Should I start to play FFXI?? what are some pro's and con's?

bryan58

Ive recently been researching some information on FFXI and i have found that this game should be rated higher than 7.8 as it says on this site, but i havent played this game yet... PC gamer rates this game as 90% which is insane, they say it is almost bug - free but the bugs that are there are very notable... of course when you look at the game on the sites its goin to look great becuase tehy are on the highest quality of graphics but from what i saw the graphics look very good... are they? I LOVE final fantasy and i would LOVE to play this game i would just like some feed back as to whether i should play this or not , please , and thank you

Malchietz

Well, just like in every game- there are the flaws which i suppose i will start out with.

There are some Huge flaws in the Job-Sub Job things althought i would not exactly say they are flaws but rather they are things we would like to be in there.

 1. The subjob does not gain any exp, so you have to train not only your main job- but a subjob as well for youe subjob combination to be effective- causing you to spend more time leveling or to be labeled as an effiencient character.

2. Your Subjob's Weapon skills carry over but you do not have the ability to use a weapon your main class cannot- say your a Red mage subbed with Dark Knight, and you have a scythe skill of 55 and you want to use the scythe, well...you cant because even tho you have access to the skill of scythe you will be unable to use it.    (( They need the support Skills like in FFT where you could choose to have an extra allowed skill that you normally wouldnt have... emp. Skill Equip Greatsword etc.))

3. Depending on your party set up there can be an extreme amount of down-time unless your in a good party where food and potions are plentyful. Gaining EXP can be a real mofo Period.

4. Customization, last time i checked is basically non existant due to the fact that almost everything looks the same and armor comes in set. even when you craft an item you cannot make it look different from anyone else. And you will eventually run into yourself about 1000 times.

5. Making Money to buy overely priced equipment is rather hard especially if you dont have a craft. killing things for gil is extremely hard- especially if you try to get esp while doing so.

6. No Server Choice in intial Character Creation unless someone buys you a World pass to come to their world.

The Pros

1. The Community- you actually feel like your somebody when your playing the game- depending on how good you are as a player and your will and dedication to playing you will find that people will seek YOU to party with them based on your reputation and things of that sort- you will make important relationships and may even become involved in the games story line with several other people. LS's are great althought they are not what i would call that great they assist you in having people to level with and do important quests/missions with. You get a Sense of Duty playing this game, and there are usually alot of people roleplaying and it is easy to roleplay all the time in the game.

2. Since the system of the game basically made it so you will always be in need of a party you get the feel of a real FF game as your in grouped with people who all have a role and if people do thing going. You never really get lonely

3. The Combat is Simplistic in design ((althought boring at times)) but becomes highly involved when skill chains and magic burst come into play- and lets not get started on proper skill usage. Everything in a battle can spell life or death- Combat efficienty has to be perfected so not everyone is good at everything, so someone thats good is not easily replaced by the new guys coming up. Since timing and ability comes into play alot people that have mastered this are able to make a reputation for themselves, and unlike in some other games ((Ahem...City of Heros ...Ahem)) people actually will remember your performances in combat.

4. Loads of stuff to do, lots of side quests ((which can be very boring or very exciting)) missions- and stuff like that to keep you busy.

Since it is late i have to Discontinue.... someone please pick up the torch for me

Knightmare

Also your going to need lots of time and patience

ViolentY

As a LONG-time fan of Final Fantasy, there's one thing that is immensely appealing to me; the fact that you can actually be a black mage... that you can be a dragoon... that you can actually be all of those classes from the old Final Fantasy games.

Also, from a non-Final Fantasy fan standpoint, FFXI has had the best online world I've seen. The weather is the best I've seen in any game (with elemental reprecutions), environments from beaches to mountains to sandy dunes to desolate caves, and especially the ambiance noises like leaves rustling in the wind. If you spend too much time in a forest, you'll feel like you're actually out in a forest.

Malchietz

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Originally posted by Knightmare

Also your going to need lots of time and patience

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Ah i am back up. *wipes eyes*. Yes this is the Truth. I mean this game brings all of the famous FF traits with it...

The Fustration when you Die and didnt really save, so then you have to do all the stuff you did an hour ago again just to get back- or close to where you were before. ((When you die in this game you lose 10% of your experience in that class and if you just leveled- your leveling back down.))

