Tuesday 21 June 2011

How Abyssea changed fundemental concept of FFXI

In my LS Cynosure, someone is asking what job he should level first. He said he wanted to work on empyrean GS for his DRK multiple times, so I actually want to suggest him to lv NIN, then lv another WHM mule, so he an dual box his Cala all the way to lv 90.

Then somehow I feel kind of sad, to even think that way.

No doubt, lv a NIN or MNK to 90, then lv a WHM mule, is one single fastest way to progress in Abyssea, to get empyrean weapon/+2s done really fast. You no longer have to wait in LS for one million years to start your empyrean weapon, or spend more time to gather helpers+help the helpers back. That's how one of my friend got 3 set of +2s and Kannagi 90(kannagi 90 is much harder than other empyrean btw) done 3 times faster than average players. When most Abyssea LS still getting people +2s, he was already swimming in 3 sets of 5/5 +2 empyrean armor. He even has atma of savior, the way he do things is just extreamly efficent.

Then pretty soon, he told me he get very bored of Abyssea, cuz he already accomplish everything he wanted to.

I can't help but starting thinking how sad it is, that the most efficent way to grind gear in Abyssea is now dual box, with specific jobs.

You no longer do stuff with other player, or interact with other player, if you want to be efficent. Or try different pt setup with different strategy to beat the NM.

And the cost of being efficent? Ppl got bored after everything accomplished.

Is that how playing MMO like FFXI is about? Grind gears 3 times faster than everyone else, but not with other player, but with your mules. And after everything is done, there isnt anything else to be done.

Efficency has always been important in FFXI. In EXP pt, bad EXP/hr=bad pt. If your event LS takes too long to get people gears, then they're not happy. In the end everyone all want to do things faster and more efficent.

I value efficency in FFXI, that's why I came up with such suggestion for someone wanting to do Cala. Sad days for a MMORPG like FFXI, which used to value friendship and companion more than dualbox and grind every gear solo.

3 comments:

  1. Dude, you can't blame the game.

    For years people have complained that SE tried too hard to control how people "did stuff" in FFXI. Now they have removed some of those barriers (e.g. End-game LS => Low manning) people are complaining about that too.

    Ultimately it is down to the player: do you want to enjoy playing with other people or get gear as fast as possible?

    Yesterday, I did some stuff with a really well geared PLD. Sure, we might have done it quicker with a NIN but it wouldn't have been any less fun.

    Personally, I just like playing with nice people.

    The advent of Abyssea really has improved the time/reward ratio for everyone but it has also lowered the bar for elitist pricks. It used to be limited to a few HNMLS, now they're everywhere. And, honestly, they bore me. That's the real cost of Abyssea in my eyes.

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  2. Dibble covered pretty much everything I wanted to say.
    It's better to have the option to choose how you want to play the game.

    But MMO's aren't really about getting the best gear in the fastest way possible ONLY. If you dualbox everything, do you think all the work you've done becomes a memorable experience? It's the nice people around you who make it so.

    Some, like Vode, and many others, make use of both. They dualbox AND play with friends at the same time.

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  3. Tbh although Voidwatch NM isn't really popular atm, but I think it may be a good idea to solve this problem.(If SE gonna make it better next update)

    It's harder than Abyssea, and certainly requires more than 2 characters to do. But you can join anytime before it starts, the fight only lasts 30 min so it's quick. After its done everyone get gold chest, so everyone who participates gets equal chance of getting gears as long as procs are done right.

    So there, you get to play in causal way, join an event without sitting 5hrs sitting in front of the computer and you can leave anytime without losing points. You don't have to wait for 100 years to lot on stuff just because you don't cyber with LS leader, everyone has a chance as long as you join you get chance for drop.

    They just have to makes the drop rate higher with proc and everyone's happy. Hardcores will be happy too cuz not every group can kill those challenging NMs XD

    I'm not complaining about Abyssea, I'm pretty causal as well and hate playing a game like a second job. But I saw the comment of "If you're getting gear with a LS you're doing it wrong" everywhere.

    Yes, if you're waiting in a LS with 10+ people for certain drop, then you're doing it wrong. People who dualbox or trio will get gears 3x faster than you. But that's kinda lonely no?

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