In it’s stead, I have been playing FANTASY EARTH ZERO a little more, since it’s pick up and play friendly. Well that, and FINAL FANTASY XIII. I’m loving that game, and am just about to finally beat it.

Expect a fully fleshed out post soon!

Up Goes The Level Cap

This seems like the logical first thing to talk about, since it clearly has the most impact on the game. It was announced that the level cap of 75, which we have learned to adapt and build around since 2003, will be gradually raised to level 99 by the end of the year.

This is going to have enormous implications on the way the endgame of FFXI is played, as well as on me because it takes about 30 years for me to level jobs in any capacity. What job will I try to level up first? Will I try to go on with Scholar? Or will or break out my Red Mage, and use the “Refresh/Haste” route to speed up progress? Possibly even go White Mage first, and curebomb my way to the new pinnacle? Will I even GET to 99 by the time 2020 comes around? We shall see.

Along with this will come new chances for different subjob possibilities, and of course, more new magics. Just what I need for my broke ass. Better start saving the gil now to save myself time later…

Three New Addons

Announced in tendem with the level cap increase was that there are three new addons coming. But not some lame story stuff. Actual battlefield type stuff, with new loots and better chances for leveling up! Yes, I will buy all three. Yes, I will try in vain to complete them. Yes, I will be the Scholar Master, lol.

Trial of the Magians

This is one of the cool things they announced that almost got buried beneath the other bombshells of the night.

The Trial of the Magians is a new branching quest line, which will allow you to upgrade your armor and weapon in ways that you choose.

Now I am not really in a position to upgrade things like Relic or Mythic weapons, but I think this could definitely help with the possible issues that will arise with the raising of the level cap. I personally think this might be one of those things that doesn’t catch much buzz at first, but as people catch on and see how it is, it might be one of the biggest things to come from all the announcements.

The FINAL FANTASY XIV Beta

So yeah. It seems the beta test will be starting very soon. They announced alpha testing has begun, and that will last as long as it takes through player feedback. I wonder if I will be a part of it…

The FANTASY EARTH ZERO Beta

Starts this Wednesday! Extremely excited to FINALLY play this game in English, and not be afraid of being banned because I’m speaking English. Genuinely excited for this.

Other Stuff

Let’s see here. Work still sucks. As if there’d be anything different to announce on that front, lol.

Might be going on a trip out to an “exotic” place later this spring. Not going to spill the beans just yet, but it’s someplace nice.

Been playing Persona 4 recently. That game is a piece of work, lemme tell you. If you haven’t played it, GameFly it. Rent it. Buy it. Something. This is one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. So dust off that PS2 and get going!

There’s your update! See you online!

Who Wants Some Kirin?

So the first order of business for me to reflect back on is the first Kirin fight in the history of Evolpmal. This was my first time even laying eyes on Kirin since back in the days of DownRightFierce on Cerberus over 2 years ago. This would also be my first serious NM fight on Scholar.

Some confusion at the beginning of the fight when he spawns the "mini" version of the four other Sky Gods was a bit silly, but the group pulled itself together, and bested those. The task of taking care of Kirin afterwards took some time, but for a first time being done as a group, the battle went very well.

The reward? W. Legs. The recipient of those? Surprisingly, ME. To this day, i still don’t have a very good screenshot of me wearing them, but I did end up getting the HQ version (Blood Cuisses), and only yesterday paid back the load the linkshell gave me to scoop those up. To say I am very grateful to them for allowing me to get them is a huge understatement.

Sorting Out Other Loose Ends

In the time after getting that done, especially heading into the holiday break, I had decided to tend to some things I hadn’t gotten to. Here’s a summary of what went down:

Leveling Subjobs

With the help of Fields of Valor, I managed to get Dancer to 18 at a relatively quick pace, and with that I finally, FINALLY, achieved level 37 on Ninja, which allowed me to use that scroll of Utsusemi: Ni that I’ve had in storage since 2005 at least!

