What ever happened to the old Valkurm *groan*

[Blackroses]

Me and keavy were talking the other day. And it seems that Valkurm dunes in Phoenix server is getting worse gradually over time. I mean when you hear the phrase " We dont need a whm, we have a Pld" It just makes you want to stab yourself for fun. Better yet: "Skillchain? whats a Skillchain? We dont need that, we have a PL." It brings a tear to my eye every time. Whatever happened to the good old days, where you could skillchain and MB a mob in valkurm without a PL and actually feel like you earned your exp? Rather than " We have a PL. No worries, just attack. Chaaaaarge."

[JediKitsune]

I remember Valkurm on Hades just being empty, which I'd say is worse because the only way to level up low level jobs is basically to PL them.

[sakono]

hmm valk on midgard was allways over camped and rasies hard to find and then poeple started to charge for rasies. last time I went through valk alot of parties were geting pled....


Now I've pl'ed my room mate in a party before and that was to just make sure they didn't die from agro from the gobs. which was kinda fun killing gobs as a 31 whm next to a pt of 10-12's but thats all i realy ever did oh and i raised them and helkped the whm's out with macro tips if they needed or wanted them

I guess that's not really a pler but I thought that I wqs usefull and helpful as the pt's had to learn to work together and such I just kiled the big ones that tryed to kill them when they were already fighting.

[Kintrra]

Eh, me personally...I just don't go to those areas anymore, unless someone's smart enough (at dunes levels o.O; ) to do a /sea all for non-seeking pt members of whatever type I am. Other than that, I solo everything up till about 15-20 or so. Seems to have worked out better too. o.O;

[Sylphine]

I don't know...yesterday I went fishing in the Dunes in Titan, yes, PLing is quite a big problem now.

I got a /tell from my friend asking for a raise anotherday. I went there and raised his pt up, and I have to stay there for a while since the gobs are wandering around their camp. When they're rid of weaken, I noticed that my SAM friend has to be the tank! WTF! A war in the pt said :

"Tank? No,thanks. I'll die if I have to tank"

Geez....you silly WAR....are you mad or something???

(/em kicks <t> out of her sight)

------------------------------------------------------
btw, one day I was my WHM lvling in the dunes (in a no-PL-party), I got a funny word from the PLD in my pt :

" A WHM who cures me? I thought I am to be a healer"

aw.....you'll make me /em pokes <t>'s head until he fainted, poor PLD

[Eldela]

yeh, the PL situation is getting really bad on Asura server too. I went to raise a friend in dunes and almost every pt i saw had a PL. When I lvld SAM from 10-17.....every last pt i was in had a PL. I'm like wtf?! This is y when u get to higher lvl pts in yhoator and altepa ppl don't know how to do their jobs. They're being babied the entire way and as a result pt's suck w/o a PL. i don't understand how ur THAT lazy in a videogame >_> When i was lvling WHM yesterday in yuhtunga guy wanted a PL. the leader got mad bc i don't suck at it lol and he was highly impatient. i was just like 'I don't want a PL' and he couldn't understand that. Personally, i don't like being rendered useless in a job that requires some kind of skill.

ooh and another thing (yeh, i'm ranting and b***hing now)

PL's are fine from 1-10....but higher than that i find them a nuisance unless there absolutely is no other choice (i.e. no whm's lfp for miles) But i'm getting a little sick of crappy pt setups too.

SAM, WAR, DRG, DRK, DRk, BLM is NOT a good setup =/ A balanced pt needs a WHM, Tank, Puller before u grab a bunch of other stuff... then guy tells me (i'm BLM) "It's ok...u can main heal, right?"

me: "No."
guy: "Well, ur not a very good BLM then"
me: "Ur an idiot." *Stonega (oasis...all kinds of leeches) and Warp*

So i'm evil >_> what's ur point?

[Sylphine]

ooh and another thing (yeh, i'm ranting and b***hing now)

PL's are fine from 1-10....but higher than that i find them a nuisance unless there absolutely is no other choice (i.e. no whm's lfp for miles) But i'm getting a little sick of crappy pt setups too.

SAM, WAR, DRG, DRK, DRk, BLM is NOT a good setup =/ A balanced pt needs a WHM, Tank, Puller before u grab a bunch of other stuff... then guy tells me (i'm BLM) "It's ok...u can main heal, right?"

me: "No."
guy: "Well, ur not a very good BLM then"
me: "Ur an idiot." *Stonega (oasis...all kinds of leeches) and Warp*

So i'm evil >_> what's ur point?

