Final Fantasy XI : How Difficulty Built a Community - Design Documentary
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- Опубликовано: 21 дек 2024
- This is just as much of a "Thank You" for 1,000 subs as it is a Design Documentary. You have been warned.
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In this episode, SoberDwarf talks about the game that has consumed over 4,000 hours (185 days) of his life. What was it about Final Fantasy XI that made it so endearing even after 15 years? What is it about difficulty that brought people together? And how has it changed now? All these questions answered, and more.
Also, I miss annotations.
You can download a few of the songs I used (and some I didn't) from Tweex's FFXI tribute soundtrack: landofvanadiel....
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Disclaimer: The following documentary is intended for the purpose of educating viewers on game design by examining and critiquing a work of art. Any views, experiences, criticisms and opinions are my own and are intended to be subjective. This video may also contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Its purpose and design are intended to be used under "fair use". If you are the copyright owner and you believe the content found in this video has been used in a unauthorized manner, or have any questions or concerns regarding the content found in this video, feel free to contact me at SoberDwarfCopyright@gmail.com
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Man, this video hurts. I played for a decade. I was one of those DRGs sitting around waiting for hours at a time. I am homesick for a place that doesn't truly exist anymore. I think this video captured that experience as well as it can be.
Thank you, I'm so glad I managed to capture that because honestly, I was really worried I wouldn't be able to (I foreshadow that in the beginning). Hopefully, it ends up being a good pain though. I get homesick for the old FFXI but then I remind myself that it's amazing that I can feel that sort of sadness because it means at one time I had that experience, and that's beautiful.
I'm late to this video, but it's interesting how the job experiences were different at different phases of the game's life cycle. When i picked up dragoon, it was the end of CoP. That's when dragon started to become near unstoppable and i would solo level sub mage when i wasn't in a party. I was even invited to parties to main hall as drg. It was versatile at all kinds of side content too. Now leveling smn in the early days, that was a nightmare also@SoberDwarf
Man, this really hit home. I started at launch, and have come back off and on for the last decade. Always played on PC, but have had friends across all platforms which has always blown my mind.
A friend of mine and I started playing at the same time. We decided to go WAR and WHM duo so we could always find groups (after about 3 days of not getting any as THF and MNK lol). We made the Dunes a joke, leveled other jobs when the other wasn't online to stay within a good range of each other, and basically were inseparable. Those days were some of the happier of my life.
He enlisted in the mid 2000's, and went to the middle east. Sadly, he didn't make it out alive. His funeral came, and I didn't have the courage to go. Our LS mates insisted I go, and gave me the support I needed. While at his funeral a friend of his from the service started sharing stories about him, and mentioned he wouldn't shut up about this game he and his friend played online. I was that friend, and the guy about lost his mind.
He knew me he said. From all the stories he knew me. The guy knew my character's name, my approximate level on my WAR (told my friend we'd hit 75 together on those jobs) and what my damn rank was. My buddy had talked about the game so damn much this random solider knew it all.
This is my personal experience. This is what the game means to me. I still talk with that random solider to this day. We bonded over a friend's love of FFXI. I miss my friend. My WAR is still 67, stuck in a past life, doomed to obscurity. A job never to be dusted off because my friend hasn't come home, and I made a promise.
Thank you for your video, and the overwhelming waves of nostalgia. I have a phone call to make, a video link to send, and a need to figure out who chopped all these onions. Keep it up man. This trip down memory lane really made my day (even the onion part) It's nice to remember the parts that sting
It seems like someone has been chopping onions over here too, but as part of the Star Onion Brigade, it's to be expected you're going to come across some onions.
But seriously, thank you for sharing that story. That's one of the most beautiful things and Vana'diel is that every person you see running around has their own experiences and their own stories. I've connected with so many people through the game, and now it's so amazing to hear everyone's experiences, some mirroring my own, some going even deeper. The fact that there is a game that can do that is so amazing, and I really hope that the developers realize they made something so incredibly special.
I'm deeply sorry that your friend was lost, but thankfully we will always have our memories.
SoberDwarf Thank you for your kind words man. It really is amazing how much this game, like so many others, has impacted the people who have played it. Videos like yours keep the stories, and memories alive in the best way possible.
A coworker sent me this, as we bonded early on through stories of Treasures, and climbing that damn tower lol. We all have something in common in our FFXI trip: our love for the game and the community.
Again thanks for the kind words. My buddy died protecting civilians from a rogue element in Afghanistan. He gave his life doing what he thought was right. I love him even more for it. He was my friend. He was my WHM! Ha! Not trying to bum anyone out. I'm proud to have known him.
For real, I cannot express how wonderful this video made me feel. You sir have my sub, and my axe.
I'm glad there are powerful stories like this out there to be shared. Just as a WHM might heal and save someone zoning a goblin, then be killed by the goblin himself, it sounds like your friend took his Job seriously. Your dear friend has no doubt earned this, in-game and out:
www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Whm._Testimony
Damn, I wasn't expecting that to hit my feels so hard. Wow...
It's things like this that make Final Fantasy XI so great. Keep his legacy alive.
all these FEELS!!!! i quit shortly after Abyssal Areas showed up and made all my super powerful 75 gear OBSOLETE!!!
FFXI will always be a special game to me.
I remember playing for thousands of hours between shifts in the Navy, and between deployments. I remember meeting new people and really getting to know them.
And one afternoon I remember running around in Rofaue with nothing to do and seeing an elvaan warrior having difficulties with leveling and getting started. And with nothing to do, I decided to help her out for a few hours.
12 years later I still know this elvaan warrior... she is my wife of a decade and we have three wonderful children.
Thus FFXI will forever be special to me.
Man, if Final Fantasy XI hasn't already given me some good feels. That's so awesome. (Congratulations!)
That's amazing, congrats on the marriage.
Here's hoping you never get cheated on or abandoned
@@Walamonga1313 15 years later, she's still an incredible person and the love of my life.
That's crazy wth 👍
I remember getting that "this is special" feeling when I started in XI just because the community blew me away. I was fighting in W.Ronfaure and picked on the wrong Rabbit without healing. Watching my HP drop, realizing without a crit or a few misses I was screwed, my life suddenly went full. A higher level player had jumped off their rented chocobo from La Theine just to heal me cause it was obvious I was having trouble. They inconvenienced themselves by at least 2 extra minutes of walking time for a random noob who could have walked back out losing very little exp. Then just a simple /bow and a (|Thank you.|) and were on our way. Coming from playing Unreal Tournament and Diablo 2, not the most inviting of groups at times, I was stopped in my steps for a good minute realizing what happened.
I also spent a good 4 hours in Selbina once conversing with a Japanese player strictly through emotes and autotranslation while fishing. A catch? /cheer. See the line pop? /cry if it was yours, /comfort if it was the other persons. At one point my rod broke and I didn't have the gil to purchase a new rod and Sabiki Rig. After a few casts, my new buddy noticed I had stopped fishing after the break. He ran into the fishing build behind us and bought a setup for me. Had never ran into this player before, we couldn't even communicate directly, and this was not a time where everyone had a ton of easy gil, but he did that for me so that we could fish a little while longer together.
The community in this game at that time was amazing like that. So many memories. One of the best people in my first linkshell joined because our leader accidentally spent 13,500gil on a regular bow instead of the Power Bow for the mog house quest. Our leader reached out to him, and he didn't even have a keyboard at the time, but he joined the linkshell and within a couple days purchased one just so he can chat with the group. Just a small thing that snowballed in a great friendship.
This. This is exactly why I love Final Fantasy XI. You talking about all that basically flooded my mind with a bunch of memories of the exact same thing happening.
I remember there was this level 75 White Mage who hung out in Valkurm Dunes the first couple of weeks I started playing (during the American PS2 release) that would go around and Raise people who died in parties. Being a THF and just learning how to pull and getting links and dying, I remember being raised by them a few times. I apologized and said I was sorry for dying so much, and they said "Hey, that's why I'm here. Valkurm Dunes is a meat grinder and I remember what it was like, so I'm here trying to help people." He even stayed with our party for a little bit until the next person would inevitably yell for a raise.
In fact, just the other day when I was getting footage for this, I remember seeing a dead Tarutaru leveling out in one of the areas. You rarely see that because most people will just Home Point after that. I just happened to be a BLU/RDM at the time so I got off my mount, gave him a raise just in case, then went ahead. I came back, and said something in Japanese. I could only read a few letters, so I used that Auto-Translate to say (I'm Sorry) (Japanese) (I can understand a little). And he replied "T Y" and that gave me that nostalgia flashback immediately.
i remember playing ff11 during abyssea. I was on early in the morning, and joined a jp based group to add one more. I was playing with them but started to feel sick. I developed a fever and head ache. I popular jp/na player translated for me and the group said I could talk to him, and he was tell the group what I said.
