FFXI - Impressions/General Talk

[Hetz]

Ok, I picked up the game (and a wireless keyboard at Best Buy).

Good News: I've got the game

Bad News: The registration servers are down for "maintenence" until 4AM tomorrow.  SO, I can install and patch.....but I can't play cause I can't register my account keys!!!

Pre-Impressions: installation is going to be MUCH better with a wireless keyboard.....

[The Grue]

Hetz, in case you don't go back to the other thread.  WHich wireless keyboard did you pick up?  Is it working good and have good range?  How far away from your 360 do you sit?

[Hetz]

I picked up the Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop 1000 at Best Buy. It has a wireless keyboard and mouse in it. I sit about 15 feet from the TV and it works perfectly with the 360.

I also am now happy to report that the servers are up now and I was able to register the playonline stuff.....now I am installing the game....40 min remaining.....then I hear we have a hour and a half patch to download....yay. At least I should be able to have it all installed/patched before the mad rush of people later today...

[Hetz]

Starting to patch now.....it will take 50 minutes...not an hour and a half.

[The Grue]

I looked at that keyboard on a web site and they say it has a 6 foot range.  I guess they are just being safe or something.  Was yours 55 bucks at Best Buy?

[hepcat]

hey hetz, how's the keyboard work with the 360?  is it just a "turn it on and 360 finds it" kind of thing?  or did you have to do some setup?

[Hetz]

I looked at that keyboard on a web site and they say it has a 6 foot range.  I guess they are just being safe or something.  Was yours 55 bucks at Best Buy?

Yeah, it was 54.99 at Best Buy.

It's greater than 6 Feet.  The actual distance away from the TV I am sitting is more like 12-13 feet, I was aprox at the time. I did notice that it stoped working once I backed up a little bit farther out to test it.

It works fine at that 12 ft range...but of course, YMMV depending on where you put your USB reciever and various other things. I think they just said 6 ft to be safe.

[Hetz]

hey hetz, how's the keyboard work with the 360?  is it just a "turn it on and 360 finds it" kind of thing?  or did you have to do some setup?

Just plug in the USB reciever into the front of the 360 and it works. No need to do any special setup.

[Hetz]

More Impressions:

I'm all patched and ready to go.....but the "Play" button is grayed out at the top of the screen. Grr....they say it will unlocked later today.

[mytocles]

I'm convinced that the whole Playonline thing is an evil plot designed merely to torture helpless people.  :evil:

Shall we say that, all through the beta, I was totally unimpressed with it's performance.  Maybe it will be a bit better with the whole thing not being in beta anymore, though I feel like I'm only wishing it to be true!

Thanks for the info on the wireless keyboard.  I really want one, since what I'm using is my Playstation 2 keyboard.  For one thing it's got a cord... too many of those now. But also, it's extremely light and sensitive. It's always wobbling around if I don't put it on a rubber mat on a clipboard kinda case.  I'm always double hitting keys, too, so I say "doon't" instead of "don't" all the time, that sort of thing.  Beam me up, Scotty!  :lol:

[metallicorphan]

regarding the POL-that is because you refused to use it myto....i sent you and yomi and other people a POL friend request   you two were the only 2 who didnt accept

its cool,you have your own email service(not that crap xbox live message thing that you can hardly post anything in)...download wallpapers...and if need be,play the card game from final fantasy 9...which was the only card game i have liked from the series

[The Grue]

Well, I went to Best Buy to get it and they didn't have it yet.  They checked the back because they just got their UPS shipment and they made me wait about 45 minutes before coming back and saying it wasn't in the shipment.  I think I should take that as a sign.

[Hetz]

Well, I went to Best Buy to get it and they didn't have it yet.  They checked the back because they just got their UPS shipment and they made me wait about 45 minutes before coming back and saying it wasn't in the shipment.  I think I should take that as a sign.

Yeah, a sign that you shouldn't be going to  Best Buy to get games on the day of release!  

That's odd though, cause they say in their ad that it would be in today. Don't you have a EB or Gamestop in your town? I'm sure they have it.

[Purge]

You bastards.

I put a hold on a copy at EB Games.

Bastards. Suckin' me back in.

[depward]

I've decided I don't have the time to play.  Would love to, but one hour gaming sessions won't cut it when you're a higher level.  In fact, I stared down the Expansion today at the Gamestore while buying a guide for Romancing SaGa - I feel proud.

You all have fun!  Do tell and share of your adventures in Vana'Diel.

[The Grue]

Well, I went to Best Buy to get it and they didn't have it yet.  They checked the back because they just got their UPS shipment and they made me wait about 45 minutes before coming back and saying it wasn't in the shipment.  I think I should take that as a sign.

Yeah, a sign that you shouldn't be going to  Best Buy to get games on the day of release!  

That's odd though, cause they say in their ad that it would be in today. Don't you have a EB or Gamestop in your town? I'm sure they have it.

Yeah, well I wanted to pick up my keyboard and game all in one place.  They didn't have the keyboard you got in stock, either.  I actually don't like that Best Buy very much, but it is right by my work.  I can go get it at Gamestop, but then I need to go elsewhere to get my keyboard.  I am weak, I am sure I will give in again.

[Hetz]

So any recomendations on what job to be?

The Blue Mage looks pretty cool. I expect there will be a ton of them though....

Anyone have a suggestion?

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

Blue Mage is most likely an advanced job, you can't play as one until you get to level 30 and do a quest which unlocks the ability to switch to Blue Mage as your character.

The default jobs are:

Warrior
Black Mage
White Mage
Red Mage
Thief
Monk

Everything else requires level 30 in one of those classes + a quest.

[depward]

Monks are the easiest job to really start out with and get a feel for FFXI.  The equipment isn't as expensive as other jobs, it's a fun class, and it's easy to run around karate-chopping mobs.  Plus, end-game Monks rock.

A Warrior job is also pretty much cut-and-dry.

I think I would have had a hard time starting out with my Black Mage had I played that job first.  That being said, the most fun I had playing FFXI was when I was a damage-dealing Ancient Magic wielding Black Mage that nuked the hell out of everything.  Just don't expect that at level 2  

Played around with THFs, but I heard they were getting nerfed with your abilities.  Could be wrong though.

But I would really recommend just playing as a Monk in the beginning.  You can level quite fast and get a feel for how FFXI plays.  The job system in FFXI is really cool how you can basically just switch to whatever job you want whenever.

A Tarutaru Puppeteer would ROCK.

[Purge]

I would personally recommend going with WAR, WHM or MNK first. Getting to lvl18 is easy with any of them.

Getting to lvl18 with a THF (with no subclass) sucks ASS. You fight one battle, then rest. Then one battle, then rest. No recoup, no useful skills.

It's a finesse class that is better suited to your second job. (IE work up WAR until 18 or 20, get subclass and chocobo license, then go THF/WAR to 30). Then go for ninja.... if you can't do ninja at 30, you need to work harder at being sneaky.

[Hetz]

Server will go live tonight at 8PM Pacific time for the 360 users, or so the Playonline helpline claims.

[unbreakable]

How many GT people are there?  I actually liked the game back in the day, but I was solo almost the entire time I was there.

It seemed a fun game IF, and only IF, you had people who worked together.  I was never able to get into a decent linkshell.

[depward]

How many GT people are there?  I actually liked the game back in the day, but I was solo almost the entire time I was there.

It seemed a fun game IF, and only IF, you had people who worked together.  I was never able to get into a decent linkshell.

Linkshells really help.  I was in several, and whether it was all going and doing a mission to increase your rank, help a new member finish up a quest, or just chat about whatever and go adventuring, it was really beneficial to be in a good linkshell.  If you guys were going to Cerberus I would have recommended the Bladesingers, but I have no clue about the server all of you dudes (and dudettes!) are going.

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

I'm on Asura, Bartok region, character name Valence.  Level 3 White Mage.

[soulbringer]

Man,  I really liked FFXI on the old computer but I too was stuck in the solo grind after everyone left.  If there seems to be a core contingent playing again, I would love to jump back in.   Lots of fun but definately need some folks to play with.

[Macman777]

Here's a question. Is there alot of difference in appearence's with classes and race's? Unlike Lineage II where everyone looked alike and in the beginning stages of GW's. Is there diffenent sets of armor, robes, character feature's etc..to set people apart from looking alike in the game?

[Lockdown]

I love monks!!!!  

Do monks do spinning kicks and cool stuff like that?  Can they craft things like magical wraps of lightning damage and stuff?

The only reason I played NWN so long was because of the Monk class.  Same with EQ2.  If it wasn't for the Monk class, I wouldn't have lasted nearly as long.  

Why'd you have to go and tell us there was a Monk class anyway!?

 :?

[Hetz]

Servers are up!

360 users can play now.

[Hetz]

And Square has a major fuck up on their end....nobody can login now, it says "Valid Content ID not found" whenever you try and login. I check my content ID's and everything is registered and fine. Every 360 player is having this problem now....

