[[ Why do we miss the old FFXI community ]] What made it special ??

[Grogin]

FFXI required party play from a very early level. It required parties not only to finish quests and missions, but just to level your character. Through that process you were able to meet a lot of people. Most people were average and then some you hated and some you really like. However, by the sheer volume of people you were forced to interact with, most people found a community within the game that they could belong to. In games where leveling and questing do not require a party (or many parties) until end game, communities form around players having similar end game goals, not players with similar interests and personalities like in FFXI. Thus the sense of "community" is completely different. Games where leveling is easier, in my opinion, create very goal oriented communities, while games like FFXI and the original Everquest create experience and personality oriented communities

[Argent_Wings]

This thread is hilarious. Here is what I remember from FF11, as a MNK before MNK was popular:

1.) Being invited to groups as a last resort because 80% of the leveling experience was crabs and EVERYONE wanted Distortion SC for easy kills.
2.) RDM, BLM and BRD got pushed to the front of the line for any and all content. Because bosses like Kirin were lvl 90 when the cap was still 75 and had ridiculous amounts of defense and evasion. Burst damage was the way to go(LOL@Chi Blasting in full MND).
3.) NIN was a blink tank. Why? Because the NA community followed JP methods like they were gospel and god forbid WHMs actually have to do their jobs.
4.) RDMs, BLMs and BLUs acting like divas because they could form their own burn parties if conventional groups didn't want to conform to their preferred methods of efficiency.
5.) Pack sniffers, everywhere. HNMs spawning purple(claimed)as a result and giving way to attempts at MPKing the claimers because everyone rages when they don't win.
6.) Being expected to "return" raid gear that you participated in obtaining if you decided to retire from an LS for whatever reason. There's a difference between being loaned something that was there before you arrived and giving back something you put in the hours to acquire.

FF11 was FULL of class prejudices that remained strong from Zilart all the way up to Aht Urghan(when I left). I don't know if it got better in WotG but considering how many FF14 players are former 11 players, I somehow doubt it. There's also the prevailing issue I see where NA players idolize the JP/KR method of doing things and so they go at each other like know-it-alls despite the fact that none of them choose to figure out anything for themselves. I don't know what version of FF11 some of you were playing, but someone should have told me it came in 2 variations like Pokemon cause I guess I got the wrong one.

and no doubt, it's everything this community is slowly becoming when I watch diva bardtards here defend their arrogant behavior and absolute need for 100% success rates in any and all groups they're apart of. If anything, it stands to become worse here as people AREN'T forced to depend on each other as much so the incentive to be on one's best behavior has been removed. So much for hoping FFXIV would bring in new blood instead of the same exact people I got tired of dealing with in 11.

[Jacosta]

XI's community was great simply because the content of the game was so impossible to do on your own and forming a group to complete said content typically took hours on its own. This resulted in people being much more helpful and tolerant as they couldn't quickly leave and find another group immediately.

The content and features of the game forced the community to work together. Sure it had its bad apples, but they were much fewer and farther between simply due to the fact that if they acted out and ruined a party, they weren't just wasting everyone else's time, but a significant amount of their own as well.

Also, you could /slap people who got out of line.

This times 100!!!

[Peprika]

ff11'S Old school gameplay would definetly work in this generation, mainly because its much different and will give players back the sense of adventure and accomplishment, somthing that we have been missing out on, over the past 7 years.

[Orsnoire]

ff11'S Old school gameplay would definetly work in this generation, mainly because its much different and will give players back the sense of adventure and accomplishment, somthing that we have been missing out on, over the past 7 years.

Rose-colored nostalgia at its finest.

[LobsterBisque]

I miss kicking the loldrg from the party because a warrior is LFP

I miss trash talking DDs because they don't have a SH/Haub

I miss losing claims to RMT bots

I miss going entire nights without getting an exp party

I miss having to level certain jobs to progress (CoP) because some jobs weren't viable.

I miss SE showing class balance by overnerfing (rng) or overbuffing (2-handers)

I miss having to solo on BLM after ToAU came out because no one would invite one.

I miss barrens chat in Jeuno...oh wait we still have that!

I miss parties not being formed because there was no rdm or brd.

I miss it taking 30-45 minutes to get ppl together to do anything, "hang on I need to go to my MH"

I mean tbh I loved the game but I don't have rose-colored hypno-goggles like some ppl

[Teroril]

I'll add a little bit of spice to this thread.

The early WoW community (during vanilla) was a better community as well. Maybe not on par with how the FFXI community is described here (due to the heavy emphasis on grouping to even level in FFXI at that time). But, I think there is wisdom to garner from comparing those two games in their respective 'golden ages' in terms of community. I think we could discover what game mechanics and design decicions has the biggest impact, in terms of encouraging and enforcing a good community.

[Machazareel]

This thread is hilarious. Here is what I remember from FF11, as a MNK before MNK was popular:


3.) NIN was a blink tank. Why? Because the NA community followed JP methods like they were gospel and god forbid WHMs actually have to do their jobs.

Nin was a blink tank because it was amazing at performing that role. Ended up being my favorite class to play, pushing it to its limits in tanking stuff that "NINs can't tank" and setting up to be a fantastic merit point DD, only beaten by Ridill wars and BB monks. I *loved* playing nin.

[Andrien]

You know you've done it.

[ArkhamNative]

ff11'S Old school gameplay would definitely work in this generation, mainly because its much different and will give players back the sense of adventure and accomplishment, something that we have been missing out on, over the past 7 years.

It depends on what definition of "works"/success you use. Back then (years before WoW) there was less "saturation" (competition) so a lot was new. The newness can keep people playing through the grind until they learn enough about the world to stay interested.

Nowadays, releasing an FFXI-style grinder would be like putting a plate of vegetable snacks next to a bowl of candy at Halloween. Everyone else's MMO is offering quick-to-endgame and mega fights (free candy!). There would be very few to eat the veggies. That veggie plate MMO would probably have to be able to succeed with only a few hundred thousand players worldwide, like EVE and (now) FFXI. Maybe they would be better community, tho (OCD pedants vs ADHD sugar junkies )