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Thinking about buying
chronos886
Member Posts: 12
I got a few questions.
Is there any sort of PvP, I am not into it all that much but I came from WoW and they had a good PvP. I just wanna know if theres any.
Does the areas with the stronger bosses when your a much higher level, take sometimes multiple hours just to reach him?
And overall since I am coming from WoW, is it worth coming to this game or is it a downgrade, I hope not since I love the FF series.
Also, do I need to be on for half my life to really get into it or can I casually play for a maybe a couple hours a day at most and have fun?
Comments
Hello chrono..
First, welcome to the forums and, potentially, to FFXI.. I'll try and sum the game up for ya as best as I can - as well as answer your questions. In fact, I'll handle your questions first...
Is there any sort of PvP, I am not into it all that much but I came from WoW and they had a good PvP. I just wanna know if theres any.
Short answer: Yes.
Long Answer: Yes, but not as you're used to it in WoW.
Basically, FFXI is designed, first and foremost, as a cooperative PvE game, heavily built on party-mechanics where players have to work together, contributing the strengths of their respective jobs (classes) to achieve a given goal - be it defeating a mob, or overcoming an obstacle in a mission/quest.
The PvP is added in two forms. Ballista - which is a competitive PvP where you're basically fighting against other players representing different countries. You have to get an object, called a "Petra" into an object called a "Rook". You score points and basically try to get more points than the opposition. The second form, "Brenner", is similar to Capture the Flag. They're both events unto themselves - that is, you have to register for each and you can't simply participate in an event by showing up.
Does the areas with the stronger bosses when your a much higher level, take sometimes multiple hours just to reach him?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. If you're a fan of the Final Fantasy series, then you know how much Square likes throwing epic challenges at a player. That said, you have several different types of mobs that you can go after...
One type, the most "easily" accessible are Notorious Monsters. Notorious Monsters, or NMs for short, are basically rare, named versions of common world mobs that spawn in certain areas, based on different conditions. Some are on a timer, some are "lotto-spawned" off a place-holder mob, some are spawned by the player, etc.
You also have Hyper Notorious Monsters, which are larger and much more rare named mobs that often don't have a common world-mob counterpart. Creatures such as King Behemoth, Fafnir, Jormungand and a number of others. These are harder to reach, often trickier to spawn and almost always a much harder battle, often requiring an alliance of 18 players (3 parties) to defeat.
Then you have Burning Circle Notorious Monsters or BCNMs. These are "arena-like" battles that players enter via the use of "beastman seals". Beastman seals are items that drop off of common world mobs and can (and should) be saved in order to gain access to a BCNM. They come in different types, and there are many different ones. You have BCNM 20, 40, 60, etc.. The number indicates how many seals are required to enter that battle. These are often very challenging battles and can yield some very valuable/useful reward items.
I'm skipping a couple other types here, but I'll get to the final type.. your true boss battles. These are very story-line centric. The Shadowlord, for example, must be defeated in order to complete the original storyline for Final Fantasy XI. Then you have Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promathia and now Treasures of Aht Urghan, each with their own storylines, missions/quests and bosses. The Shadowlord is challenging.. but not incredibly difficult. I haven't finished my Zilart Missions yet, so I can't speak to that, but I know there's one particular battle against 5 "ArchAngels" that some people have had to try several times before they completed. I will say that, along with the storylines (as Square-Enix always delivers) makes the main story-lines incredibly satisfying and interesting to me. It's one of the many things that makes FFXI unlike anything else out there.
In all, some of them can take some time to get to, but you can break the overall missions down into parts.. finish up to a certain point one day, finish it another - there's nothing like the instance runs in WoW where you have a week to get through it before it resets.
And overall since I am coming from WoW, is it worth coming to this game or is it a downgrade, I hope not since I love the FF series.
To me.. FFXI is an upgrade from WoW.
