How can you guys stand to play this game anymore

[DarkViper]

I am sorry I tried to delete this post but I coudn't do it please forgive me I was raging hard at the time

[Daniel_Hatcher]

Awkward!!

10 character limit.

[Arcon]

Awkward!!

10 character limit.

What's akward is that "Awkward!!" just needed one more ! for the 10 character limit. Since you already had two, one more wouldn't have hurt.

[DarkViper]

OK Ive gathered my thoughts a bit and rage mode is off. What I wanted to say is that I am finding it difficult to understand how everyone is so content with the game in its current state. I stopped playing about two years ago when I learned that our shiny new expansion that was going to extend the game into a new era by extending the level cap turned out to be well i don't even know what to call it. I want to say it put the game in 'easy mode' but really it has put the game in 'drone mode'. Now instead of playing a game that requires skill, dedication, passion and a community, I'm playing a game where you run back and forth in a cave smashing the crap out for easy prey monsters. Or sitting around in jeuno waiting around for 18 random ppl to join in this massive alliance we we go and kill more pathetically weak monsters and get even more exp. /sigh

I miss the days when you would show up to a party and ppl would see ur gear and be happy that you were a part of the team. Now its like you get to the party in mad gear, but does anyone really care? You having good gear might marginally speed up the process but your gaining exp so fast that it doesn't even really matter. In abyssea you are like a faceless ghost in a crowd of ppl who are just spaming ws and spells with no thought to resource management, hate control or ability timings.

Its just so sad to see FFXI in the state that its in, i really want to enjoy this game because I have spent the last 2 years trying to find another good MMO but there just isn't one.

[RAIST]

you don't HAVE to live in abyssea.....just saying, there are other things that could be done.

Take breaks here and there to do other content low-man just to experience a little more thrill again. Take a small group after the old gods, CoP/ZM/TAU/WotG story lines and Nyzul/Assault, slap together a 4 man level-synch and other stuff like that. It's a blast to be able to do some of that stuff without all the pressure we put on ourselves in the past.

[Camiie]

OK Ive gathered my thoughts a bit and rage mode is off. What I wanted to say is that I am finding it difficult to understand how everyone is so content with the game in its current state. I stopped playing about two years ago when I learned that our shiny new expansion that was going to extend the game into a new era by extending the level cap turned out to be well i don't even know what to call it. I want to say it put the game in 'easy mode' but really it has put the game in 'drone mode'. Now instead of playing a game that requires skill, dedication, passion and a community, I'm playing a game where you run back and forth in a cave smashing the crap out for easy prey monsters. Or sitting around in jeuno waiting around for 18 random ppl to join in this massive alliance we we go and kill more pathetically weak monsters and get even more exp. /sigh

Just wait. You'll eventually get back into fights where people drop like flies and loot drops like a helium balloon. Yes the paradigm has shifted with XP, but you can still find mobs that you can XP off of the old fashioned way if you so choose. You just have to do what you did back in the day and go find the camps. Good luck getting anyone else to go, but the option is there for you.



I miss the days when you would show up to a party and ppl would see ur gear and be happy that you were a part of the team. Now its like you get to the party in mad gear, but does anyone really care? You having good gear might marginally speed up the process but your gaining exp so fast that it doesn't even really matter.

I dunno about anyone else, but someone could have come to camp dual wielding 2-handed Relics wearing an Armadaberk and I still wouldn't have thought they were any more special than the guy in a Hauberk with a weapon off the AH. I'd rather have a good-natured "gimp" who got me less XP per hour than a self-absorbed, gear obsessed jerk for example. I care more about the person behind the character than the character itself, but hey that's just me.


In abyssea you are like a faceless ghost in a crowd of ppl who are just spaming ws and spells with no thought to resource management, hate control or ability timings.

I guess you don't know much about light management in Abyssea. I guess you don't know about proc systems when dealing with NMs. You don't sound like you've fought very many of the higher tier NMs out there. Some of them are a heck of a lot more complex than the wyrms of old.


