why cant we learn to love this game?

[Markus. D]

I've never played FFXI, sir. ;D

haha out of all the ff games that one sucked the most it didint sell as well as the other ff games and it was only online what the . . . . .i wanted to play it but i was like ew im not playing this online to dumb i didint even add it to my collection it was not worth it at allll




ps: (off-topic) I wonder if FFXI has made more money then any other FF game ;3?


psps: I'm not to sure what the topic is yet ._.

[Miriel]

I'm pretty sure everyone who posts in this particular forum has a fondness for the game. So the question, "why cant we learn to love to love this game" is an odd thing to ask this group of posters. If we didn't enjoy the game, we wouldn't play it.

I personally do love the game, it's one of my favoritest Final Fantasy games ever.

If you're asking why OTHER people don't love this game, it's because they've never played it. Or they have played it and they just didn't like it all that much. And that's fine. The only annoying thing is when people bash FFXI only because they themselves couldn't find a way to play it and they're bitter about that.

[Fuego]

True true Miriel ... but whatever for stupid peeps who have nothin' to but bash stuff they don't have any information or knowledge about >.<

I myself love this game too but if you don't because you couldn't get into it ... i say try XII :lol:

[Misfit]

It's definatly not my favorite, because I get bored in it quite often... hence why I'm hardly ever online anymore. I think the main thing about FFXI that turns me off is that you have to do everything in groups, which isn't bad at all... Just sometimes I'd like to do my own thing and level, but ... no-can-do in XI. ;o I enjoy WoW more, but I won't get into that here. :D~

[Yeargdribble]

FFXI is a wonderful game, but it has some major flaws that make people hate it.

Compared to other MMOs it's damn near impossible to get into. You wanna play WoW? They'll give you enough free trial time to damn near get a character to 60. You want you friends to play? That's easy too.

Now look at FFXI. 30 day trial? You've gotta be joking. Barely anyone can get out of the dunes by then. So you just spent 30 days walking back and forth between a town and the dunes. Your impression of this game is that you spend 30 minutes traveling everywhere and if you make one small mistake you are punished by leveling down. You can't even get a chocobo to help your travel until level 20, and even then, you can't use it below level 15 to help you get to the dunes and you can't use crag birds until 20. You are punished with foot travel and it blows.

You want your friends to play FFXI with you? They don't exactly make that easy either. Money isn't that easy to make in the game if you have no experience and it might take you a week of playing to have enough gil to buy a WP for your friend if you don't know how to make money.

You MUST look for a PT. For many jobs this sucks. From leveling THF I know all about sitting and LFP for 6-9 hours. Sure I could farm I guess... this is supposed to be fun? Not to mention that many of the PTs you get will suck. They will either be with elitists or morons. Either way, dealing with low level PTs makes you want to claw your eyes out.



The vast majority of people want to play and have fun and make progress. There are very few casual gamers that like a game like FFXI mostly because you can't make any progress if you only play a short amount of time.

Sure... maybe if you just played a job like WHM that got fast invites or didn't care about leveling up and seeing the deeper parts of the storyline it would be okay.

That's the other thing. FF series fans want story. Well, FFXI has an amazing story that (having played every other game in the series) I would say rivals that of the rest of the series. But so what? You've gotta be level 75 to make it to the end of those story lines. Sure there is lower level content, but you won't make it past ZM14 or CoP Chapter 7 without a level 75 character. You might have a chance at making it to Rank 10 in each nation if others held your hand through all of it. But very few people do upper rank missions any more. Beyond that, if you want the story from multiple nations you have to pay a fee and forfeit your OP warps to change and get it.





I love the game, but I think I got lucky in that I had a decent amount of time to play when I started. It was slow to 40ish and then I got a big chance to play a lot and got to 75 quickly as well as got some other things done (good LS). However, this game isn't user friendly. It's hard to get started in this game and get even a fraction of what it has to offer.

I don't think people who haven't played it in its entirety have any room bashing it. I constantly hear people say the story sucks or this sucks or that sucks when they haven't actually played past level 20. I don't agree with that, but I can definitely understand their frustration with trying to get into the game.

