List of Suggestions For Our New Producer.

[Selindrile]

Revive old content, one of the amazing things about FFXI was that it strove not to outdate old content, and for it to always be relevant. That has died out a lot lately, there are no low to mid level parties, no level cap events, 3/4ths of everything on the AH isn't sold, because it's no longer relevant to the players.

I don't hate the changes to XI, I love abyssea, I participate in cleaves, I'm not saying that it needs to go back to the way it used to be, not at all, but I do suggest that you work with the old content that you already have, and make it more relevant to the FFXI of today, some examples.

Dynamis: Relic+2 gear, (even though it's a bit behind Abyssean gear, it's generally fine) I think you did a good job overall here. Arch Dynamis Lord is a pain, and the only thing good from him are the upgrade to the uberweapons but, it's something that makes it worthwhile.

Neonyzul: Great gear, but this event has no synergy with old Nyzul at all, they don 't connect whatsoever so it does obsolete the old content, just reuses maps/mobs, and it's an event that's really badly designed in my opinion, you're forced to bring 2xSch and 4xEmpy+ DD, which is far out of reach for most players, and even then, you have to get a bit lucky, or cheat with fleehacking.

Moblin Maze Mongers: I loved this event so much, as another poster said, Weather Runes would be an amazing way to revitalize this event for magian trials, but really all sorts of things could be done. Right now, absoloutely nobody does it.

Pankration: Nobdy Does this, ever, for anything.

Ballista/Brenner: Almost nobody does this.... no reward system and the jobs are poorly balanced for it, though I don't think jobs should be rebalanced with this in mind... especially since nobody does it.

Old HNM: They're still done, I suppose because the Augmentable HNM drops aren't terrible, but most aren't really relevant these days. Also the Augment system is pretty frustrating, and only accessible to synergists or by bribing synergists. I personally don't like the way the old HNM mobs are balanced, but they're still fought so, I suppose that works.

ZNM: Almost nobody does this... lots of room for innovation here, I hope it's not by way of more synergy augments to the old gear, but that's better than letting this content rot.

Limbus: There's at least SOME connection to Arch Omega/Ultima (The Coins), but that's not a very inspiring reason to do limbus, I'd highly reccomend a +2 mechanic to Artifact equipment... like Dynamis got for Relic gear. Also Arch Omega/Ultima equipment is pretty uninspiring at the moment.

Einherjar: Still done a tiny bit on my server, but not much, Arch Odin has some very niche gear, not terrible, not impressive, not many people do it, and again, it has a very loose tie-in to old Einherjar....but it's better than none.

BCNM/HKCNM/KSNM/SCNM/Etc : Still done, but mostly people just spam KSNMs, and everything else rots.... adjusting drops/droprates, perhaps adding scrolls of new spells could make these events more rewarding.

Legion: Very cool events, but so daunting for most people that they don't even try it, I have such a problem finding a group of people who want to go, despite the gear being somewhat rewarding, even if side-grades mostly.

Voidwatch: Fun, but the droprates can be extremely unappealing and unfun and frustrating, Adding Pulse Cells was a good idea, but they're also crazily out of reach for most... having "VW Points" build up, so that you can choose your own drop every so often, wouldn't be a bad thing, along with the random drops.

Garrison: No longer exists.
Besieged: More fun now somehow, still done if less rewarding.
Campaign: More fun now as well, still done though very much less rewarding.

Walk of Echoes: Little reward, but still not a terrible event, a lot more can be done.

Old Zones: There are SO MANY old zones that just go completely unused these days, nobody does low level parties, quests are in and out...there's so much you could do with all this content... you just have to find a way to make it fun and rewarding for them, perhaps make low level "overpowered" gear, stuff that's way too strong to be Lv40cap, so people might go back to these old zones to compete for the gear, in the interest of doing those BCNMs that now have new spells added to it, etc etc... FFXI pioneered what level syncing could be... now, nobody does it except to grind to 30, and then they hop into abyssea and zoom up. I do it myself, it's just faster, but that's only because the old content is no longer fun and rewarding compared to what Abyssea has to offer.

