Why was FFXI so great?

[Geesus]

You're playing in an online world with other people, and sharing that world economy. It shouldn't dictate how you should play.

You have a point with the PLD quest, content like that is justifiable.

But it really doesn't. If you want to solo fine but it's difficult to make statements about "force grouping" in a MMO lol. That's the problem. It's meant to play with other people. That would almost be as if someone got on Halo2-soon to be 4 in the multiplayer arena because they liked X map only available there and when the other 15 people show up and start nuking their a$$ they scream "GTFO OFF MY MAP!" lmao. You know the game is Massive Multiplayer not Massive Soloplayer so be prepared to have to group up at some point. Meet new players and people from around the world. That was one of the things I thought was so cool my first MMO; I'm playing with another person, M/F from Japan or Afghanistan or Iraq or the U.K. Through languages barriers and all and a lot of laughs it was fun to play.

[Andrien]

What Eagleheart said. I couldn't say it better.

[Geesus]

I played FFXI from North American launch to November 2011, experienced kings, Einherjar, Dyno, farming relics for LS mates, Limbus, Sea, and Sky to the very brink of madness, and I entirely concur with the above post. I will never comprehend what masochism drives people to long for XI's content style.

Well I guess you could say, those of us "masochist" didn't see it that way. We enjoy having fun and feeling a sense of accomplishment. This isn't Pac-Man anymore kiddos; no one gives a sh*t what your "High Score" is. Show us you can play a game with other people and be a team player and part of a larger whole of the community rather than your own self-righteous "entitlements".

[Eagleheart]

Well I guess you could say, those of us "masochist" didn't see it that way. We enjoy having fun and feeling a sense of accomplishment. This isn't Pac-Man anymore kiddos; no one gives a sh*t what your "High Score" is. Show us you can play a game with other people and be a team player and part of a larger whole of the community rather than your own self-righteous "entitlements".

By entitlements, you wouldn't happen to mean something along the lines of rewards and status obtained, would you?

The cognitive dissonance is apparently lost on you. "No one cares about your high score", as you speak of your desire for a sense of accomplishment?

I am indeed part of a team of players that can cooperate and achieve things. I was very happy to be co-leader of a little endgame shell called Northern Sky on Kujata, and then Valefor. We had fun, varied in size from six to fourteen, and enjoyed several years of drama-free endgame towards the end of my FFXI playspan. I remember it as the best span of time in my years playing FFXI. We obtained relic weapons, empyrean weapons, had commenced work on a Ryunohige before we realized the jig was up and Dev Team of Old was back for good.

Put briefly, I can indeed be part of a larger community, but beyond what I said above, I see no need to show you anything. It's actually pretty damn pathetic, the "show me" line. This is indeed a game, sir/ma'am, and I have no desire to 'compete' with your 'accomplishments' or 'being part of a larger whole', because frankly, it just isn't that deep.

Lighten up. o.o

Edit: Speaking of being part of a community, my LS and I all packed up to come to XIV.

Part of a whole, indeed. (>.> )

[Nidge]

to me personally it was the people you met and the experiences of accomplishment on finally kiiling that NM thats been out of reach fo so long. Also CoP was the pinnacle expansion in terms of story for me i LOVED it id love to see a similar one on xiv but i wont go into that :P

FFxi had its time and at its peak was immense, special and amazing. im just hoping in time FFXIV will have the same effects on my gaming experience as FFXI did and if it doesnt then well...il just try harder to make sure it does

[Nuinn]

Great people can make a poor game great. Or something like that. . . . If it weren't for my LS mates/firends in XI or XIV the game to me would be s**t. I like doing things solo, but I also like socializing. People in XI made my experience a good one and happy to report the trend continues in XIV.

My most memorable things weren't how partying, leveling or end game were handled and executed. I just had fun doing it with friends. Yeah, some things made me rage bad in XI, and some things were very user-friendly and worked well, but it applies to any MMO out there. If I had to pick just one other thing that contributed to my enjoyment it would definitely be how the world of Vana'diel was fleshed out (I'm a sucker for exploration and just gawking at 'stuff').

[Geesus]

By entitlements, you wouldn't happen to mean something along the lines of rewards and status obtained, would you?

The cognitive dissonance is apparently lost on you. "No one cares about your high score", as you speak of your desire for a sense of accomplishment?

