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I hope you all had a very nice Christmas, so let's get back to FFXIV Business.

My First Q&A Archives

My First Q&A is an ongoing FAQ-format series of question and answer sessions designed primarily for adventurers new to the realm of Eorzea. Players unsure of core elements of the game and gameplay are encouraged to make use of the basic information addressed in these Topics. For your convenience, we have posted a collection of links to all previous My First Q&A posts below.

Maps, Enemies, and Ranks
The Interactions Menu & Guildleves
Getting Around
Combat & Battle Modes
Gathering
Bazaars
Actions
Trading and Using Items

Heavensturn and the Usagi Kabuto

With the festive spirit of the Starlight Celebration still lingering in the air, the nations of Eorzea have already set about making ready for the next grand holiday—Heavensturn.
Heavensturn is a celebration that marks the passing of the twelve moons in the night sky, and with them, the vigil of each of the Twelve over the realm. It is on this sacred day that one among the gods wins celestial favor, and whose aspect thus exerts the greatest influence over the fate of Eorzea throughout the coming year. Clergymen, soothsayers, shamans, and others versed in such matters foretell that with this turning, the time of Halone, the Fury, will come.
Yet despite this annual significance, a strange and powerful gift, newly come to Eorzea from a faraway land, has begun to divert the attention and admiration of people across the realm, both smallfolk and adventurer alike. Said to be a principle element in the celebration of Heavensturn in the Far East, it is a mighty helm masterfully spellforged in the likeness of a rabbit. Adorable to some, atrocious to others, and appealing to adventurers for its attractive attributes, this rare, leporine headpiece may prove attainable by those with festive proclivities.
Articles and machines of war seen throughout the land with unprecedented frequency... Halone, the Fury, goddess of strife and struggle, poised to impose her will on the world of man...
What fate lies in store for Eorzea in the coming year...?

Dates & Times

Approx. 7:00 a.m. on Friday, December 31st, 2010 to approx. 7:00 a.m. on Monday, January 17, 2011 (PST)

Obtaining Festive Items

During the dates and times listed above, celebratory bells will be placed throughout each of the three nations. By approaching and interacting with these bells, players can obtain random festive items. Check out the Lodestone Entry for all the cool details!

Hello, FFXIV Origin. I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas Eve. Anyways, there is yet another Beginner's Guide out there for the new players in the world. This time it focuses on Trading and Using items in FFXIV.

I know it isn't the most helpful information out there; considering the game has been out for a whopping 3 months, this should already be common knowledge to most. Anyways, I hope someone has been helped from it. If I don't see you tomorrow, have a Merry Christmas.

The item search allows players to scan all retainer bazaars within an entire market to discover how many of a designated item are currently being sold. The retainers returned in the search results will all be marked with a icon by their display name to easily distinguish them on-screen.

Using the Item Search

Step 1

Item searches can be conducted at the entryway to any market or market area,* or by speaking to certain NPCs found just outside market entrances.

Step 2
Select the area that contains the item type being searched for.

Step 3
Each market area is associated with certain item types.* Select the item type being searched for.

* See a complete list of market areas and associated item types.

Step 4
A list is displayed showing the names and number of items on sale that belong to the item type being searched in all retainer bazaars in that market.

* Searches will return only those items on sale in the market area associated with that item's type. Items being sold in areas not matching their item type will not be displayed in the search results.

Step 5
Select the desired item from the list of search results.

Step 6
All retainers selling the selected item will have an icon placed next to their display name, making them easy to find. In addition, they will appear on the minimap as red dots.

* Icons will not be displayed if the Name Display option under main menu » Configuration is turned off. * Item search histories will be saved until a player logs out of the game. Current item searches can be viewed or reset at the entryway to any market or market area, or by speaking to certain NPCs found just outside market entrances.

If you want to know which wards carry the associated item types, check out the Lodestone Entry.

Battle

The potency of the ability Impish Incantations, used by monsters of the imp genus, has been adjusted.

Addressed Bugs

The following bugs have been addressed.

An issue wherein the motion and graphics of area of effect attacks executed by enemies were not displayed when there were no valid targets within range has been addressed.

An issue wherein the graphics associated with the Smoulder ability used by the enemies Zanig'oh and the branded drakes on the faction leve "Operation: Bloody Scales" did not display properly has been addressed.

An issue wherein the following local levequests commissioning the synthesis of copper gorge hooks or pinches of natron could not be completed has been addressed.

• Blacksmith
• Camp Bald Knoll: Premiums Paid

• Alchemist
• Camp Skull Valley: Feeding the Trainees
• Camp Bloodshore: Feeding the Trainees
• Camp Bearded Rock: Feeding the Trainees

An issue wherein the following items could not be obtained from the NPC Rowena after the proper payment of Allagan runestones has been addressed.

• Templar's Tassets
• Harlequin's Belt

An issue wherein the correct amount of gil in a retainer's possession was not displayed after setting rewards for sought-after items and/or repairs has been addressed.

An issue wherein the correct status information was not displayed in the synthesis interface after receiving access to synthesis facilities from certain NPCs has been addressed.

An issue wherein an error would occur whenever a player would repair the most recently obtained piece of gear has been addressed.

An issue wherein atttempting to sell items to vendor NPCs would sometimes not allow players to accept or cancel the transaction has been addressed.

An issue wherein setting the audio sample rate in Windows Vista® or Windows 7® to over 48kHz would sometimes result in the inability to load the client has been addressed.

Well there you have it, I guess this probably covers most of the patch notes. Any further updates will be reported here first.

Another maintenance is coming out way, and unless I'm mistaken, a nice juicy patch will accompany it.

I know everyone is really dying for the latest information, so let's go ahead and take a look at it.

Late December Version Update

The final version update of the year will introduce the item search function, which players may use to search through retainer bazaars in market wards to locate specific items. The date and time of the version update are as follows.

Date and Time

Tuesday, December 21, 2010 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The Item Search Function

This version update marks the first of several that will introduce improvements to item-based searches. The features to be added this time are listed below.
A search option that tells players how many items of a certain type are being sold in the market area with which that item type is associated.
Retainers returned by a search now have a distinguishing icon displayed above their head.

* Searches can be conducted by selecting the item search option at the entrance to any market, or from within any individual ward, row, or den.

With the introduction of the item search feature, it will now be significantly easier for players to locate specific items. We will continue to improve this system with further enhancements such as keyword-based searches, the ability to show the retainers selling an item at the lowest prices for searches returning numerous hits as with synthesis materials, and more. Concrete details regarding such information will be released in future Topics posts here on the Lodestone as they become available.

FFXIV Startup Issues for Certain Video Cards

If you have a certain video cards (mostly nVidia ones), you may be experiencing certain startup issues in FFXIV.