WoW seems to me more like an action game than a MMO. It has the elements of a MMO, but the feel of it just doesn't grab me as a very deep or immersive MMORPG. Final Fantasy XI is the deepest, most interesting and,ultimately, most satisfying MMORPG I've ever played. Not knocking WoW - it is what it is and Blizzard have done a fantastic job of creating, more or less, exactly the kind of game they set out to. However, for me, WoW is just too.. "simple"; not enough depth. I get bored with it after about a month.
Of course, conversely, to many FFXI is too slow and requires "too much time", which is an entirely subjective point-of-view. What is "too much time"? Well, really... I've heard of people spending hundreds or thousands of hours in WoW... and in FFXI. The difference is where that time is distributed. In WoW, you get to the end-game very quickly (the design seems to promote that) and then spend the time doing raids or bgs.. over and over, 'til you decide you want to roll a new toon and start over. In FFXI, that time is spent across the whole game.. nothing is "fast". Square's goal is to provide a challenge to the player from 1 to 75, job after job, no matter what you're doing. So they don't want you to rush through everything and, despite the claims of those who say it's only a grinding game, there is *tons* to do along the way. This is becoming a mantra of mine with this game.. but as in so many other ways... FFXI is what you make of it.
Also, do I need to be on for half my life to really get into it or can I casually play for a maybe a couple hours a day at most and have fun?
This, again, depends on you. What do you need to accomplish to feel you're having fun or making progress? This is something that no one can really answer for you. Many things can be accomplished, straight through, within a couple hours. Many things can't. However, that doesn't mean the game is screwed. It means you just might have to get through certain missions or quests or other tasks in smaller chunks of time. It took me 3 runs to finish Zilart Mission 5 - simply because of time. I could have gotten through it in one shot, but the people I was running it with didn't have the time to do that. So we broke it down into 3 parts. Conversely, I ran all of my Rank 5 missions - (there are Ranks you earn for your home country in FFXI,a nd each Rank has 3 possible missions you can complete to earn the next rank) - and defeated the Shadowlord to conclude the original FFXI storyline in one afternoon/evening - because I and the others helping me, had the time to do so.
Some of the battles, yes, will require more time to get through and so scheduling of those will likely come into play - but if you've made it to the point where you're looking to fight those battles.. you've already put quite a bit of time into the game and are likely enjoying it
In all, FFXI is a very deep game, and a very, very, very massive game. There's more to do in it than I would even dare describe here (it would take forever to read as well). For someone starting fresh, like yourself, there's about 2 years' of content to experience - assuming you actually try to experience it. My advice is take your time and learn all you can. There's no reward for getting to level 75 faster than someone else and there is alot to experience along the way.
Final Fantasy XI does not cater - at all - to someone who wants fast progress, like WoW does. Not by a long shot. So if you're looking for that, FFXI will not be your game. That I'll promise you.
Either way, I hope you enjoy the game if you try it out. Don't be afraid to ask questions - just be polite about it
Take care and good luck!
/salute
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
ty for giving us such a great info about current FFXI.
but i have more questions
i am also an ex wow player ( eq/eq2/swg) i have canceled wow because i got really bored and i did not want to be a game-slave in terms of spending 6-8 horus playing for being good or as good as expected in high lvl content and i did not want to have my life scheduled based on raid times.
How is ffxi lvling like? is all about mob grinding? or is quest-like oriented?
As far as i know, u can get adv jobs, like pala, dark knight etc etc etc,
so u start with a basic job ( white mage for example ) and then once u are able to get and advanced, u drop the basic for leveling from scratch the advanced one?
thanks for the info, i am really thinking about getting FFXI thanks to this posts
i know FFXI is not like actual MMORPGs and that is really what i am looking for ( bored of same game mechanics changing races/clases and scenarios )
regarding the leveling method in FFXI, what i was asking is that even being able to solo up to lvl 10-12,
i knew that beyond u should party or freeze,
but even needing a party, the progress beyond the "solo range" is quest driven or is just kill kill kill kill and kill same monsters again and again and again without any kind of quest with rewards and a little of game-history or is just a nosense mob party-grinding till lvl cap?
thanks again
"God, please help us sinful children of Ivalice.."
my friends say that with ps2 pad game is really friendly..
have in mind interface is five years old and was though for consoles
Anyway, I loved the game when I played it though. The graphics were pretty if you tweaked them a bit, and once you get used to the controls, they aren't so bad. I have actually heard that using a controller was much easier to play (for targeting, etc), but I still preferred the keyboard.
