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MMO ReRoll - Final Fantasy XI | MMORPG.com
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MMO ReRoll - Final Fantasy XI | MMORPG.com
Mitch never really knew much about Final Fantasy XI before choosing it was this month's MMO Reroll. However, given than we opened up the MMO Reroll column with Final Fantasy XIV, it seemed fitting to close out season one with the first MMO in the mainline Final Fantasy series.
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/Cheers,
Lahnmir
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
Final Fantasy XI isn't perfect and it doesn't hold your hand, but that's not a problem.
When I discovered FFXI for many months I didn't discover addons/plugins, guides or other stuff, I simply discovered the game with other people.
The fact that not all mmos have the same ability bars with the same rotations and the same interface copied from one to another is not a bad thing.
Anyway, it's disheartening to see the little passion and desire that a supposedly dedicated player puts into a game and that they praise casual games that are copies of other casual games.
You shouldn't praise as the best MMORPG a game like FFXIV or WoW where you are encouraged to play alone most of the time, especially the leveling.
It's a shame to see how the genre is, but it's even more disheartening to see that those who should be defending this genre are selling out to the big companies with their big products.
You didn't get past level 10, you didn't do any partys, you didn't play with anyone, you didn't even get past the starting city.
I honestly think this article is misinforming rather than helpful.
On the other hand, the interface is designed for the controller, but the game is excellent to play with the keyboard because the mouse is not an option.
Before when I played MMORPG I knew that I had to spend a period of adaptation to get used to the control, interface and other systems .... today everything that is not equal to WoW control is criticized by the laziness of the player.
Anyway, too bad.
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2024: 47 years on the Net.
"Old game is old" is certainly an insightful analysis.
I do understand that FFXI can feel impenetrable without some kind of guide, but it sounds like this guy read a bunch of guides, decided he couldn't be bothered, and wrote an article complaining about how he couldn't be bothered.
Quality content right there.
I can see it is going to be one of those days...I can't agree with you on the article, he did convey that more reading up would have given him a better experience but in all these rerolls time is limited. This has been mentioned before in some of the other rerolls, you need to put in some extra time as they are not as hand held, I think that's a given but it helps to have an idea of how much is needed.
Carry on posting.
Never wasted time on mods, but i sure as hell needed guides; I basically have the wiki up at all times while playing lol I don't think it can be done otherwise. But i finished the base games story, Rise of the Zilart, and im about halfway through Chains of Promathia and its honestly such a fantastic game; even somewhat alone with Trusts (which I really appreciate).
I found a few LSs to help me out, did an Ambuscade, got a job power leveled in Escha, been using a lower level job to go through the story. It's such a fantastic, nostalgic, old-school experience with great FF story; i love the characters and I love the world; and it's made FFXIV even more amazing; realizing all the FFXI references; and like, seeing the basis and origin of a lot of the things from FFXIV 1.0 that originated in 11 and some of the things that still survive in 14 today. It gave my experience in 14 1.0 a new frame of reference as to why the devs did certain things.
I've been listening to the music on Spotify on repeat, theyve got all the 11 OSTs there - it really is fantastic. Kind of sad the article writer wasted so much time setting up mods, got to level 10 and gave up
There's a fantastic new player guide i found on Reddit that lists EVERYTHING you can do to make the experience smoother; tho I personally didn't do EVERYTHING. Just like you should do in FFXIV, I took my time and enjoyed the ride. But knowing about the Trust system, Records of Emimence, and how the city quests worked really helped me out. Also finding a LS via Reddit was beneficial.
Not saying the gmae isn't outdated and obtuse - it is. One of my greatest recent desires is to see FFXI get a huge overhaul - don't touch the gameplay mind you, but like, a refinement and optimzation of the 20 years of systems on systems; a graphical overhaul (considering the consoles are no longe rholding it back); optimzed and streamlinged UI, QoL changes like being able to press M for Map; hell, a friggin official World Map would be fantastic - I love this game and this world so much now that I broke into it finally, and I wish It got a nice face lift to give it some extra juice to keep on going.
