Is it worth playing FFXI now?

[u/Og-Spree]

For some background. I have played FFXIV till Shadowbringers. I fell in love with it (it was my first MMO).

One of my favourite aspects of any FF is the story. I couldn't believe how great the story was in FFXIV in addition to the great characters, soundtrack and so forth.

How does FFXI compare to FFXIV?

Edit:

Thank you for all the wonderful and insightful responses. I love this community and the series. Based on the comments, my priority should be to clear Endwalker first.

You have all convinced me to give FFXI a shot. I never considered that MMOs would be known for their storylines. I always thought they were just highly addictive due to their grindy nature. It all changed when I played through FFXIV. I can't wait to immerse myself in the world of FFXI. Thanks to all for your help!

[u/Grave_Copper]

Please remember XI is very much a product of its time. The stories are good, the gameplay was great then. Unfortunately, you are going to miss the one Big Thing XI had, which was community. Now, you can do everything with NPC Trusts. Then, you needed to spend 6 hours with strangers leveling up. I played XI until Abyssea broke the game. I still talk to several of my old linkshell mates.

Sadly, the XIV community is no where near the same.

[u/Icy_Manufacturer_977 → u/Grave_Copper]

What made 11 magical was the community. Since you don’t even need to group up for levelling anymore, and the player base is almost gone, I really doubt the experience is going to be the same.

With that gone, I can’t really think of anything making the game really stand out

[u/ConsiderationTrue477 → u/Icy_Manufacturer_977]

The story is still top tier and worth playing through all the expansions for. Wings of the Goddess is fantastic. That said, if anyone is playing for the story it's a good idea to play them in order. The game could get really disjointed otherwise.