FFXIV Veteran Plays Final Fantasy XI Online

[@Spaceroast]

Thanks for this! I'm in the opposite camp, having played the heck out of FFXI for many years during the PS2 era, and having only recently picked up FFXIV. Both games are fantastic, but as you've pointed out, they are both very different games. The current FFXI is completely different from what the "intended experience" was originally, and I do think it suffers a little for it, but it's still worth experiencing just for the incredible world and storytelling. Glad to hear you've enjoyed your time with the game!

[@zaydraco]

I'm the same, I still play it. Way more authentic than 14

[@ZakRios333]

Not at all. XI is better now than ever. I was skeptical ever since abyssea back in the day. I finally returned 4 months ago and it’s an absolute blast.

[@Spaceroast]

@@ZakRios333 Hey don't get me wrong. I came back to do a new playthrough of the story and enjoyed every minute of it. Still an absolutely incredible game! My main complaint has to do with their heavy-handed approach to making the game more solo/casual-friendly. I just think they went a bit too far in that direction with trusts being as absurdly overpowered as they are. Would have preferred trusts only slightly buffed relative to the player's level, but with an FF12-like gambit system. Of course, that would have taken considerable development resources, which I'm not sure they had available. XI is still my favorite and most played video game of all time. I wholeheartedly recommend any XIV player who doesn't mind a dated user experience to try XI. There is just so much to appreciate about it.

[@Metalmandy8]

I played XI from 2005 to 2014. I miss it dearly and nothing since has compared.

[@pumpkinheadx3715]

i feel the pain, i am glad i replay it a year or 2 ago

[@Lordnat1]

Same

[@SageLakshmi]

Why aren't y'all on hozion?

[@pumpkinheadx3715]

@@SageLakshmi cause i wanted to play retail, ik of it but i wanted to see the changes to FFXI and i like it, i don't want to play the lv75 era cause then i can notdo anything of the conetent i want, but will try it out one day

[@networknomad5600]

@@SageLakshmi There are BIG concerns with Horizon, but this biggest is the same one that will always screw over every private server. It's an unofficial server, and with a HUGE time investment game like FFXI, people are less likely to want to risk a decade of their life on a private server.

[@vandy2019]

Played XI from 2005 - 2017. Every single other MMO pales in comparison to this legend of a game. All I want in life is a completely new FFXI remake.

[@rorybisson756]

god that be fn amazing. it wont happen but god it be great.

[@TheTendouSouji87]

We had one in the works but then mobile games like Mobius failed so they killed the port we were getting and it was years in already lol

[@esordol]

11 had trusts before 14. theres also adventuring fellows which are older than trusts. similar to 14 chocobo, but worse there are 4-5 daily endgame grinds on top of the multiple weekly grinds. content has a history of 20hr or 72hr cooldowns as well as monthly reset content. combat is much faster with maxed haste gear and flows much better at endgame. solo skillchains are possible on every class support classes are required in party setup when solo. always have a bard or red mage trust gear swapping and macros are the blood of this game. constantly swapping for every occasion multiple times per fight 20yr vet here. still welcome new players

[@HippeusOmega]

Ah, ffxi so many late nights leveling where we had party members pass out at their desks. Some of my fondest memories were playing my taru puppetmaster. Even earned coin in town putting on shows.

[@goblin1873]

I've been wanting to play this game and nobody has put up a good concise video explaining it. thanks for doing so

[@Darkrift666]

while in game: Config -> Misc. 2 -> Background Aspect Ratio -> 16:9 you currently are playing at 4:3 and it's stretched

[@psoffxifan4904]

I got 11 on its NA launch in 2003, so I'm very nostalgia biased, but the fact that the game was so simple on the surface while simultaneously having so many complex hidden mechanics that the community discovered and mastered made playing it a treat. Sub jobs will always be one of the best ideas ever implemented into an mmo, the amount of variety and flexibility it allowed was insane. While I understand why trusts were added, it takes away from the pure experience of leveling in 11, which I could never get used to and eventually quit.

[@smaller_cathedrals]

Well, sub jobs only sounded interesting on paper, because the reality was that there was a fixed number of viable job/subjob combinations that players actually played. And it's telling a lot that you praised the leveling experience as FFXI's standout character trait while simultaneously admitting that it was the reason you gave up.

[@psoffxifan4904]

@@smaller_cathedrals The old method of leveling was the stand out trait for me, I left after they made the game much more single player friendly which all but killed off camp leveling for the most part. Also unless you were trying to be bleeding edge, a lot of dynamis groups and leveling parties were fully open to odd sub jobs. Just because it isn't hyper optimal doesn't mean it isn't fun to use.

[@TheTendouSouji87]

@@psoffxifan4904the only rule my dynamis group had was you needed to have your actual gear on because between pulls people were putting on wedding tux and event gear(yes I was one of them at times lol) but yeah most of the time you could sub monk or even dnc on Sam/drk/thf and most wouldn’t care.

[@ethe0m]

So happy to see FFXI content in 2024. I've played on and off since 2004 and still adore the game more than any other in the genre. Still active on Asura farming that vast end game you mentioned :) Cheers

[@Jolsn]

I nearly lost to playonline launcher (savage) when I tried this game

[@reloadpsi]

I lost to it when I tried to unsub from the game and paid for several extra months as a result. Hot garbage :P

[@dmnetinho]

Yep, the good old FFXI. I spent 9 years of my life playing that game before I changed to FFXIV. Good old times. And you're totally correct when you say that the game was very social and the community was just so nice. Everyone helped out everyone. The exchange of information came through chats and we those that could bought a guide. There was a wiki as well that helped out a lot.

[@LaolythGaming]

19:35 In the french version of FFXIV, Miqo'te that are voice acted actually purr sometimes when there is an "r" sound in a word. It's quite funny. They don't make "nyaa" or "meow" sounds though. I'm surprised it's not the case with the english cast. I don't remember Y'shtola purring though. Maybe cause she is so educated that she has learned to repress her Miqo'te instincts.

[@reloadpsi]

If you have a Mi'qote retainer in English, their dialogue reflects that purring as well. (Unless you give them the militaristic personality anyway.)

[@TorManiak]

@@reloadpsi Not just the retainer, a lot of Mi'qote in ARR do purr in their dialogue, like the Nuhn from the Company of Heroes. It's just that they stopped that in StB onwards for some reason, my guess on why being that they either completely forgot it or it's just too annoying to use for VAs in english *at the time* than just using IRL accents or doing the same thing with S for the Ananta so they just went away with it.

