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CoP - What's your opinion?Follow

#1 Dec 15 2005 at 3:06 PM Rating: Good
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Ok, Chains of Promathia has been out for over a year now, and SE has released (almost) all of the content we're going to get from this storyline. (The exception being perhaps Bahamut as a final summons. Jury's still out on this one.)

I mean, we gained many new areas that have become very useful.
Bibiki Bay (excellent exp 60-70+), the Tavnazian Archepalageo (meadows is great exp, lots of funky fun quests, a nice lag-free spot to be your home once you have the outpost warp).
Ulliegurand Range, Attowha Chasm...
Lots of new NM/HNMs that drop some awesome stuff, and more ways to get some of the older stuff (Abjurations). The 3 wyrms are very exciting and generally kickass to look at.
Lots of ENMs that offer awesome rewards, experience points, and generally interesting battles. They level range is huge and can provide good rewards for all levels.

Then there's the missions. They can be so frustrating, but at the same time the most fun. I'm only personally on Riverne Site #B01 now, but so far it's been an awesome ride. I remember when the expansion came out and everyone jumped to start the Promyvions. These were so hellishly hard at first. People took entire alliances into the zones to deal with the difficulty of the 3rd & 4th floors. Back then you have a very small amount of time to jump on the teleporter after beating the memory recepticle. I'm really glad SE saw how bad this was when you're trying to fit 18 people on a very tiny circle. Then there was the NM at the end. Some of them weren't too bad (Dem, Mea), but others were crazy (holla). Sleep/Curse/Gravity AoEs are not fun. But with a ton of items, Animas (which took 1 RL day to get per anima back then) we prevailed and marched forth.
Then SE nerfed them a bit and a single party could make it to the Spire without much trouble and a lot of running on the 4th floor. ;)

Now we have a ton of people who have completed the whole storyline, have those freaking awesome rings and do Limbus with other folks, kill Jailers, and sit there, dead, cursing Absolute Virtue for being so freakin impossible.

All in all CoP has held me close to my monitor during all the awesome storyline elements, the great music, and kickass cutscenes and I'm only on ch. 4. I can't wait to get to the end.

So I ask my fellow adventurers, what do you think of this expansion? Do you think SE can keep up the good work (job updates aside PLEASE) with ToAU? I certainly hope so.
#2 Dec 15 2005 at 3:20 PM Rating: Good
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690 posts
Yeah, I love the missions in this game, being one fight away from having all 3 nation flags, finishing zilhart, (only on three paths for CoP >.<) but it has been a fun ride so far.

I thought the Zilhart story was impressive, even getting goosebumps from some of the cutscenes, then I got into CoP, which is even better. I hope they keep up the work with this expansion.

One of the things I liked about CoP was he use of the level cap feature to make the fights a challenge.
#3 Dec 15 2005 at 3:20 PM Rating: Good
I have loved every moment of Chains of Promathia and am anxiously awaiting more with Treasures of Aht Urghan. One of the things I am most keen about is, of all things, the story. So far Rise of Zilart and Chains of Promathia have been pretty intertwined, and I want to see what new direction things will go in. I am also hoping for more history on Vana'diel.

Unfortunately, CoP was not as good to everyone. I know a lot of people who are still bitter about the level of difficulty required to accomplish CoP. I always have the same answer, and I am sure it is getting old, but the best way to realistically accomplish CoP was with a static party. I think SE has heard the disappointment in the community, however, and will take steps to make the new expansion more approachable.

Chains of Promathia has been a very good thing for Final Fantasy XI. It expanded on the main reason I stick with this MMO over other options, the rich and detailed history and evolving storyline. It also added more of everything. More gear, more zones, more recipes, more mini-games/activities. Even if you do not appreciate the story aspect of the expansion, think of life without all the other goodies that were a part of it.
#4 Dec 15 2005 at 3:34 PM Rating: Good
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Personally I love CoP, especially the missions which I can never find people to do with me. A lot of people hate the level capped stuff, but I think that is what makes it great, you can't throw a party of 75's at it and breeze right through it.
#5 Dec 15 2005 at 3:45 PM Rating: Decent
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1,391 posts
Indeed, all the goodies that came about was awesome.
I love the enchanted items... Warp Cudgel 4TW! =D

Yea, the missions are tough, but that's why they're so fun. It's edge of your seat type stuff that, when done right gives an awesome thrill, but when you just do it with random people things tend to go very wrong, very fast.

