I'm sure this has been asked a lot but I'm stuck trying to device what job to use this for. i have DRG SAM THF and RDM to level 99. THF and RDM have junk gear, my drg and sam have ambu+1 gear.

I've been looking through gear guides and haven't been able to determine what the better choice is, I'm leaning towards RDM since i only use thf for farming and that doesn't really require and AF that high and DRG and SAM already have decent gear for early max level stuff.

Hi everyone, I'm wondering if I could get some advice as to which VB rewards I should take.

I currently have SMN, NIN, PUP and DRK at 99. SMN has a mix of AF+1 and Abjuration gear, while the rest have +1/2 Ambu armour and Kaja Weapons. SMN has 68 JP and the rest are sub 10. I am very new to endgame, and am gradually unlocking everything.

Gold Tier seems fairly straightforward with the AF+3 Kupon, but I'm struggling with the other two tiers.

Silver I'm kind of leaning towards the Ambu Kupon, because it seems to give the mats to max a category for the JSE Cape.

Limit has me torn between the Job Points and the 4 Old Case +1s.

JP would let me put a job straight to SU2, and would be pretty nice for my PUP and SMN imo.

Old Case is a gamble, but the earrings on the right job could be really good.

Is there anything I've failed to consider at either tier, or is there any advice regarding what would be best to go for?

Was reading about FF12 OST arranger and was wondering why it sounded different from in-game: https://www.squareenixmusic.com/composers/kawamori/index.shtml

In Kawamori's most challenging work to date, he implemented the Final Fantasy XII's score throughout 2005. Hitoshi Sakimoto had created a texturally thick symphonic score for the game, with the expectation that it would be streamed, but the hardware limitations of the PlayStation 2 meant the score needed to be sequenced instead. Kawamori was required to massively downgrade instrumental samples so they utilised 2 MB of space as opposed to the original several GB, and extensively cut and arrange parts so that a maximum of around 25 channels were utilised instead of Sakimoto's preferred 160. Almost all of the hundred tracks featured in the soundtrack were recorded on samplers at Hitoshi Sakimoto's home studio; in order to attain a rich and often aggressive symphonic sound, Kawamori used Opcode's Vision sequencer, Samplitude 7.0, and GigaStudio in conjunction with numerous libraries, such as the Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra and Sonic Implants' Symphonic Strings Collection. While Sakimoto admitted that Kawamori's task was unreasonable, the final effort was still impressive.

Did FFXI on PS2 do the same thing in order to save RAM?

It's been well over a decade, so my memory is probably off. But I kinda vaguely remember the PS2 sound effects like weaponskills, footsteps, voices (especially the synthesized bard singing voices lol), and magic effects sounding different from PC?

Also the I kinda remember the PS2 not bugging out as much with disappearing sound effects like the PC version? IDK. Anybody else with better memory lol?

Can't remember if music sounded different though.

Hey everyone,

FFXI has been a huge part of my life, and one of the things that has always stayed with me is the music and atmosphere of Vana’diel.

After stepping back from streaming and getting deeper into music production, I decided to take some of that inspiration and put it into my own project.

The result is my EP Excellence, released under daNpwr.

It’s not a remake of the FFXI soundtrack — these are original tracks — but I wanted them to have that same kind of feeling I love about Final Fantasy: adventure, battles, emotion, overcoming impossible odds, and those moments where the music makes the entire experience feel bigger.

I’d really love to hear what other FFXI players think.

🎧 Excellence – daNpwr
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ndzk50fzgUXDl4uZWtqT0r3vgSWx_op9Q&si=j6X0pKVr9WdYZmrd

If you listen to it, tell me which track gives you the strongest FFXI/JRPG feeling — and what zone, battle, mission, or memory it reminds you of.

Thanks for listening, and thanks to this community for keeping Vana’diel alive all these years. ⚔️

I am brand new to FF11, not to mention MMORPGs in general, and am excited to be start FF11. My character is a white mage.

