As you all are probably aware by now...I adore my WoW <3

However I was wondering....Is FFXI worth checking out? And is it similar to WoW in anyway at all?

I'm too scared to make the switch and I'd like to hear people's opinions beforehand.

Enlighten me plx :-*

If it wasn't for the constant ads for Gil we get here, I would have assumed the XI servers shutdown by now, tbh :o

I enjoyed it at the time, but I wouldn't play it again. I don't know anything about WoW, so I can't make any legitimate comparisons. I know it was annoying and inconsistant in the dunes when you had to start forming parties. Half the time I'd end up fleeing for my life after all the heavy hitters and mages got owned. It usually took an hour or so to put together a party, so having them not always work out was really annoying.

In WoW you only need to form a PUG (Pick Up Group) for certain quests or if you would like to do an Instance / Raid (Dungeon Stomp).

Getting a decent group with all the relevant places filled can take 15 mins to 45 mins.

But the good thing is that this is completely optional. And because WoW is mostly PVE (on my server) forming a group is never mandatory.

FFXI takes 15 mins to 45 mins (or more if you pick a class like Dragoon or Samurai) to get into a group, decent or not, plus travel time... then you grind out mobs with your party until you outlevel the area/a few hours have passed (usually the latter).

The endgame is mostly huge PvE raids or more grinding for merit points (permanent minor stat boosts).

The world is a lot better than WoW's, and has a lot more charm and character. There's a storyline, which is pretty cool. Having all classes available on one character is pretty cool too.

but it's basically of a different generation of MMORPGs than WoW is. If you like a lot about WoW, you will probably miss those features in FFXI.

Playing FFXI is like adding the tedium of calculus to an pass time that should be relaxing. It is like there being a middle man between you and fun where in order you to have fun: This surly middle man punches you in the face a few times. I don't know if they changed this - but good luck being able to actually play with your friends if you all plan to start at level 1 - the game asigns servers at random and you have to buy an in game item to allow your friends to join your server. This was a few years ago so they might have changed it by now.

Bare in mind - even if they have changed it by now - you are dealing with a developer that had the mentality to do something asinine like that in the first place.

WoW is better balanced. You can play laid back like a casual gamer or go for raids and such if you feel like being hardcore. FFXI is not for the casual gamer.

Soloing killed FFXI for me. I abhor how it basically forces you to find constant parties so early in the game. My favourite aspect of any game is exploration, but it's hard to do that when you can't reliably solo mobs of supposedly even matches or so-called "easy prey" at higher levels. This in effect requires you to find a party for even the most mundane of fetch-it quests. The exception to the rule is usually the Beastmaster job, but pets only follow you a limited time then attack you when your Charm ability wears off. This can be obviously problematic until around level 35 when you finally get an ability to address this.

Otherwise, if you maintain a constant group of friends you'll prosper and generally have a better time. This is not for me. The ability to solo in WoW opened up much of Azeroth to me so I could at least walk the field without constant fear of dying and losing XP. I like to at least have the option of being alone for a while.

Playing FFXI is like adding the tedium of calculus to an pass time that should be relaxing. It is like there being a middle man between you and fun where in order you to have fun: This surly middle man punches you in the face a few times. I don't know if they changed this - but good luck being able to actually play with your friends if you all plan to start at level 1 - the game asigns servers at random and you have to buy an in game item to allow your friends to join your server. This was a few years ago so they might have changed it by now.

Bare in mind - even if they have changed it by now - you are dealing with a developer that had the mentality to do something asinine like that in the first place.

Now you can pick your server, and before it only took like 5 minutes tops to reroll a character (still a long time) so with patience you could all be playing together. That's how we did it, back in the day...

They also just implemented a feature where anyone can temporarily downlevel to party with their friends. I don't know if this gives them experience still (it should IMO), but it's a step in the right direction to keep people playing together and not have to worry about outleveling one another, if they truly enjoy the grind together.

