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detectiveL
Member Posts: 24
*Edit*
I've had some time to gather my thoughts, so allow me to rephrase my previous post.
Currently I play WoW, and I haven't gotten far in it at all. Lately, I've been interested in FFXI. I'm having a trouble deciding between the two, and since I am playing WoW at the moment (still a low level), I came here for some FFXI knowledge. Basicly, I want to know about the game. I tried playing it twice and couldn't get past the dunes. It seems like a large grind, I didn't really get / like my LS, and I didn't have a strong knowledge of the endgame.(Merit Parties, PVP, and NMs?) So, if you will, tell me what there is to do in FFXI. Tell me why you like the game. I want to like this game for some reason, but it just doesn't seem to shine when I play it. I bet the game gets better at higher levels, but I have very little knowledge of the game. So, if you will, tell me what there is to do in FFXI and what you like about the game. What is there to do after you reach the level cap? Also, if there is anything else I need to know, please let me know.
Also, I am aware with is not WoW. Every time I mention WoW, I get the "This isn't WoW" speech. I haven't reached the endgame of WoW, raided in WoW or even gotten past level 36, so please hold the "This isn't WoW endgame" stuff please. I'm just curious what there is to do after the level cap. Thanks.
Comments
* Bosses, hrm there really aren't the typical bosses like you see in WoW! There are several thousand named mobs{NMs} that kinda fit that role, but the type of bosses you're thinking of; most are not very easy and require some very good coordination, a balanced party and some lengthy preparation! There are bosses in just about everything end-game to try and defeat most of whom will destroy you if you don't have the 3 I mentioned!
* While you're leveling and then reach the lvl cap is endless. Check here for a small list of things to do throughout the adventure and at end-game which will take ya years to complete it all. Seriously makes WoWs end-game minuscule and pathetic.
* Define boring and repetitive, each player has there own threshold on what defines this!
* Yes its a great challenge, more so than damn near every MMO combined! All other MMOs have gone easy-mode cause of trying to gain WoWs success with accessibility to everyone regardless of age, knowledge or skill! FFXI while it has added additional XP and means for some solo play its still very tough with harsh penalties for failing and group enforced!
* Ventrilo or Teamspeak are the 2 major external voice options. There is no internal voice, all text!
* There are 4 major languages FFXI supports for players of the world; Japanese being the highest population, then English....third and forth are a balance of Spanish and German players and then a mixture of whomever else wishes to play the game!
I've never gotten to the end game of WoW. Actually, I never raided... or got past lv 36... Anyway, just letting you all know so I don't keep getting the "This isn't WoW endgame" speech.
I played both, ffxi actually introduced me to mmo's then i beta tested wow and been thru many games since.
wow did take most of my mmo experience, i did come and go from it about every time it got an expantion but then lost intrest when i did go to end game..
I left ffxi thinking it was taking to much time to achive somthing. however now that im back and after playing many other mmos i see it was the other way around. FFxi can be taken in small doses. if you fall for what powergamers do (i did that on my 1st try on the game thinking that was the norm) you will make the game a senceless grind.
ffxi ,just like wow is full of lore and good writing. only difference is that wow its easy to spot the quests while ffxi wants you to discover its lore. quests given by locals instead of a focused npc that gives tons of quests. you have more npc interaction in ffxi.
now in terms of longlivity ffxi wins out by far, there is alot ot do and can take years to complete.
wow as it is now is pushing you to hit lvl cap as if the best is to be seen at the end of the game. this is enforced more by powergamers. however wow does have alot of quests and lore associated with those quest. the problem is they end a bit to fast. This promped me to leave the game various times due to how endgame is.
You need to dedicate alot of time for each raid you attend. they are fun experiences but the time needed is not healthy for a person with a family to attend. also if your not someone who spends alot of time on your computer wows endgame will not appeal to you. Like i said the raids are very fun and challenging but you cannot take them in hourly doses you need a minimum of 3 hours or more to slowly progress into them. Most of the guilds that do raids expect players to spend a minimum of 4 to5 hours per raid session.
