Why was FFXI so great?

[Corrderio]

For me I'd say the "adventure" was how different zones/terrain looked compared to XIV. In XI it was fun getting to explore new areas (until you got mauled), but in XIV the sense of exploration is pretty meh since it's nothing but copy/paste all over.

The moment you step out of Ul'Dah into Thanaln, you pretty much seen the entire area. Or at least that's how it seemed to me.

[Ruisu]

Rose Tinted Goggles.

As much as I enjoyed FFXI, everything seemed like a love/hate relationship. Literally everything. Time consuming quests, difficult missions, exploring in general, searching for parties as a DRK, playing DRK in general, unlocking new jobs, waiting waiting waiting waiting, claiming NMs, Maat fight.

I loved FFXI, and if they made pre-2010 servers I would consider resubbing, I just don't think a lot of that would fit in this game. Especially in 2012. I was like, 12 when I started FFXI, so I was much more tolerant of a lot of the shit they put me through being younger and all.

[Zaaku]

The text walls on this page are weapon's grade lol

[bobbygunz]

I also think that people on these forums are biased toward features from FFXI. The general MMO players all left and never looked back, and those that stayed are homeless FFXI rejects, so this forum is somewhat more rife with FFXI nostalgia than you would find on any other MMO forum otherwise.

[Eagleheart]

Do you not know what an adventure is? With FFXI you start your adventure as a nobody, literally, NPCs don't know you, people don't know you etc. You have to do quests to build fame which will cause NPCs to start recognizing you (even adjusts pricing as you get more famous, you know, how in real life people give celebs discounts and etc?) and you even start making a lot more friends as you are MUCH more likely to run into people on the same mission etc as you were (back in the day.)

Fast forward you do the missions which introduces you to the world and underlying issues you didn't know existed before (unlike most MMOs spells out everything for you the second you start the game) and you get thrown into having to actually explore places, learn your way around areas and even start seeing the tiny details that made the world of vana`diel seem like an actual living and breathing world.

People who said they played FFXI..did you actually play it? I bet a lot of people who said they did play it still didn't know the moon changed colors with the day or that the rolanberies in rolanberry fields changed colors with the seasons. Though some people hate seeing others enjoy themselves in a game they didn't, and will cite "nostalgia goggles" etc all because they prefer games like this.

No one hates seeing you enjoy yourself in the game, they hate that you are implying that Final Fantasy XI was some kind of gift to MMOs, and the implication that XIV needs to become like XI in order to improve.

Yes, I know the moon changes colors, yes, I know the rolanberries come into season. I also know that there was a single lily in Konschtat Highlands that floated six feet above the ground, south and east of Crag Demn about fifteen feet off the road going around said crag, and that they didn't patch it, from North American launch, til shortly before I quit last year. All this is the very definition of rose-colored glasses. You are glossing over the glaring inadequacies, never-addressed balance problems, and general gameplay tedium with tales of how beautiful the world and lore were.

FFXI's harshest critics will attest that the storyline was well-fleshed out, and full of easter eggs that have inspired lore fansites and a long-running thread on Blue Gartr about possible plot-holes, expositions on lore tidbits, and theories as to the nature of the world itself. None of that is in the equation here. None of that has to do with the gameplay inadequacies of XI.

XIV has, by necessity, been forced to put lore considerations and the nuggets of joy both you and I found in every corner of Mindartia and Quon, on hold while they save the very existence of the game.

Let me put it this way: This is Square-Enix. Gameplay considerations aside (being addressed, and we all have faith in Yoshi P and the New Dev Team to pull through here), Square-Enix has never failed to deliver compelling narrative, lore, and easter eggs in every Final Fantasy title. Never. Failed.

This is not a concern. o.o Do not fret, the good stuff is yet to come.

[Isaaru]

People enjoyed FFXI because there were actual rewards for doing something without much of a grind.

[Eagleheart]

People enjoyed FFXI because there were actual rewards for doing something without much of a grind.

That Final Fantasy XI must have been from the mirror universe. It certainly was not from this one.

[Isaaru]

That Final Fantasy XI must have been from the mirror universe. It certainly was not from this one.

Drop rates on items in FFXI were almost always above 15%, closer to 30% with a decent amount of HNM drops. This is opposed to the 1-2% drop rate per chest in current dungeons in FFXIV. In FFXI if you did something (whether it be once a day or less often) it was very likely your LS would get a drop.

Maybe you're the one living in the mirror universe.

[Andrien]

Drop rates on items in FFXI were almost always above 15%, closer to 30% with a decent amount of HNM drops. This is opposed to the 1-2% drop rate per chest in current dungeons in FFXIV. In FFXI if you did something (whether it be once a day or less often) it was very likely your LS would get a drop.

Maybe you're the one living in the mirror universe.

In his defense.
I been trying to get my Koga Chainmail for 5 years. I quit before I got one. Just one example I can think of.

[Corrderio]

In his defense.
I been trying to get my Koga Chainmail for 5 years. I quit before I got one. Just one example I can think of.

Dang, and I thought that guy that did Salvage for almost a year before getting his 35 body was unlucky.