Originally Posted by ZeZipster
Honestly, as a retired player in both I enjoyed RuneScape more. They're both MMORPGs. Which means they're both pathetically repetitive. Some how RuneScape was less repetitive than FFXI though, it's probably because you don't have to wait 30 levels/3years to get a new ability. In RuneScape, everyone is an immature asshole... This may be because in RS there is a PvP system, so things are alot more competitive. You can't just randomly slaughter someone though, you have to go north towards the wilderness, and even then they have to be somewhere in your level range (that level range increasing as you go deeper into the wilderness). When you die, you lose everything except for your three most valuable possesions.
Runescape also might have more freedom, which makes it unbalance but at times more fun. I played a prayer beast account, this is where you only train two attributes prayer and strength. This doesn't seem like it'd be of any advantage, but it was. You see, your level is determined by the average of Strength, Accuracy, Prayer, and Defense because I only trained Strength and Prayer I wound up with a character that was much stronger than it should have been. The final Prayer you learn (or in RS2, the three final) prevents your opponent from attacking (but it drains away at your prayer). So as long as I stood next to an altar I could beat down ANYTHING wearing nothing but prayer cloths. I got about 40 levels in a week when I got the last prayer. I was killing things at level 25 my friends couldn't kill at level 50. That was extremely fun. From what my friends tell me a couple of other character ideas I had are hitting it off big in RS2 (a 3D version of RS), such as a defense prayer beast.
In FFXI, everything was balanced. No one ever followed a different path it seemed. The only way to really mess up a character was to train the wrong sub job. And on top of that all, you never got to kick another players ass. Oh-yeah, and when I finally got tired of RuneScape, I just sold my account to a close friend who I impressed by killing a Greater Demon at a low level. So essentialy I made profit off of RuneScape, whereas I lost cash in FFXI.