Well, first impressions were not very impressive at all, but I'll save it 'til the actual game comes out.

How is FFXI turning out?

My guildies and I were all going to buy it, but then after hearing about the annoying random server thing and having to pay $1 extra per character per month on top of the $50 and $13/month, we couldn't help but wonder what other bonehead decisions went into the design process and decided against it (unless the game is REALLY good, and we're spoiled MMORPG players, so...we'll probably just wait for Horizons), heh.

Well, you don't really need multiple characters because you can change your class at anytime in your Mog house. I really like the game alot. Depending on how many people are in your guild, I could get a world pass for you all. My friend had played EverQuest for 3 years and he switched over to FFXI when me and another friend started playing (well actually he played before we did).

Yeah, I'm quite a big fan of FFVIII.

And yes, the battles were fun to a degree in FFX-2, but that's hardly a means to make a game worthwhile. As you said, the point of an RPG is for the story. What use is there in progressing in a story that has no plot? The sad thing is that the game had major potential for a great plot. The creators just chose a bad path to take the story in my opinion. And again, I can't get over how little time it takes to progress through the story.

If people like FFX-2, good on them. At least someone got to enjoy the game.

I love all of the FF series too, but FFX-2 and FFXI are going to blow. First off my husband just bought FFX-2, and from what I have seen of the game, the music is way cheezy (Nobuo Uematsu did not compose), which says something right there, and the story seems to be more like a bad episode of Charlies Angels. I dunno, maybe it will end up to have an okay story, but the cheezyness is just to hard to overlook.

As for FFXI, I dunno if you looked at the site on this, but it's basically going to be an Everquest ripoff, only with even less character customizing. Also it's been out in Japan for at least the last year, and yet they are conjoining both Japanese version, and the american one. So ya, the day you start, there will already be live 50+ characters running around ks'ing everything from newbies.
bleh

I liked Chrono Trigger, and my fav FF game would probably have to be FF tactics, which has the best job system EVER, in my opinion

Eh, I wish they'd just making the FF series remain on console without the online-play. Much more fun and less confusing.

Best character/job system I've played is Ogre Battle. That game was teh RooI.

OK, listen to me on this, since I do play the game. I have never played EverQuest, but one of my friends did and he says that they are completely different. Yes, it has been out in Japan for a little over a year, but when you buy the game, you get the expansion for free. The japanese players on there are super nice and help out newbies with beef spells all the time (like protect and stuff). You really can't kill steal since as soon as you are in combat with a monster, no one else (except for those grouped with you or if you call for help) can attack that same monster. Also, once you get to a certain level, the monsters that are too weak for you begin to not give anymore exp.

As for the characters. I hear that EQ doesn't have that many faces to choose from, but on this game, you get to choose from 16 different faces for each character and choose from 5 different races. You can also change your job class at any time you want in your Mog House.

well, your facts are better then I have heard before, which is good news to me. I hope your right on this one, but quick question... you say FFXI has 5 races (Everquest has 9 I think), how many job classes? Because from what I read, certain races are restricted to certain jobs. That is the case with most games, however there are only 5 or so actual jobs for each race, am I right? I just don't like being restricted, because I hate being the same as every other person when it comes to online gaming. Just like with EQ, by the time I stopped playing like 2 years ago, it was just a bunch of clones, no originality. I would rather it be more like Morrowind, where your stats and specialities are all done on an individual basis.

Don't get me wrong, like all FF, it will probably have good graphics, and can hold it's own, just not sure I want to spend my money on that kinda game, yet again.

There are no restrictions. Any race can be any class, its just that some races are more proficient than others. The TaruTaru (the tiny guys with brown noses) are made for casters, but even the Galkas (the big huge green guys with tails) can be casters even though they are most proficient with being a Monk or a Warrior. Humes are good all around. Elvaan are the main melee characters though.

The only thing that is different for each race for different classes is that, for example, if you are a white mage, your most dominate trait is going to be Mind (because the more mind points you have, the more you heal) but some classes don't get as much bonuses to Mind as others.

You start off being able to only choose one class from this list: Warrior, White Mage, Red Mage, Black Mage, Monk, and Theif. At level 18, you can go on a quest where you can get a subclass job (but this is only subclassing the normal jobs) and at level 30, you get a quest for an individual extra class. There are 8 Extra classes to choose from, but you have to complete that quest in order to get them.

This is one of the best websites I have seen with information on FFXI

http://ffxi.crgaming.com/