Final Fantasy XI - online- Thoughts?
 

Well, i thought i will let the TFP community know that i have played the beta. So i thought it would be a good idea to clear out questions and rumors that might hold the game back to some of you.


Just to start this off, this game is amazing, everything about it is good. Ive been having a great time playing it.



Im here to awnser all questions.

Come now, dont be shy.

well, i've never played an MMORPG, but i've played all FF's. what does it retain from the 'ole FF's as far as combat and levelling systems? are there meaningful side quests (as opposed to just main quests and then mini-games and random monster killing)?

oh yeah... lucky bastard beta tester!

Well, actually just to start off, im not lucky, i have to go to a local lan center to play the beta. They save my character, and i have to pay 3 bucks an hour.... Anyways.>

The battle system retains the FF orgins, its menu based, just like all FF games. All your fav characters, moogles and chocobos all there. Many places to equip armor, summons, all the magic, most of the jobs from tactics. Side quests are everywhere, possiblly impossible to compleate them all, i havent looked into them much, i have too much fun leveling.

So it's turn based combat still? How does that work with groups? Do you have to declare you want to fight something or is it the random encounters we have grown to love/hate from all the ff games.

Well after you select "attack" the game takes over, as in you keep attacking untill it or you dies, unless you "dissengage" While you are attacking you have access to the rest of your menu, for "items", "Magic", "Specials" Ie weapon techs, or other things of the such.

If you are in a party, you and those in the party can attack the same monster, the loot is divided randomly though a "cast lot" system, it basicly rolls a number for each person in the party and the person with the highest number gets the item, so now its fair, insted of whom ever can click fastist. Also, if you attack a monster, he is your monster, so someone else not in your party couldnt steal your kill.

You can see all of the enemys, the easy ones go about there marry way untill you select them and attack. Although some of the smarter, stronger monsters will attack you, on its own, so make sure you are strong enough to go far enough out to fight who ever wants to start some shit.

The game is awesome.

Sweet

Is it like EverQuest where the most HP wins and ya sit back hit autoattack and let the cleric do all the work? or is it more 1 player oriented...like the original FF's. Is Team work a big factor or do you need to be self reliant.

I should have my beta test kit this week, HOPING TOMORROW!!

I will hop in and help answer questions too as i can pull myself away from the game.

What is the aim of the game? Do you go about on quests? What are the maps based on? Sorry I've heard pretty much nil on FFonline

The aim of the game is just like all other MMORPGS... there isn't one. It all depends on how you play them. Your objective can be to play with friends and have fun, or just to get high level and be really powerful. Or both... There's really no set final goal in the gameexcept maybe to reach the level cap. I think the job level cap is 70, and it would take forever to reach level 70 in each job...

no offense, but it sounds really dumb. or at least no different than every other RPG, cept for the fact that it's turn based and based off an existing familiar liscense. How is it any different than everquest, DaoC, Ragnarok, etc.....

My frien got the PS2 beta a while ago, and honnestly, I really didn't like the game. There is nothing different from all other MMORPGS. I thought it was very dissapointing.

Dumb, no not at all. This game has took everything that everquest and so on fucked up. Ive already explained it once, but if you really need to play it.

As the game goes on, ive been playing alone most of the time, not really relying on anyone, but i know when i get to a higher level, im going to need to find my freinds, and work together, on missions, and bosses. But allying to early in the game with people higher than you will affect both of you. This is a good thing, it will prevent the stupid morons from allying with a level 80 person, just to get through the game faster.

Another site that can help you figure out whats going down in the final Fantasy universe, click here. http://www.ffxionline.com/

How many diffrent player models are there. It does get annoying in MMPORGS when everyone in the game looks alike.

It sounds to me that all MMPORPG's are glorified chat-rooms, oinly difference is that you get a 3D Graphical Interface and a inexplecably large bill every month.

My 2 cents.

Depends on why you play games.

If you play games just to get to the end, FFXI and every single other MMORPG out there is not for you. You'd be better off playing console RPG's.

If you play games to have fun actually playing them, then you'll like FFXI. What's the point? There is no point, and that's the whole point. The point is to keep playing, and playing, and playing, until you get tired of it. Not until you get to the end.

It could be considered a "glorified chat-room" if all you plan to do is sit around and talk to people, but there's a lot more things to do than just chat in ANY mmorpg out there, it all depends on what you make of it. I prefer going out and killing monsters with people rather than just chatting with them.

And the monthly bill goes towards the maintenance of the servers that it's all taking place on, because there are thousands of people online at all times, and they're constantly pounding the server. They need to be able to pay for the bandwidth, and they need to be able to pay for the server upgrades, and they need to pay for it constantly just as we're paying for it constantly.

The price is going to be 13 dollars a month (the same as Anarchy Online), and from what I've played, it's well worth it. Even if they only allow you to create one character on your account. There really is no reason to create more than one character anyway, as one character can switch jobs at will without losing any levels in other jobs they've leveled up in. Switching to a new job is like creating a new character in itself, except with all of the same stats and items as your other char (because it's the same guy).

