Quote Originally Posted by Jennestia View Post
I fall into this crowd and I had absolutely zero issues experiencing the storyline or feeling a part of it because the simple fact is -- FFXI was an MMO, if you just dump storyline content and no "free reign" what would be the purpose of it being online? XI had a perfect balance of story/MMO gameplay and Chains of Promathia expansion pack, before people complained about difficulty, was what set that balance in motion.
While the way it is setup isn't bad, it is definitely outdated however. Other MMO's have proven you can have a heavily story driven experience to make your way to beginning level to max. One of Final Fantasy's biggest appeals is story and the original Dev's should of thought of what they can do to keep you with interacting in the story experience from beginning to end. FFXI's grind system was it's standards at the time, so it is understandable how it was setup, especially with PS2 limitations. FFXIV was made when MMO's are more well established and capable of much more than what games like Everquest and FFXI could provide at the time. FFXIV I feel like they took the lazy route. While FFXIV's story is still really good, it could of been executed better.

But like I said, I am on the same side as you. I am fine with this setup, but I feel it could of been done much better. SE isn't like other RPG companies, they are always expected to go above and beyond on their games, especially FF, and that is why people get really disappointed, because they expect so much.

Eorzea would of be much more lively if it's story structure was heavily driven in the leveling experience.