The FINAL FANTASY XI community is ever abuzz with discussion on in-game content. The development and operations teams would like to take this opportunity to address some of our fans' most pressing questions and concerns.

Q: At present, there is a significant gap between experience point yield in Abyssea as compared to all other areas. Furthermore, skill growth often lags behind level gain. Will this imbalance be addressed?

A: Yes. The minor patch scheduled for mid-February will usher in an experience boost for non-Abyssea areas, as well as relaxed skill improvement conditions.

Q: It was previously announced that the drop rates for Wieldance Cards will be increased, but the rates for other items dropped by the NMs Apademak and Dragua also seem excessively low. Will these be addressed as well?

A: Yes. Along with addressing the issue that was causing low drop rates for Wieldance Cards, we will be implementing other balance adjustments in the February update. This will include increased drop rates for other items obtainable from the enemies mentioned above.

Q: Can you share any information on plans for new armor and equipment?

A: While we cannot reveal specific details or promise a specific implementation date at this time, we can say that we hope to respond to players' enthusiastic wishes for new subligaria at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Q: Are there any plans to adjust the method for obtaining Empyrean Armor upgrade items?

A: We have received a wide range of feedback regarding these items. In particular, we understand players' concerns that the random nature of acquisition makes it difficult to obtain one's desired seals, that seals for feet and certain jobs' body armor are harder to obtain than others, and so forth. While the potential game balance repercussions of this issue make it unfortunately impossible to make any promises at this time, rest assured that we will continue to listen closely to your feedback as we consider potential adjustments for the future.

Q: What exactly is the effect of the "Enhances Addendum: White/Black" bonuses granted by the Scholar armor "Savant Gown +1/+2"?

A: We hope players will figure this out for themselves by experimenting in game, but one hint we can give is that they will provide a bonus related in some way to enmity.

Q: I'm always running out of lines in my macros. Will this be addressed in any way?

A: While there currently no plans to increase the maximum number of macro lines, we will be implementing a change in the February mini-patch that will allow "/wait" to be placed on the same line as the previous command. This should allow for greater flexibility in macro creation.

Q: There have been no updates to the auto-translate dictionary recently. Can we expect any terms to be added in the future?

A: PlayStation 2 memory limitations have placed us in a difficult situation where the addition of new terms to the auto-translate dictionary would require the deletion of existing entries. Given this, there are no current plans to add new terms, and we ask for your patience and understanding as we consider all possibilities. In a related matter, we are looking into updating the glossary contained in the Play Guide available on the official web site.

Q: Has there been any progress in resolving the insufficient hard disk space issues that have caused errors for some PlayStation 2 users when installing version updates?

A: Up until now, the installation process has been conducted by downloading all the new files in one batch before the old files were deleted, requiring temporary HDD space equivalent to roughly two times the size of the patch itself. Starting from the February minor update, the installer program will be updated to download and delete files individually, significantly reducing the required space. This update will be applied to the Xbox 360 version as well.