Its just so sad to see FFXI in the state that its in, i really want to enjoy this game because I have spent the last 2 years trying to find another good MMO but there just isn't one.

Sadism and masochism just don't sell as well as they used to.

[Vivivivi]

I have a blast playing this game. I think I heard someone sum it up: It used to be that you xp in parties and do events in alliances, and now (with the exception of void watch and legion) you xp in alliances and do events in small groups.

I have a small static shell of about 6-8 people and we do a lot of Abyssea stuff, and Dynamis, and Nyzul, and it's still challenging but not impossible, and a lot a lot a lot of fun^^

[Savlyn]

If you quit two years ago that means you either a: didn't get to experience Abyssea at all, or b: experienced it as it was brand new and deemed that you didn't like it. Both of these are a problem. Abyssea is actually a lot of fun. The exping gets old fast, but collecting gear, getting stronger, and being able to do this with a few friends (1-3 instead of needing an alliance) is amazing. Abyssea still has a lot to offer in terms of gear and there is almost always something that you could be working toward. Abyssea gear is a progression system, as opposed to VW and Nyzul which is a luck system.

That being said; after two years of doing Abyssea, it does get boring. I have quit the game for time being, but expect to be back when more things are added. If Abyssea hadn't have come out, I would have left this game long ago and not actually enjoyed playing and acquiring gear for the past two years.

[DarkViper]

If you quit two years ago that means you either a: didn't get to experience Abyssea at all, or b: experienced it as it was brand new and deemed that you didn't like it. Both of these are a problem. Abyssea is actually a lot of fun. The exping gets old fast, but collecting gear, getting stronger, and being able to do this with a few friends (1-3 instead of needing an alliance) is amazing. Abyssea still has a lot to offer in terms of gear and there is almost always something that you could be working toward. Abyssea gear is a progression system, as opposed to VW and Nyzul which is a luck system.

That being said; after two years of doing Abyssea, it does get boring. I have quit the game for time being, but expect to be back when more things are added. If Abyssea hadn't have come out, I would have left this game long ago and not actually enjoyed playing and acquiring gear for the past two years.

I left then for the same reason that I'm struggling to stay now.
Because playing final fantasy seems like a chore when it used to be something that I dreamed about every moment I was away from it.

[Eric]

Good for you.

Livejournal is
->
that way

[DarkViper]

Ironic how that by saying I'm wasting space you do it yourself ^^

[Eric]

What? I never said anything about wasting space.

Your reading comprehension skills are seriously lacking, just sayin'.

[DarkViper]

Sorry that comment was obviously too high level for you and in real life there's no abyssea so you might not ever get it.

[Llana_Virren]

Because playing final fantasy seems like a chore when it used to be something that I dreamed about every moment I was away from it.

You desperately need to find a more meaningful life than to obsess this much over a game.

And I haven't known any Final Fantasy game to not have a "chore" element to it... so your altruistic ramblings might be best left to LJ.

No offense... but your response worries me....

[Camiie]

I left then for the same reason that I'm struggling to stay now.
Because playing final fantasy seems like a chore when it used to be something that I dreamed about every moment I was away from it.

To me, and many others, the old FFXI felt like a chore. It had to change to survive.

Look, I think you may just have to accept that present-day MMOs have passed your tastes by. People in general just don't want that same experience, and aren't rewarded by the same things as you. You also need to accept that they aren't wrong in wanting something different. The game isn't bad simply because it isn't to your liking anymore.

[Shadowsong]

Abyssea took AWAY the chores.
Exping, Travel times, LFP downtime, narrow job selection for party slots, gil farming, removed events like Dynamis and Land Kings from the gear equation, streamlined NM tiered fights.
Ive never had as much fun as I do now.

Seems to me like you have moved passed MMOs, and need a new form of entertainment.

[DarkViper]

You desperately need to find a more meaningful life than to obsess this much over a game.

And I haven't known any Final Fantasy game to not have a "chore" element to it... so your altruistic ramblings might be best left to LJ.

No offense... but your response worries me....