[@M0ssP1glet]

Does my heart good to see more people trying out and talking about this game - it was my first MMO, so there's definitely some rose tinted glasses bias on my part, but it really is something special. Starting out is definitely rough if you're going in blind and I desperately hold out hope that one day they can extract the game from Playonline's clutches; they've at the very least brought up the subject of an offline version more than a few times, but there's a significant enough playerbase still that I feel that's probably still a long ways off. Heck, they even added new story content in just the last couple of years!

[@chathao1315]

I honestly wish we get a remake of ff11, ff11 is more of an open sandbox mmorpg. I hate daily quest, daily quest seen more like another job.

[@BaronLector]

My understanding is that the reason for the cumbersome file update is that it was "optimized" for dial-up internet connections as it checked every file individually, determined what was needed, and then downloaded each file individually.

[@TheTendouSouji87]

It was made in 2002 so it’s really really dated and DSL wasn’t wide spread. It was easier on PC to just download the files elsewhere then put them in the folder and let the system check for it

[@BaronLector]

@@TheTendouSouji87 Absolutely. For the longest time I've had a backup set of files for new installs. This would have been nice though for us who were PS2 players from NA launch thru Wings of the Goddess. Literal 24-hour update.

[@Darkrift666]

FFXI had weekly lockouts for things such as Dynamis which needed a hour glass which costed 1millio gill but could bring up to 2 alliances into it and it was also every week i believe, Lumbus had a 72 hour wait on the "Soap" to enter it, Abyssea has a stones mechanic that gave you one evert so many hours and was used to enter it, when treasures of aht urhgan came out there was a tag system where you got a tag a day and you could choose what you wanted to do with it, assualts, salvage, or nyzul isle. There is a thing called eco-warrior (completely irrelevant in the current state of the game) which you could do once a week with a alliance for a exp scroll.

[@elpanchou]

You mentioned equipment a little but one of the biggest differences with 11 and 14 is gear in this game is almost entirely horizonal progression and there are some really powerful pieces, later you'll wind up having a gearset for multiple things depending on your job and what you're doing Things like REMA weapons(Relic Empyrean Mythic Aeonic) are generally some of the strongest weapons. they also come with afterglow/aftermath effects which give you or your party buffs as well whenever certain conditions are met (usually just doing something you were gonna do anyway) Like for example you said PLD was more of a physical tank which is true until you get Aegis which has a passive -50% magic damage taken on it. Weapons like Tzona (basically infinite MP) and Almace (Super high accuracy and you randomly do 3x damage) are incredible weapons for BLU and you can craft and use both of them

[@andrebaxter4023]

I played FFXI from 2005-2011. Loved my experience with it. Made some good online buddies and some carried over to when I started FFXIV around patch 2.3ish(just before Ninja was released). I’m so glad to see that new 24 man in FFXIV that’s showing love to FFXI. It’s good to see more people discovering FFXI. Cheers.

[@xSoySaucex]

No other game will have the elite aspect FFXI had. Not even private servers now have it. But the rep behind Linkshells, the feel you would get when someone Checked you out. And you knew you was balling but not from gilbuying but legit hardcore time grinding and team building was amazing. And current FFXI does not give you that experience. If you didnt play it back then you will never know what it was or what it meant to be on the top of the ls of ur server. The hate of MPK the other ls who claimed Nidhogg, spamming cures on their PLDs, and flailing the whole zone. Those who know…. know.

[@sylence4u]

loved ffxi. played it when i was 13.. pre CoP expansion and level 75 was max. only got to level 60. this game holds a very special place in my life lol

[@mmocracy]

To be fair, back in like 2004 when i started the playonline process took like 12 hours, it was nuts

[@leiyoh3311]

you can go to school and be back with a few hours spare time to do homework and chores 😂

[@jamesrusselleriii8284]

1:52 The PlayOnline client was Square's first swing at an online service that was intended for all of their upcoming games, sort of like Origin and Steam. Unfortunately it was designed assuming a PS2 with a 56k modem, and FFXI's file structure is literally thousands and thousands of DAT files representing areas, music, mobs, equipment, and more, and PlayOnline downloads those files ONE AT A TIME. PlayOnline never really took off beyond the Japan-exclusive Front Mission Online and Tetra Master (which you had to pay more money for). To this day it's an albatross of a launcher and Square has neither the funds nor the incliation to replace it with something better.

[@zerwif]

Records of Eminence has a Daily and Weekly element. You get a few new objectives each day and at the start of the week based on your Unity. You can store them forever and have no obligation to complete them. However, if the system rolls an objective you already have, you won't get a new replacement.

[@SquallNoctisGUX]

Love seeing 14 players going back to check out FF11 it’s such an important game in the franchise history

[@VashimuXIV]

The most I had ever known about XI was through Dissidia with Prishe and Shantotto (where you get to hear voice acting for the rhyming of Tarutaru), and the passing legends of Absolute Virtue, due to its infamy. Other than that, I’m as blind as a bat to a majority of XI. I was two years old when FFXI was released into the world, and that just makes it feel like things have flown by in the literal blink of an eye. 22 years and five other final fantasy entries later, XI is truly both a relic of its time and a gem of a game. I can’t really say if I think I would enjoy it or otherwise, I still need to properly play it or at least try it, but it fascinates me every time I see it both in gameplay and presentation. It just feels so comfortable to look at, despite the fact I’ve not logged a single minute in. Perhaps it takes me back to simpler times knowing it was on the PS2, and I grew up with said console. I enjoyed your review here Azu, I feel like I really got a good taste of what it’s like to go back in time and play an old MMO like XI, and that I owe it my time when I can properly give it a play. And hey, with Echoes of Vana’Diel on the horizon, perhaps I will get some retroactive nostalgia if I end up playing XI. Truly a total enigma of a game, but an important one to the history of Final Fantasy.

[@Aeon373]

Played this game non stop for 6 years back in the day. Best time of my life 75 era was the best

[@macthomas7397]

I really wish theyd release this and support it for ps5..

[@macthomas7397]

God I miss playing this game played it for its whole ps2 run, like 14 years? I have played 14 for at least 9 years, and I like 11 better overall ..

[@TheTendouSouji87]

Ps2 run was like maybe less than 11-12 years unless you just didn’t play SoA was Japanese ps2 onry, but did come out on Xbox 360. Ps2 NA was 2004 and ended in 2016 but you couldn’t play SoA in 2013 so lol

[@macthomas7397]

That would make 14 years a decent guestimate huh?​@TheTendouSouji87

[@SageLakshmi]

Come to horizon!

[@Lordnat1]

I played this game off and on for 15 years and I still have not done some stuff. Love this game.