[Markus. D]

I agree with all but the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th point.

[Goldenboko]

I can't learn to love this game because it costs so much God damn money!!!!!! I enjoyed the game, but then when my free trail was up I got a bill too big for me to pay for and still have decent pocket money.

[oddler]

I'll tell you how much I like this game. When it came out, I seriously wanted to play. Multiplayer Final Fantasy was a dream of mine for a long time before this game. What would not be fun about being ONE person in a party and having real people control the others?

In order to play, I had to buy a computer; that's right, I bought a computer completely for the drive to play FFXI. :) New graphics card, monthly bill, you name it. Quite a hefty sum and a pretty rash thing to do, I admit.

As it turned out, this game is the zenith of all that is FF. I could not be more happy with the way it is played. The highest level character I have is 25 RDM and just two days ago I was invited to my first decent LS. I have been playing for almost 2 months and I haven't even scratched the surface. This makes me happy.

The music, battle style, dialogue, story, everything is very true to the Final Fantasy way. In this game, you get out what you put in. It actually moved me to defeat the Black Dragon for the first time with a group of friends that were there beside me only for the sole purpose of helping me along. This accomplishment alone will be enough for me to shove that much more effort into my character.

11/10 for enjoyment. And now, I'm out of e-breath so I'm done.

[Yeargdribble]

I agree with all but the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th point.

You disagree because you are the exception to the rule. You are fine leveling 5 or 6 characters to 30 and then starting over every time. You seem to have no drive to progress in the story (or at least not enough drive to actually do so) or to level up to a point where most of the game is happening. You are most likely content solely with the community aspect of the game.

You ask why people don't like the game. Most of what I listed are the reasons. Not everyone will enjoy it for all of the same reasons that you do without any story or sense of progress to casual players. I've tried on numerous ocassions to help my friends play and to help random people start on my server. I'd help them a little with gil, quests, advice etc.

What it comes down to are the points I mentioned. They hate it for what I listed. You can disagree as the exception to the rule, but if you want a straight answer to your question, it is because people don't enjoy it for the same reasons and FFXI offers almost nothing to the average casual player.

[Del Murder]

There's nothing wrong with disliking the game, too.

[Mirage]

Yes, if you actually tried it first before stating that you dislike it.

[Markus. D]

I agree with all but the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th point.

You disagree because you are the exception to the rule. You are fine leveling 5 or 6 characters to 30 and then starting over every time. You seem to have no drive to progress in the story (or at least not enough drive to actually do so) or to level up to a point where most of the game is happening. You are most likely content solely with the community aspect of the game.
.

I don’t really think I am an exception...

Please I told you, I have a MNK, Mule and a WHM (different server so I could play with Mirage) (those are the only characters I have created, ever, that and... a test character who was a Elvaan THF who only got to level 8... And thanks to my half brother I apparently have a Black mage o_o... *doesn’t*),my WHM is the only character playable (the other two are de-activated, what’s the point of having a mule if I cant give the Kuro's items to it?)... if I had had 5-6 characters I only wanted to play to get to level 30, I would have been done and left ages ago.

Not really content with the Community aspect... as alot are jerks (like myself ._. regrettably), I play it for the exploration ^-^!



And I guess the rest of the points you spawned up in this quoted post are all pretty solid n_n and I can agree.

[Miriel]

I for one am very content to enjoy the community aspect of the game much moreso than the leveing/grinding part of it. The community is what's so gosh darn unique about THIS particular final fantasy. It's the reason I love it so much. <3

[Rostum]

It's because people are narrow minded and don't understand the concept of an MMO. They shouldn't have given it a number, and just called it Final Fantasy Online, for this reason.

The story thus far, for all expansions, has been incredibly good. It's just that it takes a lot of time due to different levels you need, and how you need to co-operate / organise times to go with people.

[Yeargdribble]

It's because people are narrow minded and don't understand the concept of an MMO. They shouldn't have given it a number, and just called it Final Fantasy Online, for this reason.


I agree with this. However, sticking a number on it probably boosted sales. They wanted to give people a reason to feel the 'need' to play it and add it to their collection.

