Game is in a desperate need of challenge.

[File2ish]

...Much appreciated...
snip

FFXI became far easier after the final Abyssea pack came out, and they've been adding more stuff that people would call "making it casual friendly". I mean they added home point warping among even more teleporting options, movement speed increase for all players, "Trust" companions to fight alongside you (like Prishe, Zeid, and Curilla), more efficient ways of leveling rather than just killing monsters (like grounds tomes in dungeons, where each time you complete a page it increases the exp the next time you do it until a certain cap).

I think the reason they made the game easier is in part to make new and returning players feel more welcome, and because the server populations took a massive hit in the weeks and months leading up to ARR. 1.5-2k players in non prime time hours became 500 last I heard. Not sure how it is now, butI hope it's better. I want to return to the game over the summer and try to beat the rest of Aht Urghan and whatnot =p