Dekkarra

I bought it. It was worth it back then, as some other game besisdes FFXI, like SOCOM and the 2kSports games actually utilized it. Also it saved me money on memory cards, as I could just move the files onto the HDD.  It was worth it for me at least.

Most groups I have been a part of have lively conversation, and everyone has a good time. By "community" I wasn't speaking of everyone talking aloud everywhere and such, I meant the the bringing of people together to achieve goals.

And I personally do not get the want of so much solo content for an MMORPG.  I can understand a little bit of soloable stuff, but if you want to do so much alone, why are you playing an MMO?

I do currently still play actually. The economy shambles that so many people bring up to rip the game apart has been remedied with the institution of the Special Task Team early last year.  The economy is very much back at the level of the early days around the North American launch. Did it come too late? Yes. But they have at least showed a proactive role instead of just sitting back even more and watching the game go belly up.

A lot of the the things added with Wings of the Goddess have helped make the game much more forgiving, and fun. Campaign (introduced in Wings of the Goddess) is a great way to gain exp/limits if you are not in the mood to party with others. Does it beat a standard party? No. But it is a nice alternative where there was once none.  The new Zeni Notorious Monster system allows for NM fights whenever you want them, just trade the easily acquirable required item, and there's your NM with items droppable you'd actually want.

Yes, the game still has the higher barrier of entry, and it is rough starting out. It was like that for pretty much everyone at the beginning, but Square Enix has been trying to make things better, especially recently. 

I know people wish for more solo content, but I personally enjoy the community aspect of FFXI, and that's why I very much enjoy it over WoW.  Well that and the great story, and the challenge an "old school" MMO like it presents.

Favorite games in the series are VI, VIII, XI, and XII. I've been playing XI for almost 5 years now >.>
Favorite characters are Kefka, Squall, and Balthier.