FFXI is a relatively ancient game in the MMORPG market though and obviously it had some backwards mechanics back in the day, but now they seem to be releasing very intelligent fixes to their problems. Too little too late, I think.


Soloing killed FFXI for me. I abhor how it basically forces you to find constant parties so early in the game. My favourite aspect of any game is exploration, but it's hard to do that when you can't reliably solo mobs of supposedly even matches or so-called "easy prey" at higher levels. This in effect requires you to find a party for even the most mundane of fetch-it quests. The exception to the rule is usually the Beastmaster job, but pets only follow you a limited time then attack you when your Charm ability wears off. This can be obviously problematic until around level 35 when you finally get an ability to address this.

You can explore just fine if you're a Red Mage or any other class with Sneak and Invisible (WHM? and any class level 50+ who has RDM or WHM to 25 as a sub IIRC). It's pretty exciting since if it wears off in the wrong spot you're screwed. Some of my fondest memories of the game are solo exploration (although I had a friend sitting next to me in real life as I did it).


Otherwise, if you maintain a constant group of friends you'll prosper and generally have a better time. This is not for me. The ability to solo in WoW opened up much of Azeroth to me so I could at least walk the field without constant fear of dying and losing XP. I like to at least have the option of being alone for a while.

As long as you have a good Linkshell you can get by without a constant group of leveling buddies and do just pickup groups (although they are a mixed bag when it comes to leveling speed), but definitley no soloing.

Blue Mage can solo up to like level 30, or so I heard, which could be fun.

You can explore just fine if you're a Red Mage or any other class with Sneak and Invisible (WHM? and any class level 50+ who has RDM or WHM to 25 as a sub IIRC). It's pretty exciting since if it wears off in the wrong spot you're screwed. Some of my fondest memories of the game are solo exploration (although I had a friend sitting next to me in real life as I did it).

Kudos. I too kind of pride myself on my stealthy exploits as a RDM in FFXI. The greatest of which was sneaking through Oztroja to achieve a rank mission. Never have I been so fearful of Yagudo. People still don't believe I did it. I also ended up getting every subjob which doesn't require a fight, including snagging the Corsair job amidst a group of overpowered Lamia.

But, what if the player doesn't want to be a RDM or take the necessary sub? This is where I feel WoW definitely outclasses FFXI.

Exactly. You shouldn't need to be a certain class in an MMO just to see visual content.

I'm not defending it, just pointing out that it's doable. Technically anyone can do it, since alchemists can make potions that give sneak and potions that give invisible... at least I'm pretty sure, and of course any class that's at least level 50. I'm not sure that's such a big deal, lots of games make it very hard to explore everywhere if you aren't a high enough level. So maybe I am defending it now, but... :P

also I remember doing those same two things, doomjockey ^^. 'Course, I got CRS right when the expansion came out so there were other people around so I wasn't having too hard a time dodging things, but yeah...

Well thanks guys for your advice.

I might stick with WoW and see what the new expansion has to bring :)

Well thanks guys for your advice.

I might stick with WoW and see what the new expansion has to bring :)

I prefer wow. This is because it is much more casual than FF11. For a person like me, that's perfect because I don't have that much time to dedicate to an MMO.

I played FF11 for a bit and I was solo for about 95% of the time. It was very annoying. I really hate the fact that XP is lost for a death. I can go more into detail if you'd like.

Final Fantasy XI is far superior to World of Warcraft in every way!
the graphics are better, the characters don't look like dwarves XD
and the story is just better
in my opinion of course :D

the only reason i still don't play is because I started in Bastok which apparently is the worst place to start due to lack of missions and lack of players -.-

I'll get back with you once I try again in a different kingdom XD

just buy halo, dude

WoW only because FF11 has barely anyone on it.
And Varen halo online is TERRIBLE, everyone on there is a "noob hating jackass" What's the reason to go on there only to be ordered around by a 10 year old who acts tough?

I've never been into MMORPGS; they absorb way too much time that I'm already wasting on the forums and etc.

