Anyone From The Old Days Still Around?

"In my day.." for XI.

XI is old enough for it, I guess.

Back in my day, XIV was such a *** hot garbage game that they actually had to give it a second first release.

Back in my day, people had fun and didn't crap on others for remembering the days they had fun with friends who also remember the days they had fun. For those days were simple and nostalgia goggles were freely handed out without a judgmental tut or glare. Back then, folks knew how to learn and appreciate where they came from, because that is what shaped who they are today and how they look forward.

They plan ahead for the future with those experiences in mind. You can look back too much, but you can also look forward too much and forget the important things. Back in my day, you remembered what it was like before you grew up. You don't live in the past day every day, but you allow it to guide who you are in the present. I'm at that stage where there isn't much to look forward to in this game, so the many years of memories overshadows what's to come. And that's OK. We all get old and reminisce more, it's only natural.

FFXI is the old person relying on nostalgia to get by. Without that, we wouldn't see returnees. People would forget about Vana'diel because the memories would be left behind. You still have players going back to the original Mario and Pacman. For me, it's Sonic 1 for the Genesis, a game I first completed 30 years ago. It takes me back, but I still appreciate its gameplay like I did then. It is like popping on that vintage 70s or 80s track you haven't heard in so long.

There's nothing inherently wrong with appreciating classic pieces of art. And that's what FFXI is. More so because of the relationships between players. The content merely provided a platform for friendships to be forged. Some even got married because they met on the game, so they feel as if they owe much of their past, present and future to this. People will look whichever way that makes them happy. FFXI does that more so when we look back on its legacy, but nobody is saying that the future can't hold some of that same magic. You can appreciate the past, live in the present, and plan for the future, if you allow it.

Still here since 2005.. took break 2012 and came back 2013..in these days playing casally..idk is there any point pay monthly game fees with my attedance...maybe break would be ok..idk..

sorta started back in 06 I am on here and there at random times

Back in the old days we killed people with darters and antlions, laughed and mocked tanks that got one shot by an crit spark from DI and spammed claim on anything that turned yellow for a nanosecond.


No, FFXI is a variant from the MMORPG genre that was never improved upon because the companies that make them saw it was far more profitable to chase extreme casual gamers. Originally companies knew only turbo nerds like us would pay a monthly sub for a video game, now anyone will pay a sub/spend lots of money on outfits and so they no longer need to pander to us. We are in an age where millions of people pay $10 a month to a millionaire youtubers patreon, just cause they asked.

XI is a hardcore progression MMO and given nobody is going to make another one with the kind of production value XI had, this is the only show in town and will probably remain so 10 years from now and maybe even 20.

When I quit in 2011, I tried everything else out there from wow, 14, Aion, Warframe and numerous other games. They were all far easier and had far less grind (which meant you got to the point of having literally nothing to do very fast), the ones that came close were Korean based games and they all had p2w cash shops that ruined the experience.

None of us are really here because we are crippled with nostalgia, we are here because it's the only mmorpg we can actually enjoy since it caters to us perfectly. That's why I came back, that's why you'll come back and that's why lots of others ultimately come back. It's also why the game still has new players coming and joining, because the niche this game appeals to are still being made and still want that experience.

If FFXI was nothing but a nostalgia trip, it wouldn't even have the population it does now. I know I get nostalgic from time to time. I'll plug in my N64, play some Mario or Ocarina of Time, realize how antiquated they are, and then put them away for another 5 years. That's nostalgia. Those rose-tinted glasses fade away pretty quickly when you actually do re-experience it.

As RadialArcana said, there are a lot of things unique to the EverQuest-spun MMO games, and there are some things unique just to FFXI.

Interestingly, I had a conversation about this exact thing yesterday where I was forced to ask myself why I prefer XI over other MMOs. And I think a lot of it comes down to how open it feels. If I get bored of any one thing, I can switch gears and do something else. Pacing in video games goes a very, very long way for me. The ability to choose my own pacing is even better.

Final Fantasy XI's gameplay does a lot for me as well. I feel like I'm always fine-tuning my use of a bunch of resources: HP, MP, TP, recast timers, enmity, buffs, debuffs, and so on. What main job to use, what subjob to use, what trusts to use, what spells to set? Do I stun now or keep hammering out damage? Everything just feels so strategic, and you can go super hard into optimization.

