[Final Fantasy XI] My brother mentioned FFXI one night. I’m not sure how we really came to this decision, but because he hadn’t asked for anything for Christmas, we came to the idea that maybe an FFXI account would be a good idea. Both he and I have burnt ourselves out on WoW, though we are far from done with WoW.
I’ve been kind of mellow lately, not feeling like even logging into WoW, even though I got home five days ago and have been able to. I’ve mostly been playing offline games between my new Nintendo DS and Dragon Quest VIII. I don’t know exactly why I haven’t felt compelled to play WoW. There’s many reasons I can think of, with feeling bored of the game actually being close to last on the list. Playing FFXI again would be like breathing fresh air again. I’ve never played two MMORPGs at once, so I don’t know if this could eventually be a good or bad thing for me.
All I know is that I can’t wait to log into the world of Vana’diel. I play WoW because it’s fun, but most everything else about WoW that is sensually appealing I just hate. I love FFXI’s world. I love the music. I love the graphics. The fact that I’ll get to experience this at the same time with my brother rather than having to take turns like we did before is even more appealing. FFXI brings out the RPer in me. It makes me get all googly eyed when I think about it.
FFXI has this certain essence about it that is completely missing from WoW. I used to run around towns and explore them inside and out and just sit in a cool place I found and hang out. I used to run between Korroloka Tunnel and Altepa Desert just for the hell of it, plus my love for the town Rabao. I never do this in WoW. When WoW is cool, it’s awesome. Example? The entrance to the Blackrock Depths (BRD) is freaking awesome. The Blasted Lands is by far the coolest area I’ve visited in WoW. Unfortunately, cool things like this in WoW just aren’t everywhere. Realize this is coming from someone who pretty much hates the Warcraft world’s style.
Anyways, I will be logging into FFXI come Christmas morning. I’m hoping it will run on this computer. I scored 2000 on the high-res benchmark, over 3000 on low-res, which means it should run, but the characters in the benchmark were flickering the whole time it was running. I’m hoping it doesn’t do that in the actual game. If it doesn’t run, I’ll either just limit myself to playing on the other computer in this house, the one that’s actually above average, and my brother and I will have to wait to play with each other once I get my new computer. I’m thinking of being a Tarutaru BLM and my brother will be a Tarutaru WHM. We’ll be starting in Sand’Oria because Sand’Oria is my favorite town in the whole game and I haven’t explored its surrounding areas as much as I have the other two main towns. It’ll be like starting out completely fresh, especially since I’ve explored the Bastok newbie areas inside and out and have given the Windurst areas a pretty good exploring as well.
Be looking for another person to be talking about FFXI.
.:lufia22:.
I enjoyed my time in FFXI. What killed it for me is that (at the time) you had to group to do anything, and it took forever to find a group. Perhaps things have changed, I’m not sure. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the little things like fishing. The auction house in FFXI was fun. I also enjoyed the job system up to a point. I really got tired of seeing the same patch of desert. Travel also got real tiring. It’s neat for a while, but eventually I get sick of running for 20 minutes when I only have an hour to play.
Indeed, FFXI definitely takes requires time. I used to never sit down and play it unless I was either farming (and even then I would require at least an hour) or I had at least two hours to play. Grouping is another reason why I quit FFXI as well, but that’s also a reason I’m excited about joining it again as it’s a change in pace. I’m mostly excited about getting to level 60+, however, so I can really start getting into the meat of the story missions. The story missions are the main reason I want to play FFXI. The only reason I continue to play WoW is because I want to get to level 60, find a good guild, and start working on high level instances.
It took me about a year to get to level 50 last time I played FFXI, but that was partly because not only was it my first time playing but I also had taken a job to level 37 before my level 50 and got sick of it, and the lvl 37 was a melee job and my level 50 was a caster job, which means I leveled both melee and caster subjobs. I’m hoping this time I can stick to the job I originally play and get to level 50 within half a year or less.
BTW, if you read this ringthree, wasn’t there an update not too long ago that varied enemy types in areas better? Did that help disperse where people grind or do people still all huddle around the same 1-3 areas at any given level range?
watchin Ragnaros spawn is by far the coolest part in WoW that i’ve seen. mute you ts/vent if you’re using it, and turn up the volume and listen to Majordomo and Ragnaros. very neato
QFT drypulse. The first time I got to see Rag spawn in person, I about wet myself. Eventhough our guild had already spwaned him before, I was running around smacking the backs of my hands together. In fairness however, the instanced dragon kill in FFXI.. I forget the name, it’s near the Taru town, and this badass mithra starts the movie…. that one had me in just as much awe.
Truth be known, regardless of the game, no matter how much adrenaline pounds your brain… it all eventually becomes familiar. The grouping requirements in FFXI were bad to me, but the travel was even worse. Once I got my chocobo the game was actually kinda fun. Plus I loved the way they implimented crafting skills.
I can’t really say that one game is better than the other honestly. I just prefer WoW. But getting to team up with your brother after you’ve been away from the game a while… well, that’s going to make it 10x more fun.
Having played FFXI now for almost two years on and off, and WoW since it was released, I’ve seen quite a lot of both games. Pretty much everything that been said here so far about FFXI is true — It’s definitely not a game for the casual play-for-an-hour-or-two type of player, especially at higher levels where simply finding a group and getting to camp can take that long (or worse, even longer). Some recent patches have reduced the XP curve beyond level 50 and slightly increased the amount of XP recieved when soloing, but realistically, unless you’re a Beastmaster you’re still going to be looking for a group if you want to get XP at any decent rate. The next expansion (Treasures of Aht Urhgan) is supposed to be focusing on solo/casual content rather than on expanding the storyline like Chains of Promathia did, but it isn’t due out for a long time. Square obviously took a look at WoW’s success and decided that it wants a piece of the casual MMO gamer pie.
As for visuals: WoW’s art style is unique, whether you love it or hate it, and its areas are very detailed. FFXI’s art may appear more bland, but its zones seem to have a greater sense of ‘wholeness’ to them, for lack of a better word. From the snowy ruins of Xarcabard, to the dusty, red boulders in Meriphataud Mountains, to the ancient cermet architecture of Fei’Yin or Tu’Lia, they have a certain character and level of detail on a larger scale that WoW lacks. It’s just a shame that there isn’t more visual character customization in the form of avatar or equipment…the PS2’s lack of memory kind of cripples the amount of variety they can build into the game. It’s a far cry from WoW where every shoulder pad, cape, and pair of boots seems to have its own unique look.
Still, regardless of its faults, FFXI is an enjoyable game, especially if you have some friends to level up with. Hope to hear more about it!