Final Fantasy XI
Yeah I think there was a FFXI thread a while back when the beta first came out but I didn't get to see much of it. Seeing as how I am too lazy to find that post and I wanna talk about the game I'm making my own thread.
Anyhoo has anyone actually played a "near final" version of the game yet? A few people were talking about it in school today and it is sounding really swanky. I think someone said that the battle system is turn based. Does anyone know if that is true or not? If so it would be flipping awesome! The person I was talking to said it would still be turn based even if you were alone but your could have up to 6 party members. In which case it would be like any other Final Fantasy game but you only control your character instead of all of them. I'm a big fan of turn based games so I think it would be an awesome system. I also read on the FFXI site that you can have a chain of skills and attacks if you and other party members attack at the same time. I don't really understand how it works but you can pull off some pretty wicked combos according to the site.
Another thing I am wondering about is the chat system. I thought I heard once that there was only preset sentences that you could say to people instead of being able to type. It would make sense since PS2 people don't have a keyboard to type and all but really sucks for people with computers. I mean if I royally kick someone's ass I wanna be able to rub it in how much I pwned them! "ph34r m3 1337|\|35$ biaotch!" Sure it wouldn't exactly be role playing but it'd be fun :-).
How does the job system work anyhoo? I've never played FF Tactics so I am not familiar with it. From what I was reading on the website it sounds pretty cool. I guess you can pick a main job and then choose a secondary job later. That's great for me since I typically prefer being a mage in RPGs. I figure if I get the game, which is very likely, I'll start out as a black mage and then make a white mage my second job. That way I have all the bad ass destructive magic yet can be a team player with my healing spells. One of my favorite things in FF games is managing my healing characters. They usually have low hp so it is fun to try and get them in there to heal and keep em alive. Plus it is also a challenge just keeping other party members going. Come to think of it I wouldn't mind being an all our white mage. Keeping all the different types of shields and spells up might be fun.
What is up with the world ticket system anyhoo? On the site it says you have to give a friend a world ticket so that they can be in the same world as you. You just can't join the same world/server as your friend without all the hassel of finding some dumb ticket? Sounds kinda wierd to me.
Well I guess that is all I can think of talking about for now. Such a good game and so little brain capacity to take it all in
Norge
Anyhoo has anyone actually played a "near final" version of the game yet? A few people were talking about it in school today and it is sounding really swanky. I think someone said that the battle system is turn based. Does anyone know if that is true or not? If so it would be flipping awesome! The person I was talking to said it would still be turn based even if you were alone but your could have up to 6 party members. In which case it would be like any other Final Fantasy game but you only control your character instead of all of them. I'm a big fan of turn based games so I think it would be an awesome system. I also read on the FFXI site that you can have a chain of skills and attacks if you and other party members attack at the same time. I don't really understand how it works but you can pull off some pretty wicked combos according to the site.
Another thing I am wondering about is the chat system. I thought I heard once that there was only preset sentences that you could say to people instead of being able to type. It would make sense since PS2 people don't have a keyboard to type and all but really sucks for people with computers. I mean if I royally kick someone's ass I wanna be able to rub it in how much I pwned them! "ph34r m3 1337|\|35$ biaotch!" Sure it wouldn't exactly be role playing but it'd be fun :-).
How does the job system work anyhoo? I've never played FF Tactics so I am not familiar with it. From what I was reading on the website it sounds pretty cool. I guess you can pick a main job and then choose a secondary job later. That's great for me since I typically prefer being a mage in RPGs. I figure if I get the game, which is very likely, I'll start out as a black mage and then make a white mage my second job. That way I have all the bad ass destructive magic yet can be a team player with my healing spells. One of my favorite things in FF games is managing my healing characters. They usually have low hp so it is fun to try and get them in there to heal and keep em alive. Plus it is also a challenge just keeping other party members going. Come to think of it I wouldn't mind being an all our white mage. Keeping all the different types of shields and spells up might be fun.
