Final Fantasy XI Online was based off the old EverQuest game engine. Meaning to get anything done, you need to form parties with other players (usual party size is 6 people, but for certain missions, endgame events up to 18 people in what is termed an Alliance) for level grinding etc.
However, in the last year or so, there have been vast improvements to the game, to make things easier if you log in and have only a short time to play or just want to do things solo.
For level grinding, the Fields of Valor (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Fields_of_Valor) update has made things very easy to solo level. Theoretically one could conceivably solo from level 1 all the way to level 75 (Though it would take a long time). When you have your character at level 50, and have installed the Wings of the Goddess expansion, Campaign Battle (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Campaign_Battle) is a alternative to the usual experience party grind. However, from my experience, Campaign Battles are now more for melee job classes and it’s opportune for you to wait til level 60 before you’ll see some return in experience gain.
Story wise, initially after you’ve created your character you can choose from three home countries (San d’Oria (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/San_d%27Oria), Bastok (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Bastok) or Windurst (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Windurst)) to align yourself with and progress through that countries missions. Each home nation has 10 levels of missions, each level consisting of 2-3 missions. Missions 2.3, 4.1, 5.1 and 5.2 are the same for each home nation.
After the home nation missions, which once you reach Rank 6 you can change to another home nation for a fee. The fee is determined on which country is coming first in the Balance of Power, which is tallied each week. For example, if you are Rank 6 Windurst and you want to change allegiance to San d’Oria, ideally wait until San d’Oria is ranked 3 in the Balance of Power as you will then be asked to pay 4,000gil to change allegiance. If San d’Oria is second place, you’ll pay 12,000gil. If San d’Oria is in 1st place you’ll be asked to pay 40,000gil.
Then there are the expansions. Rise of the Zilart (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_the_Zilart), Chains of Promathia (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Chains_of_Promathia), Treasures of Aht Urhgan (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Treasures_of_Aht_Urhgan) and Wings of the Goddess (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Wings_of_the_Goddess). Each expansion has new story/missions as well as new jobs to unlock.
SE also brought out three ‘mini’ expansions, paid for online via the PlayOnline system and are automatically downloaded when you install (if you are a new player) the game. A Crystalline Prophecy (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/A_Crystalline_Prophecy), A Moogle Kupo d’Etat (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/A_Moogle_Kupo_d%27Etat) and A Shantotto Ascension (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/A_Shantotto_Ascension). Each mini expansion is about 10 missions in length, with incredibly hard final bosses, but also high level armor with a choice of powerful augments to add to them.
When you start out, you have a choice of 6 jobs to start off as. Warrior, Thief, White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage and Monk. When you reach level 30, you can undertake a quest to unlock the other jobs (Provided you have installed the expansions they are available in). One thing which is both good and bad about FFXIO is when you hit level 18, you can undertake a quest (Which is somewhat mandatory) to unlock the ‘support job’ for your character. Basically, it’s a job which can be used to support/boost your main job. For example, Level 18 Warrior/Level 9 Monk. The support job’s level is half that of your main job. You do have to spend time on leveling your support job to be a viable one for your main (The level cap for FFXIO is 75, so if you want to have a good support job, level it to 37 as soon as you can.).
List of Jobs in FFXIO here. (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Category:Jobs)
Unlike other MMORPG’s, you are not locked into the job you choose when you first start out. You can change your job whenever you want to another, hence a bit more variety.
FFXIO is a long game… and will take up a lot of your free time. Having said that, I would recommend FFXIO to anyone who wants to play something which is a huge game world, with multiple quests to accomplish. and wants to have fun.
Hope this helps.
You do have a month free trial period of the game… do need to pay for the game itself, and register etc… but after a month if you don’t like it, you can cancel your subscription.
Actually, you don’t need to wait to Rank 6 to switch national allegiance. You can switch allegiance immediately upon starting the game, presuming you have the gil to do so (as you yourself did when you first started XD, betraying the Republic while only still Bastok Rank 1 to join me in the Federation ;)).
Rank 6 is needed to start undertaking the Rise of the Zilart missions though, but they’re more or less optional.
Anyway, adding a few extra points that XD hasn’t mentioned, if you’ve spent a lot of time in World of Warcraft FFXI will seem a little different. For one thing, everything is menu driven, like old-school FF games, rather than an icon-based graphic interface as in WoW. This may take some getting used to, but with everything stated in plain text, makes it easier to find what you’re looking for.
