First impressions, good but dying game?

[Legal Fish]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

Buburimu's exp is undeniably better than Dunes 12 to 16(17 maybe). You can't even begin to compare Dhalmels and Birds to Flies and Crabs. And they both share goblins.

[Jethreal]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

In all this it's also important to remember that we've all seen the changes and can compare it to the 'good ole days'. I started much later than release (only about a year and a half in game now) and I thouroughly enjoyed my first job/subjob experience. My highest is still only 66. People who enter the system now have never seen Beehive chips at 20K they see 8K (or whatever) as a good price.

Is it harder for new players? I'd say no, it's actually a bit easier. They'll hook up with a good social LS, get all kinds of tips and help that earlier players didn't have access to. (How did you guys ever get AF with the original level cap???) and they have access to tons of on-line resources when the best you had was the Brady guide.

[endersclarity@hotmail.com]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

I honestly don't think this game is going to die. Quite the opposite in fact. I predict a resurgence in population. I believe gamers aren't as satisfied with games such as Guild Wars and WoW. I think the ability to solo in a mmorpg is a detriment to gameplay. I don't believe that the purpose of these games is to level up, that just sounds like a chore. The fun aspects of the game arise out of community and from what I've read and experienced, ffxi's community is fantastic. I played the game when it first came out but had my account deleted due to inactivity and my CDs are now useless. I'm playing guild wars now and it just isn't as fun as I remember ffxi being....
I could be wrong though and i've written several of you regarding this: I was wondering if anyone might have a trial key that I could use to give the game another shot and see if my memories serve me well but I don't think I'm wrong. This is a great game and people will come to realize that as more and more become disenchanted with WoW

[Mostin]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

I could be wrong though and i've written several of you regarding this: I was wondering if anyone might have a trial key that I could use to give the game another shot and see if my memories serve me well but I don't think I'm wrong. This is a great game and people will come to realize that as more and more become disenchanted with WoW

Do not message me again to my inbox asking for a buddy pass key, and do not post a request here for one. There is a thread created for this in the forums called "The Buddy Pass request thread". Use this instead of hassling any new player you see joining the game.

[Karinya]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

How did you guys ever get AF with the original level cap???

A full alliance of 55-60s. (Heck, the NM for RDM AF3 was easier than beating 99 thfs to the Oztroja coffers for AF body...) In the old days my LS used to do that a lot (it wasn't actually before the higher level caps, but very few people in the LS were over 60).

It's much easier with a couple 70+ tanks and DD, but they're not actually *needed* for AF fights any more than they are for the second level cap quest (which can be, and in the old days was, beaten by a full alliance of 53-55s).

In some ways I miss those old fights that are now trashed so quickly by a few high level players. How many paladins now get to tank one of their own AF3 mobs, rather than being asked to stand back while the 75 nin solos it? It's too bad they all couldn't be 60 capped battlefields, IMO. New players have the AF, but not the memory of getting it the hard way.

[Sebastien]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

It is getting less newbie friendly tho. Low level is getting less and less fun.

The first year I played this game, the Dunes was my favourite place >.>; It used to be really fun and easy to level up there.
Now I don't even wanna answer people asking for party from the dunes.

I'm not sure if I can post safely yet.. these forums seem to think that every word I type is a link to a gil-selling website for reasons that totally escape and frustrate me.

But on the outside chance that the moderators have decided to stop teasing me..

I just wanted to say that I do agree with this. I played FFXI around the time of N.A. release, but only for a few months. Now I am coming back to it and I've been playing for about a month so far.

On the one hand, it is not really that hard to find parties of some sort, imo. But on the other hand, it is a totally different atmosphere than it was when I played last. It used to be that folks were willing to be creative or even adventurous in deciding where to go. Now there is almost no variation whatsoever, and everyone more-or-less follows the same progression. Many people don't even realize there are places *other* than the Dunes and Qufim Island that cover those level ranges, in some cases much better, and a surprisingly high number of those people are not even willing to try to xp without a PL in that level range.

We had none of this stigma when I played the first time around. There was never any problem getting into a group of non-twinked players, with no fancy sushi, no PL, and being very successful in the Dunes. These days that is almost impossible.

I don't think this means the game is dying. Actually I am impressed with it's longevity and how popular it still is. However, I agree with this poster's point that these kinds of changes (in the playerbase) have made the game less newbie friendly. It took a fair amount of patience and much reassurance from my friend for me to struggle past tha awkward 10-20 stretch, after which I think you begin to see legit parties and more of what the game is really about.

[Legal Fish]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

I wasn't there, so don't take my word for it, but getting AF was the end-game content of it's time. Sounds rather nice to me really.

[Kaickul]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

I'm not sure if I can post safely yet.. these forums seem to think that every word I type is a link to a gil-selling website for reasons that totally escape and frustrate me.

But on the outside chance that the moderators have decided to stop teasing me..

No one is picking on you personally. The forum owners implemented measures to stop the flood of RMT spammers this site has been hit with recently. New members to the board unfortunately get hit with these measures to keep people from just registering and posting.

Dont take these measures personally, we welcome new members to the community.

