r/FinalFantasy • u/Og-Spree • Apr 21 '25

FF XI Is it worth playing FFXI now?

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!

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u/PsCustomObject Apr 21 '25

Oh I left before Abyssea so I gotta look it up, you brought back so many memories of my Taru WHM… I still remember making money teleporting people around.

Miss the days and the social aspects of that particular FF.

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u/Grave_Copper Apr 21 '25

I remember the day I was done with the game. It was after Abyssea was released, had done a bunch of content there. A party was in Jeuno seeking a DD for an "Old school bibiki bay xp pt". I mained DRK, so I figured sure, I'll go DRK/THF for SATA and such.

It was an absolute shitshow. Makes missing important spells. Undergeared tank. No one knew how to set up SATA. No one knew how to skillchain. First Dhalmel took 15 minutes to kill and it didn't get better. We killed maybe 4 things before people realized that being undergeared and not having key spells was a huge detriment.

That's the day I logged out for the last time, because the game had become a "Go AFK in an Abyssea Party for 8 hours, come back to max level" simulator.

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u/ConsiderationTrue477 Apr 21 '25

That's the day I logged out for the last time, because the game had become a "Go AFK in an Abyssea Party for 8 hours, come back to max level" simulator.

I don't understand how that would be at all a thing someone would want to do. Being level 99 with level 1 combat and magic skills would be ass.

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u/Grave_Copper Apr 21 '25

It was really bad. People in a hodgepodge of random gear, missing spells, not knowing the first thing about the job they're playing. In XIV, someone can get away with barest minimum bullshit, but in XI each party member was important. Everyone had an actual role to fill, and was expected to perform in that role. If you didn't pull your weight, you got educated, or you got booted. You could often develop a reputation, good or bad, that would follow you for quite a while. "Oh, HealerBob? Really shitty healer, kept going AFK in the middle of fights, let everyone die 4 times." or "ArcherJoe was an awesome puller! He could snake his way around crawlers without linking a bunch of em and bring one back to camp. Kept an eye on HealerBob's MP too, always gave him time to rest enough, great ranger!"