Is FFXI Worth Returning To?

Considering returning to FFXI, is it worth it? I was an avid player until my account was hacked and my characters were deleted. SE wasn't able to do the the account recovery so I decided to call it quits. I went on to try out FFXIV but it wasn't for me. Just curious to what you guys still playing have to say.

Sure, why not.

look inside your heart

Oh yes, its worth it.

In all seriousness, I wouldn't unless you enjoy afk as the major part of your play time. And soloing, lots and lots of soloing.

It's never been easier to get top-end gear, it's also never been as boring as it is right now...

If I could legitimately quit, and not be bored I'd so be gone... truly.

Thats the kind of thing I was afraid of. I suppose FFXI might have truly hit its sunset phase after all this time. I was hoping it would bounce back.

If you got a friend or 2 you should be ok. The difficulty on high end content can be lowered for 2-3 man. I'm thinking of returning now since it's aiming at lower formed parties.

The game is not boring in the least, there is plenty of things to do. If you want to stand around and do nothing thats on you. I dont understand why people that dont wanna do ***even post.

don't waste your time with asking people if its worth coming back/playing again.
You obviously have an interest in the game, so why not just blindly go in and experience it for yourself firsthand.

No. How you're going to play the game anyways? It’s just a major ghost town on all servers; on top of that, the community is almost non-existent because most players moved to ffxiv. Like someone mentioned above, your going to spend a lot of time afk/idle because of boredom.

A wild Latifah appears!

No .. people were *** before you left, and they are still *** when you come back.

Actually- I wouldn't say that;
I made characters on my friends trial account on all servers, and some, Yes (Bismarck was the worst!) Are ghost towns.
But some (Valefor and Bahamut) Didn't seem so empty.
Each character I ran to Jeuno to see the people feel in Jeuno.
Bismarck was the only server I came across that while in Jeuno I found absolutely NOTHING (a few afk people) All other servers had at least some movement.
td;dr: Not true; unless you're on Bismarck.

There is plenty to do in this game and much of it is doable solo; and SE has even gotten some very easily obtainable gear for level 99(117) that is pretty caught up for any casual player.

I wouldn't charge right into playing again. I would suggest though that you do your research about what you'll be jumping into before you decide to pay that $12.95 a month.

Here is a handy guide for returning players like yourself. I suggest you give it a read to know what you'll be returning too.

http://wiki.bluegartr.com/bg/Returning_to_Vana'diel

On a side note, not sure if they update the Salvage info on the guide but that and Assault for the most part can be solo'ed now. And there are new things planned for the Feb. 17-18 update so that's something to look into as well.


Hope this helps.

just recently came back myself and things seem decent enough asura still active for the most part

It depend on what kind of game you're looking for. The game is a lot more solo friendly and all the gears are *** easy to obtain these days. However, compare with older FFXI all the gears come and go much faster, there are less emotional attachment on any gears and no more "OMG I FINALLY GOT THE ITEM!" feel after you get it.

Personally I find current FFXI very similar to FFXIV, just with worse graphic/game mechanics and worse battle system. I know plenty of ppl still enjoy current FFXI, if you want to come back you may catch up quickly, idk whether you'd stay longer than 3 months or not.

Oh and btw, don't believe what others said about server pop. I barely log in for 2 weeks, decided to log in and do a DM2 and made an ally of 18/18 in less than 1hr.

This saddens me. My account is on Bismarck, well before I left. I'm still contemplating coming back. The update this next week had me looking into how much time I'd have to be on. Updates to skirmish weapons and armor sounds a bit appealing.

With the advent of Trust and easing of content due to waning player sizes, allowing less than optimally geared players to actually try out the content they've been paying for all this time, I think it's a wonderful time in XI's lifespan to actually come back. Matsui's team is cranking out monthly updates of actually sizable content as they admitted that it's too detrimental to the game at this point in it's lifespan to do the old 3-4 release and sit around with little to do after people obtain what they want, causing them to unsub til the next big update and affecting the population.

Your deleted character may actually be returned as well, as I recall back in December when SE did the "Return to Vana'diel" campaign, they seemed to have restored deleted characters to players accounts, or at least I know a few people that had theirs restored due to that event.

Biggest problem is that there's likely no real LS diversity because of time zones and shrinking playerbases in said time zones, so you may have to return to the game and settle for a Mega LS, but hey, that's just that many more people to buddy up with and expand the ol FL, am I right? Of course, if you still have some friends that play, that sweetens the deal even more in your favor to return, and I'm sure they can likely vouch you into a good and active LS.

