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Final Fantasy XI General Article: Friendlier Than Ever
FFXI has a reputation for being a hardcore grind. Cody Worth gives it a second look.
By Cody Worth on May 28, 2009
Final Fantasy XI is old. To a lot of players, it lives in the past. FFXI lives in the days where leveling was hard. Back when having a high level character was a feat. It was a time when MMOs were difficult just for the sake of difficulty. MMOs of today though appeal to a more casual market, and Square Enix is working to make FFXI a friendlier game.
For instance, killing monsters that checked under Even Match was a waste of time. Even then, if you weren’t killing said even matches alone, you were still wasting your time. Add that with the difficulty most jobs faced when fighting Even Matches, and you have a solo player’s nightmare. It was troublesome, but few people played FFXI to play solo. It’s well known as a game made for people looking to group, after all.
;)
Square Enix has been paying attention to the recent changes in the MMO market, and they’ve begun implementing changes that is making FFXI a friendlier game for all types of players. For starters, last September, a patch was released. This patch sported a nice addition to FFXI – an experience bonus on lower level monsters. Easy Prey and Decent Challenges gave up to 30 and 50 experience points respectively. With this new patch, you can gain up to 50 on Easy Prey, and a whopping 90 on Decent Challenges. The speed in which you can kill these monsters allows for much faster solo leveling. This was a good enough update alone. Players were content with the bonus to experience, and that’s when Square Enix released Level Sync.
It’s a well known fact that partying could be painful in FFXI. You could spend hours and days just seeking for one party, and then there are the chances that the party wouldn’t be successful at all. At times, it would make playing your favorite job difficult. Square Enix went above and beyond the call again, and introduced Level Sync. Level Sync allows people to party with members of any level. So say you were level 50 and couldn’t find a party seeking more at your level, but there was a party at level 35 seeking for more players. Now with Level Sync, the level 50 can sync down to their level and continue progressing in level. Of course, players of lower levels can’t sync up to level 50, but allowing people to play with lower level parties was a great idea. There are a lot of levels where a job will become completely obsolete. For example, once you get into leveling at the Treasures of Aht Urghan areas, Black Mage can no longer find parties. The monsters you level off of have high magic resistance, which makes Black Mage an obsolete member of the party. In this particular instance though, Black Mages adapted and found ways to solo. Not all jobs have that luxury. Level Sync allows those jobs to stay in a lower range if they please, so that progression is a problem no longer. Level Sync also makes sure one player can’t out-level the rest of the party, so experience points will never be cut. Nowadays, parties just sync down to the lowest level. And once the lowest person gains a level, everyone gains a level with them. Also, SE made it so you don’t have to have a lower level suit of gear. While Sync is active, your gear will scale to be equal to whatever level you are at the time. Level 10? Well, your gear has the stats of a level 10 now. Level 20? Congratulations, you now have some level 20 Artifact Armor.
;)
Square wasn’t happy with the XP Bonus and Level Sync, they had to do more for the player base. That’s when Fields of Valor was introduced. Fields of Valor is a solo player’s dream. FoV is started by finding a Field Manual in one of the designated zones. Once you interact with one, you’re presented with a list of options. You can choose between Individual Training, Elite Training, and Field Support.
When you choose Individual Training, a menu appears with a list of pages. Each page contains a different level of objective. All of the objectives consist of kill X amount of a particular set of monsters in the zone, it’s all a matter of what level monsters you wish to kill. When you complete an Individual Training objective, you’re rewarded with experience points, gil, and tabs. Tabs are a currency used to buy a load of different things from Field Manuals. Tabs are spent in both Elite Training and Field Support. Elite Training gives way to more boss oriented objectives.
When you select Elite Training, you’re presented with a list of Chapters to buy with tabs. As the chapter numbers get higher, the cost of tabs goes up, and the difficulty goes up with it. Once a chapter is bought, you must go out and find a Field Parchment. These are scattered amongst the FoV zones. You have an option with Field Parchments as well. You can turn in Beastman Seals for experience points, gil for a multiplication of the gil you turned in, or an item for a random augment. Once your respective selection is turned in, a Notorious Monster will spawn. All that needs to be done is defeat the monster, and you’re able to claim your hard earned reward. Be sure to bring all your luck for your augment though; it can be any random stat. This stat can be positive or negative, and once augmented, your item cannot be sold. Elite Training augmentation is a gamble indeed.
Field Support is a component of Fields of Valor that allows you to gain battlefield buffs in exchange for tabs. These buffs include Protect, Shell, Regen, Refresh, and Reraise. You can also get a variety of food effects, such as Dried Meat (STR and ATK bonus), Salted Fish (VIT and HP bonus), Hard Cookie (INT and MP bonus), and Instant Noodles (Less VIT than Salted Fish, but more HP). Food is expensive, so if you want to go the economical route, Field Support can help with that. The final option out of Field Support is Repatriation, which is a teleport back to your home nation. Field Support helps a great deal whenever you’re leveling, especially if you’ve decided to solo with some Fields of Valor. Square made one final great addition for the casual gaming crowd.
