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.