How would you like certain items to be changed?

[Kayvindra]

R/E/Ms augmented. I finished my vere99 2 weeks before the update, thanks a lot for making it less powerful than a weapon you can get in a 2-3hrs battle.

I too am pretty upset by this, seeing my 99 Mandau that I spent loads of gil and time to get being outdone by a skirmish weapon. My anger of this just went up about tri-fold when an ls mate sent me a list of the new items for today's update and I see a dagger with 108 base damage and my Mandau only has 55. Seriously? I don't even have words to describe my emotions on this issue. I know they said they are going to upgrade R/E/M soon but if they still aren't better then skirmish weapons then that is a lot of wasted gil/time.

I also would like there to be more ways to obtain Serica/Penelope's cloths or make them craftable. With everyone's focus being on new content not many people are doing Prov and Legion (not to mention drop rate for them is terrible to begin with, especially Serica cloth) and literally every synth for 105-110 cloth needs one of those two items.

[Kristal]

Stop panicking. SE will upgrade R/E/M weapons, I suspect by giving them DMG+ augments to negate the sheer difference.
The question should be, WHY are these Skirmish weapons so crazy on the DMG? What is the catch? What is SE planning that allows them to go overboard with numbers like this? This is a game where people pay untold millions of gil and years or playtime for +1% increase in stats, and this is a hundredfold...

[Cljader1]

Stop panicking. SE will upgrade R/E/M weapons, I suspect by giving them DMG+ augments to negate the sheer difference.
The question should be, WHY are these Skirmish weapons so crazy on the DMG? What is the catch? What is SE planning that allows them to go overboard with numbers like this? This is a game where people pay untold millions of gil and years or playtime for +1% increase in stats, and this is a hundredfold...

The new crafted weapons are stronger than skirmish weapons

[Morrie]

This is the first time I've posted here but I feel that I need to say something about this update in regards to the new weapons(delve/craftable) and the relic/mythic/empyrean/coin weapons. I doubt that anyone at SquareEnix cares about our thoughts, or maybe just not the NA players, but I can't sit quiet about this. (The opinions voiced may not be new, but repetition never hurt anyone trying to make a point.)

I haven't been a “hardcore” player since the days before Abyssea when I did hnm stuff regularly. I've never had a relic because my time in game was pretty much solely for events and I enjoyed just getting the titles from the big fights. That feeling of accomplishment that I loved is gone from this game due to the nature of NMs now and the luck/zerg based events that require 18+ people.

I've taken breaks over the time for months or even up to a year and came back having to re-learn parts of the game. Abyssea and Voidwatch took a while but I finally got my gear and empys duoing/trioing with friends, but am in no way able to afford the HMPs/Riftcinders/etc for the 95-99 versions. A lot of the more casual players spend the time and effort to acquire an 85 or 90 emp and can be comparable in most situations to an equally geared 99 version and it's fun.

These new craftable weapons, and the skirmish/delve/etc weapons, are in some cases double the base damage with more acc/atk than relics, and obviously more than any empyrean. This makes it all a waste of time for those without "endgame" linkshells of 18+ people, who can only get to 85/90 r/e/m to even try to get to 99. All the work put in to get a functional weapon is worthless now. Buying the AH weapons, probably a few mil a piece, will most likely out perform any of the 99 r/e/m regardless of unique WS/AM simply due to overwhelmingly higher damage.

I read about the idea of allowing the use of the relic/empyrean weaponskills on other weapons and think this would be a great idea, but the comments were also about only allowing those who have reached the level 99 version of that weapon to do so. I think that part would be the mistake.

My first recommendation would be to allow the use of this WS to anyone who has acquired a level 85 empyrean. Don't give us the conditions of needing to spend millions of gil to upgrade just to be able to use the WS on another, obviously more powerful, weapon.

I'm saddened by this change because I can always come back to FFXI after x amount of time and while things have changed they haven't made my gear or what I can do irrelevant and useless. This update does just that: makes what I have useless. The fact is you, SquareEnix, have made the casual player irrelevant and for a while will make the remaining, dedicated player base furious.

Do you even play your own game? Have you any idea what focus testing is? Quality control? Where did you get the idea that making craftable AH weapons that are 2-3x more powerful than the r/e/m @ any level (average of which is probably being around 85-90 since not everyone can get it to 99) was a good idea? I certainly never heard anyone asking for new weapons that made r/e/m obsolete. Heck, I never heard anyone say there should be any new weapons period; except for the new jobs.

