Dev Tracker - News, Discussions

The final chapter has been implemented. I had the lead event planner, Saito, give an explanation about the process until the cutscenes were complete. Check out the archived video and watch as he shows how he takes a text based scenario and develops the animations, the backgrounds, and everything needed to make a completed cutscene. There are a lot of flashy action scenes in the final chapter, so be sure to keep an eye out for them when you play through the missions.

Along with the final chapter, we also introduce a new area, Reisenjima. The map creation lead organized the various parts together to give it a very Japanese feel.

Furthermore, we’re also in the midst of a special collaboration event with FINAL FANTASY XIV – “The Maiden’s Rhapsody.” During the event, Iroha will find herself in Eorzea. The event lasts until December 31st, so go lend her a hand.

We’ve added the new quest “Vegetable Vegetable Frustration.” Completing this quest will reward you with an item that will allow you to feel kinship with the NPC Midras.

We’ve added a new quest line for creating a new set of weapons – Aeonic weapons.

During the stream we showcased the new ultimate skillchains that are possible with these weapons. When wielding an aeonic weapon, you’ll gain an aftermath effect when using the weapon skills learned through merit points at 3000 TP. While under the effect of the aftermath, performing skillchains with certain weapon skills will activate an ultimate skillchain. There’s a 7 second window for magic burst after creating this, and I think you’ll be excited to see the damage. The aftermath will wear off after executing the ultimate skillchain, so it’s effective to wait until it’s about to wear off before doing this.

The quest we added in November is just an introductory quest for making the Aeonic weapons, and it’s not possible to finish making them just yet. One thing to note is that the process of making these weapons won’t be something you work at slowly over time, the concept is to earn it by defeating a lot of powerful enemies.

Marsyas, the Aeonic instrument, grants you the ability to use the special song “Honor March.” This effect of this song is quite close to combination of Sword Madrigal, Archer’s Prelude, Valor Minuet III, and Advancing March all rolled into one.

Except for the shields and instruments, we’re planning to enhance the stats of each of these special weapon groups. Naturally, this will include Ergon weapons as well. To give an idea of what we are aiming for, we showed off some example stats for Excalibur, Burtgang, and Almace during the stream. Additionally, we debuted the stats for Sequence. Be sure to pay attention to the damage value, combat skill increase, and the other bonuses.

We added the notorious monster Quetzalcoatl to Reisenjima. Also, as a counter measure against lag, we made it so that unrelated monsters will no longer be displayed during these battles.

Besides Quetzalcoatl, we added a number of notorious monsters to Reisenjima for Geas Fete. Additionally, there was a large amount of feedback on the forums to make it so lottery-type monsters do not spawn, and we added in two key items to address this: mollifier and radialens. The latter allows notorious monsters to be spawned and fought continuously.

We added Hydra-, Cerberus-, and Khimaira-type notorious monsters. Additionally, we’ve made it so even if you do not have the Records of Eminence objective you will still be able to participate in the battle. This should make it easier to help other adventurers in the fray. However, those that help will only earn experience points (or capacity points if the content level is above 119).

We unlocked rank 7 for monster rearing. To coincide with this, we also implemented a quest with Chacharoon. Be sure to give lots of love and care to the newly added Dragon Hatchling and Pequetender.

We increased the cap for sparks to 99,999 because there are a lot of times you’d hit the cap without even realizing it. Additionally, we added several objectives that appear after completing a specific amount of objectives.

We adjusted beastmaster by making familiars the targets of certain abilities and pet commands. With this change, a sub-target will appear on the familiar, and you’ll be able to determine whether you are in range to execute the command based on the color displayed. If you’d like to target yourself, which was the standard until now, you can do this by creating a macro.

For puppetmaster, we increased the enmity values for the Strobe and Strobe II attachments.

We also expanded the merit point and job point systems by boosting the caps on each category. To coincide with this, we also added new gifts. Reaching 2,100 points will unlock “★Master!,” which gives you a special job trait, title, and animation. For those of you who wish to hide your master status, you can do this by using the text command “/jobmasterdisp off”.

We increased the area of effect of all Protectra and Shellra magic, which has reduced the need to individually cast these spells on party members and alter egos that were out of range.

We also introduced some new alter egos during the stream. Check out the archived footage to see examples of battle with Iroha and Shantotto II. Iroha can skill chain and Shantotto II can follow up with repeated magic bursts.

Iroha can execute 4 skillchains by herself. You can indicate when she does this by using Meditate. She can be obtained by progressing through Rhapsodies of Vana’diel.

Shantotto II only uses one type of elemental magic, but it is extremely powerful. Additionally, her auto-attacks have elemental properties, and she will select the element that your opponent is weak against. She can be obtained through the November Login Campaign.

We also showed off the various ark angel alter egos we are planning to release in the future.

■Return Home to Vana’diel Campaign
We’re currently in the midst of the Return Home to Vana’diel Campaign.
It ends on Tuesday, November 24 at 12:00 a.m. PST, so be sure to use this opportunity to experience Rhapsodies of Vana’diel.

■Discount Campaign
The FINAL FANTASY XI: Ultimate Collection Seekers Edition is available for 75% off until Monday, November 30 at 12:00 a.m. PST. Additionally, World transfers are half off!

■Active Adventurer Appreciation Campaign
Until Tuesday, November 24 at 12:00 a.m. PST, we will be handing out a red mog pell to all eligible players with active subscriptions, and two green mog pells to everyone who logs before this time. If you’re coming back after a while, I recommend using your green mog pells for copper vouchers, and then exchanging these for 20,000 sparks. With these points you’ll be able to purchase item level 117 equipment and get much stronger right away.

■Rhapsodies of Mog Bonanza
There are a ton of new items this time around for Mog Bonanza and that includes the moogle-related items such as the Kupo Suit, Kupo Masque, Kupo Rod, and Kupo Shield.
Marbles are available for purchase until Thursday, December 10 at 12:00 a.m. PST.

Kupo Rod
Moogle Blessing: Cures weakened

Kupo Shield
Synthesis skill +3

Kupo Masque
Gluttony: Extends food effect duration

Kupo Suit
Movement speed +18%


■Final Chapter of Rhapsodies of Vana’diel Celebration Campaign
We have various campaigns currently underway that provide a multitude of bonuses. The campaigns end on Monday, November 30 at 6:59 p.m. PST.

■Special Anniversary Battle Event: A Feast Most Dire
In celebration of the “XI Day” we are holding a special event, “A Feast Most Dire.” This will also last until Monday, November 30 at 6:59 p.m. PST.

Visit the campaign page of the Goddess’s Gala site for details on each campaign.

Thank you very much to all of the adventurers that continue to support us and welcomed in the final chapter of Rhapsodies of Vana’diel. Please enjoy the cutscenes and story that the development team has poured their energy into making.

Looking towards the future, we will be holding another version update in early December. This update will include the completed Aeonic weapons.

Additionally, after April we will be implementing monthly battlefields and Records of Eminence content. I’ll be sure to let you know more details soon. Furthermore, service for the PS2 and Xbox 360 will end in March of next year, but before this we are planning to have another version update as a show of gratitude.

Rhapsodies of Vana’diel was created with a large feeling of thankfulness. If you haven’t yet, we’d love for you to try it out and look forward to the future. Thank you very much.