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So I found my old ffxi box
How is the game these days? Still need a group for absolutely everything? Still need to know how to speak Japanese to get a group? Do you still have to wait hours upon hours for the rare spawn mobs? What is the over all feel of populations on servers these days? Any of these answered + more info would help. I am really bored, and need something to do over the summer that my old computer can play. Well not to old, but hell if I would be able to run a new game.
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I personally came back in October, and I'm really pleased with the direction they took the game, the expansions areas made lvling easier in higher lvls, and with the STF working over the RMTs the economy is a hell of a lot better nowadays, that was the real big push that got me back into the game, I can actually afford stuff now.
Ok, well ya answered some of my questions I had. Guess they never opened up English primary western servers. I just remember at the beginning it was very difficult to get a group at any time of the day without speaking Japanese ( Though I did pick up the game opening weekend).
I might give it a try on a new server or something. I had lvl 60's and stuff on my old one, but I don't remember being that well established in gil or equipment due to the lack of groups that spoke english high levels.
I guess my question on the rare spawns wasn't as forward as I had thought. None the less you answered about what I wanted to know.
I say you should come back. As you can see in my sig, I am a veteran MMORPG player, and I just returned to FFXI TODAY. Literally, today. I got really bored of WoW due to lack of incentive or difficulty and seeing as I am a big Final Fantasy fan, this game is rocking my world right now. I am a level 7 on the server Fairy, and having a real blast. I already got help from a few very kind people and got into a Linkshell. I would love for you to join me. The game is only 13$ a month and is 30$ for all expansions + the new game + 1 month sub free. Now to answer your questions.
-You don't need a group for everything, but this is a VERY group oriented game. What made it appealing for me to come back is the thought of leveling in groups. Teamwork is something I love so it just suits me. If you want a solo game, do not play FFXI.
-You never needed to be able to speak JP to play this game. More than half of the players who play are from North America, and Fairy + Asura are more North American dominant servers. Also, there is a translator in the game which is really powerful and fun to use.
-A lot of the NM drops are EX now, meaning you can't sell them. Yes, that includes Leaping Boots and Emperor's Hairpin. There is probably competition for NM's still but that makes the game fun anyways. It shows that the game is still lively.
-Populations are about the same. The game has between 400k-600k players, which is top 3 in the sub based MMO world. I see over 2000 people online on my server right now which I consider a lot. Actually, the Odin server has too many people and isn't allowing people to join the server anymore, and that server doesn't have much than the others.
Which is the newest created server on this game? i started a char on shiva today but it feels kinda empty with some 75's running around.
Wow, yeah pretty much what I was looking for. One reason I quit originally was due to the increased difficulty in finding groups that spoke English. Though I did play right after launch in the states.
Also good to know about the items, was curious about those.
Think I may pick it up tommarow. Fairy it is I guess.
If you're coming from WoW, then expect a few things. For one, the game feels pretty crappy. This is because it was made to work on consoles. The menus and combat feel pretty rough and clunky in comparison the WoW. What keeps me going is the feeling of the FInal Fantasy universe, the immersiveness, community and the music really helps. This game has some elements that make it better than WoW, so remember that when you start up. So far I am level 9 and am on the 1-3 mission to obtain rank 2 for San'doria. I also got hooked up with an LS and some starter money by a great group of people. If you message me I'll get you into the LS to get you started (assuming you're mature :O).
I am only 22, I don't know how mature that is because I still laugh at fart jokes. None the less I do understand the over all feel of the game, and I miss the difficulty factor involved. I still remember leveling parties, and miss the conjunction system from time to time so I figured after posting here it seems that I won't have a problem.
I know one of my friends from Ohio plays on fairy if only I knew his name heh in game.
Yes, the game is still very group oriented. There is, however, more options available for XPing outside of parties. Most missions and quests still require groups, but the reason for this is beginning to change. As the game is now 6 years old, there are a great many players with multiple jobs at level 75. If these quests and missions were soloable a large portion of the playerbase would be done with the new content in no time and then they would complain about how there needs to be more for them to do.
Knowledge of the Japanese language is not neccessary. It never has been. You can set your language preferences as you wish. These preferences are displayed in the search box so any potential inviter can see them. If you are starting teh party you can see those preferances as well and use them to guide your invitations. The autotranslate function also serves to bridge the language barrier. Once you learn what you can say with it you will be better able to communicate.
More to the point: If you know your job and they know theirs you don't have to communicate at all.
As an aside: The autotranslate function also translates to German and French now as well. There are players that speak other languages as well. Spanish for instance.
Notorious Monster spawns are the same as they were when you left for the most part, but many of the highly sought after ones have been modified to drop Rare/Ex (soulbound or whatever you call it) versions of their previous drop. This means noone is camping them for money anymore. The normal versions are now obtained theough different methods.
The hardware requirements are still the same as they were before I believe. So using your old PC should not be an issue, but don't expect perfect gameplay.
Thanks Ansel for the great reply, and I know Japanese was never required before, but due to the overwhelming population of people who played (Since the US version was released a year after the japanese release) were Japanese, and most people only used the auto-translate function for immature jokes in chat like [mithra][hand][job][ok] etc... you catch my drift. Obviously people want to be able to quickly communicate with those in their group and I understood that, and with the game being new at the time and Japanese guilds being settled in it just wasn't worth my time. I had played for about a year and it hadn't gotten much better.
None the less it looks like if people are saying it isn't that big of an issue anymore, and since I can type french fairly well and I live near heavily spanish speaking communities I should do fairly well with those groups.
Also since it seems like I am getting responses; how goes the botting? I know when I left botting was a huge issue with fishing and they had just put in golden fish that would page a GM if ya got one and if ya didn't respond ya go warnings, or bans etc... Do they continue with the rigerous watch over making sure the economy doesn't get messed up hardcore by botting?
i keep hearing Odin is the most populated server is this the case? , i got the 2008 edition in the post yesturday was going to install it over the weekend , but wanted to join a nice populated server.
It's overpopulated. There is lots of competition for everything and I believe they don't allow the server to be chosen at the main screen anymore. Fairy is ftw.
O wow, you can pick a server now? that is nice. I remember you used to have to get a world pass from someone to guarantee your character would be created on the server. Was getting ready to make a lot of my character heh.