Why did you choose FFXI.

I've always been a sucker for music... So when I first heard a midi version of the Vana'diel March, it piqued my interest considerably. Being a fan of FF, I had to give it a shot... Played every day since I joined back in July 2004. Since then I've always said FFXI would be my first and only MMO (Unless Pokemon finally makes one heh), though if they make a reduced sub fee for having both XI and XIV, MAYBE I'd give that a try... but I still plan on going down with XI's servers, whether it happens soon or still a ways in the future.

A lot of people say they started because they wanted to play FF with others.

Me? I just wanted to play a FF that had a lot of customization and gear choices, lasted a long time and would have content updates on a semi-regular basis. I'd be totally ok with a FFXI that had the same scope, scale and customization but was geared toward single player/single party game. Kind of like Monster Hunter but with way more gear, spells, JA, etc.

Believe it or not I joined FFXI just to rp with my friends (Because they knew I like to role play on text-based forums in sci-fi/fantasy genre) and they kept telling me to come.

I came to FFXI thinking it'd be a simple game, easy to control like the other FF's, ooooh boy was I wrong when I showed up in 2008. FFXI caught me like a fish in a net, the addictive gameplay, the socializing I did during parties and shouting in Valkurm Dunes with people back on Leviathan. I actually spent more time getting geared up than I did rp'ing, but one day around New Years with the mog bonanza, I got something that solidified my stay in the community. I (Among everyone in the ls who got meesly rank 1 prizes) I happened to get my grubby little paws on a Valhalla Helm, which is still my prized possession to this day because it was the first 'end game' piece I ever got. I could have gotten the Nocturnus helm (Upon retrospect, I really should have chosen it) but I went 'Nah, this looks more paladin-ish so I'll take it instead. So I kept playing, day in and day out, going from the Dunes to Qufim Island, meeting some good friends like Hohenheim and Papermage when RedDragonSyndicate was up and running, and I still role played from time to time, I still do as well.

But then came the time when I had to conquer Maat, I lost to him twice (First time he destroyed my PLD, second time he won due to time running out) But after the final time...I beat Maat and god that rush of excitement was unlike anything I felt in a previous MMO. FFXI made you work for your meals, everything tasted sweeter, and overall the community was so supporting of others. My friends didn't care to help me farm a testimony for my PLD, shoot my friend Domashnei didn't mind helping me farm the coffer keys for my artifact armor. It all came down to what I'd do after I hit the lvl cap...turns out my multi month break had me come back to the time abyssea came out, and sure I was very skeptical of it, since everyone and their grandmother was becoming ninjas for Kannagi, and PLD was considered an outdated class for that stuff. So my time in FFXI started becoming threatened, if I wasn't able to keep up with others (Because I learned the turtle tanking stuff back then) and so I started looking for another class to play.

I ended up finding it in Blue Mage, the class that I could meld into whatever kind of job I wanted/needed. All of that customization, all of the spells I could set up, all of the time I spent grooming my BLU was another fact that I loved, BLU really made me work for it, and when I finally said in ls chat that I finally capped my magic, again the rush came back to me, not as much as beating Maat, but it was definitely a rush, much like when I learned Gates of Hades as my first Unbridled Learning spell.

So unlike people who came to -play- with others, I originally came to role play like a geek.