Waste time on me, I'll let you grind ;)

Waste time on me, I'll let you grind ;)

oh you character :-*









...but seriously I would tap it

...but seriously I would tap it


Sap me first plx :-*

Naughty fellows.

What surprises (and pleases) me about FFXI is how dedicated SE is to supporting it. You barely hear about the mofo compared to WoW, WAR, and others but I swear they keep it updated like it's the most popular thing going.

Just yesterday I read they would release three expansions in '09. (http://blog.square-enix.com/ff11/2008/11/the_adventure_continues_with_t.html)

I plan on getting it at the end of Dec/beginning of Jan.

Final Fantasy XI was fun but it seems outdated. WarCraft is fun but is way too easy.

I'd love to see the next generation of Final Fantasy in an MMORPG format.

If you live PvP (Fighting other players rather than mobs) then go WoW, hands down. If you like mob grinding and don't care about outdated graphics, FFXI is probably better.

I'm probably never buying either tbh. The only MMO I'd want is the Shin Megami Tensei MMO. Now that would be the shit.

Final Fantasy XI was fun but it seems outdated. WarCraft is fun but is way too easy.

I'd love to see the next generation of Final Fantasy in an MMORPG format.

If you live PvP (Fighting other players rather than mobs) then go WoW, hands down. If you like mob grinding and don't care about outdated graphics, FFXI is probably better.



Some people say that WoW is primarily a PvP game, when really for me it's the complete opposite. Sure there is PvP if you want to....but playing on a Player Versus Environment server like myself, I find myself questing solo for hours on end and can often find that much more enjoyable.

There's pretty much everything in WoW for me - grinding, PvP, and questing - either solo or with group. Grinding, especially, can be fun if you try to solo instances like Stratholme or Scholomance. It can be a little challenging because there's lots of high level monsters to face all by yourself, but they have their loot - all for you! :)

Sounds like alot of the ppl posting havent even played or don't know about the game....you hear the game is dying but yet they had to force move ppl to other servers from Odin cause it kept hitting it's max cap for logged in pc's.
But FFXI is easy if you know what you're doing...IE not a lazy person's game. If you want easy stick with WoW.
But FFXI has alot of ways to gain exp now then they ever did before.
There'e level sync were you can group anything 10-75 to make a pt. Feilds of Valor and the ToA areas are easy fast exp...unless you're Blm you're gonna have to mana burn or solo it.
But if you wanna know more about FFXI check out either of these web sites....
Keep in mind though.... Order of the Blue Gartr can be drama filled if you go to advance. You'd want to ask around in Stanard.
There's also Alla for a more friendly less elietest carp but....well if you look around enough there's alot of Alla or BG hating going on in both sites but both can give you more insight then asking where it doesn't look like you'd get the right answers.
But if you like playing with ppl from around the world or can speak a little Japnese and being able to work in groups or solo then FFXI can fit you. It has alot of jobs that are either solo or party based. Also some jobs that make mains better solo'ers.
FFXI is in no way dying. Just sadly I think we have the highest problem with RMT ;/

Sefira I only half understood your post because of the abbreviations...I don't play FFXI and was looking into it so I don't know what RTM, PT, ToA or BLM are.

Also is FFXI just grinding or do you complete quests (in a similar fashion to WoW)?

FFXI isn't just grinding, it also has alot of quest and missions for it's story line.
The three nation mission story line, Rise of the Zilart (RoZ or ZM), Chain of Promathia (CoP), Treasures Of Aht Urhgan (ToA or ToAu, and Wings of the Goddess missions and quests. Depending on how you play you can either be a level whore and grid away on leveling or get one useful job and do the missions/quests that unlock even more areas or better known as end game. IE sky Ru' Aun Gardens and sea Al' Taieu.


