So, You Want to Try Final Fantasy 11...Installation Guide

[@alkainmoonweaver1339]

I really wish they'd combine the subs for both 11 and 14. I feel it'd boost the popularity of both

[@raventhorX]

totally agree. I would easily pay up to $4 more for a sub if it included both.

[@BenjaminAntonyJames]

Played the trial recently, first time I have touched 11, its been brilliant so far really enjoy it. Happy to pay the box price, however not too fussed about continuing if I have to pay two subs, and if I prioritise, my 14 sub will always come first. I would even consider it if it was an 'add on' to the 14 sub for a bit more...

[@alkainmoonweaver1339]

​@@BenjaminAntonyJames Yeah, fair. Sadly not everyone can afford two or more subs to various things. Yeah, I do think you should pay for the games themselves, I mean... it'd be financial suicide otherwise XD

[@Justuas]

But that wouldn't make sense business-wise.

[@whoopsie321]

Oh true that would be awesome. Wow does FF should too.

[@ReyXander]

the installation is so bad that mrhappy had to drop a raid guide on it.

[@notmousse]

Considering how terrible MMOs were back then I'm not surprised.

[@cool2bekeith]

Which is worse to install ffxi or ffxiv?

[@AlTheiuMaster]

Playonline installation - A raid boss to surpass Absolute Virtue.

[@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

@@AlTheiuMaster Someone salty they never had enough kraken clubs in their ls

[@sweatyraider7241]

​@@AlTheiuMasterthe music is dope tho

[@Lumpyboyy]

As painful as playonline is to setup, I always really liked its design. It's just so over the top and flashy compared to modern software launchers that it feels like using fake product in a movie or game. Plus all the integrated games, customization, and social features like built-in email, chat rooms, or tetramaster that now go unused gives it a pretty eerie and surreal vibe. There's not much else like it. Also the music bops

[@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

I always loved the intro vid with the blackmages casting meteor. Got me tearing up everytime.

[@raventhorX]

it gives me that vibe that some of the .hack games give when you go back to the "desktop" and i love it. i kinda wish it took off better than it did as maybe some of the changes would have made it less of an issue than it was and is.

[@WaltRBuck]

Playonline is the reason I quit playing this back in 06. It was such a trashy system, then Wow came around making life wonderful again.

[@Lumpyboyy]

@@raventhorX Oh yeah .Hack's operating system menus feel very similar; a futurist all-in-one online network seemed to be a popular idea in Japan at the time. Steam today basically fulfills the exact same function as an online game launcher with chatrooms, profiles, and private messaging so it's possible, but the level of presentation and v i b e just isn't as good imo. So I do think it's unfortunate Square really didn't do much with playonline despite obviously having larger plans for it. Plus people still ask for and make "how to buy" guides for XIV, so what SE ended up replacing POL with still has it's own jank lol

[@ellamir1979]

I loved the email address and communicating with my friends offgame even via the built in chat.

[@CCKaraoke]

FFXI is a strange, because you fight the final boss before you play the game. It's a super tough fight, but if you beat it, the full game loot drop is totally worth it.

[@Ryotsu2112]

This final boss still has a banger theme song at least.

[@devin6968]

Why do you have to start by beating the final boss? looking to get into this game soonish

[@CCKaraoke]

@@devin6968 The final boss is installing the game.

[@samanthak4583]

Wow, doing a community-assisted play of FF11 is an awesome idea! I've tried to play solo a couple times but it's been difficult to learn and get to grips with. Super interested in joining this ❤

[@Varizen87]

Ff11 was much much slower paced due to how automated combat was with mostly auto attacks and pushing 1 ability button every 1 to 5 minutes, but that was a strength for socializing, you had lots of time to talk while waiting for swings or cast time. I personally can’t go back to 11 though… it was another time and age for me, and it won’t be the same experience without the community I had.

