Pre-75 Cap Nostalgia

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Pre-75 Cap Nostalgia
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By abknight 2016-12-04 21:23:01
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99% of nostalgia threads I see are 75 cap HNM-related, because that's what the NA playerbase was exposed to. Does anyone else ever reminisce about pre-75 HNM hunting and consider it to be the golden era of end-game content?

I started on the JP PC version in December 2002, so the first end-game content I did was at the 60 cap. There was maybe one JP LS on the server that was able to kill HNM like Serket and CC prior to this, so items like Scorpion Harness, Haubergeon, Speed Belt, and Healing Staff were kept 100% inside that one LS and never seen, let alone sold.

The absolute BEST gear you could possibly acquire prior to hunting starter HNM like Roc and Simurgh was:

DD:
Peacock Charm
Sniper's ring x2
7 sins weapons
AF
Nation cape
Life Belt

Tank (PLD):
AF
Nation shield
Gluttony Sword

Mage:
AF
Astral Ring x2

There was still relatively low competition, so HNM hunting consisted of globetrotting and killing what your group was capable of killing every few days on a pop schedule. You didn't recruit people based on the gear they had, but on whether or not they could communicate with you and would commit to showing up. Zerging didn't exist and healers took turns resting to regain MP during fights.

There was still mystery to the world and its toughest HNM, and some things were thought to be unkillable. There was no wiki and everything was learned VIA trial and error. It's amazing to think back to the game's release, when everyone was struggling to level together to the 50 cap, how there were level 70-80 HNM lurking in terrifying places. The ones that are most fascinating to me are:

The 4 demons in Zvahl Baileys (i.e. Grand Duke Batym):
Spawned in a scary zone, level 76, surrounded by 70s normal pops, like gore demons, that were ridiculous to kill even with an alliance.

Serket:
Spawned in a seriously scary place, level 70, surrounded by undead, devastating AOE.

Capricious Cassie:
Spawned in a remote, mysterious, scary place, level 70, devastating AOE.

Cemetery Cherry:
Devastating AOE.

Of the four NMs or groups listed, only Serket even dropped anything of great value prior to the 75 cap. The only HNM that were genuinely worthwhile were:

Roc (Healing Staff, damascene ingot for Haubergeon)
Simurgh (damascene ingot)
King Arthro (damascene cloth for Vermillion Cloak)
Serket (scorpion claw for Scorpion Harness, Serket Ring)

It wasn't until the 70s when:
Amity Cape could be crafted into Peace Cape and then Errant Cape.
Beastmen gods could replace beastment kings and drop worthwhile items (i.e. Raise III).
Divine log could be crafted into divine lumber and then Shura gear.
KB & Aspidochelone could spawn in place of Behemoth and Adamantoise and drop useful items.

All that said, does anyone else ever reminisce about these times? What are some of the NM and/or zones that you thought to be terrifying back then? I wonder why no one even considers the possibility of a 60 cap private server.
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By crimsondragon 2016-12-04 22:07:48
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Only reason it's not considered is because it isn't "mysterious" anymore and it wouldn't take people long to acquire what they wanted and be bitching to raise the cap to 75.

Other than that. Yeah! Old School FFXI was probably the best/hard game ever made. Most likely because no matter what we can never have it back.
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By Asura.Evildemon 2016-12-04 22:35:52
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Almost no one that even played then still plays. I played at ps2 release and 75 cap was already around and game was HARD back then to get 75 took me nearly 2 years to reach first 75. back when call wyvern was still my 2 hour
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By abknight 2016-12-04 23:15:35
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You played the JP or NA PS2 release? Because level cap was 50 at JP PS2 release in May 2002.

