Let me first start off by saying that my first MMO was EQ2.   I loved it, and it got me hooked into the genre.  Now my girl-friend was playing also, and I just wanted to try something else.

Having been a life-long fan of the FF series I just had to check out FFXI.  I was still a relative newbie to the scene, and as you guys will know, there are few games out there which are anywhere near as demanding as FFXI.  Basically it is a MMO monster!

I had some great times there, even though I did not really know what I was doing half of the time!

Now though, a couple of years down the line, and having tried nearly all of the other games on the market, I wanted something that was truly challenging.

My current sub is with Lotro, which is about as far as it gets from FFXI in the terms of casual versus hardcore.  I do love Lotro, but it is far too easy.

Now I want to get my teeth into something. Now, Lotro has one of the best story-lines any MMO has to offer.  However, from past experiences I know that FFXI also has a very good story.  So with Lineage 2 being my other choice (and I played it for only a month, and realised there was very little in the way of a story), I decided to return to FFXI.

So I went out and bought the Vana'diel Collection.  I know it will take me ages to even get to the expansion packs, but I love to explore, and the knowledge that they are there waiting for me to try will drive me on.

I was looking forward to meeting my old Red Mage, and so put the discs into my drive to re-install the game.

Then the problems began...

It seems that when I removed FFXI a while back, for some reason they did not disappear from my hard-drive.  Therefore I cannot re-install them.

I've tried everything I can think off, even following a GM's advice and using third-party programms to remove them, but to no effect.

Please, please, please, can someone help me so that I can get this game back into my machine properly, so that I can return to the beautiful lands of FFXI?

i heard that if you don't play after a while you have to go out and buy the whole damn game again.

what a crappy business model.

i didnt login for 2 years but still got all my chars so thats not true

You can't install ffxi because? i don't get it. Show us the error or whatever. It is your PC problem IF you can't install. I just recently remove FFXI from my pc and now re-install, nothing happen, i can play just fine.

If you are talking about your "character" then it is "gone" because you left the game too long. The policy only changed last year that character remain on the server longer. 3 years ago, character only last for 6 month or was it 3 month inactive?

There is going to be "return campaign" which you pay a fee to restore your character every once in awhile.

Maybe a year or two or the release of the next 3 expansion should have it.

Personnally, i will just tell you to re-start if your redmage is not even 50+ ... you can explore in a newer perspective from a new character, it doesn't take as long to level... well it never was if you know what you are doing. Relying on others is the worst way to level.

And red mage get party fast anyway, just restart.

The GM gave you advice on removing FFXI using third-party programs?

Reformatting your computer solves all problems!

I re-installed my copy of this game, My Playonline ID si still recognised, (god the registration interface is still god awful!!) insert my CD registration and LO, they wont work,

I have to say a totally sucky Business model indeed, so to play this I have to splash out for all teh disks and expansions again.... this really is a bad businesss model, the only game I have played where my CD registration keys expire, so not good at all.

Also a friend of mine came back and left again, reports the pops are low and that the Japanese groups are very 'JAP ONLY GROUPS' and that english speaking players are finding it tough to get groups

Originally posted by jackeccs

i heard that if you don't play after a while you have to go out and buy the whole damn game again.

what a crappy business model.

... and this has what, exactly, to do with the OP's situation?

Originally posted by Obidom

I re-installed my copy of this game, My Playonline ID si still recognised, (god the registration interface is still god awful!!) insert my CD registration and LO, they wont work,

Wait... you're trying to re-enter the registration codes from the copy you originally installed? If that's so, then that's your problem.

You don't have to re-enter the codes once they've been registered. Just provide your PlayOnline ID and your password and you're set. The registration codes are assigned to your PlayOnline ID the first time you register them. You don't need them again after that.

In short, the registration codes "don't work" when you try to enter them because they're already registered - to your PlayOnline ID.

That said, I seriously don't understand what the big problem is with the registration interface. I've installed the game from scratch twice and had no trouble either time. And, if all else fails, there's a very easy to follow walk-through right in the manual.

I think people are just over-complicating it for themselves, then getting flustered.

I have to say a totally sucky Business model indeed, so to play this I have to splash out for all teh disks and expansions again.... this really is a bad businesss model, the only game I have played where my CD registration keys expire, so not good at all.

Once again, if you already entered those registration codes once and received your PlayOnline ID, you don't need to re-enter them.

Also a friend of mine came back and left again, reports the pops are low and that the Japanese groups are very 'JAP ONLY GROUPS' and that english speaking players are finding it tough to get groups

-sigh- Again with this.

The population has held steady at ~500k for several years running and there is no shortage of people to group with. The pops are not low.

