Returning players views of the games current state.

fistorm

Ok, so I been playing again like an addict. 

Transportation:   Instant Travel
  
          They updated this game in a great way to be able to get around in seconds to anywhere in the world.   They added two forms of teleporting that make this possible:   Homepoint teleports, survival guide teleports.

You just have to check home points and survival guides in every area of the game and you'll be able to instantly port to them instantly from other home points and survival guides.  


Missions:  Very Soloable

       So far you can blow through all missions in just three to four days per a storyline (expansion).    I been having fun the last few weeks just hammering away on missions and watching the storylines of them.    I started out watching the youtube footage on missions up to where I left off and then continued the storyline fresh to the end.    I got all three nations and the flags.  Zilart expansion and promy expansion done, and Currently just finished Treasures expansion.   All of them were solo and the storyline was very fun and exciting....  Just make sure you watch youtube footage to the point you left off so you can really feel the storyline your in.

I start on Wings of the Godess today so I'll post rest on missions later in thread when I finish them.  So far everything was very soloable, even all the avatars up to this point. 

Population:  Depends on server

     I've had my share of server hops and it really depends on what server you go to in order to get what you want.   The server I'm currently on is pretty small population so community is much much stronger on my server.  If your looking for a server with a decent size population and PUGs then maybe Bahamut server is your pick.   I went with a less populated server cause people are much more friendly and accepting of mistakes and stuff.  Teamwork is much more stronger on less population servers and JP even work with you on stuff, which is another thing I like.

Farming:  Mog Gardens and drop rates.

      I think Mog gardens are the best form of materials and they also added a Moblin with a chest in every City Port that you can spend hours getting materials from with points.  Faster to level up crafting now and more access to mats for things now.   Although mining points and logging points are still at their much outdated rates of drop,  I think SE needs to really update more drop rates and higher rare drop percentages on mining and logging points to match end game as a whole big picture of catch up.

Crafting:  Saved Synth Recipies.

        Crafting is decent, they have saved recipes now in your Synth book, so you just press one button and you craft anything you previously crafted.  very time saving when leveling up a craft now.

Key Items:

     They made it much easier now to get key items and less grinding for items needed in quests and missions, I found this to be a really good update.  

Quest Items and storage:
 
     They added more storage and the ability to transfer more Quest and RARE/EX stuff to mules including all the Abyssea gear which was filling up my bank for a long time, I'm very happy to have empty bags again.


Well back to playing I thought I would add this in,  It seems the game is getting much much more modern, with promises to modernize more of the game in the future updates in april and beyond.   This game seems like it will be staying for another decade in my book.   Modernization of the game was done very well and I give props to the devs for updating this game to make it more user friendly like more modern games. 

If I missed anything I can add more later in the thread or answer questions you have that might make you want to come back.  Its worth coming back to finish all the storylines you gave up on.  I'm glad I did cause the storylines were very very enjoyable.

SoloAnything

As a ffxi vet which started playing since day one I don't like all the changes and correct me if I'm wrong but they did announce that there will be no more updates/patches/expacs so my guess is after ps2/xbox360 shutdown the spring they're probably will shut down the pc version soon as well. Reason is low pop and the new mobile version of van'diel mmorpg coming late this year.

Albatroes

SoloAnything said:

As a ffxi vet which started playing since day one I don't like all the changes and correct me if I'm wrong but they did announce that there will be no more updates/patches/expacs so my guess is after ps2/xbox360 shutdown the spring they're probably will shut down the pc version soon as well. Reason is low pop and the new mobile version of van'diel mmorpg coming late this year.

They changed their mind and are going to keep updating the game until the end of this year at least.

fistorm

SoloAnything said:

As a ffxi vet which started playing since day one I don't like all the changes and correct me if I'm wrong but they did announce that there will be no more updates/patches/expacs so my guess is after ps2/xbox360 shutdown the spring they're probably will shut down the pc version soon as well. Reason is low pop and the new mobile version of van'diel mmorpg coming late this year.

I heard that as well but then they announced this on 12/15/15, seems in a nutshell they are going to do alot more updates to the game in the future and beyond.  Content and modernization of the game.

A Word to All of Vana'diel's Adventurers (12/15/2015)

An update on new content planned past April, 2016 from Producer Akihiko Matsui.

Read on to learn more.

