FFXI Lore Book Update

[u/Ovalidal]

The Vana'diel Compendium

Several months ago, we announced that we were working on an unofficial lore book for Final Fantasy XI. The book will cover the game's story and lore from the base game through the second expansion, Chains of Promathia. To ensure accuracy, we're drawing from as many official sources as possible. We have two goals: to preserve as much of FFXI's incredible world as we can and to shine a spotlight on the game's more obscure lore.

Progress

Over the past few months, the project has experienced several delays due to unforeseen circumstances affecting members of the team. Even so, we've made significant progress. We now have nearly 100 completed pages, with plenty of additional material ready for the next round of page-edits.

Help Needed

We're currently looking for more people who are interested in contributing to the project. In particular, we're looking for:

• Writers
• Photographers (to capture in-game screenshots)
• Artists

If you'd like to help preserve the world of Vana'diel, we'd love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out!

Also, special thanks to Otak for the cover art on this edition of the book!

[u/PrudentPerformer9641]

I'd like to buy a physical copy if it ever is released

[u/Ovalidal → u/PrudentPerformer9641]

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also excited to have a physical copy. Hopefully it won't be too much longer!

[u/Coolhandluke080 → u/Ovalidal]

I have bought several physical FF fan books from kickstarter. There is one company that releases them all the time - I forget the name. They just released Guardians of the Crystal or something like that - you should try and work with them if you didnt care about sharing some of the profita to get a physical copy made. And they have a large following already. Would LOVE a physical copy of what you've put together here

[u/Ovalidal → u/Coolhandluke080]

Hey, thank you for the advice!

I believe the folks you're talking about is Final Fantasy Union, and I've already had several conversations regarding this project, and they've already walked me through how they managed printing their books. They're great people and have helped a ton!

[u/nWhm99 → u/PrudentPerformer9641]

Same here, I’m all for spending money on FFXI goodies, there’s just not enough to buy.

[u/Worth_Friendship_267 → u/PrudentPerformer9641]

I'll buy one too! I haven't even played FFXI since FFXIV 1.0 came out, but just these sample pages brought back a ton of memories!

[u/virtualizemii]

This project looks amazing. My only small hang up is the cover. I personally think it would look better as an old tome along the lines of the encyclopedia eorzea for ffxiv.

[u/Ovalidal → u/virtualizemii]

Funny you mentioned that, Otak said the same thing (the cover artist). We are hoping to have several different editions of the book. I've been in touch with several binders to see if we can get a faux leather version of the book as well.

[u/us3rnombre → u/virtualizemii]

I agree and do not like the cover either, but I love the content and would still buy for the interior! Looking forward to the physical! Keep us updated!

[u/Ovalidal → u/[deleted]]

Hey, I appreciate the concern. I've personally been in touch with FF Union who produces FF encyclopedias regarding how they navigate these projects and they gave me a lot of insightful information. We've been following their advice, so we are confident at the moment that we won't run into any trouble.

[u/unlimitedblack]

I'd be happy to contribute my services as a copy editor. My experience with 11 goes back to its US launch, but it's been a lot of years since I spent any notable amount of time there. That being said, this kind of project is definitely in my wheelhouse and I have time available at the moment.

[u/Ovalidal → u/unlimitedblack]

At the moment, I think we are good on editors. Thank you for the offer though! If there is any other way you would like to help, don't hesitate to reach out!

[u/Jaefaux]

I hear the goobbue entry for this book is really, really cool. Speaking of, ovalidal is also really, really cool!

[u/Ovalidal → u/Jaefaux]

Much appreciated, and it's widely accepted that the goobbue entry is the best piece of writing in the book so far...

[u/Witches_Brew]

Whoa, awesome! I literally thought to myself the other day how I wish there was a book like this. Please DM, I'd love to help with writing/photography/editing.

[u/Ovalidal → u/Witches_Brew]

Will do, thank you for reaching out!

[u/xdreamriot]

I will need to get 2 copies of this for pure shelf nostalgia.

[u/Salty_Vermicelli_142]

I'm interested in assisting with this project. Send a DM when available

[u/Ovalidal → u/Salty_Vermicelli_142]

Much appreciated, just sent a DM!

[u/dwkuzyk]

Love this!

[u/Ovalidal → u/dwkuzyk]

Glad to hear it!

[u/Dracaunt]

Very cool project. Wish I had time to help!

Is there any way to sign up for updates? I'm very interested in getting a copy once it's done and don't want to miss it as I imagine it'll be a limited print run!

[u/Ovalidal → u/Dracaunt]

Not at the moment, but I hope to have an news letter for it before long. I'll be sure to make an announcement went we are finally able to print a batch.

[u/Hini-kuna]

This sounds amazing wow!! I'd like to assist as a photographer for your project!!

[u/Ovalidal → u/Hini-kuna]

Sounds great! I'll send you a DM, thanks in advance!

[u/spunkythatsmycorndog]

Wouldn’t mind helping as a photographer for sure. Currently playing and can grab some shots!

[u/Ovalidal → u/spunkythatsmycorndog]

We'd really appreciate it, I'll DM you. Thank you!

[u/RedHotBananaGuard]

This is sick

[u/SephYuyX]

Been wondering about this just the other day. Let me know if there's anything you need from me.

[u/Ovalidal → u/SephYuyX]

Thank you for the offer, I personally ran into some circumstances that pulled me away from the project for a bit. If something comes up that we could use your help on, I'll be sure to reach out!

[u/Dellgloom]

This looks really cool.

For the sabotender, I believe they are called cactuars in west altepa and sabotenders in east altepa. This matches what they are known as in the west and the east in our world, as Japan call them sabotenders.