Also, the answer to your question: The story comes from the missions you receive in your home city, and quests (you can do all the quests from the 3 cities for Rep, but you should do your own first) ... Opposite of that, leveling is killing monster, after monster until you gain your levels. There are specific areas, which are better than others, to level and find groups easier.
My advice, pick it up, and try it. There may be a demo somewhere too that you can try first. Not sure if Square put something out like that, but it would be good to look at least. Good luck!
i hate mob grinding
that makes me think in buying twice
what a pitty
Well... For most games I would agree completely with you. In an exp party in this game, you basicly stand as the same spot, someone pulls a mob, and then the party kills it. Over and over again. This sounds boring, no doubt about it, but for some reason, it really isn't.
To the comments about controllers/pad:
I play this game using the keyboard (PC) only. For me, that works excellent, and I have no problems with anything. The macro system makes me wonder why a lot of ppl call this a pad game. I don't see how controlling 20 macros per set quickly with CTRL and ALT + # keys can be done better with a pad, but then again: I've never tried using a pad with this game.
how is low lvl range in game now? is there ppl to group with if i start a new char?
btw : i read next june patch the combat system is changed, any1 know what are the changes?
as u say my only concern is if there will be low lvl pplayers to party with at this moments
There should be "low-lvl" players to exp with, since people do change jobs now and then to get them to higher levels. I recommend getting into a linkshell (guild). All the guilds I have been in have been very helpful and mature, so if you do pick it up I hope you have fun.
And on the point of just killing mob after mob, mindless grind as you might call it... I find it weirdly fun in FF XI ... and if you want some point behind what you are doing then if I remember correctly, each mob you kill in that territory counts into a kill count for that region for your nation, then if your nation has the most kills in that territory, npc prices and stuff will be cheaper I believe.
I'll piggy-back what Netspook said about changing jobs...
What ever level you get a job to before switching to level another stays. If you get White Mage to level 30 and then decide you want to unlock Blue Mage as your first Advanced Job... White Mage is still 30. You don't lose the levels you've earned. When you go back to level White Mage again, it'll be level 30, with the same amount of xp you had when you switched.
Now... in the case of subjobs...
This is something that, in some cases, people don't understand and, at times have even thought a waste of time. But they're not.
Basically, a sub-job, or as SE calls them "support job" acts as just that - a supporting "secondary" role for your character, providing all the skills available to it at its capped level. By capped level I mean that your support-job is always capped at half your main job level. So, even if you have a level 20 White Mage and a level 20 Black Mage, if you have White Mage set as your sub/support job, it'll be capped at level 10, since 10 is half of 20. And you'll have access to all the spells and such of the White Mage up to level 10 - on top of all the skills of Black Mage at level 20.
This plays into why someone mentioned leveling jobs up to 37. 37 is the highest level a job can be capped at as a subjob. So, unless you plan on playing a job all the way to 75, you don't need to take it past 37.
So if you think about it, the sub/support job system is quite brilliant and really allows for some interesting job combos. There are "standards" that many will stick to, but over time, people are experimenting and finding new and interesting combos that do work.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
which are the most demanded jobs atm btw? looking to not be rejected by parties
i really love paladin role in games, but seems in FFXI paladin is mainly a tank
The control system in FFXI is something that proves challenging for, I'd guess, just about every new player of the game. I know when I first started, and tried navigating - expecting the standard mouse/keyboard navigation I'd become used to, I was immediately confused and soon after, frustrated. I decided there was no way I could play this game with its default control setup. I went out and bought a gamepad (PS2 style) and found it immediately made a world of difference for me. I continued to play that way for the next 2.5-3 years. It made sense to me, too, because the game was originally designed with PS2 in mind, which of course, uses gamepad... so it all made sense. Keyboard/Mouse control was not their first priority.
