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[Tabris]

I'm level 75 Paladin.

I've beaten the regular story for my nation (Bastok!)
I've beaten all of Zilart (including one of the hardest fights in the game, ZM17)
I'm about halfway through Chains of Promathia (Ouyru!)

Got some god gear. Fought some ground king HNMs (Behemoth, Aspid, Nidhogg). Have done almost all the quests. Crafted a bit. Adventure'd everywhere I could.

Good times! I don't spend as much time as most people in the game. I'm at about 80-90 days playtime stretched over 2+ years. So that's probabaly why the game's "flaws" (requiring to party for everything, lots of grinding, etc) don't bother me.

 

[Grifter]

Listen to Ferrio and stay far, far away. Listening to some of these pro-FFXI arguments is like listening to a battered, brainwashed spouse.

 

[Spiritreaver]

Like I said, alternative spots usually takes longer to get to or riskier, I'm all for it when grouping with people who I know will stay for x number of hours and are skillful enough to not die trying to get to those spots. But for a game that relies so heavily on group synergy, often, with pickup groups, alternative xp spots may not be some place you want to be even if they exist because it's just not worth the effort. It's bad enough that sometimes it takes 30-60 mins just to get the whole group ready and get to the spot; the last thing you want is someone (especially mages) has to go in 30 mins after you start killing. In the end, there are simply too many types of mobs you just don't ever want to xp on them because of the skills they have and there's too much risk of xping in unfamiliar area with pickup group. If there weren't xp penalty when you die, more people will be willing to try out different things.

This I'm not getting. I've never encountered an alternative spot that is just simply too far, unless it requires a teleport to get to. Just the ones I listed are actually quite easy to get to, with the exception of probably the Maze Makers since it's before you can obtain a chocobo. They all have zones nearby as well. The only dangerous mobs are the weapons simply because they can cast magic, one spell can stop this. If you can't find someone who can reliably fire off one spell at the start and recast it when it wears... well I just don't know. I've seen a lot more of my pick up parties starting to suggest alternative levelling spots and there really be no issue getting there or getting started. In higher levels it's actually much easier to exp off more dangerous mobs. It can actually be more efficient than levelling in crowded areas. If you don't understand your job by 50, there's little reason to hink you'd ever get it, so there should be little issue with worrying about a pick up party trying something different at those levels.

My very very first pick up party since I installed the game... happened in Tahrongi Canyon of all places. Not Valkurm, believe it or not. We killed Yagudo and Dhamels without any issue. I'd still don't get why Garliage is such a common spot with Eastern Altepa around as well. There are other spots aside from the zoneline and you wouldn't have to worry about those beetle and bat trains. The only reason to not do Altepa is the gate crystal, which should only ne an issue to new players. Then again they take the time to get Kazham keys... I don't see why they can't get an Altepa gate crystal. It's much easier than just getting one key.

I'll take the questioning until Kazham though. After that alternatives become quite viable and generally don't take any or much effort to do. Though I'll admit with the decrease in players it has gotten better. I've actually been in Yhoator a number of times now where it's been completely empty. While a couple of years ago you'd be pushing it to try to fit in a fourth party into that small tunnel. -_- I mean, I have no problem with exping in the common zones whatsoever, but when it's crowded or a party seems to have a monopoly on the mobs, why stay there? You can always see how many pts are in the area beforehand so I think alternative areas should always be under consideration.

And by no means is it SE's fault the players can't silence a weapon, tank a pugil, or get that crystal. Crabs and mandies are easiest yes, but the others are not impossible.

I'm level 75 Paladin.

I've beaten the regular story for my nation (Bastok!)
I've beaten all of Zilart (including one of the hardest fights in the game, ZM17)
I'm about halfway through Chains of Promathia (Ouyru!)

Got some god gear. Fought some ground king HNMs (Behemoth, Aspid, Nidhogg). Have done almost all the quests. Crafted a bit. Adventure'd everywhere I could.

Good times! I don't spend as much time as most people in the game. I'm at about 80-90 days playtime stretched over 2+ years. So that's probabaly why the game's "flaws" (requiring to party for everything, lots of grinding, etc) don't bother me.

This is how feel. I level in bursts usually, and generally find myself doing things other than exping most of the time. I don't know exactly why I play like that, but I seem to get a lot out of it. A week ago I was levelling summoner, got to 36 and stopped. For no reason really, then I moved onto unlockong the rest of the jobs I've been lazy about (Samurai, Dragoon, Paladin). Then I went about levelling Samurai and Dragoon yesterday off and on for the fun of it.