Greetings, adventurers! Matsui here.

I'd like to talk a little about our plans for FINAL FANTASY XI going forward on the development and management side of things.

So that adventurers can always look forward to a fresh and ever-changing Vana'diel, we will be continuing monthly version updates past April. Look out for new updates every month focused on battle and story content.

On the battle side of things, we will be adding new battle varieties each month to keep up the scale and ferocity of the epic battlefields enjoyed thus far viable for a wide range of jobs and play styles. Of course, we also have smaller content planned for solo and Trust-based play.

Fresh story content is also in the works to flesh out the lives of Vana'diel's many inhabitants. New Records of Eminence objectives will offer adventurers glimpses into these characters' side stories.

To ensure that adventuring through Vana'diel stays as fun and frustration-free as possible, we will continue to balance battle content and make adjustments and quality of life improvements wherever we can. We will also be continuing to run login and other campaigns in keeping with the needs and wants of the community.

We are currently busy preparing for monthly updates in the run-up to April, including a version update slated for February, which will introduce new augments for Relic, Mythic, Empyrean, and Ergon weapons.

As our plans for next year begin to solidify, we are growing increasingly excited for 2016 in Vana'diel. The team and I are committed to keep the magic of Vana'diel alive and will be putting in our hearts and souls to ring in another new and exciting year for FINAL FANTASY XI.

We wish you all a happy and safe holiday season and hope to see you all in Vana'diel in 2016!

Akihiko Matsui Producer, FINAL FANTASY XI

fistorm

So ok,  I know its been a while...  In fact one month and half actually.

I have finished Wotg missions, It took forever!  Was pretty nice storyline.  All Soloable.

Working on Seekers of Adoulin now solo'd up to SoA 4-6 Balamor's Ruse.

Working on Rhapsodies as well, up to 3-2  The brewing storm.

So thats how far you can get into the game solo.

Make sure to unlock Unity so you can get currency for your solo adventures up to this point. 

I loved the storylines and how they all came together,  I was feeling a bit down after Wotg, so the Rhapsodies series really helps bring it back to happy land again. 

Working on Unity and I guess thats all I had to say about the game.  Its much easier to progress solo now which is nice.

ElRenmazuo

Are they planning on updating graphics?

Wizardry

First of all EVERYTHING has a money angle.I truly believe they have been on a mission to get the last of the FFXI players to flip over to FFXIV,when they did not see it happening,they changed their mind and will keep FFXI going.

As to the changes,this was all done long ago during the Abyssea expansions out of GREED.They did not want players slowly grinding away because they wanted to sell the expansion that ONLY added high level content.
That greed was a VERY big mistake because all they did was make leveling 100% meaningless and fast.This makes it very easy for them,similar to the way Blizzard operates.Just put all your focus on end game,that allows smaller updates less effort work,just ignore the entire game for a few instances and grinds.

The FUN was slow leveling in groups with other people,now that has been completely eliminated,even when they added more classes,people just leveled those in 2-3 days and all once again becomes end game grinding focus.

So although i like a lot of the changes,i don't like what the game has become.I do like the NPC's ,it is fun to have those in your group,but again it eliminates real players.
I'll be perfectly honest,FFXI is my fave rpg of all time,but if it was released in it's present form,i would not play the game because the whole purpose of online and MMO+RPG has been diminished,Square Enix is now Blizzard 2.0.

Tymoris

Game is still good enough, really the problem is that they took away the open world aspect of 11 and tried to integrate the ff14 system.
Most fights are basically "dungeon type" fights aka noone outside the party or alliance can take part.

Also most fights scale with the number of players involved so in most cases it's not practical to have more than the bare min required.

Lastly with the updates 90%+ of the fights can be done only with mages (black mage, scholar and a geo) or beastmasters. So mid to higher tier content you can't realistically do it without having one of these levelled / equipped.

Game isn't closing any time soon, but SE seems to just go with the tactic of just rehashing existing fights to high level and small campaigns to give random boosts.

