Calling all Final Fantasy XI Players

Necropolis

Hi guys,

Well the time has come and I have to review this for IC-Games and I need some starters advice. I have never ever played anything like this before and my only previos knowledge of online gaming is FPS'. Any tips on where to start? What server to go on? What kind of character to create that will give a good all round view of the game? Any help is appriciated.

Thanks

Norge

Well I didn't play FFXI for very long but I have played several MMORPGs so I can give you a hint as to what to look for.

First of all you won't be able to choose your server for FFXI. It automatically assigns you to a server. If you want to play with a friend you must accumulate enough money in game to buy them a world pass in which case they will have to start a new character on your server. The only alternative is for them to recreate their character until they are auto assigned to your server. This can take a while, I've done it.

Now for a more general view of MMORPGs. A major aspect of any one MMORPG is grouping. You'll want to look for such things such as ease of finding a group, dependancy on grouping, and how the different classes interact with each other. Along with grouping look at the ability to solo in the game. Ask questions such as: Can I go through most of the game by myself? Is there enough content for someone wanting to go solo? Which classes are more suited for a solo experience. As a side note I think you will find that FFXI is primarily a group oriented game. I didn't play for long but I've read about it and that seems to be the general opinion.

Content is another big thing to look for in a MMORPG. You should try and see if there are plenty of quest to keep yourself busy, if they are easy to obtain, if the quest are challenging and entertaining, and if there are quest for both group and solo players. If there are not many quest you should try and see if there are alternative means to leveling. Can you gain experience for exploring new areas? Do you gain experience for PvP? Through trade skills? Do you have to spend a lot of time mindlessly grinding through monsters to level up? That kind of stuff.

Depending on the type of player you are trade skills are a big part of a MMORPG. A lot of people will buy a game specifically because it has a good trade skill system. Trade skills include things such as blacksmithing (the ability to make weapons and armor), alchemy (ability to make potions), fishing, and other such secondary skills. Most of them revolve around producing some sort of item and can be done with minimal or no combat. A games economy can be heavily affected by tradeskills.

Player vs. Player combat is something to consider as well. This might not weigh as heavily in the minds of some players as others but it is definitly something to consider. PvP is usually a means to give higher level players something to do once they reach the max level. Most PvP systems in modern MMORPGs have rewards associated with them and possible several different ways to battle. There is usually the ability to duel another player one on one as well as large scale battlegrounds that allow hundreds of players to fight at the same time. Depending on how much time you spend testing the game you might not become high enough level to participate in PvP but you could always try and talk to some high level players to get their opinion.

Something that MMORPG players hold dear is character customization. You might want to spend some time in the character creation screen and play with all of the different ways you can customize your players appearance. The more options the better since with hundreds of players in the game it can get hard to make yourself stand out. The items in the game also play a large role in player customization. The way an item looks on the player as well as its attributes play a role in the uniqueness of a character. If there are only a few good items in the game with limited graphics you will wind up with a bunch of cookie cutter characters who all look exactly the same and use the same items. A game with varied items promotes uniqueness and can more easily avoid the cookie cutter syndrom.

I doubt you will make it to this point before you write your review but high level content is something you could ask other players about. A problem with a lot of MMORPGs is that once players hit the level cap they run out of things to do. One option is PvP which is what a lot of games go for. The game I am beta testing right now (and quite possibly the best MMORPG to date), World of Warcraft, plans on having a hero system for players who reach the level cap. Once the cap is reached players will be able to go on an epic quest to reach their hero class which is different for each base class. There will also be PvP battlegrounds and raid content available for high level players. Things like that are what you can ask people about.

Well that is all I can really think of for now. I hope I gave you some idea of what you can look for in a MMORPG. I am sure you will figure much of it out on your own but I think I have listed some things that most people look for in one of these games.

Norge