How the heck did they from that kind of setup

I agree on that's a very unbalanced pt, let's see if I got a pt like that :

SAM- SC opener, Fighter, sometimes be a puller
WAR- tanker, may be involved in SC
DRG- Optional, may be a puller, fighter
DRK- Optional, damage dealer
DRk- Optional, damage dealer
BLM- Damage Dealer, wanted in most pt, can be a sub-healer but not when lv is lower than 24

Yea...I think you're right not staying with this pt. A BLM can't heal up the WAR fast enough, soon one of the fighters may die.

(/salute Eldela) I'm not brave enough to do things like that. ><" What I do is pt finding an excuse and leave the pt within 10 mins.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

SAM, WAR, DRG, DRK, DRk, BLM is NOT a good setup =/

No it isn't. BUT:

SAM/WAR, WAR, DRG/BRD, DRK/WHM, DRK,WHM, BLM/WHM will work as a stand alone party.

Oddest combo I was in was 2 PLD, 2 DRG/WHM, DRK, THF. Qufim levels 21 - 23. It worked and worked surprisingly well despite the fact that the PLDs had 150 MPs between them (Elvaan and a Galka who had no MP gear).

When they first released SAM they were SUPPOSED to be tanks BTW.

[Yukira]

Valkurm Dunes in Siren is mostly what it used to be: you see PL's every now & then but not in ûber-amounts.

SAM can backup-tank for awhile, sure; but we're more DD's than tanks. Skillchain specialists if you will.

[Sugami]

Anyone else getting a feeling of deja vous? No I was wrong, it's repitition

[Tianshii]

Every now and then I run through Levianthan's dunes... Usually I see clusters of 6. Here and there w/ a PL. I've even been asked to raise and offered payment to do so, which I refuse to accept. I've also been asked to clear the tunnel of bats, or take down a gob. I've also seen it just about empty. So, it would seem that things are not quite as bad on Leviathan.

-and now, story time w/ Tian-
A few weeks ago I was lfg as WAR/MNK in dunes. I got a party invite. No PL. We had a SC. We got exp chains! The exp was *gasp* good!
When I first joined this group, I used my Charm Wand on the WHM. More for fun, because I know whm at this level can not raise. Plus, I wanted to play with my new Charm Wand toy.
Eventually we moved on to Snippers. A gob spawned behind our puller while he was hunting for fresh prey. We decided to fight it. We were doing pretty good considering the thing was too powerful for us. Alas, our luck ran out. Our summoner got in on the secondary healing to keep me alive. Then...bomb toss... I had 40hp. One of the other melee pulled hate off me, but mages were spent. I watched his hp get lower..lower... Finally I just couldn't take it, couldn't watch him take the fall for me... *PROVOKE*!!! This kitty isn't afraid of death! The gob's hp were pretty low... a few more hits...
I was beat down to 8hp. All the melee looked ragged. Our White Mage ran over at did Benediction.
If this cute little taru hadn't, I would have died. We all would have died. Instead, everyone's hp was restored to full. We had to watch her take hit after merciful hit from the Gob. My voke timer wasn't ready yet... No matter how many boosts I did or how hard I hit, there was no getting hate back. I nearly cried when she finally fell. A few hits later, the Gob went down as well. I felt so bad! Is it not my job as "tank" to keep the mages safe? But then, there was that familuar sound and swirl of magical light... Tarutaru WhiteMage revived.

Sometimes, playing in the dunes is {fun.}

[Blackroses]

Lucy you guys. Heck just this morning before i went to work, I got invited to a party as my lvl 13 thf. (ryl footmans gear FTW!!!) Well apparently the leader invited 2 lvl 10's and then said we needed a PL even though we had a whm. Im like, if we get a PL i will leave this party. They were like why? And i told them: because Valkurm is crap compared to how it used to be 8 months ago. BY getting a PL you weaken this party's full potential and you screw over your whm. Sadly the leader said, " I dont care. Its great exp points." When everone else in the party agreed i disbanded and decided to just solo to 20.

[Althaia]

Before I came to FFXI, I was dead-set against PL, seeing them as unfair.

But in FFXI, you can level one job then just switch out another one on the same character.

I remember the old Valkurm Dunes on Bismarck -- it was like the "Wild, Wild West" -- lots of running for your life and/or dying and fun, lol. I say "fun" because you were with other people who were in the same situation, fearing the same goblins and trains, and facing the same odds. Now, with PL's... well, it's taken the wild out of the wild west.

But you know what? I got through old Valkurm on my main job, WHM, and now I just have a bunch of jobs I want to get to a certain level then abandon (to use as subjobs or farming), so a PL is actually useful: less dying and, in the case of a good PL, more EXP (which translates to getting out of the dunes and out of that job sooner!).

Of course, there is the fact that all this pampering leads to high-level n00bs, lol...