As to Tsukasa, I seem to remember you having a BLM that you leveled to 32 tha you claim suffered a rollback to 26 so you deleted it and started over. You tend to start over or start new characters fairly often. I'm not saying that it's necessarily wrong if leveling 1-30 multiple times pleases you, but I don't think a majority of players enjoy that.

Miriel is also an exception. She's been playing for quite a while and I believe her highest charcter is in the 40s. And that's fine for you guys.

But if you are going to ask why people dislike the game, it's because it's not a casual player friendly game. Not everyone is gonna like a game like FFXI that's offers so little to casuals. The game is seriously flawed in the beginning. in terms of playability. It drives people away.

When you start the game nothing seems rewarding. Money is comparitively difficult to make. Quests don't have worthwhile rewards. You can scarcely do any missions on your own and don't get much story from the early ones. Travel takes a damn long time early on. It's hard to get your friends on playing with you if you are just starting.


I'll agree that people are morons for critcizing the game without any real experience with it though. Many people only play for a month or don't play at all and complain about various aspects of the game that they know nothing about.

But what if you were on that bridge at the beginning of FFX fighting Sinscales and said, "Man this game sucks. The story is shallow and there's not any good magic... I'm quitting." That would be ridiculous. However, in FFXI you nearly have to play a year before you can get much story or really see the potential of things.

That's partially the fault of quick-to-judge players, but also it's the flaw of design. The game makes it hard to keep playing and there's more to make people quit in the early game than there is to keep them playing. Most people who are used to finishing an FF game in a week or so aren't gonna be pleased with a game where a week of slaving away might only get you to level 20.

Keep in mind that the original question is essentially "why don't people like this game" to which I've given many answers. Agree with them or not, these are real answers from people I know and observations I've made.

[Markus. D]

It's because people are narrow minded and don't understand the concept of an MMO. They shouldn't have given it a number, and just called it Final Fantasy Online, for this reason.


I agree with this. However, sticking a number on it probably boosted sales. They wanted to give people a reason to feel the 'need' to play it and add it to their collection.

As to Tsukasa, I seem to remember you having a BLM that you leveled to 32 tha you claim suffered a rollback to 26 so you deleted it and started over. You tend to start over or start new characters fairly often. I'm not saying that it's necessarily wrong if leveling 1-30 multiple times pleases you, but I don't think a majority of players enjoy that.

Miriel is also an exception. She's been playing for quite a while and I believe her highest charcter is in the 40s. And that's fine for you guys.

But if you are going to ask why people dislike the game, it's because it's not a casual player friendly game. Not everyone is gonna like a game like FFXI that's offers so little to casuals. The game is seriously flawed in the beginning. in terms of playability. It drives people away.

When you start the game nothing seems rewarding. Money is comparitively difficult to make. Quests don't have worthwhile rewards. You can scarcely do any missions on your own and don't get much story from the early ones. Travel takes a damn long time early on. It's hard to get your friends on playing with you if you are just starting.


I'll agree that people are morons for critcizing the game without any real experience with it though. Many people only play for a month or don't play at all and complain about various aspects of the game that they know nothing about.

But what if you were on that bridge at the beginning of FFX fighting Sinscales and said, "Man this game sucks. The story is shallow and there's not any good magic... I'm quitting." That would be ridiculous. However, in FFXI you nearly have to play a year before you can get much story or really see the potential of things.

That's partially the fault of quick-to-judge players, but also it's the flaw of design. The game makes it hard to keep playing and there's more to make people quit in the early game than there is to keep them playing. Most people who are used to finishing an FF game in a week or so aren't gonna be pleased with a game where a week of slaving away might only get you to level 20.

Keep in mind that the original question is essentially "why don't people like this game" to which I've given many answers. Agree with them or not, these are real answers from people I know and observations I've made.


very valid points there.

As for the BLM, that there was "created" by Briant, it “did” exist; he decided to go into me EoFF account (he saw me on earlier, snuck on while I was making lunch for Kassidy (his wife) made the Taru on FFXI, etc to about level... 8 or something while I was at the shops getting the ingredients, In around the 4 hours I was gone for).
Well, him going home that day, and knowing me, I guess he found it pretty easy to figure out the password and continued the charade, I asked him kindly, he agreed to stop only if I stopped talking about it all the time, as he himself thought it was nothing special (what a surprise xS).

