Questions about FFXI, should I get it?

Aelraz

Hello all FFXI players!

Recently I've been loking for a new MMORPG to sink my teeth in and FFXI is currently one of the few I really consider.
So where do I come from and what is my history? I started EQ back in late 98 (before any expansions) and played it on and off untill mid 04. in between I gave DAoC a few months but I didnt like it. Also tried AO but didnt fell for it. Just until recently I was all into EQ2, but a few changes made me reconsider. Most of all: they changed a bunch of grouped mobs into single solo mobs, thus making it easier to solo on the expence of group content (correct me here if Im wrong but this is what Ive been told). All in all, I liked EQ for the difficulty and challenge. and hey, the biggest fun factor is making friends...I could grind the same mobs for hours as long as I was doing it with some good friends. My highest char ever was a Necro so I did some soloing but it got boring really fast, and I had most fun with my cleric, always grouping.

Im gonna list some conserns I have about FFXI here and hope to get some good answers

1. The game is a little old so how is the community? Are there new ppl coming into the game or are the servers "dying" (yeah, a little dramatic). How about updates, expansions. Is the game still constantly developing and are there new expansions coming?
I just want to make sure Im not jumping on a ship that will sink in the next 6 months.

2. Ive seen alot of threads about prices rising and gil selling...If I join as a new player, will I have a chance to get a solid economy and actually afford spells, equipment etc?

3. I was checking out FFXI when it got released in NA and I heard lots of complaints about the UI. "it sucks", "Its console based" etc. I dont think EQ's UI was that brilliant but it got the job done so if anyone played both, please fill me in.

So what do I like about FFXI? First, I was a FF junkie in my younger years (couldnt really stand to play through FF8 and 9 though but FF 6-7 was awsome) and FF Tacticts is probably the best game Ive ever played, and lots of the classes and class system in FFXI reminds me of FF Tactics. I also like the focus on group play. And it seems to be quite challenging which is nice, Im tired of easy games

Simply put: Should I buy FFXI or should I bet my money on some newer/upcoming game? (and dont tell me to go to WoW anyone).

P.S. It's really late here in Sweden so please forget any bad grammar, language etc.

Unknown

1. The FFXI community have always New Player and the Community is HUGE! but even when there is no new Player, there will always be Older PLayer who lvl up theyr Low lvl Job so Dont worry About that! as for the Expension ,I cant really tell you :S

2. the Prob is that People sell item Only in the Auction House and not in Shop, So people Start to get more and more money so the Player make the Item Price higher and Higher, but if you know how to make money the Easy way you shouldnt have much prob with it! but still, i eard that SE was going to do something about it ( cant tell if they already did, i left a Month ago to Try MxO ^^)

3. the Game can Be enjoy on Both Console and Computer, and the Main Prob at the Begining is that sometime People was found to be on server that there was 65% of Japanese Speak Community, but now there isnt that Prob anymore, and as for other people who say Stuff Like " the Game Sux, Burn it, etc..." they Might only be FanBoy who want to get people Off the game and Get the Game rated lower so theyr game get Higher Rate, etc etc...

gargantroo

I think this game is pretty good, but not phenominal. 6/10 rating.

zensaber

I just bought it myself and found it really fun. The comunity is great, I just started and I aready met a few vets that helped me out, they have a great story line (in a MMORPG!!!) for the missions two.

cukimunga

Yeah I love this game I quit about about a year ago cuz It was so addicting it took over my life.Im gong to start back up in a few weeks once I order my mobo procy and ram from newegg. I dont currently have a computer to handle this game.

Im sure it wll take over my life once again but dont matter as much cuz i have an easier job and can get less hours of sleep and still get my work done. I would mos deff get this game if I were you expecially if your a ffxi fan as I am.

shload

1.) One of the realy great, and unique, things about FFXI is the ability to change jobs at the drop of a hat. Tired of thf? Try war...wanna go back to thf? just visit your moogle and it's done. Because of this you'll find many of the veterans starting over with lower lvl jobs there's almost always a group out there at your lvl.

The developers are still coming out with their monthly changes and there is a new Expansion pack on the way, however i've no idea when it will be out.

As far as the game dying in the next 6 months, well you can rest assured that won't be the case. there is still far too many people playing for Square to even consider closing up shop. I would guess the life span of this game will endure as long as EQ has.