Getting Diabolos

In one of those "Well I wasn’t expecting to get THIS done" moments, with the help of the great folks at Evolpmal, I have acquired the avatar Diabolos. I think the battle against his "Prime" form lasted all of 2 minutes, and 1 minute of that was just prepping to start attacking.

Now if I could just get Fenrir, maybe I could start leveling Summoner? Although, with how long it has taken me to level the three jobs that currently have at 75, it might be 2012 before I see any other job at 75.

Nearing Completion of "A Crystalline Prophecy"

After completing "A Moogle Kupo d’Etat" back in November, I have been wanting to get the other add-on scenarios done, but like most things I would like to get done, it’s taking quite a bit of time.

I am happy to now report that I am on the final mission of "A Crystalline Prophecy", and could very well have the add-on completed by the end of the month!

As for "A Shantotto Ascension", well, check back in a few months, and maybe I’ll have it done by then, lol.

The Return of An Old Friend

Excitement filled the air, as an announcement hit the web of beta sign-ups for the North American version of an old friend of mine. An "old friend" that I have actually covered previously on this very blog. The friend?

That’s right. It’s baaaaaaaaaack.

The FINAL FANTASY XIV Beta

And finally, we’ve also had the announcement of beta sign-ups for FINAL FANTASY XIV. Of course I signed up for it, and I’m really hoping I can get into either the PC or PS3 versions. Of course that’ll be just about all I’ll say, as acceptance and/or taking about the beta is under a Non-Disclosure Agreement. So don’t expect anything from this blog about if I get into beta or not. I’ll only post about any information that is put out in press releases or official website updates.

And there you have it! I am very sorry it took so long to get up a proper post. Again, building up the new Evolpmal website, and the work schedule I had during the holiday season made it difficult to post something big, since I wasn’t playing FFXI as much as I would have liked. Maybe now I can post I much as I would want to, lol.

But there’s your update on what I’m up to! See you online!

OK then, let’s get cracking!

Scholar

Scholar is moving along somewhat nicely as of late.  Now level 70, and just short of 71.  I’m really beginning to see the true potential of the job as I get higher and higher, and I really need to find those damn tier IV elemental spells, lol.

Also, in yesterday’s Dynamis – Bastok run, I got lucky and saw the first drop was some Argute Pants! Mine all mine, and that marks the first of the 5 pieces to make complete my hopes of the full set I mentioned when they were first introduced.  I wanna make a goal for when I will see my Scholar hit level 75, but I seem to not do very well with goals, so I will just stick wit hoping that I can do it sooner rather than later.

More People Leaving…

It was bad enough when Square Enix decided to take away so many friends in the bannings in January. Now it seems more and more are going on their own volition. Case in point, Varsuvianna.

I had seriously pondered leaving Carbuncle after MogKnight, Liseth, Kigen and others were taken out, and returning to Cerberus and rejoining V and her husband, Brassmutant, in her linkshell, Raarmix. Now that she has announced that she is taking a leave of absence, I am rethinking all of that leaving stuff.

Now onto a game I have only covered once here.

The Network Gets Bigger Still

This week sees the introduction of blogs from Alliyah, Kuyon, and Twistedangel. Also, in an act of generosity, MogKnight’s now very WoW related blog has a new way of being reached. mogknight.com!

It’s funny how big this has gotten, and hopefully it will continue to grow bigger still!

Now here are a grip of screenshots for you to enjoy!

Hope you enjoyed this bit of catching up. See you online!

So yes, Fantasy Earth Zero is back! In the roughly 2 days I have played on a new character, I have made it to level 15 on my Scout, who is affectionately named Rianon.

The catch this time is this: When I previously played FEZ, I was playing the Japanese version, but since there was an IP block on foreign players, I was stuck playing through a proxy.  Well recently, they have blocked the proxy address, so my character on the Japanese servers will no longer see the light of day…

Recently though, I found a version of the game that has no silly IP blocks, and I have been able to play hassle free!  The version: Hong Kong.  Yep, that’s right, CHINESE!

Seeing how much I played the game previously, I know where basically everything is, so it’s not THAT difficult.  You can expect more as time goes on from Fantasy Earth Zero!