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**WishMaster3K** · 04-24-2006, 08:59 AM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

Haven't even played FFXI going on 2 months now, but if what i've been following is any indication, there is a HUGE excitemeny for this expansion. I might get it to breath new life into the game, but honestly, there is a crap load I haven't completed in RoZ and CoP. I'll pick it up just so that I don't get left behind, story-wise, to some of my friends.

Aside from that, I'm nowhere near mastering the old content *_*

I'll comment directly to your #6. . .

If you want to put Vana'diel in a geographical point of view, the original 3 nations were like Europe, and this expansion is like the Arabian-inspired Middle East.

Think about it this way: the only way for there to be a Near East is if there is a Far East. . .

The rest of the continent is probably composed of the lands that border the Far East, aka, current world Asia.

So I think there is a ton of more content in FFXI to be had.

**Darkhound** · 04-24-2006, 09:05 AM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

Sorry to see that you dont play.... any reason for that?
Yes, the expansion seems very very nice. you should definatley give it a try

**Omniblast** · 04-24-2006, 09:29 AM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

Remora's kicking too much ass. The beast forces are always at 0. *sigh* I really want them to invade. I should stop doing assault runs.

The highest Beastforces I've seen is 7, but that was quickly dispursed with several assault runs and mirror smashings.

BIG BEN SMASH UR FACE! *woot for big ben*

**WishMaster3K** · 04-24-2006, 09:30 AM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

Drama drama drama. FFXI is a game, not an extension of Real-World responsibilities. I left my sky LS, realized that I had a TON of free time, helped out my lowbie LS with AFs (I tanked DRG and WHM AF3s flawlessly as RDM/NIN, lolz) and coffers and quests. Then I realized that I wasn't spending enough time on studies, friends and my girl.

Then KH2 came out, and I started playinga bunch of RPGs on the SNES I never had the liberty to play. Let's say that FFXI just got pushed behind. Couple that with my Ebay addiction, I cancelled my account and uninstalled it from my Laptop. So there are a lot of reasons for me not playing. I intend to purchase it for the PS2, but the only copies my local EB ordered were the ones on Pre-order *sulk sulk*

So that's the reason. BLU looks fun, and COR does, but I'll just be an objective supporter, reading the info from the good people on this board and learning the intricacies as they are revealed. I'm glad no one is powerleveling themselves, so that we can watch BLU grow and prosper properly.

Anyway, that's the end of my rant, I look forward to my continued adding to the community!!! \(*_*)/

Oh, and I might get the expansion just to find new areas to mess around.

**sdillon** · 04-24-2006, 09:35 AM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

Quick reply while I eat lunch ^^ forgive my spelling errors, typing with two fingers!

How do I like ToAu right now?
I LOVE IT. Absolutely. I was never a big one for quests. I am almost max hero level for most of the nations and Jeuno simply because I need the fame and practical reasons. I went through all the quests for the entire game up till now based entirely on 'online guides' lol. I loved the stories, loved the experience, just not my thing to quest. However... with ToAu... I was very extremely surprised that on the first day, after my first cutscene, I was hankering to speak with 'every npc'. On the 20th, I had already spoken to every single npc in Whitegate not once, but several times.

Completed at least half the quests (goshhhh the stories are just great! I emphatized with the characters completely!) on the same night, without a guide or someone telling me 'go here do this'. I did this with a close friend of mine and we'd set of separate ways or walk together. After all this questing I looked up and ... it had been 6hrs since we started. lol the quests are 'addictive'. I even had fun shaking my fist at the "Get the Picture" quest. (Which can seem to be frustrating but the moment I took the picture I realized how easy it was to know 'when' to take the picture - -;; hint: Whitegate and Al Zahbi share the same weather conditions! ><)

I went from thinking quests were confusing and unclear to completing quests. We solved everything together, tons of fun and I never got bored the entire time! LoL, I'm rather sad that I might have depleted the amount of quests we're allowed

To answer some questions:
1. How are the armines of beastmen forming in yoru servers?
Not too well... people are WAY too efficient lol. Also, they're making it extremely easy to take out these 'forces'. I believe that if besieged were to ever happen, they need to make the 'forces' and 'mirrors' a bit harder to get to and not something you can whack at while randomly running through. But on the flipside, I sorta like this system. It's alright if we dont see besieged for a bit longer I think. There are a lot of missions and quests requiring us to return to the 'old world' (my new nick name for Quon/Mindartia) and if by some odd fate that the warp tarus become prisoners! grrr

2. Do you guys think that Whitegate/Al Zahbi will be the new jeuno and our MAIN base?
For me it already is!! I went to level COR and RNG up and felt bleh that I had to HP in sandy ^^. So I ended up travelling all the way back to Whitegate, reset hp and is more than willing to put up with Teleport > OP to sandy (faster than the boat ride to whitegate!) if I happen to KO. Most people would not feel the same way.

3. Have you found good xp camps for different levels?
Actually yes, there are a lot of potentials. I see exp parties out and about. Right now I do suspect that as more and more people learn the importance of Imperial Standing... there will be "IS Parties" started instead. Which will have an unconventional style of partying.

