Abyssea ,New players should get 100 stones to start out with at least.

[sc4500]

I all ready had 4 people just quit game for next 3 months or for good, since they can't really do anything in aybssea for next 3 to 6 months since nowdays most the stuff there is low man stuff under 6 people partys and thats good, and veterans are not going need to worry about stones since most all ready quit for a 6 month break or yr break to build there stones up or the rest the players are on to other stuff that no one new can really join or do abyssea stuff like all the older players are able to do, since new players can't get access to abyssea gear,

Just sucks when your helping out a friend only for them to run out of stones then they got to wait a few days. while the rest of us get everything. and/or have them jump into the zone right after we almost got a mob killed so he/she can get a seal or something.

Yes you can exp party to build time but worthless and you can get all the exp you need in grounds of valor.

Also is it not squares job to make some money and not something that makes people quit.

[0nionKn1ght]

Um after a shakey first day, I used my second stone in an exp party to gain a 3 hour entry stock, and bought the stone atmas with the cruor I earned, and now I have more stones than I can spend, and continually have at least 2 hours stocked up every time I enter, and thats been 7 days since I returned to FFXI (I last logged in at 75 cap, pre abyssea so nothing was stored up for me). I have also spent around 2 million cruor already and gathered a tonne of Atma and NM kills.

So sorry man, but your suggestion is really badly thought out and makes very little sense inline with the games mechanics.

[Eric]

No. How about you work for the abyssites that lower the time needed for Joachim to make you new stones instead?

EDIT: One more suggestion would be to use the time you spend waiting for stones doing other things that you should be doing anyways. Abyssea isn't the only damn thing in the game.

[Teraniku]

No. How about you work for the abyssites that lower the time needed for Joachim to make you new stones instead?

EDIT: One more suggestion would be to use the time you spend waiting for stones doing other things that you should be doing anyways. Abyssea isn't the only damn thing in the game.

This is true. Work on Magian weapons (a great way to level your npc follower), Work on all the mission / expansion storylines you haven't finished, general questing (The Windurst Star Onion Brigade, and Aht Urghan Serpent General Quest lines are particularly good.), Campaign, If you can handle the R.N.G. then Voidwatch, or Nyzul Isle 2.0, etc.

[Randwolf]

If your friends had a better guide, they would have done the things necessary to drop stone replenishment time first thing. A better guide would have first made sure he maxed their time with TE chests which DON'T require an EXP party as mentioned.

Seems to me, your friends' issue wasn't the stones. It was the person helping them who didn't know how to do it. Since, I'm assuming their guide knew how it worked before he even began, he should have not let their stone/time run out. Not S/E's fault. It was your friends' crappy assistant.

p.s. - We just had people return to the game with the exact same issue. We did everything I mentioned above with them and walked them through the mechanics. They all have plenty of stones now and didn't quit.

[Zerich]

Most of us got our stone+ abyssites a while back. If you think anyone took off time to 'build stones' you're misinformed. Also, ask other friends who didn't quit during [A] to help get you the abyssites. If those people aren't willing to help you, then I'd reevaluate who your friends are in-game.

[Jackstin]

Abyssea is for seasoned players, or people who have at, least played a little while.

This idea is basically saying, Abyssea is the whole game, ignore everything else as its far less important. There is tonnes of stuff to do in this game besides Abyssea, and it is good to encourage newbies to experience it. There's plenty of people doing this stuff too.

For example, in April I was ablemto zipmthrough WotG in 2 weeks. No statics, just from other people doing the same missions.

[svengalis]

If you do the quest to lower the stones down to replenish every 8? Hours and do the time exstension quest to get you 48 minutes per stone time really shouldn't be an issue. You could also farm time which really isnt that hard unless you dont have some form of azure. We all had to go through it.

[Meyi]

Talk to Joachim, wait a week, and have 7 stones. A week won't kill anyone, honestly. Also get a BLM, BLU, or SCH friend to go in and build up Azure quickly. At 160 Azure you'll start getting Time Extensions, plus 160~255 making the blue chests appear more frequently.

No reason to quit the game. 100 stones is a lot, really. I could understand 5.

[svengalis]

Hard as it is to believe there really is more to this game then abyssea.

[0nionKn1ght]

Hard as it is to believe there really is more to this game then abyssea.

http://i.imgur.com/qkPD1.gif

[Rosina]

http://i.imgur.com/qkPD1.gif

quoted cuz this guy was hot in the 80s/90s :P

but yes there is a ton to do in this game. If you don't bum rush everything at once you can build stones easy. I just came back and don't think stone building is all that hard.
My suggestion is the second you hit 30 go do the cs for abyssea and do the nessisary bits that allow you to get stones. then just play the game after that. There is a tone to do in this game that still take time.
1) fame building- even if you buy everything it takes time to build up fame in everything.

2- do story line quests for home nation, ziltart, cop, treasures, wings, ACP, Moogle, and shantotto.

3) level your jobs

if you rush everything an mmo has to offer you will run out of things quickly. Take your time and enjoy you will build plenty of stones in the mean time. Once you get the abbysite youi will have more stones you can handle.

[detlef]

I disagree with most of the posters here. I think newbies and old players just rejoining the game should both be given a head start.

