WARNING - New Players or Players thinking of coming back - Consider this first.

[Ahmant]

lol sounds like high school xD

[Sappho]

I've tried putting stuff up in /seacom. Does not help if no one reads it. Just because it worked for you once, does not mean it works. Hell, people don't even read /seacoms when they invite you for EXP.

Obvious troll is obvious.

[Deifact]

I am also a fairly old player, having played for 6 or so years now on and off.

I have recently returned to the game, am trying a few of my low level jobs, and I can't find a group anywhere.
To me it feels like abyssea just ruined this game, I admit I have taken advantage of it to powerlevel jobs, but it isn't fun and rewarding like the game used to be.

Leveling up used to be enjoyable, there was a semi set path of area's to level in, dunes -> qufim -> kazham -> garliage citadel -> crawlers nest so on and so forth, which always made leveling a new job enjoyable, you would return to certain area's that hold fond memories of late night partying, group wipe outs and joking around with your new found friends.

Now the game just feels like book burn until you can go to abyssea -> go to abyssea level to max -> cry over the death of FFXI.

[Sappho]

I am also a fairly old player, having played for 6 or so years now on and off.

I have recently returned to the game, am trying a few of my low level jobs, and I can't find a group anywhere.
To me it feels like abyssea just ruined this game, I admit I have taken advantage of it to powerlevel jobs, but it isn't fun and rewarding like the game used to be.

Leveling up used to be enjoyable, there was a semi set path of area's to level in, dunes -> qufim -> kazham -> garliage citadel -> crawlers nest so on and so forth, which always made leveling a new job enjoyable, you would return to certain area's that hold fond memories of late night partying, group wipe outs and joking around with your new found friends.

Now the game just feels like book burn until you can go to abyssea -> go to abyssea level to max -> cry over the death of FFXI.

I feel your pain, brother. I've just come back from a two year break and I shed tears of blood when I found that Valkurm & Qufim were totally empty of parties. But I also discovered that leveling solo is LOL-so-easy-LOL. I did book burn about 5 levels on Bard, but other than that, I solo-leveled every single job to 30 in a few days.

There are entire linkshells out there with an "old fashioned" way of doing things. They form parties and do COP and Rank Missions. Hopefully your server has 1 or 2 of those. Find them and enjoy the nostalgia of wiping in the Dunes or hiding from Ghouls at night in Qufim.

[OgreBattle]

I am also a fairly old player, having played for 6 or so years now on and off.

I have recently returned to the game, am trying a few of my low level jobs, and I can't find a group anywhere.
To me it feels like abyssea just ruined this game, I admit I have taken advantage of it to powerlevel jobs, but it isn't fun and rewarding like the game used to be.

Leveling up used to be enjoyable, there was a semi set path of area's to level in, dunes -> qufim -> kazham -> garliage citadel -> crawlers nest so on and so forth, which always made leveling a new job enjoyable, you would return to certain area's that hold fond memories of late night partying, group wipe outs and joking around with your new found friends.

Now the game just feels like book burn until you can go to abyssea -> go to abyssea level to max -> cry over the death of FFXI.

It was just a grind, half of it was sitting around with a '!' over your head if you weren't a bard or whn. You've already done it dozens of times. Get to the content you've never experienced, enjoy that.

Go through the story content solo or with a duo, enjoy that. Wander into a part of the game you've NEVER exp'd at, solo through it, enjoy the new view! Yes, some things are gone, but lots of new options open.

I leveled 5-18 entirely in Fort Ghelsba. I battled the orcs through their dungeon and defeated their named commanders. This was only possible because of the higher rate of exp gain and other benefits like regen when under 50% health. It didn't feel like a grind because I was making progress through a dungeon, not camping a single square. For my next low level job I look forward to exploring the Yagudo and Quadav dungeons.

The old routine is gone, now you have the freedom to go wherever you want.

[Scribble]

The game still allows you to choose between traditional grouping, bookburning or abyssea. The only thing that would stop you from forming a traditional group is the willingness of other players in your group. This really isn't a 'abyssea killed ffxi' problem as much as a 'players want quick and easy exp' problem. Can't really justify blaming the game for this.

[Ahmant]

alright alright i think i'm understanding what's going on here...So i'm a new player, where would i want to go if i wanted to play in areas that aren't empty?

[Komori]

Port Jeuno to shout and make a traditional party... When I wanted to level my SCH from 20 to 30. I just sat in Port Jeuno and shouted to make a Qufim Party; you would be surprised how many people will jump on board if you make it known that you would like to level in the old traditional way, even those that burn in abyssea on occassion want some nostalgia. If someone really wanted to do a CN Party (Crawler's), I might would even gear my NIN to go and just enjoy old-school style.

Thing is, I never see anyone; including the "abyssearuinedthis" people ever try and do something as simple as shout to form a group. And so they get no sympathy for me, and obviously book burning, soloing or leeching doesn't hurt your pride too bad if your not making even the easiest of efforts to try and get back to what you love.

[Sappho]

Go through the story content solo or with a duo, enjoy that. Wander into a part of the game you've NEVER exp'd at, solo through it, enjoy the new view! Yes, some things are gone, but lots of new options open.

OgreBattle makes an excellent point.

I had never been to some zones and it is nice to have the freedom to explore them solo without fear of instant death lurkiing around every corner.

[Beacon]

I think most games in general are played by either of two distinct types of people: Those who like to mingle and those who don't. Personally I like how the old Final Fantasy games worked, kind of soloing all the way through with no actual human interaction and everything was simple and easy. With MMORPG this changed drastically. From having a firm and stable storyline, you now get parties, chat rooms and actual people interrupting you while playing. I was actually trying to play the game back in 2008, it was an old game even then. But I am not really sure how old it is. I remember that I felt frightened by the huge amount of players strolling around (alot of them), and when I bashed away in dungeons I died. Later I found out that I could just ignore people, and more later on, as of now, when I had reengaged with the game after three years, I now always check NPC's before I attack them. Some players are built for soloing, and its quite possible. I searched for people in my area that was also looking for a group and there was actually someone at my own level. Did I invite them? No. Because I don't want to engage with people. I am playing a game. Not making friends. Am I the only one that looks at this game from a relaxed position of casual and unimportant play? I have none to impress and only my own need for a bit of unintellectual computerinteraction to fullfill. Amen.