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Final Fantasy XI: Beginning the Journey Again
MikeB
Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555
MMORPG.com's Eric Barnett returns to Vana'diel to see how the game has evolved since he's been gone and delivers his report.
My friends that still play finally convinced me to come back to the game due to the fact that Square Enix had instituted a “Character Reactivation Service” that could recover my lost characters. “Awesome!” I thought to myself, I'd be able to hop right back into the swing of things with my friends and not have to do all the old content that I wasted hours of my life on back when I was in school. I headed over to the FFXI main page and attempted to reactivate my old character Faucius. Here is where I hit my first snag, I had completely forgotten my Play Online account information! I could remember most of it except for one number which drove me crazy. Then an enormous sense of woe flowed through me, it looked like I was going to have to contact the dreaded, Play Online support team.
Comments
Sounds like fun. I remember the grind in FF XI being terrible, but I also remember the fun of grouping up and getting to know new people while playing. The social aspect of old school MMOs is better I believe due to the repetitive nature of grinding itself. It gives you plenty of time to chat while farming mobs simply because combat is a matter of pushing a few buttons and waiting for cool downs. That's why most of the players WoW brought into the genre complain about the grinds, they are used to games that provide immediate results for play, and look for progression and rewards more than sharing a good time and socializing.
I'd go back to AC, my first and all time favorite MMO, but I am afraid the graphics are just too dated for me to immerse myself in the game anymore.
I just came back to Vana'Diel myself this month, though I had only been gone for a little over a year. I was a lot luckier than you because my characters hadn't been deleted, so I didn't have to go through the horrid mire known as Customer Service. I came back for a lot of different reasons; level cap increase (though I never made it to 75...still in that level slump where I'm either working on my AF armor or leveling other jobs out of boredom XD;; ), new mini-expansions that I never got to play, jonesing way too hard for FFXIV...but mostly it was the friends I made over the years that brought me back again. Remembering what our Linkshell was like in the past, and wanting to recreate that.
Oh, the server merge was a big thing too. I had mixed feelings about it, but I have to admit having more people to play with was worth giving up a silly four-letter name...
It seems the population is growing a small amount lately in FFXI, most likely due to FFXIV hype. It brought me back, but FFXI was my first MMO with the best memeries so I myself returnned to Vana'diel. New account though, new start, new server, Asura, great to see the active community. I played a low pop server a few years back when I played so it was hard to group. Its ever easier after 3 years in this old game due to the server merges (and me being on Asura, the most active server I hear)
MMOs played: Too many
Watch List: FFXIV, CoH:GR, GW2, SWTOR, TERA, Earthrise
Played FFXI from a few weeks after the original Japanese launch for about 3.2 consecutive years after that, even switched to the English client when it launched here in the states. Other newer MMOs pulled me away for several years but I ended up returning last June when FFXIV was announced and thats when I decided to start our Linkshell ~ Eldritch Eponym, and begin recruiting for FFXIV. After a few months we took a break and returned once again this past February and are eager to run around and explore Hydaelyn together.
Anyway, yes I personally think that FFXI is the best MMO out there, its aged exceptionally well and still looks as good if not better than most MMOs today, but graphics have never determined if I play any type of game. Its always about the story/lore and the depth of content and of course the community of friendly players. There isn't another MMO you can log into today where passing players will stop and wave to you, toss out some heals and buffs or wait around while you're engaged in a tough battle to make sure you survive. {in others players will watch you die, spit on ur corpse and run off calling you a 'noob'}
With our Linkshell its all about the journey and the adventures we make together. Nothing beats the encounters you get to experience in FFXI with a good party, or even just a party of friends even should you die. Like running away from a goblin thats beating on everyone and you're passing hate between each other so you can survive the run to the zone...rofl those are the best. Course with lvl sync now if you can survive the 30sec removal cooldown you can just do that as most times you'll be playing in lower zones with a high level player, or you are that player.
All this ^above are of the highest priorities behind my lust for FFXIV, as it appears to be similar enough that more than likely we'll see a return of this type of exciting and wonderfully friendly community in a second MMO...its been a long time coming. Course it may take a few months for all the new-gen tards to be weened from the servers, but after that I see the second coming of the awesome FFXI community return.
We even have a current member in our Linkshell thats never played FFXI before and he's always commenting on Vent about other players being 'odd' as he describes it. We ask what they are doing, and he's like we'll they're setting off fireworks after players lvl, and waving to me, or tossing me heals and buffs, or raising me from death and asking if I'm ok from then on. And we're like yup, typical friendly player... and he's all whatever, never seen that before...rofl
Good times, good times...
