Simplicity over complexity, time to change.

[Redemption]

Oh really? What exactly made FFXI's world more alive and worldly?

The lack of fast transportation? Well it is true that if I had to walk it would take me an hour to reach the nearest city.

Big areas that are sparsely populated with actual content? Well, it is true that in some areas of my country you can go tens of miles without seeing any other soul.

See, saying that something is more realistic isn't the same as saying that it's better.

I feel like it is pointless to keep trying to explain this to some people so i'll keep it simple and leave it at that. Things like that, travel, having a journey for things and worldly elements like consistency in travel and not just being able to jump instantly to whatever location you want and mob behavior patterns and weather affects that matter; things like that have a SUBTLE but important influence on how you perceive the game you play. You can like whatever you want and thats perfectly ok. FFXI did some things, and even though you dont like it, they had an affect and an intent that is completely different from modern mmos.

Let me ask you this, why are you so hell bent on insisting that FFXI is outdated and not simply a different perspective on the genre? So far as I can tell, its just because you don't understand why things were as they were or just don't care about it. If that's the case, please reconsider your approach to it entirely because you are never going to convince myself and probably some others that the things done in final fantasy xi are invalid today (as they just aren't, theres no reason I can't be living in a virtual world today outside of its lack of popularity).