Final Fantasy XI

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I will find it when I get home but there is an old FFXI forum post that shows all of the icon color combinations. I would check that first to try to pick a good looking Linkshell icon color.

[WhiteShark]

I will find it when I get home but there is an old FFXI forum post that shows all of the icon color combinations. I would check that first to try to pick a good looking Linkshell icon color.

The Horizon wiki made it sound as though you could pick the color directly, even going so far as recommending looking at a site for HTML color codes:

The color is picked via a Red-Blue-Green color combination. You can use a picture editor to play around with it until you find a combo you like, or use a Color chart.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

@WhiteShark here is the Linkshell icon color guide I followed.

[Vergil]

Final Fantasy XI is a relic from an era long past, and not in a charming, nostalgic way, but in a frustrating, archaic one. Playing this game feels like a chore from start to finish. The clunky, outdated interface is an immediate red flag. Navigating menus is like fighting the UI itself—awkward, unintuitive, and sluggish. You’ll spend more time figuring out basic controls than actually playing the game. It's as if the developers actively tried to make things harder than they need to be.

The combat system is mind-numbingly slow and outdated. Battles are a tedious grind where every action feels sluggish. If you're looking for dynamic, fast-paced gameplay, look elsewhere because the combat here feels like watching paint dry. Instead of skill or strategy, the game relies heavily on monotonous, repetitive tasks that drag on for hours. Questing is similarly soul-crushing—fetch quests abound, and most of the time, you’re sent on long treks across vast, empty zones that punish you for daring to venture out without a full party.

And speaking of parties, good luck finding one in 2024. The community has dwindled to a handful of die-hard fans who are either unwelcoming to newcomers or so over-leveled that they don't care about helping others. Playing solo is nearly impossible unless you're masochistic enough to endure hours of grinding low-level enemies. This dependency on a group would be fine if the game had a thriving, active player base, but it’s painfully clear that Final Fantasy XI is living off the fumes of its former glory.

The game's lack of direction and unclear objectives further compound the frustration. You're thrown into a world with little guidance, expected to sift through vague and poorly written quest logs. Don't expect any form of coherent storytelling either—the narrative, if you can even call it that, is so poorly paced and disjointed that you won’t care about the world or its characters. Compared to the storytelling depth of more recent MMOs, Final Fantasy XI is an embarrassment.

To top it off, the graphics are an eyesore. Sure, it's an old game, but even for its time, the visuals are dull, blocky, and devoid of any charm. The environments are uninspired, with repetitive textures and drab color palettes that make exploration a bore. The character models look like they belong in a PS1 game, not a title that demands any kind of subscription fee. Even if you could overlook the gameplay, the visuals alone make it a slog to get through.

Ultimately, Final Fantasy XI is a game that should have been left behind. Instead of being a testament to its franchise's history, it stands as a glaring reminder of how far MMOs have come—and how far this one has fallen behind. Unless you're an absolute die-hard fan or looking to punish yourself, skip this frustrating, antiquated mess and spend your time on literally any other game.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

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[Kalarion]

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[Val the Moofia Boss]

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[J1M]

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[WhiteShark]

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[J1M]

Congratulations to @Val the Moofia Boss on being appointed official Navigator of our linkshell! Your past and future hard work are appreciated.

On that note: it has come to my attention that we are not all using the same maps, so we need to establish a standard. I suggest we all adopt in-game map pack I've been using: https://github.com/CriticalXI/XICombinedMaps

You can download the pack directly from this link: https://codeload.github.com/CriticalXI/ ... heads/main

To install it, extract the contents of the 2048x2048 folder (the one with all the ROM folders) to \HorizonXI\Game\polplugins\DATs\combinedmaps, and then, in Launcher > Settings > Pivot, enable the toggle for Combinedmaps.

Had a chance to install this recently and they are a really nice upgrade. Thanks! The only issue I noticed is that the map pack changes the numbers of certain entrances. Instead of "1, 2, 3", which I assume are based on numberings from the strategy guide, the updated maps say something like "entrance to map #2, entrance to map #1". Just something to be aware of when trying to meet up at a certain location.

The other map tip that was shared in-game that I'll repeat here since I had forgotten which key it was is that you can hide the game UI by pressing Scroll Lock to better view the edges of a map. It's not great, but it is a workaround that can help because you can't zoom out the maps.

[J1M]

Does anyone know how to get the addons 'zoom' and 'xivhotbar' working?

