FF11 is not a game you can 'finish'. Some FF purists I know don't even acknowledge it as a 'Numbered FF', so I really wouldn't stress too much if you can't play it. Otherwise, you can save up to get a PS3 to play it on (after they fix it).

In any case, FF11 has been out since 2002 in Japan. The harddrive was mainly for FF anyway, there aren't many other games out there that use it in a big way. Sony did 'kill' the harddrive a little too early though. FF12 only came out in 2004 for the west, and support ended for the harddrive last year, I think. So while it' sbeen 3 years for people in Japan, it's only been 1 year for the US and I don't think the PS2 version even came out in Europe.

I guess they figured "Everyone who is going to get this game already has it, let's bring out the slim PS2 and ditch those suckers".

Still, my Amazon link is there, you can buy the network adaptor. You have yet to acknowledge that.