Quote Originally Posted by Mug View Post
One thing was that olden days FFXI exp parties required a certain amount of strategy. Since fights were kinda slow, you actually had people put debuffs on the mobs, you had to pay attention to skillchains and magic burst. Mages had to prioritise what or who to use MP on and when, since using it all at once could mean death. Not to mention hate management. Parties were also more well-rounded - it wasn't unlikely that all six party members were different jobs.

Also, and this is the most important one for me, since fights were kinda slow and you didn't have to spam abilities, people had time to talk and get to know each other. I'm certain this element helped shape the FFXI community in to the great community it used to be.
This..so much this. I met so many great people in FFXI because of that Its a shame if that aspect will be nothing but a memory now ; ;