I was in the group for an hr, and felt bad. I told the guy "hey I'm starting to feel sick, i may need to go" he told the group, and they replied. He told me they said "ok you can go afk and take a nap, if you are gone too long you will be replaced if that is ok" I replied no issue i'll try not to be gone long. "he translated, and they said" get well soon, you did well for playing while sick."
i turned my tv off and took a nap, i woke up feeling a bit better, and turned on my tv. It turns out I was afk for 3 hours, and STILL in the group. I apologized for being afk that long, and that they could a kicked me out at any time. the guy translated and replied" we understood, you was a big help and it sucks to get sick. you was very polite and we returned the favor"
I was in awe by the level of kindness a group of people i never met. you hear stories in NA side of ff11 how anti NA the jp community it. and tbh jp parties are sime of my fav parties. I knew some basic jp, and knew how to use the auto translate.
NA community after WoW launched became a cesspool. :/ i was a melee rdm who had no issue doping all aspects of rdm. yet I was forced to backline heal. And doing any melee was looked down on. :/
Don't even get me started in gearswap......
Azura Moonstar early relations with the Japanese were bad... the only good point I remember was the Christmas event from when I started playing (Dec 26, 2002)... Na newbs and Jp vets got together on all servers to drop moving raid bosses that terrorized newb zones.
Really, it seemed to take only as long as natural selection to patch things up.
XI was a HUGE time investment, beyond any other game in existence I bet, by a landslide; people got easily frustrated by setbacks to hard-fought gains.
once we had level-capped players, appropriate skill, and knowledge of things like Renkei (skillchain) and Fuidama (Sneak/Trick), the more experienced Jp players got more comfortable, and everyone was encouraged.
Even so, for all the piss i take out of the game, you could ALWAYS count on a random high level mage supporting parties with Cures and Raises... then, should any of us find ourselves in the area with some free time, we'd pay it forward.
anyway, what this man says is true. the game was a perfect opportunity to learn who you are as a person in a society.
I was once adamant to play only as a thief, having played Cleric in EQ for a year and wanting to do something different. I said and did horrible things to people I may have called friends, and had the same things done to me, each with little to no provocation.
It helped me learn to diversify... work harder to see what other roles I could take to support others... and to not let the game become a surrogate for real life.
...even met up with a few LSmates on occassion for a Yankees game, or a night on the town.
all in all, I'm thankful that this game existed, and am honored to have hopefully made some good memories for some I'd met along the journey of playing it.
I still remember the first 2 on my friends list, and hope they remember me, too.
I was a hardcore FFXI player for 8 years and I've seen a few FFXI retrospectives but this is near the top. You're really nailing the nuance beyond the fact it was punishing. The social aspects like how most partys spoke about skillchains or spending hours looking for a party are well spoken to. Subscribe.
For once, I'm glad you *did do that.*
But no, seriously, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. This was a hard video to write and I still feel like I cut so much out, but I'm really glad I was able to do it justice!
"a theme that is more recognizable to me than my national anthem" ..... dude you're amazing!!!!!
Yeah just now I was trying to think of the National anthem and all I could think of was the Fire Emblem theme
This is so relatable, man. I also remember the very first person who helped me out when I was pretty much a beggar in Bastok. It was a japanese player who barely spoke some really broken English, but despite that he guided me around Gustaberg, gave me what little pointers he could while I killed my first mobs and gained my first couple of levels as he healed me, then gave me 30k gil, said he had to go, then turned to wave at me and said "Welcome Vana!" and warped away. That was 13 years ago, and it is now 6 years since I quit the game, but I still remember you, Hatopom, you little pumpkin headed fella. :)
Games these days never bring people together the way they did back then. They're not even designed with it in mind, and that is so sad. Seeing all these stories in this comment section makes me realize how lucky I was to have experienced these things before they were lost to the genre and pretty much to gaming in general.
Yeah. There was a whole section that I cut from the original script that basically went on about how we'll likely never see anything like early FFXI again in any sort of game, and that's pretty upsetting because I want everyone to have that memory, because I think it really made me grow as a person. Overall though, I was very fortunate to be born at the right place at the right time to be able to experience something many people will never be able to.
Anyone that played ffxi religiously is a friend of mine. Missed those old days.
Ffxiv went straight into everything being soloable killing the same experience we had with ffxi. You put things into words I couldn't. Good video man. Thanks for the memories
Beau Wehner it's bad for playerbase and business if you need a group for everything
Justuas not really. It's why the game thrived for several years. After adding too much content the game couldn't get enough players. Required too much work to catch up with the population. Those people couldn't get help and the game started to die down.
What made it thrive was needing help for everything. It gave a sense of accomplishment for everything you got through. Ffxiv there's not sense of accomplishment. They watered it down way too much.
Sure it worked during the beginning of the game's lifecycle. But as you said, you would need a steady supply of new players (or jobs) in order to the system to work. The game wasn't new player friendly at all until the abyssea release.
Found this video on reddit and had to watch it, because FFXI is my all time fav. game. I teared up several times throughout the video, you spoke from my heart! FFXI was my first MMORPG and I went through the same stuff you spoke in the video. When you mentioned the first travel to Jeuno, it all came back. The game basically thought me English, because there was no German version at all until way later and then I was so used to it, never changed it. I vividly remember rumors that we had someone with a Maats Cap on the Server and one day I saw him for real and I couldnt imagine how that was even humanely possible, me beeing a low level tarutaru blm, who couldnt afford the good spells to play with. Getting the Sub Job quest and completing it literally changed the game, I had no idea what was possible. I remember being so proud to be a whm with some teleport spells, offering my services in Jeuno for like 5k a port, building something of a business over a long time, making friends, helping other noobs out with some free teleports. Setting foot into Dynamis for the first time with a whole LS was so nervwrecking, one step to far could mean death, learning strats was teadious but so rewarding in the end. Sorry for the wall of text, it all came back after watching your video and I had to write it down, thanks for that emotional reminder. To be honest and real in the end, I think after my years in vanadiel, I think I couldnt "really" enjoy any other MMORPG to that extent and I tried a lot. Unfortunately, as you described, going back to FFXI is also not the solution, but the memories will stay.
The reason I made this is because I want to share my memories as well. This game created so many memories for me that it was so hard to narrow it down to just a handful of personal stories that explained the points I wanted to make. I'm really glad that there are others who can look at this game and be happy at their own experiences. It's amazing that a game can manage to do that, but just shows how great the community of FFXI was.
I remember meeting a group of avid notorious monster hunters, promising to split gil with each other. We were all nothing but lvl 20 somethings, hunting Leaping Lizzy, Hoo Mjuu the Torrent, and even Spiny Spipi and Valkurm Emperor! We vowed to hunt these together to acquire the gil we needed to get better gear. In the end, it was the nights we spent together, staying up til 5AM laughing with delirium that was the real reward!
That's probably one of the best ways to handle camping NMs because doing that solo was such a pain. Pretty much speaks to the game itself, anything and everything in that game was better with friends.
Middle of the night camping three kings while goofing off in vent is the thing I’ll miss the most
OMG those long nights. At my peak in like 07, I would literally get on every weeknight from 6PM until 11 or 12 and then come Friday my ls (we were almost all rl friends which was so nice) we'd start at normal time and play literally until 7 or 8 am Saturday morning, people would fall asleep at their keyboard and we'd have to leave them at camp to die when we broke for the night lol. Then we'd all sleep until 1 or 2 pm and get right back on the game, playing until 3 or 4 am Sunday morning. Crash out again and get on that evening just to clean up our inventory, mule shit around, and shoot the shit.
It was a second job in every way but man was it glorious. So many good times. That's the thing I really miss coming back after 10 years away, but it is still a great time doing the quests and missions and seeing all my old haunts like the camps I frequented and the missions I struggled with in the past, flying through them now. It's great.
Vana'Diel was my home too, man. 2003-2008. Farewell, Vana'Diel. Thanks for all the memories.
One of the best recaps I've ever seen about anything. FFXI got me thru some difficult times in my life. I was stationed in the Middle East and connecting with people, however short, was absolute therapy. FFXI was also my first MMO and I was instantly attracted to WHM. I just love helping people in need. I haven't played FFXI in over half a decade, but the kindness the community showed me still resonates with me and your video elevated those feelings. Keep on doing what you're doing Soberdwarf. Life is too short not to do something that makes you feel alive and that you're passionate about. Like you, I just quit my job and am chasing my dream of going into holistic healing. Keep on living your dreams brother
That's awesome! I'm glad I'm not the only one that FFXI has impacted. Here is to both of us achieving our dreams!
From goblin trains in the jungle, to ulli camping in sky, to farming organs in sea, to doing salvage runs. I miss ffxi and I wish another mmo had even half the charm this game had.
Started in 2004 and ended in 2014 and I won't ever forget the experiences I had in this game.
Holy shit when I first got to sky. The memories, I remember walking around thinking. Wow NOTHING in this place aggros you (except if you went near the walls lol). It literally was heaven.
One of the first things I was told when I zoned into sky for the first time was, "Check out the floor." When I ran on those transparent floors and my footsteps made little hexagonal impressions I was blown away. Also nothing in sky aggros unless you get close to some walls OR cast magic in the middle of 10 magic pots or dolls. Or if you go into the shrine, where you have those stupid weapons that follow me like faithful little puppy dogs every time I go to a Voidwatch spot.
