OG Final Fantasy 11 (2003-2005) was the best time I have ever had in my life. I was brand new to the MMO community and I was only 15 yrs old. Once I started playing 11, I lost track of time and was engulfed into that world 24/7. I use to skip going to school just to play. Man it was such an experience I will never forget, for the rest of my life. All the friendships I made and lost. You really had to be there from the start to fully understand how special Final Fantasy 11 was to people and how it forced you to play with other people, making you create bonds and friendships.

I still play XI today, and now that I'm older I appreciate the more solo-friendly version of the game because I can play at my own place and still accomplish stuff. But XI back in the day was a totally unique experience that I'm glad I got to be a part of. Doing CoP missions when they had the level caps was incredibly intense, and I think the huge difficulty of trying to clear those missions is part of the reason why that story is so special to a lot of players. I still remember beating the airship fight almost 20 years later.

I’m not sure you noticed but FF11 has THE best implementation of the Job System of any FF, including 14 and Tactics. You say you found FF11 to be quite tactical compared to other FFs… man… you have no idea what it was like in the golden era; it was much more back then… the amount of tactics and organisation it was required to do stuff like dynamis, HNMs of sky and sea, Wyrm-fights… it was there, in those epic large-scale battles with dozens of players where you could see people pushing their jobs to the limit. Although I love FF14’s story, I find its battle system extremely frustrating, because those job rotations are exhaustively repetitive, whereas in FF11 you can achieve your goals by adopting an impressive amount of different strategies. There’s no such thing as a “fixed rotation” of spells and abilities, unless you are going for a zerg-strategy (kill as quickly as you can) with a full party or alliance of (real) players. Also, this game was SO PUNISHING back in the days that, when someone brags about how difficult Souls-games are, I cant help but think to myself: “you wouldn’t last a month in 2005’s Vana’Diel”

I played FFXI for maybe a month back in 2003 or 2004, definitely wasn't for me back when I was younger. Even more recently, as someone who enjoys most MMOs to a reasonable degree for both thed gameplay and the social aspects, I didn't think FFXI was for me despite a nagging desire to go back and try it again. I could not have been more wrong. The past three days I've spent playing it have been some of the most fun I've had in not just an MMO, but in RPGs as a whole, in years. This video is what inspired me to try it and I can't thank you enough.

I have been preaching this to people every since I started it at North American release. It is my favorite game of all time for damned good reason.

Fribaud from Quetzalcoatl circa 2004 This game is the most addictive experience of my life, and I still love it to this day. MNK/WAR forever

I will echo what you said - yes, 20 years ago, I'd say nearly all my friends skipped the story. All of us valued the social interactions of this game (even the story readers). People may forget, this game did come out before KZfaq. We couldn't just KZfaq what to do - you asked people. I admit, I was just a teenager back then, but yeah - I skipped story, but you make me want to resub and try the story for the first time. Thanks a lot for the video.

The poor souls who never experienced FFXI from 2003-2012 will never know just what they missed out on. It wasn't a game, or even the best FF title, it was a way of life.

This motivated me to return home to San d'Oria and finish the story. Left off in Abyssea era. Made a lot of amazing friends in this world and still close to some to this day. This game really felt like being in a real and different world, and no other game has done that for me. Vanargand from Valefore, Dragoon Extraordinaire will be Super Jumping back soon!

Me and my FF14 friends are big fans of the series as a whole, I have been considering checking out FF11 for a while, now with the new Alliance Raid in Dawntrail being announced to be based on FF11 me and my friends have decided to take the dive and give it a proper try! Great video, I am very excited to dive into this world soon! :) Funnily enough, listening to Distant Worlds and hearing "Answers" and "Dragonsong" was a big motivator for me to check out FF14. Since then I have also been listening to "Memoro De La Stono" for years and I can't wait to get a new context to this song!

Thank you for mentioning Naoshi Mizuta. Love his work. He really took into account the lore of the zones, the style and location to compose his work.

Great video. I'm one of those long lost FFXI players from the golden era, but it's a game that has been on my mind since the day I last logged off. Every year I always think I should come back and just replay the story at least, and videos like this is a huge push in that direction. Maybe not right now as time is tight, but one day I'd love to come back and play this game once more.