And as for the abbreviations Blm = Black Mage
RMT = Real Money Trade
PT is party

Idk I'm baised cause I have been playing FFXI for four years but it has alot to offer beyond the grid of leveling your jobs.
Only bad thing it's prob one of the bigest time stinks out there for a MMO cause of the time it takes for events and even to get a party together but the recent updates have helped with the lull that low level leveling has sadly become.
But if you do want to see what FFXI is like just download the fourteen day free trail, doesn't need a credit card to start up or any of the expansion packs. If you like it then just put your card info and play for the rest of your 30 day free trail.
http://www.finalfantasyxi.com/
But here's the most important thing. You wanna get info on good servers. That's where looking into FFXI forums would come in.
http://www.ffxiah.com/ FFXI auction house data base and forums.
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=10 forums the general
http://www.bluegartrls.com/forum/index.php forums go to standard unless you want to hear alot of high level/end game players drama.

Hmm the free trial only seems to come after buying the game set.

Are you daft, Purrr?

More than likely, yes.

I've been known to have many a daft moment, especially on a topic I practically know nothing about.

Hmm the free trial only seems to come after buying the game set.

Naw you can get free 14 day download from front page of Playonline. If you like the game then you can continue but will have to buy the later expansions like COP and WoTG.

"Twas the night b4 Christmas and no one on WoW was having as much fun as we do here in the land of Vana'diel..."

Some people say that WoW is primarily a PvP game, when really for me it's the complete opposite. Sure there is PvP if you want to....but playing on a Player Versus Environment server like myself, I find myself questing solo for hours on end and can often find that much more enjoyable.

Anyone who says WoW is primarily a PvP game is an idiot. WoW has never been about PvP, its PvP has and always will be an after thought, and the game will always be balanced around the grindy PvE endgame, not the grindy PvP endgame.

Plus, if PvP was its main focus, then the vast majority of "PvP" would not be taking place in small instances that are always the same.

Naw you can get free 14 day download from front page of Playonline. If you like the game then you can continue but will have to buy the later expansions like COP and WoTG.

"Twas the night b4 Christmas and no one on WoW was having as much fun as we do here in the land of Vana'diel..."



WoW had a xmas thing too....if it's still going I'll take a screen of it tonight when I get home.


Anyone who says WoW is primarily a PvP game is an idiot. WoW has never been about PvP, its PvP has and always will be an after thought, and the game will always be balanced around the grindy PvE endgame, not the grindy PvP endgame.

Plus, if PvP was its main focus, then the vast majority of "PvP" would not be taking place in small instances that are always the same.

I agree, WoW has amazing PvE elements that can make it sometimes seem more like a single player game. The only thing is that endgame content requires a group to do dungeons with so you can get your leet gear.

Okay here is my gnome standing under the xmas tree in Ironforge:



EDIT: Yes I play WoW in a window T_T

THIS POST WILL HAVE SPOILERS!! BE FOREWARNED!!




I've been playing FFXI since December 06, and I'm still finding new things to do (Just finished all the first Promyvion Missions for the second expansion Chains of Promathia last night... after waiting ages...), what with various quests in each town, rank missions in my own home town, as well as other things.

Soloing has been made more easier with the Wings of the Goddess expansion, allowing ppl to level via 'Campaign Battle'. These 'CB's' require your character to fight in battles during the crystal war, which is set 20 years in the past from the current timeline ingame (Current time 882CE - Crystal War time 860CE). With CB's and having the 'Allied Tags' equipped, if you die you do not lose the 10% exp needed to level up, which you would normally do, if you died elsewhere. Unfortunately, you also do not get any Weapon Skill, Magic Skill ups in CB's either...

Also, the recent update in December brought out 'Fields of Valor'. This addition has made levelling even lower level jobs easier. What you do is find a 'Field Manual' in certain areas, read the pages and sign on to do a 'training regime' which consists of killing a set number of monsters. 'FoV', rewards you after completing a regime, with a set amount of experience points, gil and 'tabs' (which work in the same way as Conquest Points, Imperial Standing points and Campaign Notes), on top of whatever exp, gil and items you get from defeating the mobs for the regime.

