As a huge FFXI fan I'm incredibly excited to see FFXI coming to FFXIV- and now with the trailer giving us some really juicy locales, I thought I'd share my nerdy observations for folks who were curious about this olden FF MMO!

Jeuno

In the FFXI's world, there are 3 starting nations similar to FFXIV: Bastok, San d'Oria and Windurst.

Jeuno is a nation that sits squarely in between the three and acts as a neutral party between them.

In the trailer they show the recreation of Lower Jeuno, one of its four sections. Below it is Port Jeuno, above it Upper Jeuno and at the very top is Ru'Lude Gardens.

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The darkened skies and the strange spatial phenomena is undoubtedly a reference to FFXI's Dynamis- a dark alternate dream reality created by Diabolos and famously well known endgame content for creating laborious Relic Weapons and obtaining Relic Armor!

The Boyahda Tree / Dragon's Aery

A huge tree that houses the Cloister of Storms- which contains a crystal used to fight against the avatar Ramuh. It is known for "skilling up" your weapon and magic levels due to the high level crabs scuttering about the top floor.
Goobbues were also farmed for their valuable loot, like Tree Cuttings, Boyahda Moss and Wisteria Lumber (just make sure to have a Thief for Treasure Hunter)!

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How can we be sure that it's The Boyahda Tree? Well, due to an incredibly infamous boss that was showcased in the trailer: The dragon Fafnir, who spawns in a specific section of the Boyahda Tree called Dragon's Aery.

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An incredibly infamous HNM (Hyper Notorious Monster) that linkshells would covet. He would only spawn -once- every 21-24 hours (yes, you'd have to stand around for 3 hours potentially).

He is painfully known for his Spike Flail attack- where if you took aggro from behind he would immediately use and most certainly ensure the total death of your party from its lethal AoE damage.
Everyone would stand squarely on his front legs to make sure that never happens... however competing linkshells would purposely take aggro by healing the main tank from behind and causing a Spike Flail on purpose. SE would later add a /blockaid function which circumvented this.

Wild times.

Castle Zvahlz

The dark castle of the Shadow Lord. Stage for the climax of the initial story missions of the base FFXI game, you'd have to climb through 2 sections: the baileys and the keep. Known for it's dark obsidian atmosphere, demons and beastmen, including the Quadav (turtles), the Orcs and the Yagudo (crows).

You'd have to go through a maze-like area filled with fake walls, teleporters and winding corridors to find your way to the top.

When you reached the top, the zone was called "The Throne Room" where you'd inevitably face off against the Shadow Lord. This shot in the trailer is the final catwalk at the top to the Shadow Lord's arena:

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The pink and yellow parts in the FFXIV screenshot are actually the UI colors FFXI used for HP and MP! They were also similarly displayed on the lower right as well.

As for the Shadow Lord, his revival in the trailer is extremely reminiscent of the FFXI cutscenes of yore:

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But who is he exactly? Well... it's a little complicated.

Prior to the FFXI, a multinational expedition team was sent to the land of Xarcabard (which houses Castle Zvahlz). It consisted of 6 members:

- Raogrimm, a Galka (Roegadyn).
- Cornelia, a Hume (Hyur).
- Ulrich, a Hume.
- Francmage, an Elvaan (Elezen).
- Iru-Kuiru, a Tarutaru (Lalafell).
- Yow Rabhtah, a Mithra (Mi'qote).

Ulrich attempts to murder Raogrimm in secret out of disgust and jealousy of Cornelia's love for Raogrimm and his sympathy for the beastmen- but accidentally murders Cornelia instead.

Ulrich tricks the other members into being unable to find them- Raogrimm is left for dead.

Raogrimm, in his grief over Cornelia and anger towards being abandoned- is transformed by the dark energy of the land (and that's a whole other expansion that vapidly explains this...) and becomes the Shadow Lord.

Ru'Aun Gardens

Also referred to as Tu'Lia, or affectionately as 'Sky' to players, this was is an ancient construct of the Zilart- FFXI's version of the Ancients. Anything related to the Zilart thematically always had structures made of cermet- a whiteish material you see throughout FFXI's world of Vana'diel. From the structures related to Teleport magic, to giant 'spines' looming over the land to a massive tower near Jeuno- it wasn't until Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promathia expansion were these things elaborated on.

Sky was also a popular endgame stomping ground- where you could fight the four Eastern gods Genbu, Suzaku, Byakko, Seiryu and the 'final' boss Kirin deep in the palace, the Shrine of Ru'Avitau.

Also more teleporters. And annoying blocked paths where you'd have to do the long JRPG run around to get around them. Classic.

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There's a bit more to talk about- particularly Ark Angels (white skinned, red eyed, black armored characters representing the five races of FFXI in the trailer) but I've reached the image limit on this post!

Another interesting note: Prishe's title in game is Prishe of the Distant Chains; a direct reference to he expansion she's from, Chains of Promathia, as well as Distant Worlds, the vocal theme song of the expansion.