[@michaelsparks1571]

"I played for 300 hours" FFXI veterans "Need to pump those numbers up. Those are rookie numbers in this racket" I'm honestly not surprised there's a whole wiki just for installing it. One of the first "IT" jobs I ever had was a teacher at my college was offering $100 to set the game up for her son on his PS2, and I was actually the only person on campus who still played (the others that had in the past had all moved to WoW by that point).

[@TheTendouSouji87]

I think there was because it was faster at one point to just download it separately from the loader then have the file system check it. Hours? I had something like 1300 days worth of play time before I quit after playing for over 10 years lol

[@Krazyrs]

logs in to look at playtime stopped hardcore playing around 2011-2012 sees 20,000 hrs lol

[@night_wolf_ryu]

Gosh seeing ffXI i am getting soooo nostalgic been played for 5years but hooly hell X,D LV 99?! I stopped when max lvl still was Lv75 😂

[@wilddragonchase]

its kinda funny because the glam system in FFXI does seem more convoluted at first, but is miles ahead of FFXIV's. the only thing XIV has over this is dyes

[@NightpireVideos]

Interesting, I was looking for a video like this, that's not based on nostalgia, but someone that just tries it today.

[@Blackwing02]

2 hours for install is actually an improvement. At its worst point was 6+ due to never updating the installer for several expansions.

[@SirChucklenutsTM]

With a little bit of reworking, FF11 can be a cool, refreshing experience for the modern era of gaming. I'm only talking of putting a drag-and-drop kill system to the number bar instead of having to write macros. FF11 now has warps and easier ways of traveling, we can keep that because why not, you already made the journey and still have to walk to some places. A more forgiving EXP loss, no hard level-downs, like maybe a sync-down so you can still wear your equipment and get some of the stats... it's a fun game.

[@NotTheWheel]

As expected of Azurite you managed to beat yet another difficult boss I've failed to beat. Making an FF11 account and installing the game... I just couldn't be asked to do it.

[@talemire258]

When I played I had done about a total of two weeks worth of configuration on everything, ultimately making it feel seamless and modern on a controller. I was using both Windower and reWASD, and I had a friend helping me swap the in-game tracks out to more modern versions. Wound up stopping for some reason then later got a new PC altogether. Fast forward to today and there's no way I'd even begin to start that process all over again no matter how much I want to go back. I even made a macro for summoning all 5 of my trusts that I set off with a simple mod combo on the controller. I remember you have to allow 2 or 3 seconds between each summon otherwise the macro would screw up. There's just way, way, way, way too much lol. Personally, I loved the combat and wish we could see a modernized version of this game. Having played 14 before 11, I don't think 14 even holds a candle to 11. RDM/DNC is an insanely fast combination if you want minimal downtime and its probably one of the most versatile builds in the game.

[@cheffdonty]

Good stuff. I also got into the game during the lull between stormblood and shadowbringers and found it interesting but never progressed super far

[@mannifinalsummer4544]

I did play FFXI during boarding school times and I loved it! Until I met some guys ingame and they just wouldn't let me play alone anymore... first I liked the tutor relationship with them but after a while, introvert as I am, I really wanted to play alone so I left for XIV. My lala character from XI got revived in Eorzea again and started as a thief too, so my memories of all her adventures in Vanadiel are always with us ❤

[@ThisisCitrus]

Your game is stretched and not using the correct aspect ratio in game. You needed to go into settings and change how its displayed, you're playing 4:3 stretched instead of actual 16:9, thats why everything looks chunky and thick.

[@CobaltLotus]

FFXI is the best MMO. Always has been, always will be.

[@Kul_ZR]

i need to get back to playing some XI, i never played back during the "golden" era but i've enjoyed ffxi retail, did try some horizonxi but its hard juggling wow, wow classic, ffxiv, ffxi, and the odd eso and gw2 at times

[@ThisisCitrus]

Try HorizonXI if you want the actual intended experience of XI. Modern XI is.... interesting.

[@martinezj812]

I miss the wild Wild West feeling of FFXI - everyone just running out there getting mowed over by random NMs, camping HNMs on timers, party positionals, party timing..this game was so rich and felt like it had depth and diversity in jobs

[@ZessaSnake]

I am not far into 11 but I really enjoyed my time so far.

[@GutenNachte]

You’re playing at the wrong resolution… if you go into config 2 settings in game you can fix the aspect ratio to 16:9.

[@Ephremjlm1]

Obviously as others have said, the "intended experience" of the game would be more akin to a private classic server like Horizon, which ironically for being classic gets rid of the downloading and launcher problems of retail. But the reason for this not being the intended experience is because Sakaguchi, the creator of FF had this as one of his last great experiences and in his words what he always envisioned FF could be. After he left, Yoshi P and others had a completely separate vision which, along with the lowering player base between all servers at the time, resulted in the game becoming more of a solo experience. Side note, again private servers solve this by having only one server and they are more full than the original ones back in the day so it retains that social aspect without needing the trusts to solo everything. Also, most of the devs aren't at the company anymore, and the everquest devs who helped make FFXI were never technically at the company. That said, those that remain are on the FFXIV team as far as we've been told.

[@azdeh1894]

What I don't feel from other games that 11 did was make all your efforts feel worth it. When you finally obtained an item you worked for and how significant items felt even while leveling up. Spending dozens of hours camping a monster at rng drops, competing with others for the spawn window(many factors). Don't know if it's nostalgia or other mmos don't feel as deep.

[@LuminNox]

I hope they transform FF11 into an offline RPG at one point like they did with Dragon Quest 10

[@reloadpsi]

For some reason there is a rumour to that effect going around. The game itself is in maintenance mode now, but if it were released as an offline game as-is today, it would be panned _hard._

[@ImmortalDraylo]

nobody wants that

[@LuminNox]

@@ImmortalDraylo I want it so that's already one person. Maybe you don't want it and that's fine

[@ImmortalDraylo]

@@LuminNox ok you are in the tiny minority then. It's a bad opinion

[@flvx4693]

​@@ImmortalDraylo tiny minority is in fact more than just "nobody" and believe it or not I also want an offline version of the game, you can't always maintain the server forever and it'd be a waste to just shut the game down and having no way to play it in the future, making the game an offline version is a way to preserve the game and that's not a bad thing to do.

[@user-gr5bv4op7d]

If you want to see what FFXI is all about, you need to play a 75 cap era server. The best way of replicating what FFXI was all about is HorizonXI.

[@SageLakshmi]

Exactly

[@jojoyk8]

current endgame does have dailies and weeklies or even some that are every few days

[@LethinGabbins]

I played ffxi from launch for years. I loved old school ffxi, went back lately and tho I do enjoy going back and seeing old content again.... its bot as much fun without the group shenanigans If you want a decent representation of classic ffxi, horizon xi is a close emulation with some decent QOL stuff. There are true classic servers akin to the EQ project 99 or TAKP.

