Love it or Hate it: 3 things about FFXI

[Panthera]

RULES:

#1 Reply with three things you love about FFXI that you do not want changed.
#2 Reply with three things you hate about FFXI that must be changed.
#3 You may reply with both 3 things you love and 3 things you hate about FFXI.
#4 Do not exceed the "3" limit in either category. Listing 100 things is too easy. Think about what you most love or hate about the game.


Optional Rules:

#1 Ties are accepted.
Example: two #1's and one #3.

#2 Replying with 3 things you love and 3 things you hate entitles you to a bonus, unofficial entry that you either love or hate. No one's looking, sneak it in.


Guidelines:

* What you love or hate can be anything at all; it's up to you. Maybe it's an event, maybe it's as particular as a certain BCM, or as general as a certain System .

* Make the third thing as minor as possible. Maybe it's an NPC, maybe it's a particular animation, or a cutscene. The third thing can be as big or as small as you like, but remember; there might be something you take for granted. The game is made up of things you take for granted.

* Be Specific. Saying what you love or hate is actually pretty easy. Why do you love it, or hate it? --More than anything else?--

* FFXI, then and now: maybe it was something about the game from years ago, maybe it's something now. Neither be too in the moment to forget joys of the past, nor too mired in yesterday to unsee today's pleasures.

* Please avoid discussing billing or SE's customer service; there are already thread specific to each area of concern. As OP, I am in no way an apologist. We all hope that the billing situation is squared away in a manner that is satisfactory to both SE and its loyal customers.

[Elidani]

Love:

#1 Mog House Decorating -This is absolutely one of my favorite pastimes in FFXI. I love being able to find furnishings to redo my room. I do the different events, spend tons of gil, and complete the most ridiculous quests all just for the next piece of furnishing for my moogle to enjoy. My moogle is my pampered little housekeeper and I like for moogle to be comfy.

#2 Owning Chocobos - This is awesome all in itself. I like that we can ride, raise, breed, race these wonderful birds. An added bonus was being able to get chocobos in different colors.

#3 Having Friends I can talk to and do events with (Sure we get mad at each other sometimes and such *no one is perfect,* but we all have a good time and try to keep our drama at a minimum. Deep down most if not all of us want the linkshell/each other to succeed as well.)


Hate:

#1 The lack of variety among gear sets. I don't mind having the same stats as other players but it would be nice to have other options for things like color. For example, I'm a lvl 90 DNC...the Charis gear could have come with a few options. If not empyrean armor how about the aurore set? It only comes in pink and while I am female, I am not a fan of that color unless its on hearts, flowers, or babies. I would have liked to be able to purchase it in a nice shade of blue, green, yellow...really not too picky here.

#2 People thinking there is only one way to achieve any goals in the game.- It drives me nuts to see people telling others that you have to play X job this way only. Or that you must have your sub job unlocked at 18. I see no reason to force others to play the way I enjoy playing or why I should be forced to play the way they enjoy playing. I do see a need to make compromises in party situations for the group as a whole to benefit, but when I'm soloing...its about me.

#3 Not being able to have more control over my chocobo. *I would like to have an option to walk my choco without being in a CS or raise his/her stats through other more interactive activities.*


Well I think that about covers my list. Hey thanks for posting this. It was fun to try and think of just 3 each. Also admittedly rather hard on a couple deciding which I loved/hated more. Somethings aren't as clear as they appear to be.

[Raxiaz]

Love -
1. BLU
2. Talaria
3. Abyssea availability

Hate -
1. Empyrean feet acquisition
2. Bomb fight for THF artifact feet quest
3. Lack of recast timers being displayed for blue magic spells that have been recently set.

[Solonuke]

Love

1. Being able to jump to other jobs with no penalties.

I'm not sure why a lot of other games tries to balance out their gameplay by forcing the player to level up a new job by starting a new character. I really like the freedom I get from having all the jobs available on one character. Not being forced to pick up telepoints or do Outpost warp quests or do level cap quests over again really speeds up leveling too. This game really forces you through a lot of nonsense stuff like building fame. Building fame translates to me as repeating one quest over and over until you unlock the quest you were after in the first place, but at least you just have to do it once.