 :evil:  :evil:  :evil:

[depward]

No spinning kicks and such.  Sorry.  But lots of punches.  And some weapon skills like "Raging Fists" and "Asuran Fists" along with some really useful job abilities like Boost.  They're killer.  And everyone loves a good monk.

They do, however, get one weapon skill that's a kick.

A monk in his/her artifact armor looks sweet too.

Mac - yes and no.  Obviously, in lower levels there is not a whole lot of options.  Though, it's a lot more varied than say, RF Online.  As you progress there are several options.  As far as different looking CLASSES, definately.  But it's the same as when you get higher in class you start looking a lot more distinguished.  Higher level Samurai's LOOK like high level samurais.  Ninjas look like Ninjas.

*Edited to say - good christ I talk a lot about this game   :?

[metallicorphan]

And Square has a major fuck up on their end....nobody can login now, it says "Valid Content ID not found" whenever you try and login. I check my content ID's and everything is registered and fine. Every 360 player is having this problem now....

 :evil:  :evil:  :evil:

just read about that on xbox.com,everyone is screaming about it

square havent just fucked up the login but it has left a lot of people confused,as it was released in america ...but you couldnt play the new stuff....and you couldnt use your beta character(supposidly)until the 20th

major WTF????

game comes out in just over 3hrs here

[Soulchilde]

The GT effect on this game is very weak.  I'm mildly interested only if people are constantly grouping.  I left WoW cause I soloed more than I grouped, so if people are playing a grouping often I might pick this up.

[Hetz]

The GT effect on this game is very weak.  I'm mildly interested only if people are constantly grouping.  I left WoW cause I soloed more than I grouped, so if people are playing a grouping often I might pick this up.

This is a group heavy game, that's for sure. Once you are past Level 15 or so you really NEED to group. After Level 30 is becomes pretty much a requirement, at least that was the way it used to be when I played years ago.

[Hetz]

Oh and the problems are all fixed with the login now. I am on and created a character. It DOES NOT let you choose what server you want to be on. You have to buy a worldpass. How the heck do I figure out what server I landed on??

[Lockdown]

The GT effect on this game is very weak.  I'm mildly interested only if people are constantly grouping.  I left WoW cause I soloed more than I grouped, so if people are playing a grouping often I might pick this up.

Assuming of course that anyone would WANT to group with you!

 

[Soulchilde]

The GT effect on this game is very weak.  I'm mildly interested only if people are constantly grouping.  I left WoW cause I soloed more than I grouped, so if people are playing a grouping often I might pick this up.

Assuming of course that anyone would WANT to group with you!

 

I'll borrow a famous line from the Devil in the sports forum

F U

   :twisted:  

[Hetz]

Ahh...I figured it out. I am on Bahamut server.

How much does a worldpass cost? Should I just keep creating a character until I get lucky and land on the Asura server?

[Destructor]

Ahh...I figured it out. I am on Bahamut server.

How much does a worldpass cost? Should I just keep creating a character until I get lucky and land on the Asura server?

Keep creating a character until you land on the server you want. It's prohibitially expensive for a first time character.

So...Square STILL forces you to land on a random server after all these years. Apparently they never decided to do something about that bitch from many a year ago.

[Hetz]

Ok, I think that is what I will do.

My first impressions playing for about an hour. I got up to Level 3 in pretty short order as a Human (Hume or whatever they call it) Warrior.

I like it. The cool thing that seperates this game from the other MMO games is that it actually has an epic story that you can get into. WoW, EQ etc....I liked the games....but I never cared at all about any story or whatever. This game FEELS like a regular single player Final Fantasy game in a bunch of ways. It's the easiest way I can describe it. You can tell they spent a lot of time making it have a story you can progress through.

The graphics....well they are better than the default PC version, since it uses 2048x2048 teztures, double that of the PC version (yes I know there is a reg hack for the PC to enable that, but I am talking about the default setting). It looks pretty good on a 56" HD set....not up to the usual 360 quality, but passable. The new areas will look much better than the default starting towns etc..

The music and sound is great. I love the 5.1 surround sound on this.

The gameplay feels like a Final Fantasy. The battles are great. I love the interface. It feels like Final Fantasy X or something. All in all, I am pretty happy so far. I can't wait to play with some of the rest of you guys.

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

Cross-post from the other thread:

Ok I dug up this Asura worldpass that worked for my guy (Valence, 7 WHM):

7756127914

No idea how many uses are left / how much time is left on the pass.