First off, it's clear that the best way to get up to speed job-wise and gear-wise is through Abyssea. There's a lot better gear out there from other sources, but Abyssea will give a player a good opportunity to become a competent and contributing member at a reasonable pace. Yes, there are many other things to do in-game. Missions and such have been suggested. This is all well and good, but practically speaking, a new or returning player should probably concentrate on leveling and gearing a 99 job first.

The next thing I would like to address is whether newbies should receive extra stones right off the bat. I say yes. 100 may be excessive, but some sort of head start is warranted. I see some arguments against that. Let me address them.


We all had to go through it.
This is not a good reason. There have been many hardships in-game that have been changed for the better to allow new players to have a better experience. And rightfully so. Some recent examples are changes to make the level 50 limit break easier and the ki to allow players to open the Garlaige doors solo.


Most of us got our stone+ abyssites a while back. If you think anyone took off time to 'build stones' you're misinformed. Also, ask other friends who didn't quit during [A] to help get you the abyssites. If those people aren't willing to help you, then I'd reevaluate who your friends are in-game.Not everybody has friends. At least right away. How many stories have you heard about a player who came back to a completely empty friend list? Not everybody can be pointed in exactly the right direction immediately either. Not everybody is going to know to pump triggers into the Vunkerl NPC or kill tonberries in Konschtat. I've seen many accounts of players returning to the game and feeling completely overwhelmed.

So maybe 100 stones like the OP proposes is a tad excessive, but 10 or 20 wouldn't hurt anybody. It would give players an opportunity to explore the Abyssea zones a bit without having to worry about maximizing every second inside.

[svengalis]

The time limit in abyssea is not that big of an issue though. Farming time is easy once you cap lights. Farming af3 does not take that long if you go with the right jobs.(blm,whm,blu,(can go without)thf, nin or/ nin /brd.

[Rosina]

The time limit in abyssea is not that big of an issue though. Farming time is easy once you cap lights. Farming af3 does not take that long if you go with the right jobs.(blm,whm,blu,(can go without)thf, nin or/ nin /brd.

this is true... it takes @ max a week to get the hands, body, leg and head only tricky one is feet. But still with help you can still get it easy.


@ detlef
you suggestion is what one shouldn't do.... thats the best way to run out of stuff quicky. Plus you get gear from doing the story line missions that can better help you in abbyssea. Abby shouldn't be the main focus coming into the game. Though that content is fun, and easy to get into... there is alol more to this game. If you focus on getting 99 then gear doing every story line takes no more then 2 mnths if you have the time. 4 mnths if you spend @ least 1hr. with all the fast travel this game has w/o using gil. People will be "done" with everything in pretty much in 4 mnths- 5mnths. Then just quit.

[Rosina]

(text limit)

That pretty much the WoW mentality people have in that game "get max cap then gear up" alot of ppl are complaining about lack of content in a 6 year old game... with 4 expacks, because they rush it to get it done in a matter of weeks. Also I'm a returning player who had maybe 1 friend but I'm no longer on his server. I'm starting from the ground up. Most ppl feel overwhelmed is due to lack of help being offered and the encourage/ forced solo everything mantality people are spewing. The people I talked to do not always come to mmorpg to play by themselves. I'm all for easing a new player/ returning player... but ease and hand holding are different. This suggestion is a bit hand holdy. There has to be some hardships in the game that a player must work through. Thats how they get better. If you constently win, you learn nothing... if you loose you step back and learn why you lost and try a different route. (this is a metiphoric win/loose not saying battle content)

[Iakothm]

uhhh What? New Players are having issues getting up stones? How the hell is that even possible? I haven't even come close to running out of stones since I started this Character and this character is .... 2-3 months old tops? No way do we need 100 stones or even a 5 stone bonus for first starting. Also I am on this game waaaaaaaay more than i should be.

[Demon6324236]

Honestly if any stones, possibly 5~10. Do not forget Abyssea is high level and not meant to be purely the "casual" area of the game. In honesty when you get into abyssea you should be learning about abyssites and learn how to get them. Then find a linkshell, party, or friends who need them or can at least help you with them. The main ones you should focus are when going into abyssea are the ones that give you stones more frequently, followed by the ones that give you more time for said stones. This alone more than triples your daily allowance of time in abyssea.

[RAIST]

I disagree with most of the posters here. I think newbies and old players just rejoining the game should both be given a head start.

First off, it's clear that the best way to get up to speed job-wise and gear-wise is through Abyssea. There's a lot better gear out there from other sources, but Abyssea will give a player a good opportunity to become a competent and contributing member at a reasonable pace. Yes, there are many other things to do in-game. Missions and such have been suggested. This is all well and good, but practically speaking, a new or returning player should probably concentrate on leveling and gearing a 99 job first.

The next thing I would like to address is whether newbies should receive extra stones right off the bat. I say yes. 100 may be excessive, but some sort of head start is warranted. I see some arguments against that. Let me address them.


This is not a good reason. There have been many hardships in-game that have been changed for the better to allow new players to have a better experience. And rightfully so. Some recent examples are changes to make the level 50 limit break easier and the ki to allow players to open the Garlaige doors solo.

