FFXI's Golden Age?

[Vile23]

Old fag here... COP era was by far the best. There was nothing like the drama, then the era of COP and big kills. I remember being rank 10 was like "oh shi" status. Hitting 75 with out a burn type party... walking barefoot in the snow to school... shit those were the days.... Guess thats why I quit after COP. Felt like I beat the damn game (pre nerf) and had a good time doing it. Nothing in ToAU had me remotely interested ! Fuck. Getting to a camp was serious business in the bruised as economy we had. Oils and powders were way overpriced, NQ Haubs going for 2.5 mil. I can go on and on. Like Mug said, "If only I could go back in time, I'd totally play again."

[Kaylia]

Man I remember being pissed back in 2004? When they nerfed the exp to get from 70-75. It was some RIDICULOUS ass exp and I did it dammit. I remember getting in trouble for calling someone out because they were bitching about the 70 exp chain 15 in moon lol.

That was back in the day where Sky and Moon was where you went and there were no other options. 60-70 exp a fight with a 60k tnl was awesome.

Unless I'm crazy, it was never more than 44k per level (they simply scaled xp inbetween to something more constant, instead of the huge 10k xp jump we were getting).


But yeah, xp was so terrible back then. "I can't give up so close from the end" was the only thing in my mind when I went from 65 to 75.

[Mizango]

Yeah that was a rough estimate, I dont know the exact amount lol. Hell its been so long I cant tell you how much exp it is from 1-2 now.

[dejet]

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/ff...visedchart.jpg

thats how it was about 120k exp was hacked off the grind to 75.

edit: the change was 124000 exp less to hit 75.

edit2: taken from wiki this

Spoiler: show

LEVEL OLD NEW CHANGE Tot Change
===== ===== ===== ====== ==========
50-51 7800 7800 0 0
51-52 10000 8000 2000 2000
52-53 11000 9200 1800 3800
53-54 13000 10400 2600 6400
54-55 16000 11600 5400 11800
55-56 20000 12800 7200 19000
56-57 20000 14000 6000 25000
57-58 20000 15200 4800 29800
58-59 20000 16400 3600 33400
59-60 20000 17600 2400 35800
60-61 20000 18800 1200 37000
61-62 30000 20000 10000 47000
62-63 31000 21500 9500 56500
63-64 32000 23000 9000 65500
64-65 33000 24500 8500 74000
65-66 34000 26000 8000 82000
66-67 35000 27500 7500 89500
67-68 36000 29000 7000 96500
68-69 37000 30500 6500 103000
69-70 38000 32000 6000 109000
70-71 39000 34000 5000 114000
71-72 40000 36000 4000 118000
72-73 41000 38000 3000 121000
73-74 42000 40000 2000 123000
74-75 43000 42000 1000 124000

[FailureMidgard]

Not sure why you got so offended by my statement. First of all, it is all opinion, and if you actually look at the vote result, it actually agrees with what I was saying. Not a surprise that ToAU era came in second and not first and all downhill after that.

If you think deeper on what I mean, you will get a better sense of my opinion. Yes, level sync makes the game go smoother, allowing you to hop on the game and level right away. It solve the seeking in lower jeuno for hours problem, which many considered a waste of time and it is. However, you fail to understand, the reason you have such problem to start with is from the lack of player base that started to decline long before that. In the peak of this game, there wasn't such problem, at least never for me (maybe I had lower standard in forming a party, I used to think some exp is better than no exp and will form up interesting party). So yes, level sync is a welcome addition to help adjust the problem that was created by losing players, yet IMO such problem never existed during the peak.

As for missing the old school way of leveling, I see nothing wrong with that statement. It was harder, and not all the time you will get the support you want, but adjusting to no support by having everyone doing their job to the fullest does help you in the long run. I enjoy that. There are threads about how gimp some players are now a day, in gear and in knowledge, you think lvling sync to 18 killing worms in qufim until you are 75 help the player gain knowledge in gears? It helps older players to lvl fast without much downside since most knows the game and know how to gear. But for new or less knowledgeable players, taking a long time to 75, experiencing each lvl, buying new gears to suit that level does prepare the player for the future.

