FFXi Help me out please

[Mingerroo]

OK. So I'm intrigued by the system and the complete opposite-to-NC-nice-break sort of look and feel it has to it. My only questions are:

a> Does it have a free trial?
b> Does having a PS2 connected to the net cost a lot?
c> Am I better off getting the PC version?
d> How much are the monthly fees?
e> Is it worth waiting for the UK release, or will it run OK if I get it from the states?
f> Could I connect my PS2 to the net through my cable modem? :D

Thats about it, Ill post more questions if I think of them.

Mingoo

P.S. g> did/do you enjoy it?

[NeoLojik]

a) Yes, 30 days once you purchase it
b) Not sure, you need a modem adaptor or the broadband adaptor
c) Yes, better graphics, keyboards etc
d) Basic Fee: $12.99 (Roughly £9) / Adition Char: $1 (60p) / Tetra Master: $1 (60p) per month
e) US version works fine, heres an ebay link to a guy selling copies: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11050&item=3060515945
f) As far as I know, yes you can.
g) Enjoying it a hell of a lot more than Neocron. Ive not had a single crash, lag problem, sync problem, lost item or anything. (No offence KK :p )

[Mingerroo]

Thanks for the feedback :)

I figure I'll get it for PS2 though because I know that a>It will run (my PC setup is poor) and b>that I CAN (I looked into it) connect my PS2 to the net through my cable modem. Hmmm. Crap, I guess I'll wait for the UK release and see where my hardware stands.

But yeah, thanks for the quick reply :D

Mingoo

[NeoLojik]

No problems :)

[OpTi]

you'll need the HD for the ps2 version and people reccomend getting a usb keyboard too.

[Jesterthegreat]

i would recommend PC version just cos PC version is likely to be better.

spend loads bringin your PS2 to PC level (keyboard, hdd) or your PC to PS2 level (gamepad)

although you said your pc sucks - maybe ps2 is the way to go then

[Mingerroo]

I guess if I do get it I'll get the PC version, because I'd feel more comfortable upgrading my PC than upgrading my PS2 (besides, only my GFX card sucks). And although the FFXi benchmark ran fairly poorly, it won't be THAT much of a problem.

Yeah, thanks for the chat people, definitely gonna go PC if I get it.

Mingoo

[Jesterthegreat]

/me is ordering it from US for delivery to Essex, UK tonight >.<

[NeoLojik]

Originally posted by Jesterthegreat
/me is ordering it from US for delivery to Essex, UK tonight >.< Jester, dont, use the link I provided. If you order it quick you'll have it by the weekend. I ordered my copy from the US, took 16 days to arrive. I ordered one from the ebay guy in my link, it was here next day.

The price is the same too.

[VictorKruger]

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/benchmark.html

The above link is for the benchmark utility for the game, I was surprised how well my video card handled the benchmark since i only have a Ati Radeon 8500, but from the benchmark it shows that i could play the game in High resolution mode.


So you never know, your graphics card could be good enough to play.

[Spy<VS>Spy]

hey hey hey, hold on their cowboy. you sure are being left a little ignorent. however thats okay they probably dont know either.

First there are 2 things you have to consider regarding FFXI when it comes to getting PC version and PS2 version.

1. is that while FFXI runs better on the PS2, PC's need to be pretty powerful to run the game, basicly beause we are emulating the PS2 in running the game. so if you want the full beauty and dont hav a bitching PC, the PS2 is a safe bet with no compatability issues.

2. unfortionaly for the PS2 owners, you wont be able to actually BUY the game. nope, see what you have to do, is buy the new PS2 hardrive that is needed to even play the game. Ahhh, i here eye balls opening. yes, and on that hard drive FFXI will come preinstalled, it comes free.

according to my Gamepro December 2003 mag the hardrive will cost to up to over $200 smackers, and REQUIRE a broadband connection.

Now that my friends, makes me not feel so bad for spending 50 bucks down at EB and having to put up with a bit of installing.

So there inlies the real issue with FFXI, the PS2 graphics look better, because frankly, PC's are far more advanced then the hardware avaible so emulating it makes it look a little crappeir. however, its still beautiful. but for Pc users, if you already have the muscle, your saving cash.

enjoy. ;)

[StryfeX]

Be careful though, as the benchmark can be semi-misleading. I got around 2500 in hi-res, but there are times ingame where I get some seriously low FPS. But it's all good since unless you want to use a special or magic, you don't actually have to be active.

--Stryfe

[jernau]

Originally posted by Spy<VS>Spy
1. is that while FFXI runs better on the PS2, PC's need to be pretty powerful to run the game, basicly beause we are emulating the PS2 in running the game. so if you want the full beauty and dont hav a bitching PC, the PS2 is a safe bet with no compatability issues.

......

So there inlies the real issue with FFXI, the PS2 graphics look better, because frankly, PC's are far more advanced then the hardware avaible so emulating it makes it look a little crappeir. however, its still beautiful. but for Pc users, if you already have the muscle, your saving cash.

I understood it was a joint PS2/PC development so why would they need to emulate the PS2 on the PC. The beta was PC only so that sounds very odd.

[Lexxuk]

I got 2000 on the benchmark, in low and high rez O_o

[Oath]

Tbh, i thought about FF a lot.............
i've made some good friends here over the past 2 weeks, and i cant leave em lol, i wubb wou all............

wel......most of you.

[Shadow Dancer]

Question. FFXI has the same servers for PS2 and PC?


What i mean is, if there's a server called Odin on FFXI can PS2 players and PC players both choose it and play together?