Still, it'd be nice if there was more of a choice like ... "Do you want to be in a PL party or not?"

[Kintrra]

I'd rather see someone gettong PL'ed solo than in a pt just cuz they're going through on a secondary job. I've left pts with PLs before. I'll do it again. If I want PL'ed that badly, I'll go somewhere there's T-VTs for my level, get 3 or 4 goin at one time, knock them all down to within a sliver of their health, then start killing them all off, right in a row. Takes forever to get them to that point depending on the job, but when you hit Chain 3 or 4 while being PLed, that makes it great. But to PL an entire pt, including subjob-less noobies who won't ever learn their job right because the tank can't tank because the PL keeps stealing hate, and the WHM's {Healing Magic} {Skill} ends up at less than half of their cap for their level, that's why I don't wanna see it. I've seen WHMs in the jungles who will just throw out their highest cure. Because that's all they've learned about, cuz that's what a PL did in every pt they had in the dunes. WHM with no brain? <.<; {Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass.}

[Keavy]

This is not a joke, people: I got an invite as 51WHM for a Quicksand Caves party (At that level you can chain beetles and Anticans for sexy exp.) so anyways, we're getting ready to Teleport-Altep when the Ninja mentions her friend wants to tag along so the leader invites him and we head off. Our BLM was waiting in Rabao for us so we had the room.

We get there and that's when the problems started with this Ninja. First off, she pulls a mob while we're all working out our strategies (Skillchain, MB, Haste cycles, etc.) so we start fighting her pull and get a link. She couldn't keep shadows up so it took me and the RDM spamming Cure 3 to keep her alive, which seemed odd. We barely survive, and the RDM asks why she didn't use her Ninjutsu to help with hate control and she responds "What do you think I am, made of money?"

So me and the RDM decide in /tell we're gonna leave if a replacement isn't found. A few fights later, same situation but different result: Me and RDM spamming cures to save the Ninja, I pull hate (With Crow Jupon and Gaiters on, no less!) and as I'm about to die I see my HP bar suddenly fill up and the mob goes running off. It was the friend who came along for the Tele earlier. Turns out he is her PLer and he had gotten lost along the way. Leader announced we had a replacement in Rabao getting a bird so the BLM D2's the Ninja and we went on our merry way doing about 6k exp an hour.

Ninja was pissed off over this and so was her PL but big whoop.

And that is why from now on I'm gonna be a "PLD Meat Shield only" WHM. Too many bad Ninjas out there thanks to PLing.

[Crispleaf]

And that is why from now on I'm gonna be a "PLD Meat Shield only" WHM. Too many bad Ninjas out there thanks to PLing.

To be honest, most ninja don't want white mage healers anyway, once you get past level 48. Red mages only

They'll beg for a raise if they die, mind you. But that's about it.

[Shirai]

And that is why from now on I'm gonna be a "PLD Meat Shield only" WHM. Too many bad Ninjas out there thanks to PLing.

To be honest, most ninja don't want white mage healers anyway, once you get past level 48. Red mages only

They'll beg for a raise if they die, mind you. But that's about it.

Haha yeah, I know exactly what you mean.
There are indeed ninjas that want "Red mage or Summoner" main healing only.

And indeed when they die most go FIND A WHM!!.
My plain and simple answer to that is:
You chose a non whm as main healer, you died you knew the risk so eat a Raise 1 or HP.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

To be honest, most ninja don't want white mage healers anyway, once you get past level 48. Red mages only

They'll beg for a raise if they die, mind you. But that's about it.

Haha yeah, I know exactly what you mean.
There are indeed ninjas that want "Red mage or Summoner" main healing only.

And indeed when they die most go FIND A WHM!!.
My plain and simple answer to that is:
You chose a non whm as main healer, you died you knew the risk so eat a Raise 1 or HP.

As that RDM, when there is no WHM, I know the risk, and accept it. But others do not seem to. Can't count the times I have been told "FIND ME A R II."

I will happily look for an R II for a WHM though.

[Shirai]

And me being on whm I will plainly say no.
For the same reason I stated above unless the person decided to die right next to me.
Then I will be the nice cat and raise the fallen.

Problem is when lvling whm you get countless of /tells in several zones from people to raise III them.
Some even "expect" from you that you come all the way from the other side of the zone to raise them "because it's your job".

ah well luckily there's always a thing like {Black List}{You can have this!} have a nice day ^^

[Kailea]

hehe I also dislike the peopel that want something other than a normal raise when they are 50 and below.... had osmoen in a dunes party want a raise 3...I was like man that wont matter, and he got pissy when I R1ed him lol

[Keavy]

They read the description of the spells and see that R2/R3 return more experience so they say "I Want that" not knowing that there is a level restriction attached.