4. What is your opinion of the new mobs, areas and stagings points?
Very well done! The new mob models/classes are 'for once' pretty 'normal' as far as difficulty. Yeah the IMPs have that 'amnesia' move but in general they're squishy enough that an exp party wont take forever taking them down. The Lamia are perfectly acceptable for exp as well. The one 'super saiyan VT mob" that we did find are the zombies. Gosh their evasion is 'nuts' and there is no way to debuff it that we knew of. But we also were there as BLM RDM BRD WHM NIN! Such an exploration party, not so much a DD party ^^

The areas are breath taking, spectacular and LUSH! I feel as thought I'm surrounded by the atmosphere of the continent. Like there already exists areas in the 'old world' that are lush and thick such as ZiTah, but the new areas outside of Al Zahbi and Nashmau are just 'teeming' with wild flora, its very immersing. The caverns, the new beast man strongholds, are all very detailed, unique yet still able to use the mechanics from 'old world' which I'm sure saves a lot of time, money and programming power!

Staging Points... So far we have bothered to unluck 2 points. Solved the Excavation one in 3 runs and not really had much more time to unlock any others. We'll be trying more of that once people are done partying on new jobs (which may be a while, so no rush to finish all of this yet ^^)

5. What is your general opinion of assault?
LOVE IT! We went in like this "O.o.... remove obstacle....??O.o;;" and came out "ohhhhhh yes we can do this, we can do this and this... and lets try this!"

Can't wait to see what other types of 'forward thinking' we'll be doing with the other Assault zones. No more 'run in kill kill kill, die die die, leave" ! ^^ /happy

6. If you see the besiged map, you can easily tell that its the beggining of the contient... do you think they will be more palced added in the future?
I absolutely believe it!!! We are still not sure yet if Far East is the 'hidden' content of this epansion (though I'm prone to believe not, I can still hope!). The Near East looks huge >.>;; Makes me wonder how big the Far East will be!.

This does however make me question their original text on the official website, tha Quon is the biggest continent in Vanadiel. Right now Al Zahbi and its surrounding looks to have much much bigger maps than any I've seen. Exploring Arrapago Reefs lead us through doors after doors with no end! lol

7. Did Toa live up to your expectations???
It exceeded my expectations actually. As usual, I'm a slow relaxed player and is most of the time too tired to be pumped out about being first at this or that. Yet... even at my really casual pace of exploring right now, we were able to 'be first to complete this or that'. Why? Because there is 'so much'! lol And even more coming. I'm giving everyone about a month to settle into the expansion and we can begin more regular Assault runs. I'm very excited that I left my PLD at 73 and will be able to EXp in the new zones with my new abilities!

**megax11** · 04-24-2006, 10:17 AM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

My view on TAU so far is a mix of good and bad.

First off the bad. I still keep my HP in Sandy so I can frequent Outpost Warping, as it's a real quick means of traveling. Although theres no conquest in the Aradjiah continent, that doesn't mean they couldn't add a outpost warping NPC, and he can say something along the lines of, "oh hey I came to this place to help so and so, or came for this or that reason." I do have an Olduum Ring however it's a once a day use. I would've liked to of seen the Runic Portal key item letting you use it as much as you want, instead of only one time, that is unless you spend another 200 ISP to get another pass to quick travel between the new areas.

The other bad thing is the story. Soloed all 8 missions in game in 3 days. Where's the challenge. I for one loved COP's story structure. From it playing out like chapters in a book, to the challenge of the fights. Sure I hated level capped areas, but didn't mind level capped fights. Basically they coulda done TAU like COP with the chapters and longetivity as well as challenge, but done away with level capped areas.

Last bad thing. While I like the zones, particularly the creepiness that is the Arrapago Island zones (music and all,) this expansion pack seems to lack the awesome variety COP offered. Where's the underwater area covered by a dome lost in time, where you walk on the crystalized water? Where's the floating cluster of islands blown from the mainland by a beastmen weapon? Pirate ship graveyards are cool, but where are the truly unique zones? Here's hoping they come in time.

Now for the good. I like the fact the maps aren't hard to get. After maint I'm gonna solo my last quested map on the new continent (Mount Zhayolm,) then all I need is 3k Imperial Standing points to once again have all maps in the game.

The new jobs seem like fun. I myself am leveling BLU and COR, COR being first and already nearing 10.

Assault is very fun. I don't really give a flip about what items they give as I like challenges in this game more, and these offer up some fun strategy while waiting for the next set of missions in June (june

)

Chocobo Circuit and Colloseum should be fun, however one of those don't come until June, followed by the latter in December.

So as of now I'm mixed on TAU. There's some things I think they could've done different, specifically the story. I play FFXI for story, and so far it's uninteresting and way to easy.

-X-

**neighbortaru** · 04-24-2006, 10:27 AM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

there is a taru in al zabi by the mog house that will warp you back to the jeuno vicinity (random) for free.

as for me, well I'm a bit underwhelmed. being only 32 with my new character much of the "exciting" content is out of my reach. the new jobs are kinda interesting, but it's still just a job.