People keep teling me to hit 75 with something already, given how long I've been in this, but I just don't want to bother yet. I'm having so much fun elsewhere. I just switched my common ballista job, was RDM, but now BLM. Having a blast with it.

I never know what I end up doing next I think is the best thing. I could end up doing Zilart, or getting hooked on crafting again. I really don't know, but in general I tend to take each thing presented of the game in little bursts and move on. It looks like I'm progressing really slowly, but I'm having a great time.

 

[shoplifter]

Good times! I don't spend as much time as most people in the game. I'm at about 80-90 days playtime stretched over 2+ years. So that's probabaly why the game's "flaws" (requiring to party for everything, lots of grinding, etc) don't bother me.

If not spending as much time as most people means playing FFXI for around 20% of my waking hours for two years, there's no way in hell I'm going to reopen my account as I had been considering.

 

[Xiaoki]

I played a Monk/Thief to level 55 until I finally said "fuck this shit".
I haven't played for like 2 years so I don't know how things are now but when I did play it was really bad but from what people are saying it's no different.

My advice to JRPereira- stay away from FF11.
When will it get boring?
When you spend 2 hours looking for a group in Quifim, that's when.

 

[RuGalz]

If you don't understand your job by 50, there's little reason to hink you'd ever get it, so there should be little issue with worrying about a pick up party trying something different at those levels.

Even tons of lv 75 don't understand their jobs let alone lv 50... I'm sure many will disagree with you here. Just go listen to how many people complain about the game because of "players".

I'd still don't get why Garliage is such a common spot with Eastern Altepa around as well. There are other spots aside from the zoneline and you wouldn't have to worry about those beetle and bat trains. The only reason to not do Altepa is the gate crystal, which should only ne an issue to new players. Then again they take the time to get Kazham keys... I don't see why they can't get an Altepa gate crystal. It's much easier than just getting one key.

For a new player, wandering around aimlessly without a map in Altepa trying to find GC and avoid aggro isn't something people willing to risk for. Ya you can use an online map but that just points out another shitty thing about the game; it makes you rely on outside source much more than you should need to. Alternatively, you can rely on someone else to help you. But for a new player, help isn't that easily accessible until he/she joins a some what established LS. (Heck, even in a medium size LS getting help can be like an impossible task sometimes.) SE contradict themselves in designing the game a lot of times and the idea of Linkshell is just one of it. LS is meant to be some what casual because it lacks many facilities to organize a large guild well. But "casual play" and FFXI just doesn't mix, if you want to get some where in the game in a timely manner anyway.

I mean, I have no problem with exping in the common zones whatsoever, but when it's crowded or a party seems to have a monopoly on the mobs, why stay there? You can always see how many pts are in the area beforehand so I think alternative areas should always be under consideration.

Ever try taking a random pickup party to inner part of Uleguerand Range for xp? I stop going with pickups simply because either someone will die on the way and leads to more deaths or takes 2 hours to finally get there and not everyone in the party is good enough to pull good xp rate off. It's better to stay in crowded area where you are safe and pulling about same xp rate sometimes. There's too many variables with pickup parties. You may not feel like it because you are a bard and bard makes many things easier in the game. Bard's songs makes up for some of the crappy, unskillful players in a pickup situation. (But which also means you can do even better when everyone is skillful.)

And by no means is it SE's fault the players can't silence a weapon, tank a pugil, or get that crystal. Crabs and mandies are easiest yes, but the others are not impossible.

Players skill range a lot and equipment needs vary. Traveling is slow and/or difficult at the level when you *need* those things. SE designed a game that's too hardcore for the casual. They only have themselves to blame for the complaints and the fact that FFXI population hasn't grow much (or might have declined a bit).

 

[Spiritreaver]

Even tons of lv 75 don't understand their jobs let alone lv 50... I'm sure many will disagree with you here. Just go listen to how many people complain about the game because of "players".

You said this game was simply just not a place for casuals, and I agree, that's why I love it. The complexities of the jobs are far from complex. Perhaps they're just too much for your casual gamer. There is no excuse for not knowing your job that high up, really there isn't. I still feel as I do before, just because there are bad apples doesn't me it's likely, that high up anyways.

