Servers and friends

[DM_Melkhar]

I boughr FFXI for the Xbox 360 last August, and in December I cancelled the subscription because I wasn't playing it much and just as well because I had to leave the job I had. I had never really gotten into the game in the first place.

When I cancelled, the woman I spoke to at Playonline said yhat my PO account would always remain open as it's free, but that I'd need to purchase another content ID if I didn't play FFXI for more than three months.

Anyway, I'll stop digressing. A friend of mine said to me today "when I get my 360, I'll probably get FFXI just to have it", and I said to her that if she got it then her and I could play it together. I would play the game again if I had people to play with.
However, I was on the Sylph server, and have forgotten whether it's automatic or whether you get to choose which server you play on. It wouldn't be helpful for her to buy the game, then find herself on a different server and have to find someone to give her a world pass or vice versa.

If she were to get it, we would want to play it together. Is there any way to ensure this would be possible without too much faffing around?

[dodhungry]

The system that required a “World Pass” to choose the world on which to create a character has been removed from the game. It is now possible to freely choose the world on which you wish to begin your adventures.
*You will also be able to choose the World in which you wish to create subsequent characters.
*World Pass NPCs in the three main nations will now only deal with Gold World Passes.
*The Gold World Passes used in the New Adventurer system will still be issued.

This was part of the March 8, 07 update.

[DM_Melkhar]

The system that required a “World Pass” to choose the world on which to create a character has been removed from the game. It is now possible to freely choose the world on which you wish to begin your adventures.
*You will also be able to choose the World in which you wish to create subsequent characters.
*World Pass NPCs in the three main nations will now only deal with Gold World Passes.
*The Gold World Passes used in the New Adventurer system will still be issued.

This was part of the March 8, 07 update.

Ok, thank you very much.
I haven't been on it since December, like I said. I shall pass the information on, and when my friend decides to get it then I'll start playing again (providing I have the funding for it).

Thanks again!

[nozkits]

I boughr FFXI for the Xbox 360 last August, and in December I cancelled the subscription because I wasn't playing it much and just as well because I had to leave the job I had. I had never really gotten into the game in the first place.

When I cancelled, the woman I spoke to at Playonline said yhat my PO account would always remain open as it's free, but that I'd need to purchase another content ID if I didn't play FFXI for more than three months.

Anyway, I'll stop digressing. A friend of mine said to me today "when I get my 360, I'll probably get FFXI just to have it", and I said to her that if she got it then her and I could play it together. I would play the game again if I had people to play with.
However, I was on the Sylph server, and have forgotten whether it's automatic or whether you get to choose which server you play on. It wouldn't be helpful for her to buy the game, then find herself on a different server and have to find someone to give her a world pass or vice versa.

If she were to get it, we would want to play it together. Is there any way to ensure this would be possible without too much faffing around?

Dude I had a 2 year inactive content ID, and account. Just renew it.... That's what I did.. They have gotten rid of that 3 month policy because they are literally losing players mostly oldbies, but not enough new players are buying and playing this game.

[DM_Melkhar]

That's strange. When I cancelled my subscription in January this year, I was told I would have to re-activate within 3 months or I would lose that content ID permanently, and you say yours was inactive for 2 years and you were able to renew it? Something sounds a little off there on PlayOnline's side.

I'll probably start playing again when I can afford it and actually have the time to play it. I find the system a pain in the arse to get used to. The jobs system really annoys me because when you've levelled up one job, all your stats drop to level 1 when you change. I can understand this for the job's level, but to drop your HP and MP back down isn't exactly fair! It would have been better if they'd kept the system identical to that of FFIII and FFV.

Oh, and when I was told that you could choose the world you put a character in when you create them, does that mean the server or the three areas San d'Oria, Windurst and Bastok? I remember being able to choose one of those three, but I am unsure about whether I was able to choose the server. The thought suddenly crossed my mind. Sorry to be a pain...:rolleyes2

[Rostum]

No they are starting cities. Servers are different -- and it was only until recently that you were able to choose your server; they used to just chuck you onto a random one unless someone had a world pass for you on their server.

Most servers have around 3,000~4,000 people on them, so they have around 12~ or so different servers. Though I haven't really read anything FFXI for awhile so those numbers could be off.

And Square-Enix changed it so your Content ID would be held inactive for up to 1 year, and even then it could still be there after that time period is up. I think what you may be referring to is the PlayOnline ID that you won't be able to activate after 3 months -- but you never ever need to cancel that because it's free.

[Mirage]

3 months was just the time you're guaranteed to be able to reactivate it. After that, it might get deleted anytime.

[nozkits]

That's strange. When I cancelled my subscription in January this year, I was told I would have to re-activate within 3 months or I would lose that content ID permanently, and you say yours was inactive for 2 years and you were able to renew it? Something sounds a little off there on PlayOnline's side.

I'll probably start playing again when I can afford it and actually have the time to play it. I find the system a pain in the arse to get used to. The jobs system really annoys me because when you've levelled up one job, all your stats drop to level 1 when you change. I can understand this for the job's level, but to drop your HP and MP back down isn't exactly fair! It would have been better if they'd kept the system identical to that of FFIII and FFV.

