I hate Square so much right now...

[Pixelmancer]

Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, has gone wrong since I started trying to play this game. It's taken me literally two days just to get logged in and get a character made so I could post here. It's like everything about the game was deliberately designed to be as confusing and difficult as possible.

First I made a trial account, but the download was going extremely slow and while I waited I decided that I'll probably subscribe anyway so to keep myself busy I went and bought the ultimate edition and applied my code. The download finally finishes and I can't log in. Apparently I don't have a "content ID", whatever that is. The game doesn't tell you. I log in to account management and there's nothing about a content ID anywhere. I Google it and find out that means character slots. For some reason this is the only MMO on Earth where you have to pay per character. To top that off, apparently new accounts don't come with one by default. I finally managed to get that sorted out.

Several other problems came up, but I managed to get them fixed too. Finally I try to log in to the game again and I get a pop-up saying I don't have the expansions downloaded. That's odd. Why didn't the patcher just download those after I upgraded my account? I see banners for the expansions on the right side of the menu so I click them and nothing happens. Fine, I'll just download the game again from the link I got when I bought the ultimate edition.

Two more extremely slow downloads later I still don't have the game. Square's crappy downloader corrupted it both times. Let's try Pirate Bay. My ISP throttles bit torrent, but it's still gotta be faster than square's servers. Plus it won't be corrupted. I can't believe Square is forcing me to torrent a game I already own. Finally, after no less than 4 times downloading the game I finally get the client installed. Finally I can play! Nope, 9 hours of patching on Square's unbelievably terrible servers. Screw this! I'm going to bed. I started this typically 30 minute process in the morning and it's now 11pm.

I wake up in the morning and it takes me 20+ minutes to figure out how to change my graphics settings because it isn't in any of the menus. I finally get that sorted and somehow the screen looks stretched now. I'm too tired of this and too frustrated to care. I'll just play some to relax and then talk to tech support later. Nope! Can't even do that. Apparently they chose the controls by throwing darts at a picture of a keyboard. Nothing works like it's supposed to. 'M' doesn't open the map, 'esc' doesn't open the menu. I can't even figure out how to log out so I can go Google the controls. I try to alt-tab to go look them up. I finally figure out how to log out and tab back into the game to do so, but I no longer need to because it bloody crashed from alt-tabbing.

Okay fine. I can at least go redeem that stupid beret while I figure all this out. I go look up the code and there are no instructions for using it. They don't even give you a link. I go to account management and nothing says anything about item redemption so once again I'm back to Googling something I shouldn't have to. Finally figure out how to do that and apparently I have to go talk to some moogle to get my beret. It doesn't mention where the moggle is and it's not on the map. I run around for almost half an hour trying to find it before I realize it's almost noon already.

Then I came here because if I spend one more minute in that torture device you call a game I'm going to headbutt my monitor. If things don't improve dramatically by tomorrow I'm canceling my subscription. I've already given you far more chances than you deserve.

PS: And I can't even complain because while I was typing this the forum logged me out. #%@& you too Square!

[Daniel_Hatcher]

lol, these are pretty amateur errors on your part, well bar the slow downloading/corrupt game.

[Scribble]

A wild account management appears! You are defeated.

Your rant is relevant, but you have to remember that this game is over 10 years old. It performs exactly how you would expect it to when you consider that fact.

Maybe no one informed you that XI was about grind. If you had approached your install and setup like it was some sort of epic quest then you might have appreciated it more. That said, I really can't blame you for throwing in the towel. SE really doesn't make it easy to install and navigate through the process if you're already used to current games that do.

[Mirage]

Some points are valid. The game is very clunky by today's standards. However, it isn't a game of "today". Having separate configuration utilities that couldn't change the game's settings while the game was running wasn't too uncommon around the beginning of the millenium, for example. The game controls are very unusual, but the game's manual explain them to you, if you read it. I think there should be a digital manual even if you downloaded it.

[Pixelmancer]

I'm doing a lot better now. Everything is (mostly) working and I found a linkshell to answer my newbie questions. I still think the game is in dire need of updating though. How did these problems last a decade without being patched?

A wild account management appears! You are defeated.

Your rant is relevant, but you have to remember that this game is over 10 years old. It performs exactly how you would expect it to when you consider that fact.

The point of an MMO is that they patch. That's supposed to be what the subscription pays for. And for the record documentation, labeling things consistently and such did exist 10 years ago. When you e-mail someone a code the e-mail should tell them where to enter it. When the game uses a certain name for something in account management then account management should use the same name. Neither English or common sense were invented less than a decade ago.

lol, these are pretty amateur errors on your part, well bar the slow downloading/corrupt game.

Expecting it to work like the dozens of other MMOs i've played is an amateur mistake?

[SMD111]

I still think the game is in dire need of updating though. How did these problems last a decade without being patched?

agreed
because thay haven't fixed them

The point of an MMO is that they patch. That's supposed to be what the subscription pays for. And for the record documentation, labeling things consistently and such did exist 10 years ago. When you e-mail someone a code the e-mail should tell them where to enter it. When the game uses a certain name for something in account management then account management should use the same name. Neither English or common sense were invented less than a decade ago.

agreed

Expecting it to work like the dozens of other MMOs i've played is an amateur mistake?

because you are an amateur when it comes to FFXI(even if your not when it comes to other MMO'S)

[Daniel_Hatcher]

I'm doing a lot better now. Everything is (mostly) working and I found a linkshell to answer my newbie questions. I still think the game is in dire need of updating though. How did these problems last a decade without being patched?


The point of an MMO is that they patch. That's supposed to be what the subscription pays for. And for the record documentation, labeling things consistently and such did exist 10 years ago. When you e-mail someone a code the e-mail should tell them where to enter it. When the game uses a certain name for something in account management then account management should use the same name. Neither English or common sense were invented less than a decade ago.


Expecting it to work like the dozens of other MMOs i've played is an amateur mistake?

Newer MMO's, FFXI was one of the first and was made around a PS2, not like all the others a PC.

PS. Don't expect everything to work as everything else does, it's why they add instruction booklets.

[Psxpert2011]

because you are an amateur when it comes to FFXI(even if your not when it comes to other MMO'S)

I "loled" at this thread so hard!

[Komori]

I can't believe people are actually defending Square neglecting to upgrade the game :< Nothing has been upgraded because our subscription pays for another game because it failed to make it's own money.

[SMD111]

I hope this isn't you SMD111:

it is
i had to start from scratch just over a year ago(after leaving the game after i completed WotG not long after it first came out) plus i have been vary sick so i have not played that much in the last 6 months

not to mention i have not updated this in awhile