FFxi endgame (in its current state)does not require you to be on for that much time to tackle a boss. However you will have to compete against other groups for said bosses.
each has its neg and positive you just need to weigh them to see which game balances to your playstyle. Remember FFxi is more of a group based game thus making friends and being in a good linkshell does improve the gameplay for you. being solo or in a disfuntional linkshell may ruin your experience .
wow is more open for solo play which does allow you to enjoy the game if you cannot find groups ect. however this pushed the community to only accept help when needed in instances and raids. not many group for quests although there are people who do. The community in wow is not as helpful as the community in ffxi is. this is more due to the solo play . Now that does not mean that wows community is bad. there are good peeps there also.
Watching Fanbois drop their soap in a prison full of desperate men.
The cool thing about FFXI is that there's a ton of stuff that either doesn't require you to be 75 or actually caps you at a lower level in order to complete, such as certain Nation/Storyline missions and BCNMs (instanced boss fights basically. Some have level caps as low as 20!).
You'll find quickly that being a higher level doesn't put you in a different, I dunno.. group of players like in WoW, where being above a level cap for a dungeon won't allow you to queue for it or use the meeting stone to summon, it just opens up more stuff for you to do.
Also, Mithra.
Thanks for the help so far people, please keep it comming. Anyway, mabe it would help if I told you what I am able to do and what I like in a game.
I have all the time in the world to play a game. Unhealthy, yes, but I'm a bit of an addict when I get started and I will probably spend several hours a day playing a MMO. I love grouping, part of the reason I want to play a healer, and I love defeating hard bosses and completing difficult content, epsecially with other palyers. Actually, part of the reason I level so slow in WoW is because after level 20 or so, is because I only leveled up in dungons. I don't mind leveling slow or fast, I just want to enjoy the game. I am not a big quester at all, but if the situation calls for it (such as getting into a dungon) I am more than eager to complete it. I'm not into PVP, or crafting stuff (Mining, tailoring, blacksmithing, ect...). I really just love doing PVE content with other players. I read somewhere that since the Burning Crusade, WoW got alot harder and it took longer to do stuff, but I really don't mind stuff like that. Like I said, I have all the time in the world. So, I hope that might help someone help me.
Again, please keep the words of wisdom comming. I am a very undecisive person and need the advice...
My biggest concern is the endgame of Final Fantasy XI. I don't have much of a grasp of what is consists of. Could someone tell me or point me to where I can learn about what the end game of Final Fantasy XI is like? Also, I have heard one more than one occation that it can take hours to find a party? For a group based game,that is kind of a turn off. Does it really take that long to find a group at times?
It would be a little hard for anyone who plays FFXI to tell you what the end-game is like. If you want to know what fighting sky bosses, doing dynamis, or salvage is like there are links(I believe sticky'd?) somewhere on these forums.
This isn't a game where you hit the level cap and you suddenly find yourself following a linear path to obtain items and improve your character. Your end-game experience at 75 could be finishing up Zilart missions, or doing WotG/ToAU. Maybe you like content for smaller groups, so you do assault, BCNMs, KSNMs, etc.
FFXI does have those moments that feel like you're raiding, if that's what you're looking for. Aside from that, it's really up to you what you want to do once you reach the level cap.
The contents of this post do not necessarily reflect the views of MMORPG.com and its management.
Overall I'd say WoW would be better for you in the long run. I like to prefer FFXI's endgame to WoW but WoW lacks some of the bigger issues that hold FFXI back. Low to midgame in FFXI is slowly dying, because it's already an old game. It's endgame however is flourishing due to players being capped in many jobs already.
WoW and FFXI have different methods in how to deal with endgame in general. In WoW events do not change as much, the drop rates are better but equip gets replaced faster. Because players get their stuff faster than in FFXI, Blizzard doesn't have enough time to create anything too different from the norm, that's why it's endgame mostly consists of "raids" and pvp. Although the event itself doesn't change much, the bosses are generally more thought out than in FFXI. Another thing that WoW does is make events obsolete; when an expansion comes around many of the last expansions raids and instances get replaced.
In FFXI events themselves vary more, but the bosses aren't as imaginative as in WoW. Events also do not get replaced by other events in the long run. Dynamis, that came like 5 years ago is still popular among players. Thats why for a newcomer might have too many things to do when you get to cap. Drop rates are lower than in WoW, at least for the best equips. However when you get them you can be sure they won't get replaced anytime soon.
