I have a little problem with people posting criteques about FFXI who never really made it far into the game. Probably in much the same way you hate people who said they left WoW 2 months ago.
I'm gonna offer some counter balance, cause I think the poster...who doesn't have a job above 37..isn't being fair. I can get to 40 in 2 weeks time, with jsut about any job. The game begins at 39 for me...when you step out of the hell hole of Crawlers Nest and get to eXP in some really fun palces and at 40...start getting you job defining abilities (some of the most powerful job abilities are 40+ so you can't get them as a sub job)
First... you need to undersatnd who made this game. Japanese. They are community based gamers. Everything revolves around community...EXP, quests, missions, etc... this plays into alot of people's complaints...such as needing high levels to compelte quests.....no....you don't...you jsut need to bring alot of people w/ you. On to my opinions.
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My main problems? A lot of it comes from the player base. You HAVE to have THIS item to be uber. YOu HAVE to play THIS sub job with that main job. There is no room for experimentation in this ame because if you do the other players will snub you and you are without a party,
You hang out on forums WAYYYYYYY to much. I've played with plenty of level 70+ DRKs whodon't even have a haurberk. I have yet to see a party who kick somebody for not having a piece of "l33t" equipement...I see plenty of ninja's without hairpin...which is argualbly a "standard" peice of gear...oh...for the record
74 Dragoon - 63 Ninja - 60 THF - 37 WAR - 30 SAM - 30 WHM
about 180 days gameplay time...I'll go on
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This sort of elitest attitude is moronic and insipid IMHO. I understand that in order to be the 'best' at what you do you have to do certain things but damn let people do what they want and have fun instead of being a bunch of uptight b****es.
Every MMORPG listed above has this problem to one degree or another. Don't pin it as a problem on FFXI.
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This would not have been a problem if you could solo in the game...which you absolutly canNOT do.
BST and NIN can solo. At 64, I can solo w/ my ninja DC/Tough mobs. This come backs to the way this game was made....it focus on community. Even BSTs are better played in dou's then solo. it's a trade of for this game.
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So you have to play a cookie cutter mold and scrap what you think may be a cool character, even if that character would not be welcome in parties you can't play it, because you can't solo.
Let's see..lets list all the viable job combinations ofr a party that people will take
PLD/WAR
WAR/NIN
WAR/MNK
THF/WAR
THF/NIN
THF/RNG
WHM/BLM
WHM/RDM
WHM/SMN
BLM/WHM
BLM/RDM
MNK/SAM
MNK/WAR
MNK/THF
NIN/WAR
DRG/WAR
DRG/SAM
DRG/THF
DRG/RDM
DRG/WHM
RNG/WAR
RNG/NIN
SAM/WAR
RDM/WHM
RDM/BLM
DRK/WAR
DRK/THF
BRD/WHM
SMN/WHM
Did I miss any? probablly.... thats alot of generally acceptable combinations. Some combination DO make charaters weaker...thus...why people don't want them. It's like playing a Orc wizard in EQ or soemthing....the very nature of putting those to together makes it weak, and it makes sense.
Isn't it better that you at least have the OPTION to diversify your charater with a subjob.,,,rather then jsut being a plain WAR...you can change your sub around to be main tank, main damage dealer, or utility. A nuker can be full power nuking, or a more blanced nuker/healer. On my DRG..I love that I can go full dmg (DRG/WAR) support (DRG/WHM) or support tank (DRG/NIN)
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The prices for things is extraordinate and that is also because of the player base. If things were cheaper the leveling process would be quicker, faster and easier. Why? Because the need to camp would be minimized.
Basica gear is cheap..I just bought my standard end-game gear fora bout 20K for my ninja. Thats like an hour work tops farming. The RARE stuff is epensive...again...every otehr MMORPG has this problem. The l33t gear of rare mobs always costs alot.
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Instead you could wander around and fight mobs as you came to them. The reason this is not possible is because the prices for potions, ethers, and juices is too high for that sort of play. If the prices were lower this sort of play would be viable. Mages could get their MP back in combat by using ethers, and while moving to the next mob could use juices. Those taking damage could use potions in combat and take some stress off the healers so they could use some of their other spells. So this leads to campin which then means that very few zones actually see use, which leads to overcrowding and the fighting of the same mobs over and over and over....more grinding...ugh.
All I can say, is you did not let yourself play this game outside of the method you were familair with in other games. There no need for potions/ethers/etc. My EXP party w/ Ninja can go 5 hours withoutstopping to rest once. Even when I played DRG...proper management of resources allow you to make insane EXP without the need to stop and rest more than once ever 30 minutes.
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Also at higher levels you have to farm for a week or so for equipment that you might use for a couple of days (this is taking into consideration actually gaining levels those days IF you can get a party). So basically you are farming, which by the way is a huge chore, instead of actually playing.
