Quetzalcoatl.Taerra said:
»Is it worth learning a new game right this moment ?
I think the only difficulty I had, if any, was orienting myself with the controls. It isn't because the control design is bad or anything, but it's a more standard MMO setup. FFXI's controls are very unique as MMOs go. It may take you a little bit of time to acclimate with that particular difference, but there's very little else to learn.
The game is very intuitive, and there are informational pop-ups as you progress through the game. Levels 1-15 are solo, then you can start hitting up dungeons for grinding out XP and collecting level-appropriate gear as you go. Dungeons are easy enough to enter, even if you are alone, with the Duty Finder (auto-grouping) function. I played maybe 6 nights total before the closed beta ended, and I hit level 29 on pugilist and accomplished all the available main story missions, job quests, hunt logs, and quests for my starting city and outlying areas.
Some of my friends who played FFXI were legacy players with multiple 50's, and from what they've said and what I've read, there's hardly anything that hasn't changed since September 2010.
Even with all my love for- and time invested in XI, I'm happier playing this game. I can log in and get something done in 30 minutes if I need to, and still feel like I've had a rewarding experience. In XI, after logging in I have to figure out what I can do alone, what job I have to get on, and then spend the next 15-25 minutes changing jobs and equipment, whilst engaging in housekeeping just to make everything I need fit in my inventory. However, if I see a shout for something I actually need, I may have just wasted all of that time changing jobs.
So, as I see it, your options are either to get acclimated to FFXIV, or you can sit in Port Jeuno and wait for a shout that may never come.
If they ever fix XI's inventory and job change system, it may be worth playing again, but I don't really don't have the time or patience anymore for it as it is.