I realize that very few players from then are still around. ffxionline.com had the go-to importer forum, but that place has been dead for many years. Figured it was worth a shot here.
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By Phoenix.Erics 2016-12-05 01:05:17
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ive got the brady game guides from the lv 50(im pretty sure it said 50 in it) cap and lv 75 cap eras, so im kind of an expert now.
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By Draylo 2016-12-05 01:09:13
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No, I'm honestly sick of the nostalgia threads lol. Golden Era for me was Delve and I've been around since the beginning.
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By Phoenix.Erics 2016-12-05 01:19:12
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I think the golden era was whenever there was enough new people not run into the same people every single day, so anytime up until the last few years.
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By Phoenix.Pilipinoboi 2016-12-05 02:24:33
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Been around since NA PC Release in 2003. WAR to lv 30, unlock first advanced job of DRK to 30 then lv THF to 30, then lv Great Sword because nobody invited you to Bibiki Dhalmels without light SC and Spinning Slash as DRK. haha.

Too many good times were had but what I miss most in FFXI now that I've been back 4 months from a 3 year break is; people's common sense, playstyle and skills. Nowadays everyone throws DD at it, hope to kill it, maybe SC here and there but fail miserably at even the most common of NM's. (Which I end up soloing better with trusts than actual players -.-;) I miss the strategies, the alliances and people knowing jobs/roles in alliances lol. #AbysseakilledFFXI.

I don't miss the HNM camping like Tiamat or Khimaira with ridiculous windows but the fights were always exciting if you claimed or beat a bot lol.

P.S. I was so happy when they lowered required EXP to hit levels. When I first started playing 60 was the cap then got raised to 75 eventually. I remember the EXP being changed that I was lv 68 DRK or something before the maintenance and logged back on with lowered EXP requirements that I hit 69/70 somehow without fighting mobs because my EXP just rolled over and got to wear my Hauberk and Optical Hat haha. Opo-Opo necklace + sleep potions to fight Maat to become 75 ;)
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By Kodaijin 2016-12-05 05:46:10
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I've been around since NA release.

Honestly there is no golden era as far as content. The game is still great. Each expansion has brought new challenges and new areas to explore. Some better than others but that's not typically what people discuss when they talk about their favorite times. It's the people that matter. Abyssea was one of my favorite expansions because it got rid of camping for stupidly long periods of time and it was challenging when it came out. The problem with abyssea was it killed off the HNMLS and many of the players that loved that type of game.

Same thing with delve. I loved delve too but that release hurt relic holders and many quit. So the game suffered. I love the game now too. I don't want to go back to leveling 1 job for a year only to stand in dragons aery for hours upon hours with a mule in BD and VoS.

In the end it's the friends we make and the things we do together that make the game fun. Sure we solo more now but we still search for friends and say hi guys when we log in.
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By Treizekordero 2016-12-05 07:01:45
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I've played since 2004. I remember making parties with DRGs (My first job was THF) and going to Bibiki Bay to Light SC on Gobs and Dhalmels. Fun times LOL.

The game got really exciting for me when ToAU came out and then Campaign Battle when WotG was released. Abyssea breathed new life into the game and I'm still happy to this day they added that content.

SoA was a welcome addition for me too. I didn't think they'd make another expansion at that point. WKRs, Skirmish, and Delve were all fun for me. I'm actually loving the game now in it's current form than I ever did.

The only downside I see is the lower population but that's life. It is a 14-15 year old game. The only thing I miss from the HNMLS days was the comradery.

Spending hours waiting for an HNM to pop made people bond and the HNMLS I was in had some funny people.

Anyway I wouldn't give up the game as it is now for that comradery though. I'd rather have the game as is now and that comradery if anything.
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By Asura.Finbar 2016-12-05 08:33:32
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I think the only thing to reminisce about the super early days is the mysteriousness of it all. Players didn't know the best ways to gear, gear swapping wasn't widely adopted (or as widely needed with less situational gear to go around), mechanics weren't yet well understood, and there were very few players capable of leveling up quickly in a time when 4k experience an hour was considered the gold standard. By today's standard, all of those things are well understood (even accuracy is important again these days, though it became trivial for a time), and there would only be a handful of options to keep endgame players entertained.