Not everybody has friends. At least right away. How many stories have you heard about a player who came back to a completely empty friend list? Not everybody can be pointed in exactly the right direction immediately either. Not everybody is going to know to pump triggers into the Vunkerl NPC or kill tonberries in Konschtat. I've seen many accounts of players returning to the game and feeling completely overwhelmed.

So maybe 100 stones like the OP proposes is a tad excessive, but 10 or 20 wouldn't hurt anybody. It would give players an opportunity to explore the Abyssea zones a bit without having to worry about maximizing every second inside.

A few things you're neglecting though. You have to hit level 30 before you can even open up Abyssea. A NEW player should have some level of interaction with others...if they aren't making friends or at least in a LS by then, that is an issue with the player and not the game design.

Also, ALL this information is out there on the web....all over the place. Guides have been put forth on the forums (some here in fact), and it's in the wiki's. Can even find it using Google ffs--a simple search on "FFXI Abyssea how to get stones" gave me a hit to the Abyssea section on a wiki...as the FIRST result.

It simply doesn't take much to speed up stone regeneration and more minutes per stone.

Buy a Black Whisker in the AH, use it to complete Whither the Whisker (get it back and resale the whisker on AH) and your regeneration time is reduced 4 hours, and you get 800 Cruor. Next one is bought for 9k cruor (you earn this in just minutes after joining a cleave party that is popping chests with 1k cruor in them, plus cruor per kill)..That puts you at 2 stones per real life day...when you get high enough level to pull the tonberries, just takes minutes to get that last one to get you to 3 stones per day. Note that (depending on how you've been using your stones) you will pick up free stones each time you get one of these abyssites. So, if you wait just ONE WEEK after unlocking abyssea before going after them all, you can get a nice bonus if you've got a decent stock caught up (could potentially wind up with about 20 stones in the end). If you've gotten some of the time per stone extensions, this adds up to a lot of time.

Those 3 minute per stone abyssyites make a big difference in conserving your stones, and some are easy to get. One is bought for only 6k cruor (that's no more the 6 capped blue chests, easily obtained in an aby xp party). Mielikki is a chump with the help of a couple lvl 99 friends. Then their's Ovni...easily soloed by some jobs, but since you want red proc for the abyssite...it's another easy win. That's an extra 9 minutes/stone for minimal effort. The 4th to get you to +12 minutes requires a little more leg work because you need to buy a Lilac to complete a quest, then kill Gukametz for a drop to complete another...but it's easy enough to do. The other two can get tricky depending on who you have helping you....but with 42 minutes per stone, you should only ever be using up to 2 stones each time you enter (can't request more the 120 minutes from the NPC, between saved time and stone redemption you should never use more than 2: 1=42, 2=84, 3=126 minutes)--and you should be getting 3 stones per day at that point.

So, to recap....after hitting level 30 on the first job and making a few friends along the way, activating Abyssea, and then spending about a week doing non-abyssea content (like maybe other content to unlock access to other areas and such, working on a craft, doing RSE, tons of stuff to do), you could team up with some friends one weekend and with minimal effort, potentially have over 20 stones in stock, be getting 3 stones/day regenerated, and 42 minutes per stone so you are using fewer stones each time you go in.

It's not rocket science. It's not busting your **** getting Tavnazia access with all the old level restrictions....seriously, traverser stone management is a breeze if you just do it right. Oh yeah, and while we're on the issue of stone management---kick off VoidWatch as soon as possible too so that voidstones build up in the background as well.

[Reiterpallasch]

They should give new players 100 stones to get them started, and then promptly banhammer them all because it gives them an unfair advantage that other players didn't have.

Right Randwolf?

[Meyi]

The time limit in abyssea is not that big of an issue though. Farming time is easy once you cap lights. Farming af3 does not take that long if you go with the right jobs.(blm,whm,blu,(can go without)thf, nin or/ nin /brd.

Needs to be blm/brd, because /brd with any other job has a higher tendency to be resisted. BLM procs with Elemental Seal.

[Randwolf]

They should give new players 100 stones to get them started, and then promptly banhammer them all because it gives them an unfair advantage that other players didn't have.

Right Randwolf?
It almost sounds as though you're bitter about another thread which didn't go your way. How unfortunate.

[Chilloa]

I'd be fine with giving newcomers 100 Stones right off the bat. But in exchange they won't get any additional stones for about 100 days. Of course getting Celerity Abyssites would reduce the 100 day timer as well.

I'd also like to point out, we didn't get 100 Stones when Abyssea was first released. In fact, on Phoenix people thought stones capped out at 20 lol.

[Trumpy]

when abyssea was added i had at most like 40 stones but would frequently get very low depending on luck with TEs and whatever (lot of us didnt really grasp how to do keep time up very well when this all started). i think i was down to like 5ish at one point when a certain natural disaster in japan made us all take a month vacation from game. when i came back i think i had way more stones than i could possibly use up. now i cant remember the amount i have off the top of my head but its insane (is near 900 plausible?). i think im good for life when stones come to mind.

so yea takin any short amount of tiem be it a week or more should get u started. starting the quest at 30 then not bothering with abyssea till ur 99 other than exp parties and doin other stuff new characters should be doin, youll have a decent stock of them. and u dont even need to get the stone KIs right off. as they are retroactive in giving u more stones.

Once u have like 3-4 stones as long as u always leave with over 120 minutes of time u would never need a stone again. even my new mule is good on stones and ive pretty much wasted alot of them on him.

