What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

[BurningPanther]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

First, I got beef with /NIN. If I had my way, I'd restrict players from subbing NIN at the press of a button, which would equal about a third of my server. Sure, you get to Dual Wield axes and do pretty numbers on your precious Rampage, WARs, but the shadows are the to help you mitigate damage! Learn to use them for that purpose! Same to you, MNK! If you can't do it right, go back to /MNK and /WAR or THF or /SAM and try something else!

My second beef! If I'm busy Cure-bombing your buddy to keep him alive(because he sucks at Utsusemi utilization, see above), DO NOT spam chat with Haste requests! I've got more important things to worry than you hitting more! If all we were worried about was the mob dying quicker, I'd throw out a couple nukes and outdo you completely! Shut up and wait your turn!

[Lilani]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

When you replace someone in a party, get adjusted, and then all of the sudden three people have less than ten minutes to be on. I can understand emergencies, like being called to work early, you or someone you know is sick, or your house is in fire. But if you've known all along that you needed to go at that time, tell them a good 30 minutes or even an hour ahead of time, so they know when and when not to invite new people to the party.

When I log in on school nights, I typically don't have all the time in the world to go from party to party hoping that I'll gain 1k before school starts the next day. It's get a party that lasts a while, or find some other way to spend my evening.

[Kirsteena]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

Crafting in FFXI. You get good conditions, find a 100 crafter you can trust, and watch your siren's macrame go poof. I hate this game sometimes...

[Aksannyi]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

Damn that sucks, Kirst. I totally agree though.

[Shadowffvi]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

Wanting to choose my server and not being able to

[Kirsteena]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

Why not? You can choose at the beginning screen when it used to be that you could enter a wp.

[Mostin]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

Been playing FFXI on and off for only a couple of weeks now, trying out the different classes upto level 6/7 on each. I would love to play this game as I have seen what it offers in later levels and how the game adapts and such.
I enjoyed playing this for the most part, but the things listed below just irritate me too much to continue playing as a full time thing.

Am I wrong on any of these?

Mob agro/hate:
~~~~~~~~~~
My main issue with this game is mob agro. Walk too neer a mob when your too low on hp or mana, or resting and don't see it creep up behind you off camera, your just dead, no matter how well your skill is in playing the game. The only thing you can do is run for AGES until you zone out (or warp ofc). This is a boring, tedius and lengthly process to do every single time to avoid death. Most of the time it is quicker to die and run back to where you were (even if it means taking the exp loss).
There is no minimap and the camera controls are awful, so when running I often find myself looking back at the mob then running into trees while he gains on me. Most games allow click+drag for camera controls but this seems to start a rotation speed based on how far you move the pointer from the original point of click rather than the actual speed and distance you move the mouse (or analog stick on pad) so you can't quickly swing camera behind and back front fast.
I have adapted to every controls of any game after awhile as they seem to make some sense, but any logic of these choices they chose in this game escape me.
And why is the camera limited (even when not locked to the mob) to such close range? IT doesn't help when trying to check behind to see if another mob is creeping up on you while in combat.
# No individual indication as to which mobs are passive and which shoot on sight, so your not sure which ones you should go quite out of your way to avoid when travelling and which you can walk straight past and save time with, unless you know the mobs behaviours already.

Exp:
~~~~~~~~~~~
The fact you ONLY get experience points from killing monsters. Nothing earned from quests or missions appart from rep/rank and maybe items/gil.
The problem with this is that people will probably just kill things as they know the reward (exp) but without looking it up online, why bother with a quest chain when you won't know the end reward? Could be a big waste of time you could of spent grinding.
Grinding just for exp is boring.
Exp chain bonuses are nice from same even mobs sequencially, but by the time you find an "even match" near to one you just killed, and normally EM's do lots of damage and take much mana to kill that needs to be regernerated by resting, resting or finding another EM mob takes time which cuts off the chain bonus.

Casting spells/abilities:
~~~~~~~~~~~
Example1: you see mob, you start casting magic (earth). While casting you pick the next spell to cast, or no the menu resets to "battle" mode so you have to find the spell again. that wastes time while the mob gets closer in melee combat range.

Example2: you choose melee attack first, so menu changes originally before battle to combat menu. You cast a spell, while spell is finishing you choose another spell to cast. Nothing happens. It accepts your command without any errors, but ignores your command as it was "finishing the animation". I am used to playing games where you CANNOT choose to cast another spell until you are actually able to cast a spell. (funny logic no?)

Party/trade invites:
~~~~~~~~~~~
One single message when somebody asks you to trade or invite, if you miss it theres no further notice on screen to remind you. Would it be so hard to just make something like the "party" or "trade" buttons flashing or something when this happens?

No bags:
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One of the first mmorpg's that I have seen (though I am sure there is some) where you only have one bag with 30 slots (later upgradable i hear) and thats it. Cannot buy or make additional bags. Plenty of space in the mog house but that doesn't help you out on the field.