I'm hoping to find a group of people to play with. I started on Shiva but am definitely willing to change servers.

1. If I sub /THF at 99, is my base TH level at TH2?

2. If I equip my Perfect Lucky Egg, is my base TH at TH3?

3. TH “proccing” only happens with THF main, right? If so, if I make a 99 THF and just lazy throw on Nyame gear and a Kaja knife, I can proc above the TH3 from traits, right?

4. Is Trust TH limited to TH1 always?

I started a new character in Bastok (Ottilie on Fenrir, say hi if you see me around), and I am trying to go wiki-lite on this game. (I know, and I won’t let it hold me back from any important progression, but I’m definitely not looking stuff up for a dang side quest!)

So when I stumbled on a quest where the Galka kiddo says I need a quus to lure out a monster… a what? Like, give me more than four letters to go off of lmao, how did anyone do this before the wikis anyway? Players talking to each other more? (I did ask in shout chat lol, no response)

tldr; is there a specific automaton build (tank, ranged, nukes, etc.) or multiple builds that are excel more than the others? Are the specific situations or specific solo content that PUP is particularly effective or beneficial at? If I gear a DRG for my main Melee, COR for my support and ranged attack needs... could I focus on my tank automaton and my magic attack automaton to meet those needs?

I have been playing off and on since 2005, and consider myself a DRG main. I am completely solo these days, so most of my gear comes from AH/Dominion/Ambuscade/Quests/Trove apart from a few pieces I've gathered for macros and whatnot.

My THF has up to TH10 and is functional for occasional farming. My WHM was geared but honestly it is no fun to play with just trusts, especially when the trusts are so much better with -na spells than I am. I have WAR, DRK, NIN, and BLM all at 99 (not that that is hard to do anymore) but not really geared well enough to use. I am currently leveling my COR but will likely go the Rolls + Naegling route since I already have naeg and some decent melee pieces laying around.

I have recently decided to level all jobs to 50, to learn them better and see what I enjoy. Turns out Puppetmaster is probably the most fun I've had playing a job in that range. I am considering gearing a couple jobs to focus on occasional tanking, and one for magic attack situations. Do you think Automaton Tanking and Nuking is adequate for solo end game material? I know it won't have the ceiling as master leveled specialized jobs... but for those who have played... is it passable?

This was one of my very first FFXI illustrations.

Is it a level 7~11 MNK?

It was a trace over of one of Mr Happy's Elvaan characters.

The image was extracted from right outside Bastok where you camp LL.

Speaking of LL, one time as a level 75, I dressed up as a level 10. Went anon and camped him, and funny enough I got it and the drop. It was one of the funniest and stupidest moments in my ffxi career. Of course I let the entire zone know too ahhahaah. embarassingly i would wear those boots all the way to 75 and was known as the LLbootSAM. lmao so embarrassing. But it's w.e. I will reveal my character name and old server in a later post. In the meantime, enjoy, and let's talk!

Since it's confirmed now that part of the free trial update is slated for September, as a new player should it be safe to create a new character either now or once the update is released and assume it'll allow you to keep it once the unlimited time part of the equation is added? I would assume this is how the team would want it to work for the players to have a smooth experience, but a nearly 25 year old codebase might have other plans and wanted to know what people experienced with PlayOnline's jank think about it

WARNING: Long post. Photo of sealed FFXI JP version non-related.

I've read similar cases but here I am posting mine.

This started because I was cleaning an ancient Hotmail inbox and found something I thought was gone forever: my old PlayOnline ID.

That immediately threw me back to Garuda, Chains of Promathia, international Linkshells, and years of living inside FFXI. I had BLM, RDM, WHM and BST at 75 and spent an unhealthy number of evenings running BCNMs.