I hope curious players who haven't played FFXI, or even old time fans have fun reminiscing and looking back at this 1st foray into an FF MMO from the early 2000s. Maybe Square Enix should think about that FFXIV-FFXI joint subscription like they originally had planned way back in the day?

Overall, I can't wait to fully experience this little slice of Vana'diel in this new modern day context!

Hello, I wanted to ask a few questions about this release since I've never bought anything from the square store until now. Has anyone in the US received theirs yet? or at least see that it's on the way? I'm a little worried about receiving it before December since the product page updated to a vague "November 2024" release date when it used to say October 31 2024 when I pre-ordered it. I'm worried due to no longer being able to record it after December is why. It mentions "awaiting fulfillment" so maybe I'm a little worried about nothing, but I haven't heard the greatest things about Square Store and was wondering if people have gotten it yet is all.

I’d definitely say I was on the “Dawntrail is very good but has flaws” side of the discourse around launch but thoughts were all over the place. How do we feel now that it’s been a few months? I also haven’t played 14 in 3 months so I’m excited to go back for 7.1!

Shards are a complete hit and miss, and sometimes just never sell, and most things i try sit on the market board for ages. What can i sell, and sell quickly that’ll make me Gil?

Feels like it's gone incredibly downhill. The likes of Xenos, Zepla, Arthars etc have gotten so bad at this point obsessed with drama or other nonsense or and I don't even like looking at the XIV section on Twitch. It's kinda annoying. Feels like diet WoW at times and the feeling is so different than even a couple of years ago. MTQCapture is the only one from the early days of XIV streaming that has remained normal. For reference I've been enjoying some refreshing channels on YouTube like Synodic Scribe, Mr Happy, Wyrm Limion, Grinding Gear, Preach etc.

I know not everyone cares about Twitch or YouTube for XIV and that's fine, so just scroll past, but for anyone into it, do you have any recommendations? I like lore, general discussions, and a more positive atmosphere. Cheers.

I remember some time ago that they're was like people actually trying to recreate the game but it's been so long since I heard anything about it. Ik it's still a walking sim with only some skills working and mostly black mage spells working (white mage healing doesn't work at all) but does anyone know if that project is still going or not?

Are there any data centers in north america that don't have the road to 90 buff? Im trying to take my time with the leveling because i want to enjoy the joirney and slow progress. I'm not too interested in leveling more than one job at a time yet either, i really enjoy the one i picked a lot.

Hey all. If someone could help both my partner and myself out here, we'd be grateful. This issue suddenly started about 4-5 days ago for us and we cannot find any solution and its baffling us.

At the same time, every day now, the game's connection takes a sudden nosedive and becomes pretty much unplayable. This happens around 8pm CST and ends at about 10:25pm CST as if nothing happened.

Our connections will read excellent until then where they then read "good" and we start having bad delays, lag spikes, and rubberbanding everywhere.

The weird thing is, we live in two different states, with two completely different ISPs (he is on AT&T, I am on Comcast/Xfinity. And we are also on two different platforms (he is PS5, I am PC). The only thing we share is that we both use wifi. Wired is not an option due to our setups.

We have tried everything to solve this issue and we cannot figure out if its the game or if its us. During the affected time, we have no connection issues with any other games or even the devices in question. The wifi itself we tested and it's not dropping or having issues. We've also tried resetting the routers/modems and devices to see if that would fix it. No dice. It just stays all fucked up until 10:25ish and then goes back to normal.

It doesnt matter if we are already on the game (if we log on earlier the connection is perfect then goes to shit at 8pm). Or log on around that time (in which its already shit), we can't figure out why it's happening. We assumed it was another ddos, but when we checked, we saw no one complaining or no notice about it. So we are stumped.

Has anyone else been experiencing this? Otherwise is there anything else we can try? We're almost convinced it isn't us but we haven't seen anyone else having issues and we're just lost at this point. Thanks in advance!

I want to get the FINAL FANTASY XIV DAWNTRAIL Hoodie and i add in 2 other itme to made it hit $99 and above but it is still not giving me free shipping. Is it because of it is a preorder?

Will new Orange scrip crafter/gather be added?

Will the amount of holoblades needed to get a 720 weapon change from 7 to 5?

Anyone just ever run a normal roulette run of Praetorium and randomly you get an exclusively AUTO ATTACKING only and perma sprint BARD named "UNKNOWN 01"?

That was uh, entirely the problem I ran into today, roulette run of Prae, DPS Dragoon controlling a bard bot, perma sprint, perma army's paeon with NO animations whatsoever. (And both my partner and i have limited effects and animations on and when i showed them on my bard what the song was, they saw the animation).

