So far not impressed.....Follow

Ok, let me start off by saying I was really looking forward to this game, so much so I subscribed to File Planet yesterday just to get a chance to play the game as early as I could. Also let me point out that I had planned on dropping FFXI for this game, after hitting level 63 with my mnk the level grind was really getting to me so I was going to throw in the towel in hopes for greener pastures.
So I create my charcter and decide I'm going to sit down and just play for about 4 hours (which I did). After four hours and countless go-here talk to this guy quest, kill these and bring me item quests, go to this cave quests and, talk to this person then come back to me quests, I feel like thats all I do.
OK I'll admit maybe its just that I'm still real EARLY in to the game, but where is the main story, and is being an errand boy all there is to do in this game???
Please tell me its just because I'm in the initial stages of the game and it will change as I progress, because as it is now I'm really not impressed and was already bored after just a few hours (Even the initial awe of the game didn't last for more than an hour :( )
If it gets any different please let me know, I would like to give it a fair shot^^

I have the same feeling. But when I think about the beginning levels of FFXI, it's not too different.

I'm still trying to get used to the controls and the "culture". I'm still not sure when to group or how to find groups. I'm going to go play some more. I got my troll shaman up to level 5 before I decided to take a break.

I'm on test10 and my name is Pihkal for anyone interested. Send me a tell.

Get to level 20 and your first instance dungeon then the fun will begin! Hell, keep in mind that FFXI took countless hours before even touching the story...

By the way, what race are you? That usually decides what story you will be following.

On a side note, no rate downs, people. It's perfectly fine for some to not like the way things start off. Just continue your way and enjoy, Genesiser. I'm sure you'll get to something you'll enjoy ;)

Well while I haven't played WoW yet, I like the errand boy quests that give XP. It will be a nice break from killing 80 hares to get 1 level, only to turn around and kill 160 hares for the next.

As for story, tell me where the story was at that level in FFXI. No offense meant. In FFXI you got your story from missions (only higher level quests played in on the stories), and even then you didn't get anything you could call story till Rank 3 Dragon.

FFXI quests are basically the same. Go get an object, bring it back.

In FFXI, you start your playing session have to decide:

1) Quest
2) EXP
or
3) Farm

Which do I do today?

In WoW, you start your playing session, don't have to decide between the 3 choices because you can do all 3 at once.

Well working on 3-4 quests all at the same time, I was getting experience (and not just measly experience, but good experience), getting the quest items and getting items to sell off for money.

And the quest rewards were items I could actually use. There are a couple pieces of equipment that I have now that are quest reward items.

Personally I prefer WoW's quest and exp system very, very much over FFXI's. While some of the quests and such in FFXI were interesting and kind of fun, they had menial rewards. Not that I'm expecting rewards, but doing the quests that take actual effort don't seem to matter in FFXI, because in the end you still need to haul a million kinds of one thing and trade over and over again to get fame. FFXI's quest system was unrealistic, imo. You get known for handing some guy cabbage 547894357 times, as opposed to being known for helping people out and doing actual things. Bleh.

I also really, really like how WoW doles out exp. In FFXI, questing went unnoticed because the only way to further your character, beyond killing things for quest items (which people rarely do and complain about anyway), was by level grinding. FFXI's quests differ from WoW's too, in many ways. In FFXI, we had to either get some item from the AH, or from a mob, and give it to someone. WoW's quests, from what I have seen, are basically a means to get you to explore the areas and get to know your surroundings. And you get exp for it. It's actually alot of fun, to me anyway. It encourages you to quest.

Which brings me to my next point; FFXI and WoW are both MMORPGs. Note the RPG in that. Role playing game. I didnt feel like I was roleplaying when I played FFXI, because I just did the same thing over and over. In WoW you explore, you act as your character doing things, and that's fun. It also seems like WoW's questing and such takes actual stragety, whereas FFXI seems to take merely loads of patience.

Keep in mind, that these are all matters of preference. I know there are tons of people that prefer FFXI's way of doing things, and I think that's great. If you don't like how WoW works, don't play it. Play for a bit, and when you get a considerable distance, if you don't want to play, don't play. It's all a matter of preference. Some people like questing and exploring to go farther in the game, and some like level grinding. Neither is wrong. They are just two different preferences, for two different games.

I doubt at level 10 you have seen enough of the game to make a completely informed judgement, but then again perhaps you have. What you do is up to you, just find something you like. See what you think of WoW after playing a bit more, or if you know you dislike it now, then quit. It might not just be for you.

If you don't like WoW but still want to quit FFXI, you should try out EQ2 when you can. From what I hear it's alot closer to FFXI than WoW is, without as many of FFXI's downfalls. If anyone could give a comparison of WoW, FFXI and EQ2 that would be great.

