FFXI Classic - When Was Retail at its Best?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ก.ค. 2024
- Final Fantasy XI has undergone many changes in its 17 years of life, and players love to reflect on the good old days. But when was XI in its purest form? What changes drifted it away from the best version of itself? In this video I'll get into why that isn't always an easy puzzle to solve, and why everyone may have slightly different answers.
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abyssea extension was what killed it for me, having access to abyssea and lvl up 1 to 99 in 1-2 days , most of the zone was desert at that point.
Personnally I think anything before wotg was classic ffxi. I still enjoyed the expensions after tho, but pre wotg was so much fun.
Toau ruined the game even though toau wasnt necessarily bad but it changed the game to the direction of ruin. By the time wog came out it was already ruined as in jueno became useless, meriting and leveling became easy
@@mattmatthewmatchuu and salvage nyzule gear too, and how easy it became to do light/ darkness sc with nyzule ws's
Wotg was my favorite expansion, I’m probably biased though as I was 7/8 years old when my dad started playing ffxi and I remember flowers on the battlefield vividly. Not to mention the blast that campaign was.
Peak ffxi is probably ending of CoP but i feel toau was needed for the game to feel a little more complete
ya i'm sort of in a weird balance between tohse two as well
@@Huntin4GamesChannel I feel CoP is basically Burning Crusade, perfected the formula but unfortunately endgame was fubared by Kings, Absolute Virtue, and 2-handers being kind of useless. ToAU was basically like Wrath of the Lich it opened up the game a lot and created way more options to gear up sadly it was the end of real originality. The thing is people would easily "dunk on" Classic FFXI way more than Classic WoW because people were just ignorant about the game back then.
@@Simplemalk i think the difference between wow and ffxi is that ffxi did not hold players hands with anything. wow, started similarly but quickly adapted to the idea of dumb-ing down the game for the masses. FFXI chose to maintain a long tradition of tough battles and only when the player base was almost dead from wows marketing campaigns did it adapt to making the game a bit more solo-able. I also think that wow and many other games like it went out of their way to put training wheels on to all the questing later as well. But FFXI you need to do your research regardless for missions and quests alike. The only thing they adjusted was a quick menu guide system for many missions and quests that are accessable and that for the most part was for faster xp gains.
These are my thoughts too
Memorializing FFXI in a "classic" sense is us trying to relive something more than a specific point in the game. Between NA release in 2003, through 2010 when the 75 cap increased, combined with the progression we went through in our personal lives is really what "FFXI classic" really is.
ffxi classic was the friends we made along the way
Abyssea broke XI. They could have raised the level cap OR had an entry requirement of lvl 75 to enter. Instead they raised the level cap with no requirement to enter/change jobs inside. Going from 1-90 in a day or two completely ruined any challenge in XI.
Story-wise I love the story behind abyssea, but they dropped the ball in leveling/cap raising in that expansion.
Getting my first taste of FFXI on the PS2 (!) during the NA beta test is, and will probably always be, the most magical gaming experience I've ever had. Although the game was already out in Japan at the time of the beta test, many of us beta testers knew nothing about how the game worked. Also, the beta test was on its own server, meaning we all started from level 1 together--which is kind of crazy and cool to think about (the high levels being sort of like pioneers). For us noobs back then, the subjob quest was only a legend you'd hear hushed whispers of in the thickets of West Ronfuare and anyone you saw riding a chocobo was a GOD.
*The answer to the perfect era of Final Fantasy 11 is:* _"Your own personal experience of enjoying the game."_
Regardless of when you joined. Everyone have their own personal adventure. Mine cannot be recaptured on a private server, that is simply impossible at this point and it would be an insult to injury, if I were to even try, but this is fine. I already "lived" this adventure. I remember it and have it safely stored in the form of screenshots and video clips. My perfect era of FF11 is in my heart.
Ya I tried to touch in that a bit, everyone’s going to have their own perfect era for their own reasons :) part of what makes it so amazing
same here loved the game it was so much fun
ToAU for me as well. The addition of another Support job was huge (COR), albeit rarely seen. One thing I absolutely LOVED about ToAU was the Astral Candescence and BESEIGED! The Astral Candy giving the EXP boost was nice, it was for everyone, which incentivized EVERYONE to participate in Offense and/or Defense. That ongoing invasion was a fun little way of building the community. Then they started posting "Winning Servers" of the Beseiged events across the various Servers, it was a nice little prestige thing to acknowledge the people of certain Servers that put in the effort.
One thing that I am surprised he didn't mention about his preference for a time period..... AVATAR SUMMONS! Seriously, I refuse to live in a world in which we proud Summoners (There are DOZENS OF US!) can't summon Fenrir and Diabolos.
ya COR was huge, although i agree kind of rare to find. Besieged omg I couldn't remember the name of it haha. and thats true! By the time I was leveling SMN Fenrir was already around, but I was 75 long before Diabolos. Can't even imagine a game where the summons don't exist
ToAU, just after Salvage release.
I loved Aht Ughan because of Salvage. Salvage 75 was a delight. It was so challenging for small parties and alliances alike. No single expansion (CoP, WotG, ToAU), made the game worse, imho. NOT EVEN ABYSSEA. Abyssea was OK, as long as everything that happened with it stayed within its borders. But along came Empyrean Weapons, equipments with crazy stats, and suddenly, people started to behave everywhere else as if they were within Abyssea. And of course, level cap increase contributed to that. That, to me, was when game mechanics started to get pretty messed up in the sense that there was no point in doing old content or in playing the game like it used to be in the past.
I started in zilart. CoP is what I would consider the golden age.