Then, by chance, I was staying with my girlfriend for a time and decided to play FFXI again after a break. I didn't have my gamepad with me so I figured "ah what the heck, I''ll just get by with the keyboard for now, 'til I can pick up my gamepad". I set it to the "compact" setup, for the W,S,A,D type movement.
Well, within about 30 minutes, I decided I would never go back to gamepad again. I have never even had to use my mouse since. WSAD for movement and the arrow keys for camera control, plus instant access to my macros via Ctrl and Alt. Not to mention I don't have to put down my gamepad in order to type, then pick it back up. I'm able to do a few different things at once, without hardly having to move my hands; almost everythign is within fingers' reach at any time.
Since then, I've come to think FFXI's controls are actually quite nice. They're just very different from other MMOs and, so, take getting used to. But then again, FFXI itself is so different from other MMOs, so it's right in character.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Some things you should know before starting this game. It's much more time consuming than WoW, leveling is kindda slow and pass level 10 up to 75 you'll have to party to get EXPs and levels. All the quest you'll have to do in order to get the "useful" items such as the airship pass (which allows you to ride the airship from kingdom to kingdom) requires people to do it and it's usually very time consuming (again). So basically, if you have a lot of time to put into the game, you'll most likely love it and find it probably better than WoW. But for the casual player (10-15 hours a week of play), i don't think this game is fo you.
trepo
In most MMORPGs.. or at least those whose gameplay is focused mainly on leveling and questing, yes, that's the case.
However, this is where FFXI is so different and, I think, misunderstood by many.
Unfortunately many people have a rather ego-centric way of looking at things - be it a movie, music, games, books, etc. That is, if it's not created specifically to their expectations, it's "broken" or "buggy" or "wrong", or just "sucks". The truth is, it simply isn't for them - and that's not a bad thing... You can't please everyone; hard as that is for some to accept.
One thing that sets FFXI apart, among many, is that it does not cater to fast xp gain or leveling. Never has. This is the one thing that has been a complaint of players for as long as I can remember. And of course, by and large, they feel the game is "broken" because of this. The game isn't broken. It's different and requires a different approach.
FFXI is not exclusively about leveling, though many people treat it that way - and then complain that it's nothing but a grind. It's an entire experience of which leveling is only a part. It seems to me that if their main goal was in making a game where leveling was a main focus, then there would be more ways to do so. As it stands, there isn't.
Quest reward xp is certainly not a new concept and I'm sure it's not alien to SE. They made a conscious decision to not reward XP for quests. Why would that be? To me, it supports my belief of their goal for FFXI as an entire world to be experienced. To borrow from a popular saying... the reward is in the journey - not the destination.
Think about how most MMOs have their quests set up.. You talk to a NPC, they give you some dialog, tell you they need x,y and z.. and send you on your way.. and that's just about it.
What does FFXI do? At the least, it results in a separate cut-scene where in you and the NPC are in a conversation, providing background and other dialog regarding the task at hand. At the most, it goes into a very elaborate series of cut-scenes, with specific music, moving cameras.. and so forth.. the latter is especially so in the case of major storyline missions. So to me, it makes it obvious... SE's goal was to make the quests and missions something to be done for the experience of doing them, of learning that much more about the world and its goings-on; not merely for the reward at the end. For someone who can get away from the "level grind" mentality, sit back and enjoy the show... this is a brilliant approach. For someone whose only measure of enjoyment or progress is in seeing their xp bar grow and their level increase, it's an incredible bore, and FFXI was obviously not designed to cater to that kind of player.
But again... Nothing is for everyone.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops