sashes
After the event concluded, there was no way to obtain the sash rewards again. They were removed from the future Blazing Buffalo events until 2014. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aug. 27th, 2005 | Final Fantasy XI Summer Carnival 2005
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This event was so far the largest FFXI event in Japan. It was organized by Enterbrain Corporation (the publisher of Famitsu) and hosted by Hirokazu Hamamura (president of Enterbrain).
All event attendees received the postcard below illustrated by Mr. Katsuya Terada. Events included:
Attendees who purchased a Star Onions CD also received the pin pictured below |
Some exclusive loot included: Tshirts with "Summer Carnival" printed on them (below) Hand Towels (below) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sep. 12th, 2005 | Ballista Royale North American Recruitment
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Recruitment began for Ballista Royale's North American Tournament. Groups could apply on the official Playonline website.
The Stars Cap and Laurel Crown were announced as Server Finals prize and Chapionship Prize respectfully. The overall winning team members would also each receive a custom build Promathia PC. |
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Sep. 14th, 2005 | Distant Worlds Single Released
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Distant Worlds was released in Japan as a single on September 14th, 2005. The price was 150 Yen (Tax included).
A week later on the 22nd, it was available on iTunes in North America. |
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Sep. 16th, 2005 | Treasures of Aht Urhgan Announced at TGS 2005
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The third expansion for Final Fantasy XI, Treasures of Aht Urhgan, was announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2005. The trailer you might remember was not shown at this event, that was released later on. It is embedded later on in this project. TGS 2005 took place from September 16th thru September 18th. Final Fantasy XI had a section set up within the Microsoft area. The game drew the most attention in the booth. In addition, a playable demonstration of the Xbox 360 version was on show. A chocobo competition event took place among visitors. |
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Oct 4th, 2005 | FFXI Xbox 360 version at X05
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On October 4th-5th in Amsterdam, Final Fantasy XI was demonstrated at the X05 event held by Microsoft. Several new areas included in the forthcoming expansion pack announced at TGS 2005, Treasures of Aht Urhgan, were shown. It was the first opportunity to see FFXI on Xbox 360 connecting to one of the actual worlds currently in service.
The Xbox 360 consoles which were used to connect to the public server were fitted with USB keyboards. Using the combination of its controller and the additional keyboard, FFXI handled like a dream! Performance on the other hand, was not the best. |
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Oct. 11th, 2005 | Limbus Introduced
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Limbus
Limbus was a fun event for causal players to get into and farm Ancient Beastcoins for good profit. Many endgame linkshells wanted to participate, but few had enough players with sea access to effectively add it to their schedules. Because of this, dedicated Limbus-only linkshells popped up around this time. Due to the event being on a 3-day lockout, it was not the only linkshell players had. Players also had Dynamis shells, HNM shells, and general Chat shells. Some linkshells tried tackling all events, and would frown upon players who had mutiple linkshells. Since the maximum number of people who can enter Limbus was 18, only a full alliance could enter. It was common for Limbus shells to to have two parties of 12, and tackle a different floors or even Temenos and Apollyon sequentially. Experience Points Bands The new bands immediately became a hit with most players. Unfortunately, they were not very powerful. With the slow pace of experience points back then, it was still a welcome change. Players were excited about easier ways to earn experience, and were looking forward to the future for more items like the rings. End of easy skill ups Before this update, it was common for players to Sleep monsters with high defense, use a weapon with 1 damage, hit it for 0, and obtain a skill up. The monster would remain slept. Particularly, the Treat Staff was used with this method for Black Mages to skill up. As such, the staff was nicknamed "Sleep Treat". Chocobo Digging Fix In this update, a fixed wait time was introduced to countermeasure the so-called "Change of Clothes Digging". This allowed players to change equipment while a chocobo was pecking the ground with the dig animation, effectively shortening the wait time required to re-dig. Implementing this fixed wait time prevented this method of digging. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oct. 12th, 2005 | Xbox 360 version of FFXI Beta Announcement
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The Japanese FFXI Beta was announced first. When purchasing the first production version of the Xbox 360 unit in Japan, the FFXI Beta Disc would be distributed free of charge at the store.
Beta service or disc distribution would not being, however, until December 10th, 2005. |
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Oct. 21st, 2005 | Trick or Treat 2005
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The event period was from October 21st thru November 1st. The event itself was practically the same as 2004, except new bomb decorations showed up around town. Additionally, fruit was not tradable like it was the previous year.
New equipment included the Pitchfork and the Pitchfork +1. To obtain these, you must team up with a partner and stand under the new bomb decorations while wearing a certain combination of costumes depending on the area you are in. |
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Oct. 22nd, 2005 | iGames Tour 2005 College Station, Texas
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This was the last stop of the iGames 2005 Tour.
