For this volume of MMO Co-Opportunities I thought we’d do something a little different.Though I’ve played a decent number of MMOs in my gaming career, there are many titles that I never got around to playing either due to lack of time, interest, or something else. Just because I haven’t played them, though, doesn’t mean they don’t deserve their due! So for these games, I’ll turn to the people around me to share some of their personal favorite co-opportunies for the game, or stories of playing the game with others. This month we’re looking at Final Fantasy XI (FFXI).
I asked the staff here as well as some of my friends that I knew had played the game for some of the mechanics or aspects of FFXI that they really felt encouraged teamwork, co-operation, or generally having a good time together with people. A couple people immediately honed in on skill chains and magic bursts:
"Skill chains and magic bursts for more damage. Skill chains were required to have an efficient party. There was lists of what melee moves goes after another to create a certain type of element, which usually the monster was weak to.
Magic burst come after the skill chains. Skill chains had to be at least 2 (maybe 3?) melee special attacks that would cause a certain element like water. Then the mages would cast water right after, so they would contribute to the skill chain with a magic burst. As a blackmage, I did have a spell that took 16 seconds to cast, so I had to macro in the chat when to start, then I did a **** ton of damage. If the thing didn't die from the skill chain, I knew it was coming after me."
- Jeff (a friend)
"For intra-party stuff, you can't get better than skill chains and magic bursts. Having to time pre design the order your team does TP skills and spells, and then get the time down perfectly... when even a single slip up might cause your team to wipe. Was just so intense."
- Rory (a friend)
There was a good amount of emphasis as well on the experience of working together with people as a team (with some nods to specific party-oriented classes). This necessity effectively created a team-oriented community:
"I also loved the greater community, where groups of players would huddle together to protect each other from the masses of enemies. A single high leveled enemy could kill everyone, so parties would have to be extra careful will pulls. Communicating between pulls, and occasionally helping other parties was key. A lot of high tension fun."
- Rory
"I liked the feeling that I was accomplishing something hard, and you NEEDED a party which made me feel like I was a part of something and not just following along with better players... The agro system was pretty strenuous, so it involved a lot of team play. Since people typically leveled on mobs that could 2 shot squishies, it made managing agro more important. Also, Things like thieves using skills to plaster agro on the tank added an extra element to teamwork. Also, Bards would have to put several songs on different players, so everyone would have to stand in the correct location to allow them to put the right songs on the right people."
- Jon (a friend)
"Redmage = refresh (mana regen)
Bards = mana regen
Usually needed one or the other to help with party downtime."
- Jeff
Finally, our own Jim “txshurricane” McLaughlin puts in his own unique experience with FFXI: a tale of a man unwilling to conform, his harrowing journey across a war-torn land, and his ultimate triumph!
"Part of the reason I don't play MMOs is because I crave "true" freedom and often don't follow the normal game progression. I especially hate grinding. When I started playing Final Fantasy XI on my PS2, I got bored with the constant fight for XP and decided to do something really unique for my character. At level 10, I left my roommate's character in Windurst and set off on a foot journey to Jeuno - I had seen a flintlock Pirate's Gun on the Jeuno market and was fixated on becoming the first Galka in Windurst with a firearm.
All the way to Jeuno I was able to avoid any fights - and thereby death - and arrived at the hub city to find that the price of the Pirate's Gun had increased by 2,000 gil. So here I was in a city where the economy was based on items that were too high-level for me to go out and gather. My roommate took pity on me and interrupted his grinding to send some gil my way; I guess he'd come to the conclusion that having a gun-toting Thief/Ranger in his party might be a good thing.
I triumphantly returned to Windurst the owner of a shiny new boomstick, and my desire to go into the plains and mountains to encounter enemies was renewed. While I was gone my buddy had worked his alchemy skills up to the point that he was able to create black powder; combining his alchemy with my blacksmithing, we generated cartridges for my gun whenever I ran dry. It was a sweet partnership while it lasted, one that garnered us attention from quite a few large guilds. And although we never joined any - we made several friends that I play with on Xbox Live to this day."
- Jim (“txshurricane”)
And, of course, it wouldn't be a real community contribution without you guys! What’s been your experience with FFXI? Any great co-opportunities these guys missed, or any fun stories about playing the game with others?