Higher levels? 37 is higher levels? Again, gear is cheap...you can farm in in a few hours top to get current...and many times you don't have to upgrade EVERY time. Take the level 45 Brigadine piece. 18K gil...many +1 stats..and most people wear it until AF (58-60). Also, generally you can make back what you spend on armor. Sometimes you sell your level 24 peice, only to find out the level 27 is CHEAPER.
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The quests are laughable outside of the fact that they have a storyline to them. You get no xp rewards, and the rewards you DO get are nowhere near what they should be by the time you can DO the damn quests to begin with.
Quest build fame...which has it's own rewards in the game. Such as lower pieces on items, and higher prices merchants will buy things for.
Fame also lets you take on the avatars and aquire them as summons and also get thier cool rare items.
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Say you get a level 1 quest that nets you a nice piece of level 1 armor. You won't be able to actually do the quest until you are level 6 or 7 because of what you have to kill or the area you have to go in.
Stop right there. First...you want to solo quest - thats your problem. Again....think community game.....you don't solo stuff unless you do so many levels after it's inteded. Again. this isn't a FFXI only complaint...EQ, EQOA, DAoC, all had this as well.
Just admit that you don't like having to do things in a party? cause thats your real issue. I've been in great linkshells since I was 14 and nver had to bad of a problem getting what I needed at the level I needed them.
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The classes/jobs are unbalanced and are in need of some serious tweaking. For the most part unless you are a Warrior, Paladin, White Mage, Bard or Black Mage, and at higher levels a Red Mage you have a hard time finding parties
Ninja's are the BEST exp tanks, THF are required for those parties, RNG is the ebst damage dealer, DRG is master of hate control, DRK make for great skillchains.
It isnt' that other jobs aren't wanted...it's that there is wrought a popualtion of 66% melee, but melee only make up 33% of a party...blame S-E for making really fun and cool melee jobs people want to play. But they aren't useless.
NIN, THF, RNG, RNG, BRD, SMN
That my current perma party...we can make 40,000 exp in 6-7 hours. Yet only one of the jobs you listed is in our party? Again...you failed to see HOW this game is played and tried to play it like every other one you played.
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(this goes back to the player base issues). Also in order to get 60% of the jobs you have to do quests, which is all well and good. You get those quests at level 30. You then have to do a quest for your preferred job that is in no way doable until you are level 60!
Again, you are trying to solo things, ment to be done in a group. Party of 5-6 people can do any advanced job at 35.
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Also the time you have to put into the game is ridiculous.
stop and think about what you just said...and then think about MMORPGs in general. nuff said.
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If I have something else I have to do on a given day such as school/work/kids/reality...you know real life stuff,
I'm 28, married, have a full time job, and several hobbies. Now look at my levels and tell me this game demands to much time to succeed.
Thsi includes farming, crafting, or getting into a group, finding a camp spot, and leveling. Hell levleing IS an an all day affair. 1 to 2 hrs to find a group. Almost an hour to get to a zone AND find a viable camp spot, and another 15 minutes or so to get the group ready and to pull a mob. It then take 5-10 MINUTES! to kill ONE! mob.... rinse...repeat....ugh.
Okay...exageration big time. Yes, some people have a ahrd time finding a group..and it can take hours. Hour to get to a camp? I can go from one side of the world to the other in 30 minutes on a chocobo..which we all have at level 20. From jueno, you can get to any EXP spot in 15 minutes...this includes such places as Dragon Averiy, Tu'Lia, Cape Terrigan, Valley of Sorrows...etc...
3 minutes to get ready, 1-3 minutes to kill a mob. Please...stop exagerating to make a point.
[quote]Dieing is an excercise in frustration in this game. You lose a lot of xp [/quote]
You loose about 7% of you current levels EXP. At level 30...that is about 400exp...2-3 kills tops. At level 60...I loose 1900 exp WITHOUT a raise. With raise...only 600 EXP...again 3-4 kills.
[quote]and possibly your level. You have to wait for long periods of time if you want a raise or take that same amount of time coming back to your group from your homepoint[/quote]
Every WHM at 25 has raise. Post 25...you shouldn't be waiting at all for a raise.
I won't even dive into you discussion on WoW...I have not played it as much as you. It was okay in my book. I'll wait until retail before I dive into it. As it stands....WoW is not the refreshing breeze you claim it to be. It's simply different. More correctly, it more "cassual" gamer friendly.
I like meeting people, I like spending lots of time with them. they help me, I help them. It soooooo much more then leet item, which is all WoW will end up being about since you can EXP and quests almost as efficently solo as you can grouped.
Maybe I'm just different...I play these games to be a part of a team and a community....not to see how uber I can be.
Maybe that yur problem with FFXI...you aren't willing to put forth the effort to be a part of the game, rather thatn jsut being in it.
WoW will cater to you perfecty...exactly like how it DOESN'T cater to me.