[@pokelogikx]

whats a good US world to play on for ff11?

[@Tashiro64]

I did like you, started playing because of the XIV collab, except im only 8000 hours into xiv :P I also spent hours trying to beat the first boss named "Install" but once in the game I struggled the whole time lol, I guess i just dont want to "learn" a new mmo like I did with ffxiv. I only played a few days in my 14 days trial and wiill probably never touch it again because I need to pay 40$ for a 20 years old game, and the monthly fees is just too much. So I'm just going to buy it on sale, and play when there are free login campaign lol. I'm not hating on it at all, I'm even intrigued by it, something about the way it looks and play.. is intriguing!

[@BHFFS]

Crazy how much the game has changed since I played it when it came out. We didn't have trusts so to do anything beyond the very early levels you had to find other people to play with. To level you would essentially camp in one spot for hours on end killing things over and over again. And there were no instanced endgame content. Everything was world bosses which you had to compete with other groups to do. So you would sit around for multiple hours and you often wouldn't even get to do the fight. And thus get no gear. Getting the top gear sets literally would take many months or even a year or more.

[@Zakharon]

Ive spent the last few days playing 11 solo while i kinda like it it is making me feel depressed, I am playing more solo than I do 14, I feel like I am barely making progress and I feel like I am just bad at the game, I am trying to play for the story but it is taking a toll, the game is charming and I like how elements are important, but i have trouble navigating everything and ive died more than Id like. (I just spent forever leveling Rune fencer to 50 and drk to 49)

[@foomp]

Regarding the glamour and lockstyle difference, I think it's incredibly important to note that XI has something that makes it stand out as superior to XIV's. The fact that XI does not job lock you in armor choices. Obviously you'll be barred from making your weapon appearance a different type of weapon, but you're not bound by active job. If you want your PLD to look like a WHM, you can. If you want your BLM to have a Templar appearance with a hooded robe, heavy armor greaves and gauntlets, you can do that.

[@LaolythGaming]

3:03 They really gone all in with the cat animations on the character creation screen for the Mithra :'D It's insane compared to the Miqo'te of XIV

[@Xine051]

They also went so far as to add in rolling their r's for the NPC mithras to make it seem like they were sort of purring while speaking. To add to that, even the Tarutaru would double up on occasional words sort of like "trouble-wouble", sort of added to making them seem more childlike, I guess? But I'll have to agree with the video, a lot of them were little shits lol. Played FFXI from 2006-2012, and went back occasionally ever since just to poke at the nostalgia a bit. I've also been playing FFXIV since it's original launch and was an Alpha tester for 1.0 and ARR. I have well over 2000 days playtime on each FFXI and FFXIV.

[@afrotreebear4907]

Think I hit 500 hours. I usually jump in for months at a time but after dawntrail, ill defo be waiting until the next expansion 😅

[@guyleclerc7324]

i play XI from 2002-2009 i'd say i play easely 20000+ hours like 10hours a day forever . some days were 24hours never stopping so 300hours is kind of a joke for a true XI player

[@boarMcberry]

here's my personal additions, sorry for being too long, & even then there's still alot to say that I avoid for time being. For time being, here's the list just to complement what you've relayed in this video: - Thief (THF), usually preferred job to solo farm stuff since this job heavily reliant on special stats called treasure hunt (TH) in which depends on gears setup in order to get rare drops. & as general with knife-based, has much quicker attacks compared with other melee jobs (there's Dancer as well since also mains dagger, but specialize in buffs similar to FF14's). - skill chains (SC) will become very important method for rare mats farming, since it's also mainly used to stagger NMs & the type of stagger will determine its loot drops. Abyssea are one of main examples where majority players depends on these SCing. - Trusts was introduced 1st in FF11 some years before FF14 finally does the same. Initial can only do 4-man parties, but can unlock up to full party after certain quests. & unlike FF14, trusts here can be used almost in any areas, saved for certain battle area where it prohibites trust summons. As other mentioned, there's also adventuring fellow, a single party npc that you help grow & evolve, but they're much older system & wasn't very useful much after trusts introduced, but this one does gives personal roleplay experiences. - Relics, unlike in FF14 where it eventually ends up being glamour pieces, does really matter & serves for a very long time investments, if properly chosen & managed. They however not only cost alot of time & grinding, but usually cost alot of gils, hundreds of millions of it just for a single relic if want to upgrade all the way. Hence, it is very advise-able to save gil very early. - There is daily/weekly stuff here that is highly recommend to do. The dailies mainly are joining Domain Invasions (DI), requires to progress far enough in Rhapsodies expansion in order to unlock all 3 new zones called Eschas, where the DIs rotates between them. Need to farm daily capped 100 DI points, which should be not that hard if joined during reset hours & only need either 1x participation or twice if can't cap it 1st time. - The weekly stuff is related to Records of Eminence (RoE), FF11's version of FF14's combined achievement/challenge logs, where one urges to cap both weekly 100k sparks & accolades each, their main usage is converting them each into 1 million gils, in total of 2 million gils per week. These used to be uncapped till RMT broke the system & crashed market, hence weekly cap implemented. However, one cannot just try capping them in normal fashion since it would take tremendous effort. Instead, players need to take advantage on special bonus hours, mainly experience gain bonus hours, which also listed on RoE wiki page, with one commonly known is the 4 hours right before weekly reset, which is on JP's sunday midnight. - Regarding lores related to Shadow Lord, unfortunately depending on how this relates to upcoming FF14's ally raid collab, could either only related sparsely or deep, since in order to learn thoroughly, one needs to play nearly all story content, even all the way up to current free expansion - The Voracious Resurgence (TVR), since quite late of it will eventually reveal another deep lore of Shadow Lord as well. TVR also just finished its 3 years story running last year & still very challenging without proper preps & defo need helps from seasoned players. My guess is that FF14 probably won't go that deep, but still... it is a very good depth of lore to learn. ;) - FF11 has been commonly known to unofficially usage of 3rd pt mods, one of them is HD graphical overhaul which does improve visual greatly, but will cost bigger PC specs to properly ran them. Or regarding to voiceless acting in game, iirc there's addon to add AI-trained voice for the game to help with those hard to read stuff, again if having better PC resources. - Need to access Adoulin expansion which will later unlock Mog Island, another form of Mog House & the precursor of Island Sanctuary implemented on FF14 during mid of 6.x, where players can evolves & have their own quarry/botanical/gardens, & even raises some mob pets which actually could gave huge benefit with final evolutions gave passive stat bonuses to players. - Regarding story progression, it is unlike FF14 where one can just approach any story at any time. However, Rhapsodies requires certain progression of older expansion stories albeit not that far, & unfortunately many seasoned players will suggest new players to get Rhapsodies finished ASAP due to this expansion will reward perma buffs that greatly enhances QoL. Also unfortunately the free expansion after Rhapsodies, TVR, will requires older expansion much advanced progressions, also can only be started after Rhapsodies finished as well. - Regarding subs fee, do admit it can quite overwhelming compared to FF14 setups, but... FF11 has been quite generously doing these return home campaigns (the free logins) which started decade ago, with usual durations of 10 days per 3-4 months, & this is how I can manage to catch up stories, even finishing the latest TVR, & grind other stuff. This plans personally benefit me being mainly subbing FF14 & having FF11's return home campaign as excuse to semi-hiatus on FF14 to focus on FF11. ;) - Glamour system in FF11 in one way does excel from FF14, in which one can even glamour on a different jobs attire that normally won't be possible to equip on current job(s). Example of me donning rune fencer artifact gears on a THF. :D That's it for time being. There's whole lot more to learn, so enjoy for time being. ;)