As far as the golden era, I think objectively it can be argued that the late ToAU/mid-WotG era had more endgame content than any other era. Obviously there's subjectivity to be had in whether leveling up was any fun at that time or whether better events came later, but at that time endgame was extremely diverse, not only in the amount of events but in the content of those events. Circa-2009 FFXI had Dynamis and dreamland Dynamis (which by then it was possible to lowman with about six to eight people to avoid the drudgery), kings, wyrms, ToAU HNMs, sky gods, sea Jailers, Limbus, Salvage (which was one of the most unique events in the game and had such low drop rates to force long-game static groups), Einherjar, Nyzul Isle, ZNMs, the Sandworm and the shadowreign NMs, Dark Ixion, and more (the level grind for one, since some people seemed to enjoy it).

There was great content to come after Abyssea came out, but nothing beat the sheer amount of diversity endgame linkshells had in 2008/2009. There's a good reason level 75 is remembered fondly. It's not just nostalgia.
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By Jetackuu 2016-12-05 08:35:22
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abknight said: »
HNM hunting and consider it to be the golden era of end-game content?
No, quite literally the worst mechanic ever.
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By Ramyrez 2016-12-05 08:57:16
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Started two months after NA release.

I hold a special place in my heart for old Dynamis. I know that makes me crazy to most people, and I'm okay with that.

But that's the only level 75 content I really miss. And even then it's very much nostalgia because it was in no way a reasonable or efficient bit of content, I just enjoyed doing it myself. The planning/execution/etc. Even with the frustrations of people showing up late, being half-assed about their dedication, problems with scheduling zones/etc. (especially toward the end). I just enjoyed running a Dynamis group.

Other than that I've really not defined my time in the game by content but rather by who I was doing things with and if I was having fun or just slogging through. Those slogging periods were pretty rough, honestly. The "final days of land kings" so to speak were pretty *** bleak both in terms of endgame content and the people I was playing with at the time and I left the HNM scene entirely for a bit then, focusing only on Dynamis/Limbus.

As much as I was sort of sour on the level cap lifting and Abyssea coming in, I actually think it breathed new life into the game, even if it disenfranchised some of the older hardcore players.
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By Jetackuu 2016-12-05 09:17:40
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Old Dyna was fun. Never did Limbus though >.>
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By Ramyrez 2016-12-05 09:27:15
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Jetackuu said: »
Old Dyna was fun. Never did Limbus though >.>

Old Limbus was fun too. I enjoyed the different mechanics of the various zones broken down. Preferred Apollyon to Temenos, but both could be fun.
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By Ramyrez 2016-12-05 09:28:20
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*** I need to back out of this thread. Getting the old "let's log in!" feeling.

Don't want to
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 Shiva.Francisco
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By Shiva.Francisco 2016-12-05 12:51:42
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The best summation of the early days of NA release...

Lv. 1 - "Ugh, I gotta stay away from those Quadav things."
Lv. 7 - "These Young Quadavs aren't so bad, what th... GREATER QUADAV? OH CRAP!"
Lv. 13 - "Tremor Rams are high level enemies that are among the toughest in the game."
Lv. 16 - "/shout HEY, IT'S 19:00! EVERYONE BACK TO SELBINA BEFORE BOGY SPAWN TIME!"
Lv. 21 - "I think this lake is safe from Banshee aggro, right?"
Lv. 28 - "EXP chain #4! Should we try a Goblin Smithy? Benediction is up."
Lv. 30 - "Well, we can finally unlock advanced jobs, but I dunno... I want to level DRG/SAM, but I can't go through the Dunes and Qufim again, I JUST CAN'T"

At one point in 2003, my understanding was that you needed 50 Beastmen Seals to fight the final boss, which was a Quadav, and could be found inside the Crag of Dem.

I also spent my first couple of weeks tossing Seals because they didn't sell for money, and I didn't know you could sort your inventory to make things stack. Member constantly needing to resort your inventory? I member!
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By Taffy 2016-12-05 15:29:54
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Early NA Release here - circa 2003. Still playing with friends I made back then - all 4 of us from our static for our first 75 jobs together still play together. We actually try to simulate old school parties just for the nostalgia from time to time!