Same for me. Seemed like the player base was at it's high for CoP
As someone who played in every era in at the 75 cap, ToAU is the best era. But I really enjoyed WoTG as well for the story and the new abilities that were added made all the jobs super fun to play. Also, as you said, level sync made the game way better.
You are right about the level cap raise, I quit when they raised the cap, broke the balance of the game and made all my gear I acquired over the period of many years pretty much useless. The best part of Final Fantasy 11 was the horizontal progression. WoW's vertical progression just makes me mad when a new expansion drops all my stuff is trash now.
of if you play 14 each patch your gear is trash now lol
ToAU was amazing, it introduced a new era, the best era, to ffxi. Level sync had its perk, it definitely gave us a tool to help friends who started pkaying or guild mates that didn't have an open schedule, it wasn't all that bad. CoP, WoTG, ToAU made the game more playable. Abyssea was just a grind fest, that's when we knew they had no intention of backing off the grinding mentality and man!! What came after that its what was the complete opposite and imo ruined the game.
I loved the abyssea content but the level 25 entry is what killed it, level 75+ abysses wouldn’t have been that bad, I still prefer 75 era though
I love watching your videos, they bring me back to my childhood, late weekends with this game, and making friends in Jeuno. You really bring back the nostalgia, thanks dude!!!
XI was at it's best when we were still getting frequent fresh subs. My favorite thing to do in 2005~2006 was help people get sub job items, kazham keys, AF, and do limit break quests.
Started in 2005 and finished just before Wotg was released. Was the best time for me for sure,
My first 75 was Black Mage in WOTG era. It was hard to level my black mage. I loved campaign. Then I played it on my PLD lvl 70 and I had even more fun. I think i just like taking the long lonely road because I enjoy the challenge.
My favorite time in FFXI was Zilart. I started just before it came out and enjoyed every minute I spent in game.
Zilart was amazing ^^ and for me feels like hte true original game, beause I never played without it lol
CoP was the best era IMO.
During that time, it seemed to me that people would want to party, quest, or do different things all over the enitre map.
After ToAU, it felt like the game world was limited.
Easier, faster leveling on the same type of mobs. It felt like the group dynamic was cut. Didn't have to communicate with party for skillchains or set up angled for SATA. Just bounce back and forth with birds and imps for 20 levels.
CoP were my favorite time in the game. Loved the areas, I just wish SE had made them easier accessible for travel (after unlocking them), so it would be faster to reach XP camps and such. This was before the homepoint teleports.
Once ToAU came out, merit burns took over. Not that I had anything against TP burns, since we already had MP burns. But it not only pulled all people away from XPing in Sea, but it also ended regular parties with SC and MB.
I took a long break after ToAU released. I came back when WotG released and took up Scholar. When leveling in ToAU areas with folks from the LS, our SAM had no idea about SC's. Or their elements.... He was just spamming WS after WS... I spent 20 mins explaining him how SC and MB worked, and eventually we tried it. Only 2 of us in the PT, had ever seen a SC and MB.
The others had "grown up" with the TP burn craze. I was happy to teach them something amazing, yet also extremely sad to see what the game had become.
I hated the level cap BS for CoP, but I enjoyed the missions. Sea was absolutely breathtaking.... one of the most well done zones aesthetically.
In fairness man, I came in via the introduction of the 360 and ps2. I wouldnt know either if it hadn't been for my LS friend. She was salty and beat me over the head with her knowledge of the game, a legacy player. Saddly you cant fix someone that doesnt also want to take the time to farm for gil. Any gil I did earn was small. I was a tree cutting and bee chip farmer. Never saw a mil at any one time on me unless someone quitting gave it to me. I was lucky enough with NM farming for gear i actually needed though (as long as i could survive the fight). Even got PCC on first attempt (only had enough seals for 1 try)
Man thats like..kind of sad :'( but i totally get it. There came a point in the game where for a lot of content, including leveling, it didn't make sense to wait for tp to skillchain or set up agic Bursts. But man was that a great mechanic
@@Huntin4GamesChannel Indeed a fantastic mechanic, that even existed in the original FF14...
I still remember the first time I got to MB with Freeze on crawlers in the nest... that 4 digit damage. You knew you were in the league of badasses then.
But honestly, FF11 is not a bad game today, even with the lack of this mechanic. I found new joy in it, after starting a new character. A fresh start with a "its a new game" mindset, putting all the ways of the old to the side and just relearn/experience most stuff from scratch.
I'm really late to finding your channel, but I've been really liking your FFXI videos. To give my thoughts way late: ToAU before the introduction of Level Sync and WotG was my favorite time period. I loved the leveling camps 50+ that ToAU added, I loved besieged, assault, Nyzul Isle Einherjar and most importantly Salvage. ToAU brought us the 2H update making warrior with Great Axe great. And things like salvage and einherjar and Zeni NMs gave you alternatives to HNM drops that didn't require the time commitment from HNM LSs. I have life long friends from this era of FFXI and it was a huge part of my life. Definitely ToAU.
CoP was great, but TOAU is my favourite expansion. I liked WOTG too. But once you go past 75 it ruins the game.
I don't really care about classic FFXI because I already have the experience I am looking for on the Eden Server.
It has all the cool quality of life changes like level sync and wardrobes that you were talking about, but stays as true to in era content as possible.
I'm getting a new laptop soon and I'm interested in getting on eden. At what expansion does it end¿
How can you use the mog wards?
I had the most fun with my real life static party friends right after ToAU released. BLU was my favorite thing to play in the game. Also I started up FFXI again after a 8 year hiatus because of your videos!