[bungiefanNA]

Yes you can exp party to build time but worthless and you can get all the exp you need in grounds of valor.

Also is it not squares job to make some money and not something that makes people quit.

EXP parties in Abyssea serve multiple purposes. First is that they build time stockpiles. Second is that they build cruor needed to unlock a bunch of things in Abyssea and purchase items. Third is that you have many more camps without overcrowding like you would in GoV.

The very first thing someone with Abyssea access should be doing is farming the replenishment+ Abyssites. They're all easy enough to get with a friend. Unlocking your first stone at 30 and spending a few days leveling and breaking limits should also get you a small stockpile.

Abyssea should be preferred to GoV for EXPing, simply because of cruor, with how much is needed for Abyssea and VoidWatch content. I haven't spent a Traverser Stone except for Shinryu in months, and I recently spent a solid 2 days straight in Abyssea with time stockpiled from an EXP party. Preparation is what allowed me to do that.

[Logandor]

You know starting the stone collecting at level 30 and just leaving the heck alone til 70 and leveling in the other areas of the game and doing missions/story line. In oh about a week, maybe two max, you'd have enough stones to ask ls members and or friends you had made during your early years of leveling via outside aby could and probably would help you get your stone timer shorten through the quests and even take you for a cleave or two so you could afford abyssites. If your like some you would probably hit 70 faster then a week but there is always other jobs you could level and get pre-aby ready. Not including being skilled up for maat fight your first time.
Now I had started playing back before aby was even released, didn't bother getting it until I had reached 65 on some of my jobs, and didn't have stones built up. (And this was before they added in those nice stackable pages.) I waited one week, just one, and during that time got up in levels and ready for maat. I got into a aby party in the canyon and they literally made sure time chests were abundant and a ls member took me around to get me confluxes and taught me some about aby.
Mainly what I am saying is I agree with Trumpy and a few others. Get it started at 30 and go do some other aspects of the game while you wait. There is always crafting, skilling, leveling, and story line you can do. Not everything has to be done at level 99. :) Besides one of the funnest things in the game I found to do was trying different nms I found in the areas I was leveling in just to see how well I could handle them. You would be amazed not all nms outside aby require you to be 5 to 10 levels above it to kill it just try it and see. This is a game after all, have fun.

[Cymmina]

Returning veterans (pre-Abyssea) are at least as common as new players, if not more common. A 75 is not going to want to wait for stones to accumulate: they need merits and seals/crests to start doing their limit quests. There's not a whole lot they can do until they've done that since everything else is obsolete and no one is going to want a 75 to do actual content with. Magian trials typically aren't done outside of Abyssea anymore unless it can't be done (weather requirement or the necessary targets aren't in Abyssea) or the frequency of weather allows you to finish in 1/5th the time.

Three stones would be plenty to get started with, anything more than 10 is excessive. That's enough time to get celerity Abyssites or compensate for having shitty luck with TEs. Yes, we had it rough at the start, too. That's not an excuse to keep it that way.

[Reiterpallasch]

Give the players a way to turn stones into a physical item that can be AH/bazaared for those who don't have them.

Just checked, and at this very moment I'm sitting on 1298 stones. That's 62304 minutes, 1038 hours, or 43 days. If I were able to go into abyssea and use every single stone at once, by the time my time ran out I would have accumulated another 129 stones for 6192 more minutes. (3 stones a day, at 48 minutes each).

I'll never use them all, and they aren't doing anyone else any good that could potentially use them.

[Kavik]

I have well over 1000 stones, when abyssea first came out, i ran an abyssea linkshell and we would go in every 3 days for 120 mins because we nvr had TE's, no one knew how to get them, no one knew anything about procs, there was NO data. I have had roughly 5 people who played before abyssea and quit come back to the game recently, the first thing i ask them is, did you unlock abyssea and voidwatch so you can start accumulating stones, then i helped them get seals and such for their limit breaks outside of abyssea, by the time we got that done they had at least 10 stones which is more then enough time to do just about anything in abyssea in a sitting. Also if you really cannot STAND to go in without time, buy an hr in a fc (at least on phoenix there is ALWAYS one or more going) and get over 400 mins, go about your merry way.

That said, i do agree with this


Give the players a way to turn stones into a physical item that can be AH/bazaared for those who don't have them.

Like voiddust.

[Volarione]

Give the players a way to turn stones into a physical item that can be AH/bazaared for those who don't have them.

Just checked, and at this very moment I'm sitting on 1298 stones. That's 62304 minutes, 1038 hours, or 43 days. If I were able to go into abyssea and use every single stone at once, by the time my time ran out I would have accumulated another 129 stones for 6192 more minutes. (3 stones a day, at 48 minutes each).

I'll never use them all, and they aren't doing anyone else any good that could potentially use them.