It took place at Netzone Centers, a local shop that hosted multiplayer gaming, lock-ins, and many other events. The address was 1702 George Bush East Suite 102 College Station, TX 77840. The business has since closed down.
For more info, see the BG Forums Thread
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Dec. 7th, 2005 | Vrtra found at Spook's location on Lakshmi
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On the Lakshmi world, Vrtra was found idle near the Spook location.
It is said that an unknown player may have aggro'd him, and used third party tools to teleport himself back to Spook. Vrtra somehow followed him back and stayed in the area after the player either warped or was killed and returned to their Home Point. It is not known if this was done on purpose by this player, or occurred as an accident. |
Here is a first hand account of the event:
"I got an odd AIM message from a friend of mine Armageddon (a Taru PLD). He was complaining that someone trained Vrtra to the spook camp and it was killing people. Well right away considering the distance, the number of mobs in-between and the fact that mobs go back to their spawn point when they lose all aggro (and most people would die very fast to Vrtra aggro) I thought he was totally BSing me so I did the obvious thing which was to ask for pics. So now I have a pic of him standing next to Vrtra. I'm still un-convinced as I believe you can still swap dat files to change one mob into another (i.e. you could make your Moogle into Lion or Behemoth if you desired). He had /names off so i still wasn't really convinced although a conversation with the LS theorized that someone could have fleehacked or something to maybe get it there (although it doesn't explain it sticking around) Few minutes later I get a tell "oh shit it killed me". So I decided what the heck lets go down and check this out. I get to spook camp and sure enough there is Vrtra standing there yellow with a dead taru under her, not moving back to camp with Spook buzzing around in the background. So obviously I posed for a few pics and told a few of my friends who also decided to take a peek. Had a few noobs run around the corner and promptly get flattened as well. In the meantime, Armageddon was talking to a GM about the case. The GM call itself was kinda amusing, they really didn't know wtf was going on either. It got escalated to the senior JP GM and finally to the developers. In an MT, the one GM was confirming with the senior that I was just visiting and wasn't responsible for it (my friend made sure too) What ended up happening is that one of the GMs ended up killing it. I recieved a few tells from the GM (one of which was to stand back, I did mention we were planning to kill it on Saturday incase they could just move it, and obviously i jokingly asked for a Title or drops). I don't have pics of the hits and the GM stayed invis (one of the people standing there was going to hook me up with some pics of the hits if they turned out but left before I could give my e-mail address). According to my friend the GM had about 900ms interval between hits and each one took about 8% off the mob, it was a very quick fight. Towards the end of the fight somehow I got pulled in and was promptly Crit hitted, nuked by a summon and then spike flailed by Vrtra herself (woulda survived the flail if not for the other damage I took). Prior to this I remember claiming spook and I believe I killed it with no drop but things were kinda going fast. At one point just prior to my death Vrtra had went yellow and was so low on hp I think a small pack of BLMS could have nuked it to death. Few minutes after it died and I was raised by friends, I was sent a tell to clear the area and right after they did an emergency maint on the zone." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dec. 7th, 2005 | Jeuno - Starlight Celebration track released on iTunes
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The track "Jeuno - Starlight Celebration", which was first released during the 2004 Starlight Celebration event, was made available on iTunes in Japan and North America. The price was 150 Yen (Tax Included) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dec. 10th, 2005 | Xbox 360 Beta Test begins
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The Xbox 360 console was released in Japan, and the Final Fantasy XI Xbox 360 Beta Test commenced.
A dedicated world for beta participants was opened named Hydra. |
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Dec. 13th, 2005 | Dragoon 2 Hour SP Changed
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Light at the end of the tunnel for Dragoon
At last, a decent update for Dragoon was implemented. Players were excited for Call Wyvern being changed and for the new two hour ability. This caused a bandwagon of Dragoons to hit Vana'diel as players tested the viability of Dragoon. Light at the end of the... WRONG tunnel for Beastmaster With the Anti-MPK patch, many Beastmasters found it very difficult to solo because Released pets disappeared. Jug Pets started becoming more popular than Charm starting with this patch. Dreamland Dynamis Dreamland Dynamis was also out of the question for many linkshells for the time being. The whole boss system was very different than everyone was used to, and it took awhile to figure out mechanics for each zone. Many of the Accessories were best in slot for jobs, and highly coveted. Many linkshells dropped their Dynamis - Xarcabard/Beaucidine/City farming in hopes of learning more about the new dream dynamis zones. Delay Fix The delay fix mentioned in this update is when a player with a two handed weapon would swing and then disengage. Re-engaging right away would allow another swing immediately. Although this was a ridiculous way to circumvent game mechanics (not to mention dealing with the clunky windows) it would indeed increase DPS if the player was dedicated enough.
