Final Fantasy XI Windows Beta
primesuspect
Beepin n' BoopinDetroit, MI Icrontian
I signed up for the beta months ago, and I actually got a shrinkwrapped, boxed copy of the beta last week. For a beta, it was very well packaged - a full manual, six CDs, and some miscellaneous inserts (ads and whatnot).
For anyone who doesn't know, FFXI is the, obviously, 11th game in the classic RPG series. FFXI is the first MMORPG in the Final Fantasy line. It uses Sony's PlayOnline network, which requires special "viewer" software (which is really just a frontend for login).
The PlayOnline account setup process is unintuitive and a bit lengthy. Even though I was provided a username, password, and keycodes for two games (Tetra Master and Final Fantasy XI) I still wasn't sure what to type in which box. I ended up creating an account with a different name, which I'm not sure if I was "supposed" to be able to do. Either way, it took about 30 minutes to get the PlayOnline software working to the point where I could log in to the POL network. One cool thing is you get an email address @pol.com .
The POL viewer connects to the network and downloads any updates that may have been released. I'm surprised at how often the POL viewer updates itself. As far as I know, the viewer is not beta software. Once you are logged in, you can check your messages, do the buddy list thing, buy games to play, manage licenses, or play games.
So, I had to figure out how to "buy" licenses for the two games in the beta: Tetra Master (an online version of the card game that was included in FFIX) and FFXI. The codes were already provided in the beta box, but it still took some time to figure out. Instead of licenses, SquareEnix calls them "Content IDs".
The game is pretty hard to get used to at first, the controls are a bit awkward. I can't imagine playing this game on a PS2. But I must say that the game does a good job of drawing you into the world. It seems like the MM part has been well thought out. The basic gist of the storyline is that there are three great kingdoms in some world. Then some dude created an army of monsters and started attacking the citizens of the world. The three great nations formed an alliance and fought the beast armies. Now, you step in. You can pick from a variety of races for your character, and then you can pick your homeland. This is one of the three "countries". The overall goal of the game is to finish missions and quests, but there's also a neverending "world war" sort of campaign - even though the three countries are allies, they still vie for territory and influence. So whenever you fight monsters you claim points towards your nation's rank. It's like a friendly competition between the countries.
The game is basically "humans versus monsters" - so there is no player killing or stealing or doing any harm to any human players. You can choose to adventure solo or you can find people to team up with and take on some of the harder missions and quests with others.
I've basically just started this game, so I don't have too much info yet, but I have to say that I am enjoying it a great deal, once I got over the weirdness of the controls. Also, the manual is big, over 50 pages, but it sucks. I have learned more from talking to other players online than I have from looking through the manual.
I hope the beta lasts a while so I can keep playing for free
For anyone who doesn't know, FFXI is the, obviously, 11th game in the classic RPG series. FFXI is the first MMORPG in the Final Fantasy line. It uses Sony's PlayOnline network, which requires special "viewer" software (which is really just a frontend for login).
The PlayOnline account setup process is unintuitive and a bit lengthy. Even though I was provided a username, password, and keycodes for two games (Tetra Master and Final Fantasy XI) I still wasn't sure what to type in which box. I ended up creating an account with a different name, which I'm not sure if I was "supposed" to be able to do. Either way, it took about 30 minutes to get the PlayOnline software working to the point where I could log in to the POL network. One cool thing is you get an email address @pol.com .
The POL viewer connects to the network and downloads any updates that may have been released. I'm surprised at how often the POL viewer updates itself. As far as I know, the viewer is not beta software. Once you are logged in, you can check your messages, do the buddy list thing, buy games to play, manage licenses, or play games.
So, I had to figure out how to "buy" licenses for the two games in the beta: Tetra Master (an online version of the card game that was included in FFIX) and FFXI. The codes were already provided in the beta box, but it still took some time to figure out. Instead of licenses, SquareEnix calls them "Content IDs".
The game is pretty hard to get used to at first, the controls are a bit awkward. I can't imagine playing this game on a PS2. But I must say that the game does a good job of drawing you into the world. It seems like the MM part has been well thought out. The basic gist of the storyline is that there are three great kingdoms in some world. Then some dude created an army of monsters and started attacking the citizens of the world. The three great nations formed an alliance and fought the beast armies. Now, you step in. You can pick from a variety of races for your character, and then you can pick your homeland. This is one of the three "countries". The overall goal of the game is to finish missions and quests, but there's also a neverending "world war" sort of campaign - even though the three countries are allies, they still vie for territory and influence. So whenever you fight monsters you claim points towards your nation's rank. It's like a friendly competition between the countries.
The game is basically "humans versus monsters" - so there is no player killing or stealing or doing any harm to any human players. You can choose to adventure solo or you can find people to team up with and take on some of the harder missions and quests with others.
I've basically just started this game, so I don't have too much info yet, but I have to say that I am enjoying it a great deal, once I got over the weirdness of the controls. Also, the manual is big, over 50 pages, but it sucks. I have learned more from talking to other players online than I have from looking through the manual.
I hope the beta lasts a while so I can keep playing for free
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Comments
Post some screens. I've been mildly interested to see what the game is like for a while.
What? You? Mr. Lucky Dog? I can't believe you didn't get picked! You ALWAYS get picked!
http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/ffxi_news062303.shtml
I met up with "Prime" in Final Fantasy XI : Beta ver.
HOLLA BACK!!!
Welcome in Kiria
You met our resident FF fan - primesuspect
Ahem! One of our resident fans (albeit the luckiest one
Ok, so it's kind of an obscure avatar. It's concept art for Bahamut from FF1. I think. Downloaded it a long time ago, hehe.
So prime, ignore whatever NDA they claim you're subject to and post some screenage!!
Hey, don't you all know that I'm just using the FF XI beta to pimp our site?
HEHE! Last night was fun! I'm glad you leveled!
I'll look you up today, Jen. I'm an Elvaan Monk, currently lvl 12.