Hi, there!

To coincide with the May version update, Producer Akihiko Matsui hosted another Freshly Picked Vana'diel to go over some of the new content and discuss other topics pertinent to adventuring. The following is a digest of what was discussed.

Quote Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui View Post
Hello, Matsui here.

Thank you for tuning into Freshly Picked Vana'diel 45.

Once again, we had our broadcast before the version updated. We focused on the May version update details, as well as other information.

We've put together a digest and an archived video for those of you who were unable to join us for the broadcast, or simply want to recap on all the information.



Table of Contents
  • Freshly Picked Version Update
    This segment of the show focused on the major aspects of the May version update.
    • Job Adjustments
      (00:04:52)
      In the May version update, we made adjustments to the white mage job.

      For more details on the version update, please check here.

      First, we have changed the Protectra V and Shellra V merit point categories to Animus Solace and Animus Misery.
      The white magic spells Protectra V and Shellra V have been changed so you now learn them through magic scrolls. Since these were spells that you learn through merit points, we have decided it would be better to convert them to magic scrolls. As such, we're planning to make similar adjustments to other spells for other jobs that are learned through merit points.

      With this change, we’ve made the default values of these spells so that they're equivalent to having 5 merit points in the appropriate category. In order to make sure there isn’t any difference between the values from when there are 5 merit pints and those with 1 to 4, we increased the overall values for those with 1 to 4 merit points.

      Changes to Esuna
      Before, the caster had to absorb the negative status ailments in order to remove them using Esuna. To mitigate this issue we changed it so it can now remove individual status ailments directly. Furthermore, during Afflatus Misery, status ailments that can be removed using Erase and Amnesia can also now be removed.

      While more status ailments can be removed, we have changed it so the spell only affects a single target, and made further balance adjustments by increasing the casting time and the amount of MP required to cast the spell.
      * Yagrush’s Divine Veil effect will not make the spells effect to area-wide effect.

      Changes to Sacrifice
      Many times, Sacrifice was cast together with Esuna, therefore, we have made changed the effect of Sacrifice as well.
    • Ambuscade
      (00:19:39)
      Players will go up against Dullahan and Gallu in this month’s Ambuscade.

      Gallu will appear in the Ambuscade for the first time, and they appear in a set of two. The key to this fight is to maintain the HP of both enemies. Don’t worry, these Gallu won’t remove your gear or add weakened status!

      As May is the anniversary for FINAL FANTASY XI, we have snuck in Dullahan’s shield as a reward.
    • Quality of Life Improvements
      (00:22:21)

      Auto-Potpourri Charge
      We’ve implemented a way to automatically receive potpourri so you don’t have to manually receive them. You may speak to Emporox in Reisenjima to receive a buff that’ll last for a good amount of time, and every time the merit point cap is reached, it’ll convert to potpourri. Additionally, if you’d like to receive potpourri at your specific time, we also prepared an Emporox’s Ring, which can be exchanged with Emporox in Reisenjima for escha beads. The effect duration of Emporox’s Gift status will suspend when you’re not logged into the game, so we recommend getting the buff directly from Emporox if you’d like to collect a lot of potpourri.

      *During the broadcast, we mentioned that one of the requirements was to have the limit points reach its cap; however, the correct requirement is merit point to reach its cap. Sorry!

      New Config Settings Window
      We’ve made improvements to the config settings window as the previous one may have been difficult to understand. Also, you’re now able to backup and restore macros, lock-style, map markers, data that are stored locally on your computer. By backing up the data here, you’ll be able to load the data if you happen to need to reinstall the client and such. For more information, see here.

  • Fujito’s /shout
    (00:33:00)

    →SHINING BLESS Special Live Concert
    (00:33:25)
    Come enjoy the live concert held by the hit group SHINING BLESS! And don’t forget to shake their tentacles!? There’s some changes coming to the FFXI ReFriender as well, so be sure to check it out when the event goes live.

    →17th Vana’versary Mog Bonanza
    (00:34:40)
    For the first place prize, players will receive the crystal of murky astral detritus, and Hotengeki is now available as the fourth place prize. Hotengeki can be transferred to characters under the same account, so if you’ve won this prize on your alternative characters, you can still pass it to your main! We’re planning to make all lock-style gear moving forward to be transferrable to characters under the same account.

    →Return Home to Vana’diel and Discount Campaign
    (00:36:17)
    The Return Home to Vana’diel and Discount Campaign is coming. Why not take this opportunity to invite your friends back or start a new adventure with you!?

    →The Spring Alter Ego Expo, A.M.A.N. Trove Test Your Luck Campaign, and the Adventurer Appreciation Campaign
    (00:36:41)
    We’ve got plethora of campaigns going on, so we recommend everyone to take part in them!

    →Adventurer Gratitude Campaign
    (00:37:08)
    And if that’s not enough campaigns, we have more! Through these campaigns, players will receive more experience, capacity points, and much more! Furthermore, some of the campaigns will be upgraded from May 16th, so don’t miss this opportunity!

