Take my word for it; on the PC there is no better choice for playing Final Fantasy XI than the Logitech Rumblepad 2!

I bought it (along with the game itself) more than 7-8 years ago and after all these years i just restarted playing the game again and the gamepad is functioning wonderfully, down to its in-game vibration function, which usually does not work on my other games on the Win7(x64) platform.

Well, now that i made such a huge promotion/commotion for the Logitech, they will surely hire me or something, right?:D (Yeah, i doubt that)

Allright, I have just purchased the game. Gonna download it very soon, hope to see ya peeps online:)

PS!

I hate the level rush, and enjoy exploring the game world, reading quest texts and immersing myself in the experience. Do please invite me to your linkshell if im not too wierd of an MMO gamer.

Thank you.

Thank you for the answers!

This is very interesting. As a matter of fact, I am rather suprised and.....perplexed.

Let me explain this to you:)

1-Most MMO's today adhere to what I call the; ''WOW'' standarts. Meaning that the game is very much soloable until the end game raid & etc content.

2-Other games, such as FF XI (and some other old ones) are usually based on the good old fashioned ''Group or Die'' model, inducing forced grouping.

But now you guys are telling me that the game (FFXI) after all these updates - is indeed soloable, yet group friendly? (dare I even say; still group based)?

Never seen or heard of a game system like that of FFXI before, than.

Could the devs really have tackled the ''forced waiting'' portion of the game WITHOUT removing the (previously) essential importance of the groups? Yeah, this is very interesting indeed.

And since the game is on sale (including all the expansions etc (except the abyssea content) on steam just, for like 5 bucks, I might have to try it out for myself.

But i have yet another question; Would you recommend getting the game on PC or Xbox ? Is there even a ps3 version? Yeah, sure the PC looks like a clear winner by default (especially considering that I have an old logitech rumblepad 2 lying around:D) BUT does the console variants have anything better than the PC version at all?

Cheers!

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Backstory:

I played FFXI when it was released, and it was a blast! Not only did I enjoy the art design and the soundtrack + the large and varied world and interesting classes (+home system) *but i also loved grouping with others in order to maximize our strenght and having fun together as it was meant to be. (its gonna sound like an nvidia commerciall now:p)

ALAS, all was not so perfect. When i could get a group going, it was helliuva fun, BUT more OFTEN than not I would have to wait almost hours to have a fully stocked/functional group, ONLY to have some group members quit, so we would have to wait even longer, but while waiting and getting more group members, other previous members would quit instead, and it would turn out to be something like an ''evil circle'' repeating itself.

SURE, sometimes it would take only 5-10 minutes to get rolling, but other times it was as i explained above.

So i finally quit - despite enjoying the game. The FORCED GROUPING, the games greatest strenght, and an aspect that I enjoyed immensly, had in the end pushed me away from the game,,,,,, umm,,, ironic.

So; recently I've been seeing some posts here and there telling us that since than, slowly but surely FF XI has become more ''solo friendly''.

Is this true?

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The real question:

Can I now solo on my own with my Warrior IF i cannot find a group for a while? I mean, I sure love ''partying'' but i hate waiting for it more than I love it:D

Is the game, (EXCEPT raids and specific group instances) SOLOABLE now, or is it still the good old forced grouping in effect?

Thank you for your answers.

I Disagree with all of it. Well, except the DAOC Shar!! But than again i dont really like ANY of the daoc character models that much, either....

Author, it ''seems'' like you DISLIKE* all the non-human races :D

Oh and where is the Dreanai? (or what they called) I thought they would be on the list, heheh

EVE?

Age of Conan?

Everquest II ? (there is both p2p and f2p)

Aion?

Guild Wars? (its actually f2p with no cash shop, but instanced)

Maybe even Pirates of the burning sea?

All of those games are rather well populated, well maybe EXCEPT for POTBS, and are ''rather'' popular.

Oh Froggy! Why hasth thou forsaken us?

Why cant you see it in your hearth that we are deeply curious about your Final Fantasy XIV experiences?

*So that if you enjoy the game, we might be momentarily suprised, dumbstruck by this revelation!? Asking ourselves; has thou Froggy gone mad!? Or perhaps the game is good and we have been none-the wiser!!

*And that if you dont enjoy the game, we can say to you; '' haha! i told you so!!'' (well not me, i never played the damn thing)

But i am curious nevertheless! So come on, quit school, screw homework, never mind earning some cash, just teach us the secrets of FFXIV!!

