Love it or Hate it: 3 things about FFXI

[Kensagaku]

It's hard to narrow things down so much, but if I had to pick three things...


To love:

1) BLU! One of the most versatile jobs you'll ever find anywhere, given a proper gear setup and such. BLU was my second job to level, right along with DRG back during the "lolDRG" days. Never got a party but once in a blue moon, but I never faltered, and reached 75! Since then, it's gotten better, and I've been working hard to be one of those BLUs that can accomplish almost anything. Draylo's solo of both ACP and MKD storyline bosses still inspires me to work harder. D:

2) In-game versatility - between the number of jobs we can play as well as the unique abilities and spells each come with, I'm rarely at a loss for interest in a job. BRD got a bit annoying as I fell into casting Double March/Haste/Cure IV and nothing else, but for the most part all of my jobs I've leveled - 12 currently - have all been very engaging in their own ways.

3) Storylines! I fell in love with CoP and WoTG (the latter moreso!) and ToAU was amazing as well. Abyssea felt lackluster in its storyline, unfortunately, but for the most part, I love the adventure that accompanies the face-smashing that we do on a daily basis. :3


To Hate:

1) Spikes. I hate you spike spells, you are the bane of my fast-attack jobs like NIN and THF. Shock spikes go off and bam, I'm taking 3-6 hits of spikes to the face, stunned, and as soon as I'm unstunned I'm already attacking again. Memories of Turul raping me with 300/hit shock spikes still haunts me to this day.

Blaze spikes get some leeway, they only hurt.

2) Head-in-the-sand players. By this I mean those who assume that they know everything, and that when you offer advice they tell you off or say "my way works better still" despite you proving to them, before their eyes, that it's not. I'm not saying you have to change your whole style of playing, merely offering a more effective alternative, geez. x_x

3) Full Aurore/Teal players. Full Perle at least is a reasonable start, especially with the haste bonus, but full aurore has better options that you can get pretty easily. Same with full teal; most of the pieces are situational. And if you're wielding a level 20 weapon at the same time... I'm going to glare at you until your brains melt. D:<

...I've run into a number of these, if you can't tell.

[Leonlionheart]

part of the rpg game play is the story, plus you get gil. and a flag. but the stories are pretty good in the game.
Anway just wanted to inform you since you seem to be of the fps crowd.

Don't play FPS's. Play RPG's for the looooooooooot. (Diablo II crowd maybe).

The flag doubles Conquest Points, which are essentially useless now other than for Voiddwatch stuff. Do not care about it, and the gil is minuscule for the amount of effort, can make 26 times as much in the amount of time it would take to get rank 6 to 10. I'm not even exaggerating either.

[Olor]

The flag doubles Conquest Points, which are essentially useless now other than for Voiddwatch stuff. Do not care about it, and the gil is minuscule for the amount of effort, can make 26 times as much in the amount of time it would take to get rank 6 to 10. I'm not even exaggerating either.

You're actually probably underestimating.

[Meyi]

What I love:

1. Vana'diel is a world, not a game. There are so many intricate stories unfolding at once, yet they all weave in and correlate to one another at some point. I love how there is so much historical background and how each mission or quest brings us a step closer to understanding the mysteries around us. The game even has seasons, moon phases, and days of the week. I love the Zilart and the Kuluu and I love the five races we can play. So much creativity was placed into this game.

2. Use of a controller and game UI. I love the fact that I can hook up my Play Station controller and play the game as if it were a game, not a hand cramp exercise. I never got into other MMOs for the very reason of control mechanisms. I loathe using the mouse and using keyboard buttons isn't comfortable either. While it seems I'm the only person who enjoys FFXI's UI, I like how my screen isn't cluttered with three or four marco bars, the chat is very easy to access (just start typing rather than having to click it every time), and over all, the screen is free of clutter. There are bare essentials, and menus are easy to get to.

3. Knowledge. I've learned a lot from this game. So many definitions, such as sabots or pantaloons, or folklore, like Medusa and Morrigan. Although this information is found on the wiki, the game including real life elements has helped me learn about them.

What I hate:

1. Travel time. I realize that we have many ways to quickly teleport to places, such as Abyssea maws, Outposts, Teleports, Airships, and sometimes Moogles, but when such options aren't available (like a lower level character), it can be frustrating getting from point A to point B. If I'm traveling somewhere as a one way trip, then it's no big deal. But when I have to go to Selbina, then Bastok Markets, then Korroloka, then Bastok Markets, then Selbina, then Castle Oztroja, and back to Bastok, I do feel a little irritated. Thankfully time spent in this game traveling and waiting have been severely reduced so I can't complain too much, but it's still something that can add up quickly while doing missions and quests.

2. Lots of leg work, little reward. I love cutscenes and I love learning about Vana'diel, but I don't like having to go half way across Vana'diel each time I need to talk to a character involved in whatever mission or quest I'm on. Also including here are the awful "wait until Japanese midnight"s, and prerequisite quests.