They are listed as approved on the horizon website, but the versions I've found were either for Windower4 instead of Ashita or they appeared to use an old version of lua/ashita and didn't show up in the launcher as a result.

[WhiteShark]

zoom

Haven't used that one, but, at a glance, it looks like it does the same thing as XICamera, which I use.

xivhotbar

Yeah, looks like this one is also for Ashita v3. Have you tried tHotBar instead?

[J1M]

zoom

Haven't used that one, but, at a glance, it looks like it does the same thing as XICamera, which I use.

xivhotbar

Yeah, looks like this one is also for Ashita v3. Have you tried tHotBar instead?

I can try those tonight. I opted for the other hotbar because this one was described as controller-focused.

The reason I was looking for a zoom modification was primarily because I wanted to try using it to zoom out on the map.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

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[J1M]

Congratulations to @Val the Moofia Boss on being appointed official Navigator of our linkshell! Your past and future hard work are appreciated.

On that note: it has come to my attention that we are not all using the same maps, so we need to establish a standard. I suggest we all adopt in-game map pack I've been using: https://github.com/CriticalXI/XICombinedMaps

You can download the pack directly from this link: https://codeload.github.com/CriticalXI/ ... heads/main

To install it, extract the contents of the 2048x2048 folder (the one with all the ROM folders) to \HorizonXI\Game\polplugins\DATs\combinedmaps, and then, in Launcher > Settings > Pivot, enable the toggle for Combinedmaps.

Had a chance to install this recently and they are a really nice upgrade. Thanks! The only issue I noticed is that the map pack changes the numbers of certain entrances. Instead of "1, 2, 3", which I assume are based on numberings from the strategy guide, the updated maps say something like "entrance to map #2, entrance to map #1". Just something to be aware of when trying to meet up at a certain location.

The other map tip that was shared in-game that I'll repeat here since I had forgotten which key it was is that you can hide the game UI by pressing Scroll Lock to better view the edges of a map. It's not great, but it is a workaround that can help because you can't zoom out the maps.

FYI the 2048x maps were causing an annoying pause to bring up the maps so I swapped to the 1024x versions and that was a much better experience. The originals must have been 256x or something.

[J1M]

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[WhiteShark]

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[WhiteShark]

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[J1M]

Should we make tonight an off-night? I will be on, but probably won't have the continuous time needed for an EXP party.

[WhiteShark]

Should we make tonight an off-night? I will be on, but probably won't have the continuous time needed for an EXP party.

Fine with me, though I'm also ok with running Ghelsba with @Kalarion and pubbies for a bit to help him catch up if you don't mind missing out on that.

[J1M]

Should we make tonight an off-night? I will be on, but probably won't have the continuous time needed for an EXP party.

Fine with me, though I'm also ok with running Ghelsba with @Kalarion and pubbies for a bit to help him catch up if you don't mind missing out on that.

No problem, I'll join on RDM if I can.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

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[J1M]

Had 3K EXP to go on BLM but 2x Dragon Chronicles today brought it up to 37.

Also learned that you can't have more than one of those in your inventory so no point in hoarding them.

Any plans for tonight?

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Went to Gusgen this morning for Eco-Warrior Bastok and came across an alliance that had wiped. Lots of bodies on the floor. They blood aggroed the skeletons. RIP.

Any plans for tonight?

Continue levelling our high level jobs? Or we can do an RSE farm.

[WhiteShark]

Any plans for tonight?

Continue levelling our high level jobs? Or we can do an RSE farm.

@Kalarion's PLD isn't high enough to exp yet on our mains, so we should probably keep working on that. It's 16, so ideally we would find a level 10 to do Ghelsba with again.

[J1M]

Went to Gusgen this morning for Eco-Warrior Bastok and came across an alliance that had wiped. Lots of bodies on the floor. They blood aggroed the skeletons. RIP.

Any plans for tonight?

Continue levelling our high level jobs? Or we can do an RSE farm.

Aside from selling for gil, I don't think the RSE is much benefit to me. Especially with AF in reach.

[WhiteShark]

@Kalarion PLD 19, @J1M RDM 20, @WhiteShark NIN 20, so we can do Qufim or Rolanberry tomorrow, then pumas in Meriphataud when Kalarion's PLD is 23~24. I guess this means I will also have to figure out how NIN actually works since I'll be expected to use ninjutsu in anything beyond Ghelsba loops.