I’m so happy I took the time to sit down during the summer of 2022 and go through all the main expansion stories (haven’t really done Abyssea, Shantotto, or Moogle Coup d’etat, but I have started chapter three of The Voracious Resurgence recently) Definitely has become one of my fave FF titles, and I can’t wait for the Echoes of Vana’diel (like deal, not dee-ehl btw 😉) raid in FFXIV.

Best music of the entire franchise

Cool video, thanks for making it! I'll be too busy these coming months to start playing this game now, but I definitely want to give it a try when things slow down a bit! :)

Singing praise where its due! Thanks for all these videos. As an old school player who returned after a number of years away, I'm always hopeful more people will get to experience the wonderful world of Vana'diel.

Di discovered you yesterday (well about 20 hours ago) and watched all your videos and now you have a new one up :D. Thank you so much for the great entertainement.

I came across Vicenarian's videos about two weeks ago which led me to buying it even though I never played it before. At the start I was overwhelmed with everything new thrown at you . Once you get the hang of the Menus and basic mechanics along with the Records of Emminence, the Records actually helped start guide me as to what I should be doing. So far I have been enjoying the game at my own pace with no rush to get to the endgame. I must say I have been thoroughly enjoying the game, combat becomes more enjoyable once you start getting more skills, the story is really enjoyable and the music is amazing. I never expected to bump into you while doing Side Quests in Windurst! I just want to say thank you for your videos, which helped me make my decision to play it.

Good to see the love of my life still getting attention. Thanks for the video! Sincerely, Jakuta Sylph Server (2002-2021)

I last played FF11 sometime in the late 2000s and I never got to experience much of the story stuff, even though I played it a ton. I had no idea it was made completely soloable now. I'll have to find the time to go back and experience it.

Played quite heavily back in the day. I still remember hitting level 75 as a summoner in 03/4. After the first job, the other jobs became easier to level. Running Sky the very first time was fulfilling. Going into Dynamis the very first time. Acquiring my full set. Sky NMs became the normal. New expansion comes out and a new journey begins. I still remember my group staying up half the night clearing CoP (some of the maps took forever and then the boss fights). Good times. New world NMs came out. Sea became the new pub in 08/9. Of course we still head back to previous content our new recruits up to date. This was heavy with team work. I, like many had to move on from the game. While I did attempt to play private servers, it was just too time consuming (HorizonXI if you have time) I unfortunately did not last long on that server, it was great seeing a few pop up names from the previous interactions in 03-10. I did pick up retail again, and starting from scratch, it was much easier. Would recommend doing it again.

Keep up the XI videos! More people need to play and videos like yours are bringing them in. Thank you

What a fantastic video!

I joined the FFXI community in 2003-2009 and to this day FFXI is still my favorite MMO game, I was online 24x7 at that time. In order to participate in linkshell activities, I joined the union organizations of NA and JP respectively!

I only managed to experience FFXI for the first time last month and I already have so many moments burned into my mind. Getting to grips with the combat system outside of Bastok, traveling to the other two cities by boat , that one bizarre quest in Jeuno where you help a kid who thinks his sister is possessed, fighting your way to the Shadow Lord, getting the WAR relic and feeling bad for my boy Naji getting so much flack, the desolation of Tavnazia and all the little side quests going on there. And there is still so much I still haven't even explored yet and sadly probably won't till the end of the year due to IRL issues. On a side note, I honestly find it really interesting how much the Xenoblade franchise has in common with this. Both have expansive semi-open worlds with a proper sense of scale, the slow paced combat, and the sort of skill-chain system present in Xenoblade 2. I haven't done any research into it, but I wonder how much, if any, of FFXI inspired Monolith Soft when they started work on the Xenoblade games.

I started XI back on PS2 (we had dial-up out in the country and it's all that would work, but I loved it anyway). Didn't get much further than unlocking Redmage because I simply didn't have the time, but I'd fall asleep playing it many nights after getting off work and getting home at 3AM. Now, I'm trying my hand at XIV after canceling my pre-order of its original launch back in 2010. 😂

I enjoy your videos! Thanks for taking the time

well done! i ceated a new character around a week ago and its been such a beautiful experience. Amazing job with the video and hitting some solid key points about the game!

thanks a lot for the vidéo, we can feel your strong love for the game. I tryed the private server but stop due to the gap between old players and me and the time to adapt to the difficulty but after your vid i want to play official and do the story. You great ;)

Loved all of this video! The narrator mentioned mostly playing as a damage dealer, so I wanted to add a plug for FFXI's White Mage class. The opportunity for skill expression is orders of magnitude higher than for any of the dozen or so MMORPGs I've played as a healer. The ~2 second global lock down on casting spells makes decision making far more complex (and rewarding when you're good at it).