By the sounds of it ToAU will be lots of solo and low level content, so I wonder how missions will be handled there. I can't wait!
#6 Dec 15 2005 at 3:45 PM Rating: Decent
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I'm only on 2-5 so far, and I like the story so far, and I absolutely love the scenary in the Tavnazian Arch.

In a way, I like all the level capped stuff. It prevents you from just bringing all your level 75 friends and getting your hand held through the missions, but it does put a great strain on my mog safe, and has required me to activate a 3rd mule ;;

The only thing I don't like about it, and this is true for the game in general, but more so for CoP, is that it only takes one idiot to ruin your night.

On my Promy runs, I've been 2/2 on Mea, 3/4 on Dem, and about 2/17 on Holla. A couple of the Holla failures I went up there with an Underpowered party of friends, just for the hell of it, but at least 10 of those failures were from idiots.

Me - Please stay close to the group. I have the MR on Widescan.
Idiot - lolz...i'll be fine.
Me - We're close to the MR, please stay close.
Idiot - ZOMG Aggro!!!!!
Me - don't run away, you'll start a train! come back!
Dead Idiot - ***** this (hits HP button)
Me - ...

I really enjoy the music and scenary that CoP added, and I hope that ToAH has more of the same, but I will be looking forward to some solo content, or things that can be done in groups of 2-3.
#7 Dec 15 2005 at 3:46 PM Rating: Decent
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I think what my biggest gripe is, SE is making a lot of the new end game content (limbus, the new dynamis) that a casual player could easily get into and do (unlike gods or normal dynamis) too restricted by CoP missions.

Really, to those people who have both sky access and the promies done, which was a bigger pain in the ***? To me, just getting the first chapter of CoP done was harder then all the ZM missions to get Sky access. Dont get me wrong, I dont mind a challenge, but the CoP missions are just overkill. But what's worse is the time it takes to get them done. I am really starting to feel like SE is penalizing me for having a real life. What I'm really afraid of is if this trend continues (especially with the new expansion), SE is going to kill the game for casual players. I know the new expansion boasts new low lvl and solo stuff, but does that mean it's casual content? Dont know yet.
#8 Dec 15 2005 at 3:59 PM Rating: Good
I quit my first server shortly after CoP came out.
I really only got to party in Bibiki Bay and do some promies during that short time.

After almost a years absense I come back to FFXI on a brand new server. By this time leveling places in the new CoP zones are rather established. More missions have been added to CoP and so on.

I really liked how they added more leveling zones, however I really didn't see a lot of low level/mid level (pre60) leveling grounds in CoP zones. I mean they exist, but I still found myself leveling in the normal spots (dunes, Quif, jungle, citadel and so on)

The missions (I'm currently failing PM 2:5 (ancient vows) over and over again) are pretty challenging. I'm still early into them so I cant comment much. But they seem to be extremely rewarding. I mean in PMs you get new zone access every few missions you do. (promies gives you safehold, 2:3 has aqaducts(sp?), 2:5 gives you #A01. and along the way to sea acess you get the shrowded maw (required for diablos), #B01, and sacrinum(sp). Really cool considering all we got for doing those zilart missions was sky for the most part.

yes these missions are rather cool and stuff. I was kind of disapointed in the fact that people are still asking for certain jobs for them. Like I had to take war to 40 for 2:5, and i hear because of the nature of the diablos fight (mission) multiple stunners (darks mainly) are needed. Oh and i would love to level in level capped zones. But i found the monsters in them to be much stronger then normal ones.