I would love that, just set the cap at 12 or Noone would sell anything after that first batch :p

Or let joachimm sell a few he has in "storage"

[Luvbunny]

As other players have mentioned, new players are way too lazy to do any research and lacking reading comprehension. There is wiki, with a lot of information. If anything they should at least try to do abysite gathering with a bunch of newbies. Then perhaps do EVERY OTHER THING BUT ABYSEA for awhile, I mean this is mind bogling really, and a serious issue when we have tons of abynoobieboobies joining Voidwatch for cities clear since they are clearly clueless about every other aspect of the game and have not set a foot on WoTG areas causing massive delay on waiting for them to get to camp. There are TONS of content to do now that you can level up to 99 so fast. Grab a couple people, do abysite gathering and then do nyzul isle clear, assaults, salvage, limbus, dynamis, voidwatch etc.. Seriously you are not gonna die from not doing abysea for a week or two while your stones gathers. ALSO do abysea quests!!!

[Logandor]

As other players have mentioned, new players are way too lazy to do any research and lacking reading comprehension. There is wiki, with a lot of information. If anything they should at least try to do abysite gathering with a bunch of newbies. Then perhaps do EVERY OTHER THING BUT ABYSEA for awhile, I mean this is mind bogling really, and a serious issue when we have tons of abynoobieboobies joining Voidwatch for cities clear since they are clearly clueless about every other aspect of the game and have not set a foot on WoTG areas causing massive delay on waiting for them to get to camp. There are TONS of content to do now that you can level up to 99 so fast. Grab a couple people, do abysite gathering and then do nyzul isle clear, assaults, salvage, limbus, dynamis, voidwatch etc.. Seriously you are not gonna die from not doing abysea for a week or two while your stones gathers. ALSO do abysea quests!!!

Agree it won't kill you and if you think "well everyone else had done void watch I want in on it too. I just got all my jobs to 99..." I have a small news flash, there are vet players who haven't even started void watch except to start the void stone building. The ls I am in has at least two members who haven't done a single void watch fight. Reason being because we want to have a job built and capped out on it's skills/merits/and decent to best gear/weapon you can get pre-void watch. Also as one had said the other content is something she wants to focus on first before void watch that way when she gets to void watch she will be set for that fun. Any ways something I forgot to add, how about breaking your weapons in and get the weapon skills. I know that sounds funny as hell but there are some people who demand to start doing void watch who don't even have a single weapon skill unlocked from it being the via merited ones to the mythic to heck the ones you start in town. Yeah breaking weapons sucks but hey having all the weapon skills ain't a bad thought for the jobs you want to do. And on that note I am going back to gaming. Later's and have fun peoples.

[Iakothm]

As other players have mentioned, new players are way too lazy to do any research and lacking reading comprehension. There is wiki, with a lot of information. If anything they should at least try to do abysite gathering with a bunch of newbies. Then perhaps do EVERY OTHER THING BUT ABYSEA for awhile, I mean this is mind bogling really, and a serious issue when we have tons of abynoobieboobies joining Voidwatch for cities clear since they are clearly clueless about every other aspect of the game and have not set a foot on WoTG areas causing massive delay on waiting for them to get to camp. There are TONS of content to do now that you can level up to 99 so fast. Grab a couple people, do abysite gathering and then do nyzul isle clear, assaults, salvage, limbus, dynamis, voidwatch etc.. Seriously you are not gonna die from not doing abysea for a week or two while your stones gathers. ALSO do abysea quests!!!

There is a problem with that though I can't find parties for most of that stuff because no one does it anymore so what do you think a new player is gonna be able to do? A new player comes in and asks what there is to do and people normally reply Abyssea or Voidwatch. Heck when I hit 75 I got asked why I was leveling in Bostaunieux Oubliette instead of Abyssea. The fact of the matter is there isnt much to do outside of aby. (Even with that said I still think new players don't need any aby stone hand outs) I personally have been looking for people to do Nyzul Isle but no one is willing. People get their gear and tend to forget that others will need it to and stop helping.

[Krystal]

I all ready had 4 people just quit game for next 3 months or for good, since they can't really do anything in aybssea for next 3 to 6 months since nowdays most the stuff there is low man stuff under 6 people partys and thats good, and veterans are not going need to worry about stones since most all ready quit for a 6 month break or yr break to build there stones up or the rest the players are on to other stuff that no one new can really join or do abyssea stuff like all the older players are able to do, since new players can't get access to abyssea gear,

Just sucks when your helping out a friend only for them to run out of stones then they got to wait a few days. while the rest of us get everything. and/or have them jump into the zone right after we almost got a mob killed so he/she can get a seal or something.

Yes you can exp party to build time but worthless and you can get all the exp you need in grounds of valor.

Also is it not squares job to make some money and not something that makes people quit.

100 stones? why? so RMTs, lazy players, and noobs can shoot to level 99 from start?

If you answered yes to any of the above: pour acid on your hard drive, snap your FFXI CDs in half, and throw your monitor out the window.

[Mostfowl]

There is a problem with that though I can't find parties for most of that stuff because no one does it anymore so what do you think a new player is gonna be able to do? A new player comes in and asks what there is to do and people normally reply Abyssea or Voidwatch. Heck when I hit 75 I got asked why I was leveling in Bostaunieux Oubliette instead of Abyssea. The fact of the matter is there isnt much to do outside of aby. (Even with that said I still think new players don't need any aby stone hand outs) I personally have been looking for people to do Nyzul Isle but no one is willing. People get their gear and tend to forget that others will need it to and stop helping.

