Why I Hate Final Fantasy XI
I would like to pose a moral question with you all if I may. If you were a God and had the chance to eliminate a being’s life because it was utterly meaningless and no one would even notice… would you? I’m faced with such a dilemma and let me tell you folks… I’m seriously considering it.
The “being” in question is named Glayden, and he’s my character in Final Fantasy XI.
It has been difficult not to notice that FFXI seems to be severely under discussed, not just here, but in fact in all FF forums throughout the web. My only assumption is that not as many FF gamers are playing this one as the other titles and I have been trying to understand why this is. Most of the conversations about FFXI that I have read floating out there in cyberspace are almost always negative, and I’ve found it odd that this is usually coming from people who have, for whatever reason, never played the game. My suspicion is that most of these negative feelings arise from a resentful feeling of disinclusion because of the game’s online necessity (which for many people is just not possible). Whether or not this is the case I do not know; however, as a player who has participated in this prodigious project allow me to give you my two cents worth… my only regret is that my opinions of FFXI, although perhaps for different reasons, are by no means much more positive.
My main gripe about this game is undoubtedly the leveling system. To say that it is a tedious process would be a severe understatement to be sure. Not since the original FF have I ever needed to spend so much time wandering around isolated locals hacking away at unoriginal monsters to raise my player just a few levels. And we’re not even talking hours here folks… we’re talking days. At least in FFI there were an assortment of monsters in a variety of different quantities and groups, allowing you to implement different battle strategies while engaged in combat. Instead in FFXI you are forced to brainlessly approach one monster at a time, tell the game’s A.I. to fight, and essentially wait for the battle to end, hopefully in your favour. And when you are finished, you have to rest, in order to gain back the HP you lost in the battle you just completed; this in itself can take as long as up to two to three minutes, depending of course on the amount of damage you received and the amount of HP you want to recover. Although two to three minutes does not seem like very much time, it quickly adds up to a hell of a lot of time when you are fighting dozens and dozens of monsters, just in an effort to collect a measly sum of experience points. It can take a full days worth of boring hunting to raise a single level.
And if you are unlucky enough to die in the heat of battle you lose a tremendous amount of experience points (which can potentially make you fall in levels). This is of course fair enough; however, it gets extremely infuriating when you are stuck in an area with strong monsters who continue to slaughter you once, twice, three times before you can reach a point of sanctuary. Unlucky players, such as has happened to me on at least one occasion, can quickly find themselves down several hard-earned levels within a matter of minutes. This may be a more realistic form of playing, but it doesn’t make it any any more enjoyable for the novice player.
Of course things do get easier when you finally attain higher levels, and the leveling system is much more fun when you do get to fight in groups with other players. This is the point of a MMORPGs after all. However, more often than not newer players quickly find themselves forced to fight alone in this mind-numbing manner… and I will tell you why. The world of Vana’diel has been online now for six years. However, most of the regular players have been around for a long time, and so are quite experienced. These players are much more interested in more challenging quests with more valuable rewards, and are much more submerged in the finer details of the story's continually evolving storyline. As a result, newer players are in the minority, despite Square’s continuing efforts to attract new adventurers. Unfortunately, a party is only as strong as it’s weakest link, and older and more advanced players do not want to be held back by weaker and newer adventurers, despite their enthusiasm. I pity these players because I know how frustrating it is to be so rejected, for I went through it myself.
As it is, organizing parties at any level seems to be getting more difficult every day, as the population of Vana’diel seems to be waning as of late. Square boasts that the world of FFXI now has a population of over a million brave souls… but I don’t know where the hell all these people are!!! I roam around the massive playing fields and the town squares and see very few people interested in any multi-player action. It’s all very strange.
I have many other issues with this game as well… In terms of graphics, well they are not much better than they were in FFX, however I am willing to overlook this missed opportunity because of the enormity of the world itself and the effort that must of went in to creating it. I must say that I do feel sorry for Square that it is so under-experienced. And the monthly financial costs are another gripe I’ve noticed from critics of this game. Although compared to many of the other more popular MMORPGs that are out there, I would say that FFXI is certainly within most people’s budgets (~US$13/month). However, in my case, this is still $13 a month that is not going towards much enjoyment; it seems rather wasteful. And the story itself is very complicated as well, as it is meant to be expansive and continuous. I suppose such is the necessity of a game with no discernable ending. But I will not get into any descriptive details as to avoid any potential spoilers.
I am absolutely starving for a friend to play this game with, someone who I can trust, and share a sense of camaraderie. I am tired of relying on strangers to complete campaigns with because, more often than should, strangers feel somewhat comfortable with our mutual anonymity and often take the opportunity to be somewhat greedy with the mission rewards when they are divvied up. I guess in many ways this virtual reality can be not so different from the real world after all.
But not everything about this game is a disaster; I have to admit that there are many interesting aspects. I like the terrain and city layouts… they are beautiful. A lot of the music is good. And I have to admit that the multiplayer interface is very easy to pick-up on and use when engaged in questing parties (Square got this one right on target and it’s one of the strengths). Alas, I’m afraid there are just so many inhibitions in this game that it is nearly impossible to become as engaged in as I have traditionally found myself with FF titles. I believe the only way to stake a strong claim in this game is to dedicate a substantial portion of ones life in Vana'diel… and I am simply not willing to do this. I don't have time to play it every day. But I suspect this is the case with many of these regular, and much more powerful, players.
And so I return to my initial moral dilemma. In the last few months, I have been seriously considering closing my PlayOnline account, and in effect murdering my online player, and I am having strong reservations about doing so. It would indeed be a strong regret to be losing an important piece of my FF past forever which, although I could certainly recreate, would never truly be the same person. Even if everybody else in Vana’diel wouldn’t be able to tell, I certainly would know… But as it is, my player is spending most of his time just floating there in cyberspace doing absolutely nothing, waiting for me to work up enough interest to boot up the game and put him to work… and this is almost never. I would love nothing more than to feel differently about this game, as I’m sure the serious FFXI gamers feel a magic while playing that is truly special.
As a result, I’m gonna give it one more chance… I’m going to keep the character for as long as one more year in the hopes that I may find some actual adventure in the world.
I have many friends who play video games, but very few of them play RPGs. Most of them are shocked when they hear my scathing critiques of this game, as they are very much aware of my infatuation with the FF series… and I suppose this has come to surprise myself as well. It has a lot of interesting qualities to it, but for the most part I just find it all very frustrating, which is a shame because I know it was such a tremendous endeavor for Square.
But I suppose I will always hold at least one ounce of gratitude for FFXI and I will tell you why: for if there was never a FFXI, then we never would have had a FFXII, and what a terrible injustice it would have been indeed to deprive the video gaming community of such a magnificent game as that.
Thank you.
As for those few individuals who did participate with me throughout the world of Vana’diel, allow me to personally thank you now, as I may never get another chance…
Athwin; Hume warrior
Aeryn; Hume blue mage
Wiaf; Hume dragoon/paladin
Sixkitten; Tarutaru white mage
And most importantly… Yubiningyo; a Tarutaru thief whose experience and generous help were incredible… thank you.
Postscript:
If anyone is interested in playing FFXI with me… I would love to. I’m always willing to give a FF game, especially one from the main series, a second chance. Nothing would make me more proud than to get the opportunity to make a true hero out of an unfulfilled knight.
