If you play FFXI or have played FFXI, you probably know this guy. He's an object of hatred and awe in Vana'diel. This tortuously difficult side-boss is regarded as unkillable. Speculation still runs wild as people try to find some "trick" to beating him. Recently, SE let an interesting comment slip regarding Absolute Virtue.
It seems SE created Absolute Virtue(hereafter, AV) as a screw-you-over-mob. It makes sense since AV was, originally, not a 100% pop after the Jailer of Love's death. He was actually fairly difficult to spawn. SE's description of him as a "bad luck" mob implies that if you were unlucky enough to have him spawn, you should quickly lot on the Jailer drops and get the hell out.
I don't want to read too much into it since there isn't a whole lot of elaboration on the term "bad luck mob," but the pieces seem to fit together. When AV was first defeated, it was through the exploitation of the terrain. At that point, SE said "Good job, but that's not how we want him to be beaten." AV was fixed so the trick could not be used again. Then, little by little, SE cryptically leaked hints(ha) and videos of the DEV team fighting AV and winning, saying he could be beaten in a certain way. Now AV's HP is reduced, he's 100% pop, and he despawns two hours after Jailer of Love spawns. I've also heard Jailer of Love was nerfed.
I'm not sure if those changes are supposed to make AV more beatable, more escapable, or what, but it seems what many players suspected was correct. AV is not legitimately killable and the DEV videos were red herrings. The thing that somewhat derails this theory is the matter that AV has a death speech and that the title of "Virtuous Saint" is given to those who beat him. This at least shows that SE considered the possibility of him being beaten. Personally, I think it was an "in case shit happens" plan. SE probably anticipated players using some form of exploitation to beat AV, and they gave him a legit death so that if he were ever beaten, the game wouldn't crash. Hell, in WoW, the first time the king of Tinker Town was killed by the Horde, the server went down. That's what happens when you don't consider all the possibilities.
Anyway, many players are calling "foul" on SE's part. If "bad luck mob" really means "unbeatable," it was a little dickish of SE to kind of lead the playerbase on. I enjoy the mystery of AV; all the unsolved things about Vana'diel are what make FFXI so immersive. However, the way SE patches AV everytime the players find a way to beat him just makes it seem like they're toying with us.
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