Most the old content is soloable now. Do some wotg, cop, toau, nation missions etc etc etc. You dont need a pt for it. Let your stones build while you get other stuff done. Also doing things like unlocking your wotg areas, sky and such will be handy later for things like VW. They game is huge and now mostly soloable. Also I have heard /sh for ppl putting dyna win pts together, wotg missions, etc on Asura so you cannot say there is nothing going on.

One of the biggest issues is that Aby spoils new players and makes them think they cannot do anything outside of it when they can very easily. Best example of this, ppl /sh for help popping coffers for their thief af gear. Really? You need to learn your job, if you did you would realize thf can pop their coffers without a coffer key and get their gear and you will also realize most of its worthless anyway. You just arent going to get someone to hold your hand, everyone needs to grow up sometime.

You guys can go a week without aby there is a huge world out there to explore, which will be getting even bigger soon!

[Iakothm]

Most the old content is soloable now. Do some wotg, cop, toau, nation missions etc etc etc. You dont need a pt for it. Let your stones build while you get other stuff done. Also doing things like unlocking your wotg areas, sky and such will be handy later for things like VW. They game is huge and now mostly soloable. Also I have heard /sh for ppl putting dyna win pts together, wotg missions, etc on Asura so you cannot say there is nothing going on.

One of the biggest issues is that Aby spoils new players and makes them think they cannot do anything outside of it when they can very easily. Best example of this, ppl /sh for help popping coffers for their thief af gear. Really? You need to learn your job, if you did you would realize thf can pop their coffers without a coffer key and get their gear and you will also realize most of its worthless anyway. You just arent going to get someone to hold your hand, everyone needs to grow up sometime.

You guys can go a week without aby there is a huge world out there to explore, which will be getting even bigger soon!

Get to 99 as fast as you can and solo everything is basically the basis of what you just said. I am talking before 99 which is what it would be to build up TE. Soloing before 99 is not very fun since they decided to add those high ass agro monsters in everywhere and also This is a MMO what is the point in playing a MMO if you are just gonna solo everything? And yes I knew that people could do the coffers as a thief solo but did you know that you also have a chance of getting weakened for several hours in which you cant open a coffer? Or the chance of that coffer turning into a mimic? I hate when people say af if worthless especially people like you since you are telling people to explore the game and not do aby. I got my AF before my maat fight because point blank it isnt worthless especially for the Maat fight and Especially on thief since it adds +steal.

[Mostfowl]

Get to 99 as fast as you can and solo everything is basically the basis of what you just said. I am talking before 99 which is what it would be to build up TE. Soloing before 99 is not very fun since they decided to add those high ass agro monsters in everywhere and also This is a MMO what is the point in playing a MMO if you are just gonna solo everything? And yes I knew that people could do the coffers as a thief solo but did you know that you also have a chance of getting weakened for several hours in which you cant open a coffer? Or the chance of that coffer turning into a mimic? I hate when people say af if worthless especially people like you since you are telling people to explore the game and not do aby. I got my AF before my maat fight because point blank it isnt worthless especially for the Maat fight and Especially on thief since it adds +steal.

I'm not saying do not do aby or get to 99 quick and solo everything. You clearly are not reading closely enough. I am saying there is more out there to do that you dont need to be 99 to do and there is plenty to do while you let your stones build. Aby spoiled new players cause you do not realize all the things you can do without help and alot of new players think they need a vet to hold their hand and then get mad and sometimes /ragequit when they don't get it on the simplest of things. If you want to wait and do them with others great, but SE gave you options for once so its best not to squander them.

And I am well aware of what can happen if you fail on a lockpick. As for the mimic, perfect dodge > warp scroll or wait out the weakness. Thats what those of us who had to learn the game the hard way used to do. I personally won't help someone who just wants someone else to do it for them when they are perfectly capable. I will tell them what they can do but why would I go out and farm a key for you for the next hour or so, when you can go pop it yourself in 20 minutes. And stealing on maat isnt the only other option. 3 of my ls members just melee'd him down in about 5 minutes. So yeah its fairly worthless, esp if you want to full time it at 75+.

What my main point was is that there are alot of new players out there who not only want the easy way, hell everyone will take the easy route if given the option, they want someone else to just do it for them or SE to easy mode something when they are perfectly able. There are hours of content you can do solo or with a buddy at 75. If you want ppl do it with, /sh for ppl in the same boat who want to do the same thing. But don't QQ cause you cant do 1 thing for a week or cause you actually have to do it all by yourself. omg what would you do if they brought back content timers that were more than 24 hours?

[Iakothm]

I'm not saying do not do aby or get to 99 quick and solo everything. You clearly are not reading closely enough. I am saying there is more out there to do that you dont need to be 99 to do and there is plenty to do while you let your stones build. Aby spoiled new players cause you do not realize all the things you can do without help and alot of new players think they need a vet to hold their hand and then get mad and sometimes /ragequit when they don't get it on the simplest of things. If you want to wait and do them with others great, but SE gave you options for once so its best not to squander them.

And I am well aware of what can happen if you fail on a lockpick. As for the mimic, perfect dodge > warp scroll or wait out the weakness. Thats what those of us who had to learn the game the hard way used to do. I personally won't help someone who just wants someone else to do it for them when they are perfectly capable. I will tell them what they can do but why would I go out and farm a key for you for the next hour or so, when you can go pop it yourself in 20 minutes. And stealing on maat isnt the only other option. 3 of my ls members just melee'd him down in about 5 minutes. So yeah its fairly worthless, esp if you want to full time it at 75+.

