Why did you choose FFXI.

Many times on these forums we interact with people we do not know. So this thread is a small stepping stone to getting to know each other based on 1 simple question.

Why did you decide to play FFXI. What was your reason for coming to this game to begin with?

This is not a debate but in order to shed some light to the DEV TEAM and community reps about our concerns, I believe this is the time they should take a closer look and see what kind of community they have in front of them.

This is also a good way to understand each other and get to know the person on the other side of the screen you interact with on a daily basis.

Example

I grew up playing games since commodore came out. As Nintendo was released I had fun playing games like Super Mario but my interest and hunger to play something with more challenge I found in Final Fantasy Games.

I came to FFXI because I wanted to play a game that was time consuming and challenging.

I enjoyed Final Fantasy VI-X as well as several other Squaresoft games such as Super Mario RPG and FFXI was something that felt exciting and new when it came out.

I wanted one game that I could play for the rest of my life ff Xi was that game

You're back?

Been a fan since Final Fantasy. After playing Final Fantasy II (IV) on the SNES with a few of my better friends, I was completely hooked. Once FFXI was released, those same friends pulled me into it. I actually own every Final Fantasy title save XIV, as well as many of the spin-offs. However by bros are trying to get me to jump over, but I still have my bucket list on XI, so even though there on XIV, I'm gonna stay on XI for a while longer. I still feel that Final Fantasy XI should have just been Final Fantasy Online, and left the roman numeral to the off-line series, but I guess that's something entirely different. Still think the GBA version of FFIV is the best overall.
So in short, I chose XI for my friends but stayed for me.

In January 2005, I was browsing in Walmart one day through the PC games section and there was this shiny gold box that kept catching my eye, (buried beneath some other titles at the bottom), so after a minute I picked it up. We had just gotten a new PC and I didn't have anything to play on it. I had no idea what an MMO was or that you had to pay to play, but I wanted to give it a shot.

After I came home and realized I needed a credit/debit card to pay (didn't have one) and also a new graphics card (didn't have that either), I almost took it back. Almost...

I had recently joined the MMORPG world through Everquest Online Adventures on the PS2 and i never felt so much immersion in my gaming life. Unfortunately i had to stop playing because back then i only had dial-up and costs were prohibitive.

Then i saw the first FFXI trailer and knew that would be the game i would play forever. I had ADSL by 2004 when i got it for PC and everything was a huge experience for me.

lol Commodore noob.

I was playing games since pong first appeared in my local ice rink.

Played the Spectrum (which I believe sort of missed the US?)
Onto the Commodore of course. No offence to the OP because it's the one I have the fondest memories of.
The SNES was the one I probably played the most before the PC though. And is ultimately the reason I play FFXI to this day.

Because - I played FFVI(III) on the SNES. And every one after it on Playstation > PC > 360.
And then the earlier ones too on re-releases on hand helds and the Playstation in the UK.

Didn't play this one (FFXI) till a couple of years after JP release due to it not getting release in the UK till then.

I came for the name.

I stayed for the large amount of content, the attainable goals, and some of the coolest people I've ever met.

I left for the lack of relevant content, lack of worthwhile goals (because everything is outdated monthly), and the massive exodus.

EDIT:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daemon

in order to shed some light to the DEV TEAM and community reps about our concerns, I believe this is the time they should take a closer look and see what kind of community they have in front of them.

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You're speaking the wrong language if you think anyone will read it.

I was never into FF games, the only one I played from start to finish was FFX. It had a really good story to it so I wanted to see it through. But what annoyed me about all FF games was the turn based battle sequence, I hated it. I much preferred other games like Terranigma, Illusion of Time, and my most favourite of all was the Seiken Densetsu series and Legend of Mana as they had both a good story to them and they didn't use that horrible turn based battle sequence. FFXI being the first MMORPG I heard about sounded like it not only would have an awesome story to it being played by many players but wouldn't include the turn based fighting, and that sparked an interest in me. I waited ages for an EU version to come out whilst many online friends I had were already playing the US version, and the more they told me about FFXI the more I wanted to be playing it with them already. I wasn't disappointed when it released, but 2 years later RMT were overpopulating our server 3 to 1 and there was way too much linkshell drama that I left the game for 7 years, and when I came back remembering what a challenge it used to be and how much fun I had in its early days I wasn't sure what to make of the new book system and Abyssea. Sounded great at the start but then people stopped exploring in small parties and started spamming books in Gusgen and Abyssea, it's lost its sparkle so I'm a bit torn between this and FFXIV since this game is lacking players and activity whilst FFXIV is lacking content and challenge.

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.