(I have other reasons as well, but this post is already getting bloated lol)

Oh, I think you guys misunderstood. I didn't say FFXI is a nostalgia trip for everyone, I know full well how great the game is on its gameplay alone. I'm just not surprised that some folks decide to play on 75 cap private servers or jump in and out of the main game to re-experience Vana'Diel as part of their own personal nostalgia trip.

Many return because of the gameplay and nostalgia, and whatever their motivations are keeps the game going. The last time I was online I started a video project of finding every Notorious Monster in the game for no other reason but nostalgia and experiencing it in a way people don't anymore. But I also arranged some Sortie, and that was pretty sweet too. You can have the best of both worlds. I just don't understand how it's somehow a bad thing that some players love to reminisce on a 20+ year old game with friends.

My guy, are you me? Literally just described exactly what happened when I stopped XI - of the many times I did stop XI.

No other game has ever come close to matching it. Hell I haven't even played another game since I don't know when - probably The Witcher 3.

It's the battle system for me. So deep, almost infinitely configurable. Nothing else quite like it.

It all just makes me roll my eyes when people do it literally constantly. It just gets old, from someone who has been playing so long. No long drawn out posts necessary, nobody cares lol

...

Yeah, ok. Feel bad enough about it to constantly post about not caring though. {rolls eyes}

Constantly post about it? This is my first time even saying anything, keep trying harder

That was actually where the conversation I'd mentioned in my previous post had started. One friend asked another why they only stream retro games, but they were having a hard time putting it into words to give a cohesive answer. I chimed in, mentioning how apprehensive I am playing anything released after about 2008.

I continued buying new releases throughout 2009 and 2010, but none of them clicked with me. It made me stop buying consoles, and I've gradually slowed down buying stuff even on PC. There are still the occasional diamonds in the rough, but it's fairly safe to say that my ability to evolve along with games ceased after the PS2 era.

And I know it's not just nostalgia of "I had more time back then" because I can pick up a PS1/PS2 game I've never played before and feel right at home, even today. Honestly, if I really put my brain to it, I think a lot of it has to do with the way games were paced back then compared to the way games are paced now. And that's not to say games were paced better back in the early '00s, but that they were paced differently.

There's less fluff with old games. You start it, you play it. Cutscenes are kept to a minimum and you can tell that developers tried harder back then. They didn't have all the technology and pretty graphics so they put everything into gameplay and music to give the best experience possible.

Also, it's really hard to be original now, and if you dare to be original, you get games like Death Stranding that you either love it or hate it. There's so much public criticism now too, so most developers daren't be bold with their games. There are a few gems, but they usually get overlooked because you have to really look. It's a similar thing with music. Unless you're in an environment like school, college, or have a large circle of friends you regularly meet up with, it's hard to know what's "cool" right now. This is why some older players tend to stick with what they know.

I know when my friend lent me their PS4 when they went on a long holiday, I only used it once. The first time it took almost 2 hours to update everything and set up an account with it. And then when I tried a second time it had another 45 minute update and I was just like "OK I only had half an hour to play a game today, I guess not". And that reinforced my disinterest in ever buying another console.

But overall I'm not sure how much I agree with this sentiment. Even games that I do like from the PS1/PS2 era tended to have cutscenes and tutorials and fluff. And a lot of games have been learning from the mistakes of predecessors.

In addition to pacing, I think something else I've noticed is that games in the past would allow you to get lost and make mistakes. Modern games tend to avoid that because every second you're spent wandering off-course is a second the developers believe you aren't enjoying yourself. That's why it's hard to find RPGs without a translucent map sprawled across the screen while flashing GPS arrows guide your every step.

The important thing though is that all of this is fine. This is how most people tend to enjoy their games, and I won't fault developers for aiming for the overwhelmingly larger audience that prefers that. I am - we are - the unusual crowd. We're the ones OK with a game setting us back minutes, or possibly hours in progress. We're the ones content with wasting time floundering.

Yeah, we grew up without the luxury of Google, YouTube, and save states lol. The pain of losing hours being lost, or getting a game over that means you have to replay most, or even all of the game, is long gone. We were brought up on hard games that didn't want us clearing them in one sitting. You could rent them and developers wanted each player doing that several times.

