Buyable Gear Options

[Myo]

I know what this might devolve into... but it has to be said. I was a hardcore FFXI player for a long time between 2007-2012, and I still respect that players who put in more time and effort want better gear. However, after playing for the last few months from a casual perspective, it's an unavoidable fact that rare/ex gear, and hard to obtain buyable gear, specifically weapons crafted from delve boss drops (costing over 10,000,000 gil), are creating a huge canyon in the middle of the playerbase between people who have this gear, and people who don't.
Despite how easy this gear may, or may not, have been to originally obtain, shout groups now require delve gear, simply to obtain delve gear. The only backdoor being mage jobs and other positions that a lot of players just don't enjoy spending their time in. And the auction house isn't putting out any weapons to purchase that can even come close to 100+ DMG, single handed weaponry or 200+ DMG double handed weapons. To be blunt, any player who doesn't feel like leveling BRD, COR, or WHM, (or have a delve weapon already) is left with weapons that have approximately half the DMG amount of Delve-obtained gear.
As mentioned previously, I do believe hardcore players, and anyone who jumped on the Delve ship early enough, deserve their gear for putting in their time. However, unless there is an affordable option for every weapon type on Auction House that at least has around 80-90% of the DMG of a Delve weapon, the DD's who have been left out of delve, will continue to be left out of delve.

In short: The game needs more buyable weapon choices. "Rare/ex only" gear is leaving casual players in the dust.

[FrankReynolds]

I know what this might devolve into... but it has to be said. I was a hardcore FFXI player for a long time between 2007-2012, and I still respect that players who put in more time and effort want better gear. However, after playing for the last few months from a casual perspective, it's an unavoidable fact that rare/ex gear, and hard to obtain buyable gear, specifically weapons crafted from delve boss drops (costing over 10,000,000 gil), are creating a huge canyon in the middle of the playerbase between people who have this gear, and people who don't.
Despite how easy this gear may, or may not, have been to originally obtain, shout groups now require delve gear, simply to obtain delve gear. The only backdoor being mage jobs and other positions that a lot of players just don't enjoy spending their time in. And the auction house isn't putting out any weapons to purchase that can even come close to 100+ DMG, single handed weaponry or 200+ DMG double handed weapons. To be blunt, any player who doesn't feel like leveling BRD, COR, or WHM, (or have a delve weapon already) is left with weapons that have approximately half the DMG amount of Delve-obtained gear.
As mentioned previously, I do believe hardcore players, and anyone who jumped on the Delve ship early enough, deserve their gear for putting in their time. However, unless there is an affordable option for every weapon type on Auction House that at least has around 80-90% of the DMG of a Delve weapon, the DD's who have been left out of delve, will continue to be left out of delve.

In short: The game needs more buyable weapon choices. "Rare/ex only" gear is leaving casual players in the dust.


This is a huge problem with the path to progression that they have chosen.

When characters grow by experience points, they buy / quest / farm level appropriate gear and use it until they level into new gear, then they sell it or hang onto it for the next job they level. This allows new players to purchase gear that can get them from point A to point B and creates a cycle.

When characters grow through gear instead, they wear the gear until they get something better and then the old piece is of no use to anyone because it cannot be sold and it will never be good for anything to that player again unless the developer decides to give it a stat / level increase.

[Lordkrys]

I completely agree with the op, there has been a lack of quality gear added that can be purchased from the AH for quite some time. But if your looking for a better weapon have you tried Skirmish? It's very casual friendly and some of the weapons are pretty decent (especially if your lucky enough to get a good augment on them). Only real issue is getting the items needed to make the KI to enter. Sometimes it hit or miss on them at the AH. And I'm not sure if there's a good way to farm them other than spamming Reives.

[Lordkrys]

Also, I believe the Devs stated that 5 new sets of gear are coming when they add Skirmish part II. And the ability to +1 the weapons. Depending on how it all works out the Skirmish stuff may help a lot of people get into delve. I think that was supposed to be the plan in the first place. Aquire Bayld gear, Wildskeeper reives gear, Skirmish weps, and then tackle delve. It was a nice plan "in theory".

[Hayward]

Cue the min/maxer $#!*storm in 5...4...3..2...

Truth is the pro endgamers wouldn't have the perspective to see this as a viable option. It's Delve weapons/armor or nothing in their minds. Plus, knowing S-E developers, those AH items are guaranteed to require components from Delve, creating a Gordian Knot of Catch-22s.

[Damane]

This is a huge problem with the path to progression that they have chosen.

When characters grow by experience points, they buy / quest / farm level appropriate gear and use it until they level into new gear, then they sell it or hang onto it for the next job they level. This allows new players to purchase gear that can get them from point A to point B and creates a cycle.

