I was actually juuust about to mention something like this in a comment.
The big problem a lot of people (myself included) have with FFXI is that, well... It wasn't ever designed to be a game you could solo anything in. It was originally designed to require a party of 4+ to do pretty much anything. All the "solo-friendly" things they added in afterward, like the Signet buff and Fields of Valor, made it technically possible to solo but... it really didn't do a very great job of it.
And like what Allie said... WHM is literally the hardest job to solo, especially without a subjob. Think of it like trying to level a Priest with all your talents in Holy. Without Smite or any other damage spell, no shadow spells, no wand, and without going through instances. Now tie one hand behind your back, turn the sound off, and close your eyes. Violà, you have an approximation of trying to solo as WHM/none
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Well, I'm probably going to only play for my free month. It's fun to duo with Carda, but I can't play on my own at all. And if I can't hop on, play a bit, then hop off whenever I feel like, then it's not a game anymore, it's a job.
It is quite pretty, and the music is nice. It's just full of all the things that have made the Final Fantasy series annoying, because when it came out, MMOs hadn't advanced as far as they have now. I'll bet FF14 is a lot better.
And if I can't hop on, play a bit, then hop off whenever I feel like, then it's not a game anymore, it's a job.
The word you're looking for is commitment. You've stumbled on the difference between 'casual' and 'hardcore' games, and if you're looking for a casual solo game FFXI is not it. (Not that I blame you, here - I've been less and less interested in anything that plays in units of more than one hour because of how busy I am, and my branching interests.)
It's sometimes frustrating, you can only really effectively do it with other people, progress is often slow... Is tabletop roleplaying a job?
A job is something you do for someone else whether or not it is enjoyable, because you get something besides enjoyment from it. You are never, ever obligated to start playing FFXI, or even to continue playing FFXI once you start it. And trust me... you don't get anything from it.
Like I said, I'm not going to pay for anything beyond the first free month. I got on Warcraft and killed five wolves at the same time, just because I could. Which shows you how frustrated I am with FF11. I'll switch jobs to red mage tonight and see if that's any less infuriating.
Well... yeah, pretty much. I'm not saying it's impossible for you to like it, but it stands in direct contradiction to what you said earlier. That's not a problem with you or with it, but rather with you playing it. The easiest solution is to play a game you do like, rather than frustrating yourself with this one. (Or none at all, which is my current solution
( ... )
ST pretty much said everything I tried/wanted to say and did a lot better job of it, but... yeah.
A lot of FFXI's "issues" also comes with the fact that it was originally designed for the PS2 - which put some severe limitations on certain things. Inventory space, delivery boxes, Auction House, and whatever Square-Enix was too lazy to implement ("But... but we can't! PS2 limitations and all, y'know!")
It is Squeenix's first MMO, after all, but it does seem a lot like it's more of a prototype in some aspects than it should be.
"FFXI you will need an hour just to get ready to go soloing. This is something that even frustrates me on occasion, and I have loved FFXI to bits more frequently than I care to admit."
"The only time it's fun is when I'm playing with someone else, or especially a whole group, and then it's amazing. To me."
He's admitting that FFXI has flaws, and also saying that it's aimed at a different group of people than WoW, but I think you would find that ST would have quit long ago if he didn't LIKE FFXI.
Mmm... never heard of it! (Actually, I've been playing the WiiWare Uno to cool off lately. Which rather backfires, since the completely arbitrary nature of the game just drives me further up the wall.)
Anyway, no. I like FFXI. Nothing I said in there contradicts that. I don't like trying to solo in it. Mario Party also sucks playing by yourself, but I'm fond of the game. I also don't have the time or patience to play a serious multiplayer game at present, though I try for the sake of my local friends. So I don't play it lately, although I am interested in getting back to it when I do have time
( ... )
I totally agree that learning how to work as a group is essential for later levels. I just feel that there's a middle ground between not having to group ever until endgame and "Good luck getting past level 12 without a perfectly balanced party of six". Both Square and Blizzard have been guilty of piling all The Good Stuff into the endgame level range while not really making the barriers to entry more appealing (excepting new job classes or new races, respectively). I'm not saying I want a yellow brick road to max level, I just don't want a road made of shattered glass and broken dreams, either.
Nowhere is there a requirement that you must have a perfectly balanced party of six, as far as I've been able to tell, anywhere. (Excepting, perhaps, missions which are balanced for that level of challenge.) I've been duoing with Allie up to 40+ with no problems. Taivivi is level 30 and has partied on the rarest of occasions, and has ill-fitting gear for her level because I don't play her much. Soloing is difficult and boring and slow, this much is true. I found it that way in WoW as well, though.
Well, as I said, Blizz put all The Good Stuff at the higher level brackets, so leveling up to get to it IS really lame. Once you get there, though, the quest chains and such are EPIC.
Also, I was using hyperbole. I've actually had a couple of good exp parties so far, currently at 16 with two of my subjob items ready to go. Next up: ghostbusting at night. Yeah, I'll be the idiot RDM spamming Cure II on the mobs and pulling aggro, you can count on it.