For a new player, wandering around aimlessly without a map in Altepa trying to find GC and avoid aggro isn't something people willing to risk for. Ya you can use an online map but that just points out another shitty thing about the game; it makes you rely on outside source much more than you should need to. Alternatively, you can rely on someone else to help you. But for a new player, help isn't that easily accessible until he/she joins a some what established LS. (Heck, even in a medium size LS getting help can be like an impossible task sometimes.) SE contradict themselves in designing the game a lot of times and the idea of Linkshell is just one of it. LS is meant to be some what casual because it lacks many facilities to organize a large guild well. But "casual play" and FFXI just doesn't mix, if you want to get some where in the game in a timely manner anyway.

This is funny, like I said this is why I enjoy this game. It weeds out the players who can't take the risks and tough shit and gets them out of my way. It isn't my fault that someone is simply just too scared to go to a position of a zone, click something, and warp. It's not at all hard to find help for easy shit like that either.

Ever try taking a random pickup party to inner part of Uleguerand Range for xp? I stop going with pickups simply because either someone will die on the way and leads to more deaths or takes 2 hours to finally get there and not everyone in the party is good enough to pull good xp rate off. It's better to stay in crowded area where you are safe and pulling about same xp rate sometimes. There's too many variables with pickup parties. You may not feel like it because you are a bard and bard makes many things easier in the game. Bard's songs makes up for some of the crappy, unskillful players in a pickup situation. (But which also means you can do even better when everyone is skillful.)

People still get pick up parties well into meriting days, you're also concocting a situation I already aluuded to earlier. Thre's no issue whatsoever exping in the common areas if exp isn't hurt at all by the number of parties there. My thing was the amount of people who feel the needs to complain about having to level in these areas and off these mobs. You don't HAVE to, period. And in some cases it's actually better to go find an alternative spot than to just stick around in some crowded, or dangerous zone. But no, let's not do that, let's go camp in Guivre's spawn for 5 hours.

Being a BRD has little to do with this, infact I have other jobs I play too. My first job was actually BLM, and after BRD I switched to RDM and did a little bit of NIN. Now I've going through SMN, like I mentioned earlier.

Players skill range a lot and equipment needs vary. Traveling is slow and/or difficult at the level when you *need* those things. SE designed a game that's too hardcore for the casual. They only have themselves to blame for the complaints and the fact that FFXI population hasn't grow much (or might have declined a bit).

Good for them. I have no issue with anyone who says this isn't meant for casuals. It takes a ton of frustration out of my day. More often than not I find myself surrounded by competent people, I wonder why?

 

[SpiderJerusalem]

Ya getting people NOT to go to pos bibiki for 15 levels with a jillion partys there....doesn't happen
also a lot of people are retarded, if you can get past that you'll be ok
The game is fun in that cursing under your breath for a lot of it kind of way ^^
I love it, but I'm a miserable person anyway and most other games don't interest me too much anymore.

 

[RuGalz]

Ya you don't have to go to common areas as i stated many times. But good luck convience your party to do so. Maybe you just have better luck than me or rest of GAFer on Fairy but w/e. Good for you. FFXI is worth checking out and I'm still playing when I'm bored, but it does not stop me from caling it a shitty game.

None of the complaints from players is unreasonable and the fact that there are more complaints than praises means something is wrong with the game. No the system does not weed out the crappy players, it simply makes dealing with or putting up with crappy players more painful. On the other hand, it weed out many potentially great players because the time investment is too great which is the number one reason I lost most of my in game friends over time.

 

[JRPereira]

So far what I've read looks pretty good, - I know I'll probably get bored once I get later in level, but I'd be ok with just 20-40 good hours with the game.

Dealing with shitty players is something I'm used to from world of warcraft and city of heroes, so that probably won't phase me.

If the story's good, I'll get majorly into it (i love a great story) - and be able to ignore a chunk of the flaws.

I hear the system requirements were really low - what kind of a system do you need to run it at 1024x768 with the graphics cranked as high as they go? For the look of the world and the spell effects, it looks like they have a nice engine going, compared to say, city of heros.

I've heard some clips of the battle music and, with the exception of the boss battle music (which I'm probably going to end up replacing with something from another FF game), it sounds really good - even without Nobuo Uematsu doing most of the music (kind of reminds me of final fantasy tactics with a little less buildup of emotion).

