Happy 20th to Final Fantasy XI

[grinkdaboy]

wish they added more stuff to the xi event this year

[Tsiron]

FFXI's versions of the races were just a tiny bit weirder, but what a difference it made. If only FFXIV's devs had been brave enough to more faithfully copy their old looks...

... or FFXI's doing away with "glamour" restrictions, while we're at it

[Soma_Farkreath]

how different would you say XI is compared to XIV?

[Sebazy]

Wildly different.

FFXI is much more inline with early MMOS such as Everquest. Old content can be just as rewarding as brand new stuff and as such, there's a much wider breadth of things to aim for with a lot of gear and equipment essentially being unreplaceable and good till you quit, something that is further emphasised by the focus on equipment and gear switching mid combat. Deaths are genuinely punished and the overworld is full of things that will merrily kill you right from the starter zones. Mobs are generally much tougher and more dangerous than their equivalent would be now. It is an MMO that's out of it's true time though and it's datedness shows pretty hard now I imagine. It's also changed a lot since it's heyday to make solo play viable.

FFXIV is a spin on WoW's themepark concept with vertical rather than horizontal gear and content progression. Old content 'tiers' are effectively replaced rather than expanded upon. The game is much more approachable and forgiving with deaths effectively being irrelevant alongside a non threatening overworld. There's also a far bigger focus on instant gratification with rewards coming thick and fast only to be rapidly replaced by the next carrot.

[Luluna]

Happy 20th Anniversary to FFXI!

I played way back in 2004 until 2010 when I came here to do the Alpha and the rest is history. I had so many nice memories of FFXI...made lots of lovely friends.

The game was tough but I loved it even though some things where too hard to solo or duo. Shout out to the players of Shiva I wonder where they are now. I have gone back here and there just to remember <3

[MistyMew]

Happy 20th to FFXI
Been subbed to the game after year 1 of NA release and am still there

Pretty much solo for quite a few years as all those I knew have moved on, but I sill love the game and the memories,new and old. Love the trust system and wish all content in FFXI and here was trust friendly.

Best memories vary with each zone I enter; so many attached when I hear certain music and see certain zones/mobs...its all fantastic.
Wished so hard there would have been a revamp or a ffxi "2"

[Absimiliard]

I truly wish they had gated leveling in FFXIV behind a blatant knockoff of Maat.

[Amelimie]

Was my first and by fav mmo. Best story of any FF game, i think best moments is so hard as so many but... here's a few! (pre abyssea and nerfs)

1. First ever Dynamis run.
2. Walking to Jeuno first time!
3. First level 75! (pld)
4. First relic, thankyou linkshell for making it for me!
5. Beating the main stories for each expansion when less than 5% of player base had even passed the first few missions.

Good times but as many have said mmo's like that wont be making come back anytime soon, so much of ffxiv is based of XI but hardly gets any credit for it as well!
Happy birthday XI, and good work SE you always said would keep it running as long as were players!

[Casti_EL]

I love(d) FFXI. Got convinced to play by my room-mates back when it was released - my first MMO. Think we played for about 2 years before real-life took it's toll and we quit. Still some great memories - especially an all-night session early on when we decided to run through our rank missions. I still remember 3am we were on 2-3 Dragon Fight, kept getting told that (back then) three lvl 25's wouldn't beat it - we stuck at it, two wipes then we killed it (and accidentally woke the neighbours when we cheered). I also tried it on a trial about 4-5 years ago but again, real-life took over and I didn't get to play it much.

Anyway, considering the complete collection costs less than the monthly subscription at present I've dived back into it to see how it's changed since then. Lot of QoL changes - Trusts, EXP bonuses, etc making it far easier for soloing/casual play. For a twenty-year old game the graphics still don't look that bad and my god, the nostalgia! The music is still brilliant and although the controls are clunky, it's still very playable. Not far through the story yet but from what I remember the story was actually really good too.

I do really wish 14 had used some of the stuff in 11 - the weapon levelling/weapon skills, multiple weapon options on same job, sub-jobs (yeah I know they kind-of did on release but then removed it), 11's Summoner (I loved Summoner back in 11 and the way it worked, providing party buffs and using actual summons), Blue Mage (not as limited job), quests requiring rare drops, etc. Also the difficulty curve - 11 was (to me at least) a better MMO for this as it didn't hand everything on a plate - there's a lot you really had to work for, and it gave a better sense of accomplishment as a result too. Don't get me wrong - I love 14 as well, I just think SE could have an amazing game if they used the best bits of both 11 and 14 in their next MMO..

Still, great achievement for 11 to still be going after all this time, happy birthday to it and can't wait to progress further.

[Kranel_San]

I always kept hearing of FFXI but didn't play it before.
So yesterday, I tried to install it and I'm going to be honest. The game (probably) does not suffer from outdated gameplay mechanics or graphics. It suffers from the outdated nonsense the installation is which pushes any new player away from playing the game.
I could bet if they integrated the game with XIV launcher (Similar to Battlenet launcher for example) where the installation requires one or two-button to press and just a singular login just like modern launchers then I can say it might get a lot of new players who're excited to play the predecessor of XIV.
Please devs, if your game isn't attracting new players then maybe the issue isn't in the game but maybe... MAYBE... the issue is in the installation process.