What made you quit FFXI?

[Noob]

This is a huge part of why this game doesn't seem to have any real staying power for me anymore, and I loved the way you worded this.

^This.

I am not capable of expressing in words just how upsetting the Abyssea & the level cap being raised beyond 75 was and still is for me. To take a game that I absolutely loved (long after I got everything for my jobs) and just ruin it, it's just a very bad situation for me.

It's like being on a private island with everything you could ever want, then a tsunami hits, and your entire world goes to shit. That's exactly how it felt for me. I was happy just helping other players with older content when I wasn't doing endgame with the shell (which took up the majority of my time online, which I loved). Had practically all my goals met. Still, I miss the way things were.

[Septimus]

^This.

I am not capable of expressing in words just how upsetting the Abyssea & the level cap being raised beyond 75 was and still is for me. To take a game that I absolutely loved (long after I got everything for my jobs) and just ruin it, it's just a very bad situation for me.

It's like being on a private island with everything you could ever want, then a tsunami hits, and your entire world goes to shit. That's exactly how it felt for me. I was happy just helping other players with older content when I wasn't doing endgame with the shell (which took up the majority of my time online, which I loved). Had practically all my goals met. Still, I miss the way things were.

You had practically all of your goals met. And then what? You were just going to keep paying Square for a stagnant game to help people?

[Midnightjade]

I quit because I had completed most of the content I wanted to complete, and all I enjoyed anymore were low-numbers events with people I trusted. Then I got the gear from those events too and there wasn't anything left. I came back because now I can do new low-numbers events with people I know who still play and know what they're doing, and when they're not around I can solo most of it. Casual, time-efficient and fun.

TLDR: Game is improved. Avoid the shout alliances full of folks that have no idea, and do everything low-numbers with buddies.

[Celebrindor]

I posted that I may quit. I've taken pretty much 6 weeks off for lack of interest. While I'll take most/all of March off for different reasons (financial, moving), the raising of the crafting (read:NOT synergy) will likely bring me back. It's the one area of the game I feel I've actually accomplished something and the one area of the game that I'd like to push to the limit. Would I like to do a relic/mythic? Damn straight. But I'm being honest. I'm not gonna be one of those whiny bastards who complain they don't have a relic when they play 2 hours a day 5 days a week.

[Tagus]

As a side note, I thought half the forums got banned from the number of seizure robot faggot avatars, and then realized... nah. Just nynja. That fucking troll sure posted alot.

[Noob]

You had practically all of your goals met. And then what? You were just going to keep paying Square for a stagnant game to help people?

They could've continued adding great content without ruining the game. Aby and the level cap raise unbalanced everything.

[Deader2818]

They could've continued adding great content without ruining the game. Aby and the level cap raise unbalanced everything.

The problem was, they hadn't added any great content since salvage at that point.

[Lordender]

I'm not personally attacking you Renzokuken. The whole "my gear isn't good anymore" thing just grinds me I guess. I felt the same way too. I felt cheated too. But that's how it goes. I quit too because I felt deflated from all the time, effort, and BS I put up with being in LS's I hated to get a handful of drops over 2 years. I'm happy as all can be now I can get really good gear (not the best, FU VW) and a lot of it while maintaining a social life. I still have fun doing things like old style exp, limbus, etc. I only got 1 piece of homam ever and I plan on getting more this time. Yes I know it's useless but I just want it to say I did it. I can find many other facets of this game that makes me happy. I guess that spark has left you.

Yeah, I never really understood everyone being so mad over the game finally progressing with level caps/abyssea beyond. At the height of my FFXI days at level 75cap(quitting after the first WoTG content patch) I had all the gear I wanted. I had Gaiters, K.club, morrigans robe, ebody, dalmatica, novio, love/justice torques, Ridill, pretty much everything outside of a D.ring/Relic weapon. Like everyone else in the game we would farm sea, attempt AV if it popped(get raped we did). I like many others on this forum chased the carrots SE dangled infront of us for many years.