Also, in regards to FFXI’s fee structure, I’m not sure about where you currently live, but the default fee for FFXI is $12.95 USD a month. This allows you to create one FFXI character. Any extra characters cost an extra $1 USD a month on top of the first, to a maximum 15 extra characters (so, 16 characters in total).
That may come as a shock compared to WoW, where you pay a base fee and can create as many characters as you like without having to pay extra, but it’s not too bad. I have three extra characters on my own FFXI account in addition to Enki, my main, which I just use as storage mules, and after currency conversion usually costs me around $20 AUD a month in total, which isn’t too much personally.
But, we’re all different and have different budgets, so you might have to decide which is best for you. Also, I only pay in US dollars because at the time I first started playing FFXI (January 2005), that was the only currency Square Enix accepted. Nowadays however, depending on where you live, you can choose between either US dollars, British pounds (UK only) or Euro dollars. I still pay in US dollars though, as I get a better exchange rate against the greenback than I would the Euro.
Anyway, hopefully I didn’t drone on with details. The main FFXI site (US site: http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml and UK/European site: http://www.playonline.com/ff11eu/index.shtml ) is probably the best place to start if you’re looking for information about possibly playing FFXI. If you want more advanced information, it can be found at the FFXIcyclopedia at http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Personally, I love FFXI, despite it’s still obvious flaws. If you are willing to put in a little effort and a reasonable amount of time, then I am sure you will enjoy it. ๐
And yes, XD and I play on the same server too by the way (/em pokes Arielyanna and laughs). ๐
Actually Enk… I was still rank 6 Bastok, when I left to join Windurst. ๐ I had just finished fighting Shadow Lord (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Lord) and got Rank 6 back in Bastok, THEN I went to Windurst and joined the land of treehuggers, catgirls and soccerballs (Tarutaru).
When you’re ready to start playing, XD and myself play on the Midgardsormr server (my character details are in my sig, and yes, that is what my character looks like ;)), so you’ll have a welcoming party upon arrival. ๐
I could probably get you a Gold World Pass too for Midgard if you’d like (basically entitles you and the purchaser of the World Pass to free stuff you can’t get anywhere else). Send me a PM if you’re interested. ^^
edit: I just looked at the job lists. I happy danced inside when I saw "Dragoon."
All of the standard jobs from the FF series come to play here.
Warrior
Thief
White Mage
Black Mage
Red Mage
Monk
Paladin
Dark Knight
Ranger
Beastmaster
Dragoon
Samurai
Ninja
Summoner
Bard
Blue Mage
Corsair
Puppetmaster
Dancer
Scholar
Only the first 6 are accessible from the get go. The rest have to be unlocked after you get a job to level 30+. Any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
Luckily though, all standard US and European versions of FFXI include this pack by default – only the recent ‘budget’ PC version of the game lacks it, meaning you’ll have to purchase and download it from the FFXI website if you buy this version.
It’s well worth the effort getting though, if not for the Jobs it gives, but also for the extended storyline (Zilart missions), new areas/zones (most of which are exp areas at various times after level 25), and just all-round coolness. ๐
Did you use any of the activation codes before trying to sell it? If so, that’s the reason it probably wasn’t bought. The activation codes can only be used ONCE, so selling it after using those codes, means a person who buys it has a game they can’t use.
OS wise, I have a few friends in FFXI who have had a lot of problems with FFXI running on a computer with Vista. I can’t say what problems they are, as I play FFXI on my Xbox 360, but it caused my friends to re-install Windows XP. Windows Vista does have, as you say Metal King Slime, a snooty attitude regarding not just games, but programs as a whole. Only recently released games/programs (From the last year or so) will run on PC’s/Laptop’s with Vista.
I have Windows ‘crapsta’ (my version of Vista) on my Laptop and I can’t run Knights of the Old Republic or Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Two of my favorite games) due to ratbiting crapsta!
The Xbox 360 and PC versions of FFXI do allow players on both formats to interact with each other. Enkidoh plays on PC, I play on Xbox 360, we’re both on the same server and can do missions etc together.
edit: should have mentioned that it was an xbox 360 copy.
edit: should have mentioned that it was an xbox 360 copy.
I pay about 20 Euro’s a month (As I’m on Xbox 360, I can’t change the currency type, have to stick to Euro’s. I the US though, I’d imagine it’d be USD you’d pay for), it’s roughly 12 Euro’s for the initial subscription fee which includes one free content ID. You’re charged an extra dollar/euro for extra content ID which enables you to create your character (I have extra characters for storage purposes), or if you have the PC version, a content ID is used for the online version of Tetra Master (The Card game from FFIX).