When you talk about a game's peak, it is not about certain feature help stop the loss of the player base such as lvl sync, more new content, new end game etc. It is about the path that takes you to that top, things that draws in new players. Lvl sync certain didn't exist when the game was at its peak. Would it have keep the game at its peak for a longer time if it had existed? certainly, but that's not what we are talking about here. You are right that lvl sync did not kill the game or drove players away, my mistake there. What I really meant is that it is really way too late, and it actually makes the game too easy to cap out at this stage when many are close to capping out already. Players that are capped out usually are those that quit, you are speeding that process of capping out when new content are small and slow coming in.

Making the game easier, even in a good way, will shorten the game. The new content has to keep players from capping out. Ever since ToAU, players are capping out faster than the new contents can be implemented. It is good and bad for the game. Good that you get your money worth in a shorter time, bad that you cap out fast and got nothing else to do. It is like a piece of steak, you can decide to eat it fast or slow. I usually like to enjoy it slowly.

You don't need to agree with me. It is just my opinion. I hate lvl sync cuz it is now too easy for players to get to 75. Many are just lvling a job, finish it in 3 weeks, and then move on to another without fulfilling the previous ones. When it takes you longer to lvl, you will treasure it more (doesn't apply to everyone and I know that).

Again, no hard feeling. Just my point of view, not necessarily right.

I saw just as many gimps (read, 99% or something dumb) back then. I once saw a guy with a -2eva, +2attk earring on 1 ear, and +2eva, -2attk earring on the other. This was before I ever bothered to come to BG.

Anyway, I wasn't offended, and you're right to have an opinion, but while you sit there and quote the poll, did you notice that ToAU was the 2nd most popular, just a step behind yours? I think ToAU did something right. All those polls tell me is WotG and the recent expansions are all crap, even though a ton of people decided to flame Neosutra when he said as much.

But ya, you're welcome to your opinion, but I think you're off base as to why people voted what, and I think the # of people that think level sync is bad is much lower than you give credit for.

Before level synch, people joked about grinding the same 3 mob types to 75. After level synch... well...

Really? So you fought more than like crabs, beetles and crawlers? Seems to me that about covers it. Or, it covers it as much as saying you only fight 3 types now, and ignore the fact that Eronf has 2 mob types, MJSP has 3 mob types + different job beastmen, etc.

[dejet]

I saw just as many gimps (read, 99% or something dumb) back then. I once saw a guy with a -2eva, +2attk earring on 1 ear, and +2eva, -2attk earring on the other. This was before I ever bothered to come to BG.

Anyway, I wasn't offended, and you're right to have an opinion, but while you sit there and quote the poll, did you notice that ToAU was the 2nd most popular, just a step behind yours? I think ToAU did something right. All those polls tell me is WotG and the recent expansions are all crap, even though a ton of people decided to flame Neosutra when he said as much.

But ya, you're welcome to your opinion, but I think you're off base as to why people voted what, and I think the # of people that think level sync is bad is much lower than you give credit for.



Really? So you fought more than like crabs, beetles and crawlers? Seems to me that about covers it. Or, it covers it as much as saying you only fight 3 types now, and ignore the fact that Eronf has 2 mob types, MJSP has 3 mob types + different job beastmen, etc.

2nd is a nice way of saying you lost.

eh its the same crabs was the big thing but i also did bats,birds in the bay, ranger burns in the bay, Monk burns in KRT weps in moon/sky. When I lvled bard I had 0, read that 0 pts not on birds post 50.

I just hate birds because you cant use food, i acnt cast shit on them LOL.

[Mayareira]

did you notice that ToAU was the 2nd most popular, just a step behind yours? I think ToAU did something right

Its the "oh, do you remember how fun and wonderful things were back in 2005? I even got laid in that year! Trees, birds, rainbows, love, flowers!!!^_^" mentality that drives CoP forward in this poll. 4 years have passed and naturally people have forgotten the frustrations of that era, the reasons why everyone ran away from the game. Heck, having good memories about crappy coffer parties is pretty extreme to be honest.

Looking at an early poll (when CoP frustrations were fresh) on this board, the results are...

