Why was FFXI so great?

[Altanas]

Events/World: As above, tiered events, lots of Big Bosses in either roaming NM, HNM, BCNM, Einherjar, etc A sense that there are formidable foes out there and that I can still be crushed like a peanut at level 99.
(14's events aka dungeon "runs" do have their place, but i would think a lot of people would rather have battlefields or spawned NMs because its just the big fights that are meaty and interesting. The dungeons seem to be/are xp dungeons rather than event dungeons. There arent enough Big Bosses in this game. I want Gigantic HNMs roaming the countryside and Gigantic Dragons flying over Coerthas (even though I'm not really a HNM fan, their presence gives life to the world)

Levelling: Being forced to take time out because there was a new region to unlock / find tele-points (idk why but attuning to telepoints in 11 felt much more of an accomplishment than attuning to aether in 14) and quests at levels 18, 50, 55, 60 etc forcing you to join up with likeminded adventurers often traversing zones relevant to that level to complete the quests. Granted when you actually got in an xp party it was a mindless grind, but it was often the case that there was a real sense of adventure and socialising in getting to that stage.

Missions: again sense of adventure, sense of fear in going through beastmen strongholds at low levels. proper boss fights along the way (whereas the battle instances throughout 14's missions never feel like boss fights -its hard to die!)

[Zumi]

Abyssea was the best thing to happen to FFXI in my opinion it brought life back into the game and I actually saw a lot of people that came back that quit FFXI. Why because gear you got 7 years ago still shouldn't be best in slot. Abyssea gave people a lot to do get new better gear and level up to 99. It was so unlike SE because they usually just gave us sidegrade stuff but these were actual upgrades and new AF3 sets to collect.

[Denmo]

Refer to this comic for a better idea of the experience.

[Rumpelstiltzkin]

Abyssea was the best thing to happen to FFXI in my opinion it brought life back into the game and I actually saw a lot of people that came back that quit FFXI. Why because gear you got 7 years ago still shouldn't be best in slot. Abyssea gave people a lot to do get new better gear and level up to 99. It was so unlike SE because they usually just gave us sidegrade stuff but these were actual upgrades and new AF3 sets to collect.

Completely disagree, not saying Abyssea or w/e made it bad (I enjoyed Abyssea in some ways), but the whole concept of getting a completely new set every time a new expansion comes along sucks imo, which I really hope FXIV stays away from as much as possible.

For me the best things about XI was a steady 75 cap that didn't make gear obsolete but gave you sidegrades, coupled with the "switch gear in combat" mechanic (Blinking didn't bother me, but I admit it could have been done better).

Also HNMs/NMs and the environments <3. I really liked how the game was made when it came to mechanics because I loved that some HNMs/NMs that shouldn't really be soloable... WERE soloable if you were good enough and had the right gearsets. This added another dimension to the game imo. I think this is linked to the whole 75 cap/sidegrades as well.

[Zumi]

Completely disagree, not saying Abyssea or w/e made it bad (I enjoyed Abyssea in some ways), but the whole concept of getting a completely new set every time a new expansion comes along sucks imo, which I really hope FXIV stays away from as much as possible.

For me the best things about XI was a steady 75 cap that didn't make gear obsolete but gave you sidegrades, coupled with the "switch gear in combat" mechanic (Blinking didn't bother me, but I admit it could have been done better).

Also HNMs/NMs and the environments <3. I really liked how the game was made when it came to mechanics because I loved that some HNMs/NMs that shouldn't really be soloable... WERE soloable if you were good enough and had the right gearsets. This added another dimension to the game imo. I think this is linked to the whole 75 cap/sidegrades as well.

Most people I knew hated the sidegrade nature of gear and were very pleased when abyssea did come out due to the fact there was literally nothing to do pre abyssea having already done everything, already had full salvage sets and done pretty much everything else the game has to offer. I actually saw a lot of people come back for abyssea because it gave them something to do again.

The people who said "screw this abyssea ruined FFXI my gear isn't the best anymore I quit cause I worked 7 years for this gear" were in the minority. I still see FFXI server population get up to 3500 on weekends. Which is pretty high for a 10 year old game.

I really hope FFXIV doesn't go the sidegrade route like FFXI did for so long.

[carlosx]

you can resume all FFXI on 1 word.......



.............EPIC............

[Relic]

Old FF11 was great because you had a sense of accomplishment, long term reward, a community that was forced to work together and get better to overcome difficult challenges, and a very interesting and unique mmorpg world.

[RedAffinity]

I played FFXI from 2006 - 2010 just before level caps were announced.

What I loved most about XI though, was its difficulty, and the time it took to obtain something. That sounds ass backwards, but in reality, when you finally got that accomplishment, it made you so unbelievably happy it's hard to describe that feeling unless you've experienced it.

I think many aspects of XI were too difficult and time consuming, and at times unfair and punishing... but even that made accomplishments that much sweeter.

Lastly, the rarity in obtaining items. Gear ranged from simple crafts, to expensive auction listings, to difficult NM's, to weapons that took over a year to obtain. That range made the game really appealing because I was happy to have worked hard to obtain a rare item that everyone didn't have.

[Gramul]

I played FFXI from 2006 - 2010 just before level caps were announced.

What I loved most about XI though, was its difficulty, and the time it took to obtain something. That sounds ass backwards, but in reality, when you finally got that accomplishment, it made you so unbelievably happy it's hard to describe that feeling unless you've experienced it.

I think many aspects of XI were too difficult and time consuming, and at times unfair and punishing... but even that made accomplishments that much sweeter.

Lastly, the rarity in obtaining items. Gear ranged from simple crafts, to expensive auction listings, to difficult NM's, to weapons that took over a year to obtain. That range made the game really appealing because I was happy to have worked hard to obtain a rare item that everyone didn't have.

What can I say...to make you post more?

[Rampage]

In ffxi pre abyssea everything you got seemed epic. And that was awesome untill you realized that the reason it was epic is that you have been grinding non stop for months to get that lucky drop + youre lucky roll so you get the item. Then you dont have to worry about it. I stopped playing ffxi a year before abyssea and came back when the first abyssea came out. Iwas worried id be gimped but my gear was still competitive. After a year without playing . . .

FFXI was always about group grinding and plodding through overly complicated mechanics to get to a point where you got something good. I love the game because when you finally got good gear it was likely to last a long time and the sheer effort and work made it rewarding as a pay off.
However for a game so heavily party oriented end game battles where never very creative. Any battle basically degenerated into: keep enough people alive, kite, outlast the monster or zerg. Honestly so many people talk about the challenge of the game, but almost all battles where basically gearchecks, it wasnt even, "get out of the shit on the floor" it was " dont stand in front or AoE range of the mob" VW was basically run out, run in rinse repeat.

I played WoW for a long while and eventually came back to ffxi, i think the battles in WoW were much more creative, where everyone had to be on top of their game for the group to win, WotLK battles had you jumping around over fire out of stuff on the floor, coordinating assaults on two mobs etc. . . but mostly any items you got in that game would be useless 2-3months down the road. I think if ffxiv finds a middle ground i will stay with it for a long time.

Emphasis on party / alliance play and battle mechanics on creative endgame content? Yes, please.
Making party / alliance the ONLY way to get anything done in the game, including leveling up . . . No, thanks.