2. Bottomless depth.

There's a lot of things in this game that's really advanced, crafting is sort of too complicated I think but skillchains and magic bursts are fun stuff. Being able to do stuff on your job that you didn't think you were able to do because of you've learned about your job by a lot is a rewarding experience in itself. 7 years later and I'm still learning new things about the game thanks to wikipedias where other people are putting their information into.

3. The epic feeling of building towards something that I just can't find somewhere else.

I've yet to get the same feeling of epicness like after beating CoP.

Hate:

1. Staggering system.

I don't like to cast a lot of useless spells, abilities and weapon skills on monsters that aren't that much of a threat. Holding a mob until you get the proc you want is annoying if you're waiting for your turn to pop. I know they added multiple ???s for the bigger ones, but I feel that I'm waiting in line on every single NM in Abyssea. Wasn't these add ons supposed to eleminate the need of waiting for something to occur? The staggering system doesn't help one bit with that part. Also it favors certain jobs over others because of they have a wider range of the procs.

2. Skilling up.

I think there's no event in the game that's as mind numbing as skilling up. Why do I have to abuse the system to level up skills that never skill up otherwise? I'm spamming protect on generals in Besieged or using a script so I can do it AFK. I'm spamming cures on undead to level up healing magic. I'm holding a ton of mobs in Abyssea so I can use Retaliation on Warrior to speed up skilling. I'm spamming tier 1 nukes to skill up elemental magic. Not to mention leveling up a skill past 200 is very slow and it doesn't help that certain skills can cap out as high as 360~. Basically they've replaced endless hours with killing the same crab for exp with... killing the same crab for skill ups.

3. Old zones being reused for new content.

I know the game is really old and it's running on the mousewheel called PS2, but I can't help but feel cheated in one way when they keep adding new content in old zones I've used for many years. It's one of the things that gradually will make me lose interest in the game, there's just no new places to explore.

[Tamoa]

I hate:

1. Spell lock
2. "event skipped"
3. "please wait 1 real life day until you can make any progress with <insertquestormissionhere>"


I love:

1. My ingame friends.
2. The feeling I get when reaching a goal I set for myself, or obtaining something I've wanted (especially when it's something I thought I'd never get).
3. Those noob moments we all have every now and again, which will usually be the source of much laughter and amusement.

[Leonlionheart]

<3:
1. Deathgod (NO HOMO THO) and all my other in-game friends :D
2. BRDs Marching me :D
3. Reaching my goal, finally getting 30 coins from WoE felt amazing, though I never even use MNK anymore.

HATE:
1. People who TP in incorrect gear, when there are better, easier to obtain options.
2. People who don't switch into WS sets
3. Spell stun-lock. This is probably the thing I hate the most.

[Octaviane]

LIKE

Mission 5-2 Shadow Lord fight ~ Raogrimm makes me cry every time and gotta love Lion.

Monk ~ My favorite job in the game from day 1 ~

The music in Castle Zvahl Keep ~ I could live there. :)

HATE

Elitist p****s who think they are all that and who make sure everyone knows it.

Elitist p****s who think they are all that, make sure everyone knows it but are still below Rank 10 one Nation only, no other content done except Abyssea, Bronze Medal of Service, etc. In other words have done NOTHING for Van a'Diel, just themselves.

Goblins, have hated them all since always, massacre every one I can find. :)

[Arcon]

[..]

Soro! MSN me, I can't play anymore :(

Three things I love:
1. Me. I'm the best thing to happen to FFXI in ever.
2. You. I love everyone. Except Moccha, but who does.
3. Subligaria.

Three things I hate (hard to pick):
1. Everything related to Abyssea, from staggering over the insane amount of brainless grinding to ridiculously overpowered buffs and equipment.
2. Augments of any kind. This includes the trial system. Any kind of yellow text on my item description disgusts me.
3. Synergy. It's a symbol of ignoring player efforts and letting old achievements and long-term investments go to waste.