[No.78]

People hate it cos it's not like the rest and costs money. Basically people with closed minds... I think that if you don't like something you shouldn't go on about it, and shun those who do like it. You should just say "I don't like it" and then thats that, thats what I do with stuff I don't like... And if the person does like it and reacts badly to it, then that too is bad.

I THINK that's relevant to the topic...

[Raebus]

So those who can't afford to pay the monthly payments = Close minded?

Edit: Those who don't work, students, and they can't rely on parents.

[Darius]

This thread should end after Yeargdribble's post. It covers pretty much everything and not much more can be said. My opinion is that any other posts on this subject will just be restatements of whats already been said. *shrugs*

On that note, my brother said the same thing about the story. He asked if the game was fun and I said I have tons of fun. Then he said, "but it has no story to it." I corrected him telling him there was a story and yada yada. I alos told him he wouldnt like the game. Hes one of those FF players that likes to beat the game in a week or 2 and MAYBE max some things out. Once he beats a FF he usually doesnt go back to max things out or anything. Considering it takes a very long time to get into the story of FFXI I told him hed be better off just playing FFXII, which he is and loves it.

[Rostum]

1. It's not hard to get a job as a student, believe me, I had a few while studying.

2. I never said they were closed minded due to it having a monthly fee.

3. Yearg summed some things up fairly well.

[Goldenboko]

1. It's not hard to get a job as a student, believe me, I had a few while studying.


It is when your under the age where anyone will employ you.

[Fuego]

I wonder if anyone (underage) in this forum has ever thought about mowin' lawns or walkin' a neighbours dog or haggle'n some old lady down the block to pay you to sweep out her drive durin' the autum ...

it's not as difficult to earn money (as you might believe) ... regardless of age ... it just boils down to how lazy the person needing the $$$ is and/or how badly they want the money or to play FFXI ...

[Rostum]

1. It's not hard to get a job as a student, believe me, I had a few while studying.


It is when your under the age where anyone will employ you.

Even so, people who can afford to get a job and all, do make such judgements on the game. Also, I really don't like playing with many kids under the age of 15, all my experiences with them have ended up in a real mess. (i.e. lying, backstabbing, immature, etc)

[Avarice-ness]

I've never played FFXI, sir. ;D

haha out of all the ff games that one sucked the most it didint sell as well as the other ff games and it was only online what the . . . . .i wanted to play it but i was like ew im not playing this online to dumb i didint even add it to my collection it was not worth it at allll




ps: (off-topic) I wonder if FFXI has made more money then any other FF game ;3?


psps: I'm not to sure what the topic is yet ._.

I bought it but never paid for monthly after that little trial thing. I didn't like how the body's were poorly shaped and I had no idea what I was suppose to do because of the lack of an intro that goes "YOU ARE HERE-- YOU WANT TO BE HERE, GO HERE" so I got bored, realized I had one really bad weapon no money, and that the monsters hardly gave me anything. I'd be okay if the game was like 20$ and then free monthly payments, other than that, I don't plan on reinstalling it into my computer ever ever again. :(

[Crossblades]

I'm pretty sure everyone who posts in this particular forum has a fondness for the game. So the question, "why cant we learn to love to love this game" is an odd thing to ask this group of posters. If we didn't enjoy the game, we wouldn't play it.

I personally do love the game, it's one of my favoritest Final Fantasy games ever.

If you're asking why OTHER people don't love this game, it's because they've never played it. Or they have played it and they just didn't like it all that much. And that's fine. The only annoying thing is when people bash FFXI only because they themselves couldn't find a way to play it and they're bitter about that.

Amen

FF XI is a wonderful game. It's not my favorite, but I still like this game.

[XandrewX]

Needs to pay to play doesn't really excites me...

[Mirage]

Too bad then. The monthly fee is equivalent to what most people in the western world is able to earn in an hour or two.

