It’s not really usual for Final Fantasy XI to take a big L on patch day, but that’s exactly what has happened with the August version update for the game. See, one of the main feature of this particular patch was the addition of a new style of battle content, Sortie, which allows reforging equipment to even more powerful forms. Unfortunately, Square-Enix’s developers discovered last-minute bugs that have resulted in the Sortie NPC, Ruspix, being totally disabled on launch. The team is working hard to fix the bugs, and Sortie will be hotfixed back in, but still. That’s an oof, folks.
Fortunately, there is other content in the version update aside from Sortie, like additional content in the Voracious Resurgence storyline and the ongoing rotation of Ambuscade opponents as you would expect. There are even miscellaneous improvements and easier recovery of lost ammo-related items. But still, the delay of Sortie doesn’t look great, although you can still watch the usual patch digest if you want to get that information delivered to you in video format. At least you know why Ruspix isn’t working yet.