Velifax

Thanks, I REALLY appreciate posts like these, which detail changes a game goes through from its classic era. The changes you outline have convinced me that it isn't for me. Enjoy!

seeyouspacec0wboy

Same. I wanted to come back after about 13 years but all of those changes look like it just wouldn't be for me now. What a shame, I was excited when i saw they were going to keep updating it for PC.

fistorm

@Velifax and @Ozreth it indeed is alot of change, but I think they kept true to all of the end content from previous as well.    Sky is still being used, Dynamis is still useful.   Theres just more paths now then ever before.   Relics/Mythics/Emp weapons are all being used still and fast track upgrade paths so you can catch up now to the current upgrades in game. 

Alot of what made FFXI so great in the past has been carefully painted around so to speak as to not destroy the feel of the original game and all of its expansions.   You can tell they took alot of thought and time to make all end game content of every expansion still releveant towards current end game content.

Idk if thats what you were wondering or not.  They are adding alot more new content called Ambuscade's which are battlefields that get you some really nice end game gear.   While still making Relic/AF/Abyssea gears all worth getting still, they have upgrade paths for all old gear to keep it releaveant in current end game also. 

Hope that helps.

Panther2103

Wizardry said:

First of all EVERYTHING has a money angle.I truly believe they have been on a mission to get the last of the FFXI players to flip over to FFXIV,when they did not see it happening,they changed their mind and will keep FFXI going.

As to the changes,this was all done long ago during the Abyssea expansions out of GREED.They did not want players slowly grinding away because they wanted to sell the expansion that ONLY added high level content.
That greed was a VERY big mistake because all they did was make leveling 100% meaningless and fast.This makes it very easy for them,similar to the way Blizzard operates.Just put all your focus on end game,that allows smaller updates less effort work,just ignore the entire game for a few instances and grinds.

The FUN was slow leveling in groups with other people,now that has been completely eliminated,even when they added more classes,people just leveled those in 2-3 days and all once again becomes end game grinding focus.

So although i like a lot of the changes,i don't like what the game has become.I do like the NPC's ,it is fun to have those in your group,but again it eliminates real players.
I'll be perfectly honest,FFXI is my fave rpg of all time,but if it was released in it's present form,i would not play the game because the whole purpose of online and MMO+RPG has been diminished,Square Enix is now Blizzard 2.0.

Jeez you really hate every games thread you post on. At least the ones I've seen. Everything is GREED GREED GREED too. You posted about how Hearthstone is just milking people because of Blizzard wanting money. Now this too? Except the populations aren't THAT strong in FFXI you can't expect them to purely just be milking it. They obviously still have a big enough population to continue developing a game, that's about it. If you make a product, and people like your product, and you want to continue to make that product, that isn't greed. That's business. Gaming is a business. 

fistorm

@Panther2103 I have to agree with you, there is no Greed about this game right now.  I see them doing whats neccesary to keep the game alive and profitable, not huge profits, but profitable.  Had Smedley been around he would have just shut down FFXI because it was not making HUGE profits. 

I think SE is doing the right thing in keeping a loved ancient game alive for all the fans who love the FF series and that they are NOT greedy like SOE or other companies who care little of their fans enjoyment over HUGE profits. 

VicodinTaco

Interesting read.  I'm glad to hear the core game is still intact yet mad soloable.  I think I'm going to give this game a download just to play through some of the story.  Good stuff, thanks for posting!

Wizardry

Panther2103 said:

Wizardry said:

First of all EVERYTHING has a money angle.I truly believe they have been on a mission to get the last of the FFXI players to flip over to FFXIV,when they did not see it happening,they changed their mind and will keep FFXI going.

As to the changes,this was all done long ago during the Abyssea expansions out of GREED.They did not want players slowly grinding away because they wanted to sell the expansion that ONLY added high level content.
That greed was a VERY big mistake because all they did was make leveling 100% meaningless and fast.This makes it very easy for them,similar to the way Blizzard operates.Just put all your focus on end game,that allows smaller updates less effort work,just ignore the entire game for a few instances and grinds.

The FUN was slow leveling in groups with other people,now that has been completely eliminated,even when they added more classes,people just leveled those in 2-3 days and all once again becomes end game grinding focus.

So although i like a lot of the changes,i don't like what the game has become.I do like the NPC's ,it is fun to have those in your group,but again it eliminates real players.
I'll be perfectly honest,FFXI is my fave rpg of all time,but if it was released in it's present form,i would not play the game because the whole purpose of online and MMO+RPG has been diminished,Square Enix is now Blizzard 2.0.

