a pretty serious question

[Ryans]

What are you claiming comes directly from FFXI? They have completely different base systems so even if something was brought directly from FFXI, it couldn't be the same. I'm going to assume you are talking about hunts because that is the only thing people are talking about lately. Hunts are not NMs from FFXI. They just aren't. FFXI had an NM system that worked because they dropped specific items (sometimes pretty good items, but mostly low level things) and were claim=credit. Hunts are a server-wide zerg of faceless monsters that all drop currency for some of the best gear in the game. Completely different in design and execution.

[Gilthas]

FFXI had an NM system that worked because they dropped specific items (sometimes pretty good items, but mostly low level things) and were claim=credit.

The NM system of FFXI did not work. As bad as hunts currently are, they're still better than what we had in FFXI.

And yeah, I do see a lot of the bad things in FFXI making it's way to FFXIV. While I personally have no issues with the current relic quest since I like having a big objective to work for, other recent additions to the game are giving me that "bad thing that was in FFXI" feel:

- Forcing specializations in Desynthesis. In FFXI we were forced to become a specialized crafter. FFXIV was awesome in that we could level every craft on a single character. Then people started whining on the forums about having too much competition when selling stuff, and that the economy was bad because things were cheap. And now we have specializations that serve no purpose beyond allowing a select few players to jack up prices.

- Chocobo raising requiring items that can only be obtained from gardening. There's simply no way that the land that is currently available in the game will allow every player to be able to raise a chocobo even if they just fed them once per day. The issue with Magicked brooms was just crazy and fortunately they're going to correct that mistake. The chocobo feed problem will at least be solved with personal housing having gardens.

- Dyeing relic gear. The item requirements for this are simply ridiculous.

- Getting the 2.2 Fishing rod.

In the end, the battle portion of the game doesn't really have any real grind issues (compared to FFXI at least). Probably because that's what Yoshi-P likes the most so he is more directly involved with that.

Side activities like gathering, crafting and chocobo raising? Yeah, the FFXI developers are having a field day.

[LineageRazor]

The NM system of FFXI did not work. As bad as hunts currently are, they're still better than what we had in FFXI.

Thta's just a bad joke and you sir have no idea, ppl should talk only about things they know, the NM system worked in FFXI, it doesn't matter if you liked it or not.

To be honest, imo you're both wrong - FFXI random-spawn NMs did not work well in FFXI, and the Hunts are just as bad and for most of the same reasons.

In FFXI, NMs would spawn in various areas that would drop valuable items. These NMs were not difficult to kill. Dozens of people would hunt them for hours, with only one person managing to get exclusive claim.

In FFXIV, NMs spawn in various areas that drop points used to purchase valuable items. These NMs are not difficult to kill. Hundreds of people hunt them for hours, with only the first view people who manage to make it to the spawn site before the mob is killed managing to get any reward.

Both types of NMs encourage the use of third-party tools to assist in finding and capturing the NM before anyone else. Both types of NMs promote hard feelings and angry accusations between the folks who manage to get the reward, and the folks who wind up empty-handed. Both types of NMs encourage people to spend hours upon hours hunting them, often for little or no reward. In my eyes, hunts embody some of the WORST things that FFXIV could have learned from FFXI.