What are ballistas like, and what level do you have to be to start participating?

 

[Spiritreaver]

Well for one thing, I'm not Fairy, I'm on Ragnarok. No it doesn't fully weed out crappy players, but it certainly doesn't encourage them. What it does do though is weed out the people who wouldn't have been dedicated enough to make it far in the game anyways, and have a higher chance of becoming a crappy player. See you later, bye. Doesn't bother me any that you didn't enjoy yourself. And if I do happen to run into a bad player, there's absolutely nothing that personally stops me from kicking once a better replacement comes, until then I'll try and teach you how you're supposed to work it, but if you can't figure it out, forget it.

It may give SE issues, but hey I'm not SE.

Anyways, I already agreed with everyone that the original poster probably wouldn't like the game so he shouldn't get it. Though I don't think that should stop other people whatsoever. Given how overwhelmningly touchy people are to the MMORPG genere as a whole, there must be something out there worth your while.

But until I see someone do FFXI the right way, I'll keep playing and loving it.

What are ballistas like, and what level do you have to be to start participating?

Your average FFXi whiner will happen to say it's merely an easter egg hunt shitfest with killing.

It's not. To put it simply the game of ballista makes the whole thing fun. It's not about killing, it's like a party. There's strategies that you have to figure out, you have to figure out how your job plays and do it wll. To put it simply ballista is a game where you go about digging and items and petra (you score with petra), killing an enemy and getting a special status that lets you score. The team with the most points wins. The fun comes in trying to defend or take rooks (goals), killing certain jobs or crippling others, saving teammates, it can get very crazy in the larger matches. During JP and EN primetimes on
Ragnarok we can get 40+ players together sometimes in the 60 caps. It's addictive as all hell, if you ever start playing you'll quickly realize just how much people come back to play it.

For the specifics you need to be level 30 and have a Rank of 3 before you can get your ballista license to undergo the normal matches. BUt I think any level and any rank may participate in a Diorama ballista match. The only requirements are Chains of Promathia and access given to you by the Master of Ceremonies for that match. Diorama can range from as low as level 10 cap to uncapped.

It's quite a rush and it really keeps my interest int he game going. In fact it's what fuels my interest in other jobs. Often times I'll see other people playing a job like Samurai or Dragoon and having so much fun and just owning people. So I end up wanting to do that myself.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=ballista&btnG=Search+Video I think all but the last two are FFXI Ballista videos. You may want to check them out.

 

[RuGalz]

Ya FFXI is good when you have nothing better to do in life. Instead of racking in virtual money I'd rather be making money in real life. Such is life and life is beautiful.

 

[Spiritreaver]

Ya FFXI is good when you have nothing better to do in life. Instead of racking in virtual money I'd rather be making money in real life. Such is life and life is beautiful.

Actually this is the case in all MMORPGs.

 

[Taibhse]

You will definately love the good story as you kill crabs for 3 months. I'm not sure what mystical fairy world Darth l "wants ffxi to eat your soul" evilweifu is playing on, but there are about 12 people on all of the FFXI realms who can go to alternative places to level without taking 4 hours, dying or quitting early. He is one of them so that leaves 11 people for you to find.

You will also need these people to be starting off on the same world as you and play at the same time. Good luck, also do not wander off the beaten path. It may look like a hill with a two degree slope but rest assured you will not be able to climb it, stay on the road.

 

[Piecake]

Did thfs improve any? i used to play on Ragnorak and had a 60thf. I eventually quite because i had to wait forever to find a group, much longer than i did before, and i was getting real sick of farming and level grinding. Just kind of curious if thfs are still getting the shaft. When i quit i think drk/thfs were all the rage at level 60+, and thfs didnt seem to get much respect.

 

[Tabris]

Haha, there's a banner to buy FFXI gil underneath this thread.

...and as for the 20% of your waking time in a game. Well it is an MMORPG. It can be played while doing other things (talking on the phone, playing gba, etc) also for a good chunk of the time.

 

[May16]

It's cool if you're Japanese and living in Japan and not playing any of the thousand other, cooler Japan-only MMORPGs.

Fixed!

 

[TheDuce22]

Ya FFXI is good when you have nothing better to do in life. Instead of racking in virtual money I'd rather be making money in real life. Such is life and life is beautiful.

Why play games at all if thats your attitude.

 

[RuGalz]

Why play games at all if thats your attitude.