Basically, your monthly fee depends on how many extra content ID you decide to get. As I said above, the initial subscription I pay is roughly 12 Euros, so I think for USD you may be looking at about 10-13 USD a month. Enkidoh would know more about this than me, I’m afraid.
Unfortunately though, I think that’s for the PC only, and not the 360.
If you have nothing worthwhile to add to the thread topic, they don’t say anything at all.
In short:
:stopposting:
Unfortunately though, I think that’s for the PC only, and not the 360.
I guess I forgot to mention that the game included a free month, as well, lawl.
But I’ll try out the trial though if I decided to change my mind….when I die.
Better buff up on your MMO’s bitch. ๐
(I used to play WoW myself) I’ve heard to many negative things about XI Online to want to play it. I’m more of a solo player anyway, except for guild runs, aka not the pugging kind of guy, so this leveling system would apparently kill me.
Doesn’t work that way… you only have one month free trial per initial content ID per game (AKA main game).
AKA you’d be recreating lower leveled characters, and trials never have the full version of the game to play, only parts of it.
Actually with the Free Month Trial of FFXIO, you have access to the whole game, including expansions, if you install them and enter their relevant Activation Codes.
Better buff up on your MMO’s bitch. ๐
(I used to play WoW myself) I’ve heard to many negative things about XI Online to want to play it. I’m more of a solo player anyway, except for guild runs, aka not the pugging kind of guy, so this leveling system would apparently kill me.[/QUOTE]
FFXIO has been made more solo friendly than what it was a few years ago. Theoretically now, one could solo from level 1 all the way to the level cap 75 if they desired.
FFXIO has suffered from a lot of preconceived notions that it’s a bad game etc, when it isn’t. True, when it first came out it was hard as nails, now while still being hard and having a steep learning curve than other MMO’s, it is still a fun game and enjoyable to play if you’re willing to give it a try.
I was mainly referring to the 14 day trials that Enkidoh mentioned, that I thought MKS was referring to as well.
And of course I’m way too used to WoW, so I’d be constantly picking at the game wondering why certain things are like that. Plus, like almost all MMO’s it eats up all the time in the day to do anything worthy of bragging about in that game. I just don’t have time for any MMO’s, and if I did, I doubt I’d pick FFXI, mainly because I don’t agree with an FF Online game.
From what I’ve seen of FFXIV, I’m not impressed. SE was lazy and used the same races from FFXIO again in a new world with apparently only one continent. Still, I don’t think I’ll play FFXIV, as I’ve spent too much time in FFXIO to just walk away from it.
!
FFXIO does have a good story, in fact multiple story arcs. I’ve been playing since December 2006, and I still haven’t seen them all yet. There’s about 10 missions/expansions in the game atm:
Bastok Nation Story
San d’Oria Nation Story
Windurst Nation Story
Rise of the Zilart Expansion Story
Chains of Promathia Expansion Story
Treasures of Aht Urghan Expansion Story
Wings of the Goddess Expansion Story
A Crystalline Prophecy Mini Expansion Story
A Moogle Kupo d’Tat Mini Expansion Story
A Shantotto Ascension Mini Expansion Story
That’s not mentioning the quests/story for unlocking each individual Advanced Job, as well as some quests run for about three to four quests for one mini story arc as well.
FFXIO does have a lot to do in it, though there are times when one could become bored with the whole level grinding. Hence if you can, do a quest or something.
Recently I’ve been leveling my Alternate Character alongside Enkidoh’s Alternate Character and I’ve found myself getting hooked again with the game.
Don’t needlessly bash the game because of what you’ve read or heard elsewhere. All I can say, give it a try and see what you think.
That last comment is not aimed at anyone either. Just broad comment.
That’s the one thing that’s disappointed me with XIV, I was hoping for new & unique races (and classes/jobs) instead of a touch up of the races from XI.
fixed.
Havnt seen enough of it to pass judgement but as a FFXI player its looking like something I will be up for.
FFXI came out and was developed when MMO’s were all about the grind and time sink, which is the only thing XI had to base itself off of, so the way it turned out was pretty unique at the time. And the steps taken in the past 2 years of the game are a pretty good indication of the changes we can expect in XIV.
