September 2023 Version Update

I figured I'd poke my head into the master trial -
This is obviously a lie:
Be in possession of the Crystal Paradise item.
* Players joining the instance must be in possession of this item.
You can just use one item to get in, like a standard BCNM Orb.

Buffs don't wear on entry, can probably do some buff shenanigans outside if necessary. Short cutscene on entry, no trusts ofc.

Eald'narche and the TT teleport onto the aggro-getter on pull, was funny to see. The GK used Call Wyvern, HM used Mighty Strikes on pull. Just before I died to a big nuke, a Behemoth and Adamantoise were summoned from somewhere - I assume the Mithra?
An orbital spawned (after stellar burst?)

Eald'narche's nukes hurt. Thunder 6 hit my RUN for 2.4k. Water 6 hit me for 2k, so they hurt a lot.(Windsday for both)
An ES Sleepga on RDM/BLM slept the wyvern, behemoth, both orbitals, and got immunobreaks on Kam'Lanaut and HM. Resists on everything else.
Stymie Saboteur Sleepga landed just fine. Lasted 93 seconds and they all woke simultaneously, with this set: http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/392981

No exoplates, but looks like more enemies to handle at one time than I was expcting. I think Kam and Eald have auras or something going on when they're close to each other? Definitely some TP gain buffs, and they glow, but they might always do that.

Aggro radius of 20', they won't re-aggro if you reraise after a full wipe and are out of range. I didn't check if you lose Exemplar Points, whoops.

*** yes!! Sounds hard just like I was hoping! Was it lightning day?

That's fine but to solve that they could've added a penalty for members above 6. The current one (u get less ep per mob the higher your ml goes, and ep per kill is based on the highest ml member in your pt)

I mean even if they wanted to have such a penalty on, they could've made the thresholds a bit gentler, sigh.
Now not only your semiforced to use level sync, but the higher your level is, the less ep per kill you get and this synerguzes bad with the astronomical ep required to level up past a certain level.

The ep/kill reduction once you're not within the sweet level range of a certain target made sorta sense in the level 75 era. You would simply move to a different camp with much higher level mobs and keep the ep/kill roughly the same.
This doesn't work that well here, sadly, not at all.

when will i get my lightsaber club for my KC..

Updated with my info from my second and third attempts. All on Windsday (and funnily enough, his wind nukes did the least damage to me).
It's certainly busy. TP moves and spells flying all over. I didn't get a chance to test accuracy or anything, because I'm just going in with RUN and RDM to poke the bear a bit. I only live for about 45 seconds, less if the RUN gets stunned, which is definitely an issue (TT casts stun, lasts for at least 10 seconds?).
I'm fascinated to see what strategies people come up with for this.

Pretty sure they said they were just going to remove EFGH buffs and make the optional challenge only apply to Aminon in the original response

This the real question does it have the AA MUSIC or is it some new stuff? I don't play with sound haven't in like 10+ years.

I mean, if they reduce the requirements or change the scaling, that just means the bots and RMT will get ML50 faster and move on to the next job.

People aren't going to stop botting ML just because it's easier.

Multibox and have sync targets like a boss.

I'm not making it a matter of morals or whatever.
I don't care if there's bots or RMTs or people who for any reason prefer to go that route, I'm fine with that.

I would just like a scenario where it's not the only realistical option, where if people want to, can realistically tackle ML40+ (I could say 30+...) through canonical methods without feeling like it's 2003, or even worse than that.

For that we need:
1) More camps (and they are, slowly, working on that so gg)
2) Better rates of EP gain

For 2) I don't think it would be feasible or even fair to simply reduce the amounts needed to next level.
But they could put a cap to the amount of EP lost for each death (such a cap was in place during the lv75 era too after all) and they could increase the EP gained for each kill.
How? Plenty of methods, probably a combination of: a KI that increase the number, softening the EP/kill decrease when the ML of the killer raises, give a straight bonus to the EP/kill, slightly increasing the chain window.

I'm not even saying that this is "vital" for the game's health, I wouldn't be so sure about that honestly, but I think it's such a waste the current rates are so insanely against reality for players who don't wish to bot 24/7

The goal is to keep you going. Not expedite it. There's nothing after.