[Kalarion]

@Kalarion PLD 19, @J1M RDM 20, @WhiteShark NIN 20, so we can do Qufim or Rolanberry tomorrow, then pumas in Meriphataud when Kalarion's PLD is 23~24. I guess this means I will also have to figure out how NIN actually works since I'll be expected to use ninjutsu in anything beyond Ghelsba loops.

Quick rundown:
Ninjutsu are a type of spellcasting (by which I mean, requiring speech, so silence kills it), using specially-crafted cards as a component, for various purposes. And I do mean crafted; cards cannot be obtained from any source except other players. Each ninjutsu technique uses a different card, but upgraded ninjutsu of the same technique (Ichi > Ni, roughly akin to a spell's I and II version) use the same card as the lower-power version.

Ninjutsu has three primary uses. First, it provides the NIN himself with several very useful self-only buffs. Second, it provides access to several useful debuffs, that both allow the NIN to take on the role of party debuffer and give massive enmity. Finally, it provides access to the "elemental wheel" line of Ninjutsu, dealing low-to-modest damage and also lowering resistance to specific elements.

Longer explanations:
You obtain access to self-invis and the iconic mirror image skills (once ToAU is released, you will also gain access to self-sneak and self-deodorize). These skills are in my opinion your top priority to attain. Your absolute highest priority is obtaining the mirror image skill: Utsusemi. Utsusemi: Ichi is obtained via a fairly simple and easy quest. Utsusemi: Ni is a little more difficult. It's a very rare drop (in my experience about 2% or so, but we can check the armoury crate drop rates to confirm) from most BCNM30 and 40 fights. Most people farm the BCNM Petrifying Pair for Ni.

Second, it provides the NIN with access to several useful single-target debuffs. NIN debuffs are: paralysis, blind and slow. Since NIN check against Ninjutsu skill for resist rates (for which they have an excellent A- skill rating), they are fairly good debuffers throughout the leveling process. Debuffs also provide massive enmity (both CE and VE) to the caster. Blind and slow also get upgraded (Ni) versions, making them more potent. A NIN with the proper cards can act as the party's main debuffer in place of both a RDM (blind) and a WHM (slow, para). The only priority debuff they don't have access to is sleep. But NIN also doesn't have native Elemental Seal access, meaning no party would rely on a NIN for emergency sleep control anyway.

Finally, NIN gains access to the "elemental wheel" line of ninjutsu. Each elemental wheel ninjutsu has two effects: it causes low-to-moderate elemental damage, and it lowers the resist of another element. So for instance, Katon: Ichi will deal fire elemental damage, while at the same time lowering the enemy's water elemental resistance. Hyoton: Ichi will deal ice elemental damage, while at the same time lowering the enemy's fire resistance, and so forth. The wheel was a (in my opinion) criminally overlooked aspect of NIN play on retail (and on my old server, Nasomi). Proper wheel usage will skyrocket BLM and RDM damage. I consider good NIN to be something akin to the BRD of nukers. NIN don't do a lot of magic damage, but they push other nukers to a new level. Horizon made several changes to the wheel to make using it more attractive, so wheel ninjutsu is even better for its intended purpose (I'm not sure I agree with the changes; the wheel was already great, just underappreciated).

I believe I heard recently (maybe from @J1M?) that NIN were originally intended to be the ultimate pulling class, and to some extent that makes sense. But given the massive enmity granted by its debuffs, its ability to generate a ton of mirror images on demand, and its excellent evasion and parrying skill caps of A- (equaled only by THF), the playerbase instead turned NIN into a viable tank alternative to PLD. NIN tanks specialize in taking few or no hits per-encounter, providing critical debuffs that let them keep agro in all situations, and boosting magic damage. They combine these roles with the ability to get most places without help (once ToAU hits they can get anywhere; and they can do it with /NIN!!), making it an extremely versatile class and an excellent sub for any other main job. Everyone loves /NIN.

[J1M]

@Kalarion PLD 19, @J1M RDM 20, @WhiteShark NIN 20, so we can do Qufim or Rolanberry tomorrow, then pumas in Meriphataud when Kalarion's PLD is 23~24. I guess this means I will also have to figure out how NIN actually works since I'll be expected to use ninjutsu in anything beyond Ghelsba loops.

With Kal there you can be damage/debuffs, which may have been intended by the designers? From what I recall, the main spell you need for ninja is a bastok quest.

[WhiteShark]

Don't know if I'm going to be on tonight, and I definitely won't have ninjutsu ready in time. Feel free to xp or whatever without me.