When characters grow through gear instead, they wear the gear until they get something better and then the old piece is of no use to anyone because it cannot be sold and it will never be good for anything to that player again unless the developer decides to give it a stat / level increase.

actually its not a design problem, its more a community problem for being retarded to require delve gear for basic delve things. People have done it previously without any delve gear ¬.¬

If you cant find other poeples play mage job, there is still that option. And if you are one of the people that dont want to play mage jobs at all, well guess what. deal with it like the rest of us that plays mage jobs!

[Babekeke]

It's not Delve gear only for delve as it stands right now anyway.

Many 99 RME are still very acceptable options for Delve, and in the case of Polearm, Mythic is still better than Ophidian Trident.

[Babygyrl]

I know what this might devolve into... but it has to be said. I was a hardcore FFXI player for a long time between 2007-2012, and I still respect that players who put in more time and effort want better gear. However, after playing for the last few months from a casual perspective, it's an unavoidable fact that rare/ex gear, and hard to obtain buyable gear, specifically weapons crafted from delve boss drops (costing over 10,000,000 gil), are creating a huge canyon in the middle of the playerbase between people who have this gear, and people who don't.
Despite how easy this gear may, or may not, have been to originally obtain, shout groups now require delve gear, simply to obtain delve gear. The only backdoor being mage jobs and other positions that a lot of players just don't enjoy spending their time in. And the auction house isn't putting out any weapons to purchase that can even come close to 100+ DMG, single handed weaponry or 200+ DMG double handed weapons. To be blunt, any player who doesn't feel like leveling BRD, COR, or WHM, (or have a delve weapon already) is left with weapons that have approximately half the DMG amount of Delve-obtained gear.
As mentioned previously, I do believe hardcore players, and anyone who jumped on the Delve ship early enough, deserve their gear for putting in their time. However, unless there is an affordable option for every weapon type on Auction House that at least has around 80-90% of the DMG of a Delve weapon, the DD's who have been left out of delve, will continue to be left out of delve.

In short: The game needs more buyable weapon choices. "Rare/ex only" gear is leaving casual players in the dust.

Honestly i have to disagree.. the new content Rare/ex gear is so easy for even casual players to obtain.. got most of the delve gear in one weekend and R/E/M's can be done low man at your own pace now. much easier to obtain then ever before.

[Raksha]

The problem is that delve is the only way to get a reasonable amount of plasm. No one wants a bunch of sub-par DDs slowing their plasm/hour rate down so they shout for delve-DD only. The real solution to this problem is to make lowman options for aquiring plasm so that ppl can grind out their weapon and hop into a delve shout to be more efficient at it.

[Justyn]

The problem with getting dd is there are soooooo many dds why pick a dd without delve weapon When there are many dozens dd with delve weapon answering your shout?

Dont want to play white mage? Why should the person with rank 15 delve weApon play white mage for you?

There are buyables better then delve weapon such as senbaak nagan or razorfury. The best thing to
Do even when your dd is Max out is to get one support job for now or future events.

[FrankReynolds]

It's not Delve gear only for delve as it stands right now anyway.

Many 99 RME are still very acceptable options for Delve, and in the case of Polearm, Mythic is still better than Ophidian Trident.

I have never seen a DRG in a plasm run and I don't think people are bringing them to Boss runs for their awesome DPS either. Maybe people can just burn DRG to 99 and hope that angon will get them into Delve Boss linkshells? Either way, I doubt most people will take you without a delve weapon regardless so it's a moot point.


actually its not a design problem, its more a community problem for being retarded to require delve gear for basic delve things. People have done it previously without any delve gear ¬.¬

If you cant find other poeples play mage job, there is still that option. And if you are one of the people that dont want to play mage jobs at all, well guess what. deal with it like the rest of us that plays mage jobs!

You should empty your bank account and invest all your money into marketing chocolate covered turds. I mean of course no one likes the taste of turds, but if you just tell them to "Deal with it" I'm sure you will be rich and successful in no time.

[Riggs]

to get back to the OP's comment, i believe it was se's plan to make it so that you had to buy the expansion to get access to most of this gear, if they allowed it to be traded on the ah it might have put some people off from buying the expansion.

[Wyrmnus]

My god! There are so many selfish and inconsiderate people in this thread. This is the attitude that has shamed, stained, and destroyed the honor our FFXI once had as what I felt was the greatest MMORPG masterpiece, period. A gamer like me cries in shame for FFXI. Cries, God damn it.

[Zagen]

My god! There are so many selfish and inconsiderate people in this thread. This is the attitude that has shamed, stained, and destroyed the honor our FFXI once had as what I felt was the greatest MMORPG masterpiece, period. A gamer like me cries in shame for FFXI. Cries, God damn it.
That has to be some kind of record crying for 11 years now. That type of attitude has always existed in the game.

As to the OP I agree there should be more buyable items but it's obvious SE disagrees :/

[svengalis]

Many of you complaining about getting into delve runs why don't you just set up your own delve runs?