Modern games have so much hand holding and hardly any punishment for getting it wrong that you yearn for, in a good way, something challenging and stressful. You quickly adapt to fighting a final boss over and over if you know that losing means you'll need to play through the 7 levels it took to get there.

I get that they want to cater to the casual player, but it comes at the expense of making the completion of a game less fulfilling. It reminds me of Sonic Spinball, I beat it last week for my nephew but I got to my last life on the last level and ended up making a save state. I got game over, but I loaded the state and carried on. So it wasn't a true clear to me, because if it was as the original intended, I'd have to start from the beginning.

Overcoming that brutality behind older games made you feel proud and want to revisit them later. Nowadays you hit 100% and be like ehh, well that was fun. Move on to the next. You're just checking off the list of tasks they want you to complete instead of making up your own ways to enjoy it. Like how when I was a kid I'd do Sonic runs where I'd try to collect every ring on each level when there's nothing to 'earn' for doing so.

I think it's more the dumbing down most - not all - modern games do.

Oh look, there's a conveniently placed box here you can crouch behind and magically restore health, how convenient. Oh, having trouble with this boss? Why let me lower the difficulty automatically for you.

It makes whatever accomplishment you may have felt at having achieved what was once hard, ultimately meaningless.

Much like being given a mythic or empyrean weapon like some private XI servers do. Yeah, you get a mythic, but did you earn it? How is that any different than booting up a private server locally and giving yourself an ultimate weapon? Fun, for about 5min, then utterly boring and meaningless.

Some of the most fun games ever were notoriously hard and that was and is the point. They are fun because they are challenging and take a lot of perseverance, effort and skill to overcome.

I wonder if a part of it is these companies vying not for your enjoyment, but your completion. With the advent of Achievements, games could be made easier and shorter. And when so many people have backlogs that range from dozens to hundreds, making your game easy to digest is probably a lot more appealing.

Games with infinite lives and generous checkpoints would then sell better. Even if your game is awful, at least it was only 4 hours of pain and the person was able to get through it. If the game is good, Achievements give players a bit more longevity.

I think the aesthetics of 11 help for me also, gameplay mechanics are definitely a big draw and I think they are why most people stay around, but it really helps that 11 looks really good for a 20 year old game. If you compare it to titles around the same time it came out, I feel like they did a really good job managing the resources they had and not making a game world that just seems flat and empty. The effects are also really appealing and give you a good sense that you are doing something impactful.

Compare this to something like Everquest or Everquest 2 (which 11 was released between these two), the aesthetics of those two have aged much more poorly IMO.


My friend rage quit Ninja Gaiden: Black because he got his difficult demoted down to "Ninja Dog" and he got butthurt

Yeah, 2012 is around the time i started.

I guess i can be considered old days now?

My char has 12 years old, but its body still seems like 0-day (maybe more bulky now)

Agreed. The sound design and effects combine really well to let you feel those big hits. Even basic autoattack hits sound satisfying.

Equipment design and overall art direction are both fantastic as well. It doesn't have as many polygons as a modern game, but it lets your brain sort of fill in the gaps. They also paid a lot of attention to detail to make the world feel lived-in.

And I could gush for hours on the animations. The sheer effort they put into giving every race completely unique animations for every emote, every combat style, and every weapon skill. You can tell immediately what race another character is by the way they stand and move in battle. Hell, they even went so far as to redraw armor for each race, adding armor to a Galka's tail or ears to an Elvaan's helmet. Even though Hume women and Mithra share the same polygonal shape, most equipment looks entirely different between them.

back in my day, we barely knew how to use the internet let alone using forums :D

Back in my day, killing ifrit was the shittalking forums...

Back in my day, we tied an onion to our belt, which was the style at the time.

We even formed a brigade

Back in my day, Allakhazam was where all the drama happened.

Did someone call me by name?

The king of "***-posting" was undoubtedly Treelo in the killing ifrit THF forums. No one will snatch the crown from that god k?

My 0.02 on the last posts.

I still enjoy any new title that comes out and my mains MMRPGS are FFXIV-ModernWoW, I go back to FFXI every 6 months and then take a break.

The two sagas that have filled the void that FFXI left in my heart are DARK SOULS and MONSTER HUNTER. I highly recommend them.

It's been a hot minute, I hope you're all doing okay lol

- Flionheart

Flion, you still Welsh? :D

KI days was that Darknight dude.... Forgot his exact name.