Various pieces of equipment had their icons updated to a totally different look. Naturally, complaints ensued about this drastic change. Some players compared the black cloak to "an overweight DRK in a black cloak".
This fight was pretty challenging, and the tactic used was usually Dark Knight Souleater zerg. This BCNM (along with the mission version Storms of Fate) was the first time the spells Protect V and Shell V debuted, used by Bahamut. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dec. 16th, 2005 | Starlight Celebration 2005
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The Starlight Celebration was once again held from December 16th thru December 31st. Decorations adorned the trees and popular areas throughout all home nations.
New this year were seven christmas greeting cards with no gil inside. You were given these cards by moogles who instructed you to trade them to an adventurer with a certain job and level. It was possible you could have the required job/level, and you could change to that job and complete it yourself. After receiving the card back, you had to trade it back to the moogle again. Completing this four times rewarded you with the Dream Robe. A Dream Robe +1 was available with the same process, but those adventurers were "wearing red" meaning they needed to also equip a Dream Robe or Dream Robe +1 and repeat the process. |
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Dec. 18th, 2005 | Final Fantasy XI Fan Festival 2006 Announcement
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The event would take place at Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles. It was also announced that the event would be a three day event, it would have the premier of a playable version of Treasures of Aht Urhgan, and the Ballista Royale championship would take place. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dec. 18th, 2005 | Final Fantasy XI Internet Cafe "REAL VANA'DIEL" Closes
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The shop itself was talked about earlier on the page, but more information will be here.
The shop was operated by Melco Online Entertainment, a major PC part manufacturer at the time. Specifically, Buffalo was the affiliated company by Melco Group who was in charge of operations. The shop specialized in Final Fantasy XI, and was operated at considerably higher standards compared with other Manga and Internet cafes in Japan. Guests were served with meals as well as fruit juices and chocolate drinks (Fanta, Qoo, Cocoa, etc) for free. The venue was often rented out for offline Linkshell meetings and christmas events. FFXI could be played on the latest PCs. English and Japanese versions were both installed and available. THe PCs satisfied recommended specs at the time, which were very expensive. Players who wanted to experience the best play experience often went to the cafe. In addition, there was a smoking area that resembled a San d'Orian Rent-a-Room Mog House. The store was conveniently located in Akihabara in an old warehouse building. Clerks often cosplayed as Hume Females and Mithra wearing RSE equipment. |
The area it was located was called "Akiba-kei". Akihabara is a district in Chiyoda, Tokyo where many otaku, or obsessive anime, manga, and video game fans gather.
Akiba-kei is a Japanese slang term meaning "Akihabara style". It dates back to the early 80s and refers to a subset of otaku who spend much of their time in and around the Akihabara area of Tokyo and are known for their strong interest in "fantasy worlds...anime, manga, maids, idols, and games" The Akihabara area in central Tokyo is well known as a marketplace of cutting edge technology. In recent years, it has developed strong ties to the Japanese gaming industry, as well as to anime and manga publishers. These ties are one reason why Akiba-kei culture has expanded outside its geographic area, to manifest on the Internet in the form of websites. In addition to patronizing the famous electronics stores around them, such as: LaOX,Akibaoo and more. Akiba-kei frequently open their own shops in Akihabara. Many of these shops are run by Akiba-kei in cosplay, who may claim that such attire is the rule for them rather than the exception. The shops offer a wide variety of goods and services: some sell model or ornamental weaponry; others are modeled after antique reading rooms; and still others sell quirky or innovative foodstuffs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dec. 20th, 2005 | Xbox 360 North America Beta Test Announcement
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It was announced that the February 2006 issue of the Official Xbox Magazine would contain the beta disk for FFXI on Xbox 360. The issue would go on sale on January 17th, 2006. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dec. 27th, 2005 | Closure of Development Information BB & Altana Encyclopedia
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The Development Bulletin Board was used to provide information on and exchanging information about FFXI version updates between Square-Enix and players.
The developers exchanged opinions with each other about version upgrades and Playonline. However, if opinions or requests other than the agenda are submitted, they were deleted and a warning email was delivered to the user who posted it. Many ideas were used, however. Requests such as the Escort Quests and an increase in Item Trigger popped NMs were written to this board and they became implemented. Together, this Developer BB and the Altana Encyclopedia closed on this day. |
The decision to end the life of these features was made because at this point, community sites have developed and became far superior sources of information for players. SE considered that these sources have finished their roll and pulled the plugs. |
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