[Glamdring]

I have to agree with the OP, and for 1 other reason. Remember that guy who used to get all that love from having capped his smithing skill because he could make you some decent armor? well, he's standing over there with his thumb up his butt wondering why he botherred. Crafting was an income stream and if decent-not exceptional, decent-gear to get started was available your smithing friend might pull his thumb out of his butt and start making stuff again, humming happily over his decision to level it up in the first place. Hopefully he remembers to wash his hands...

On that note, one of the Matsui posts not that long ago gave me hope that SE has realized this as well from his comment on his tiers of "purchased gear", but he may just have been talking about bayald stuff, I dunno

now, as to the people leaving comments to the effect of "deal with it", you do realize that your "advice" is about as helpful as giving a diuretic to someone suffering from severe dehydration, don't you?

[FrankReynolds]

Many of you complaining about getting into delve runs why don't you just set up your own delve runs?

Why don't you own a gaming company?

There are two reasons to start a group. You really want something or you like starting groups.

There are a million reasons not to. here are a few. maybe they...:

Don't speak a common language well
Don't have time
Don't like leading
Think it's too much work
Think it is not fun
Don't like people
Aren't skilled enough
Prefer to follow
Have RL things that stop them like (children, needy girlfriends, parents)
Are terrible leaders
Don't know a good strategy / set up
Don't think they can do it
It's not fun
It's not worth the effort


I'm sure you have a few reasons of your own. It doesn't really matter what the reason is. What matters is that people aren't doing it and content shouldn't be based on things that people won't do.

[Hawklaser]

Why don't you own a gaming company?

There are two reasons to start a group. You really want something or you like starting groups.

There are a million reasons not to. here are a few. maybe they...:

Don't speak a common language well
Don't have time
Don't like leading
Think it's too much work
Think it is not fun
Don't like people
Aren't skilled enough
Prefer to follow
Have RL things that stop them like (children, needy girlfriends, parents)
Are terrible leaders
Don't know a good strategy / set up
Don't think they can do it
It's not fun
It's not worth the effort


I'm sure you have a few reasons of your own. It doesn't really matter what the reason is. What matters is that people aren't doing it and content shouldn't be based on things that people won't do.

The biggest one for me not starting a group, is I like to have some first hand experience with an event before spending hours to organize a run for something only read about. As paper and practice don't always work out the same. Plus, having at least attempted an event, gives more insight into what is actually needed to complete it.

[Glamdring]

The biggest one for me not starting a group, is I like to have some first hand experience with an event before spending hours to organize a run for something only read about. As paper and practice don't always work out the same. Plus, having at least attempted an event, gives more insight into what is actually needed to complete it.

there's also the minor fact that if you are trying to organize a PUG you will be in competition for the same group of players as the other 5 shouting that still haven't filled... after an hour.

[Hawklaser]

there's also the minor fact that if you are trying to organize a PUG you will be in competition for the same group of players as the other 5 shouting that still haven't filled... after an hour.

Yep, that's why I also pay attention to how many are shouting for whatever, as does no good to try starting a group when multiple others are not getting off the ground unless crazy restrictions are in place for the other groups. Kinda like trying to form an XP party back in the day, paid to check and see what all was available before trying to piece one together and get key jobs before mass inviting DD's.

[Secondplanet]

Honestly i have to disagree.. the new content Rare/ex gear is so easy for even casual players to obtain.. got most of the delve gear in one weekend and R/E/M's can be done low man at your own pace now. much easier to obtain then ever before.

i have to disagree with this whole statement, If your telling people get get REM's before going to get delve its not something the casual player (which i am) to get in an moderate time, Even when my wife and a friend was doing dynamis in attempts to get a relic weapon we were only pulling 200+ currency a run, so we would have to do dynamis for over 2 months to make 1 weapon for 1 person, now what about the other 2 people? so 4 more months pass, now we have to do all the trials to make them around lvl 90. Same with empy weapons, have to farm pops, get drops do trials, even if we worked our butts off we still won't get a single one done as casual players for almost 1 month (if lucky)

I'm not saying to make the gear from delve non-rare/ex but something needs to be done to allow players a lowmanable way of fighting these even if you have to spend bayld to get displacers which are more effective then the voidwatch ones.

The player gap keeps expanding and if your not in a LS that does these fights on a daily basis (which only allows so many players cause only 18 can go) some will fall farther behind till the ability to catch up will be impossible.

[Glamdring]

i have to disagree with this whole statement, If your telling people get get REM's before going to get delve its not something the casual player (which i am) to get in an moderate time, Even when my wife and a friend was doing dynamis in attempts to get a relic weapon we were only pulling 200+ currency a run, so we would have to do dynamis for over 2 months to make 1 weapon for 1 person, now what about the other 2 people? so 4 more months pass, now we have to do all the trials to make them around lvl 90. Same with empy weapons, have to farm pops, get drops do trials, even if we worked our butts off we still won't get a single one done as casual players for almost 1 month (if lucky)

I'm not saying to make the gear from delve non-rare/ex but something needs to be done to allow players a lowmanable way of fighting these even if you have to spend bayld to get displacers which are more effective then the voidwatch ones.