With 'FoV' you could theoretically solo from level 1 to 65 (which is it's level cap) then, continue to solo via Campaign Battle from 65 - 75 (which is the level cap for all jobs ingame), however it would be slower than with experience parties. Squareenix also brought in the 'Level Sync' feature, which enables higher level players to experience party with low level players (When I started, the maxmium level gap in experience parties was 2 levels, eg. 20-22, to keep maximum experience gain.), by lowering their level, eg from 65 to say 15, to experience party with friends who have just started the game etc. With Level Sync, your weapon, armor, spell list etc, is lowered to the level of the party as well, so some ppl tend to keep older armor, which is closer to the level of the party to wear. With Level Sync, a level 65 Warrior, would get about 180-200exp per monster in a experience party in Valkurm Dunes.

With the addition of Dancer and Scholar, the available Jobs have been increased to a larger amount, and unlike WoW, you don't need to create a new character to try out a new job. Just go and to the quest to 'unlock' the new job, then in your moghouse you can change both your primary and secondary jobs. Be warned, each new job starts at level 1, so you do have to repeat levelling in the beginning areas as each new job is unlocked.

Quest wise, there's plenty of quests to do ingame, that will take a lot of time to do (The quest for the map of Crawler's Nest comes to mind), not to mention specialised quests like the Artifact Armor quests. The three nations, San d'Oria, Bastok and Windurst have their own missions, which increase your rank from 1-10, however after rank 6, the missions become infinitely more trickier and frustrating, hence a lot of ppl don't bother with them now. However, you do get a nice amount of gil upon completing rank 9.2... 100,000gil.

There are also the missions for the expansions. Rise of the Zilart has 18 missions, available for you to start upon reaching rank 6 in your home nation. Chains of Promathia has one of the hardest battles in the game, Ark Angels/Divine Might. Chains, or 'CoP' has 8 chapters made up of 3-5 missions each chapter, and are available as soon as the expansion is installed. Treasures of Aht Urghan, or ToAU, is set in the Near east on the western part of the continent called Aht Urghan and start in the walled city of Al Zhabi. These missions DO require a high level party to achieve most of them, especially considering who the final boss of this expansion is... ToAU has 48 Missions, some are just cutscenes though. These missions are active upon installation of expansion. The last expansion, Wings of the Goddess (WotG) has 15 missions, some are fights, others are cutscenes which require multiple quests to be accomplished before getting the CS. It is set during the Crystal War, and is available upon installation of expansion.

In the two years I've been playing the game, I've only just scratched the surface of what I can do. True, a lot of ppl think FFXI is an old game and doesn't have many players. Yet, one of the servers, Odin, has recently had to initiate a 'World Swap' for players to other servers, due to overcrowding. From what I have been told, though I'm not too sure how accurate this is, a lot of Asian celebrities play on the Odin server, of course that could just be hyperbole (Comic Artist Fred Perry, famous for the 'Gold Digger', a long running comic anthology, is a member of my server, though I haven't 'met' him yet. Ian Mcconville, artist for the www.machall.com webcomic plays FFXI as well.).

There are 33 worlds/servers for FFXI, with 32 of them available for the public. The 33rd, Atomos, is used only by GM's and approved testers, for trying out new features etc, before making them available on the other servers. 19 servers were activated on May 16 2002, 5 more in November and December of that year, 5 in 2003 and 2 in 2004. Atomos is rumoured to of been in operation since December 2001. These 32 servers are still in operation.

There awere ten more servers, but they were closed for different reasons, either beta test servers or were underpopulated. Ixion Server was one of these, however it may be brought back to active service at a later date.

Job wise, there are 20 jobs available, 6 intially, with the rest available via the expansions. There are rumors of a new expansion in the works with new jobs, however that is just a rumor at this stage.

There are lots to do in FFXI, so you won't get bored. Only thing you may suffer from is burn out from playing a certain job for any length of time, which can be rectified by playing as another or doing something else.

