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Hullo there.
My background in MMOs are not quite impressive. Due to both logistical and monetary resources, when they became a thing, I was unable to access the games to play or the platforms/computers to play them on, so I gave up on ever being able to play XI a looooong time ago. I've played and beaten every other Final Fantasy main title out there (and a few subtitles) except for this and XIV, until around this time last year when I was urged by an old friend to give XIV a try.
I've been a regular player of that ever since, and I've been quit in love with it. However, as I discussed in game with a linkshell I'm in, it got quite repetitive and the community is and was weird, at least on the two servers I was in. There were always a lot of people eager to help and they were almost always awfully friendly to new players, at times even almost sickeningly so, hahaha.
Still, I had a great time and met some great friends there. One happened to be the alt of the person who actually got me interested in trying FFXI. See, I don't know how many of ya players have played the FF series from the beginning, but when it was on consoles, it was always about the story at first, not really the gameplay (which itself was still fun and innovative itself). And boy howdy, did they deliver in that department. Ever since the first FF came out on NES I've been a fan, and was astounded by what was then FFII in the US (later learned it was IV in the series) and FFIII (again, number VI in the series outside the US).
Then came along Final Fantasy 7 on the Playstation, and the fanbase changed a lot. Square wasn't just known for story, but for awesome graphics. (Hilariously, the person that got me into THIS game can't stand to play it because she's irritated by those graphics, hahaha.) I'd just started my first job a few months before I demo'd it in a Walmart, so bought meself a PSX and a copy of FFVII that Christmas.
I have to admit, I was no fan of FFVIII... Everyone I know loved it for story and graphics, but detested the gameplay and mechanics. I was the other way around--a bunch of teenage mercenaries in a poorly delivered story who somehow become the best of the best of their organizations for no real reason, magically surpassing everyone else, it was a bit too hard to swallow the way they framed it. Had to force my way through it, and I was afraid Square was going to try to go into more "high-tech futuristic mode" or some shit with the series.
Thankfully, I was wrong in my fears! Final Fantasy IX came out and I was elated at the return to the Final Fantasy Basics and STILL manage to outperform themselves with music, graphics, and (most importantly) story. I can (and should, now that I think of it) play that one again, I only went through it once despite loving it--it was so sweet I wanted to just savour it. The graphics pushed the limits of what the original Playstation was capable of, and Nobuo Uematsu delivered the best scores I've heard to that date. (I got to see him in concert when he came to the US!)
FFX came out, and my feelings were mixed. The story was okay, and the music and graphics were astounding. But.... The story was okay. It wasn't "great." It wasn't "outstanding." I just really felt Square could have done a lot better, had a lot more. You know that disappointment you get when you get to Disc 2 of Xenogears? (If you do, I feel your pain. ;_;) It wasn't quite THAT bad, but it was heading that direction. The gameplay was cool, I actually liked the CTB system, but it just became WAY too easy later on when you got more skills. The Monster Arena provided SOME relief to that, but not really...
FFXI came out.... and let's just say I was in no position to play it, hahaha. Hell, I didn't even get FFXII or a PS2 until the PS3 was already out. Which I did later, and this time I was overwhelmed again with the length and breadth of the story, Fran, the world, Fran, the history, the music, Fran, the gameplay, the graphics, Fran, and did I mention Fran? Vaan and Penelo can suck a dick, they don't contribute shit to the story, but Fran, Ashe, Basch, and Balthier were awesome characters.
FFXIII came but I didn't want to buy a PS3 JUST to play it, because it's really all I wanted on the PS3, especially because money was really tight then. So finally got myself a decent computer somewhat recently with a good graphics card, and got FFXIII and played it, and couldn't really stand it. The entire game was just too disjointed and there was never any connection back to the places you had been--you just went forward along one path the entire game. The main characters felt like they had no connection throughout the game, it was all really emotionless, like they were desperately just trying to move the story forward without regard to the contents of it.
Shortly after, in June of last year, an old friend demanded that I start playing FFXIV, so I complied. I was not disappointed. Everything was great, even the community was very helpful (though weirdly so, as I mentioned), though I was expecting otherwise, what with us being the Internet and shit. I mained a Monk there, dabbled in a few other classes but could never really get the hang of them, was too petrified of letting someone die to be a Healer, and too petrified as a Tank of losing hate versus not doing enough DPS and knowing when to use which cooldowns facing what enemies. A Monk is simple--you buff yourself up, keep your buffs up, and go to town.
Whiiiiich is why I started out as a MNK here as well, and the same rules still seem to apply. However, recently been doing THF and have fallen in love with it so much that I've surpassed my 18 or 19 MNK by several levels.
Anywho, that's my FF history and my Intro.
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