Back in the good ole days

Every one that thinks they are hardcore or the game was ever hard because they played in the good old days were never hardcore. You want hardcore go play EVE. That game will chew you up and spit you out after telling you your a dirty girl. It makes EQ cry for its mama.

to the OP, if that is how you and several others want to play, you know you don't have to do LB6+ or use the books or abyssea, just make a LS together and go knock yourselves out

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Originally Posted by wildsprite

to the OP, if that is how you and several others want to play, you know you don't have to do LB6+ or use the books or abyssea, just make a LS together and go knock yourselves out

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LOL he does not even have to go that far. All he needs to do is avoid abyssea altogether and just level up using standard old school party via GoV. There are plenty of camp that let you level up to 99. His main problem is finding 5 other people. Yeah I know, as much as people wish the good old days, in reality, no one is that crazy to actually want to relive this. Good luck for him to find those groups, at least he can get 40-60k per hour now instead of the usual 12k-18k per hour merit camp party.

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Originally Posted by Ravenmore

Every one that thinks they are hardcore or the game was ever hard because they played in the good old days were never hardcore. You want hardcore go play EVE. That game will chew you up and spit you out after telling you your a dirty girl. It makes EQ cry for its mama.

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I don't know about "everyone." My only issue is that we have very little "in depth, complex -content-" that one has come to expect from a game carrying the Final Fantasy title. RotZ and CoP were incredibly well thought out, and many of the side quests added with those expansions were very good, as well. ToAU and WotG were a steady decline, and the 3+3 "mini expansions" are craptacular.

If you think that the last 2 expansion packs have added ANY sort of major, game-making content to FFXI, then you live under a very small, damp rock. A "hardcore" rock if that better suits your fancy. ^___^

Really you found CoP and RoTZ complex, you have never played another MMO have you. No the game has never been hardcore or complex because of guess what having to work with in the limits of the PS2. What you are also remembering is though the lens of having so long in between missons that you fail to see how corny the story line really is. CoP while having the best last CS is filled with crap and only reason to finish it was all the gear options getting to sea open up. Then RoTz could be finish in two days that isn't complex its freaking easy. That not even needing a full party for all the fights.

lots of good memories in the old system, but face it, the old grind was tedious and annoying, I agree with the majority of the people who responded, going back to the old way is insane and nothing prevents you from doing things the old way except perhaps for finding others who are willing to do it with you

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Originally Posted by Ravenmore

Then RoTz could be finish in two days that isn't complex its freaking easy. That not even needing a full party for all the fights.

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2004 called, and it said that you need to remember what the level caps were and how less people understood game mechanics. At the time, RotZ and CoP were pretty hard, and although the storyline might not have been as complex as your favorite Twilight novel, there was ten-fold the content you'll see in any other expansions to this game.

But beating RotZ with half a party? No, not when it was released.

Oh my god with awesome games like Guild Wars 2 coming out and you want to go back to 2002 in FFXI!?

Guild Wars 1 aint even that old... just play Mario 3 if you want old school.

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Originally Posted by Rohelius

[J]ust play Mario 3 if you want old school.

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I like how you still used a sequel in your example of "old school" lol....

Yeah for like a week till the strats made it out. Stop thinking it was ever hard only people that were lacking reading skills ever found the game hard. The hardest part has and will always be finding 5 to 17 people that have a funtioning brain. WoW has more complex game play then FFXI could ever dream of having. You know what the most complex thing you have in FFXI use X item at Y% thats the way 90% of people beat Airship before the nerfs and before the level cap lifting the others tank and spank it. Really have you even played anyother MMOs.

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Originally Posted by Ravenmore

Really have you even played anyother MMOs.

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I'm assuming that's a question despite the lack of a question mark, so here's the deal.

Of course I have.

And for why that question is irrelevent:

The "Final Fantasy" name implies a deep and meaningful storyline. I did NOT say that RotZ or CoP had that. Rather, I said that in comparison to MODERN expansions, those were the closest to what FF is really about.

But the truth is, content and story have continually declined in an effort to keep players playing, and now we have people who don't even REMEMBER the "old school" element, or they were the players who got so butthurt about not getting invites as lolDRG and lolDRK. Because of the long-demanded changes to improve jobs (read as: DRG and DRK are better than "party slot -1"), story got pushed aside.

If you're happy having your jobs at Lv.99 with Empy+14 gear, cheers to you!
Personally, I'd rather acquire that gear so I can make storyline battles easier; gear should help to obtain a greater goal, not be the greater goal.

The story line is there in the game, in the form of missions and quests. Once you complete the story + quests they are done for good. Some people play for that and quit soon after. Others play more for the dynamic of battle, hence gear collecting and weapon trials, pretty much the meat of the game, grinding time for items. For those who wants to adventure and exploring, there is no stopping you doing just that. The game is full of neglected areas that no one bothers to explore since it does not pertain to gear collection. Or if you incline, play as blue mage, which dictate that you must do the exploring to gather the spells. Again - I think the game now is good - it gives people options to do many things. But the current crop of new activities need adjustment badly and they need to adopt the fun, enjoyable and accessible play style.