CambriaRising
Member
Same here. I played a shit ton of FF11 back in the day and 14 is just much better about people helping out.
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FFXI in 2017
- Thread starter encephalon
- Start date
Same here. I played a shit ton of FF11 back in the day and 14 is just much better about people helping out.
really wish they would redo FFXI and make it to todays standards. It's totally possible too.
There is no mmo that has as relaxing combat with a controller as FFXI since it was designed to be used with a controller and the PS2. The slower style of gameplay allows me to actually enjoy it instead of facerolling my keyboard every 5 seconds.
There is no mmo that has as relaxing combat with a controller as FFXI since it was designed to be used with a controller and the PS2. The slower style of gameplay allows me to actually enjoy it instead of facerolling my keyboard every 5 seconds.
Understandably. Helping someone do one quest in FFXI could take your entire night.
FFXI is a game I played for 7 years and I have so many memories, but there were so many aspects of this game I hated.
Boss Man
Member
Such an awesome game. I've always held out hope that someone would be able to find the sweet spot between an MMO like this and something like WoW. There's so much to love about FFXI and how coherent its world feels. I doubt I could come close to dedicating the time required to get involved in such a game as an adult though.
I can't even stress how much I envy your position right now. FFXI is how I met some of my current best friends, as well as my wife. I would love to go through the game again without the knowledge I possess.
The Hamburglar
Banned
I honestly wish ff14 was just ff11 with updated graphics etc. I missed it on ff11 and it sounds like my ideal mmo. I tried ff14 before and after 2.0 and it just another theme park mmo.
Shouta
Member
The game was at its best right during Abyssea. It had just the right blend of group-focused play, mechanics that let individuality shine, and letting every player get into the action instead of content shunning certain people away. So much suffering to get that point though.
Still, my second favorite MMO of all time right now.
Still, my second favorite MMO of all time right now.
Pejo
Member
Puppetmaster was bar-none the highest skill ceiling pet class to ever grace an MMO. You had almost limitless options with the class, and it will always go down as one of my favorite experiences of all time. Hell, FFXI is my favorite game of all time.
The world was dangerous, everything from leveling to progressing on the storylines and quests were group mandatory, the combat was slower paced and deliberate. The gear system was truly horizontal for the entirety of 75 cap FFXI. Just so many things done so well that will never be replicated. The music, NMs, xp loss on death. Man everything was just so good. It was not a game for people with little free time, I'll admit, but you definitely got out of it what you put into it.
It makes me sad to realize I"ll never have those kinds of actual "adventures" again, like the first trip to Jeuno or navigating Eldieme Necropolis just to get to a spot to farm items that you need. Then, solo sneaking around and killing tough enemies just to get a chance to fight a hard ass enemy (Maat) to raise your level cap. When I beat him as RDM I nearly lost my shit with jubilation, after having to farm 10-15 of those damn Testimonies.
Man every single time a FFXI thread pops up on GAF, I get endlessly nostalgic. What ever happened to the mobile version?
Baloonatic
Member
Been playing on and off since release but it hasn't been until recent years that I've been seiously working to complete all the story stuff. Always would hit roadblocks due to not being able to get teams together but that's not an issue nowadays with Trusts.
Doing CoP and am about to do the very last mission tonight. Very excited to wrap things up in that storyline.
FFXI has always been my favourite MMO in theory but I could just never get anywhere with a lot of things. For some people maybe the stuff they added detracts from the experience but I absolutely adore going around on my own being able to see almost everything the game has to offer. Such a well realised world and I prefer the style of cutscenes and writing to any other MMO out there.
BLU is also a really great job. It encourages you to go to some of the less used areas and see more of the world. I've been loving learning spells inbetween quests and missions.
Doing CoP and am about to do the very last mission tonight. Very excited to wrap things up in that storyline.
FFXI has always been my favourite MMO in theory but I could just never get anywhere with a lot of things. For some people maybe the stuff they added detracts from the experience but I absolutely adore going around on my own being able to see almost everything the game has to offer. Such a well realised world and I prefer the style of cutscenes and writing to any other MMO out there.
BLU is also a really great job. It encourages you to go to some of the less used areas and see more of the world. I've been loving learning spells inbetween quests and missions.
Joe T.
Member
That was the beauty of Final Fantasy XI to me, it forced the community to work together and explore every corner of its world. It wasn't up to you, alone, to find the directions and solutions to those quests, it was up to the server/community as a whole. Once someone found out how to progress through a quest/mission they'd let their friends know or post it on a community website and it would quickly get passed along to everyone else. You then had the option of figuring it out yourself, asking someone in game for a little help or heading to one of the community web sites for directions. It forced you to interact with the community, whether directly or indirectly.