Sorry for talking alot, I'm bored. o_O

Questing will always be questing, in any MMORPG. They all require the same things. The best indication is the result of completing the quest, the reward. FFXI was ridiculous in that walking around to finish a simple 50 gil quest could take 30 minutes of walking through 3 zones of one town!

You want sucky quests? Try L2. You want me to collect 50 wolf hides for an item that can be dropped when I get killed?

It gets much better. I had a serious problem with the storyline of FFXI. It doesn't even get remotely interesting until lvl 55ish when you hit Rank 6.

Besides...doing the dance emote is just fantastic.

And, the ultimate clincher. The Open beta coming avaliable to all next week means you get to play the game and make your decision without shelling out the initial 50bucks to buy it. Also, try the crafting system out. Its setup in such a way that you can pick your gathering/crafting skills and get components while you hunt.

I'm playing a druid, so I took up leather working/skinning. Every beast type animal I kill (or that someone else killed, looted, and left) I skin. Heck! You can even hunt down and kill bunnies and deer for leather, what fun. This can be used to gain extra cash (that many more item drops to sell to merchant) and i can turn the leather pieces into armor kits that raise the defense on my equipment (which i can also sell). The only thing this requires is a skinning knife, and takes just a few extra seconds of my time, and i dont even have to go out of my way.

With mining/gathering for engineering/smithing/alchemy you can do the same. Just gather components that you come accross while doing other things, use them yourself or sell them for additional income. And at the lower lvls many of these things can be used to make decently functional items.

On the quests, only level 5 here so far, but I see a decent diversity in quests. They move you through to different areas of the game, you see new monsters, towns, npc s and monsters. In EQ2 they 'force' you into a 20 minute tutorial that is pretty lame. In WoW, they put you in a 10 level tutorial that is actually decently fun. You learn areas, play controls, and some story lines. Also, in WoW it all about options. You don't have to group, quest, solo, do tradeskills, etc., unless you want to. I have heard WoW slammed for not offering enough options, but my experience with games like EQ2 is they are far too restrictive. You must kill mob X, talk to Y, etc.

Again, using an EQ comparison (EQ live this time). Epic quests didn't come in till about level 50. Armor quests (the it doesn't suck armor quests) came in about 30s. (Although EQlive did add newbie quests a couple years ago). I think overall, from my very limited look at the game, it is very nice. Plan on spending 20 levels doing similar type quests while you learn the lay of the land and how to play (probably solo or small group). Spend another 20 on instanced dungeons and grouping, and decent solo options. At 40 get a horse and start really moving out till the wilderness alone and in groups, doing more expansive quests. At 60 raid some, solo some, group some, and wait for those expansions :).

For me the number one selling point for WoW is they don't make me play their way, they let me play my way.

well i'll admit here lately i have been interested in and reading the forums of L2 and WoW. mainly because i was considering playing a game where i could do PvP. i didnt plan on leaving FF of course just playing both games. so far what i have found is this.

reasons people like the above games more than FFXI:
-soloable and easier to gain xp/level up
-money can be made while xping, not just farming.
-quest are more rewarding because they give xp.

after reading all this i have decided that people will soon complain because it was to easy to reach the level cap(wheres the fun in being high levle if everyone and his mom can get there easily). prices will be expensive for items because the money value will be similar to that of mexico's vs that of the u.s.
and add that to the fact that i dont play MMORPGs to solo, i play to experience the game with other people, i dont guess i'll be playing WoW or L2. also i downloaded some videos of WoW and it was cool they were flying on dragons and such but the graphics just looked a bit to claymation for me.

sigh

Solo, does not necessarily mean "playing solo with no interaction with other people". What solo means is that you can kill monster by yourself without any help.

Sometimes you just want to go out and get some exp, but don't have the time to form a party. So you go out and kill some stuff by yourself.

That's what solo means. The ability to kill exp-giving monsters on your own.

It doesn't mean playing by yourself.

The key thing to remember is that the servers are heavily overpopulated in the low-level areas right now, so quests don't have anywhere near the feel they would normally. I personally would not base my opinion too heavily on the way the game actually plays when there are over 200 people in each of Dun Morogh, Tirisfal, Durotar, etc.

Also, if you're some level 1 recruit, do you really think they're going to give you the real juicy missions? In a few areas, they actually give you a couple - undead you capture Scarlet Monastery attack plans and fight back, human you start uncovering the plot of the Defias, i.e.

I think money is not that easy in WoW, a lot of things takes money, things like train skills buy recipes and material..
Yes xp is faster, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll cap lvl in one month, no it's not that fast. But it's not like FFXI, after one year I don't even have 1 job capped.
I think Solo should mean you're able to kill mobs at the same level with you. You can still party to kill tougher mobs. In FFXI, this is not possible unless you're bst. I think it's nice that we have the choice to play by ourself or other players. I haven't partied yet, but I think the job requirement is not as strick as FFXI.