Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
How long is the grind?
colep53
Member Posts: 140
ok so how long is the grind. i Have heard tons of bad things aobut how long it takes. iv played before and i would just stick with my original class the hole way not change jobs later, if it still works like that, andy way aobut how many hours or maybe tell me how it compares to eq2 or WoW.
-Gosh you're cute. Wanna buy a monkey?
Comments
Having played both games FFXI and WoW. Getting 75 in FFXI is an accomplishment where in WoW it's not as big of a deal. I leveled Bard in FFXI to 75 which required first a job to 30, then doing the advanced job quests to aquire Bard, and then started at L1 and leveling all the way to 75. Then you have to remember there are level break quests at 55, 60, 65, and 70 (some taking more time than others). In FFXI my Bard participated in the best end game content including Kirin, Tiamat, Vrtra, and all 4 Dynamis. I quit back in April because I shared my account with someone I met in game and thought was a friend and they had sold my Kirin's Osode for 30 million gil ($900 cash at the time). At this point I quit and started WoW. Bard is supposvely the easiest and fastest leveling job in FFXI and it takes probaby 30-40 days playtime to reach 75 as a new player. When I leveled my 2nd job in a group with friends from my guild we went from 1-65 in under 10 days because we all had the best gear and knew where to level.
WoW leveling is extremely easy and fast. Took a total of maybe 20 days playtime to get to 60, but it seemed a lot shorter. In FFXI you can participate in the end game at 75 because level plays such a huge deal, but in WoW if you want to run MC you better be running 5 man instances for your blue gear or you won't even stand a chance. WoW is all item based, if you don't have the items you will never be good no matter how good of a player you are. In FFXI the skill of the player is much more important than the gear and trust me, after leveling so long in FFXI you don't have as many noobs that have no clue how to play their class like you do in WoW.
P.S. - I also am in an end-game raiding guild for WoW, we have cleared everything in the game except for Nefarian thus far (no AQ stuff yet since our server hasn't opened the gates).
One more thing:
I loved FFXI because of how group based the leveling was and how good your group was. There are weapon skills (you gain TP for every time you hit a mob and when it reaches 100% you can use a ws). If you chain WS meaning one jobs WS then a few seconds later another person uses theirs it creates a skill chain causing a certain elemental damage. If a mage casts that element spell at the right time they will get a damage burst (50% more dmg or somewhere along those lines). What makes this so nice is at higher levels when you execute a good skill chain you can kill a monster in under 10 seconds. What you must understand about the leveling system in FFXI is that it is based on a 6 person group and you get exp chains depending on how fast you kill. Pretty much there is an experience bonus for how fast you can chain kill mobs thus making the better parties level you faster. Gear does make a difference, but I would take a player with ok gear that knows their class over someone that has no idea how to play and just bought money so they could attain the best gear. I love the party based games leveling which is why I find FFXIs leveling system superior to WoW.
can i get a world pass and linkshell and join your guild. well if i do decide to play.
-Gosh you're cute. Wanna buy a monkey?
When you get to higher levels you can start to form special parties like all Black Mage, Warrior or Beastmaster parties. Which usually are better or more fun than a real party me thinks. Well atleast I though it was with Beastmaster parties: 6 Beastmasters + 6 Pets vs big mobs
Fongsaiyuk
75 Beastmaster 70 Warrior
Energy Linkshell
Bahamut Server
Just picked up this MMO, as an impulse buy, because it had 2 expansion packs included and I am curious.
I am a real casual gamer, a couple of hours each night is enough for me and I am wondering if FFXI is really going to workout for me?
So far I have found the world to be very bewildering, but a good read around and I think I have figured out most things.
I have the oppoertunity to join a very active linkshell, but I'm not sure yet if I'll stay beyond the free month.
So my main questions are (and I know I shouldn't impulse buy!):
1) Will I be wasting my time with only a couple of hours a night to spare? (admitedly even WoW needs more than that for instance raids in the end)
2) Can I return linkpearls to the linkshell if I leave, as I don't want to cause problems by accepting the offer then returning it if I quit?
The depth of this game is very apparent and although I am finding it all very stange compared to other MMO's I've played for years, there is a wierd hook that I just can't put my finger on yet, but my main concern is my lack of time to make the most of things or to progress.
I think I'm still on topic?
Well sometimes you can be lucky, you get party invites quickly (actually at lower levels you can) then you can party for about 2 hours or so and get some experience points. As a casual gamer you can do a few things by yourself me thinks. Like you can do quests for items and gil for a while or do some fishing or crafting.
Don't worry about linkpearls you can just throw them away. Cause Sackholders or leaders can make them for free and of ease. So don't worry about that.
FFXI isn't really meant for grinding IMO. It's meant for you to take your time and enjoy the journey, as getting to level 75 is such an accomplishment. There are so many milestones that takes alot of work to reach. It's completely different from WoW where you can say it will take a month to hit 60. Especially because in FFXI it's pretty dependant on if you get into a good group.
Then again, if you really wanna grind it out and you're not into enjoyingthe playtime...then hmm, couple months max if you play constantly.
Having played FFXI and WoW for over a year each, I can safely say that FFXI is far worse than WOW when it comes to grinding. Its unbelievable how many times I found myself in a group killing the same group of mobs over and over again for hours in the same spot!! You basically camp a spot, kill all the mobs, then wait for them to spawn. What's worse, is your lose xp if you die. That is nuts! A simple mistake can take place in an instant, and cost you an hour of RL time....