When metrics say interest wanes, then you get a master cape or a ring

Weekly RoE with a huge bonus. 10% of the XP needed for the next level. This barely rewards Bots but greatly rewards everyone else.

Its also good for longevity since players wouldn't want to miss the bonus. FOMO

So long as people feel the need to be ML50 and don't want to do it themselves, it's not going to get better for anyone. AKA it's not getting better EVER.

The good news is ML50 isn't required for anything except saying you've gotten your job to ML50. Congrats, you paid to remove serotonin from the game and are now complaining about there is nothing to do like a junkie! You did it!

And if we throw some souls logic at it, your ML50 job is playing on EZ mode. OMG such lack of skill, you should have cleared it without MLs IF YOU'RE A MAN! Or whatever silliness people need to feel good about themselves.

Get the levels you need for new abilities and spells and stop worrying about it. You can always just do it later.

IDK, I think hitting ML50 is certainly possible to do without botting, the problem I see with it though is twofold:
-It's really boring
-The benefits are not very significant

Between these two, nobody bothers. If you can bot it, go ahead, but it's not something people seek out. EP is much faster if you're actually playing vs botting, so the fastest way to get it would be to go make an EP party with a bunch of other people. Nobody's doing that because it's boring as hell and there's no reason to bother with it.

I think to answer the question of better EP rewards, SE clearly expects us to team up and level sync down to preserve existing returns, rather than live with the diminishing returns of scale as one gains MLs.

Can't say I'm a fan, because I much prefer just running out for an hour or so during a podcast than fighting to make a pt of real folks most days- its just faster. But at least in theory a method already exists if I simply can't stand it any longer.

you got a lockstyle that meows to all's annoyance- embrace that evil.

The problem is how exponential the TNL's get. The EP needed to go from 0 to 45 is the same as 45-50, and even syncing to 45 is taking a decent penalty to EP/HR. You're gonna run out of sync targets eventually.

Having said that, I dont believe many SJ's gain all that much after ML30/SJ55. I'm trying to find those lists, I remember talking about it with someone a couple months ago.

Found it:
ML45/war gets Fencer2
ML35/whm gets re/raise2
ML35/blm gets sleepga2
ML45/blm gets Magic Burst Bonus II trait (already available to RDM and SCH, BLU can set it, so only beneficial to GEO/BLM)
ML35/drk gets sleep 2 (no mage job is subbing drk tho)
ML45/drg gets conserve TP II
ML45/blu gets magic fruit and some other spells
ML45/cor gets wizards roll (not the most useful)
ML45/dnc gets skillchain bonus II
ML45/run gets Foil

It would be, but they don't seem to move at all, even when poking stuff.

completely agree. Then again, thank the lord I don't play PLD and can live with my jobs at ML40 and then just take future gains beyond that 10k at a time in segment runs or sortie ;)

But it is a purposely painful system that gives SE a huge window to do nothing but point to MLs as "something to do". Definitely understand all reactions to it that I've seen- from a simple "*** this" and leave the game to 24/7 botting and even the buying of them. Not saying I agree with any, but I can understand how a person reaches those points.

I find it weird that on one side they stretch the carrot pole longer and longer, in this case EP, to keep players busy with low dev effort but on the other side don't crush down on RMT bot leeching parties that completely circumvent the event.

Unless you're goal is to balance the game explicitly around botting I don't see the rationality in this decission.

They make farming ***, so you'll support the rmt who pay more subs.

Make it fast, make it simple, shout bots and master bots lose value, subs go down. (also some foot note about not paying people to enforce the rules for the same reason)

It's a designed and cultivated ecosystem.

Dear SE

Would it break the *** game to make double Exemplar points campaign or update the current lineup of stuff? Double segments? Double muffins? +1 Case daily event? Bring your returnee to work day?

No? Shitty bcnm event that gives us cosmetics? That really took restraint SE.

Other bonuses are mainly from the skill+:
- RDM gets 5% more Triple Attack via Temper II (significant), caps Frazzle III/Distract III a lot more easily and can get rid of skill gear in favor of potency/duration/magic accuracy (significant)
- GEO caps skill naked and can Conserve MP/DT in those slots (minor)
- BRD gains 100 magic accuracy for debuffs (MAJOR, lullaby threnody and elegy are great)
- PLD and RUN can get 1-2 more tiers on Phalanx (minor)
- RUN gets 5% more Double Attack through Temper (significant)
- BLU gets a great bonus magic accuracy, spell interruption, and for some spells even effect (significant/major)
- SMN gets magic accuracy and duration (minor but welcome lol)
etc

And this is ignoring stats. +15 to all stats is _not_ a minor bonus.

