This is going to be a pretty boring blog post, in which I painstakingly detail the first six or so hours of my Final Fantasy XI experience, which was pain-inducing and mentally taxing to say the least. I am bored and tired for reasons I will detail (again, painstakingly) in the following paragraphs, and I want to impart a realistic amount of boredom and tiredness to mirror how I feel because I am spiteful and somewhat upset. I hope this at least could be a PSA for FFXI being on sale until June and for how to get the game going.

Part 1: Buying the game.

Even though it was literally only yesterday, I cannot remember what pushed me to check the prices for Final Fantasy XI anymore. I saw that it was having a big discount, and I wanted to purchase it immediately. This was not an impulsive decision, mind you; I've been planning to buy this game for a long time. I heard the stories of how unique and intriguing the game is, and ever since I fell in love with Final Fantasy XIV I felt curiosity to see what came before it. The prices seemed a low enough barrier of entry, and I heard that it had been updated to allow for more casual low-level play, so I went ahead and tried to buy it. What I did not expect to be so high is the cost in time and effort, as this became the start of quite a journey...

The first hurdle is not so complicated. There are two different versions of the game, Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin and Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate Collection Seekers Edition. The former is $5, the latter is $10. Seeing the word "Ultimate Collection" made me think that it is a collector's edition-type product. I thought, I'd buy the base game just for $5, but $10 doesn't sound too far off. I looked at the product details to see what's in the Ultimate Collection (Seekers Edition). It seems to just contain the game and add-ons. Wait, then what's in the other one? The former appears to contain only the last expansion pack, Seekers of Adoulin, which came out two years ago. There is no way to buy the base game of any other expansions by themselves, hence my confusion. Good thing I cleared that up, I'd have ended up wasting $5 otherwise...

So I put Final Fantasy® XI: Ultimate Collection Seekers Edition into my "cart", and went straight to checkout. I chose to use Facebook login; the Square Enix store account is somehow different than the Square Enix membership account. I started filling in my billing details into the form... only to find that they list only NA/US countries in the Country field. I live in Australia, so I thought that meant I cannot buy the game. I looked at the URL. "store.na.square-enix.com". Oh, this is a NA-specific store. I guessed I'll have to look for an Australian store.

Part 2: Buying the game for real, wherever it is.

Putting the words into Google quickly lead me to where I was supposed to go. It seemed like the European Square Enix and North American Square Enix have completely different storefronts, and the Australian store is a subset of the European store. They don't even have the same store layouts or accounts system. You have to use the Square Enix membership account on the European store. I went straight to the search box, typed in "final fantasy xi" and... nothing? It lists the lone expansion pack, Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin, in between Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIV Online. Where is the Final Fantasy® XI: Ultimate Collection Seekers Edition that I seek?!

I tried Google some more. I found the European product page, but opening it just redirects me back to the Australian store front page. I found the FFXI website, which redirected me to another FFXI website, which is a Flash website. The "Buy Now" button redirects me back to the NA store. I found another FFXI website for Europeans, which also redirects me to a FFXI Flash website but for Europeans. I clicked the "Buy Now" button. It redirected me to the Australian store front page. What gives?

Fortunately, I finally did find the product page for the FF®XI:UCSE. I had to manually find it in the products listing from the navigation bar. Games -> PC Downloads -> MMORPG. And so I found it, the darned $10 thing that I wanted. (One nice thing so far is that it is 10 Australian Dollars, which is less than 10 US Dollars!)

Part 3: Installing the game... among other things. And waiting.

The purchasing process was painless and as expected. I logged in, filled in my address, paid for it and voila. I was a new owner of Final Fantasy XI. Yay.

It gave me a download link to a downloader, which started downloading the game. It was about a 5GB download. I went about my evening while waiting for it to download. Some of said evening involved making a tuna melt, eating it while watching Mad Men, and then making another toasted sandwich while watching more Mad Men. Mad Men is pretty good. The sandwiches were alright, too. Anyway, I eventually returned to find the download to have completed.

