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My worst MMO experience so far
pkim96
Member Posts: 168
Because I knew a lot of people love this game, I was really curious to try it out. I also really liked the idea that you can switch and play a different class so easily. So a week ago, I bought it, installed it (takes 3+ hours) and played it.
The first hour was siimply horrible. There is no tutorial and no handholding at all. Considering how much effort most MMO's put into helping newcomers get integrated smoothly into the game, FFXI was a shock. Frustrating and horrible to the extreme. I tried to talk to at least 20 people before someone actually helped me. Most of them didn't speak english. I had a massive headache and the sheer relief I felt at finding someone helpful was insane.
The interface is possibly the absolute worst I've ever encountered on the PC. After playing well designed games like EQ2 and WoW, I couldn't believe that FFXI's interface was such crap. It is so horrible that I can't even begin to describe it. I was swearing at the computer because the controls of this game is totally counter to every other game on my computer. It's ridiculous.
Once I did get a handle on the basics, this is the first MMO where I felt like I was grinding right from the very beginning.
WoW, EQ2, CoH, GW, etc....even SWG have great gameplay right at the beginning. FFXI was a huge disappointment and I'm so happy to trash it from my hard drive. I'm normally not so abusive, but my god, this game was just so bad and so disappointing.
I'm happy for the people who found a home here, but I just wish I could forget it already.
The first hour was siimply horrible. There is no tutorial and no handholding at all. Considering how much effort most MMO's put into helping newcomers get integrated smoothly into the game, FFXI was a shock. Frustrating and horrible to the extreme. I tried to talk to at least 20 people before someone actually helped me. Most of them didn't speak english. I had a massive headache and the sheer relief I felt at finding someone helpful was insane.
The interface is possibly the absolute worst I've ever encountered on the PC. After playing well designed games like EQ2 and WoW, I couldn't believe that FFXI's interface was such crap. It is so horrible that I can't even begin to describe it. I was swearing at the computer because the controls of this game is totally counter to every other game on my computer. It's ridiculous.
Once I did get a handle on the basics, this is the first MMO where I felt like I was grinding right from the very beginning.
WoW, EQ2, CoH, GW, etc....even SWG have great gameplay right at the beginning. FFXI was a huge disappointment and I'm so happy to trash it from my hard drive. I'm normally not so abusive, but my god, this game was just so bad and so disappointing.
I'm happy for the people who found a home here, but I just wish I could forget it already.
Comments
If you didnt make past the first few levels, you barely even experienced the game, There is so much stuff to do if you actually have the patence to make it past lvl 10. Also You can choose to change the interface to compact if it better suits what your used to, And just for your information FFXI has one of the best communities of most MMO's so you seriously must've been talking to the wrong "20" people (think your overexaggerating there).
IMO Sounds to me like you couldnt stand the fact of having to work hard to earn a level or two so you got pissed off without even giving the whole game a try. And as for the feeling of grinding at the begininning, dude, that comes with every single Asian made RPG out there, its common sense, if you dont like to grind dont play Asian-made games. Mind you, I don't blame you for getting upset about the more difficult leveling system if your coming from such a slack game as WoW.
No, FFXI does not do a lot of hand-holding, and mouse interface is not good. I have to recommend doing everything with the keyboard, or else getting a USB game pad (with which the game plays quite well). As far as the hand holding, I can only recommend a) reading the manual and b) talk to every NPC you can find. Even at level 1 you will get some interesting quests to do. Other NPCs will explain all sorts of things about how the game works. Perhaps the game should grab you and shout "Tutorial HERE!", but it doesn't. A little intiative goes a long way.