When the level cap started to raise and friends started telling me I should play again and started showing me some of the new gear all I said was "cool, about time they did that." I was actually happy to see the game going new places after being stagnated for many many years. I think people played the game for the wrong reasons if they get all mad over people "catching up with easier to obtain new gear." This was never about peoples achievements being invalidated, this is all about people not being as "special" as they used to be and it pisses them off till no end because now "omg all the scrubs can get decently geared!"

People wonder why Tanaka is back to low drop rate/grindy ass content again, people raged till no end when the game was accessible but with accessibility coming to the forefront exclusivity goes on the backburner. I think people who played this game only to stroke their e.peens need to re-examine themselves, a game is about fun, entertainment, nothing more, nothing less.

[Kalmado]

Yeah, I never really understood everyone being so mad over the game finally progressing with level caps/abyssea beyond. At the height of my FFXI days at level 75cap(quitting after the first WoTG content patch) I had all the gear I wanted. I had Gaiters, K.club, morrigans robe, ebody, dalmatica, novio, love/justice torques, Ridill, pretty much everything outside of a D.ring/Relic weapon. Like everyone else in the game we would farm sea, attempt AV if it popped(get raped we did). I like many others on this forum chased the carrots SE dangled infront of us for many years.

When the level cap started to raise and friends started telling me I should play again and started showing me some of the new gear all I said was "cool, about time they did that." I was actually happy to see the game going new places after being stagnated for many many years. I think people played the game for the wrong reasons if they get all mad over people "catching up with easier to obtain new gear." This was never about peoples achievements being invalidated, this is all about people not being as "special" as they used to be and it pisses them off till no end because now "omg all the scrubs can get decently geared!"

People wonder why Tanaka is back to low drop rate/grindy ass content again, people raged till no end when the game was accessible but with accessibility coming to the forefront exclusivity goes on the backburner. I think people who played this game only to stroke their e.peens need to re-examine themselves, a game is about fun, entertainment, nothing more, nothing less.

Man that was a nice post! So far it has been fun just doing GoV, exping in random spots where no one is, etc. The point about doing things you couldn't before, yeah that has me pumped up too. Since I've been back I was able to claim Simurgh 5 days with no competition. Unfortunately no boots. Across all my time, I think I've gotta be 0/40+ on that damn bird!

That last paragraph is great too. i mean, if you get that riled up over some gear in a video game and hold this much anger over this length of time, to me, there is either something mentally wrong or you have an enormous void in your personal life. I'm not saying I'm perfect. Shoot, I was mad as hell on the 5th Simurgh(in a row)the boots didn't drop.

[Noob]

Edit

[mojava]

The changes in the billingsystem last autumn. First they raised the price for two accounts by 30% by forcing me to change from $ to €. Then on top of that Click&Buy required me to scan and mail over a copy of my passport (or was it drivers license?), a copy of an electricitybill with my address on it and/or some other seemingly random - but private - information. Simply told them it was entirely out of the question. And that's the end of a long and great time in Vana'diel... Still thinking back fondly of FFXI, it's a masterpiece.

[Damane]

Just deactiveted my 2 accounts. For how long I dont know.
Reasons behind it are that it feels more and more like we are going back to the olde FFXI and I really dont have either the time/patience/fun anymore to deal with that crap. Another reason is that the game is getting again too much based on Alliance content: may it be events (Legion, Voidwatch) or Trials (new Mythic and Relic trials). Will keep checking on updates but atm the upcoming events/plans arent apealing to me at all (and the fact that we are going back to Luck based shitty dorps and Luck based fights).

[Celebrindor]

Just deactiveted my 2 accounts. For how long I dont know.
Reasons behind it are that it feels more and more like we are going back to the olde FFXI and I really dont have either the time/patience/fun anymore to deal with that crap. Another reason is that the game is getting again too much based on Alliance content: may it be events (Legion, Voidwatch) or Trials (new Mythic and Relic trials). Will keep checking on updates but atm the upcoming events/plans arent apealing to me at all (and the fact that we are going back to Luck based shitty dorps and Luck based fights).