Are all games as much time sink as FFXI? No.

 

[TheDuce22]

No but they are just as pointless.

 

[Ramirez]

I played a blackmage to level 35 I believe,so I'm no pro...but I ultimately quit the game due to the fact that you pretty much had to have a group to do anything,something as simple as killing a single trash mob your own level required a group,and it had to be a group of the right classes,which usually ended up waiting around for a healing class to show up and join your group...and yea leveling up took foooorever,I just prefer the much more casual pace of WoW,not to mention you lost XP in FFXI when you died,and not being able to outrun mobs most of the time was lame,these may have been fixed,I haven't played the game in years.

Just way too group focused for my tastes,plus it lacked pvp like you get in WoW,which is my favorite thing to do.

 

[RuGalz]

No but they are just as pointless.

Then why not just jump off the cliff now? In the end you just die and everything you do now will be pointless. I'm not sure what you are trying to say.

 

[Flo_Evans]

I am happy to report that I have been FFXI free for almost a month!

I also realize the moment I log in and say 'hiya' in the linkshell... I am gonna be hooked again and probably play again.. T_T

FFXI will run on a fairly crappy PC, but if you want it maxed out (trust me - you are going to be staring at this thing for a LONG time, you want it maxed out^^) you are going to need at least a 'current' PC.

anyway! here is my obligatory screen cap!

Lv.74 NIN valefor server

 

[Ferrio]

Then why not just jump off the cliff now? In the end you just die and everything you do now will be pointless. I'm not sure what you are trying to say.

Do me a favore

call my linkshell
Jueno Vanadiel, Rng looking for party
tell them to go down the road to the auction house
im soo sorry<3

 

[PC Gaijin]

I hear the system requirements were really low - what kind of a system do you need to run it at 1024x768 with the graphics cranked as high as they go? For the look of the world and the spell effects, it looks like they have a nice engine going, compared to say, city of heros.

I used to run FFXI on a P4 1.6GHz with 512MB RAM and a 128MB Radeon 9700 Pro. Maxed out all the settings (even going into the registry and maxing stuff there that you couldn't from the config utility). I was able to run it just fine at 1024x768. I think the game engine is capped at 30 fps anyway.

Also, 20-40 hours isn't much for a time-intensive game like FFXI. That will probably take you to the point where you can't solo effectively anymore, at which time you will have to experience your first (probably horrific) parties in most likely Valkurm Dunes. So you'll get to see all the drawbacks of FFXI in a nutshell (bad players, excessive time spent looking for groups, grinding on the same mobs, etc.) At that point you can decide whether this game is for you or not, because it won't change a whole lot for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, you also won't have seen much of the stuff that is cool about FFXI either (story, the world, non-xp party activities). But even if you decide to quit at that point, $30 for 20-40 hours of entertainment isn't a bad deal in my book, and deciding the game sucks for you after 40 hours is certainly a lot better than spending 40 days in it and then deciding you've wasted your time.

 

[Shouta]

First off, I'm a little tired of hearing people mention the job/subjob thing. There's a reason you won't get parties, it won't work. Period. At best you can stray a bit with combos that are a bit useful (RDM/BRD, WHM/NIN, etc) later on.

There's a very distinct line between not working with the average group and not working at all. Even the most unacceptable job combinations for pick-up play works when you're with the people you work best with. Most people say PLDs can't do anything but tank but I've DD'd (/THF. /NIN) and been a primary healer (/WHM) in LS parties as PLD where our XP gain per hour was 5000-6000. I've DD'd in Dynamis where I've done equivalent average WS damage as the other primary DDs. These job combos wouldn't work in a normal PT situation but did for the people I work best with.

Don't get me wrong, there's still problems with the subjob system but it's far from an inflexible system. It just boils down to the players.

 

[jiggle]

How do u take screen caps at that resolution?

 

[TheDuce22]

Then why not just jump off the cliff now? In the end you just die and everything you do now will be pointless. I'm not sure what you are trying to say.

I just think its hypocritical to say you would rather live your life than play final fantasy while your wasting your time posting on a gaming message board and obviously play other games.

 

[Shouta]

How do u take screen caps at that resolution?

Requires a program outside of FFXI to take pics at that resolution. The new version of the FFXI Windower has a screenshot option built into it so you can play the game windowed and take nice pics.

 

[Tabris]

How do u take screen caps at that resolution?

He's using windower.

