Beckett Massive Online Gamer

Much of FFXI's fan base was concerned that their beloved game would soon fade away with the impending release of FFXIV, but with the latest mini-expansion coming to us in the form of "Moogle Kupo d'Etat," players realize that Square Enix hasa lot in store for adventurers. This recent update is full of items and events that are all about individuality in a game where, at times, things seem very cut and dry. Players are now being exposed to choices that seem to have brought new life to this six-year-old MMO.

Moogle Kupo d'Etat - Evil in Small Doses
The newest extension to the FFXI storyline was released in the sixth expansion pack called "Moogle Kupo d'Etat." "Moogle" sends players on a series of wacky adventures in the hopes of finding rare items to appease their moghouse companion. Much like the previous expansion pack, the rewards are much-sought-after due to the ability to augment them with additional stats according to the player's personal tastes. While the previous expansion offered body armor, "Moogle" provides players with the choice of three head pieces. The Selenian Cap, Champion's Galea and Anwig Salade are all 75 level capped items that provide players with some fresh, albeit uninteresting headgear choices.

Moblin Maze Mongers - New and Improved
For players looking for even more ways to personalize their gaming experience in Vana'diel, SE offered up Moblin Maze Mongers in the previous expansion released in August. MMM allows players to create and personalize dungeons by selecting the types of monsters within. Now with the release of "Moogle," players have more maze vouchers available to them and can create even more diverse and involved dungeons. One major change is the introduction of Chaperix, a Goblin NPC that can be customized as a healer, damager dealer or spell caster. By completing several different tasks, players can help Chaperix level up and complete objectives to reap new rewards. All the while, players can change Chaperix's job class and purchase new items and gear to help along the way.

Fields of Valor
Also added in August, Fields of Valor offered players another means to level up their characters or even add something new and interesting to the experience point parties of old. Field Manuals spread throughout Vana'diel provides adventurers with a series of tasks to gain boosted stats, experience points and tabs. Players can now use all those tabs they have stocked up to partake in elite training regimes. By spending tabs, players can obtain key items to unlock specific fights where certain pieces of armor or weapons are used to spawn some new 75 cap Notorious Monsters. Possibly the most interesting and also maddening component to these new NMs is the resulting augmented armor and weapons that can result. After completing the fight, players are able to collect the weapon or armor piece they traded to spawn the NM and the pieces have some new and additional positive... or negative stat changes. FFXI online forums have since been flooded with images of players' great luck or misfortune as augmented items are now unable to be sold. Expensive items become even more rare and desirable or quickly become trashed, which is part of the reason why players have flocked to do these fights. Luckily, you get five attempts at augmenting each traded item before you must settle on the adjusted stats.

Campaign Updates - Birds of a feather, flock together
Campaign, another favorite among players looking to level up outside the traditional party system, was also given an overhaul. As promised at last year's Fan Festival, new Outlands areas were added as Xarcabard[S] and Beaucedine Glacier[S] were added to the available campaign areas and new armor was added as spoils for victors of the campaign system. Widely anticipated, the Iron Ram Hauberk was finally added and Paladins all across the servers flocked to sign up for more and more campaign battles. In order to receive this new body piece, players must achieve the highest Campaign rank, the Starlight Medals.

Most notably, Unions were added to the Campaign system. After signing up for a campaign battle, players can elect to join one of the five available Unions. Much like the amount of experience points during campaign is determined at the outcome of a series of different actions performed, such as healing, dealing damaging or tanking monsters, the rewards of campaign unions are also determined by the collective actions of the players in any given group. After the battle has ended, all players that have qualified to receive the rewards are able to cast lots on items in treasure chests, such as dynamis currency, weapons or random items. If the Union has not performed well, there is no treasure awarded for that particular group, so this addition has inspired more players to work together during campaign combat.

Limitless Possibilities - Player Event Support
Staying true to the theme of character and player customization, SE now offers Player Event Support. Using a form on the Playonline site, players can request and suggest limitless events with varying themes. Pending approval, events as elaborate as weddings or as simple as a meeting between friends can be scripted and brought to life via FFXI. Adventurers can select various locations and populate those areas with NPCs whose appearance and dialogue they design.

What's next?
As a player who has stuck with FFXI from the very beginning, I am excited about the direction the game has taken. Although I think the player base has their eyes set on FFXIV, SE has managed to continue to bring interesting content to the table in order to keep the interest alive in FFXI. The introduction of more individualized gear choices and weapons has really given players more opportunities to set themselves apart, which seems to be a really desirable trend. I look forward to seeing what the upcoming expansion brings.

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