[Dirtyfinger]

I heard you don't like Haste gears.

[Arcon]

I heard you don't like Haste gears.

You heard wrong. Everyone loves the haste.

[Leonlionheart]

Elitist p****s who think they are all that, make sure everyone knows it but are still below Rank 10 one Nation only, no other content done except Abyssea, Bronze Medal of Service, etc. In other words have done NOTHING for Van a'Diel, just themselves.

How does one do something for a fictitious world? I can't recycle in game, when I drink a Yag Drink the bottle just disappears. Maybe it's an edible bottle? Man, I don't even know if that world has pollution.

I never understood why anyone would waste their time getting rank 7~10 on one nation, let alone three, unless they simply enjoy the story line. Personally, I don't care about story line, just gameplay.

[Seyrena]

Hate:
1. Are you sure you want to perform this action?
2. Are you absolutely sure?
3. Event skipped.

Love:
1. Not having to grind for days for a single level.
2. The storyline.
3. "Doctor Shantotto's Flavor of the Month"

[Rosina]

my love hate list

1 red mage (i love this job)
2 Windurst ( i love this town)
3 the male mithra (johnny Depp of ffxi)

my hate list

1 lack of melee able-ness of red mage. (we have sword, but we no can use sword I be sad panda)
2 lack of an impoved character customization interface for the 360. ( the washed out characters and lack of control from the ps2 was a shock)
3 lack of tradition parties (i'm not big on the alliance leveling to laggy)

[Rosina]

How does one do something for a fictitious world? I can't recycle in game, when I drink a Yag Drink the bottle just disappears. Maybe it's an edible bottle? Man, I don't even know if that world has pollution.

I never understood why anyone would waste their time getting rank 7~10 on one nation, let alone three, unless they simply enjoy the story line. Personally, I don't care about story line, just gameplay.
part of the rpg game play is the story, plus you get gil. and a flag. but the stories are pretty good in the game.
Anway just wanted to inform you since you seem to be of the fps crowd. :)

[JovialRat]

love
1) that there is always something to do, solo xp, skill up, quest, missions; the content is still huge
2) get to play with ppl from around the world
3) being a dark knight :D

hate
1) elitist
2) lag in port jeuno
3) ps2 limitation, ie not enough inventory space because the ps2 cant handle it.

[Rosina]

love
1) that there is always something to do, solo xp, skill up, quest, missions; the content is still huge
2) get to play with ppl from around the world
3) being a dark knight :D

hate
1) elitist
2) lag in port jeuno
3) ps2 limitation, ie not enough inventory space because the ps2 cant handle it.

I'm curious on how ps3 can handle ffxivs 300 slots per character we have 100 on our character and 100 for each retainer. with 2 free retainers we got 300 slots. (and ppl still wangt more space)

[Karbuncle]

Love:

1) Abyssea. The whole system
2) Thief - Even though I'm a little sad at its current state
3) Doing stuff with friends

Hate:

1) People who blame elitists for all their problems. Or "Cry elitist" to anyone who learns their job, and plays to better, and throw the term "Elitist" at anyone who has better gear than them.

1) The "True" elitist types. (I.E those who don't consort with anyone short of perfect, These people are the worst of FFXI)

3) People who refuse to take any sort of advice what-so-ever.
*This isn't a big problem for me, I won't go crazy like some people do, Its just a small pet peeve when i see someone playing wrong and acting like its the best/only way ever and refuse to take advice, then cry "Elitists" when someone tries to offer advice. People who refuse to learn just so they can be "Unique forks" urk me too.

[Olor]

(and ppl still wangt more space)

Because making any sort of food (for example) takes 8 ingredients that almost no one sells because no one makes food cause it is useless... thus if you want to skill up cooking doing anything but cutting open junk fish for sand, you will have 100 slots taken up with food ingredients.