FFXIclopedia and Bluegartr became the go-to hubs for most of the information collected over the years. Some of the forums have disappeared or gone mostly silent, but FFXIAH.com remains active. Those are indispensable sources for "noobs" and veterans alike.
After reading this thread, I went on YouTube to watch some old FFXI.
Can anyone explain what this livestream is? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MWXndI77og
It went live last month on the official FFXI YouTube channel...
Can anyone explain what this livestream is? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MWXndI77og
It went live last month on the official FFXI YouTube channel...
Baloonatic
Member
It's been around for years and years, just not always on youtube. Basically just a camera set up in a server. If people on that server were actually there you would see them moving around.
It's more like FFXIV doesn't incentive helping and group play. You can pretty much play FFXIV alone without making friends thanks to the DF and a main quest that is essentially a single player-game with occasional co-op dungeons.
ShadowSoldier89
Member
and the world is never dangerous enough to make random acts of kindness feel special. When a random mage jumped off their chocobo to heal you in XI it felt like something meaningful. They saevd your life at a pretty large inconvenience to them as they were now walking the rest of the way to town.
FFXI was a big slow world, but it was always ok because you never felt the need to rush anything. The horizontal gear progression was the biggest reason for this and the main reason I can't bother with any new MMOs.
The obtuse questing also led to some great moments, like running into a higher level player in the same area that just may have already done the quest you were working on. It felt nice to just help people in this game in ways that no other game has matched.
Weirdest thing that ever happened to me was helping a random that was lost in Davoi, then finding out she was my ex girlfriend's mom.
Yeah, that's something I miss in general from MMOs. Those moments could sometimes lead to organically meeting and making friends with someone new. They are few and far between in more modern MMOs.
I remember chilling on my DRG near Ghelsba and some poor soul was fleeing for their lives from an orc. In a split second I was in the air and one shot it with a Jump and saved the person who was a couple hits from death. He just said "Thanks" and went on his way, but those are nice moments to have for both people. The closest I get to that in XIV is rezzing a bunch of corpses after the Ixion fate.
Ploid 3.0
Member
Yeah, I was looking forward to playing bard in ffxiv before ARR fully launched. The whole CG video of the end of 1.0 or whatever with the bard casting cure on the party made me think it would still be in the support role. I expected to start bard to be very useful to everyone like FFXI bard.
I mainly soloed in FFXI, and I had selfish jobs outside of red mage (leveled it because it was useful and could solo like a boss). In FFXIV I ended up going the summoner/scholar route, unfortunately nothing in ffxiv felt like people would need my help in the open world. I didn't need help, I could destroy everything and walk without fear no matter where I went. Monk? I destroy faces. Warrior? I can't die still. Black mage? Yep, still nothing to fear. None of the jobs I leveled in FFXIV felt challenging or rewarding to survive with so the open world was pointless to me. Even farming materials to sell, or craft felt boring outside of killing so fast that I try to compete for claims against other people (easy to kill apkallu for eggs at the time).
The other thing I didn't like about FFXIV is that gear would always be replaced, and the stats on the gear are very boring. There's no evasion gear if I want to solo for example. The endless ladder with each patch means I'll never get comfortable with at least some gear, I'll always need to update everything to meet a gear level requirement. It's not about skill then but gear checks. I loved fighting crazy things with small groups in ffxi. Ash dragon with a ninja, and two black mages + my thief took a long time, and sticking enmity on the ninja since aggro was such a delicate balance for such a long fight was thrilling. Body stomps, aggro bombs, and so on kept me on the edge of my seat. No rage timer thankfully.
See avatar. I love where the job is now and hope upcoming monk changes bleed over. Fixing H2H weapon skill damage would be nice too 😂
Silvawuff
Member
I used to co-run a huge Dynamis LS on Unicorn (now Fenrir). We didn't upgrade any weapons, just sold everything and split it with our LS members. Subsequently we became very popular; so much so we had two groups running (as well as Dreamlands on farm) and achieved full clears of virtually every zone, even Beaucidene. We passed out over a billion gil pre-Abyssea.
It's a wonderful game and it helped me through some very dark times in my life, but I can never go back.
It's a wonderful game and it helped me through some very dark times in my life, but I can never go back.