I played Wow too, but i find Final Fantasy XI more of a challenge. I dont want to offend anybody but when ur maximum level in wow the game gets boring when you have done all the instances and stuff. While Final Fantasy XI has a lot more events you can attend to like: Dynamis, Limbus, Einjerhar, Assault, Salvage, Burning Circle Notorious monsters (ZNM, BCNM, KSNM, ISNM are different battles to face) Missions (City, Exp 1, 2, 3, 4) and loads of quests in every town.
Wow has instances which would be similair like dungeons in final fantasy. Pvp in wow is much sweeter since u can fight eachother anywhere at any time, in final fantasy its in certain area's and not anywhere outside that.

Also final fantasy has a lot of level cap area's (like in wow u can enter instances uncapped) Final Fantasy would have them capped to a certain level. Which makes it more of a challenge. Like what happen now in Wow that people can solo the end bosses with lv 80s. Its nice when you can but in my eyes that was the last thing i played in wow. Quit the game a while ago. I played final fantasy and wow together for a long time.

Altho there is a big money issue in Final fantasy XI, farming isnt that profitable as in wow these days which is a downside to that game since the prices are still the same as before on items on AH. In wow is money making easier.

Eitherway this are my differences between the two games. I play atm only final fantasy XI

Pvp in wow is much sweeter since u can fight eachother anywhere at any time, in final fantasy its in certain area's and not anywhere outside that.

There are PvP of a sort in FFXI... there's a team based style PvP called 'Ballista' which you are required to have a 'Ballista License' before being able to participate. A fairly simple quest. The 'teams' are usually just ppl from two of the three nations, who turn up to the area Ballista is to take place in, sign up and team up (Example, Bastok Vs San d'Oria, Windurst Vs Bastok, San d'Oria Vs Windurst). There may be times however one side may have more people who have joined than the other, in which case people passing through the area, and if they have their license can join the side with the least members.

There's also 'Brenner' which I've only been in once, but that basically involves you and another person, being teleported to a deserted beach, to fight against each other. However I'm not entirely sure on HOW you go about being able to participate.




This is true, FFXI does have a lot of areas which are level capped, to make things more challenging to players. In some cases they are more than annoying.


Altho there is a big money issue in Final fantasy XI, farming isnt that profitable as in wow these days which is a downside to that game since the prices are still the same as before on items on AH. In wow is money making easier.

Reason behind the Economy in FFXI can be contributed to a lot of factors. People overfarming in some areas, others undercutting the prices of items on the auction house, etc... but IMO, the main problem is due to all the RMT (Real Money Traders) and the people who use their 'service'. From my point of view, why waste real world money, which could be used on other things, to buy virtual money for a game? Not only is it not fair to other players who struggle to get gil, but it is against Squareenix's rules for the game. SE stamps down on RMT quite frequently, yet it's still a big problem. SE's Special Task Force was formed a year or so ago, to try and clamp down on things like RMT, monopilisation of Notorious Monsters, etc, but there's still a lot to be done. Some servers have a reputation for being overrun by RMT, and SE does delete the offending accounts, but for every account they delete, it seems a dozen more pop up...



Eitherway this are my differences between the two games. I play atm only final fantasy XI

Hehe i just kept my post very short, lol. You like to write loads of stuff i think.

Anyway i love the level capped area's. I'm a master in chains of promathia ^^ Doing the missions for the 13th time now with a fresh new group of players who disire to obtain the 'The Celestial Capital' acces (This is what a NPC tells u about what we call: Sea, the Lumoria region, Al'Taieu / Grand Palace of Hu'Xzoi / The Garden of Ru'Hmet) Also this city has some nice Notorious monsters to defeat, also the nearly undefeatable Absolute Virtue. This NM became after the glitch in the game very hard to defeat altho linkshells from my world has defeated him.