The player gap keeps expanding and if your not in a LS that does these fights on a daily basis (which only allows so many players cause only 18 can go) some will fall farther behind till the ability to catch up will be impossible.

Ok, I gotta defend Baby a bit here. it IS so easy to get a relic now-by SE standards, see it used to take a couple years, 1 million gil a run and you needed to recap your XP every few weeks, + if you were good about it you were buying quite a few consumables over and above the entrance fee.

Mythic-ok, that one still blows to get.

Empy-hate to say it but this one is on you. Baby can make that statement because she does run with a tight group (no, i'm not in it, I just see her around a bit). You do have to wait your turn, but you do get your stuff relatively quickly when your turn comes up. But you have to show up and do your job if you expect to get in such a group, it is a commitment to the rest of the group.

But you don't have to have r/m/e, unless you are bard or paladin. Have you been seeing all the whining threads? the reive weaps rival r/m/e for DPS and SE just cut the cost in half, you are only missing the weap skill from r/m/e and often it is your merited WS the group wants anyway. Get one. Skirmish only needs a party, and with the reive weaps they are quite doable (get the reive armor, too-all the DPS in the world means nothing when the time comes to survive a hit). Now, I agree there needs to be a decent low-man plasm farming option, presumably with lower yields, but still. After all, you can buy the delve stuff too, with the plasm and the KI. Now, if you only levelled a DD, that's a different story, there's a glut of DD out there because from the start of aby all strats have been ZERG only.

[FrankReynolds]

Empy-hate to say it but this one is on you. Baby can make that statement because she does run with a tight group (no, i'm not in it, I just see her around a bit). You do have to wait your turn, but you do get your stuff relatively quickly when your turn comes up. But you have to show up and do your job if you expect to get in such a group, it is a commitment to the rest of the group.

That sounds more like a serious relationship or a full time job than casual to me. Do I have to buy them flowers and tell them they are pretty even when they have something stuck in their teeth and hold their hair when they are sick too?


But you don't have to have r/m/e, unless you are bard or paladin. Have you been seeing all the whining threads? the reive weaps rival r/m/e for DPS and SE just cut the cost in half, you are only missing the weap skill from r/m/e and often it is your merited WS the group wants anyway.

That's neat. I have yet to see a Linkshell or PUG looking for people with Rieve weapons. Can you point me to one on Cerberus?



Get one. Skirmish only needs a party, and with the reive weaps they are quite doable (get the reive armor, too-all the DPS in the world means nothing when the time comes to survive a hit).

I haven't seen a linkshell or pick up accepting players with these either.

[Myo]

Sorry to dig up my own dead post, but just wanted to note that after playing for a week or 2 after the last update. The addition of Voay Sword (level 106) to the Auction House Greatsword list, even though it's 50+ DMG less then it's delve counterpart, is still a blessing to any player unable to afford the 20M (level 117) Nagan. If they could even make a version of weapons with this type of damage boost to every weapon category, and manage to keep it's price under 2M, it would be a step in the right direction.

[Zumi]

If you don't like leaders requiring delve gear to do delve you can always make your own group and take whoever you want.

[Daemon]

Sounds like this would solve your problem..
http://wiki.bluegartr.com/bg/JP_Button

Can I have one on a subligar?

[FrankReynolds]

Let them eat cake...

Way to miss the point.

[Babekeke]

That's neat. I have yet to see a Linkshell or PUG looking for people with Rieve weapons. Can you point me to one on Cerberus?
I haven't seen a linkshell or pick up accepting players with these either.

I guess that they're simply uninformed.

Spharai 99 Stats: D+52, delay 86, Att +40.

Ninza Stats that I saw on an average player: D+60, delay 51. Might have had some STR/DEX on it, but I'm not certain.

Highest augment on BGwiki shows an extra 4 Dmg than that as well with a +1 stone, and with a +2 it's likely higher still.

Stones are now saleable on the AH.


So, just because you've never seen anyone shouting for them, and just because you're not aware of anyone accepting people with them, doesn't mean that if you pitched up and said, "Hey my weapon's base stats are better than rme, mind if I join even though it's not a delve weapon?", that they're tell you to get lost.

Sure there's no hidden effect, or aftermath, but it's still not laughable by any means.

[FrankReynolds]

I guess that they're simply uninformed.

Spharai 99 Stats: D+52, delay 86, Att +40.

Ninza Stats that I saw on an average player: D+60, delay 51. Might have had some STR/DEX on it, but I'm not certain.

Highest augment on BGwiki shows an extra 4 Dmg than that as well with a +1 stone, and with a +2 it's likely higher still.

Stones are now saleable on the AH.


So, just because you've never seen anyone shouting for them, and just because you're not aware of anyone accepting people with them, doesn't mean that if you pitched up and said, "Hey my weapon's base stats are better than rme, mind if I join even though it's not a delve weapon?", that they're tell you to get lost.

Sure there's no hidden effect, or aftermath, but it's still not laughable by any means.