Now MMO’s are more casual so we can all expect to see alot of quick content as well as some of thos epic 56 person fights from XI
I probably will end up playing FFXIV eventually, but FFXI will still be my home online. ๐
I just bought the game for my pc (2008 Ed), its in the post. I just wanted to confirm a few things really. Is it really worth me starting this late on into the life of the game? I heard it can take A LOT of your time up and I don’t have tons of free time. If you do think it is worth the effort, Where is a good place to start for beginners? I’m in the UK so where do you think it is best that I start?
Thanks.
I just bought the game for my pc (2008 Ed), its in the post. I just wanted to confirm a few things really. Is it really worth me starting this late on into the life of the game? I heard it can take A LOT of your time up and I don’t have tons of free time. If you do think it is worth the effort, Where is a good place to start for beginners? I’m in the UK so where do you think it is best that I start?
Thanks.
Well, until SE officially states that they are ending the game, anytime is still a good time to play it. There are new players to the game all the time, so you won’t feel ‘left behind’, so to speak.
Yes, it is a time sink, but then there are a lot of other MMO’s which are the same, though there are some exceptions. Having said that, you can still get a lot done solo wise in FFXI, so it’s really up to you to decide what you want to do etc.
Starting place wise, depends on your character race. If you pick a Elvaan (The FFXI version of Elves), the best starting kingdom is San d’Oria as that is the Elvaan’s home nation.
If you pick a Hume (FFXI’s version of Humans", Bastok is their home nation and the best place for a Hume to start out. Galka also call Bastok home as well, so Bastok would be the best place for them to start as well.
If you pick either a Tarutaru or a Mithra, then Windurst should be your starting nation.
However, it doesn’t really matter per se, where you start, as the first 10 levels you’ll be fighting the same level of monsters. The reason I suggested starting in the home nation of your character’s race, is because if you say pick a Hume to start as, in Bastok you’ll get your nation’s ring automatically, which boosts certain stats. If you start out in Bastok, you can change your home nation once you hit Rank 6 to either San d’Oria or Windurst. You can acquire, through using Conquest Points, to get the ring of your new Nation when you hit Rank 4.
The Nation rings are helpful for beginning level jobs/characters and I would recommend you pick the home nation of the race you want to play as.
I suppose really I should just follow others advice and just get on with it and give it a go. I guess I’m just not used to playing online, especially MMO’s. The only online games I really have spent time on are Phantasy Star Online and Universe. I’m guessing thay are probably A LOT different from FFXI. Just reading through other posts I see that it is now easier to solo. This is a good thing for me really, I don’t really want other players feeling they can rely on me too much or not as the case may be. I have a full-time job irl and a g/f who takes up a fair bit of my free time, lol.
I’m on the Midgardsormr Server, so if/when you decide to play FFXI, you could pick that server name and I could help you out with things if you like.
With DSL the update would take little more than a couple of hours to download so it’s not too much of an issue, plus if the connection is interrupted, it remembers whereabouts in the update you were up to so you don’t have to download everything again. ๐
If you already have FFXIO, then give it a try, at least for the first month free trial period. To me, there’s nothing which really grabs hold of me to want to stop playing FFXIO (Thereby leaving my character I’ve spent ages in leveling etc), to start fresh in FFXIV. I admit, when SW TOR comes out, I’ll spend a lot of time playing that, but I’ll still keep coming back to FFXIO. I’ve grown quite attached to my character, and the thought of abandoning her to start fresh in FFXIV, seems like a betrayal of sorts. Still, the only one who can decide what to do, is you.
No, it’s not being shut down this year. I refer to this LINK (http://kotaku.com/5474554/dont-worry-about-final-fantasy-xi-just-yet). I’ve played WoW, and graphically speaking I found it to be rather lacklustre and more ‘cartoonish’, than FFXIO’s graphics (Which do have a more ‘realistic’ approach to them.) and FFXIV is just a rehash of FFXIO. Besides, if you have a copy of FFXIO and as I said above, at least give it a try for the first month free trial period. Don’t have anything to lose there, and you can give it a try and see what it’s like.
From personal preference I prefer FFXIO over WoW, EverQuest and Guild Wars (Yes, I’ve played them all as well, so I base my opinion on what I’ve done.), however it’s down to what the player themselves want in a MMO.
There is also another form of PvP called Brenner, which IS one on one. However, like Ballista, it’s not used much if at all now. Also, to do Brenner, have to do a quest to be able to do it or somesuch. TBH, I haven’t done anything with Brenner, as I’m not interested in PvP much.
