A few questions...

[Doomy]

So i decided to buy FFXI(thanks SoWat). Im going to give it a good bash tho my experiences so far in these types of games have been nothing but disapointment but ill try it for a few weeks at least.

1: Im downloading the benchmark right now, is my spec going to be ok and is the benchmark going to accurately show me what my pc is capable of?

2.8 P4 (800 fsb)
Ti4400
512 DDR3200 (dual mode)
Audigy 1

2: Is it fun? I tried DAoC, AC2, AO, SWG, Shadowbane and Lineage 2. Out of all of those the most time i spent on a game was DAoC (the first one i tried) and did enjoy it but once the wow factor of playing with 1000's of people wore of it got very stale very quick. I think Lineage 2 was probably the most playable of the lot, enjoyable combat and nice fast pace to it. IS FFXI playable? As in, is it fun or is it yet another level slog?

3: Is there an archer type class with melee abilities? If so, good Maybe thieving would be fun.

4: The maps, are they far too big or just right?

Probably loads more questions will come, ive just not got high hopes (cynic of mmorpgs i am) but its the only MMORPG that i havent seen slated outright.

TIA

 

[Rhyna]

Hey

1. I haven't tried the benchmark myself but i got specs just below yours and i run the game perfectly fine, with a resolution of 1240x768. Looks good
2. Depends on what you find fun i guess, but i'm enjoying FFXI alot. I find the levelling and adventuring about in new places entertaining and its a game with great depth

3. Archer skills would be the ranger, also fairly capable of Melee.. But for better melee and thieving skills its the thief

4. Zones are big, but not too big and the ingame maps are invaluable Atleast the many first times you're running through a new place.

My opinion anyways

 

[Dax]

1. Even really crappy computers (like mine) can run this with no problems at all. It's actually over a year old now and was really created with PS2 technology in mind.

2. Up until you get your first good party this game can seem like a real piece o' crap, but once you figure it out it's pretty decent.

3. See above

4. I would say each zone is just about right but I think there are just far too many and getting around can be a bit of a problem.

 

[Elvo^Rylu]

Your PC will run it perfect.

Yours is a lot better than mine, and mine can run it fine.

I only lag in sand storms cause of crappy gfx card, but i've turned off those, no nor problem.


What Dax said And sometimes, it can be a tad boring when you gotta farm for money (and you have to)


Ranger/Thief is probably what your looking for, you can also change to Thief/Ranger when you are farming money, Thief/Ranger is _THE_ best money-farm combo.


The zones are just right, very good made, the maps are very helpful, priceless.

 

[CocoNut]

I'd say your computer will do good. You shouldn't worry too much. I tried the benchmark and I wasn't really satisfied by the result but it seems the game has either come a long way since the release of the benchmark or is a completely different story.

Of course FFXI is fun It's just a little bit hard - at least in my opinion. I played Lineage II for a short while aswell and they are similar in many ways. I thought of Lineage II as some sort of MMORPG Arcade-style and it is possible to set your FFXI up to be like that. I really enjoy enabling the damage numbers to appear above the monsters head when I hit compared to just viewing it in the log.

The mapsizes vary a lot, but in general they are pretty much the right size. Not like AO.

 

[Doomy]

I'd say your computer will do good. You shouldn't worry too much. I tried the benchmark and I wasn't really satisfied by the result but it seems the game has either come a long way since the release of the benchmark or is a completely different story.

Of course FFXI is fun It's just a little bit hard - at least in my opinion. I played Lineage II for a short while aswell and they are similar in many ways. I thought of Lineage II as some sort of MMORPG Arcade-style and it is possible to set your FFXI up to be like that. I really enjoy enabling the damage numbers to appear above the monsters head when I hit compared to just viewing it in the log.

The mapsizes vary a lot, but in general they are pretty much the right size. Not like AO.

Ooooh a Dane! I grew up in Hiller0d Anyways.

Lineage 2 was amazingly shallow but great fun for the combat. The thing i find with all these mmorpgs is that they arent playable. My definition of playable means not just controlling an interface. They have all been glorified chatrooms up till now.

What id do for less players and more interaction on screen, i guess i mean like the hack n slash found in Diablo 2 and the depth of AO but no games but no game combines the two . I appreciate the logistics involved in 1000s of characters running about on screen and on a server somewhere so you couldnt have something as controllable as TombRaider but a smaller player limit and more 'playable' games are needed IMO.

