This Saturday, as my wife and I were doing some shopping, we bought Final Fantasy XI. I had read some good things about it and had kept an eye on it for some time, so a deal for two games at 40 euros with a free month seemed enticing enough. So we came home, installed the game, which already took more than an hour since you first have to install the launcher, then the game, then the three expansions. Then you register for the game, using a tedious process, probably made counterintuitive to me since it is a game that can also be played on consoles. Once all this is done, you have to update the game, which took about 8 hours. In other words, I went to bed and gave the game a try on Sunday.
When you first start the game, you are treated to a nice video giving you indications on the background of the world. You then create your character and are sent on your way in one of the three starting cities. Once you are in the world, you are welcomed by two characters who give you an idea of what the city is about and send you on your way. And that’s it! Nothing else in the way of a tutorial.
It took my wife and me about 20 minutes to find each other, as the map is hard to find. The game uses a lot of text commands and keyboard shortcuts and it really feels like to have to learn two pages of commands before accomplishing anything in the game.
I have played my fair share of online games from oldies like Ultima Online or Meridian 59 to newer games like Star Wars Galaxies, City of Heroes/Villains and World of Warcraft (which has kept me hooked for nearly 3 years now, taking two breaks from the game in that time). I have some beta experience, having tested Star Wars Galaxies for a long time before its release, Anarchy Online, Pirates of the Burning Sea and another game I am currently beta testing but that I cannot name since I am still bound by an NDA. All this to say that I have played online games using lot of different UIs and even unfinished ones (meaning a lot less user-friendly than in the released version).
But this really blew me away. I had no idea where to click, I had no idea where to go, I had no idea what to do. We ran around for a while, tried interacting with NPCs, and then I had enough, closed the game and launched World of Warcraft for some easy daily quests and some PvP. I have now printed the manual and will give it a thorough read-through, hoping to have some idea on what to do and how to do it to start in the game.
Honestly, after the smooth ride that is WoW, I was depressed after my first time in Final Fantasy. Of course, FFXI is a lot older than WoW, but when you compare your start in the two games, it is mind-boggling to understand that after so many years on the market (the game was released in 2003), they have made no change to the starting area to make it easier on new comers. As a comparison, here is how it works in WoW: after creating your character, you immediately have a small button pop up at the bottom of your screen with help on how to play the game, with others buttons (about 10 if memory serves me right) popping up every time you need to do something new. Right in front you is the first quest-giver with a big yellow exclamation point above his head, letting you know that you should speak to him (by right-clicking – I find it very strange in Final Fantasy that a right-click deselects what you have currently selected; as far as I remember, all role playing games on pc use left-click for selection and right-click to perform an action).
Anyway, I will give Final Fantasy XI a second chance after reading the manual. Hopefully it will be better than the first, because I would be disappointed if I had spent 40 euros, even if it is cheap for two games, for a game that is much more difficult than what I can already play…
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