Another tiny difference from wow vs FFXI is that i believe FFXI is much larger then wow, area sizes. In wow ur playing basicly on a huge map which goes seamlessly into eachother which doesnt get much load time what is a pre ^^, but FFXI has lets say multiple 'hidden' area's. Like Lumoria area, which is huge from itself; Tu'Lia (sky), its a huge floating island in the sky with a large temple; Emtyness area's, and the fun in chains of promathia is that your unlocking a lot of hidden area's like sewer and Tavnazian Archipelago with the dungeons in there.
Then there are dynamis realms which has the same size as the area its into, only filled with the shadow lords army or Diabolos' dream realm.
Also the West Aht Urhgan region which his connected area's (salvage, assaults, nyzul Isle, Arrapago Islands, Halvung Territory, Mamool Ja Savagelands, Ruins of Alzadaal (treasures of aht urhgan exp) And then you have the past, where you getting send through. The past (wings of the goddes exp) has basicly the same area's as the main FFXI game has without expantion packs, only 'mainland' area's. Sadly enough you cant visit Tavnazia in the past (whats this war all about -.-)

[QUOTE=Sefira;1188375]FFXI isn't just grinding, it also has alot of quest and missions for it's story line.
The three nation mission story line, Rise of the Zilart (RoZ or ZM), Chain of Promathia (CoP), Treasures Of Aht Urhgan (ToA or ToAu, and Wings of the Goddess missions and quests. Depending on how you play you can either be a level whore and grid away on leveling or get one useful job and do the missions/quests that unlock even more areas or better known as end game. IE sky Ru' Aun Gardens and sea Al' Taieu.QUOTE]

Rise of the Zilart is the European/American name of this expention pack, In japan it's called Visions of Jiraat, which fit more to the story. Because it kinda spoil a lot in the english version -.-

But these has a wide range of quests, i think every city has about 100+ quests. some will be unlocked when you make progress in the (side story line) quest series. These are little story's within a couple of quests that you can follow, they almost ending with a very good sellable item on AH (auction house) ^^.


Also Final Fantasy has a large soundtrack, contains: Original Soundtrack (3 CD, inclusive making of the music from the intro movie), Visions of Jiraat (Rise of the Zilart) (1CD), Chains of Promathia (1CD), Treasure of Aht Urghan (1CD), Wings of the Goddes (1CD+additional Treasure of Aht Urghan tracks), Piano Collections (1CD+sheet music), Unreleased tracks(1CD), These are mainly yearly event music (like xmas theme), The star Onions(1CD, are vocal tracks from ingame music), FFXI single(1singleCD, from chains of promatia [Recollection song])

With Level Sync, a level 65 Warrior, would get about 180-200exp per monster in a experience party in Valkurm Dunes.

Shit, really? I never read up on the feature when it was announced, and thought the higher level wouldn't gain experience. This is awesome.

My best friend has been talking about returning, and if I can get a job I think we're totally coming back for at least a month (if not more).

Shit, really? I never read up on the feature when it was announced, and thought the higher level wouldn't gain experience. This is awesome.

Just remember, it is a two edged sword. With Level sync you WILL gain experience, but your weapon skills, magic skills, etc will NOT gain skill ups. They WILL gain skill ups, if they are around the same level as the person who the pt is synced to. For example, in a level sync'd party to level 34, a 60 Warrior has a Great Axe weaponskill rating of 215. They won't gain any skill ups in a level sync party. However, if the Warrior's Axe skill is, say 100, they would gain Axe Skill ups.

The same is also applicable for skills like Guard, Evasion, etc, as well as Magic Skills (Enfeebling, Enhancing, Ninjitsu, Summoning, etc).

On another note, in a recent update, SE brought into FFXI, a new feature. In Non Expansion Areas, monsters may drop two sorts of treasure casket. Blue (Unlocked) and Brown (Locked). Inside the Blue Chest are your regular type of items (Potions, Ethers, etc), however they do not take up inventory space, as they have their own amount (16). They do disappear if you zone into another area though. The Brown Chests have the same items appear in them, but they are permanent, meaning when you zone, they go with you. Not just medicine items, but also synthesis items may be found in them (Gold Nugget, DarkSteel Ore, etc). The Brown Chests can be unlocked by a mathematic code.