Ur probably the most authentic ffxi fan I’ve seen on TH-cam. I love how enthusiastic the way you express your passion for the game. Keep up the good work, more people should watch your videos to really understand how good this game is because this game had mixed reactions when it first came out because the game penalized you really hard every time you die. But through out the years SE have read feedbacks from the players and was willing to improve and make the game more appealing even to the casual fans. So I’m proud to say ffxi is still the best mmo I played to this date not because im biased only on squaresoft games but the appreciation of the developer and programmers really took it to the next level when it comes to changing mechanics to suit the player and also veterans as well. So it’s cool that you see the development of the game has become today and how much you enjoy it as well.
Content-wise, ToAU was my favorite. I literally did hundreds of mercenary runs, guiding folks through Caedarva Mire to Arrapago Reef for the PUP quest.
Wings has a special "feels" for me, being able to visit Garlaige Citadel and Crawlers Nest in the past, being able to see these places before they deteriorated to the present day.
My opinion stands firmly on pre Abbysea content, even before level sync. Those things did make the game more accessible, but I cannot deny the hardcore who made it.
To anyone who got to 75 on those endless shouts, the late night grind parties, the great exp groups and the painful times when you could join a party and have less exp when it was over. . . To all of those who made it before the additions made it easier, within reason, that deserves serious respect. Dedication and determination do not do it justice.
I would describe It as "FFXI Classic" is caring about the journey, end is 75 (and you can do stuff there), but the point is the growing, the friendship through difficulties and such (an example is CoP missions starting on lvl 50 and ending at 75 lvl difficulty). On the other hand, non-"FFXI Classic- is anything making the journey speeds Up, in order to put focus on endgame stuff.
I personally think it was prior to wings of the goddess, it really solidified uniqueness between jobs and still focused on that group dynamic. I did not like burn parties either but I think with all the other content in the game it was fine. I am also partial to blue mage being my first 75.
I think regardless of WHEN you think the best version of itself was, it should include level sync added on.
100% personally agree haha
Oddly me and my friends like never used level sync. Maybe a couple times when it came out. And I don't even really remember seeing people use it.
I wouldn't mind a system like on nasomi. It has a 10 level gap. I think it makes it easier to utilize and set up parties.
I started to play FF11 when CoP and ZM came out and I just loved everything about the game. The party with the skill chains and the magic burst were something unique because you used to felt like in an end game experience even if you were leveling (because the party were a lot technical, you needed to sync up with everyone and it was not just a spam of abilities). Than I continued to enjoy the game when ToaU came out. I was a main Blm but I managed to exp normally with skill burn pt playing as an healer because I liked the great difficulty I had to heal as a Blm. Then I used Rdm too and I loved it. I quitted when the level cap was raised to 99. I mean, I had some months of fan but the totally random party you had into abyssea (with no skills, only spam and run around) ruined my experience. Thanks for sharing with us your opinions 😊
Salvage was, and always will be my favourite experience in video games. Nothing will compare to low manning with my self made group, freaking out with them when stuff dropped due to terrible drop rates, and completing my full Usukane set for my Monk. I'd relieve those days over and over if I could.
There were two 'golden ages'.
The first was Aht Urghan to mid-Wings of the Goddess, that expansion was seriously dragged out for too long and it's when I first noticed people leaving.
The second was Abyssea to mid-Voidwatch, the climb from Lv.75 to Lv.99 was really exciting as the meta was constantly shifting and people could start bringing other jobs to content.
An honorable mention goes to the start of Seekers of Adoulin, that expansion brought so many back in and it presented a major and welcome difficulty spike.
I started playing right after the NA release and through ToAU. After you talked about all the major changes and tweaks during the first few expansions I realized how much of a noob I was during my entire experience. All I did was try to hit 75 and go through each story line. I never worked towards getting insane gear or hunt NMs and accomplished virtually none of the endgame content. BUT despite my ignorance I still enjoyed every minute of FFXI.
PS I just found your FFXI videos and have loved each one so far.
I liked zilart and CoP era but Either Toa or the first year of WotG was the peak in my opinion
It was the fact that Colibri had reflect. It made BLM useless in the beginning of TOAU leveling. So ppl stopped inviting them, and stopped MB'ing.
For me peak will always be just prior to the beastmaster nerf (aka despawn patch). It fundamentally changed my favorite job by making it impractical to use a pet from one area of a zone in another. Fortunately I made it to 75 prior to that change.
Otherwise, CoP was my favorite expansion. The missions were a true challenge and knowing I completed the final fight before any changes were made is still one of my biggest accomplishments in a video game.
And my vote for the change that ruined the game, probably the introduction of Colibris. They were probably responsible for the death of the skillchain/magic burst parties more than anything else. (I quit playing just before WoTG was released so I never experienced post 75 play/Abyssea.)
I forgot about that
Yeah BSTS definitely got hit the hardest about the despawn nerf, and haha Colibris were the beginning of the end for standard magic bursting for sure
I was a BST main and rage quit for about 2 weeks after the despawn patch, but it was actually pretty nice in the end. It was much easier to set up camps, and if you released them in their spawn area they wouldn't despawn. It was necessary because of all the trains in leveling areas because people would keep zoning in and out, so it would sometimes be hours before the zone was usable again.. I remember one time CN had been shut down for like 6 hours before an endgame alliance finally went in and killed everything.
I completely agree with ToAU being where I hit my stride. With that said, I was playing mostly monk for the longest time, and immediately jumped on cor. Totally changed enjoyment from "hey, I like this game" to "this is probably my favorite game."
CoP was great, best Final Fantasy story imo, but I was mostly playing with randoms at that time and didn't really get that social experience I wanted until my friends started playing towards the end of CoP / beginning of ToAU, in which case level sync would be a must have if I wanted to do it all over again.