Im so blessed to have been apart of the golden era of FFXI. When HorizonXI dropped 2 years ago last year, I played it NONSTOP reliving old 75 cap

Great video! I'm glad you that you got to experience this fantastic game. This game was too hard for me back in the early days, but once they made the game single player friendly I got back into it. Along the way I made many friends and was doing end game content. I quit the game about a year ago after I defeated the end boss in the Voracious Resurgance missions. That to me was closing the book on the game. I may come back for nostalgia reasons because I miss the zones, but I'm happy by what I accomplished and I will always remember this as the most hardcore MMO ever made.

Thank you for this. I played XI day and night between 2004 and 2010 and I treasure those memories to this day.

I started playing for my first time today! I absolutely love the before wow feel and the way you truly party up! I can't believe more mmos don't have their own version of the search or comment feature! finding someone in the same area by searching levels and than fighting together was an amazing experience and im only level 3!

Phoenix 2003/04, anybody? I was a black mage, Astrid. This beast of a game was an all-consuming vice for me as a 17-year-old in 2003 when it came out. By mid-2004, I was forced to stop by my parents, lol. It was devastating to me at the time, as I had made amazing friendships and craved the game's immersion as a refuge from my chaotic personal life as an angsty teenager. Every time that 'Level Up' blasted over my avatar, the rush of endorphins kept me going for hours more just to get to the next level. In retrospect, stopping when I did was for the best, as the heavy grind of leveling developed into a full-on addiction!

Music was a good call, I find myself humming songs often and listening the music brings on so much nostalgia.

I wish you could have played the game back in its original state. Sure there was zones full of dangerous enemies and dying had a stiff penalty to your EXP. But the sense of community was unrivaled. The bonds formed with people over this game were so strong. So many memories... Those first times grouping up in the dunes.. The mass panic and dash for the zone exit when someone would bring a train of goblins to your exp party XD I could go on and on... I was a black mage main for my first job. It was so rewarding to build good exp parties with a skill chain i could magic burst. Being among the first english players to reach Sky and start the endgame on our server at the time was so amazing. Just the sense of accomplishment and pride. You have no idea. If you ever find a time machine- give it a go!~

Well. You finally convinced me to try it again. Played it ages ago when it first came out in the West, but had to stop for financial reasons. Got into XIV during 1.0 and have loved it ever sense. But I've always considered going back to experience what I missed

Excellent videos, never played the game my self but definitely considering it. How many hours would it take to do all the story content in the modern version?

I played 11 at the NA launch, and played it for 12 years. It was quite the struggle to do anything without a group of friends unless you were a beast master. It forced us to make friends and work as a team. I started a linkshell on the now absorbed Titan server, and it grew to over 100 members. I became good friends with several, and traveled across the U.S. and even parts of Canada to visit them in person... even went to a couple weddings of my officers. When they made the game more solo friendly the bonds between players weakened and eventually we all slipped away. I sunk so much time into this game in those days that I can't get into games that have huge time sinks like this one did. Too much nostalgia to go back.

i agree wholeheartedly. i'm also a series fan and so glad i was receptive to FFXI being an MMO and trying it 20 years ago. it did take me some time to realise or admit that it was my fave final fantasy, but i truly love it and hope more people get to experience it together

My personal experience about XI, 20 years ago as a teenie was great game and pretty accurate on what you said. I skipped story because english is not my native language, but gotta admit, XI made a big deal making me learn english. I can proudly say to my friends that a lot of my english vocabulary was learnt through the years playing XI and will be always gratefull about it. I still play XIV, resubed XI and made a new character from scratch because of the nostalgia, and with trusts was able to redo base game, Zilart and CoP, watching and reading the entire story and understanding way much better than back in the day.