[J. Folsom]

Originally posted by Shadow Dancer
Question. FFXI has the same servers for PS2 and PC?


What i mean is, if there's a server called Odin on FFXI can PS2 players and PC players both choose it and play together? Yes.

Or, at least, that's what I last heard. I think that's also part of the reason of the "silent community", they're just the dudes who have the Japanese PS2 version, without an USB keyboard ;p

[Shadow Dancer]

That is so cool!

[Mingerroo]

OK. I did not know about that whole $200 hard drive jip. I'd frankly much rather spend that cash getting a cooler graphics card, as I'm pretty sure its my Geforce 2 GTS that is slowing down my system. I use broadband, cos its good use for good cash, and a 1.3Gig Duron processor based on a reasonable motherboard. I have a soundblaster card etc so my comp isnt really shit its just the GFX card.

Ill upgrade that rather than paying out on a hard drive to play one game. Thanks spy, saved me muchos hassle :)

Mingoo

[Cyphor]

Most stuff has been answered, but just to add you can get the kit to connect your ps2 to the net from GAME in the uk and most other ps2 supppliers.

Edit: oh and i heard the ps2 version is out in march.

All people play on the same servers no matter what version they have ps2 or pc, japanese or american or european.

From what i've heard even with low scores on the benchmark you wont have too much of a prob, except perhalps in highly packed areas if your score is really low.

[StryfeX]

Valkrum Dunes = bad for FPS. Even on a decent spec system like mine.

--Stryfe

[Spy<VS>Spy]

Originally posted by jernau
I understood it was a joint PS2/PC development so why would they need to emulate the PS2 on the PC. The beta was PC only so that sounds very odd.

Uh...Jernau, come on man. just LOOK at FFXI, its over a year old. its using PS2 hardware over a year old. she aint using none of the new filtering and direct X 9 features out today. i mean fuck, your resolution can only go up to 1024 x 1024. for your 3d backgrounds. thats as high as the PS2 can go.

the control sceme, complete lack of mouse support. this is a dirrect port, we are basicly emulating the PS2 hardware, and doing it not as well BTW.

what ever you heard...well, must have been something to do with the servers. cause the beta was mearly to hammer out bugs with hardware compatability...as far as i know. i could be wrong.

Square hates the PC...they always have. they are kings of the console. but they have never designed a game 'specificly' for the PC.

[Jesterthegreat]

but its not square in control now that they have been bought out...

[Sunab_Naverith]

Ok, just a FYI, the Suggested Retail Price (SRP) for the PS2 hard drive is $99 bucks, and quite a few places I have talked with are rumoring it is going to be even lower.

Heh, on a side note, long time no chat , fellas! Just found out that my forum account is still active, so thought I would throw a FFXI fan a bone. I am gonna probably wait for the HD release, because I can't bear to think of dishonoring my FF tradition of playing nearly 700 hours on my playstation2, only to start another 700 hours on my computer... I would rather my playstation2 die of happiness from playing FFXI and rendering all those wonderful graphics.... *drools*

Anyway, peace out.
Sunab_Naverith

*edit - It is actually closer to 900 hours I've played, I just remembered :).

[jernau]

I'll be honest, I don't claim to know a huge amount about it. I've read this and that but I've been resisting getting too deep into it until it gets a UK release.

That said :

1024x1024 - is that the max the PC can go to (why a 1:1 res?)? There's no technical reason the PC couldn't run at a higher resolution than the PS2. In fact that's already well over PAL/NTSC that most PS2s will be runnning on. I can't say any of the graphics I've seen looked bad on the PC, especially compared to it's MMORPG competition.

Mouse - according to the official website USB mouse and keyboard are "recommended" for the PS2 version.

I never got the impression that Square "hate" the PC, just that it's not their main market. Neither is the US but i'd hardly say they hate the US. I'm sure I read that it was a parallel development on both platforms but I could have been misinformed. Considering it's online target audience they'd have to be crackers to try a PS2 only development.



@jester - Square merged with Enix.

[Jesterthegreat]

'merged' :p

they lost so much on that film *shudders* that they had to... you could call it a merge i guess - but they were blatently bought out :p

[jernau]

Hardly.

First - the film didn't lose money, it just didn't make as much as they hoped.

Second - Enix have not taken control over Square projects or vice-versa.

Third - The stock price balance was 1:0.85 in Enix's favour but the actual value of Square was higher. Square sold nearly twice as many games in the year prior to merger and have sold far more overall.

The main reason for the merger was that the Asian console market is at or rapidly approaching saturation so they need to look elsewhere for growth. Merging makes them one of the largest games companies in the world (4th on market cap, 7th on market share) meaning they can attack the US and EU markets a lot more aggressively.

[Mingerroo]

Although they didnt make a profit on the film (they did make a hefty loss), square would not let that cause them to be bought out as they are a huge company with many other products raking in the millions. The merger, as far as I can see, is due to that both companies became part of directly the same market, and rather than compete for top status they decided to merge.

Thats roughly what I make of it with my limited knowledge of the situation.

Mingoo

[jernau]

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0173840/business

Cost = 137mil
Income = 61mil + 79mil (and growing) + video/DVD sales + whatever they got from merchandising and cross-selling.

A poor showing, no doubt, but it certainly didn't lose money. DVD sales were very good IIRC but they don't have the numbers for that.

[Ka0s^]

stoopid website the link for the benchmark wont let me download keeps saying it cant set up the god damn cookie on my pooter. I turned my cookie settings to allow all an it still says it????

Any 1 help?