Here's the Plants vs. Zombies site with video. http://www.popcap.com/games/pvz One of those hilariously bizarre little games.
Anyway, sorry for misinterpreting what you said about liking the game. You were listing off all the stuff that annoyed you about it and I took that to mean that you disliked it. But that's fine, because there's stuff that annoys me in my games of choice, too.
I think I'd like FF11 if I could just play in a party more often. It's tough when you can't play the game the way it's meant to be played because you just don't have the time to plug in. I have a full-time job, and my game time is limited to a few hours at night. You guys think you'd want to stay up late to help a newbie red mage level up a bit? :-)
Hmm, hilariously bizarre does seem to describe that. :D I'll check it out!
Well, I was mostly talking about the stuff you disliked about it that I also disliked, yeah. I didn't really mention the things I like, except off-handedly, because they didn't make much sense. I was focusing on the negative, so I can see how you thought that.
That depends on the definition of "late" (we've been aiming to get to bed around 4 AM EDT lately) and also whether I can get wine back up/Allie can get her FFXI computer's power supply working again. But I think we'd both be happy to join in, computers permitting!
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The big problem a lot of people (myself included) have with FFXI is that, well... It wasn't ever designed to be a game you could solo anything in. It was originally designed to require a party of 4+ to do pretty much anything. All the "solo-friendly" things they added in afterward, like the Signet buff and Fields of Valor, made it technically possible to solo but... it really didn't do a very great job of it.
And like what Allie said... WHM is literally the hardest job to solo, especially without a subjob. Think of it like trying to level a Priest with all your talents in Holy. Without Smite or any other damage spell, no shadow spells, no wand, and without going through instances. Now tie one hand behind your back, turn the sound off, and close your eyes. Violà, you have an approximation of trying to solo as WHM/none ( ... )
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It is quite pretty, and the music is nice. It's just full of all the things that have made the Final Fantasy series annoying, because when it came out, MMOs hadn't advanced as far as they have now. I'll bet FF14 is a lot better.
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The word you're looking for is commitment. You've stumbled on the difference between 'casual' and 'hardcore' games, and if you're looking for a casual solo game FFXI is not it. (Not that I blame you, here - I've been less and less interested in anything that plays in units of more than one hour because of how busy I am, and my branching interests.)
It's sometimes frustrating, you can only really effectively do it with other people, progress is often slow... Is tabletop roleplaying a job?
A job is something you do for someone else whether or not it is enjoyable, because you get something besides enjoyment from it. You are never, ever obligated to start playing FFXI, or even to continue playing FFXI once you start it. And trust me... you don't get anything from it.
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Like I said, I'm not going to pay for anything beyond the first free month. I got on Warcraft and killed five wolves at the same time, just because I could. Which shows you how frustrated I am with FF11. I'll switch jobs to red mage tonight and see if that's any less infuriating.
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A lot of FFXI's "issues" also comes with the fact that it was originally designed for the PS2 - which put some severe limitations on certain things. Inventory space, delivery boxes, Auction House, and whatever Square-Enix was too lazy to implement ("But... but we can't! PS2 limitations and all, y'know!")
It is Squeenix's first MMO, after all, but it does seem a lot like it's more of a prototype in some aspects than it should be.
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"FFXI you will need an hour just to get ready to go soloing. This is something that even frustrates me on occasion, and I have loved FFXI to bits more frequently than I care to admit."
"The only time it's fun is when I'm playing with someone else, or especially a whole group, and then it's amazing. To me."
He's admitting that FFXI has flaws, and also saying that it's aimed at a different group of people than WoW, but I think you would find that ST would have quit long ago if he didn't LIKE FFXI.
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Anyway, no. I like FFXI. Nothing I said in there contradicts that. I don't like trying to solo in it. Mario Party also sucks playing by yourself, but I'm fond of the game. I also don't have the time or patience to play a serious multiplayer game at present, though I try for the sake of my local friends. So I don't play it lately, although I am interested in getting back to it when I do have time ( ... )
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Also, I was using hyperbole. I've actually had a couple of good exp parties so far, currently at 16 with two of my subjob items ready to go. Next up: ghostbusting at night. Yeah, I'll be the idiot RDM spamming Cure II on the mobs and pulling aggro, you can count on it.
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One of those hilariously bizarre little games.
Anyway, sorry for misinterpreting what you said about liking the game. You were listing off all the stuff that annoyed you about it and I took that to mean that you disliked it. But that's fine, because there's stuff that annoys me in my games of choice, too.
I think I'd like FF11 if I could just play in a party more often. It's tough when you can't play the game the way it's meant to be played because you just don't have the time to plug in. I have a full-time job, and my game time is limited to a few hours at night. You guys think you'd want to stay up late to help a newbie red mage level up a bit? :-)
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Well, I was mostly talking about the stuff you disliked about it that I also disliked, yeah. I didn't really mention the things I like, except off-handedly, because they didn't make much sense. I was focusing on the negative, so I can see how you thought that.
That depends on the definition of "late" (we've been aiming to get to bed around 4 AM EDT lately) and also whether I can get wine back up/Allie can get her FFXI computer's power supply working again. But I think we'd both be happy to join in, computers permitting!
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