SNM chapter by Spira (Ragnarok) uploaded by Cleave

Sealed Container Notorious Monster (SCNM) are a series of Campaign related battles taking place in the three Beastman strongholds located in La Vaule (S), Beadeaux (S), and Castle Oztroja (S).

Each strongholds is comprised of eight Notorious Monsters, who, when killed, will not only drop various rare and exclusive rewards to their victors, but will also drop a Sealed Container which, when turned in to one of three NPCs (Kevan: Bastok Markets (S), Lurouillat: Southern San d'Oria (S) or Pogigi: Windurst Waters (S)) will result in a marked decrease in the defensive capabilities of the strongholds under beastman control (see Maruna-Kurina for details on these Campaign-related factors).

In return for turning in these Sealed Container, the NPCs will reward the adventurer with a Key Item. Amassing a collection of eight Key Items by felling all of a stronghold's NMs will grant players the opportunity to enter the SCNM battlefield where additional enemies can be defeated for even more impressive rewards. Note that only one of the members entering the battlefield is required to be in possession of the eight Key Items.

Castle Oztroja (S): A Malicious Manifest

Beadeaux (S): The Buried God

La Vaule (S): The Blood-bathed Crown

• All NMs from La Value [S] and Beadeaux [S] are killable by a rather simple party set-up with proper knowledge of NMs.
  • Medicine may be required for some NMs

Confessions of a Registrar

A closing prayer by Cloudwalker

It has been quite some time since the nations officially sanctioned marriages between adventurers. As of late, adventurer weddings have become an everyday occurrence in Vana'diel.

Here in Bastok, registrars are working nonstop to process the flood of wedding applications that arrive every day.

Recently, I talked to one such official, a registrar by the name of Cloudwalker.

Cloudwalker's chief function is registering adventurers at the Department of Industry. But when a wedding is scheduled to take place, he quickly assumes his other role as registrar, the official title bestowed upon wedding masters in Bastok.

"There is a certain guilty pleasure I receive in that I am provided an escape from my everyday routine," Cloudwalker admitted, "but the true joy lies within uniting two people who love each other."

Cloudwalker told me this with a look of genuine satisfaction after concluding yet another wedding service. From his sincerity and kind demeanor, one can see why he was chosen for this position.

I was suddenly struck by an odd thought. As Galka are brought into the world through reincarnation, the concept of wives and families must be somewhat alien to them. Would a Galka like Cloudwalker feel some resistance to the idea of marriage?

"When a Galka is betrothed to a woman of another race, the feelings of trust and confidence in each other are no lesser or greater than any other coupling," remarked Cloudwalker. "Even I, who am not married, can see from the joy in their faces that marriage is indeed a sacred institution."

Cloudwalker's statement is a testament to the deeply philosophical nature of the Galka--they are able to see and feel beneath the surface.

For my next question, I asked him if there was anything he found particularly memorable in the countless services he had performed.

"Guests at the wedding often propose to me after the service," Cloudwalker said, slightly embarrassed. "I'm sure that they are just overwhelmed by emotion after witnessing a beautiful ceremony, but to propose to someone you just met that day..."

I, for one, could easily understand the women's reactions to Cloudwalker's mighty physique and gentle eyes.

"There have been some couples who communicated with each other solely through their personal linkshells," Cloudwalker continued. "Though I understand their desire for privacy during such an intimate event, I cannot help but get a lonesome feeling inside when I see it."

"Every now and then, couples forget the arranged time, and don't show up at the wedding site at all. It is partly our fault for making them wait so many months, but it is rather...awkward to be waiting all alone in full uniform."

So perhaps the call of adventure and excitement is too strong in these adventurer couples for them to remember minor details such as their wedding dates?

"I wouldn't go that far," retorted Cloudwalker. "Many couples begin rehearsing months before their actual wedding, and are genuinely excited about the notion of getting married. Of course, it is often these overzealous couples that forget their lines during the actual ceremony."

Perhaps there is such a thing as being "too eager."

"But even mishaps like that will surely be considered wonderful memories after a time," Cloudwalker added warmly.

"There are also times when the couple is so nervous during the ceremony that they will attempt to put on their rings with gloves and such still equipped. This seems much more common with grooms."

I found the above story particularly amusing, as it seemed to describe well the contrast between the rugged everyday life of these adventurer couples and the elegant intimacy of a wedding ceremony.

"In truth, there are really no practical changes in a couple's relationship after marriage," Cloudwalker concluded. "But it does provide the foundation for a stronger emotional and spiritual bond. It is my hope that I can continue to foster such growth in some small capacity."

"To this end, I will continue to perform my duties as registrar to the best of my ability, so that I may provide couples with a memorable preface to the rest of their lives."

The interview ended on these strong, encouraging thoughts.

As the festivities wound down with the approaching dusk, the image of Cloudwalker busily cleaning up spent crackers and fireworks at the now quiet wedding site seemed most poignant.