It would be super cool if they could like, revamp XIs and XIVs account and launcher system and make it so like, paying the sub for one game gave you the other for free; and both could be launched from the same launcher; like a Final Fantasy Online launcher or something. Anyway, I could keep ramlbing about all the ways I'd improve on a game that deserves so much more love nowadays.
Give it another shot!
Level 14 onwards is when you're expected to party up and venture into the dangerous overworld. It's brutal, but it's an adventure! There's a real sense of achievement doing anything in FFXI because it is a difficult game. Every piece of armour is treasured, every spell, every piece of advice. The game forces people to huddle together for survival lest they be swallowed by the overworld, AND THAT IS HOW YOU MAKE FRIENDS!!
FFXI was magical.
Compare FFXI to FFXIV.
XIV is a simple, shallow, repetitive, anti-social game.
Everything is handed to you on a plate, with massive {!} above each objective. The overworld is so tame that you can play the game just looking at the minimap. The Job system is so simple that everyone is the same, I'm a PLD that deals almost as much damage as the DPS characters. (Note the FFXI had subclasses, to allow for some serious customisation.) The nail in the coffin is that without difficulty, there's no need to talk to other people, no need to make friends.
FFXIV doesn't meet the requirements to be an MMO or RPG, it's more similar to Dark Souls as a single-player dungeon crawler with random people walking around not interacting.
To me the BEST thing SQEX could do, is release FFXI-2. Keep the core elements of FFXI but add a couple of the comforts of FFXIV, the perfect game is 80% XI, 20% XIV.
I respect your opinion but I disagree. Not every writer has to be a hardcore player. I've done that in MMOs in the past, spending 4-5 hours a night minimum playing. Those days are past me though.
I don't see an issue with being a casual player and writing about MMOs from that frame of reference. Writing a casual piece and trying to pass it off as a hardcore look at a game? No, that shouldn't be done.
I start every game with the intent of looking at it as a casual player. I play as much as time allows, and if I get sidetracked by reading guides or running a dungeon 4 or 5 times instead of progressing as far as possible, that's what I'm gonna talk about.
I don't think I focusing on a hardcore look does anyone any good. Hardcore players already know what they want and what a 20 year old game offers.
Man, I am really sorry that you are still hung up on my DAOoC experience.
As for the cleric, I still believe I should be able to pick any class offered by the game. It wasn't that I tried to play solo that was the problem, it's that there wasn't anyone to play with in a group. The lower levels, which is what I focus on, were are ghost town. The low level battlegrounds? Ghost town. The people I did come across? Busy getting and not wanting to group with someone moving at my place. To
I'm pretty sure I mentioned that in the article. I also mentioned that for me the solo grind wasn't worth the reward of getting to end game where all the pvp action is. For me. Not for you or anyone else. I didn't say everyone should avoided the game like the plague, just that I didn't find anything that would make me continue playing.
Now, if you are really so adamant about how I have done the game a disservice, I would suggest you pitch an article to the editors where you do a full review of the game. Or even a column of your own centered around a game that you are very passionate about. I don't say that as a snub or a joke either. A reader that reached out to me after my DAoC article did just that and has written some DAoC stuff for the site recently.
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2024: 47 years on the Net.
The game is really quite good at lower levels but you won't find anyone in any of the zones you visit. That is the down side. Everyone is at top level. This is truly a casual soloing experience you can write about.
As an editor you have a responsibility to those who read you, and to draw a conclusion from playing a game badly or not at all (lvl 10 really?, that's done in about 15 minutes) is to show very little respect for the game you play and the players.
As I say, FFXI isn't perfect but you haven't even been able to see it. Besides MMORPGs usually take time to see what it's really like, you haven't even seen the skillchains, you haven't seen the job/subjob system, you haven't seen the team system...you literally haven't seen anything.
You've played the game wrong, because like the typical casual gamer you wanted to read guides when the normal thing in a videogame is to discover it by yourself and not have others give you everything done for you.
If you don't have time dedicate yourself to other things, but I'm not going to criticize a football game because one part lasts 45 minutes, if I don't have that time it's my fault, it's not football's fault. The same with FFXI, if you don't have time to dedicate to the game it's your fault, not the game.
I repeat, reading your experience is more an exercise in misinformation than anything useful.
It did not need streamers, or WoW to be finally accepted as dated to be a great game.