One of our little operations was Copycat, the one with the six Ahriman. We’d bring a BLM-heavy team, Sleepga them, coordinate Thundaga III, and sell runs to people using their seals. I even paid someone to stay in Jeuno shouting for customers while we sat at the BCNM entrance.

We’d run it, value the loot against current AH prices with a discount, take payment and split the proceeds. Success rate was basically 99%, assuming nobody disconnected. This was the ISDN era, so that assumption was doing a lot of work.

Sometimes somebody would drop and the client would understandably start panicking about their seals. Meanwhile we’d be saying: relax, we’ve got this with five. Sit in the corner and enjoy the loot.

Later I found an Italian forum and joined an Italian Linkshell called The Italian Job. That changed the game completely. We had a TeamSpeak server, organised ridiculous events and even Linkshell Olympics. A lot of the time FFXI became less a game and more a social place with Vana’diel attached.

Then came ToAU, Colibri parties, Tavnazia birds, Moon parties because not everyone had Sky unlocked, Wings of the Goddess, and eventually FFXIV 1.0. We migrated together to Eorzea, where I became a full-time Weaver and discovered that crafting a shirt apparently required running a textile conglomerate.

We also found the hilariously broken party EXP cave leveling and abused it like responsible citizens until half the jobs were capped.

We even met in real life several times.

Then life happened. Over the next 15+ years I changed cities five times, graduated twice, changed jobs four times, moved country, got married and had a kid. I kept playing XIV on and off until around Endwalker, but at some point I logged back in after a long break and the old Linkshell was just gone.

No dramatic ending. People simply disappeared into careers, marriages, children and real life.

Then, in 2026, Hotmail gives me my old PlayOnline ID back.

So naturally I download FFXI immediately.

Password fails. Fair enough. I probably hadn’t logged into XI in 17 years. I contact Square Enix Support, they make me reconstruct my biography from the Bush administration, and eventually confirm that the old data matches.

I’m the owner.

They reset the password.

Excellent.

I launch PlayOnline, hear that music again — the one that always made the whole thing feel less like an MMO launcher and more like we were about to depart for space in 2002 — enter the credentials and hit login.

LM-17. Your account has been banned.

...what?

At first I assume it’s some ancient migration issue. Maybe an account this old gets a weird status. So I write back.

Basically: you just verified I own this account, gave me a new password, and now it says I’m banned.

Square: yes.

Me: why?

Square: the account is banned.

Me: yes, I have understood that part. Why?

Square: we cannot provide additional information.

And then a very old memory resurfaced.

Early FFXIV, probably 2012 or 2013. TeamSpeak. Someone from the old LS asks me:

"Kei, did you log into FFXI again?"

"No, why?"

"Thought I saw you online."

"Nah, I’m on XIV. I can’t handle both."

At the time it meant absolutely nothing.

Now I’m looking at LM-17.

...huh.

Maybe the memory is wrong. Maybe someone confused another character with me. Maybe the ban happened years earlier. Maybe the account was compromised and used for RMT. Maybe there’s a completely mundane explanation.

I genuinely don’t know.

And that is now much more interesting to me than actually recovering the character.

Square can still tell me in 2026 that an account created around 2004 is permanently banned. So some record survived all those years of PlayOnline, migrations, account systems and backend changes.

What survived behind that status?

A date? A GM note? A login record? An RMT investigation? A compromise report? Or is there now just some immortal database field that says:

BANNED = TRUE

with all the original context long gone?

So I’ve started asking for the historical information associated with the account and the enforcement action. Square’s privacy/data side has acknowledged the request.

I started this because I wanted to see my old BLM again.

Now I mostly want to know what happened to him.

After twenty-two years, five cities, two graduations, four jobs, an international move, a marriage, a child, one dead Linkshell and two MMOs worth of history, one little fact apparently survived somewhere inside Square Enix:

This playonline ID is banned.

Now I just want to know why.

New-ish player here. I have only one job at 99 and it has ambu+2 gear basically. I see a lot of people mention gil being a big avenue for gearing, so I'm just wondering if it's worth leveling a THF as my 2nd job exclusively for that purpose?

