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Can I Receive Some Facts About This Game?
Rectifyer
Member Posts: 103
Hello,
I have always been a Final Fantasy fan. I have been wanting to try FFXI for quite some time, but never really found it in any store (I like having the discs) and recently while shopping around at Best Buy I found the Ultimate Collection for $20. I was wondering if this game is still alive. If I were to start playing now, would I be able to find groups or some guilds (or whatever they are called in this game)? My favorite part of any MMORPG is finding a group or guild and going through a campaign with them. The classes in this game top any other game hands down. I plan on starting as a Red Mage and eventually switch to a Dragoon at some point. I am currently playing Aion and personally, the game is crap. Most over rated game I have played in a long time. I am sick of all the annoying grinding quests and lack of an interesting story. Hands down I know the story of FFXI will interest me so that's not an issue.
Also from reading about the payment issues, I have a Skylight Debit Card that I was issued through work. Would that be a sufficient means to pay for the game? Could I just buy Play Online cards (if they sell them)? Any information would be great!
If you come here to tell me that the game is outdated, don't bother. I know. Graphics don't bother. Controls are adaptable. I may end up even purchasing a controller just to get the full feel of playing another FFXI game. Combat will interest me. I know the game is hard and I know I will never reach end game, but a FF game is generally fun and interesting all the way through.
So please any information on how this game is doing and responses from community members would be great!
Thank you,
Rectifyer
Comments
Populations in game are still fairly strong for a game of it's age. On average about 1500 people will be on during any one time (not peak hours) and I still see populations spike up to 2500+ on weekend nights. However, while populations are fairly good you will have a hard time tracking down a party during those early levels (10 ~ 37) most people have finished those levels on most of the job classes so be prepared to solo most of that. (Changes made to experience point gain, and adding new Fields of Valor missions and what not make this process 100 times less painful than it once was to do solo) After 37 I've notice it's still fairly easy (though no cake walk) to jump into parties. And with the level sync system, wait times for parties have decreased big time.
As for guilds (linkshells) the standard rules apply there as for any guild in any game. Just get to talking to people. Guilds are all over, only a matter of time before you find one with people you like in it.
It will be a challenge starting up the game, but like many things in the game persistence is key, and rewarding. I've been playing since NA release and I personally find myself so spoiled by the features, stories, and gameplay of FFXI that I find it extremely hard to find home anywhere else.
What server do you play on? Would you be willing to help me out occasionally?
It's still easy to find partys level 10+. Atleast on Asura.^^
I have another question. If I bought this game and went in with the mindset that it is similar to other FF games, at least in terms of the combat system, would I enjoy it? I am a die hard FF fan having played almost all of the games. Does this fit the mold somewhat?
Almost? Almost all the games? Blasphemy!
Almost is only good in horseshoes and Modern Warfare 2
Well I obviously haven't played FFXi. That's what I was referring to.
I am on Siren, and of course feel free to send me a /tell anytime if you need some pointers or a hand. TBH though, because of work and classes, I may only jump on once or twice a week so sightings of me are rather rare.
As for FFXIs similarities to other FF games. . . I've best heard FFXI described as a RPG, that just happened to be a MMO, now to me that is both a good thing and a bad thing.
A good thing because ~
-FFXI retains the level of story telling on par to its fellow FFs
-A very solid sense of "exploration" (I still view my first month of FFXI, while frustrating, the most fun just cause of the aspect of exploration. Unlike other MMOs, FFXI strays from the (while not completely) Linear progression path, it forces it's players to seek out quests and story instead of highlighting them. Square-Enix puts heavy emphasis on making their players work for what they want, only offering slight hints here and there, which I personally think makes the means to the end so much more rewarding.)