Rigors are DMG+ 101, ACC +15 in their base form... Ninzas are literally half as good on their best day.

[Umichi]

Rigors are DMG+ 101, ACC +15 in their base form... Ninzas are literally half as good on their best day.

and still require a delve boss kill not a wildskeepers kill to even aquire

in all honesty skirm weapons are fantastic to fill the gap between wildskeepers and delve but i think SE jumped the gun by making skirmish kinda tough to acess from the get-go so players who could benifit from these were not able to.

[FrankReynolds]

They require an outside NM kill and Plasm. Not a boss.

The boss H2H is: DMG:+146 Delay:+96 Accuracy+35 Attack+25 Guard skill +4 Physical damage taken -3%

[Babekeke]

Rigors are DMG+ 101, ACC +15 in their base form... Ninzas are literally half as good on their best day.

Perhaps you don't understand the meaning of the word literally?

Best anyone has seen and recorded on Ninza is D64. That's almost 2/3rds as good as Rigor, and they have a lower delay too, making them about 2/3rds as good.

Not "literally half".

And it's besides the point. They fill the gap between Brawny and Rigor, just like they are supposed to. Heck they're about on par with Spharai and Vere 99, and people have no qualms with taking a rme99 mnk along.

[FrankReynolds]

Perhaps you don't understand the meaning of the word literally?

Best anyone has seen and recorded on Ninza is D64. That's almost 2/3rds as good as Rigor, and they have a lower delay too, making them about 2/3rds as good.

Not "literally half".

And it's besides the point. They fill the gap between Brawny and Rigor, just like they are supposed to. Heck they're about on par with Spharai and Vere 99, and people have no qualms with taking a rme99 mnk along.

Yeah, I guess if you ignore the base accuracy and the guaranteed upgrades that can be put on rigor and assume the best stats ever recorded on ninzi added through luck of the draw, then sure. 2/3... if you say so. Make sure you make that same argument with the people leading link shells and PUGs. I'm sure it will go over well.

[Kaiichi]

I agree with the OP in part. As I strongly agree that there is a lack of non Rare Ex gear as of late, even in the days of old, if you wanted to get the gear for your favored job, you usually had to level a job that you didn't care for as much if at all. and believe it or not, Delve is the new end game. And it may be your $12.95, but they don't give a **** about it. Maybe you should look into making a new linkshell and recruiting just for it.

On a side not, I still can't get over seeing shouts for full alliances with the requirement of having R/M/E. It's just insane how many people have them now. I usually see it stuck on 17/18 looking for a PLD for hours. Maybe try leveling that and invest time into an Ochain. I'm sure it would pay off in the long run. I personally started to build an Ageis, I know It dose not compare in terms of block rate, but it's close and it will make me happy.

[Babekeke]

Make sure you make that same argument with the people leading link shells

I forgot that all LS require you to be as good as you're ever going to be before they let you join.

[FrankReynolds]

I forgot that all LS require you to be as good as you're ever going to be before they let you join.

It comes up in almost every thread. I know you read them and I know you know it's happening more often than not.

[Babekeke]

I like to believe that there are still people out there that are open-minded enough to accept skirmish weapons as an interim. I believe that it's good that people that don't play whm/cor/brd do have a way to get into delve even if they don't have a rme weapon already. Let's face it, anyone that wants to do delve and has a skirmish weapon, will inevitably get a delve weapon once they have the right KI and enough plasm (or get lucky on a drop).

If you're an LS leader, you should let people trial for you, and if they are decent people (do what they're told, listen to strategies etc.) then they will become a decent member of the team in the end, they just need a hand to get the initial weapon/gear.

If you're leading a PUG, you might find that the 1 guy you let into your group on that occasion is running a group the following week, when he's got his weapon and offers you the last spot because he remembers the favour you did for him...

...if only karma really existed, eh?

Personally, I have 2 delve weapons and have never done delve on anything other than BRD... that's what owning a daurdabla does to you (and only making weapons for THF and RUN lol).

[Zumi]

I agree with the OP in part. As I strongly agree that there is a lack of non Rare Ex gear as of late, even in the days of old, if you wanted to get the gear for your favored job, you usually had to level a job that you didn't care for as much if at all. and believe it or not, Delve is the new end game. And it may be your $12.95, but they don't give a **** about it. Maybe you should look into making a new linkshell and recruiting just for it.

On a side not, I still can't get over seeing shouts for full alliances with the requirement of having R/M/E. It's just insane how many people have them now. I usually see it stuck on 17/18 looking for a PLD for hours. Maybe try leveling that and invest time into an Ochain. I'm sure it would pay off in the long run. I personally started to build an Ageis, I know It dose not compare in terms of block rate, but it's close and it will make me happy.

Make a harp, most people do not take plds to delve or boss runs. But having a harp will get almost everyone on the server wanting you to join.