I miss Sky the most which is why I've enjoyed Escha-Ruan as much as I have. I'm talking sky pre forced pop when we would have to camp Ulli and MG for days until we could finally outclaim the damn RMT. That first Kirin win was hectic but will always hold a place in my heart.

CoP was fun when it first came out but we spent Endless hours building a linkshell to get people through it so we could farm SEA and ultimately they nerfed the content fairly close to our first AV attempt. That's what pushed me into my first long break.

I still miss the old days and how challenging the game was then. Lord knows we never seen people with tons of RME weapons back then (well R) and just having one showed your commitment to the game. Reality is though I was forced to grow up and now have kids and if the game was the way it used to be I wouldn't have the time to play like I did and it wouldn't be the same.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, love this thread!
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By Phoenix.Pilipinoboi 2016-12-05 16:26:14
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Another thing I thought I should share; Remember getting the Lv 50 cap items at Eldieme or Garlaige? Shouting for a Lv 60 to help you and end up dying / getting lost under there then ultimately getting owned by Serket as well? haha.

My proudest moment in FFXI as a DRK was when my gear set looked like;

Main: Zweihander / Lv 58 Scythe I can't remember name of right now, looks like Death Scythe.
Sub: Grips weren't a thing!
Ammo: Bomb Core
Head: Emperor Hairpin / Chaos Burgeonet
Body: Haubergeon
Hands: Chaos Gauntlets
Ring1: Sniper's Ring
Ring2: Sniper's Ring
Belt: Life Belt
Legs: Ryl. Knight Breeches
Feet: Leaping Boots

How's that for Nostalgia? HAHA. I remember my gear sets then switching to Spike Necklace +1, Sun Rings for WS'

#DRKforlife

P.S. First relic EVER was Apocalypse on Phoenix by Deathknight. :) Forever my DRK idol.
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By abknight 2016-12-06 08:49:12
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I'm glad some people have gotten some enjoyment from reminiscing in this thread. That said, I think I missed my mark here. I meant to start a discussion about end-game content before the level 75 cap existed (i.e. the level 50, 55, 60, 65, and 70 caps, before the NA version was even released). I know that very, very few people experienced this as you had to import the Japanese version, and most of those people probably moved on 10 years ago and don't read XI forums anymore, but thought it was worth a shot. Hope you all are still having fun.
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By Jetackuu 2016-12-06 08:50:48
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Phoenix.Pilipinoboi said: »
Another thing I thought I should share; Remember getting the Lv 50 cap items at Eldieme or Garlaige? Shouting for a Lv 60 to help you and end up dying / getting lost under there then ultimately getting owned by Serket as well? haha.

Literally just did these solo with 4 trusts on a new character. The Lich were by far the hardest kills.
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By Bahamut.Samunai 2016-12-06 09:02:30
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Shiva.Francisco said: »
The best summation of the early days of NA release...

Lv. 1 - "Ugh, I gotta stay away from those Quadav things."
Lv. 7 - "These Young Quadavs aren't so bad, what th... GREATER QUADAV? OH CRAP!"
Lv. 13 - "Tremor Rams are high level enemies that are among the toughest in the game."
Lv. 16 - "/shout HEY, IT'S 19:00! EVERYONE BACK TO SELBINA BEFORE BOGY SPAWN TIME!"
Lv. 21 - "I think this lake is safe from Banshee aggro, right?"
Lv. 28 - "EXP chain #4! Should we try a Goblin Smithy? Benediction is up."
Lv. 30 - "Well, we can finally unlock advanced jobs, but I dunno... I want to level DRG/SAM, but I can't go through the Dunes and Qufim again, I JUST CAN'T"

At one point in 2003, my understanding was that you needed 50 Beastmen Seals to fight the final boss, which was a Quadav, and could be found inside the Crag of Dem.