-Emersion at every turn (It's strange i've not seen small things FFXI does to draw players into their world on other games. . . things like Cutscenes for any mission, cut scenes where the player can see their avatar in the scene, interacting with key NPCs. Because FFXI does not really have any "quest guide" or things like that, the game really forces you to learn the areas you are in, and remember NPCs you have talked to. All your jobs/crafts/everything on one character)
-Solid Community (chances are, if someone is playing FFXI, they are a FF fan in general, and enjoy the things FFs tend to always offer. . . FFXI is very good at weeding people out, its a Love / Hate game)
A bad thing because ~
-Time friendly? not really. . . (because I describe it as a RPG that just happened to be a MMO , FFXI is paced like a RPG, remember those early FF fights that took hours sometimes? same rules apply. Nothing moves in a time friendly pace in FFXI, if you dont have atleast 2 hours free you probably wont get much done)
-PVP ( if you came to FFXI seeking the riches of gameplay you saw in say WOW or EVE, you came to the wrong place. FFXI is modeled like a RPG, get your party together and fight evil to push your way through a story! Job classes in FF are not built for PVP, they are balanced to perform a role (just like in any other FF game) a healer is a healer, a tank is a tank etc etc)
-Because it is so similar to a RPG, people tend to play it like a RPG, i'm not sure of other's experience with this but I've noticed people in FF tend to become very defensive of how they play, seen lots of "drama" pop up over game play styles.
On a side note, I've heard alot of people say FF12 and FF11 are very similar in terms of style of game play. I guess I partly agree, If i were to really "describe it" in terms of relationship to other FF games id say its like. . . FF6 mixed with FFTactics set at a FF12 pace. if that makes sense....
side note 2! This is a good read:
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/2876477/AntiAliased-Final-Fantasy-XIV-is-a-good-good-thing.html#2876477
Hmm... i shal try not to repeat any fo the other posters, but i make no promises
As far as payment go, i think you need Visa or Master Card for the subscription fee, and to my knowledge, there is no "game time" cards to be bought =(
-Anyone have some facts on this please confirm or or give me a /slap for not knowing >.<
And since i recently started paying FFXI again myself and ended up leveling my mule (bank alt) instead of my main, i can say that at 13~15+ (depends a bit on the job) there are still lots of parties to be had (atleast in the EU timesone on the Shiva server) and the free trial people makes up for the long time subscribers lack of low level jobs
And then there is "the grind"...
Lets just say you will kill your fair share of bunnies, and there will always be a bunny that can kill you >_<
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/bestiary.html?fmob=3107
Time is an issue tho... you really need to have time to play this game... lots of time... on a sidenote tho, there are stuff that can be done ingame that takes very little time to do, such as fishing... ok, so fishing in reallity is THE time consumer in this game, but you can fish in all 3 starting cities, fishing don't care whether you are still have a red ? next to your name or have 5 jobs at 75 (although the occational monster you fish up (while not fishing in cities) do). It takes a loooong time to get "better" (getting the skillpoints), but the act of fishing in it self, does not
(oh, and i should have said potentially expencive, as you can raise a chocbo without feeding him/her if you are that kind of cruel person...)
Gardening is also an alternative that doesn't take too much active time, but still makes you log on from time to time to sheck on the progress
And then there is chocobo raising... altho a LOT of fun (if you liked the chocobo minigame in FF7, you will love this), is VERY expencive, but if you got the gil for it, can be a fun thing to do when you don't have too much time to spend online
Linkshells (guilds) have 1 feature here that i find quite useful, you can be part of many linkshells. Are you a high-level character with access to sea, sky ect ("end-game" content), you can be part of an LS (Linkshell) that focuses on that, but at the same time be part of a social LS as well, where there is no need for "lvl requierments" . This is done by having a "pearl" (equipable item) for each LS you are part of, so you can just equip the pearl of the LS you want to be part of at that time. This has also led to job-spesific LS's for some jobs such as SMN (summoner) and BST (Beastmaster).
While mentioning jobs (classes), i see that no-one has said anything about the subjobs
Subjobs are awarded by a quest completable at lvl 18, and gives you the ability to have 2 jobs active at once, 1 Mainjob, and 1 Subjob. The subjob however, is always the level it would have been as a main job, or max half the level ot the main job. Only the mainjob gains experience, so you will have to switch back and forth to get the combination you would like 
ie your subjob can never be higher that 37, as the lvl-cap is 75 (75/2=37,5), but if you haven't leveled that job as a mainjob to 37, it will stop at the lvl it is lvled at.
