Oldschool = (Do It Yourself + Timesink)

[Doo]

Honestly, if you remove the FF graphics, you wouldn't even know this game was an FF game.

[Djeserit]

Honestly, if you remove the FF graphics, you wouldn't even know this game was an FF game.

Interesting. Your definition of graphics must include names, lore, recurring characters, plot points, crystals, etc.

Who knew graphics covered such a variety of things?

On topic: I also played XI for about 7 years, and pretty royally screwed up my life in the process. I learned my lesson, and don't have nearly the same amount of time to devote, but I play with the same enthusiasm that I once did, researching what I can and pushing myself to be the best possible.

Do I have fond memories of XI? Sure. Do I also have some pretty bad ones from the tediousness? Hell yes. Do I appreciate that XIV has removed the tediousness while also giving me a good game? You bet your <expletive deleted> I do.

[Doo]

I also played XI for about 7 years, and pretty royally screwed up my life in the process.

Now I know why that Flappy Birds creator pulled his game. I'm glad FFXIV is more casual friendly as well but it's still pretty tedious. I guess if you don't run extreme primals, coil, grind crafts/gather/jobs etc, it's not. Most of the problems in FFXI is still present in FFXIV. Elitism? Plenty. Long wait for parties? If you're a dd. Grind? Still there. Then you have new problems that are present such as players rage quitting after a few tries and the whole you need to be 50 ilvl above what's require, have 3 forms of ID, a picture of you with your dog, and must beaten the fight.

[Ryios]

To me, all those frustrating components in ffxi, are what made it a great game. Having to wait on the fairy was fine. It gave the world a sense of realism. E.g. You knew you were waiting on it because it took 15 minutes to make a complete trip from mhaura* to selbina. So you might be waiting 15 minutes, or it might show up in 3 because it left a while ago... And then actually being on the fairy and having it get attacked by pirates was the most epic (albeit scary to a level 10) thing that happened in that game. One of my fondest memories was the first time I went to dunes and took the fairy. It got attacked by pirates and sea horror spawned and completely wrecked everyone on the ship. It landed and there was just this big pile of dead bodies at the zone out from the fairy. It sucked sure, but at the same time it was great. It was things like the fairy that made the world make sense, and you felt connected to it, like a piece of the puzzle.

Questing in FFXI was also great. Sure the UI sucked, and it could have had a better quest log (just so you remember what people said), but There were no markers on the map, there were no exclaimation points. You had no idea what quests were in the game and who gave what quests. You had to figure it out for yourself. Just talk to somebody and use it as a clue for who to talk to next.

Leveling in FFXI to me was the most fun of all. Leveling up required a party, and you could do skill chains and magic bursts to optimize exp per hour. It was so much fun. WHen the game first came out, it was fun exploring trying to find the best camps per level to exp with and the right class combinations per level to exp with. It took skill.

Imo, I didn't view anything in ffxi as a time sync except for crafting. Everything else was fun and I enjoyed doing it. Time syncs don't matter if your having a good time doing it. We all play games to have fun. To me it doesn't matter how much I get done in 4 hours, as long as I had a good time doing it.

[Doo]

To me, all those frustrating components in ffxi, are what made it a great game.

It's not that we don't remember the tediousness of FFXI , it's that we look back on it and have good laughs about it. The game is a decade old of course it can be made better and systems be improved to be more casual friendly but they just went the generic route because the game was released in a bad state originally. Now you have players asking for the same things FFXI was known for such as OPEN WORLD CONTENT.

[Ruenis]

I played Ragnarok Online in 2004 and spend 6 months to level 99 one Character. The more hardcore player can do it in one month, but usually the got dropped out of college afterwards.

To date, that game was my best experience of playing MMO, along with FF XIV of course.

[skaterger]

I played Ragnarok Online in 2004 and spend 6 months to level 99 one Character. The more hardcore player can do it in one month, but usually the got dropped out of college afterwards.

To date, that game was my best experience of playing MMO, along with FF XIV of course.

Amen. Teleporting around in glast helm hoping to catch the stormy knight mvp, getting 2 shotted by non mvp mobs in lighthalzen, farming for 0.1% mvp cards, killing thousand of mobs to get that 1 last level from 98 to 99 transcendent, those are the memories I will carry me to my death. But you know, even such a hardcore game as RO has now become casual friendly, I think that really says a lot about what gamers are looking for in games today.

[XNihili]

One of my worst grip at FFXI is that it was not only a time sink for you, it was also a time sink for your friends too.
Wanna get that nice Joyeuse sword ? You have to camp that filthy octopus with your friends for hours, only to lose claim to another group.
Or you may have to call them at 2AM. Only to get the sword for yourself. And this one is 100% drop.
You really got to have a bunch of good friends that are willing to lose their time for you.