I also spent my first couple of weeks tossing Seals because they didn't sell for money, and I didn't know you could sort your inventory to make things stack. Member constantly needing to resort your inventory? I member!

about the quadavs is for me about the 'bird-like-lion-walking-things' a.k.a. yagudos at the time. and yes.... invnetory issues... how many seals ive tossed >_> and for me the problem was, windurst - valkurm parties and having no teleport-kontschat/latheine dont mix well. so i had no parties for a long long time. I assumed i would be level 30 RDM by the end of summer when i started playing on july 1st. i barely reached 15... ><; solo all the way till refresh was tough :\

i also remember i actually made a 'fortune' selling yagudo necklaces >_> 1k/sell aw yea 8-)
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By Asura.Topace 2016-12-06 09:12:25
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Lol at people calling escha the golden era. If this is the golden era then I would hate to see the game at its worse.
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By Ramyrez 2016-12-06 09:46:19
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Asura.Topace said: »
Lol at people calling escha the golden era. If this is the golden era then I would hate to see the game at its worse.

I could be missing the mark as I'm 9 months clean now, but in my experience with Escha they're probably channeling the fact that it involves a little more strategy than the game has for quite some time.

"Golden Age" in a game like FFXI is a highly subjective term.

abknight said: »
I'm glad some people have gotten some enjoyment from reminiscing in this thread. That said, I think I missed my mark here. I meant to start a discussion about end-game content before the level 75 cap existed (i.e. the level 50, 55, 60, 65, and 70 caps, before the NA version was even released). I know that very, very few people experienced this as you had to import the Japanese version, and most of those people probably moved on 10 years ago and don't read XI forums anymore, but thought it was worth a shot. Hope you all are still having fun.

Sorry. I played pretty close to NA release but I didn't import and I wasn't Beta. And...to be honest, even the absolute nicest and coolest people I know who were Beta players (I knew several) were really, really pretentious about it at least some of the time. They didn't do it deliberately, but they were always so melodramatic about how much better some things were before 75 in Beta etc.

Holy ***it got old quick. Imagine the people who lament the breaking of level 75 cap but the Super Sayan version, or w/e you DB/DBZ kids say.

Just like, high school goth kid level of melodramatic about it.
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By crimsondragon 2016-12-06 16:28:06
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Phoenix.Pilipinoboi said: »
Ammo: Bomb Core

Until you accidentally threw it you mean.. When I say you I mean, me and probably everyone... More than once..
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By Valefor.Savain 2016-12-06 16:49:00
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About to relapse myself. Almost relapsed 18 months ago, but I couldn't get support to unlock my token because the email address the token was under was an aol account that at some point was "hacked" and filled with spam, with it's password changed, and I never got around to converting to chrysta or whatever the hell currency to pay for FFXI.

I didn't play the JP version prior to NA release, but reading through the thread reminded me that while the content was great, and diverse, that there was something simple and elated about partying with 4 of your good friends (or even 1 good friend, and 3 great people you met and made a static leveling group with - hi Greendragon, hi Drangor, hi Rioitz, hi Seamus, hi Niord, and even further back, hi Toy, hi Amalthea), chatting, drinking beer or cola, and eating white chocolate reeses.

For a while, that was the highlight of my Friday, and looking back, I regret nothing.

The people I met in FFXI were arguably (at least the ones I still like) the most diverse and interesting out of any group of people I've met to date. It's amazing what kinds of bonds the early days of FFXI where you were accountable for everything you did really led to.
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By Shiva.Francisco 2016-12-06 18:16:24
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Golden era of content for me was the end of CoP through ToAU. Salvage, Nyzul, Limbus, Einherjar. Worst was probably WotG up until Abyssea hit. WotG endgame was trash, and the best event didn't even get playable until after 99 cap.

