NEWS FROM THE FAN FESTIVAL

Tryxie · Post by **Tryxie** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 4:07 pm

Hello Kitties!

My hotel wi-fi sucks, so I'm going to keep this brief - I'll add photos, etc... and much more info when I return to MY computer on Sunday night.

AMAZING NEWS FROM THE FAN FESTIVAL!!!

So, let's just say the festival is sooooo much fun! There's not too much to do (and I've been working as a volunteer anyway), but the people and game events are great!

Two MAJOR bombs were dropped on us today (meaning Friday!)

BOMB NUMBER 1

CHOCOBO RAISING!!!!

Yes, Cats, with the new expansion - you will actually be able to breed and raise your very own Chocobo!

They will be different colors (which could affect thier abilities). SE was very vauge about most of the details. I'll be posting a photo from the powerpoint presentation on Sunday.

You raise te chocobo from birth till death. Like gardening, you must feed your Chocobo each day - if you neglect your chocobo - he will run away! This lead us all to think that they would announce a new job...Chocobo Knight! Well, they did announce a new job, but it's not Chocobo Knight.

They also announce that there would be new activities like Chocobo Racing coming soon!

BOMB NUMBER 2

NEW JOB - Puppetmaster!!!

Yes, a puppetmaster job - the armor looks amazing and the puppet looks like a Heartless from Kingdon Hearts. This was the final announcement last night. People went CRAZY about it! They show'd each job in action - which I write about on Sunday.

Also - they are making LOTS of changes to the current jobs - new spells, abilities, etc....SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY - with photos!

Today is the costume contest, Ballista Royal Championships and final panel discussion - so I'll give a full report on ...Sunday!

Post by **Shirai** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 8:09 pm

*Copied shamelessly from my own HNM boards*

Job changes to expect.

Changes coming to WAR;
New Weapons will be introduced.
Warriors will be able to throw (AXE)
as well as an introduction of a Throwing "Weapon Skill"

Changes coming to MNK;
Monks will now be able to "boost" the MAX Hitpoints of party members within affected range. (not verified)

Changes coming for THF;
The Two-Hour ability "Perfect Dodge" is getting revamped, thiefs will now inflict extra damage if the 2hour is used behind the enemy.*
Thiefs can now steal items other than gil & usual items. Ability to possibly steal & status affects from enemies.

Changes coming to WHM;
The Two-Hour Benediction will now cure HP & MP, as well as remove all negative status effects on party members within range.

Changes comign to BLM;
Black magages will do less damage on same tier spells as they are being repeated. Damage on magic bursts is not confirmed to be lowered. The development team panel did mention that they want to eliminate the "Manaburn" party mentality. New magic spells are being released to compensate for the damage reduction.

Changes coming to RDM;
See BLM ; ; / gan... . The development panel did mention that "Refresh II" is on the table, but has yet to be finalized as a confirmed addition.

:::::::::::::::::A D V A N C E D J O B S ::::::::::::::::::::::::

Changes coming for PLD;
Paladins will gain the job train "Auto-refresh".
Shield will become a more integral part of paladin, as not a defensive piece, but moreso as an offensive weapon. Paladins will use the shield to "counter" attack of sorts, which will gain the paladin more TP. The Development Team also mentioned adding in a job ability akin to "Provoke" without the subjob of /WAR.

Changes coming to DRK;
Dark Knights will now gain more offensive power by using Scythe, as well as gaining further benefits from using their absorb spells. The development mentioned that they want to encourage DRK's to use Scythe over Great Sword.

Changes coming to RNG;
UN-NERF-U!!!!!
After the upcoming expansion, Rangers will no longer suffer accuracy and damage loss when using the job ability "Sharp Shot" in relation to their distance from the enemy. And regular damage will also be adjusted (upward).

Changes coming to SAM;
The development team informed the Fanfare atendees that TP now can be used for abilities other than just Weapon Skills. Also, Damage dealt to enemies with Samurai's Weapon Skills will have an affect on the ammount of TP "reduced".

Changes coming to DRG;
The Development Team stated that due to all the upcoming changes to other jobs, they feel that the Dragoon job is well balanced and does not need any adjustments at this time. .... GAN! O|¯|_

Changes coming to BRD;
New songs are being released that aren't commonly used by BRD's. Also the development mentioned a new Low Level Song that will increase the Party's movement speed. "Low level mazurka?! Kweh!" Chocobo Square Dance?