BlueBadger
Banned
Wow OP. That really takes me back. Holy smokes. So nostalgic right now, and wanting to go back. LOL
But I honestly am really loving XIV as well. They each have their ups and downs. The issue with FFXI back when I played it (2007-ish?) was that I felt like you needed to almost have no life to make any progress in the game (especially in the later levels). I like that FFXIV is a little friendlier to gamers who still have other commitments in life. However, FFXI was really, really fricken fun.
And this might be an unpopular opinion, but I cannot play SMN in FFXIV. At least not after playing it in FFXI. FFXI did SMN waaaayyyyy better than XI in my opinion. So epic. The quests, the avatar fights, everything.
But I honestly am really loving XIV as well. They each have their ups and downs. The issue with FFXI back when I played it (2007-ish?) was that I felt like you needed to almost have no life to make any progress in the game (especially in the later levels). I like that FFXIV is a little friendlier to gamers who still have other commitments in life. However, FFXI was really, really fricken fun.
And this might be an unpopular opinion, but I cannot play SMN in FFXIV. At least not after playing it in FFXI. FFXI did SMN waaaayyyyy better than XI in my opinion. So epic. The quests, the avatar fights, everything.
Buggy Loop
Member
FFXI is still the most impactful MMO i've ever experienced.
Sadly, nothing replicated that feeling. The party mechanics for PvE is unmatched.
Sadly, nothing replicated that feeling. The party mechanics for PvE is unmatched.
Alex
Member
XI had (on paper) better leveling, it took forever to put together an effective group and sometimes you just couldn't get a good spot but when everything lined up it felt great to get those skill and exp chains rolling. This is the part where I think it is better in my memory, because I remember those awesome early AM parties more than I remember the times where we just couldn't make one even after trying for hours.
I still have regrets about never getting around to making a BST duo way back in the day. I always wanted to do that.
XIV's leveling is great for the first job but on the repeats not so much, better than something like WoW where it's about repeating the same bad quests over and over but still needs work. Thing is it has a lot of the elements in place but the devs don't balance it right. Lot of variety and systems prop it up with FATEs, logs, dungeons, leves, etc but in the end it doesn't matter when PotD exists and blows everything away up until 60.
EXP rates need a second pass, badly. The sad thing is the only change they've seen was a large nerf to PvP exp when it was merely competitive with dungeons.
XIV's end game blows the doors off of XI's, though. XI's end game made Everquest look fun and friendly, it was just a gigantic timesink based around who you knew. Awful design.
As for Summoner, Summoner is awful in both games. These games arguably get every facet of what is Final Fantasy correct except for its most iconic job. Makes no fucking sense.
It should be a job about either nuking with cool summons or vanishing into the aether to control a summon. Instead somehow both games decided that an awkward pet job is the way to go, two times in a row.
Joe T.
Member
lol, I remember when the 2010 server merges were announced and we learned Excellence was going to be joining the HNMLS scene on our server. We were all psyched about it, as if it would rejuvenate things for those of us at end game. Cerberus had some crazy competition between NA, EU and JP players that made the daily HNM camps interesting, but Abyssea's arrival that summer quickly killed that scene.
Man Called Aerodynamics
Member
Please post more screenshots, particularly of environments. Something about FF11's settings is just magical.
CoP areas were nuts. Lufaise Meadows, Riverne Site #A01, and Al'Taieu? Holy *shit*. Even today, those are some of the most memorable video game areas for me of all time. Al'Taieu in particular, just...man.
Shout out to Sanctuary of Zi'Tah and Sky zones, too.
Vana'diel is (was) a world first and foremost, it's really awesome. A cave? Better watch out for bats. Night approaching? Cast sneak so you don't agro undead. Locations had legit secrets and hidden passages, going into a dungeon was effectively an adventure. Going from Sandy to Windy felt like a legit journey into another country.
You really don't see stuff like that anymore and mobs are just XP pack to click on.
FUCK this place tho'.
This is a timely thread and I hope you keep updating with status OP.
I just tried the free trial and I loved that I could use a controller, but I don't have the mental capacity to figure out everything involved. That's not a slam on it, I really have a hard time understanding a lot of MMO mechanics so FFXI just eluded me.
I like reading all the stories Gaf. Keep them coming.
I just tried the free trial and I loved that I could use a controller, but I don't have the mental capacity to figure out everything involved. That's not a slam on it, I really have a hard time understanding a lot of MMO mechanics so FFXI just eluded me.
I like reading all the stories Gaf. Keep them coming.
Cheezeman3000
Member
I recently started playing XI for the first time with my little brother, 8 yrs younger. We live in separate states and have been for years, but when we team up during xp quests to power level it's like we're both together playing games again. It's something special.