[@c1plas]

I do remember skill chains, we did have to do them if we were in a JP pt. Did them in eg, been so long.

[@BHFFS]

NA parties did them too? You basically had to if you wanted to progress at high levels.

[@andrebaxter4023]

@@BHFFS, agreed. It was definitely optimal.

[@davidrobertson6014]

"If there is a reason to equip gear halfway through the fight" If you're into doing everything the best way possible you're going to have gear set for idle, melee, weaponskill use, some time you'll start casting spells with 1 set of gear on and change it halfway through the cast lol. Leveling classes is just the start of the game, collecting all the gear sets is the endgame.

[@cosmosofinfinity]

4:00 It's more like FFXIV's apartments, really

[@Nightweaver1]

It's not an overstatement to say that WoW killed off FF11. Upon its launch in 2004, I think around 75% of the playerbase of FF11 got drained away to WoW, and it never really recovered. Today FF11 still maintains a few thousand active players, but with mercs and bots all over the place, private servers are some of the last bastions of the "real" FF11 experience. It's a shame, because I started it in April 2004 and only about a year ago had to cancel my sub because I could no longer afford it. My total playtime in 11 is around yours in 14... i.e. about 22,000 hours. So I do feel I'm qualified to answer some questions on 11 if you have any.

[@Jozaros]

I've been playing FFXI since the PS2 launch to this day. I enjoyed the lv 75 era, but I enjoy more about how retail is today. I know many FFXI veterans like myself have burnt themselves out and are trying FF14 since I've been telling them about it a lot, and btw I have also been playing FF14 since 1.0, but as of now I never felt any good changes to FF14 and it is stuck in a repetitive content mode. Let me explain. It's always with the same 4 man dungeons, 8 man raids and 24 man raids. The only difference was Eureka and Bozja which made the game fun in different type of way. I find myself stuck with FF11 and if you've notice the content FF11 has back then, than you would have been overwhelmed with soo much content that it can make a player have to touch grass once in awhile. FF14 can never match that content because it's the same kind of content in raids and dungeons, but re-skinned. Now many FF11 veterans are barely trying out FF14 and are loving it, but wait till they notice it later on and they will return back to FF11. Theme park MMOs are just a straight line from A to B. While sandbox MMOs are diverse in many types of content and using old content zones for the new content zones. It's soo build up that if your helping a new person out and do old lv 75 content so they can experience that, you gain materials to pop new notorious monsters and get better gear or lv up old gear to current status item lv. FF11 is the best in my opinion. Playing both MMOs for so many years I never felt tired of FF11 but FF14 I do get pretty bored of savage raiding and just get silly mounts that honestly kinda feel "meh" sometimes, however I'm glad you're enjoying FF11 and I hope you see more of it and maybe get more voices to ask Yoshi-P to remake FF11 and introduce Viera, Au'Ra and Hrothgar to FF11 so FF14 players can feel at home.

[@Ikuraga]

FFXIV launched in 2010. FFXIV: A Real Reborn launched in 2013 which could be seen as the fist expansion and why it’s called version 2.0. Just to clarify for random youtube frogs. 🐸

[@Cameliasinensis506]

You should try horizonxi if you want to know how the game was back in the day. Try to clear the 3 promies. I promise you it's an unique experience. I don't think there's any other game like it. Maybe Everquest, but I haven't played it.

[@ImmortalDraylo]

horizon is garbage, buggy mess and nothing like what the game was back in the day. Almost the entire population of that p server has completed the promies and all missions, what exactly will be a unique experience? You just stick to the same pathing that was established two decades ago and easily get past anything.

[@Cameliasinensis506]

Oh, also, as you can see, retail players hate Horizonxi server with a ravenous passion. I've never seen people hate a game they haven't played so much.

[@ImmortalDraylo]

@@Cameliasinensis506 because it steals assets from the real game that is still alive. and the biggest irk is that these people go literally everywhere like a plague to try and recruit for their trash server. Even now you see them here... like YOU, recruiting. You are actively trying to harm the real game by attempting to persuade away players that could potentially join it. So its a fake copy, buggy mess, of one era of the games life. They steal all assets from the real game including equipment skins, things that the real DEVs worked on. Not a single person here asked about that server and the OP wanted to experience ALL the storylines the real FFXI dev crew made, yet you mentioned that horrible server lol. Fully making my point, they just go everywhere to recruit

[@Cameliasinensis506]

@@ImmortalDraylo Sure thing, bud.

[@kaiserness8775]

​@@ImmortalDraylo Good lord man, it's not that deep. It's a nonprofit historical server. Not a single developer sees a dime from it. Retail is the way to go if you want to experience the story, but it's also a ghost town because Trusts make parties obsolete for all but high-end content. Horizon has less story, but its players actually talk, socialize, and collaborate because partying up is objectively mandatory to do basically anything. Retail is mostly an RPG. Horizon is mostly an MMORPG. Some people want an RPG, some people want an MMORPG.

[@cattysplat]

Here's to hoping FFXI will live on rather than just get shut down when SE thinks it's not making money anymore. MMOs deserve to be preserved and playable. Maybe even tweaked to be faster for a modern MMO audience.

[@ImmortalDraylo]

i agree, this game has so much potential and life to it. A simplified and stream lined process for logging in and adjusting settings and new content... it needs very little to continue.

[@BHFFS]

Private servers are MMORPG preservation. SE will shut XI down as soon as it's unprofitable.