[@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

@@Varizen87 same it was fun and got a lot of the main factors a mmo should be right including a great community aspect to it's design and ability to go about attempting things in countless creative ways you could think up instead of being cookie cutter like the dumpster fire ff14 is. Problem is it's far too dated and too much of a grind to start all over again with and community and other aspects I'm sure aren't there anymore. I'm sure as hell not spending a month 10 hours a day leveling fishing to 100 and getting ebisu or grinding out all the quests and so on. I felt like I beat the game when I earned enough money to buy a kraken club then sold my account after having fun doing all the abysea stuff, voidwatch clearly showed the game was end of the line and dead.

[@ellamir1979]

agreed! as a main BRD, there was a nice pacing of typing you could do to chat while playing the songs :)@@Varizen87

[@mistmonster]

I don't know how anyone in 2023 can play this without "Windower" which I'm guessing is what he was alluding to at the end

[@BeRadMH]

Spoiler alert....installing and logging into XI is Savage tier content.

[@NotTheWheel]

Ah yes the most difficult form of content for any online Squareenix MMO. Actually being able to register and install the game.

[@cabellism]

They really never learn do they?

[@Firehawk87]

As someone who struggled with just the launcher the first time trying the game out I’m just gonna save this video for later reasons. Thanks for this Haps!

[@kday42]

i've never seen a live service game needing a major face lift both graphically and technically in my entire life. This game would greatly benefit being combined with ff14 subs and getting rid of playonline entirely. If this game is gonna continue running for years to come it needs to happen eventually

[@Mrhappy1227]

Not worth the cost to separate it from Play Online. They are so baked together. Also not worth combining the sub with XIV unless the cost reduction for going Cloud Servers makes financial sense.

[@DanmakuFriedChicken]

I played FFXI back in the day. Im still shocked they barely improved on the installation process after 2 decades

[@Mrhappy1227]

Hard to do so since the entire infrastructure is made for the Playstation 2 by default

[@DanmakuFriedChicken]

@@Mrhappy1227 yeah that is true. Ill always remember downloading the game overnight and praying i dont lose connection even with auto kick off lol

[@hippopotatomoose]

​@@DanmakuFriedChickendude! I had the same experience LOL 😂

[@Alsurag]

Never change a runing system...

[@canticledrawl]

I think what I'm waiting for is a combo wombo membership: get 11 and 14 together for a good price. I believe WoW has this for its retail and classic varieties. I really want to try retail, make it happen Squeenix!

[@kavlar3]

Ah yes the struggles of installing FF11. Nostalgic video. It was just missing one important feature, PlayOnline background music. It would have been a nice surprise. Thanks for the tutorial.

[@1candondor]

I remember doing this during the summer and just fighting for roughly 2 hrs at the login screen for play online. Was infuriating. Went to bed, did it the next morning and it just instantly worked for no reason. Only got up to lv 12 before life caught up with me irl. I want to get back into it too.

[@DacianGradaMusic]

you know this series is gonna be good when you have to do a tutorial for the installation 😂 good stuff, can't wait to learn more about XI in preparation for Dawntrail!

[@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

Just remember to use barwater and face north when crafting with a water crystal.

[@ellamir1979]

omg! hahaha yes I miss this game@@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep

[@kakashiroks]

Thank you for this! Watched it once and next day set it up. Didn't seem hard, but then realized there's no way in heck I'd have had anything but hours of confusion if not for having seen this.

[@PoliceTelephoneBox]

Giving this a like because potential new players need the help.

[@Fuhzix]

Not doing 14 day free trial tip is 100000% accurate.

[@EdisArchive]

Eh it was a few years ago but I don't remember it being that much of a hassle. Besides, it's still another 14 days free.

[@Fuhzix]

@@EdisArchive I had a friend in game that I could barely interact with because of the free trial restrictions. That plus really enjoying myself made me decide to purchase the game and upgrade while still in the free trial period. There was odd wording when I was trying to upgrade and I wound up making an entirely new service account. Luckily I was only like lvl 20 so I just restarted.

[@jeunonn]

I may be the only person in the world that would love a POL for XIV. Just like I may be the only person that wishes there was something akin to Dolphin and Space in XIV xD

[@Zetgeist]

Happy to help with the community event if I can. Lv99 mastered char on Bahamut server.

[@murfbones8446]

I’ve been playing on the private server Horizon XI and have been loving it. Never spent much time on retail but would recommend playing ffxi in some form to any ff fan.

