Have I chosen the wrong soul sucking pastime? Ought I be flying around in tights, freeing the world from evil doers, rather than running around, waving my tail, killing fictitious beasties and making fabulous meals and new outfits. Hmmm, tough call. =)
Mostly, it’s the user base. I mean, it’s great to be able to play in the same little world with
What little I’ve seen/heard on CoH makes me think it’s just one world, so you can play with or at least meet anyone else playing the game, in the game. There are no items or economy. The character creation and development system is more fine-grained and has fewer macro-options, but more micro-options (in ffxi, your main job, sub job, and race basically determine most of your meaningful stats).
I will not sign up for two of these simultaneously. I plan on graduating. =)
Then again, maybe it’s better I’ve chosen a game with fewer friends/acquaintances on it. I’ll be more likely to get my ass away from the computer and to the gym/cooperative/skate trails, whatever. =)
CoH
Yay!
Yes, in City of Heroes, there are about 10 different servers, all of the same game.. you pick a server at character creation, and that’s where that particular character lives. It’s best that you find out where all your friends are first before getting started. I think all MMORPGs are like this, simply due to server load.
At least in CoH, you can just pick. I think in FFXI, you are assigned one, then need to be issued a pass by a friend from their server so you can create a guy over there.
CoH prides itself on “getting rid of everything irritating about MMORPGs”. Of course it’s nay-sayers are offended by what those things are, and consider an MMORPG without them to be pointless and boring (the FFXI people fall into this camp).
What I’m talking about is… CoH has absolutley *no* equipment, items or even monster looting. It’s all focused on the powers your character has, and quick action based combat. You will not find yourself up at 3am waiting for a monster to re-pop, in the hopes of getting a +12 helmet off its corpse to replace the crappy +7 that you currently have. None of that nonsense.
Depending on how much of a geek you are, that equipment stuff might be right up your alley. Up to you 🙂
>> Allen
Re: CoH
*next time, Allen, try reading all of the post when you’re not on the phone with a customer*
Oh.. I see you’ve already *made* your decision 🙂 Tee hee. FFXI is awfully purty.. but I don’t think I’ll be trying it anytime soon 🙁 I’m having a blast with CoH, and really only have the time to invest in one not-quite-crack video game addiction.
Counterpoint – FFXI
I think everyone knows where exactly I fall on this subject. 😉 For me personally, if I’m going to be paying money monthly for a game, I want it to be complex and intricate. I want a story. I want to feel like a part of the world I’m in. I want to affect change and influence the story and other people’s gaming experience. I want to make things, and yes, make money to be the strongest player possible. In FFXI, you do have the option of camping monsters and mining/crafting/harvesting until you drop dead. But you don’t have to do any of those things to truly enjoy the game.
For me, FFXI is everything I want in a game with minimal problems/distractions. I like the fact that there is an actual story and you’re not just there to kill monsters/collect loot/sell loot/buy better equipment to do it all over again. Naturally, that’s part of it. But teaming with other players, exacting complex skillchains with your party and mages is what makes gameplay, when it works, so dynamic and just FUN. Vana’diel is such an immersive, expansive world with and endless number of possible things to do. Also too many options. Theoretically, there is no downtime if you know what to do and where to go. And literally, everytime I get bored with the game, some new element to the gameplay becomes available to me or SquareEnix offers new options/areas/abilities/etc to always offer players fresh things to do and discover.
To me, being a superhero and killing things solo or in a party with superpowers would be really neat and fun… for a day. Then what? I can run missions to… kill the same things. And personally, I like inventories and items. I get too bored with the same stuff all the time. I like to be able to change my job at a moment’s notice with no experience penalty and just be a white mage, or a samurai or a summoner all in the same day. Nothing again City of Heroes, but really, with the lack of direction, depth and (to me) lack of lasting appeal, it just seems like yet another MMORPG who tries to turn the ever-growing genre on its ear, and just kind of shakes it a little bit. My two cents. =)
Re: Counterpoint – FFXI
Wow, I should really proof my entries. I tpye os poroly.
Re: Counterpoint – FFXI
All I know is that when people start talking about FFXI (read: also you) it becomes a single minded “ONE OF US. ONE OF US.” and anyone of a sense of presence is warned not to drink the koolaid for fear of the plans within plans of your cult leader. That said, you’re not the only cult out there (see also: Apple). I’m just a bit cult shy. But, I’ll let you know when the next comet enters orbit. 😉
-J
Re: Counterpoint – FFXI
It’s not a cult. I would just enjoy more of my friends playing the game on my server, which isn’t really so hard to understand. When you enjoy something, you wish to share it. Also, not hard to understand. =) I can appreciate your not wanting to play. That’s a personal choice and that’s totally cool. But you don’t know what you’re missing. =)
Re: Counterpoint – FFXI
Apparently, I am missing the koolaid and the fascination your cult has. 🙂
-J
Bah, everyone knows that the good ol’ fashioned live action game is the wave of the future. Why bother being frustrated by people continents away in an unrealistic setting where the rules are cloaked from your perception when you can be surrounded by local oafs pretending to be vampires duelin’ it out with a few rounds of rock-paper-scisors?
Got LARP?
LARP people terrify me… but not as much as the furry people do.
Oh god! What about LARP Furries?!?!
*hides under table*
>> Allen
(yes, I realize you were being sarcastic/facetious, and you rock for it)
Re: Got LARP?
Hrm, I don’t know any LARP Furries, though I doubt that would really shock me to find out that a few (ok, many) of my fellow Kindred are of the furry persuasion.
Nonetheless,
Wave of the Future…
Re: Got LARP?
So, the one LARP furry I knew (he looked at girl/cat pictures, that was the extend if his furriness) seemed like a decent, upstanding chap. Totally non-threatening. =)
http://www.kingdomofloathing.com is really, REALLY fun and cute. It doesn’t rival my FFXI addiction, but it’s damn fun.
That’s (one of) the problems with MMO games: they’re all competing for pretty much the same audience, virtually all of whom are only willing to play (and more importantly, pay for) one game at a time. My proposed solution: They should all consolidate into one gigantic mega-world.