Thanks for saying to support retail first, that is appreciated considering most couldn't care less to support it but its a 20 yr old game that deserves better. I have to disagree with saying that retail is more for a solo experience. It really does not have to be a solo experience at all. Lv1-99 is not relevant anymore, they included two new grinds after that in which you can team up with people to complete them. Job points and Master levels... Both unlock new spells and abilities. You can join one of the more populated servers like Asura, find a linkshell, and literally do everything you want with a bunch of friends. So I don't see the community aspect being gone in retail. Keep in mind, like you said, end game generally requires teaming up with others. Those private servers are generally filled with people playing because its free. Most will bounce on and off and the population will go down in a decline given that most of the content is old and have been done by so many people already in the past. It had a huge ad push behind it by a popular millionaire streamer named "Ninja" and its stats are hyper inflated right now, so keep those /sea all numbers with a grain of salt. It also means when he gets bored of it and stops caring he will probably stop funding it. Retail is funded by a triple A company and gets updates monthly... I just see 0 benefit in playing these private servers. They are completely boring, filled with bugs and issues and barely give freedom of choice. In retail you have freedom to team up, solo, progress on things when you have time. In private servers that replicate a 75 era, you are almost always forced to team up with people who you may not like or want to play with. You are forced to sit and wait for groups (which can become a problem later on when population dips) or depend on linkshells for end game resources like gear.
I got to agree with everything you just said, I used to be on Asura so long ago over a decade now. I have tried to come back a few times now but not had the same enjoyment as I did before. I do expect the server to die down for exact reasons you said, and il be honest my injury is probably why i am okay with the long waits etc currently. *broke my right wrist over december so been playing it due to the slower based content. But yes for 99% of folk, I would suggest retail over horizonxi, for pretty much everything you have said. ty for the comment though and hope you enjoy the stuff we do in future
Just started on Horizonxi yesterday cause of a youtuber, saw the video and decided to give it a try, just to find out he no longer plays and the game still has a good group of people, I even got someone giving me 5k gold for free very thankful for that, and economy wise is good too, stuff is selling in the AH etc, but yes I agree with you, I think retail would be a safer bet, nothing to worry on Horizon its free right now so if you want the old nostalgia I would say play, they had fix a bunch of things and its not buggy at all, its literally the same old ffxi with minor twitches and the community seems awesome, but for the long run I would say go retail, at least your progression would be safer than this server tomorrow closing and everything you work for is gone.
Don't know if you'll see this, but I play on horizon xi, I'm subbed to retail, but haven't played it, horizon xi is still popping off, my problem with retail is how the solo leveling isn't all that fun, but I like the idea of being able to do stuff at my own pace such as CoP or Zilart, I'm a fairly new player and I'm between 2 minds of playing retail and horizon xi or dropping horizon xi for retail, in your opinion do you think retail is still in a good spot for a new player to the game? And I mean someone without 20 years of experience, is endgame still worth it seeing that the game is in maintenance mode? How many people can still be grinding at this stage?
@@FUall19956 Its worth it if your goal is to have fun. There are a lot more quests and storylines to experience if you are into that, there are way more ways to play and enjoy the game as a final fantasy game. Private servers poorly replicate an era of the game where we had some of the least freedom ever in almost every single choice. Forced to team up for every little thing and sit in lists under a leaders thumb or slave to your linkshell to be able to lot stuff. If you really want that old school carebear MMO friend feels, then you will most likely find that better on a p server. If you want to enjoy yourself on your time and with a small friend group, then retail is better. You can start on Asura server which is still highly populated, over 2k+ individual players at all times (there are bots/RMT in that number, but you can easily find people.) You only need 2 or 3 friends to do almost everything in the game, especially since most people multibox characters. As far as leveling, are you referring to the grind at lv99 to master level 50? There is nothing unfun about leveling 1 to 99 because its super quick, you get trusts to help and it can be fun seeing different combinations of trusts and the cool abilities they have etc. 99 to master level 50 is a long long grind, that can be done mostly afk though. I think its worth it for a new player, you have tons upon tons of content to experience and play through, tons of storylines. You just need to find a linkshell to chat with and 1 or 2 friends that can play with you thru it. Don't let them carry you thru everything, try to do what you can alone so they don't overpower everything at max level and it will feel cheap/fast. As far as end game, theres still grinds to do but I would just focus on gearing up a character and enjoying playing the job you like. There is no rush when theres no road map for the game at. At the end, that private server is free, so you don't have to force yourself to choose as you can do both. But I don't see putting time into a private server as worth it, thats just my opinion.
