a few simple questions.

[oromish]

hello.

since there's no way i can try this game out before i buy it i got some questions:

i now play WoW, but i have done it all, seen it all, got the best gear and so on,
the thing that is missing are a nice community, wow got a : "12 years old with epics who think they are so much better than everybody else syndrome".

how is the community in this game?

also, hows the lvling rate in this game? slow?
doesn't really matter tho.

does this game have alot of problems with bots, hackers, gilfarmers etc?

and hows the game in general?

[Bricklayer]

Re: a few simple questions.

i now play WoW, but i have done all, seen it all, got the best gear and so on,
the thing that is missing are a nice community, wow got a : "12 years old who with epics who think they are so much better than everybody else syndrome".

how is the community in this game?

Can't speak to this. At lvl 23 on Ramuh, I still don't have a linkshell, but from partying, I think the players are mostly mature, and I really enjoy that people are willing to help out.

also, hows the lvling rate in this game? slow?
doesn't really matter tho.

Slowish. You get an extra 1000 xp every 18 hours, which is somewhat analogous to the town effect in WoW. On a good day, in the lower levels (12-23), I'm getting 1-2 levels every 2-3 hours.

does this game have alot of problems with bots, hackers, gilfarmers etc?

Does any MMORPG not have problems? Honestly, I haven't hit a point where it affects my gameplay noticeably. But, I've heard it does hurt NM claims and item costs, especially high level, coveted items.

and hows the game in general?

In many ways, it is a lot like life. Sometimes things go really smoothly, and other times they are just slow. You'll most likely want to quit at times, it will take seemingly forever to get things done (especially compared to WoW). Still, I think it has more to offer than WoW, particularly in that FFXI is more challenging (though I've heard BWL and AQ can be nasty), and has more depth (story, jobs, crafting, etc).

$0.02

[Mog]

Re: a few simple questions.

how is the community in this game?

For the most part, the community is very mature. Granted, you will come across the little kids whose mommies are paying for the game, but you're going to get that anywhere. For the most part, people are fine. The one thing that kills the game though is the english/japenese language barrier. I want to say the majority of people who play this game are japanese? I'm not sure. Anyways, there's a function called the "Auto-translator" that allows you to translate phrases to japanese. However, many JP's don't want to have anything to do with english players, and vice versa. Plus if you don't play on normal american hours, you'll be overtaken by japanese players, so that's one thing that you'll come across.

also, hows the lvling rate in this game? slow?

Compared to WoW, horrendously slow. At the lower levels, you should level fairly fast. As you gain in level, the "experience points to next level" margin gets progressively larger and larger.

Here's a rundown of how much xp you should get, and how much xp is required for next level:

6k-7k xp per hour is an excellant party by FFXI standards, and this is assuming that everyone in the party knows what they're doing. I'm sure it's possible to make more though.

Any less experience per hour depends on what jobs your party consists of and how well each party member performs.

At level 15, you're going to be around 3k tnl, I want to say? Not exactly sure, but it's less than 6k.

At level 67 right now, I'm 29k to next level.

So you do the math! Average this and the average amount of time it takes to even get accepted into a party. This too varies, depending on what job you play as. Some jobs are more sought out after than others in experience points parties.

does this game have alot of problems with bots, hackers, gilfarmers etc?

Unfortunately, yes. There are mobs in this game called Notorious Monsters, which drop gear which can be sold for gil(currency). Notorious monsters spawn randomly, and the first person who claims it gets the right to kill it and possibly recieve the drops. Many people in this game are gilsellers, and they'll hack and bot, in order to claim the Notorious monster faster than a legit player would. Unfortunately, as a result of this, inflation occurs on the economy. Nothing we can really do about it except bitch and whine about all the gilsellers. There is the random occurence you can screenshot what they're doing.

and hows the game in general?

Great! The game has a lot of variety to it, and I love my job and the people in my linkshell. Moreover, the world is immense, and there's never a dull moment. If you're looking for a great community and something to look forward to when you reach the top level, this is definately your game!

However, if you don't like the fact that it takes so longer, this game is not for you. I'm about 1 year in and I'm only level 67 (75 is cap). Everything definately takes time to accomplish, but if you're willing to stick it out, get this game!

[Icemage]

Re: a few simple questions.

I can provide some older perspective on the game.