Changes coming to BST;
The Develpment Team was skiddish on details. however the panel did mention that they are aware of the negative impact the previous patch has had on the beastmasters, and are looking at alternative ways to adjust the way that beastmasters remove mobs from the game's enviroment.

Changes coming to NIN;
The development team is conducting talks of introducing Utsusemi:San (in the near future), as well as added abilities for NIN. They acknowledge the fact that Ninja does make a powerful tank class, even though it wasn't intentioned to be one during original development. The Development team will continue to absorb feedback from the users before making any further adjustments.

Changes coming to SMN;
Summoners will gain a significant boost in MP, and the development team stated they want to encourage the SMN's to keep their avatars out during battle. The Avatars' buffs strenght will now depend on the SMN's "Summoning magic skill". New job abilities will be incorporated to (*make summoners suck less - Warf™*) allow SMN's to stay engaged in the battles for extended period of time. New avatars will be released, however the development team did state that BAHAMUT will not be incorporated, because of the Wyrm King's Strenght, the developers do not feel that its wise to make him controlable by PCs.

::::::::::::::::::::: A D I T I O N A L N O T E S :::::::::::::::::::::::::::

blue mage-
aoe spells
same aspects to the blm spells as a bst chart
aquire new spells, blue mage must be main job.. not played as sub
must defeat a job to gain the skills
must gain xp from the mob to aquire the spell
While playing and lvling bluemage you will gain set up points, you use those points to aquire the spells.
blue mage magic can be used as MB in pts

Corsair
boost job abalitys in party
cards used in attacks, almost like blackjack but the limit will be 12
You will use a ability called Card Shot that will throw up cards on the screen from 1-6. Whatever it comes up decided the buffs, once you roll again that number is added to the first card drawn if its lower then 12 the buffs will be added, if its more then 12 then a huge BUST goes across the cards and the buffs are lost.
For boosting the jobs in party: for example.. if your a Corsair and in a party with war, the buffs would be Double Attack for all pt members, your buffs depend on yourpt members. If your in party with mages, Corsair can lower your cast times on spells. Weapons used... swords <melee>
and Gun <buffs>
Following pictures originate from
Forums > FFXI Information > Information from first Dev. Session thread. Pictures posted by. Jaden of Fenrir.

Post by **JediKitsune** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 8:19 pm

That MNK update sounds cool, but someone SERIOUSLY needs to toss them an idea or two regarding Guard skill, as it is pretty much THE hardest skill to raise in the game.

Kailea · Post by **Kailea** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 8:25 pm

all those job changes are not final, from what I heard, they are just ideas right now

Bitneko · Post by **Bitneko** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 10:14 pm

Wow ,

I didn't see that coming!

Post by **Holydragoon** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 11:38 pm

Choco Raising!!! YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is awesome news!

Pluffy · Post by **Pluffy** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 12:47 am

I agree. Chocobo racing <33

Post by **Alya Mizar (Tsybil)** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 2:14 am

JediKitsune wrote:That MNK update sounds cool, but someone SERIOUSLY needs to toss them an idea or two regarding Guard skill, as it is pretty much THE hardest skill to raise in the game.

If you want to raise guard skill, you have to get hit. As people generaly don't like to see MNKs tank... ah well.

Pluffy wrote:I agree. Chocobo racing <33

So far that's only Chocobo RASING. Racing is expected to come later. But the new birds will not be limited to yellow.

The one that I am interested in is the Mog Locker. 30 new spaces expandable to 50!!! Expect a quest and a rental fee for this one.

Post by **JediKitsune** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:51 am

Tsybil wrote:
JediKitsune wrote:That MNK update sounds cool, but someone SERIOUSLY needs to toss them an idea or two regarding Guard skill, as it is pretty much THE hardest skill to raise in the game.
If you want to raise guard skill, you have to get hit. As people generaly don't like to see MNKs tank... ah well.

I'm aware of that, but... even then, you'll get one skill-up about every 10 or so mobs if you're lucky, and that's if you're tanking. Shield skill and parry skill are far faster to skill up, especially since a lot of jobs have those skills.