Oh and as a big ballista fan, although i dont think this was really CoP (thought i may be wrong) was Diora- ghelsheba (my spelling sucks). I mean whats cooler then gettign to go into a zone with all of your buds and just start bashing them up?
I'm eagerly awaiting the making of Dio-pungoro(sp) isle. Ive ran aroudn that zone a lot and it looks like a great place to do a ballista.

overall I'm pretty happy with CoP from a leveling side and just being able to do cool stuff with friends (dio, capped missions etc) i was rather disapointed with the seemingly high focus on higher level players (limbus, most of the new leveling points etc)

I'm eagerly awaiting the next expansion

#9 Dec 15 2005 at 4:06 PM Rating: Decent
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4,148 posts
COP is a home run imho

The reward rings make me almost cry with happiness, I just wish I could re-do it and get them all.
#10 Dec 15 2005 at 4:07 PM Rating: Decent
I remember reading a quote from one of the dev team in an interview about the difficulty required to reach Tavnazia; here was a new and breathtaking region. Shortly thereafter, the story takes the player to Phomiuna and Riverne. But more than that, the story takes you to the Tavnazian Safehold itself - the fabled lost city of Tavnazia, long thought obliterated in the war. The sorry stories of the people and the melancholy history of the Safehold is apparent in every conversation. To suddenly allow everybody on the server to burst through the door in one go, would have utterly destroyed that atmosphere.

Yes, they scaled the difficulty of the Promyvions back, but their goal was achieved: every time I go to Tavnazia, I can usually count the number of people there on one hand. The place is still lost to the world at large - exactly as it should be.

I'm really pleased with the content in CoP. I'm still only at 2-5, but my static is really enjoying the challenge. The storyline thus far is really good, with pleanty of excellent cutscenes. I can't wait to get further.

The ENMs were also an excellent addition. The (almost) free EXP is well worth the trip through the dungeon. The additions of the EXP rings were also a wise move, along with the Fellowship system, which has allowed many players to turn normal farming sessions into something even more, and ultimately, bringing more satisfaction to an otherwise routien area of the game.

I can't wait for what is in store in Treasures of Aht Urhgan. If the manage to achieve more content for soloing and having a set of missions as exciting and challenging as those in Chains of Promathia, then I will be one happy Mithra.
#11 Dec 15 2005 at 4:22 PM Rating: Decent
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7,106 posts
I loved CoP. Mission content is amazing, new zones are great for EXPing, new quests and items are very cool. I consider the CoP material to be some of the very best content in the game, and I'm absolutely itching to get TAU.
#12 Dec 15 2005 at 4:43 PM Rating: Decent
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1,391 posts
Mieck the Shady wrote:
I remember reading a quote from one of the dev team in an interview about the difficulty required to reach Tavnazia; here was a new and breathtaking region. Shortly thereafter, the story takes the player to Phomiuna and Riverne. But more than that, the story takes you to the Tavnazian Safehold itself - the fabled lost city of Tavnazia, long thought obliterated in the war. The sorry stories of the people and the melancholy history of the Safehold is apparent in every conversation. To suddenly allow everybody on the server to burst through the door in one go, would have utterly destroyed that atmosphere.

Yes, they scaled the difficulty of the Promyvions back, but their goal was achieved: every time I go to Tavnazia, I can usually count the number of people there on one hand. The place is still lost to the world at large - exactly as it should be.

I'm really pleased with the content in CoP. I'm still only at 2-5, but my static is really enjoying the challenge. The storyline thus far is really good, with pleanty of excellent cutscenes. I can't wait to get further.

The ENMs were also an excellent addition. The (almost) free EXP is well worth the trip through the dungeon. The additions of the EXP rings were also a wise move, along with the Fellowship system, which has allowed many players to turn normal farming sessions into something even more, and ultimately, bringing more satisfaction to an otherwise routien area of the game.

I can't wait for what is in store in Treasures of Aht Urhgan. If the manage to achieve more content for soloing and having a set of missions as exciting and challenging as those in Chains of Promathia, then I will be one happy Mithra.