[No.78]

So those who can't afford to pay the monthly payments = Close minded?

Edit: Those who don't work, students, and they can't rely on parents.

wtf I didnt even say that. I said people who DONT LIKE IT, not people who havent played it. Stop arguing for the sake of it

[Miriel]

So those who can't afford to pay the monthly payments = Close minded?

Edit: Those who don't work, students, and they can't rely on parents.

People in that sort of situation where money is incredibly tight should not even be thinking about playing games and spending money on games if their finances aren't all there. If a person can't afford $12 a month (roughly 2 meals at McDonald's) than very obviously, games should not even be a concern to them since it seems that they have more than enough on their plate without adding a MMORPG to the mix.

[Fuego]

I wonder if anyone (underage) in this forum has ever thought about mowin' lawns or walkin' a neighbours dog or haggle'n some old lady down the block to pay you to sweep out her drive durin' the autum ...

it's not as difficult to earn money (as you might believe) ... regardless of age ... it just boils down to how lazy the person needing the $$$ is and/or how badly they want the money or to play FFXI ...

If this is too hard for you to do ... please please please DO NOT BUY AND PLAY FFXI !!!!

If you choose not to earn money because you're too lazy or whatever then that doesn't speak to your credit. and knowing that i wouldn't want to game with you anyway.

And paying a fee IMO is the best thing that happen'd to FFXI because it weeds out alot of juvenile people ... and i mean that one way ...
People who have no maturity.

[Emprea Reborn]

I quited the game b/c most of my friends were leaving the game, and I pretty much finished everthing in the game. But I couldn't get the time and money to play the game same with my friends. And prices go up pretty fast on my server. (Fairy)


Overall, if this game didn't have drama and RMT I think I'd be fine I think at least.

[Timerk]

But if you are going to ask why people dislike the game, it's because it's not a casual player friendly game. Not everyone is gonna like a game like FFXI that's offers so little to casuals. The game is seriously flawed in the beginning. in terms of playability. It drives people away.

I have never played the game, but I heard so many things about how tough it was to get started and play casually, that it drove me away from even trying. I went with WoW, and I don't regret me choice, although I would like to give FFXI a shot sometime, just to see what it is all about.


I'll agree that people are morons for critcizing the game without any real experience with it though. Many people only play for a month or don't play at all and complain about various aspects of the game that they know nothing about.

But what if you were on that bridge at the beginning of FFX fighting Sinscales and said, "Man this game sucks. The story is shallow and there's not any good magic... I'm quitting." That would be ridiculous. However, in FFXI you nearly have to play a year before you can get much story or really see the potential of things.


I find it hard to see how someone could play a game for a month, and still not be in a position to offer a valid opinion on it. Just because someone doesn't get to see everything FFXI has to offer, doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to comment on what they do see. I think most people understand that MMOs are slow in developing, and that the growth of your character is something to be appreciated, not endured. That said, you expect to see a steady progression in the game when you have put in a lot of time, and it doesn't sound like FFXI does this until you reach the upper levels.

I think I am like a lot of people who don't hate or dislike FFXI, but also don't play it because there are only so many games we can play, and FFXI just doesn't seem like a 'fun' investment of time.

[Yeargdribble]

You may be able to say that you found it not worth your time or that it is not the type of game you like to play.

However, I think you are overstepping your bounds to say the things most people say. They say the story sucks and the gameplay is horrible.

You REALLY can't comment on the story after playing for only a month. You don't read on the first page of a book and conclude that the story sucked.

I also think it's unfair to judge the game play fully when your highest character is level 20. Some of the battles in the game are absolutely epic, but you're not gonna fight those battles in the lowest areas of the game.

[Darius]

I also think it's unfair to judge the game play fully when your highest character is level 20. Some of the battles in the game are absolutely epic, but you're not gonna fight those battles in the lowest areas of the game.

http://www.edmvirginia.com/forum/images/smilies/eusa_clap.gif

My brother wants to start this game but hes a very casual player and asks me about the story all the time. Being rank 5 I cant REALLY tell him too much but im not sure he'll really be into the game either. He once thought there wasnt a story and it was just mindless xping. I had to tell him twice, cause he didnt believe me the first time, that there was a story.