[Hawklaser]

I like to believe that there are still people out there that are open-minded enough to accept skirmish weapons as an interim. I believe that it's good that people that don't play whm/cor/brd do have a way to get into delve even if they don't have a rme weapon already. Let's face it, anyone that wants to do delve and has a skirmish weapon, will inevitably get a delve weapon once they have the right KI and enough plasm (or get lucky on a drop).

If you're an LS leader, you should let people trial for you, and if they are decent people (do what they're told, listen to strategies etc.) then they will become a decent member of the team in the end, they just need a hand to get the initial weapon/gear.

If you're leading a PUG, you might find that the 1 guy you let into your group on that occasion is running a group the following week, when he's got his weapon and offers you the last spot because he remembers the favour you did for him...

...if only karma really existed, eh?

Personally, I have 2 delve weapons and have never done delve on anything other than BRD... that's what owning a daurdabla does to you (and only making weapons for THF and RUN lol).

Which is sad. Since the options for those that were not on the same gear level as the "End Game" community (ie have RME, and most good armor) are get lucky with getting help, try and sneak in as an undergeared support job, or gear said support jobs well and be forever stuck on them. As anyone willing to gear up a job to an above average spot is likely also going to take the time to learn how to play those jobs beyond just using one or two abilities/spells.

Really I think the whole issue is how much of a jump the delve stuff is compared to everything else. Skirmish would of been a nice spot for the more casual players to get going and up to speed, until Delve hit shortly after before Skirmish could take off. That combined with the prior multiple events to get ones gear from, to the now one primary event. Whole lot easier to get burnt out doing an event if there is only one real option to make meaningful and lasting progression.

[Robmelee]

I know what this might devolve into... but it has to be said. I was a hardcore FFXI player for a long time between 2007-2012, and I still respect that players who put in more time and effort want better gear. However, after playing for the last few months from a casual perspective, it's an unavoidable fact that rare/ex gear, and hard to obtain buyable gear, specifically weapons crafted from delve boss drops (costing over 10,000,000 gil), are creating a huge canyon in the middle of the playerbase between people who have this gear, and people who don't.
Despite how easy this gear may, or may not, have been to originally obtain, shout groups now require delve gear, simply to obtain delve gear. The only backdoor being mage jobs and other positions that a lot of players just don't enjoy spending their time in. And the auction house isn't putting out any weapons to purchase that can even come close to 100+ DMG, single handed weaponry or 200+ DMG double handed weapons. To be blunt, any player who doesn't feel like leveling BRD, COR, or WHM, (or have a delve weapon already) is left with weapons that have approximately half the DMG amount of Delve-obtained gear.
As mentioned previously, I do believe hardcore players, and anyone who jumped on the Delve ship early enough, deserve their gear for putting in their time. However, unless there is an affordable option for every weapon type on Auction House that at least has around 80-90% of the DMG of a Delve weapon, the DD's who have been left out of delve, will continue to be left out of delve.

In short: The game needs more buyable weapon choices. "Rare/ex only" gear is leaving casual players in the dust.

In the interest of being fair, there is a great deal to consider when making this statement. What SE believes is an experience that they believe anyone can have provided you take whatsoever steps necessary to have it, and the over all consideration of the community as a whole on what they feel is the most efficient and effective way to get the Delve farming/boss runs done. You see the problem, well not really a problem, the situation you are bring up is really two-fold what SE believes is an actual do-able path and what the community feels is the most efficient way to do the path.

Your argument lacks causation due to the following reasons; SE created this run very unique so that ANYONE could do it provided that the PLAYER would do WHATSOEVER they had to do, to get in. That includes leveling additional jobs if NECESSARY or re-tuning or re-aligning certain merits, getting the absolute best DD gear possible if you didn't already have any Delve base gear and doing what you can to get in where you fit in. As indicated in your post, the back-door to a Delve run if you don't have a Delve weapon is as a Mage, although many DD's at heart don't want to do this, but YOU MAY HAVE TO if you want IN, real simple.

If you are NOT willing to do whatsoever it takes to get into a Delve run, the problem is not SE or the Community it is the person who isn't willing to do whatever it takes to get in...period!

This is why I have Lv.99 All Jobs with capped skills and full merits, and I have AF3+1 for all jobs minimum, and full AF3+2 for about 12 jobs, along with Neo Nyzul, and an assortment of VoidWatch gear including some from Provenance. Just enough decent gear to participate in any Endgame Event,

Now I am not saying one should level all jobs to 99 like I did, but at least the ones you know will get you in most events.

I knew a long time ago, its best to be safe (have a lot of jobs/options) than to be sorry (be adamant about having a few jobs/few options).

The choice is yours, because frankly I seriously doubt SE is going to nerf this anymore than they already have.
Good luck and I hope everyone makes it to Delve.

Peace!

