Sometimes I love S-E (FFXI only)

[thistlechaser]

From today's update:

It is now possible to mine "silica" in Tahrongi Canyon and the Maze of Shakhrami.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. Now you won't have to be level 70+ or pay tens of thousands of gil for a single piece of silica. Seriously: Thank you, S-E. I tried not to be depressed/grumpy on the LS about it, but it was so harsh/depressing/sad that it was yet another thing that only the highest level people could have.

This also makes me happy, and seems very fair:

When asking for a new signal pearl, the relationship between a player and a Fellowship NPC will now worsen slightly.

While YMMV, my view on it was: S-E made the cooldown period 20 hours. Not 10 hours. Not calling-out-twice-in-20-hours. Once in 20 hours. Just because you can break a rule does not mean you should. But again, this is my opinion on it. You're free to have yours.

- A new command "/blockaid" has been added.

Wow, that makes sense. Another cookie to S-E!

And last but far from least:

- Players will no longer be able to use spells or abilities to claim a monster as soon as it appears.
If players attempt to use spells or abilities to claim a monster before a set amount of time has passed since it appeared, they will not be able to use those spells etc. again for a certain duration.

MY GOD, were they reading the ever-bitching NA players' minds? Did someone put happy drugs in the S-E water coolers? A whole update of good things! Really, really good things!

This little mini-update makes me a whole lot happier than the big one we had a short time ago. So much goodness!

Comments

[zubis.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. Now you won't have to be level 70+ or pay tens of thousands of gil for a single piece of silica. Seriously:

Eh? Great Jaws dropped Silica in the Aqueducts, which is capped at 40, and mobs in Lufaise Meadows drop Silica too - before the price dropped you could farm 2 million worth of Silica in an hour. You didn't need to be 70 to farm them either. The drop rate was so ridiculously high there I guess they adjusted it, hence the "The drop percentage for "silica" has been adjusted." bit.

I agree with you about the Signal Pearl exploit, I used it myself on days when my NPC buddy disappeared 10 minutes after I summoned it. 20 hours wait for a 10 minute NPC isn't fair, and SE knows this, hence "- After certain conditions are met, players will be able to keep their Fellowship NPC around for extended adventuring."

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Eh? Great Jaws dropped Silica in the Aqueducts, which is capped at 40,

Not very well. We had a party in there for many hours (4? 5? 6?) and got a total of two pieces.

and mobs in Lufaise Meadows drop Silica too ... ou didn't need to be 70 to farm them either.

Ah, maybe my estimate was a little off? Mid-60s maybe? At 59 I can't farm effectively there. Slowly, probably without death if the things don't link? Yeah. But not effectively.

Agreed on all of your Signal Pearl comments. I used it once, when I had clicked on the NPC by mistake (I was trying to click on the mob behind him) and he vanished before I even got one fight in. That hadn't seemed "fair" to me, so I was okay with dropping it and getting a new one. But honestly, I'm fine with them making dropping it not an option at all. Too many people abused it daily.

[pomr.livejournal.com]

Bah. :) Silica sucks. Don't need no steenking silica. So there. :) Neener...though, I'm glad it isn't nigh impossible to get now. I was a little down about it myself, what with the stuff costing a ton of gil, and only farmable in zones I'm months away from access to.

/blockaid(s) sounds like something medical. ;) Or something Charlie Brown might say. :)

I /love/ that people can't instaclaim critters. Though I bet Aggro still works. That might put a kink in the GilSellers tails, mm? Sweet. :) Might make NM camping more feasible and enjoyable. *pause* Naaaaaaaaaaaaaah. What was I thinking? ;)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yes! Now we can all have goldfish. Yay goldfish!

And yeah, I bet the delay was to stop gilsellers and folks like that. Woo! *kinks more tails*

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Well, first I have to level woodworking (and maybe smithing and alchemy) and gather materials, and *then* I can have goldfish. ;p But it's not nearly as impossible a goal as it originally seemed, though at the rate I level crafts, it'll be a while. ^^;

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

It's all pretty low level, I think? But it's good to level crafts anyway! You can make good money with some of them. :)

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

10 Woodworking, currently unknown levels of Smithing and Alchemy (but Woodworking seems to be the main skill, so it can't be more than 10). My Alchemy's 6 and I was already planning on working on it more after I got Cooking to 30. My Smithing is 1.5 and my Woodworking is 0, so I will need to put some effort into that.

[pomr.livejournal.com]

WW 8
Alchemy 6
Cooking 10
Everythine else: 0 :)

[pomr.livejournal.com]

I'm honestly not sure it is worth it to make a tank. :) I totally lack the skills, and by the time I have them it will be time for /next/ summerfest!

And yeah...I hope it makes life tougher for the GilSellers and HNMLSs. Leave some critters for the rest of us. ;)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Too bad the kits aren't tradeable, or you could have someone else make one for you. Maybe Draque can goldfish scoop for another, then make it?

[pomr.livejournal.com]

The tank isn't Rare/Exclusive? :)

And nah, not that important to me that I'd want to inconvenience anyone else. :) I'll just free up a storage slotj and do without. :)

Kind of like the NPC, I'm not all that keen on it.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

The kit is, but the tank isn't. Beanie signed one for Nif, so they must be trade-able. I hope they're not rare, cause I have two goldfish kits...

[zubis.livejournal.com]

They are Rare.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Poo. But if that's the case, then (if I can get enough silica and stuff), I can make one as a gift!

[pomr.livejournal.com]

My WW is currently 8, and I have been planning on leveling it (to the point that Darth's MH is stuffed full of crystals. :)

I'll do it later. No biggie. =^.^=

[loneguardian.livejournal.com]

Color me shocked, SE actually did a bunch of GOOD updates and haven't nerfed fishing again. X3

[pomr.livejournal.com]

Right. Fishing is slated for more 'love' next update. :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

The way I look at it is: Without the ability to shoot rabid weasels out of your monitor, S-E really can't make fishing any worse. Any changes they make will have to be an improvement! :P

[phoenix-leandra.livejournal.com]

Forgive me for sounding a bit n00b, but I've always been a healer here. What good is blockaid really? I've never thought of "Magical assistance (such as "Cure" and "Protect")" from non-party as a bad thing. I know I've run by and slapped a pro on some players, or healed others I've seen struggling. As for trade, well, I don't really get unwanted trades offers, and if I did, I just wouldn't click on "Trade". Other than keeping pesky people from inviting you when you're not seeking, I don't see much use for /blockaid. What am I missing?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

What am I missing?

Two things. (Or maybe more than two, but these are the two I know of.)

1) This is the odd one: Some Japanese players get offended if you cure/protect them as you run by. I know it sounds odd, but I've seen the fallout of it. (Some JP player /slap'ed some WHM a couple hundred times for doing it, and inside a city so point #2 couldn't have applied.)

2) The bigger thing: People steal NMs from others by doing that. You get a NM, then someone comes by and heals you enough to get hate. They can then run away with it and you can't hit it because it'd be really hard to get into range. Eventually people get tired of chasing and just give up, and the person who stole hate gets the NM.

Crafters might also think they need to use it (there used to be a bug where if you cast on a crafter while they are mid-synth it would make the synth fail 100% of the time) but that bug has been fixed.