What is up with the world ticket system anyhoo? On the site it says you have to give a friend a world ticket so that they can be in the same world as you. You just can't join the same world/server as your friend without all the hassel of finding some dumb ticket? Sounds kinda wierd to me.
Well I guess that is all I can think of talking about for now. Such a good game and so little brain capacity to take it all in
Norge
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Comments
Norge
But then I see the ominous words........ Online..........
Online only = Pay
Pay = Pay Monthly
Pay Monthly = No
NS
Yeah the whole pay per month thing does suck but for some games it is worth it. I am hoping they have a 7-day free trial soon after release so I can give it a whirl before buying it. I hate to spend another $10 a month on a game but it's so hard to resist with a Final Fantasy title.
Norge
1: The combat is NOT TURN BASED. It's an active system. You choose, say, "Attack" or "Ranged" or "Magic" and then you will keep attacking if you have autoattack on or what have you. If you have party members, and you walk away from the keyboard, 1 of 2 things will happen: 1: You'll just keep attacking if you have auto attack on, or 2: the battle will continue along without you and you run a good risk of getting jacked up. (Option 2 usually brings some miffed party members)
The job system rocks. You can be, at any time, any class you want. However, of course you benefit the most from sticking to one class and levelling it. Say you choose white mage. You level your white mage and invest in equipment for it and buy spells for it and get it up to lvl 14. Then you switch to monk. You start off as a level 1 monk and you can't cast any of the spells you had as a whm, use any of the equipment (unless it was usuable by a MNK1 to begin with), etc. So it behooves you to stick with a single job. HOWEVER, there IS a subjob system: At level 18 (this is a hint too) you can talk to a guy in a certain town and get a quest to bring back three items. Once you do this, you can select a sub job. The sub job system is complex, but can make for powerful characters. So, say you levelled your whm to 18 before taking on the subjob quest. The rule is that your subjob can only be half the level of your main job. So, you choose black mage as your subjob. You will be an 18mbk/1blm .. A level 1 black mage can't do a whole lot except cast stone, so.... You need to level your blm. ONLY YOUR PRIMARY JOB GETS EXPERIENCE.. so you need to switch your MAIN job to BLM to level it for a while to make it worthwhile. The fun part of all this is that by the time you are level 18, you forgot how hard it was to be a level 1 character. So, you have to go back to level 1 and start levelling your subjob. You can keep your original main as your sub, so while you're levelling your BLM, you'll be, for example: 1blm/1whm, and when you get to lvl4 blm, you'll be 4blm/2whm. Since your whm is level 18, your whm level will go up to be half of your main job whenever you go up 2 levels. (6/3, 8/4, 10/5, etc.) What most people do is level their new main job to about 10-12 and then switch back to what they were originally. I chose red mage as my support job, and I spent a week or two levelling my red mage up to 12 before switching back to monk, and I was level 21 when I completed the subjob quest, so when I switched back to monk/rdm I was 21mnk/10rdm. That way, I didn't need to worry about my RDM until I was level 26. Upon reaching level 26, I would have to switch back to rdm to level him up to 13 to get a benefit out of it.
Whew.
I saw characters that were like 50/25... Some people have a LOT of time on their hands
The one major thing that sucked about the subjob system, (and a lot of beta testers did complain about this) was that the main job could not use the subjob's weapons. That sucks. It would be cool to have a bow-wielding monk or an axe-wielding white mage. Basically all the subjob does for you is give you the sub's spells and job abilities. So my 21mnk/10rdm could cast level 10 healing and attack spells but I was still a super-fast fighting character with insane evasion. Not a bad combo. most people choose white mage as their sub because healing takes a really long time and by the time people get to level 18 they are so sick of healing that they want to be able to case Cure and Cure II..
Norge, I am as big a FF fan as you sound like you are, and I will say this:
I was very disappointed by the game. It does not "feel" like final fantasy.