Anyhow on topic:

Hate

1) Skilling up
2) That not all jobs have equal staggering ability in abyssea. Sad panda.
3) That I can't figure out what CS I am missing in CoP currently and really don't want to have to run to all three nations to figure it out.

Love

1) I can get jobs to cap now! YAY! SO HAPPY WITH EXP CHANGES.
2) Book Haste.
3) Campaign fixes (though I still want MOAR)

[JovialRat]

I'm curious on how ps3 can handle ffxivs 300 slots per character we have 100 on our character and 100 for each retainer. with 2 free retainers we got 300 slots. (and ppl still wangt more space)

because im a inventory whore... there i said it , are you happy now? :~(

[Panthera]

because im a inventory whore... there i said it , are you happy now? :~(

I am too, to an extent. More than that though, I'm fixated on transportation. I <3 all the synergy earrings. I also like the free warp scroll once per day, and low CP cost on those scrolls.

[Kensagaku]

It's hard to narrow things down so much, but if I had to pick three things...


To love:

1) BLU! One of the most versatile jobs you'll ever find anywhere, given a proper gear setup and such. BLU was my second job to level, right along with DRG back during the "lolDRG" days. Never got a party but once in a blue moon, but I never faltered, and reached 75! Since then, it's gotten better, and I've been working hard to be one of those BLUs that can accomplish almost anything. Draylo's solo of both ACP and MKD storyline bosses still inspires me to work harder. D:

2) In-game versatility - between the number of jobs we can play as well as the unique abilities and spells each come with, I'm rarely at a loss for interest in a job. BRD got a bit annoying as I fell into casting Double March/Haste/Cure IV and nothing else, but for the most part all of my jobs I've leveled - 12 currently - have all been very engaging in their own ways.

3) Storylines! I fell in love with CoP and WoTG (the latter moreso!) and ToAU was amazing as well. Abyssea felt lackluster in its storyline, unfortunately, but for the most part, I love the adventure that accompanies the face-smashing that we do on a daily basis. :3


To Hate:

1) Spikes. I hate you spike spells, you are the bane of my fast-attack jobs like NIN and THF. Shock spikes go off and bam, I'm taking 3-6 hits of spikes to the face, stunned, and as soon as I'm unstunned I'm already attacking again. Memories of Turul raping me with 300/hit shock spikes still haunts me to this day. :(

Blaze spikes get some leeway, they only hurt.

2) Head-in-the-sand players. By this I mean those who assume that they know everything, and that when you offer advice they tell you off or say "my way works better still" despite you proving to them, before their eyes, that it's not. I'm not saying you have to change your whole style of playing, merely offering a more effective alternative, geez. x_x

3) Full Aurore/Teal players. Full Perle at least is a reasonable start, especially with the haste bonus, but full aurore has better options that you can get pretty easily. Same with full teal; most of the pieces are situational. And if you're wielding a level 20 weapon at the same time... I'm going to glare at you until your brains melt. D:<

...I've run into a number of these, if you can't tell.

[Leonlionheart]

part of the rpg game play is the story, plus you get gil. and a flag. but the stories are pretty good in the game.
Anway just wanted to inform you since you seem to be of the fps crowd. :)

Don't play FPS's. Play RPG's for the looooooooooot. (Diablo II crowd maybe).

The flag doubles Conquest Points, which are essentially useless now other than for Voiddwatch stuff. Do not care about it, and the gil is minuscule for the amount of effort, can make 26 times as much in the amount of time it would take to get rank 6 to 10. I'm not even exaggerating either.

[Olor]

The flag doubles Conquest Points, which are essentially useless now other than for Voiddwatch stuff. Do not care about it, and the gil is minuscule for the amount of effort, can make 26 times as much in the amount of time it would take to get rank 6 to 10. I'm not even exaggerating either.

You're actually probably underestimating.

[Meyi]

What I love:

1. Vana'diel is a world, not a game. There are so many intricate stories unfolding at once, yet they all weave in and correlate to one another at some point. I love how there is so much historical background and how each mission or quest brings us a step closer to understanding the mysteries around us. The game even has seasons, moon phases, and days of the week. I love the Zilart and the Kuluu and I love the five races we can play. So much creativity was placed into this game.