Exactly! I can't wait for Sandy to get that region so I can do the supply quest and be able to just hang around in the safehold instead of Jueno.
The safehold... that whole region, is so nice and peaceful... quiet. No mass crowds, hundreds of people at the AH. I love it.
#13 Dec 15 2005 at 4:55 PM Rating: Default
Chains of Promathia is WHY I play Final Fantasy XI. FFXI takes a lot of flak from the media about offering little to improve the MMORPG formula, and how badly it compares to games like World of Warcraft or the upcoming Dark and Light. And while it takes a LOT of work and skill and patience to experience the good stuff, the challenging missions give the greatest reward of all: a story. Rise of the Zilart is barely a prologue to the brilliantly written plot of CoP, and I consider it on par with some of the greatest single-player RPGs in history. There's SOMETHING fun about hitting the highest level and getting the best equipment and killing the toughest mobs, but it's just an endless cycle with no real reward in most MMOs.

Besides the story, CoP has given us numerous other wonderful additions, most of which have been listed above, so I won't bother. The players who complain about the difficulty don't deserve to play it in the first place, so good riddance.

(On that note, one last thing. Does anyone know of a place online where I could download at least some of the CoP cutscenes? If I could peace them together to make a "movie" on my computer, I'd be the happiest little Elvaan alive.)
#14 Dec 15 2005 at 5:59 PM Rating: Decent
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IMO:
Rise of the zilart: Grab a few 75s, be done in a day. No one does ZM15-17 becaue "there is no reward".

Chains of Promathia: Grab a few 75s, be prepared to spend some gil and some time. Time. You're probably going to get CoP mainly done because there IS an AWESOME reward for beating it. Actually, make that 2 awesome rewards. ....no no. make that 3.

Yes, CoP is a tad bit on the difficult side. But, there aren't many "difficult" games, MMO or not, in the world today. I can't remember the last time I played a game that offered some challenge.....ok, maybe Shadow of the Colossus but...that ruins my point ><

The cutscenes alone make CoP worth it imo. CoP has characters that I care about, unlike RotZ, where the only thing that separates Aldo, Lion and Zeid is their model. In CoP, I can clearly tell who is who judged on the text alone, their personality shines that much.

The missions themselves are fun. Yea, I do get a little mad when I lose 6-4 for the umpteenth time, but it doesnt bother me. Because I know there is something on the horizon, whether it be an awesome cutscene, a cool ring, access to a new zone, or any mixture of those things. And its that little thing that keeps me going.

In short: CoP owns. It did in September of last year, and it does in December of this year. And it will continue to own.
#15 Dec 15 2005 at 6:09 PM Rating: Decent
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CoP was a failure in the sense that it alienated too much of its playerbase. While yes, the missions should be a challenge, they should not be a challenge right from the get-go, that just discourages people. As was pointed out above, getting {sky} was less of a challenge than chapter 1 of CoP is, and to me that's just plain wrong.

It's plain as day that SE is trying to pump out new CoP material that requires mission completion in order to try to get more people motivated to do the missions. Are they succeeding? I'd say so; the number of shouts in Jeuno, particularly for PM 3-5, have been quite prevalent in recent days. However, Diabolos doesn't really impress me; neither does most of the drops in {sea} or Limbus, so I don't really get the sense I'm missing out on anything awesome in terms of furthering my character's development.

Nevertheless, I'm planning to start a CoP static alliance at the start of 2006, so I can give CoP a fair judgment at least. I still say though, that if you're not among the "hardcore" players, and/or if you're not a storyline buff, CoP is a waste of your time and money, in all honesty.
#16 Dec 15 2005 at 6:12 PM Rating: Good
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1,863 posts
The Rise of the Zilart expansion was good. A few new areas were added and quests were set up that required you to venture Far afield in search of the things you needed. It was a good way to get people to experience the new zones. Sky became an endgame mainstay.

For a group of lv50s who had just begun to realize they could advance beyond the level-cap, this was no doubt a difficult journey. Likewise I can only imagine what happened to the first crew that popped Kirin inadvertantly.

As the game moved on the value of Rise of the Zilart fell. For a rabid pack of lv75s the missions present only a few minor roadbumps, barely anything of consequence. Zm4 is long and obnoxious, Zm8 is tricky if you don't know your job well, or if it's your first time doing it. Boo hoo! That's about all, though. You can power through to sky in a weekend without any problem; possibly in as little as an evening if you push it.


