So, you've probably noticed that FFXI has been in the news recently.

First, there was a flurry of stories surrounding Pandemonium Warden who was apparently so tough that he actually started kicking players' asses in real life.

I'll be writing about him for the next couple of posts.

It's a whole thing.

But before I get into that, I thought it would be a good idea to go into our newest announcement.

Now, if you're not a FFXI player, you may not have heard a lot about our newest game adjustment. It made the rounds of several major gaming sites, but you may have missed it.

I'll forgive you this time.

If you are a FFXI player, then you're probably reading this in a state of post-orgasmic bliss.

Yes, it's that big.

As the player base in FFXI evolved, we saw a major pattern forming. Players who achieved level 75 tended to merit more than party at lower levels. This created an abundance of high level players, but made lower level partying difficult.

This isn't news for FFXI players. Anyone who has ever had to find a tank or healer for a forming party knows what I'm talking about.

Leader>> Alright... Let's get some more members.
Member1>> Anyone lfg?
Leader>> 17 melee DD... And no healers.
Leader>> Wait... Wait...
Leader>> 18 melee DD.
Member1>> Yeah... I'm gonna go craft.

The party dynamic requires a certain layout of job classes. Because of a lack of lower level players, it was often difficult to fill vital roles.

That was bad.

After carefully considering the problem, the devs decided to do something about it.

I suggested we just delete every player below 75 and change the name to FFXI: Meriting Online.

Apparently, that plan wasn't financially "acceptable".

Instead, the devs came up with the new Level Sync function.

Using this new function, players of any level can party together and their levels will be reduced to the level of a single party member.

Great. You've got 5 members for your party and you need a Bard. Unfortunately, the only Bard is level 47.

One quick button push later and all of your members are temporarily reduced to level 47.

It's beautiful.

You may be asking yourself "But won't you have to go buy new gear when you change levels?"

That's a stupid question. You should be ashamed for even asking it.

Shame.

Of course they thought of that. Your uber high level gear will automatically adjust stats to match your new level.

You can still wear your epic armor of ass kicking + 1 even though you're now level retarded.

The only down side to this part is that now you're going to see Dunes parties in full Ares gear. People with some of the best gear in the game are going to be spending time killing level 16 crabs.

I'm pretty sure that can cause your head to explode.

Still, a little fashion awkwardness aside, this update is an unprecedented level of awesome.

Hey, all you Black Mages stuck lfg around level 55. Those of you who can't get parties because all the parties are fighting Colibri.

A few mouse clicks later and you're getting your party on at level 45.

All of you melee stuck in the doldrums between 40 and 50. Those of you who can't get parties because there are so many melee competing for limited party spots.

A few mouse clicks later and you can join any party at any lower level.

All of you Puppetmasters...

Yeah, you're still screwed.

But now you can not get invited to parties at a variety of levels.

Honestly, this announcement marks a major change in the game itself. We're opening the game up and making it easier and more enjoyable for players.

Hopefully, this will make everyone's life a little better.

And hopefully, this will stop people from making inane GM calls about how they can't find a party and that FFXI is dying.

That'll give me time to deal with all the other inane GM calls.

Yay.

I'd be upset by that, but this update is just too awesome.

Plus, I'm very, very drunk.

All Credit to [GM]Dave. For much more see bannable-offenses.blogspot.com/

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