[Ziero]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

I'm actually trying my best, in a sense, to recreate that 'group effort' atmosphere of aquiring AF items and such. On both my War and my Thf, which are 60 and 59 respectively, I refused to do any of my AF quests until I was high enough to actually contribute to the group. And any part of the quests that I could solo with said jobs I did, though that's mainly been nothing more then coffers on Thf(picking locks is fun!) and the like. The few fights I have had were done in groups of LS friends ranging from mid 40s to 75, and with the exception of two NMs (war af boots and first thf af hat NM) all the fights ended up being both a challenge and an experiance to remember. And I'm also extending this mentality to my Rank missions, mainly in that I refuse to fight the Shadow Lord fight unless all members of the party are between 50-60. I have friends who could easily solo it for me, but I'd rather have more 'fun' doing it the hard way.

But SE has added many new things over the years that can still be a challenge to lower lvl players. Level capped CoP, BCNM/ENM/ISNM fights and assaults all force people to be a certain lvl and make them work together as a team in the same fashion AF quests and limit breaks did back in the day. So that sense of wonder and excitement of a challenging fight can still be found in this game, it just moved to different challenges.

[HairdewX]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

I'm not sure if I can post safely yet.. these forums seem to think that every word I type is a link to a gil-selling website for reasons that totally escape and frustrate me.

But on the outside chance that the moderators have decided to stop teasing me..

I am new to the forums as well, and it seemed to give me those link errors everytime I tried to use a smiley face.

I believe that the smiley faces resolve to a link to an image, and it gets interpreted as spam and your message is lost.

[neokaril]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

Trust me, the alternative would be much more inconvenient..


Just give it some time and you will be fine!

[little ninja]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

I'm actually trying my best, in a sense, to recreate that 'group effort' atmosphere of aquiring AF items and such. On both my War and my Thf, which are 60 and 59 respectively, I refused to do any of my AF quests until I was high enough to actually contribute to the group. And any part of the quests that I could solo with said jobs I did, though that's mainly been nothing more then coffers on Thf(picking locks is fun!) and the like. The few fights I have had were done in groups of LS friends ranging from mid 40s to 75, and with the exception of two NMs (war af boots and first thf af hat NM) all the fights ended up being both a challenge and an experiance to remember. And I'm also extending this mentality to my Rank missions, mainly in that I refuse to fight the Shadow Lord fight unless all members of the party are between 50-60. I have friends who could easily solo it for me, but I'd rather have more 'fun' doing it the hard way.
But SE has added many new things over the years that can still be a challenge to lower lvl players. Level capped CoP, BCNM/ENM/ISNM fights and assaults all force people to be a certain lvl and make them work together as a team in the same fashion AF quests and limit breaks did back in the day. So that sense of wonder and excitement of a challenging fight can still be found in this game, it just moved to different challenges.

I wish there were more like you. When I'm on either Bst or Nin. i get around 10 /tells a day asking if i can solo some form of a AF quest or mission. Sad to when I'm on for no more then a couple of hours.. The days of intown shouts and low lvl quest parties is few an far between..

[Sebastien]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

Actually for that reason I was thinking of trying to form a linkshell for people who actually want to .. do stuff.. as opposed to have it done for them. A linkshell of like-minded folk seems like the only way to achieve that, given the current state of the game.

[Hresvelgr White]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

Actually for that reason I was thinking of trying to form a linkshell for people who actually want to .. do stuff.. as opposed to have it done for them. A linkshell of like-minded folk seems like the only way to achieve that, given the current state of the game.

That would be an amazing thing. One of the things that pulled me back to FFXI after leaving 2+ years ago was the strong sense of community that people shared here. I've played other MMO's, and none of them have that same 'bond of brothers' feeling. It is unique to FFXI, and that is why I came back.

Sadly, when I returned my LS was dead and almost none of my friends played anymore. The one's that did were all 75 with multiple jobs and were so screwed into HNM linkshells that, though they offered to help me solo things on my new character, couldn't grasp any longer what actually made this game fun.

And a large part of what did that -for me, anyway- was getting members of my linkshell together, all near the same level, and actually doing something the game offered that wasn't level grinding. EFs, Garrisons, large quests, missions, AF stuff, Promies, they were all a blast. Why?

Because we were all damn near the same level. We didn't have people running us through while we all stood in a corner with Sneak and Invis up, occasionally striking a key or pushing an analog stick forward a little to move. It was dangerous, it was exciting, but most of all, it was fun. As. Hell.

But now, when I look around my server, while there still are low level players running around, Jeuno is empty (though I hear that's because the new hub of activity is in Aht Urghan), the shouts are few and far between, and nearly everyone is decked out in Sky/Sea gear or AF or something.

It makes me worried that the only way to do things for people now is to get a few 75's to run you through everything that isn't level capped, and if it is, then good luck.

Granted, I'm only level 12 right now, so I'm still adjusting to the "new version" of FFXI. ...And I kind of ranted.

So my main point is this then:
That linkshell idea is a damn good one.

[little ninja]

Re: First impressions, good but dying game?

Actually for that reason I was thinking of trying to form a linkshell for people who actually want to .. do stuff.. as opposed to have it done for them. A linkshell of like-minded folk seems like the only way to achieve that, given the current state of the game.

That only works until players taste high lvl help. Then thats all they will ever look for...