[@montefisto]

Good video. A lot of that admin-mode stuff with the launchers/shortcuts I don't think is necessary, it overcomplicates it... the icons already have a blue/yellow UAC shield on it, which gives admin rights, so I'm not sure if that's a legacy fix that's no longer needed, or what? That Control Panel/Windows Features fix was already on by default as well. PC Gaming Wiki makes no mention of any of that stuff either. You could probably cut about 2 minutes from the video and also make it less daunting. All the same though, everything else in the video was really helpful, and I'm grateful.

[@RaddyC]

Dude so happy you’re making these. I tired XI back in February and I only got like six hours in because I couldn’t figure anything out.

[@hippopotatomoose]

It's a huge learning curve for sure. But once you learn how to make your macros it becomes so much easier.

[@thereluctanthireling]

Happy to help any new or returning players!

[@whoopsie321]

I recently installed FFXI last year and I was surprised I didn't run into too many issues installing it but man back in the day was quite the challenge I even played on ps2 but i don't remember how hard it was to install on that.

[@kuponutter]

Thank you for doing this guide, I do eventually want to go back to FF11 one day. The fact that this guide is even necessary though is a massive shame and needs to get sorted.

[@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

The game should be free to play at this point. Game is dead it's all played with bots in your party it may as well be offline. I just wish we would have had a ffxi world type mmo that followed not the trash ff14 ended up being. The community and world map aspect where everything wasn't instanced and you could solo and duo and go about accomplishing things in countless ways was what made the game really fun. FF14 basically polished everything superficial while forgetting what makes a mmo at it's core great. And the most garbage thing about ff14 is it was made just late enough that it's going to be prolonged for a long time before the next mmo comes out and all the gen z cosmetic buyers means SE made too much money from this garbage money machine to drop the style FF14 was made it. We may never see another ff mmo like 11 again. FF14 is basically a chat room to show off cosmetics you bought and play duty finder instanced cookie cutter junk that is instant gratification and hands everything to you with no community aspect or self agency in accomplishing anything. Fun to craft but everything crafted is made useless because they are so scared of gil being sold and gil itself basically useless.

[@ElienKerdan]

@Waterspoutsofthedeep Who said anything about 14?

[@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

@@ElienKerdan Don't know who SE is?

[@ArmageddonEvil]

Holy fucking christ in all the seven hells of Pandamium... That's such a complexity of just trying to install it. lol

[@Mrhappy1227]

Outside of the odd jank that came with age, its a pretty straight forward process. The windowed mode and direct play things are really the big kickers that people end up not knowing about without research. Auto-disconnect is also a bit of a cursed thing to leave on by default.

[@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

In fact Pandemonium was a FF11 server lol

[@ArmageddonEvil]

@@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep lol

[@Enclave.]

I've had this game installed for years, I don't know why I watched this XD

[@urser]

I did this and boi was it a nightmare until i got it working, ty for finally making a updated guide on doing it (wish I had waited xD)

[@hippopotatomoose]

I had to do this process on the PS2 and I was glad i didn't have to do it again when I switched to PC. I might just get a potato PC just to play XI again.

[@thescottydont]

Happy being a life saver yet again. Much appreciated my man.

[@deathbyvamp]

I have been fighting like hell to avoid going back to 11 and then you post this... My will is too weak lol

[@zegichiban]

"Don't use the 14 day free trial it makes the upgrade process infinatly worse" Me having just registered the free trial version instead: "Oh..... ooops"

[@Xo1ot1]

This is part one of a three part series.

[@Predatornc1]

I’ve been trying to 100% the FF games. After 1 year and 4 days I’ve made it to 11. I have special self imposed rules for my sanity when it comes to the MMO’s, but seeing all this I’m dreading having to install it.

[@davieccc]

Ive been thinking about playing ffxi again for a bit. Played it a few years ago and i remember playing through the rhapsodies questline and having to fight a siren and it kicked my arse!