My second recommendation is that I think adjustments should be made to the new weapons as to not make everyone's efforts a waste of time; lower the base damage, increase delay, reduce the acc/atk/da/etc buffs, and so on. Not everyone has 99 r/e/m and not everyone can get them that far. HMP and Cinders, Marrows, etc. are not cheap to come by and those who don't have large Linkshells to support them in their quest to 99 will be lost. Drop the damage of these weapons to reasonable levels that don't make so much of our effort and time mean nothing. Only being able to ugprade r/e/m after 99 only helps those who can already get there, via large Linkshells, and does nothing for those with small groups and less playtime.

I've been happy with my 85 empyrean weapons because I could still function with the best due to decent gear and skill. Please don't make my work to 85 empyrean weapons a waste of time. I will never be able to take them to 99 and I was okay with that, was = before this update, but introducing weapons that make my efforts mean nothing is against the principle that has been at the core of this game since its inception: effort = reward. Buying something on the AH shouldn't beat the effort to get r/e/m regardless of level.

For those in endgame situations where they have the ability/opportunity to acquire 99s of each, you're also making their efforts above and beyond what should be necessary. They're already at 99 and have gone through all the ridiculous hoops you've set forth and now will need to undergo many more trials to have them match, or hopefully surpass, the AH and Delve drop items. How much will that cost them though? The AH items might only be a couple mil, they've already spent 100m+ on upgrading r/e/m. How much more time will they need to dedicate to getting WS points or X number of kills?

I get that thinking of new ways to balance an already deteriorating situation is taxing, or maybe impossible given the quality of effort shown so far, but if this update has done anything it has furthered that imbalance that players have already been asking to have fixed.

The only reason I returned for the SoA expansion was because a friend returned. If the situations surrounding the weapons and the general uselessness of casual efforts put in so far by the few remaining players aren't addressed, you'll be losing more customers very soon. And I haven't heard any good news about FFXIV so I hope someone working on FFXI has a reasonable mind and can address the issues in a way that suits all players; not just those that already have 99 r/e/m.

I wish that this plea doesn't fall on deaf ears, but I won't cling to hope.

Thanks for reading, if anyone even does.

[Cljader1]

I have 2 relics and 3 emps, but my biggest achievement in the game is my goldsmithing, along with my other high crafts. I wrote for years on how craftable gear was underwhelming and not respected, then synergy came and showed promise. Crafter's like myself have asked for craftable relics for a long time, and finally at last they are here. I sinked over a billion gil onto lvling crafting across 4 mules with 4 lvl 80 synergy skill, and my dream was to have the ability to make the strongest gear in the game. Thank You SE, crafter's waited along time for this, thank you for listening to the crafting community and thanks for finally letting us have our day in the sun. Last time I was this happy about crafting was when SE introduced the Aern weapons for synergy.

The game is taking on a new life, the crafters should be the ones to craft your gear, and not just crappy gear but strong powerful gear and weapon that are desired. Crafting sucked for a long time and now it might just be fixed.

[Kaeviathan]

I have 2 relics and 3 emps, but my biggest achievement in the game is my goldsmithing, along with my other high crafts. I wrote for years on how craftable gear was underwhelming and not respected, then synergy came and showed promise. Crafter's like myself have asked for craftable relics for a long time, and finally at last they are here. I sinked over a billion gil onto lvling crafting across 4 mules with 4 lvl 80 synergy skill, and my dream was to have the ability to make the strongest gear in the game. Thank You SE, crafter's waited along time for this, thank you for listening to the crafting community and thanks for finally letting us have our day in the sun. Last time I was this happy about crafting was when SE introduced the Aern weapons for synergy.

The game is taking on a new life, the crafters should be the ones to craft your gear, and not just crappy gear but strong powerful gear and weapon that are desired. Crafting sucked for a long time and now it might just be fixed.

I noticed that myself, which is good. But poor me, the update doesn't have much to offer for alchemist. I only noticed one new medicine.

[Cljader1]

I noticed that myself, which is good. But poor me, the update doesn't have much to offer for alchemist. I only noticed one new medicine.

I don't think there done yet, SE is introducing weapon and gear slowly. Alchemy and goldsmithing still have additions to come, just look at what they done to woodworking with all there new high end weapons. I believe all crafts will be restored to glory.

[Rustic]

I noticed that myself, which is good. But poor me, the update doesn't have much to offer for alchemist. I only noticed one new medicine.

They're definitely still adding more synths, though. Clothcraft was in the same boat until this update, and as more of the higher-end content goes in, I think we'll be seeing more recipes to go with it. Be nice to have a little something more new to brew here, too!

[Cljader1]

I wouldn't be surprised if SE gave alchemy "flask of primeval brew" as a high end recipe. Now tell me, how many people would pay millions for that. If the trend continues, alchemy will get its day in the sun.

[Demon6324236]

Alchemy would be awesome if they just added good meds rather than trash ones, I would always keep a few Lucid Elixers and Lucid Potions around if I could pick them up on the AH or craft them.