The downloader launched an extractor, which failed extracting because the downloader and the downloaded extractor were in different directories and that messed things up. I manually launched the extractor, which extracted an installer, which I then launched. The installer then launched seven separate installers one by one, one for each of the base game and its expansions and another for something called PlayOnline Viewer. I did not know what that meant, but I figured it must be important since it was set to be installed by default (unlike the DirectX 8.1 installer.) The PlayOnline Viewer installer installed PlayOnline Viewer and something called Tetra Master. That was also set to be installed by default, so I allowed it. I liked the splash artwork for the installers for the game.

That installation process took longer than I wished it did. I had to keep pressing "Next", "Install" and "Finish" for every single component, so I stayed at my computer. It must have taken almost an hour. I did not pay attention to the time as I was listening to Mouth Sounds and having a discussion with a friend about a 90's anime show in which a young bee gets separated from his queen bee mother. Was he abandoned or was there a villain involved? I could not remember. I brought the show up because Yoshitaka Amano, the illustrator of the FInal Fantasy artworks, apparently animated for that show.

It finally finished installing the game, and I tried to launch the game. There are no executables to be found in the game directory. I assumed that the PlayOnline Viewer has something to do with it, so I launched that.

Part 4: Registering an account. Or two. I'm not quite sure.

I was surprised to find a program menu reminiscent of early 2000's sci-fi video game menus. The UI and sound effects are very pleasing. The music was quite intense. It had a jazz musician flipping out on a piano over some sort of drum and bass track. I waited for it to finish updating itself, and it gave me an option between registration and login. the login screen is... well, it had a lot of fields and only two of them had anything to do with Square Enix membership accounts. What puzzled me more is the register button at the bottom of the screen, as if I was on the registration screen by mistake. I went back and chose registration, and was told to register through my Square Enix membership account settings.

I switched to my browser and logged into my Square Enix Membership account -- which, by the way, is kind of a pain to use in FFXIV without one-time passwords, which is also kind of a pain, but a lesser pain, but that's another story. There's a big FFXI/PlayOnline button, so I clicked on that. It then asked my for my PlayOnline registration code. Uh, huh?

I looked for the receipt in my email. It's quite an extensive receipt, with many codes and ID's and such. Near the bottom of the receipt (not counting disclosures and copyrights and such, so more like right in the middle) are registration codes. I say "codes" because I have three different ones. (I still do not know why I have three of them.)

I put in the first code, and it just gave me a PlayOnline account. With a password and everything, all in plain text and sent to my email. At this point, I could not care less anymore.

I put in all the information I had to the PlayOnline Viewer. There is one field that I do not know what to fill with: "Member Name". Member name. What is that supposed to even be? Member of what? It's not the PlayOnline ID, there's a different field for that. It's not the "Square Enix account ID" either. Is this like a public account handle? I put in my handle.

It made some funny fake modem noises while it tried to verify me. It registered successfully, then asked me to type in a new public handle for my PlayOnline account. Um. I typed in my Member Name.

A cool menu with another cool music popped out. There seems to be way too many features on this thing (a mail service AND a chat service?) I clicked on Final Fantasy XI.

A PLAY BUTTON! I clicked the play button.

I clicked the new play button. It told me that I do not have a "Content ID". I had no fucking idea what that even means.

Going back to the FFXI menu, there was an option for "Content ID'. There is a button labeled "About Content ID". Two of them, in fact. The other one is called "Expanded Services". I felt a little fear of missing out some content, but I just pretended that did not exist. "Content ID', apparently, is what they call subscriptions... I think? But... don't I have a free 30-day trial? I tried one of the other buttons and it told me to go to the Square Enix account management thing. So back there I went.

No mention of Content ID. They seem to call it "options" on Square Enix account land. "Service option"? Something to do with "options". The free trial only kicks in after you put in your credit card details... so I did, and immediately canceled the subscription. The subscription list updated with something labeled "Free Trial" and a green dot next to it. Green is good, right? Green means go. So I went back to PlayOnline Viewer, logged out and logged back in because that's what it told me to do.