I love this game, I'm excited about the new jobs, I'm very excited about new content, but don't let all this old content go completely fallow... it's been that way for so long... and it's against everything FFXI once stood for. Make it fun, make it rewarding, don't try to make it like it once was, that time has passed.

I don't mind procs, but I think the proccing system needs a healthy revision, some jobs just get seriously screwed over, in every event that has procs... I don't have a perfect answer, but raising the frequency of magic procs in Dynamis, is a definite start. Abyssea procs are too narrow, 3 jobs can do 80% of the procs, the ones who don't cover a large amount are simply unwanted. In VW it's Hell on Blu's, and people with low amounts of procs aren't as desired either. I like Proccing, it's fun, it's neat, but it's not well balanced across the jobs.

Enmity needs an overhaul, all DD jobs cap culmulative enmity, and tank jobs have a hard time keeping up unless they're super high dd, and fast attack speed, which puts them back atop the aggro list...

Curing: People who aren't called WHM can't cure inside abyssea, outside, it's not so bad, but would it be the end of the world to give RDM, SCH Cure5, Perhaps without the Enmity Modifier that WHM gets? Or let /Sch have Cure4? MP management is still an issue outside of VW/Abyssea. I know the "Healing Magic" patch was supposed to address that issue, but it really didn't fully.

Jobs all need balancing but here are some points you seem to be missing lately.

War: Great job, still strong almost everywhere, but I think they crave more utility to stay alive, along with their great Zerg potential in VW.

Whm: Another job that's strong everywhere, but their 2hr is mostly useless, though I think you're addressing 2hrs right now.

Rdm: Right now, nearly useless, even the places that they -would- be good, Sch wins out over them. Let them cast Temper on Others, give them abilities like Acession to let them compete with SCH, or other unique other player buffs that other jobs don't get. Let them melee, let them tank, something.... I know they were the "Gods of FFXI" for a long time, and we're reluctant to buff them again, but right now, they need help more than any other job.

Paladin: A close second to Rdm in needing help, good in some VW/Legion and that's it, but they need serious aggro-locking tools, they can't compete with other melees, not remotely... perhaps add a component to cover that the PLD gains all the Enmity the covered target would've gotten while they're being covered? Though that's seriously not enough.

Beastmaster: Amazing soloist, as it has always been, but solo content is less and less rewarding in the new age, proccing is easier in groups, and nigh impossible solo. And while some of the new content is "Pet-Zerg-Friendly", it's kinda a twisted way to do it, and wasn't the design intent. The BSTS consider their pets their lifeblood, and so things like Run-Wild and the proposed new 2hr do not go over well, doing the opposite and making their pet live longer, do more damage, harder to kill, are what they want, they also miss their treasure hunter, and have as much TH as like WHM now which, Bst want to be the kings of farming...

Ranger: Needs help, though they're quite nice in VW, they're useless everywhere else, give them utility of some sort, TH was nice but they need more... I dunno what to suggest, perhaps a way to give a potent amnesia. "Pinning shot." or the like, that actually works on hard monsters, or some way to proc in other content.

Ninja: As amazing as they are in abyssea, they're that useless in VW/Legion/ArchOdin/ArchDyna etc, you have to have one for a proc but, generally they just can't do anything against super high DEF monsters, nor can they land any Ninja debuff that a mage can't do better. They can't tank with the way the abilities of the monsters do so much potent AoE damage, you have to do that with PLD, WAR, or MNK.

Summoner: Niche, only used for Perfect Defense zerging/Pet zerging and a bit of BST style soloing that they're better at on VERY few mobs/events. And now you're nerfing Perfect Defense, I hope you give them something else, or they'll be as bad as Rdm.

Corsair: Awesome as crap in VW, not bad in Legion, useless elsewhere, also, only useful with Wildfire.... which is kind of a problem.