You should still come back if you want too; The biggest problem I had seen with that server was that Saturday afternoon Feb. 1st ~300 people were online.
However, Now I noticed a large number of people coming back (Update probably interested many people) and my servers average population increased 200-300.
Maybe Bismarck's has picked up since then.

Not sure how it's a complete ghost town on all servers. Our server has been over 1100 people on the last few days. That's massive compared to what it used to be. And with how content is now and the ability to do many things solo, you are only bored if you choose to be.

I never intended on coming back, but because a lot of my friends were, I decided to give FFXI another chance. For me, personally, the game is in a much better condition than what it was back in May/June. I absolutely hated Adoulin when it first came out, as well as the updates that were brought with it. Now I'm back, I find myself being able to solo much easier; I'm also having an absolute blast. I think the alter ego system is incredibly quirky and helpful as well. As some people have said: the amount of people that are coming back is improving all the time. When I came back on the 10th February, I saw only 569 people online (and that was prime time) now it's at 780 - 900. So, there's definitely an improvement of some sort. I never thought I'd be back from FFXIV (I'm bored at the minute with that game, so that's the reason why I came back to FFXI in the first place)

It's also easier than ever to catch up and get decently geared. Have a go and give the game another chance. :D

This is how I am as well. 14 was fun, but at some point you just hit a wall. Only thing I miss is chatting with my friends. There's only so much that can be done on that game right now. I'm sure that 14 is far from over, but as it is now, 11 has it beat content wise, then again a 12 year old game vs a 6 mo old game is going to game more content.

I just hope SE hasn't deleted my toon yet. Is there an expiration on those?

Asura on a sunday at just past 9pm jst: 1400+ people online.

I think it's worth coming back to. Unless you are one of those people unable to do anything unless someone's holding your hand the entire time, there is in fact plenty to do. Adoulin was meh when it was released. The next few updates killed the game for me. Then I came back before Christmas and found that SE has done a pretty good job of salvaging what was left of the game - improving it, even. And yes, I too see people returning, people that quit before I did, even.

Charge in There's still a lot of things to do in this game prior to the next update that's gonna come in 2 days!

I have plenty to do around the house.. it doesnt mean its fun or i enjoy doing it, a 12 year old game wil ofc have lots to do, it comes down to how much enjoyment you still gain from doing it,they seem to be adding quite a bit to keep people intrested so its best to try it out for a month and see if you think its worth it :D

Me saying there's plenty to do was infact directed at anyone saying the opposite, that all they do is idle in town/stare at their moogle and whatnot. And compared to 6 months ago, there really is plenty of things to do (that are relevant).

There is not much you can buy for what a months subscription costs.Give it a go, if you don't enjoy it you can always cancel again :)

Just recently came back.

Was a little worried about Asura's population when I came back; it was under 1k players the day I reactivated. Since then, it has grown a bit.

I was only away for 7 months, but holy crap, they added so much stuff in those 7 months, that I got overwhelmed pretty quickly. I found an LS fairly quickly, but they weren't really willing to point me in the directions that I needed to be and I was feeling demoralized. But I found another LS that has gotten me Tojil and Mu...whatever the hell that bee's name wins, and I got geared up with iLevel stuff a lot quicker that I was expecting. RoE makes it very easy.

Mind you, the only jobs I have to work with at the moment are BLU and SCH, and I was actually built as a healing SCH, not a stun gun.

Things are easy to solo, which for someone who has only one friend (besides my husband) who still plays, it's a blessing and a curse. A blessing because when the LS isn't doing delve runs that I can get into, I can work on stuff alone. But it gets pretty boring fast. However, since I was suggested to level a couple of jobs that I didn't care to level before (whm in particular...I'm buying some booze for that by the way), I have lots to do. Along with all the catching up on SoA stuff.

So I would say, go for it. If you feel that your server isn't doing it for you, there's the world transfer. Some people from Phoenix actually came over to Asura recently. So there's that option. Just relax and take it all in. It may take a bit to jump right back into things depending on how long ago you quit.

I recently came back after a 3 month break. I kind of had a hard time finding a linkshell at first, but once I found one, I got a lot done! I've got my Delve wins (except the shark which we're doing tonight), I finished the available Adoulin missions, etc. There is a lot to do still if you are willing to go do it.

RoE is really helpful for soloing and getting new gear, the sparks can buy an assortment of things and all you have to do to get sparks is kill ***!

Since I've been back, I've been very busy with new things. I learned how to stun on my sch and I've made new friends! If you are already considering coming back, then obviously something in you wants to play, so just do it! Jump in and play a while!!!