Lex Steele My biggest memory from my first trip to sky was the hall of the gods. How it had those epic statues and the music... then sky itself was just so awesome!!
pantheonmmo.com/
Your ending hit me at heart, when you talked about memories. I'm a 30 year old man who you made cry because I started playing 11 when I was 14-15 yrs old. It took my life away, I lived on that game, I did everything, and like you said, it forced you to interact with other people! I love that system so much...MMOs now days don't have that factor, you click a button, join a group, complete your task and go your own way. On 11, I was forced to msg people, something that was out of my comfort zone, msg people who were flagged for LFP, or not even flagged, just toss them a msg, "Hey would you like to join a EXP group?" hoping they would respond. Many of those people...well lots of those people becoming my friends, people I journey the world of Vana'diel with.
Sadly I was there to witness the player base take a big hit when World of Warcraft launched, Jueno being packed one day...next day it was a ghost town. My friends bailing to play WoW...so I followed. But never forgetting all the people and places I have met or gone to in that world. I continued to go back to 11 over the years, up until Seekers, play a month here and there. It just wasn't the same game anymore, it didn't have those memories. So I made a final choice, my last log in was August 12, 2016.
I still think from time to time, where all those people I had shared this game with are now in their own lives, what they are up to. I lost contact with many of them over time. I only have one remaining friend from my early days of Final Fantasy 11 at it's glorious peek, we've been friends since 2003. My last connection to that game. Which I cherish.
Thank you for this video.
I was part of the game when the WoW exodus happened. It was kind of nice for me because a lot of the jobs that were highly competing for parties left as a result of an easier experience, but once I really learned how WoW operated, that made me appreciate FFXI all the more.
And I'm with you. There are people I've met that I have no idea what happened too, they just logged off one day and never came back, and I wonder if they still think about me like I think of them.
im glad to see/hear other people have such a hard time describing how much FFXI meant to them. My time in vana'diel was some of the best years of my life.
Same here, I wouldn't trade those 4,000 hours for anything.
Hi SoberDwarf,
I saw this video linked on Reddit and normally I don't watch long RUclips videos if I'm unfamiliar with the RUclipsr, but I made an exception for your video and I have to say, I'm really happy I did.
Growing up, I was never exposed to RPG's and it wasn't until my late teens when I discovered them. Because of this, I never got to experience the Final Fantasy Franchise until about 4 or 5 years ago. It's quickly become one of my favorites, and I've had my eye on XI after playing XIV extensively.
Your video made me feel sad that I never got to experience XI the way you and countless others were able to. The game looks absolutely beautiful, and I'd love to have been there through it all.
Thank you for this beautiful video! You've gained a subscriber and I'm looking forward to any new videos you come out with :)
Thank you for the kind words. I'm sorry that you didn't have the chance to have the same experience I was able too, and that's partially why I mourn the changes of FFXI. I just want everyone to have the same experiences I have had.
It's videos like this that make me love your content. I was a very late comer to video games and I have missed out on so many games in my life. Learning about them through your experiences and analysis is such a gratifying thing to me, as it offers a glimpse into something I can never fully experience.
Thank you for what you do.
You have no idea how great it is to hear that. That was the goal of this video, was to set out and show how Final Fantasy XI (and other games) can be experiences that you can pull into real life and relate the two, and combine that with that being what game design *should* hope to achieve is to create something that is almost natural and intuitive. But as a storyteller, I'm just glad I could entertain you and share my own experiences.
I'm not even sure how this channel came up on my recommended list but I'm really glad it did
Listen, far be it from me to question it, just glad you enjoyed it!
Final Fantasy XI was never a game I could fully throw myself into, but I dabbled in it, and I can appreciate the love that other people have for it. Vana'diel is a beautiful, engrossing world, and I'm a little envious of people that had the time to make themselves at home there and forge such long-lasting friendships. I've done the same in other games and other places, and it's true in those cases, too, that some things are eventually only something that exist in your memories. I've played far clunkier games, ones that other people might be right to declare "bad", but I remember them with deep fondness because of who I played with and where my life was at the time. Thank you for sharing your love for something that plainly means so, so much to you!
Thank you for sharing your own experience. I am glad that even if it wasn't FFXI, you still had a game that you can relate that experience too!
Man, not only do you go through the design thoroughly, but you also bring up the emotions and feelings along with them. I really hope your channel continues to grow, you really deserve it.
I think that emotion is important aspect. Discussing the game mechanics and the design is evaluating the brush strokes and the technique, but the most important part is what the art is trying to convey. That's what makes it art.
Thank you for sharing this. Ffxi was such a huge part of my life for over 8 years. The people I met and experiences I had made that game the amazing game it was.
And thank you for being a part of the community for 8+ years. I like to think that we all had a part of making this video.
Thank you for this walk down memory lane, ffxi spent over 10 years in game from PC NA launch. The community and working together is what made that game the challenge because of that game I made some incredible RL friends those who I never even met in person before flew out just for my wedding because of the tides we shared from that game. I wish SE would make something like this again
I do too. I'd be happy if any company would make something like this again.
Well shit, there aren't too many videos I sit and watch on youtube, but I'd be damned if I didn't follow this to the last second, amazing video SoberDwarf. This game really hit home for me, it was the one game where I begged my dad to continue my subscription. He only allowed me to play if I got good grades in school. So this was a very rewarding experience not only did I get good grades but I enjoyed my first online community at a very young age where I was still learning a lot about growing up. In this game I learned that I was more of a commander of roles. I built parties daily, built my own linkshell, had people waiting for me to come on to even play in a party, and I memorized all of the leveling area's and skill chains. Every point of your video did a good job on hitting key points in the game, like not being able to find a party for missions- That was easily my most frustrating moment, I would trade up key information of leveling area's and tips and power leveling just for completing story line missions, but seriously, you really did a great job on this video and thanks for putting it together. Maybe one day of our life time we will see a remaster of FFXI or possibly a sequel, who knows.
That's awesome. I really feel like helped me out as well. It's strange, because I think because of FFXI, and knowing that it wasn't NPCs that were taking the time out of their day to help me, but real people, made me really see the effort and gratitude from others. I've never considered myself the most charismatic person, but I have such a strong empathy and can relate that experience to FFXI, because I've made friends in the game while we were just in the same area LFG, basically bitching to each other why DRK didn't get any love in Qufim. Then if I got an invite, I would be pulling for that contact to join.
And, no lie, though I can't remember his name, it was like 6 months later when that same person would get an invite for me in his party, only because at one point I did that for him. That experience alone taught me how important it is to help others for even minor things because you never know when they can help you.
This was a beautiful video. I have just started playing FFXI at the beginning of May this year, and I have yet to talk to a single individual in game despite having over 200 hours played now. Your ending sequence of the video really made me want to make the extra effort to push myself to try and interact with anybody I see in the game, no matter how small the reason because even the tiniest interaction can blossom into a long-lasting memory, and if lucky enough, a forever friendship.
This video is literally everything I have ever felt about this game, its so hard for me to explain why I loved this game so much, now I can just show them this video. You gained a subscriber today!
I'm not kidding when I said it nearly took me two years to find the words to say it, so I'm glad it resonates so much with everyone!
Hey, I recently returned to Vana'diel for PC. Your video hits home, bro. I was there for PC launch, left during Abyssea, and nothing can bring back the Vana'diel I lived through. Still love this game and no other games I've played over the years can give me the experience FFXI gave me. Great video. Thank you.
That's about the time I played through, PS2 launch to Abyssea, and I just sort of stepped away for awhile and came back around the time Seekers released (though I was so far behind on levels I didn't get to do anything in it.) Most have my experience has involved returning once I got a new expansion. It was rough with ToAU because my Gamestop never ordered a copy, and I went for months unable to play it until I randomly found it at a Target and got back into it.
Your video spoke to me a lot! Final Fantasy XI was my first MMO. I distinctly remember sitting in the Dunes, as a Thief, for hours on end looking for parties. The worst was when my family still had dial up - you get a good party going, the XP is flowing, and the parents are asking you to get off so they can make a phone call. When we got DSL its as if a prayer had been answered, on my part and I'm sure on my parents part as well lol.
The game was rough, too. I didn't get to experience much past Aht Urghan and I never really finished that story line either, but what I did play I enjoyed immensely. Liked and subbed, looking forward to more good content!
Haha, I know the plight of Dial-Up. I played with more Japanese Parties than I did English because it was the only time I could get into a party without having to drop. My parents got Broadband because I was hogging the line too much for their liking.
"But there is just something heartbreaking about an experience that i'll never be able to recreate again"
First of all, I want to thank all of you! Out of all the videos I ever wanted to be successful, I'm so glad it was this one! As if I needed another reason to appreciate the FFXI community even more!
Just to signal boost, I'm holding a Patreon Drive from June 17th to July 31st in an effort to allow me to continue to work on the show full time and continue to make more videos like these! If I meet my goal, I'm having two Patron picked episodes in September, potentially another Final Fantasy XI video! You can find out more info here: ruclips.net/video/I8F-dfF7Tz0/видео.html
This video led me to subscribing!
as a XI veteran and first time viewer.. dude.. you need to keep at this 100%... you got the XI feel down to a tee.. I almost has a tear for the old girl. very nice work sir
Finally someone that loves FFXI as much as I do! awesome video! FFXI forever!