"How is the community in this game?"
Definitely more mature as a whole than WoW. There's still jerks in the game; people are people, after all. But overall, due to the fact that it is much harder to solo anything in FFXI (quests, missions, levelling, the works), people in FFXI are forced to be much more social and work with each other; the ones who can't deal with this requirement tend to drift away from the game on their own, which leaves a nicer playerbase as a whole.

"Hows the leveling rate in this game?"
Slow. Not the slowest MMORPG in terms of character development, but much slower than WoW. Even with 3 months of "extra practice" in the FFXI beta for North America, it still took me the better part of a year to reach maximum level (75) on my first job with an average of a few hours per day.

"Does this game have alot of problems with bots, hackers, gilfarmers etc?
Depends on what you call "a lot". There are problems with some bots and gilfarmers, yes. Hacking is squashed ruthlessly by Square-Enix, on the other hand, so it's rarely a problem for long. Does it affect the quality of your gaming experience? Only if you let it. For the most part you can ignore the commotion and be about your business at least until your reach level 75.

How's the game in general?
Pretty good overall. It has some issues, but the game is fairly well balanced, the people are generally nicer than in most MMORPGs, and it has a fairly wide range of activities to do at end-game even after you've maxed out your first job. Additionally, unlike all other MMORPGs, you have no need to level "alts" since any character can simply talk to a Moogle and change jobs while in most towns - you can be maximum level in every job if you want to spend the time to do so.


Icemage

[Mog]

Re: a few simple questions.

Only if you let it. For the most part you can ignore the commotion and be about your business at least until your reach level 75.

I'm going to have to disagree with this statement. It's quite difficult to ignore the commotion when inflation directly occurs as a result of gilselling/gilbuying. Just last Christmas, prices inflated and the market was oversaturated as a result of x-mas sales. If the OP is working toward getting a Haubergeon or another crucial piece of gear when this happens, he'll be hindered by this and won't be able to level properly and will be scrutinized until he receives said gear.

Granted, it really depends on the job you're talking about. Certain jobs, like black mage and bard, gilselling won't affect you that much. However, the more melee-dependent jobs will be affected, due to the fact that you simply can't quest fot the gear and you must get it crafted by someone else.

[Murphie]

Re: a few simple questions.

Not that I want to make this thread about RMT (because we certainly don't need it), but I don't think that inflation is going to happen like crazy again this Christmas. Then again, if everyone thinks it is going to, I guess it will regardless. But prices will have to jump quite a bit to get back to where they were last December/January.

[oromish]

Re: a few simple questions.

thanks for the great replies, seems like a great game if i don't find a buddy pass I'll go and buy it in a week or so.

there's some other things I'd like to know:
how big/detailed are the world?

hows all the servers, this is something i care a great deal about, when the server is filled with highlvls only no lowlvls at all, the world seems so dead, that is how i feel in wow at least.

also, how much time does this game have left?
would be sad to start to play and then a few months later the playerbase would drop rapidly.

[sevenpointflaw]

Re: a few simple questions.

All of the servers are fairly well balanced. For a brief overview of econimic relations, check out www.ffxiah.com which has a chart showing a sorta "Dow Jones" comparison of the overall economies. You'll notice that 1.) Most of the servers are in a general depression, and 2.) most of them are fairly close-ish together.

FFXI is VERY much alive at all levels. I have jobs in every level range and never a problem finding a party.

As for time left, years easily. Actually, this year has been one of the bigger growth years for the game.

[oromish]

Re: a few simple questions.

ah ok,

just purchased the vana'diel collection, Treasures of Aht Urhgan was sold out or something so i couldn't buy that one, haven't installed the game, since i don't got the latest x-pac what are my limitations?

[Icemage]

Re: a few simple questions.

ah ok,
just purchased the vana'diel collection, Treasures of Aht Urhgan was sold out or something so i couldn't buy that one, haven't installed the game, since i don't got the latest x-pac what are my limitations?

None, really. The Treasures of Aht Urghan expansion is geared mostly for established players. You'll find nothing of note in the expansion until you're at least level 30, which gives you plenty of time to find the expansion and install it.


Icemage

[oromish]

Re: a few simple questions.

ok, good.

hmm, when i register at playonline viewer, it says: "thank you for participating in our beta test"

am i registering at the wrong place?

[Balfree]

Re: a few simple questions.

do you mean the linkshell community beta?

[oromish]

Re: a few simple questions.

i mean, i just installed the game, started it and playonline viewer came up, it's there i activate my account right? got a little confused since it said "thank you for participating in our beta test" right above the register button.