Jeez you really hate every games thread you post on. At least the ones I've seen. Everything is GREED GREED GREED too. You posted about how Hearthstone is just milking people because of Blizzard wanting money. Now this too? Except the populations aren't THAT strong in FFXI you can't expect them to purely just be milking it. They obviously still have a big enough population to continue developing a game, that's about it. If you make a product, and people like your product, and you want to continue to make that product, that isn't greed. That's business. Gaming is a business. 

When the investment is miles LESS than the profits and the games are not receiving just improvements,then YES it is GREED.
However thanks for letting me and anyone else know these are businesses,not sure if you are agreeing or disagreeing now lmao,you sort of put your foot in your own mouth,keyword >>>>YOU did it yourself.
A FAIR business takes way overboard profits and gives back to the community,they try to improve the game without milking multi millions more.

They made more money in one month than a game such as HS deserved to make in 6-12 months.

SO WHAT? If i don't like what a developer is doing,should i just act like some ass kisser and "pretend" i like what they are doing?That would be called TWO FACED and MOST people hate two faced people/hypocrites.If a developer is acting less than proper i will be sure to state my opinion weather YOU ore anyone cares or not.
Unless of course people need YOUR permission to post their opinions?I guess you also MISSED the part where i stated "i LIKED most of the changes"seems you only like to pick parts to make yourself a confronting  persona shit disturber?

Pretty simple give your opinions on GAMES and leave that other crap out of it.

fistorm

What @Wizardry is refering to, is when FFXIV development was paid for by FFXI subs,  then when FFXIV crashed, FFXI subs paid for its redevelopment, which then turned into a huge success, which is greater then FFXI was.   I know alot of people were angry about that, but you are seeing alot of content hitting FFXI still...

For example. 
Second floors to our Mog House, a patio design plan that litterally makes your entire top floor of your mog house able to see the moon and sky, its incredible!!! 

Ambuscade giving you end game gear and yes, you can even solo a longer path to that end game content.

Next month they are adding even bigger Ambuscade make over and even more end game content. 

I think there come a point where you have to download the game and see what they are doing right now and you'll see they do care about the fans still and that the FFXIV being paid for by FFXI subs hurts are now in the past and that FFXI is getting the attention it deserves.

Mounts just added this month!

raystantz

What made this fun for me in the many years I played it was that you couldn't solo everything and you had to make friends to accomplish the bigger tasks. When I went back a year or so ago and found they'd basically removed that entire mechanic and replaced it with Abyssea... yeah not the game for me anymore. 

Albatroes

raystantz said:

What made this fun for me in the many years I played it was that you couldn't solo everything and you had to make friends to accomplish the bigger tasks. When I went back a year or so ago and found they'd basically removed that entire mechanic and replaced it with Abyssea... yeah not the game for me anymore. 

Although I'm with you on not liking how low-man/solo this game has become, the only real thing preventing me from giving SE money for it is there obvious greed to milk the money they can from the remaining player base. No server merges for servers that obviously need them. These "often" updates are just moved mobs to different areas with little to no updated mechanics. Pretty much managing the game with a skeleton crew while expecting to get paid the same as in the past. Big no for me. I'd even go back if they did merges.

Shinami

I guess the common-ground is that regardless if a game is P2P, B2P, or F2P, the developer is always trying to find ways to maximize their profits. The way that is done is that one taps into as many expendable resources as possible. This is a standard in business, and businesses are about maximizing profits... not giving back to the community unless there is something in it for them in the measure of less taxes or some other incentive.

MMORPGs are a different thing altogether.

Most of our purchases in real life involve getting the exact same product one pays money for. For example, outside of failures, suppose a thousand people buy the same processor. Those thousand people will enjoy the same processor under the same performance with no change to it, outside improvements like Bios Upgrades/Updates...

Video Games are different....
A game gets developed and then its changed to become "Compatible" with the most expendable and abundant resource. While a core game can be "Intact" in terms of enjoying a story, the means to an end has been changed.

FF XI was about playing together in parties to get through the content together.
Now FF XI is about soloing through the story..

About every major game out there today has converted to this system of making their games more appealing to the most abundant and most exploitable and expendable resource. Players will come in, play a month or two or then leave. Their money already in the hands of the developer...

That is how these games work.
I hate to be bleak...
but it is what it is...

...and no opinion will save the world from the obvious.