I would say the golden age for me is ToUA. treasures was a lot of fun overall and with pup coming to the game and that becoming my main and my favorite job. WoTG was fun I tried dancer and I think I got scholar to maybe 30 but SCH was more of a gimped whm at that time. people did not realize or it was not added where you can make SCs with magic and then MB off of that. the final straw that broke the camel's back for me was learning the level cap would be raised past 75. i did not play during then. i quit in 2007 before that happened but then came back in around 2016 / 2017 because of your videos :P
No matter what, we're going to be comparing the meta-game at different points to see where we peaked. I liked WotG's time-travel story, and the different takes on familiar zones. Where the game peaked for me was in Abyssea. I realized that we could be carried through the entire level progression and have a few merit points at the end of a decent night. It. made leveling trivial, and removed the need to learn how your job worked. That was when I switched over to SWTOR, then later to FFXIV 2.0.
@Huntin 4 Games
My perspective isn't unique as many players have had this same experience, I started FFXI about a month after the US release and played 6 years straight then off and on until the present. So I have seen every facet of the game and experienced every change good or bad but the change that ruined FFXI for me was the raising of the lv cap from 75. The raise in the lv cap was the beginning of the end of the FFXI community, and that is what made the FFXI experience special to me and I would say to most anyone playing in that era. All the other changes before then might have been significant to some while not so much to others but the level cap increase screwed the entire community and the game as a whole.
Start with base game, no expansions.
Then, each year add the next expansion. Restart the cycle.
Shut up and take my money!
I'd love to have patch cycles of new content like it was, but that would be a near impossible task. I think it would be much easier to do expansion releases instead.
Level sync? Keep. But maybe make it 5lvl range.
Trust? Remove.
Hotel? Trivago.
I joined right since Beta on PS2.. Saved up for the game and got it, super excited. I even paid my dad the 11 bucks every month so I could play.
The CoP era is definitely the topping on the Zilart Cake, but the Finale for me was ToAU. The story, the new features, expanded inventory (The Locker), besieged, new NMs and jobs.. just a wonderful new world.
I just spent way too much time reading all the comments here. My feelings are echoed in many of them. With that said, I'm so glad I found Eden. It's taken me back to a game I never thought I would play again. The addiction is just as real as it was back in 2004.
This ^^^ :)
cop-toau were my favorite. Cop gear was still relevant while toau was going on, and toau was so fun, with fun zones to party in. Mamook ridill warrior parties where you killed until you got to the middle and murdered everything was the best. Blm burns were fun too.
I did a triple-warrior Ridill party in Mamook as well. I didn't organize it and never knew why we went there in particular, is there a reason?
Mamook was my favorite little secret back before they replaced a bunch of mobs in the two rooms at the back with Wyverns. I would enter from the normal Mamook Beastmen exp camp by the staging point and fight our way through to the two open rooms. From there we would just go through both rooms slaughtering everything in sight for better exp than outside. Eventually they put a whole bunch of wyverns in them, which killed the camp for the most part. It was still doable, but not really worth the effort.
The little island where Khimmy spawned was also some amazing exp once you got a camp set up. You would have to fight your way through to the other side, which sucked because there were a bunch of Flayers in the way, but once you got there you could avoid them and just rape Imps endlessly.
For me Treasures of Aht Urgan was like the best to me, the introduction of BLU PUP & COR
in addition to Mythic weapons, Assaults, Besieged, taking Photos to fight Panda Warden
Nyzul Isle, Freaking being able to fight ODIN!, & all the Gear you could get from Salvage.
That was my favorite version of XI though i did like the new weapons armors & stuff from Abbysea
it did suck how it made leveling irrelevant...
First NA player on kujata with pld af2 body...proud moment 😆
Sky was definitely my favorite part of playing but sea wasn't terrible and the race to get it done first was awesome. Quit before doing the jailers unfortunately.
CoP was the best, after that it started getting easier just people didn’t want to notice the early signs. Only thing I respected about Treasures expansion was Einherjar for abjurations and COR class which is why I think people look the other way when you want to shit on Treasures expansion. Back then everyone didn’t care what dps you were you got a party but Treasures expansion NO BLM in our party and I don’t remember leaving treasures areas as much to go back to crabs just rarely ever. Robber crabs were the best times, must sound crazy to some hell I miss skillchains and MB’s from BLM’s. I know back then soo many people invited every melee dps in Treasures expansion because it was heavily populated and people mostly wanted to hurry and exp but I wonder if they purposely chose piercing dmg classes so I got passed up on for exp, I honestly can’t remember those days as much. I know on these private servers they don’t have a choice but to invite any dps they can get. Level sync was definitely a good mechanic.
Loved the robber crab days :) I always wished they'd just made enemies harder, but take more damage from skillchains and MBs, to encourage the mechanic again. We laugh because Capacity parties "sort of" did this, but obviously changed how skillchains and magic bursts are performed pretty drastically lol
What server were you on back in the day?
As someone who really busted ass running an endgame shell, CoP just didn't add enough to the game. Don't get me wrong, it was a great era, but ToAU is where the game actually felt like it got BIG.
I'd definitely say either just Zilart or ToAU.
sea to much farming for not really much items. limbus wasnt added until toau so ya that work thru the lvl cap missions just to farm organs for a neck piece or kill sea gods for another neck piece was bland af
I probably had the most fun during ToAU, especially after the 2H update. As a SAM main, it was right up my alley and it also introduced my second favorite job, COR. However, it distorted the meta to a point where I can't consider it "Classic FFXI". For me, that has to be Chains of Promathia, specifically pre-COP nerf. Back then, if you had your CoP ring you know you really accomplished something.
I recently got back on FF11. I think that to this day it is still a great game. When the game was in its prime for me was TOAU era but I also enjoyed abbyssea because you could take on good content with a small group as long as everyone had their appropriate atmas. I'm having fun just running around with trusts in the game currently. The game is fun with friends and it is fun solo.