Part 5: Launching the game!

I pressed "Play". I pressed the other "Play" button. It said "Downloading Content ID list". It said that I have Content ID. Yes! Finally, I can...

So here I am, ranting on the internet while I wait for the PlayOnline Viewer to download those files. If you read this whole thing... thanks, I guess? "Sorry" is more like it, I suppose. It is now after midnight. I just want to play the dang game. I am so tired. I hope this will all be worth it. Good night.

Update:

So, this happened right after posting:

It was probably my internet connection. That's what I get for complaining, I guess!

Update (19/07/2015): It took me like two months, but here's the follow-up to this story.

Have you tried downloading the files outside of POL's servers. Since they force you through 64k modem speed, it'll be much faster.

Uh... yeah everything related to purchasing this game, downloading this game, installing this game, patching this game, and logging in, have always been bullshit. You're seeing it from the perspective of a modern viewer (and it seems arcane and nuts, which it is), but for those of us for whom FFXI was our first MMO, or close to it, all these hoops were just "something you did," couldn't think of an easier system. Actually it was a lot worse back in the day, there was no way to download them game, you had to have your discs on hand. Also patching the game used to take about an entire day. And not just hitting "patch!" and going to school and coming back, you had to come back and manually hit OK every time it finished installing one patch, then moving on to the next patch. So you'd have to come back to your PC, or PS2, or 360, several times.

Again, most of us didn't really have a precedent for how these "MMO thingies" worked so you would end up just grinning and bearing it. And since then I've never uninstalled FFXI, even when I've unsubscribed, because I knew that if I resubbed it'd be a major pain (you know also back in the day if you unsubscribed for like a year, there would be a chance they'd delete your character, too).

Also that Tetra Master thing I believe is the FF9 card game, some people have enjoyed it a little but I never tried it.

Dropping the connexion sucks, but I think that if you lose it halfway you won't lose all your progress resuming later, these days. Also it's actually a lot less than 4 hours now.

Keep in mind also that for 5+ years Square has been trying to keep current players and get players that have left the game, to come back. They haven't done a great deal to cater to brand new players, at this point it seems impossible for a new player to really experience FFXI. It's a lot different of a game than it used to be, for someone new you'd basically solo grind with AI buddies for a good long while until you hit end game then be confused on that front too. This also explains why they have that seeker's collection and seekers of adoulin, for people returning many of them either need to buy the whole game again, or just buy the newest expansion.

I still think there's something there with FFXI, though it going into maintenance mode later this year really sucks. The control scheme will not make any sense to you whatsoever. That's because it was designed for a PS2 controller. If you have a gamepad it will make a lot of sense and actually work, however I believe a 360 controller won't work. If you have one of those logitech thingies I think those work. I've had an adaptor for my PS1 controller for like 8 years now, since before other people started using 360 controllers for everything, they're like $5-10 if you want one, but somehow I doubt that this game is going to sway you enough to want to go out and buy one (though they're also great for emulators and 2D platformers and fighting games).

What server you pick now is important!!! Like 75% of English speaking players are now on Asura I believe. That's actually a server that's decently full. I'm on Sylph still, but while I'm still subbed I haven't logged in for a while now. There's a lot of doom and gloom going on because what's kind of like the end of the world is nigh. Obviously if you chose an emptier server, or a JP majority one, it would look like a ghost town (actually still does in any server, if you're not in the end game hubs of this world).

I think that at this point you might as well keep going with it, this is probably the last chance to see FFXI with people in it, at least before December. You can start with a warrior, a monk, a white mage, a black mage, or a thief. Monk or warrior is recommended! Mages have to buy spells and making money is kind of confusing early on. Thief I think can work too (actually is probably a useful job overall), but a little harder early on. At lvl 18 you can unlock subjobs, you get to level them up to half of your main job's level, and at lvl 30 you can unlock advanced jobs (though you might not care do play any of them). You can also go back to your mog house to switch jobs whenever.