2. Use of a controller and game UI. I love the fact that I can hook up my Play Station controller and play the game as if it were a game, not a hand cramp exercise. I never got into other MMOs for the very reason of control mechanisms. I loathe using the mouse and using keyboard buttons isn't comfortable either. While it seems I'm the only person who enjoys FFXI's UI, I like how my screen isn't cluttered with three or four marco bars, the chat is very easy to access (just start typing rather than having to click it every time), and over all, the screen is free of clutter. There are bare essentials, and menus are easy to get to.

3. Knowledge. I've learned a lot from this game. So many definitions, such as sabots or pantaloons, or folklore, like Medusa and Morrigan. Although this information is found on the wiki, the game including real life elements has helped me learn about them.

What I hate:

1. Travel time. I realize that we have many ways to quickly teleport to places, such as Abyssea maws, Outposts, Teleports, Airships, and sometimes Moogles, but when such options aren't available (like a lower level character), it can be frustrating getting from point A to point B. If I'm traveling somewhere as a one way trip, then it's no big deal. But when I have to go to Selbina, then Bastok Markets, then Korroloka, then Bastok Markets, then Selbina, then Castle Oztroja, and back to Bastok, I do feel a little irritated. Thankfully time spent in this game traveling and waiting have been severely reduced so I can't complain too much, but it's still something that can add up quickly while doing missions and quests.

2. Lots of leg work, little reward. I love cutscenes and I love learning about Vana'diel, but I don't like having to go half way across Vana'diel each time I need to talk to a character involved in whatever mission or quest I'm on. Also including here are the awful "wait until Japanese midnight"s, and prerequisite quests.

3. Being forced to work with others. When I play I want to have fun. Being forced to play with others when I don't necessarily want to is not what I call fun. I enjoy the chat aspect of the game, such as communicating with friends while I'm off doing my own thing. I dislike wasting other people's time and I dislike having my time wasted. I don't mind helping someone, especially if they're a friend, as long as they have all of the jobs needed and pre-leg work completed... but it seems this is rarely the case. It's also annoying shouting for hours on end trying to get help with no help in sight. :<

Thankfully Square Enix has moved away from the forced mentality and has been allowing us to solo more and more things. If I want to go and party with friends, then great! But some times I just want to be left alone while also accomplishing a goal.

[Tamoa]

To Hate:

1) Spikes. I hate you spike spells, you are the bane of my fast-attack jobs like NIN and THF. Shock spikes go off and bam, I'm taking 3-6 hits of spikes to the face, stunned, and as soon as I'm unstunned I'm already attacking again. Memories of Turul raping me with 300/hit shock spikes still haunts me to this day. :(

Blaze spikes get some leeway, they only hurt.


Omg.. Doing Briareus right now, and that KI nm, Grandgousier... His shock spikes... HAAAAATE!!!

- get 100 tp
- try to ws, stunned
- get unstunned, another attack round goes off
- try to ws, stunned again
- get unstunned, and so on and so forth. UGH!

Blaze Spikes makes the fight noisy!

[Kensagaku]

Omg.. Doing Briareus right now, and that KI nm, Grandgousier... His shock spikes... HAAAAATE!!!

- get 100 tp
- try to ws, stunned
- get unstunned, another attack round goes off
- try to ws, stunned again
- get unstunned, and so on and so forth. UGH!

Blaze Spikes makes the fight noisy!

Exactly! You know my pain. ;~;

This is why I always go /DNC soloing on NIN or bring a BLM and stun that dang roar. Stupid spikes...

[idx1]

1. I love how my finger-sized ring takes up the same space as my 250lb. greatsword.
2. I love how RDM the master enfeebler's Poison 2 is 10/HP a tick and Disseverment poison is 20+ HP a tick +~1000 initial damage.
3. I love how after 5 years of adventuring the world and being able to take down monsters twenty times my size, I find it impossible to be able to jump or climb any ledges taller than 3 feet high, or 5 feet long.

