Final Fantasy: March-April Announcements

The Final Fantasy XI team would like to extend a heartfelt welcome to all the PlayStation 2 users who have newly joined us!

The Japan-North American cross-platform service is now complete with the release of the PlayStation 2 version of FINAL FANTASY XI, which comes pre-installed on the internal Hard Disk Drive manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment American Inc. Plans to expand the service to Europe and Asia are presently under consideration.

The development team is currently working on the version update scheduled to take place in the last week of April. The first event for Conflict, called "Ballista" (as detailed in previous development news), is in the final stages of adjustment.

We would like to take this opportunity to inform our users that Ballista will be instruduced in this update as a simple event and not as part of the Conquest.

There will be several stand-alone events held before Ballista becomes a permanent fixture, so participation will initially be limited.

We hope to continue to improve Ballista even after it has been permanently implemented, based upon the opinions of participants, the performance of the rules in actual play, and the influence of Ballista on the world of Vana'diel.

Many other additions and changes, including the introduction of new Dynamis areas, are planned for this updated.

The next version update will include the following changes:

[Event-related]
* The first event for Conflict, "Ballista," will be implemented.
* New quests and battles designed for alliances will be added.
* New quests will be available in each nation.
* Guild quests that call for the manufacture of certain items will be implemented.
* Characters will be able to participate in a strategy called "Garrison" that will be available at several outposts.

[Battle-related]
* New Dynamis field areas will become accessible.
* Several new types of battlefields ranging from low- to mid-level will be added.
* An issue concerning the accumulation of TP with weapon skills that consist of multiple strikes (i.e. Combo, Penta Thrust etc.) will be corrected.
* A new job trait called "Subtle Blow" will become available to ninja and monks.
* An ability that allows dragoons to restore their wyvern's HP will be added. Also, if a wyvern at full hit points is sent away using the "Dismiss" command, the "Call Wyvern" ability will be available for use immediately.

[Item-related]
* The mysterious "Strange Apparatus" will become operational.
* A new type of flowerpot will become available.
* Players will be able to insert their names in the help text of certain items they synthesize.
* New guild-related furniture and equipment will be added.
* The number of items obtained from beatsman treasure caskets will be increased.
* New synthesis and desynthesis recipes will become available.
* New items will be available for purchase at several of the guild shops.
* Various other new items will be added.

[System-related]
* A new emote for giving a triumphant yell will be added.
* A sort function will become available in the Storage menu.
* A character's footsteps will no longer be heard when using Sneak.
* The name of a pet's master will be displayed when a pet is targeted.
* The limit for the /wait macro will be extended to sixty seconds.
* An ON/OFF setting for "Battle Effects" will be added to the Config menu.
* It will be possible to place single items on auction directly from a stack of items.

Several other changes will be announced at the time of the update.

Best regards,
the FINAL FANTASY XI team.