Chris Mattern
Id agree with op. On PC and 360 its terrible. Clunky and ugly with no real intuitive interface or controls. It looks as ugly and unweildy as it plays. Of course some fanboi will explain its our lack of intelligence that causes us to fail at this game but oh well..i wish i was stupid enough to forget this game lol
No this is because it is purely a team-based game , you learn the controlls and everything asbout the game from other people giveing it that feel that ur not reallying on a computer to tell you about a video game ur playing
This is why i dont think it needs a tutoriel unlike post other games , i also dont no wot server you are on because the one i play , everyone bar a couple people are willing to help and most again bar a few speak english
but im only level 8 so wot do i know? lol
Monkeytroll
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion , even if it is totally wrong." (Johny Depp)
The game play may seem strange to you but thats how all Final Fantasy games play like, and they've been going for a few decades now so they must being doing something right.
1.) there is a alot of effort put on newcomers, but the devs assume those who need help will actually seek it rather than assuming they already know everthing. That is why you have a little question mark on your head and there is a mentor system.
2.) imho the interface blows away any other mmo because of the customizable macro's. it is an extremely efficient system that stream-lines each aspect of gameplay
3.) I am sorry that you felt this game was a grind, the first 15 levels drag out a bit, i think to allow you to get comfortable with your job, race, city, ah, macros, etc. once you have lived that out it turns into the "actua; game" where you party up with purpose and start banging out quests and missions.
the only reason i am posting this is because i don;t want people to read your post and assume that is everyone's first impression. when i picked this game up i couldn;t put it down for weeks!
I have to admit though, I quit FFXI at first. I didn't get it I guess. But I got tempted after the expansion to come back (and also from playing other FF games on my PS2) and I found it to be fun. I don't know why the first time I didn't see it the same way.
I would really recommend a gamepad though. It makes the game a lot easier. And plus you can use the gamepad on other games too. I use it a lot playing Psychonauts as well.
As for the Korean/English thing. I honestly have found vastly more English speaking players than Koreans. Maybe it's just my server. I don't know. But that's just been my experience.
But 9/10 you're going to find what you look for in life. If you go right off looking for bad things you're going to find the bad things and dismiss the good or even totally not see them. It's your brain seeing what it wants to see.
Me, I've discovered GameTap; my gamepad is perfect for playing all the arcade emulation stuff. I'd almost forgotten what a blast Robotron 2084 was...
Chris Mattern
I too am new to this game, and finding the start very rough going. I spent 20 minuites learning how to move (manual came on a CD, and FF11 cannot be minimized). However, a LOT of people have encouraged me to "bit the bullet" to level 10, and if i'm still haveing a hard time getting into the game at lvl 20, then the game's not for me.
I have played quite a few MMORPGS, and most of them involve heavy grinding to get to the juicer bits, Eve Online (getting money), SWG (before the NGE, becoming a jedi), City of Heros (Getting the more exciting action and quests), RF Online (need to be high level to even hold your own in large-scale battles) the descriptions are endless, but continues grinding is a common feature of almost all MMORPGS.
Just my 2 penneys
Most people do find this game has a bad User Interface, which I have to agree. It is a game designed to play on a console and if I recall it right, the JP version of FFXI release on PS2 before it got a PC version.
FF is a menu based game since the first one, therefore its no suprise to have no Graphical interface. Furthermore not all PS2 user has a mounse connected to PS2. I guess it is the main reason people find more comfortable to use a game pad than keyboard and mouse. It is a game designed to play with gamepad.
As for tutorial, many game stress on tutorial to help new players. EQ for one they improve their tutorial and allow new players to get some twink easily. However when they stress on getting help to new players, they piss off the old school. I think it is wise to use the mentor system to help the new comers than to use the tutorials. After all it is MMO, social contacts should be encouraged, shouldn't it?
My only frustration on FFXI however, is the economy. I play on Midgardtsormr server. Their inflation is kinda horrable. Most jobs in this game rely on equipments, and certain "must have" equipt such as Haubergeon, takes people to play 1 to 2 month on a daily 4hr base to farm enough gil to buy it, and to casual player like me, I farm 2 months to get 10mil gil, and the price went up again..... SE claim they cancelled the account of gil sellers. However rumors says that those account belongs to some old players who are willing to help others, and those real gil sellers account and characters, remain on the servers...