Great video
mid to late CoP era. Back when we were searching thru blogs and Erica's for glory page to get thru missions where we spent weeks redoing some hard missions. Where just having access to places really meant something. One of the most personally rewarding and I think best storylines. It was also the time when people were really excited at each new batch of missions and areas while say wotg/Toau it felt more like are they ever going to finish this expansion?
I played just before US release. I found an awesome static group of friends. CoP almost ended us. In one of the missions Ouryu had constant stoneskin. Later SE fixed it and revealed it as a glitch. Which we were totally about to quit over, but WE BEAT HIM, before it was fixed!! And accomplished many other amazing feats. Like exp chaining up to 200 on IT++ mobs (level 50-75!). Getting those perfect skillchains with a whm and blm bursting, watching the thf sata on the pld right before the puller dies. OMG so many tense moments, but fun memories and cooperative experiences. After CoP the game lost its appeal to me. I liked ToAU. And had some fun, but CoP is where I made the most friends, and life long connections. Also, level sync excluded, it feels like the game mechanics post CoP cheapened the accomplishments of some of is more hardcore players.
All the way through WoTG level 75 cap is the true classic. Such a near perfect game balance and intricate system.
Sure any game ever made could have updates/upgrades/do-overs, but they did so well. It was truly masterful.
CoP came out in Sept of 2004. For a lot of players who started with the PS2 release in April 2004, the experience would have been pretty seamless. We basically spent the first 6 months on Zilart/OG zones doing OG content and CoP hit and with the level cap content in promys everyone who started with the NA PS2 release was doing CoP almost immediately, though most did not finish for a long time after as the difficulty stopped most people, but most people could at least try out the promys and hit their heads against it in PUGs and large alliances peopl ewere putting together at the time.
Actually I tend to agree with your assessment that 'classic' FFXI can be described as the period up until level caps were raised. The reason for this goes back to how content was experienced by the community, which is very different from how MMOs work today (this includes FFXIV). For starters, CoP took over a year to patch in content, Aht Urghan was still getting content release (Nyzul Isle) up until 2008 so there's a wide window for expansions to unfold and it's very hard to pin it to a date. So CoP content was being grinded into 2010 right up to level cap increase. So was Aht Urgaht content.
Secondly, CoP especially did not fundamentally change how the game worked. There were no major mechanics changes, and I know a lot of people were still doing CoP statics and progression into fall of 2005, a year later. I actually graduated in spring of 2005, and found a job, so I quit FFXI and when I came back to XI in late 2005, I still found a lot of people doing CoP content. My static didn't clear it until 2006.
This is why I agree with you that broadly, classic XI lasted until level cap was raised, and more narrowly, 'the old school' classic experience absolutely included CoP as for a lot of players, FFXI was the base game + Zilart + CoP. They were all together since we got Zilart with the NA release and CoP came out six months later and most people didn't clear it for another year and CoP end game content like Limbus and Sea wasn't truly accessible to a lot of players until after Aht Urghan came out.
FFXI was unique in this fashion. Modern MMOs expect players to clear current content and move on. In XI, an expansion would come out with a large section of the community still progressing in the last expansion and still more people farming the last expansion's content. But it didn't matter because all gear were lvl 75 and while there was power creep over the years, old gear still had relevant. So Byakko's Haidate was sought after right up until level cap went up.
I've played FFXI since the US console release, playing on console and PC equally. The most enjoyment I had ever had out of the game was around CoP and just before ToAU.
There were so many things 'right' about CoP that ToAU just didn't have enough of. It had an excellent and engaging story, challenging missions, memorable Boss fights, unique themes, locations and endgame content plus the introduction of one of the best 'exclusive' areas in all of FFXI: Al'taieu. Completing CoP's campaign felt like more of an accomplishment than any of the other expansions I had beaten and to this day, I still look fondly on CoP zones far more than any other.
Comparatively, ToAU was what probably killed my interest in the entire game. There were so many things that just didn't work or felt half finished. Of the three new classes introduced, the only one that seemed viable was Blue Mage. Corsair felt like a gimped Bard mixed with White Mage while Puppetmaster didn't bring much of any benefit to team compositions. The zones were also pretty bland and forgettable. Assaults were boring, Beseiged worked better as an idea than in execution (tons of lag, game moved at low fps while everyone piled on invisible enemies), and the Campaign was unengaging.
I think mine was Aht Urhgan til level cap increase. I came back recently and still like it better than most recent mmos
I guess I'm the weird one. I think they did such a great job on Rhapsodies, tying everything together, it made 12 years of my gaming life come together. I cried like a baby during the final scene and had to stay away from the game for a few days. Classic schmasic. I like being able to get where I'm going in a few seconds, like running into NMs randomly and soloing them, like trusts, like the whole Escha scheme. Early FFXI was a griiiiiiiiiiind. It's a whole new game, and it's better!
Not alone at all! I think what they’ve done has allowed me to enjoy XI in a way I never would have been able to, it’s fantastic
WoTG for me cause we where at 75 cap, you had so many jobs/gear options but still wearing things from start of the game did good... you had alot of zones and events/stuff to keep you bussy in group aswell as solo/duo there where downsides too, but i never got bored in that age of the game, helping players and doing endgame every min i was online was pretty much stuffed.
