Poll: Have you been playing this game for Less or More than five years?

[trashpanda]

I just discovered this masterpiece this year and have been stoked to try it out. I just bought the game on sale with all the expansions and paid for a few extra months of subscription in anticipation. I was curious about how many people have been playing or are veterans of the game from the old days and how many people are just starting out. I thought I'd make a simple poll to see how the community votes. :)

I will post the results weekly, starting with this Sunday night, May 31st 2025 somewhat regularly. :p

I hope to see some of you in-game!

Link to anonymous Google Poll, nothing is recorded except your response. (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSed1CZe-pH-7ux2n0-hYgU3DV5qNsNOA8i0-tBZ9Nz31kY1-Q/viewform?usp=header)

As of June 17th 2026
https://i.imgur.com/UDlrOkp.png

[trashpanda]

Also, I'd love to hear what your first and favorite job/class and race was when you first started. Maybe you picked a few and tried them out or stuck with just one or two your whole life. This will not be a poll per se but feel free to mention any details/memories you find when considering your response. :D

[Alhanelem]

been playing since within a month of the North American launch.

[nixRidge]

I'd say 5-6 years, but my character is actually almost 10 years!

FF11 was the first MMO I ever played as a kid, but I barely spoke English at the time. I never got very far in the game, but I liked the social aspect of it, and one could say it actually kickstarted my learning.
Either way, the account I used then is lost to the sands of time. I actually made my current character in 2017. At that point in my life I barely found the time to play, so it wasn't until 2020~2021 I started getting really into the game again.
One could say it planted a seed for what is now one of my favourite games ever made :D

When I first started I was a Mithra White Mage, and the same was true when I bought the game again in 2017. Recently, I changed to Taru because I just love how cute and quirky they are. I'm very glad the race change service was added.
Also, my favourite jobs so far are White Mage (still!) and Dancer. My main job is White Mage, but when I'm doing things solo or the party just needs a bit more support/damage, I hop on Dancer and start slinging steps and Rudra's around ^^

Always been the type to tank in MMOs, but I somehow never got around to it in FF11 :rolleyes:
Maybe one day.

[RichLester]

I've been on this for 20 years now since it was launched in UK (I even got the prima games guide for it way back when). I started out as an RDM as it was the most versatile job to start with at the time & compliments WHM & BLM nicely. This is the only MMO I play & back then, it was a battle between World of Warcraft (where all the kiddies ended up) & Final Fantasy XI (where all the older, long time fans of RPGs & Final Fantasy ended up). Both games have their followings but this one stands the test of time. The community is very good & we all chat via text so we don't hear much abuse, which is good.

It was originally on Win XP & worked well on Win 7. Upgraded the hardware for Win 10 & Win 11 but I do hear that the hardware is now starting to take it's toll & the developers are getting on a bit. Wil SE making the servers into virtual servers work in the long term? We'll have to see. This game will reach 30 years old, no doubt bout that.

As you're new, i do suggest completing the expansions in order (CoP, RoZ, ToAU & WotG can be done at same time, then SoA, RoV, AVR). The add-ons can be done whenever.

[Rinuko]

Started around fall 2004.

[trashpanda]

https://i.imgur.com/UDlrOkp.png

[Beastorizer]

Consistently from July 2004; up until 2024. Grew up with this game.

Over the last few years, found myself not playing much at all.

I still hang around for free login goodies, but usually hang it up after that until the next free login. Even during free logins, I find myself not playing much at all........

Yeah, feel like the time finally came haha. Never thought I would grow out of XI, lol. You could not tell 18 year old me I would ever grow bored of XI. No way........

I am back on my single player -ish. Kind of feels good. Rolling through that Steam back-log. I was all MMO from 2004 up a few years ago.