Love or hate Abyssea - it gave players a lot of stuff to do for the first time in quite a while... Relic/Mythic level weapons anyone could do, new amazing armor, Abyssites, Atma, and so on.
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By Phoenix.Kojo 2016-12-06 18:57:26
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Phoenix.Pilipinoboi said: »
P.S. First relic EVER was Apocalypse on Phoenix by Deathknight. :) Forever my DRK idol.
Whoop-whoop.
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By nasomi 2016-12-07 15:52:38
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NA launch, I'll never forget it. Taru. Bastok. BLM. I died so hard so many times. Then the dunes. Sitting at that hp crystal. It was brutal. At 20, to jeuno..

There will never be another game like it, and replaying it even 75 style, while close, isn't the same. The mystery isn't there, but the nostalgia sure is.

I remember getting to jeuno, and there being SO MUCH STUFF on the AH. I was like WOW, STUFF. I even made it a business to cart stuff from the jeuno AH to bastok AH for profit, because the starter gear sold for more.

One day a player by the name of Cianti came across me and really helped me out. We were friends for years. /sigh /nostalgia
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By abknight 2016-12-07 17:04:12
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Everyone else is throwing their stories in so I guess I'll add mine:

I imported and started in December 2002 on Ixion server, which was merged and closed in early 2003. I quickly remade a character on Ragnarok in order to join a larger group of importers that communicated on ffxionline.com. The grind to level 12 was tough, and I leveled to 20 in Buburimu (which was actually a thing pre-NA release) and completed the Mhaura subjob quest thanks to a level 40 JP WHM who helped me and a friend kill some bogies.

I had no idea what I was doing and couldn't read anything or communicate well with anyone. I think I was still using level 7 equipment and a bee spatha while leveling on orcs and tigers in Batallia, so a JP guy lent me a gladius. This was at 5:00am on a school day, and my mom came in and booted me off the computer, so I basically ninja logged without returning the sword. Felt horrible, couldn't remember his name, but eventually returned it about a month later.

The grind to 60 took months of playing from 4:00pm after school until 6:00am before school, then sleeping through all classes during the day to catch up. East Sarutabaruta > Buburimu > Qufim > Batallia > Crawler's Nest, Garlaige, & Eldieme. Some of the leveling camps back then seem insane now... weapons in Batallia and Sauromugue were popular, flies in the basement of Crawler's Nest were a thing, and skeletons in Eldieme. All mobs with annoying AOE that you'd never level on today, but those were the only options pre-crabpocalypse from expansions. Leveling actually meant standing in lowjeuno and shouting in broken Japanese, and sending /tells to every individual near my level with their flag up, asking if they'd like to party. I think it took me into the 30s to figure out party balance and what jobs I really should be inviting. Fast Blade > Red Lotus/Burning Blade > Combo was the only renkei/skillchain I knew from 20-40.

Doing quests and missions along the way was normal and the only way to make decent gil and acquire equipment (from CP). Every night consisted of partying for 4-5 hours straight for about 2-3k exp/hour, at best, doing a handful of quests that my friend had translated on the forums earlier that day, and joining either a mission or AF or genkai farming shout during JP primetime (~4-7am) (back then, they would shout for these many hours in advance and let people know the event would be occurring much later that day). Farming a single genkai/limit break item or coffer key for AF was an all-night event, because it took a full alliance to farm these things, everyone in the alliance needed one, and the drop rate was miserable. I vividly remember farming about a dozen papyrus drops between 8:00pm and 5:00am, only for the group to disband before I got one. Zvahl coffer key demons could crush a 50s alliance (it wasn't until years later, looking at a wiki, that I found out they were low 70s). I farmed Shakhrami scorpions and AH'd their parts on my 30s PLD, and farmed updelkfut giants and pots for gil and shards (and rare light clusters) on my 50s PLD.

Ultimately, a full set of AF, a CP shield, and a sword with no stats on it were all you could ever want as a PLD (the job I picked). There was no min/maxing, no building optimal gearsets. The people, events, and mystery of the world made the game as enjoyable and memorable as it was.
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