is FFXI worth it?

Novacrash · 05-03-2006, 02:08 PM

yeah some people say it takes FOREVER to level up and make money but you can buy it off of ebay so tell me i play WoW now and its pretty good but is FFXI better? (oh yeah how much is it monthly (for comp))

Sean · 05-03-2006, 02:28 PM

Considering there's an actual FFXI forum, this question is better asked there.

Anyways, it's all in your style of gaming.

FFXI requires you to group post level 12 to level up. You cannot solo monsters for decent amounts of experience anymore after, around, level 18. From then on, you have to get 6 people groups in order to gain experience points, and waiting for these groups can take forever.

The tradeskills are a LOT harder than WoW, but you can actually make decent money off of them, and/or items you'll actually use, vs WoW's system.

It's not that difficult to farm for cash, really. I'm sitting at an aquired balance of somewhere around 200,000 gil right now, which is a decent amount.

12.95/mo for FFXI, plus $1 extra for each additional character. Every character you make can be any job in the game, and you can change jobs on that character at will, preserving the old job's level.

Think of it this way, your character is named nova, and you make it a warrior. You get to level 10 and later decide you want to be black mage, you just go to your moghouse, and change your job to black mage. When you want to be a warrior again, you can just change back to warrior, and still be level 10.

I bet you any amount of money I can get to level 30 faster in FFXI on a weekend than you can in WoW.

FFXI can be a much more fun experience than WoW. Both have their upsides, both have their downsides, but I'm enjoying FFXI a lot more because it has a vastly more intelligent userbase than WoW.

SOLDIER #819 · 05-03-2006, 03:09 PM

Why would he post this in the FFXI forum? He's asking if the game is better than WoW. What do you think the general response will be over there? Then again, these forums are called "The Final Fantasy".

People may buy extra characters for racial stats or mules. Not necessary, but yeah.

WoW and FFXI are two completely different games. WoW is a stereotypical MMORPG done well, while FFXI is more unique, but done well nonetheless. Like Sean said, it's all in your style of gaming. You'll either take a liking to its unique traits or you will not.

I disagree with Sean on leveling though. WoW is much more flexible in how you level, so even if you cannot find a party it is (in most cases) easy enough to substitute partying with some form of soloing, even if it is not as effective. In FFXI, however, you fully rely on partying. While you could probably level fairly quickly in optimal situations, things are not ideal 100% of the time. When I played, I had some trouble finding parties at times. Even if I found a party, it was not necessarily a good party. Arguably, after the first 30 levels or so you will break through the majority of novice players and the average player skill will improve. Arguably.

This is when I played. Things may have changed somewhat.

Sean, I bet someone who plays WoW as much as you play FFXI can easily match your speed. Even if they cannot hit level 30 as fast as you, there is a good chance they'll be able to hit level 60 in WoW before you hit level 60 in FFXI. FFXI is not designed to be friendly to casual playing sessions; it's not as flexible as WoW. If you're going to play FFXI with the expectation of getting somewhere "fast", you'll need to invest around 2 hours of partying per session (the more the better). This does not count the time it takes to actually find the party, nor what effects the quality of the party may have on your EXP (for good or worse). This also does not take into account two other major factors: the time it takes to level subjobs and the time it takes to level advanced jobs (if you so desire them).

If you are willing to put in the time and effort, FFXI can be as fun or more fun than WoW. But, again, it's dependant on the person. They are two very different games.

Edit: Oh wow, they moved it. I wonder how objective the opinions will be. >_>

Sean · 05-03-2006, 03:21 PM

Haha, dude, I played WoW as much as I played FFXI. I'm NEVER a casual MMO person, I get ****ing addicted to them and play hours upon hours upon days upon weeks. Then it interferes with life and I eventually taper off.

Still, I got to 30 in FFXI a lot faster than I did in WoW. =D Had more fun doing it, too.

I'm pretty sure you could get 60 in WoW first, though. But FFXI's levels start to crawl in the 40s I've been told.

SOLDIER #819 · 05-03-2006, 03:32 PM

I got to level 30 in WoW faster than I did in FFXI, hehe. This is when I was being a perfectionist. I would do quests that were obsolete or worth hardly any EXP at all. There are a lot of those, yeah. If you are a more flexible player you can probably increase your speed of leveling by a good amount. If you party, it goes faster, too. With FFXI you don't get many options in terms of leveling style, unless you choose a class designed for soloing.

I wouldn't know about anything past 30 though. Supposedly 30 or so and below is a pain in the ass even if the leveling requirements are lesser, since you have to deal with newer players. I think they changed a few things about higher level leveling sometime after I left. The EXP generated from the average battle increased.

But uh, I still think WoW has much faster leveling.

Edit: Did whoever moved the thread leave a redirect in General Gaming? I can't find it. If they didn't, novacrash will have trouble finding it.