[Kirsteena]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

In answer to some of your peeves

Aggro - basically you learn to avoid it. Resting you end up doing with your back to a wall (at least, I do) which means you have one less field of vision to worry about. When you start partying up (normally around 10/12) this becomes less of an issue, as you choose a "camp" to base things from (camps are generally made in safe spots where no mobs spawn near), and you bring mobs to you.

Exp
Yes, exp can only be gained by killing mobs. Again, this will change when you party up. You will be pulling mostly VT/IT mobs to you, and the idea is you chain them (normally low levels, chain 5 is the best you will do, but that is good). It is a grind, and you don't get xp for quests, but... it isn't all bad.

Spells/Abilities
Macros macros macros. Learn how to use them. FFXI gives you 10 macro pallettes, all of 6 lines each to use.

For instance, for my blm, one of my spell macros would go:

/equip Main "Jupiter's Staff"
/ma "Burst II" <t>

This means that I equip the correct staff for the spell, and the spell goes off. You can do with abilities, spells, equipment changes... Look on your menu, go to the macro menu, then play about. They take a while to get right, but will make things far far easier in the long run.

Space
Make sure you are sorting your inventory, so items like crystals and seals stack. Yes, you can get gobby bag upgrades, which will upgrade your inventory over time to 60 (and many argue this isn't enough - certainly, I am running 55/60 most of the time). On the subject of seals, don't ever throw any away - they can be used for special battlefields in which you can get goodies to sell and make money.