2.) Prices rising? well this is my take on that. The game was out in Japan a year before NA got our hands on it. Giving Japan time to set up a solid economy. Then come the NA's to screw that all up. Consider this, when you first start to lvl your going to gather all kinds of items, then your going to want to sell them to make money. Well who wants to wait for them to sell, so you put it up on the Auction House for less then everyone. Then the next guy sees the price drop and he puts his stuff on for even less...etc. Well now the economy has had a chance to settle from all the NA's jacking around with it, and thus the rise? Whether i'm totally off on that or not, Items are starting to plateau and prices have settled.

3.) UI well i never did play EQ but i have played many others to include SWG, Anarchy Online, WoW, EQII, and CoH. Throughout all those games i used the keyboard and mouse and with most this was the best (or only) setup. My favorite UI of them all has been FFXI. Because the controls are console based that doesn't mean it's bad. I bought a Playstation to USB adapter for my Comp and the game plays beautifully!! You can try playing with the keyboard and mouse, i have friends who still do, (despite the constant harrassment i give them.) but i wouldn't recomend it...it just doesn't play as smoothly as with the PS controller. I wish it were possible to play all MMO's with a controller.

This is not a game for the faint-of-heart. You will spend many hours doing many many different types of things...but it is all rewarding i promise. I hope i helped answer your questions good luck making your decision. Also if somehow you end up on my server, Ifrit, look me up my in-game name is marshal i'll be more than happy to help you out.

cozzy_lady

If you had played the past Final Fantasy series why stop now... get my point

coolcloud368

So is it better than WoW? I have watched people play both and WoW seems like the Noob's MMORPG(seeing that you never lose exp and stuff) and FFXI seem slighty complicated at first, but it seems really fun and challenging. I have just ordered WoW, and I will try it out(only cause my friend kept nagging me to get it.).

Ginko

It is better then WoW but it has some major flaws. The community is great, but you'll notice a sudden decline because players become more picky about their parties.

Here are the good things about FFXI:

-Excellent community
-Huge, beautiful world
-Excellent graphics
-Many different professions
-Fairly balanced

Here are the poor things about FFXI:

-Community worsens dramatically at higher levels
-Grind, lots of it
-Messed up economy
-Plot doesn't heat up very far in the game
-Combat gets repititive

Now this game was very fun but when I started to get to around level 40 I noticed it was much worse then before. The community was now horrendous, the grind was insane, and it was impossible to get new items and armor becasause of the ecnonomy.

This is an example of a cycle: I can't get into party because I have sucky armor. I go to Auction House and find better armor is 100K. I go farm 100K, come back and find the armor is 200K.

The prices raised so fast it was insane, the higher level people messed up the game and gil sellers had an even bigger impact.

I give this game a 7/10.

After I left a few months ago I started following Guild Wars and playing in the betas. It was amazing and now I'm playing and enjoying it. I give that game a 9.5/10 because it completely removes all the bad things about MMOs and it has more new inventive things.

It has no grind.
No PK'ing.
No spawn-killing.
No griefers.
And the list goes on...

Stronglady

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Originally posted by Ginko
It is better then WoW but it has some major flaws. The community is great, but you'll notice a sudden decline because players become more picky about their parties. Here are the good things about FFXI:-Excellent community
-Huge, beautiful world
-Excellent graphics
-Many different professions
-Fairly balancedHere are the poor things about FFXI:-Community worsens dramatically at higher levels
-Grind, lots of it
-Messed up economy
-Plot doesn't heat up very far in the game
-Combat gets repititive Now this game was very fun but when I started to get to around level 40 I noticed it was much worse then before. The community was now horrendous, the grind was insane, and it was impossible to get new items and armor becasause of the ecnonomy.This is an example of a cycle: I can't get into party because I have sucky armor. I go to Auction House and find better armor is 100K. I go farm 100K, come back and find the armor is 200K. The prices raised so fast it was insane, the higher level people messed up the game and gil sellers had an even bigger impact.I give this game a 7/10.After I left a few months ago I started following Guild Wars and playing in the betas. It was amazing and now I'm playing and enjoying it. I give that game a 9.5/10 because it completely removes all the bad things about MMOs and it has more new inventive things.It has no grind.
No PK'ing.
No spawn-killing.
No griefers.
And the list goes on...

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Comparing GuildWars to FFXI is completely dumb because, they both are totally different games. FFXI is relied on team work or "co-operation" game play. And the flaws about FFXI of course theres going to be flaws its an MMO; I haven't found the perfect MMO and I doubt that GuildWars is one either.

GuildWars on the other hand is a PvP type game, you can get in to the PvP aspect really fast because, its all about the PvP and knowing a game thats based on the PvP you'll more likely be able to solo by yourself and get to the certain level you need to compete in PvP.