I am indeed part of a team of players that can cooperate and achieve things. I was very happy to be co-leader of a little endgame shell called Northern Sky on Kujata, and then Valefor. We had fun, varied in size from six to fourteen, and enjoyed several years of drama-free endgame towards the end of my FFXI playspan. I remember it as the best span of time in my years playing FFXI. We obtained relic weapons, empyrean weapons, had commenced work on a Ryunohige before we realized the jig was up and Dev Team of Old was back for good.

Put briefly, I can indeed be part of a larger community, but beyond what I said above, I see no need to show you anything. It's actually pretty damn pathetic, the "show me" line. This is indeed a game, sir/ma'am, and I have no desire to 'compete' with your 'accomplishments' or 'being part of a larger whole', because frankly, it just isn't that deep.

Lighten up. o.o

No that's not what I mean by entitlements at all LOLOLOLOL! And since you haven't posted in the forums more than the 29 times you have the /sarcasm of that statement and the rest of it falls onto you as a n00b on these forums therefore you won't understand the manner in which is was given. I don't need to lighten up either as I'm not angry about anything, why the hell would I be? As for everything I stated up thar, not directed to you but others similar to your train of thought. Same train of thought(s) that have spewed on these forums for well over a year.

[Rutelor]

I played FFXI for three years almost non stop and I have an opposite view. If XI was as great as some put it, it would have been a more well received game for the gaming community at large, specially the Final Fantasy fans, wich are among the most loyal fans out there. The game was only good for the stubborn gamers that put up with the nonsensical gameplay mechanics in place at that time.

I loved FFXI to death, but I see it for what it is/was.

Holland, with due respect I will disagree. You cannot equate numbers of players with quality. According to that line of thought, McDonald's is better food than Thomas Keller's; Rihanna's music would trump Bach; and Twilight is better literature than Infinite Jest.

FFXI was a great game, much better, imo, than others that sold gazillion copies to the MCD* audience. Which is not to say that it lacked quirks, even some abysmal failures, mainly in interface design, quality of program code, and future-proofing.

Stubbornness is, again imo, an inadequate word to describe what kept at least this dedicated player among the loyalist band for years. I found this game engaged my thoughts and emotions in ways (and believe me, I played most of the major ones) no other game within the genre did.

R

* Minimum Common Denominator

[Eagleheart]

No that's not what I mean by entitlements at all LOLOLOLOL! And since you haven't posted in the forums more than the 29 times you have the /sarcasm of that statement and the rest of it falls onto you as a n00b on these forums therefore you won't understand the manner in which is was given. I don't need to lighten up either as I'm not angry about anything, why the hell would I be? As for everything I stated up thar, not directed to you but others similar to your train of thought. Same train of thought(s) that have spewed on these forums for well over a year.

Until recently, I have wanted to avoid posting on the official forums. I am the quiet sort, and I prefer to go with the flow when possible.

I have much faith in Dev Team to make FFXIV a particularly attractive and enjoyable game. I do not, however, have faith in all of the posters on these forums.

In fact, I dread what may come to pass, should the loudest and most brash among the playerbase have their way by virtue of being loud, obnoxious, and given to incessant whining and passive/aggressive bait-and-switches in their posts, all components of the post quoted above.

If this is your idea of being part of a community, you should be able to divine the reasoning behind my decision to actually begin posting.

[Zumi]

Completely disagree, not saying Abyssea or w/e made it bad (I enjoyed Abyssea in some ways), but the whole concept of getting a completely new set every time a new expansion comes along sucks imo, which I really hope FXIV stays away from as much as possible.

For me the best things about XI was a steady 75 cap that didn't make gear obsolete but gave you sidegrades, coupled with the "switch gear in combat" mechanic (Blinking didn't bother me, but I admit it could have been done better).

Also HNMs/NMs and the environments <3. I really liked how the game was made when it came to mechanics because I loved that some HNMs/NMs that shouldn't really be soloable... WERE soloable if you were good enough and had the right gearsets. This added another dimension to the game imo. I think this is linked to the whole 75 cap/sidegrades as well.

Most people I knew hated the sidegrade nature of gear and were very pleased when abyssea did come out due to the fact there was literally nothing to do pre abyssea having already done everything, already had full salvage sets and done pretty much everything else the game has to offer. I actually saw a lot of people come back for abyssea because it gave them something to do again.

The people who said "screw this abyssea ruined FFXI my gear isn't the best anymore I quit cause I worked 7 years for this gear" were in the minority. I still see FFXI server population get up to 3500 on weekends. Which is pretty high for a 10 year old game.

I really hope FFXIV doesn't go the sidegrade route like FFXI did for so long.