I played FFXI from 2004-2010, and it really created good memories. It's a game with a special place in my heart. I tried coming back a couple of times, but finally came back like in 2022, along with my brother. First, for the pleasure of visiting old places, enjoy the music and the landscapes. Second, to try and see the changes and how one could solo or duo content. I even was able to finally finish WoTG and fully play (and enjoy) SoA. Unfortunately, we ended up in the same loop as before we left. We managed to get our Empyreal armor and do some of the reforging, but to reforge some to +1 is very hard, and +2 is impossible if you don't have a party or a LS to help with the more advanced content. We got stuck on doing ambuscades daily, farming job points, and do some leveling. I finished Rhapsodies with much problem, had to solo last boss with trusts (bc my brother still had to finish yet WoTG) and took me tons of tries and trust setups. Sooooo it was a matter of time we got bored, and stopped playing again. I think the party factor is very different to how it was 20 years ago, when one could talk to ppl easily, help others with ease (and get helped), and that way we met lots of ppl and made new friends. Now nobody talks, nobody replies for help, and it's really difficult to get a LS to get help to get past the newer content. I would like to come back, overcome the problem of not being able to progress with gearing and doing different content.

After I finished school i sunk a whole year playing FF11 and I never got half way past the main story of the base game or maxed out a job. Cant believe it held my attention everyday. Glad to hear they upgraded the progression system and be able to play solo. I had so much fun on the grind with my linkshell community. I sometimes wonder what they are doing in life.

I'm glad to see toher folks out there singing FF11's praises and encouraging folks to play. Great video!

Thanks for the nostalgia trip. I’ll never forget the endless nights of clearing out Dynamis, how powerful I felt as a red mage being one of the few classes that could solo some difficult content… Discovering sky and sea for the first time, chilling out with friends in the realms of gods, farming merit points while trying to get Despot to spawn… Stumbling across a giant group of Japanese players attempting to beat Absolute Virtue, going to bed, and waking up to see them STILL fighting him… My only gripe with the game was how we poured SO much time into it, week after week, all for gear that would provide single-digit percentage boosts to one of our abilities. Everything had such niche uses, I remember my macro bars being full of specialized gear swap + spell combos to maximize my enhancement or enfeebling. I’ll admit it was nice to see my Sleepga land more consistently than Sleepga 2 from our Dynamis group’s BLMs 😅

This game actually grew up with me, I bought it when it was new on PS2 and went thru all the way to the first "last expansion" SoA. Life kind of happened and I have completed abyssea but have not finished. Some of the scenes shown warmed my heart as I experienced them when they were brand new and floods of memories such as running a merc summoner ls to do fights for people, everyone I met along the way... This was my teenage years and it's great to see even new players enjoying it. I might come back soon since i have missed Vana'diel.

OG XI up to the WotG expansion might've been one of the greatest gaming experiences ever conceived, it brought players together like no other game.

Thanks for the great video..played it between 2003-2006 and I came back it to it recently..it's fun but I still miss the old ffxi

I can't wait to finally play it, I have 10k hours in XIV but I've always loved how everything in XI looks (especially the racial design, the best out of all FF games imo) thx for the amazing video!

New viewer here. Amazing video. Subscribed. Keep up the chill, cozy vibes. Out of interest, how would you described your videos / the style youre going for?

I played during the early days of FFXI and what you said is completely true back then. Thanks for the video.

XI was my first MMO, and man I had some great times. Would kill for a remake/remaster

I started when the game first released on Pandy (Pandemonium) server to this day that game will always hold a special place in my ❤, I remember sleepless days to sit and wait for a world spawn. That was some crazy times, no game ever compared to it.

What's the song at 20:10? Sounds a lot like Mitsuda, who I don't think did music for 11

I really interested that I've seen someone who recommend playing FFXI online in 2024, while I think the retail version won't last forever I'm still impressed how long it takes live especially when they release FFXIV, I suspected that it will shutdown FFXI soon after that, but it still online 😍, I really hope they will preserve ffxi online and make it remaster to release it again as single player experience (I know there was a plan of remastering the game but it got canceled), The team is working on how to preserve the game before shutting down, so that makes me happy and I hope they'll make it real. I prefer playing FFXI using private server like Nocturnal Souls since they have quality of life improvemets and I'm interested just for story and exploring the world and all the reason you said in the video.

Crazy to think this game is soloable now. I remember party finding being a huge part. Made a ton of friends that way on the server I was on. CoP was impossible to solo when it released.