[FrankReynolds]

In the interest of being fair, there is a great deal to consider when making this statement. What SE believes is an experience that they believe anyone can have provided you take whatsoever steps necessary to have it, and the over all consideration of the community as a whole on what they feel is the most efficient and effective way to get the Delve farming/boss runs done. You see the problem, well not really a problem, the situation you are bring up is really two-fold what SE believes is an actual do-able path and what the community feels is the most efficient way to do the path.

Your argument lacks causation due to the following reasons; SE created this run very unique so that ANYONE could do it provided that the PLAYER would do WHATSOEVER they had to do, to get in. That includes leveling additional jobs if NECESSARY or re-tuning or re-aligning certain merits, getting the absolute best DD gear possible if you didn't already have any Delve base gear and doing what you can to get in where you fit in. As indicated in your post, the back-door to a Delve run if you don't have a Delve weapon is as a Mage, although many DD's at heart don't want to do this, but YOU MAY HAVE TO if you want IN, real simple.

If you are NOT willing to do whatsoever it takes to get into a Delve run, the problem is not SE or the Community it is the person who isn't willing to do whatever it takes to get in...period!

This is why I have Lv.99 All Jobs with capped skills and full merits, and I have AF3+1 for all jobs minimum, and full AF3+2 for about 12 jobs, along with Neo Nyzul, and an assortment of VoidWatch gear including some from Provenance. Just enough decent gear to participate in any Endgame Event,

Now I am not saying one should level all jobs to 99 like I did, but at least the ones you know will get you in most events.

I knew a long time ago, its best to be safe (have a lot of jobs/options) than to be sorry (be adamant about having a few jobs/few options).

The choice is yours, because frankly I seriously doubt SE is going to nerf this anymore than they already have.
Good luck and I hope everyone makes it to Delve.

Peace!

I sell Televisions. If you do everything in your power to make them work correctly, they will show you the best picture you have ever seen. You need to hold several wires in the correct positions and balance the TV perfectly with your hands and feet. This requires several people to do. Want to buy one?

See, most people would say that my TV business is failing because I made a stupid design that most people hate and that requires several people to do something they have no desire to do in order to achieve a small amount of pleasure, but you are my target market, because you say "It's not the TV. You're just holding it wrong.".

Sorry. This is just bad design. There is a certain amount of "You have to do X in order to do Y" that people will tolerate because they want to progress like leveling another job, or farming a certain amount of items. SE has found the spot where most people draw the line and flown over it in a fighter jet.

[Robmelee]

I sell Televisions. If you do everything in your power to make them work correctly, they will show you the best picture you have ever seen. You need to hold several wires in the correct positions and balance the TV perfectly with your hands and feet. This requires several people to do. Want to buy one?

See, most people would say that my TV business is failing because I made a stupid design that most people hate and that requires several people to do something they have no desire to do in order to achieve a small amount of pleasure, but you are my target market, because you say "It's not the TV. You're just holding it wrong.".

Sorry. This is just bad design. There is a certain amount of "You have to do X in order to do Y" that people will tolerate because they want to progress like leveling another job, or farming a certain amount of items. SE has found the spot where most people draw the line and flown over it in a fighter jet.


I buy Televisions. If you do everything according to the Manufactures directions it will work to its full potential correctly, the TV will show you the best picture in 1080p 3D like at the movies that you have never seen at home. You need to purchase several special kinds of wires to make that best potential experience possible (i.e. HDMI, Component Cables, Digital Optical, etc.) and place the cords in there correct positions and set the TV's menu perfectly in accordance to your in-home setup. This requires a person with a brain that can formulate several thoughts that can put all that into action. Want to buy one?

If that was a question you would had asked me..... The I would had responded.... Absolutely!

Moral of the Story, The Product (FFXI Delve) works fine, you have to do your part by reading the directions and buying whatsoever necessary materials it takes to reap the benefits of the best possible experience. - The End.

This applies to both FFXI as a whole, and all HDTV's.

Peace!

[FrankReynolds]

Moral of the Story, The Product (FFXI Delve) works fine, you have to do your part by reading the directions and buying whatsoever necessary materials it takes to reap the benefits of the best possible experience. - The End.

Peace!

Except your TV doesn't require 18 people to watch a movie because that would be stupid and only a stupid person would design such a TV knowing that most people watch TV in groups of 2-3 if any group at all. That's why the 18 man TV does not exist.

You could argue that there was a time back when TV's (much like final fantasy XI) were a magical invention that very few people had seen the likes of and would gladly gather together to enjoy, but that time has long since passed.

Ever wonder why it costs like $40 to go see a movie? It's because people are watching more and more movies on their HD TV... In their living rooms... in small groups or alone... whenever they feel like it.

[Myo]

Even the "Back Door" (support job route) into Delve events is starting to shut. People are usually shouting for 3-4 song or horn bards, capped magic GEOs, and veteran COR. Anyone who argues that a new player can jump right into this endgame setting at this stage is fooling themselves. I can only hope it takes Final Fantasy XIV a full eleven years to get to this stage too, because Eorzea is looking like the only refuge for any FF-MMO fan who isn't already loaded and/or in with a good linkshell on XI.