**Omniblast** · 04-24-2006, 10:33 AM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

Originally posted by neighbortaru

there is a taru in al zabi by the mog house that will warp you back to the jeuno vicinity (random) for free.

as for me, well I'm a bit underwhelmed. being only 32 with my new character much of the "exciting" content is out of my reach. the new jobs are kinda interesting, but it's still just a job.

Slowtaru! hurry and level!

Omni and I are waiting for another person from FFXIOnline to join us lol.

BTW, dun fish on the boat if your too low leveled... stupid Orbon I caught ate my smn for breakfast T_T. Stupid carby can't keep hate.

**Darkhound** · 04-24-2006, 10:35 AM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

Thanks for your comments! It is very refresing to see your points of view and comments. I sense, at least on my server that people are very excited about ToA. This does feel like a new expansion. With lots of new featuers.

On Sdillos comments on Assault... i think SE is letting us have a break, and get used to the new areas, the city etc. I am pretty sure they will "upgrade" the way beatmen form up their forces in the next week or so, and it wont be as easy to wipe them out.

I personally havent even seen the new beatmen areas.... How are they like? How do you destroy those mirrors and what are they for?

Does assault help reduce the beatman army?

**tazirai** · 04-24-2006, 11:34 AM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

Hmm, I 'll reserve judgement until I get ToAU. But I do liek the excitement that is going around. Having been with FFXI since the beginning, I've seen this level of excitement for each expansion. When Ziraat first was mentioned and that neat pic of a floating citadel on the box art, People from NA to JP speculated on what it meant. Then they announced the jobs and a continuation of the main storyline.
Then When Ziraat ended we had a shocking death, and people wanted to knwo what happened, then chains of Promathia brought another level of excitement, which I admit for a lof of people died out after they realized no new jobs. BUT they got to continue the tale of vana'diel. And I know a lot of people enojoyed that I am one of those. Seeing as how I love to quest and do missions Promathia provided that for me.

Even though he hates me.

With asht urghan I must say i am in love with the soundtrack and possibilities for the future.

**Darkhound** · 04-24-2006, 12:00 PM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

Taziari.....
what possibilities do you mean? What do you think is comming for the future?? I would like to hear whatyou have to say.... and second question....

Why havent you bought toa yet?

**sdillon** · 04-24-2006, 12:04 PM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

Fixes to Besieged and other issues ^^

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnews/news7464.shtml

**Darkhound** · 04-24-2006, 12:12 PM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

MMMMmmmmm.... the Besiged thing was obvioius.... at the current rate, the forces were never going to asemble. I dont think if SE had this planned or if they thought we were going to be busy doing other things. I dont know, but in Kujsta it seems the are never going to invade....

Now that i think of things... imagine the lag whitegate will have once the beatmen invande.... omg...

Also, now that they are taxing in jeuno, maybe many people will want to go back and live in jeuno? I personally wont.!!!!

**Gobo** · 04-24-2006, 12:16 PM

Re: Objective opitions about ToAU

The Bad:
I almost have to say the shear size of the zones is a bit annoying. I really do like the new areas. They give a nice feel like the original (1-6) FFs, that I felt that FFXI lacked. But arrg they are so big. The trip to the Dvhacca Isle staging point was just short of a nightmare. All the non mages (or mage subs) had a stack of oils/pots to start out with, and just over half way there they began to run out. Add to that, there are TS VT Imps littered all over the place and AoE silence is a *bad word*. I really dont like the boat rides, they are too long (to Al Zhabi and Nashara).

The Good:
I really like the new mobs. There are so many new ones that just arent reskins of old mobs, and even some of the reskinned mobs have new WS (gogo Firebreathing Crawlers). I love how Flans aggro to WS and JA. (ok thats not a good thing but oh well). Lamia are as funny as they are slutty (She'll strip your equip, hit ya with Amnesia and then Charm ya XD). Qiqirin

, The green penguin thingys

. Lizard things </3, Puks </3 (how dare you use my Aero III MB to recover!) Imps </3 (</3 to any TS mob) Chiggers </3.

The missons, although horribly easy, are enjoyable. Its a nice change from the challange of CoP. I'm sure it will get harder as they unlock more. The story is pretty good so far from the frist 8 missions; better than RoZ already, not as deep at CoP (yet!)

The key NPCs are as lively as CoPs, although Naja is a little scary.

New jobs are cool, although a bit over powered (see BLUs ability to pretty much anything, Evoker's/Corsair's Roll from CoR, how strong the PUPs automaton is compaired to Avatars and pets)

I really like how they just tossed a bunch of stuff at once at us, instead of the trickles we got with CoP. Yeah its caused a lot of lag problems, but it has spead the people of the game out a lot (gogo empty sky camps).

And now that they fixed Besieged with this last maintance, cant wait for it to happen.

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Objective opitions about ToAU

Objective opitions about ToAU

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