Let's Be Sentimental! Gear Will You Always Keep?

In the rare case that gear is 100% obseleted nowadays, I can toss any of it (well, reclaim it for 600 marks lmao) but I'm sure we all have some treasures.

For me, there's three.

O.Kotes. My first job was MNK and as I hit monk 30, my 75 paladin friend told me I needed o.kotes and Jujitsu gi. I still remember we went 2 drops / 8 claims / 10 pops on Mee Deggi and 1/1/2 on the Orc. I got some claims and sometimes died for it or due to links but they sit somewhere on a mule. The Gi eventually got given away to a newbie in need.

Byakko's Haidate: Probably 90% of old players would have this on their list. It was a great piece and had the lucrative stat Haste and didn't have negative side effects!!!! I obtained mine in a fair queue same as every other member of that LS.

I quit in WotG and came back to Abyssea and one of my old friends pops up ("Let me aug your haidate for you!"). I did all the things he told me to and the first augment sucked. On the second one, he said "oh ***" and I thought he broke them like crafting can lose a piece of gear. I was so gutted I was ready to re-quit right then.

Sure, we were 90 and could easily go get another pair but bigsad. It's not the same pixels!

Parade Gorget: My 75 PLD friend was the main inspiration to play PLD and I'm glad I did because I found out getting hit is my cup of tea. About the time I was 45, he told me I'd need that as well so we went and popped that ***.

My PLD friend, Lamal of Kujata, wasn't amazingly geared and PLD was his only 75. He was a busy guy irl and a casual player. The enemy, a DRK goblin was a mean fight for the two of us. For all the damage we could do, Souleater Blood Weapon put it back, but we won and won twice.

My Mandau is AG'd. Wholly ***dagger in utility and I talk ***on it all the time. But it's there. And if one shows up in FFRK...I'm pulling for it.

Rain Hat and Nadrs for me. The amount of hours waiting for spawn, not to mention the drop rate. Memoriessss

Composite fishing rod and halcyon rod, got em 11 years ago,

for composite:fishing moat carps but it not catching half the time since the rod was too big for small fish and i was broke.

Halcyon: stoped getting fish is too small message

-Peacock Charm: because I had no clue what the fugging hell I was in for. My first NM
-Optical hat: Because this was pretty much the highlight of FFXI, when the game was at its best. 2 Alliances of 18 people trying to get to Hakutaku camp. 2/3rds didn't know the way. Those that did spent 4-6 hours guiding, sneaking/invis and raising dead people.
-Armada Hauberk: Big FU check out my status statement
-Ridill: 4 Linkshells broken to Ridill Drama, I finally get it in 2009.

This thread makes me want to re subscribe...must resist heavy nostalgia...

How could Ridill not be on EVERYONE's list. There was never a weapon with more drama in FFXI

Except for a level 18 no subjob WAR in the dunes with an onion sword.

That Sword, and maybe D.ring, have caused more drama than ISIS!
The second Fafnir and Nidhogg became popped spawns, all of a sudden you and me were friends.
Linkshells everywhere stopped talking trash to each other. We all woke up from a spell.
The days of AscendantSky vs Excellence LS, all gone...Stanislav actually seemed human.

Bring back the Ridill days!

I keep everything that is R/E. Send it off to a mule. Sometimes might even catch me doing very old content just to farm all the gear I never got when it was relevant. Did things like upgrade all of the salvage armor while I farmed Alex etc...

Winged Pendent - every job I leveled used this piece

Battle Gloves - they looked awesome and had 3 acc on them (when acc cost an arm and a leg)

rangers necklace - I picked ranger over sam as my first level 30 job just because this piece was so good and free!

Rain Hat
Kirin Osode
JoyToy
oclub
Byakko Haidate
Armada Hauberk
Fancy Spectacals
Coven hat
Eerie cloak 1
Soboro Sukehiro
Fortune egg
But got a few more items Items I love on mule ill check later.

they dont get much use these days, but i'll never part with them! Collect all the rare drk things!


Also my Borealis which I always lockstyle on drk + runefencer, even when my epeolatry gets done ill still be rockin the snowflake pulse weapon gsword look.

Ancient torque and my very first signed scorpion harness+1

anything i can fit in the porter moogle.

Rajas Ring <3

Homam set and nyzule isle set, came in handy when i lvld drg and sam.

The Story Of Seiya is a long one. A story which I clung too for years, hoping he would return one day. Lately I found myself not caring if he does or not .. it's been years since he left.

Seiya was a mysterious character on Hades who spent all his time helping low leveled adventurers from 04-06. He was a higher-leveled THF, but as he was always /anon it wasn't easy to determine his level. I guessed he never reached 75 THF, but had at least one job on 75. He never told anyone who he was, or where he came from. Often spoke in riddles, and his motivational talk was very appealing to my LS members. He told me how he was there for the FFXI Beta in Japan, and got to see the game in its most basic form. He was fascinated by RMT; often spending hours at one of their camps to study their automated movements.