There is no PvP endgame in FFXI. Actually there's no PvP at all if you ask me >_>; It's there but there is no incentive to do it. PvE endgame consists of different kind of events you can do: in Dynamis for example you go to different dimension where beastmen won the Crystal War, beat up some mobs there and get equipment that enhances your job. It's the first real endgame event so there isn't really anything special about it.
Limbus came later and the prerequisites for doing it are kind of harsh; You have to clear almost all of expansions story to get there. The missions are fun though and the story is great which is special about this MMO. Limbus has 2 main area types, Apollyon and Temenos which lead to different bosses, Omega and Ultima. In normal areas you can get Ancient Beastcoins to convert for accessories or ingredients to enhance your jobs Artifact armor (You get Artifact armor from a questline starting at lvl40, however it's not really considered endgame). From ultima and omega you can get armor sets that are great, decent or bad depending on your job. It is generally thought to be the most balanced event.
The last expansion gave us Salvage, Assault (+ sub-assault called Nyzul Isle) and Einherjar. From Salvage you can get tons of great equipment and some are the best in game currently. The drop rates are lowest out of all events I guess though. Salvage has different goals you need to fulfill to pop different notorious monsters, like killing 10 "gear" type monsters, each in less than 1 minute or they warp. They also warp if you link them. You also start the event with no equipment, lowered stats, no magic, no weapons, and have to kill normal mobs to get "cells" that unlock your abilities and so on. At the end of the zone there is a boss that you have to kill in order to upgrade the pieces of gear you collect inside for the full salvage armors.
There are 50 Assaults and each of them has different goal that you need to fulfill: From destroying monster's weapons with critical hits to leading penguins to their loved ones using a morse code. Each Assault gives you points which you can exchange for various equipment. There is also chance to get an item exclusive to each Assault from ??? armor/weapon that drops when you clear the Assault.
The 51st Assault, Nyzul Isle, is a special kind: You have to climb up a 100 floor maze where floor setup changes randomly every time. You have a different goal for each floor, that varies from killing one boss to lighting up 5 lamps in specific order. Every 20 floors you fight a Hyper Notorious Monster from around the world that drops piece of gear and a weapon. The weapon can be used to gain access to Weapon Skills only obtainable from Nyzul Isle.
In Einherjar you have 30minutes to kill 1~4 waves of mobs and a mega boss. Unlike the aforementioned Assaults and Salvage which have a member limit of 3~18, Einherjar generally needs 36 people to succeed. The Mega Bosses come from around the world but most of the time they have some twists that make fighting them a challenge: One boss uses a move which throws the character with most hate away, so it is hard to stop it from moving. One boss goes for anyone with least hate, so mages are in danger. After beating the 9 chambers you can access the 10th one and face the Mega boss of the event, Odin. It's quite fun fight and the rewards are pretty nice.
There are also NM's and HNM's roaming which have different drops and are quite heavily camped on some servers. Some repop 21-24h after being killed, some take 3-7 days. Easiest ones repop after few hours. An example of a recently added HNM is called "Sandworm" which can pop almost anywhere in the areas of the newest expansion. When you fight it it will use a move that makes it eat you and teleport you to an instanced area with one of the 4 kind of HNM's. After killing it you get your reward.
There are also 2 bigger areas, "sky" and "sea" which have tiered NM's. First you camp first tier NM's that drop items which you can use to pop the 2nd tier, and so on. The fights get harder and at the end is the strongest boss and obviously best drops. The mega boss of sea, Absolute Virtue still hasn't been killed "right" and the endgame population is bitter about the fact Square won't tell us how to kill it. Maybe someday.....
Zeni Notorious Monsters, also called ZNM have been added to the game. You don't need to camp to fight them, but you need to get "zeni" by taking pictures of different fauna to pop them. There are currently 5 tiers of ZNM, the last tier being currently the 2nd hardest monster in the game, Pandemonium Warden. It has several forms which you have to kill in less than 2 hours, and it also spawns 10 helpers each time it changes it's form. It is said to be a fun fight too, I've never tried. It has been killed once.
Then there are ISNM and ENM and KSNM... use different things to gain access to a "burning circle" area where you can fight different mobs and get varying rewards.. There's tons of them too.
Missions have a high level reward at the end, so I guess that's endgame too. You get some nice rings and earrings for finishing them.
There's also Moblin Maze Mongers, a type of dungeon you can custom to your liking. There are some rewards there too, but nothing outstanding (for now). It's a new event so there'll be lot of adjusting in the future.