Now, with that said, I will say that it was a lot of fun. But there are long stretches of boring levelling up, a lot of frustrations when trying to assemble parties for certain quests (certain quests like "go kill the big dragon" almost REQUIRE a party - you would be a fool to do it alone) and assembling a party can be an hours-long process since a) you have to find people that are doing the same thing as you and are approximately (within 2) the same level as you, and b) people in an online game just come and go like nothing. So you've spent 45 minutes looking for people and you need 2 more, and the first two get bored waiting for you to assemble the party and they leave, so now you need 4 more again. It sucks.
The quests are pretty unimaginative too. Almost every single quest (and there are hundreds) involve "Bring me this thing".. you bring the thing, and you get some money. That's about it. There are variations on the theme, but you get the idea...
After playing the beta for so long, everyone's been talking about the end of the beta (everyone in the beta). The beta ends in 4 days, and people are freaking out. It's kinda fun. The other day I decided that I was done for good and stood in the town square of a very busy town and started shouting "I'm going crazy! Selling everything!" etc. and sold my equipment for pennies. I had weapons worth 15,000 and armor worth 30,000 that I sold for 10. people were flipping out. "WHY ARE YOU SELLING THAT SO CHEAP?" ...well duh, the beta's ending... Our characters are getting deleted in 7 days, and I'm just done....
My overall impression:
Fun, but they're trying to bank on the franchise name instead of actually making the game super-interesting. It's beautiful, smooth, and polished, but frustratingly slow-paced and boring at times.
One last gripe: The world is HUGE.. It's so huge that it's detrimental to fun. Until you are LEVEL 20 you have to walk everywhere. That sucks bad. Especially since some quests involve "Go to this town and bring this thing back" and it can EASILY take an hour to get to the next town and an hour to get back, all for a measly award. It gets a little better at level 20 when you get to ride chocobos, as they run about twice as fast as you can walk, but it still takes forever to do certain things. "Oh, I'm going to Jeuno.. see you in an hour." High level mages can "warp" to certain points, and very high level characters can fly airships between cities, but that's about it. The world is simply too big for the speed of travel.
In the end, I will say that I am not going to be buying the game. If it was $50 I would buy it in a heartbeat. It's pretty fun. But since it's $50 + $12.95 a month, it's just not worth the money to me. It's not $13 a month fun. I would pay $5 a month to play it, but $13 is exhorbitantly high for this game - it's just not good enough to justify it.
I got to play a L40 RDM the other day and that was fun. More details on monday, as I'm still under some press NDA. But there was stuff involving a main sequence event and the xpac that is bundled with the N.American release.
I don't know if I'd pay $13/month to play this either. It's fun, but the question is, is it *that* fun.
They should just sell the game for $50 and give like... 3-4 mos free. at least all you're paying for at that point is the time on it, I guess.
They are banking on the job and craft systems to keep it interesting.
The way I look at it, you could beat this game in 3-4 months if you played a lot. After you beat the shadowlord, all you can do is keep levelling all the jobs and improving your craft skills.. Some people might enjoy that, but not me.
It takes DAYS to level your craft skills. You can theoretically play this game for months and months with a level 1-2 character by doing crafting instead of "adventuring"... I can't see that appealing to a Western mentality though - I'm sure there are Japanese players who really enjoy that stuff. Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself:
Crafting is the idea that you can practice some craft skill, like Blacksmithing, Weaving, Fishing, Cooking, etc. You can practice over and over again to make things (armor, food, weapons, etc) and sell them so that you can buy more raw materials, practice more, and make better things. Eventually you can make some amazingly powerful items, but it would take LITERALLY months of totally TOTALLY monotonous crafting (there's no "skill" involved, you just click on items to combine them, rinse, and repeat.. over and over and over again)... Sorry, but that's totally unexciting for $13 a month.
So the point is, the game will rapidly tire after a few months. It's not worth the money to me.
The job system does sound like it kicks major ass. Sounds like you could spend all sorts of time strategizing how you were going to level your character. Of course if leveling is pretty slow that would get boring really fast.
It really does suck that you can use your subjobs weapons. It would be so kick ass to walk around as a mage with a huge ass sword. That has always been one of my gaming pet peeves. Mages always get crappy armor like a wussy ass looking robe. Then all they get is a staff. I mean how can you act like a bad ass in a bathroom robe with a stick?