 

[CocoNut]

How nice - glad to have you here. There are a few danes on the Bismarck server, I've noticed

I think I know what you mean. Well, Lineage II was very shallow - I only played the Beta, and it was really just because of the beautiful characters (half-naked elves ;P) that I played it for about 4 days

Maybe FFXI will be the combination you are looking for. I think there is a lot of good contents to go with the fighting aspect of the game. They also keep adding little surprises which I enjoy a lot. Like decoration of the trees at christmas or the monkey-family currently walking around in celebration of the year of the monkey. Makes the game kind of connected to the outside world without destroying the universe.

 

[Doomy]

This game aint for me

Its too slow, not really levelled at all so i havent given it a fair chance to be fair but i can tell immediately that its no dream game that ive been dying for.

Thanks SoWat for the game and pass, ill load it up again one night when im really bored but i just havent the energy needed for this type of game. Nor the time for that matter. It seems a very social game, i do not have a problem with this but most of the time i just want to go round and whack stuff really hard with a sword most of the time and the social aspect of this sort of game recquires too much dedication.

Also, its PIG ugly, if im going to spend a lot of time playing a game it has to look nice especially if there is repeated locales and the same backtracking, exploration etcetc, graphics never really bother me in a game but they need to be of higher standard in mmorpgs as you do, lets face it, stare at them for an inordinate amount of time.

Also im enjoying NWN like i should have the first time around, i think i found the game to get hooked on, a nice PW server in fact is needed where my above posts describe how i like my games to be 'playable'.

And ill probably take a look at Lineage 2 again when the US release gets sorted.

Oh and thanks to Aurora (gryff etc) for the initial help.

 

[Whisperess]

Also, its PIG ugly

You actually played the game with decent settings?

As in, atleast 1024x768 screen resolution and 1024x1024 background texture resolution?

Put those setting in and come back and tell me the same thing, until then I'll just ignore your comment, because it's not true - it's one of the best looking ( if not -the- best looking ) MMO out there atm.

Sound to me like you gave up before even trying it out for real, you don't know what you're missing tbh.

 

[Elvo^Rylu]

Hack'n'slash 4 teh sux.

God forbid that you actually have to think about what you're doing when you go kill something

 

[Astral\]

Well it's not a game for everyone. I got a bit burned out earlier on but now I just love it.

 

[leggy]

Doomz0r, do what whisperess suggested and stick texture res upto 1024. It makes a bloody big difference and I have to agree that it does look like the dog's proverbial genitalia.

My problem is finding time atm. Everytime I buy a game that needs a bit of dedication I end up running out of spare time and letting it collect dust. I will be giving it a few hours tonight though.

Oh and if you find a PW server for NWN give me a shout and i'll come join you.

 

[Eroa]

^^;

 

[Doomy]

Doomz0r, do what whisperess suggested and stick texture res upto 1024. It makes a bloody big difference and I have to agree that it does look like the dog's proverbial genitalia.

My problem is finding time atm. Everytime I buy a game that needs a bit of dedication I end up running out of spare time and letting it collect dust. I will be giving it a few hours tonight though.

Oh and if you find a PW server for NWN give me a shout and i'll come join you.

I have everything at max I can take a screeny of what i mean if someonne suggest anywhere near windhurst we can compare.

And leggy, certainly will, is hould be good to go this weekend but im utterly hooked on SoU expansion. Theres a thread in NWN section of FH where im trying to get people together and im failing miserably, not enough people play it around these parts ...

OK, pig ugly is a little harsh but compare it to something like Lineage 2 or even dodgy old AC2 they arent amazing by any stretch of the imagination. I dont want to sound like i am flaming this game, i see the appeal i just think mmorpgs maybe just aint for me.

Lineage 2...

I believe Lineage 2 uses the UT2K3 engine..

Asherons Call 2....

Ok i hated AC2 but LOOK at it!

 

[Astral\]

Well FFXI cant really compare to that crisp graphics in LineageII.
Try turning down your gamma a bit if you want better colors.

Random sand hare spanking:

 

[leggy]

lineage 2 looks pretty sweet like.

 

[Driwen]

lineage 2 looks pretty sweet like.

it does, but from what I've heard thats about all you get though. However I might be wrong.

 

[ST^]

I played the LA2 korean beta for a bit... hated it.

The char models themselves looked impressive, not much else though.