Andromeda · 05-03-2006, 03:56 PM

Actually you do not need 2 or 3 hours to get good exp in a party on FFXI. This weekend I had a few parties on my BLM, in the 32ish range. I had one party only for an hour, we got 5k exp, and the next one was doing 2k an hour. It is all in the setup and how you play. It is also in how you pull, since for a couple hours in one party we were getting 2k an hour, then I started pulling and we were pulling in 4k an hour.

And actually it is easy to get to lv 15 on solo in the right spots.

And there are new things exp rings, and exp rates increase after 50, so that the once 200 exp cap is raise. But even done right I got 350+ exp in a 35 level party. They also cut out like probably 50k or more exp from the leveling, since 50-75 exp lvls were adjusted. So it is really, really easy to level from 50-60 now and even more 60-70.

SOLDIER #819 · 05-03-2006, 05:00 PM

The point I am trying to make is that you will not always be under the best of conditions. You may have trouble finding a good party. You may have trouble finding a party, period. This is only natural when you are relying other people for EXP gain. It happens in WoW, of course, but you're more prone to it in FFXI because of the nature of the game. That's all I meant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andromeda

Actually you do not need 2 or 3 hours to get good exp in a party on FFXI. This weekend I had a few parties on my BLM, in the 32ish range. I had one party only for an hour, we got 5k exp, and the next one was doing 2k an hour.

How much EXP do you need to level up at level 30 or so? How much is 5k in comparison to that?

Andromeda · 05-03-2006, 05:36 PM

At the 30s 5.8k to 6.8k is the exp required to level, so that is like a level an hour, which can pretty crazy. I've done like 3 or 4 levels in a 5/6 hour party at that level, if you play during the Japanese prime time, which is midnight period or later you can get crazy exp amounts.

Djinn · 05-03-2006, 05:45 PM

I've got lvl 57 samurai in FFXI way waaaay faster than i got 57 hunter in WoW, and hunter was the easiest class to level because you didn't take damage.

Overall if you take my actual levelling time (as in when you're gaining exp) it's taken almost half the time to get to the same point. Granted i was in a semi-static party for the first 50 levels, and then pretty much a full static party for 50-57 (1k exp from 58 aswell), getting around 7-8k exp an hour (depending on how busy the area is).

However, if you really really know what to do in WoW and combine it with stupidly long playtime, you could probably hit 60 in a week or two easy. It'd be a bit harder in FFXI though, due to you needing to find 5 other people with the same playtimes as you to level with (unless of course you're a beastmaster =P). Ultimately, what stops you from levelling fast in WoW is the PvP (only noobs play on PvE XD). Someone ganks you, you get pissed off, go to a lower level zone, gank some people then go back to levelling, 20 minutes later it happens again... either that or you get assholes camping your body so you can't do anything.

SOLDIER #819 · 05-03-2006, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andromeda

At the 30s 5.8k to 6.8k is the exp required to level, so that is like a level an hour, which can pretty crazy. I've done like 3 or 4 levels in a 5/6 hour party at that level, if you play during the Japanese prime time, which is midnight period or later you can get crazy exp amounts.

That is really good. I'm not sure I trust that it is the norm, but it's appealing. It usually took about two hours to gain a level, for me. There were times it went faster, though. Slower, too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jin Kazama

Overall if you take my actual levelling time (as in when you're gaining exp) it's taken almost half the time to get to the same point. Granted i was in a semi-static party for the first 50 levels, and then pretty much a full static party for 50-57 (1k exp from 58 aswell), getting around 7-8k exp an hour (depending on how busy the area is).

Yeah. =P

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jin Kazama

Ultimately, what stops you from levelling fast in WoW is the PvP (only noobs play on PvE XD). Someone ganks you, you get pissed off, go to a lower level zone, gank some people then go back to levelling, 20 minutes later it happens again... either that or you get assholes camping your body so you can't do anything.

I have never gone to a lower level zone to gank people after being ganked. >_> The only reason I'm on a PvP server is because my friends are. I have little interest in PvP. But you're right, it slows you down.

Andromeda · 05-03-2006, 07:53 PM

Well norm it is not, well not always, but I have had frequent parties give me that sort of exp. And it is not too hard to achieve during low party periods and a veteran party. But as I said, I increased the exp an hour when I start pulling because I knew how to pull and I was the BLM, the job that sits a lot. So if I can as BLM who's prequiste is sitting for long periods of time can pull for the party in bring in chain #2 easy and even #4s, then it is not that hard. It is just that people are too cautious in pulling. I know when to pull and not, but that is something one develops over time as well as uses common sense. I mean even starting out, if the WHM as 20 MP you know now to pull.

06-03-2006, 05:47 PM

i have a question about the 360 version if u already have xbox live does it cost a monthly fee still

LocoColt04 · 06-03-2006, 05:51 PM

To be horribly blunt, yes.

Square-Enix and PlayOnline aren't going to give you their game for free just because you already pay for XBox-Live every year. You pay for internet, don't you? Well, they don't give us PC or PS2 users free play just because we pay for internet. In sho