It's refreshing to see FFXI get the love it deserves. As others have stated here, I too am a first time viewer and I must say, you've done a fantastic job on this video. I am a long time veteran of XI playing for 11 yrs straight 2005-2016 on Cerberus server. I missed the nostalgia of the once great 75 cap CoP era so i decided to retire my 2 retail accts and join a 75 cap 2006 era private server. I've been there since March 2016 and haven't looked back since. Everything about this video is spot on. Amazing work my fellow Vanadiel brother! ...... even though you are a Galka :P
+Metal McFly Technically, my actual main is a Manthra, so I am not sure if that raises or lowers my esteem. Regardless, I am glad I was able to do it justice!
wow. you can tell this video came from the heart and not the mind, im just random a that stumbled across this vid but i knew exactly what you meant when you started to talk about your stories. this game is more than a game for you, and that feeling is special. never forget that feeling. Goodjob, friend. Loved the video
I don't think I could forget the game if I want too. It's been part of my life for nearly half my life. I'm really glad you enjoyed the video though!
I've played every FF and about 100h of 14 but for some strange reason I never played XI, yet everytime I see it or watch it I get this weird nostalgic feeling like I've played it for years. I've played nearly every MMO over the years to max level and I always regret not playing XI. I like this vid man keep up the love for games that changed your life.
I'd say FFXI is worth it just for the stories if that's something your interested in, even if you can't get the same experience I did 13 years ago.
Hit hard, right in the feels. Excellent job man! I got to go back and play back in May after officially quitting back in late 2014 and had a blast. So many moments, so many experiences that many will never have the honor to enjoy. As much anger and sorrow as there was, there was even more joy and excitement getting to spend all of those thousands of hours with people you've never met before, all just trying to enjoy themselves. Thanks for putting this together for everyone to get at least a glimpse of what was/is Final Fantasy XI.
Thank you for watching and I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Soberdwarf, thank you so much for this video, this is the very best of youtube ! Your words made me cry. You nailed it at 100%. I took a lot of breaks over the years but vanadiel always finds its way to call me back and i can never resist it for long. Went back january this year and still at it. Subbed forever to your channel
I'm sadly not, a monthly sub just isn't in the currently budget, but I have been popping in and enjoying the free week this week between working on things. I definitely take my vacations in Vana'diel though. Also, I really like your avatar pic!
Hey SoberDwarf, thank you for taking the time and genuine effort to make this video. You talking about your experiences here made me think back to fond memories of my own and I really appreciate that. You are clearly passionate about what you do and what you talk about and it makes watching your content all the more enjoyable, I look forward to more videos. PS i'm leveling fishing here in FF14 while watching your videos! Keep up the fantastic work!
Thank you! Best of luck on your fishing! Get your (sea) (legs) and (Raise) (fishing) (skill).
Best years of my online life! Every time I log into 14 I just get depressed... I miss the 75 era of XI sooo much! Played on private servers but it's just not the same.
I miss that era as well. Private servers are a decent stopgap but you're right, it's not the same. I also don't want to discount the positive changes that have been made to the game over the years. I mean, I have fun memories of mob trains because of a bad pull in the jungle, but I wouldn't want that in the game again because it was frustrating. I'm just glad I was able to experience it.
Omg that first time walking into Jueno... BLISS
You put into words what I keep in my heart for the last 8-10 years. FFXI is a part of my life I will never forget. Thank you for the video!
For as much shit as Tanaka generally gets, the man definitely knows how to make players feel rewarded for doing things. For earning your keep, even in regards to simple concepts like leveling. Definitely a man of ambition when it comes to focusing on the larger picture of players gaining an experience for their time spent, rather than a simple means to kill time.
I totally agree. None of his stuff is flawless, but nothing anyone creates is, but he focuses more on crafting experiences and does am excellent job doing that.
I only played FFXI for a year and only got halfway to the level cap. Despite this it still left a mark on me. My friends convinced me to go play WoW (loved Classic WoW too!) and years down the road I do feel like I missed out a bit not hanging around in FFXI.
Great tribute, you definitely have a passion for the game you don't see in too many FFXI videos.
Thank you!
I know a lot of people who went to the Siren call of WoW, but at the very least you got to experience FFXI during a time that many people wasn't able too.
SoberDwarf,
Awesome video. This is the first time I have come across your channel, and I am so glad I stumbled upon it. I am such a huge Final Fantasy fan, and I love any kind of quality Final Fantasy content put out, whether it be on RUclips, Twitch, etc. Touching words at the end, man. I am so happy for you, and excited for you to continue pursuing your dreams and creating great content.
I played Final Fantasy XI for a year after its PlayStation 2 launch. I was extremely young back then, and didn't have a good grasp on what I was doing at just about any point during my journey. But what I do remember vividly is how that sense of adventure kept me coming back each and every day, even if I was accomplishing very little. Just running through the streets of towns and watching people fish off the docks are some of my favorite memories. It eventually spurred my interest into other large MMORPGs, such as RuneScape (which I played on and off during my time with XI) and WoW off and on for the last 13 years. Today, I am an avid player of Final Fantasy XIV and it has been by largest adventure since it relaunched in 2013.
I digress. Even though the game [XI] has changed so much, a ton of your footage brings back fond memories of when I first played it. Even though my time was short, it left a profound impact.
Thanks again for the content, and if you ever need anything, hit me up on Steam. Steam SN: Syjjmatic.
Thank you for the very kind words! I'm a big fan of Final Fantasy in general, but FFXI hit me on a whole other level. It's definitely worth that main numbered entry. Also, thank you! I appreciate the invite! (Most people just randomly try to add me so I don't know who they are!)
I love your videos, and I'm so glad you're back. There might not be a way to convey nostalgia, but I could feel yours just listening to your story about the game! Keep it up
Yeah, things are still kind of iffy with my computer, but I'm glad I managed to get this finished. It was a HUGE project (My log shows I've worked over 180 hours on it) but this was a very personal video so I wanted to make sure I did it justice. I'm definitely going to be doing lighter videos for a bit though, but I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I couldn't stop the tears, i had to like and subscribe. Now im on a personal mission to watch your other videos, thank you so much for this it means a lot to others you have no idea, and you have my support now as well!
Thank you, I'm just glad this resonated with others. Vana'diel means so much to me and I'm so glad I'm not alone!
And hopefully you enjoy the other videos! The early ones can be a little rough production wise but they have the same spirit!
This was such an excellent, heartfelt, review. I've never seen a review that shows off the reviewer's personality in such a meaningful way while still covering the game in question in such detail.
I don't even have an interest in Final Fantasy 11, but you made me wonder what it would be like if I had experienced this game when it came out. You have undoubtedly earned a new subscriber.
Sincerely, that's some of the nicest compliments on my work I have ever received, thank you! This video was undoubtedly special to me, I'm just glad that people, including those who didn't have any experience or interest in the game itself, are able to enjoy it.
That was an incredible video! Parts of it really brought my back to my days in FFXI. It was definitely a community of players that seemed more than just people roaming around in a video game. Many of them I looked forward to seeing and messaging everyday. There was even a difficult time in my life where I was struggling against cancer and there was my linkshell there to pray for me and support me.
I really think your video did FFXI ALOT of justice and it was very moving to watch this. I'm glad I came across your video, and thanks so much for making it.
Kuchi - Asura Server
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment! And yes, the community is really awesome like that.
Also, I hope you dropped that Cancer like it was (Easy Prey)!
I just started playing XI this year after finding it on a Steam sale, and honestly I was surprised at how many people are still playing (on Asura), and at the kindness and generosity I experienced as a new player. Seriously didn't expect my low level self to get saved from an orc by a random stranger on this game in 2017! and then someone else saw me in my crappy armor and gave me 100k gil to start out with! (which i then had to spend a lot of on maps...because everything in this game is so damn expensive.)
That's awesome. Asura, from what I hear, is a great server. I still try to help out anytime I see a person leveling, though with me maining DRK, it's pretty difficult to heal anyone who needs it so mostly I just /cheer them on.
Just watched this video. 10/10. Understanding the world of MMOs back then, nevermind Vana'diel was something special. A well earned sub
I never played XI. My first MMO was and is FFXIV. While I love that game, I can definitely see the positives in XI. The sense of community must have been incredibly strong, considering that you needed to party up with others for almost any activity.
It indeed was. It was also part of the downside because it was so hard to do things without a party, but I think the positives outweighed the negatives in most cases.
Hassan Sattar XIV is the opposite, it might as well be a single player game
come see for yourself. google nasomi private server!
Just came across your video after a friend posted a picture of our old Linkshell. It made me nostalgic, and this video reminded me of all the reasons why I loved that game so much. I miss it.
I never experienced this game since it was never the type of game I cared for, but as always, it's great learning about games from your perspective and I loved hearing about your experiences. And I love how deep the ending of this video is!
Thanks. It's all part of the plan of gaining experience and building character, no point of having the experience if you don't share it!
