April 21, 2005 Update Notes (FFXI)  

Event Related

• The following two areas are now open for exploration:The Grand Palace of Hu’Xzoi The Garden of Ru’Hmet

• Several new Chains of Promathia area quests have been added.

• A special new Ballista area has been added.

• New sets of low-level equipment have been added to the list of armor that can be stored by certain NPCs located around Vana’diel. After trading a full set (4-5 pieces) of armor, a player will receive a “claim slip.” This claim slip and a small fee are required when having a set of armor returned.

• 1. Signatures on checked armor will be lost.
• 2. High-quality and refurbished armor cannot be stored.

The clamming mini-game on Purgonorgo Isle has been expanded. The new features include:

• 1. A larger bucket offered to those who can fill the original bucket to the brim without going over its weight limit.
• 2. A larger variety of items that can be dug from the sand.
• 3. Less waiting time required to re-clam the same points.

New items are available for harvesting/mining in the following areas:

• 1. West Sarutabaruta
• 2. Newton Movalpolos
• 3. Giddeus

• A new key item that will automatically inform players whether they have access to the Marble Bridge Tavern is now available (a message will appear upon entry into Upper Jeuno).

• A new key item that will automatically inform players if a volunteer is needed for the “Community Service” quest is now available.

• Under certain conditions, Tarnotik (located in Oldton Movalpolos) will now accept snow lilies as payment for teleportation to Mine Shaft #2716.

• The number of items accepted by Yurim in the Tavnazian quest "In the Name of Science," as well as the types of rewards granted in exchange, have been increased.

• Several new varieties of fish are now being accepted by Zaldon in the “Inside the Belly” quest.

Battle-Related

• The amount of EXP required for leveling up after lv.51, and the amount of EXP lost when KO’d after level 25, has been greatly reduced.

• Please note that at the time of the version update, if your character has more EXP than the new amount required, your EXP total will be adjusted to 1 point less than the amount needed for level up.

Example:

• Player status before the version update > Level=51 EXP=8100
• Amount needed for level up (before update) = 10000
• Amount needed for level up (after adjustment) = 8000
• Player status after the version update -> Level=51 EXP=7999

• Please visit http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml for further details on changes to the EXP system.

• Several new types of ENM quests have been added. In addition, many of the existing quests have also been adjusted. Some of these adjustments include allowing larger parties and/or alliances to enter the battlefields (however, depending on the size of the parties, there may be a cut in the amount of EXP received when completing the quest).

• New notorious monsters have been added to the Chains of Promathia areas.

• The bard song Army's Paeon V (Lv. 65) has been added.

Item-Related

New mannequin poses have been introduced. After obtaining a mannequin and a certain key item, Mhauran goldsmith Fyi Chalmwoh will change the pose of your simulacrum upon request. Available poses are as follows:

• 1. /sit
• 2. /salute (Windurst/San d’Oria/Bastok)
• 3. /hurray
• 4. Special race-specific poses

• Select guilds are now offering new key items available for purchase with guild points.

• Adjustments and additions have been made to the types of items requested in exchange for guild points.

• The Alchemists’ Guild will now accept poison baghnakhs +1 in exchange for guild points.

• Several new fishing rods have been introduced.

• New relic-type equipment has been added.

• Numerous other types of items are also now available.

• New synthesis and desynthesis recipes have been added.

The graphics displayed when a Galka equips the following shields have been changed:

• Marine Shield
• Shell Shield
• Turtle Shield
• Turtle Shield +1
• Genbu's Shield

• A new synthesis recipe for black ink has been introduced. In conjunction with this addition, the item's buying price has also been adjusted.

The following item names have been changed:

• Ashigaru Gorget > Agile Gorget
• Mana Ring > Mystical Ring
• Mana Ring +1 > Mystical Ring +1

System-Related

• The Handle Name screen that would appear during login has been removed. In its place, a simple confirmation message has been introduced.

• Group Messages can now be viewed while logged in to FINAL FANTASY XI. However, players must return to PlayOnline to respond to them.

• Several unused buttons within the Friend List menu, as well as the "Busy" and “Away Mess.” options under Online Status, have been removed.
• In conjunction with the removal of the corresponding button, a player’s “Privacy Level” will now automatically be set to level 2 (all players on your Friend List).

• The "Accept" button originally used during Friend List registration has been removed. The current options are "Accept & Add" and "Decline."
• Also, when "Accept & Add" is selected by the invitee, both players will be automatically registered on each other's Friend List.

• "/busy" has been removed from the Auto-Translate feature.

• A confirmation message will now appear when purchasing goods from another player’s bazaar.
• Example: Purchase 3 sleepshrooms for 570 gil?

The following adjustments have been made to the fishing system:

Fishing locations in the following areas have been adjusted:

• 1. Beaucedine Glacier
• 2. Sauromugue Champaign
• 3. Ferries between Mhaura and Selbina

• The more “tired” a player becomes after repeated fishing, the longer it will now take to recast his or her line.

• Players will be “tired” for a short period of time after being raised.

• New BGM is now played when battling it out with a bite.

• New types of salt and freshwater fish, as well as rare “legendary” fish, have been added.

• When a monster is caught, only the player who reeled it in (and his/her party or alliance) will be able to attack it (the monster's name will be displayed in red/purple).