Dancer: Potential to be an epic tank, but not enough damage in VW to justify it, and not as many procs as Nin in abyssea so they're widely unused, though they're not a bad job, they need some utility to push them over the edge.

Monk: Still amazing, at everything if they have the gear to make them so... I don't really know what they want... they've kinda got it all, though they're bad at healing their own enormous HP pool with /Dnc.

Black Mage: Amazing at VW, Abyssea due to procs, damage isn't bad, not terrible elsewhere, I'd suggest lowering their stun timer, considerably, to make them more versatile elsewhere (though that could be for BLM main only, a job trait?).

Thief: Uhm... They've got Treasure hunter, worst of the "good" tanks though they have tanking tools, Not really used in Voidwatch, a tank in abyssea. Btw, Treasure hunter 3 which EVERYONE can get (Mage with sash + /Thf), is pretty much identical to Treasure Hunter 14, or whatever... it's pretty disheartening....

Dark Knight: A king of Zerg DD in VW, Legion, etc etc, useless in abyssea or dynamis, they don't want to tank, but something that makes them more surivable in smallman situations could be nice, like a super drain samba perhaps, though dread spikes does a good job, you can't keep it up fulltime, and it only works in recovering HP when you're tanking.

Bard: Only used for zerg events now... definitely needs something to put them into other events, though I'm not sure what to give them, some berserk esque ability that lets them melee very efficiently for a short period of time? Or a super buff that turns a melee into a god that they can put on any one person? Not sure....

Samurai: Amazing for everything except abyssea, they're probably fine, though you could always give them more TP generation, Sams always love moar TP, seriously, they do.

Dragoon: Marginal for VW, and completely unused elsewhere despite decent DD potential and decent support potential, too many AoEs makes wyverns instadead. And all content these days, just too many AoEs, make them sturdier perhaps? Not just more healing ability to them, just, actually take considerably less aoe damage.

Blue Mage: Decent everywhere, truly amazing nowhwere, can buff, but not well, can heal, but not well, can tank and do good DD on trivial but not on super hard mobs (at least in comparison to heavy DD) good proccers in abyssea or VW (though please lessen the number of procs, with 60 spell points, I can devote them ALL to procs, and still only cover about 55% of Blu VW procs... it's BRUTAL.... or make Unbridled Learning (or another ability) let us cast ANY spell, and lower the timer, the unbridled learning spells are useless anyway by and large. That new 2hr was just a terrible idea.... as are those spells, I wouldn't set them even if I could spam them, though harden shell is ok, just doesn't last long enough, the rest are just terrible. Unbridled Learning spells, though, honestly, abort and revamp the concept all together, or give them all a serious buff, right now, not worth casting... do you know how excited I was to see "Pyric Bulwark" on our spell list? Only to find that it was 1 single solitary blink... with a 5 minute timer, just.... hilariously bad.

Puppeteer: Much like Bst, great soloists, bad at all content other than pet zergs. Make their pet a better group healer that doesn't insta-die to AoE's in bigger events and they might get invited, but they'd pretty much have to be able to spam cures like a WHM to do so. Nobody wants a "monk who can't tank well and his gimpy pet" :/

Scholar: Amazing in any zerg event, and great in a lot of others, but useless in abyssea. If you're nerfing their 2hr you better be giving them something else to make up for it in my opinion.

Take what you will from this post... it's just my view of FFXI, and what I think it needs.

[Modoru]

Let it be known, I can pull off 1.4k+ WS in VW, and I can spike 2k with SA/TA. Thief is not as useless in VW as you make it seem.

[Selindrile]

That's nice and all, but they're not as high numbers as your heavy DD are spamming constantly, and TA doesn't matter as all your DDs are capping hate constantly anyway. Not saying a well geared Thf can't put up enough to justify them having a slot, they most certainly can, but so can many of the "sub-optimal" jobs. I'm just saying people don't look for them, and rarely invite them, unless you're grouping with your friends/building it yourself. You know this is true. If you think THF is "fine" and not in need of any buffing, I'll retract my statement. But I know when I list THF on my list of jobs that I can come to a VW event, it's never picked by the leader, ever.