Great video, really well done. FFXI is truly a special experience that I still think about to this day. The OST, zones, and community really made this such an unforgettable experience. I've played many other MMOs after FFXI, but nothing has captured the magic of FFXI for me.
Thank you!
I hope I can revisit this topic again because I really do want to talk more about the OST and world-building at some point.
Great video and by far the best I've ever seen in regards to a description of this game. Perfectly described what made the game great and memorable to me, something I'll never forget.
Thank you for what you did for me with this video, it's indescribable, but I know that plenty of people will know exactly what I mean. You reminded me of something I had let myself forget.
wow, and here's your 1000th like.
almost made me cry at the end there. this was really, REALLY good. Tons of heart.
Thank you! I never imagined this video getting as popular as it did, but out of all my videos, I'm so glad it was this one.
Hey, would you like to see more Final Fantasy XI videos? Or other long-form videos like this?
You can help me afford my subscription at www.patreon.com/TheSoberDwarf . Every contribution, even $1 a month, helps out the channel greatly!
I'd watch some more FF XI videos. Design Documentaries on any game would be cool.
More MMO's, maybe some Horror games(Your silent hill videos were awesome)!
I think older games would be a good idea. There's a lot of games that really didn't get the audience they deserved/would have received because of the time they came out.
I think more videos on Final Fantasy XI would definitely go over well. This could be a career in itself.
NightingaleSong i agree
26:30 no way, we got this :P
Thank you... this video was rather touching...
I'm getting back into the game, and it was nice to see someone else who felt so strongly about Vana'diel.
I honestly felt like it was a real world the first time I played. Like I was living a new life in a new world. Where I had to be stubborn as the world I lived in to get by!
It was even more so when my grandmother gave me her friend's old account... and it made me even more attached to the game when I played as... no became Bemtotto.
And when I become her again I'm glad I'll be able to meet others who love Vana'diel so much!
So thank you. Thank you for sharing your memories. Your passion is so amazing to see and hear!
I pray I will meet you in Vana'diel! ^.^
Thank you for sharing your memories and your wonderful compliments. Here is hoping I can get back to Vana'diel soon!
It has been a while, but I’ve finally come back to Vanadiel...
have you?
Thank you for this. This game was the most important thing in my life for a few years. I feel so lucky to have been able to experience it.
I'm entirely lucky too. That game was at the right place at the right time in my life, and I would never trade that experience for anything.
great video brotha, i started this game at launch, played a for 2 years, left. then came back and played it for another year. just last night i told my friend im thinking about returning. just like you, the game gave me so much memories and friendship that i can and will never forget. keep up the good work, ur stuff is quality!
and honestly, more people need to play this game, the way it use to be
Yeah, it's definitely a very underappreciated game, and a lot of people who only had a fleeting experience or was turned away by the difficulty never got to experience that beauty. It's a shame that many won't now, but maybe now they can hopefully understand why other people do look so fondly of it.
SoberDwarf, this is the first video I've seen from you. It showed up in my sidebar and I was curious so I clicked on it. This brings back so many memories. The good, the bad, and everything in between. I started playing on PC 2 days before the PS2 launch and I probably have more noob stories in the first month of playing than in all my other gaming experiences combined! Anyway I just wanted to say this was such a great documentary and I am definitely subbing and checking out what else you have.
Thank you! I normally don't go so hard in the nostalgia but with FFXI I really couldn't help it, I just wanted to make sure I did the game justice. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Just joined Asura server. I started playing in 2004 while in middle school. My older brother was the one to play mainly but eventually I took over. Today the leveling is very fast and easy but words cannot describe the joy this game brings to my life Everytime I set foot back in Vanadiel. This game means more to me than many will ever know and I honestly hope to keep it in my mind and play as long as I can as I grow older and older. No game will ever scratch the itch that 11 can for me.
Totally agree! It's the same for me.
Hi can I add you
Or join your LS? I’m on adults as a new character “siyork” is my name
Thank you for the memories SoberDwarf :) - keep on making videos!
I definitely plan on it!
Thank you so much for making this video. I honestly wish it was longer, I loved every minute of it. I started playing at launch, and I could relate to every single memory you mentioned here, and I also made a lot of friends in my many years of playing. I recently resubbed and started playing again, and while it isn't the same game anymore, I am loving the nostalgia it gives me every time I log in.
You NAILED this topic. You accurately described what veterans of this game have felt for years, and why it is so difficult to convey those feelings to people that have never played the game, or at least not the original version of it. I hope you consider making a second part to this video, going more in-depth into the mechanics like having to unlock sky, sea, and the ever beloved death penalty. And the level cap quests and Maat fight! H'oh, boy.
Thanks again for this trip down memory lane. Even though I'm currently subscribed to FFXI, it always warms my heart to hear people talk about their fondest memories of this amazing game. I'll admit, I teared up a little as I watched, because even though we all had different experiences in Vana'diel, we can always relate to how it made us feel, and the struggles we all faced (I switched to maining NIN and PLD after waiting three days on THF with no invites at level 61...). Good work, man. Loved it. :)
To this day, this game provided some of my most favorite gaming experiences. As frustrating as camping HNMs might have been that didn't stop me from spending close to a week camping Charybdis so I could get my Joyeuse and solo RDM from 73 to 75 lol.
There is a *lot* of frustrations, but I think that was the price of admission with Final Fantasy XI. You knew things were going to be a pain but it was worth it.
It's funny, because there was times when leveling several jobs that I have said "I f**king hate the Dunes! I never want to come back here again", and now, over 10 years later, I miss it so much.
Like school
Caleb O'Keefe What is crazy is this video happened to pop up for me today, but earlier today a friend of mine was talking about some mmo called black desert online (I think?) was so hard.. and I was explaining to him HNMs in ffxi... and one of my best memories there was when we were camping fafnir/nidhogg and only 4 people from my LS were there, Red Mage, White Mage, Ninja (me) and a Paladin. And we pulled Nidhogg with like 100+ people looking on. And they all stood around waiting for us to die when we were telling our LS to come in lol. We held him for what felt like ages, (the run to that area took forever!) got 8 more people to show up and killed him. Everyone on the server was mad lol.
But yeah, there was so much to miss about that game.
Wonderful video Soberdwarf! Nice to know that someone else feels this much love for FFXI. So long Valkurm Emperor, you will be missed!
Thank you!
Great video and a much needed tribute to FFXI. The game has been getting extra attention this year due to the 15th anniversary campaign + free login, so it's nice to see this video come out with that surge in interest.
I had a similar experience my first night in FFXI. I was a taru wandering around in Bastok and I just randomly asked someone for help. I didn't even know how to equip gear. We became friends and had static to our 40s. Mine was a sad ending though, he was set in his ways being a War/PLD and it got harder and harder for him as he got up. He eventually just stopped playing.
Hope you do more videos on XI and continue playing XI. The game needs passionate players like you.
There are a lot of people on my friendslist that I haven't since since 2004, and it's always hard to see those names and think about those times only to realize they are never coming back. I never deleted them because I don't want to miss seeing them in case they ever get back online.
I never thought about turning the channel into a FFXI channel, and it's very tempting because I get to play the game more, but I think my Patreons have an expectation that I'll cover other games, so I probably shouldn't do that. I definitely plan on revisiting the topic. I'm just glad I struck a chord with so many people who shared my experience.
Thanks, that's totally understandable. Look forward to your next video regardless, and yes FFXI is worth revisiting!
SoberDwarf it wouldn't be the same anyway, final fantasy 11 is...hollow. Square destroyed it in the last few years, ever since the point where they announced final fantasy 14 they worked to gut what was left of that wonderful game.
the beginning of the end began when add-ons were added, add-ons were a fast way to make money but they had zero thought put into how they'd destroy the economy and community. I stopped playing after the release of the second set of add-oon packs because the point of interacting with others had effectively ended.
I went from talking to others, having fun, regularly raiding to...nothing in a few short months. It drove people away. It stopped anyone from participating anymore. I miss our FFXI, i miss... i miss that world that brought me friendship and hardship.
This sort of thing drives me to want to design mmorpgs, i want to make something like final fantasy 11 that forces people to come together, that makes a world where everyone struggles and feels attached, modern mmorpgs just don't have these feelings because they're themeparks. You know when you join you'll inevitably leave because the content will become repetitive and there's nothing attaching you to it.
Jeez man... I think you ripped open a chunk of my soul that I buried and mourned over all those years ago. And yet now I'm thanking you for it. It was good to remember all the great experiences I had. I feel like I've met a kindred spirit of Vana'diel. I was just going to watch this in the background, only paying half attention but then I actually stopped what I was doing and couldn't resist focusing on it for the entire show....
