| FFXI did not flop, and if statistics are to be believed, it has more subscriptions world-wide than EQ.
I recently quit EQ (again) in disgust and boredom and picked up FF just to mess around with some old friends from EQ. It is a different game with different "goals."
From what I understand (as explained to me by more experienced FF vet friends), boss mobs are the focus of instanced quests. To put this in EQ terms, let's say you couldn't go after King Tormax unless you started a quest in Thurgadin. You'd have to complete a series of smaller quests and battles to proceed through the script until you were able to engage Tormax.
In EQ, you zone in, buff, pull, and kill. Thrilling, isn't it? Granted, EQ has since implemented new content centered around quests and instanced raids in GoD. However, the problem is this:
I had no fucking clue what was going on in 90% of these raids.
Most of the time, this quest was driven by the person who was online the most and figured all this shit out.
Not because I'm a rank and file lemming (on the contrary) but because I played a shaman. I sit in the back of the raid waiting for the overmind to trigger the appropriate script, have 1 individual do a tradeskill turn-in I know nothing about, and follow the herd, pressing my hotkeys like a good little space monkey.
I STILL think the highlight of EQ is the 10th Ring War. Even if you had no clue what the hell was going on in Rings 1-9, you were most definitely involved in and captivated by the final battle. It was impossible to not know there was something massive going on and getting caught up in the story.
Point is, in FF, it's a more quest-oriented environment that appeals to a different aspect of MMORPGs. I like it better than EQ because it's not like a fucking second job.
EQ was amazing. There's no denying that. That massive server drama and inter-guild conflicts were fun. EQ is a game driven by the R&F. But therein lies the problem: the game was only fun because of other people. |