[Demon6324236]

Sad but true, I have the same situation with my RDM.

[Nawesemo]

Stop being squishies with player complaints, tough love when group think sets in. Leave it alone if it aint broken.

[Selindrile]

All the old content never being done ever isn't "broken"? Some jobs almost never being used in the majority of events isn't "broken"? I guess we have a different idea of what broken is, obviously groupthink accounts for some unfairness, but look at the vanadiel survey, if that doesn't make my points for me, I dunno what does.

Also, the producer ASKED for suggestions, so I made them. I prefaced the whole thing with the fact that I still love FFXI, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have issues.

[Nawesemo]

And yet we continue to play the way it is.... Were always going to want more, have since we started, if it was that broke, no one would still play, some like the easy button, I'm indifferent, I'm still,going to try with as few people, or tools as I have to get as much as i can, because its fun and a challange as a Blm to do what my likewise dd brethren do as well as they do..... If I was given everything I want, I'm not sure the challenge would be there..... Ya know, group think... Yeah, its very popular, but were not even bothering to think about what happens when we get what we want..... Is the "challenge" still there? I mean we play because of the idea that we cant, but were going to find a way...... We've managed so far, and I've liked it, I'm guessing you did too, or wouldn't feel as passionate about it as you do...... Be careful what we ask for, we just might get something, I'm pretty sure we all don't want, wow.

[Selindrile]

We continue to play, by and large, the non-broken parts of it, does anybody do those events I mentioned? No, the less powerful in the current event jobs are toys, and that's fine and all, but they're the ones who want balance, and ask for suggestions of what more they want, they're designing things still, they ask us what we want, what's wrong about telling them that?

I'm thinking exactly about what would happen if these changes were implemented and there would be far more positive effects than negative.

"Challenge" Isn't some jobs getting to play most of the game while others don't.
"Challenge" Isn't several events not being played because they're not rewarding.

I love this game, it's past, and it's present, I am passionate about it, I'm extremely thoughtful about what I want, there are changes coming down the pipeline whether I ask for them or not, and not everyone will like those changes, I'm asking for changes that I think the -MAJORITY- of players would like, nothing pleases everyone, never has, never will.

[Mercer]

I agree 100% Selindrile.

[Sarick]

I had two crazy ideas for RDM.

#1 Give them an ultimate enfeebling magic DEMI.

Nerfs off 25%-50% of the enemies MAX Current HP when it sticks. Only works once per enemy and only available when chainspell is in effect.

No group would give RDM the cold shoulder that fights high HP NMs. LOL

#2 Tactical Fighter.

Melee damage is augmented by INT and MND.

INT bonus overrides or augments STR bonuses.
MND bonus overrides or augments DEX bonuses.

Basically, you use mage tactics and stats to increase melee damage.

#3 Make the enfeebles actually worthwhile.

One more thing, I recall the DEVs saying someplace that they was planning on making RDM a god mode or something. Hmph, sorry guys the only thing you could do that would beat chainspell is give RDM a 30 second 2 hour brew effect. Doubtful.

NEW..
This gos with #3

Ritual Tactics

Ritual Tactics I
LEVEL 50 Job Trait.
Allows bonuses for up to 6 party members.

Ritual Tactics II
LEVEL 75 Job Trait.
Allows bonuses for up to 12 party/alliance members

Ritual Tactics III
LEVEL 99 Job Trait.
Allows bonuses for up to 18 party/alliance members

Amplifies enfeebling magic based on the number of players in alliance or party by using them as catalyst for magic amplification. These players must be in the same zone within 30 Yalms of the red mage per cast. This trait allows the red mage more power for group or alliance fights without enhancing solo powers. (SE DOES NOT WANT RDM STRONGER AS SOLO) This insures the boost is only available while in a group setting.

Also....

I agree with the original posters message.