Rank went down because inventory wasn't sorted and cannot complete Rank 10 again

[Elliander]

Operating System:
Windows 10

ISP:
Charter

Type of Internet Connection:
Cable

Internet Connection Speed:
341.4 Mbit/s Download, 7.43 Mbit/s Upload

Date & Time:
March 22bd, 2023
5:40 PM CST

Frequency:
Always

Character Name:
Elliander

Race:
Race of your character when the issue occurred.
TarutaruM

World:
Siren

Main Job:
WHM, Level 97

Support Job:
Black Mage

Area and Coordinates:
Heaven's Tower

Party or Solo:
Solo

NPC Name:
None


Steps to reproduce:

Complete the last mission for Windy with a full inventory. Go to the top of Heaven's Tower for final cut scene. See Rank 10 message. Then see message to come back after sorting your inventory. Watch in horror as you are now unable to complete rank 10 at all.


What happened:

I just completed the final mission for Windust. (took me long enough!), but apparently I picked up a random item going through the motions and so my inventory was full. After going through the final cut scene the game said:

You cannot obtain the Windustian flag.
Come back after sorting your inventory.

So, I sorted my inventory, and went back to the top of Heven's tower (which is what I had to interact with to get the flag) and it just says:

The door to the Vestal Chambers is locked shut.

I tried talking to Kupipi as well (Heaven's Tower Clerical Chambers) and she didn't have it either. I talked to a bunch of random NPCs both in and outside of the tower as well. I then tried talking to the gate guards in Windurst Waters, but they just told me to go to Heaven's Tower.

Since my real objective was to rank up to get the Federation Aketan I figured I could at least get that before the week changes, but that's when I learned that my rank wasn't high enough! It went down from Rank 10 to Rank 9 JUST because I didn't have the item space for a single flag! I would have at least expected the game to let me finish by going back to the last part of the mission at the top of heaven's tower, but no, that's not an option.

So then I went back to "Full Moon Fountain" thinking I'd have to totally redo that as well, so I went back there and the fight wasn't an option at all. So then I went back even further. I went back to Ro'Maeve to get the song again and... It didn't let me get the song again so I know I didn't go that far back, but then I have no idea how far back I should go.I can't use NPC dialog as an indication either since some of them (i.e. Kupipi) are talking like I am rank 10.

I tried going back to the Monustery in Windurst Wood, since they are involved in the quest, and talking to Apiruru triggered the cutscene to get the Ajido-Marujido Trust which should ONLY happen when I am at rank 10 and had no dialog upon further tries regarding the mission.

So I am at a complete loss on what to do. I lost rank 10, went to rank 9, and now I am stuck and unable to do anything to get rank 10. Some NPCs think I am still on the mission, others think I am done with it and are already at Rank 10, and it's all really weird.

If there is some way to finish this by talking to some NPC somewhere the game should very clearly tell the player how to do this. And if there is no way, well, I'd call that a game breaking bug! It shouldn't be impossible to ever get rank 10 just because I didn't have space for a single flag!

What's especially painful about this is that the reason why I pushed to complete this mission was so that I could get the "Federation Aketan" while Windust was First in the ranking, but now I can't do that and the ranking is about to change so even if this bug is eventually fixed who knows when I'll be able to get it.

[Alhanelem]

"It went down from Rank 10 to Rank 9 JUST because I didn't have the item space for a single flag!"
It didn't go down, it never got there in the first place. You can't rank down.

After going through the final cut scene the game said:

Anyway:

NOTE: You must have an empty space in your inventory in order to receive the Windurstian Flag. if you don't have space for the reward return to the entrance to Heaven's Tower and click the blank target for your reward.

[Elliander]

OK, I eventually figured it out. Outside of each mission area is an unmarked spot that can be targeted. Interacting with the one outside of Heaven's Tower allowed me to get the Windusrtian Flag, 100k gil, and - more importantly - returned me to rank 10.