    →Welcome Back to Vana’diel Screenshot Campaign
    (00:41:08)
    As we bring back the Return Home to Vana’diel campaign, we ask for your help to bring back your fellow comrades with open arms by sharing screenshots depicting the current lifestyle of Vana’diel! Show us what you enjoy doing most in Vana’diel currently and we’ll not only award you with a Marvelous Cheer in-game item but feature your screenshot on our official Twitter account!

    →May 2019 Login Campaign
    (00:43:25)
    This month’s featured item is the ♪Adamantoise mount! We also have the alter ego, Shantotto II in the list, so don’t miss out!

    →Jeuno, Back in the Spotlight
    (00:44:23)
    We'll be doing this again! Since it's just being brought back, the details will be same.

  • Q&A
    (00:46:18)
    In this segment we answered some questions that were brought up by the community on our forums.

    Q. I’ve been reporting bots every time I see them; however, it seems like there’s still a lot out there. I would like to know what’s being done.
    A. We’ve taken measures so that the STF team can periodically report back the status on the forums, so if you could please check those. All the reports received from our players are being shared with the STF team. Thanks to all those reports, we were able to take against more RMT, and it also helped increase the speed of our investigations. However, to counter this the RMT have been fighting back and increasing. So our current status is that we are taking action against them constantly.

    There’s also a method to shut down the ways they accumulate money, but this would affect normal players as well, so we’re discussing the matter on a regular basis with the Development team to see what would be the most effective way to take. Please understand that we can’t go into details, as if we do that, it’ll just notify the RMT what we’re doing. No matter what measures we take, it ends up being a game of cat-and-mouse, but we’ll continue our efforts.

    We understand that for those that have ill feelings due to RMT aren’t satisfied with the current situation. However, we would appreciate if you could please continue to support us by reporting them so we can continue to take as many actions against them and share information with you all.

    Q. Would it be possible to change the stack amount of items to 99?
    A. Systematically it’s possible; however, the looking over the effect due to this change would make this difficult. For example, for the auction house, the server decides on a stack based on 12, if we increase the amount of the stack, we’ll need to stop the auction house. Also, we also worry that by increasing the stack amount would also mean you can only up to a stack of 99 on the market as well.

    We understand there are requests to use a system seen in Dragon Quest X and other MMORPG titles; however, due to the difference in the base structure of the game, it’ll require as many resources to create the system from scratch and this isn’t realistic to do. That said, we should be able to do this for items that aren’t able to be put up on sale on the auction house, so we’d like for you to please let us know which items you’d like to be able to increase the stack amount for.

    ■Items we’d like to be able to stack to 99
    https://sqex.to/ro1qr

    Q. When can we expect new additions to orchestrion rolls?
    A. We have more slots available, so we’ll consider adding more.
    We apologize for this taking long. The person in charge has moved to a different team.

    Q. Can you make rewards from missions and quests that can only be obtained once storable?
    A. We’ll see if we can do this.
    Missions and quests have completion flags to them so it may be possible to use that as a reference to make them obtainable again. However, it’s not where you store them but may become a system where you’ll need to purchase from an NPC for a cheap price.

    Q. We’d like for you to look over the rewards from the Mog Tablet quests. Also, do the mog tablets appear at the same timing for each area?
    A. We looked into this a while back, but we haven’t proactively looked into it recently. The reason behind this is because we worry that it may cause illicit activity from those going after the rewards. We understand that there’s a difference in the value of the items you can receive; however, we’re also thinking that it may make more sense to adjust the Super Kupower that has an effect on a greater number of players. We’d like some more time to think about how to adjust this. We’d like to hear your comments on this as well.

    As for the timing in which the mog tablets appear. They pretty much appear at the same time in each of the areas. In a recent update, you can use the Widescan to confirm it as well.

    Q. I’d like to see new fishing quests. For example, go catch x amount of a specific fish.
    A. If we’re going to add something new, we’d like to make it a quest that’ll excite the fishers out there. I think just making it a simple go catch tons of fish would just be tiring.

    Q. I’d like to see more fishes for Inside the Belly.
    A. Once we decide on what we’d like to use for the reward, we’ll do this!

    Q. Ambuscade is congested and I’m having a hard time doing the content due to queue. I would like for something to be done.
    A. We’re currently experimenting to half the wait time by adding another entrance area for the Ambuscade. As to why this is being delayed, we have few areas remaining that can be used. We were concerned if it's wise to use these areas that could be utilized for new content, such as Omen. However, looking at the current situation, we felt it is necessary and have started experimenting. It seems effective, but we’d require some more time until we can implement it. We ask for your patience.

We’ve mentioned the next Freshly Picked broadcast will be July, but it may be in August. As usual, we’ll announce the broadcast schedule on the official website, so please be on a lookout for it.

Until next time, see you!