Oh, and when I was told that you could choose the world you put a character in when you create them, does that mean the server or the three areas San d'Oria, Windurst and Bastok? I remember being able to choose one of those three, but I am unsure about whether I was able to choose the server. The thought suddenly crossed my mind. Sorry to be a pain...:rolleyes2

They did a return to Vana'diel campaign because the game lost a huge player base because it is grinding. I mean to do anything its grinding.. It isn't worth to grind for gil, or grind to get a quest finished.. IT was slow and cumbersome... When WoW came out it just killed FFXI's player base.. Not that many new players join if you do see a noobie.. Chances are they made a new account, but most of the accounts weren't deleted.

[Yeargdribble]

Dude I had a 2 year inactive content ID, and account. Just renew it.... That's what I did.. They have gotten rid of that 3 month policy because they are literally losing players mostly oldbies, but not enough new players are buying and playing this game.

I think that ruse they give you on the phone about 3 months is just to scare you into feeling like you need to come back within 3 months or lose your account. In reality I doubt they are deleting any more accounts at all any more because they need to hold onto what players they have and hold onto the hope that old players will come back some time. I'm pretty sure the 3 month thing is them bluffing and I thought the official word (like Om said) is that they moved it up to 1 year when they did the first Return Home to Vana'diel Campaign.

Most servers have around 3,000~4,000 people on them, so they have around 12~ or so different servers. Though I haven't really read anything FFXI for awhile so those numbers could be off.

It was around 2500-3000 on Fenrir when I quit. At peak hours you could sometimes see it climb to 3500, but the average number on at average times is much lower by the time I quit. Also, I believe there are still around 33 servers.

[nozkits]

Dude I had a 2 year inactive content ID, and account. Just renew it.... That's what I did.. They have gotten rid of that 3 month policy because they are literally losing players mostly oldbies, but not enough new players are buying and playing this game.

I think that ruse they give you on the phone about 3 months is just to scare you into feeling like you need to come back within 3 months or lose your account. In reality I doubt they are deleting any more accounts at all any more because they need to hold onto what players they have and hold onto the hope that old players will come back some time. I'm pretty sure the 3 month thing is them bluffing and I thought the official word (like Om said) is that they moved it up to 1 year when they did the first Return Home to Vana'diel Campaign.

Most servers have around 3,000~4,000 people on them, so they have around 12~ or so different servers. Though I haven't really read anything FFXI for awhile so those numbers could be off.

It was around 2500-3000 on Fenrir when I quit. At peak hours you could sometimes see it climb to 3500, but the average number on at average times is much lower by the time I quit. Also, I believe there are still around 33 servers.

Pandemonium was around 2-3k players at its peak two years ago when I left. I came back, and now its considered a great day when 1k players show up lol.. I left again. I just wanted something to do in April. Will be back in June. I hate the fact that they try to charge you for two months then charge you for that month again..... I found a way to beat it, and it involves canceling your content ID, and then reactivating it. To avoid that.

[Yeargdribble]

You can't mention low populations these days without people going, "NuH UH!!! My server always has 3000-4000 even at off hours!" Regardless of the numbers, it was obvious to me that there were far less people in the middle levels and the influx of players has greatly slowed.

That said, I don't really think FFXI is gonna bite the dust all that soon either. It's about 5th in the world last I checked and still has a decent lead on it's nearest followers.

[nozkits]

You can't mention low populations these days without people going, "NuH UH!!! My server always has 3000-4000 even at off hours!" Regardless of the numbers, it was obvious to me that there were far less people in the middle levels and the influx of players has greatly slowed.

That said, I don't really think FFXI is gonna bite the dust all that soon either. It's about 5th in the world last I checked and still has a decent lead on it's nearest followers.

Well if you have heard of graalonline then you know its crap..

You pay 30 bucks for an account,and you find out this. There is no customer service. Staff are usually hired, but do not qualify for those positions. It works on a buddy system.. You know your friend was a GP so you become a GP then ban anyone that you hated before you were a GP(this happens a lot)... When you ask them for your help they won't respond, and you can't complain about it according to them because they're a bunch of 14-16 yr olds. Then you get a "you're 22 and still playing video games hahaha loser."

Its like they don't know that video games are aimed at the age group of 25-40...

It was much better when it was free, and stephan actually hired people who were qualified. Because once he sold it to a company. They didn't do crap with it. They just let it slowly degrade to now its just a virtual chatroom.

[DM_Melkhar]

I never cancelled my PlayOnline ID, so that should be safe right?
I've not been on PlayOnline since January, but I didn't cancel my account.

I was told by the woman at PO that if I cancelled my Content ID, I wouldn't be able to reactivate it after 3 months. Now I am getting confused.

[Del Murder]

It is the feeling in this thread that that was just told to you as part of company policy, to make sure they aren't liable if your id is indeed deleted after three months, but most of us feel they wouldn't do that because they want you to come back and pay for it again, as many have done after long absences.

[Yeargdribble]

There's a difference between canceling your whole account and just canceling your Content IDs. Canceling the characters is renewable. However, canceling the whole thing voids your POL registration codes and makes you have to buy the game again.

Like Om said, there is NO reason to do that. It's free to keep it around and active as long as you aren't actively paying for any content IDs. If you didn't fully decimate that, then you should be able to restore things.