[@r1pfake521]

Just a small warning for people who want to know more about the endgame: It's one of the most elitist and toxic community you can find in games unless you play with a group of friends. Also since this person didn't play "serious" he didn't know how important gear sets are, you need multiple gear sets per job and if you don't use gear sets, people will kick you out of the group. Changing gear is such a important part that all "veteran" players use third party tools to literally swap to a different gear set for every ability or spell automatically. Sometimes even multiple times per spell (pre-cast, mid-cast, etc.). SE doesn't care about the game anymore, so you can use these "cheat" tools without any worry of getting banned and the toxic endgame community will speak open about using them and share their scripts on forums. Since everyone else uses them, you are almost forced to also use them if you want to be part of a endgame group. Trusts are not really useful for most endgame content, so many people even pay and use multiple accounts at the same time, because with the automated toolings it's easier to setup a "bot" for support jobs who buff and heal you. So the pay multiple accounts just to play with themself, because their bot scripts are "better" than real players, true elitist right there. You can grab some popcorn and read the forums where these people will constantly fight each other and discuss how much assited tooling is "fine" or when it is "botting", it's very ironic and entertaining to read.

[@robwelker750]

Shoulda downloaded it back in day on dial up/dsl internet that was an all nighter install 😂

[@tcg2717]

Back when FF was still a full fledged RPG.

[@Tyranthraxus78]

So you basically played for 200 hours, and scrolled the wiki for 100 hours.😅

[@AzuriteTV]

Sounds about right...

[@lukebargodao]

One world: Horizon. That's the real deal (rn)

[@Khajitxi]

Um. I think you might want to look at the keybinds since the stuff you used as an example of stuff that needs a menu are all on default keybinds. There used to be a combined sub for both XI and Xiv, but Se got mad that people didn’t leave Xi for Xiv or something and it’s only still around for people who got it and never unsubbed.

[@yannsolo150]

The HorizonXI private server offers a unique experience of rediscovering the game as it was in the 2000s, free of charge, with no sloppy content after the 2010s (I'm especially targeting Abyssea content...).

[@fightermcwarrior7391]

300 hours in FF11? Those are rookie numbers, gotta pump those numbers up

[@Frankthetank302]

Ff11 is not hard to download snd install

[@ImmortalDraylo]

i honestly dont understand why every reviewer says this. Its like some kind of "journalist joke" that they constantly repeat. It is not hard to download the game, they consolidated it into a single download on the official FFXI site. Making an account is done thru square enix site, where these people who are XIV players should know about using a site to sign up because you have to do it for XIV too

[@cheffdonty]

I found confusing a few years ago. When I revisited it, I had to kinda re learn how to log in

[@aisukage1990]

​@ImmortalDraylo you know as well as most that playonline was pointless but SE was unable to remove it. So for people unaware of the system having 2 different login information SE ID + POL ID. It can be confusing. obviously for us that know already its a joke yes. Name one other MMO with a more complicated login system because I can't amd I've played plenty of MMOs.

[@tetsujixiv]

Looks like you are playing in 4:3 stretched

[@chathao1315]

Call me OG or Old school all you wanted, but I would rather not have daily quest. I personally would just do what I wanted without worried about completing my DQ.

[@smaller_cathedrals]

I played XI when it came out. And I wasted thousands of hours on it. It's baffling to me how heavily tinted those nostalgia glasses are that everyone seemingly wears when talking about the game.

[@Krazyrs]

need to farm a soboro for your sam and /drg just saying 😉

[@rorybisson756]

i totally disagree with the UI claim. i logged well over 1k hrs over the yrs and as far im concerned in my opinion its still the best MMO in every way. i found everything in the game to be very intuitive except when making macros but once you get the hang of it, its pretty simple.

[@jfbeland690]

i wish SE gave 2 shits about FFXI and actually brought it out of the dark ages of MMO's

[@pedromoreira6218]

yeah instaling FF11 can feel like a video game of itself as well as gettign yoru resolution this thing is an actual dinossaur but it somehow has isntanced player housing something 14 cant get

[@lanceknightmare]

I wanted to play FF11 on PS2. I found out it was not out yet at that point. By the time it released I did not care. They ruined the game at launch by requiring a specific type of internet. FF14 looked cool. The community makes the game look bad before I even play it. Plus, I lack the system needed to play the game currently. It is clear the game is suboptimal still using older suboptimal concepts to define the MMORPG genre. I do not have faith in the MMORPG genre as someone who played it starting with Fly for Fun in 2006. A few of the games I played before that could be defined as MMO games.

[@PunkFiddler]

FF11 SMN > FFXIV SMN

[@jasyn5667]

FFXI was a lot different back in the day and 300 hours is really nothing in this game.

[@am_frog]

Chains of Promathia is the best story nobody knows about. Also private servers are closer to the intended experience than the current retail version. Retail is more the modern version where people have less time to play, less patience to be rewarded and more methods to complain about things being too hard. The intended experience is about teamwork, perseverance, (a lot of time), community and communication, which is something that you typically only get on private servers. Retail is more like "we gotta do something to make this game faster while still working through playonline limitations". The fact that the game does the things it does while stuck with PlayOnline is absolutely incredible.

[@michaelklein3244]

If you're a veteran at 300 hours i wonder what they'd call me with 1017 days 😆

[@Asin24]

The issue with FF11 servers now is that its nothing like it originally was like with Trusts and systems in play that changes the experience. To be fair its not bad for getting a very brief over-view of the game without being hampered too much by needing groups for things, it also doesn't feel anything what it use to be like. There are classic era servers you can find (Can't post due to obvious reasons) that do give a feel for what it actually was like back in the day which could be interesting to explore, although expect it to be VERY group based, though you will find out just how social games use to really be. Edit: Due to some more... unhinged ramblings of someone bellow, don't worry too much which way you decide to go. Retail itself is a fine 'dip your toes in' solution to get a taste of the game. If you want to dive in deeper and get a feel for what it was like when it was popular give classic era a try to get a better feel of what it was like to play back in the day, granted expect a larger time investment in it but a closer feel to what it was like.

[@ImmortalDraylo]

This is incredibly false, its very similar to how it originally was. Try to use trusts in Dynamis D, Sortie, Odyssey, and even a lot of omen or escha bosses, see how far you get alone with just trusts. Groups are almost required for Sortie and Odyssey high levels, its impossible to complete them without a dedicated group or shout group. This is exactly how it was back in the day, towards the end of the 75 era "low man" groups were incredibly popular. People were easily 6~8 manning all the HNM and sky gods, some even soloed. Most of these people saying stuff like this are just people with nostalgia goggles bolted on who were very bad players during the 75 era who threw bodies at every single boss fight.

