Happy New Year 2025

(quick link to event guide)
==New Year's Wishes==
Happy New Year, adventurers! I would like to offer you my best wishes as we start the new year.
Thanks to all of you, FFXI welcomes yet another year of adventure within the wonderful world of Vana'diel. On behalf of the entire FFXI team, I would like to offer our utmost gratitude for your kind support.
In last year's greetings, I mentioned that we would be providing regular maintenance and updates to the game so that everyone could enjoy playing it for a long time to come. To that end, we have made various updates that helped improve the game's playability, as well as numerous optimizations to its operating environment.
Examples of last year's major updates
*Replacement of game servers
*GAMEPAD Config adjustments
*Addition of an icon to denote items that can be delivered to other characters under the same account
*Launch of Vana'Bout
*Addition of Level 9 in Besieged
*Addition of new Master Trial content
Some improvements from last year that we are continuing to work on include upgrading more of the game's servers, item level support for Besieged, adding the ability to change your character's race, and much more. Please keep an eye out for these updates over the course of the year to come.
Other non-game developments
I'd also like to talk about some events that are happening outside of the game.
As I stated in last year's greeting, "It is my strong belief that as the world of Vana'diel expands, it will continue to live on and thrive, especially within FFXI itself as well as various other related events." As part of those efforts, we were able to hold a variety of in-person events and livestreams so that everyone could experience the joys of Vana'diel in all-new ways.
===FINAL FANTASY XIV "Echoes of Vana'diel"===
The FFXI development team helped oversee the creation of the setting and content for this exciting addition to FINAL FANTASY XIV. Thanks to the passion of the former FFXI developers and also adventurers (!) on the FFXIV team, it was hard for me to tell whether the game was based in FFXI or XIV. The content received an amazing response from the gaming community, and it reminded me just how much FFXI is loved by people throughout the world.
There is even more story and battle content scheduled to be added in the future, so if you're currently playing FFXIV, stay tuned for more details to come.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you adventurers who have watched and enjoyed these videos, as well as everyone who helped make them a reality. Given the number of passionate people involved with this game, we plan to continue highlighting them as part of this video series in the year to come.
===FFXI Adventurers' Survey 2024===
We received tons of valuable feedback as part of this survey, so I would like to thank all of you for your support!
With more than 13,000 responses, we really felt the love and passion of not only adventurers who are currently playing the game, but also those who may have been away for a while. We've compiled some of the highlights from the survey for your perusal, so please feel free to take a look at them here.
All of the responses we received will be carefully reviewed, including those in the open comments section. We also plan to refer to these results when deciding the direction of the game going forward.
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Moving on, I would like to talk about the future of FFXI for a bit.
While some of these initiatives were already being discussed before the survey, I want to cover some of the game elements that will be adjusted due to what we managed to glean from the survey responses.
===Expanded solo play options===
Many people play the game solo for various reasons, including instances when it is difficult to form parties, or simply because they prefer to experience the game on their own. In order to provide such players with an extra challenge, we will be looking at powering up the alter ego system and also taking another look at the entry requirements for battle content that requires players to form parties. By doing so, it is our hope that solo players can have an experience that is more in-line with the endgame content.
===Autogroup improvements===
If you wish to create a party, you need to recruit other players through the chat function, which can be cumbersome for the player doing the recruiting and also serves as a barrier to party formation. Therefore, we are currently looking into a system that at least partially organizes parties based on adventurers who want to play the same game content at any given time. For example, we have discussed the possibility of opening up the Assist Channel, which is aimed at beginners and returning players, to the general player base and adding to it a party recruitment channel that includes a party formation system.
===Revitalizing existing content and character leveling adjustments===
The survey included many requests to make improvements to existing game content and also implement additions to the battle content. Last year, we added support for higher levels to Besieged, which I feel was a good response to such requests.
Continuing on this path, we are considering implementing item level support for Besieged and also refreshing the Limbus area as well, so we'll be following up with more updates once they're available.
In addition, the large amount of content that has been added to the game over the years means that it can be difficult to know where to start when leveling up your character.
Therefore, we are considering ways to help you progress through the quests, such as adjustments to the Records of Eminence or by reducing the number of upgrade steps needed for your equipment. These changes should help players gain access to higher level equipment more easily.
Please note that while we are still trying to decide the exact specifications and timelines of such efforts, we are rather close to finalizing things.
While we will continue to examine and confirm the relevant details, we have decided to make improvements such as additional automaton attachments and blue magic sets a priority. We also have various other improvements in mind, so we'll be sure to share them when we have more info!
If we are to successfully implement any of these features, we must first ensure that the game is able to continue operating smoothly. Therefore, our development and operations teams will be giving priority to the game's stability and ease of play throughout the year so that we can provide you with the game experience you've come to expect while also making new additions and improvements.
I hope that you continue to enjoy the world of FFXI.
Yoji Fujito
Director, FINAL FANTASY XI
==Event Period==
Tuesday, December 31, 2024, at 7:00 a.m. (PST) to Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at 6:59 a.m.POL NA
Additionally, during the following period, Chacharoon in will sell special items that are only available for a limited time.
Tuesday, December 31, 2024, at 7:00 a.m. (PST) to Tuesday, January 7, 2025, at 6:00 a.m.
Read on for the list of limited-time items.
==Event Details==
During the event, lucky dragons will be parading around the following areas.
Trade them items and gil to receive a variety of other items and magic effects.
==NPCs and related areas==
===NPC:===
*Summoner
==Limited-Time Items==
Themed limited-time items will go on sale for one week after the start of the New Year (JST). There are two types of items, and each can be purchased once per Earth day, even though Chacharoon's dialogue appends "Done for today" to both after buying the first.
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Trade Chacharoon gil to obtain a New Year's Pouch.
*Trading him between 5,000 and 9,999 gil grants players one SP Gobbie Key per Earth day.
*Trading him 10,000 or more gil grants players one Silver A.M.A.N. voucher per Earth day.
==References==
Category:2025 Special Events