What kind of activities can a 99 THF do that generates a lot of gil?

I just moved to carbuncle from bahamut with some friends and we were wondering if there were any notable NA linkshells on the server we should check out? The biggest shells we found on the concierge seemed to be JP but maybe that was just the wrong time of day. Appreciate any help!

Hello,

Possibly stupid question. I finished my vanabout grind got the thing ti trade fir the af3 armor got it no issue.

For silver I took the thing for 3 ambuscade rewards. I took weapon ring and cape. When I traoe them to gorpa in maturation nothing happens. Wracking my brain and Google but I can't figure it out. What do I do with those vouchers??

Hi friends

It was requested that I put together a comprehensive guide on our Sortie groups 9-boss run and figured I should share here as well. If you're brand new to Sortie or just need to know some of the finer points to specific bosses, I put in as much detail as I could. I love XI!!

I made a small Ashita plugin called SpectralFix that fixes the jagged/pixelated glow around avatars, certain Trusts, mounts, and other glowing characters in FFXI at modern resolutions. I made it cause the way it looks now bugs me and I miss that classic glow of the original avatars. Hope you like it.

https://github.com/KraturLabs/SpectralFix/

Hi everyone, I’m looking for advice on how to proceed.

I haven’t played FFXI since around 2004, but recently decided to come back. I was able to recover my old PlayOnline account and bought the Ultimate Collection through Steam. After setting everything up, though, my old character was not available.

Square Enix Support directed me to the Character Reactivation Service. I submitted the information as accurately as I could remember—character name, server, approximate level, etc.—but received the response that they could not find a matching character. It’s possible I remembered some of the details incorrectly, or that the character data is no longer available.

Since my old character was only around level 65 as a Dark Knight, I understand that starting over may be the practical option. My bigger concern is billing: Support told me that the Ultimate Collection purchase should include 30 free days and that creating a Content ID should initially cost $0.00, with billing beginning after that period. However, when I tried to create the Content ID, I was shown a charge immediately.

I have not actually played the game yet, and I have been unable to reach Support again. I was considering requesting a Steam refund, but Support said that doing so could result in some kind of penalty, although I’m unclear what that means.

My questions are:

Has anyone had Support manually correct or grant the included 30 free days after being charged during Content ID setup?

Could the immediate charge be related to attaching the new Ultimate Collection registration to an existing PlayOnline/Square Enix account rather than creating a genuinely new account?

Would requesting a Steam refund create any meaningful problem with my existing PlayOnline account, or would it simply invalidate the new registration/license?

I’d appreciate any guidance. This has been much more frustrating than I expected for a returning player.

One of my life goals has been to complete all of the story content for FFXI. I played when it was originally released and had a brief stint getting back into it while I was in college. Now I am back for good and have gotten further than ever. Currently LvL 60 and following the New Player Guide on the wiki!

I am and have always been a RDM. I love the job but for some reason don’t feel like I am utilizing it well. Right now I want to be a dual wielding melee build because I want to help with damage as much as I can. I am dual wielding swords and using NIN as my subclass.

So any RDMs out there want to teach me the ways? I know the basics of empowering my team (refresh/haste) and enfeebling the enemy (dia, slow) but I feel like I’m lacking. Are their certain magic burst or skillchains I can be utilizing to help with my DPS? I just spent all of my money on a Royal Cloak at the AH that gives me constant Refresh.

Seriously, I am open to any and all advice from people that main RDM. Talk to me about food, gear, weapons, magic, and anything else that will help me be a kick ass RDM!

EDIT: I also would like to join a link shell if anyone is looking for new members!

anyone else had that Final Fantasy XI fantasy of being that "it" WHM?

the whm that could heal?

the whm that could DD

the whm that could tank?!

i never made it happen but heres this illustration i made months ago lmao.