@@FUall19956 I typed out a really long reply and some reason it got auto deleted by youtube. Its worth it if you want to play for entertainment. There are plenty of storylines to experience and on populated servers like Asura, plenty of people to play with. Although you dont really have to decide between the two, because private server is free so you can play both at the same time. There are still people grinding and there is potential for new content, we don't know yet. It isn't an official maint mode.
I love retail. Tho its basically a solo friendly version of ffxi thst lets you finish up everything you used to need a proper group for outside of the end game grind fests that is mastery. Horozon is like a theme park version of ffxi 75 era. Now if it didnt have 2k players during peak.....(like all ahs being linkrd and being able to sell way more items than you used too. And being able to synch levels at launch has been a great experience.
@@mooglegoroundradio horizon is still popping i'm just here watching your vids whilst i grind there are new players joining at a steady rate still too which is wierd but fantastic and as we speak theres 2k in game ~ healing speed is 20s for first tick 10s each tick after that i think but you'll have to tell me if that's proper or not cos hzxi is my first ffxi experience
@@zXTyRaNTXz Nah I think that is faster then the original game. I really need to get back into Horizonxi. Good to see it is still doing well! Thank you though for watching the video.
Problem with a private server is they could pull the rug at any time. Server stops and you will have lost all your time investment. The drama behind some private servers is well documented. So it's a no from me. Go into this with your eyes wide open.
That's a good point! Ive been trying to decide which version to play FF11 for the first time and have been indecisive until this vid and your comment! Think I'm going retail because I would be devastated to lose my progress
Agreed, every private server mmo I ever played is now gone. Most of the official servers are still up, with some exceptions. I think (and hope) that the official FFXI server keeps going as I just recently started after something like a 13 year hiatus.
@@brightargyle8950because it's a main line entry, as long as people are playing it's gonna stay up, I'm tempted to drop horizon xi and go retail, also they're doing stuff with the servers or something to make the game more stable or something, i imagine if the servers ever do close down, they'll offer an offline mode, I think they should update the game and make it more accessible and do a combined sub with ffxiv.
Very true but if you want a classic experience with this game, its never going to come from square so this is the only opportunity or maybe chance to do it while its up. So its just about enjoying that experience
Thanks for saying to support retail first, that is appreciated considering most couldn't care less to support it but its a 20 yr old game that deserves better.
I have to disagree with saying that retail is more for a solo experience. It really does not have to be a solo experience at all. Lv1-99 is not relevant anymore, they included two new grinds after that in which you can team up with people to complete them. Job points and Master levels... Both unlock new spells and abilities. You can join one of the more populated servers like Asura, find a linkshell, and literally do everything you want with a bunch of friends. So I don't see the community aspect being gone in retail. Keep in mind, like you said, end game generally requires teaming up with others.
Those private servers are generally filled with people playing because its free. Most will bounce on and off and the population will go down in a decline given that most of the content is old and have been done by so many people already in the past. It had a huge ad push behind it by a popular millionaire streamer named "Ninja" and its stats are hyper inflated right now, so keep those /sea all numbers with a grain of salt. It also means when he gets bored of it and stops caring he will probably stop funding it. Retail is funded by a triple A company and gets updates monthly...
I just see 0 benefit in playing these private servers. They are completely boring, filled with bugs and issues and barely give freedom of choice. In retail you have freedom to team up, solo, progress on things when you have time. In private servers that replicate a 75 era, you are almost always forced to team up with people who you may not like or want to play with. You are forced to sit and wait for groups (which can become a problem later on when population dips) or depend on linkshells for end game resources like gear.
I got to agree with everything you just said, I used to be on Asura so long ago over a decade now. I have tried to come back a few times now but not had the same enjoyment as I did before.
I do expect the server to die down for exact reasons you said, and il be honest my injury is probably why i am okay with the long waits etc currently. *broke my right wrist over december so been playing it due to the slower based content.
But yes for 99% of folk, I would suggest retail over horizonxi, for pretty much everything you have said.
ty for the comment though and hope you enjoy the stuff we do in future
Just started on Horizonxi yesterday cause of a youtuber, saw the video and decided to give it a try, just to find out he no longer plays and the game still has a good group of people, I even got someone giving me 5k gold for free very thankful for that, and economy wise is good too, stuff is selling in the AH etc, but yes I agree with you, I think retail would be a safer bet, nothing to worry on Horizon its free right now so if you want the old nostalgia I would say play, they had fix a bunch of things and its not buggy at all, its literally the same old ffxi with minor twitches and the community seems awesome, but for the long run I would say go retail, at least your progression would be safer than this server tomorrow closing and everything you work for is gone.
