Right now I'm deciding on a new mmorpg to play. I'm not some newbie beginner I don't wander the streets beginning for money, I'm a hardcore mmorpger. Would this game be for me, is it focused on enjoyable gameplay, or made insanley boring becuz newbs are overwhelmed.

A "hardcore mmorpger" will most likely appreciate the depth in crafting, as well as a multitude of jobs to choose from. Variety is key, right?

Thing is, crafting is a repetitive process of remaining stationary whilst constantly pumping out procducts you're likely never to use, and doesn't become profitable in any sense of the word until you've devoted weeks, or even months to one particular discipline. Even then, one craft alone isn't likely to make you the money you'll need to get by at higher levels, and thus continues the dreaded time sink. Making money, especially at higher levels can throw your enthusiasm into the gutter.

You will also notice that of the myriad of possible different job combinations, few are actually accepted by general concensus. This is thanks to Square-Enix, as very few combinations were actually made to be efficient in important situations, faults and abominations that no amount of player skill can correct.

The other thing is, the game revolves mostly around community, and is structured such that one cannot do too much (including quests, missions, leveling, the meat and potatoes of XI) on their lonesome unless they tailor their character to very specific job combinations (BST/WHM or RDM/NIN). Even then, soloing can be a pain.

Generally speaking, MMORPGs are time sinks, but FFXI is a game where even the simple act of putting together a party for experience points can take as long as 30 minutes, organizing alliances for notorious monster hunts and various quests can take hours, and usually you can expect no reward for your time, other than the "satisfaction" of helping, a novelty that tends to wear off permanently after you burn yourself out on others' requests. Therefore there are always people who need help with something, and very few willing to be charitable.

On the bright side there's still plenty about XI to enjoy - Vana'diel is a vast and beautiful world. Although graphics don't make a game, the mere presence of some of the environments is enough to absorb you into addiction. The same missions and quests which can be tedious while you're in the organization process, can be fun to partake in with friends and allies, and reward you with interesting cutscenes and surprisingly deep and fascinating storyline that becomes more intriguing with each step you take. Finding your niche in your job and knowing that your party works well can actually make even the most intense level-grind quite enjoyable. The game encourages fellowship between players, and linkshells can help create strong bonds between friends that last from entrance-level frolics, to the end-game...saga. :3

I guess what I could have said from the beginning is that FFXI has so much to offer MMORPG fans in many aspects, really, but you will find yourself quickly developing a dependence on others that may spoil the experience for you if you enjoy a little autonomy in your daily adventures. As a hardcore MMORPGer yourself (implying you have plenty of time on your hands!), perhaps you'll find nothing new in what I've said, and be able to look past the whole time sink thing and immerse yourself in Vana'diel~.

If ur not looking down the FFXI road you can alawys try Ragnarok Online. go here
iro.ragnarokonline.com or www.ragnarokonline.com there should be an advertisment for something calld R.O.S.E its supposed to be good also...but its new and noobs are everywhere its kill steal home central


iro.ragnarokonline.com
go here first if ur intrested

Although I've only been playing FFXI for a fortnight, I am definetely hooked. However, it is not a game which you can go in expecting to breeze through. FFXI is hard.. period.

It takes ages to level up, especially in party situations where monster EXP is shared; monsters always seem to be so much tougher than your character; and simply casting a magic spell in the wrong place at the wrong time is enough to get yourself killed, due to the massive enmity magic generates in the enemy (a few days ago I was assailed by a dozen Yagudo beastmen in East Sarutabrata who wiped me out with Dia and Banish spells from afar because I was a White Mage who simply had the nerve to walk past them).

I've lost count of the amount of times I've been killed in the game (and dying loses EXP, which can even make you drop back a Job level), and you can't ride the Airship or chocobos until you're at a high level or Mission Rank, emaning you're stuck in your starting city levelling up enough until you're strong enough to make the long, difficult, dangerous journey to Jeuno on foot(where the Chocobo quest is gained).

Still, having said that, FFXI still an amazing game which I'm absolutely adoring, even beyond it's faults. The environment is still breathtaking to look at (and I've only seen a small portion of it around Windurst), and, despite the need to socalise, I actually found other players are more than willing to help out if you have a problem or want to chat - as long as you don't make a complete idiot of yourself. Community is indeed the main goal of FFXI that Square were trying to create with FFXI, and it works - to a degree...

Besides, I found it a lot easier to make my way around in the game in FFXI than Ragnarok Online, which although is attractive to look at (as well as being much cheaper), was let down by restrictive character creation, a boring battle system and terrible control. Hence, I let my RO account lapse beyond the free-trial period, and haven't gone back to it since, as FFXI has been eating up my time.. :p

If you're a harcore mmorpger go for it, chances are you'll love it. I loved it for awhile. Just realize that past the beginning levels you can't expect to get anything done unless you're online for about 4-5 hour a session. Also the party set up in this game is nice to a point, if you get a good group of people together that like having fun leveling up or questing in these parties can be an absolute blast, problem is that rarely happens. Most of the time you get parties made up of people that either have no clue what they're doing or people that try to boss everyone else around.

If you have a lot of patience this can be a fun game, but the fun parts are too far apart with desperate searching for money in between since nearly everything you can buy in this game is insanely priced.