People played it, due to it being a great game...Not because it was a fad.
Nice first post!
i totally disagree with you on every level about FF14, I personally think it's the best FF in the entire series; while also loving FF11.
Just because it's not 11 doesn't make it bad. That was the entire lesson learned from 14 1.0, 90% of that (albeit unfinished) game were systems that were pulled straight out of 11, but that game crashed and burned (for a large list of varied reasons). And I played and loved FF14 1.0.
Quest have no marker in FFXI, which is fine; but most ppl will read the wiki anyway, so what's the point of hiding them? If ppl are going to rely on an outside system to streamline the gameplay, you may as well bake it into the game. (imo; i am of this opinion for games in general)
In FFXI, the world is vast and full of dangerous enemies but also.....totally and completely empty. From level 1 to midway through CoP, I've run into a player a handful of times and never once did they reply to my msg or want to party with me; since we were both using Trusts and doing our own thing. 'They shouldn't have put Trusts in the game' you might say? Then no one would be able to accomplish anything because all of 5 ppl are online across the server at once. FF14 has FATEs that are perpetually relevant (xp for lowbies and other jobs; atma grind for relics, items for seasonal events, seals, etc); level sync is baked in so higher level players will always be able to help lower level players clear content in a swift and stress free manner.
FFXI doesn't even have a minimap, but from what ive seen many ppl import a mod for one so its like, whats the basis of your complaint against a minimap? I got powerlevelled in Escha ( a common practice) so I have one max level job, and a second at level 80, and have just been doing the story on the level 80. I can quite literally ignore most of the world mobs, and most NMs will fall to me and my Trusts easily. One could say the world is as tame as in FF14 by those standards. (but in my opinion the zones in FF14 are PHENOMENALLY beautiful, and FFXIs could be too with a nice facelift)
The Job System complaint is a complex one, because on one hand you have a 20 year old game with no PvP (as far as im aware) on life support that is still rich and complex whose successor game that was based on it failed horribly; and a newer fresh game with a "simpler" Job System with less customization but is more easily balanced and has PvP (a common issue in other MMOs, balance) You could easily have WoWs problem where half the classes are seen as substandard and not brought to endgame content and youd get laughed at if you played it, but no such issue in FF14 where all jobs are viable and balance is never a large issue. Is it sad you can't be a Samurai with subjob Dancer; yea I guess? But the game doesn't need that, and it's less work for the devs who can focus on more important things; and we can be every job on 1 character anyway and swap ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON THE SPOT (unlike in 11 where you have to go all the way back to your apmt to change, and manually swap all gear) I dont see it as a problem. The gameplay is unique to FF14, and I enjoy it.
Why is a PLD doing damage a problem? It'll never deal as much dmg as a Black Mage or a Samurai. Why is this an issue?
The idea that you need to be FORCED to make friends to be able to just play the game is an interesting one. Funnily its the reason I quit the first two times i tried FFXI; I am usually a solo player with social anxiety and dont like relying on other ppl, so I usually try to play on my own when I can; and didnt realize those first two times that i was supposed to party up to progress. It became incredibly difficult so i stopped playing. Which I imagine many ppl did. and still do probably. But in FF14, yes the main story quest can be completed mostly solo, minus dungeons and trials; but its meant to be; its meant to be more of a main line single player JRPG FF story. But that isnt to say there isnt difficult content that requires a party to work together. Steps of Faith, every trial. most dungeons, they require everyone to be doing their roles and working together to beat. And its less that the unrelenting difficulty of the game is so harsh that ppl are forced to work together; its more like an inviting space where ppl are ALLOWED to do what they want and make friends. FFXI doesn't have impromptu bard concerts, or night clubs with 2 hour wait times, or glamour contests, or a concert held in someone private estate that ppl are passing out flyers for in the main cities. Outside of my LS in FFXI, not a single soul speaks to me or tries to party up with me; that aspect of the game is dead unless your doing end game content from what i can tell. But in FF14, I have made dozens of friends from simply complimenting someone's glamour or asking where they got a certain item. Or high level players seeing a sprout (new player) and offering help, and they become friends. To say nothing of things like Savage, EX, Ultimates. In fact, the entire Baldesion Armory zone where you forge your relics from the Stormblood expansion is inspired by FFXI gameplay, and even tho its not current content ppl still have dedicated Discords and run it all the time. The game gives you the tools to be social, its up to you to make friends; rather than the game being so cripplingly difficult you have no other choice than to huddle together for survival. Not saying one is better than the other, I am saying they are totally different and that variety is the spice of life.