As for the "Japanese Only" thing... Sure, perhaps he's come across people who were like that... You're going to find those. That's people.

But guess what? You're also going to find people who want English Only, French Only and German Only groups as well.  That's personal preference of some individuals... not the game overall. Some people simply prefer grouping with those they can understand and speak with fluently, and/or don't find the auto-translator to be sufficient.

You'll also find people who will group with anyone, regardless of language - funny how no-one ever seems to mention those people.

Originally posted by curiindi

The GM gave you advice on removing FFXI using third-party programs?

Reformatting your computer solves all problems!

Was probably referring to programs that will go through and remove remnants of programs left behind after being uninstalled. Sometimes there are registry entries that exist after uninstalling, or program folders, etc. etc.

There's programs like CCleaner, which is free and can scan your PC and/or Registry for irrelevant stuff and then will remove it for you.

It's actually pretty common. I go back and manually remove that kind of stuff after uninstalling almost any software I've had on my system.

Originally posted by Obidom

I re-installed my copy of this game, My Playonline ID si still recognised, (god the registration interface is still god awful!!) insert my CD registration and LO, they wont work,

I wonder how long it's going to take you to realize you already registered the game the first time you played.  No, i'll wait...... 

I have to say a totally sucky Business model indeed, so to play this I have to splash out for all teh disks and expansions again.... this really is a bad businesss model, the only game I have played where my CD registration keys expire, so not good at all.

Yes, that would be a horrid business model.  However, this isn't *their* business model, it's your lack of understanding that is the issue.  If your playonline ID is still recognized and the game is installed, you dont have to register the CD keys again.  Every single MMO's registration key expires after you use it. 

Also a friend of mine came back and left again, reports the pops are low and that the Japanese groups are very 'JAP ONLY GROUPS' and that english speaking players are finding it tough to get groups

I dont knowwhat server you are on but it's almost non-existent the number of times i've seen/been told "JAP ONLY GROUPS".  I, an English speaker, have absolutely no trouble what so ever finding a group.  I even group with 5 other Japanese players.  There is also the feature they've had in the game for some time that allows you to make your own party if you are getting frustrated.  I think they added it about 6 years ago so i dont think many people know (from what i read on these boards sometimes) that this option does indeed exist.

Originally posted by WSIMike

Originally posted by curiindi

The GM gave you advice on removing FFXI using third-party programs?

Reformatting your computer solves all problems!

 

Was probably referring to programs that will go through and remove remnants of programs left behind after being uninstalled. Sometimes there are registry entries that exist after uninstalling, or program folders, etc. etc.

There's programs like CCleaner, which is free and can scan your PC and/or Registry for irrelevant stuff and then will remove it for you.

It's actually pretty common. I go back and manually remove that kind of stuff after uninstalling almost any software I've had on my system.

 

You are correct MIke.

I had bought a brand new copy of FFXI complete with expansion packs.  Now when I tried to install it, (first tried to install PlayOnline), an error message came up and it failed to install it.

Basically this error message was as a result that there were still some remnents of the old copy still lurking inside my pc, even although I had used the add/remove facility to remove them.

When I spole to a GM they recmmended me a program that would help me clear the old copy from the registry, but that never worked either! 

I shall try the one that you suggested, and failing that I will probably just get rid of my new copt of FFXI. :(

Originally posted by Majestico

Originally posted by WSIMike

Originally posted by curiindi

The GM gave you advice on removing FFXI using third-party programs?

Reformatting your computer solves all problems!

 

Was probably referring to programs that will go through and remove remnants of programs left behind after being uninstalled. Sometimes there are registry entries that exist after uninstalling, or program folders, etc. etc.

There's programs like CCleaner, which is free and can scan your PC and/or Registry for irrelevant stuff and then will remove it for you.

It's actually pretty common. I go back and manually remove that kind of stuff after uninstalling almost any software I've had on my system.

 

 

You are correct MIke.

I had bought a brand new copy of FFXI complete with expansion packs.  Now when I tried to install it, (first tried to install PlayOnline), an error message came up and it failed to install it.

Basically this error message was as a result that there were still some remnents of the old copy still lurking inside my pc, even although I had used the add/remove facility to remove them.

When I spole to a GM they recmmended me a program that would help me clear the old copy from the registry, but that never worked either! 

I shall try the one that you suggested, and failing that I will probably just get rid of my new copt of FFXI. :(

Majestico can you keep us up to date on how this turns out?  I'm sort of interested in this myself as ive not heard of this issue before.  If CCleaner doesn't work (It's good so it should hopefully) can you google "Registry Mechanic" and try it?