With Chains of Promathia, Square revised the concept of what an expansion ought to be. More areas were added, sure - there must be new areas! - but not all of them were readily available. Sure, you could cruise Bibiki Bay the moment you installed the expansion. You could go to Carpenter's Landing and ride that damned boat 'til you died of boredom. But what's this "Lufaise" place everyone talks about?

Many areas were locked pending advancement in the missions. And most of the locked areas were themselves found off of an existing locked area. How interesting - you actually have to play the expansion to advance in it.


To counteract the problem of endgame players zerging the missions, SE introduced level-capped zones -- and forced you to fight through them in order to advance. Sure, you know your job at Lv75. Sure, you rock hard when surrounded by all of your buddies in god gear. But do you remember how to play it at 30? Do you remember what it's like without your spells, your abilities, your weapon skills, your gear? Are you good enough to make it without your endgame crutch?

I remember people complaining long and hard about Promyvion when it was first released. It was too long. It was too hard. It was impossible. A lot of people cried and whined and sulked, but some pressed on and saw Lufaise for the first time.

The first time I visited the Tavnazian Safehold, I think perhaps four people were there. One of them was a friendly guide I'd met when I zoned in; he took the time to walk me to the safehold and teach me about the map quest. Everybody /waved to everybody at first -- we all knew the others worked hard to get there, and we were respectful of each other's progress.

It was a great feeling, being at the edge of the gameworld.


I hope that SE learns from the CoP expansion and makes TAU as engaging. They've set a high bar with the storyline and extensibility of this last pack, but if Square's famous for anything, it's for outdoing themselves.

I have high hopes.
#17 Dec 16 2005 at 4:50 AM Rating: Decent
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Quote:
I hope that SE learns from the CoP expansion and makes TAU as engaging.

Let's hope they've learned not to make advancement and access pretty-much impossible for those of us who can't/don't have a static. :/
#18 Dec 16 2005 at 4:59 AM Rating: Decent
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604 posts
ToAU is supposed to be a more solo based expansion... so let's hope it will be as engaging as CoP was but for the more casual players as well as the hardcore. =)

And yes, ^^ CoP is the best, just beat Diabolos and got AH access. The fight was a complete thrill, you never know when you're going to eat a nightmare and die. =) Beats Zilart where the hardest fight up to sky is ZM8 and even that can be easily done by 2-3 lv 75s.
#19 Dec 16 2005 at 5:10 AM Rating: Decent
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The last CS in CoP is worth every bit of pain, frustration and gil I spent getting there. I re-watch it everytime I go in lufaise.
#20 Dec 16 2005 at 5:46 AM Rating: Decent
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First of all, please note that I haven't completed any missions for CoP (well, except the starting cutscenes).

I think CoP is great for what it is, which is an expansion that was meant to be very challenging. The story seems to be great, and I certainly hope that the storypart is a trend that will continue on in the next expansion.

Personally, I'm not that interested in CoP, because I can't reserve times to try and get through them with a static. And quite frankly, I don't really want to either.
The areas that are accessible from the start have been very, very good to my BST though. I definetely do not regret buying it.

From my point of view, CoP was to "hardcore" for my taste, but I understand that many, many people have enjoyed it a lot, so that's cool.

I'm hoping that the next expansion will be a bit more "accessible" from the start. But like I said, I definetely do not regret buying CoP.
#21 Dec 16 2005 at 6:16 AM Rating: Decent
CoP, simply put, is brilliant.

I haven't viewed such an engaging storyline since Final Fantasy 8.

The basis of the story is what makes it come together: a civilization who has lost their memories of an age long ago. A journey to discover those memories is made. Along the way more truths are unraveled and friendships are made/broken.

The main character is also very interesting. She has the true characteristics of the classic heros in past FF games.

At any rate, I love just almost every aspect of CoP. The new areas brought a lot of changes to FFXI; namely new textures and landscaping as well as enemies. The music is terrific. Poppable NMs are also heavily emphazied and I believe they have been a big success.

I only have two complaints.

One being that buying gear for level capped missions did not make for a pleasant experience. I must have spent at least 3-4 million gil to supply myself with level capped gear.

