Why was FFXI so great?

[Griss]

Nostalgia vision engage!

[Enfarious]

After 7~8 years of mostly ontime there was a ton, and even after that time there were things I hadn't done yet.
Once upon a time there were party dynamics, and people would actually talk during xp pts, I lost hrs back pre-CoP just working skillchains/magic bursts w/ xp groups. Of course that's gone now, the mechanic is still there, and some oldschoolers still use them cause they seem to grasp that free dmg just for lining up when we WS is FREE dmg. The good for me is really too vast to list w/o a short book.

Abyssea, awesome idea, great way to bring life back to the game, not a bad way to get old players to return. Inviting new players to come into a place where they could level 1~99 in a couple days and then come out of it w/ no clue about how to play their jobs, what being skilled up meant, why it was important that they have spells/skills/gear that isn't level 22.
If they[SE] had simply not let people into abyssea before 70+ it would have been fine, did I want to grind all my jobs 1~70 the long way, not really but I did most of them anyway even though I could have been PL'd while I slept.

In it's present state it's nothing more than either
A) An unskilled pack of narrow minded non-team players arguing about who knows how to play best.
B) An elitist group that knows how to play and is going to tell you every single time you do something that's not "right"
C) Solo or dualboxing your way through what you can.

And that is why I left, my L33T15T LS annoyed me, I don't want to hear about how gimp another player is cause they're full timing thier Iga+2 Body instead of Relic. I found my own variety of elitist coming out when I played w/ people that didn't know their dicks from sticks on the ground. I got sick of dual-boxing, even for LS events I brought my dual-box to cover heals/buffs, it was a little obnoxious. Last but not least, I didn't want to spend 2000 more hrs farming gear and drops to upgrade that gear.

Sorry it turned into an essay.

Sorry again, I left out, that at it's prime it set the mark for active players, I know I know WoW passed that, but WoW did not do that over night or in it's infancy. FFXI reached the majority of the FF fanbase that could play at that time, the problem is that most of them fell off and moved on just like EQ saw, which at one point was the biggest thing going, but now people don't even give it honorable mention for the precedents it set. Hell you want to look into the "real" roots of this shit look up some MUDs, if it still is out there http://www.mudconnect.com, never forget where we came from or we're doomed to go back ^^

[Holland]

That's my biggest hope for 2.0, that it will slow WAY, WAY down, and fill the gap from beginning to end game with meaningful content

I hope people realize 2.0 will still use the same game mechanics we have in place now. Server response should improve greatly, the UI will be overhauled to something we can be proud of, content will be more accessible because of cross sever dungeon finder, etc. But the actual mechanics is what we will keep seeing. I don't think theres anything at all that will be drastically different to how we have it now. If there is, I'll be glad to know.

[Dzian]

No that's not true. Nobody uses skillchains or magic bursts ever in the game even at end game. FFXI hardly had any new players when Abyssea came out it only had current players leveling all their jobs to 99. Well some people bought extra accounts so they could duo box all the best gear in the game but thats about it.

and thats why i quit the day the cap hit 80. the only thing abyssea did was give the whole game a great big "Easy Mode" Button

[Jokerz]

I loved it for the grouping content, every other mmo I played I usually joined late in it's life and I mostly soloed and soloed and soloed... But in FFXI as soon as I hit 10 I was partying. In that game you needed help and I think that is what made it so memorable for many ffxi vets, nearly everything you do made memories you would remember with your friends, ls mates, even random party members. You did need determination to get through the game, but that is why so many vets will defend it even though it's flaws, those who've played have literally spent years in the game.

Only reason I left was because the game was devolving from a tight-knit centric game to either being an elite or a noob and no inbetween. If you didn't have a relic/emp/mythic you weren't invited to the newer content and when you joined most PUG's players where either horribly gimped in skill or had no idea how to play their jobs.

I spent 6 years in that game and I enjoyed it up until abbysea when it came down to only needing a WHM MNK BLU BLM WAR and NIN for everything...

[Jinko]

I hope people realize 2.0 will still use the same game mechanics we have in place now. Server response should improve greatly, the UI will be overhauled to something we can be proud of, content will be more accessible because of cross sever dungeon finder, etc. But the actual mechanics is what we will keep seeing. I don't think theres anything at all that will be drastically different to how we have it now. If there is, I'll be glad to know.

Perhaps, but Yoshi-p already said that the leveling speed will be toned down in 2.0 and he also asked for our opinion on the latest poll.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Power levelling removed or restricted in some way in 2.0.

and thats why i quit the day the cap hit 80. the only thing abyssea did was give the whole game a great big "Easy Mode" Button

Hehe in comparison this game had one from day one :P

[Cendres]

Some of us loved the atmosphere of the game, making friends, loved the community but had a tough time with the locked out content (having to complete certain story chains which involved group dungeons before being able to go to certain areas), and how much TIME everything required.

FFXI was a beautiful game with a strong community but was a huge time sink. That's the short of it for me. I'm in FFXIV because I want the beautiful and nice community parts but not so much the time sink issue. There was also some awesome innovation for an MMO and that's really why a lot of us were fans. Not having to create characters just to try out a class being the more prominent.

There were some GREAT things about the game, but there were some REALLY frustrating parts too. It was not perfect by any means, but it was an experience.

[Holland]

Perhaps, but Yoshi-p already said that the leveling speed will be toned down in 2.0 and he also asked for our opinion on the latest poll.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Power leveling removed or restricted in some way in 2.0.

I will agree that anything can and might be changed based on feedback. The leveling curve are just some formulas, easily adjustable. But most systems in place (The core systems) will not see a drastic change like the one that happened from April 2011 to April 2012, I think... lol...

[Gramul]

This was clearly the best use of my old work.

But in all seriousness, what drew me to XI was the challenge of adventure. You had to work and plan to see new places, creatures and quests. It wasn't something where you could see everything in a day and experience most of the content within a few weeks. The level of satisfaction I got from accomplishing milestones like entering Jeuno for the first time and gaining the Chocobo license was so rewarding. It was more than just a game. It was an experience I will treasure.

[JakeRoon]

I think for me what the main draw to both ff mmo's is that you can have ONE character and play all the classes/jobs....you don't have to repeat a bunch of stuff to try a new class/job....you get to KEEP your character....

that's awesome

also the worlds are well crafted, and detail....

saddly in ffxi much of that content was locked out for all but the MOST ELITIST of the bad asses, thus they had to force abbyssea on the game so there was enough ways to actually PLAY the game, since they had forced grouping for hours/months/weeks/years in the times before that to get to the level cap.

MMO's were very young and it was one of the fullest active due to the PS2 release.

All in all though, everything was just a huge pain in the ass....it's like the game was allergic to convenience.