Lastly, i can say that altho there are fewer people now then what there was pre-WoW (duh!) there are still a healthy playerbase, and Square released 3 new mini-expansions just last year, so there are still development being done and new updates with new content heading our way it seems
I am a the kind of guy that stands in the line for the "next big thing", but also i am always drawn back to this game... maybe its because FFXI was my first MMO? 
I have lots of fond memories of this game, nad am still making new ones ^_^
If you happen to find yourself on Shiva /t Kaah or Krum, and i'll show you around
known as:
FFXI Shiva - Kaah, Krum
WoW Hellscream - Kaah, Krum
EVE - Tok Marr, Naini Marr
Rectifyer, I am a vet from the launch of this game and i am going to be returning again to start over. if you would want to start w me we can level together and help each other get started and such
Once I get my new debit card in the mail I will purchase the game and give it a try. Replaying FF7 right now and will probably purchase FF8 on the PSN after I finish it =D
Be prepared for extremely slow combat, not that it's bad, just that it's really slow.
"The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?" - Albert Einstein
I would just like to point out that this post was your 69th post.
Slow combat? Compared to other final fantasy games or compared to other MMORPGs?
I recently returned to the game with the "Ultimate collection" making it affordable. My best advice would be to get into an LS(guild) as soon as possible, hopefully one that is noob friendly. FFXI requires not just grouping for exp, but for all sorts of quests and different types of progress, and because the game is older now most of the player base has already done lower lvl missions, making it very hard to find anyone else that is on the same missions. I'm still having some fun with it so far, but I'd caution anyone just starting out to consider what the realities of an older game with a top heavy population are.
Ok, you want the reality of the situation, here it is.
On my server, and about 5 others, at any given time there are anywhere from 800-1000 people on. During peak hours it hits about 1500. This is because Final Fantasy 14 is coming out this year and a lot of people will switch. I'm not saying FFXI will be dead completly, but let's face it, if an improved version comes out, not many will be playing 11. As far as getting parties go, it's hit or miss as it's always been. They have level sync now making it a lot easier, but don't expect to be able to play w/out waiting for a few hours unless you plan to solo.
There is some good. You CAN solo in ffxi, which is what I'm doing. If you can level White Mage to 30, unlock Beast Master and just play it
This is indeed the case.
Starting now is difficult, not only because on most servers population numbers are really really low nowadays, most of everyone that still plays has already done all the more, let's say, annoying missions. You'll be sitting in Whitegate for days looking for the shout that will never show up if you don't get a static for a mission line. Only things you see shouts for now are random assaults, nyzul, and whatever the flavor of the month is, usually something released recently, like an add-on. (i.e. Shantotto)
It is less difficult if you have high level connections, or make friends with some asap. While Level Sync does help, most veteran players would opt to do Astral Burn, Chigoes or 37birds, in all these cases most jobs won't be invited or even humored about. Even in normal parties there is job discrimination. The game has pretty much degraded mostly into elitist mentality no matter how you spin it.
Not to say it's impossible and discourage people, but it's a huge difference from when I started in '04 when we were peaking 4k users on my server, now we're under 1000 most of the day.
They have made it easier to solo, kind of.
They've added field of valor books, gives more exp for something you would have done anyways, and a little pocket change and tabs to get buffs with. Good from new character level to cap. They've added treasure caskets, which usually don't give a lick of anything, but usually there are some meds you can use. In the early or mid 60s you can go campaign, which is decent exp, just slow as hell compared to a real exp party, but the kicker is you can seek for exp while doing it, or just pop in now and then and do some then log out if you don't have much time. The only jobs that will have difficulty in campaign in the early 60s are jobs that use low dmg rating weapons, like daggers.
Only problem I foresee if you solo is that no one does limit breaks anymore, which you need at 50, 55, 60, 65. The 70 one is solo so yeah... If you don't do them you'll be capped at 1 tnl until you do them. Thankfully, they've dumbed the limit breaks down, so you don't quite need as much help as you needed before with the exception of the 70 one.