It just sounds like you logged in, played for 5 min, saw it was similar to a WoW-type game, made a snap judgement, and gave up without giving it a chance to show you what's its really like. a little bit of patience and an open mind go a long way. I think some ppl, especially from this site, went to FF14(2.0+) thinking it was going to be similar to FFXI and that it would bring back those memories of FFXI's heyday, and when it wasn't that they sneered at it. But FF14(2.0+) isn't and shouldn't be anything like FFXI, they should exist together, side by side. Them being totally different is a good thing. (imo)
Don't get me wrong I love both FFXI and FF14, and would love nothing more than a total overhaul of FFXI to bring it up to modern standards without affecting how it plays on a conceptual level; but FF14 is still the better game because it stood on lessons learned from FFXI's success (and 14's 1.0 failure). FF14 isn't perfect by any means, there are plenty of places that it can improve on (::cough pvp cough 2.0 msq revamp cough::), but to dismiss it out of hand cuz it's not FFXI, an outdated obtuse but wonderful game, isn't fair (imo) But i agree with you totally on a revamped FFXI would ideally be 80% FFXI and 20% FF14, and that 20% should just be all QoL things like a world map, menu optimization, etc.
I finished shadowbringers story last night and actively played FFXIV endgame in the past and I am also an active FFXI player and you say things that are...unfair.
Nowadays FFXI has changed a lot, too much for the "current standards" as you call them and the consequence is to find few people in the open world when in the 75 era it was the most normal thing in the world.
The world of FFXI is infinitely more unforgiving now and in the 75 era than all of FFXIV ever was, even if you go with trust if you don't pay attention you can die easily in FFXI, and that gives it a sense of challenge that FFXIV doesn't have where the world doesn't matter after the main story.
The levities...they are irrelevant and almost nobody does it, I tell you from experience, in the world I didn't meet practically nobody that didn't do the story.
Not having a minimap and you have to buy a map, nobody has the ! sign in their head and you have to look for wiki or ask other people gives immersion to the game, you may like it or not, but I think there are people who prefer it that way, like in Everquest and not another copy of WoW where they always take you by the hand.
And you can't compare the job system of both games, how can you defend FFXIV's lack of class depth over FFXI's open system?
Two days ago I was able to go help a friend kill several times from PLD and I put on a build that did damage in exchange for mitigating more damage...and it was hilarious.
That doesn't exist in FFXIV where the system is extremely limited and simple.
You don't mention the skillchains + magic burst system that requires a coordination between party members that FFXIV can't even dream of where everyone does their rotations dodging the lights on the ground and everyone else looks like bots.
Tell me 1 battle from FFXIV's story that you especially remember, I don't remember any and I just finished the story last night.
2 days ago in my LS they were talking about their experiences in FFXI COPS, stories of death and destruction in promivions, mammets, tenzen, battle airship...memorable battles, which FFXIV lacks because everything in it is too casual.
And I think we get to the point, you have social anxiety and you play MMORPG.... a genre designed to play in groups and progress mainly with people and you praise that in FFXIV you play alone.... don't you see the contradiction?
I'm glad you like FFXIV, I have nothing against the game, it's casual and it's aimed at that audience but stop saying it's the best when if you compare it to other MMORPGs, including FFXI, it loses in every aspect except for the technical aspect obviously.
FFXI has more and better RELEVANT content, better and deeper job system, better equipment system (in this FFXIV is especially bad with its ilvl system), better dungeons (compare nyzul isle or salvage to any linear dungeon in FFXIV...) and in general it is objectively MUCH better.
Just because you like something doesn't make it the best, I like Soleil on Megadrive, it's one of my favourite games that I play a lot every now and then, but I can admit it's worse than Zelda or Alundra. P.D.: This post is reply to Redcloud16, but it's been impossible for me to make a quote because the captcha on the website is buggy.