New Player | Worth it?

[Ahimsa]

Hello all,

I am looking for a new MMO to play, I played WoW since release, attempted to play Vanguard and EQ2 but the absolutely wretched graphics and running speed on my relatively decent system turned me off on both of those games.

I was just wondering how accessable this game would be for me to start. I have the install disks someone gave me for a gift about a year or two ago and was just wondering if I should return the item or give it a shot.

Is there a specific server I should look for that may be newer and easier for me to get groups?

Do I have to do ALL my leveling in groups?

Thank you for any potential responses!

[Ellipses]

Re: New Player | Worth it?

Obviously, most of us think it's worth playing.

This game can be pretty difficult compared to other MMOs. It's not very forgiving of mistakes, and information isn't very readily available within the game itself. You'll be looking things up online a lot.

None of the servers are so new that that'll make any difference in how easy it is for you to get groups; new servers are populated by transfers from old servers anyway, so it's not like a new server means new players at all. The early levels are sparse, but it hasn't been problematic for me so far. A lot of people complain about having to wait for hours and hours on a party, but that's honestly how the game has always been anyway.

It's possible to solo. Only certain jobs (BST most noticeably) are any good at it. With most jobs, especially in the mid levels, solo XP is a trickle at best, and usually a dangerous trickle. The latest expansion offers Campaign, which is a decent source of solo XP once you're high enough to take advantage of it. But for the most part, parties are the way to go for XP.

[Dark Raz]

Re: New Player | Worth it?

What the above person said, and there's no open PvP in FFXi, so if you're the kind that likes ganking newbies once you get high enough to do so...you'll be disappointed.

If you're the kind that hates getting ganked as you step outta safe zones by other players..you'll be happy here, but you'll still get ganked by hard monsters occasionally =P

[Negklar]

Re: New Player | Worth it?

I've played a lot of FFXI and waaaay too much WoW. They're very different games. If you played WoW and liked being able to do almost anything fast, solo all quests, kill most mobs in <5 seconds, and/or kill other players, you probably won't like FFXI. If, however, you found WoW way too fast and easy, shallow, not enough group dynamics, and hated the childish community, FFXI may be exactly what you want! FFXI is such an in-depth game with so many nuances and facets it makes WoW look like pac-man (though a lot of people love pac-man) .

[Shadowneko]

Re: New Player | Worth it?

The thing I like best about FFXI vs other MMOs is the Job system. You can change you class without having to make a new character with no real drawbacks except for all the jobs start on lvl 1. (example: You play Warrior to lvl 30 and get tired of it. You can switch to Black mage and level it for awhile, but you still have lvl 30 warrior to switch bcak to if you wish.)

The other things I like are the story missions. Vanadiel has lots of fun stories and bosses to bust at different levels. Of couse since the game is PvE and team based you'll need help but the community is usually pretty nice about helping out ^^

[Wise Donkey]

Re: New Player | Worth it?

The community makes or breaks this game. All the above posters are correct, the only thing I will add is make friends. You won't get anywhere in this game without them, this game is very social in nature.

[Neomage]

Re: New Player | Worth it?

Technically, you don't have to do any leveling in groups. Soloing however, is very, very slow for most jobs. Some of the better soloers are Beastmaster, Warrior, Paladin, Dancer, and as you get higher (mostly 50+) Black Mage and Red Mage. Most other jobs are pretty much consigned to group situations for most of their career.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: New Player | Worth it?

Even from FFXI players, you're going to get a bunch of myths.

People who say one server isn't that much different from the next are, quite frankly, completely wrong. The more populated the server, the more spread out players get and push thier way into different camps. Smaller servers will tend to be stuck in a rut and stick to the same camps or cram themselves into an already overpopulated one because they're too lazy to go anywhere else.

Regions are less of an issue on smaller servers and most players will try to make do with what they've got, higher population servers people will be much more shrewd because they can be. JP players are even more resistant to playing with NA/EU because they know they have more JP players to choose from, just as an example. Not all people you encounter are like that, but people take advantage of thier regions population to maintain thier own comfort zone, no matter how frustrating that may be. Most low populations wouldn't hesitate to accept a Bard for their PTs, but I've found on Odin if JPs can't find a JP Bard, they still won't invite the NA one -.-;

Soloing is earned in FFXI, not handed out for free like in WoW. Before you consider a solo career on any job, you have to level some subjobs to be effective at it. Ninja, White Mage, Dancer and Blue Mage and common solo subjobs. Work out a couple of these before you start thinking about a solo career on your main job.

When you have that out of the way, many jobs can solo, most noteably Beastmaster, Puppetmaster, Thief, Ninja, Paladin, Dancer, Blue Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage and Dragoon

[Malacite]

Re: New Player | Worth it?

Pretty much what BBQ said.

I'd definitely give the game a shot. The first month is free anyway so where's the harm? Unlike WoW, FFXI will push for community effort from the get go in almost everything you do.

It's both a blessing and a curse, since you need others to do most of the worthwhile activities in the game, but at the same time it helps to promote community spirit and relations (Something the battle.net community seriously lacks @_@)

Last I checked, the two most populated servers were Bahamut and Ragnarok. There's pros and cons to server sizes as BBQ pointed out;

More People means more money flowing and more crowded camps, but to be honest I'd rather be on a crowded server. Seraph has just over 2500 people at any given time (used to be 4000+ damn it) and as such finding people can be a bit of a hassle.


Anyway, try the game out and I'm sure you'll find it quite fun and awesome. There's just something about FFXI that really sets it apart from the others. I've been on here since NA release and I intend to see it through to the end ^^

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: New Player | Worth it?

People who say one server isn't that much different from the next are, quite frankly, completely wrong.

I'm always curious about how you came up with that idea of servers are very different; on how many different Worlds have you leveled a job 1 to 75 at least once anyway?

How about giving me an example of where Odin differ substantially from Ifrit?