FFXI is an old-ass MMO. It's basically Japanese Everquest 1, for the PS2 and ported to the PC and 360. Back then the idea of a virtual world was really rad and unexplored, but they had no clue what the hell they were doing. I'll be frank: Playing now, you're probably not going to see why people loved FFXI. All those former FFXI players you might have in your FC? They're thinking of the FFXI from 5+ years ago. It's a different game now. It used to take 1-2 years to hit the level cap of 75 on a single job. Now you can hit lvl 99 on a job in a matter of days. FFXI still requires a crazy time commitment though. The storylines of the expansions and the places to explore are probably the most interesting thing to do now (along with messing around with different jobs, puppetmaster is probably the most fun class I've every played in an MM), however these storylines require hours of leveling up to do them, running around the world, etc. Imagine the dumb story quests in FFXIV where you need to go from one end of the world to the other, but have to walk there. Travel time has largely been reduced in FFXI thanks to a teleport system but it still takes time to go to some places.

Old MMO's like these worked well for kids in high school or single people in their 20's with a single 8 hour job. Play sessions in FFXI used to be crazy long. Often it was because you had to find a party to level up, and once you found one you didn't want to leave after a little bit.

Records of Eminence is kind of like a challenge log, it's a system kind for new and returning players to get the gear and gil they need to solo level. The internet is your friend, FFXIclopedia is good for old stuff and missions, the BlueGartr site is good for the new stuff.

I've played off and on for like 5-6 years now, but even I count as a new school player in it. I didn't get the classic experience other people did, and I don't think you're going to even get experience I did. I think you should try since you've bought the game and all, but while I have a lot of great memories of great things SE did in that game that you can't find anywhere else, I'm not sure you can experience them now.

@leegillespie: Nah, I restarted the download and went to sleep. It finished the update when I woke up this morning, so I'll probably get to finally play it after work today. But thank you anyways!

@belegorm: Wow, thanks for the tips. That clears some things up for me. I tried reading beginner's guides and it did seem incredibly complicated for a newcomer. Buying spells sound way over my head, so I'll probably start with a Warrior. I guess I will pick Asura first, although I don't know if it has enough players within my time zone.

I was planning to use my Dual Shock 4, though I didn't know that it doesn't work with a 360 controller (which the DS4 is recognized as by default.) I can probably configure it to mimic another gamepad, I hope I'll figure it out.

I cannot even imagine what would be more difficult than the current registration process. I thought most of the confusion came from rigging legacy systems to work with the current ones. The lack of consistency really threw me off.

@audiobusting: For all I know, a DS4 might work right off the bat, if you're not emulating a 360 controller. Then again I haven't ever tried to use a 360 controller, and the last I heard of the problems were from a few years ago, so maybe it works now.

There's probably plenty of players in your time zone on Asura, it's just probably most of them are Japanese. I guess one benefit of trying out FFXI is realising that this for most in Japan was THE MMO, at least until shitty F2P games, and then FFXIV. PC games have never been big there (except from small indie games working), so FFXI being developed for PS2 was entirely because they thought they could tap a market of console gamers that hadn't played Everquest.

Probably the most important thing at this point is figuring out that Records of Eminence system, and then the Trust system. The one is a system of rewards for achieving goals, like a challenge log, and the other is a system of getting AI buddies to fight with you, kind of like pokemon. Pretty necessary in this day and age when you won't find people leveling.

Oh, and figuring out how to get the spell Signet cast on you when you leave town is probably still necessary, it means monsters in the early zones will drop crystals, and stacks of 12 of them probably still sell for something. If I was you I'd treat this kind of like a cross between a single-player game with a lot to complete, and also a museum of an MMO. Making gil in this games has kind of been an activity of itself, you don't get much by playing. Figuring out how to make enough to get silent oils and invisiblity potions, to get around mobs while running off doing story quests, is probably the minimum.

Speaking of which if I was you my goal would be to play through the Chains of Promathia expansion and the Treasures of Aht Urghan expansion. The original storyline and Rise of the Zilart are short, but boring as hell. Wings of the Goddess is just kind of ridiculously long, but also good. Seekers of Adoulin's also good but not soloable. If you go into Jeuno and /yell "I'm a new player help!!!" most likely someone will send you a /tell and hopefully you can get people in game to show you what to do.