What my main point was is that there are alot of new players out there who not only want the easy way, hell everyone will take the easy route if given the option, they want someone else to just do it for them or SE to easy mode something when they are perfectly able. There are hours of content you can do solo or with a buddy at 75. If you want ppl do it with, /sh for ppl in the same boat who want to do the same thing. But don't QQ cause you cant do 1 thing for a week or cause you actually have to do it all by yourself. omg what would you do if they brought back content timers that were more than 24 hours?

yeah cause everyone wants to sit around doing nothing 2-3 hours while waiting on weakness to wear or for your 2 hour to reset. The only excuses I have seen you give are ones that would make you seem like you are a helpful person but aren't really. You act like everyone in the past soloed everything on their own when in actuality they had a party or an alliance to do everything together. Again Soloing the game isn't the point of a mmo and that's why square had everything at such a high difficulty. You act as if people are taking the easy route by asking for help when rather a mmo is all about working together. I help people all the time with whatever they need and I ask for help too even on stuff I probably could solo because for 1 I don't know the maps of places inside and out. and 2 I probably dont have those maps which you get by opening coffers in those places.

[IvyKyori]

I'm a relatively new player with like 2-3 months worth of gameplay, and my biggest gripe is the 20-hour wait for traverser stones and up to just recently, I didn't have the 8-hour abyssite. Imagine my frustration where I was outside of aby while I wanted to help inside farm for seals. I actually had to tell my ls that I'm low on stones (I really am low, but yay TE's). What I did during those low stone times is spend time leveling another job or, even though it seems like a foreign concept to some folks anymore (yes, I'm a new player, but I've seen...things...), leveled up combat skills. I spent a good week in the tree leveling up dagger. Now I can go into aby and farm for my gear for a bit, then step out again (that reddish aby glow is killer on the eyes) to explore and/or level up stuff.

When it seems like everyone's living in aby, it seems like there's nothing to do outside (sometimes there isn't and I have to make my own fun--like getting lost in Yuhtunga Jungle for example). But giving newbies a "head start" is like giving a kid who has a temper tantrum in the middle of a store a piece of candy--unnecessary and makes for spoiled rotten kids (newbies).

[RAIST]

I'm a relatively new player with like 2-3 months worth of gameplay, and my biggest gripe is the 20-hour wait for traverser stones and up to just recently, I didn't have the 8-hour abyssite. Imagine my frustration where I was outside of aby while I wanted to help inside farm for seals. I actually had to tell my ls that I'm low on stones (I really am low, but yay TE's). What I did during those low stone times is spend time leveling another job or, even though it seems like a foreign concept to some folks anymore (yes, I'm a new player, but I've seen...things...), leveled up combat skills. I spent a good week in the tree leveling up dagger. Now I can go into aby and farm for my gear for a bit, then step out again (that reddish aby glow is killer on the eyes) to explore and/or level up stuff.

When it seems like everyone's living in aby, it seems like there's nothing to do outside (sometimes there isn't and I have to make my own fun--like getting lost in Yuhtunga Jungle for example). But giving newbies a "head start" is like giving a kid who has a temper tantrum in the middle of a store a piece of candy--unnecessary and makes for spoiled rotten kids (newbies).

lol.. love the imagery of the kid with the temper tantrum. Think we've all seen that before. hehehe.

Think this touches on what seems to be in shorter supply these days....new players with a truly adventurous heart. Sometimes it seems like everyone gets caught up in the accelerated paths to everything, and are not getting the chance to actually explore all that is out there in the game. It's a bit of a bummer too....it's like the new players may never get to form that unique bond with the game/players that the older players have (if only they weren't clouded by the horrors of the past too, but still...it seems to foster a different sense of loyalty/commitment).

Anyhoo... welcome to the world of FFXI Ivy, hope you continue to find more thrilling challenges (and successes) as you explore the many mysteries that lie ahead.

[Mostfowl]

yeah cause everyone wants to sit around doing nothing 2-3 hours while waiting on weakness to wear or for your 2 hour to reset. The only excuses I have seen you give are ones that would make you seem like you are a helpful person but aren't really. You act like everyone in the past soloed everything on their own when in actuality they had a party or an alliance to do everything together. Again Soloing the game isn't the point of a mmo and that's why square had everything at such a high difficulty. You act as if people are taking the easy route by asking for help when rather a mmo is all about working together. I help people all the time with whatever they need and I ask for help too even on stuff I probably could solo because for 1 I don't know the maps of places inside and out. and 2 I probably dont have those maps which you get by opening coffers in those places.

You really need to reread what I'm saying. I think the fact that you do not like the fact that my belief is that I shouldnt have to do something for you that you can do on your own because you think its 'too hard' and are not even willing to give it a try or that you should have at least a little patience is clouding your reading comprehension skills.

If you seriously need help with content yes I will be more than happy to help you. But I am not going to take time out of my day so you can afk and have me farm something for you or run you through content you can do yourself just because its "too hard" to do without atma or godly aby power is ludicrousness. Working together is one thing, having your hand held and being handed everything is another

[Tsukino_Kaji]

"A Ward to end All Wards," Vunkurl.