35.79% - ToAU definitely better than CoP and Zilart
28.42% - Definitely better than CoP, not sure about Zilart
6% - Dull
32.63% - Too early to tell.

I refuse to consider ToAU an "easy ride" for gimps. Biggest fucktards I encountered in this game were in pre-ToAU era. Princess Red Mages that refuse to refresh, that don't give a rat ass about haste cycles, etc. Red Mages with decent refresh cycles were godly and posted on Alla's great player thread. Haste? NIN only spell! Yes, I am definitely sure tanking Nidhogg with PLD in full koenig(god!)made battles somewhat more "difficult" than today, where every formulas, gear set suggestions and combinations are at players' service.

It shouldn't take 5,000 crabs and months of grind for a player to learn a fucking haste cycle and the potential of their jobs.. that's how long it takes a college student to ace at advanced calculus.

[FailureMidgard]

2nd is a nice way of saying you lost.

eh its the same crabs was the big thing but i also did bats,birds in the bay, ranger burns in the bay, Monk burns in KRT weps in moon/sky. When I lvled bard I had 0, read that 0 pts not on birds post 50.

I just hate birds because you cant use food, i acnt cast shit on them LOL.

Huh? I lost what? You're right, I lost that I can't tell him his opinion. His views are still skewed, and his attempt to globalize his views are wrong.

And 'grats, you had 0 parties not on birds post 50, I remember not doing doing bats, I've done birds in Caedarva since level sync, I've seen ranger burns on birds, I've always done imps. Just because you leveled a whole 1 job since level sync, doesn't really make your experiences truth.

Ya, I prefer birds, they are good exp, they are in a very accessible location, and your mage gets a free 1tick refresh. Why the fuck would I want to go to Bibiki Bay? If the game were better by going to Bibiki Bay, don't you think people would want to play this amazing game where you run to Bibiki Bay? Wait, I think people like bird camps.

[dejet]

Huh? I lost what? You're right, I lost that I can't tell him his opinion. His views are still skewed, and his attempt to globalize his views are wrong.

And 'grats, you had 0 parties not on birds post 50, I remember not doing doing bats, I've done birds in Caedarva since level sync, I've seen ranger burns on birds, I've always done imps. Just because you leveled a whole 1 job since level sync, doesn't really make your experiences truth.

Ya, I prefer birds, they are good exp, they are in a very accessible location, and your mage gets a free 1tick refresh. Why the fuck would I want to go to Bibiki Bay? If the game were better by going to Bibiki Bay, don't you think people would want to play this amazing game where you run to Bibiki Bay? Wait, I think people like bird camps.

its a fucking joke my god... LOL

[Tulun]

Doing CoP was the most fun I had in the game (back before a lot of nerfs but not all: 2006ish).

I formed a static on Mammets (I was only ~60 then). I basically dinged to 75 shortly before beating Promathia CoP story arc and missions felt like the game.

Really, what came after was really not as interesting for me.

[Mojo]

I'm going to reiterate, I think this question is difficult to answer and there is no clear solution. The first step is to break it down content wise.

Rise of the Zilart

• Storyline - Enjoyable and the difficulty was within reason for that time.
• Sky - Some refer to this as a n00b training ground, but it was difficult enough for its time and had a great reward to farm ratio. The farming isn't actually that bad either, and the boss fights are fun. It's probably a win in this category.
• HNM - I don't think anybody is fond of HNM in FFXI (seriously, who likes wasting time camping?) but at least there were good rewards. 21-24 hour timers are also much better than whatever-the-hell it is for other HNM. Definitely a win in this category... which is a sad realization.
• Dynamis - Easily the worst event of its kind. Only a few relic weapons are good, not to mention obtaining them is somewhat ridiculous. AF2 is a similar story (only some pieces are good, some jobs benefit muuuuch more than others.)
• Quests/KS99 - Divine Might was fun but the rewards were only good for a few jobs. KS99 was also sorta fun in a way, hard to gauge rewards though because nobody really ever did them until better items were in the game already.
• Job - Samurai, Dragoon, and Ninja.