Edit: Oh, also google FFXI's configuration settings, or start messing with them. That's how you configure a gamepad, but also you can up-rez the textures and such by a lot, practically HD-ifying the game. The game came out of those early PS2 days of pretty rough 3D graphics, except that with being able to up-rez the graphics, and the game's really strong art direction, it looks a lot better than other games from the period.

Ah, PlayOnline. Such a shitty piece of software, but it had some damn good music to listen to along the way.

@audiobusting: What time zone are you playing? I'd been kicking around the idea of making a new character and starting from scratch.

360 controllers work fine for the game.

I recently came back from a two year break during the free week they had and found this video helpful in explaining some of the basic new stuff:

I can't even imagine what it's like to start the game fresh today. I still enjoy it and they've definitely taking some of the rougher edges out but I'd bet it's still not super accessible. Or perhaps the changes really have made more of a difference than I realize. I'd be interested in reading your experiences if you continue with it.

Oh my god, the memory's of the installation process and the menus upon menus. I just had the strangest feeling of nostalgia mixed with dread. Oh no, I just remembered that I also played for a year on the PS2.....send help.

Thanks for the responses, everyone!

@leegillespie: I'm AEST and I'll probably be playing late nights on some weekdays and weekend afternoons if you'd like to join me. I don't have a lot of time to spare (haven't even started yet), but I sure don't want to waste that 30-day free trial.

Oh man, fuck PlayOnline Viewer.

I honestly would not recommend FFXI to anyone now. The community has become small enough to where it's pretty much impenetrable to get to the good content. If you haven't been playing for at least a few years already then pretty much "GTFO".

You might be able to find some like minded people for old content. But actually getting into it requires getting into some 3rd party modding stuff.

I still think FFXI has a great world though. Much more interesting than XIV's.

user name is Sek in game

Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't experienced it myself! Loved the game once I started playing though.

@leegillespie: did you ever create that new character? I'm pacific time and coming back to ff 11 after 9 years I loved this game and been feeling nostalgic the install is running now and it would be nice to have some low level people to pt with.

@mattholl65 not yet, was waiting for someone to start with. Send me a playonline message or ingame /tell. Sek in my main, aberzombie is my POL name

@mattholl65 I created a new guy called Wob. I'll use him for crafting until you are ready.

I will defend the gameplay and story of FFXI tooth and nail. I will not, however, defend any of the front end/content ID/PlayOnline Viewer stuff. Fuck. That. Shit. I started with the game at the NA PS2 launch (yes I bought the PS2 HDD). I came back to it fairly recently after not having played since Seekers of Adoulin had come out. All my friends were gone and while it was still kind of a cool nostalgia trip, I was missing that human player interaction too much.

Wow... 12 years after I initially installed this game and lost a good 3 solid years of my life, it still uses the same piece of shit login and update system?

I remember when huge updates would come out.

• "Crap, I can't play today. Everything is down for maintenance."
• "Sweet, servers are back up. Let's download!"
• "8 hours!? Fuck me...."
• 5 hours in... "God dammit, the download is stuck. Maybe it will kick back in...."
• An hour later.... "I hate you Square. Make me start this damn thing all over again as it validates my current files for an entire hour before downloading. Update your shit!"

I'm still subbed and want to play a bit more before the end, but too attached to my character on Sylph and my current progress to start a new char. Finished rank 10 sandy, CoP and ToAU a couple years ago, on practically the last mission of RoZ and still want to do some more in WotG, SoA, and hell, maybe even aby and the other expansions.

Edit: @leegillespie, @mattholl65: Screw it I love this game too much to not at least try and get some more good times out of it, I assume you guys started on Asura? I can't think of starting fresh but possibly I might transfer over and start leveling new jobs along with ya.

(also... have been considering... methods of experiencing this game circa 2006 style...)