Couple of questions from a casual adult player

[Tangogulf]

Hi all;

I purchase this game in the summer time , but failed to use it much due to time constraints.

What I really want to do is to attempt a mmorpg with a co-worker who also likes mmorpgs. We are looking for a game that we requires a fair amount of time to develop our characters, so we think that FFXI maybe the game for us. A couple of questions:

1/ Is it possible to two box with this game? We would like to have a ready made group for those ocassions when there are time constraints. Could 3 characters do it, if one of us two boxed?

2/ Server limitations. As I recall, FFXI chose the server that I was on. Could we get all three characters on the same server, or is this going to be a major pain in the butt?

3/ Graphics. My friend is a graphics hound. As I recall, FFXI was a little pixellated when I tried it. (My settings may have been off). The demo/benchmark utility makes the graphics look very good and clean. Are they this clean?

Again, we may not be able to sit down for 6 hours at a time, but certainly 2 hours once or twice a week would certainly be possible. Is FFXI the game for us?

Thanks for any and all feedback!

[Tirrock]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

1) Possible? Yes. Although you'd need an extra account to do this. And it's not very easy. Some combinations of jobs can duo fairly well, but it wouldn't be comparable to a good party of 6.

2) Yeah. In the server forums here there are "world pass request topic"s. Get somebody to get you a world pass and you and your friend can use the code to get on the same server as each other.

3) The graphics on the benchmark-2 (I'm afraid I don't have any more recent versions) when set on high are about as high as it gets. I personally think it looks better than WoW, despite the game being released before it. The only graphic issue that bugs me on FFXI is "pop-ups", where the draw distance of the world is a bit too short for my taste, so sometimes you'll see something like a mountain "suddenly" appear in the distance, out of the fog.

I don't know how well you'd do just playing once or twice a week, 2 hours a day. Honestly, it takes a long time to do things in FFXI. After level 10 to 15, you might have some real troubles with how long it takes to make money or even level, and it might get frustrating. This game seems to pretty much require several hours per log on after the low levels.

[Jei]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

1. yea it's possible to multi box FFXI. depending on situation it can get very hard or very easy too. some monsters you need a lot of concentration from every players, some you don't. And some jobs just require a lot more attension that others such as ninja in exp PT. 2 boxing ninja+brd for soloing purpose tho can be really really efficient.

For example myself I 3 box my main, my gf and my mule to do certain trigger NMs all by myself. And once I got the strategy down I never lose.
But I definitely will not 3 box in a full exp PT. My main job is Rdm, a very very busy job and controlling myself alone takes all my attension already.

2. if you can get a "normal" world pass it will be easy. it has 5 uses and will get you only the same server. Try ask some friends already playing the game, or get 1 char on it first to buy the pass
most of the time i don't mind buying world pass for strangers if asked in game and im already in the zone.

3. at highest setting the game definitely looks good.
like this http://www.1up.com/media?id=2652832&type=lg

[Caspian]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

Its late at night on a weekend, most people are playing so this forum doesn't get much action right now.

1. Not sure what you mean about two box. I'm not real computer savvy, so have to ask someone more technologically inclined than myself.
2. You can either get someone to get a worldpass and all of you use it (they have multiple uses). Or one of you can get on and get a worldpass for the other two.
3. With a decent graphics card and video settings all the way up, graphics look really nice, though somewhat dated (the game is several years old).

EDIT: can Jei or another mod close this thread, since right after I posted this the other thread got more replies?

[Jei]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

ok. let's keep the discussion on 1 thread

http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/new...lt.player.html

thread close

AKosygin Edit: A merge in this cause would be better. So I will do that instead of closing it.

[Tangogulf]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

Thankyou both for the replies. I think the only thing that really concerns me here is what Tirrock said:
"This game seems to pretty much require several hours per log on after the low levels."

The only thing that I find truly frustrating in a game is to go online and to not gain anything in either exp or money after a period of game play. Levelling is quite secondary to me.