Interesting...this is actually one of the reasons I feel drawn back to the game lately. One of my favorite aspects of FFXI when I first hit endgame WAS alliance play. My first "endgame" shell was a midday Saturday dynamis shell on Pandemonium (LimitBreak for anyone who might remember back in the dark ages) that had members in Asia, NA, and EU...at the time something I found quite novel. The thought of people around the world all working together for a common goal just blew my mind and sold me on the game instantly.

The variety of events now that allow you to do things with either large groups (VW, soon to be Legion, etc) or smaller events (Neo-Nyzul, older content you may have not gotten to do before, things you can now low-man) I believe makes the game a lot more versatile.

I find it interesting that a few weeks back I posted a very negative and morose post about likely quitting, and now find myself rejuvenated simply by doing a few simple things with a few good friends. I guess that's the way things can be in this game, at least for me with so much left undone. Maybe for some of you who have accomplished so much and have little left undone its harder to stay motivated, but for some of us, getting back on track can be as easy as a good night.

[arus2001]

Really, if you don't have a solid friend base, FFXI can be pretty fucking atrocious... which is kind of funny since I didn't initially buy the game post-NA PC beta for that very reason, only to have a net buddy drag me in then disappear off the face of the earth. I can't say I miss the uneasy "alliances" within larger endgame linkshells back in the day, either. There were most definitely people I'd never associate with if I didn't absolutely have to get something I was after. I can't really say I made any friends who'd drop anything for my sake, either, but that may just be me being overly cynical and just typically expected the worst from people.

[LittleSlurpee]

Quiting for me was... a huge relief.

When I finally gave up on FFXI, it was partly due to excessive drama floating around the LS, and the fact that the game just didn't seem like much fun any more. I got tired of the constant conquest for "items," especially when it revealed how ugly and greedy people can get when they want something. Seeing people steal shit from one another, or bitch because they didn't get what they wanted, so on and so forth.. It became sickening. -- I also realized that a lot of people who "say" they're your friend or act like they are, are usually only doing it because they want you to help them get stuff. As soon as someone else provides that need easier or they get all the use they can out of you, that's usually the end of it. It becomes "Sorry, I'm busy doing *blah blah blah*" over and over and when ya realize you've been used, ya feel betrayed.

There are few unspoken laws between players-- rules that are obvious and if not, at least brought up and corrected at least once. Even then, people will steep to stupidly low levels just to get something that isn't even tangible. And another reason why people do it is because they feel safe and protected behind their damned screen. I'm pretty damn sure that if these were matters in a real life setting, there would be less back stabbing. Hell, morals would actually exist and being a "good person" would bring you the rightful respect versus some douche who has a bunch of "l33t gear."

Oh, man. And don't even get me started on the arrogant bastards who walk around acting like they know everything and therefore treat everyone else who doesn't meet their standards like crap.

Anyway, final reason is because FFXI became a boring time sink. And that stacked with the crappy people you can come across in the game tipped the scale for me.

Meh. Moving on.

[machiko]

Just deactiveted my 2 accounts. For how long I dont know.
Reasons behind it are that it feels more and more like we are going back to the olde FFXI and I really dont have either the time/patience/fun anymore to deal with that crap. Another reason is that the game is getting again too much based on Alliance content: may it be events (Legion, Voidwatch) or Trials (new Mythic and Relic trials). Will keep checking on updates but atm the upcoming events/plans arent apealing to me at all (and the fact that we are going back to Luck based shitty dorps and Luck based fights).

I and a few friends recently deactivated our accounts (9 individual accounts between us) for the first time in around 6-7 years, for pretty much the same reasons stated above. Before Abyssea we were all pretty much burned out with the horrible, lacklustre, exclusive content they were putting out and were ready to quit due to that and them bringing out a successor to XI (they said it wasn't a successor but it sends our a negative signal in the same way WoW2 would for wow players), Abyssea breathed new life into the game for us all and kept us playing from then till now.

Now the game is going back to old style content again, the budget has been slashed (along with the size of the dev team), the content they are putting out is honestly terrible and they are abusing skinner box techniques more blatantly than ever before. We are being taken for granted as a playerbase and it's just not acceptable really, especially since they are still demanding a full monthly fee for this trash (while XIV gets a reduced/free sub that XI players are funding). I accepted this kind of content in the past because I knew no better I think, Abyssea showed how good the game could be and it just makes the current state of the game unacceptable.