I won't lie, I was completely thrown off because I use the exact same Rolanberry Fields remix that you used in the intro for my BRB screen while I'm streaming. I thought I was live for a second LMAO Great video though, I especially love that you also mentioned that FFXI has had three moments in the game's history where the dev team and director(s) themselves have said they would never make any more FFXI content... and then come back to make more FFXI content. I'll 100% be sending this video to everyone I know. My friends and followers know me very well as a gal who's just OBSESED with Final Fantasy XI, and I have been since August 5th, 2005! Keep up the amazing work

I played this game day one of its release in 2003 up to 2007. It is no longer what itvwas, what made the game was you had to team up and meet other players in order to get ahead. The story telling was shared with said team of players and the game wqs so hard to get ahead that players you teamed up with became your friends in battle. That was the special part of yhis game back then.

The story is so important to this game, especially before they made it solo friendly. The difficulty and shared feeling of achievement with your friends/linkshell was unmatched. Thank Altana for 75 cap community servers!

This game is still my favorite. I had to take a few breaks from the game, but I'm redownloading it again tonight. The grind got to me a few times. This game still has some of my best memories playing video games. The comradery that you felt doing NM's and just leveling made the game so addicting. I spent a lot of time playing this game and Square Enix made a masterpiece with this game.

thank you for your insight into these game, i realy wish i could try ist out and see with my own eyes what it is all about, i played ff14 since FF14 ARR launched but wanted to play FF11 quite some years ago and bought it + got a sub, but i never got pass the login barier for whatever reason and i could not figure out what to do even after several guides...

Huge FF Fan and I played FFXI since release. I loved what it was then and what it has become today. Nothing will beat the Final Fantasy Immersion feeling of making it to Valkrum Dunes and playing in my first party. The most difficult and punishing thing about this game was PlayOnline and the largest deterrent of players experiencing this Masterpiece.

This is the only FF I haven't played yet.... and as FF XIV player, soon we will have long wait for another expansion (few months) and I bought the game to use that time to play it. Thanks for those videos! They're reassuring! :)

It is amusing to see someone view this game as a single player entry. As someone who's played since the US release, it's always been about the community for me. Yes, the story has its place, but half of the fun was experiencing it with friends. Through this game, I've made life long friends, some of which have attended weddings and events irl. I think your take, of feeling like the older players feel the story wasn't important isn't accurate. It's just quite simply the fact that of the time we've spent playing, the story takes up such a small fraction of the time. my personal playtime is 1219 real life days, so 250 hours of story really is nothing when compared to actively playing a game for almost 3 and a half years. your assessment of the jobs system, combat system, and music are spot on . the biggest difference between XI and XIV is that xiv is essentially easy mode compared to XI, it's much less in depth, intricate and detailed. i will say there is a difference between starting the game in 2024 vs 2003, experiencing the game as it expands is very different simply because of level caps that no longer exist. it was a quality of life change that allow new players to enjoy the game without that grind and need too cooperate with other players. There were also events and content that no longer exists or simply isn't done because it isn't popular enough to do. good video though, not trying to criticize, just observations as a 2o year veteran of this game

Nicely done - Played this game since 2002 : )

I'm "newish" XIV player (playing about a year now, but very casually) and it was my real first experience with FF. It made me fall in love with the series, it's deep story and lore (like reading lore books!). I think XI more slower phased gameplay will really work for me well now, because like you said it's a bit daunting to keep up with XIV new updates especially when I haven't reach the point where most of the players are. Any ways thank you very much for the video - I'm downloading the free trial now! I will be defiantly checking those tip videos too.

Fantastic video! I used to play XI back at launch during those punishing days and what I saw of the story was great. That being I caan't wait to hear and see your thoughts on XIV. Any plans to play and deep dive on that game?

If someone is starting a fresh charc. Do you think the game will be around long enough to finish the story? Have they said anything about the future of the game or how long players may still have?

I’m currently going through all the FF games from the beginning, and I just started FFIV today. I was initially thinking of skipping this one since I was wary of how dull the story/gameplay could be, especially with its age and it being an MMO. Typically, you do get dozens or even hundreds of hours of story content in an MMO, but a lot of it tends to be shallow. But this video has convinced me to give FFXI a go once I’ve played up to it :)

wake up babe new vicenarian just dropped.