What I really enjoy in games is the ability to have tactical battles, where players all perform their functions well in cooperation with one another. Everything I have read about FFXI and "the jobs", sounds like this fits the bill.

The game will become frustrating for me if either:

-2 to 3 characters wont cut it...ie wasting all of our precious game time trying to get a
group.
OR
-such excessive downtime, that I'm unable to achieve and noticeable exp or money gain over the span of a couple of hours. (it doenst have to be alot, just enough to say that I accoplished something)

So does this game fit my needs?

[Tirrock]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

Well... It might be a bit difficult to get this set-up, but if you two wanted to play Beastmaster, you could definately (yet slowly) reach 75 with just the two of you.

You'd both probably want to get WHM to 30, and two WHM can't duo very well at all. So you might have to have one person be a WAR (damage dealer that can double as a decent tank) and another a WHM, then switch roles.

Beastmaster (BST) can solo their way from 1 to 75. But level 15 to 35 will be difficult with just the two of you. Fairly low EXP and some fairly bad downtime. But on the plus side, when it's just the two of you, the only people that care about your gear are you two.

Edit: Here, check out these links to BST topics.
http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/bea...nfo.topic.html - BST info topic
http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/bea....lvl.30.a.html - BST level guide to 30

Edit #2: The BST info topic uses the Japanese version of your commands, at least at the beginning. Just going to point that out now. >_>a

[Jei]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

both your concerns im afraid will happen more often than you like.
I played for almost 4 years now. my rank is still not max. And I have not yet complete either of the expansion story line.
But I enjoyed doing them very much. And I'm proud of where I am right now ^^

[Tangogulf]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

Double Post Edited:
Jei;

I had over 100 days on an everquest character over a period of 4 years. He had not reached high level either. But I enjoyed the trip very much.

I do not miss sitting for 10 mins after each and every fight though. It sounds like I maybe getting into that kind of time commitment with FFXI...which is daunting to say the least.!

I just got your screen shot to show....very beautiful. That kind of environment would make the down time lots easier.

I'll ask it another way: Is a group of 3 enough to make our way in this game?

Double Post Edited:
Hey, I'll ask another question:

If I'm unable to find a group in FFXI, can I engage in trade skilling or resource harvesting to make money?

[Jei]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

for exp, kinda. you will be a lot slower compare to pt of 6. but the good thing is now that you already have 3, it hsouldn't be too hard to find 3 more and form a solid group.
for this to work tho I suggest you play 1 char for a while to get the feel and flow of the party. it will help you when you form your own.

for quest and missions, there are a lot you can do alone. with a few here and there that you will beed a lot of ppl up to 18 sometimes.

trade skill is can be very profitable later on... I think this is kinda similar to EQ where getting your skill up is a huge money sink... but even if you're high, you won't make profit unless you know what to make still. so there's definitely some strategy involve here.

[Caspian]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

Trade skills (or crafting as its called in FFXI) does cost a lot, but can make you a lot too, if you do a little research and learn what to make. For money, you can also mine or farm. At level 50 I can farm aggro free in a few places and pull down nearly 200k/hour.
Like Tirrock said, BST is the way to go if you want to only xp for an hour or two a day. You can slowly grind out the xp, and at 35 it will get much easier, and as a duo (or trio) you can make good xp/hr.

[Tirrock]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

If BST doesn't appeal to you, and spending more than a couple hours at a time on here is something you can't do or really don't want....then you might have some problems with this game.

Although you can craft without leveling much, if you want. A high level cloth crafter on my server was level 30 THF for a lot of his crafting career.

[Tangogulf]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

Thanks Jei and Caspian;

(Thanks also for the reply on the other post Caspian)

I will take what I have learned here to my friend. I'm much more prone to mmorpgs with some complexity, so I think I could survive in FFXI.

My friend...well, the simpler the better. So we will see how it goes.

[Aeni]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

Tirrock/Jenica!!!!

[Tirrock]

Re: Couple of questions from a casual adult player

Tirrock/Jenica!!!!

D:?