[@ShiningNoctowls]

Hey Happy, thanks for making this guide! After doing the new Alliance Raid for patch 7.1, I decided to buy the game, & give it a shoot(nice they gave a free trial period similar to 14); the video helped a ton! 🕯🌧🌈🔥

[@indianajones8291]

Gonna be honest, I wanted to try out this game but watching this video in full, I just can't be bothered. Square, please update your stuff so it's just a matter of making an account, downloading one launcher, paying and be done with it.

[@DonaldTurner]

Thank yu Mr Happy! Ive been considering giving it a go. I go back and play P99 in EQ once in a while, similar nostalgic experience, Im sure.

[@AlexFogle]

It took me 5.5 hrs to get in to ff11, last time I tried. And by then I was over it. Played maybe 30 minutes.

[@genji7536]

the handler thing was annoying if you already made one up well you have to make another just so you can link and play it finally... i love the old ff11 tunes and what not ive never actually played it before but i remember in my youth this was a big game advertised in our game stores but i never tried it, and funny how i remember the trailer too. I could of played it but i was too busy with uni back then. I have tried ff14 its nice but so much to do another youtube said he liked the limitations of ff11, theres too much to do in ff14 i guess to not make the game feel boring. I just hate Gridania map though, the other two starting cities not the problem. I hate starting specific classes in Gridania and following the MSQ there, love everything about ff14 but the map layout of Gridania bugs me. Anyway im going to start this and see how i go i feel a better connection with older games i don't know why, could be i like older concept design better. I like the way moogle looks in ff11. I have played ff7 remake+rebirth, moogle looks like a tele tubby character now lol. I know character models look better now but the style and idea's are not originally the same since square always have different team members on each project or following titles.

[@tudofett]

Even the devs said the pol launcher should not be used because they will not be fixing known issues. The devs went on to say we should use windower as our laiuncher instead.

[@kalohaggard1729]

It's a disgrace that you can't do this through ps store somehow. If I'm wrong forget I said it . If they made an updated console version they could sell some cheap customized keyboards maybe with cool visuals and macro shortcuts . It's been forever but damn I miss this game .

[@violetbliss4399]

Having visited FFXIV's site and/or the mogstation, I have to admit I experienced a distinct lack of surprise that its predecessor had its own quirks, instead. :P Anyway, great guide!

[@BRight298]

Gustaberg ost booming on many PC's coming soon..

[@JanetDax]

Windowed mode works great with Win 10/11 multiple desktops.

[@sneakytrip6594]

When the endgame boss is at the beginning of the game.

[@Wolfiix18]

There is something I really can’t understand and hope someone can explain it for me , so I bought the game so I’ll get 30 days free right ! So I won’t pay anything for now ? But how I get character slots ? Should I pay 1$ even that I have 30 days free and I just bought the game ? Pls someone answer me

[@MiharuHiramu]

Thanks for the guide, I did all of this earlier this year during the come back campaign except the auto logoff so I disconnected during install… once I finally got into the game I kind of lost interest as I was overwhelmed and the chat was full of spam. In the end I just went back to that certain server 😂

[@BLACKDISC]

Thanks for the savage raid guide!

[@HidingFromJessica]

I have/had ffxi on my steam. Now it's not there anymore? And even when searched it has 0 results? Played xi for 15 years and would Like to get back on. Guess I have to re buy the game on the pol website now?

[@ACEMLC-sx7dz]

I wish I could play it again. I was and will always be a console only gamer. When all my friends stopped playing I deleted my character/account. The thought of starting over again….god no lol

[@TheLostMoth]

Ahhhhh PTSD from ps2 days.

[@Cofcos]

Forget installing the game. I've had it installed on every computer I've had for the past 20 years. The real roadblock are the limit break quests... Especially genkai 3 and 4. Doing those, solo, even with trusts and a guide is a nightmare if you've never done them before-- or have forgotten how to do them.

[@KnecroDragoon]

im so mad. I just had to do this myself and within 2 weeks you made a guide haha

[@bbugabooo]

Thank you so much for this! Love you!