Man,,,,,

I have a (supposedly=according to the company) 100mb coaxial internet connection,

I can usually download files over 10 gigs via torrent, takes only about 15- 20 mins or so

I HAVE BEEN INSTALLING lineage II on my system for the last 20 hours and its only about 50% through...

this keeps up and i will be too late to try out this ''free account reactivation period'' heheh :D

Haha! Take that online-criminals! :D

Yes very true. People always complain, even if its easy, hard or somewhere in the middle, nobody is every truly satisfied, at least not for long, and im no exception:)

But out of personal reasons, i prefer the ''easy mode'', as i have a very serious lack of time to play mmo's, and even when im playing them, im thinking constantly about real life issues, such as money, rents, grades, gf, etc etc,, so an easy mmo that doesnt require CONSTANT grouping is easy to digest and enjoy for ME (PERSONALLY)

If my situation had been different, i would prolly enjoy the hardcore stuff some more. BUT hey, its completly possible that there are people who even has A LOT LESS time than me to play games, and a lot less hectic of a life, and they might still be enjoing the good old fashioned ''hard core'' MMOs, its just individual preferences in the end..

@ OP:

I respect your opinion as you got some good points,

But in an mmo, if only a few players can have epic items, than ULTIMATELY (/eventually) those players will be the hardcore ones, whereas casual players will be forced to walk the eternity in ''grey or white quality items''....

So it would be great for epic players, they would have epic armor

But for the rest of us it wouldnt be so extremly great,.

I beleive thats why games like world of warcraft and etc ''play out'' the way they do...

Its like INSTANT GRATIFICATION TO ANYBODY, so no matter how much you play a day, no matter who or where you are, ur always in the end guaranteed to find some ''uber items'' that can satisfy your needs.

BUT THE DOWNSIDE OF IT ALL (just kinda the way OP explained i guess) if everybody and their mother has access to those epics, than they are epics no more. (and they serve no special purpose, either)

But personally, in the end; I still prefer the WOW system, as I am only a casual player (working&studying+social life= VERY LITTLE TIME FOR GAMING) and if it wasn't for wow, I prolly would never have seen or possessed a rare or epic item in any game in my life :D

Thank you very much for the answer.

Also;

I heave indeed checked the link you provided and granted it does answer some of my questions.

But there is still something more going on here.

For example at the EA store also an item called the ''herald pet pack'' is available for purchase. The herald pet pack is different from the ones (VANITY pets) listed on the list and actually gives you a small (3% speed) boost.

Furthermore im not sure about the extra 20 RR ranks for sale,. Does that mean that everybody has normally access to a MAXimum of 80 RR, whereas ONLY the people who buy the rvr pack access to RR 100? (and does it mean that you have a clear adventage over others in RVR?)

And finally i had even heard that it is possible to buy levels DIRECTLY for your characters (not talking about renown rank but basic character level) and than apply them to your character(s) of choice,. Its no listed in the page linked here and i only know of it via rumors (on the forums)... is there any thruth to it? :D

Well i guess im one of the few people who likes WAR, but if cash shop really gives you in-game adventages /besides vanity stuff, than EVEN im a little worried.

So, ok, they released the skaven as a playable species for both sides (order and chaos or whats it called)

but i also keep readin that they released a rvr pack that includes skaven and other goodies (here confusion sets in)

so the skaven is freely available to all to play or.... not? if they are available to play for all, than why are they advertised together with the rvr pack? isnt the rvr pack something you buy to get some fluff items such as pets and horses and stuff?

and if this wasnt enough, i keep hearing you can now buy ''character levels for cash'', and that you can increase your rvr rank from 80 to 100 ONLY if you pay for it with real life money? and you also get access to new armor sets etc this way....

So not buying the ''item mall'' items puts us at a disadventage?

Is this game even pay to play still? (monthly fee). :D

SORRY FOR THIS POST, usually i dont have much trouble understanding when the developers introduce a fluff item shop to their p2p games, or when they release a ''mini boost pack'' or when they release a real expansion.. OR when they go from p2p to a free to play system............

BUT lately i have no idea whats going on with this particular game...

Thanks for any explanations in advance.

Why, herr frog, oh why won't you enlighten us!!??

The reason why i play a male character in RPGs and MMORPGs=

I can not seem to be able to detach myself from my in-game character.

It wierd. When im playing games like Tomb Raider, Ultraviolet, etc etc... i am perfectly fine playing the game with a female avatar on screen, hell i even really like it!! Shake that booty, baby! Rawr!!