Vigilant Gambit
Member
When I played FFXI, there were very, very few ways to solo the game:
Ranger, using expensive consumable arrows to farm worms (since they have to burrow to move, you can just stand outside their melee range and whittle their HP down).
Beastmaster, by using charmed mobs and recovery items
Blue mage (really late, added in an expansion), by using healing abilities IIRC
Aside from those few, highly-specialized methods that were unavailable until you unlocked the special jobs anyway, you had to use player search/shouting to actually form 5-6-man parties. Their efficiency really was determined by practical factors, such as individual skill, teamwork, synergy/composition, as well as stuff like ability to pull, pace yourselves during a fight, and even find a good spot to camp at (while competing with other parties for prey).
Damn, that was a uniquely fun game.
Ranger, using expensive consumable arrows to farm worms (since they have to burrow to move, you can just stand outside their melee range and whittle their HP down).
Beastmaster, by using charmed mobs and recovery items
Blue mage (really late, added in an expansion), by using healing abilities IIRC
Aside from those few, highly-specialized methods that were unavailable until you unlocked the special jobs anyway, you had to use player search/shouting to actually form 5-6-man parties. Their efficiency really was determined by practical factors, such as individual skill, teamwork, synergy/composition, as well as stuff like ability to pull, pace yourselves during a fight, and even find a good spot to camp at (while competing with other parties for prey).
Damn, that was a uniquely fun game.
Mithra rocked Adaman gear the best (3rd pic, purple armor), but my lord was it useless.
I thought the same thing when I restarted it in 2015, but I end up loving the game all the same. It's not bad, just different. And honestly, the way the game is designed now, you end up appreciating Vana even more because you can take your time and do stuff alone at your own pace, meaning you will end up noticing a lot of stuff you may have missed the first time. I could never have done almost all side-quests and 2 Rank storylines (WIndy and Sandy instead of just Sandy) in the 2005-2009 period.
The good memories are going to stay good memories.
Gentleman Jack
Member
"Tiamat spawn window opens in 2 hours, time to spend the next 72 hours rotating mules while teams of tanks and healers take shifts on claim duty. All for a pair of fucking +movement speed boots."
I wasn't on for Abyssea's heyday but I can see how it was a significant improvement (short spawn windows, tons of objectives to hit, creative mechanics to make the most of a boss fight) in every single way from the Bad Old Days.
To be fair you also just not do Tiamat and the other HMN.It's not like the game lacked of end-game content.
Yeah, but in an end-game linkshell, you were forced to go to events to get points. Points required to bid on gear.
So, catch 22.
Prototype Viktor
Member
Fuck opo-opo's and Gary's
Red Mage AF was the best ever
I wish I streamed all my time with 11 so I could look back on more than pictures.
I was semi Famous on my server for a bit for deleveling myself on purpose from 70 to 35 so I could relevel
except Shanotto
Red Mage AF was the best ever
I wish I streamed all my time with 11 so I could look back on more than pictures.
I was semi Famous on my server for a bit for deleveling myself on purpose from 70 to 35 so I could relevel
Ploid 3.0
Member
I'm glad my shell never did things like that. There was usually a pool of people the item fit that would just lot. Though I guess that could be seen as points since you couldn't be new enough that you would vanish after getting the item. Though people still did that, you can't prevent it, things come up, at least they put in a lot of help to be allowed to roll.
We were more focused on getting people geared up to be able to do fights smoother. A lot of jobs didn't get much from things like sky. Sky took up so much time at the start. I got my thief to 75 by farming sky stuff.
I'm still playing FFXI, hell, I'm playing right now learning a couple of BLU spells
with 3 accounts simultaneously
all I do is farm for mythics/empy's although because I enjoy doing that and play with a irl friend at the moment
I started playing in 2003 with an import copy on JP release
so yeah, have about 14 years of FFXI so far lol, never get enough
with 3 accounts simultaneously
all I do is farm for mythics/empy's although because I enjoy doing that and play with a irl friend at the moment
I started playing in 2003 with an import copy on JP release
so yeah, have about 14 years of FFXI so far lol, never get enough
Dem Byakko Pants tho............ So good.
And agreed, points suck, but it's good for having the most possible people to help at a given event.
Ploid 3.0
Member
I wish thief could wear those things so much. The dex!!! ~~D:
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I remember when I first got into NM hunting with a dude I met all the way in the level 8's by chance fighting low level mobs. We were both thieves, later around lv 18 he ended up going white mage. When I was around 45-50 he asked me to help camp things like Valkurm Emperor, and Stroper Chymes for archer rings. He picked up another thief, Viet, to help claim. This crew rolled between camps for a long time, bringing in the gil selling the items. It felt good getting the claims, drops, and so scary waiting on spawns. After a while we stopped camping them because of the gil sellers.