Here's latest screenshot I have. I always forget to take screenshots.

That's my level 58 NPC

 

[bjork]

PSO for me.

 

[Ferrio]

 

[CompositeMolar]

Unless you have friends to make a static party don't even bother to try the game.

 

[Spiritreaver]

There's a very distinct line between not working with the average group and not working at all. Even the most unacceptable job combinations for pick-up play works when you're with the people you work best with. Most people say PLDs can't do anything but tank but I've DD'd (/THF. /NIN) and been a primary healer (/WHM) in LS parties as PLD where our XP gain per hour was 5000-6000. I've DD'd in Dynamis where I've done equivalent average WS damage as the other primary DDs. These job combos wouldn't work in a normal PT situation but did for the people I work best with.

Don't get me wrong, there's still problems with the subjob system but it's far from an inflexible system. It just boils down to the players.

You're right, this is kind of what goes in line with what I said about the odd job combos in ballista. Lots of things work, and you wouldn't believe it on paper, but it happens. As far as parties go, things become much more situational. The best option would be to have many options to fit what works, where you're exping, so on.

I wish I had taken some shots today, I didn't do too much other than level Dragoon and play ballista 30 cap as SMN. But there was an exciting moment for me, I made MVP status in 5 vs 5 player match as SMN. Generally the class is regarded as worthless in ballista aside from being a cure tank, but I'm starting to think this isn't always the case. I didn't make that many BP (191) but hey it's a start. The match before it wasn't so great though, my team lost by a considerable amount, just not enough DDs. But I did manage to Astral Flow the same person 4 times.

 

[Spiritreaver]

Blah. I'll have to take some ballista pics soon. You run into a lot of great things there.

 

[SpiderJerusalem]

I just think its hypocritical to say you would rather live your life than play final fantasy while your wasting your time posting on a gaming message board and obviously play other games.

The only other game I've played online is pso really so I don't know other mmo stuff.
I took it all sort of meaning theres times your whole gametime is just fucking blown, especially if you're only going to play limited times, its way harder getting anything done. Even planned stuff goes to the shitter sometimes with late people or someone not showing, or like you get home and think "oh man I'll xp today" just to be stuck with nothing seeking/ with a green flag by your head waiting around / people busy and can't quite come atm to help for stuff/ "oh no way I can pay for this item i'll camp it" just to get mpkd by gilsellers which gms or whatever will do nothing about. Baliista was sort of fun..for like a day or two, that's just not my thing. I loved doing the story stuff but seems like most people don't give a damn to do any of it, or bitch the whole time about it while doing it, but thats mostly what I was always working towards.

I still play the shit out of it, but thats all there, all the time.

 

[RuGalz]

I just think its hypocritical to say you would rather live your life than play final fantasy while your wasting your time posting on a gaming message board and obviously play other games.

There's a huge difference between spending 1-2 hrs playing a game and spending 1-2 hrs in ffxi and accomplish absolutely nothing which is very common in the game. If you can't see these problems in ffxi then I really have nothing else to say. But if you want to generalize it like you did, then living a life itself is a huge waste of time because in the end you have nothing.

 

[Flo_Evans]

I think the most important aspect of enjoying FFXI is to have a good linkshell. Since the game is so party/group oriented, if you are the loner type you will log in and sit around for 2 hours and get nothing done. If I had not gotten into my linkshell (with several RL friends) I would of quit the game long ago.

http://nudawnclan.com/ looks like its under construction yet again!

oh and another thing, if you are sitting around LFG for 2 hours there is something wrong with you. You do have the ability to LEAD your own party in FFXI, instead of passivly waiting for someone to invite you.

 

[Ferrio]

oh and another thing, if you are sitting around LFG for 2 hours there is something wrong with you. You do have the ability to LEAD your own party in FFXI, instead of passivly waiting for someone to invite you.

Oh thats fine and dandy if you're a White mage, bard, or tank. But if you're one of the many damage dealers in the game it isn't that easy.

 

[teiresias]

I mean, for someone that is into MMORPG, I really don't see why FFXI would be all that bad - it definately takes commitment. After trying to play Asheron's Call, FFXI (the longest I've played an MMORPG and enjoyed it), and WoW I know I'm just not suited to MMORPG's, they're not my games even though I love running around in huge overworlds without boundaries for the most part.

