Mastery Rank has helped me to explore Vanadiel

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Originally Posted by nixRidge

Imagine a 6 Monster vs. 6 Gladiator showdown. The sight would be pretty incredible. I think I'm finally going to try Monstrosity next time I get the time to play :)

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in terms of fun factor alone monstrosity is up there. Although there are some things I would have done differently (pvp enabled areas covering all level ranges, and not flagging monipulators with an obvious icon so you can actually pose as an NM), it's like playing a bunch of unique jobs, there's a collection aspect to it, you get to feel powerful, etc.

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

in terms of fun factor alone monstrosity is up there. Although there are some things I would have done differently (pvp enabled areas covering all level ranges, and not flagging monipulators with an obvious icon so you can actually pose as an NM), it's like playing a bunch of unique jobs, there's a collection aspect to it, you get to feel powerful, etc.

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Wow, it seems a lot more in-depth than I imagined, and I agree with the name icon. It'd be too fun to spring a surprise on an unassuming adventurer lol

I really wish SE would take Monstrosity back up and try to actually finish it someday.
Just look at all those monster families completely empty.
I also remember they mentioned partying up as monsters for EXP, which would also be neat, especially for the support job monsters which have a hard time leveling the further along you go w/o joining belligerency.

And find ways to actually tie it back with normal play in the game. Like maybe giving 1 instinct point per lv.99 monipulator that carry over for use as adventurers. (or less per lv.99)

I just unlocked Sandworm and it's so much fun to be a big worm. Even funnier, I can use this worm to eventually unlock Gigaworm!

https://streamable.com/k5tl8s

Edit: I'm not sure how to embed videos in posts, so here is an image:

https://i.imgur.com/wMCpOQD.png

I'm sorry you hate something that has made the game fun for a lot of people that aren't you.

It was supposed to have carried over into the regular game through Belligerency, with the Gladiatorial system rewards. That SMN neck used to be BiS for... well I forget what, but it WAS.

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Originally Posted by Rosalie

I'm sorry you hate something that has made the game fun for a lot of people that aren't you.

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I don't hate it, I just don't think it adds anything. I just see a bunch of people trying to make a number go up for the sake of making a number go up. The feature was added specifically for the aid of novices in the assist channel so its true purpose has been warped.

If they had put some actual effort into it with a full achievement system I'd understand better people being into it even if I wasn't very interested. But this is just a number, shoved in a corner and only ever seen by others if you're participating in the assist channel. So I really don't get why anyone cares about it.

This isn't about yucking anyone else's yum- if it's adding to your experience, great! I'm just not a fan. Which is why I clearly labeled it as a hot take, because I knew my feelings on this weren't going to be popular.

How exactly you earn Beligerency? I'm having fun just leveling monsters! I've got 2 at level 70 right now.

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Originally Posted by Gwydion

How exactly you earn Beligerency? I'm having fun just leveling monsters! I've got 2 at level 70 right now.

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I'm not sure what you mean. You can activate belligerency at any time in the Feretory. Doing so limits you to one of three areas (each covering a different level range). You can play as normal in this mode, but you'll be level capped depending on the area you go to. You must be in this mode in order for any players with the Gladiator status to attack you.

Some of the bigger monsters like the behemoths and the sandworm are pretty tough and probably need more than one adventurer to kill you .

Unlike Ballista though, there actually are some rewards (other than titles) available for doing this at least, although they weren't anything too great even when they were introduced.
https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Category:Monstrosity#Rewards

These are the only PvP-related gear rewards ever introduced (except for the caps awarded to the teams that won the Ballista tournaments years ago, which are among the rarest items in the game. I wonder if anyone who has one of those is still playing)

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

It was added purely as a metric to help Novices in the Assist Channel gauge the general level of experience a Mentor has with the game and not any other purpose. This is also one of the reasons they didn't give specifics about how it works. But for some reason people are using this as a crude form of an achievement system and doing whatever they can to make number go up.

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Well, the game manual [1] does say, under Game Basics / Adventurer Support System / Mentor Program - Mastery Rank:

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Originally Posted by FINAL FANTASY XI GAME MANUAL

Feel free to take it as a measure of your progress in the game.

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So... maybe they did have something more in mind with it.

I thought I remembered a post referring to 'achievements' as well, but couldn't find it right now. Very possible it was just this bit in the manual (could have been something said during a stream I guess).

It also has this bit, which I suppose could use an update:

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Originally Posted by FINAL FANTASY XI GAME MANUAL

This rank has no effect on gameplay.

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This is obviously no longer true.

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

Monstrosity was not a failiure. They had big plans for it but the lead person on the project left SE and then it stalled.

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I thought they were assigned to something to do with FFXIV, but I could very well remember wrong. Certainly don't have anything to quote at this time.

In general, I'm not a fan of achievement systems myself, especially if they're about tasks you'd complete in any case, while progressing normally through the game (things like "look to the left", though I'll probably do something like that for a joke at some point, some place).

I may be a bit of a completionist, though, so usually achievements will happen naturally because of it, but I can't really think of a time where I'd do something specifically for them (aside from when play-testing a game, making sure they work as intended).

For FFXI, I do also like completing things, but I did do that already before the Mastery Rank, so no change for me there (currently rank 7; it went up from 6 when they adjusted it recently).

Not excited about how they added items like this, but I suppose I don't really mind them being there either... especially if getting one when they're still selling for so much gil. Not that I'll be getting any without trying...

I do think it is a good thing if it gets people into doing more things.

1. http://www.playonline.com/ff11/manual/index.html?loc=en-GB#041101