All in all the bonus post ML35 is only awesome for maybe BRD that can double dip skill and thus get 30 more magic accuracy (35 -> 50), which is a lot, but for other jobs it's definitely not small.

I got my RDM to ML50 manually and it was a huge pita, but damn if it wasn't worth it.

They did but the update notes says "bosses". Guess ill just never finish and always be pissed.

Agree with your points generally Lili, but that's comparing ML50 to ML0. I think ML 30, 35, or 40 are fine and reasonably achieveable with minimal grind. Everyone obsesses over the 40-50 grind and how long it is, but it's also a desolate wasteland of tiny improvements.

1% TA from Temper II, 20 macc on BRD, 10 on other jobs. 10 acc, 70 HP. It's not nothing, but it's highly unlikely to make or break anything for you in realistic scenarios. Get ML 30, 35, or 40, and don't worry about the 25 billion EP from 40-50. Those levels don't matter at all for almost any job. You won't be unable to clear content on your PLD because you can't sub RUN, or time out in a fight on RDM because you had 1% less TA, 3 less enspell damage, or 10 less macc on your Slow II.

RUN can cap phalanx with ML9
PLD gets 2 more phalanx from ML, one at ML19 and one at ML 47...

I do not care about fairness to bots.

As i said, it doesn't make sense unless[ you want to explicitly balance around botting, which is what your describing.

Afaik we don't have numbers but the current sentiment around here is players are not happy and quitting completely or at least partially (cancling wardrobes, mules or alts). Some have been complaining that most of their social circle is already gone. The FFXI reddit doesn't seem to get a lot of traffic lately either outside of the obligatory "is it worth it to return in 20XX".

But hey, maybe talk is cheap and most of those claiming to have taken consequences secretly lack the selfcontrol to cancel their 4th multiboxes wardrobe nr.X.

If the mood here just somewhat resembles the one of the FFXI player base I don't see how the dwindling player numbers don't outweight the loss of a couple of bots that most likely don't book extras like wardrobes. For sure not medium-term probably not even short term.

Btw sinking player numbers should also have a effect on demand for RMT services.

tried pulling the new master trial solo with BLM mana wall, didn't last very long

Eald'Narche
opened with Omega Javelin right off the bat without having hit/being hit, possibly very high regain or it just doesn't cost TP?
Nuked Fire 6, Mana wall was still on hit for 0 dmg, possibly wiping my whole MP pool with this.
Nuked Aero 6


Kam'lanaut
Opened with silencega, then Fire Blade(enfire effect)
Was healed by my blaze spikes
Did not get healed by ice spikes.
melee crit 430 dmg, enfire 8 damage.

Orbital casted paralyga, firaja

not sure what to make of this yet, could be nothing, but GK+wyvern, HM, and behemoth took extra damage from my spikes 50~100 damage from both blaze and ice spikes. The rest of the mobs took 2-18 damage from spikes.

Master level pacing is fine, since you don't actually NEED above ML40 to do anything anyway. The sync issue isn't as ok, I would much rather the TNL was higher and you didn't get penalized for not syncing, it makes it more annoying to organize groups where everyone gets to play the job they need the most ML on because your progress gets destroyed if the entire party is already 40+.

This makes and doesn't make sense at the same time.
The game used to be like that during the golden era.
But it hasn't been since like, I dunno, june 2010 (with the small window of JPs, which for the several first months were aweful and, as a matter of fact, nobody was bothering with them).

I mean... 2010. That's a lot of time, a LOT of time where the game has been different.
Why did they suddenly found this need to go back to 2004 rates (arguably worse than that) in 2022? Why never during all those previous years?

I get that they want to make things more "lasting" now of all times, I'm not against it in general, but BY THIS MUCH? Is it really necessary?
I'm not saying they should hand ML for free like levels in Abyssea era, but this slow is way too much in the opposite direction imho.