[Yeargdribble]

Casual players will probably never see even 10% of the story. What irks me is people saying the game has no story just because they personally haven't experienced it.

Casual players won't experience the story = TRUE
The game has no story = FALSE

[Timerk]

Casual players will probably never see even 10% of the story. What irks me is people saying the game has no story just because they personally haven't experienced it.

Casual players won't experience the story = TRUE
The game has no story = FALSE

In WoW, there are storylines that players of every level can follow, so even if you are only level 20, you can still have an epic adventure in the game.

If FFXI doesn't develop its story until later in the game, then it is a vaild for people to complain about that. I would say that if you have to play a year to get into the real story, then that is a flaw in game design, not the fault of impatient players.

[Dante WolfWood]

I dont know much but why does everyone keep comparing WoW to FFXI? The thread is why cant we love this game; not "Why does FFXI suck so much to WoW?"

state your point and leave it at that.

As for me, I dont know what people are talking about; I'm still lvl 14, barely touched any missions, and on the side; I'm broke :D, and I'm still having a ball.

Crafting, the thrill of battle (I know, people say its too slow; well, once you start partying, its not too slow for me), the friendly people, and the beautiful world of Vana diel. It all excites me to no end. its hard for me NOT to play 7+ hours, I have to limit myself.

I admit, this game is hard, it can be tedious,can be slow according to story wise, and sometimes boring when waiting for a party. But hey, what game has NOT had one of those four qualities? None. all of em are either too hard, too tedious, too slow, or too boring for the casual player.

Vana diel is a wonderful world because it represents what every SE fan wants; a chance to live in a Online FF world. But just like life;

if you dont work, if you dont pay, and you keep fussin like a school mom on tax free weekend; your never gonna get anywhere and enjoy it. Simple and true.

My two cents :p

[Timerk]

I dont know much but why does everyone keep comparing WoW to FFXI? The thread is why cant we love this game; not "Why does FFXI suck so much to WoW?"

I'm not saying that, but if the question is Why Don't People Love FFXI, than you have to take into consideration that WoW does a lot of things FFXI doesn't. Primary of this would be that WoW rewards casuals for playing in short bites of time, while FFXI seems not to.

I would love to play FFXI, but everything I heard seems to indicate that the game is not friendly to solo or casual play, and that is what I enjoy the most. To not talk about WoW would be ignoring the elephant in the room, so that was why I brought it up as an example.


My two cents :p

Here is two more :twocents:.

[Rostum]

The WoW vs. FFXI arguement is old.

And what's that? You haven't played FFXI?

[Yeargdribble]

There are actually a lot of small scale storylines a person can follow at very low levels in FFXI. Many of the quests have colorful storylines that fit in with the big picture of the game and add a little more depth.

However, most people start the game and want to grind away and be uber as fast as possible. They skip most of the mission and quest in favor of going out and leveling up quickly. I think they get frustrated because the game just doesn't allow overnight progression like that.

WoW is for people with short attention spans who want absolute instant gratification.

FFXI is a much slow paced game that takes dedication and doesn't appeal as much to casual gamers. For me personally, I feel that it offers a large amount of satisfaction at accomplishing a goal.

[Markus. D]

not to mention the battle system is not only deep.

but pretty visually.

[Lionx]

Because you touch yourself at night :exdee:

[Markus. D]

Because you touch yourself at night :exdee:

was that directed at me o.o?

[Darius]

Before I played FFXI I played Diable 2 alot. Considering WoW was made by the same company I considered getting it but people I knew who got it said you could get to max level in a matter of a couple weeks. Then once you finish the quests theres not much more to do. I wanted something that I could play and always have comething to do no matter what/where I was. Plus since I had been a fan of Square games since 1990 I figured FFXI was the right choice, and I love this game more and more.

Only gripe I have though is the solo factor. If they could come up with a way to solo more easily then that would solve the problem of not being able to find a party every once in a while. Once you get to a certain level, its hard to go out and try to kill a tough/vt by yourself for little xp.

but besides that, this game is very fun for me. :)