UNCONFIRMED Rough zones in ROMs for an upcoming expansion?Follow

This is super exciting guys. And is probably why the last update was so big.

Bear in mind, before everyone gets all excited, there is always the possibility this is fake. But with Vanafest looming, and hints of a big announcement, my hopes are officially up.

Source (with pictures)

Wouldn't be farfetched with the test server cilent having the new rom 9 folder.

Well that will put a damper on a certain doom and gloom guy's parade. With vanafest being in 7 days guess I'll buy some energy drinks listening to the stream. A new city pretty nifty depending on if it becomes the next hub or not.


Some people are hard to please next they would be complaining about reskinned mobs..

Well i'll be damned...well more damned than i prolly am atm anyways.

I'm keeping the caveat 'UNCONFIRMED" squarely in my mind, but this could be the VERY thing FFXI needs after the the rough and tumble year its just had. I'm gonna be following this with much interest.


EDIT: Forgot to say thanks OP for sharing this nugget!

Edited, Jun 16th 2012 8:16pm by spiritreaverdiablos

Come on new expansion!

A hidden forest zone in the dats. This explains a lot about where all those VW logs come from.

(TBH, it's quite probably for the dungeon crawl thing they've been talking about.)

Edited, Jun 16th 2012 9:44pm by Goblinbarstood

I know I was joking the other day when I suggested that all the changed data in this otherwise meager update was due to changing the file format to make more zones possible, but... CALLED IT!

Sounds like an in-game manifestation of their customer service.


In the link, that town definately looks distinct. Hopefully more zones follow in another update. It has slight airs of Zilart early on (2 jungles). It's very green. Kinda seems unlike Far East/West/North based on in-game & item descriptions, the jungles might invoke Far South, but so much of it looks like temperate green zones it may just be some island inbetween the middle lands & Far West or be somewhere east or south of the Near East. The tunnel seems to add to it looking Zilartian which would suggest near Zilart geographically, which would be Far South.

But for the first time in years, it's something tangible more than reskins of the old-timey or apocalyptic variety. New, original zones is far better than Abyssea-Dynamis-Diorama-Purgonorgo Abdhaljs.

I am going to agree that the city is probably the Mithran Homelands, based on my belief it they resembles this:




Edited, Jun 16th 2012 11:59pm by stupidmonkey

I was just saying that to a friend of mine the other day, that I think they'd redeem themselves a bit over their somewhat lackluster updates as of late if it turned out they were devoting so much of their time to a new expansion. Since it seems that this is possibly the case, it makes it a bit more understandable that we haven't had many "huge" changes to the game in awhile.

I've been so dissapointed with what they have done to this game for the last couple of years since the success of Aby. I'll wait and see what this ends up being.

If it does turn out to be an expansion it better be good, with a ton of effort put into it and not just a cash grab.

It was my first MMO and I still care about it, even though I don't play it now I would probably come back if they put effort into it again..since I think so much of FFXI I take it kinda personally when they pee all over it as they are doing for the last 2 years. For games that I didn't give a crap about I never commented on, I just quit and forget they exist, this includes WoW/Rift/GWAoC and a multitude of other games.

I miss the game, I miss my char, I miss the world and it genuinely pisses me off that a) they forced me to quit a game I loved and played for 7 years uninterrupted cause of the horrible crap Tanaka and co kept adding and b) they are putting so much effort into XIV at the expense of XI. If it was just my opinion that the last 2 years have been crap ok, but it's widely accepted they are giving the XI players trash. Unless anyone thinks VW drop rates, Neo nyzul, Legion, meteor drop rates etc are good?

I hope it's a new expansion and I hope it's good because XI deserves more effort and thought than they have been putting into it recently, for a game that has been so good to SE over the 10 years it's existed it should get better treatment and not be in the shadow of a game that failed and has a player-base of 12k worldwide subscribers.

Well that over head view reminds me greatly of the square in front of the cathedral and the chateau with different streets.

I'm just hoping with a bit more time, they start phasing out the ps2 and give this game a nice graphical makeover. The game is still highly profitable, and some new shiny graphics might bring in some new and old players alike. With a graphical makeover, maybe improve the game engine. Every time I come back to this game, you really see how slow and sluggish it is in comparison to more modern games. Now I realize this is all wishful thinking and would probably require an entire overhaul of the games coding, but one could only hope.