So many good times there. I remember the Dunes parties, both good and bad, the 'naked Jueno runs', the hay-day of skilchains and magic bursts (still to this day one of my all time favorite RPG mechanics) before TP burns ruined (IMO) leveling and turned it into a painful/boring grind. I remember getting nervous during the 7th+ hearing the start of the Maat fight music on RDM and then soundly trouncing him on PLD before that some time earlier. I remember sort of coming back (the first time I came 'out of retirement') and getting my first job to 76 (PLD), followed by WAR and NIN. Hell, I even remember being a n00b and war/whm 'butter tanking' it, I think it was called. And I remember some awesome three IRL-person parties where I took RDM/WAR as a main tank with a THF/NIN and a BRD/WHM friend all the way from 1 through crawler's nest (40 something) with our NPC Adventuring Fellows before trust even existed. (Lamentably (?), I never got to experience Trust NPCs...) I know too of the theme that you mentioned. I know it very well, memorized long ago and was slightly heart broken at missing the opportunity to sing along in the grand finale when SE apparently asked us to send in our voice. I thought about re-mixing it even and inserting my vocal track quietly into the chorus in one final huzzah to say goodbye. I am reminder too of so many other sweet melodies like Sanctuary of Zi'tah, the "Gospel of Jeuno", Bustle of the Capitol {and Naja smacking her mace in the background!), Gustaberg (so many memories flooding back), the Ronfaure vocalization, Griffons Never Die, and Mhaura (where I spent so much of my time cutting gems as a GSM with all manor of voodoo summoned to get that elusive HQ!), and so much more....
I've since moved on from Vana'diel (despite trying to come back half a dozen times), but the adventure of it all still holds a special place in my heart. I even named my latest character's surname "McBastok," after my home (in every sense of the word) there in Vana'diel, and his backstory is that he immigrated from Vana'diel. My wife and I have even considered naming our next child's middle name "Bowen" after my POL gamertag (what were they called again? Handles?), 'BowenOfSwan' - which she helped me shorten to "Boswen" due to FF11's naming limitations. And I've stuck with that name in almost every instance where I get to pick a game name.... Games like these touch our lives in ways you have very eloquently described but which also are practically incomprehensible to those on the the outside... So cheers for allowing me to momentarily return there. Perhaps I'll finally work up the courage to go watch the Let's Play videos for the last bit of story that I never finished or go return to the apparently still active last few lingering guild mates still on Ragnarok. (I've visited almost all of them IRL via road trips all over the country, many of which are still cherished friends that my wife and I keep up with via social media...)
One last thing, and this may be a vein attempt of mine to hold on to that which was lost. I dare not even speak of such things while the official servers are still up, but... If you ever feel the need to return someday long after (if ever?) the official servers finally shut down, there are a veritable plethora of private servers out there. And although I don't condone them while the game is still 'alive' (in whatever semblance that may be said) for both moral (feels like stealing since I'm no longer subbed) and kindred (I'm a BSci degree-enabled hobbyist game programmer) reasons, I've no less kept my eye on them from time to time in the lofty dreams that I'll either join one or create my own to keep it 'alive' postmortem.... Hell, I've even been thought of turning it into a Chrono Trigger- / Chrono Cross- era single-player or local-coop RPG just so my progeny can one day experience a small taste of the experiences that bar none had a huge impact on my desire to be a pro. game developer some day.
Dad gom it, I said I was going to stop three paragraphs ago... Must... stop... reminiscing.
Be well, friend.
I have no idea why this comment was in my spam folder because it was one of the best ones I've seen. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and memories.
I think that private servers as a means of historical preservation are ultimately important for any game, though personally if I ever got involved with one, I'd probably still keep my FFXI sub up as a way of making sure I was still supporting the developers and making sure the game stays alive. I would love for there to be a form of official preservation but I'm not sure how exactly the execs at SE care about the legacy of the game, probably not as much as the fans, but hopefully, they will continue to support it for as long as humanly possible.
This was one of my favorite games back in the day. You pretty much hit the nail for this game. Difficulty created community. I never felt a game quite captured the feeling of... belonging as much as this game. I felt like a REAL white mage here. Helping parties healing random strangers... responding to calls for Dunes raises. or even power leveling parties. Needing to go beat the summons to get them made the feeling of achievement feel that much stronger. Blue mage spell hunting... THAT alone created more sense of achievement than nearly any other game i have yet to play. I felt so... accomplished in this game....
I still remember to this day the very first time i beat Maat. I have never felt a feeling of accomplishment so strong, nor since. This game was a perfect storm of the day. I wish it nothing but the best.
Personally, I feel like I would recommend everyone leveling BLU for awhile, because that job gets you the most involved with the world of Vana'diel (excluding Aby). But yeah, there was such an amazing community that the game built, and it really made you feel like you could do some amazing things. I remember the first time someone heard of my character out of social circles because someone had talked about what an amazing puller I was to their linkshell, and that stuck out to me that it was a living, breathing world.
Thank you for sharing such a great video SoberDwarf. Me and a friend have been going over all the nostalgia of this game for the longest time. So many good memories because of this game.
Thank you for watching it! I'm just glad I could do the game justice!
Although we will never be able to re-create the amazing experience that was FFXI, i find happiness knowing that we got to experience it.
My thoughts exactly! I'm honestly more upset that new people won't have much of an opportunity to experience the things I was able to, but hopefully sharing it allows some of those to live vicariously.
Great video man. Long time ffxi advocate. I watched this video and took a trip down memory lane with you. Every single experience is one that all who played can say they share. I miss the difficulty and complexity of the game. Can't wait for someone to "properly" replicate it. /em sheds a single tear.
I really hope so as well. There are a few games I'm looking at on the horizon that I'm both hoping will achieve that but also giving them afair chance to do their own thing so I don't put too many expectations on them, but there are a few I'm seriously hoping the best for. Still, I think FFXI is always going to be something that will never be replaced, but I would happily play a few games the drew inspiration from it.
Man this hits home....started at launch. So many memories, great friends and crazy experiences. Nothing can replicate those times, struggles and achievements.
I still remember the few friends I made... hope they're well now.
you earned yourself another subscriber, keep up the detailed research you do, and your character onto your work.
I definitely plan on it!
Dude, I really loved this video. Not only for the memories you did your very best to portray with the limited options available, but also for the message in the end. You really gain a lot of respect from me. And hey, look at that, you're not at 1k; You're at 2k subs now! And you just gained one more after this. Keep up the great work and really looking to seeing more from you!
I know, I find it funny that it was about 2 years to get 1k subs, and I managed to double that in one month because of the Final Fantasy XI video. Just shows how awesome the community is!
Thank you for sharing your experience to us all here. My feelings and experience are very similar to yours. There is no other game today that comes close to FFXI. Not too long ago i re-subscribed to get the feels again. Every time when i take a break from this game i would always get that itch to come back and play and hear the beautiful music it brings. So much good memories playing with my family and close friends.
And strangely enough, that experience you described is the exact same experience I feel each time I feel the need to come back to Vana'diel.
Awesome video man! This is true quality content. I think many of us in the FF community have trouble putting our feelings into words when it comes to describing how the franchise has impacted our lives. I think you've been able to put into words what many fans have experienced. Not to mention, the video itself is incredibly well done in terms of the script, editing, and info. Thanks for the awesome work you do, and I hope you have a kick-ass day today 👍
Wow, thank you so much for the compliments! There is still so much more I wanted to say about the game's design among other things, but I really wanted to focus on the impact the game had left with me, and I'm glad it resonated so well with others. It really does feel like an amazing community still lives on. Scattered but we all still remember.
My, my, what a mighty fine video!
I see that even now you cherish all your accomplishments so greatly, like many people don't even when they reach a million subscribers. The passion you have is that of a knight of the round.
But think not that the path you've trodden was by any means long. No, exactly the opposite.
I see a bright and great future ahead of you. You have all the qualities a RUclipsr could hope for, inspiring writing, a niche to fill, and even a skillful hand for editing.
I must confess, yours made that cold heart of mine a bit tepid. A feat not many accomplish.
Now then, while I am no veteran of FFXI, I did play a bit of it 2 years ago. 'Twas on a private server, name's Nasomi, which made its goal to best recreate the feeling of yore, and recreate it did and is doing. Like you said I was met with helpfulness from the common players, if it weren't for them I'd not be writing this comment. Ultimately and moderately-swiftly I decided that the game's not one I want to delve into.
Yet some tingling need of repayment to the community never left me. And then when I met a chap on RUclips who was very much into the game and the server, I decided.
With that I made a tutorial for the server, in my mothers tongue and English. And hitherto easily over a hundred adventures rejoined the world of Vana'diel. Most of them tested by years of battle, a handful new. I am always ready to instruct the few greenhorns with my small but fundamental set of skills.
I salute you for your endeavours, the one to celebrate XI and all the rest. So I conclude, wishing all the best.
Thank you for your very kind words, and thank you for your contribution to the community!
I can totally understand that FFXI isn't for everyone, but the few who it is for love it deeply and appreciate anyone helping out!