Wow those random quotes make no sense. Don't worry about offending me gaming is my life and I proud of it!

[Shadowsong]

You mean the ONE quote he did showing you take the game WAY too seriously?
Id say it's quite relevant.

[DarkViper]

Abyssea took AWAY the chores.
Exping, Travel times, LFP downtime, narrow job selection for party slots, gil farming, removed events like Dynamis and Land Kings from the gear equation, streamlined NM tiered fights.
Ive never had as much fun as I do now.


You have completely misunderstood what I said I didn't mean there are more chores in the game I mean playing the game seems like work because all I am doing is smashing stuff to death with no regard to anything except when I can finally can get to a level that's high enough to actually be playing the game anymore.

I agree that there were a lot of problems especially the fact that many jobs were useless. And i'm glad that your having fun in the game. I could go on for a long time about pointless missions and stupid cutscenes and I guess that stuff is the same as lvling up in abyssea. But gdi I just really miss exp parties for me this was the best part of the game.


Seems to me like you have moved passed MMOs, and need a new form of entertainment.

Was this really necessary im sorry if I sounded like a dbag with that guy telling me to go to life journal or whatever but isn't this the place where we share our experiences of FFXI.

[DarkViper]

You mean the ONE quote he did showing you take the game WAY too seriously?
Id say it's quite relevant.

OK sorry I misread that I was talking about the stuff below

[Shadowsong]

Was this really necessary im sorry if I sounded like a dbag with that guy telling me to go to life journal or whatever but isn't this the place where we share our experiences of FFXI.

I meant this as advice with no ill will behind it. You legitly seem like you are not having fun with the game, it may be time to just let it go. If the game's vision has changed from what you like, why stick around?

[Drakhon]

I keep asking myself that same question every day.

[Godofgods]

I guess the other side of the fence is blue after all.

People complain all the time about the 'new' leveling system. But they also seem to forget that toward the last year or two before lvl sync and aby, a large majority of ppl were getting sick of leveling. Their were certain ways to increase your yield, but it was still a long (and IMO boring) grind. A lot of ppl simply didn't level more then one or two jobs because they couldn't stand the grind. So the introduction of a new, 'easier' method was kind of inevitable.

If you want proof of that then remember, all the old camps that took six people and some skill.... They are still their. Its not as tho they have been removed from the game. And with everyone complaining all the time, it shouldn't be hard to find ppl to go make a pt with. - The truth however, is that no-one really wants to. When you got a new job to level, ill damn near guarantee your first thoughts are book/abyssea. Because no-one want to do the old month long grind.

I'm not saying the new system doesn't have its downsides. But don't sit here complaining how much better the old system is. Then log in and go to a FC party.

[RAIST]

well said. Think that's what gets overlooked in these debates....the game isn't forcing anyone to level differently and all, it's just that most everyone has accepted it as the new norm. Perhaps "embraced it" is a better way to phrase it.

[BurnNotice]

As someone that has been playing from day 1 of the NA release, I can share that this game make you feel indifferent at times.

The most I can recommend folks is to:

1) Take necessary breaks to regain interest (That usually helps for the majority of the population)

2) Consider helping people whom have not had the luxury of seeing and experiencing Vana'diel the way you have (I know vets who are now having fun with BCNMs that they haven't tried before).

Other than that, I can understand how this game can burn you out. I took several breaks and decided to do a relic and empy to keep my interest. Once I am done, I am sure that I will want another break, but I will find another reason to come back. We all do at some point. lol.

[DarkViper]

OK after playing for some time now i have to say that i'm actually starting to enjoy abyssea

[Arukia]

Also keep in mind that the faster lvling is to provide new/returning player a quicker way to get into end game content, which most of the population is doing. Fresh blood is rare in this stage of a game's life so it would rather be unfair to require the old style exping when most people are out for gearing.

Of course, having a low man exp static with friends to visit old zones and such is still quite fun. One of the reason I'm glad I didn't rush every job to cap.

