Final Fantasy XI vs. M-O

[Draco Dagon]

Disclaimer: I will not be getting Matrix Online for another month or so, probably.


Anyhow, as I read about Matrix Online I got thinking even more. Right now, I've basically returned to FFXI in a long time-basically was due to disconnection percentage (which is another subject at that... and resolved)-back to working on my character for now which is 32drg, 32whm, 20war, 17blm, 15thf, etc. I realize I've still a long ways to go. The only main problems I found with FFXI would not be enough to keep me away for now. (My friendlist is very large too... shows ya how many people I befriended in the game and chat there...)

However, I've always been a big fan of The Matrix (I got even The Ultimate Matrix Collection w/ Screenplays) and been waiting for this game to come out for a very long time. I have yet to play it however.

So, can anyone give the best pointers for both games and worse pointers of both, all compared to eachother (excluding PC-requirements, of course)?

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Final Fantasy XI vs. M-O

I eagerly awaited The Matrix Online since its announcement, played in Beta, and played the retail game for about 2 months before I quit. I was disappointed with the game, unfortunately.

While it wasn't a problem at all, I'd have to say I've been completely spoiled by the UI of FFXI, which is completely different from any other MMO out there since it's based on PS2 control. I found myself unable to get accustomed to MxO's standard control scheme.

However, my problem lies in that I just found the game incredibly dull. Maybe I should be one to talk since I play a game that involves an insane degree of level-grinding, but the gameplay in The Matrix involves the same "rinse-and-repeat" techniques of any other MMO. Kill monsters (which are all just poorly designed thugs of some sort until the very high levels.), take part in missions (which are pretty much the same whether you choose "Assasination," "Infiltration," "Sabotage," or any other Mission Type.), or sit around in a club doing dance emotes. The crafting system isn't very useful or relevant to anything, and there barely an economy of any sort; you obtain most of your information (currency, cleverly renamed to make it seem different, like most things in the game) from PVE or from missions. No one really uses the Marketplace, and spends most of their money at NPC shops. Fighting is also quite boring. Even though it looks exciting with Monolith's "revolutionary" InterLock Combat as they call it, it's simply another renamed feature which was created in another MMO...InterLock Combat is just the name for the concept of being able to lock onto your enemy. Very revolutionary indeed. Combat itself is pretty much based upon the roll of the dice and the general level of you and your enemy. Yeah, stats can make a difference, but the battle depends on you deciding what kind of attack or defense stance you wish to make, and have your attack go up against the enemy's with a random number generation. There isn't really the same type of strategy involved with things like Skillchains or any class speciality, as all classes are made to be able to stand on their own.

While I did enjoy The Matrix Online for quite a while, I found it to be more of a trip outdoors to get a few breaths of fresh air before returning to the underground and back to the world of Vana'diel. After a few months, the game's flaws became apparent to me. While the game is still young and many of those flaws will eventually be done away with, that time is not now.

As a sidenote, the game suffered a serious lack of sales; so much so that Warner Bros. ended up selling the game to Sony Online Entertainment. Hopefully that will help, as Warner Bros. was only holding onto the title hoping it'd sell huge and not really caring about anything. The addition of the game to SOE's network could make a huge difference in future development.

[Draco Dagon]

Re: Final Fantasy XI vs. M-O

Okay... thanks.

I managed to get it the other day and none of the mouses I have (including two new ones I bought yesterday) have been working in the game (the cursor stays stuck in one single position). I am going to give it a few days to see if I can get some replies elsewhere to new driver updates I could possibly get. I heard others have/had the same problem.

Luckily, I can pay for two MMORPGs per month now, at least. So I'm going to probably try Everquest all over again if I don't get MxO to work.

[Jei]

Re: Final Fantasy XI vs. M-O

reviews said the game is really revolutionary. But from the sound of it it's just markettting it seems :O
I'm not too surprised it sold so little. If the game came out right after the first matrix im sure it will sell a lot. the 2 and 3 of the film just ripp itself apart.

[Draco Dagon]

Re: Final Fantasy XI vs. M-O

I was always a pretty big fan of Matrix, though I never liked the console games (always too short and too easy to beat and needed no skill to beat) though Matrix Revolutions was my favorite.

I'm looking at EQ2 right now though and about to just head to Best Buy to think.

[Cade]

Re: Final Fantasy XI vs. M-O

I was always a pretty big fan of Matrix, though I never liked the console games (always too short and too easy to beat and needed no skill to beat) though Matrix Revolutions was my favorite.

I'm looking at EQ2 right now though and about to just head to Best Buy to think.

I had really considered EQ2 after I got bored with WoW and wasn't too sure about returning to FFXI, but I reccommend you try the demo out which you should be able to download from their site or fileplanet. The environmental graphics are nice if your machine can handle it, yes, but the majority of all the human-like races looked pretty ugly to me (although the non-human races looked good). Coming from playing a handsome bishounen in FFXI, that was a big no-no for me.

What really killed it for me was browsing the screenshots and graphical suggestion forums they have. Just seeing what was in game and what people were pleading the designers for made me lose interest.... that and I couldn't run it on normal settings without getting choppy framerate. :\

Gameplay itself isn't anything new, its just like any other mmorpg currently on the market.

[Jei]

Re: Final Fantasy XI vs. M-O

just like other games, EQ2 got their loyal fans too. I tried the game for a few days and didn't like it at all however.

The fact that EQ2 supports RMT officially through their official sites really pissed me off and im not gonna tough that game ever again ;/

[Kaihato]

Re: Final Fantasy XI vs. M-O

I got MXO for my birthday, Its... okay.

It was fun for awhile, But then it just got boring.

Mission after mission, Kill this guy, extract this guy, blah.
Also, The game is bugzilla, I would wait a couple more moths befor getting, But its a nice game. The battle system and stuff like that is very cool. Also its fun to hyper jump roof to roof :D.

If you want a MMORPG to play away from FFXI, I would get WoW. I currently play that, Its Kick-ass :D. I play on uther.