Pink tail problems

[,,,]

This is probably the only post I'll ever make here, but I've been checking this place every day ever since I saw that delightful "power of cheese" thread (just to see the updates).

Anyway-- I have the usual American cart of FFIV, and have dedicated quite a bit of time to finding that pink tail. I am now starting to believe that it does not exist, at least in my version. I have been playing off and on for about four years now. The time counter says 73 hours plus, but it may have reset at some point, I don't remember. My characters are on levels 68-73. I don't know where they were when I first got to the room, but I hate leveling up and try to push my guys through on the lowest levels possible.

Anyway, short story long, I have fought endless pink puffs and-- if I'm lucky enough that they drop something-- I am rewarded with ether2's, and the occasional elixer or ninja star. What I want to know is-- is this normal? I mean, I know the thing is rare, but shouldn't I have gotten it by now? Is this all just some cruel hoax, or does it exist? And if it exists, to anyone who has gotten it-- when will the light come at the end of the tunnel? Am I close? Basically, should I be having this big of a problem? I am now frustrated enough that I actually registered just to ask this.

That's all.

[Necronopticous]

You're absolutely correct to be so frustrated, and yes, it is perfectly normal. To say that Pink Tail is rare is a horrible understatement, ESPECIALLY if you don't have any Alarms. If you do have some Alarms you can save and then use them to automatically encounter Pink Tails in the room, and continue to reload your game and repeat until they eventually drop the item.

Without the Alarm item you have to go through the incredibly painstaking process of the awful 1/64 chance to encounter and THEN the 1/64 chance to drop. It isn't unheard of for this to take days of gametime done totally legit without Alarms. Honestly, it may be more time efficient to completely restart the game, making sure to stock up on Alarms this next time around.

Cruel? Yeah, I mean, I suppose you could call it that.

Hoax? Nah, it exists. Haven't you seen the latest episode?

[,,,]

^ Yes I saw, which is what prompted me to make this thread. I was wondering how on earth you did that. But I thought maybe you were using a ROM and reloading or something. Anyway-- I don't think alarms exist in my version, do they? It's been so long since I played this game for real.

My original goal was to create a save and get every rare item in it. The tail, the zeus gauntlets (which I also have spent an obscene amount of time on) and Rydia's summons. The only rare item I ever got was the bomb summon on a save that deleted itself somehow. So yeah, I'm thinking about giving up on the original plan. I still want that tail, though.

Are my guys all going to be on level 99 before I get it?

[Necronopticous]

I would say getting Pink Tail eclipses attaining a level 99 party in terms of time investment and accomplishment. Don't give up! It's just like grinding on an MMO. Oh yeah, and getting Zeus Gauntlets, as well as all those other crazy items you get from random drops, such as Rydia's additional summons, are also insanely rare and require huge amounts of mindless grinding to get. The thing that sucks about those additional summons and the Zeus Gauntlets is that they're completely worthless except for collection, where as the Adamant Armor is damn good.

[abrojtm]

Also, no, you won't get any Alarms in your original FFII US cart. Sorry.

[Takara]

Indeed. Alarms are not on the SNES cart, but you can get pink tails though. I have to admit that, by the time I got one (which was really just pure luck), all my characters were at level 99.

[Sasquatch]

What the hell are the Zeus Gauntlets?

I've fought two batches of Pink Puffs in my life, and neither of 'em dropped anything. Keep trying, don't be lazy like me and say "smurf it".

[Necronopticous]

Zeus Gauntlets are a pair of arm gear that are randomly dropped by Skeletons, they have an extremely low drop rate and they're pretty much crap.

[abrojtm]

Let's Dance!
The More you Know
Did you know that multiple chocobo tunes play during encounters with Pink Puffs?
Did you know that the chances of encountering a group of Pink Puffs is only 1/64? And the chance that one will drop a Pink tail is 1/64? That means that your chance of getting a Pink tail from that battle is 1/1024!!
Keep on fighting!
Also, if you are on that rare drop quest, you can also win the Imp Summon from Tricksters in the same room as Pink Puffs! You may come out with something.

[,,,]

the chance that one will drop a Pink tail is 1/64?

I've always wondered-- is it 1/64 period, or 1/64 if they drop something? If it's the latter, please lie to me.

you can also win the Imp Summon from Tricksters in the same room as Pink Puffs! You may come out with something.

Ooh, thanks, I didn't know that. I only fight those things when I need to use Rydia's Asura to heal (to conserve Rosa's magic, because I have a limited number of cabins and Rydia can psych those imps afterward). I guess I'll try fighting them more. May as well.

I'm keeping myself entertained by reading while I walk around, and keeping the screen just enough in the corner of my eye that I notice when I go into battle. Right now I'm in the middle of Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms . So, it isn't completely mindless.

[Sasquatch]

Ooh, thanks, I didn't know that. I only fight those things when I need to use Rydia's Asura to heal (to conserve Rosa's magic, because I have a limited number of cabins and Rydia can psych those imps afterward). I guess I'll try fighting them more. May as well.

I'm keeping myself entertained by reading while I walk around, and keeping the screen just enough in the corner of my eye that I notice when I go into battle. Right now I'm in the middle of Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms . So, it isn't completely mindless.

Speaking of Hemingway, you do know about the Hemingway's store, right? On the Moon? After fighting in the path to the Core, you get a hellovalotta money, and you can put it to good use.

I ended up with 99 Elixers, 99 Ether2s, 3x 99 Ether1s...it's great.

[Dignified Pauper]

it's 1/64 chance that they will drop a Pink Puff Tail.

[theundeadhero]

I would say with your levels the clock hasn't reset yet. Just a little bit of extra information.

[-N-]

Speaking of Hemingway, you do know about the Hemingway's store, right? On the Moon? After fighting in the path to the Core, you get a hellovalotta money, and you can put it to good use.

I ended up with 99 Elixers, 99 Ether2s, 3x 99 Ether1s...it's great.

Humingway, actually, because they hum, but close enough.

[,,,]

it's 1/64 chance that they will drop a Pink Puff Tail.

See, that's why I'm having a hard time understanding this. If there really is a 1/64 chance they'll drop a tail, that means the odds of them dropping are the same odds as finding one in a random encounter. Well, I've fought countless random encounters. It really isn't even that hard to find them. I play for about two hours per day and in that time I usually fight 3-5 of them. There have been three times now where I've actually fought two pinkpuff battles in a row. So why no tail? I sure as heck have beaten more than 64 pinkpuff groups. I know statistics don't really work out so that you're guarenteed one after 64 battles, but then again, when I first started looking for the things I counted my battles. I found a PP group exactly 64 battles in, then another at 32, and again at 128. So maybe those numbers actually are accurate for the game. But whether they are or not, 1/64 doesn't seem to me like it should be taking this long.

I don't know. Maybe someone with a better grasp on math can explain this to me. I don't know how I passed my stats course, but I definitely didn't deserve to. The only thing I remember is "null hypothesis."