The pinnacle of all endgame are the relic and mythic weapon quests. They're long, costly and not for most people. They're arguably the best in game for many jobs, and take longest to get. Lack of money is usually what makes it impossible for most people to get them.. I don't really like the way one can get them, but I don't know any other way how SE could keep them as rare as they're now, so it doesn't bother me.
Thank you all for the information that has been given so far, it really is helping me out. I seem to be swaying more toward FFXI. I hate PVP and crafting, I love grouping and PVE, and I can deal with quests for the long run. The little things keep pulling me to WoW; such as the cute cartoony graphics, the popularity, and the instanced content. Mainly I want to make life long friends, never run out of things to do with those friends, and have a good time. This game seems to go with what I like in an online game. But, I have heard that sometimes it takes hours to get into a party, and, as a grouping game, that isn't too appealing. Is that comment true? Also, given the information on this topic, is this game for me, or am I more WoW material? I'm watching this forum closely, so please keep it comming.
I'm afraid FFXI will never get over the stigma that people have placed on it. That is, the belief that it takes several hours to obtain a group. This is old. People who say this either play on an extremely underpopulated server, a strange time-zone, or played back 3-4 years ago when this was true.
Back a few years ago, there was no level sync, groups were harder to form. I, personally, took the initiative to help form and join a static group. I didn't have to worry about that and many people did the same.
These days, with the level sync feature, forming a group is really easy. If you're LFG for more than 30 minutes, maybe it's time to take a look at who else is LFG and form your own group. Initiative gets you places in FFXI. If you'd rather sit there and watch TV until you get a group, that's an option, too. You'll probably be waiting longer, though.
The last factor in how long you'll be waiting for a group is your job. If you're a white mage, red mage, bard, corsair, etc. you'll likely be invited to groups very, very quickly. Support and healing classes are always in high demand. Tanks also seem to get into parties rather quickly(at least from my experience so far).
As for what game you should play, the choice is yours. FFXI has a free 14-day trial, so if you're not sure, check that out and see for yourself. Odds are, depending on how often you play it, that you won't even scratch the surface of the game in 14 days. Still, you should be able to get a good idea of what leveling is like, at the very least.
If you play through the trial and you honestly feel it's not your thing, then go play another game.
The contents of this post do not necessarily reflect the views of MMORPG.com and its management.
Doesn't seem like much is even keeping you in WoW. All the things your saying XI has and more. Don't see why you wouldn't want to play. Ark already took care of debunking the party myths. Endgame was already talked about. You basically answered your own question and you are definitely XI material over WoW.
To be the best, you must help each other become the best.
FFXI Character: Satimasu
FFXI Server: Valefor
FFXIV Character: Tamorae Fonteil
Yeah one more thing, from playing dancer and puppetmaster to 75 I noticed that even if there many people lfg, there were little to no tanks and that made making pt hard. That's why I'd recommend playing tank class like Paladin, and you'll be almost guaranteed to get party fast. Of course you'll need to wait like everyone else if there aren't more than 5 people lfp, or healer/DD class isn't lfp but in most cases it's the tank that is missing.
My decision has been made! I am proud to say I will start playing FFXI... eventually. I gave it some... alot of thought, and I decided that Final Fantasy offers so much more to a player like me. Now if I can just grit my teeth through the lower levels, I will be safe. Thank you all so much for all the help. Every question I asked was answered and I am so thankful. Once again thanks.
-detectiveL
Good for you. If you've seen a couple of the posts of the people that have played and shared their experience and given tips to newbies, you'll see you'll be alright.
Hope you enjoy the game for years to come.
To be the best, you must help each other become the best.
FFXI Character: Satimasu
FFXI Server: Valefor
FFXIV Character: Tamorae Fonteil
Good decision. Out of curiosity, what server did you pick?
The contents of this post do not necessarily reflect the views of MMORPG.com and its management.
I thank I'll play on Odin. I heard it's really popular and that it is good for leveling. Plus, LimitBreakRadio really got me into FFXI and their Main LS is on that server. I am almost sure I'll be a tarutaru and my job is still somewhat undecided.
I'm afraid SE won't let new people join Odin anymore since it's too full (that's how it was earlier, at least). Bahamut is also quite big btw so I'd suggest going there.. or to Fairy, my server