The next complaint pertains to a certain mission: PM 6-4. I feel this mission is RIDICULOUSLY hard. Based on luck even. I lost up to 6 times, spending more on meds in this one mission (at least 3 million gil on meds) than on all the other missions combined. I feel it really needs to be tuned down more. However, after winning you do get a great feeling of accomplishment but I still do not think anyone should be as stressed as I was over a single mission.

With those two complaints aside, two thumbs up to Cop definitely. I hope ToAU has as much content as CoP does.
#22 Dec 16 2005 at 6:18 AM Rating: Decent
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level cap mission/areas annoy me to no end. but i will say i love the new NMs and uncapped areas. i have also found luf meadows and mis coast to be fun areas to level my npc.

cut scenes are nice. story is cool.

one other thing i cant stand is that odqan wont drop the damn bravo subligar. im like 0/20.

Edited, Fri Dec 16 06:21:00 2005 by DrunkNinja
#23 Dec 16 2005 at 7:06 AM Rating: Decent
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2,684 posts
Simply put - Worth every minute

My static and me will be doing the Final Boss tonight Promethia himself.

Its taken along long time to get here, several statics, 2 CoP LS's and one hell of a ride.

What in a way upsets me is the constant moaning about the difficulty and the jobs that can do it, and the lvl caps.

If I can do the entire storyline as a monk, Living in GMT timezone(I.E. low server population time), not having a static for the most part and not complaining at anypoint during it - Makes me think moaners are lazy and want everything handed to them on a plate.

I wrote a small guide on my experiances of CoP as a monk:
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/jobs.html?fjob=11;mid=1133357497217894268;num=18;page=1

Its incomplete and runs upto 5-3.

Ive enjoyed pretty much every mission in the storyline as for the other content...

Bibiki bay, great exp spot, the manaclipper ride is beautiful
Tavnazia, I make all my gil there >.^ shame its getting busier by the day now lol
ENM's great for people like me who dislike exping and you make gil at the same time.

CoP was what Final Fantasy is suposed to be, true final fantasy
Amazing Storyline - Great Cutscenes - Difficulty - Utima and Omega weapon^^

I can only hope the next expansion can scratch the surface.

laters

Kaze
#24 Dec 16 2005 at 7:37 AM Rating: Decent
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810 posts
I kinda have mixed feelings about CoP...
So far the story is great, and I know it gets better as I have read what happens up untl chapter 8..

The Good:

SE said that CoP was really intended for those hardcore players and I like a challenge. Yes the missions are rediculously long, but thats what makes it more worthwhle when you finish/beat a certain mission. The new areas are awsome and yes Bibki bay made things interesting especially after they changed the mobs around to allow more parties in the bay. Also there is the CoP HNM's you gotta love em ^^

The Bad:

What I don't like is the fact that SE kinda knows that CoP is somewhat of a failure before these last updates...it wasn't all too popular by a majority of players. Now with the last updates, SE introduces all these wonderful things which force/require you to do CoP and or beat it. Honestly the content should've been added long ago because now you get....

The Ugly:

People trying to rush thru missions and trying to make it as painless as possible...the old "throw 18 blm's at it" syndrome in which you only take specific jobs to a mission for its ease.
Now we got a lot of ppl jumping on the CoP bandwaggon trying to rush thru the missions mainly to get diablos...
A lot of people get overlooked for a shout for a CoP mission because they arne't X, Y, or Z job.

In conclusion... CoP is best done with a static...
I give CoP 8/10 (i don't like some of the level cap missions)
#25 Dec 16 2005 at 7:52 AM Rating: Default
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Machaveli wrote:
Then there was the NM at the end. Some of them weren't too bad (Dem, Mea), but others were crazy (holla). Sleep/Curse/Gravity AoEs are not fun.


The holla boss is a wimp. Melee pop poison potions (stops sleep) and the mages just stay out of curse range (curse doesn't affect HP enough to worry about but it really lowers MP). The only reason Holla has such a bad rep is because people are stupid and don't bring poison. Physicly the holla boss is very weak, it's just the AoEs that are a problem and they are very easily delt with.