I really enjoyed level sync. And it was because for the reasons you said, playing friends, simplifying gear swap stuff, and even the ability to skip areas. Seriously, being able to dodge Qufim, or Garliage Citadel when those parties were awful, or toxic was great. That was one of the things about LOTRO that prevented me from really diving in and loving he game. I understand the lore of the Mines of Moria, but that part of LOTRO just sucked for me. Being able to find a way around that would have made that game so much more appealing to me. But, of course, it sent me back to FFXI. And the Fields of Valor books were fantastic! The buffs, and the boosted xp made tons of things better. I spent hours just grinding merit points at the outpost in Vollbow (I forget the map... but that was the OP haha). Chains was awesome. And yes, the gear from those quests was incredible. Sea and Limbus were great. I played a lot of Aht Urgan, but I didn't enjoy the classes as much as most people. I enjoyed scholar, but not Blue or Pup. I still have Pup nightmares. And I hated Colibri too... eating my food... that was pricey. Another great video! Thanks! The memories it called up were great.
Like you said. Virtually no one will disagree that when they increased the level cap from 75-80 the game was forever changed. That's what it was for me tbh. All the other small changes that you may have liked or may have annoyed you, you could learn to overlook. They change a job in a way you don't like? You can play another job. The level cap increase though... no getting around how that affects you.
FFXI classic is Release - CoP, these expansions were basically designed together, everything about the game from its systems to its story were fluent and all intertwined. Each expansion expanded on the game but didnt really change the game at its core, these changes didnt start happening until ToAU. The changes ToAU and WoTG added, most were welcomed and needed. But I don't think they are classic.
If they could add level sync to this choice somehow, o would be 100% on board with this. Playerbase isn't big enough now without it.
Man, I feel like the addition of the Field Manuals killed the leveling experience for me. The 3-party alliances in Gusgen and Crawlers nest where everyone would just zerg the mobs and run around in a circle just... didn't feel like Final Fantasy. It didn't even feel like an MMO.
My fondest memories come pre-ToAU, but ToAU was when the game was at its best "classic" period. I'm still a fan of the game as-is today and can appreciate the nostalgia of classic FFXI, but I'm also okay with the direction it took overall. This is probably a very unpopular opinion, but I loved Abyssea era because at that point, I had achieved damn near everything I wanted to into the game, and the ease of Abyssea and the breaking of characters due to the atmas, etc., really made me feel like our characters hit peak adventure status, and we were all gods on Vana'diel -- it was like, okay, you've saved the world a few times now, you're ridiculously powerful now, go have fun.
An XI Classic would likely be just RoZ. That first expansion introduced the 75 cap and endgame, plus it is what most NA players remember as the base game was only available to the Japanese and importers.
In my opinion, XI prime was CoP until WotG. WotG introduced the content drip with updates every few months versus a much shorter timeframe during CoP and ToAU as XIV 1.0 was being co-developed at that time. Abyssea killed the base experience, but created a push towards the solo game. SoA tried to bring the game back to its roots where parties were needed for content and alliances for endgame, but too much of the player base had shifted by that point. Trusts & RoE have really changed the game and I think for the better. With most servers being low populations, Trusts allows for most of the content to be completed solo while RoE and key items from Rhapsodies make the leveling experience just fly. Over this past free week I was able to take 8 jobs to 99. When I quit in 2013, that was unfathomable unless you were paying for the RMT abyssea burns. I am now resubbing as I enjoy the experience that I am now having. It feels a lot like SWTOR which I also really enjoyed.
I think the introduction of Abbysea was what turned a bunch of people off because of how it trivialized leveling, i enjoyed it though! because of all
the armor sets & weapons it brought into the game! in addition to getting stronger subjobs now up to level 40 from 37.
60k an hour was being super nice, in Abbysea La thein, those frog & worm parties were pulling insame numbers with capped lights.
you could take a level 30 in there & have them level 99 in less then 4 hours it was crazy!
I played FFXI 2006 to 2011 and ToAU is an absolute jewel. Great content and unique mechanics, absurdly fun jobs. PUP ftw ! For me, FFXI classic ended with WotG a little and Abyssea is the nail in the coffin.
My thought are pretty much the same as yours. I would probably say COP would be the limit of "classic xi". But I really enjoyed toa. Probably because the same reasons it was when me and my friends finally had 75 jobs with decent gear and weren't just struggling through.
Started when Aht Urgan was in its prime. Those level 50 - 55 parties were awesome. Imps annoyed me to no end and Aht Urgan was so hard to me, I would not go anywhere unless I was WHM/ PLD or PLD/ WHM as a level 75. Missed a lot of the end game stuff. DYNAMIS twice per week was one of the greatest things. Gear drop rates gave me something to covet. Hated the way Dyna Guilds did their scamming tho.
If I'm not mistaken, when WoTG was released, ffxi was also released on xbox 360. This was huge for me since I was on ps2 and the difference was huge between the 2
It was definitely before WoTG. I still have a boxed 360 copy with CoP and ToAU on the front.
CoP pre-mob despawn. The only area that was a true issue with trains were the jungles. I was leveling there once where we had gobbie trains on both sides of the zone line. So many bodies. :(
Crawlers nest could be a problem too. Other than that, I really enjoyed dodging massive trains of death. Shouts of "Train heading to the zone line! Heads up!"... ah the nostalgia.
I remember when Ballista was added. Had a few friends that would start in the 30 cap and spend the night doing them.
For me, classic was pre-ToAU. It was about then that Jeuno's massive population seemed to move to a new city. It felt more like an end-game expansion than anything.
Not to say that I didn't end up adapting and eventually enjoying that expansions up until Abysses and level increase. The level cap increase started to wash everything I strived for until that point which affects some people more than others. 75 cap 2005-2010 my ffxi prime
Classic should be Whitegate era with level sync added.
I will say I think I need level sync lol
liked before i watch because i know it’ll be awesome!
I can't call it classic, but I loved playing until seekers came out. Going beyond 99 always felt tacked on in a way that transformed the game into something I didn't recognize, I would like to see how geo and run would perform in a 75 cap world though.
That's how I felt about going beyond 75.
It was a change, but I liked how abyssea was inclusive to all jobs.