;)
Monsters now have a chance to drop Treasure Caskets. Caskets come in two varieties, blue and brown. Blue caskets can drop temporary items for use. You can find items that heal HP, MP, and cure status ailments. They’re great in case you get into a bind while soloing. Brown caskets come locked. You have to unlock them by guessing a number. The casket gives you an assortment of hints, and you have to guess which number it is out of 1 through 99. If you guess it correctly, you have a chance of getting a great piece of equipment. Each zone has different pieces, so you have to look into which ones give the great gear, and which ones give the subpar gear. Just one more way Square wants to help their player base.
Final Fantasy XI is still trying to find a place in the casual gaming market. It still takes a while to level. The fastest way to level is still find parties. Given those parties have to be good, but I digress. Players are better off doing Fields of Valor now rather than waiting on a party for hours. You even have the option to solo while waiting for a party. FFXI now has options for leveling, and that’s one thing players often wanted. Final Fantasy XI is going on seven years old, and seven years strong. If Square Enix continues to listen to their players, then FFXI may have another seven years ahead of them.
Very good article, and well researched unlike some of the other staff that have done FFXI News before!
As far as population goes, anyone that's interested in playing or at least giving it a try; don't worry about it as FFXI has been holding steady at more than 500,000 subscribers for all 7 years. Most newer MMOs only dream of holding those numbers during launch month...hehe
I've been eagerly awaiting the 9th Vana'diel Census to release which should be released by the end of this month; to see how much the population has risen in the past year because of all these new changes described in in the article above! Not to mention the launch of the Final Fantasy XI Trial last year as well which has made trying the game easier, instead of finding someone with a spare buddy key or buying the trial disk from Gamestop!
Wow, I had no idea that all of these features were added since I last played, save for the level synch; I quit the game right before they implemented that I believe. I've got to say, I'm impressed by these changes. Really makes me want to go back and play just to check some of this stuff out for myself. However, that will have to wait due to the lack of funds at the moment ;_; Great article though! I probably wouldn't have found out about the new features otherwise.
It's my understanding our Japaneese players are beyond pissed about this (Think WoW Asshat Raiders after the death of Raid or Die) Still it is bringing in a lot of new players and making a lot of previouse playes come back.
Too bad they didn't figure this out earlier. I liked FF11 when i played it but the lack of groups on my server killed my enjoyement. Now after playing so many better looking games i can't go back to it, the graphics just don't cut it for me, they are too outdated (yeah im a graphics whore).
Hopefully squaresoft will have learned their lesson for the next mmo they make (project rapture).
Very well written article. SE have done a lot to the game to make it easier to get into, for sure. They've also added the new player quests which do a great job of getting players off on the right foot, explaining several of the basics elements of the game.
I don't agree with the article in that SE are still trying to find a place in the casual market. If they wanted to do that, they could have made much more drastic changes. Also, SE have noted in the past that they like the way FFXI is, that they're pleased with the dedicated player base they have, and they have no intention of making changes to bring it closer to the more "WoW-type" MMOs.
I think, if anything, they're simply providing more options for players and, again, improving the new/low-level player experience to make the game less daunting to someone just getting started.
not to inflame you or anything .just for the record that its *square enix and not squaresoft .hehe. i will give the game a try through trial .to see if it has really changed? maybe i will resub if this news is true!!!!
this was my faveriot mmo just due to meeting new ppl (and having long conversations) everytime I was lvling (due to partys) but like most other ppl i stoped due to it being hard to get a party and because it too long for the casual gamer...(u were expected to be in the party for 3hrs min).
Good news, and good article, but will i go back?
Simply no, because of the subscribtion, and the fact that most ppl are lvl75....
If the game was new, same graphics etc and released today, yes i would pay + play for 3years again. Plus there new game/project Rapture or something like that is gonna come out soon so ill wait^^
I was on the fence about reactiviting my account, but I think this pushed me over into doing it :) Thanks for all the information, I haven't played in about 2 years.
There is a lot that gaming companies could learn from SE about "listening" to your player base. This doesn't mean that you placate the whiners, you pay attention to what is making your game perform well and give those players more options. FFXI knew that the reason their game has done well is because it wasn't like WoW. Does it have the numbers WoW does? No, but it does have a pretty significant hold on the market share, coming in 4th last time I checked (this could have changed due to release of Aion and others).
I played FFXI for three years and loved it, but like many others the pain of waiting around for group, even when I was trying to make them, and then the fact that the group may not do well was too much to bear for a casual type gamer. I moved on. The graphics in FFXI don't bother me, in fact I think they look better than WoW in way, less cartoonish. I play WoW currently because it has more to offer me the casual player.
These changes to FFXI are good. It does help with the grouping and everything. I'm currently trying LOTRO and it seems like a nice little MMO. Still FFXI will always be my favorite :) no game has come close to it yet.
