Final Fantasy XI

[tSwitch]

So I found out a couple of my friends at class play FFXI, so I decided to sub up again for the game.

Just to stem the flow of "but you hate WoW, why do you play FFXI" or the like; there is an explanation for why I like the game in the following spoiler.

reasons: ShowHide

1: friends that play - this makes the game fun
2: I love the graphics/style of the game
3: It's hard - it's terribly difficult (if not impossible) to solo to max level, making parties more essential, meaning you need to know how to play well, or you're going to be out a party.
4: sense of accomplishment - last time I played, I was level 12 before my trial ran out (had no money to sub) and I had just gotten my Scale Mail set, and even at such a low level, it felt like I had actually -done- something.  Like I actually earned the damn full set of armor.

I'm not opening this up for a debate about why FFXI sucks or why [insert] MMO is better, or any form of debate.  I'm just gonna post a few screenshots and answer questions about the game if people care

Btw: my toon -
Mithra RDM, on the Hades server.

anyone else play/played before?

[Zylos]

I'm a major Final Fantasy fan, and a lot of my friends have been pressuring me to play it, but have no money nor interest in paying for it. Especially since I'm definitely not an MMO type of person. ._.

[Blizzard]

I got sick of MMOs in general. xD
Other than that I agree that playing a game that all your friends play can be quite fun since you're playing it with them after all.

[fugibo]

Hard describes this game perfectly. I never got past Level 6 while soloing, or at all for that matter.

Of course, I only played for a couple of weeks, but still, that's hard. Leveling up itself isn't hard, but staying there...

[tSwitch]

Screenie of my catgirl redmage

Spoiler: ShowHide

Mithra are the most agile race, which makes them a great choice for Ninja (Which I'm doing later in game), but are female only, which is why my toon's a girl.

Hard describes this game perfectly. I never got past Level 6 while soloing, or at all for that matter.

Of course, I only played for a couple of weeks, but still, that's hard. Leveling up itself isn't hard, but staying there...

yeah, it's not a game for solo players, not at the start anyway.  There are some great solo class combos you can put together (like RDM/NIN, I've seen those solo gods before), but it's not nearly as fun.

[RoseSkye]

I played FFXI ... bored me to tears.

I did meet this cute asian chick on it though.. she was hot. Irl she was pretty nuts though.. but I'd still put up with her crap for a short while.

old chara: ShowHide

[fugibo]

Still, you can't deny its massive superiority when it comes to graphics -- nothing even comes close.

[tSwitch]

Still, you can't deny its massive superiority when it comes to graphics -- nothing even comes close.

the game is so gorgeous @_@

[fugibo]

Was that sarcasm?

I don't recognize that smiley >_< But I'm assuming it's a dazed one.

[tSwitch]

Was that sarcasm?

I don't recognize that smiley >_< But I'm assuming it's a dazed one.

no, it's not, the game is absolutely gorgeous.

[G_G]

How much does the game exactly cost? And dont you have to pay for memberships to?

[fugibo]

It depends. Do you have infinite patience and a fat PS2 or capable PC?

[G_G]

I have a skinny ps2. Does it really matter? And i have a pretty good computer.

My patience is pretty good exept when I'm in a bad mood

[tSwitch]

How much does the game exactly cost? And dont you have to pay for memberships to?

it costs like $15 to buy the box with the original game and all 4 expansions.
out of the box, you get 30 days free, then they charge you $12.95 a month for your account (with one character) and $1 a month for each additional character.

[fugibo]

Just that a Slim PS2 can't use the HDD and that the PC version might be a bit intensive on the hardware. Other than that, no.

But if you play the PS2 version, be ready to wait. Maybe the PC version, too. I wouldn't know for sure though.

[tSwitch]

Just that a Slim PS2 can't use the HDD and that the PC version might be a bit intensive on the hardware. Other than that, no.

But if you play the PS2 version, be ready to wait. Maybe the PC version, too. I wouldn't know for sure though.

it's not very hardware intensive at all
min requirement for ram is 128 mb, and you can run it on a Pentium III.
hell, the game runs on Dial Up.
http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/envi/win/win01.html?pageID=win

but patching is a BITCH.
if you install the game, let it patch overnight, trust me, it's a lot less painful that way.

[Blizzard]

Careful. Your connection has nothing to do with the game speed, only with the lag in game. Most network games were optimized that way to allow a smooth play even over dial-up. Usually the idea is only to transmit input data over the network.

[tSwitch]

Careful. Your connection has nothing to do with the game speed, only with the lag in game. Most network games were optimized that way to allow a smooth play even over dial-up. Usually the idea is only to transmit input data over the network.

I know how that works, trust me, I've had to explain it to my dad repeatedly.
I'm just saying the game is really old and any modern computer should be able to run it

[Diokatsu]

Looks like a pretty fun game, but a bit too pricey. Must be better than those Korean MMOs, but how does it compare to WoW?

[tSwitch]

Looks like a pretty fun game, but a bit too pricey. Must be better than those Korean MMOs, but how does it compare to WoW?

it's a lot harder than WoW, and it's nearly impossible to solo to max level, if it's even possible at all.
Also there aren't little ! and ? above questgiver's heads, so you either have to wiki or actually -talk- to NPCs in town to find quests and such. It's an old first-gen MMO.
The interface is menu-driven, not hotkey driven, so there's a lot of focus on macros and stuff.
Also there's no PvP but Arena PvP.

I'm not sure what else to say without getting biased.

It costs less than WoW, actually, unless you somehow need all those extra characters.