Chains of Promathia

• Storyline - I'd say hands down the CoP storyline was the most enchanting. I didn't mind the difficulty of the fights although the level cap was just a pain in the ass. Maybe if level sync had been around in those days it would be a different story. Either way, I think the epicness of the story overcomes this problem for the win.
• Sea - FFXI raspberry award. Torques aren't bad, but definitely at the bottom of the barrel in terms of rewards for this type of activity. Jailer of Love drops are decent but considering that virtue drops were utter bullshit until after ToAU had been released, it's almost a complete bust. Could have possibly been redeemed by Absolute Virtue drops because they're fucking awesome, but we all know how that goes.
• HNM - Almost completely pointless and on awful timers, fights somewhat fun.
• Limbus - A decent event. Everything was reasonable to obtain and there was at least one good item for every job, although the drops did favor melee. The fights were fun though and mages could get coins to sell if they didn't get gear.
• Quests/ENM - CoP rings are probably the best type of these rewards. It's also sort of a double whammy because of Apocalypse Night, but that could be considered RoZ so it's a toss up in that regard. Ouryu and Bahamut II were awesome fights though and great for the players who could do them. I'd say a win in this category.
• Jobs - No Jobs.

Treasures of Aht Urgan

• Storyline - Better than the original storyline but not as good as Zilart or Promathia.
• ZNM - Not bad, but a bit late. The gear is mostly mediocre, but at the point when this was introduced the same could be said of most of the Sky gear as well. Decent if you don't have the better and often difficult to obtain counterparts, and there are some that are the best of its class. Pandemonium Warden fight requirements are simply retarded, and the fight was very poorly scaled when it was introduced. However, Sea is worse by far.
• Assault/Salvage - The clear winner although it did take a little bit for people to figure it out and for the difficulty to be reasonable. The rewards are fucking awesome though, and even after doing it hundreds of times I didn't mind going. The weapon requirements are fucking retarded though.
• HNM - Awful timers but the gear is a little bit better than Sea. Still, eh.
• Quests/ISNM - I can't really think of any quests. The rings were ok I suppose. ISNM was pretty weak compared to the others.
• Jobs - Blue Mage, Puppetmaster, Corsair.

Now, if you're rating the expansions by content (which I think some people are despite the original question) then it looks like Rise of the Zilart wins. The events that were introduced were typically fun and more reasonable than those of other expansions. It's followed closely by Aht Urgan. Promathia is the loser in this comparison.

However, that's not really what the original poster is asking. The question is more about the era, not the content. I have no bad memories of Zilart. It was a great time to be playing, everything was exciting. This excitement (and enjoyment) peaked right around Promathia. Being entangled in a great storyline and finding creative ways to overcome every obstacle my friends and I encountered was a fantastic experience. When Aht Urgan was released, the excitement had faded because I knew much more about the game. Playing had become more of a routine than an adventure. Some of my friends had also quit too, which made me feel isolated in a game that was withering away (although only slightly.)

Another way you can measure this is by some sort of "state of gameplay and improvements" comparison. I'd definitely say that Treasure of Aht Urgan wins here. The game was well polished and the content they introduced was very good. It seemed like every patch was well received and that things could only get better... but then Wings came along and fucked all of that up.

[Nameless]

However, that's not really what the original poster is asking. The question is more about the era, not the content. I have no bad memories of Zilart. It was a great time to be playing, everything was exciting. This excitement (and enjoyment) peaked right around Promathia. Being entangled in a great storyline and finding creative ways to overcome every obstacle my friends and I encountered was a fantastic experience. When Aht Urgan was released, the excitement had faded because I knew much more about the game. Playing had become more of a routine than an adventure. Some of my friends had also quit too, which made me feel isolated in a game that was withering away (although only slightly.)

I think that is very well stated and about sums it up. During the peak, the game wasn't as good nor as enjoyable as right now. But I don't know, maybe it is the atmosphere of having alot of players around make it better and more exciting back then. "Playing had become more of a routine than an adventure" is the perfect way to describe it.

I think if the vote is about at what stage is the game most balanced and has the most to offer. All the votes would go to ToAU. But again, that's not what it is. Excitement doesn't always equal content, which might be odd but true.

When I vote, I didn't even look at the expansion. I voted the year of 04 and 05, and that coincided with CoP. Not necessarily the best expansion, but I certainly remember having the most fun back then.