[Mostfowl]

Leveling aside (albeit I do miss the old days sometimes too and sometimes I dont) there is a major tear in endgame these days. When you can solo/duo all the things you used to need an alliance for it takes the fun outta it. Being able to enter aby every day and run around soloing for drops makes it a choir moreso than the old method ever was. And your right gear really doesnt matter for most ppl these days, all they care about is if you have a relic or a timesyncee..er um I mean empy. Which I have neither of and if you have neither no endgame for you. I was working on a relic when dyna was destroyed and I cant bear to waste my time fighting the same nm 50-75+ times (not to mention the ki nm).

Endgame is easy mode these days and the way the try to refresh them just makes them suck even more. Hence why I call it the aby-bomb. Exp usually is the main argument behind why aby is bad but for me its that it destroyed every other part of the game, which is in total easy mode now. Even the new stuff post aby (VW for example) is beyond easy. And legion was just executed so horribly its not worth the effort.

My theory is the same as it was a year ago. They made ffxi easy-mode to move ppl to ffxiv. We will see with the release of 2.0 what happens, but my assumption is the sun will set over sandoria soon enough. And that will be a sad day.

[Mirabelle]

I don't understand these threads anymore. Sure a year ago they were valid, but currently there is a lot of things that require good gear in endgame.

Nyzul, Legion, higher tier VNM, ADL are all challenges that can't be "low-manned" in "easy mode" or brewed or whatever. Sure levelling is easy these days, but levelling was always easy, just time consuming.

Sad thing is, many people whined for these sort of "tough" events and given how few people are doing them (or in the case of Nyzul, cheating their way through them), maybe "easy mode" is what people are more interested in. I still see way more people in Aby and zerging VW than in any of the newer "hard" events.

[Camiie]

Sad thing is, many people whined for these sort of "tough" events and given how few people are doing them (or in the case of Nyzul, cheating their way through them), maybe "easy mode" is what people are more interested in. I still see way more people in Aby and zerging VW than in any of the newer "hard" events.

"Easy mode" IS more fun for me. I just haven't been able to get into any of the Post-Abyssea era events. I, for one, would have been happier if they hadn't gone back to their old-school event philosophies.

[hiko]

I don't understand these threads anymore. Sure a year ago they were valid, but currently there is a lot of things that require good gear in endgame.

Nyzul, Legion, higher tier VNM, ADL are all challenges that can't be "low-manned" in "easy mode" or brewed or whatever. Sure levelling is easy these days, but levelling was always easy, just time consuming.

Sad thing is, many people whined for these sort of "tough" events and given how few people are doing them (or in the case of Nyzul, cheating their way through them), maybe "easy mode" is what people are more interested in. I still see way more people in Aby and zerging VW than in any of the newer "hard" events.

low man event and easy mode is not the same.
hard and luck based is not the same.

[Godofgods]

low man event and easy mode is not the same.
hard and luck based is not the same.

Maybe not, but the complaining always will be.
Just look at Neo-Nyzul. Everyone complains that things are to easy now. No good allience comtent/everything lowmanable. So they put something out thats much harder and needs many ppl. And what do they all do? Complain that its to haaaaard!

[FrankReynolds]

I've yet to see anyone directly complain about difficulty. Every complaint thread seems to revolve around: Shitty random number generator that determines number of ???floors / floor type (*read lamps), Shitty random number generator that gives horrible 1/300 drop rates. Shitty timed events where there is not enough time to do the task at hand (ie the monsters are of sufficient difficulty, but the time limit is too low), quests that require you to collect enormous amounts of X-item (again, not difficult, just incredibly boring).

[Glamdring]

2 reasons to still play:

1. I have a truckload of loose ends from my to do list to finish yet.

2. I made alot of friends on this game and I still enjoy spending time with them.

Do I need any others?