I'm better with more pick-up and play games that don't require quite so much timesink and being online playing for hours on end - hence, I'll be buying Phantasy Star Universe.

Playing FFXI is enjoyable with a good group of people though. At least to this MMORPG layman, I just don't have the drive or time for the timesinks any MMORPG really requires.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Doing missions for the story in this type of game seems to be a waste to me. Unlike Dragon quest 8 *Much luv to that friggin game* you're pretty much waiting on other people and depending on them to do their job and not screw up. Also during cut scenes they may be rushing you because they have to help their mom put up the xmas tree or take their wife to work. So you may end up hitting X/enter passing all the text of story. To be honest I pretty much don't know much about the story in FFXI but what I do know is the story of my character XD.

My first day of FFXI was kinda cool. I didn't know anyone and it was my first big mmorpg. Pic of me doing a mission which was ok because it's soloable (hear that SE!). Just need to get to that tower over there from the top of this mountain... hmm.


Got into a LS (PS2 GAF members) and started to level my character to do stuff with them.



Exploring the huge world was a blast for me, and i got a chance to play the bonus game. MGSFFXI



I then started to do crazier stuff and fighting harder mobs. Doing this stuff with friends is better than the story for me. It's the reason I play it when I'm don't feel like playing DQ8. To tell you the truth, it got me off of GAF. I spent every chance I got to browse GAF. When I was walking, at school, at a store XD.







But yea, stay away from this game.

 

[Tabris]

I'm in between KB windows as I'm reading this thread

Anyways, yep, still enjoying FFXI. Some people take it too serious/focus too much on certain aspects. It's a great game to just relax to, then when the action happens, it's very very exciting.

 

[Flo_Evans]

Oh thats fine and dandy if you're a White mage, bard, or tank. But if you're one of the many damage dealers in the game it isn't that easy.

bullshit. I know many THFs, DRKs, and MNKs that have leveled to 75 by forming thier own parties. Mellee DD are just as essentail to a party as a WHM. You can not level efficivly without a proper skillchain and majicburst. Alot of people knock FFXI because you need a certain party setup to get good exp (or for some quest fights) but to me, that is one of the great things about it. It rewards you for forming an balanced party where everyone is working together, and punishes you for playing sloppily.

damn now I am probably gonna log in tonight so I can finnaly get to lv.75 and finnish all the quests I havent done.

edit: one recomendation I can make - don't level WAR to 30 then immediatly start on ninja or ranger (like I did) both of these jobs require very expensive (or hard to obtain) gear, and every exp party you are flushing gil down the toliet.

I always afk/lfp when watching tv, doing homework, or studying. I hate starting parties or even having that leader dot by my name. Even during LS events. I'm lazy ._. I don't even have to put my flag up for rdm to get invited but I hate rdm now (exp side of rdm, solo rdm rox).

I usually don't like to lead parties either, but if I was a DRK or THF sitting around for hours you can bet your ass I would RDM is pretty much the same as ninja. I usually log in and start farming or camping an NM until I get an invite. Don't even have to put up the flag I find a lot of it has to do with your reputation as well. If you show up to an exp session without proper gear (now don't get me wrong here, there is 'proper' gear, 'GOD' gear, and 'gimp' gear) and are unpleasent to play with, don't listen to orders and work with your party, word will get around and you may find yourself not invited to many people parties.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

oh and another thing, if you are sitting around LFG for 2 hours there is something wrong with you. You do have the ability to LEAD your own party in FFXI, instead of passivly waiting for someone to invite you.

I always afk/lfp when watching tv, doing homework, or studying. I hate starting parties or even having that leader dot by my name. Even during LS events. I'm lazy ._. I don't even have to put my flag up for rdm to get invited but I hate rdm now (exp side of rdm, solo rdm rox).

 

[Flynn]

I had fun playing FFXI and made some great friends there.

But World of Warcraft has been a more satisfying experience.

I think FFXI caters to a more 'core MMO audience, while WoW leaves room for casual players to advance and enjoy themselves.

I also find the customizable UI much more intuitive.

The things I liked about FFXI were:

-The character design -- very sharp. Too bad you only fight worms and crabs.
-Cross-country servers. Making friends with Japanese players was very cool. Their emoticons own us.
-Sheer size. I like when MMOs make travel difficult. It makes the world seem that much larger.

But seriously, waiting hours for a party is unacceptable. I'm able to play World of Warcraft half as much and get more satisfaction out of it.