Pluffy · Post by **Pluffy** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:38 am

Tsybil wrote:

So far that's only Chocobo RASING. Racing is expected to come later. But the new birds will not be limited to yellow.

The one that I am interested in is the Mog Locker. 30 new spaces expandable to 50!!! Expect a quest and a rental fee for this one.

Opps, I read it wrong.

Either way, its awesome. ^^

Tryxie · Post by **Tryxie** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:31 am

Thanks for posting about the jobs! I was going too, but my hotel wi-fi is too unstable!

Post by **Sugami** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:55 am

JediKitsune wrote:
Tsybil wrote:
JediKitsune wrote:That MNK update sounds cool, but someone SERIOUSLY needs to toss them an idea or two regarding Guard skill, as it is pretty much THE hardest skill to raise in the game.
If you want to raise guard skill, you have to get hit. As people generaly don't like to see MNKs tank... ah well.
I'm aware of that, but... even then, you'll get one skill-up about every 10 or so mobs if you're lucky, and that's if you're tanking. Shield skill and parry skill are far faster to skill up, especially since a lot of jobs have those skills.

That's probably because your guard skill is so low in relation to the mob you're fighting. Like when I solo stuff on RDM I rarely get parry skillups

All these changes seem quite exciting along with the new jobs

I wish they'd increase the damage of polearm WS for DRG though

And that throwing WS better be for NIN aswell

Yarh I'm definately gonna try out Pirate... I mean Corsair

Blackroses · Post by **Blackroses** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 1:35 pm

All these updates seem like so much fun...and here i am, still a lvl 1 char cause i deleted my old one. Plus because im in japan i will get the expansion waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay later that everyone else. its so depressing i might just stop playing altogether. Nowadays i just wander around in game never knowing what im going to do. I even stopped playing as much as i used to. FFXI is fun, but being stuck at the lower lvl, and then the horrible party rate in the dunes. All that and then i know how fun it was being high lvled, make me really sad. Still, if the update does reach okinawa, i do believe ill try it out some. For now, i just try to motivate myself to at least gain 1 lvl a day. At the least.

Gwynn · Post by **Gwynn** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 3:56 pm

Holydragoon wrote:Choco Raising!!! YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is awesome news!

why am i reminded of this?

Post by **Alya Mizar (Tsybil)** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:03 pm

Blackroses wrote:All these updates seem like so much fun...and here i am, still a lvl 1 char cause i deleted my old one.......but being stuck at the lower lvl, and then the horrible party rate in the dunes....

Which server? There seem to be many new kitties on Midgard. I have jobs at 10 & 12 there. Happy to level with you if our times can be coordinated.

Blackroses wrote:Plus because im in japan i will get the expansion waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay later that everyone else. its so depressing i might just stop playing altogether.

Ummmm..... Amazon.com?

Actually I kind of like the low levels. I sometimes level my mules and I do enjoy the view from a subless Rank 2 in the Dunes. I learn things there too. For instance, did you know that no one ever asks a Galka if he is a real guy?

Keavy · Post by **Keavy** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:36 pm

The change to Benediction would be so sweet. 9/10 times I use this in battle I die so adding a usefulness for it outside of battle is nice.

Downtime? No, thanks. The WHM can Bene and we're good to go!

Post by **Golddess** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:43 pm

I don't think I'll be using Bene any more often than I had, but this definitely makes it less of a last ditch effort.

It's always been hard to judge when one should Bene, because after that, what's left? You have to time it against depleted MP and rapidly dropping HP. If you have MP but can't cure fast enough, Bene'll just delay the inevitable unless the mob is almost dead. If you're out of MP it's just a race against the clock with Bene giving a few more seconds of time. With the added benefit of MP restoring it becomes more than a last ditch effort, but a revitalizing force, a renewed determination. As long as the WHM is not the only one with cure spells.

Kintrra · Post by **Kintrra** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:18 pm

The changes to PLD have me psyched as hell yes, but I think it's true like my g/f said in-game, they could give WHMs a little more of a boost. The change to Benediction is great, don't get me wrong. But what about spells like Holy? Or Enlight? That one should be PLD and WHM only if you ask me. Instead (to my knowledge) it's on like 2 swords in the whole game. My g/f wants more Divine Magic type AMs. Especially since Holy (let's all admit it if we didn't before) sucks like hell. Honestly, it does. <.<;

Post by **Sugami** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:50 pm

Tsybil wrote:For instance, did you know that no one ever asks a Galka if he is a real guy?