[Tellahchan]

I'd agree with 5-10 stones to start, 100 is just silly.

[Dreamin]

So why stop at just asking for stones? Why not ask for seals, atmas, atmacites, emp weapons, etc. etc.

The returning and new folks are ENTITLED to these. Why should they worked hard like those folks who gone through the whole Abyssea era to earn their atmas, seals, empys, etc. Yes, we had to learned how to deal with the limited stones count back then (how many can remember when their stone inventories were in the single digit?) so why should other ppl get free rides? The new/returning ppl are already benefitting from the ppl who gone through the Abyssea era in figure out how the lights work, how the proc system work, etc inside Abyssea.

Deal with your limited resources, figure out how to do things. Ask ppl to help you get your atma/atmacites/etc.

[Demon6324236]

So why stop at just asking for stones? Why not ask for seals, atmas, atmacites, emp weapons, etc. etc.

The returning and new folks are ENTITLED to these. Why should they worked hard like those folks who gone through the whole Abyssea era to earn their atmas, seals, empys, etc. Yes, we had to learned how to deal with the limited stones count back then (how many can remember when their stone inventories were in the single digit?) so why should other ppl get free rides? The new/returning ppl are already benefitting from the ppl who gone through the Abyssea era in figure out how the lights work, how the proc system work, etc inside Abyssea.

Deal with your limited resources, figure out how to do things. Ask ppl to help you get your atma/atmacites/etc.

Admittedly when people were still dealing with alot of single digit stone counts Abyssea was not the place everyone went for most things. Now Abyssea is the place to be for the majority of things involving leveling or gear, so its a much different story. As I said before, 100 is a bit much, 5~10 sounds ok, it should kick you off long enough to find some things out, get some ground, learn about lights/atma/abyssite, and get yourself some more stones/time per stone abyssites.

[detlef]

So why stop at just asking for stones? Why not ask for seals, atmas, atmacites, emp weapons, etc. etc.

The returning and new folks are ENTITLED to these. Why should they worked hard like those folks who gone through the whole Abyssea era to earn their atmas, seals, empys, etc. Yes, we had to learned how to deal with the limited stones count back then (how many can remember when their stone inventories were in the single digit?) so why should other ppl get free rides? The new/returning ppl are already benefitting from the ppl who gone through the Abyssea era in figure out how the lights work, how the proc system work, etc inside Abyssea.

Deal with your limited resources, figure out how to do things. Ask ppl to help you get your atma/atmacites/etc.I posted my piece earlier in the thread. I still believe that a small starting stock of stones from the get-go would be a nice little bonus to help new or returning players catch up a little bit. I think people forget how overwhelmingly underpowered you are in Abyssea when you first start out, particularly if you don't have people to help you out at the beginning. Where's the compassion?

[Twille]

New players don't need any more stones. Learn how to manage your time, take the time and effort to get the abyssites that increase your new stone cooldown & time added per stone. If you can't figure this out, you don't belong in abyssea. I returned to the game well after Abyssea had been introduced and never had a problem.

[FrankReynolds]

I think they should just remove the need for stones entirely after you have completed a few quests or something. Lets face it. There is no need for a time limit any more. The people who want to stay in abyssea all day can already do it. It's basically just an inconvenience.

Instead of people playing in abyssea for 4 hours straight, you have people playing for 2 hours, wasting 5 minutes warping in and out, and playing for another two hours. Whats the point? Just to make life a little harder on new people?

[Rosina]

I think they should just remove the need for stones entirely after you have completed a few quests or something. Lets face it. There is no need for a time limit any more. The people who want to stay in abyssea all day can already do it. It's basically just an inconvenience.

Instead of people playing in abyssea for 4 hours straight, you have people playing for 2 hours, wasting 5 minutes warping in and out, and playing for another two hours. Whats the point? Just to make life a little harder on new people?

i'm sure you heard of a thing... its called Lore. I hear its a new thing they use in rpgs... cool huh?

joking aside its part of the lore. If we could "stay in abby" we become too intergrated and unable to come back. the stones are our keys to acess abby.

[Rosina]

@Mostfowl
Ur twisting his words a bit and seeing what isn't there. Not everyone likes to solo. Not because they are lazy, but because to them it more fun to do it with others. Grouping up is more then just helping ppl. It males the adventure more pleasent with ppl to chat with while going to the location.

[Demon6324236]

i'm sure you heard of a thing... its called Lore. I hear its a new thing they use in rpgs... cool huh?

joking aside its part of the lore. If we could "stay in abby" we become too intergrated and unable to come back. the stones are our keys to acess abby.

Simple, add new things inside of the lore.

Once Shinryu was defeated a large amount of the energy used to make Traverser Stones was released in such a great amount that they could create what they are calling "Traverser Crystals" these crystals are strong enough they can hold enough energy they never deplete. Just holding one is enough to hold you to another plain without fail or worry, while allowing you to travel back to your own world all the same. The only problem is that to create a crystal you have to have many stones to hold the energy till it is great enough it may all be channeled into a Crystal.

Can start a quest for it 1 conquest tally after beating Shin. Requires you to have at least 50 Stones stored. Upon completion you would be given a Crystal key item.