[Glamdring]

I've yet to see anyone directly complain about difficulty. Every complaint thread seems to revolve around: Shitty random number generator that determines number of ???floors / floor type (*read lamps), Shitty random number generator that gives horrible 1/300 drop rates. Shitty timed events where there is not enough time to do the task at hand (ie the monsters are of sufficient difficulty, but the time limit is too low), quests that require you to collect enormous amounts of X-item (again, not difficult, just incredibly boring).
I partially agree with you. I think there ARE complaints about difficulty, mostly about all content being either dumbed down to easy-mode-thus no challenge and a rare few about fights being killers, but the complaints are mostly about the rewards tied to that content. The easy-mode complaints have to do mostly with how many times you have to repeat this stupid fight that you can (and sometimes actually do) in your sleep to achieve crappy widget x towards your never-ending trial. The "wtf is with this nightmare of a fight" complaints are more in the nature of "I went through that hell for THIS?!" Legion rewards are a perfect example of this-so far there's really nothing I've seen that makes the system worth the aggravation. Mostly, the REAL complaint is about this or that playstyle being forced on a player who doesn't WANT to play that way-which is actually a pretty legitimate complaint. Personally, I don't really mind grinding, but I want to know that my grinding WILL, not MIGHT, result in me getting the whatever I'm pursuing, and we all know there's no certainty of that with the current design of pretty much everything in this game.

[Zerich]

I partially agree with you. I think there ARE complaints about difficulty, mostly about all content being either dumbed down to easy-mode-thus no challenge and a rare few about fights being killers, but the complaints are mostly about the rewards tied to that content. The easy-mode complaints have to do mostly with how many times you have to repeat this stupid fight that you can (and sometimes actually do) in your sleep to achieve crappy widget x towards your never-ending trial. The "wtf is with this nightmare of a fight" complaints are more in the nature of "I went through that hell for THIS?!" Legion rewards are a perfect example of this-so far there's really nothing I've seen that makes the system worth the aggravation. Mostly, the REAL complaint is about this or that playstyle being forced on a player who doesn't WANT to play that way-which is actually a pretty legitimate complaint. Personally, I don't really mind grinding, but I want to know that my grinding WILL, not MIGHT, result in me getting the whatever I'm pursuing, and we all know there's no certainty of that with the current design of pretty much everything in this game.

PD/embrava zerg =/= difficulty

[Glamdring]

PD/embrava zerg =/= difficulty

lol, until the timer runs out and you have worms munching on a rump roast of-i don't know-you

[Godofgods]

2 reasons to still play:

1. I have a truckload of loose ends from my to do list to finish yet.


Oh so true! These loose ends are taking longer to finish then the main parts of the game did lol!

[Alistaire]

Just wait. You'll eventually get back into fights where people drop like flies and loot drops like a helium balloon...

Sadism and masochism just don't sell as well as they used to.

This. If anything the complaint that should be out there is pretty much the opposite: "How can people stand the horrible customer service and lack of listening to/understanding playerbase requests that SE gets away with?"

The answer to that is of course a comparison to the soup nazi. Horrible attitude doesn't necessarily scare people off a product that hooks you and that you can't get anywhere else.

[Himrik]

2 reasons to still play:

1. I have a truckload of loose ends from my to do list to finish yet.

2. I made alot of friends on this game and I still enjoy spending time with them.

Do I need any others?

In fact, i think you need another one...it bugs me that you don't at least say that the game is "fun to play"...and I think the same thing.

The game is now utterly boring by making you do the same things over and over and over...and the ONLY reason I'm still playing is to keep playing with friends.
Back in the old days, I had goals. I needed to level up and gather great stuff to overcome some challenges and finish all the storylines.
Now, levelling is uber easy, which is great. Since they couldn't design any "fun" way to level up, at least they've done a quick way.
And you need to gather great stuff to...kill things for even better stuff, which you will use to kill stronger things to get even better stuff....what's the point of obtaining uber-stuff when you've already killed every single thing where this stuff would be helpful ?

[InsideOut]

....what's the point of obtaining uber-stuff when you've already killed every single thing where this stuff would be helpful ?

...to help people in pick up groups who show up wearing a light staff and Nobles Tunic.
*wipes away the tear from my eye*