A new expansion would definitely make me consider subbing up again for awhile.

Those zones have been in the game since as long as we've been dat mining, though. The ROM9 zones are from within the last six months.

Well him and the poster directly above you. I for one was already excited for this weekend and this news has only intensified that feeling of excitement. I haven't felt this way about FFXI in awhile and it's a good feeling to have. So I offer a toast to those of us in good spirits </em raises a glass>, May the life of Final Fantasy XI continue on a good while longer and when it does go may it go out with a bang and not a whisper as it was seeming to before this news came to light.

I've long since been of the mind that it's not the number of zones that matters, but what's done with them. If that puts me in the negative nancy camp, whatever. New zones alone don't excite me. Pragmatically, we've seen general representations of many kinds of environment types within the game at present (jungles, plains, deserts, icelands, volcanoes, etc.). So, assuming all of this hints to any kind of add-on or expansion, I'm more concerned with what will be done with the zone(s) to keep people in them and enjoying being there. And that basically means engaging combat systems with meaningful rewards.

Which is fine. I'd just rather urge people not to hype themselves up too much. Even when ToAU was in its prime, for example, you didn't exactly see people singing the praises of Halvung and such. Why? The zone had some sh*tty mechanics (doors and an abundance of non-connected sections on top of true sight mobs) and very little to actually do in it. I'd call it an aesthetic stinker, too, but it was basically IC 2.0 on textures.

Why has no one brought up the idea of new jobs? Every expansion pack has brought us new jobs.

I can't see any new jobs tbh, what can they add that won't take away from the current jobs? Unless if they did something like job upgrades. i.e. 99 mnk morphs into 01 Kung fu master or something lol.

20 jobs is enough I think but something I wish they'd add is some kind of battlefield where you must have one of each job and ONLY one. I think it would be fun and it could be like a maze thing where you'll need certain jobs to do certain things to progress through to get to the end kinda like how the mage gate works. The only problem I'd see with something like this is if someone DCs or decides to rage and leave everyone else screwed.

Idk I guess I want them to make more creative and imaginative endgame stuff that is more than just "throw a bunch of blms or DDs at it" and no more proc systems.

I have recently returned (jan.) to ff11 and am loving it again. i took a long break many moons ago at 75 cap and tbh, it was a mistake
I really enjoy abyssea and all the changes made since the cap was 75. I duo as much as I can with a close friend, just 2 ppl in a timeless game.

If any new zones or any new expansion is really in the future then I'm tickled regardless. After intensely playing wow, ff14, aion ,rift...ff11 is by far, imo, the most gratifying game around.
I will take anything they add because at the end of the day, other games no matter how new, how beautiful in appearance, how revolutionary they say they are, just dont "feel" right like 11 does.

If they were wise they would spend alot more time upgrading/refacing the entire ff11 game and not worry so much about 14. The damage is done to 14, it will never be what it could have been.

so fingers crossed this new found info may lead to something more :o)

Saying things you don't want to hear doesn't make someone an idiot/curmudgeon/troll. I don't want to put words in Vlor's keyboard, but while you're entitled to whatever opinion you want you're not necessarily entitled to express it here. If the mods don't want personal attacks then don't do personal attacks. Refute his claims, express your opposing view, and rate him down.

This is so awesome, I rated you up three times for sharing

Man I hope this is authentic, I'll be first in line to order the expansion

Just because he has a different opinion on it and actively voices said opinion doesn't mean that he's a troll, nor does it mean he's an idiot. I personally have disagreed with his feelings as of late in regards to XI's immediate future and have responded to it, but I respect his opinion on the matter, and I don't think he's doing it just to rile people up. The tone he's using might be a bit excessive, but I believe his opinion is genuine and not something he's just saying to start people flaming.

Besides, actively bashing and flaming people, regardless of whether they're trolling or not, is never the best idea, because if I end up needing to down rate, mute, etc, those that were doing the flaming are just as accountable as the initial trolls, if not moreso. There's a reason why you're told not to feed the troll, and flaming suspected trolls is doing just that. It's best to just go with the "Two wrongs don't make a right" adage and just don't respond to them if you think they're trolling.

Edited, Jun 18th 2012 10:36am by Vlorsutes

Dang it lolgaxe, you made milk come out of my nose!