I would go back if this is available on PS! I loved this game

I'd love to see a Pixel Remaster of both 14 and 11 as single player games

I've been seeing a lot of videos of people talking about playing FFXI in the modern age. Reading the comments in those videos, it seems like there's a lot of people still going back to it or discovering it for the first time. I never played it but it's always been a curiosity for me. I'm tempted to give it a go one day but I worry about how much time it would take to learn and complete all the stories. Maybe I should play it because one day it'll be gone and I won't be able to then.

Still play off and on today. Absolutely the best MMO to date. Making me want to resub right now. Great video ^^b

As someone who played for the story, I am right there with you. The story of this game leaves me laughing, crying, and at times raging at the twists and turns it takes! I took a long break around 2015, and then played on and off. But I was lost at where I was in the story. So I started a new character (I also do this to gauge the new player experience), and now I am doing story, and having so much fun! I'm leveling and gearing up at my own pace. The AH is pretty expensive, so I made myself a challenge to try and get as much gear and spells from monsters and npcs as I could. Which also makes it a fun road trip, as it takes me all over Vana'diel to older areas. I would often tell people that this game taught me patience.

I played FF11 during its golden age, 2003-2007 or so. I think a lot of players say the story was not important was due to the time it would take to coordinate the runs to do the story missions. Lot of people had jobs or school and only had set amount of time to play. This would cause you to skip through the story to move on to the next part as a group as quickly as possible.

I played this back when it was on PS2 when I was 13 years old. Been itching to get back into it at some point for PC. Any server recommendations? Which are you on?

My only correction would be to you saying that XI and X|V are the same genre. They aren't, really. FFXI is a "sandbox" MMORPG while FFX|V is a "themepark" MMORPG. They both appeal to two very different audiences. And I think the best way to get people to try XI is to help them understand that. A lot of people who don't like X|V automatically believe they wouldn't like XI as well, when the fact is, XI is an "Everquest-like" online RPG, while X|V is a "World of Warcraft-like" online RPG.

Sorry for lack of understanding, but it is an online MMO or a single player game with online elements (coop missions) or a traditional mmorpg?

What is the reference of the Final summon from X in XI? Love your videos. Played XI since NA release off and on - you hit such a nice tone and i appreciate your videos to help share the world of Vanadiel and maybe more people will check it out!

I played 11 for 10 years till 14 came out, and I've gone back many times over the last 10 years its definitely the best mmo I've ever played

I played for 8 years from when it came out I will always love this game played again for like 6 months might go back again soon

6:00 I remember that well. I was a broke Thief who spent my last dime on new armor once I leveled. I was attacked while AFK on a boat and leveled back down, out of my armor. I quit right there.

are you familiar with Mr Happy's channel? a month or so ago, he got people to load up XI. I wish I did then. I didn't, but this video, had me sub your channel, and I'm thinking about it. thank you!

First dunes party, ill never forget, miss the days of "Goblin chains" in dunes/Yutunga jungle. First linkpearl i was given (had no clue what it was, it sat in my bags for 6 months before i learned what to do with it lol). Absolutely demolishing lvl 1-10 in a couple hours when i unlocked Dragoon as compared to days it took warrior when i first started. Big accomplishments in game like Soloing mission 2-3. They day they nerfed RMT NM's, Trying and failing ALOT on CoP missions, Unlocking Capitalism by leveling my first craft, cooking.

I played this on release for about half a year before quitting, but within that time I made some unforgettable memories in Vana'diel. Against all odds I recently recovered my old account too and have planned on returning at some point to experience all the story I missed out on for years. I'm torn on the old direction vs new direction the game has gone in. While I didn't care for it back then, I have come to appreciate harder more punishing games where you have to work to do things that are so trivial in so many other games, where things were more about the journey than the destination, where even maxing out your level was a great achievement. But as an adult now with more responsibilities and less time to wait around for groups, I can also appreciate not having to have a group to do even the smallest things. One of the most irritating points of FFXI was how you needed a group to do the quests to unlock jobs, which benefited no one but you, so you felt guilty even asking people to help when they wouldn't get anything for it. Of course there were folks willing to do that despite getting nothing in return, I've been there too in various other games, but it still feels bad as the person doing the asking. I especially appreciate that I can play through all of the story now without depending on others, but it also doesn't feel good that I have to pay a subscription to essentially play a single player game in that regard. After so many games have largely gone in the direction of 'getting to max level so you can THEN start playing the game and having fun' it's hard to adjust back to the old way games like these used to be designed, where you felt like the content you're playing from level 1 IS the 'end game', or otherwise worthwhile experiences. When you aren't in a rush to reach max level you can focus on enjoying every part the game has to offer and make that experience a memorable one. This is actually still a problem even in FFXIV where new players who want to join their friends in the end game rush through the story and rob themselves of an otherwise memorable time. Now if only they could overhaul that account system, as much as I love the PlayOnline nostalgia...