Here's a post I made on the forums detailing all of the major updates new/returning players should be aware of:
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/74/view/forums/thread/275954/Why-people-thinking-about-coming-back-to-this-game-definitely-should.html
In short, it is definitely worth it to revisit this game. The deep combat and class system is unrivaled by any current MMO, and finally the partying/grouping problems have been mitigated while the grind being greatly reduced.
I've been playing FFXI since just before the launch of Treasures of Aht Urhgan, so I remember vividly the problems Final Fantasy XI had for it's first few years. The grind wasn't even so bad as much as was the freaking waiting around with all the other sad sacks looking for a group. Man, the hours upon hours I wasted with my flag up just outside Selbina and Kazham...unless you were a White Mage, Bard, or Ninja/Paladin, forget it. And this was back in the days before there was a legitimate windowed mode, so unless you played on a console or had a second computer, you were forced to sit there and stare at it for hours on end. It was almost like torture, because inevitably you would get that kick ass party that would just fly...and then 3 more days of sitting there for 3 hours with your flag up.
Besides the obviously awesome level sync system (which made the game infinitely more playable for obvious reasons) and the windowed mode, there have been tons of changes that make FFXI about a million times better. Even outside of that, the community itself has greatly improved...people are just so much more helpful then they used to be. Maybe it's because, at this late date, the only people still playing are the ones that truly love it. Maybe it's because with less people playing, there's more comraderie. Even when it's someone you have never partied with before, just having seen each other running around on a regular basis breeds a certain familiarity.
I don't know, after years of playing, and the game nearing its twilight years, I actually enjoy it more. Whereas in the past it's felt like so much work at times, now it feels like spending time with an old friend. It's nice. I'd recommend any previous players out there give it a shot, whether they can get their accounts reinstated or not.
Just give it a shot for another month...there's far worse things to spend 13 or so dollars on.
you should of tryed this game without youre friends and go at it has a total newbi and then see how it went.
me and a friend tryed this game and all i saw was the people were not right friendly i was playing a healer got to lv21 and went to the val dunes and never found a group once so there we were healer and tank could not find any other people to group with us and this was supposed to be the most crowed eu server.
i was after a very good group base game to play has i had played eq2 for 5 years and group most of that has i am not a solo play much, but it never happend so i just cannceld my subb.
i should of tryed this game when it came out but has of now i would not recomend this game to anyone just starting out has solo play is not an option once you hit 20 plus and sitting around for hrs trying to find a group that never happens.
played for 2 weeks and thought enough is enough.
Are you sure it was FFXI you were playing? As far as I know they don't have EU only servers, the servers are world wide.
It's too bad you didn't have a good experience though =/ if I was still playing my linkshell would be thrilled to take you and your friend in and help you guys out.
Eric,
I had the same problem you had with customer service. I picked up the full set of expansions and the core at gamestop for 15 bucks. I installed and tried to reactivate my account, but playonline wouldn't take 2, count em, 2 of my bank cards.
I checked my accounts to make sure...oh yeah, no problem in there. Then I called "customer service", who basically told me that the playonline viewer will not take either of those cards. "Bank of --------- and ______, seriously?" I asked very surpised and when his answer was get another card or use another bank I promptly thanked him, got off the phone, uninstalled the software and returned it to gamestop. Who was, in all this mess, the best customer service when they told me that they've had similar problems and allowed me to return the game.
At the end of the day, no "Return to Vana'diel" for me, and gamestop continues to earn my business.
Good writeup and good luck in the game. I played on Kajuta back in the day, what server are you on?
Play safe,
Inktomi
NIce article, but I'll wait for FF XIV to come out.
There's actually less grind than in other MMO's, but when you consider that much of your playtime is downtime (LFG) then it might feel like it's terrible. It's better than the most MMO's when you get to it.
"An MMORPG could be completely diffirent from WoW. Just look at games like Dofus, Wizard101 or EVE. But as it is, most of the Western MMOs are trying to succeed by out-WoWing WoW. It's like an army of 10 sports games made about same sports, and barely none about other sports. WoW clone is an accurate description of those games, it manages to convey much information with only two words."
-Poster on mmorpg.com
Rift: World of Warcraft clone #9321 Nothing special to see here move along.
I gave XI another try early this year and had a pretty good time with it but ultimately it was disappointing, because I wanted to keep progressing but certain things like the airship pass are pretty much impossible for a new character with no friends/guild to ever accomplish. I love the fact that XI "back in the day" made people play together, and that worked when there were enough people around, and enough in the same boat as you, that it was reasonably possible to get a group together to get past all the progress barriers that SE littered XI with, but as of now it seems like a twisted kind of forced grouping/solo friendly mash up that allows you to solo but not to really get very far.