That's 'cause galka are so ugly it's assumed no female would want such an ugly model

And Enlight would be RDM aswell or onry since we get all the weapon enchantments, which if you remember correctly are a result of studying both white and black magic

Keavy · Post by **Keavy** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:28 pm

If they give us Enlight then we NEED Endark as well.

Refresh II will be nice if they do add it but if they do they'd better have a Mage's Ballad III otherwise the Bard's will bitch and moan.

Post by **Alya Mizar (Tsybil)** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:30 pm

My longest standing gripe....

If RDMs are the mistresses and masters of Enhancing and Enfeebling Magic, why don't we get the higher level Regens? Regen = Enhancing Magic.

I would like Refresh II and Dia III. Bio III too.

Post by **Golddess** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:36 pm

Keavy wrote:Refresh II will be nice if they do add it but if they do they'd better have a Mage's Ballad III otherwise the Bard's will bitch and moan.

Yes, yes we will >.>;

As anyone who has ever played around with {/recast} can tell you, there is a lot in there that is not accessible to players. Meteor seems to be the one that sticks out in my mind the most, but I believe Utsu San is also there already. Refresh II, however, is not. That doesn't mean they won't give a Refresh II at some point, but it does mean that it isn't even in the game yet, that even mobs only have the original Refresh.

And Holy is already WHM and PLD only.

Kintrra · Post by **Kintrra** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:43 pm

Golddess wrote:And Holy is already WHM and PLD only.

And as pointed out previously, Holy sucks. Flat out. 100mp for something I can outdo with Banish II for just a little over half the mp. <.<;; And yes, I have outdone Holy with Banish II multiple times. Banish III beats it into the ground like it's nothing, and I think it's only 98mp as well. The only time Holy is worth it is if we're getting Chain 5s and I get bored watching Light SCs that I'm not involved in. <.<;

Vana · Post by **Vana** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:54 pm

Here's a little treat for those who missed out on the lovely Mithras at the Fan Festival.

For those who were there... HEY! That was me handing out the pix!

I hope everyone had fun and got a great picture with the mithra models.

Tryxie · Post by **Tryxie** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:40 pm

Nice!

I've posted all my photos (including shots of the Development Panel) under the MP Hydra "Server Chat/Fan Festival Update"

Ya'll can see the photos of the puppetmaster and chocobo raising slides.

Blackroses · Post by **Blackroses** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:13 am

Very nice. Now i really fell bad about not going (darn you Sgt. T. Why didnt you let me take leave. *shakes fist in the sky*) but im glad to see that you had fun. Im in a mad rush to lvl 30 so that when the new jobs come out, i can give it a shot

(lvl 10 rdm atm) But I do have one question. What is a puppetmaster? is it like smn where you control avatars excepts puppets. Or do you make the enemy mobs a puppet, like beastmaster?

Calcula · Post by **Calcula** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:29 am

I didnt get to go to the fan festival either (fume) but I heard it was alot of fun

Post by **Nivez** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 4:11 am

refresh 2 and mages ballad 3 arent in the game, however they could be added. id just like them personally to add the spells we SHOULD have before making new ones

bio3 dia3 are the main ones im thinking of

as for regen... possibly they could add regen2 to rdm, but it reallyis a whm spell, yes were the masters of enfeebling, but not enhancing. were just good at that on the side ;p

Tinacat · Post by **Tinacat** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 5:49 am

WHO WON BALLISTA ROYALE!????

Keavy · Post by **Keavy** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 6:59 am

Meteor would be nice for BLM (A job I am falling more in love with the more I level it. May level it to 75 after WHM.) As for Regen 2 someone told me that RDM used to get it but SE took it away (Maybe made RDM too powerful?) so I imagine they gave them Refresh to make up for it.

As for Puppetmaster, SE is keeping quiet as usual. There is speculation that the puppet mimics actions in battle. We'll see for sure April 18th or April 20th, depending on where you live. Only thing I dread about that job is all the Metallica Macros we'll see.