2006-07 I LIVED in Vana'diel. Never was good at it, nor did I get to the really in-depth end game content (it was so complicated/time-consuming to progress) but oh the memories 🥲

I have fond memories of this game from levels 1-25 or so. And nightmares of how restrictive it was after that. I finally got frustrated and solo'd myself to 50 with BST as a main job because it was the only way to avoid relying on groups you often had to wait hours for and then sometimes watch them fall apart in a fraction of the time you waited to get it together. Most of my other jobs never got to 40. I went back once after they changed things and had fun briefly before running into bots everywhere and deciding it just wasn't worth it.

going though base San d'Oria missions right now. currently ascending a tower in the Jueno mission.

Finally someone is talking about this expansion!!

God. I will never forget playing it for the first time on Ps2 around the time of the first expansion (1st in the US 2nd in Japan) people have a hard time imagining what I mean when explaining that the opening cities didn’t have NPC guards at the gates, nor did mobs de spawn after chasing someone. They stayed right there at the front gate and PLAYERS self imposed guard duty. Like, how amazing is that?

There's a lot of depth to the story. I've run CoP countless times to help people on private servers (Nasomi/Eden) over the years and like to impart some fun side bits to players also interested in it. [CoP Story Spoilers somewhat] For example if you play as a THF and obtain THF Artifact gear the cutscene/story shows you and Nanaa Mihgo finding rusty knight's armor and you are ambushed by Atarefaunet and his old crew. You are knocked out after that and they discuss how he needs to clean up the armor and lose weight on the way to Tavnazia. Fast forward to Chains of Promathia and Atarefaunet plays the role of Louverance's imposter whom you meet with in Tavnazia initially. There's more to this all in the CoP main story and other side quests, as well as the San D'Oria rank missions he is briefly introduced (search Atarefaunet on the ffxiclopedia wiki). Personally big fan of CoP and the difficulty and social aspect of running it on classic XI 75 cap.

Played FFXI since western release and have like 730 days total play time it's the MMO I'll always remember memories from, back in the day I think it took nearly a whole year to get Cap lvl which was 75

I enjoyed FFXI when it launched on PS2. Bought all the expansions on physical that were available, and a few after that which became digital. Played on Fenrir server until lvl 90 cap and raked in more than 365 days of gameplay on my play timer, easily pushing over 9000 hours. Right before PS2 compatibility shut down, I hopped on just to see the game, and it was almost unplayable due to be severely outdated hardware. I don't have the free time to commit to playing on it on pc. It was a unique and enjoyable experience that can't be replicated by any other mmorpg.

just started to play ff11 on a private server that goes by Eden. its a private server dedicated to the 2007 vanilla version of the game. im already a lvl 6 blackmage human. its fun af

Every so often I join back up. Even after all this time, when I log in, still feels wrong not seeing Kujata server anymore. Think the only thing I really need to unlock is Staff limit breaks, as well getting goldsmith up a few more before being capped fully. I will admit I paid no attention to the main plot for years. That was until Dancer came out. So much gil being saved from no longer having to deal with NIN (not that NIN is a bad job, it is rightfully awesome as a main and sub, I'm just very cheap), and able to pair Dancer to PUP and BLU my level of addiction skyrocketed, and ran through the main story after capping primary BLU merits and mastery loving every single moment. Personally, it could easily get rebooted for today (just add jump and not an emote for it lol) while adding in voice, and a more established quest tracking system, I feel it would be a massive contender.

Did they fix the controls on this game? A few years back my friend and I went to a private server to try to relive our heyday when it first came out and it was atrocious to control. We loved it when it first came out but it was borderline unplayable.

Great video, I love this game so much and agreed on the stories being just phenomenal. As a FFXI they are the most important part of the game for me, CoP being the best Final Fantasy story every told in my opinion.

Still love FFXI to this day... in many ways it feels perfectly in place with the PS2 era FF games, and has enough content to always keep you exploring and busy.