The Countless hourz of Training your Characters- any they really really really created a way where you will literally spend quite a while trying to get to any set goal- Wither your training a Subjob, your main job, Fishing, Crafting- Havesting.  FFXI Truly did not make anything easy.

You Will Die, it happens to everyone. How often you die most of the times that you end up dying it would be the cause of things that are outside your control- but you should take care to look out for. I.E Aggressive Mob Spawns/Walk over to camp, Over Zealous Party, Bad Party Structuring in combination with bad leadership, impatience, Bad pulls, Linking Mob Spawn near camp while pulling another mob of the same kind- Someone "Training" a bunch of mobs to an exit and zones and you happen to zone into all of them. anything can happen, usually when you dont expect it, the best you can do when it does is hope your prepared.

All your skills do not just gain ability points- you have to use them- each and every one of them to gain exp in that skill so if you want to be good at sword- you have to use sword- want to be good at knuckles have to train with knuckles. of course doing so raises the amount of time you will spend training.

Square- Enix Created a True feeling of Responsiblity in the game and a strong sense of role. So when your Training it feels like your lifting weights- like your pushing yourself- even though there may be times were the stuff your doing feels unnessary like training your subjob so that the level will be 1/2 of your jobs level until level 40, but people expect it of you like when you walk into tightly packed line on a hot day people expect you to have deorderant on and to not smell like heavens knows what, so you have to go get some more stuff to be in a party and be effective. But this is all the more reason why when you do something you feel GOOD and satisfied. All the more reason that when you die you get frustrated- all the more reason when your synthesis fails you get angry- all the more reason that when you multicraft an ash log into three ash lumbers you celibrate. The game Requires Involvement And Dedication- And and extreme amount of patience- because like what happened to me in the game and what added on to me leaving- i had just got killed in the San O'dria eco-warrior quest, like twice i was highly distressed (because i normally never die at that) then my friend has me CoH and a game time card.

school time..

bryan58

Ok, i really do appreciate all of the replies about the pro's and con's ... it still seems liekk a great game... and ill tell you what i have gotten the impression of when i did my research.

 

I heard that this game puts EverQuest to shame when it comes to the amount of time you spend grinding out your levels, i do like this and i will tell you why.... this game will keep me occupied for a long time rather than a game such as star wars galaxies(level 1 week or less and your maxed) AND when you master one job/sub-job you can try another !! I mean , i dont know about you but i think this is a neat game just from reading this. The graphics from what i have seen look astounding... as i had stated before, PC Gamer gave this game a 90% and let me tell you when pc gamer rates a game that high , its definately worht it .. the only lows about the game were the slow downloading when you first install the game! and every mmorpg has that !! AND a learning curve from the start , and once again all mmo's have that , am i correct? you start to play a new game and its like reading greek. anyways i got off the subject, I have been watching live vana'diel for the last couple days waiting for my next paycheck so i can get out and get this game and ill tell you waht , the combat graphics look amazing , spell effects, weapons, armor , you name it... a friend ahve told me they were so overwhelmed at the beginning when they started to play this game that they didnt even know if they liked it(i think its because they got lost in the starting city but who cares) but then they found out where to go , some people explained thegame to him showing that the community is better than that of most mmo's out there, it isnt like WoW where every person is 7-14 years old and always "pwn" you , my friend has been playing for about 15 hours straight now .. lol good thing its his day off. As far as im concerned.. this game is the best out there, but i ahvent even played it yet >.< I have only touched the surface of what this game is im sure , but with all the information given to me by you all has definately helped out my decision in purchasin this game thank you all very much 

Aikida

I'm also thinking of picking up FFXI but from what I hear. The Gil Farmers and the insane grind.
Two of the things I hate most.
However its backed up by a quality game itself and a kind commuinity.
I cry because of struggles

anarchyart

If you like Final Fantasy I would say you will love your time here. I recently re-subscribed but with work, Horizons, my Battlefield 2 addictioin and now trying to help test Irth Online I sadly have to un-subscribe: I just don't have enough time. But I highly recommend this game to old school RPGers and new player alike. It has it all and if I lose my job I will be back