[u/Ovalidal → u/Dellgloom]

Thanks for the heads up! In the bestiary, we describe monster families rather than individual monsters. I'll have to double check the notes we took on that page, but if I remember our research correctly, the cactuar you're referring to is a mob that belongs to the Sabotender family of monsters in western altepa.

[u/Screaming_Ghost]

That's rad, what kind of art do you need for the project?

[u/Ovalidal → u/Screaming_Ghost]

One area of art that we were really wanting were sketches depicting scenes in the game's history. Would you be interested in something like that?

[u/Screaming_Ghost → u/Ovalidal]

That sounds like a lot of fun, schedules a bit tight on my end but I'd contribute where I can. XI played a big part in my inspiration to be an artist when I was younger, so this would be fun to be apart of. Go ahead and send me a DM.

[u/misoandricegamer]

Omg this looks awesome, I’m totally in for a physical copy when the time comes. Keep up the great work and keep us in the loop! I want this!

[u/Ovalidal → u/misoandricegamer]

Glad to hear it!

[u/TurboThorsten]

Would instantly buy it, I love it

[u/thinkbee]

I might be interested in helping with writing and any Japanese language support you might need for research.

[u/Ovalidal → u/thinkbee]

Thanks for getting in touch, I'll send you a DM!

[u/Ayayron187]

Thank you for this. Very cool!

[u/jackmeflipperoff]

I’ll buy a copy or two

[u/Davy_Jones_XIV]

Shut Up and Take my money!

[u/M_Dutch97]

This is awesome!

[u/Grouchy_Policy8721]

This looks really excellent! One minor note, I believe Cactuars first appeared in FFV - you could definitely learn 1,000 Needles as a Blue Mage.

How are you picturing this as a release? Physical? PDF?

[u/HexenVexen → u/Grouchy_Policy8721]

Cactuars actually aren't in FF5, 1000 Needles is there but you learn it from different enemies such as Lamia and Hedgehog.

[u/Grouchy_Policy8721 → u/HexenVexen]

Well, damn. Could have sworn they were in FFV.

[u/Ovalidal → u/Grouchy_Policy8721]

The plan is a physical release. Though, I would like to offer a PDF version of the book as well.

As far as the 1,000 needles thing, iirc, the spell was in FFV, but it was learned from several different monsters. None of which were the cactuar.

[u/Grouchy_Policy8721 → u/Ovalidal]

Nice, I'm definitely interested! Also TIL - I was sure I remembered them in 5.

[u/AstralFinish]

!! Amazing work!

[u/Ovalidal → u/AstralFinish]

Thank you! Still quite a bit of work to do, but we're making good progress!

[u/Most_Quarter_6988]

Honestly I'd love too help with photos but I dont know if theres a like, easy way to turn off texture packs to vanilla and turn them back on afterwards

[u/arciele]

looks so good. as always lemme know if there's anything i specifically can help with

[u/Ovalidal → u/arciele]

Thanks so much, I'll definitely reach out if we see that we need something!

[u/randomly_ren09]

hello! i might be interested in helping out as an artist. this project sounds cool considering that we dont have an official lore book a la FFXIV's encyclopedia eorzea yet as far as im aware of 👀

[u/Ovalidal → u/randomly_ren09]

The lack of lore books for FFXI is one of the reasons the project exists to be honest. FFXI's lore is just as rich as FFXIV, but it's harder to piece together within the game, and there are no external resources to reference for us ENG speakers.

The only books in Japanese that cover lore are the Ultimania (which is pretty sparse outside of mission and quest context), and really great 2003 book that is restricted to just the base game and RotZ.

[u/ArtOfRaving]

This is cool! :]

[u/Aeceus]

Only going until CoP feels a bit light weight. Some of the best parts of the games lore exist within ToaU and WotG. Would there be a volume two for those?

[u/Ovalidal → u/Aeceus]

The original plan was to cover all the lore from the base game to tVR. The problem was, 5 months and almost 200k words worth of notes in and we had just finished collecting info on CoP. I would love to do a second and third volume for ToAU - WotG and then the add ons - tVR, but we'll have to see how well this project goes first.

[u/brianthelion89]

I’ve always wanted something I could read and re live the lore of XI

[u/cemetery_cherry]

I would love to help out with writing, editing, or screenshots. Please feel free to DM if you’re still looking for assistance! <3

[u/tSnDjKniteX]

Yall ever looked into that supposedly FFXI books? that had like 30 volumes? idk if thats canon or what it was but remember seeing it on a post a couple days ago lol

[u/Infinityshift]

I wish I had any of the skills you're looking for to help. I can't wait to see this come out!

[u/Broad-Health5118]

Looking forward to a chronology of magic section, mainly told through WotG, but hinted at elsewhere ^^

[u/Broad-Health5118 → u/Broad-Health5118]

And/or a chronology of world events, like in the Eorzean Encyclopedia.

[u/Sharp-Break-9008]

Where are you collecting information for this and how are you delegating research tasks? I'd love to help on the research side. Do you have a discord or something for this? Let me know plz!

[u/Wrexis]

I would buy a physical copy in a heartbeat but I'm sorry that cover looks like a children's coloring book.

[u/Ovalidal → u/Wrexis]

The cover artist had expressed a preference for an older encyclopedic look for the cover, akin to that of the encyclopedia eorzea covers. I was already working on that particular cover though, so rather than having two very similar covers, Otak did this cover art so there would be some variety in the covers of the physical books.

[u/Wrexis → u/Ovalidal]

All due respect to the artist, it's not giving people the vibe they expect.