 

[shoplifter]

I'm sort of disturbed that I'm in some of Ploid's first pics. It really has been that long since I played. I went and bought CoP then barely touched it after that, just like what I did with EQ2..picked up DoF then quit the same week.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

I usually don't like to lead parties either, but if I was a DRK or THF sitting around for hours you can bet your ass I would RDM is pretty much the same as ninja. I usually log in and start farming or camping an NM until I get an invite. Don't even have to put up the flag I find a lot of it has to do with your reputation as well. If you show up to an exp session without proper gear (now don't get me wrong here, there is 'proper' gear, 'GOD' gear, and 'gimp' gear) and are unpleasent to play with, don't listen to orders and work with your party, word will get around and you may find yourself not invited to many people parties.

True, thing about the rep thing is when I would get to the point where I could equip new expensive gear I would quit exping to farm. I even got called out of farming a few times as thf to exp with this leader that always invited me (Sam leader, in the 40s. Tachi enpi > SATA viper bite roxed). Now that thf and sam is 75 I pretty much exp in LS parties only. If it's a sky party I take sam, and if it's on birds near Tav Safehold I bring thf and tank/DD >:'D.

Exping is fun with friends ^^

 

[hooded pitohui]

I finally decided to quit after hitting 60 and getting my Artifact gear. The level grind was too much, and the shitty economy and rampant lamerism made Fairy virtually uninhabitable.

It was a lot of fun when I stayed with it, though. I guess I'd actually still be playing if all of my Linkshell hadn't quit.

 

[Ravidrath]

Never thought I'd enjoy an MMO, but I reviewed it when it launched in the U.S. (largely to try to give the POV of a standard FF player) and haven't stopped yet. So, yeah, I like this game a lot.

Yes, it can be frustratingly group-oriented at times, but there is a lot to do other than Exp. and they're working on addressing the solo issue. But as long as you're not fixated on reaching Level 75 quickly and can enjoy other aspects of the game, you'll be fine. It took me 18 months to reach 75, and that was mostly because of work and/or just not being in the mood to Exp. or wanting to do other quests and things instead.

As for the solo stuff, short term this is in the form of Rings that give you bonus experience for a set period of time and the summonable NPCs (which I also just enjoy just in a general gameplay/Pokemon sense). Long term, in a recent interview they've stated that the next expansion will have more of a solo focus.

About looking for parties: you can Exp. just about any time you want if you either set up static parties with friends or take it on yourself to be the leader and build the parties yourself. Parties are more flexible than people understand or are willing to admit, and I feel a lot of the time people that complain about this are looking for 1) an unrealistically optimal setup or 2) are just going by things they read on some endgame message board. Generally, I believe that some Exp. is better than none and waiting around for the optimal setup only frustrates, so I've taken it on myself to organize parties and learn how to make that flow better, and it's going really well. While you have no context for this, I can say it's working for me because I'm levelling Summoner (a conflicted and "undesireable" job) now and advancing rapidly.

To get the most out of the game, you will want a good linkshell to do things with. While I agree with some of the things people have said about the community, it obviously can't apply to every one so I'm not going to generalize. But if you find your niche and some people to play with, you will enjoy yourself, and I don't think you have to sacrifice your ideals, play style, etc. to do this.

Yes, inflation is rampant, but this is mostly a bad thing only if you're targeting certain rare and excellent "luxury" equipment, in my experience. The E-penis comes at a price, and rampant gilbuying has proportionately raised that price. But other, more basic gear has actually become relatively cheaper if you can deal with not having the "best" stuff in the game, and Square has done a good job of offering reasonable alternatives that narrow the gap between the normal stuff and the luxury goods, many of which can be quested. And while people complain about the inflation, the fact is that they're still paying for it all, and lots of times I think the farming needed to buy the item would take longer than trying to get it yourself.

While there are some points in your concerns with other MMOs that don't bode well for FFXI, I think overall you'd be pleasantly surprised. I know I don't post here much, but if you're interested, send me a private message and I'll hook you up with a pass to my server and try to help you get started with some funds and general advice.

And, just for the record, I'm a 75 Red Mage, and have completed Zilart and Promathia, am an active participant in the endgame content, and have a real job.

 

[Tabris]

I'm in between pop windows on Fafnir right now.

DrForrester from GAF is here. He's in one of my least liked linkshells on the server.