Hello everyone.
Sorry for the incoming wall of text, but I want to say thank you to Square-Enix, and give a little insight to other players, into how some people might approach an online role playing game. (Me for example. As there are so many different walks of life out there, and XI is nearly perfect in its current form, for someone such as myself.)
I joined this game back in 2012, but didnt play for more than 1-3 months.
Back then i was very confused, and struggled to find a bit of direction to enjoy this game.
(Mostly due to the lack of travel capabilities like a chocobo, or the current teleportation system, and finding people, which the trust system now corrects.)
I mostly only played this game when Final Fantasy XIV was between 1.0 and 2.0 start up. (currently have all 60's classes including crafting/gathering and was item level 238 on my main job, over 36 million gil, personal Free company, house, and airship etc. etc. I'm saying that, only to give you an idea of how much I played that game.)
Since then I have taken multiple breaks from XIV.
I believe this time around i have quit XIV entirely (or at least until the level 99 cap is released in a few years) to come back to XI because i heard about trusts.
Simply put, as someone who works at night in america, i think i fit more at home in a game that is essentially what i like to call a "MSORPG" or Massive Single-player Online Role Playing Game.
So far i'm still a bit lost when it comes to things like starting up skirmish, delves, Abyssea (this is by far the most confusing thing i've known about for the longest, because I still dont know a lick about it!) unity, accolades, so on so forth.
What i have completed so far is, farming dynamis (currently doing that for gil and drops) gotten THF and DRG to 99, about to finish Rise of the Zilart expansion, and about to finally hit rank 8 in bastok lol. A lot of peppered content here and there. I also am doing sparks (Records of Eminence) silt (escha Zi'tah) and merit farming. I will start Capacity points once i finish Rhapsodies.
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I just wanted to say I am very happy here as of right now, because I enjoy the game for the game itself, and the content it can offer.
I dont need people in linkshells, or have to have the top tier gear, and have the best of the best or anything along those lines. I prefer a solid game, with plenty of content, at a cost thats effective for myself.
I calculated the hours i put into XIV so far, and if i were to play a single player game, at around 300 hours per game or so, running me 60$ a game, i saved myself well over 3,000$ over the span of the 3 years playing XIV.
I feel I will save more money, and stress playing this game, as I dont need to interact with people, who normally play when i'm at work, as I had to in XIV.
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Anyway, I want to thank Square-Enix for keeping the game alive, and making the changes to allow for a more solid gameplay experience with the new teleport system, and trust system. This allows for people like me, who enjoy a more solo experience, but in a game that is cost effective, and provides thousands of hours to enjoy.
Lastly,
I know XIV has the interest of the current group playing that game, and i'm excited to see where that development team takes that game. I am glad the people there can enjoy it, to support it until the time I feel its going to eventually become a game more fitting for someone such as myself to one day enjoy.
In the mean time, I am glad XI is where it is, because as i mentioned, its quite ideal for my play style.
-Content:
This is a given. (Because obviously XI has had more time to polish content, and add content.)
This game has an absurd amount of content its ridiculous.
I like to enjoy story lines, and i plan to complete every expansion/add-ons story content moving forward.
There are also plenty of jobs in this game, many of which i still need to unlock, and countless others i need to level to 99! I plan to level every job to 99! It will be very exciting!
-Interaction
Not sure how to categorize this, but simply put, when you walk up to a gate, that opens automatically, in this game the gate opens before you reach it. In XIV your character ends up running through the gate, because the location with which either your character activates the gate is too close to it, or simply it opens far too slow.
-Depth
This is probably the strongest point XI has in my opinion over XIV. I"m not talking about "quantity" but rather "quality." This game has jobs that are all unique, and feel different to play. They each have special traits that are unique to the job.
To me every enemy in XIV acts exactly the same. (They do 1 of two things, place an indicator for you to dodge, or "blow up" if you dont "dps" them fast enough.) They also feel like they are there just waiting to die. Instead, in this game, each enemy acts different, you have to watch the enemy for what its doing and act accordingly. The enemies also feel stronger, and seem to have a will to live in the way they act. Its not simply "kill them before they kill you." At least thats how i feel upon writing this.
Also from small things like shops being different based on areas. Some shops are in boats in Windurst, while there are tents or wandering map sellers in other locations like Raobao, or cottage type shops in bastok. In XIV they are all lined up exactly in a row with a desk in every single location available in XIV so far. From Limsa's Hawkers alley, to Idyllshire, to even the beastman outposts in Dravanian Forelands in the Gnath camp.
Sure XIV runs smoother, has better graphics, a customized User Interface, among other things, but I personally prefer a game with depth, a focus on story, as well as a smooth questing and leveling system.
I could go on for quite some time explaining more and more reasons why i'm having so much more fun in this game right now, especially knowing i can play on my own time, without the need to wait for a party sitting in party finder, or shouting, or looking for a static on the forums or a linkshell or any of those things. I can sign in and get to enjoying the game how i choose, when i choose, with little to no restriction!
Thank you.