[@Asin24]

@ImmortalDraylo dude, did you play back in the day because your calling it false but you have no clue. Tell me when did you have trusts in the past? When were you able to run around solo constant killing past lvl 14? When were you able to level crazy fast due to the exp gained being so high from so many sources? The easy teleport to go anywhere in the world on a whim? The ability to skip subjob quest? The ability to easily do story quests solo and not needing a party to do something say climbing qufim tower? The fact you can get free sneak/in usable without the right job to navigate the world? It's way different. You can tell within the first few hours on retail verse classic server not even getting to the point of needing a party how different it is. There are very few group activities that even need a party and it's often due to trusts not working in those areas. You can do the entire rhapsody quest line without a party with only a few fights near the end being troublesome and those few fights still people have managed to do. There are literal classic servers that prove you are talking out your ass. Naming a few things when such a massive chunk of the game is different is just someone absolutely clueless of what the game was like or having an insane selective memory.

[@ImmortalDraylo]

@@Asin24 Yeah I did, and still do. I played this game for over 2 decades, starting from month 2 of NA launch. So i Know what I am talking about, you can even see videos on my channel from 75 era. You didn't have trusts in the past, but that is a pointless thing to point out. Yes, you can solo for levels, people are even doing it on your precious private servers with beastmaster pets. EXP required to max "level" in retail, is higher than it ever was in any era of the games life, and any private server. Try to get from ML0 to 50 "crazy fast" The easy teleport is in private servers too, via books. Its a perk from the game being out for over two decades. Are you trying to say walking everywhere is some kind of gate keeper test of fun? lol lol almost all your points are just nostalgia goggles bolted on. They literally sneak/invis thru every single danger back in the day, true sight/sound things were easily moved around. too. Many story fights were created for lv99 with hard battles called master trials, no need to force people to create parties for story missions that are 2 decades old. It isn't way different. Gear progression is the same, you still swap all kinds of gear in/out, you still do thi ngs for small upgrades. You still skillchian and magic burst, you still have linkshells and statics, you still have the entire job system and every job is unique and has its pluses and minuses for various content. Everything that made XI so great and huge, is still there. If you think the pace of combat is the hugest difference, then you aren't getting the full picture. The fundamentals of the game are still there at its core. There are many things that still need a group. You are wrong. Who cares about old missions? They aren't hard and never were. Even across all the private servers everyone has them completed easily. Retail has way more storylines though and way more content. Prove I am talking out of my ass about what? The private servers all have less population than retail, and they all copy each other and stop at CoP for the most part. Everything else is a buggy mess and they will never move past that. So the real FFXI has all the storylines. If you wanted to fight the missions at their best, you are able to level sync if you care that much. Not to mention the majority of the most popular battles were created as high tier battles or master trials. The core of the game is still the same. Only the numbers and pacing is different.

[@Asin24]

@@ImmortalDraylo Trusts aren't pointless they trivialize leveling and most content. You couldn't do most content outside specific jobs solo (since for some reason a few niche jobs = every job can solo therefore nothing changed). Even if (which is BS but for the sake of arguement) you couldn't do 90% of the content before and now you can't do only 50% of the content now solo (not remotely close btw but for the sake of giving your argument more legs) thats still NOT THE SAME. Beast master =/= all the job. We are talking about most the jobs not stuff like Beast Master, Blue Mage, or Puppetmaster. My point is Sneak/invis is NOT something all jobs have. Oh yeah, you know as a Sam/War I'm going to pop sneak/invis to sneak through... wait you can't THEY DONT HAVE it, and there is no book you can use to cast it on you. That's also ignoring the fact that how long those last will be lower then retail due to how they changed it with buff durations with skill level. EXP is 'longer then its ever been' when you have exp rates that are multiplied to insane degrees. You can get to 99 easily in a day if you really wanted to (all solo btw). It would take months to do so in the old versions. Not sure what you mean by ML, You mean Job Points? If you mean Merit points then your making yourself look rather silly given you can easily max those out very quickly once you hit 99 with how much you can earn from the exp. JP is an end game grinds, congrats! So all those hundreds of hours you would of done leveling your job is gone so it can be put there, which btw, not very hard to level those. What just casual SOLO grinding you can get 1 Job an hour, thats WITHOUT the capacity point ring buff up. How abou those skill chains you do level up? You learn them while going? Oh wait you wouldn't since trusts, or if you did its going to be a 'hope trust uses the right skill so I can skill chain'. Withou no communication. A system being there is irrelevent if your not using it most the time. Its existance is pointless. So many skill chains you won't see since by the time you do any content that would have a group, you just need to know the righto nes for max level. Teleport wise, I hate to break it to you, but not all private servers do. I know you probably pick the servers that do since you prefer easy mode 'skip everything, I did this before I don't care about the experience' servers but there are ones out there like Horizon that very much don't do that since it loses on what it was like to play the game. See old missions 'who cares' doesn't matter. Its vastly different. It also shows afar different social structure to the game which is the point. You just 'solo' it. You don't have that social interaction that made the game what it was. Are you sure you just aren't anti-social since a lot of the best moments from FF11 were from social interactions with others, hell from MMos in general are from doing things with other people. The game feels vastly different and a hollow shell of what it once was. The journey it had is all gone. Its NOT the same, just as like how retail wow is not the same from classic, just like how driving the first Ford cars made is not the same as driving a modern car, as is using a hammer to strike in a nail instead of a nail guin. Its achieving a similiar result with a completely different methodology that doesn't at all reflect the feel of what it orgiinally was. This is all also ignoring the fact I LITERALLY MENTIONED playing retail for the sake of just wanting effectively quick glimpse over at the game, my suggestion for classic servers was solely to get a better feel of what it was like to actually play the game back in the day since yes it is way different and as much as for some reason you try and argue against me, everything you said literally is in favor of what I said of it being different. Seriously, next time think about what you are responding to instead of just feeling the need to 'disagree' with someone. Your entire rant could of been summed up if you wanted to be truthful. "Retail is fine to get a rough idea of the game, it is different from how it was in classic but I think it is good enough for most players to get what they want out of it who don't care if it's not the same as it was in the past."