Hi H4G! I want your true opinion about playing Eden FFXi Classic: It is worthy? I have an account on Asura that reached lvl 99 in 3 months and i want to finish the "Main Stories" before changing to Eden (i really love FFXI lore) but i don't know if the server is stable enough to play. Thanks for ur excellent videos!
Eden is quite stable, though they have some bugs that are present on all private servers (like broken missions/quests/items/boats and airships, etc.). Eden only has content up through ToAU so there is a ton of story and quests missing. They are also missing some great QoL things like Home Point warps, and exp totals have been reset back to original retail levels. If you really want the classic experience, with all the pain that came with it, then Eden is for you.
I really enjoyed ToAU 75 era the best.. However to play devil's advocate, I also really enjoyed Abyssea a lot too. I agree with others, there should have been a minimum level to enter of at least 70 or so. But, I think Abyssea finally turned the game into a more small squad based game( you can argue whether that was good or bad, but I always hated running dynamis, sea, sky, salvage etc at 75 era because it was usually a bunch of people helping 1 or 2 super rich players get richer, while everyone picked up scraps). In Abyssea, you could go in with a small group of like 4-6 players, work on some NMs, everyone gets seals, maybe some players got items to work towards their Empy weapons. It was way more accessible to a player like me that enjoyed smaller group content, or just normal party settings. Ironically, my favorite content from 75 ToAU era was Nyzul Isle because we could go in with a small group and have fun.
So for me:
1. ToAU
2. Current FFXI
3. Abyssea
FFXI was a game where time was valuable and things took effort. ToAU is when it was perfect. As much as I loved what WoTG brought it did eventually break the FFXI DNA. Level Sync I agree is something that is essential due to the player base fluctuating. This was in my humble opinion perfected in private servers as there is a 10 level cap on Level Sync. Only 10 levels above or below can join the party. This stopped what WoTG brought where people would make East Ronfaure (S) parties to do colibri to 75s over and over and continued to swap out their level synced member when the exp got bad. Travel in FFXI was something that you expected. You knew it took at least 30 minutes to get to endgame content zones and would plan accordingly. People would log in on their lunch breaks at work to get to the endgame zone event which didn't start till like 8PM just so they wouldn't be late. This is what FFXI Classic means to me. ToAU best expansion period.
The Rudra's buff (Being able to outparse some ridiculously geared SAMs and WARs consistently because of a stupid unbalanced WS) because I've always loved THF. Just funny seeing THF at the top in current endgame for a brief moment.... but I think my favorite expansion would be WotG... such beautiful music and a lot of solo friendly content.
Which gives everybody a bit of what they want. Go solo or go party. Neither was per se easy. DNC made it feasible imo for something besides BST (though I had no issue soloing BLM prior to that. AM sleep, AM, dead. Rest rinse repeat.)
You don't see as many Wings of the Goddess recommendations but it was definitely amazing for branching out ways of experiencing Vana'diel!
My best times in FFXI was when they would release new jobs. I was always excited to try them out and see what they would add to the game.
I've always been a BST & PUP main, so partying wasn't my thing (I liked to play on my terms and not on others') and the release of PUP changed a lot for me.
As for the decline of that era, I would say the addition of the Trust Initiative. It made every job playable solo (which made my solo experience even broader) but it also made the game less attractive to me... because these Trusts are so strong, you could stay in a bronze subligar with them and still be ok for a while haha.
Late CoP through WotG. Level cap being raised beyond 75 was the beginning of the end and Abyssea absolutely turned me off.
For me there was a level range that caused me to fizzle out. I loved 1-60 but once you had your AF the 60s seemed to drag on forever. I was ready for 75 after level 60.
For me, the hayday of FFXI was during the ToAU expansion. Having a sky and sea LS, and then being invited to an HNMLS was an amazing time. The addition of a "Far-Eastern" land at the time blew my mind, as well as Besieged. I liked WotG but couldn't latch on to the 2 jobs the expansion brought with it, SCH and DNC. I think Abyssea and the level cap increase from 75 actually ended the Golden Age for me, sadly. The grind was horrible and I hated seal farming with a passion.
Towards the end of WOTG when there were ANNMs, SCNMs and DI/SW were in the game is when it was best! But if I could have anything I wanted, I would want all that content, and RDM spells to still generate tons of enmity so RDM could tank.
Late Zilart to the end of CoP for me. The HNM era of Fafnir, Behemoth, Adamantoise, Kirin, Sky gods, Relic weapons, Dynamis etc, then into CoP with the 3 wyrms, people trying to figure out Absolute Virtue, Limbus with Ultima/Omega, Sea farming etc. ToAU release was amazing fun and Salvage, Assault and Einherjar were fun for a while but dont compare to the early days of CoP for me. Levelling BST to 75 solo during late Zilart/early CoP was absolutely my favourite period of this game.
My thoughts... I don't think I would want to return to any old era. I'm perfectly content with retail ffxi here in 2019.. today's retail ffxi is the most balanced mix of everything people get nostalgic for. For example, if you really enjoyed old battle mechanics like skillchain and magic burst, OMG, now is better then ever. If that wasn't really your thing and you just like to power your way through tp spam style, there's flexibility for that too.
All the quality of life enhancements that you would want are there now. There's plenty of things you can low man or solo, and there's more than enough content that requires a group to work on.
There is one era that I get nostalgic for though, and it was the Cop era, but it had nothing to do with the game content or mechanics. For me it was like my coming of age in ffxi because this was the time when I started to dig in. It's when I made my best in game friends and a time when the ffxi population was healthy and still growing. Was around the time that I earned my first 75 job, and with fewer players running around with multiple 75 jobs, it meant that you had to really commit to your job of choice because that's how others knew you as and depended on you.