As far as I remember, when someone ignores you and you throw a duel flag, they automatically say no. I remember making fun of some guy talkin trash, beating him in a duel, and then he wouldn’t respond to me anymore, and the duel flags automatically canceled as soon as I threw them.
Yea, good times. He definitely had me on ignore, but may have been AFK as well, which cancels duel flags. I sat there and /questioned him until it was my turn to duel someone from my guild.
I miss that game……sometimes.
But it is certainly a ton of fun questing in WoW ๐ Going in Random Dungeons, Arathi Basin (even though Alliance rides the short bus), leveling, etc.
I played Runescape for a short while when I was in middle school, there was another game like it that started with a T, can’t remember it now though.
I played Diablo II FOREVER through high school, still get on there and play every now and then. Didn’t get into WoW until like 2-3 years after it came out, had some good times on that game, raiding/instances/pvp, but it started turning into a job really (raiding new content that is) and I didn’t have time to be good at it anymore.
A FF MMO never really interested me (although I ALMOST got into it when it first came out) and Everquest blows (imo). I’ve become more of a console player these days, rpg’s mainly, with some ‘party’ games like Madden and fps games sometimes.
FFXIO was originally based on EverQuest, yet with all the updates in the last year or so, as well as the approaching update for this month, FFXIO isn’t really like it used to be. It’s now more streamlined for soloing and such, on some forums, the new updates have been told as making FFXIO more ‘WoWish’.
However, a FF storyline/world and WoW’s overall feel combined has the power to excite me greatly ๐
Well, at least FFXI is an improvement over your first point, in that you can easily decline someone’s invitation to add you to their friend list, or block them entirely by blacklisting them (like in MSN if they’re blacklisted by you you appear as offline in their friend list.
You can also set yourself as away too if you don’t want to be bothered by /tells.). Anything they try saying to you (/say, /tell, PM etc) will also not appear in your chat window – they literally disappear in that regard). You can also set your status as ‘invisible’ which hides yourself in Friend Lists (in both the game and PlayOnline Viewer), but sadly does not hide you from in game searches.
There are also chat filters in the game which censor certain chat types, such as shouts, /tells from strangers (especially helpful for blocking annoying gilsellers) and others. The filters can be switched on and off at will in the Config menu, making it reasonably easy to use.
As for PvP, FFXI is practically entirely PvE. In the main game, you can’t attack other players, period. So you don’t have to worry about some stupid DRK with a chip on his shoulder coming up and wanting to slam his scythe into your back simply to feed his over-inflated e-peen.
There is a PvP event in FFXI though, in the form of Ballista/Brenner, but they’re limited events that are not part of the main game and have special instanced areas where they take place, which new players don’t have to worry about.
EDIT: Stupid me didn’t notice Dh had already mentioned Ballista in a previous post. So ignore my comments about it. :p
Luckily, I’ve never actually had to contact a GM in game (I usually just ignore people who hassle me), but they’re there if the need ever does arise (thankfully it hasn’t, yet).
GM’s have a very low tolerance nowdays, due to the influx of new players who break the rules, which is totally understandable. Still, do the right thing, play by the rules and you’ll be fine, which is how MMORPG’s should be played.
The ingame economy sucks due to idiots paying real world money to RMT twits for ingame currency, powerleveling… as well as newer players undercutting on the AH to get a quick return.
As of this month (March) multiple servers were merged together (The server I was on, Midgardsormr was merged with Quetzecotl), and the economy is in flux atm. It should settle down in the next few weeks though. With the world merge as well, pickup experience parties have made a comeback, made easier with level sync.
Solo wise, when I first started back in December 2006, yeah it was hard to level past 10. With the release of ‘Fields of Valor’, one could theoretically take any job from level 1 to level 75 (Until the new level cap of 99 is released later this year), though it’d take time.
The community still has it’s share of idiots though, which all MMORPG’s suffer from, but apart from that it has grown with more people available to help out with quests/missions/enm/bcnm/ksnm/etc.
http://www.breathoffire.freeforums.org/images/smilies/orly.gif
… and yet you spammed this thread with nonsense… no wonder you got banned AGAIN Garamond.
And on the subject of Runescape, Noobs would quake in fear if I ever logged on again.
btw, what server/world are you on? I’m on Quetzalcoatl.
sent you a pm.