[@Kadeda]

Dude... I can't believe I pulled this off when I was like... 11

[@Mrhappy1227]

Tbf its worse now cause new technology doesn't play nice

[@raventhorX]

if you plan on creating a link shell for this event i would love to be part of it. though unless they have a return to vanadiel campaign where i can come back and play for free for a bit i may end up missing out on this T_T

[@Mrhappy1227]

Return to Vana'diel should be in December again if pattern follows

[@raventhorX]

@@Mrhappy1227 Seems I missed my opportunity but seems the event has returned again today. Haven't looked at your new videos so I'm unsure if you still have that linkshell going if you ever created one or if you plan on playing again during this period.

[@raventhorX]

@@Mrhappy1227 BTW, I'm reinstalling the game right now and it's asking for an update when launching the play online viewer. Thought the new installation from the website wouldnt need to ask for that step and not seeing you mention it in the video. If you ever update this video you might want to mention it in case its a huge issue at all. I'll find out in a moment if it is, hoping all it does is just verify the files and lets me in rather than try to download more files i shouldnt need.

[@raventhorX]

@@Mrhappy1227 also should mention that as far as I know accounts need to be linked to a square enix account in order to be used again and the bonus to that is that account shows your login info for playonline in case you ever forget it.

[@ce-xiv1334]

XI will live on forever!

[@Varizen87]

If you’re talking about what you think you are at the end, something that starts with W, and ends in ER, I am shocked it’s still updated. I knew members of the original developers. Starhawk was even in my Dynamis Shell for a while. But I believe he left the source code open after he left the game so other people could update it but I am shocked there would be enough people with the skills and interest to do it.

[@xano7220]

Its great your doing these videos

[@ericafornari4396]

I started playing XI in 2005, but have slowed down a lot since starting XIV. I would love to get back more regularly, so pls let me know how I can help your endeavor, Mr Happy 😎

[@KalaamNozalys]

So, for people who've been playing after this install guide: What are you thoughts ? i'm curious before giving it a go

[@Zephhi]

I would genuinely play this game if there wasn't a sub still

[@BigChilla420]

100% if I opened XIV launcher on my PS5 one day and it had a button that said "Try FFXI" I would click it in a heartbeat.

[@GamerNym]

I'm 5 minutes into this video and this looks like a nightmare.

[@Sirdragonmar]

Did you ever continue this series?

[@xierotron]

So i play on console and im wanting them to tie it to the XIV sub and bring it to PS5

[@tpruckh]

Hello! Former FFXI player trying to get back into the game. On a Mac and at the section in the video labeled "Installation" around 1:27 - I don't see the "PlayOnline" folder. I'm trying to figure out if I need to download the game at this point but I'm having trouble figuring out how to download the correct file from the FFXI website. Any input?

[@Bu2Spike]

I'm planning to install those game on my nitro 5 gaming computer, I used to play it back in the day when it was primarily played on the ps2. My gaming comp has windows 11 installed will it install and play ok?

[@lushen952]

How do I play it on Linux?

[@ZakRios333]

Would give anything for them to release XI next year with XIV on Xbox

[@YorranKlees]

Well I'm curious about the Steam version, and I have a very specific question: if you check files via the Steam option in FFXI, does it erase the game content? I'm asking because of another game that has its own launcher and updater, namely MSFS. That's what happens when someone checks files: it removes the whole simulator, because the files are not recognized as part of FS installation.

[@orrick42]

I miss playing 11

[@Katie-vv6ff]

Thy just need to add it bk to consoles. Ps5 etc to dodge all this 😅

[@Mrhappy1227]

They'd be adding PlayOInline back in as well given the two are essentially completely intertwined. Not worth the cost to try and separate the two.

[@ForeverAlpha1]

I got my old account on FFXI working now. What server do I need to choose to play with you Happy?

[@krumpwizard8906]

damn i was excited to try this game and had it in my steam check out but after watching this video i think im gonna avoid this one at all cost.

[@Nutrafin-3D]

I played this on PC back in the day, Didnt seem as bad back then but still... WHO THE HELL DESIGNED THIS?!?! AGE IS NOT AN EXCUSE

[@admiralbosch2851]

or you mean just download the files from a different faster download sever/site and do a file integrity check to complete the process faster? 🤔

[@nemziex9763]

Did he successfully log in? He switched to old footage but never showed if he logged in. I've followed his steps and still get an error message when logging in....