3. Being forced to work with others. When I play I want to have fun. Being forced to play with others when I don't necessarily want to is not what I call fun. I enjoy the chat aspect of the game, such as communicating with friends while I'm off doing my own thing. I dislike wasting other people's time and I dislike having my time wasted. I don't mind helping someone, especially if they're a friend, as long as they have all of the jobs needed and pre-leg work completed... but it seems this is rarely the case. It's also annoying shouting for hours on end trying to get help with no help in sight. :<

Thankfully Square Enix has moved away from the forced mentality and has been allowing us to solo more and more things. If I want to go and party with friends, then great! But some times I just want to be left alone while also accomplishing a goal.

[Tamoa]

To Hate:

1) Spikes. I hate you spike spells, you are the bane of my fast-attack jobs like NIN and THF. Shock spikes go off and bam, I'm taking 3-6 hits of spikes to the face, stunned, and as soon as I'm unstunned I'm already attacking again. Memories of Turul raping me with 300/hit shock spikes still haunts me to this day.

Blaze spikes get some leeway, they only hurt.

Omg.. Doing Briareus right now, and that KI nm, Grandgousier... His shock spikes... HAAAAATE!!!

- get 100 tp
- try to ws, stunned
- get unstunned, another attack round goes off
- try to ws, stunned again
- get unstunned, and so on and so forth. UGH!

Blaze Spikes makes the fight noisy!

[Kensagaku]

Omg.. Doing Briareus right now, and that KI nm, Grandgousier... His shock spikes... HAAAAATE!!!

- get 100 tp
- try to ws, stunned
- get unstunned, another attack round goes off
- try to ws, stunned again
- get unstunned, and so on and so forth. UGH!

Blaze Spikes makes the fight noisy!

Exactly! You know my pain. ;~;

This is why I always go /DNC soloing on NIN or bring a BLM and stun that dang roar. Stupid spikes...

[idx1]

1. I love how my finger-sized ring takes up the same space as my 250lb. greatsword.
2. I love how RDM the master enfeebler's Poison 2 is 10/HP a tick and Disseverment poison is 20+ HP a tick +~1000 initial damage.
3. I love how after 5 years of adventuring the world and being able to take down monsters twenty times my size, I find it impossible to be able to jump or climb any ledges taller than 3 feet high, or 5 feet long.

Things I hate.

1. I hate how RDM has a flower theme going on - Death Blossom /jobemote flaming red roses, etc. Pretty, uh, GAY.
2. I hate how RDM has throwing skill but they can't learn to throw a frickin' rock, a PEBBLE. It's a game breaker, obviously.
3. I hate how it's so hard to quit due to the fact of spending much time and money on this game and the relationships that have been made.

[DerianX]

Going to leave out the upcoming billing system changes (which would easily top my hate list) and stick with in-game content for these lists.

Love

1) The feeling you get when you finally achieve difficult goals that you have set.
One day after about two years in a Dynamis shell we were doing a Dynamis - Xarcabard run. Suddenly the elusive Duelist's Chapeau appears in the treasure pool. Myself and a few others are eligible to lot (based on linkshell rules). After the other eligible members cast their lots the high lot was a 994. I was certain that I would have to wait for another to drop but cast my lot anyways... a 997. My friends on voice chat burst into cheers. It was an awesome feeling.
Sadly there are fewer and fewer moments like this (especially with the trend toward making everything so easy).

2) The variety of content.
Despite Abyssea dominating the current endgame scene, activities like Dynamis, Limbus, Assault, Sea, Sky, etc. still serve some purpose (although convincing two other people to do assault/salvage can often be more of a challenge than the event content itself).

3) Variety of gameplay mechanics available when you have multiple jobs at your disposal.
Tired of healing? Change and go hit stuff! Tired of hitting stuff? Change and nuke the crap of of stuff! Tired of nuking? Change and go tank stuff!

Hate

1) "Event Skipped"
Participate in campaign? OK! Join a UnioEVENT SKIPPED! Join a UnEVENT SKIPPED! Join a Union. Purchase Instant ReraEVENT SKIPPED! Purchase InsEVENT SKIPPED! PurchEVENT SKIPPED! Die to horde of mobs. Campaign ends. Homepoint because nobody would raise you.

2) Character model blinking.
It's easier to raise people than cure them anyways...

3) The use of redundancy as a method of accomplishment.
Killing 700 easy prey mobs isn't challenging, it's tedious.

[Reiterpallasch]

The main thing I hate is

2) Character model blinking.
It's easier to raise people than cure them anyways...

bad mages.

[Zyla420]

<3
1. storylines - i found 90% of the storylines in the game just totally awesome. this is by far the rarest quality to find in any mmo, and in this aspect SE did an amazing job. (i say this about all the content pre-add-ons)

2. the job system - the ability to level every job i want to play on the same character is wonderful, inventory intensive yes, but made of awesome all the same

3. the community - the playerbase in this game is more close knitted than in any mmo i've ever played.

</3
1. paralyze - this is the one status i hate more than anything, i even lost a toolbag once because i didn't notice i was paralyzed

2. Too far away! - any melee knows what i'm talking about, i shouldn't even need to say more. losing tp cause of this is bullshit.

3. time sinks = difficulty - this should never have been an issue, but nearly everything worthwhile in this game isn't actually "hard to get". it merely requires redundant amounts of time invested. SE get a clue, ppl have lives and shit, make shit difficult to kill, not arbitrarily time consuming from needing to kill x NM x amount of times for x amount of items.