Months later the white mage got a idea of forming a endgame linkshell with another member of the NM crew that was always sleepy. While messing around with bigger NMs to get the shell used to doing stuff I crossed Viet again. I was on my low level red mage trying to keep everyone alive against Bune. I nearly went Ninja seeing him hold Bune with little effort. There were so many moments in this game like this. On a server it was easy to cross familiar names, and if people had a bad reputation, word would spread quickly. You couldn't get away with doing bad stuff and vanishing removing all memory of your existence like you can in FFXIV I feel.
They really need to remaster/remake FFXI. ARRGH!! So much money on the table, and don't go all stupid like FF7remake. Just update resolution, touch up the textures, it already looks good. Remake gameplay mechanics to control better or something. Maybe add gambits, and stuff for AI party.
I wish thief could wear those things so much. The dex!!! ~~D:
---
I remember when I first got into NM hunting with a dude I met all the way in the level 8's by chance fighting low level mobs. We were both thieves, later around lv 18 he ended up going white mage. When I was around 45-50 he asked me to help camp things like Valkurm Emperor, and Stroper Chymes for archer rings. He picked up another thief, Viet, to help claim. This crew rolled between camps for a long time, bringing in the gil selling the items. It felt good getting the claims, drops, and so scary waiting on spawns. After a while we stopped camping them because of the gil sellers.
Months later the white mage got a idea of forming a endgame linkshell with another member of the NM crew that was always sleepy. While messing around with bigger NMs to get the shell used to doing stuff I crossed Viet again. I was on my low level red mage trying to keep everyone alive against Bune. I nearly went Ninja seeing him hold Bune with little effort. There were so many moments in this game like this. On a server it was easy to cross familiar names, and if people had a bad reputation, word would spread quickly. You couldn't get away with doing bad stuff and vanishing removing all memory of your existence like you can in FFXIV I feel.
I never leveled Thief. Maybe to 37? Maybe not even that, I can't even remember.
Ninja, though, I LOVED that job. I didn't get into it until later into the game and then girlfriend helped me get 99 via Abyssea EXP trick (chests), just duo'd. Anyway, I found NIN insanely fun and always felt like taking on the world with it. I much preferred it over my first love, PLD.
And it was crazy seeing friends from X years ago, low-leveling it up together, and then seeming them years later. Always had pleasant interactions with people for the most part. I'll never forget XI. One of the best games I've ever played.
Shouta
Member
I wish thief could wear those things so much. The dex!!! ~~D:
---
I remember when I first got into NM hunting with a dude I met all the way in the level 8's by chance fighting low level mobs. We were both thieves, later around lv 18 he ended up going white mage. When I was around 45-50 he asked me to help camp things like Valkurm Emperor, and Stroper Chymes for archer rings. He picked up another thief, Viet, to help claim. This crew rolled between camps for a long time, bringing in the gil selling the items. It felt good getting the claims, drops, and so scary waiting on spawns. After a while we stopped camping them because of the gil sellers.
Months later the white mage got a idea of forming a endgame linkshell with another member of the NM crew that was always sleepy. While messing around with bigger NMs to get the shell used to doing stuff I crossed Viet again. I was on my low level red mage trying to keep everyone alive against Bune. I nearly went Ninja seeing him hold Bune with little effort. There were so many moments in this game like this. On a server it was easy to cross familiar names, and if people had a bad reputation, word would spread quickly. You couldn't get away with doing bad stuff and vanishing removing all memory of your existence like you can in FFXIV I feel.
They really need to remaster/remake FFXI. ARRGH!! So much money on the table, and don't go all stupid like FF7remake. Just update resolution, touch up the textures, it already looks good. Remake gameplay mechanics to control better or something. Maybe add gambits, and stuff for AI party.
Najii and Viet, oh man. That brings back memories.
Ploid 3.0
Member
The sleepy NM hunting guy fought my thief one on one in that PVP mode. I was able to kill him easily. He then begged for a rematch and riddled me with ninjutsu spells to eat shadows and because I can't dodge magic
I started to say I wished I dropped thief early on like the other people I met in game as thief bros 4 life (traitors), but I'm glad I stuck with it. Evasion king, bloody bolts, status bolts, flee, it was a nice job for me. Ninja looks darn cool, and could wear god gear though
Oh and ignore the subligar, thief was so cursed with bad pants until Limbus or the Treasure of Aht Urhgan expansion.