[@Predatornc1]

Ok. I almost have installed, if I don’t want to run it as an administrator what features do I lose the ability to use a controller the ability to set my resolution like what is the cost for not being bothered enough to always run as administrator

[@abrarfarhan9344]

when I registered the code on the website it didn't show me the page with the play online ID and password. What should I do?

[@ElienKerdan]

Oh hell no. I enjoyed the time I spent with XIV (done with it now) but I wouldn't put myself through this even if SE paid me to do it. I'm never even going near another MMO again.

[@nighttimestalker]

Appreciate the video. But unfortunately I ran into the same issue I've had many times with SE and their password crap. I specifically make all my passwords for their crap the same just to avoid this. But still get hit with "incorrect password" when it ask for my SE one. Which I know is right as i literally JUST logged into my account with it .... But for some reason, PoL just won't accept it. The companion app for ff14 does the same thing and I physically can not use the app anymore because of it. Even changing passwords doesn't work.

[@Jglabel262]

Having trouble with the 5 files

[@plfernandes88]

This absolutely ridiculous

[@GmanMoose]

Happy mentioned a free login in one of his previous videos, but I can't find any info anywhere on when that is. Anyone know?

[@Mrhappy1227]

Seems they delayed it to December, despite the anniversary being November

[@Stragus_Macleod]

By the way, successfully installed the game and it just won't stop crashing. Any ideas? It's a modern pc. It was crashing before installing the DG voodoo mod, I installed the mod hearing that it can often help, and no dice. Still crashing.

[@morteaux3662]

Savage!

[@invokeur15]

I'm planning to buy FF11 when it goes on sale, but I already played the free trial a long time ago and never sub. I can see my previous POL ID in my Square Enix account in the cancelled service box. Does that mean I have to create a new POL account?

[@Mrhappy1227]

Should be able to upgrade it, but from what I hear its a pain

[@invokeur15]

I can't upgrade or "transfer" as they say, the option is greyed out. I've read that they delete free trial accounts after 90 days of inactivity, that must be why. But I still managed to log into my previous POL account so it still exists... I'm lost, lol.

[@Ahnyks]

Now how do you play FFXIV 1.0?

[@arturius9715]

trying to make an account and actually download FF11 makes signing up for 14 seem like a one button push

[@cj_skywalker]

I tried to install FFXI a long time ago, but neither my computer nor my parents' computer had enough memory for it. And I don't know if I really could stomach those primitive graphics today. :(

[@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

There are people who have updated the graphics with graphics packs lol

[@kephalai]

you'd think they'd wanna make money and make these less painful, but no. they somehow seem to not want people to join tbh.. even every few years buying the expansion is a painful process for me and i've been playing since ARR 2.0 day 1.. it truly hurts when you're not from one of the main 3 regions that they service

[@bandi138138]

Play online is not letting me type with my keyboard, and I'm having to type on notepad and copy paste it. Am I doing something wrong?

[@Mrhappy1227]

Very odd, never seen that before. Normally only happens if you're tabbed out. Administrator should resolve that.

[@bandi138138]

​@Mrhappy1227 thanks for the reply. Also which server would you recommend?

[@kengo192]

Where is his link to his discord?

[@Mrhappy1227]

It will be in the announcement video

[@cakeversary]

OMG 😱😱😱

[@johnbaptist7082]

FFXI is top tier time waster. I love it.

[@TheScrubExpress]

9:45 what is he talking about here?

[@kale1236785]

no i need a starters guide for new players , i play the game and cant figure out where to go on maps and how to unlock maps , mr happy would you ever make some new vids for new players , i the game just don't know where to go after the starting area

[@leonwolf4]

There are Wiki's dedicated to showing where to go for quests. Best look up online guides and wiki sites for XI. The game was designed not show you where to go. It would takes hours to explain it for all the quests via video.

[@SkeithTwilight]

BRO! I remember doing this on my own over a decade ago and just threw away my whole PC. Screw all this noise. Would love a way to play FF11 and enjoy the story but this is way to much.

[@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

Would have loved if FF14 at least a successor to it in any meaningful way. Was beyond disappointed when I got to play what they call a summoner... still salty about that.