Why did you start playing FFXI?

[Bloomingodsname]

I blame my husband lol
he played all the FF games when growing up - I had nvr known FF even existed til I met him...he had nvr gotten to play XI but had always wanted to - he started playing after ordering the game (it didn't come on 360 around here) I watched him play for 2wks...then started playing some on his character liked the game - created my own character on his profile...ended up becoming addicted so we got a PC copy...that was June 2008 I've been (for the most part) playing ever since ^-^

[Elysianne]

I started playing in 07 due to a roomie and her boyfriend that played. I'd never really played more than a few games on my old nes and got into Baldur's Gate when it had come out. FFXI kinda sucked me in. I enjoy the interaction with people and its proved to be a good distraction when I should be doing homework. D:

[SHARP-OAK]

i remember checking forums for news of starcraft 2, and ran accross a post about ffxi. I had heard about it but couldnt imagine how they would make it a mmo, but i needed something new to play , anyway i picked it up tried it out and kicked Starcraft to the curb permanently

[Dauntless]

I got hurt and had the trial in an xbox magazine... Now I'm an addict.

Essentially this.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Boredom...

[Starr]

because I wanted to be able to claim I had played ALL FF in the numbered series, if it were just called FF online I wouldn't have touched it. I quit that idea when FFXIII and FFXIV came out though

[Rocman]

I also was a big socom and socom 2 player, i got the hdd and ffxi came with it so i tried it and have been hooked ever since. I am excited for socom 4 too though!

[Darkless]

i'm a final fantasy fan, i started playing online games around 2000 and in 2004 i bought ffxi and until now i'm playing it :P , unlike other games in ffxi each job have it own fun way of playing i got mnk sam thf war pld nin rdm blu brd @ 90 , alot of my friends ask me what's your main job , i end up saying i dont have main job , i like all my jobs , front line , back line , support , tanking , puller and sometime i dd on brd :P

[Nattack]

the mmo craze was just starting to open the flood gates, i liked other ff's, was young and stupid.

i still, for reasons not even i know, love this game. with no logical reason. i would rather play an mmo with a cyberpunk theme.

[Harmless]

Ah this thread brings back some memories... I started playing FFXI in I think 2003? Not sure exactly of the year but I do remember the release of Chains of Promathia (2004?) Anyways, I was like 21-22 working full time at Philips Electronics factory. We would all get off work around 11 PM and then go to the bar, get drunk chat some shit and then go home. This is the part where I become unpopular on the forums...

I had about 3 friends at work that talked about FFXI all the time. I had never played through a FF game (though I remember playing VII or VIII for all of 5 minutes) so I would give my buddies a hard time about playing it. I thought they sounded like nerds being so "obsessed" with a video game. Well eventually they tried to get me to play it and although I resisted, I'll admit I was a little curious about what made this game so great. One night at the bar one of the guys made an offer that made me laugh. He said "Tell ya what, you go buy the game and try it for a week. If you don't like it I'll give you the money the game costs". I said ya sure but had no intention of taking up his offer. That weekend I was at Walmart (Inorite?) looking for new game to feed my addiction. At the time I played a lot of GTA, MGS, The Getaway... stuff like that, and spotted a copy of FFXI for PC in a box that looked as if it had bought, torn open and returned to the store (not very inspiring). It was only $20 so I said F it and bought it. This is the part where I redeem myself slightly...

Fast forward 8-9 years... I'm 10x more addicted to the game than they ever were. Of the 3 friends that got me started, 1 has quit but plays 14 a little bit, 1 only logs on to chat with his LS and the other thinks that Campaign is the only event in all of Vanadiel. The factory we worked at has since been sent to Mexico, I've started and finished college, now have 3 kids and own a Dj company. Everything in my life has changed except my love of this game. Since then I have bought every FF title that has been released (with the exception of 14) and while they were all great games, none of them have been finished thanks to FFXI lol. I even went back and bought as many of the older titles as I could find. Needless to say, my friend never had to pay me that $20 although he stops by every now and again to have a beer and chat about the game.


TL;DR
The "nerds" that got me started on FFXI have been surpassed in "nerd-dome"... by the guy "too cool for FFXI"