SoberDwarf, I would just like to start off by saying thank you for making this video, before today I had never heard of you. It just popped up in the videos I might like section of youtube as I was looking for something to watch while I ate my dinner. I too, started playing FFXI soon after its release on the PC my sophmore year of high-school. Some friends talked me into trying it and I had never played an online game at the time, least of all an MMORPG. So being skeptical as I was about it, I gave it a try anyways (oh boy did it almost ruin the deal when I had to download all that data on dial up haha) So after all of the time spent getting ready to get into the game, I had read through the manual about 4 times, which if you can remember was quite a book. It's Friday night, I have my friends over for the start of my adventure (or so they hoped) into the realm of Vanadiel. I logged in, made my character, and chose RDM. We spent all night getting me levels, equipping me with what spare gear they had saved through their own leveling and long hours of farming to acquire that much coveted gil. By the time all was said and done it was 6 a.m. and we all logged off to get some sleep and start over again when we woke up. I was hooked, never before in my life had I had such an amazing time playing games with my friends, and don't get me wrong I had played plenty before and always enjoyed myself, but this time it was different. The sense of being so tiny in this grand world of adventure and magic made my mind race with all of the possibility's of the days, weeks, years to come with this game. I played the game up until 2015 when I quit due to as you put in your video the community falling off due to the changes they had made to make the game more accessible and the like. But I will never forget those days I spent, running around with all of the friends I had made on that game, some of which I still am very close with to this day. All those memories and so much more came flooding back today when I clicked on this video, one that I had no idea was going to strike me as hard as it did. I'm glad to see that I was not the only one whom was so enthralled with this game...no, not a game... an adventure. One that will live on in my memories for the rest of my days. So thank you, SoberDwarf. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making something that was so striking and real. You have earned yourself a lifetime subscriber today, and I hope that this dream of yours comes true while making youtube content, because I sure am going to enjoy seeing the new content that you make.
Thanks again,
Arsenious from Carbuncle server.
It was always my goal to make these videos "Dinner Length" so I'm glad I finally got that (you won't believe how many people complain how long they are, but there is no way I could do it justice in 10 minutes).
But seriously, thank you. I'm really glad you enjoyed it and I was able to speak for more than just myself on this. Of all the videos I've done, I'm glad this one was the one that people resonated with.
I couldn't afford to play 11, nor 14, but this video makes me feel like I have. Kudos, man, you just have me the feels. I need to play this Final Souls 11, scholar of the first rage now
That title.
That was clever.
Loved the video dude! What I loved about xi was that when you actually finished a mission, unlocked a job, hit 75 or get that piece of gear you were eyeing on and saving for for 3 months, it felt like a big accomplishment.
I think all people who played ffxi hardcore share this special feeling about the game which people who played other mmo's dont get.
Thanks for making the video and voicing some of those feelings :)
i alway's love coming across videos like this...i tell people on other games...and freinds irl about what ff11 meant to me and what made it such an amazing game to keep me for so long....but only people who played it and were there to experience how great the comunity was could ever understand. great video man
Trust me, it took a long time to put this into words. There was *so* much I wanted to talk about, but didn't have the time to say it. I'm just glad so many others were able to relate to my experiences.
Worded everything very nicely. ..mmo's now a days have no idea what a great community is actually like. ..years spent I'll never regret
Finding FFXI tributes like this makes me feel like I'm not alone! Cannot put it into words either.
Nice vid, liked and subbed. As someone who spent far too much time in VD (I believe my last /played was 400 days) than was probably healthy I appreciated the look back. One thing I thought you overlooked though was not just community but play inventiveness. It was true that most things required a group, but that led to creativity in doing things that you could do solo or duo. For example, one of my favorite things to do in the game was to explore. I first chose RDM so I had access to sneak and invis and at level 40 was exploring places that would destroy a level 75. Even better was doing it with a buddy, and nothing was more tense than trying to cast a safe spot to recast sneak and invis when bad positioning meant death, HP and a loss of hard-earned EXP. The other favorite thing I loved to do was gate guard.
This was made somewhat moot when they patched aggro trains to respawn, but I also spent many hours camped in front of Selbina or Kazham killing goblin trains that unwitting players (or jerks) had trained to the zone. And don't even mention the ungodly trains in Crawler's Nest or Garliage Citadel that would shut down leveling for hours. It was very gratifying to be able to help out low level players and foster a sense of togetherness in the community. I'm sure there are other things I overlooked, or that other players did as well, that was just my experience.
Oh, and for posterity, partying really wasn't that hard if you built your own parties. Yes, it definitely sucked and for a first timer it wasn't feasible, but if you just took on the burden of being a leader you could craft great groups. Nothing beat staticing with friends, though.
That wasn't so much overlooked as much as it was just left on the cutting room floor. The video you see here is 1/5th of everything I initially wanted to talk about, because there is really just *so* much that Final Fantasy XI managed to do. I could not do this game justice unless I did a whole series talking about each aspect of the game, and even then there is stuff I would miss. There were so many things I personally wanted to talk about that I couldn't just because a video has to get done (and I thank my patreons for being so patient with me).
I learned to make my own parties eventually, but you still ran into some of the same problems of having to compete with the PLDs and WHMs. I remember one time I was getting a group together in Qufim when about 4 fights in, the PLD said he had to go suddenly. We moved to another camp before the nightfall only to see him with another group. Turns out the leader of that group offered him 50k to ditch our group and join his. FFXI was cutthroat at times.
Yeah sorry didn't meant to sound overbearing, there's a ton.
There's no doubt making parties was brutal. I would often just /sea whm/rdm/smn and spam people even who were not seeking just to get something going. Even then the average time to make a party was about an hour.
Not overbearing at all, I really appreciate the passion! I honestly wish I could talk about the game in complete detail. Maybe if the path takes me that way, I will!
Great video. It's hard to describe my feelings towards this game and the many years I spent playing it. Thank you for being so transparent!
I'm glad I was about to do the experience justice, that was my biggest worry about making this video is that people might not be able to relate, but I'm so glad it resonated to those that did.
Hi soberdwarf. First time to the channel. I do appreciate the video. I started out the game playing a loldrg so I know all about the wait times. Though, for the LS, I leveled bard. Bard went from 1 to 75 in 4 weeks. Drg, I solo leveled to 75 off and on, that took 5 years...
I was actually lucky in that my best friend got me to play the game. I wasn't too keen on the game for the exact reason you mentioned. There also any jobs that particularly spoke to me. Drg was the only one I had an interest in. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the game, I did enjoy it a lot. But there was also something about it that I didn't quite enjoy. But I stayed for the friends. I last stopped playing in.. I want to say 2012, and started Nov. 18th of 2002. As Bard, you help out a lot of people so I made a lot of friends. A few I tried to keep in touch with even after I stopped playing, a few I met in real life after a while. But I guess the most significant thing the game brought to my life was this newbie drk that I helped start out as bard. Helped power level, getting limit break items, helping her part with her pld. So yeah... she's now my wife. It all really started in Windurst waters when I was fishing moat carps for that darn lu shang's rod. She really wanted the christmas trees and I had a good amount of money at that point, gave her the money for them.
Anyways, thanks for the video and thanks for the memories.
I had the exact experience with leveling but instead of DRG, it was THF, and instead of BRD it was COR.
Also, that is awesome that you met your wife! The experiences people have shared I almost want to do an entirely new episode on just talking about them, because that is awesome!
My heart! You really did this game justice. I stopped playing so long ago...but it has influenced my life in so many good ways. Thank you for making this video.
Thank you for your comment! There was still so much more I wanted to talk about but I was hoping I hit the nerve that made me enjoy it so much. So glad I did!
Omg, I came here for a video to listen to in the background, I got something that pulled at my heart strings. I found myself in tears and singing a long by the end. I found it a little cheesy how you were using the lyrics of distant worlds at the beginning, but hey, this was amazing. Also, I memorized the lyrics to the song for a speech class in highschool. This game was the thing I grew up to. I always miss it. So glad to see it also gave others such incredibly strong feelings as well.
Screw it, you earned a subscribe from me. I generally refuse outright to sub, but you got my to do it.
I'm really glad you enjoyed it! Distant Worlds is one of my favorite songs ever.
A tear or few may have been shed. Lovely video showcasing a game that I've played since launch. Thank you for this.
Thank you! Trust me, there was a disproportionate amount of tears in the blood and sweat I poured into making this.
Great video. Genuine guy. Something RUclips needs more of.
Thank you!
hey, i normally dont comment but just wanted to say that to this day my brother and i talk vivid memories about this game. it made me happy to see someone still talks about it. some of the people in my ffxi ls have become RL friends and currently play ffxiv with them.
without this difficulty and time and need for friendship i wouldnt have met some many of these people. keep up the good work, man.
I'm glad I could be the exception to the rule because that was such an awesome comment. Thank you!
Oh... THE FEELS!!!!
I didn't even activally play for years, but I still have a ton of memories from the game, and I'm glad you reminded me of them
Thank you! There was just something special about Final Fantasy XI that created memories for a lot of people. I'm just glad I could lend my voice for those memories!
I started to remember so much.. I played Summoner/White Mage, it worked out well, I was a decent healer, but then Blue Mage came out. It was my favorite FF job, so I switched to it, and got stuck at like level 54 forever, unable to get invited into any parties. And when coming back years later, I sucked as Blue Mage and resorted to playing Geomancer, which actually was super fun for me.