[@ImmortalDraylo]

@@Asin24 Your post is just chock full of misinformation. Leveling is trivial since day1, including in private servers. Its a snooze fest that you do for hours on the exact same mobs over and over, and does not translate 1/1 for what you would be doing in end game. You don't learn the end game or even the fullest capabilities of each job by smacking the same mob over and over for hours. If you can do the content solo, it can be done solo point blank. No excusing your way around it to try and use trusts as a scapegoat. RDM soloed 80% of the 75 era end game lol and you complain about trusts. Beast master PETS. Many jobs can solo them easily, not just BST job. They are DOING IT NOW ON YOUR PRECIOUS PRIVATE SERVERS. Sneak/invis can be placed with an ITEM lol, you are really showing your lack of knowledge here. Prism Powder and silent oil have existed for over 2 decades. People regularly sneak/.invis thru all the storylines in private servers just like they did back in the day. If not, someone can just cast it on you. You are making weird excuses. Here you are also showing your lack of knowledge. No I am not talking about job points, I am talking about exemplar points which comes AFTER you master job points. This lets you gain more stats and be able to use a higher sub job level which grants access to new abilities for the job you are on via sub job. So for example you can increase your master level and gain access to super jump from dragoon if you sub it. This is just another leveling system, just because the level itself doesn't change, its far more intricate than merit points and its a valid way to directly strengthen your character just like levels. So its exactly the same in this comparison. --- To get to level 50 master level it takes LONGER AND MORE EXP, than it did leveling 1 to 75 back in the day, just check a wiki for the system. Yes its not hard to level or gain exp, it never was, so whats your point? Are you seriously suggesting leveling was hard? When even now in p servers people just level sync themselves to the same handful of camps over and over? Most people didn't even skillchain in exp parties after TOAU came out, it was all about melee burns. You did it more so in end game, which is still the case. You can also skillchain with trusts easily, so you make no sense. There are even specific trusts that wait to skillchain with you like ayame. Ultimately they are very easy to learn, it isn't rocket science and can be taught in seconds. Horizon does have teleports, they have a goblin that teleports you places. Its the exact same thing, designed to cut out travel time thats wasted instead of playing the game. You think you are playing on some level higher than everyone else lmao, get down to earth. You need people to complete content, its 100% necessary. The same way it was back in the day. Missions are over two decades old, why should people be forced to find groups for it when most wouldn't bother? It was a ncessisty the game had to choose to keep going. There are more missions in retail than any private server, thats a fact. So if its important to someone they can still find people and level sync. Missions on private servers are all super easy and buggy, people completed them easily on day one. The game is literally over 20 years old, of course its older and not like it once was. People like you abandoned it and disparage it on your way out causing other people to dislike it. We have people like you to thank for the steady decline, but not just you but also the company managing it that starved it of funds. Of course after literally 20 years it will be different, but the core of the gameplay is still the same. It is only the pacing thats different. Even the feel is the same, with all the jobs we have, the gear progression and the content is very similar given they have rehashed a lot of it. It is not way different, its literally just pacing. Instead of getting 100 exp per mob, you get more and faster. Instead of swinging once per 2 minutes, you swing per second. The numbers are higher, but the jobs are all the same, the feel of missions is still there if you read the storyline, the gear progression the same. The grouping with people for content is the same, you just get more options. If they solely wanted to FEEL how it was back in the 75 cap, then yes you are right. If they want to experience the real FFXI then you are wrong, just solely based off the fact the real game as ALL the storylines. RETAIL IS THE REAL GAME, its not a rough idea lmao. You are literally try ing to convince people to play a poor copy of one of the eras of the games life. The game has literally been out of the 75 cap of the game LONGER than it was ever in it. You are trying to get them to play a poor copy thjat doesnt even have all the stories.

[@LennoxGibraldi]

Final Fantasy XI? More like Final Fantasy Peak

[@reloadpsi]

I had two housemates who played FF11. They complained constantly and never sounded like they were having a good time

[@xChinobi]

They probably didn’t know how to play then.

[@reloadpsi]

​​​​​​@@xChinobiI played the game myself and thought it was dogshit, so I think it was just sunk cost fallacy on their part. I recently watched ProJared's review of the game and he corroborated all their complaints about the game in a strangely positive way that confirmed it was basically intended. It's like they made this game for Calvin's dad; it's boring, grindy, and unfun by design in a way that's meant to feel rewarding when you get to the other end of it. Even Koji Fox, who works at the company, said in an interview while working at the company that the minute he played an MMO that wasn't FF11 he was like "oh, FF11 IS recklessly unfair by design compared to these other ones, I thought this was normal." I'd seriously rather do physical exercise or go on a diet than play this game, because I can unironically say I enjoy those things more. Hell I've got a gym subscription that costs less than this game.

[@xChinobi]

@ true. Honestly it wasn’t for everyone only got into it because my dad bought me the ps2 hard drive and it came with it… played for a bit but once I started playing WOW when it dropped never looked back.

[@mario4everd]

@@reloadpsi Honestly different strokes for different folks. I do think modern 11 does a lot to make things much more accessible and easier to manage and respects the time of the player much more because of the amount of things you can use to speed through. It's actually faster in modern ff11 to level up all your classes than ff14 for example. Also I prefer how you are "playing" ff11 mostly even during story msq, which ff14 does not and disguises itself more as a very long visual novel with very little gameplay moments. My friend's much prefer this format because they are really into the story aspects but it honestly tired me out constantly. Even when the story was getting interesting. But I do think both ff11 and ff14 show their true gameplay colors once you're actually far "in" the game. Both games can be ridiculously fun deeper in.

[@reloadpsi]

​​​​@@mario4everd FF14 is now headed by a guy who has a work-life balance and understands that MMO players are an aging base. That's why he designs the game around respect for the player's time. FF14 1.0 was basically an FF11 remake, and nobody had time for that anymore. Like I said, FF11 seems to be a game that's trying make you "build character," and like I said, I could do that IRL instead and the benefits would even be transferable. I play a video game to relax. I might give the free trial a go when my mate's off work over Xmas though, as I love the idea of the job system. It's very FF5 inspired. Teenagers in their parents' basements aren't playing MMOs anymore; they're playing the kind of faster-paced games that present day specs and internet connections make possible instead.

[@jeffrapier947]

A big issue with XIV is the lack of "flavor" to the characters. Just as you pointed out, the races in XI are actually distinct in their mannerisms, speech and animations. Comparing the two makes XIV feel kind of hollow and soulless. I was on XI at NA launch for a few years and then picked up XIV more recently when I needed something to occupy myself after I was housebound from a surgery. I vastly prefer XI, maintaining a retail sub while also playing on a couple of private servers for their unique flavor.

[@ubk8751]

> Doesn't have Au Ra 0/10 is it even worth playing?

[@unclegoose3864]

Yes because Au Ra are doo doo

[@michaelcampbell5769]

lol did this dude get this far into the game and not know about macros?

[@skipranger5887]

trusts ruin the game

[@cuneoluis]

Veteran after 300 hours? Bro what are you smoking?

[@AzuriteTV]

Reading is hard

[@aisukage1990]

Since you can't read before making a stupid comment. He said FF14 veteran (900+ days of playtime in 10 years) 300 hours was his FF11 playthrough So calm down.

[@lolRNG]

What's with this communities inability to read? Too busy getting high from smelling their own farts.