So yeah...

To be perfectly honest, it is very similar to Everquest in the style of combat... But there's only so much you can do with an MMORPG when it comes to combat, because they always have to keep the combat in real time. Pretty much every single MMORPG out there can be generalized as "kill stuff, loot stuff, sell stuff, kill harder stuff, loot better stuff, sell better stuff", but that's just the nature of the whole genre. If it's not for you, it's not for you.

FFXI can fit into the same category, but they execute it with much more style than any of the other MMORPG's I've played, and it just seems higher quality than any of them. The music is great and can be compared to the music in the console FF games. My main reason for liking it so much, is that I like knowing that I'm playing a Final Fantasy game. It has the squaresoft "feeling" that everybody has grown to love or hate.

There's not really a whole lot of choices in how the characters look, but it doesn't remove from the game much because the lack of variety in the characters is eclipsed by the variety of armor skins and weapon skins... There's enough different armor skins to make everybody look different. Don't get me wrong though, there's quite a bit of different combinations in how your character can look at creation, but it's nothing much more than current MMORPG's have... You pick the race, gender, then you pick the face, hairstyle, color, and body size (small, medium, large).

Yeah, thats another favorite thing about this game, everytime you put on a new piece of armor on the 12 diffrent slots for them, you change just a little bit. You get a new helmet, you will have a new helmet, based on what that helmets skin is. You can even get capes, boots, leg armor, rings, earings, (left and right on all of these) chest mail, arm mail, weapon, sheild, thats about it i think.

I'm really excited about this game, is there a particular website that i can try to sign up for beta? Do they have an open beta anytime soon or anything like that?

I think the beta is closed for now. But keep your eyes open.

The game comes out Oct 28th by the way :)

I will definitely be getting this for my pc. if it wasnt multiplayer i would get it for the ps2.

The only thing that i dont like is that the beta is like a shit load of cds to install.

why does this hafta be FF11?
why cant it just be ffonline?
Final Fantasy is so great because of the progression through well written story.
It's not like Tactics was FF8, right? Just stray from the numbering scheme for a little

I agree that it should be called FF online, but it doesn't really matter... All of the FF games take place in different worlds and have nothing to do with each other (except for FFX and FFX-2)

but yeah, I would rather it be called FF Online rather than FFXI online.

just got my beta test kit last night(I HATE UPS) anywho, after i get the hdd installed (Which we get a new free final version one to keep FREE after we return the beta version one that come with the game) I will be posting my first impressions etc.

Wait, are you saying that Final Fantasy Tactics didn't have a great progression through a well written story? I beg to differ. FFT had possibly the greatest story of any Final Fantasy.

no i belive he is using tactics as an exaple that square is capable of making final fantasy games, not under the number scheme, like tactics. Even though it came out after 7 and before 8, they didnt name it final fantasy 8. Ill agree though FFXI should just be its own sub game, or sub title, Final Fantasy Onliine. But as cyco said, it really doesnt matter.

Ya I see that now.

I'm in the beta also. I've been playing for over a month now. I think the scale and immersiveness of the game is incredible. My only gripe is the combat is incredibly boring. I like turn based games but it doesn't belong in this game. I guess they did it cut down on the lag, but it's boring as hell.

I just got done with the beta, i have been going to a lancenter to play it, and im going off to college on wed. So i cant play anymore. Oh well oct 28th is really not to far away. Great game, i will miss it, and have withdrawls in my sleep. I would like to thank everyone for the input, you guys kick ass, as well as the TFP.

I guess everyone has asked everything they want to know.

:)
 

If you did play EQ how would i compare to that ?

I tryed it and i hated it. it was hard for me to say that since ive always loved the ff series and for the first time i think they really screwed up

I have to agree with him. I was super psyched that I got into the beta [even got 2 copies for some reason] but then I installed it and tried playing and sweet jesus it was the most boring thing, ever. I played a total of 8 hours or so, and only 1 of those did I actually go "wow this is fun". The other's were spent going "Sweet christ this is so boring and monotonious" because really, going into the woods to kill a ton of bunnies just so you can get a level up for 3 hours, isn't my idea of fun.

The only way you can have any amount of fun in this game, is to have a lot of friends around, because then you end up spending a lot of time getting into retarded positions and laughing at the models.

Right......ummm i would strongly dissagree (and most of you do too it seems from what people have been saying) It really makes me mad when some people get the beta, and bitch about it, when there are thousands of people who didnt get the beta, but are actually intrested in the game, expectialy those people who got 2 copies.....Eitherway i just have to say to try it, and if you have played a MMORPG before you would know that in the begining of a game you do have to kill "bunnies" or Savana Rarabs, like they are really called, to start off the game. Its full of a lush world, with nice enviroments, quests, equipment,npc, freinds, enemys, magic, and a good battle system. Jesus some people just dont know the amount of fun they could have. To each his own, i guess.