The Dem boss is much nastier than the Holla boss.
____________________________
Final Fantasy XI 12-14-11 Update wrote:
Adjust the resolution of menus.
The main screen resolution for "FINAL FANTASY XI" is dependent on the "Overlay Graphics Resolution" setting.
If the Overlay Graphics Resolution is set higher than the Menu Resolution, menus will be automatically resized.


I thought of it first:

http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=10&mid=130073657654872218#20
#26 Dec 16 2005 at 7:55 AM Rating: Good
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http://www.theorderls.com/belt/promathia_problem.php

This link pretty much echoes my own personal feelings. To summarize:

1. Missions masquerade themselves as being suitable for less experienced players. The cap30 promys are a perfect example. For all the high level people yeah, buying some cap30 gear and using some HNMLS experience we can complete these mildly challenging missions. You take a pack of "raw" L30 people who ONLY have L30 jobs and you tell me they will be able to win a promy. Remember a L30 player's entire BCNM experience to this point has been the rank 2-3 DRAGON for crying out loud.

2. Drops suck. Once the story is over, you will want a reason to go back to Sea. Quite honestly for a large number of people, there IS no reason to go back. There are no byakko haidate, no kirin osode, and no indra katars in Sea. Anywhere. The best it has is some questionably useful items that *might* come in handy for very specific purposes. There's also the "gods" of Sea with their silly "might spawn, might not!" mechanics.

My own comments past the article:

1. You can't get conquest points in Sea, so any EXP party would be unlikely to go there unless there was simply nowhere else to go. While CoP itself has provided one of the best EXP zones in the game now (Bibiki Bay), you never need to do a mission at all to access it. Other than Lufaise Meadows rams/birds (which are some of the roughest EXP mobs for 75's) there are no real EXP zones unlocked in the CoP missions. The best you get is a bunch of capped zones with disproportionately difficult mobs for their level.

2. Rampant job favoritism. The minute someone gets a party setup that blows through a particular mission, it gets posted on fan sites (like Allakhazam) and it becomes the rule. FAQ doesn't mention monk? Sorry, we don't need a monk for this mission. Ever. Because of CoP I had to level multiple jobs (some I don't particularly like) just to have what the FAQ says to have.

3. "Dangling carrots". I use this to describe things like ENM's and the new Diabolos summon. Square-Enix sees people haven't been doing CoP, and all people (like me) do is whine about it. So they introduce incentives in the form of desirable things which we can ONLY get to by trudging through these god-awful missions. Ever since Diabolos how many people do you see *suddenly* interested in doing 3-5? There's near non-stop shouts in Jeuno now for it, mostly summoners. A nice irony of this is that while 3-5 favors Dark Knights and "balanced" groups, the Diabolos Prime fight doesn't, so once people figured out "BLM/SMN/RDM/PLD is all you need", that's all they take. I'm one of the only people in my LS that doesn't have Diabolos, because I'm one of the only people in my LS without a high level of one of those jobs.

4. IT'S THE STORY.. HURRY AND CLICK THROUGH! One of the big selling points of CoP is the story. Any time I debate CoP's usefulness I immediately get rated down by people saying I don't understand it's about the STORY. OK fine. Story. Ya know what? I ain't got time to even know the story, because most of the good cut scenes happen in the MIDDLE of the freakin' mission. How much story can I possibly enjoy when 5 or 17 other people are yelling at me to just click through the cutscenes? Of course there's no real safe place I can go and watch them in order at my leisure, so they are a forgotten memory 20 minutes after I do them. That's a shame too cuz I am always up for some crazy Prishe hijinx.

CoP was the dead albatross hanging around my neck for a year. I basically jumped into it expecting it to be an interesting diversion and something I could do in a reasonable amount of time. Instead it became this epic saga of LFP, levelling jobs I didn't like, farming to handle the gil hemorrhaging, trying to make friends, losing even more, feeling envy, having people vent their envy on me, and learning how two-faced people can be. It played out like a soap opera that I did not want to be in. The only reason I pushed forward to Sea was because I didn't want all this frustration to be in vain. Of course getting Sea didn't really satisfy that.
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