Final Fantasy 11 online - how is it?

[yzzuf]

I need a new MMO to spend my spare time with. I am an ex WOW player, just quit a month back after 200 days played. Just got bored eventually, like all games do at some point. Looking for something to tide me over with until Age of Conan and Warhammer online.

This is what I am looking for:
I am looking for a more "hardcore" game. The game must have graphics at least on par with WOW, better is prefered. I like the sword style opposed to guns and lazers. I like pvp but most importantly I like grouping. I like a timesink as my wife works nights during the week so my week nights are pretty much all open (besides supper and gym).

Games I have tried recently include:
1)tabula rasa - didnt like the mechanics of combat, felt sloppy, prefer swords over guns. Graphically glitchy at times.

2)eve online - Tried trial, didnt like space I need an actual character to move around.

3)EQ2 - Didnt like the feel or artstyle. laggy/warping animations, some areas looked gorgeous while others looked like an NES game. Combat mechanics felt off.

4)Vanguard - lol, nuff said

5)SWG - liked it when it came out and tried again but it just doesnt satidfy me anymore.

6)WOW - favorite MMO to date, looking for a repalcement. Liked the grouping and the pvp. Hated comunity.

7) LOTRO - just got this last night and started playing. First impression...WOW this is pretty. Best graphics i have seen in an MMO. This looked exactly like everything I was looking for until I realized that there is no PVP!

Last game I havnt tried that I would like to is Final Fantasy 11. Whats it like? I like a timesink. How are the graphics? Are they comparable to WOW? I played it and loved it at launch but then I got hooked on CS for 3 years or so. Seeing as how it has been out for many years now, has it matured nicely? balanced classes ?etc.

Also to note is that I have always been a huge FF fan from ff1 -ff8 so I know I like the world. Just dont know if I should go spend cash to get it after work or stick with LOTRO.....

 

[Tyranos]

Check out Sword of the New World, Granado Espada.

http://ge.iahgames.com/en/

 

[Automata]

I need a new MMO to spend my spare time with. I am an ex WOW player, just quit a month back after 200 days played. Just got bored eventually, like all games do at some point. Looking for something to tide me over with until Age of Conan and Warhammer online.

This is what I am looking for:
I am looking for a more "hardcore" game. The game must have graphics at least on par with WOW, better is prefered. I like the sword style opposed to guns and lazers. I like pvp but most importantly I like grouping. I like a timesink as my wife works nights during the week so my week nights are pretty much all open (besides supper and gym).

Games I have tried recently include:
1)tabula rasa - didnt like the mechanics of combat, felt sloppy, prefer swords over guns. Graphically glitchy at times.

2)eve online - Tried trial, didnt like space I need an actual character to move around.

3)EQ2 - Didnt like the feel or artstyle. laggy/warping animations, some areas looked gorgeous while others looked like an NES game. Combat mechanics felt off.

4)Vanguard - lol, nuff said

5)SWG - liked it when it came out and tried again but it just doesnt satidfy me anymore.

6)WOW - favorite MMO to date, looking for a repalcement. Liked the grouping and the pvp. Hated comunity.

7) LOTRO - just got this last night and started playing. First impression...WOW this is pretty. Best graphics i have seen in an MMO. This looked exactly like everything I was looking for until I realized that there is no PVP!

Last game I havnt tried that I would like to is Final Fantasy 11. Whats it like? I like a timesink. How are the graphics? Are they comparable to WOW? I played it and loved it at launch but then I got hooked on CS for 3 years or so. Seeing as how it has been out for many years now, has it matured nicely? balanced classes ?etc.

Also to note is that I have always been a huge FF fan from ff1 -ff8 so I know I like the world. Just dont know if I should go spend cash to get it after work or stick with LOTRO.....

When I had it, I LOVED it. There are ONLY 2 things that kept me from playing, the first was the 30fps average that I received playing the game on my 8800GTS. It was a PS2 class game, I should be pulling well over 100. The second is the interface, it was made for the PS2 and they did not change the interface at all. It is hard to work with on a keyboard and mouse. BUT, it is great to work with on a controller, since that is what it was designed for

Gameplay is amazing, so if you don't mind the bad graphics or interface, it is an awesome game.

The game is heavily based on groups. This can work against you or for you depending on your playing style. The general rule is, you solo until 10-12 and group until max level.

 

[Rydis]

I played it for 2 years, and the quality of the graphics are not as sharp as WoW (from what I seen of WoW) but it does have good scenery and graphics. The 30fps is a limit set by the game, so you will never pull 100+ because it wont let you.

It is heavily group based. You can solo the first few levels, but after that, its all group based. As the above poster said, this can work againt you to. Its definatly fun to play with 6 others, however most people prefer certain types of parties, and that makes it hard to get groups sometimes. Especially at high levels, depending on how many others are your level of the same class, or you just have a low teir class (like dragoon), then you can spend 5-6 hours just waiting to get a party to start playing.

Of course, there is a search feature, and people can search for people LFG (looking for group) so you can go and farm materials for crafting, or solo stuff for little exp instead of just ditting there watching the screen.

The PvP is terriable and almost no one plays it. The game is balanced for PvM, so PvP is very unbalanced.

If you ever get to end game, you basiaclly fight the same big time monsters over and over and over again helping other people get items so they in turn can help you get items for the sole purpose of just being able to beat the guys quicker next time around.