He was the Papa Bear of my linkshell. I was the LS leader, but our members looked up to him first. I tried to help where I could .. but as a Dark Knight I didn't have much to offer. He always wore the same set.. a Green Beret +1, Scorpion Harness +1, and Merman's Hands, legs and feet. It wasn't difficult to spot him in a crowd.

And then .. in '06 he announced he would be leaving forever. It was an emotional time, we had a leaving party and it remains one of the saddest days in the history of my playtime. We were literally crying in real life over him, even though he never revealed who he was. He handed out many different sets of gear (he collected all different levels of sets and stored 'em at the NPC in Bastok Markets), before coming to the end. Even though I couldn't wear any of the pieces, he gave me his THF set. He bought the SH+1 back when it cost like.. 50m+ .. can't remember how much exactly but it was a ridiculous amount. I promised to level THF on his behalf, and one day wear the set.

Years later he returned outta' nowhere. I finally learned he was an old man, and a Buddhist living in Thailand. He could write in English and Japanese, which explained why he could get into a JP LS while others couldn't. He told me how JP LS often had a strict initiation process; like having to show your LS leader how you solo mobs and how/when to use spells (which was a lot to ask of inexperienced players back then).

Before he left again forever .. he kept pushing me to move on from the game but never did. Turns out I love this game more than him, but I'm grateful he was able to instill these values in me. I still try my best to include players, I still want to help them, and I will never charge them for my help. His old set remains on one of my mules .. but when I look at them, it reminds me of the old man from Thailand .. the mysterious helper who somehow captured the hearts of all the players he assisted.

It sucks he never truly returned to do endgame stuff with me and my dad Quilly .. he would've been a fantastic player .. but I know he never played FFXI to be the best-geared. He played FFXI to be the best human being possible, and I wish more players could be like he was. Farming Slime Oils with him in Korroloka Tunnel .. is hard to forget. They were good times, but I know they will never happen again. I don't wait on him anymore .. instead, I do what I can to make FFXI better for everyone on our server .. just like he did over a decade ago. Thanks for reading.

Epeoletry is hideous. Always lockstyle that.

Very cool

Spelunker's Hat

I MPKed that dude on Aquarius one time.

Welp, I just read this story before heading out to work, and I can tell ya now, I'm no good. In tears. Mama, I'm a man...why do I feel this vulnerable????

Nothing to brag about.

I have a pair of balance rings (HQ level 14 DEX rings) that have been around since 2004 or so. They probably saw more level-ups than any other piece of gear I have so I haven't been able get rid of them, even though they aren't useful anymore.

Joytoy.

I waited a year and a half to obtain Ridill. All the drama, all the competition and all the memories made this a memorable treasure.



Another year went into waiting to get my hands on the Aquarian Abjuration for Dalmatica. The fact that my buddy broke the synthesis twice also added to the memories for this item.



I made a part-time 'living' selling these with a JP friend of mine. We controlled the ToD for at least 7 months before RMT became interested in it.



This was just plain nostalgia that went into camping this otherwise useless item. Some people enjoy the grind. :S

For anyone who liked the short story of Seiya and wanted a little extra .. Ive provided more detail with screenshots below.

My dad Quilly (his first char Quilax) with LS members Cenore (an American friend, she became a level 75 Monk), Mounja (an Australian friend, he became a level 75 RDM before quitting for good) and Seiya waiting for the airship. In those days, he played Quilax on my account (I still use it as a mule) so we had to take it in turns to play.



Sometimes he liked to chill in the Neptune's Spire Inn. He'd been quiet for a while so I met up with him to find out why. As usual, he had a riddle for me to decipher before going AFK again.



Can't remember why we went to Garlaige Citadel .. DRK doesn't need the coffer in the area for Artifact. Either way, it was one of the last adventures we had together. He had become a little distant so it was nice to go somewhere with him.



Didn't see him for weeks, the LS members grew anxious and asked for him almost daily. When he did log in .. he didn't have much to say. One day I got a message from him through Playonline saying he was going to be leaving the game. I arranged a leaving party which started in Bastok Markets and ended on top of Zegham Hill in North Gustaberg at the monument by the graveyard.

Almost all the LS members showed up for the event. Despite everyone feeling down, Seiya became Mr. Entertainer. He didn't want us to be sad to see him leave .. so he transformed into different beasts, including a Rabbit, and a Worm. It helped a little.