Things I hate.

1. I hate how RDM has a flower theme going on - Death Blossom /jobemote flaming red roses, etc. Pretty, uh, GAY.
2. I hate how RDM has throwing skill but they can't learn to throw a frickin' rock, a PEBBLE. It's a game breaker, obviously.
3. I hate how it's so hard to quit due to the fact of spending much time and money on this game and the relationships that have been made.

[DerianX]

Going to leave out the upcoming billing system changes (which would easily top my hate list) and stick with in-game content for these lists.

Love

1) The feeling you get when you finally achieve difficult goals that you have set.
One day after about two years in a Dynamis shell we were doing a Dynamis - Xarcabard run. Suddenly the elusive Duelist's Chapeau appears in the treasure pool. Myself and a few others are eligible to lot (based on linkshell rules). After the other eligible members cast their lots the high lot was a 994. I was certain that I would have to wait for another to drop but cast my lot anyways... a 997. My friends on voice chat burst into cheers. It was an awesome feeling.
Sadly there are fewer and fewer moments like this (especially with the trend toward making everything so easy).

2) The variety of content.
Despite Abyssea dominating the current endgame scene, activities like Dynamis, Limbus, Assault, Sea, Sky, etc. still serve some purpose (although convincing two other people to do assault/salvage can often be more of a challenge than the event content itself).

3) Variety of gameplay mechanics available when you have multiple jobs at your disposal.
Tired of healing? Change and go hit stuff! Tired of hitting stuff? Change and nuke the crap of of stuff! Tired of nuking? Change and go tank stuff!

Hate

1) "Event Skipped"
Participate in campaign? OK! Join a UnioEVENT SKIPPED! Join a UnEVENT SKIPPED! Join a Union. Purchase Instant ReraEVENT SKIPPED! Purchase InsEVENT SKIPPED! PurchEVENT SKIPPED! Die to horde of mobs. Campaign ends. Homepoint because nobody would raise you.

2) Character model blinking.
It's easier to raise people than cure them anyways... ;)

3) The use of redundancy as a method of accomplishment.
Killing 700 easy prey mobs isn't challenging, it's tedious.

[Reiterpallasch]

The main thing I hate is

2) Character model blinking.
It's easier to raise people than cure them anyways... ;)
bad mages.

[Zyla420]

<3
1. storylines - i found 90% of the storylines in the game just totally awesome. this is by far the rarest quality to find in any mmo, and in this aspect SE did an amazing job. (i say this about all the content pre-add-ons)

2. the job system - the ability to level every job i want to play on the same character is wonderful, inventory intensive yes, but made of awesome all the same

3. the community - the playerbase in this game is more close knitted than in any mmo i've ever played.

</3
1. paralyze - this is the one status i hate more than anything, i even lost a toolbag once because i didn't notice i was paralyzed

2. Too far away! - any melee knows what i'm talking about, i shouldn't even need to say more. losing tp cause of this is bullshit.

3. time sinks = difficulty - this should never have been an issue, but nearly everything worthwhile in this game isn't actually "hard to get". it merely requires redundant amounts of time invested. SE get a clue, ppl have lives and shit, make shit difficult to kill, not arbitrarily time consuming from needing to kill x NM x amount of times for x amount of items.

[Francisco]

Love:

1: Mog House Decor - (I'd really like to see this expanded some day)
2: Verethragna/Victory Smite
3: Atma - I like being able to pick your own stat boosts to suit the situation...

Hate:

1: When a mob moves out of range of a WS and I lose my TP.
2: Amnesia or TP resets.
3: The bridge in Port Bastok.

[Zaknafein]

<3's

Refining my gearsets & macro's so combined with my skill as a player I can be the best that I can be
Utilizing every slot (if possible) to modify w/e JA/spell I am using. (My inventory hurts, but it is a good pain:)

All the friends, and comrades I've made since 04'
I especially <3'd the time in HNM with the closeknit groups working together, and the respect even for your rivals.
I especially <3 my current core family in Kweh, and am very proud of what we've accomplished!

