[FFXI] Vanafest 2012 Wrap Up

Alright. This will be last in a string of FFXI related posts.

Vanafest 2012 is over, so let's go over some of the highlights from the 2 day event.

Read on.



The event started with Square Enix CEO Wada giving a short speech. In it he mentioned that FFXI is the most profitable Final Fantasy ever. Never would have guessed (!). No really, it's always been kind of obvious but confirmation from their CEO is pretty nice.

So.. first up, big news.
The 5th expansion for Final Fantasy XI "Seekers of Adoulin" was announced and showcased, for release in 2013.

Its been 5 years since the last full disc expansion (Wings of the Goddess) was released. Needless to say this has gotten everyone excited. Many players had been skeptical as to whether they'd ever release a full expansion again.

Watch the reveal trailer here.

Seekers of Adoulin will bring with it a new continent to the West of the Middle Lands called Ulbuka.

It will feature a new town, new areas to explore, with battle systems and monsters... and new jobs! 

First, lets look at some concept art and development images of the new towns and areas.

This is Adoulin.

This is a jungle area.

Some monster and character concept art.

And now for the two jobs that were announced.

Geomancer

Appears to be a support class that uses area-based buffs and elemental attacks. They get special bonuses for positioning too. Pretty interesting, although I think their AF looks pretty fugly.

Rune Fencer

Designated as the third tank class. Rune Fencers use runes to give themselves defensive and offensive capabilities. They seem to specialize in magic defense. They look way cooler imo.

During the dev panel, they went through some of the gameplay systems from Seekers of Adoulin, as well as what to expect in terms of the new Play As A Monster system and UI reforms. Nothing that major to note.

Before the close of the festival tho, Hiromichi Tanaka did announce that he would be stepping down as Producer and leaving Square Enix due to health reasons. He will be replaced by Akihiko Matsui (current battle director of FFXIV). I wish him the best for his health and all future endeavors.
These 10 years in FFXI with you have been a wonderful experience Tanaka-san.

And that really is the highlight of Vanafest 2012. It was mainly about announcing the new expansion. And of course for those who were there, to revel in the festivities set up for them, including a live quest event, trivia quiz, food based on those appearing in FFXI and live band performances.

Thankfully someone recorded some of these performances off the live stream to share with everyone.
Enjoy!

Naoshi Mizuta's special band for the event Nanaa Mihgo's


Nobuo Uematsu's band Earthbound PAPAS.