Why was FFXI so great?

[Vanguard319]

Having played XI up to lv 89 rng, and having played Abyssea, I thought it was a decent expansion. The reason people scream about how it ruined XI forever is due to the level cap increase making much of thier lv 75 gear obsolete overnight.

On the other hand, the Empyrean weapons were more accessible to all players, (I was about halfway to my Kannagi when I stopped playing wheras I had never started any of the stage 1 relics I had) and the way enemy weaknesses worked meant that every job was expected to come battle-ready (i.e. Abyssea was the only endgame instance a red mage was expected to fight.)

[Jokerz]

Having played XI up to lv 89 rng, and having played Abyssea, I thought it was a decent expansion. The reason people scream about how it ruined XI forever is due to the level cap increase making much of thier lv 75 gear obsolete overnight.

On the other hand, the Empyrean weapons were more accessible to all players, (I was about halfway to my Kannagi when I stopped playing wheras I had never started any of the stage 1 relics I had) and the way enemy weaknesses worked meant that every job was expected to come battle-ready (i.e. Abyssea was the only endgame instance a red mage was expected to fight.)

I'm sorry but I have trouble believing this. A lot of 75 gear is still relevant in some form or another if anything to hold you over till getting the new stuff.

I think a more likely reason was people were running out of stuff to do as everything began to revolve around luck instead of ability to get stuff. Look at voidwatch, look at neo-nyzul. You are only influencing your chances at being lucky to get gear. Abbysea was fun but it was easy to manipulate, all you need was mnk+whm. Most of the once impossible weapons became incredibly easy to obtain. People were running out of logical stuff to do.

[Duelle]

On the other hand, the Empyrean weapons were more accessible to all players, (I was about halfway to my Kannagi when I stopped playing wheras I had never started any of the stage 1 relics I had) and the way enemy weaknesses worked meant that every job was expected to come battle-ready (i.e. Abyssea was the only endgame instance a red mage was expected to fight.)

Abyssea's proc system suffered from short-sightedness, and it showed. When the ideal party was NIN, WAR, BLM/BRD, BLU, and THF (for Treasure Hunter) and everyone else just didn't matter, you know there was something wrong.

I appreciate your mentioning RDM, though RDM could only really viably melee thanks to the damn on/off switch (known as Almace with Chant du Signe).

[Isaaru]

Also note: A lot of people think now that FFXI was great because of nostalgia when in reality a lot of the systems were broken for a long time.

[Andrien]

there was a myth saying that people should take off their signet buff before fighting kirin. this way he wont drop a wind crystal lol

[Jokerz]

there was a myth saying that people should take off their signet buff before fighting kirin. this way he wont drop a wind crystal lol

Someone always forgot tho!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NadienKirisame]

there was a myth saying that people should take off their signet buff before fighting kirin. this way he wont drop a wind crystal lol

Don't forget it must be on this specific day with the moon in this phase and you have to kill it all facing the east >.>

The cat is bemused =-.-=

[Alaltus]

Personally when abyssea came out all that old content becoming useless didnt bother me so much as the experience parties were completely replaced with alliance sized(18+) abyssea parties. The exp was massive but just long sessions of boredom and tiredness for me. I would have prefered if they had made Nyzul isle a more prominant leveling form, something with actual challenge and didnt suck away all the skill by just throwing bodies at it.

[Corrderio]

Personally when abyssea came out all that old content becoming useless didnt bother me so much as the experience parties were completely replaced with alliance sized(18+) abyssea parties. The exp was massive but just a long sessions of boredom and tiredness for me. I would have prefered if they had made Nyzul isle a more prominant leveling form, something with actual challenge and didnt suck away all the skill by just throwing bodies at it.

Was Abyssea really that bad? That sounds worse than merit parties before the level cap increase 0.o

And yes to Nyzul. I'd kill for an event with a sense of randomness in it to keep you on your feet.

[Zumi]

Was Abyssea really that bad? That sounds worse than merit parties before the level cap increase 0.o

And yes to Nyzul. I'd kill for an event with a sense of randomness in it to keep you on your feet.

Exping in abyssea was really no different then exping in merit parties. Excpet you had more people and you got more exp so you could get done with exping faster which is boring no matter where you did it.