I ran into players that were near lvl 70 and still rank 2. I met a player that was grinding millions of gil to buy some temporary buffs to attempt soling group content that he couldn't get any help with. I sat on the docks waiting for boats to arrive for 20min, then another 15 on the boat, and then I feel asleep...
I still like the game but at this point it's nitemarishly out of date and I think SE would have to do major surgery to keep it viable for anyone other then the lvl capped vets.
Yes this is all true,i think the problem is more ,players find it hard to make friends and actually group up.The game just needs more players that are willing to open up and start a LS with like minded players.I joined one that the leader was VERY agressive/active he basically formed a LS out of nothing into a group of about 50 people in just one week.Too bad i went back to the game and everyone was gone,not sure why probably same reason many others left,they hear of FFXIV and don't want to continue in XI anymore.
I feel no matter what FFXIV offers, XI will still have some aspects that are better and the game as a whole is just enormous.I would have rather liked to see Square add to the already done TP system and Magic burst system,make it more viable,than wasting time on the Synergy system or moblin maze mongers,there is too much content in the game.LOL who would of ever thought i could say "too much content".They did a lot with Chocobos ,this is the same i would like to see with other original/older content,rather than adding new stuff.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I have returned to FFXI twice. Both times I got that nostalgic feeling and fall in love with the game again. After about three months it all comes back to me, however; inability to progress without being absolutely hardcore, not being able to merit because I'm the wrong class (paladin, at that) which means I can't join the groups doing the content where my class IS wanted, the huge traveling time sink and all the other things that are more minor annoyances than real problems, but they add up.
If you ignore those things, the game is absolutely brilliant. It's beautiful, immersive, music like no other (non-FF) game and regular group combat that gets my adrenaline flowing. I've only played two other games where one player can make a huge difference and save the day: Anarchy Online and Aion. Both which, interestingly, have much of the same community feeling FFXI does. Maybe it has to do with the long grind groups where you end up actually *gasp* TALKING to your group! In the "modern" solo friendly MMOs you end up not talking to people since the groups you do have are so fast and goal oriented. Convenient, sure, but it kills the community.
The friends I made in FFXI, I still talk to today. Friendships which broke the barriers of the game. That alone would be enough to give FFXI the spot for "best MMO.. ever" in my opinion. Just wish I could stand playing it
Edit: For what it's worth, I've only had good experience with their customer support. When I bought the EU ToAU expansion by mistake and the activation keys wouldn't work, as an example they offered me a free month in exchange for the key since the store wouldn't take it back once the seal was broken.
I tried the same thing, not even a month ago. I lasted about 3 weeks. Like many have said, the nostalgia is cool at first but quickly fades when you remember the extremely long travel times. The dead cities, and the fact that even with level sync and fields of valor its still not "easy" to get groups. And, when you do get a group, the same problems are still present with people ditching the minute you start, or ditching before you even get there (wasting travel times). The long waits for boats, and everything else. I have a kid and a wife now, and so doing the same things I used to do in that game are impossible, even if it is slightly easier. I hate having to settle for a more casual quest friendly game.. but i play for the community aspect which you should be able to get anywhere.
www.facebook.com/themarksmovierules
Currently playing:
FFXIV on Behemoth, FFXI on Eden, and Gloria Victis on NA.
I came back to FF after a break aswell and was shocked the game i used to love so much just didnt excist anymore i allways liked FF for beeing not too easy for challanging u for beeing rewarded to form a good party all that is gone now...
LVL Sync destroyed the game the new players dont learn the jobs right anymore and u find way too much high lvl players who just dont know how to play the game at all (found quiete a few blms lvl 60+ who didnt have an idea what a mb is....)(not to mention SATA.....)
My first pt in dunes i asked the leader for our SC setup....half an hr later i was able to make them understand what i ment lol
LvL Sync sure is a nice idea but SE did not think it through i enjoyed pting with my wife even tho i was way higher in lvl also the waiting times for beeing able to start a pt went down a lot BUT now most players just skip the harder pt camps and therefore never get to master there jobs.
SE should have considred an EXP penalty for higher lvl players (for example 1-5 lvl higher as the sync lvl 100% exp 5-10 lvl higher 70% 10-15 lvl 50% and over 15 lvl higher u should only get like 10%) u still could pt with friend regardless the lvl differents but if u really wanna lvl u will have to find a pt in the right lvl range this way ppls would still be forced to go through the whole school of playing and wouldnt end up lvl 75 noobs.
Ok enough bashing the LVL sync lets move on to the community it still is way better than most other mmos i played yet u can not denie that the quality went down quiete a bit since SE made the game way easyer (mobs give more exp while beeing weaker...) now all the players who found the game to tough and went bk to WoW r staying (god did the shout channel got crowded with bulshit....)
Also the veteran players gave up and stay to themselves at first i found them arrogant but in the end i was able to understand why they do it.
