Final Fantasy XI (Xbox 360)

...new love in my life, Final Fantasy XI online.

I've never been into role-playing much before, and to be honest, I actually doubted I’d enjoy this game. You seem it wasn't me that made the initial choice to purchase, but one of my ex boyfriends, Zephyr. He's been a fan of FF for years, right from its early days on Nintendo through till now. He is the uber FF geek...he whistles the chocobo theme as he walks about, and constantly rambles ...
...from other games in the Final Fantasy series I've played it for over two years now (first on PC and then switching to Xbox), for a couple of hours a night, and they are still adding new content every few months. Theres still loads I want to achieve, and I've had lots of fun. That said, its not for everyone, some people may find the fact that theres not a huge amount you can do solo daunting (this really is a game where you need to work well with ... more

Some of you may have noticed I’ve had a very long absence from ciao which only ended a couple of months ago. That’s because for a while, I had a new love in my life, Final Fantasy XI online.

I've never been into role-playing much before, and to be honest, I actually doubted I’d enjoy this game. You seem it wasn't me that made the initial choice to purchase, but one of my ex boyfriends, Zephyr. He's been a fan of FF for years, right from its early days on Nintendo through till now. He is the uber FF geek...he whistles the chocobo theme as he walks about, and constantly rambles on about stuff from the earlier games, which I generally fail to understand. So, onto the game.

Installing the game and getting started
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I'm not going to lie to you here. Setting up the game is a pain in the ass...first you have to install it all, then you've got to get a Playonline ID, then a Content ID (a content Id is the space in which you create your character) Registering your credit card details is a pain in the ass too.....any small mistake when entering your details sets you right back at the beginning again. Then (since the games been out a good few years now) you'll have a whole load of updates to download and install. Although this is undoubtedly annoying, do persevere, the game is worth it.

Then you simply go through the process of picking race, sex, hair colour etc, and you're in. There are five races to choose from:

Hume: Pretty basic human type, average skills in all areas
Galka: Male only race... Great hulking creatures with a ton of health and lots of strength.
Elvaan: Tall lanky beanpole types - Great for fighting, not so good for magic
Mithra: Cat girls! Fairly good all rounder’s.
Tarutaru: Not so good at the fighting, but a natural advantage in magic use.

Each race has six face types per sex, and two hair colour options per face. There are also 3 nations to choose from - Regal Sandoria, Industrial Bastok, or Magical Windhurst, and six jobs at the start, although you can change your job at any time.

It used to be that when you first joined the game, you would be assigned to the server with the current lowest population, but that’s changed recently and you can now select which server you wish to join, useful if you have friends that play.

Jobs
*****
From the start, you'll be able to pick from six basic jobs (often referred to as classes). You'll be able to switch jobs any time you get bored in game, which is a handy feature if, like me, you have a limited attention span for any one thing. These six classes, for the uninitiated, consist of:

Warrior, Monk, Thief, White Mage, Red Mage and Black Mage

There are other jobs available later on in the game; however there are certain quests to complete to obtain these jobs, as well as having at least one job level 30 or above. None of these quests is fiendishly difficult, although most require some degree of assistance. These jobs include, but are not limited to : Corsair, Bard, Paladin, Ranger, Dark Knight, Summoner, and Dragoon.

Things to do in game
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So, I bet you're wondering what there is to do in this game. In a nutshell, everything. There is of course leveling your job, but also there are quests, missions, battles against monsters for much revered items, Ballista (almost like football, but with no rules against killing other players!) and various other events. Aside from this there is also the community aspect -making friends, meeting new people, and sadly, making the odd enemy as well.

I'm not going to lie and say that everyone in this game is kind and wonderful. The majority of people playing this game are nice people, however, as with any game, there will be some idiots. And as with any game, there are sometimes arguments over game politics.

The Leveling System
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Leveling is pretty easy from levels 1-10...it’s pretty much a case of going out, killing stuff, and resting when your health is low.

However, once you get to ten, it becomes difficult (not impossible mind) to solo efficiently. The mobs go from relatively easy to evil bloodsucking death beasts, and once you hit ten, people will start urging you to join parties, (leveling groups). It is also at this level that death starts to become a more regular and more irritating occurrence.

Certain jobs have a higher death rate than others, and each job has a different role to perform in a party. These kinds of things you pick up naturally as you progress through the game, although there’s always someone to ask to explain things to you.

Leveling works off EXP (experience points). You gain a certain amount per kill, depending on the strength of the mob in comparison to you, and the number and levels of the people fighting with you, if applicable. Unlike many games, this game has an exp penalty for dying. If you die, you'll lose EXP, usually equal to about 10% of the amount needed to complete your current level. However, getting a raise from a friendly mage gives you the exp back, so it’s no biggie unless you can't find that help.

As your skill with your chosen weapon increases, you'll access some nifty tricks called Weapon Skills, which will enable you to do some nice damage. And as your job level rises, you'll get some funky abilities. Mages of course, will get spells as they level also.