Mage: "Oh look at me! I have a stick! ph34r m3!"
Warrior: "Yeah... but you still look like a chump and you hit points suck ass."
Mage: "Yeah well at least my bunny slippers match my robe!"
I mean really would it be that hard to give mages some cool looking armor? Just because you know magic doesn't mean you have to be a total weakling. If they have a problem with it just say that the mage is using some spell to help them wear the heavy armor. Even if it doesn't protect you much at least it would look cooler than a stinking robe. *huff... weeze* Ok that's enough ranting on that subject.
Yeah I am a pretty big FF fan. I've only played FFVII (beat it), FFX (almost done), FFVIII (stopped half way cause I go IX), and IX (played a little but didn't have time to finish) but it is by far my favorite series. Ask anyone who has talked to me about gaming and they'll tell you that I'll rant and rave about how FFVII is the best game ever. It stinks that it doesn't feel like other FF games. I can see how that could happen seeing as how they got rid of turn based combat. That's like a must for a FF game.
Boring quest are also a big turn off. I've played quite a few MMORPGs and you can get bored really quickly. Good quest are a must if you want to keep your players entertained and interested.
From how you describe finding parties and the leveling treadmill I can tell I wouldn't like it. I absolutely hated Everquest and while Dark Age of Camelot was better I quit because of how hard it was to find a good party. Sitting around for a few hours trying to find a party isn't exactly my idea of a good time. Especially considering I usually can't find more than 2 or 3 hour time frames to play.
Heh heh. Gotta love messing with people's heads before the beta ends. Wish I woulda thought of something that cruel and unusual for some of the betas I was in.
Huge worlds can be a pain in the neck. I mean they are awesome if there is a good transportation system but if there is crappy transportation like you said then it is more of a burden than a blessing.
I've never been a big fan of crafting either. I fail to see the fasination with sitting in front of some sort of crafting device for hours just hitting buttons. If I wanted to sit around for hours doing a mind numbing repetitive task I'd go on in to work at FedEx and get paid for it.
I'm glad you let me know so much about the game. It sounds like it could be fun but I think I'm in the same boat as you. Even though it sounds fun I don't think I want to spend $13 a month to play it. Too bad they can't just make it free.
Norge
Norge
As Prime said, the game relies heavily on pt's after lvl 15 or so. After playing for about 3 months for free (as Prime stated this beta was basically retail I only had 1 small update in that 3 months) the only reason I'm playing the retail is because some of my RL friends and some good peeps from the beta will have our own clan. It's real important early on to get to know some white and black mages - they become rare later on and are the most important members of a succesful pt. Beleive me if you start your pt with a wm and a bm you'll have no problem finding tanks and support members!
Look me up in the retail if you happen to get on my server - I will help anyway I can!
Xarigon (Black Mage/White Mage)
He's right though, befriend white mages very early on. After level 16-17 or so, white mages become very highly in demand and very arrogant. They can command money for joining parties and so..... a "friend" can help a lot.
Norge
"ILL GIVE 2 SOJs TO PEOPELEEL WHO RUHS ME THROUGH HELL!"
Not good.
NS
Oh, those were the days
NS
"Yunaleska"
"Titiamarielle"
"Hotsaleschick"
lol
BTW - Prime, did you finally get the info?
A couple other choice names from the beta:
"SeventhBackbone"
"DisgustedWombat"
There was a guy who signed up with the name: "E4tmysh1t" but the GMs canned him right away.
I was going to be RDM with a subclass of WHM.... but since I didn't get too far... subclass never became an issue.
But if you guys are going to play retail when it comes out, I'll be there at any rate. As long as I have people to play with, I'm perfectly willing to play WHM/BLM 'cause I'm usually healer/support anyhoo.
anyone going to the "last night" party on the 14th?
Norge
Bastok represent!
Personally, I'm playing Horizons. I find it more entertaining than FFXI.