Remembering Final Fantasy XIV Version 1.0 (Sept. 21st - Nov. 11th)

While the final save won't occur for a month and the game servers shutting down just ten days later, there have been good times and bad times had by all. It's no secret that the game is getting reworked from the ground up due to the shortcomings of this version. So I thought I would take it upon myself to create a thread in which ppl can reflect on their experiences here in Eorzea:

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I remember starting back in Oct. 2010 hearing about just how bad this game was and how it wasn't even worth looking into. Those same ppl were correct as the 5-10 seconds it took to confirm just about anything including the user interface and even traveling across Eorzea made the current version nearly unplayable. There was even a point where it seemed like EVERY monster used some sort of ranged attack to start things off, and it was at this moment that I wouldn't pay attention to the game for little more than days at a time.

Things would get progressively better as the months passed, from tweaks to the way characters loaded between certain portions of the cities to changing the size of certain monsters to help make them more unique. While these additions were welcome, they paled in comparison to the changes that would occur from 1.18 on under the reign of a new producer. I could list my favorites such as the additions of auto-attack, raids, and jobs, but I don't wanna take up much more of anyone's time (I mean, this might be considered tl;dr anyways lol).

While these changes were occurring, we learned on October 14th, 2011 that the current version couldn't be made into what our producer ultimately wanted the game to become. Ever since then, we have been chomping at the bit waiting for more and more details about what was initially announced as 2.0 and later became known as A Realm Reborn. I don't know what lies ahead in the coming days for the current version, but it's almost time for it to come to a close as we witness a realm reborn.

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I tried to keep that as short as possible (sorry again if I didn't), but now I ask each and every one of you: What has been your most/least enjoyable experiences here in Eorzea? And also: What will you remember most about the current version as we head into A Realm Reborn? Everyone is welcome to stop by and offer their recollections of the current version.

<--enlists the help of a few more Blacksmiths to erect the biggest monument so that everyone's comments can be inscribed onto it.

I prefer an effigy over a monument. Light 'er up and watch it burn.

I enjoyed my time in 1.0, but I'm eagerly awaiting 2.0, and I won't be looking back.

I really have nothing good to say about FFXIV 1.0 until Yoshi-P's team took over. Cannot wait for 2.0 so I can put this horribly built, unoptimized piece of shit behind me.

Music is the only exception obviously.

I remember posting tons of speculation back in the day before Alpha on the Eorzapedia forums, thinking how the game might be. When I did eventually get into Alpha I could barely run it, and I remembered just being lost right from the start. When I finally found my way through things I could tell there were issues, but it seemed like there was room for improvement; I could see the potential.

Sadly that potential never really came through. The fatigue system, market wards, manual 'auto' attack, mob pathing, lack of travel methods, unconventional classes, physical levels, convoluted user-interface....all of it together made for an experience not unlike eating glass. I really wanted to see it come together and slowly it improved, but it was obvious what Yoshida was handed couldn't be saved.

Despite all that I still enjoyed Final Fantasy XIV and will miss how it is today, but really its for the better. There was a magic the game had that just kept calling me back time and time again, and each time I came back I would get swept away in the graphical details, animations, and music.

I'm really looking forward to A Realm Reborn like many others, however I will never forget Final Fantasy XIV and the friendships I made along the way. Funny how much of the speculation we made in those early alpha days eventually made its way into FFXIV and ARR.

I remember trying to teach someone the combat system when they joined a few days after me...

problem I was doing it while I was telling him and ended up hitting a dodo which was greatly higher level'd...yeah I got torn a new one...

oh and when they had aggro'ing goobbu's that spits at you across the zone....good times

I'll sorely miss the global community when 2.0 launches was nice being able to log in any time of the day and always see people playing.

I'm excited for 2.0, but I want to get my hands on it before I get too pumped up.

I'm going to miss seeing Dalamud looming over us like a bad rerun of majora's mask, and definitely will always reflect on my 1.xx memories. It's funny, what 1.0 has done for me is what XI did for me coming to XIV..

I have played this game since alpha. It was really a shabby affair at launch, for the reasons cited above.
What do I look back upon, fondly? The sights, the first successes with the newer content, leveling my 5 combat jobs to 50 basically solo. And killing that roseling that killed me so many times outside Camp Skull Valley.
Riding the ferry for the first time to Thanalan, arriving in The Black Shroud for the first time. Saving a lower level char from death with cure and stone skin.
Modest achievements, but I'll miss them.

To add to my own post (not gonna edit it), the very first time I arrived in Mor Dhona. It felt like such an accomplishment getting there after having to duck and dodge a bunch of antelope in Camp Ever Lakes.