[Hayward]

Right now, even buyable equipment is being made out of reach due to idiots setting the prices of level 117 weapons at absurd amounts (20+ million for Atitnian Staves? Really?!) and Crafting materials being made far too rare to even consider crafting. S-E is being too cute with these rarity games and causing their own MMO to falter unnecessarily.

[Demon6324236]

Right now, even buyable equipment is being made out of reach due to idiots setting the prices of level 117 weapons at absurd amounts (20+ million for Atitnian Staves? Really?!) and Crafting materials being made far too rare to even consider crafting. S-E is being too cute with these rarity games and causing their own MMO to falter unnecessarily.Welcome to Legion. By that I mean, this is just how Legion was. Small groups doing the event, getting the craft items, while the items are so limited in where to get them. Like I said before, the Wildskeepers should have a chance at dropping the craft items too, not 100% like Delve, but they are the same race, is there an exact reason its impossible for them to drop from 1 but a 100% drop from the other or something?

[Riggs]

SE have stated that they would to increase the stats on new gear to give the same effects as if they had increased the job level, however they have made it way to hard to get this equipment. If they had just increased the job level to 120 i could have jumped on my thf ran to abyssea and soloed to 120 in a few hours.
If the plan is to just give the stats on gear instead of job levels they need to make obtaining this gear as easy as soloing to 120 in abyssea

[Glamdring]

Right now, even buyable equipment is being made out of reach due to idiots setting the prices of level 117 weapons at absurd amounts (20+ million for Atitnian Staves? Really?!) and Crafting materials being made far too rare to even consider crafting. S-E is being too cute with these rarity games and causing their own MMO to falter unnecessarily.

In the crafters' defense, if the materials are costing them 18 mil to make the item, 20 Mil IS a fair price (they deserve SOME profit, that is why they are crafting in the 1st place). Then they have to eat auction fees until someone buys that 20 Mil piece-which could be awhile. And while making the materials more plentiful would definately help, what happens when the majority of the needy players have bought the Staff or whatever and the market dries up? Sorry, we need a bullletin board system or something where players without say woodworking at that level can commission a crafter to use their mats-at whatever fee they choose to set (leveling a craft to the top takes alot of time, effort and $, they deserve a good fee)-to make the gear without having to eat AH fees or waste inventory space on bazaaring the item when that market happens. I know you can put up a wanted message on FFXIAH's site, but if you do it in game instead you can cut out the attempting to meet issues so people with different playing times can all benefit (i.e. I'm RARELY on during Japanese prime time, and vice-versa, but this way I could still hit up a japanese crafter willing to do the job at a decent price).

[Daemon]

In the crafters' defense, if the materials are costing them 18 mil to make the item, 20 Mil IS a fair price (they deserve SOME profit, that is why they are crafting in the 1st place). Then they have to eat auction fees until someone buys that 20 Mil piece-which could be awhile. And while making the materials more plentiful would definately help, what happens when the majority of the needy players have bought the Staff or whatever and the market dries up? Sorry, we need a bullletin board system or something where players without say woodworking at that level can commission a crafter to use their mats-at whatever fee they choose to set (leveling a craft to the top takes alot of time, effort and $, they deserve a good fee)-to make the gear without having to eat AH fees or waste inventory space on bazaaring the item when that market happens. I know you can put up a wanted message on FFXIAH's site, but if you do it in game instead you can cut out the attempting to meet issues so people with different playing times can all benefit (i.e. I'm RARELY on during Japanese prime time, and vice-versa, but this way I could still hit up a japanese crafter willing to do the job at a decent price).

I'm wondering what happens in the case you obtain all of the materials and don't have the craft skill to make them. How do you pay a crafter to do it for you, but most of all how do trust turning over 18 mil worth of synthesis materials to a stranger?

I know in Japan stealing is never an issue nor even a thought being that stealing is equivalent to murder and will humiliate the person on every front page newspaper, news channel with a very harsh prison sentence.

Then again what happens when the crafter gets lucky and HQ the item?

[Glamdring]

if there's a BBS this becomes an official activity. if it's official, sounds like a GM could/should investigate. Adn Expand the GM's powers to where they can give you back your stolen goods or the finished item and they can confiscate the thief's gil.

[Daemon]

if there's a BBS this becomes an official activity. if it's official, sounds like a GM could/should investigate. Adn Expand the GM's powers to where they can give you back your stolen goods or the finished item and they can confiscate the thief's gil.

Yeah but like every other game, GMs "could" tell you it's your own fault for trusting the person you handed over those materials to. That's why I question what to do in this case.

[Camiie]

Honestly i have to disagree.. the new content Rare/ex gear is so easy for even casual players to obtain.. got most of the delve gear in one weekend and R/E/M's can be done low man at your own pace now. much easier to obtain then ever before.

So you don't want more gearing options for everyone? Weird. You don't want to support your local crafters? Sad. You don't want less people running around in subpar gear? Mindboggling.