Ultimately, my expectations were raised to a level they had no intention of keeping up with and boredom and anger (99 trials were idiotic) killed the desire to carry on.

[Damane]

Interesting...this is actually one of the reasons I feel drawn back to the game lately. One of my favorite aspects of FFXI when I first hit endgame WAS alliance play. My first "endgame" shell was a midday Saturday dynamis shell on Pandemonium (LimitBreak for anyone who might remember back in the dark ages) that had members in Asia, NA, and EU...at the time something I found quite novel. The thought of people around the world all working together for a common goal just blew my mind and sold me on the game instantly.

The variety of events now that allow you to do things with either large groups (VW, soon to be Legion, etc) or smaller events (Neo-Nyzul, older content you may have not gotten to do before, things you can now low-man) I believe makes the game a lot more versatile.

I find it interesting that a few weeks back I posted a very negative and morose post about likely quitting, and now find myself rejuvenated simply by doing a few simple things with a few good friends. I guess that's the way things can be in this game, at least for me with so much left undone. Maybe for some of you who have accomplished so much and have little left undone its harder to stay motivated, but for some of us, getting back on track can be as easy as a good night.

Alliance content is in general very horrible for EU players. You just loose big amounts of time to even set it up (if it even happens). Older content is allready done for me I played this game for 8 years now. I really have no desire and time to go back to the olde FFXI. Abyssea was fine and casual, you could log on and do things when you wanted, how you wanted (even tough its boreing for me now). New Nyzul Isle is just... hmmm, shitty designed. When your only new lowman event is shitty designed then there is nothing much left for you to do (older content was done long time ago). And I really dont want to give SE money for those slim and shitty updates they do and for how they treat their playerbase, this is actually also a pritty big factor in the decision.

[Amastacia]

I don't think I ever cleanly quit, just kept not logging in and then finally just decided to stop paying SE.

I think the original catalyst was Salvage bans taking out some of the people I enjoyed playing with, and then the group I wound up with afterwards just wasn't as skilled or as much fun to be around. Then more and more friends started quitting.

What I wound up with was an LS I didn't like very much, and not enough people I really enjoyed playing the game with left. Then my fiance moved in with me over the summer break before her last semester, then permanently once she graduated university. Between not having massive amounts of time to myself to game, and not much I really enjoyed logging in to do, I just stopped logging in.

I don't defend the Salvage dupers, but I do think SE handled it kind of shadily (if they knew about it, and could track it, they should've made a public statement right away warning people off of it). Far too many good players and good people got caught up because they were sick of pisspoor drop rates on 35s. They made a bad wager on the consequences of their actions and lost, and all the ones I've kept in touch with accepted that fact and didn't try to place the blame on SE for anything besides poor itemization. But still, the game was more fun with them around.

[Celebrindor]

Alliance content is in general very horrible for EU players. You just loose big amounts of time to even set it up (if it even happens).

parsed down, although I can see points in most of your post, but I can definitely see this point. I have good friends who spent years in Great Britain who made the best of their time in FFXI, but I do realize it was rare. I can understand.

[Jem]

Alliance content is in general very horrible for EU players. You just loose big amounts of time to even set it up (if it even happens). Older content is allready done for me I played this game for 8 years now. I really have no desire and time to go back to the olde FFXI. Abyssea was fine and casual, you could log on and do things when you wanted, how you wanted (even tough its boreing for me now). New Nyzul Isle is just... hmmm, shitty designed. When your only new lowman event is shitty designed then there is nothing much left for you to do (older content was done long time ago). And I really dont want to give SE money for those slim and shitty updates they do and for how they treat their playerbase, this is actually also a pritty big factor in the decision.

Granted it doesn't cover the rest of your post but couldn't you have joined an EU LS? I think Chroma has been around for just over 6 years and we've never had issues with attendance for alliance events. Even now we get 18+ for all our events.