After an emotional time.. and tons of equipment being handed out (I got his Axe collection too .. but I parted with it a few years ago), Seiya chose his last destination to log out. He said there was no point in following as there wouldn't be much to see. Of course .. everyone followed him up Zegham Hill. We lit fireworks and cheered him on as he took a knee and disappeared 30 seconds later. The sense of loss was too real to hold back the tears. I didn't say anything to the LS for over an hour .. but when I did, I promised to keep doing what Seiya did and be a leader they could be proud of. I knew I couldn't replace him, but I could still get to 75 and help others at least.



Quilax became Quilly shortly after and we met up a few days later. Cenore had become a high-level MNK and look set to help us. The future looked bright .. with Cenore and Mounja's help we could do well. Sadly, aside from Q and myself, Cenore, Mounja and other students of Seiya either quit the game or formed their own linkshells over the years. The one big thing Cenore did for us was get me into my first endgame event in Dynamis (I was still too focused on helping newbies .. so she really had to push me into it). To this day .. there remains a handful of Seiya's pupils in Quilly's linkshell LagunasWarriors.



I remember getting a phone call from Q when I was out at a friends wedding reception .. he told me Seiya had returned. I couldn't believe it .. I had accepted the fact we would never see him again. Of course, I had grown a lot since then and the game was different too. I was more endgame focused, whereas Seiya was never endgame focused. He had constant power levelers for days despite never asking for it .. those who remembered him insisted in taking their help. He was a little disappointed I still played the game (he always told me I needed to focus more on real-life), but was happy to see me again. Even more so when I turned up in his old THF set .. a screenshot I seem to have lost. After getting his Warrior to 75, we met up again in Bastok Markets for a screenshot.



The red pearl he wore in the above SS was a new linkshell he formed called the KnightsOfPegasus. He refused to join MarleysMessenjas (blue pearl) as he said we'd all "grown up". It was a great time to badger him for info .. as for a couple of years I'd wondered who he was, where did he come from? What was his name? How old was he? Luckily he was able to disclose a few details .. although he remained reluctant and it took persistence to get anything out of him.

He also wouldn't let me join KnightsOfPegasus to begin with. I was a bit annoyed .. as I wanted to jump in and help out sometimes. Eventually he let me have a pearl .. so I visited a few times but I soon realized it was like an old MarleysMessenjas .. and they were his people. He had a system, and I wasn't about to complicate it so I kept my distance.

About a year later, Seiya started logging in less and less. It wasn't the same this time though, it was like he'd grown tired of FFXI and disliked how little help the new players needed. They didn't need his assistance much .. there were other ways to get information. Just like he did for me .. he trained loyal disciple Chevalios up to be the next real leader of the KnightsOfPegasus.

After he left .. abruptly without saying goodbye to me or Quilly, Chevalios let me know he was gone again and he would reform KnightsOfPegasus with the new name Pegasus. The LS died out a couple of years ago, and Chevalios recently returned to the game and joined Quilly's LS.

Since then, there's been reports of Seiya returning under different names for brief periods. In 2011, I distinctly remember a player with a short name sending me a /tell, and the way they formed sentences was really familiar. I asked them if they were indeed Seiya .. and I got a riddle in return. I also remember a couple of years ago when a stranger asked me for help out of the blue. I didn't know them, and I was busy at the time .. but according to Chevalios it was Seiya in disguise again.

Earlier this year, Chevalios once again said he thought he'd found Seiya under a different name but couldn't confirm it. I told him how the story of Seiya was an old one .. and although I respect everything he did for us .. I ain't waiting on him. He wouldn't have anything to teach players if he returned .. and he certainly wouldn't play long enough to get into endgame. I fully expect that I will never see the old Buddhist from Thailand for the rest of my life .. but it's Ok as we have the memories.

The story is about good human nature. It shows how someone can be completely unselfish in a game which encourages it. It shows that even though we all come from different sides of the world .. we can become family. What it's like is the feeling of mourning the loss of a loved one. You could stand around and talk to them for hours and not feel bad for wasting playtime. I made a screenshot today, and I assume it will be the last one to be linked to this story. Will only lose this set when the game is shut down forever .. of if SE deletes my character. Have a nice day! And again .. thanks for reading.

Im typically a packrat. I'll never toss ex furniture or armor from quests ect. Sometimes i get ***to to collect on portor.

Few things I do keep on me:
Blood 5/5 (one of my original goals in game)
Excal/mandau (same)

A wax sword +1 some nice guy met when I first started the game he gave me as a gift, quit soon after.

Some signed stuff from old friends(gilgamesh):
Bunch of Evett stuff, mostly goldsmith rings from 75 era
Plutos staff [kingdiamond]
Straps [mesco]
Federstion kyahan [yukiba]
Bee spatha +1 [syferxion]
Holiday items [marshmellow]