The most fun is really mid range levels and quests (promys mainly) require the most thought out strategies and have the best locations to play in.

I never actually got to do the expansion types of besiged, but its mainly just a bunch of people together in town where you can't really do anything unless you have super high speed internet to see everything.

All in all, it starts out good, gets great, then gets really bad at the end.

 

[Edward78]

Check out Sword of the New World, Granado Espada.

http://ge.iahgames.com/en/

How much a month is it?

 

[Rydis]

I played the beta, and at the time, you could play for free but you were limited in levels and such. I think it was 11 or 12 a month.

 

[Edward78]

I played the beta, and at the time, you could play for free but you were limited in levels and such. I think it was 11 or 12 a month.

How long does the trial last & do I have to put in my card number to play trial?

 

[yzzuf]

thanks for the replies. I could not stand a 30fps cap so I will have to pass on ff11. Also I dont like the fact in SOTNW how you control 3 chars. I guess I may just waste my time in LOTRO until the next MMOS come out.

 

[Automata]

thanks for the replies. I could not stand a 30fps cap so I will have to pass on ff11. Also I dont like the fact in SOTNW how you control 3 chars. I guess I may just waste my time in LOTRO until the next MMOS come out.

LOL, my friend literally played FF11 at 3 seconds a frame, and no, I did not type that wrong

I played LOTRO for awhile, it was different, but I just could not avoid the black hole that is WoW

 

[ziggo0]

LOL, my friend literally played FF11 at 3 seconds a frame, and no, I did not type that wrong

That hurts to try and comprehend. WTF?

 

[Automata]

That hurts to try and comprehend. WTF?

Graphics card was not capable of 3d rendering, and he wanted to play VERY badly. Got a software rendering program. The processor was a SINGLE core p4 2.8

 

[glockjs]

I tried it for a month and got bored of it taking a freakin hour to get anywhere. Takes ages just to get somewhere in that game. And grouping was really really rough.

 

[yzzuf]

Anyone have any input on eq2 in its current state? My impressions on it above were from over 3 years ago. I noticed theres a new expansion. Things I remember I didnt like were the real sloppy running animations and "missing" graphics in many spots. How is this game now? Its hard to get an unbiased opinion on these games as fanboys ruin it

 

[BossBorot]

when I played ff11, it was for like 4 days, my impression of it was horrible. Cant really remember why though as it was so long ago. However I do remember that whenever I tabed out of the game it would crash which sucks as I like to look up things or do something else when the action slows or I am waiting for someone else.

Check out Sword of the New World, Granado Espada.

http://ge.iahgames.com/en/

lol that game... My friend was the first to max lvl (and the first person to find the card bug) and quit because the endgame sucks horribly, he still checks in from time to time though. The end game in sword of the new world involves trying to get max lvl weapons so basically you continue to grind. No one, last I spoke to him about the game, had a lvl 100 weapon of any kind and most didnt even have the weapons from lvls past 80. I had fun playing till about lvl 60 messing around with the 3 character system and after that it got boring very fast.

Also sword of the new world is now completely free so even though the endgame sucks it still is worth playing for awhile if you are just looking for something to do.

 

[Automata]

when I played ff11, it was for like 4 days, my impression of it was horrible. Cant really remember why though as it was so long ago. However I do remember that whenever I tabed out of the game it would crash which sucks as I like to look up things or do something else when the action slows or I am waiting for someone else.

Nope, they did that on purpose to stop cheators and bots....didn't work at all

 

[Rydis]

there is a * for FFxi to play in windowed mode.

 

[Automata]

there is a *removed* for FFxi to play in windowed mode.

Yes, which is against the EULA and cannot be mentioned here.

 

[Burning Phoenix]

Ive been playing FFXI over 5 years and just cant get myself to stop. Theres way too much to do in this game. The graphics are pretty descent and better than most mmorpg i've seen. It does take alot of motivation to get anywhere in this game and more of an advanced RPG as compared to a simple game such as WOW for beginners. Nothing really comes easy in FFXI and i would rather have a challenge. I have played quite a few RPGs and this one just sticks to me. I was subscribing to 4 mmorpgs at same time last year and i cancelled Lineage II , but still subscribe to Vanguard. PSU and FFXI. Vanguard i really like but the lag sucks and haven't really played much lately but i still hang on in hopes of the lag problem will be solved. PSU i still play once in a great while for a change of pace and a short time out from FFXI. I like the graphics, battle system and $50 for 7 months online fee. PSU just doesn't have enough people online to have too much fun though. I'm not checking out reviews of Tabula Rasa. I'm pretty sure i'm going to buy and try and if i like it i will cancel Vanguard.
Also a couple of notes for thoughts previously mentioned. Frame rate at 30? Do you really care if you have a massive fps? 30 is just fine for smooth game play. The only time it drops is when you may once in a great while enter area like Aht Urhgan when it has well over 300 people. Because of this i rarely go there now. Also someone compared graphics to WOW. I can't see how WOW comes close to FFXI for everyone knows WOW is cartoonish.
Here is a link to screenshots of the 3 last RPGs i have been playing.
http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php?p=4952161&postcount=227

 

[Satsumomo]

Maybe you could try Guild Wars? It's not a pure RPG game, but it's completely group based, and you don't have to spend 100+ hours to get to the good parts. Looks great too.

 

[Edward78]

How is the PvP in SoTNW?