[KingOfZeal]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

Exp:
~~~~~~~~~~~
The fact you ONLY get experience points from killing monsters. Nothing earned from quests or missions appart from rep/rank and maybe items/gil.
The problem with this is that people will probably just kill things as they know the reward (exp) but without looking it up online, why bother with a quest chain when you won't know the end reward? Could be a big waste of time you could of spent grinding.
Grinding just for exp is boring.
Exp chain bonuses are nice from same even mobs sequencially, but by the time you find an "even match" near to one you just killed, and normally EM's do lots of damage and take much mana to kill that needs to be regernerated by resting, resting or finding another EM mob takes time which cuts off the chain bonus.

There are a few (limited, but repeatable) ways of gaining XP outside of killing things. These single-quest lines often result in obtaining one of the few Experience Scrolls in the game (check FFXIclopedia). While they don't grant MUCH xp, they do provide some.

Also, from the way you write the last part of your thing (about EM's), it doesn't sound like your much past the dunes. As you get higher (30s, and this becomes more and more true the higher you get), chains are much easier to maintain, and even when fighting IT+ won't deplete your reserves nearly as much, even after all the fun utility/higher cost spells you get.

[Amarok]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

Later on in the game you do get some other fun ways to gain XP. Every week I do an escort quest for up to 1.5k XP, and the 3 CoP lvl 30 ENMs which get you 9k XP in total, can be lots of fun with a regular party, and you sometimes get an expensive drop to share as a bonus. Also Besieged will get you 1.2k of XP once you are high enough to do them effectively. The grind is going to always be the fastest way to get XP however, and always make sure you have your Empress Band charged and ready for that extra 1k XP.

As for party invites, there is an icon that appears over your name in the bottom right hand corner once someone has sent you an invite, but I agree it is very small, and most of the time the invite will time-out before you get a chance to realise, and even then have to check your log to see who it actually was who invited you.

[Aksannyi]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

As for party invites, there is an icon that appears over your name in the bottom right hand corner once someone has sent you an invite, but I agree it is very small, and most of the time the invite will time-out before you get a chance to realise, and even then have to check your log to see who it actually was who invited you.

This should be a non-issue, as no one should ever invite you to a party without asking you if you wish to join first. Therefore, you'll be waiting for the invite before you get it.

[Mostin]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

Thankyou all for the kind advice. I still think its hard for me to start this game knowing nobody in real life who actually plays it to give hints, tips, ingame assistance or advice, and theres no tutorials or any help in the game explaining what the hell to do (very big issue with this game I think for newcomers).
Seeing all the great looking abilities and adventures I have seen video's of (looked hard for them) I would love to be part of that and experience with all other players, but I just don't understand this game.
Theres hardly any video's, reviews or information generally (besides sites mentioned in links section here) on the internet about this game.
For such a large game with all this content I just can't understand why it has kind of slipped the media net. Why would a game that has had all this work put into it, and with a final fantasy title be so little spoken of or known about? Was it only a really big hit in certain countries? I doubt its because of the games age.

The reason I bought this game was because I wanted to know what on earth its all about as I couldn't find any really detailed information about it on the net, the only way to find out was actually playing. Through what I have learnt from so far, is that its all pretty much self tought the hard long way. I am not saying I want any sort of walkthrough but any explanation ingame from the game would be nice. I am not sure I can last to 20/30 and start grouping to start to understand this.
Also things like "get to level 30 and then start over with level 1 on an "advanced" job. Whats the point in that? Why not just have all jobs to choose from the start? Why get all the way to 30 then start over back at level 1 again? Sure some basic classes are good high levels and sure some people continue instead, but still.

I don't really enjoy playing a game so helplessly relying on asking others for every piece of information I need to know or searching endlessly on the internet. I have been invited to a small linkshell which has 1 or 2 helpful people in it, but I don't see it fair to keep hassling them for so many questions when they are just trying to enjoy the game. Things that need a quick simple yes/no to save maybe 30 mins of trying it out and save myself wasting time would be great, but you can't rely on somebody to be there 100% to help you, and most of the time they are not.
Theres just SOO many things that I cannot comprehend the logic of, it hurts my head.

[DR2D2]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

This should be a non-issue, as no one should ever invite you to a party without asking you if you wish to join first. Therefore, you'll be waiting for the invite before you get it.

I agree. If you are getting invites without someone asking you 1st avoid that party at all costs. I haven't formed many parties but I can tell you I never invite someone unless I contact them 1st, or someone tells me to invite them.

[Rajsela]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

I hate when people see me as a mage and be like "CAN you PL me?"

I'm heading to the dunes to selbina to trade in selbina clay. This Elvaan black mage lvl 10/whm5 sends me a tell.

player> Stop
Player> help>
Player> What are you doin
Me> Busy
Player> Can you PL me
Me> I don't PL
Player> can you cure
*heals player*

Then I take off, I'm on /anon and I hate when I pass threw lowbie areas, people realize I'm a mage and take advantage of me and send me /tells for teleports and power-leveling.

[Aksannyi]

Re: What's your pet peeve in FFXI?

People you know who automatically assume that FFXI > life.

I have a friend in my LS - he's the LS leader, and he's really a great guy. I met him when he helped me get an AF key and coffer for my RDM in Castle Oztroja, and he's always been really helpful to everyone ever since. And I like the guy, he's a cool dude, and mature for his age. (He's 18.)

He plays for 20 hours a day, I swear. I don't know that he does anything besides eat, sleep (a little), use the toilet, and play FFXI. He is ALWAYS online.

That being said, I can usually request his help any time I need it, and if he's not busy he'll help out. Same can be said for just about anyone in our LS, we're a helpful bunch when we are able to be. I certainly do my share of helping out with AF quests, coffer hunts, NM fights, etc., etc. I enjoy it, because the people in my LS are friends, and we have a great time together when we go out to xp, fight ENMs, or just skill up.

That being said, last night I was working on my homework. Nothing major, the assignment really only took an hour (after I watched the movie I needed to comment on, but still, the assignment itself was easy) and it wasn't exactly due RIGHT THAT SECOND. My husband was playing at the time, and he is also a member of our LS. They were gearing up to go do an Assault, and they were asking, "where's aks? we need aksannyi. is she gonna play tauro?" and things of that nature. So I see this, and I figure I can put my homework off for a couple of hours, do the assault a few times, and then log off to finish the assignment. Two hours in the grand scheme of things wasn't going to hurt too much.

So I log on, and no one is ready to go right away, except me, because I had all my gear on my RDM anyway. So I had to waste time waiting for others - most notably the LS leader, who sometimes takes forever just getting to the place we are meeting up. So that was some time wasted I could have done my homework. I even commented, "so what's going on? are we gonna do this? i kind of have some homework to do." Nothing too terribly impatient, but just to alert the LS leader that I DID have other things to do, so, "let's do this."

So we get there, and my husband and I don't really know the battle plan, which makes for some un-smooth sailing. So what happens? I die, delevel. Not a fan of going out without a buffer, but I generally trust my LS mates not to get me killed. But I am forgiving, as it is the first time I've done this assault, and we still win the first one without me being alive.

So we go to do it again, thinking this time will be better. What happens? Three of us die, myself included, and I delevel again (because my other LS friend was nice enough to R2 me.) At this point, I'm pissed. "I am spending time NOT doing my homework to delevel" I pointed out. I got an R3 and I shutdown for the night. Later, I find out the LS leader is asking once again if I'm going to be playing so they can do something.

Now, I love FFXI. I really do. I would play a lot more if I didn't have any responsibilities. However, I DO HAVE THEM. A LOT OF THEM. For some reason, the LS leader doesn't seem to understand this, and I've gotten this complaint from other members, too. He plays ALL THE DAMN TIME, and it seems he expects the rest of us to, as well. Most people are understanding - "Schoolwork comes first" - but not him. His mentality is, "We are doing an event, and you need to be here. You can do that stuff later." >.<

So I unequipped my pearl, I think I'm going to take a break from that shell for a while as I am a little peeved at the LS leader expecting me to be there every time. I know that I'm the only high level RDM in the shell and I'm a good player and all that, but damn it, find someone else and take some Yagudo drinks FFS.

So yeah, that's my long, ranting pet peeve of the day, LS leaders who expect you to be around 24/7 and make you feel guilty about not being there when you have a fucking life outside of Vana'diel.