[Spider-Dan]

This poll is most certainly not a question of "which expansion do you think is the best?", as we all know that that's a useless, tired question at this point. Consider that there is a difference between:

"I think that RoZ is the most significant, relevant expansion this game had"
and
"I think that this game was most enjoyable prior to CoP's release"

That point becomes particularly striking when you take into account the fact that each expansion still "contains" the entirety of the previous expansion; it's not like buying WoG means that you lose access to RoZ. I would seriously question the sanity of anyone who honestly believes that the game itself is literally worse today (with 4 2/3 expansions) than it was in 2004 (with 2 expansions) or 2006 (with 3 expansions); however you may disagree with the later adjustments made to old expansions, they don't outweigh the addition of entirely new expansions. If the game we are playing today were released in 2003, 2004, or 2006, it would stomp the sh*t out of those versions of FFXI, full stop. So I wouldn't put too much weight on poll results as an indicator of which version is objectively superior.

The poll was simply intended to see which era of the game people will remember most favorably. That was one of the reasons why I tried to break poll options down into more categories than just straight expansion releases.

[Eleven19]

I voted for 360/ToAU.

Even though it turned out that 360 plays this game really terribly in regard to frame rate and sound loss (Mine anyway... such a disappointment I went back to playing on PS2 lol).

In terms of the content from the expansion, ToAU delivered on a variety of activities that satisfied just about ever facet of the player base. We got light end game activities like Nyzul, assaults, besieged, staple meriting areas, and more challenging events like salvage and einherjar, a few HNM that turned out to be decently fun fights.

We also got three new jobs to level. The culmination of all these new additions and the halting of the playerbase leaving to other games is what I would consider a golden age. This time frame got the players excited again, made us want to try all these new things. I loved CoP's storyline the most (Even though I lost half of it between the times I actually did the missions), but I think the time of CoP drive players away rather than got them excited about playing. Many players were turned off by CoP's mission difficulty (Especially when you consider the expansion before that was entirely the opposite).

ToAU had a little bit of everything. Time spent leveling COR for me after that time frame was some of the best time I had in FFXI. I know many players feel the same about BLU.

[Kaiyoko]

The day we could zerg AV was clearly the only golden day.

[Panthera]

For me, the game began to flourish in terms of playability with level sync. Creating a good party was no longer a huge coincidence of 6 people with that right combination of jobs that just so happen to be in the same level range, and have a willingness to work together. You had to compromise on setups, and nonsense-ical parties would be created out of desperation. Compare this to do the days when trains to the zone would wipe out multiple parties, and cross party AOE was a serious problem.

Obviously, server populations are declining, and server consolidations are inevitable, especially post FFXIV. But frankly, i like the breathing room. I don't think that overcrowded exp camps were a good thing, meaning that the game was not at its "Golden Age" back when server populations were larger.

[evilpaul]

Between ToAU and WotG was when it was best I'd say. Maybe a little bit of the way into WotG because of Scholar and /DNC.

That the game has basically stagnated since would be why it kind of sucks now.

[BarthelloSylph]

CoP was one of two most rewarding moments of my experience with FFXI. I left the game approximately 6 months after TOAU came out.

[Hyan]

Anyone who says the era of TAU wasn't the golden age is either remembering the 'good ol' days' (which actually weren't that good in reality) or hadn't cleared the main game's/RoTZ's content entirely before TAU came out.

It very much depends on when you started playing, and how fast did you catch up with the content available.

[Vuitton]

CoP was one of two most rewarding moments of my experience with FFXI. I left the game approximately 6 months after TOAU came out.

Again, this is how I feel as well. About 6 months after ToAU I got bored and quit, then came back just before WotG and played for about 6 months after that, then got bored and quit again.

CoP was the most rewarding time I had with FFXI and I cleared it pre-nerfs. I had fully cleared RotZ and the main game before CoP release. Also, I've been playing since NA PC release, so I don't want to hear about how I only feel this way because I came in late or never finished content. Some people use the victory of a challenge to wash away any negativity they experienced to gain that victory. This is true for me and CoP.

And again,

Rusty Caps Era needs a spot in this poll! =]