[Koiji]

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/adoulin/

Including two new jobs: Geomancer and Rune Fencer
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[Dunador]

.........

.........

what?
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[This is a temporary signature placeholder, until I can find something to go here!]
Retired FFXI: July 2010
FFXIV: Duna Levoitz - Exodus
GW2 - Retired: Dunador Serestil - Mesmer - Maguuma
Steam Handle: Dunador (Profile Link)

[Nimdae]

[Dunador]

Beyond the initial "What the.....what.....why?" Here's my thoughts:

First off, the video didn't really give much that isn't said on that page. We were shown places that look like the Jungles (Yuhtunga/Yhoator), and a Desert/beach area (Valkurm). A city that looks very much like San D'Oria, except perhaps less royal, more village'ish. Two new jobs, that, from off the top of my head, already exist in some form in the game, will just likely be reworks of different abilities.

The only plus side, from my point of view, is SE's strange ability to always bring out a good story in a game.

Thoughts on the jobs:

Rune Fencer: Red Mage. A more melee-combat focused Red Mage.

Geomancer: I don't even know here. Like...Black Mage, mixed in with a few of the buffing abilities of a white mage? So....a casting-style Red mage? =/

I'm gonna play the part of negative nancy here and say this doesn't look too unique/promising. And also, why?

/slightrant

When was the last expansion? Full on Expansion, it was Wings wasn't it? Which came, what, sometime around 2008, right? So nearly 4 years now? They've been holding out strong with their DLC/Addon packs for 4 years. Why are we seeing a full expansion now? Is it like a big marketing plan to try and get press coverage, and thus older-retired members to come back?

Problem with that plan, is the game isnt the same as people remember it. Craps changed, by a lot. .....eh, I got nothing else.

/endrant.
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[This is a temporary signature placeholder, until I can find something to go here!]
Retired FFXI: July 2010
FFXIV: Duna Levoitz - Exodus
GW2 - Retired: Dunador Serestil - Mesmer - Maguuma
Steam Handle: Dunador (Profile Link)

[Koiji]

I read through some translations of the actual unveiling of the jobs, and they sound something like this:

GEO: Hybrid buffer and elemental DD; buffs are AOE centered around a point on the ground (in their example, the GEO could put up refresh by the mages, and a melee could run and stand by the mages at any time and get some refresh, then run back to the front line and get the melee buffs); elemental damage has different added effects depending on what direction the GEO is standing in relation to the mob, e.g., standing north of the mob grants a magic accuracy boost.

RUN: Going to be a mage-y tank; don't really know about the mechanics, though it's putting up some sort of rune buff in the concept art.

As for the expansion itself, some people have pointed out that Abyssea represented something to do while the level cap was being raised to 99. But now that it's 99, players need a lot of content geared towards the new cap. If you think about how much stuff there was to do at 75, SE needs to come up with an analogous set of activities for 99. So people are hoping that this expansion, in addition to a hopefully great story, will include 3-4 new events.
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[Wumyamya]

Geomancer sounds like a cross between Scholar and Summoner, IMO. Nothing to get too excited about.

I'm just kind of fascinated by the fact that they're releasing another expansion.

Wumy
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[Dunador]

[Nimdae]

I'm kinda with Koiji. With the new level cap, the end game that was there was no longer the end game. They needed to make a new end game.

Of course, I haven't touched FFXI in years. I could be way off.
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[Dunador]

[Koiji]

Dynamis, Nyzul, and Limbus have been upgraded to match the 99 cap, and most of the other activities will also be updated in the coming year, according to their latest roadmap slide. Still, I think that's a stopgap solution, since no one wants to keep doing Nyzul for years to come after it's already been out since 2007.

I just reactivated last week to play with my RL friends, and we're having a blast. Not sure if it's cause the game's better, or if it's fun seeing some of my friends play through it for the first time, but you can approach XPing much more casually now. We also just discovered killing skeletons in Gusgen for 20k/hour at level 20.

End game still sounds less than ideal, with crazy alliance grinding to upgrade gear, but it seems the trip from 1 to 99 is a lot more fun now. My main goal is to have everyone play through the storyline missions, and not worry so much about getting uber gear. Plus, you can just buy stuff like this on the AH now: http://www.ffxiah.com/item/10453/praeco-doublet
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[Tenshi]

I don't know if anyone else noticed this but on the page at the bottom it said something i found interesting.
Supported Systems Windows®　Xbox 360®
It does not say playstation 2 I wonder if its an oversight or they are dropping support.
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[Koiji]

The JP site lists PS2, so it's either a mistake, or they won't print PS2 discs in the US.
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[Nimdae]

[Nimdae]

[Dunador]

I think I remember said static Nimdae. I think I filled in a few nights. Was good times, for sure.
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[This is a temporary signature placeholder, until I can find something to go here!]
Retired FFXI: July 2010
FFXIV: Duna Levoitz - Exodus
GW2 - Retired: Dunador Serestil - Mesmer - Maguuma
Steam Handle: Dunador (Profile Link)