[Sirius]

There are some instanced zones such as a big boss fight (NMs), but most of it is opened where everyone is out there.

Even the game's version of "Battle Grounds" is out in a normal area, but only people that signed up are flagged for PvP. You could just stand on the sides and watch.

[PTT]

Dungeons are for everyone. There's no exclusivity.

Edit: Oh yes, mission fights are instanced in an arena-type area. Also, you can activate other arena type fights with monsters by collecting seals, trading them for an orb, and trading the orb to a "Burning Circle."

[Gobo]

Originally Posted by PTT

Edit: Oh yes, mission fights are instanced in an arena-type area. Also, you can activate other arena type fights with monsters by collecting seals, trading them for an orb, and trading the orb to a "Burning Circle."

Actually BCs are nothing more than a bunch rooms in a zone, so its not truely instanced. This can be seen by either using FFXITOOL (number 2 i think) and look at the empty zones while offline, get a really rare lag glitch and get trapped in the room, or a 3rd thing....:p

Nothing (with the possible exception of Assault) is really instanced in FFXI. Most of the time its not a big deal, but it can cause a minor problem from time to time.

[Esoa]

FFXI is very different from WoW. The leveling is a lot more like in DAoC where you get a group and grind xp. Think of how you could make something you do in a game really hard. FFXI makes it even harder. Solo? Most jobs can't. Quest? Have to look stuff up online, and get 5 friends to help for the 2 hours of traveling/fighting to complete it. Crafting? Takes forever to skill up, and can cost a lot of money. Gear? Fight for people over special monsters to get the items they drop, or spend tons of gil at the auction house (by WoW gold terms, think of spending 10,000 gold on items for your lvl 40 character).

This has advantages (success is more satisfying) and disadvantages (many things are so frustrating you might quit). It can also vary widely depending on things like what job you play and what kinds of things you want to accomplish.

[tazirai]

Originally Posted by neighbortaru

current subscriber count, as of last census (May '06), is 500,000+

Yeah actually more than 700K plus according to Magic box and Watch Impress.

[neighbortaru]

you sure those are official numbers taz? they couldn't have gotten 200k members since May, could they?

[Shadowneko]

Most dungons are normal areas so you can just go right in. The places where you'd find timers are Burning Circles(battlefields) where you go to fight instanced monsters. There's also Dynams(end game) which is similar to the raid areas in WoW(or so I hear). In Dynams you and your allience of friends are transported to an alternate version of an existing area with some mega tough monsters. Your time there is limited but can be extended if you beat monsters and such.(there's even an end boss)

[tazirai]

Dunno how official they are but even MMO chart is saying roughly the same thing about the actual numbers being slightly higher, than SE is reporting.

[neighbortaru]

Originally Posted by tazirai

Dunno how official they are but even MMO chart is saying roughly the same thing about the actual numbers being slightly higher, than SE is reporting.

ah, but 200k is not slight

[Pai Pai Master]

SE seems to be pretty modest with their numbers. They've been saying 500,000 since last year. Either Watch Impress isn't taking cancelled accounts into consideration, or SE is behind the times.

If I recall correctly, the census was posted in May, but did not have numbers from that time of the year, correct?

[neighbortaru]

the census still said 500k+ subscribers in May 2006.

[tazirai]

Heres the data from mmo chart

Final Fantasy XI (Accuracy Rating: B)

FF XI was released in Japan on May 16, 2002, and then in North America on October 29, 2003. Square-Enix used to provide specific subscriber figures fairly regularly, but in recent years they’ve become much more reserved. They’ve also provided interesting census data figures in 2004, 2005, and 2006. However, the figures from these censuses do not always line up with other sources. For example, it’s unclear if FFXI passed 500K subscribers in January 2004 or April 2004. Recent documents from Square-Enix will only confirm “over 500,000 players”, but given the ratio of characters to subscribers in previous census, the true number could be closer to 700,000. For now, I’ve decided to go with 500,000 subscribers as the most reliable estimate, until I receive further guidance from the company. http://www.playonline.com

http://www.mmogchart.com/

[Kaickul]

Originally Posted by neighbortaru

no, I don't know what you mean.

was there supposed to be a legitimite question in that garble?

If this topic were on BG the flames would make history. I can only imagine what you really wanted to say.

Originally Posted by Maerta

1. Is the PvE good? (compare to WoW,daoc etc)

I dont think PvP is what people would like to see on FFXI. I might be wrong... but most seem to hate it. PvP as it is has so many nerfs, added resistances, damage reduced, effects reduced and a forced sense of PvPing a certain way that a true sense of PvP is lost.

I honestly dont think SE ever planned on adding PvP outside of player demand.

[Renaissance 2K]

The only time I would start worrying about the population of FFXI is if they started to merge servers, which they have yet to do. That's a sign that the server population is dwindling overall, and they need to shut down some of the big boxes at SE headquarters.

During peak periods, the server population is still between 2000 and 3000 players, which is what I remember it being shortly after the PS2 launch. While that may seem low compared to WoW numbers, how many of those millions upon missions of subscribers can actually log in whenever they want, and how many of them are stuck waiting in queues or hoping for maintenance to end?

I think it says a lot that the game has had such a steady population for as long as it's been out. A couple years in computer terms may as well be a few millenia.

[PTT]

I think he meant Player-Versus-Enemy , but that term sounds really foreign to me. I mean, of course you fight the enemies, why is there a term for it? o_O

Maybe I haven't played enough of the 'American' style MMORPGs (I was never into Everquest, or any other MMORPG where you could slice tomatoes on the Elves' cheekbones and hipbones (no problem!) )