FFXI: It's an Everquest clone that actually adds something to the formula!
PostPosted:Thu Oct 30, 2003 3:36 pm
<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>All the other MMORPGs following the EQ formula (as opposed to the UO formula, a la SWG) have basically tried to imitate EQ, while adding virtually nothing.
FFXI actually does. If you hated EQ's levelling treadmill, you probably won't like this much more, but it tries.
Playonline itself is the best type of front end for this I've ever seen. Install is easy, registration is easy, it's extremely well integrated, and if you have any questions about what you need to do, then you can download a little tutorial right in Playonline itself.
Server selection is an issue. You can hope your friends on a server buy a Worldpass for you (these are VERY EXPENSIVE FOR NOOBLERS), or you can character create and end up on a random server. Despite what they said, YOU CAN DELETE AND END UP ON ANOTHER SERVER. There is also an exploit here: Make your character up to the "handles" screen (after you select your nation). When it asks you to select a handle, right-click! You'll end up back at the main screen, and you can see which server your character ended up on. If you don't want that server, delete and recreate your character. You can actually go in-game to figure out which server you're on, but this takes about 5 minutes each time, and is not fun (trust me, I saw the intro 6 times before I got on Valefor). Using the l33tor exploit, you can run through 10-15 servers in 5 minutes flat, which makes it much easier to get on the one you want.
The UI is also...counterintuitive. I know some people who want to get a PS2 to USB adapter and use gamepads. I'm adapting to the keyboard just fine - if you actually use the default "full keyboard" setting, then you can do 90% of everything you need to do with just your right hand.
The world is absolutely massive. San d'Oria is probably the biggest MMOG town I've ever seen, excluding maybe Omni-1 in AO. There's a lot of quests, which give you some good items, and some money. Some of the good quests in each town allow you turn in monster trophies (meat, hides, etc) for good cash, and some of them are repeatable. This is your source of income early on, and if you really want to buy a worldpass for a friend (just have them do the server create exploit I mentioned, I've got like 8 hours in-game and I've got maybe 1000 gil - a Valefor worldpass costs 1150 gil). The graphics are passable to good - if you can turn texture quality up to 1024x1024 and run the game well, the character models are FFX level.
Combat seems like EQ++. It's similar in layout, but there's definate bonuses. You learn weapon skills that you can use in battle - I've only got the first dagger one, and it doesn't seem to do much, but it's an extra bit of damage. There's a decent variety of critters around. Being able to swap jobs at your house whenever you want is VERY NICE. VERY VERY NICE. When I can add a sub-job, this will blow EQ away in that respect - actual character customization. The death penalty is a bit harsh (10% of what you need to level, unless you get a raise), but you don't lose items or money, so you don't have to go on a corpse run (this is very, very good).
Anyway, the server select issue is my only major complaint, but I got on the server I wanted to be on without too much hassle. If you're not adverse to a level treadmill (I don't like them, but I'm giving this a shot), then you may be in luck here.</div>
FFXI actually does. If you hated EQ's levelling treadmill, you probably won't like this much more, but it tries.
Playonline itself is the best type of front end for this I've ever seen. Install is easy, registration is easy, it's extremely well integrated, and if you have any questions about what you need to do, then you can download a little tutorial right in Playonline itself.
Server selection is an issue. You can hope your friends on a server buy a Worldpass for you (these are VERY EXPENSIVE FOR NOOBLERS), or you can character create and end up on a random server. Despite what they said, YOU CAN DELETE AND END UP ON ANOTHER SERVER. There is also an exploit here: Make your character up to the "handles" screen (after you select your nation). When it asks you to select a handle, right-click! You'll end up back at the main screen, and you can see which server your character ended up on. If you don't want that server, delete and recreate your character. You can actually go in-game to figure out which server you're on, but this takes about 5 minutes each time, and is not fun (trust me, I saw the intro 6 times before I got on Valefor). Using the l33tor exploit, you can run through 10-15 servers in 5 minutes flat, which makes it much easier to get on the one you want.
The UI is also...counterintuitive. I know some people who want to get a PS2 to USB adapter and use gamepads. I'm adapting to the keyboard just fine - if you actually use the default "full keyboard" setting, then you can do 90% of everything you need to do with just your right hand.
The world is absolutely massive. San d'Oria is probably the biggest MMOG town I've ever seen, excluding maybe Omni-1 in AO. There's a lot of quests, which give you some good items, and some money. Some of the good quests in each town allow you turn in monster trophies (meat, hides, etc) for good cash, and some of them are repeatable. This is your source of income early on, and if you really want to buy a worldpass for a friend (just have them do the server create exploit I mentioned, I've got like 8 hours in-game and I've got maybe 1000 gil - a Valefor worldpass costs 1150 gil). The graphics are passable to good - if you can turn texture quality up to 1024x1024 and run the game well, the character models are FFX level.
Combat seems like EQ++. It's similar in layout, but there's definate bonuses. You learn weapon skills that you can use in battle - I've only got the first dagger one, and it doesn't seem to do much, but it's an extra bit of damage. There's a decent variety of critters around. Being able to swap jobs at your house whenever you want is VERY NICE. VERY VERY NICE. When I can add a sub-job, this will blow EQ away in that respect - actual character customization. The death penalty is a bit harsh (10% of what you need to level, unless you get a raise), but you don't lose items or money, so you don't have to go on a corpse run (this is very, very good).
Anyway, the server select issue is my only major complaint, but I got on the server I wanted to be on without too much hassle. If you're not adverse to a level treadmill (I don't like them, but I'm giving this a shot), then you may be in luck here.</div>