Expansions...yeah well there sure were a lot lately and it sure is important to expand the game to keep it alive,,,BUT did u see the rewards?? Good god the armor u get is equal (if not way better) to the other endgame armors u had to work long time on to get them.
U might think now that i do not like the game ( didnt say much nice stuff here so far did i?? lol) but thats wrong i think FF is still the best MMO out there with one of the best communitys and if u dont mind the changes u definitly should come bk and give it a try and if u never played it before now would be a good time to try it (lots of new changes coming up) If u however loved the game like it was at the begin (like i do) stay away and keep the game in good memory i myself did stop playing again for i want to be able to think bk and remember the fun times and dont want the new changes taint my memorys about FF.
I played FFXI for years, first on the PS2 then PC, and loved every minute of it. I only recently quit when I got a new CC and let my account info lapse, but I keep wanting to come back to Vana'diel. Such a great game world...
At this point the only real thing keeping me away is POL. I dread having to wade through twice the amount of usernames and passwords and account info to get back into it than I'd need for any other game.
(Oh, and I actually really like the San d'Oria music
)
I resubbed 2 weeks or so ago after a 2-3 year break. And I am absolutely loving it. I played ffxi for a couple years back when toau came out and only quit it to see what a pvp game would be like. I do really enjoy pvp mmo's the bad thing is they have very little if any depth and very llittle if any community.
FFXI by far has the best community of any of the 7-8 mmos Ive played. Those saying they felt people werent friendly or had trouble getting groups, you just need to learn the ins and outs of the game. First off be sure to get yourself into a social linkshell. That can usually be done by asking in starter cities or in dunes and if you do get in groups you can as them they will usually be able to help you out. Like the person who wrote the colum said new players are very welcomed in ffxi not shunned or made fun of. Also be sure to learn to use the auto-translate feature as many times the players will be not able to speak english.
Im really hoping ffxiv has this strong community feeling. Them saying you will be able to solo really scares me. And the battle system having to set your attack up in advance makes me think everyone will be a dpser of some sort. And the best thing in ffxi was the battle system and how important your particular role was to the group. That along with its skillchain, magic bursts and other thing like directional attacks made grouping fun and entertaining every time out.
FFXI was the first MMO I played. I have a lot of great memories and sometimes nostalgia makes me want to go back and visit Vana'diel. All my friends moved on to other games, and I'm afraid that it just wouldn't be the same without them. Here's hoping that FFXIV will recapture everything that was so great about FFXI.
I recently hopped back to ffxi and was having a quite a bit of fun till we lost a full 6 to static with
Unfortunately for me, the community & grouping I've had in FFXI are wonderful...but WoW killed my joy of the PUG, so I can't realiably do much without a full group (due to how slow it becomes).
I'm still subbed atm (because my fiancee' loves it) but we are all just counting the days till FFXIV; and FFXI is still the best classical-style MMO around.
I am reinstalling the game now....you guys are evil!!
Frank 'Spankybus' Mignone
www.spankybus.com
-3d Artist & Compositor
-Writer
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I returned to FFXI too with all my LS mates, we never really killed our LS so we were able to bring the LS back, and the key players that made the LS what it was, was back and almost made it feel like we never left the game. We all returned too in light of FFXIV, and the whole LS will be moving to FFXIV when it comes. That just made the wait for XIV even more exciting!
I'm just curious, not trying to bash. But I played FFXI and it just seemed like a bunch of grinding. and all the new things implemented didn't change any of that. You still just grind, except now after u grind a bit, you can stop by a floating book and get some gil and some buffs. It seems like the only part of the whole game the writer or anyone has anything nice to say about is the community. Which, I quickly found out, is awesome. Everyone is so nice and friendly, and it really makes you want to stay a while, chat up some folk, etc. But I think that that's why the game isn't rising to success, and I'm worried that XIV wil lbe the same. It's pure grind, relying on the amazing community to make it fun. BUT, even though the over all community in games like WoW is horrible, guild communities are just as nice and friendly and fraternal. So why play a game whose only draw is something that can be found in every other game and who seriously falls short in other aspect. Pretty and wonderous can only go so far.
Hmm, that did come out more as bashing, so let me try a quick rephrase of the point. What else about FFXI draws you in? Is there more than just the grind? I seriously spent 2-3 hours just exploring starter towns and talking to everyone there. That's pretty addictive, but it got tiresome after the second city zone or so. Where is the hidden magic in this game, that je ne sais quoi that people might not see easily, and do you expect it to be there in XIV?
What a fantastic article. It was as much fun to read as I imagine it was to experience the game again and write this article. People indeed often forget why they started to play games in the first place, and I feel it is important to have reality checks every so often so we don't take things for granted.