I enjoy the combat, and most of the game is combat.

I wouldn't say that Square has screwed up though. They've already got hundreds of thousands of customers, each one shelling out the equivalent of twelve bucks a month. So it seems as if at least a few people are enjoying the game.

Yeah like me.

POST ON ME!

You can't really bitch and moan about killing bunnies for three hours to gain a level. You do that in EVERY MMORPG, and people still play them. Some people enjoy the payoff after killing 600 bunnies, and some don''t. When I did play EQ, I didn't mind leveling up as long as I was in a group (you can't get exp without a group in EQ unless you're a certain few classes that kick ass at solo fighting).

-Lasereth

I'm also a beta tester for the PC version. I also am an ex-MMO addict. This game hasn't really caught me like others have. I like it.. but theres nothing pulling me to log in day after day. Plus the controls make me rip out my hair. :( Ah well, its free for now so I can't complain.

Well if perfect stranger wasnt banned i would tell him, Why are the controls bad? You can get a ps2 to usb adapter from radioshack for 10 dollars, and configure EVERY button on the game pad however you want. Plus, there are 2 keyboad modes. Im sure he doenst know this, and i guess he never will. oh well.

FFXI IS AWESOME. Everyone should get it when it comes out.

I played EQ for 3 years. It's the only MMO game I've been able to stick with too. DAOC didnt have the content, AC2 wasn't captivating to me, and PlanetSide didnt have enough more than most FPS's for the monthly fee.

I also haven't enjoyed an FF game since the 3rd one. I played thru half of the 5th one with an emulator, it was fun. I haven't liked FF7 or anything after it :( I really dont enjoy the combat. fighting in windows etc, i get tired of it fast.

Is FF online similar in the way it's played? (window based) or is it more action based (zelda) etc? Is it similar to EQ? What's unique about it versus other MMO games out there?

The PS2 controller is definitely the way to go in this game. The keyboard controls are, in fact, horrible. :(

Wow, well if you didnt enjoy any of the FF games, then i would bet that you woulndt like this game. Its fun, but thats just me. The game is played in a windows based fight menu. Although its not exactly the same. but its not yeally like zelda. Sorry man.

Check it out.

I look at the latest FF games and compare them to the original on the Nintendo and think. . . ``how did we go from a band of heroes to a guy with a gun sword and a gay haircut?``

I think that they should have just changed the name of the series before dragging it through the mud (imo).

hahahahahaha. Trust me, look around at the people on this board alone, everyone loves final fantasy, there as good as they were, and they havent lost any momentum. Otherwise we wouldnt be up to god damn 12.

Uh, IckUber, do you work for Square or are you just a fanboy?

I count at least 10 "Just buy it, quick, gogo get it, it ROCKS!@" messages from you on this thead.

Who cares Seretogis he likes the game, he's just defending other peoples comments that have said why they didn't like it. Let the man be excited about his game, Your post was pointless as was mine.

At least he wouldn't press a big red button and destroy the world.

Thank you beltruckus. If your a gamer, your a fanboy to someone. With me its blizzard and squaresoft.

i think it will be a good game, im not looking forward to paying to play and i hope they only allow highspeed connects to play cause lag sucks real bad

You obviously didn't read past the subject of that thread in the philosophy forum.

If you had you would notice that I responded several times. You stated twice that you would.

HUMAN BEINGS ARE EVIL!!!!:eek:

My problem with MMORPGs is this, you never really win. You start playing, and the only way to really improve your character is to continue to pay money. The more you pay the more you feel like you need to play, making it self perpertuating and without real victory. You lose a whole shitload of time and money, making the only winners the people taking your money.

Utang has a point, you really dont win. But you dont play MMORPGs to win, you play to just waste time. You play to communicate in a fantasy world with many other people. you join for the community, and a fun place just to kill time. This is not for everyone, but i love to just hack and kill, sell and talk. As long as im playing with my freinds of course. :)

I'm aware that you posted on the thread, but you still obviously did not read through it. The "big red button" hypothetical has nothing to do with "destroying the world," merely returning it to a pre-human state. Maybe the forum is too confusing for you, and you should just play FFXI more.

A little off topic

this game requires as a minimum nvidia 32 megs etc stuff rite.
i have a intel 82852/82855 gm/gme graphics controller that is installed on my laptop's main set. yes i kinow laptops suck at gaming, don't tell me. but i have 512 ram and lots o open free space so i'm just wondering if this game will run on my computer or not. thank fellas.

lol I just cracked up reading this.. :D haha like a kid would say to his sister, "mebbe u should just, just... go play with ur stupid dollies" :D

Don't even try it. I tried it on my Compaq 2100, AMD 2100 Chip, 512 MB Ram, and 64 MB Radeon mobility video and it ran like shit. I built my current desktop to be able to play it (and wanting a desktop again anyways.. hated fighting the wife to burn a dvd).