On the other hand, as soon as its some form of RPG instead of just action, fps or whatever, my whole disposition suddenly changes....

I beleive it must be because; when playing an RPG i am conciously, OR (atleast) subconciously trying to ACTUALLY ROLE-PLAY...

It means that i am sincerely trying to imagine myself in the game. Thus the avatar in the game becomes ''my virtual self''. AND since im a male, it is hard to create an honest  ''connectedness'' with a female avatar in a role playing game for me. At least not to a degree as in with a male character.

Just my two cents and personal thoughts....

PS...

meaning:

When im playing tomb raider i just wanna keep on shooting people and solve some puzzles, and miss lara just makes the whole adventure more pleasing on the eyes!

ON THE OTHER HAND

when im playing a ROLE PLAYING GAME, i need to feel that i AM the character on the screen.... Thus emphasis playing as a male character.

@Selphares

That was a very good description, thank you.

I GUESS the whole idea behind this ''quest cooldown system'' OR whatcamacallit is either:

a) To encourage grouping

b) A gross lack of in-game content

c) Both to some degree.

Either ways i now know a whole lot more about soloing prospects in this game than i did previously :)

@Sovrath

Ofcourse, you are right.

I usually find eve ''fun'' whereas a few of my friends tried it and they had thought it was totally umm....''tedious'' (depends on personal preferences and activities in game, IMO)

But I was trying to figure out/sum up what the repliers themselves were thinking on the subject, based on the replies they posted, and this is what i could come up with,. It is ''very easy'' (AGAIN, my subjective opinion) to be wrong about these things. (what is ''fun'', ''interesting'', ''boring'' ect etc)

Oh, and by the way;

here is another question about FFXIV and soloing in case somebody has an answer : )

I was googling for info about the game and I read a few articles today, stating that a solo player might only receive a total of 8 quests a day or two, and that if u wanna complete more quests than that, than you need to group...

I must admit that TOTALLY confused me! ;D Personally; never heard of ''system'' like this before. Anyone knows if there is a thruth to this rumor`? Are the quests in FF running on ''cooldowns'' or something? uhuh..

Cheers!

HEHEHEH ROFL!

You are so right on the money, OP!  :)

Also, there is magic, and than there are AIRPLANES, and swords, and that indiana jones guy or,,, ,, and.......

Im totally confused anyways :D I bet that it makes alot of sense to some people, but to me,,,, im kinda lost.. i just keep killing critters and dragon kings and the whatnot

and the game keeps rolling.

Thanks for the explanations!

So it indeed is possible to solo in this game, but it is really  alot slower and not as fun as in some,,, other mmo's, right?

Hmm this is an intersting combination... i was either thinking i would get an answer like; ''oh yeah its solo friendly'' or something like; '' oh noes, you need a group'''...

this is actually a little suprising tbh  :)

Originally posted by dreamscaper

You CAN solo, but you'll progress much faster and have a much better time if you're grouping. The game is designed to more solo friendly than FFXI, but there's still an emphasis on grouping.

 

If you want to solo why aren't you playing one of the other single player Final Fantasy games? It would give you a much better experience for your money.

 

People who play MMOs and solo the entire time are missing the point.

''People who play MMOs and solo the entire time are missing the point.''

God i swear i knew this was coming! :D

Thanks for the reply..... But actually you are the one who is missing the point entirely. You do not know my sentiments about solo or group playing in an mmo, you are just presuming.

I LOVE playing in groups, some of my BEST memories from playing MMO's come from playing in a group.

THE PROBLEM IS, IF* im FORCED to group about 100%, than eventually, sooner or later, i will be unable to play the game.

Let me give you an example:

When i played FFXI, i played always in a group, NOT JUST BECAUSE it was forced, BUT ALSO BECAUSE it was FUN!!

Alas; every once in a while i would be left without a group, either my friends offline, or no luck finding / inviting group members... than i would be UNABLE TO PLAY, STUCK FOR HOURS LOOKING FOR A GROUP...

Otherwise, sometimes we could finally create a group, ONLY to have 1 or 2 members suddenly drop for various reasons (they get bored, need a break, disconnect etc etc) and than it would be back to looking for more members again.

Thus, because of the reasons i explained above:

I prefer playing MMO's in a group, but i hate being forced to group, as it usually entails A LOT OF DOWNTIME, doing nothing but wasting time while waiting for a group to roll.

Finally: that why i like games that offer solo gameplay, but give incentives for grouping, this is my personal preferance:)