Don't know if you'll see this, but I play on horizon xi, I'm subbed to retail, but haven't played it, horizon xi is still popping off, my problem with retail is how the solo leveling isn't all that fun, but I like the idea of being able to do stuff at my own pace such as CoP or Zilart, I'm a fairly new player and I'm between 2 minds of playing retail and horizon xi or dropping horizon xi for retail, in your opinion do you think retail is still in a good spot for a new player to the game? And I mean someone without 20 years of experience, is endgame still worth it seeing that the game is in maintenance mode? How many people can still be grinding at this stage?
@@FUall19956 Its worth it if your goal is to have fun. There are a lot more quests and storylines to experience if you are into that, there are way more ways to play and enjoy the game as a final fantasy game. Private servers poorly replicate an era of the game where we had some of the least freedom ever in almost every single choice. Forced to team up for every little thing and sit in lists under a leaders thumb or slave to your linkshell to be able to lot stuff.
If you really want that old school carebear MMO friend feels, then you will most likely find that better on a p server. If you want to enjoy yourself on your time and with a small friend group, then retail is better. You can start on Asura server which is still highly populated, over 2k+ individual players at all times (there are bots/RMT in that number, but you can easily find people.) You only need 2 or 3 friends to do almost everything in the game, especially since most people multibox characters.
As far as leveling, are you referring to the grind at lv99 to master level 50? There is nothing unfun about leveling 1 to 99 because its super quick, you get trusts to help and it can be fun seeing different combinations of trusts and the cool abilities they have etc. 99 to master level 50 is a long long grind, that can be done mostly afk though.
I think its worth it for a new player, you have tons upon tons of content to experience and play through, tons of storylines. You just need to find a linkshell to chat with and 1 or 2 friends that can play with you thru it. Don't let them carry you thru everything, try to do what you can alone so they don't overpower everything at max level and it will feel cheap/fast. As far as end game, theres still grinds to do but I would just focus on gearing up a character and enjoying playing the job you like. There is no rush when theres no road map for the game at.
At the end, that private server is free, so you don't have to force yourself to choose as you can do both. But I don't see putting time into a private server as worth it, thats just my opinion.
@@FUall19956 I typed out a really long reply and some reason it got auto deleted by youtube. Its worth it if you want to play for entertainment. There are plenty of storylines to experience and on populated servers like Asura, plenty of people to play with. Although you dont really have to decide between the two, because private server is free so you can play both at the same time. There are still people grinding and there is potential for new content, we don't know yet. It isn't an official maint mode.
Good vid! Its always good to see comparisons between retail and private. Both have great points, both have bad points.
I love retail. Tho its basically a solo friendly version of ffxi thst lets you finish up everything you used to need a proper group for outside of the end game grind fests that is mastery.
Horozon is like a theme park version of ffxi 75 era. Now if it didnt have 2k players during peak.....(like all ahs being linkrd and being able to sell way more items than you used too. And being able to synch levels at launch has been a great experience.
I have been playing more retail recently, but really should give Horizonxi another chance. It has added some nice quality of life stuff.
Is the /Healing speed faster than vanilla? It's feels like it is, but I can't find any information in regard to this.
I think it is, but il be honest havent been on Horizon for ages, really should go back someday.
@@mooglegoroundradio horizon is still popping i'm just here watching your vids whilst i grind there are new players joining at a steady rate still too which is wierd but fantastic and as we speak theres 2k in game ~ healing speed is 20s for first tick 10s each tick after that i think but you'll have to tell me if that's proper or not cos hzxi is my first ffxi experience
@@zXTyRaNTXz Nah I think that is faster then the original game. I really need to get back into Horizonxi. Good to see it is still doing well! Thank you though for watching the video.
2003 area + dude
Problem with a private server is they could pull the rug at any time. Server stops and you will have lost all your time investment. The drama behind some private servers is well documented. So it's a no from me. Go into this with your eyes wide open.
That's a good point! Ive been trying to decide which version to play FF11 for the first time and have been indecisive until this vid and your comment! Think I'm going retail because I would be devastated to lose my progress
Agreed, every private server mmo I ever played is now gone. Most of the official servers are still up, with some exceptions. I think (and hope) that the official FFXI server keeps going as I just recently started after something like a 13 year hiatus.
@@brightargyle8950because it's a main line entry, as long as people are playing it's gonna stay up, I'm tempted to drop horizon xi and go retail, also they're doing stuff with the servers or something to make the game more stable or something, i imagine if the servers ever do close down, they'll offer an offline mode, I think they should update the game and make it more accessible and do a combined sub with ffxiv.
Very true but if you want a classic experience with this game, its never going to come from square so this is the only opportunity or maybe chance to do it while its up. So its just about enjoying that experience
Plus thats whye its free