ffxiadventurechallenge-blog

[ffxiadventurechallenge-blog]

The FAQ

This will take FOREVER.  What if you never finish the game?

I am doing this in my spare time and am not in a hurry to finish this challenge.  I agree that I may not EVEN get to the end.  But to be honest I’m not even really playing this game to get to the end.  Sounds cra cra right?

Is FFXI even possible to do solo with your rules?

The answer to that is no.  Absolutely not.  What started as a team game remains one still, especially if you follow these rules.  When the time comes for the necessary quests or mobs, I hope to get the help of other players looking for a similar experience.  If I don’t, well then, NUTS.

You can’t recreate the exact experience of the old FFXI

You are right.  I cannot.  FFXI has evolved over time through updates, upgrades, etc that it is difficult or even impossible to play this game as it originally was when it and its expansions came out (stopping short of what Ragnarok Online is doing with their Restart server, where they release the original game and update it over time as the original game was updated.  But who has the capability or resources to do that??)

Even with the help of the Funkworkz History of Final Fantasy XI to try and single out every piece of equipment, feature, and system you could not do it.  Spells and classes alone have been updated and changed time and time again that this would be impossible right now.

I have decided that I’m not going to worry about playing this game exactly as it was back then.  Splitting everything up by expansion is simplified enough for me.

You stream games and play throughs.  Why not stream this?

Because this would be UTTERLY boring to watch, lul.  I may stream and record some of the more important fights if enough people are interested but otherwise this will be a long and boring play through (for people watching that is!  :3)

Are there any accountability measures to ensure that people claiming to play by these rules are actually following them?

No, there aren’t.  Nothing other than one’s own honest word and willpower.  I’m not sure why you lie about doing something this dumb anyway.  I suppose if you are doing this challenge you should keep your profile able to be viewed at all times so people can check to see what you’ve got on.  Maybe someone can rig up some sort of parcing system that can check players to see if they are following the rules, similar to the WoW Ironman Challenge Website.  That would be cool!

[ffxiadventurechallenge-blog]

This sounds like a huge pain.  Why are you doing this??

The short answer to that is, I DON’T KNOW.  D:

I think the closest reason I can think of is because, after playing and getting to the end game content of many mmos, I’ve found that I have the most fun during the journey of getting there.  Not after I had gotten there or did “all the things.”  In fact, that’s probably when a game becomes boring to me, when I’ve done all the things.

I guess I’ve decided that a long, drawn out, challenging journey sounds alot more fun than a rush to level cap (this is describing my FFXIV experience btw), doing all the big raids and boss fights, and then having nothing to do but wait around for the new content.  What sounds more interesting to me personally at this time in my life is an expansive journey and not an epic conclusion.

ALSO

FFXI is well known for having a very engrossing and intricate story and world.  I wanted to play this game in order to experience all that it had to offer.  And for me to do that, I would need to go through this game SLOW.  

There is also a little bit in me that wishes I were there during the heyday of this game.  To experience the game as it came out.  Well, why not give my best shot at trying to experience the game from start to finish, expansion by expansion.

[ffxiadventurechallenge-blog]

Explanation - The Rules

First of all I would like to thank the supportive people of the ffxiclopedia discord for being patient and willing to answer all my FFXI related questions.  

ESPECIALLY Funkworkz for creating and compiling The History of Final Fantasy XI section of the wiki.  Without it I would still be super confused about which features were a part of which expansion and what not.  I am excitedly waiting to read your next updates on the Aht Urhgan Era expansion.

Alright, then here's the WHAT. I'm playing Final Fantasy XI (a new character) with the following restrictions

1. No use of Trusts/Alter Egos/Ciphers/Adventuring Fellows

2. Can only use weapons/armor/items from the current expansion, starting with the original game.  If you progress to the next expansion, you may use its weaps/arms/items.

3. Can only advance to next expansion after previous one is complete, including all content.

Which means you can only use areas/maps in your current game/expansion

4. Can only obtain weapons/armor from drops, crafting, or quests.  That being said:

No use of Records of Eminence or Sparks of Eminence

No use of the Unity Concord

No usage of Rhapsody Bonuses/shops/items until the last expansion has been completed

No buying weapons/armor off of the Auction House (other items are fine as long as they are a part of your current expansion

No use of special events (if you can help it) or event items (unless they are just for cosmetic purposes)

No being traded stronger weapons/armor from other players

5. No usage of Fields of Valor journals (at least until you get to the expansion they were released in).  This includes use of:

Field Manuals

Grounds Journals

Training Regimes

Elite Training Regimes

Field Support

Prowess

6. No use of experience enhancing items/rings/etc

7. Can only party with people following same rules

(although an exception can be made for the sake of helping out.  See the exception below)

8. Can only do quests from current game/expansion.  If you’ve progressed to next expansion, you may use the ones there.

IE no doing certain limit break quests before you’ve completed current expansion

**EXCEPTION - An exception can be made if someone with a higher level that wants to help a challenger out.  They must adhere to the following rules:

Must only be for a mob/quest where a team is necessary (IE, killing the Shadow Lord, or Limit Break 2 -  Atop the Highest Mountains quest).

Must level sync to challengers level

Must use a class that is from the challengers current game/expansion

May only use weapons/armor/items from challengers current expansion.

Additionally, those weapons/armor/items must have either been farmed by the person helping themselves (ie, following the above weapon/armor/item rules for the challenge) OR given to them by the challenger to borrow for just this encounter to be returned later.