Quote Originally Posted by Vincent, Thunder God View Post
i played only once, via free trial. does anyone recommend this, over, say Bioware's the Old Republic or WoW? It seems to have virtually nothing to do with the franchise, certainly not pre 12 and arguably not even pre 9-10. but if it's half decent, at least I can cut my teeth on it, i've never actually played an MMO, ever.

(could never get the Wow private servers to work)
Not sure what you mean by "virtually nothing to do with the franchise."

Fight classic enemies like Behemoths, Ahrimans, Malboros, Cactuars, Tonberries, etc.

Play standard FF-based classes: White Mage, Black Mage, Monk, Thief, Paladin, Dark Knight, Dragoon, Ninja, Samurai, Blue Mage, Red Mage, Ranger, etc., etc., etc.

Ride in Airships.

Raise Chocobos.

Talk to Moogles.

Cast spells.

Summon Avatars.

Collect class-specific gear, much of which is directly inspired by the original equips.

Use crystals to craft, use crystals to transport, use crystals to "save."

Explore: ruins, jungles, deserts, ancient battlegrounds, lost cities, caverns, mountains, volcanoes, etc.

I've played many many MMOs: WoW, FFXI, DAoC, Warhammer, Rift, PoE, Maple Story (lol), Allods, PSO, Tera, Wakfu, RoM, LotRO, Mabinogi, EVE, DDO, Age of Conan, et al.
FFXI stands out in many ways. For PvE content, I've not enjoyed any other game more. The primary downsides are lack of worthwhile PvP, and age--it's an old old game relatively speaking. FFXI's storytelling, at its best, was second to none, and at its worst is still better than a lot of what's out there.