Too little too late for me. I played FFXI for a couple years after release but its just too much for me to start over. I love to hear about the changes though, its nice to see they are finally making these quality of life changes. They waited so long to do it though lol. FFXI gave me an experience no other MMO has come close to giving me though so I'm glad they are being less stubborn and I have high hopes for their MMO in development. If they improve upon everything they learned, and make the social experience as good as FFXI, it will be amazing. A little PvP and better customer support wouldn't hurt either.
Fantastic article!! This should be plastered on the front page of mmorpg.com for all the naysayers of this game to read!! The game has changed so much over the years, it is very shallow to think of FFXI as the same game it was even 2 years ago. So many people have been turned off from "previous" experiences with the game and are too afraid to give the game another shot, not realizing that it really isn't the same game anymore..
Honestly, this is by far one of the most intelligently written articles of the game in a very long time. Please showcase it. >_>;
Great article... although it is a bit to little to late i'm afraid for Square Enix. Many have screamed about their lack of attention to the casual crowd... but now that many more games are now becoming casual friendly and FFXI is starting to show its age... it's less worthwhile. Especially since most of the main "good" portions of the game are still "party only" and leveling is a huge grind, with stiff death penalties that can make you lose levels like in EQ1, not to mention hours of grinding... not fun imho.
I don't know why all of you complain they did nothing for casual gamers? They made it easier to solo in many ways, easier EP's and DC's with more XP, Fields of Valor, Besiged, Level Synch, etc. Its all designed for those who don't have 4 hours to find parties.
I played it back when it first released and those are the two things I hated most. Finding groups and the grind. With that being said, I have moved on to other games and can't see myself going back to FFXI. My only wish is that SE learns from FFXI and makes some serious changes to FFXIV before putting it on the market. If they make the game play in FFXIV the same as FFXI was when it first released then I seriously doubt I'll even give it a second thought.
It is sad because I really like the Final Fantasy series of games and would have loved to kept playing FFXI if it were not for the fact that it was a tedious boring grindfest back in the day.
I wish to make 3 points:
1) I constantly see people incorrectly correlate long grinds in MMOs with difficulty. In this article, FFXI was cited as a traditional hard MMO where attaining max level was an accomplishment in itself. Having reached 75 in 2 jobs once several years ago, and having reached max level in a few other MMOs since, I can say that reaching max level is rarely an accomplishment worthy of praise. It's merely a time sink. In some games it's way more fun and interactive, in others its more of a boring grind, but that's besides the point. In none that I have played was it remotely difficult. All it takes is time spent playing. FFXI was a very long grind, but this is not to be wrongly praised as some "pure, traditional, hard game that requires skill to make it." In fact, I would say FFXI was probably the easiest MMO i've ever played. It required the fewest abilities used (yes! I just got a new weapon skill! what does this one do? Oh MAN more direct damage to 1 mob!) and the littlest quick reaction to changing events.
2) I suspect level sync was added because of a decline in player base. I used to play FFXI 4-6 years ago, and getting a group together wasn't always easy, but it was usually doable. I recently tried a 14 day free trial to check out the game again and grouping seems far more difficult. Granted, I'm only in the level 20 range, but early level groups were usually the easiest to get. I recall having a large selection of players to choose from when forming a group. Now i'm lucky if there are even 6 players total looking for a group.
3) My main gripe with FFXI after experiencing other MMOs is the slowness of combat. Even if I can solo a little faster from 1-15, all my character is doing is auto attacking. Then I have one button to press once every minute or so. I don't even need to be there. On top of this slowness, you have to take 3 minute breaks to heal every now and then. Oh and I remember waiting 10-15 real life minutes for airships to arrive! Seriously? Am I playing and interacting with a game or just staring at my computer screen daydreaming?
In several other modern MMOs, you have action bars full of abilities at your disposal. You are constantly engaged and always have something to do and something to react to. It doesn't have to be excessive, as in an action FPS, it just needs to be interactive from level 1-75. The feel of progression and eventual accomplishment was all well and good in FFXI, but gameplay was extremely boring. There's just no other way to put it.
My brief praise for the game: the world was compelling in its own right, although I suspect the music is what engaged me the most. There was a definite feel of progression that was addictive. The rank missions and the CoP missions were wonderful in terms of story and cut-scenes, but they were experienced way too few and far between.
FFXI has its pros, and it certainly has many cons. Too much would have to be changed make FFXI a great modern MMO in all respects at this point. I can only hope they SE is aware of both the pros and cons and keeps them in mind during the development of FF14.
This article actually convinced me to give FFXI a try after passing it over for almost 7 years. I have always beena fan of the FF mythos and world but always have heard the problems with the Gil issues and Grouping nightmares. Now since I am not playing anything right now, figured wouldn't hurt to give it a try. Worst thing that happens is I am out a few hours of my time. \
If it turns out to be something nice, I heard they are bringing out a Vanadiel C ollection 2 with every expansion and add on for a low price, so I guess it;s a win-win. If nothing else I can say I played it and get ready for FFXIV.