Storyline/Gameplay
I love all the storylines so much! I take pride in being an Elvaan! Was always a massive FF fan, and ever since XI was released I've pretty much played this exclusively (All other games just seem to pale in comparison to XI's multifaceted nature). Love the game so much, and have really enjoyed helping others!

Hates..Grrr

The Casual Trend
Abyssea did some fantastic things. Accessibility/Proc System/Reasonable Powerful weapons(Empy's)
Unfortunately it also broke the game with the ridiculous amount of xp. I was never a fan of SMN burns, and abyssea took that to an even more egregious level. Should have just raised the xp outside like they did, and left it at that.
I have no problem with new or casual players. I routinely help new guys, and have helped many casual players to achieve a multitude of goals normally beyond their reach.
What I do not care for however is the influx of whiny crybabies, "InstaPro's", and worst of all the continued outcry to nerf things in the game that...wait for it... have ALREADY been nerfed!!

Hating on Linkshell's as evil entities
Okay... I get it. There was a significant amount of douchey Linkshell's out there b4 Abyssea was released. However, you people that cry about how any ls with more than 8 members was automatically a slave labor camp that treated it's members like trash .. seriously make me laugh.
Just cause you a bad experience or two doesn't mean that what you saw 1st hand was standard practice.

Cloudsplitter
While I absolutely <3 the animation, and being able to annihilate targets when brewing. It makes me a very sad panda to only be proud of my Farsha when I gulp down 200k worth of cruor. Plz Dev's help out this WS to at least put out some decent #'s when used normally.

[Panthera]

Time to reply to my own thread.

Things I hate
#3 Certain NPCs and NMs. I hate having to deal with Ominous Cloud. Even if you trade to him correctly, he's a jerk. He is that mandatory jerk every office has to have. Please, someone, someone, anyone, get that Galka... um, you know. But nvm, Galkas don't do that. And ShadowHand. I took a break from the game in part because of this horribly unbalanced NM. When you see ShadowHand, you do what we do. Run. You run your ass off.

#2 The exteme narrowing of End Game. It used to be that leveling to End Game opened up tons of events. Now there's two; Abyssea, and Abyssea. And I don't like either of them.

#1 The gradual erosion of challenge. Easier is more rewarding, difficulty is less rewarding, which is exactly the opposite of how it should be. I hate how doing nothing on your own part can net you 60 job levels or merit points via GoV and Abyssea.

Things I <3

#3 This is a tough choice, #3 is supposed to be a little thing, and there are so many little things that make FFXI good. Really, #3 is arbitrary, so I'll go with fishing. Depending on what goes down in RL, I might not be up for intense fights and long events. I find fishing relaxing when I need it to be, and stimulating when I want it to be. Can't go wrong with Fishing!

#2 Certain events. I liked how Assault pushed the game into more than just fighting. There was a lot of thought and imagination put into it. I thought the randomness of Nyzul was good, and how it wasn't static; you ran with purpose from place to place. Limbus offered good rewards, and wasn't too short (Einherjar) and wasn't too long (old Dynamis). I especially loved MAAAAAAZE!

#1 Blue Mage! I love the versatility. I love the God-like power of the job. I love the backstory of Blue Mages and what they represent.

And for lagniappe, what I love, and therefore miss about FFXI are the narrative elements, cutscenes and storylines and characters. This used to be an RPG, with leveling in a true sense, and a storyline to motivate what you're doing what you're doing, that a fantasy game is dependant upon. What happened to this game? We had more members back when the game was true to itself, and fewer and fewer as it tries to be something else, namely WoW.

[Alhanelem]

Love the storylines.

hate the proc systems.

[Amnesty]

I Just Hate Other Players... Every Thing Else Is Fine...

[Sirmarki]

I Just Hate Other Players... Every Thing Else Is Fine...

and yet you play on Asura? (The most populated server) :)

[Amnesty]

Exactly Einstein... Can't Do Much Hating On A Dead Server...