Crafting
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Yup, like many other games this has crafting too. There are 8 main crafts you can take part in. Alchemy , Bonecraft, Clothcraft ,Cooking , Goldsmithing, Leathercrafting, Smithing, & Woodworking

All of these take time and dedication to level, as well as time spent obtaining materials and some money input. That said, as you gain in levels crafting is a great way to make money to fund the needs of your job, and its well worth looking into.

Ease of playing.
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While the controls are easy to get to grips with, the game is by no means easy- it has a lot of depths, and many of the missions require a lot of planning. To make it even trickier, some missions are capped, meaning that even if you are a very high level player, you'll lose skills and abilities above the level limit for that mission. Don't worry though, you get them back afterwards!

Rewards from missions are good - money, airship passes, access to new areas of Vanadiel, and the expansion packs available also open up new areas and new content, such as the middle east- an exotic continent filled with pirates and monsters that strip you naked, and 'Sky' an area in the clouds where the gods roam.

Cost
*****
This is available from £7 on amazon, with a monthly fee of 8.95, plus an additional 50p a month for each extra character.

Graphics and Music
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The graphics in this game are stunning; some of the landscapes are truly lovely to look at - from serene meadows, to scorched deserts and snowy wastelands. Each area comes with its own distinctive music, and although in some zones the music is repetitive, in many other areas it’s lovely to listen to.

Conclusion
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This is a great game, although vastly differnet from other games in the Final Fantasy series I've played it for over two years now (first on PC and then switching to Xbox), for a couple of hours a night, and they are still adding new content every few months. Theres still loads I want to achieve, and I've had lots of fun. That said, its not for everyone, some people may find the fact that theres not a huge amount you can do solo daunting (this really is a game where you need to work well with others) and others may find some of the in game bickers and drama annoying. But generally, if you're polite and willing to work with others, you'll get along great. I'll leave you with a poem I wrote about the game (previously published online under my character names, Fatalillusion and Demonicangel)

Noobs...a tribute.

The n00b adventurerer starts his day,
Spamming the town with constant /say,
/sh {help me out} {I want to make money}
I need Gilz so bad, It's just not funny,
I needz some new armorz for my war, ya see,
Ah screw it, I'm going to IGE.

(5 MINUTES LATER)

He spends his Gilz with no thought or heed,
At level 2, is a SH a pressing need?
And then, armed up with a pile of sh*te,
He heads out to level the rest of the night.
He dies to a goblin, a /shout goes out then,
{You can have this} {money} PL me one through ten.

He searches the zone to find a white mage,
Spams his offer to them,causing much rage,
When the white mage politely declines to PL,
The n00b tells them /say STFU NOOB AND GO TO HELL.
He thinks that by cursing he looks big and scary,
When in real life we all know he's fat , sweaty and hairy.

He sits there in his room,performing all sorts of tricks,
With a sheep doll, some lube, and an analog stick,
He cants help it you see, its the party's hot whm mithra,
(What he doesn't know is that mithras a Mister,),
He asks her for cyber , but gets no reply,
Wonders why this hot mama's not curing , she's letting him die.

What he doesn't know, but what i will tell,
Is hes lmao'ing about him in linkshell,
Telling them all what a n00b this guy is,
With his lame {hand} {job} {please}, he thinks he's the biz.
But everyone knows he's just lonely and sad,
Living at home with his mum and his dad.

He sends chatups, through /tell, using autotranslate,
The kind of thing all REAL girls hate,
{hands} {down} {trousers} {jerkin} {analog stick}
{please} {help me out} I need relief quick,
He goes afk, mid battle, for tissue,
From the manthra, a message >>Im going to blist you

Meanwhile the party is left with no tank,
Not that they notice, cos frankly, he stank.
He wouldnt provoke, and when they asked why,
He said "Cos then the mobz hitz me, and I dont want to die"
He can't do a skillchain, hell, he cant even hit,
Cos he still uses onion sword, which frankly, is sh*t.

So the party disbands him while he's still afk,
Get a new tank, and head on their why,
When the n00b comes back, he exclaims "What the hell!"
"They kicked me from party, well who carez, they smell"
So he heads to the beach where the party is now,
And starts to abuse the Galka, and how.

"You are a nub, your party was sh*t,
Well you kicked me and frankly I dont care a bit."
Well, as he's insulting the day turns to night,
And we all know what happens in dunes then right ?
While hes insulting others, and not paying attention,
A bogy is coming with evil intention.

Now, the bogys a good one, he takes out the trash,
(He's employed by the GM'S, they pay him in cash)
And if theres one thing that brings out a bogy in rage,
Its that godawful combo, the warrior/whitemage.
He readies his powers, and with just one attack,
He has that n00b squashed out flat.

The n00b has enough at this point , and logs out,
Sells his gil back to Ige and deletes his account,
He packs up his back, and departs for WOW,
And to this day, thats where he is now,
Things on wow may not be kickin'
But what does he care, at least he has chicken !

Thankyou for reading 

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