LOS ANGELES (March 24, 2009) – Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of Square Enix® interactive entertainment products in North America, today announced the upcoming launch of the Square Enix Account System and Square Enix Security Token in Japan, North America and Europe on April 7, 2009 PDT. Offering additional account safeguards to players of FINAL FANTASY® XI, these new initiatives provide for a higher level of account security. The new system will utilize the Square Enix Security Token, which will be available to purchase for $9.99 via the PlayOnline® Viewer.

Creating a Square Enix Account is free and can be done by anyone via the official Square Enix website. With this new system in place beginning April 7, 2009 PDT, Square Enix Accounts will be compatible with FINAL FANTASY XI and PlayOnline, as well as future online services.

After registering a Square Enix Account and purchasing the Square Enix Security Token, players can then assign the token to their PlayOnline ID(s). Using the token will generate a one-time password every 30 seconds for the account. Implementation of these new features is an extension of Square Enix’s commitment to continuous service for our customers.

Additionally, players who purchase a security token will also receive the brand new in-game bonus, the “Mog Satchel.” The “Mog Satchel” provides additional inventory space and benefits all characters on the PlayOnline account(s). The space provided by the “Mog Satchel” is equal to the character’s Gobbiebag capacity and can expand along with it. In order to utilize the bonus, it will be necessary for the customer’s PlayOnline ID to be linked to a Square Enix Account.
Square Enix Account

Registration Launch: – April 7, 2009 (Mon)
Registration Location: – Square Enix website
Compatible Services (Initial): – FINAL FANTASY XI, PlayOnline

Square Enix Security Token

Release Date: – April 7, 2009 (Mon)
Price: – $9.99（Includes tax and shipping）
Where to Purchase: – Available for purchase via the PlayOnline Viewer
Bonus with Purchase: – The ”Mog Satchel” will be included as an in-game bonus for FINAL FANTASY XI players who purchase a security token(*1). The “Mog Satchel” will provide up to 80 additional inventory slots and can be accessed anywhere whether the player is in the Mog House or out adventuring in Vana’diel®. (*2)

*1 It is required for the PlayOnline ID to be linked to the Square Enix Account that has a security token associated.
*2 The space provided by the Mog Satchel is equal to the character’s Gobbiebag capacity.

Am I getting one? Hell yeah. Already planned on it when it was initially announced! The Mog Satchel is even more of an incentive, and totally worth the few extra bucks it costs over the WoW Security Token. Portable Mog Space? YES, PLEASE!

edit: Yes, that emphasis is mine. Just annoyed as hell people can’t read something so simple….

I am making a really hard choice here, but it has to be done unless I wish to pay my workplace back all of the tuition they paid for me attending training. Basically, unless I am checking plants or doing something that allows me to be AFK *most* of the time; I am not touching FFXI. Dynamis will be on hold next week, and I’m am crossing my fingers that BRD relic doesn’t drop or I’m going to cry like the big baby I am. Which is kind of ok, since my sister’s birthday will be next week and I KNOW I will get an earful if I choose to play a videogame over her.

Anyway, Dynamis-Windurst was a lot more fun compared to last week’s run despite being unable to get the clear for the second time in a row. Last week was just an utter mess for us, primarily due to someone being unable to listen to directions and standing on bridges when they weren’t supposed to and then demanding a R3 for every single time he died. The last half of the run was what really got us, but overall its been a lot of fun without the unnecessary stress from people wanting to cause chaos during a run. I even played in Dynamis with all of my settings still intact because I had forgotten to tone them down. It played rather smoothly, even with all the other edits I made to the registry to get it to look good awhile ago.

Now, for awhile I had made the edits but I didn’t really notice the difference as I often play with my brightness and contrast settings on my monitor down. My screen is bright as hell and it often hurts when its late or when I have a pounding migraine. So Saturday evening I finally raised it up and I was so surprised at how different the game really was! Haha. I just wish I knew what to do when the sky occasionally looks kinda… weird and patchy. It doesn’t happen all the time but it looks like that sometimes and tends to bug the heck out of me.

So, yeah. I need to stop messing around and actually get my work done. -_-;

After reading some comments about the Security Token, I can’t help but be utterly confused as to why there is such resistance against the attempt to add on security with this device. Maybe its the fact people would have to buy it? I know some people feel its enough to just use Firefox, its add ons, and a firewall. Personally, I don’t feel safe enough just using those if I am on my laptop and roaming around. Maybe I’m paranoid, but I think to me its like safe sex with some random stranger you are hooking up with (my analogy for hooking up my laptop to various Wi-Fi hot spots)? Better safe than sorry! Which is especially true after I had my credit card info stolen late last year… /sigh

Anyway, Advetures of a Taru BLM by vxsote on Livejournal has written up an excellent FAQ concerning the Security Token. I think its worth a read for those who still have questions about the Security Token or just to read in general. Probably the few things I am worried about is: battery and what to do if it gets out of sync. Though I guess as vxsote has said, it will probably suck to be me given S-E’s track record. :

Camp: Mount Zhayolm (J-8), Campaign, Gustav Tunnel (I-9 second map), Spell Hunting
Targets: Magmatic Eruca (Mount Zhayolm), Various (Campaign), Robber Crab & Doom Undead (Gustav Tunnel)

Ok, so this is me officially catching up on the BLU leveling entry. Basically at one point I was trying to help Orophen (BLU), Mekare (BLU), and Makai (BLM) catch up and had to go as BRD here in order to try to balance things out. It was kind of ugly being in Mount Zhayolm with our set up, but at least some people gained a level and that is all that really mattered in the end.

At this point Mekare and Orophen had given me the OK to basically level up in Campaign and they had done the same. I gained a level or two in Campaign to help me get medals so that I can catch up to everyone else and also get access to gear I wanted. At level 64, we partied again together with just the three of us in Gustav. The Gustav exp kind of sucked for me, but was fine for Orophen. Note: you need to be REALLY careful about blood aggro. The room next to you has a TON of undead mobs and we actually pulled one with blood aggro when we didn’t realize we had moved too close to the other end of the room.

I’m going to make the comment here that if by now people haven’t managed to learn how to manage MP, things kind of suck in terms of being able to chain. Or, in our case, don’t piss off your other party member. We had a spat here and things kind of went down here between two of us, but that’s done and in the past.

As for 65? Well two out of three of us currently have it. Mekare and I happened to get some of it from Campaign and then I finished some more of it off by getting EXP off of monsters we are hunting for spells.

This weekend we plan on leveling again, but I have a feeling we might be trying out FoV for the higher levels next month for the upcoming April update. Definitely looking forward to it! Especially with added Refresh and all~

We’re still working on the final version, but we tossed something up because it seems people miss giant mandy when she’s gone. ;x This time its not a giant mandragora, but a scene taken out of Azumanga Daioh. I haven’t gotten that far into the series to have seen this part but Derrick/Orophen has and I still thought it was funny and cute. Real banner will come when it comes… we already have some ideas but we’re settling on the continuation of the battle between Calaera and her dream HNM Mandragora. <3 Now if ONLY S-E would realize just how much we need a giant Mandragora wrecking chaos in the game. IF ONLY.

If I ever have to fight a Buffalo or Sheep, I swear I’m going to threaten AFK after this weekend… basically we were up in the North killing buffalo to farm some meat and other stuff. We ended up getting milk. Lots of it. Then what do I get for making a comment about it!? Udders. Damned udders.
Continue reading →

Despite being busy in real life at the moment, I have had decided to take a few pet projects in FFXI to make things interesting and to give myself me time instead of always trying to think of what to do for other people.
Continue reading →