As for Raising as a WHM, I have a WHM who just pissed me off over this: We were in the Jungles and I was leveling BLM and the party was by the entrance to Kazham. As I'm trying to talk the melee's into making SC's and get the THF to pull faster for Exp. Chains (THF would wait until all mage's had full MP before he would leave camp) I see our WHM run off and she starts Raising people! This wouldn't be so bad if members were AFK but this was after fights where we had FINALLY started to get Exp. Chains! Naturally, this killed any chance we had of getting a chain.

I sent her a /tell kindly asking her to stop raising people in the middle of a chain and how this was adversely affecting our exp. and she responds "That wouldn't be very Christian of me." I was in shock. How is slowing down exp. for 6 people to help one "Christian?" You don't set your HP in Kazham, you deserve to eat an HP then pay the Airship fee to return IMHO.

Oh, and don't get me started on the BLM who made us wait 30 minutes on him while he went all over Vana'Diel grabbing spells and food THEN yelled at us and made a scene when he finally arrived because we replaced him.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

About that level restriction for R II & R III.....

Long ago I was fishing at IDK, level 30ish, on the secret beach, got taken out by a Fishing monster. Got a random R III feom a passing WHM. I had looked at my EXP bar recently and after the Raise I hardly lost anything

Was this changed in the last year or so?

About Kazam and Raise.....

I will always set my HP at the plasade near the zone if I can. I die, I HP, I'm back in the fight and full. I have always felt that at that level I make more EXPs by not having the downtime of waiting for the Raise and Raise sickness.

[Keavy]

When you're in Garlaige Citadel or the second Jungle then Raise is worth it because HP is so far away, but when HP is literally a stone's throw away and the exp you lose can be recovered in a few fights there is no reason to get it.

[Cimmsharkx]

I love being a WHM to help out my friends, but the constant /tell's for raise is really getting annoying. Its not like I'm a mean WHM, if I happen to see someone dead, sure I'll raise them, I'll even cure them up too. I dont even ask for gil.

And getting the constant /tell's for PLing people is getting annoying too. I do it for friends and LS members who are working on secondary jobs only. I think I've every only PLed someone once because he wouldnt leave me alone, even still I charged him like 500/gil per hour hoping he'd leave but that plan was a dud. At least I made enough gil to go out about buy some spells.

I'm fairly new to the game and the Beta version for the 360 has been my first time playing FFXI. But just to report in on the question in the opening post, the Hydra server as new as it is, is filled with people asking for high lvl WHM's to PL themselves or their parties.

WHM30/MNK19/THF12/BLM10/WAR8/RDM3/PLD1

P.S. i know my BLM sub is under leveled, so no need to comment on that.

[Blackroses]

Not only are ppl asking for raises, they are asking for normal PLing from under lvl 25. I mean I was a lvl 24 whm and some was like, could you PL us in the dunes to lvl 15. COME ON. IM TRYING TO GET RAISE. Im not wasting MY valuable time to come and PL them. pfft

[Sugami]

La la la... what if only a SMN was available when the party was made? It's not their fault they couldn't find a WHM

Either things have changed in the 2 months I've been away or Bahamut is an except, I've never come across a NIN only wanting a RDM, SMN yes but RDM onry?

[Dirgon]

Me and keavy were talking the other day. And it seems that Valkurm dunes in Phoenix server is getting worse gradually over time. I mean when you hear the phrase " We dont need a whm, we have a Pld" It just makes you want to stab yourself for fun. Better yet: "Skillchain? whats a Skillchain? We dont need that, we have a PL." It brings a tear to my eye every time. Whatever happened to the good old days, where you could skillchain and MB a mob in valkurm without a PL and actually feel like you earned your exp? Rather than " We have a PL. No worries, just attack. Chaaaaarge."

Haha, ouch.

Valkurm on Alexander isn't nearly as bad as it used to be when I played last year, or the 6 months before that.

At least now I was able to get through it in two days of leveling. ; ;

[Keavy]

I've been avoiding Valkurm all together by soloing. It is a lot of fun and while my Weapons Skills do lag a bit I can quickly recover in a party.

By the way, unless you're a really good friend or I'm REALLY bored the only time I PL someone is if they need to skill up a weapon. Haste and Protect help a lot for this.

[Kahvi]

What ever happened to {Valkurm Dunes}?


It became {Dynamis - Valkurm}

[Euro]

last time I was pting in the dooms, was 3 months ago, and the only reason I was, was to get my sub lved. Needless to say, I had fun eatting sand. Being WHM, I have to go /anon, if I dont, spam spam spam spam of raise me or pl please. When going to Gusten Tunnel, i never rode the whole way, i walked because i passed by some limp body. Fun stuff