MMORPG.com Correspondent Cody Worth recently explored the world of SquareEnix's Final Fantasy XI and found it "Friendlier Than Ever." For a game that carries a pretty hardcore reputation, Worth reports back that it is not quite as difficult as it used to be.

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.

Read the article here.