History

FFXIclopedia was the brainchild of Ganiman, a Tarutaru Red Mage, resident of the Phoenix Server and Leader of the linkshell Avengers. The leading FFXI information site at the time, Allakazam, was bogged down with slow load times, poor and out of date information, and a constant stream of intrusive advertisements. Similar problems plagued Somepage, a database site that was full of advertisements for Real-Money Transfer (RMT) groups. Ganiman started a wiki project for Final Fantasy XI using the Mediawiki software in November of 2004 with the name FFXIclopedia – a name suggested by Mierin, a fellow member of Avengers.

At its inception, FFXIclopedia had fewer than five articles. From November 2004 until March 2005, FFXIclopedia saw little progress as the site was not only unknown, but empty. In March 2005 a small group of dedicated users decided to populate FFXIclopedia with information and FFXIclopedia saw its first mini explosion of both users and articles. By the middle of March 2005 there were 850 articles posted on the FFXIclopedia wiki, and by the end of that month, more than 1500. The increase in articles and information led to new users and new contributors, and to almost exponential growth. By the middle of May 2005 there were more 3000 articles and by the middle of June more than 6000 articles. While FFXIclopedia had grown tremendously, much of the basic FFXI information was still being added by only a small group of users.

The second explosion occurred in October 2005 when the FFXIclopedia's Adventuring Fellow Guide was created. This soon became the premiere source of information about this new addition to FFXI and the wiki format shined as new information was constantly emerging – alongside rumors – and the guide was able to keep up with the ever evolving ebb and flow of information. The popularity of the adventuring fellow, and of the guide, led to a major influx of users. Unique visitors to FFXIclopedia, which had been rising steadily, doubled from ~8000 to ~16000 in that month alone.

From that point forward the site grew at an almost out of control rate and by January 2006 there were almost 10,000 articles and 25,000 unique visitors using more than 20GB of bandwidth. The FFXIclopedia was too big to be just an extension of the Avengers website and so a donation drive was held on the wiki to expand it to it's current domain, FFXIclopedia.org. Once on its own domain and server, additional improvements were quickly implemented, including the forums and blog system.

The third explosion of users and information for FFXIclopedia occurred in May of 2006, when Allakhazam officially announced that it has been bought by the same company that owns IGE, a well known RMT group. Fans of Allakhazam expressed their outrage and migrated to FFXIclopedia. While FFXIclopedia had been steadily growing during the first quarter of 2006, May 2006 saw an increase of 20,000 unique visitors to 65,000 and increase of almost 30GB of bandwidth to 75GB.

The exponential growth has continued, with the FFXIclopedia having more than 230,000 unique visitors and using more than 600GB per month in January 2007. In 4th quarter of 2007, wikia.com acquired the FFXIclopedia domains, and has been instrumental in stablizing the backend and providing a number of significant enhancements to the user interface. Growth has continued, and for the 30 days from mid-April to mid-May 2008 the wiki has seen more 420,000 unique visitors pass through.

This tremendous growth is not without bumps in the road. The Mediawiki software allows users to edit what another user has written, and at times such changes can be contentious. Users have debated with passion and sometimes with personal attacks. While debate over the information is not only good, but necessary, personal attacks are not tolerated. Dedicated contributors to the FFXIclopedia wiki have unfortunately stopped contributing due to personal attacks from other users. In addition to these difficulties, copyright issues have been raised concerning the source of information and user contributions to the FFXIclopedia wiki. At the inception of the FFXIclopedia wiki, various copyright issues were arguably unclear, and were challenged by certain contributors who felt that their additions to the FFXIclopedia wiki could not be changed without their permission. Such an interpretation defeats the purpose behind the collaborative nature of the FFXIclopedia wiki – which is intended to allow any user to update the information contained on the site. In March 2005 the FFXIclopedia wiki adopted the GNU Free Documentation License with the intention that all non-copyrighted information posted on the wiki is allowed to be edited, copied and distributed.

The Wiki

The main information section of the site. The wiki is where the 27,576 articles about Final Fantasy XI reside. In addition to the FFXI content, we have expanded the wiki to include certain fun activies, such a the never ending quiz, friending, gifting, and receiving awards for various actions in the wiki. We've also implemented an 18 level ranking system in the wiki - which can be seen at Help:User Levels.

The Forums

General forum courtesy must be followed at all times. That's the basic rule. Moderators and administrators are active participants and enforcers of the forum rules.

Forum Ranks:

• The number of posts you have determines your rank.

0-49: Too Weak

50-249: Easy Prey

250-749: Decent Challenge

750-1499: Even Match

1500-2499: Tough

2500-4999: Very Tough

5000+: Incredibly Tough

Moderator: Impossible to Gauge!

The Blog Section

Typically dealing with your life in Final Fantasy XI, each member is permitted to have their own blog. To start your own, please go here.

The Chat Area

Administration

Retired