Anyone else .. honestly seen more of these laetly ? This is like the third time in a month i've seen "Unknown 01" and 02 and 03

the outfit had an impression on me

I’m on crystal balmung and in an FC it’s not dead or anything I’m just looking for more but I’m trying to like make friends on my own in venues or just in random places but I get shy. I always overthink that someone may get freaked out for some reason? But I just want to find a spark in friendship and just have a chill time I don’t know why I’m struggling so hard with it

Just finished Heavensward and I’m so sad. We’ve obviously had deaths before but holy, when Haurchefant died I genuinely cried for the first time. And then we go see his dad and he does the whole “That’s my son! That’s my boy!” from Cedric Diggory’s dad and I was weeping. And then we go visit his grave and bring him back his shield and say he’s looking over the land again and I’m destroyed all over again. 😭😭 He was my true pal, the only one so far (except mayyybe Alphinaud) who ever has cared about the WoL as a person and not a weapon. I want him back.

My FC is mostly dead and it has almost completely killed my mood for being on the game. That's why I am hoping to make some friends I could at least have fun and hang out with, or at least some people to do content with. I've been playing for years, but I find it so intimidating to walk up to people and interact. Mostly have only interacted with people I know irl, but i really would love to change that.

With the 7.1 site updated what do we think of everything coming in 7.1?

This place scary, monsters scary, I want to go back and eat fish soup all day in Uldah again

I wanted to start the quest "escape from Castrum Centri" which requires wearing the imperial set. I searched in the armory chest but I couldn't find it! I went to the calamity salvager to buy the set again but, it seemed to already be in my possession. At that point I used the search item command on the desired object and it gave it to me in the inventory in the third block. Ultimately I hope it can be of help to all those who have had this misunderstanding like me! Have a nice journey

Hey guys, So I'm really confused on which gun to take as R1 in Sunrise mechanic of M4S! I'm doing Raidplan. All I know is as R1 i go from North to South but and that my gun should be different to my debuff color but how to know if it's NE, SE or a rare SW? Thank you in advance guys for replying.

I'm trying to get my classes up since I only have 3 maxed at the moment. I haven't done the Deep Dungeons all too much, so Heaven on High is one I'm currently at 85:15 in queue for to even start it. Palace of the Dead I sat in a 75 minute queue before giving up earlier this week for floor 50. Do people even play this shit or does everyone just do roulettes if they want to level? I want to slam these out but I can't justify these long queues every time, and even in roulettes I'm waiting 35-40 minutes on Aether for a queue pop. I've maxxed 2 crafters in the time that I've been in queue this week alone.

Hello everyone !

I bought items in the store 2 weeks ago but i wasn't home so i didn't log in to check if i received them. I came back today, logged in and didn't see them on the mail.

It is the first time i buy something, do i have to activate my purchase on the website or something ?

Thanks in advance for you replies :)

I just reached level 80 and I’m having so much fun with all the healers (and the honorary healer, the Dancer).

I LOVE white mage!! I love my pretty wings of temperance and I love the animations. I love how safe I feel when I play with my white mage. I feel like I can adapt and handle anything the game throws my way. I love that benediction and the stun of holy make WHM so powerful. I love that Assize heals and does damage at the same time! I love how the theme is relatively consistent (especially after transitioning to Glare and Dia from Stone and Aero). Omg I can’t wait for Liturgy of the Bell!

I LOVE astrologian!! I love handing out buffs like Halloween candy!! And doing the little combos that enhance abilities (like neutral sect and horoscope with aspected Helios). I love how busy and thoughtful it feels! It’s very satisfying when I do it right and so far not too punishing when I mess it up lol 😂. I also LOVE the theme and the glam!! I also love feeling like I’m empowering other players to do more damage and more healing! Collective Unconscious is my favorite shield! I love just standing there in pure bliss (have you guys ever zoomed in on your WoL’s face while they do it?). It’s so impressive. I also love their healing bomb, Earthly Star. The Astro weapon is my favorite. I love how all of them look!

I LOVE scholar!! I love having a faerie follow me around and help me. Eos tops everyone off which is so satisfying because I love seeing those full white bars. Plus the shielding is so powerful! I love having so many tools to mitigate damage on myself, the tank, and the rest of the party! I love how they’ve remained relatively consistent with the faerie theme!! :) I’m a huge nerd in real life and so I identify with the scholar archetype a lot. I’m excited to experiment with the Seraph more!

I LOVE sage!! It feels SOOOOO much fun and easy to play! The game play feels so responsive to me. I love how versatile it feels. I feel as though all I have to do is hit a switch and I’m pure healer. I hit it again and now barrier healer. I love the little barrier that is just for myself. It makes me feel super safe! I LOVE the aspect of healing my kardia partner while doing damage! So cool! I love how many different barriers I have at my disposal! I find it so interesting how techy the sage feels with the laser beams! It’s like the biomedical engineer of the group! Haha

And, honorary healer mention, I LOVE my dancer!!! I love that the dancer can heal others and put shields on others! It’s my favorite thing about Dancer! I just do damage damage damage in a rhythm that feels so satisfying and then every now and then when the party/healer needs a bit of help I can heal or when there is a raid wide or stack AoE I pop shield samba and it feels amazing to me!