Now I play FFXIV, and it's different... but I .... kind of don't like how fast the game is, and how I need to think of so much. It's really stressful
Came back to watch and feel good, been having a bad day and this uplifted my spirits again. Hope you’re well, @soberdwarf!
Fantastic work and editing - stuff like showing off Ken from the "All By Myself" quest when mentioning quests that are hard to solo rings oh so very true.
Most coverage of XI out there seems either read off Wikipedia, covers endgame fights, consists of people starting the game and commenting on how they don't know what they're doing, or speaks of the game almost entirely in the past tense, but your video did a pretty good job of mixing the old and the new as appropriate with a good amount of detail in points, with footage that served as a good nod for people who know the game already.
Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I hope you get the chance to go into greater detail on aspects of the game at a later time - it is indeed a huge beast that makes it hard to even figure out where to start, so it's no wonder this was 2 years in the making.
Don't tempt me, I could literally talk hours about Final Fantasy XI. There was so much left on the cutting room floor with this video that I could make another 3 videos with everything. It was really hard to not be able to talk about each of the stories and I really have a theory about the Chrono influences I want to reveal to the world, but that will have to be another time.
But I just wanted this to serve as a general overview of the game and why it's so important to me. The reason I went with the direction is because of just as you said, coverage never really got the 'human' element of XI, and that's something that really stuck out to me.
Also, I'm pretty sure everyone had /angry Ken at some point or another. I feel the pain of anyone who has had to do that quest alone.
Consider yourself tempted, as far as I'm concerned - if you have the raw footage, and clearly you have the knowledge, I hope it's viable for you to give it a try - the case of Huntin4Games' channel comes to mind, where his FFXI videos on average have more views than the other stuff he releases, so there's an untapped viewership for this sort of thing, and I often wonder if i should take a crack at it myself to try and fill the gap.
I guess it's a matter of seeing how well this video does and what your current patrons think of the idea...
Just the fact that most people don't know XI's characters outside those than made it to Dissidia, where they're mostly separated from their original contexts, despite the fact that XI is half as old as the franchise itself while being one of its most profitable entries makes for a really weird disconnect that RUclips barely addresses (although Korvana's videos really help if one wants to see all the cutscenes).
I see a lot of mention of the human side of the game in posts and more nostalgia-oriented videos, but so little about the actual character in the game and their stories and themes that it gets weird - so it was neat that in the recent 15th anniversary Famitsu article and broacast they had a big illustration that one one side had the game's established characters (and that one's been an available walpaper in the Goddess' Gala site since the Rhapsodies days), and the other with all sorts of player characters and infamously recurring elements like crabs.
Would that Chrono Trigger factor have anything to do with Wings of the Goddess and a recent mention in one of the Freshly-Picked Vana'diel videos/posts where they mention an original plan for the game was to cover multiple time periods?
SoberDwarf I would love to see a video about FFXI's level design. The comparison to Dark Souls is very appropriate - and not just in enemy difficulty. The zones that make up Vana'diel are very intricately connected, not unlike Dark Souls.
The fact that each area has it's own lore, which is hidden among various NPCs, Quests and the clay tablets and it isn't expressly told to you is also another way it's like Dark Souls that I appreciate. It encourages you to find out more on your own volition rather than it being information you're given as you enter the area, which I talk a bit about in my Stardew Valley video on how good that is to create curiosity and investment.
It even pieces it out like Dark Souls. I used to *hate* Dangruf Wadi as a zone, because I thought it was just a maze with nothing interesting. That was until a mission took me into a section that I didn't know existed and learned something about the history of that area, and though it was incredibly amazing, only to find another mission years later that took me in another part I didn't know about. I can only imagine what it was like the first time a person found an illusory wall in the game and didn't realize what he had stumbled across.
Yep - stuff like the stone tablets, the crags and pipelines connecting them to architecturally cohesive places like Delkfutt's tower (and the kind of mobs in or near them being coherent with what you find later in Tu'Lia), or even the strange apparatus devices (they bothered to make broken ones, and made them relevant to the rune fencer quests about a decade after their creation) say a lot about the foresight and world building efforts for the game.
Heck, I've seen comments on how based on how Kam'lanaut fights, shifting between elemental strenghts, he basically uses a form of rune fencer abilties, several years and expansions before the job was in the game... and then there's stuff like all the elements that enable XI's blue mage to work, building on mechanics relevant to jobs like beastmaster (monster affinities), as well as the skillchain and magic burst systems.
What an amazing video - just appeared on my home feed (thanks for once, RUclips!) - definitely subbed!
I often recant memories of this game with friends that are still some of my closest friends today, and we usually get ourselves into a nostalgia flurry to start playing again, only to realise that it's not the same game it was... repeat this once or twice a year and that sums up my experience since I first stopped playing, just after VNMs were released.
I remember getting the EU version of the game on PC in 2003, with a PC that could barely run it, and with dial-up phonecalls constantly interrupting my Dunes levelling - but I persevered and finally managed to persuade my parents to get Broadband.
I remember levelling Dragoon as my first job, and the arduous task of getting party invites (until ToAU bird camps!)
I remember staying up all night, or even waking up in the middle of the night, do to endgame events with friends in NA.
I remember camping HNM and just chatting to people in-between windows, for 3 hours, and being okay with it - in fact I actually miss this and wish FFXIV hunts were more like this.
There are hundreds of more stories and anecdotes that I could retell, and it's sad to think that no other game will probably ever have this much impact on me or my life, and that I will probably never be able to relive the golden era of Vanadiel.
Thanks for sharing those memories, because they definitely invoked some of my own!
saw you for the first time and you got me hooked. I am a new subscriber as of today, and man this video hit me right in the feels. I hope to enjoy many more content from you. now to watch more of your stuff 😊
Thank you! Be careful of the older stuff, it's pretty rough around the edges. I definitely built some character between now and when I first started.
SoberDwarf it is all good you had to start somewhere. as far as I've seen you've built alot of character since you began. I love how passionate you are about everything you put up on RUclips I'm quite enjoying myself watching your stuff. keep up the good work my friend. 👏🙌👊👍👌
Never watched a video more accurately describing the heart of final fantasy XI as someone who played XI from Launch and on and off since. Thank you! Subscribed
Thank you, I'm so glad I could do it justice!
This was the video game of my life. Thank you for doing it justice! Like you've said, all of its flaws are equally its advantages, because the feeling of accomplishing things in FF11 is unparalleled in gaming history. Beating CoP with the resources available back in the day it was released, completing your first relic weapon, beating Dynamis Lord with a full linkshell attendance, doing a full low-men salvage run; it was remarkable while it lasted. Personally, I did not like the path the game chose to follow after Abyssea content came out, but I played the game nonetheless until 2013. I was extremely disappointed to know that FF14 did not choose to recreate FF11's superb battle system. Back then I was expecting that FF14 could replace 11, and restore it to its former glory. But now I understand this will only happen the day they decide recreate the game from scratch. That is, if they ever consider this option.
Yeah, it's hard to say if we'll ever get a game like FFXI again. There are murmurings about a few upcoming MMOs being "old-school" in design philosophy, but I imagine walking that line is harder now than it was 15 years ago with people's expectations and free time being less and less. I'm hoping, but I'm personally thankful that I was able to experience FFXI the way that I did, and that many people will unfortunately never be able to.
Fantastic Video, you've summed up exactly the experience I believe most of us experienced in one way or another! lol you actually got me to think about how many hours I've played in XI and currently I'm pushing 21,000 hours... I still come back to Vana d'iel a couple times a year, hell I still talk to a few LS members on a weekly basis outside the game. Thank you for such a great video full of so much feels! ~Masamonae, Ragnarok Server (Nee Caitsith, RIP)
Also, I'd like to mention I recently started playing FFXIV (after 7 years of being mad about how the original beta went- don't get me started, lol) and I'm shocked how they've managed to re-capture the feels that I had when I started playing XI! Anyone looking for an updated version of XI, I highly recommend you give it a shot (provided you're 100% done with Vana diel)
Good job. Miss the old style of FFXI. You got a new subscriber.
Very well done man! I watched my brother play this game and saw all of the frustration and love he had for it come through in this video. Subbed.
Thank you!
I have many stories I could tell about FFXI, but one that I like to tell is how I made the point of taking multiple friends through all four plot threads of Wings of the Goddess (three nations and main story), and one night we spent working our way through Castle Zvahl knowing that if we broke for the night how hard it would be to reorganize it again. We get to the final battle and our healer, a rdm, forgot to equip the item to protect them from the boss' Doom attack. We wind up in full offense mode to take the boss down, and with the boss at 1% we all drop....and then me (SAM) and the tank get back up with reraise. Tank sacrificed themself while I used meditate (shoulda prepped utsusemi first), and then I killed the boss with a regular attack. The party chat went from screaming in anger to screaming in joy. After all, a party wipe in 11 at that point was an entire evening down the drain.
dude, i rarely comment in any video at all, but in this case, you made me cry, you described my favorite game in a must beautiful way, a way that took me deep into memory, with the same love that i feel for this majestic world, and i thank you for it, you have earned my respect, my support and my sub, some day, under the Sandorian sun, {take care} {friend} {Nice to meet you!}