Extensions of Earlier Comments, and Questions at FanFest

Basically, some comments on my first weekend on Leviathan, and some other stuff:

First, the blog is now on the Tarutaru Times Online – http://www.tarutarutimes-online.net/.
A whole bunch of nice blogs on there with a lot of thoughts on Final Fantasy XI. Check the Times and some of these other blogs out.

Second, I would be remiss if I didn't thank my social linkshell from Asura, Monkees. They were basically the only non-financial reason I stayed on Asura the last six months. They were a lot of fun to be around, and we had a good time. Littlemunkey, Soop, Hectorxx, Clatuu, shell leader Vipreubaud, and, of course, the “den mother” of the group, Wilmakitty. Thank you all, and those who I did not name. Keep in touch with me.

Third, at least two other players were the ones who actually gave Leviathan as a recommendation as the writing came, more and more, on the wall. Kobayashimaru is one of them, and I thank him for that. The second was the last person I talked to on Asura, and I didn't get his/her name. Sorry.

Also thanks to all the Asurans on my friend list, and bricks to all those I had on my blacklist.

Goals for the week? Kinda continuing the holding pattern – farming the promies as Dragoon, Besieged as Red Mage, Dancer gets Sharlene to help in Kuzotz, and the 75 Beastmaster is around for Campaign for merits. Waiting for the new update.

Speaking of, that gets to the main part of today's message.

The North American Final Fantasy XI Fan Festival is this weekend.

Wished I could've gone, but didn't have the $40 ticket price for the three-hour time frame that tickets were actually open. I really have to wonder what drew so many people to this event so quickly this year as opposed to the Wings of the Goddess sneak peeks at last year's event (which I did attend).

Obviously, the news about the mini-expansions for 2009 will be one subject, and another will be all the goodies in the soon-to-come December version update (which is NOT tomorrow's maintenance).

I do think the Salvage item abuse exploitation will be a major subject in this event, especially when the efforts of the Special Task Force are brought up. Also, effects to combat RMT PlayOnline message spam (which will probably mean that such messages can only go to and from friends on your friend list, real soon now...) will be high on the list.

I have some other questions that I, personally, would put into the pot for the development team and the like:

Given the present state of the real-life world economy, can you give us a general idea about the stability of the future of Final Fantasy XI?

I realize that this isn't a question a lot of people want to hear. But it's reality, especially given present events.

When the three expansions are all out, will the total content added to the game essentially equal one of the larger (previous) expansions?

That's about the price we'll end up paying ($10 per), about the equivalent of the original release-date prices for the expansions.

Can the new Treasure Caskets be opened by any player “on the hunt”, or are they simply tagged for the player (or the party) who made the kill to spawn it?

For those who do not know (and we're not quite 100% clear whether this is a “Fields of Valor” situation or a general “in the field/hunt” situation), there will be a new feature in the December update for Treasure Caskets, basically drops on any and every fight (whether there might be an “only for monsters who grant XP” restriction is unclear) which can be temporary items for the players, or even the possibility of gear only to be found in such Caskets.

You can understand the concern if these Caskets are openly available to any player who comes upon them. “Thief” would take on a whole new meaning.

To the Special Task Force: Will the recent revelations about end-game players' conduct make the administrators of Final Fantasy XI reconsider the drop-rates (or even the very existence) of some of the end-game mechanics like Salvage?

I have a feeling, save the December update stuff, this will be one of the hottest topics of FanFest. As a player who does not RMT, use exploits, nor use third-party software to play FFXI, I can only hope the “banhammers” rain fast and furious on this. If the amount of kvetching by these end-game cheating bastards is any indication of the number of players who abused these exploits knowingly, I expect the number of bans to be in the thousands.

I think you could even make a case, if it is as prevalent as is feared, that the entire future of Salvage as a game mechanic might be in danger. I've never played Salvage – have not that much desire to after seeing how much cheating is going on. The Special Task Force has to come down hard on this, and I expect some degree of question of this regard to be one of the hottest topics come Saturday.

For the record, a number of FFXI Premiere Sites will be giving continuous updates from the Hollywood Renaissance this weekend, so check them out.