The code is between 10 and 99. You are given 'attempts' to open the chest (usually about 4-5, but can be up to 8 attempts offered to you). If you attempt to open the chest and enter the wrong code, you are given a hint to the exact number to open the chest. You can choose to 'Examine the Lock' which gives you a hint at the combination. Both these methods will deplete the amount of attempts you have to unlock the chest.

The Brown Chest, once opened, may also have new, rare/ex equipment inside for your use as well. A full list of these items can be found here, as well as which region the chests which may contain these items spawn in : http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Casket

In response to an earlier post by Sefira about websites to go to for info, I tend to stay away from Allakazham, as some of the information there may be misleading in some cases (though, some of the problems may be rectified as of this post). I prefer FFXIclopedia for info on items, quests, etc (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)

Those chests sound pretty neat. Are FoV in non-expansion areas? The chests sound like they'd make soloing that stuff even easier which is nice. Then again, I get bored soloing to 12 before partying so I doubt I'd spend much time messing around solo, but you never know.
I'm a 42 (or so) RDM and my friend is a 60 (or 65, he can't remember) WHM, so I'm probably right around the level for him to do skillups anyways if I remember correctly (not that I've ever had a job that high...

I can't stand Wow, so I choose FFXI.

Can you please go into more depth than just that Tchesco.

I want to know why

Fields of Valor take place in the following areas and the levels for them are as follows :

North Gustaberg lvl 1-12 (capped at level 22 for page 5)
West Ronfaure lvl 1-12 (capped at level 19 for page 5)
West Sarutabaruta lvl 1-12 (capped at level 19 for page 5)
Buburimu Pennisula lvl 11-24 (capped at level 34 for page 5)
Valkurm Dunes lvl 12-23 (capped at level 34 for page 5)
Jugner Forest lvl 21-28 (capped at level 38 for page 5)
Meriphataud Mountains lvl 20-28 (capped at level 38 for page 5)
Pashhow Marshlands lvl 20-28 (capped at level 38 for page 5)
Qufim Island lvl 26-34 (capped at level 42 for page 5)
Beaucedine Glacier lvl 34-43 (capped at level 58 for page 5)
Xarcabard lvl 42-52 (capped at level 65 for page 5)

The Treasure Chests, both locked and unlocked, appear in the following areas :

West Ronfaure / East Ronfaure / La Theine Plateau / Valkurm Dunes / Jugner Forest / Batallia Downs / North Gustaberg / South Gustaberg / Konschtat Highlands / Pashhow Marshlands / Rolanberry Fields / Xarcabard / Beaucedine Glacier / West Sarutabaruta / East Sarutabaruta / Tahrongi Canyon / Buburimu Peninsula / Meriphataud Mountains / Sauromugue Champaign / Qufim Island / Behemoth's Dominion

After defeating any monster in the above areas, there's a 10% chance a casket may drop, either locked or unlocked.

Some people say that WoW is primarily a PvP game, when really for me it's the complete opposite. Sure there is PvP if you want to....but playing on a Player Versus Environment server like myself, I find myself questing solo for hours on end and can often find that much more enjoyable.

Granted, you can PvE in WoW but if you want any PvP that's worthwhile, WoW is the better choice hands-down. That's my only point.

There is PvP of a sort in FFXI. Team based style-esque PvP in the form of Ballista, then single PvP in Brenner.

Granted they aren't lilke the PvP in WoW, but I've been in a few Linkshell Ballista matches. which were quite good.

PvP in WoW has gotten so much better since expansion.

Wrath of the Lich King introduces a full PvP zone called Wintergrasp where every hour a battle between the Horde and the Alliance take place.

If your faction wins, then you and other players can do raid bosses that are only available after winning each battle.

Last I checked there were PvP zones encompassing about 80%-90% of the World map.

Contested territory, if you're an idiot.

Also: Wintergrasp is NOT a Full PvP zone. The only Full PvP zones are the battle arenas.