Everybody loves Kaffee
Yes, I do realize I'm complaining about the newbie levels and I didn't even scratch the content. But my experience was just that bad. It was so bad that I was seriously happy when I watched the progress bar of the uninstaller while it was trashing the 7 gigabytes off my hard drive.
Let me also point out that I'm a long, long, long time MMO player. UO, AO, SWG, EQ, WoW, CoH, Eve, GW, EQ2. Although I admit my tolerance for grinding is much lower than it was 5+ years ago, the FFXI combat system made it feel like a grind from the very beginning. Strangely, I think the macro system was partly to blame because it made it even more mindless.
I wasn't exaggerating about the lack of helpful people. For quite a while, I stood in a crowd by the first house entrance...maybe 10-20 people, and I asked questions in local chat. No one answered me. I moved to another group, and no one answered me. Eventually I started sending tells to everyone I ran past. Half of them ignored me. The other half replied back and said they didn't speak english.
Mentoring system? I wasn't exposed to anything like that. If it's built into the game, they should make it more obvious. Yes, I admit that I'm not the manual reading kind of person. I normally prefer to dive headfirst, but there was just so little for me to grab hold of. Much of the problem was the HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE interface. After navigating to the quest panel a hundred times, I wanted to shoot myself.
Anyways, enough complaining, heh. Sorry to bash so much, but I had a lot of steam to blow off.
This game just seems "alive" to me compared to most games. The social structure and user-driven economy are pretty incredible when you get a feel for the game. I was pretty blown away when I took my first chocobo out for a spin at level 20, and I've been hooked on this game ever since. I've tried many other games since, like EQ2, WoW for the last year and a half, and I still play a little GW here and there, but FFXI has the substance I'm looking for in a game. The grind is fun for me here, unlike other games. I guess it's a matter of taste.
I'd be happy to get world passes and mentor folks on Bismarck if anyone wants to give FFXI a shot.
maybe because, except for the theme and the name, it has nothing to do with Final Fantasy and it is a complete diffrent game then the previous Final Fantasy's? please think a little.
also, graphics by far the best? yeah, 3 years ago. not anymore. the graphics are now clearly outdated.
Originally posted by Gameloading
No, it's not turn-based. Turn-based does not mean, "Plays slower than I like." Yes, the mechanics of being an MMORPG made some things inevitably different. It's Final Fantasy as an MMORPG, you were expecting something else?
Chris Mattern
If you didnt make past the first few levels, you barely even experienced the game, There is so much stuff to do if you actually have the patence to make it past lvl 10. Also You can choose to change the interface to compact if it better suits what your used to, And just for your information FFXI has one of the best communities of most MMO's so you seriously must've been talking to the wrong "20" people (think your overexaggerating there).
IMO Sounds to me like you couldnt stand the fact of having to work hard to earn a level or two so you got pissed off without even giving the whole game a try. And as for the feeling of grinding at the begininning, dude, that comes with every single Asian made RPG out there, its common sense, if you dont like to grind dont play Asian-made games. Mind you, I don't blame you for getting upset about the more difficult leveling system if your coming from such a slack game as WoW.
I'm not the brightest when it comes to game menus...
but it took me less than 2 minutes to figure out the control of this game....
It JUST LIKE ALL FINAL FANTASY GAMES...
I mean I really daft when it comes to games, and I figured it out...
I gotta ask
WHAT IS YOUR MALFUCTION?
I'm an idiot, and I figured it out...
Doesn't speak much of you carebears crying about it.
I think his whole controll rant was becuase he tired to use the mouse <.< Seriouslly, Noone uses that Its gotta be the worst thing to controll with, or maybe its just too advanced....
About you uninstalling it after the first few hours, Oh well
Not the end of the world for us. Its better that you're not apart of the ffxi community anyway, Once it really started to get difficult you would just feed the gilsellers. So its good you're gone now.
35 drg/ 17 war