I am not sure how anyone can "enjoy" killing the same thing over and over...especially when you basically kill them the same way over and over...mash a few buttons, heal a few people...rinse and repeat.
I'm just so mad that I somehow got addicted to FFXI and it sucked out so much of life. I suppose its cause I was depressed those days, and as the song goes "its a great escape, but it rips my life away..."
You're making it sound like such a pain. Final Fantasy XI is to be enjoyed. Despite fighting the same mobs over and over again, you can also get to know your party members. Plus you don't ever have to play for that long. You can do 2 hours or something. If you die, well thats just common. Loosing experience is part of lots of games too. And plus I feel alot of satisfaction gaining to the next level, awaiting my new spells, or armor, or abilities.
originally posted by Kirani
Having played FFXI and WoW for over a year each, I can safely say that FFXI is far worse than WOW when it comes to grinding. Its unbelievable how many times I found myself in a group killing the same group of mobs over and over again for hours in the same spot!! You basically camp a spot, kill all the mobs, then wait for them to spawn. What's worse, is your lose xp if you die. That is nuts! A simple mistake can take place in an instant, and cost you an hour of RL time....
I am not sure how anyone can "enjoy" killing the same thing over and over...especially when you basically kill them the same way over and over...mash a few buttons, heal a few people...rinse and repeat.
I'm just so mad that I somehow got addicted to FFXI and it sucked out so much of life. I suppose its cause I was depressed those days, and as the song goes "its a great escape, but it rips my life away..."
Its sad to hear that you let a video game suck life out of you for a year. I have not been able to play for over a year now and I have good memories of the gameplay and friends I met in FFXI. I hope you have better luck finding friends in RL.
Anywaz, yes you camp and grind the mobs in each zone as opposed to WOW, where you have the freedom to wonder solo and kill the same mobs in each zone and not camp. I personally enjoy camping, pulling, nuking, etc ("wash and rinse" and you would say) WOW is ok, but the grouping system is totally different. A good party in FFXI takes more thinking than WOW. It takes working together with skill to defeat mobs with minimal dmg received. If you are just "mashing a few buttons" I see why you got a feeling of redundancy. Each mob might look the same, but does not mean that each mob reacts the same. Every fight has its different moments. How you react to those moments is part of the thrill. Its hard to explain if you have never played FFXI and only came from a game like WOW, but the level that you have to work at in a party to obtain kills and XP is more difficult than WOW. It does leave you satisfied during each level gained. Ill admit death hurts, but isn't that part of the game, emotions? The good fights and the bad? If you just want a game where you start out, win practically every fight, cap in month or two, then WOW is your game and there is nothing wrong with that. But don't bash FFXI because it presents a challenge. I know you will argue all the way down the page saying that is not the reason why you dislike FFXI and maybe it isn't, but that is how you made it seem. Sorry if I sound harsh, but I just want people to know that FFXI is set up the way it is for reason. There are also milestones in FFXI that do not have grinding in them at all, some that do.
Lol...no you can't play for 2 hours because often times at the hours I would play, it took 2 hours just to get a group invite!! How many times did I see people "LFG" over and over again spamming it....
As far as making friends...I have plenty of RL friends, but very few of them play video games. Don't kid yourself though...friends in online games aren't anywhere close to RL friends. They vanish without a trace so often...I've lost count how many people I used to chat with on a daily basis who simply vanished one day never to return.
Some jobs level faster than others, I'm still working on getting MNK to level 75 and I've played like 2 years. hehe. I don't even do the grind much anymore and just help people and have fun etc..
Having played FFXI for almost a year now I've only broken 50 once. This was with my second character after getting my first to 49 DRg (what a long time that took).
From a new person's point of view, I'd say it'd take maybe a week to get 10? I played WoW for 2 days and got 16 then quit. That's just too easy.
Well, I honestly don't think leveling is as bad as people make it sound. This game IS based around about 3 basic things.
1.PvE Grind (Which is fun if your not a powerlevelign fanatic)
2.Quests and story progression.
3.Character development. ex getting new jobs crafting etc.
If you like leveling up with no effort in about 16 days like I did on world of warcraft, this is not your game, if you like PvP, this game does have some, but once again, play a game more based for PvP. If you want some of the best PvE content, Quest content then play this game. You actually feel as if you accomplished stuff in this game because it takes work and sometimes alot of teamwork. The story is really great once you start to progress into it, the player base is overall a bunch of really cool people, like everygame, theres an asshat here and there, but overall people are cool. Quests can take some time, but once you finish you feel pretty good about them.
Character creation is kind of limited which is kidn of annoying, but aside from that, theres plenty of armor selection's to choose from, and just great content all around.
Thoes who had problems with high gil prices, they are startingto go way down, gil selling is becoming harder for the chinese farmers, and prices that were once 17million are down to 6-7 million on alot of items, and still lowering, which is great for the newer players especially.
If you want a game with alot of cool people, good quests, accomplishments, then play this.
If you want a quickie game, level fast, do some short raids here and there play WoW. Don't get me wrong, I dont discredit WoW on raids, some of them can take 4-8hours, but It's till not as fun as grinding in FFXI
PS.I've also been playing FFXI since nov2002 on the JP import version, so I've seen alot go on around this game