Still, even though I was capable of getting it done, I consider it very problematic that the game doesn't actually tell you any of this. There's no indication on what to do and where to go and it's made all the more confusing by the fact that some NPCs talk like you need to do something still, while others talk like you are already done, etc. It literally took me an hour to figure this out and I only managed to do it because I started blindly clicking on everything I could possibly target! Not telling players what they need to do to complete a mission is a very bad thing.

At the very least the "current mission" log should update with information on where to go to complete the mission in cases like this.

"It went down from Rank 10 to Rank 9 JUST because I didn't have the item space for a single flag!"
It didn't go down, it never got there in the first place. You can't rank down.

Actually, it DID rank down. I had the "Rank 10" animation and everything. THe fact that some NPCs talked like I was at rank 10 while others talked like I was at rank 9 made it extra confusing.

[Alhanelem]

You never lost your rank, you didn't get it because of the inventory issue. The point though was, that this is ALWAYS accounted for. How to address this is detailed in the wiki guides, which I quoted above.

I had the "Rank 10" animation and everything

That was part of the cutscene. Your rank is not changed until the mission is marked as completed. Which it isn't until you recieve the rewards. All ranks are permanent and there is no way to lose them. If you fail to recieve a quest or mission reward due to full inventory, the quest or mission does not get flagged as complete.

I consider it very problematic that the game doesn't actually tell you any of this.

FFXI was and is a cryptic game since day one and it rarely tells you anything/everything. Just like here, most quests had to be figured out by the playerbase, unlike games today where arrows and circles point you to everything.

[Elliander]

You never lost your rank, you didn't get it because of the inventory issue. The point though was, that this is ALWAYS accounted for.

OK then. Humor me. If I didn't rank down why did the game tell me I was at rank 10? And why did Kupipi tell me I was rank 10? And why was I able to get a Trust that can only be gained after completing the 9-2 Mission?

How to address this is detailed in the wiki guides, which I quoted above.

Nope. No mention of this was in the Wiki nor did I find any information about this on any internet search or search of this forum.

...

Honestly though, you are splitting hairs at this point. You are overly focused on the wrong point. The underlying issue was that the game acted like I completed the mission, with some NPCs talking like I did and being able to do certain things as if I did, etc. and no clear indication on exactly what to do to actually fully complete the mission. It doesn't matter if you think I never ranked down or couldn't rank up. The end result is the same.

[Alhanelem]

Nope. No mention of this was in the Wiki nor did I find any information about this on any internet search or search of this forum.

I literally pulled that line straight from FFXIclopedia. While I didn't check BG wiki, I'm pretty sure it's mentioned there as well, I can't imagine them missing something like this. Perhaps Spicyryan, who is involved with the site, can say.

https://ffxiclopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Moon_Reading

If I didn't rank down why did the game tell me I was at rank 10?

It is an ANIMATION that is PART OF THE CUTSCENE. Your rank is not changed at that moment. Your rank is ONLY changed when the mission is flagged as completed and you have recieved the rewards.. It is that simple.

Honestly though, you are splitting hairs at this point.

you call it splitting hairs, i call it correcting inaccurate statements. I made an important distinction. Yes, it "looks like" you ranked up, but your rank never actually changed. You can't lose what you never had to begin with.

The underlying issue was that the game acted like I completed the mission, with some NPCs talking like I did and being able to do certain things as if I did, etc. and no clear indication on exactly what to do to actually fully complete the mission.

The NPC flags are set during the cutscene. And if you've learned what I have about FFXI from 20 years of playing it, you'd know that the game not telling you stuff like this is the norm, not the exception. This is why guide sites exist in the first place. FFXIV, you really dont need one except to check where items come from, or a few special quests that were specifically designed to be puzzles, because the game always tells you where to go and what to do. in FFXI, the playerbase had to figure EVERYTHING out.

But the TLDR of all of this, is like most quest issues that people post here, it wasn't a bug.