Thinking about returning.

[Saga]

I've been pretty bored lately, and my XBOX360 hasn't been seeing much use. I'm torn between getting Ninja Gaiden 2, GTA 4, Lost Odyssey, and now FFXI. I played several years ago, I doubt I could get my 62 NIN restored, but if I could would it be worth it with all the updates/expansions that have improved on the game? Even if I can't restore it, I can always level a more inexpensive job first then go from there. Anyone's thoughts?

[fantasticdan]

Don't play the xbox version, seriously. Graphics are worse, low framerate, screen tearing if you're running in HD, random freezing/crashing in menus or high pop areas (besieged especially), plus the inability to use windower macros. If you have a pc that can handle ffxi, get it on that.

As for whether or not it's worth it to play at start playing from scratch at this point, I would say no. As a player with no in-game connections, trying to get a party for missions, level cap break quests, etc. would probably be a nightmare, due to the fact that pretty much everyone who has needed to do this stuff, already has, and there is virtually no influx of new players. Even just leveling up on some (most?) servers will be very hard at this point, because there just aren't that many people out there leveling new jobs, you may end up just sitting around seeking for hours/days, even on a high demand job, now that the rush from dnc and sch is over. If you're going to play anyway, I would say find a server that has an active leveling population first, than level a non-gear/gil intensive job, like rdm, whm, brd, etc.

[Saga]

Don't play the xbox version, seriously. Graphics are worse, low framerate, screen tearing if you're running in HD, random freezing/crashing in menus or high pop areas (besieged especially), plus the inability to use windower macros. If you have a pc that can handle ffxi, get it on that.

As for whether or not it's worth it to play at start playing from scratch at this point, I would say no. As a player with no in-game connections, trying to get a party for missions, level cap break quests, etc. would probably be a nightmare, due to the fact that pretty much everyone who has needed to do this stuff, already has, and there is virtually no influx of new players. Even just leveling up on some (most?) servers will be very hard at this point, because there just aren't that many people out there leveling new jobs, you may end up just sitting around seeking for hours/days, even on a high demand job, now that the rush from dnc and sch is over. If you're going to play anyway, I would say find a server that has an active leveling population first, than level a non-gear/gil intensive job, like rdm, whm, brd, etc.

Alright, thanks for the advice. Lots of things to take into account.

[Shuemue]

If you didn't like it enough to even get 75 last time, what's different now?

[braaaanch]

do yourself a favor & do anything but return.

[Xavierus]

I will offer a different stance from the above posters.

Return if you really feel the urge to play this game again. It has its ups and downs. You will invest a good amount of time in exping. My cousin just started the game quite recently and has not had any problems finding parties on Sylph (obviously have to do it during peak times depending on where you live). At this point, most players are in end game activities, but SE has been adding more and more of those to keep us busy. You can accomplish most of yoru missions once you join a social linkshell. Most people will have no problem helping you with the ZM and City missions. ToAU and CoP missions still have a fair amount of people climbing up them so you shouldnt have much issue finding people to help you with them. The developers have expressed interest in adding more expansion packs, so i would expect new content for this game for awhile.

Hope this helps.

[Rya]

Pick a server that fits your timezone well, not such a big deal for EST players but i can imagine it being more of a pain for someone in GMT starting from scratch.

Ive leveled a couple low lvl jobs recently and noticed that there was quite a few New players so dont just presume that no one is starting from scratch any more, i think a lot just end up quitting because of a lack of help with things like G1.

[Shuemue]

Mine was a serious question. Why are you contemplating a return to a game you didn't get very far with?

Do you have more time? Do you have more friends playing? What's your motivation?

[XxfaustxX]

i restarted recently due to all of my IRL friends returning to the game, and my brother jumping back in, started off trying to relvl my BLM, got it to 42 then had troubles getting invites, and i wanted to get back into the game ASAP, so i did BRD and got to 75 in about a month or 2 along with chapter 5 CoP, sky access, rank 10, and a semi decent gear setup. i also had a good amount of friends to help me out though. it was worth it for me, i enjoyed the game refresher. i say go for it.

*edit* and i did not have much time to play, maybe once a night for 2-3 hours'ish. somedays id play for alot longer, but all in all, no all day FFXI marathon extravaganzas.

[Saga]

Mine was a serious question. Why are you contemplating a return to a game you didn't get very far with?

Do you have more time? Do you have more friends playing? What's your motivation?

My motivation right now is more curiosity than anything else, I guess. Don't have any friends playing, don't necessarily have more time on my hands than before. I'm not too sure, it's just "the urge," I guess. But once school starts back up in August, I know I'm going to drop FFXI like a ton of bricks since I just won't be able to invest much time in it. With all the expansions/external keyboard I'd have to buy, I've pretty much decided the startup cost to continue playing won't outweigh the time I'll be playing FFXI. More than anything, I'm just bored and want something to fill my time with on the weekends/weeknights. I'm thinking of shelling out for Lost Odyssey, seeing how I like it, and sticking with that for the time being.

[Shuemue]

I'd say go for it if you can get your old character reactivated. Even if you level a completely different job, having 60+ ninja will be awesome for CoP missions.

[Deejay]

Shuemue do you still play? I apologize for hijacking but I remember you used to post on the KI monk boards and was wondering if you quit or not.

[Lordwafik]

Start again, but don't aim for endgame, play for the story and for the lulz. They've made this game easier for new people to start , and it kind of irks me to see people say WAAAA DON'T START OR THE BOOGEYMAN WILL EAT YOU WOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooOOO!!! or things along those lines.

If you're playing for endgame, disregard me, if you want to play for fun, go nuts, level a decent job that'll get you through missions and at the same time level something that's fun , soloable when it wants to for the sake of flexibility ,and mindless but hasn't much of an endgame , like PUP or BST.

[Toxictaru]

Meh, when I started 2 years ago, people were all saying the same shit, don't play don't play, you'll never get anywhere. I'm reasonably sure thats not the truth. If you really want to do something, you're going to find people who are like-minded. I just finished my 5th 75 (SAM, despite my severely outdated sig), and I have no reason to believe that leveling other jobs is going to be impossible.

Don't sit around and complain that you don't get invites if you aren't willing to start a party yourself. If you see a full party worth of people seeking, don't wait around for someone to ask you along, make it yourself. Otherwise you're lazy and deserve to spend days staring at your moogle.

(Edit: At the BLM thing, people stopped invite BLMs over a year ago, solo it)

[Shuemue]

Shuemue do you still play? I apologize for hijacking but I remember you used to post on the KI monk boards and was wondering if you quit or not.

I login now and then, I have no LS or anything, but I make random appearances. A friend just quit and let me play with his account, so I'm messing with NIN and BST a little. I'm mostly idle in FFXI though, on either Asura or Hades.

[CelinaAlexander]

I just restarted about a month ago and I'm doing great. Having taken 4 jobs through dunes now, within the last month, I can attest to the fact that there IS an influx of new players; my parties were using 50% people without subs who were either starting their very first character, or trying out a new character/server.

It really comes down to whether you want to make the effort or not.