Outside of that, I can't really think about anything in that expansion that I would want to go back to.
I would probably have to say the peak was after ToAU was released, but before the CoP mission nerfs (approximately 1 year period). It introduced a much better leveling experience while keeping the difficulty and pride of accomplishment for CoP missions intact. The areas were very well designed and it introduced so many good camps and exp mobs. Assault, Salvage, and Nyzul Isle were all great events that were very rewarding (and caused the greatest butthurt event in FFXI history)
Many people hated WoTG but I thought the missions and story were well done, and I enjoyed doing Campaign and Ops for the quick exp and items, and the various ways you could test out things on your job without really affecting anyone else. Some of the mobs, especially Beastmen, were overpowered and not many decent exp camps were introduced, but having things like Pixies around was nice.
Abyssea was a conundrum for me, as I absolutely loved it at first because it eliminated a lot of grind and the exp was so phenomenal, but then I quickly realized it actually had quite a bit of grind to it. The pop system was much better than land Kings, but there was still a lot of competition much of the time.
I stopped playing not long after the last Abyssea was released so I can't speak for Seekers or anything after that.
FF 11 is at its best when players needed each other. It is the only game i have ever played where the community was so helpful at a time where you couldn't just google what to do. people needed each other and helping each other gave you a reason to have a high lv character. going through the process of having a high level paladin get me PLD job then eventually be high lv pld helping someone else get theirs was very fulfilling.
your video volume still a bit soft for those of us without dedicated external speakers, but good videos as usual :)
WotG
But its hard to say easily. I have a fondness for each "era" I got to play through as it happened.
Even abyssea, although there's no denying it fundamentally changed things. Either ToAU or WotG seems like the spot where I would place an official classic server at if I were given the choice.
I just.. really really like that WoTG music. XD
Man fuck Sandworm and Ixion, those stupid profitable HNMs!
I jumped into FFXI with the Vanadiel Collection 2008 for Xbox 360. The game was totally intact at this time even with SCH and DNC. I had tons of jobs to choose from and a bunch of huge LS's all trying to be something different. It's obvious to me that the level 80 cap increase and Abyssea is what ruined FFXI. This is where the core of the game changed. I always thought that Abyssea should have been a 75+ zone for exp. Each time the level cap increased after that LS members would leave and never come back. Lots of time and effort in this game was spent on aquiring gear that never became invalidated. Before they introduced ilvl gear my LS was down to a tight-knit group and once it came they were gone forever.
I agree. Abyssea is what ultimately ruined FFXI for many people, including myself. It was amazing at first but it literally obsoleted every other piece on content in the game for about a 2 year period. The pop system was an improvement over land spawns, but there was still a lot of competition and grinding for quite a long time. Also agree that the minimum level should have been much higher. I don't think I'd make it 75, but I think 65 would be reasonable.
Best era was anything pre-ToAU. ToAU just killed the concept of partying as it was. People communicated/talked was chill to get a party together. Then it turned into TP burn with a bard and if you were any kind of caster you either were a leach or BLM/SMN burn parties while fun just weren't the same.
I will say, I 100% agree the worst part about burns was there was no time to relax lol. or chat
I would like the Classic to be time ToAU, but wouldn’t mind if it was till CoP. They can add some of the features that you mentioned like gear swapping and level sync even though they came after ToAU.
I do miss the magic burst parties.
I think Square Enix should make a survey before deciding (if they did decide) to make a classic FFXI asking to which expansion should be the limit and what the features we would like to have in it.
This idea might be a stretch, how about the classic is up to ToAU, but the release each expansion step by step for people to build themselves to it step by step
I loved Everything until abyssea. WOTG was great for campaigns giving you something to do while waiting for partys. Adoulin bought some of it back but i never had the drive to do the endgame and was happy just doing the story missions.
ToAU was the best time ~ current FFXI is still really enjoyable though
I would say lvl 75 cap time from start to end. Sure merit party changed stuff when the came out in toau but not that much u still could magic burst in endgame u had to and till pre wotg u had blm do freeze on crabs in kufta. Also u still burn party in KRT 4 or 5 whm/nin,brd and/or rdm. I want 75 cap with all 2019 ffxi qualitet of life changes 2 ls 2 windows mogsack 1 to 4. Classic is lvl cap 75 ever stats matter gear doesn't outdated that classic quality of life just enhances classic feeling xD
ToAU brought a lot of positive things, but for me that's when my interest slowly started to wane. The bland (in my opinion) Middle Eastern theme, the Chain 100 merit obsession... CoP in general was where the real magic was, for me at least. I forget when the adventuring fellow mechanic was released, but I actually liked that a lot as well. It was like having half of a person with you for just an extra boost when soloing, and leveling them up felt rewarding.
As far as pre-CoP goes, I'd love a classic Zilart-only server, as long as CoP was added after a while. I started as CoP came out, so I never got to experience the Zilart-only world. And on CoP-era private servers, the CoP content is always the priority since the mission and gear rewards are usually better than Zilart rewards. So I'd love to experience a brief glimpse of everything being focused around the Zilart storyline, at least for a short while.
Zilart was an interesting era, but it gets boring quick. Not a lot of content. :(
This would replicate exactly my experience when starting :) so it would be sweet
ToAU, no question. 75 endgame has never been replicated for me in any other MMORPG.
The most fun i had playing ffxi was just expleoing and adventuring.. i remember spending a whole weekend with some friends helping me get fame so i can get utusemi quest…we weerenr lvlingnor doign edn game but spent 2days farming yag necklace.. there were 2 new members in our ls that came but naked just for storage and just sat at the zone to make thinga faster and after i got the fame and utsusemi. I power leveled them with ky drk/whm hahah