[Okosego]

The only thing I really hate is when you try to attack a monster you are right next to but you can’t hit it until it’s done walking around for some dumb reason, drives me crazy walking around next to it until it stops it’s little stroll. Usually I have to cast a spell on it to make it agro but why can’t we hit a monster and initiate battle while it’s moving around?

Oh I also hate the guild store hours. Why do they have closed hours? I mean really! Just a waste of the player’s time.

[Dragoy]

The only thing I really hate is when you try to attack a monster you are right next to but you can’t hit it until it’s done walking around for some dumb reason, drives me crazy walking around next to it until it stops it’s little stroll. Usually I have to cast a spell on it to make it agro but why can’t we hit a monster and initiate battle while it’s moving around?

Network latency, I maybe guess. :]

If you run a little past them, while they're still moving the same way, you will eventually be able to attack. We're always a little bit farther behind than it seems.

I've seen people in Japan play on streams, but don't remember if I was ever able to really see if it's the same for them, what with being closer to the servers.

[Pixela]

Engage and press * and run past it, you'll hit it and then you can press * again to lock back on.

[Teraniku]

Things I hate:
1. There not being a centralized location to view all unlocked cutscenes in the game
2. The Jungles (Yhoator & Yuthunga)
3. The Blocking of progress due to certain aspects of the playerbase making it necessary to impede progress for other players (looking at you Spark farmer gil sellers)

Love:
1. The people I play / played and helped along the way
2. The Chains of Promathia storyline, it was Epic and it really felt like you accomplished something when you finished
3. The job system, You aren't locked into playing a single job all the time on the same character.

[Immortal]

I just want to see debuffs and their durations on mobs.

[Tarmarkvar]

Things I hate:
1. There not being a centralized location to view all unlocked cutscenes in the game


I always hated that too, but I think the cutscenes are all tied to their specific zones. That's why you see Goblin Footprints in nearly every zone. I had to take matters into my own hands and just record the cutscenes. If you want, you can see the full cutscenes for any mission line on my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Thrifty032781/playlists

[Monsuta_Man]

LOVE

1) Monstrosity: My name was inspired by this system. Being able to play as monsters was innovative for an MMO. Many MMO have costume changing into creatures, but not a full-on system dedicated to monsters. Such as shame Monstrosity has not been incorporated into XI's main mechanics like grouping, dungeons, campaign, chilling in cities, etc. Not like it would utilize many resources, beyond time. Sizes already dictate what monsters can enter what areas........How neat would it be to play as a Mon grouping with newbies in the dunes under lvl sync lol? Or doing dated stuff like Delve as a 119 MON with a group?

2) Open World: One reason why XI is the superior FF experience compared to XIV is how alive the "Open" world feels.

-There are campaign battles occurring as you wander through WotG zones.
-Some NMs Evolve
-Dangerous mobs lurking, as you duck into a safe area until they pass.
-Legendary mobs spawning which is still a "WoW moment"
-Prisoners captured during besieged appearing in holding cells of strongholds.

I can go on....

3) Abyssea: I liked everything about this content, save the lvl cap increase. From my experience, this was perhaps the only time were job discrimination was not a thing for current group content. Abyssea made you feel like a superhero, with Atma. For example, it made O.G Sange & Magic builds a serious option for NIN (One shotting exp mobs).

HATE

1) Final Fantasy XI's Current Direction: I am a fan of Monstrosity, Campaign Battles, Besieged, etc.....Not a fan of updated content being exclusive to voracious resurgence or Ambuscade.

2) Instanced Content: BCNM were cool early in XI's life, but XI has since took a XIV approach, were instanced took priority.... Notably in SoA

3) Beastmaster: BST suffered due to the shift to instance content. Charm was a thing of the past; a mechanic which made many pet class enthusiast love BST. Also, BST had smaller pool of creatures to use due to the nature of pets being assigned by the devs instead of charming them in the open world.